Why Is Henry Harvey Wrong
A murder conviction sent Henry Harvey to the gallows. That’s most of what we know about his life, because he wasn’t the sort of man anyone cared much about back then. In fact, if he hadn’t been hanged, he would have been forgotten long before now.
Harvey came to the fast-growing Sandhills town of Rockingham, North Carolina, from Roanoke, Virginia. He was part of a crew hired to help with the construction of the town’s waterworks and sewer service. Rockingham was moving into the modern age of indoor plumbing. It was 1908, after all. And Harvey was part of the team hired to make it happen.
Digging ditches by hand in the burning heat of a Southern summer wasn’t a glamorous job. Laying sewer pipe was even less glamorous. But it paid cash …show more content…
It was all the warning anyone would have. Harvey burst in, gun in hand, and began firing wildly. He hit Hugh Price first, with a shot that probably killed him. He turned to shoot Dickenson and their hostess, but both had fled from the breakfast table. Still, Harvey managed to put a bullet in Dickenson’s leg.
When he ran out of ammunition, Harvey left, reloaded, and returned to the shanty. Price was the only one still there, lying on the floor, blood pouring from his wounds. If Price wasn’t dead already, Harvey finished the work. He put several more bullets in Price’s head.
Inexplicably, the evil inside of Harvey seemed satisfied, at least for the moment. But that’s the way it worked on his mind, leaving him calm for time enough to lure people close, then turning him into explosive and dangerous man. Harvey put down his gun and went through the neighborhood singing hymns and looking for note paper on which to write a letter home. He showed no interest in trying to escape.
The law arrived quickly to arrest him, but Harvey was not quite ready to go. “I have only killed a man or two,” he told the officers, quite calmly. “I want to kill some
Harvey came to the fast-growing Sandhills town of Rockingham, North Carolina, from Roanoke, Virginia. He was part of a crew hired to help with the construction of the town’s waterworks and sewer service. Rockingham was moving into the modern age of indoor plumbing. It was 1908, after all. And Harvey was part of the team hired to make it happen.
Digging ditches by hand in the burning heat of a Southern summer wasn’t a glamorous job. Laying sewer pipe was even less glamorous. But it paid cash …show more content…
It was all the warning anyone would have. Harvey burst in, gun in hand, and began firing wildly. He hit Hugh Price first, with a shot that probably killed him. He turned to shoot Dickenson and their hostess, but both had fled from the breakfast table. Still, Harvey managed to put a bullet in Dickenson’s leg.
When he ran out of ammunition, Harvey left, reloaded, and returned to the shanty. Price was the only one still there, lying on the floor, blood pouring from his wounds. If Price wasn’t dead already, Harvey finished the work. He put several more bullets in Price’s head.
Inexplicably, the evil inside of Harvey seemed satisfied, at least for the moment. But that’s the way it worked on his mind, leaving him calm for time enough to lure people close, then turning him into explosive and dangerous man. Harvey put down his gun and went through the neighborhood singing hymns and looking for note paper on which to write a letter home. He showed no interest in trying to escape.
The law arrived quickly to arrest him, but Harvey was not quite ready to go. “I have only killed a man or two,” he told the officers, quite calmly. “I want to kill some