Racine Thomas

Extract from an article of the Standard-Freeholder April 30, 2011
By Danielle Vandenbrink

Racine, a veteran officer with the Cornwall Community Police Service, is writing a book on his off distant colleague John Robert Davey, Cornwall’s only police officer killed in the line of duty on September 6, 1892, trying to apprehend an armed man named James Slavin. In his quest to uncover the events surrounding the death of James Slavin, Tom Racine has come across an artifact that has given him a rare look into the case.

The story is as follows: John Robert Davey was 47 years old when he died. Over the past year, Racine has described himself like “a dog after a bone” tracking down information surrounding Davey’s last days — including sifting through genealogy, contacting ancestors and flipping through microfilm.

Following a presentation he gave on his investigation, Racine was contacted by a member of the public. Cornwall resident Mary Jane Gibbons told Racine she had in her possession a historical treasure - a weathered Cornwall Standard newspaper from Dec.6, 1892 outlining in detail the cold-blooded murder and the demise of his killer.

The eight-page newspaper is a telling account of Davey’s death, on Slavin’s short-lived trial, an interview by a reporter on the eve of his hanging and the spectacle of his death in the Cornwall gaol (old English for jail). The article even has a as sketch of the 23-year-old Slavin.

Although Racine was able to uncover detail about who Davey was and the events surrounding his death, the more than 100 year-old newspaper lays out important events leading up to Slavin’s execution. Starting with his arrest, the article outlines Slavin’s confession to police as outlined in a police report, which states, “I told (John) Davey to let go of me to as I would never be arrested?’ “(John Davey) said he must do his duty and I pulled my gun on him” he said.

The article also outlines Slavin’s attempt to escape a week before his trial, where the murderer used an iron bar to hit a prison guard over the head when he was bringing Slavin his supper. After wrestling with the guards, Slavin was unsuccessful in his escape “causing unfavorable consideration for his defense,” the article said. The article also maps Slavin’s trial, and after being sentenced to death made no statement in defense. It tells about Slavin’s company before his death, including visits by clergymen and old friends - which gave a telling tale of the man he was leaving Cornwall to work as a fireman on a steam ship traveling between the Isthmus of Panama, Vancouver and China. After, it said Slavin worked as a cowboy in Denver and Montana, and also lived in California. The article also said Slavin requested an interview with the Cornwall Standard editor, where he asked letters be published explaining his actions to the public. Slavin told the editor, he deeply regretted killing Davey, and he accepted and welcomed his fate. The article also outlined Slavin’s childhood, telling of an Irish immigrant who came to Cornwall when he was 7 years old. It explained Slavin to be a good student, and throughout his life keeping up with current events through reading the news. He spent most of his life away from Cornwall, and arrived in the city 10 days prior to the shooting. The article also set out Slavin’s final meeting with his father, in which his father told him of the shame he brought the family’s name.

On the morning of his hanging, Slavin was said to have eaten three eggs and several pieces of toast at around 5:45 a.m., and passed the time by making conversation with the guards. During his execution, a crowd was said to have gathered in front of the goal - driven by their “morbid curiosity” to attend the hanging. A black flag was raised over the courthouse. Shortly after 7 a.m., Slavin was taken into the inner yard of the goal, located on Water Street his face said to be “deathly pale and his lips firmly set, his outward coolness being evidently maintained only by an extreme effort.” His last words uttered after the noose was secured around his neck, “Let her go, let her go!” and then “Goodbye.”

Although yellowed and slightly weathered, the more than a century-old paper is a major lift for Thom Racine’s historical quest as it gives a rare account of the events. Mary Jane Gibbons said the newspaper was found behind a wall in her family’s home in Cornwall - suspected to be put there by her grandfather. Gibbons said she kept the paper because of its content. “I knew I was holding history in my hands,” she said. “So I said, ‘We’ll keep it.”

Racine relates the discovery to getting a gift during the holidays. “It was like Christmas morning for me,” he said. “When I came over and saw it, I had goose humps.” “It was crazy” he said. Racine said the discovery was even rarer because copies of the Cornwall Standard newspaper were not archived in the same way as The Freeholder newspaper, another of the city’s first newspapers. Racine said finding the newspaper as well as the article itself, will make its way into his book, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of year 2011.