RUMORS IN RELATION TO HIS FAMILY.
We have been favored by a gentleman with the following account of the family of Hicks: The father of the prisoner lives at Gloucester, a few miles from Chepatchet, Rhode Island. He used to be a collier in that neighborhood, and had the reputation of being an honest man. About fourteen or fifteen years ago he was employed by our informant. Simon Hicks, the brother of Albert W. Hicks, alias William Johnson, was several years ago sentenced to be executed for the murder of a man named Crossman, under the following circumstances: Mr. Crossman lived in Gloucester. He was an old bachelor, and lived alone. Simon Hicks and he were very friendly, and Simon used to visit him very often. One night, however, Simon went to Crossman’s house, broke in at the door while the old man was in bed, and beat him to death with a club. He then helped himself to several hundred dollars of the old man’s treasures, and in a few days left for Providence, a distance of sixteen or eighteen miles from Gloucester, taking with him a girl to whom he had been paying his addresses. In Providence he bought her a gold watch, and various other articles of finery. This lavish conduct caused suspicion, and he was arrested. He was examined in Chepatchet, and afterward acknowledged his guilt. He was subsequently tried in Providence, convicted of murder, and sentenced to be executed. While awaiting execution, one of the prisoners in the jail, whose time had almost expired, opened a number of the cells, and there was quite a stampede of prisoners, among whom was Simon Hicks. They were all recaptured within a few days, with the exception of Simon Hicks, who has never been heard of since. This escape was deemed a very strange circumstance, inasmuch as Simon was known to be imbecile and unwary. His simplicity created much sympathy in his behalf. In referring to Simon, our New York prisoner admitted that some strange stories had been told about him, but he guessed they never amounted to much. The last he had heard of his brother was that he had gone to California.