Published in The Washington Star on Thursday April 29, 1943
"100th Anniversary of Castner Murder Will Occur on Saturday;
Warren’s Most Noted Crime"
The sun was just a “half-hour high” as Stacy Bowlby strode along the narrow country road through the village of Changewater. The date of Tuesday, May 2, 1843, and the dawn, although still not far enough advanced to have cast off its haze, gave promise of a perfect day. It had been raining on several previous days, but on this morning the birds singing in the roadside thickets and the smell of the fresh Spring season -- made more so by the recent rains -- indicated that the weather had cleared. The month of May was but twenty-four hours old and all seemed right with the world.
Stacy was the owner of small farm in Lebanon township, Hunterdon County, and he was enroute to Port Colden on an errand. True the hour was early, but country folks in those days customarily arose with the dawn and Bowlby expected to have his errand completed and be back home before the sun was many more hours high.
As Stacy reached the northern outskirts of the village (near where the road to former Changewater creamery is now located), he was compelled to circle around a sinkhole situated just off center of the road. This sinkhole had given road overseers no end of trouble. It had been filled in repeatedly but would wash out again with every heavy rainstorm.
Walking past the sinkhole, Bowlby glanced down into the somewhat deep cavity. In the bottom, he observed, there was a dark object which looked like a “scare-crow,” as he afterwards stated. Stacy walked closer to the depression and looked again. He was then horrified to discover that the object was actually the body of a man, lying face down in the mud. The farmer did not pause to identify the dead man, instead he turned and ran back [unreadable print] village in search of help. The first house he came to was one occupied by John Castner and family and Castner’s brother-in-law, John B. Parke.
Bowlby pounded on the door to awaken the household. There was no response. He then ran down the village road to the grist mill where two men -- Peter Vannatta and James Petty -- were already at work. Bowlby excitedly told them of his discovery and the men started back from the sinkhole.
Arriving there, one jumped down into the depression, turned the body over and, after wiping the mud and muck from the face, recognized the dead man as John Castner, Changewater farmer, and the very man whom Bowlby had originally attempted to arouse.
The men did not realize it at the time, but by chance they had walked right into considerable notoriety, for their discovery had uncovered the Castner murders, Warren County’s most notorious crime, in which almost the entire family was butchered in cold blood. The 100th anniversary of the murders will occur on this coming Saturday, May 1, and even after the passing of a century the crime, for outright butchery and seemingly amazing family intrigue -- the murdered persons and murderers were closely related -- the Castner murders have few equals in criminal court annals.
Horrible Scene in Home
Almost immediately after recognition of the body, the thought flashed through Bowlby’s head that despite his repeated pounding at the door of the Castner home there had been no response.
“My God, men.” he cried, “they must be all dead in that house.”
Once again Bowlby turned and ran back towards the village, closely followed by Vannatta and Petty. One the way the trio picked up George Franks and Mrs. Franks, who lived in the vicinity. Reaching the castner and Parke home the five people, finding the front door unlatched, entered the house and there found a scene that forever lived in their memory. This is what they saw, according to a newspaper account of that day:
“The neighbors discovered the body of John B. Parke, Mr. Castner’s wife’s brother, in bed, and in another room the dead bodies of Castner’s wife, Maria, and daughter Mary, a little girl of about three years, murdered in her mother’s arms and with her little hands clasped around her mother’s neck. All appeared to have been killed with the same blunt instrument. They found a boy in another bed, also most seriously wounded in the head, and unconscious of what had happened. He was unable to rise and his life remains in great uncertainty. Of the whole household, only two boys, sleeping in a back room, were left unhurt by the demons(?).”
The seriously wounded boy was Jesse Force, 17 years old, employed by Castner about the farm. Force, although ill several days with his injuries soon recovered and twenty years later he was serving in the Union Army. The neighbors, when they broke into the house, found the boy sitting up in bed, holding his injured head between his hands. His bed, like that of the murdered mother’s, was a mass of blood and gore. Force was never able to give an official description of his attackers, for like the rest he had been struck a terrific blow while asleep.
As far as the two boys -- sons of Castner -- left unhurt, they were found still asleep in a trundle bed in the rear bedroom. The fact they were sleeping in this back bedroom -- cut off from the rest of the household -- was probably the reason they were not molested. These two boys were Victor and John P. Castner, both of whom destined to live to a ripe old age in Changewater, dying in the early years of this century. Victor was 9 years old at the time his parents were murdered, while John P. was 6. Two children of John P., [unreadable name] and Eugene Castner, still reside in Changewater. The house in which Miss Castner resides is the one where the murders were committed, although several additions have since been built to the original structure.
One other member of the household, Sarah Parke, maiden sister of John B. Parke and Mrs. Castner, who kept house for her brother, was away caring for another sick sister on the night of the crime and therefore escaped the murderers.
After finding the bodies in the home, the men retraced their steps to the sinkhole to more closely investigate particulars of Castner’s death. They found that his head had been almost crushed by repeated blows of some blunt instrument. Near the sinkhole was found a wooden fence rail, bloody on one end. this bore mute evidence that Castner, after knocked unconscious, had been thrown into the hole and beaten to death with the rail. Nearby were found churned-up tracks in the road, indicating that Castner had put up a struggle before succumbing to his attackers. The body was not removed from the sinkhole until later in the morning. While there it was viewed by many villagers. Later the body was taken to the house.
In the meantime the news had spread and a good-sized crowd, despite the early hour, gathered in the village. The crime came as a stunning blow and from all sides were heard vows that the murderers would not escape. Curious people descended upon Changewater from far and near.
In the afternoon a coroner’s inquest was held and a verdict was soon reached that John Castner his wife, child and John B. Parke had all been “fouly murdered” by some unknown person or persons.
Money Object of Crime
From the first it was thought the object of the murders was to secure money. John B. Parke was a very wealthy man for that time (his will on file at Belvidere disposes of an estate of more than $17,000), and in the later trials for the crime testimony was given that an additional $5000 in cash belonging to Parke was found hidden in the house. John Castner was also a man of some wealth. It was never definitely decided just how much money was stolen from the house by the murderers. The Changewater house was owned by Parke, who also was the owner of several farms. Castner farmed the one at Changewater.
However, it was known that several days previous to the murders Parke, in payment for a bill, had received a certain amount in bills issued by the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge Company. (Charters then granted by Legislatures to toll bridge companies often contained banking privileges). This “New Hope money” was not found in the house, and the re-appearance of such bills several days after the crime on the person of two men later to be convicted and executed for the murders, was one of the many webs of circumstantial evidence woven about the pair. As for the reason the money was hidden in the house -- that was customary in days before banks were established in this area.
There were, too, much darker reasons for the murders whispered about the countryside and even after a hundred years it perhaps might be best to forget such allegations. It is a tale of ill feeling between John B. Parke and certain relatives. testimony in the later trials indicated that certain relatives were very interested in the provisions made in his will. There is no need to speculate on these traditions. although strange tales of the crime have been and are still related by older people in this region who have heard the accounts from their parents and grandparents. Two men -- Joseph Carter, Jr. and Peter W. Parke -- who were to pay the supreme penalty for the murders, were relatives of the murdered Parke. Peter W. was a nephew while Carter had married a niece. Two other men -- Abner Parke and Henry C. Hummer -- also indicted for the crime, but acquitted were also relatives. Abner was a brother of John B. while Hummer had also married a niece of the murdered man. These were dark doings indeed.
Funeral Services Held
Funeral services were held Thursday afternoon at the home, but so great was the crowd of mourners and curiosity seekers it was necessary to move the bodies out into the adjoining apple orchard. There amidst the blossoms, the services took place with Rev. Jacob Castner (no relation), pastor of the washington Presbyterian Church, officiating. It is related that the clergyman gave a funeral sermon of some two hours in length and then the bodies were placed in three open wagons (mother and child in the same coffin), and the journey to the old Mansfield Cemetery in Washington began. The wagons bearing the bodies were adorned with apple blossoms.
It was well in the afternoon when the burial ground was reached and there another crowd of people was gathered. When the procession from Changewater arrived, a cry arose that the coffins be opened in order that those waiting in the yard might have a final look at the victims. Surviving relatives agreed and this was accordingly done. Then a new cry arose for Rev. Castner to give another sermon. This was also agreed to and the clergyman began his second eulogy [unclear words] take place until six hours after the start of the rights, and dusk was falling as the last people filed out of the cemetery.
Tombstones over the graves of the victims can be seen in the old cemetery yet today. Storms of a hundred years have beaten against the stones but it is still possible to read the unusual epitaphs.
Despite slowness of communications, news of the revolting murders soon spread throughout the State and a day after the bodies were found, a proclamation signed by Governor William Pennington, offering $300 reward by the State for apprehension of the murderers, was inserted in New Jersey newspapers.
An additional $1,000 reward was offered by David Parke, brother of John B. and postmaster at New Hampton and Abraham Castner. A committee of influential citizens -- vigilantes they would be called at a later date -- was organized to investigate everything associated with the murders.
First Arrests Made
First arrests for the murders were made Monday, May 14, exactly two weeks after the crime. Taken into custody were Carter, Peter W. Parke and Henry C. Hummer. Parke, 38 years old, nephew of JOhn B. was a cobbler and had a shop at Washington. He was son of David Parke, brother of John B., who was appointed an administrator of the estate.
Carter had married a niece of John B., and with his wife and two children lived on and operated the “meeting house” farm owned by Parke, adjoining Mansfield Cemetery, on the southern outskirts of present Washington Borough. The farmhouse, long since disappeared, stood near the present barns on the Clyde Shannon farm. Carter came from a good family and his father and brother operated the farm now owned by John Wyckoff, on the present Port Colden-Changewater road.
The third man arrested, Hummer, had also married a niece of John B. Parke. Hummer was employed as a farm hand by Carter -- his brother-in-law -- and lived in a double house in Washington, the other half of which was occupied by Peter W. Parke and family.
Later, a fourth man, Abner Parke brother of John B. and an administrator for the estate, was also arrested. Abner’s daughters were the wives of Carter and Hummer.
There were two separate trials and more than two years elapsed before the murderers were finally brought to justice. The first trial was that of Carter, alone, for the murder of John Caster. He was acquitted of this charge by a jury disagreement. The second trial saw Carter and Peter W. Parke indicted and convicted of the murder of John B. Parke.
On what evidence were Carter and Peter W. Parke originally arrested? There were these factors:
a. The wealth displayed by Carter and Peter W. Parke within a day after the murders. It was never established just how much money was taken from the Castner home, but almost on the following day Carter and Peter W. -- the two were close friends -- became very affluent. This factor directed suspicion at them more than anything else for before the crime Carter had been in especially reduced circumstances. He had a number of outstanding bills and there was also a judgement against his personal property and livestock. Parke also had a number of outstanding debts and in the money they paid out were a number of notes issued by the New Hope bridge company. As explained previously, it was known that John B. Parke had some of this “New Hope money,” but the notes were never found after his death. Carter and Peter W. were unable to give a satisfactory answer as to where they had acquired the money. Carter even attempted to pay a bill in the cemetery on the day of the burial.
b. The evidence of the horse hoof tracks. On the day when the bodies were found the surrounding areas were closely investigated by neighbors who hoped to discover some evidence of the murderers. At the time there was a wooden foot “log” across the Musconetcong, south of the Castner home. On the Hunterdon county side of the bridge searchers found a series of fresh horse tracks and it was thought the murderers had tethered their animals on the Hunterdon side of the stream and then walked across the bridge to the Castner home. The unusual shape of one hoof track interested the neighbors.
This track showed that a wedge was apparently inserted in one of the hose, indicating a cleft hoof. There was only one man in the region known to have a horse with a cleft hoof and that was Cater. The neighbors then went to Washington and questioned William Dilts, a blacksmith who shod Carter’s horses. Dilts returned to Changewater with the men and, after measuring and comparing the tracks with a discarded shoe from Carter’s horse which he happened to locate in his shop, pronounced the tracks as being those of Carter’s animal and later testified to that effect.
“The suspicion that these extraordinary murders were committed by relatives of the victims depends the dark colors of the tragedy, and adds new sorrows to those of this afflicted and respectable family. We could also hope that suspicion in this instance is at fault and that the real murderers are yet undiscovered.” read one newspaper account.
Carter Is Indicted
Despite this earnest hope, the evidence against the prisoners -- although circumstantial -- proved strong enough to convene a special session of the Warren County Grand Jury which moved the indictment of Cater for the murder of John Castner.
For some reason no indictment for the murder of Caster was found against Peter W. Parke and the others, so in this first trial Carter was tried alone for the murder of Castner. His Counsels offered to have their client tried on the four murder indictments, but the State refused. It is easy to see the reason for the State’s refusal, for if Carter should happen to be acquitted of Castner’s murder he could nevertheless be tried for any of the other three counts and in fact that is actually what occurred.
The Grand Jury was charged by State Supreme Court Justice James S. Nevius. In his charge the justice described the crime as “indiscriminate butchery,” adding it was “a deed of darkness of cruelty and blood that none but a demon in human shape could have perpetrated.”
Carter’s trial opened August 25, 1843 before Judge Nevius at Belvidere. The trial began in the midst of a severe heat wave and soaring temperatures cause many prostrations during the days followed. The defendant was represented by William F. Clemson, Phineas B. Kennedy, Alexander Wurts and U.S. Senator Jacob M. Miller. Heading the prosecution was Attorney General George P. Molleson, Prosecutor William C. Morris and John M. Sherrard. The array of legal talent is an indication how important the case was considered. Carter’s battery of counsels was engaged by his family, which was subsequently to be ruined financially by their attempt to save the prisoner from a murderer’s fate.
The most interested first day testimony was given by Jesse Force, Castner farm hand who survived the attack. He said that on the night of May 1, he retired early and had fallen asleep almost immediately. When he went upstairs, he said, his employer was seated as his desk going over his account book by candlelight. Force heard nothing during the night and remembered no facts concerning the attack. He gave the opinion, however, that the person calling Castner from the house must have been well acquainted with his employer, for the farmer would seldom step outside at night. Force cited that upon several, previous occasions, when a knock sounded on the door at night, he had been summoned by his employer and both went and opened the door. Force thought it strange that the dog -- Castner had a particularly vicious animal -- made no sound during the night.
An important witness was Peter T.B. VanDoren, Washington magistrate, who apparently made Parke’s will. VanDoren was familiar with all details of the estate. He also seems to have been among the first to suspect Carter. He stated on May 2 or 3, Carter came to his home and paid off several debts. He asked the defendant where he secured the money and Carter replied,”I can’t tell you.” Several days later, when VanDoren heard the prisoner was continuing to pass out money and was suspected of the crime, the magistrate stopped Carter and asked if he had “anything to confess.” Carter replied that he hadn’t, but was annoyed at stories being circulated, adding that in order to quiet the talk he would agree to a private hearing. VanDoren stated Carter at one time told him that his wife (Carter’s) was due to receive $2,000 on John B. Parke’s death.
The Letter
Next witness called was Abraham B. Cougle and his testimony provided the State with one of its chief items of evidence. This concerned a letter written by Carter to John Howell, a Phillipsburg magistrate. Howell had an execution against Carter and the defendant, in order to make payment, had an engagement to meet the magistrate in Phillipsburg May 2 or 3 -- the actual day was a matter of debate. However, Carter did not go to Phillipsburg because of the murders and he wrote a letter to Howell and explained the circumstances causing his delay.
The letter was taken to Phillipsburg by Cougle, a huckster in Washington who went to Easton practically every day to secure produce. It was Cougle’s custom -- these were the days before regular mail service -- to carry letters for a small fee. He always started for Easton at dawn. Was Carter’s letter carried on Tuesday or Wednesday? That was the question. It was pointed out if the letter was sent Tuesday, Carter therefore knew more about the murders then he admitted because news of the crime did not reach Washington -- and Carter lived on the outskirts of town -- until 7 o’clock that morning, several hours after Cougle started to Easton. Carter himself declared that he did not hear of the murders until 8 or 9 o’clock. If the letter was sent on Wednesday that would naturally cause Carter to be cleared of advance knowledge of the crime. Cougle in his testimony declared he received the letter from Carter when the sun was “half-hour high” on Tuesday May 2, the very morning the bodies were found, in fact, the very time. The huckster stuck to this story under cross-examination. It might be added that the letter in question was never found. It had been destroyed by Howell. The magistrate, in his testimony, remembered receiving the letter and the fact it contained information about the murders. He was unable to state definitely, however, if it was dated on Tuesday or Wednesday. Howell did not actually receive the letter until Thursday, when it was delivered to him by a tavern keeper whose establishment was a sort of clearing house for all Cougle’s mail.
Another item of evidence came when Margaret Dusebnerry, Sarah Patty and Sarah Strader, New Hampton housewives, testified that on the night of May 1, they heard a wagon cross the Musconetcong at New Hampton and go up the Hunterdon side toward Changewater. This story was given close attention because tracks of wagon wheels were found near the sinkhole and Castner’s body. It seemed logical that a good way to get Castner out of his house would be to come to his door and explain that a wagon was caught in the sinkhole. Castner was a road overseer and such a statement, especially if it came from a person he knew, would undoubtedly be sufficient to get him out of the house. Wagons were not so common then -- most people rode horseback or walked -- but Carter owned such a vehicle.
Defense Opens
The defense opened his case on the 12th day. One of the first to testify was Eliza Parke, daughter of Abner. She said that Carter’s surprising wealth that Spring was due to good prices he received for produce and meat he had taken to New York markets. She also stated that her father, Abner, later to be arrested, had retired early on the night of the murders. He was suffering from an attack of rheumatism, he said.
The entire next day was taken up by the testimony of Henry C. Hummer. He stated that he had arrived for work at Carter’s farm at sunrise May 2. Carter was seated in the kitchen, pulling on his boots, and had apparently not been outside. Carter’s horse did not show any signs of having been used that night. Hummer and his employer went to a nearby field and plowed until 8 or 9 o’clock when Peter W. Parke came across the field on horseback and informed them of the murders. Carter and Parke then got on their horses and rode off toward Changewater. Hummer also gave some information about the letter sent to Phillipsburg by Charter. He declared that he [sic] was sent Thursday. He also claimed the defendant’s extra cash was due to the sale of produce.
Peter W. Park, later to be a defendant, was the next witness. His story was substantially the same as told by Hummer. He said that on the night of May 1 he had worked in his shop until 9 o’clock and had then gone home. He did not retire until midnight as he was forced to attend his sick wife and daughter. He first of the murder at 7 a.m. Tuesday and then went and informed Carter. Parke added more information about Carter’s letter when he stated that he had written the letter himself. It was written, he said , in his shop on Wednesday. Two men, Benjamin B. Hutchings and Samuel Beatty, were in the stop at the time. These two men later testified that to the best of their knowledge the letter had been written on Wednesday. Parke was cross-examined very thoroughly.
The State then called additional witnesses. William W. Bird testified that on May 4 he had a conversation with Hummer in which the latter stated that five or six weeks before the murder he and Carter and gone to the Castner home one night and rapped on the door. Castner called out from upstairs, asking who was there. When Hummer stated that it was he, the farmer was still doubtful and said it was possible for people to change their voices. Carter then spoke up and said that he had come to see his “uncle John Parke,” and Castner came to the door, pistol in hand. The State introduced this evidence to prove that Castner would only open his door for some close friend or relative. Hummer later denied this story.
The last witness called was James Williamson, an apprentice of Cougle’s, who made the interesting statement that it was on Tuesday morning that Carter appeared at this employer’s house and [illegible] the letter to be taken to Phillipsburg.
With the occasion of the testimony, considerable time was taken on the last day for the attorneys to sum up. The case finally reached the jury late on the afternoon of September 15.
Carter is Acquitted
The jury was out about twenty-four hours returning at 3 p.m. September 16. Finding it impossible to agree the
[large section is totally illegible here]
...Carter was guilty. Nevertheless the prisoner was released in $15,000 bail.
Just how long Carter remained at liberty is not known but it could not have been for long, for he was next indicted for the murder of John. B. Parke. The Grand Jury this time, due to the pressure from the people, also made a clean sweep, indicting Peter W. Parke, Hummer, and Abner Parke for the murder of John B. Parke.
There are few records existing of these second trials. Each defendant was tried separately. Carter was first tried and he was convicted. Then Peter W. Parke was tried and he was also convicted. The trials of Hummer and Abner Parke came last and both were acquitted.
What records do exist indicated that little new testimony was entered. One State witness, Margaret Martenus, testified that on the morning of the murders, as she was doing some work about the Castner home, she overheard two persons talking. One asked the other if he “looked guilty.” The woman said she then looked up and saw it was Carter and Peter W. Parke talking. In Carter’s second trial much importance was attached to testimony of a Mr. Tigar, who stated that some time before the murders, Carter had proposed that he (Tigar) join him in the crime.
These trials took place in the Spring and Summer 1844. With Carter’s and Peter W. Parke’s conviction there began a long legal process in which every means was used to save the two from execution. The legal battle did succeed in postponing final sentence for almost a year, for it was not until August 1845 -- two years and three months after the crime -- that the murderers were hung at Belvidere.
Following his conviction, Carter’s counsels applied to the State Supreme Court for a new trial. This was denied, and the court also ordered Carter placed in the custody of the Sheriff of Mercer County and be confined in the Trenton jail. After the conviction of Peter W. Parke, his lawyers also took the same legal steps. This plea was also refused but silly after a protracted hearing in Trenton in February, 1843.
After the Supreme Court refused to intercede, lawyers made application to the Court of Chancery for allowance of a writ of error to carry the cases to the Court of Errors and Appeals. This, too, was denied and Carter’s and Parke’s last hopes of escaping punishment vanished and Chief Justice Hornblower again pronounced the death sentence upon the two.
The original time of execution was set for June, but a stay was secured. During this time Carter and Parke were lodged in the Trenton jail. The new execution date was set for August 22, 1845 and it appeared evident at least two weeks before that sentence this time this time would definitely be carried out. The law then provided that murderers must be executed in the county in which the crime was committed, and Carter and Parke were accordingly moved from Trenton to Belvidere.
Description of Hanging
The following description of the execution is taken from a newspaper account published at the time.
“The execution of Joseph Carter, Jr., and Peter W. Parke, convicted for the murder of the Castner family took place at 12 o’clock noon. The scene produced by the occasion was such as has rarely, if ever, been witnessed [illegible] within our state. That evening every road leading to Belvidere was thronged with country wagons filled with people, and the spectacle for the village -- the enclosure made for the execution in front of the jail, with the gallows peering above, the streets illuminated with the candles of booth builders, the clinking of their hammers, with the rattling of carts, and the military companies coming in from neighboring villages, with drums and fifes echoing from every quarter the whole night through, constituted a spectacle anything but appropriate.
“This morning further accessions swelled the crowd to countless numbers, till this quiet village was filled to repletion; and among the crowds came flocks of females! but for the honor of the sex some allowance should be made on account of their rustic training, their proverbial curiosity and the influence of those who should have known better than to bring them. By 10 o’clock the streets were a complete jam -- everything to which a string could be fastened was occupied by horses, and every inch of ground about the jail by spectators -- the wares of the hucksters were as a premium, and temporary counters were dealing [illegible] slow poison from every corner of the barrooms.
“The jail, having no room large enough for an execution, a temporary [illegible] was put up around the door. This was 11 feet high and the top of the gallows for about [illegible illegible] could readily be seen by those standing outside. The platforms for the [illegible] clergy,
[about 20 lines that are illegible]
...day from Trenton, in charge of Sheriff’s Winter, of Warren, and Britton of Mercer county, with a guard of 12 armed men and were confined in separate cells, having first requested the jailor to invite the clergy to visit them. Since then they have been much depressed in spirits and Carter looked quite care worn. The clergy of the different denominations have visited them, and among them Rev. Mr. Castner, of Mansfield, who was their pastor, and who performed the ceremony of both their marriages. It is said that he was wavering as to their guilty till Parke asked him in one of the interviews, “can a man go happily to heaven if he was on the ground and took no part in the murder without a confession?” with a number of questions of a similar nature. They frequently asserted their innocence, and Parke seemed to entertain a hope till the last that, as he said, the guilty person would come forward and free him by a confession.
“Carter requested Sheriff Britton “to intercede, to have their bodies delivered to a person who would carry them to his father’s house,” which was granted. On Thursday, Parke was baptized by Rev. Mr Clark of the Presbyterian, assisted by Mr. Lanning of the Methodist Church, in Belvidere. His wife and children spent most of the day with him and took a final farewell. Carter’s family took their final leave on Wednesday.
“They both appeared penitent for their past sins and professed a hope of forgiveness, but persist in their protestations of innocence. They were chiefly occupied during the night and morning with the clergy.
“At 12 o’clock precisely the prisoners came from their cells, in the habiliments of the occasion: Carter walking ahead, with a person on each side, and Parke following attended by officers, clergy, etc. Both appeared deeply affected and when upon the stage wept. Rev. Mr. Clark invoked the [illegible] upon them in a shorting but touching and appropriate prayer; then they took leave of the persons on the platform and the sentence of the law was solemnly executed.
“They both professed their innocense [sic] to the last, and while upon the scaffold Carter, being asked by Mr. Clemson, who was one of his counsels at the trial, what he had to say now the was going to eternity, answered by declaring himself innocent in the most emphatic manner, adding “I know nothing about this murder. I die innocent and a martyr to public prejudice.” To a similar question Parke made a similar reply -- that he was perfectly innocent and knew nothing of the murder, and believed his friends and all his family innocent; he never heard any of them wish Castner’s or John Parke’s death.
“The public here has nevertheless no doubt of their guilt and the justice of their doom; and there is just reason to believe that they have gone to their final account without repentance. The enclosure and the prison were guarded by the military, though nothing like a disturbance appeared.”
Bodies Removed from Gallows
When the bodies were removed from the gallows they were taken to the home of Carter’s brother, William, near Port Colden. On the day of the hanging members of Carter’s and Parke’s family gathered at the home and spent the day in prayer. The bodies arrived early in the evening. No funeral services were held and later that night the bodies were interred in a common grave at the intersection of the Port Colden-Changewater-Anderson roads. Burying murders on crossroads was a custom then as no cemeteries would allow interment of such criminals. Men with rifles and torches guarded the graves all night.
Several years later the township erected a stone wall about the graves, and this stood until last year, when it was removed as a road hazard. Some ten years later, when the Warren Railroad extended its tracks to Changewater, a bridge was erected within a few hundred feet of the burial place. This span has since been known as Murderers’ Bridge.
There has always been a superstition that the bodies were not actually buried at the crossroads but this seems to be another legend. For many years after the burials, a wooden sign stood in the enclosure, on which the words, “Murderers! Beware of Final Justice,” were painted.
Thus ends the account of Warren’s most notorious crime. Tales of the murders still are part of the legends and folklore of this area. Although the Castner Murders have figured in numerous articles, the above is believed to be the most authentic account ever written. The facts contained are taken from records on file in the New Jersey State Library at Trenton and the Belvidere Courthouse. Harvey S. Mowder, of Pleasant Valley, who has done considerable research on the murders, has the complete testimony of the first trial of Carter, and this was used by his kind permission.
The principal item missing is testimony in the second trials. The records existing are only fragmentary. Carter must have taken the stand, and it would be interesting to read his statements. The same can also be said of Parke’s trial. The men were convicted on purely circumstantial evidence and even after a century one can wonder if justice did actually triumph. Were Carter and Parke guilty, or did public prejudices, looking for someone to punish, seize on the pair as the most logical victims? There must have been a strong belief in their innocence, or the case would never have dragged on as it did. Were there more persons “in” on the crime who were never apprehended? These questions were unanswered in 1843-45, and they remain unanswered now -- a hundred years later. They shall never be answered.
