by Clark Whelton
“The public may rely upon the authenticity and truth of this Life and Confession of Joel Clough, who was tried for the murder of Mrs. Mary Hamilton, condemned and suffered the decree of the law. He at different times placed in the hands of one of his counsel, papers containing the history of his life, anecdotes of his boyhood, power and effect of his passions, and finally, the true confession of the murder, and reasons why and wherefore. The work will be found highly interesting. Mr. Clough has not drawn the common curtain between his crimes and self; he gives them in full detail from the age of 14 until a few days prior to his death. These were placed in the hands of one of his attorneys with the request they should be given to the public after he had “been laid in the silent tomb. For,” said he. “the anger of scorn will no longer be pointed at me, and the opinion of the world will pass by my cold, stiffened corpse unheeded.” Thus begins the preface to “The Only True and Authentic Life and Confession of Joel Clough,” a brief autobiography published in 1833. The book appeared in print a few weeks after the author, age 28, was hanged in New Jersey near the old Burlington County Jail, where his ghost is said to haunt the prison yard and the dark, stone corridors of death row to this very day. In his confession, Joel Clough (Benjamin, Benjamin, Cornelius, John, John) writes that his unfortunate life began in Unity, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, where he was born on November 24, 1804, youngest of the seven surviving children of Benjamin Clough and Joanna Young. Benjamin was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, where he served as a member of George Washington’s elite “Life Guard” at the crucial battle of Trenton. Benjamin and his family were apparently liked and respected in New Hampshire, and Joel states specifically that he was well treated at home. However, Joel had a violent temper and would frequently fly into rages if, as he put it, his “wishes were foiled.” When a farmer in Unity reported him for stealing apples, Joel took revenge by burning down the farmer’s barn. When Joel was 14, his parents moved to a farm in the town of North Murray, Orleans County, New York, about 30 miles west of Rochester. While his older brothers worked the farm, Joel attended school. Instead of concentrating on his studies, however, Joel developed a passion for cards, gambling and cheating. If he lost, his temper would often get the better of him. He would accuse other players of cheating, and would attack them with any weapon available. When Joel was 17 his father died, and the young man was apprenticed to a stone mason. Joel did well in this trade and at age 21 was placed in charge of stonework for an aqueduct that carried the New Haven – Northampton canal across the Farmington River in Connecticut. He seemed to be on his way to a successful career but violent outbursts and compulsive gambling continued to plague him, along with other character flaws that foreshadowed his tragic fate. In Orleans County Joel seduced and abandoned a young woman, who died giving birth to his child. He fled New York for Pennsylvania, where he worked as a mason and bricklayer. In 1832 he moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, a town on the Delaware River six miles south of Trenton, where he took a job with the Camden & Amboy Railroad. It was in Bordentown, while rooming at Mrs. Longstreath’s Boarding House, that Joel met and fell madly in love with the landlady’s daughter, a beautiful widow named Mary Hamilton. In his impetuous way, Joel Clough took every opportunity to impress the widow Hamilton by constantly doing favors for her. “I could hardly suffer myself to be out of her sight for a moment,” Joel wrote. But the elusive and flirtatious Mrs. Hamilton was in no hurry to wed. Joel was shocked to discover that a local businessman named William Lee Wells was also courting the woman he loved. The two men competed furiously for the widow’s attentions until Joel decided to eliminate his rival by secretly slandering him and – using “dishonest means” — driving him into bankruptcy. The way now seemed clear for Joel Clough to lead Mrs. Hamilton to the altar. Their relationship became more intimate. Joel gave expensive rings to his beloved Mary and a gold watch, as well, recovering the cost by padding his payroll account at the railroad. There was talk of marriage, but Mrs. Hamilton seemed to enjoy keeping her obsessed suitor on tenterhooks. When two more rivals appeared on the scene, Joel was consumed by rage. “My feelings of love changed into the most inveterate hatred,” he wrote. “I resolved on revenge.” Hoping to forget Mrs. Hamilton, Joel took a steamboat down the Delaware to Philadelphia, where he “became dissolute and indulged in all the vices of the city.” Similar trips to New York and Albany fanned the flames of his fury 5 toward Mary Hamilton. When he returned to Bordentown to pack his belongings, Joel sensed that Mrs. Hamilton was making light of his hopeless love for her. In a frenzy of strong emotions, Joel took a knife from his luggage and stabbed Mrs. Hamilton to death. The arrest of Joel Clough caused a sensation throughout the 24 states of our young nation. The fact that Joel managed to escape from the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly, New Jersey (he was recaptured the next day) brought even more attention to the shocking case. During his trial, Joel claimed he had not intended to kill the woman he loved, but his feelings were so passionate that he had lost control of himself. His defense of “temporary insanity” failed to convince the jury and judge, however. Joel Clough was remanded to death row in the County Jail to await execution. On July 26, 1833, a gallows was erected in the center of a highway east of Mount Holly, just 23 miles from Trenton where his father had fought at Washington’s side. At 1:20 in the afternoon, a battalion of 500 soldiers formed a hollow square around the scaffold. Accompanied by several ministers and the county sheriff, Joel Clough was brought down the highway in a wagon, followed by a crowd of 12,000 people. Dressed in white, the hangman’s noose and rope coiled around his neck and chest, Joel climbed to the scaffold “with a firm and resolved step.” However, as a hymn was sung and a minister led the assembled throng in prayer, Joel burst into tears. Sitting on a chair, he wept profusely. After Joel’s farewell letter to his mother was read to the crowd, the ministers shook hands with the condemned man and descended the steps. Now the sheriff and Joel were alone on the scaffold. According to one witness, Joel “stood firm as a marble statue, and stared death in the face with a calm resolution and determined countenance.” Conversing freely with the sheriff, he assisted him in placing the knot under his ear, shook hands with him without emotion, and “looked upon heaven and earth.” The hood was drawn over his face. Silence reigned. The trap door was sprung and “In an instant Joel Clough stood before his maker, to give an account for the deeds done in the body.” Today Joel Clough, whose life and crimes were notorious in the 19th century, is remembered by few. Law students sometimes review his trial as they study one of the earliest uses of the “temporary insanity” defense in American jurisprudence. But even in Orleans County, where he spent his young manhood, Joel has been forgotten. According to the local historical society, Clough (pronounced “Clow”) descendants still live in the county, but Joel’s name is unknown. However, in the historic old Burlington County jail in Mount Holly, Joel Clough’s name is remembered well, especially by those who claim that his ghost still haunts the prison yard and the dark, stone corridors of death row.
Joel Clough’s complete confession can be read online at http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/5809806?n=1&s=4
For more on the Burlington (N.J.) County Jail and Museum, see
(Webmaster’s Note: The original link no longer works (but is kept for posterity). Use this instead. http://becauseilive.hubpages.com/hub/Haunted_Places_Burlington_County_Prison_Museum