James Roosevelt, DA under
the Southern-leaning Pa. Democrat President James Buchanan, offered a plea
deal. Gordon in Eldridge St. Jail (with walk-around outside privileges)
rejected it. Lincoln’s DA E. D. Smith withdrew offer, locked up Gordon in the
Tombs, sought death penalty to signal strong will to end NY port ties to the
slave trade. Note that the hand-written death sentence specified City Prison
as the place. |
|
The NYCHS graphic pen
sketch of Edward Delafield Smith is based on a Library of Congress image no
longer found on the web but that was part of a web presentation about the
Gordon case by former National Archives education specialist Karen Needles on
a Documents on Wheels site. The image of the recorded sentence (to which
NYCHS has added red underlines for emphasis, is likewise from the same
source. |