"I have admitted to man and before God that I have killed Emma Francis Stone."

On July 14, 1897, without a sign of a trembling hand or a hesitant step, Charles Brown, looking more like an old field hand than a brutal killer, ascended the stairs of the scaffold and stood behind the trap which would soon plunge him into eternity.

Brown's eyes shifted down to the crucifix in his left hand. Apparently unconscious of the crowd staring up at him or peering down from rooftops and hillsides, he mumbled a prayer. Removing his hat, he bowed to the audience and laid his hat on the platform.

With Sheriff Plunkett holding tight to Brown's arm, the condemned man raised his face to the sky and repeated the words of a lengthy prayer offered by Father Burke.

Sheriff Plunkett asked his prisoner if he had anything to say. Brown stared in the direction of Col. Stone, the man widowed by his merciless crime. In clear tones loud enough for those around him to catch every syllable he said, "I have admitted to man, and before God, that I have killed Emma Francis Stone. I am sorry for it, and for all my sins I ask God to forgive me." Then he added, "I thank all of the Christians who have been with me, and I freely forgive and ask forgiveness. All of my heart and love I restore to my true Lord in the name of Jesus. My Christian friends have done all that they could for me." He stepped forward onto the trap door.

As the Sheriff and his men tightly strapped Brown's arms and legs and pulled a black hood over his head, Brown, also known as Isador Cavanaugh, must have thought back over the fifty-four years of his life.

Born on March 1, 1843, on the farm of Colonel Halliday near Macon City, Missouri, he was the son of slaves owned by the Colonel. His mother died when he was nine, leaving him the property of another slave owner. His new master was a California horseman. The young slave saw little of his new owner but instead served under an overseer who maintained strict discipline. Brown never felt the lash himself, but saw his companions castigated unmercifully.

At the age of twenty, with the Civil War in full progress, Brown went to St. Louis where he was transferred to a man named Cavanaugh with whom he journeyed to St. Joseph. They arrived in April 1863 and immediately set out for California. There his master released him from slavery, a freedom he had never before experienced.

In California, they separated and Brown went on by stagecoach to Portland, Oregon. Soon after arriving in Portland he set sail for New York City aboard a merchantman going by way of Cape Horn. In New York he hired on as a servant to Captain Taylor, U.S. Cavalry, and sailed with him to Liverpool, England. When they returned to New York, Brown drifted to Chicago, then New Orleans, and on to Gonzales, Texas. He worked in various occupations while wandering all over Texas, Old Mexico, New Mexico, Indian Territories, and nearly all the southern states.

Brown made seven trips north from Texas on cattle drives. His last trip was in 1869 when he helped drive 6,600 head of beef cattle to Fort Randall on the Missouri River near Yankton. After spending the winter, Brown went to Sidney, Nebraska, where he married in 1872. Five years later, he and his wife moved to Cheyenne. Brown's next move was to Denver where he worked for several years before coming to the Black Hills in August 1879, arriving in Deadwood just before the disastrous fire.

During his final eighteen years on earth, Charles Brown seldom ventured outside the Black Hills. One of his various jobs was as a cook for Mrs. Emma Frances Stone and her daughter, Miss Bessie, in their restaurant in the basement of Deadwood's Syndicate block.

At about 7 p.m. on May 14, 1897, Brown and his 17-year-old grandson, Ralph Walker, arrived in Deadwood by wagon from their home in Whitewood. After placing their team in Geddes' barn, they went to Ben Simpson's saloon to drink and play poker with several other colored men. By midnight, Brown had lost all his money. He got up from the table and said that he'd be back later.

Brown went directly to the restaurant where he used his pocketknife to cut a hole in the screen door big enough to reach through. He opened the door and went in. Knowing that Mrs. Stone kept money and valuables in a trunk in the storeroom where she slept, Brown was easing his way to the room when he realized that the trunk would be locked and he would need something to pry it open. In the kitchen he picked up a knife and meat cleaver. He'd no sooner closed the door behind him when Mrs. Stone's little dog growled and came at him. He used his strong hands to choke the dog and was working on the trunk with the cleaver when Mrs. Stone stirred in her bed. Knowing she would recognize him, Brown struck Mrs. Stone across the face with a heavy blow of the cleaver. He then removed the tray of the trunk, took cash, some rings, and a gold watch. He stuck his loot in his pocket, left the restaurant, went back to Simpson's Saloon, and got back into the game. At 5:15 a.m. he sent his grandson to get their team and they went back to Whitewood.

About the time Brown and Walker were leaving Deadwood, Leon Libby entered the restaurant and ordered breakfast. Waitress Maggie Hudson went into the storeroom for the eggs. Inside she found Mrs. Stone lying in bed, face covered with blood. She ran out and reported her discovery to Libby. After verifying Miss Hudson's find, Libby instructed her not to let anyone near the body, then went out to find a policeman.

Chief of Police Donovan and Sheriff Plunkett immediately launched a whirlwind criminal investigation.

Coroner Whitehead began with an inquest. Dr. Paddock and Dr. Rogers examined the body and reported that Mrs. Stone's death was caused by a wound inflicted by some sharp instrument, presumably an ax or similar weapon. They estimated the murder was committed about midnight or shortly thereafter. The fatal wound, extending from the outer lobe of the right ear, diagonally across the bridge of the nose to the left ear, resulted from a single blow delivered with such force it almost severed her head between the end of her nose and her forehead.

Authorities studied the crime scene. The body was lying on the back and the left hand was covered with blood. Beside Mrs. Stone lay the body of a small dog which appeared to have been choked to death. The tray of a large trunk rested on top of the body. A bureau and other furniture in the room showed evidence of ransacking. A gold watch known to have been in the possession of the deceased was missing from its case and empty jewel cases were on the floor near the bed.

They concluded that Mrs. Stone, awakened by the entrance of intruders, was killed to prevent recognition. Her left hand apparently had been held up to ward off the blow.

Because circumstances pointed to Brown and Walker as likely culprits, Sheriff Plunkett and Chief Donovan set out for Whitewood where they found both men at Walker's home. Handcuffing and shackling the prisoners together, Sheriff Plunkett put them in a wagon and started back to Deadwood. One of the escorts, Officer Lackous, stayed behind to return by train.

News of the murder had already spread through the city. It was generally known that Brown and Walker were accused of the crime and that officers had gone after them. Believing the prisoners would arrive on the Elkhorn train, an immense crowd was at the station when the train pulled in at 11 o'clock. Since the men were not on board, the crowd began to disperse until word circulated that the sheriff was driving a team up Main Street. Instantly the cry of lynching was taken up and men ran in all directions.

Soon the sheriff appeared, but with only one prisoner in custody. Warned of the existence of the mob, he had already turned Brown over to Deputy Harris and other officers. With Brown between them, the officers crossed the Burlington tracks and, keeping out of sight as much as possible, started toward the jail. They began to encounter small groups of men on the tracks and empty cars standing in the yards. Just above the passenger depot the posse was confronted by a mob of several hundred.

Cries of "Hang him," and "Get a rope" indicated the temper of the crowd.

Drawing their weapons the officers quickly hustled Brown into the jail. Even after the prisoner was locked up, the mob lingered around the jail and court house apparently waiting for some one to take the lead in a rush to get at the prisoners. As the excitement slowly died away the mob gradually began to disperse until only a few morbid curiosity seekers remained.

By the time Sheriff Plunkett finished his investigation he had arrested eight people, including Brown and Walker. After the inquest all were released except Brown, Walker and a man named Crawford.

The case against Brown and Walker was built on evidence uncovered by the authorities. It was known that they'd been in the restaurant kitchen in the early part of the night drinking beer with Crawford, the cook, and Charles Bakewell, the dishwasher. Brown had once threatened Col. Stone with a knife. About two weeks earlier Mrs. Stone discharged Brown, who was employed as a cook, for getting drunk and making threats against her and her husband. Brown and Walker had been seen looking into the restaurant about an hour before he was said to have been in the kitchen.

A meat cleaver and long kitchen knife were found in the stream running behind the restaurant. The sheriff was sure the cleaver was the murder weapon, although running water had washed possible bloodstains from both utensils.

At 10 a.m. on June 10, Judge Plowman convened the trial of Charles Brown for the murder of Mrs. L. P. Stone. States Attorney John R. Wilson, assisted by J. P. Laffey, presented the strong chain of circumstantial evidence against Brown.

Defense attorneys Thomas E. Harvey and William L. McLaughlin offered no evidence, made only one objection to evidence presented by the state, and cross-examined only three or four witnesses. Harvey closed the defense case by saying, "Your honor and gentlemen of the jury, the defense in this case has no evidence to offer. Soon after being appointed by this court to defend the accused the true nature of the case came to us so forcibly that we have no theories of a defense, but allow the case to be submitted upon the evidence adduced by the prosecution. The defense rests."

At 4:25 p.m., Judge Plowman instructed the jury and sent them to the jury room. Twenty minutes later, the twelve men filed back into the court room, announced a guilty verdict and fixed a penalty of death.

On July 14, 1887, Sheriff Plunkett adjusted the noose. The men standing on the scaffold stepped back. A silent pause hung over the crowd. The only sound was a prayer in muffled tones coming from beneath the black hood. Sheriff Plunkett pulled the lever and Brown's body shot down through the trap door. Twenty-three minutes later he was pronounced dead and the rope was cut. Brown's body was placed in a coffin and given to County Undertaker Robinson for burial.

The hanging of Charles Brown was an event in Deadwood history that set a record for swift justice. Within two months a murder was committed, an investigation conducted, the perpetrator captured, a grand jury convened with indictment rendered, a jury brought in a guilty verdict and the sentence of death by hanging was duly carried out.