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Towns of Bloominggrove, Cornwall and Monroe

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When Claudius was upon the platform and just before being swung off, Mr. Youngs made his way close to him and requested him to tell where his papers were, that they were of great use to him and worthless to any body else, &c. Claudius replied, “Mr. Youngs, this is no time to talk about papers; meet me in the next world and I will tell you all about them.”

It is said that Maj. Nathaniel Strong was shot on the same night, (Oct. 6, 1778,) and by the same persons who attacked the house of Capt. Woodhull. “When they came to his house, about 12 o'clock at night, he was in bed, and they broke and entered the outer door, broke a panel out of the door of the inner room, from which there was a bed room, where Major Strong lodged. He being alarmed, entered the room armed with a pair of pistols and a gun. As soon as he entered the room, he was fired at through the window, but escaped unhurt. The assailants then called to him to deliver up his arms, and he should have quarter; on which, setting down his gun against the wall, he approached the door to open it, but as be advanced, they, through the broken panel, shot him with two balls, and be expired without speaking a word. Taking two bridles and a saddle they immediately left, and retired to their old haunts.”

In the “True Sun” of Feb 12, 1846, a writer under the signature of A. B. C., professed to give a statement of the conduct, capture, trial and execution of Claudius Smith, has based on the statements of the Hon. William Bodle of Tompkins county, formerly of Orange That statement, at the time, had a wide circulation, and obtained general credence, though very erroneous in many important particulars. As the historian of Orange we have endeavored to correct his facts and state them as they really were. By the by, many things in that statement were correspondent with fact, and we have availed ourselves of them in this article of our paper.

That writer remarks, speaking of the murder of Strong:-“This new outrage filled the inhabitants with resentment, and reached the ears of the executive. Gov. Clinton on the 31st of October pursuant to a motion of the Assembly, issued a Proclamation, offering a reward of $1200 for the apprehension of Claudius, and $600 for his sons Richard and James Smith. This had the effect desired. A number of persons banded together, headed by one Titus, a powerful man, of much daring, and set out for the place of Smith's rendezvous; but the latter had gone to New York, and Titus and his party followed.”

From this it is to be inferred, that Titus and the other persons were from Orange county, and that they followed Smith to Long Island; whereas Titus did not live in the county, nor one of his captors. The true version of the capture is found in the letter from Mr. James Tusten, a son of Col. Tusten who was killed at the battle of Minisink, which we place before the reader.

Judge Bodle, whom we personally knew, was a gentleman of easy faith, and too readily fell in with the popular belief in many things without a sufficient examination; for that writer, on the authority of the Judge, goes on to remark, “that he had his trial before the Supreme Court sitting at Goshen, Orange county, on three indictments-one of which was the murder of Major Strong; and on all he was found guilty.-He conducted himself with firmness during the trial and when asked if he had anything to say in his defence, he replied, "No; if God Almighty can't change your hearts I cannot.”

Now, we place before the reader the indictments, the judgment and death-warrants of Claudius Smith and others, which show, that Smith was not, tried nor convicted for the murder of Strong, but for offences entirely different. We adopt the concluding remarks of A. B. C. as correct, and truly descriptive of the last end of that notorious robber and freebooter.

“He was confined in the Goshen jail, manacled and chained to a ring in the floor while the jail was closely guarded by parties of the inhabitants-for they were apprehensive that an attempt would be made to rescue him. The order was given to the guard to shoot Smith, if an attack upon the prison was likely to succeed in his liberation. At length the day appointed for his execution Jan 22, 1779, arrived, and crowds flocked to see the exit of the man whose name had long spread terror through the country. Smith, with two other criminals-Gordon, convicted of horse stealing, and De La Mar, of burglary-were led forth to the gallows.

Claudius was dressed in a suit of rich broadcloth, with silver buttons, and with his large form and manly air, presented really a noble appearance. While walking to the place of execution he was observed to gaze intently towards the hills east of the town, to see (as was thought) if his comrades were not coming to his rescue for he had harbored through out, the idea that he should be preserved by some such interposition. None appeared, however, and he ascended the gallows with a firm step. Casting his eyes about, he bowed to several whom he knew in the crowd. At this moment a man approached Claudius and desired him to tell him where he should find certain valuable papers which he had abstracted from his house upon a certain occasion. Claudius replied that that was no place to talk of such things, and gave him no satisfaction. To show how perfectly hardened this wretched man was, it is authentically stated that on the gallows he kicked off his shoes, with the observation that his mother had often told him he would die like a trooper's horse, with his shoes on, but that he would make her a liar. When the cart was drawn from under, he swung to and fro perfectly straight, determined as was supposed, to evince no feeling; when senseless he twitched a little, and exhibited signs of life after he had hung a long time.