“Citizens of Hamilton
will receive with much pleasure the information containing in the paragraph,
which was received from Ottawa on Saturday night.”
Hamilton Spectator.
November 12, 1883.
Ever since Maria
McCabe had been sentenced to hang for the killing of her baby, there had been
efforts to save her from that fate. Petitions calling for the commutation of
her sentence had been placed in local newspaper offices and other public
places, and the call for them to be signed had been well-received.
After an agonizing
wait, the following telegram was received:
“The papers in the
case of the girl McCabe, who was sentenced to be hanged some time ago in
Hamilton, were laid before a meeting of the Privy Council today.
“It is understood
that the Minister of Justice recommended the death sentence not be carried out,
but exchanged for a term of imprisonment of imprisonment; but as such matters
are entirely within the prerogative of his Excellency the Governor-General, it
is impossible to accurately say what may be the result, although it is more
than probable that in such a case as the present, the recommendation laid
before him will be complied with.”1
1 “Maria
McCabe : The Minister of Justice Recommends Commutation of Her Sentence”
Hamilton Spectator. November 12, 1883.
It would take another
nine days of uncertainty for Maria and her supporters to hear the news they had
been hoping to receive. Rather than an official letter of documentation from
the Governor-General’s office, the notification came in a different form:
“The original
document, which is now in the Spectator’s possession, is not much to look at,
but the foolscap page, covered with the cramped and queer-looking characters
that schoolboys adopt, is freighted with human life.”2
2“Maria
McCabe : The Official Notification of the Commutation of Her Sentence Arrive”
Hamilton
Spectator. November 22, 1883.
The commutation
document, received by Sheriff McKellar, read as follows :
“”SIR : I have the
honor to inform you that his Excellency the Governor-General has been pleased,
on behalf of her Majesty, to commute the sentence of death pronounced upon the
convict Maria McCabe at the recent Wentworth assizes for the crime of murder,
such sentence to be carried into effect on Saturday, Dec. 15 next, for
imprisonment for fourteen years in the Kingston penitentiary.
“You are hereby
directed, in pursuance of the act 36 Vic.; Cap.41, Sec. 24, to convey the said convict to that penitentiary.
“You will also be
pleased to acknowledge the receipt of this communication.
“I have the honor to
be, sir, your obedient servant,
G.
Powell,
Under
Secretary of State.”2
Sheriff McKellar
proceeded to contact the Governor of the Barton street jail to set up an
opportunity for the Sheriff and Maria McCabe to get together :
“The meeting took place
in the Governor’s apartments. When Maria
entered the room, the Sheriff greeted her with the words : ‘I have brought good
news to you tonight.’
“When the reprieve
was being read, she listened quietly, and did not appear to be affected either
way. To say that she was not pleased would be to err, but she was
undemonstrative.”3
3 “Maria McCabe’s
Story”
Hamilton
Spectator. November 23, 1883
The following
morning, a representative for the Spectator called at the jail and requested an
interview with Maria:
“The Governor
demurred at first, but eventually rang a bell and showed the reporter upstairs
where the matron, Mrs. Hill, was awaiting his arrival.
“The interview took
place in one of the sitting rooms, off which is Maria’s cell. When the young
woman entered the room, she was abashed to find a reporter, instead of a
charitable lady, but a few kind words from Mrs. Hill placed her at her ease,
and as the conversation progressed she spoke freely.
“ ‘I suppose you are
well-pleased at the commutation of your sentence,’ said the reporter, by way of
opening remark.
“ ‘Yes, I am very
thankful,’ was the reply; ‘everyone has been very good to me, although I
thought I was friendless. Mrs. Hill acted as a mother would towards me since I
came here.
“ Reporter – ‘Do you
think the sentence is too long?’
“Ans. – ‘No, I do
not. I know I did a bad deed, and I derserve punishment for it.
“Reporter – ‘Have you
had many visitors?’
“Ans. – ‘Yes, a
number of ladies have called on me, and have helped me to bear my trouble more
cheerfully by their kind words. Miss Wilkins has visited me frequently, giving
me a quantity of reading material. The sisters of the convent have also visited
me regularly since my sentence was passed.. Mrs. Chamberlain has been very good
to me, and three or four more ladies, whose names I do not know. I feel very
grateful to everyone who has shown me kindness, and I can never forget the
goodness of the matron to me. When the judge asked me in the court room if I
had any friends, I told him I had none. I felt do dreary that life was then to
me of very little worth. Yet I was not prepared for the sentence of death, and
when it came, I felt as though a sword had pierced my body.
“Reporter – ‘Have you
any relatives?’
“Ans.- ‘I have a
father and sisters, the youngest living in the old country. There are seven of
my sisters dead. My mother died when I was six years old. My young life was
spent in a convent. I little thought at that time that I would ever be
sentenced to death or be sent to pentitentiary.”3
So ended the
interview, leaving the reporter to share with his readers his impression of the
young lady everyone had been reading about since her baby’s dead body was found
in a cistern:
“She does not appear
to be of that character which her crime would lead one to expect. She is below
the medium height, her face is long and thin, and by no means unprepossessing.
Two long curls hang from her forehead to her cheeks, and altogether Maria looks
like a respectable girl of mild disposition.
“Mrs. Hill, the
matron of the jail, said that Maria was one of the best prisoners ever placed
under her charge, and that she behaves herself remarkably well. She is very
fond of reading, and passes the greater portion of her time at that occupation.
She has never uttered a complaint against her sentence or confinement in the jail.”3
It would take a few
weeks before all the paperwork was completed and other arrangements made to
allow the transfer of Maria McCabe to Kingston penitentiary.
When the time came
for departure, and all the goodbyes were given to those who had supported her,
Maria, accompanied by Mrs. Hill was taken to the Grand Trunk Railway station to
catch a trail to Kingston.
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