MURDER IN SHANNICK!

"For some years  Peter Davis was at  Matthew McGarvey's and was as one of the family. That was  before Mary McGarvey married William Emory.  Davis was but a boy then and Mary was several years his senior. They had a great liking the one for the other,  and after the girl married Emory,  Davis' made his home with them much of the time helping Emory on his farm in harvest time, gathering ginseng  in its season, and hunting and trapping in the winter. He was young and active with a well formed head, a bright intelligent eye  which gave him the appearance of possessing more than ordinary, intelligence Old settlers who knew his grandfather say that Davis resembled him in many particulars.

He won the young wife's love and in her weakness she forgot her vows to her wedded husband. It is not known when her unfaithfulness began nor when her husband's suspicions were aroused.  Clerks in the general stores at Marmora suspected several years ago that' all was not right between Mrs. Emory and young Davis. They did their trading at the quiet village and a few people of the village began to discover that the woman and Davis would visit friends in Trenton at the same time and when Emory and people in the Emory neighborhood  thought that Davis  was in the woods  hunting or gathering roots.When Emory's suspicions were roused,  Davis was ordered  from his premises.  Bitter enmity sprang up between the men and the woman became more open in her  demonstration of attachment for her young lover  Emory's  restrictions to her conduct were defied. The friends in Trenton were discontinued.   Davis would go near Emory's house,  discharge his gun and Mrs. Emory, understanding the signal would meet him.  Emory knew Davis' character and had to endure in silence,  fearing that Davis would take his life if he interfered.  Last summer,  Davis declared to Mrs. Emory's sister, that he would get Mrs. Emory and that before long.

HE GOES TO THE GALLOWS WITHOUT A TREMOR

 THE MURDERER'S LAST MOMENTS

Despite a petition being signed by 600 people to commute the death sentence,  the request failed to influence the Minister of Justice.  Davis spent the night with Reverand Daw and Reverand Bogart,  to whom he protested his innocence,  right up to the gallows.

"Dear Friends,  I have to thank Rev. Mr. Daw for his kindness which he has shown towards me.  I am innocent of this crime,  so help me God,"  were his final words.  As the last line of the Lord's Prayer was uttered,  the hangman pulled the cord and the weight fell,  a few seconds before 8 o'clock a.m,  "with a thud,  and the culprit's body was jerked to a height of two feet.  For about a minute and a half his legs twiched convulsively,  then all was still." ( North Hastings Review on June 20th, 1890.)

Interestingly,   in another newspaper column written in 1890,  the reporter who gave a full description of the whole proceedings (see below),  makes reference to the hangman being very nervous as he " remarked  quietly to an Ontario reporter that he did not think the jerk would break the victim's neck".  Sure enough,  Drs. Farley, Jones (of Marmora), Sprague and Youker  later  declared  the cause of death to be  strangulation.  

As for his jail guard,  "That man died innocent",  was his emphatic opinion.

CLICK HERE TO READ  THE ORIGINAL  1890 REPORT  OF THIS HISTORICAL EVENT.

Thanks to the generous donation of Nicola Lisi, a coin collector and retired police officer in Whitby, we are now possession of this “Memory Token” of William ‘Emmorey’. He writes, “In the mid to late 19th century, many people would reface coins/silver quarters, dimes etc into memory tokens and especially "love tokens" (booming business for jewelers designing unique gifts for wives and girlfriends.

(Wm Emmorey’s birthdate is unknown but appears to be around 1851 not 1841)

(Mary Anne Reid is the daughter of Barbara Keene and Daniel Reid.  Both Daniel Reid and Barbara's brother, Jerome Keene,  were witnesses at the trial.  Jerome Keene was later the victim of an unsolved murder)