THE TRIAL OF DR. JOHN W. HUGHES, FOR THE MURDER OF MISS TAMZEN PARSONS; WITH A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE, AS RELATED BY HIMSELF. A RECORD OF LOVE, BIGAMY AND MURDER, UNPARALLELED IN THE ANNALS OF CRIME by [Hughes, Dr. John W.] - 1866

Cleveland: Printed for the Leader Company, 1866. 58pp. Disbound. Original printed wrappers, the front wrapper illustrated with a portrait of Dr. Hughes. Some wrapper spotting and wear. Text clean, but a printer's flaw at page 52 affects several letters without obscuring their meaning. Good+.

This is the 58-page edition, which adds Hughes's farewell letter. The other printing is 57 pages. In August 1865, "Jealous and intoxicated, Hughes, on the streets of Bedford, Ohio, shot the seventeen-year-old girl he had seduced. At his execution, he spoke for fifteen minutes until the sheriff reminded him 'Time is going.' Then he dropped" [McDade].
Hughes, though married, lived a life "of indulgence, dissipation and moral and physical abandon." His interesting life in and out of prison is described in detail. A Civil War veteran, he was assigned as a surgeon to the 48th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. In December 1864 he deceived young Miss Parsons by pretending he was available to marry her, "under cover of a forged bill of divorce from his loving wife." Hughes's lawyer mounted a defense of "hereditary insanity." The pamphlet summarizes the testimony of witnesses, the arguments of counsel, the judge's charge to the jury [which includes a long discussion of the insanity defense], the verdict of guilty, Dr. Hughes's "final arraignment," his efforts to "secure a commutation," his attempt to kill himself with morphine, the execution, and his farewell letter to his wife and children.
McDade 493. Marke 991. II Harv. Law Cat. 1108 [57pp]. OCLC records seven locations of this 58-page printing as of July 2018.