"Horrible Wife Murder in Virginia, and Execution of a Negro"

On Saturday, January 6 of 1872, the Illustrated Police News published an article on the front page of their newspaper initially titled, “Horrible Wife Murder in Virginia, and Execution of a Negro”. The article had a change of heading when the text was included, as it was later renamed inside the newspaper, “An Unrelenting Negro Beats His Wife to Death”. The text detailed the account of Jacob Brock, a Black man, who was facing execution after confessing that he killed his wife, due to her infidelity and him losing his temper with her. It was reported that after returning home from buying a bottle of whisky, Jacob unexpectedly began to beat, torture and ultimately killed her, after leaving her out tied to a peach tree overnight. His stepson was the only eyewitness to the events, though he informed the police and court that Jacob was sober before he began his attack on his wife, but was drinking as he was doing so and was belligerent by the time he stopped. The authorities found no evidence as to why Jacob would kill his wife, except for the fact that he was described as an “usually sober negro” and that as a couple, him and his wife lived “harmoniously as most couples of their class and color”. By the time it came to his hanging in December, many people from the crowd grew tired of the man’s self-pride and unremorseful behavior. After pointing out that the violent act was performed due to his wife’s infidelity, his jealousy, and him drinking too much whisky, he remarked to the crowd, “There are not fifteen persons among you who would not have done the same thing under the circumstances,” in which a Black person from the audience yelled back, “They certainly do take time with that man; it is time the damned [negro] was hung and gone”. The laughter and profanity thrown at Jacob ended before another hymn was said and he was soon hung afterwards.

The article is very interesting to read, because it gives a very detailed report of what Jacob did to his wife, which left her without any energy left in her body to try to fight for her life, as she died tied to a tree. The account does not mention what started the fight in the first place, which makes it appear even more so that Jacob’s act was random, however he is adamant that his wife was cheating on him. The wife, who is the victim in the story and used as the leading ‘clickbait’ title that the publishers go with, to draw in the reader. The second title is more fitting to the description of the text, though, nevertheless, both are very similar yet different. To begin with, the initial title starts with the ‘wife’ and then the ‘negro’ that beat her. It appears as two different stories. However, the second title starts with the ‘negro’ and then the ‘wife,’ and it makes it seems as though it is one story. The story although about the death of a woman, is more sympathetic towards the execution of the man that killed her. The wording and detailing about his trial and the day of his hanging is more somber and written almost very delicately. It takes away from what he did and how he reacted to it. The audience were many of the few people that saw through his pitifulness.