American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Online

5 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (sight) songsheet (appears to be laid down on paper backing, with separations, creases, and toning/soiling throughout; not examined out of the frame) matted and framed to 11 x 15 3/4 in.

Four coffins line the top of the sheet above a decorative border surrounding the text of the song. Copyright note at top for "Border Song Book."

Text providing title and explanation for the lyrics below appears just above the verses, reading "'Thou Shalt Not Kill!' / Song of Warning to All. / Written for the occasion of the Execution of the four unfortunate men, Gambrill, Cropp, Corrie, and Cyphus (colored,) sentenced to be hung, at Baltimore, on the 18th of March, 1859, for the crime of Murder."

The first two stanzas feature bracketed Bible verse references at the end, for example: "Hark! how in the words of the Law it is said: / 'Thou shalt do no murder,' and 'Thou salt not kill.'* / For God has the fountain of life in us laid, / And He may withdraw it alone at His will. / [*Exodus 20: 13; Matthew 5: 21.]"

The execution referred to took place in Baltimore on 8 April 1859. The four men, including African American John Cyphus, and three white men, Henry Gambrill, Marion Cropp, and Peter Corrie, were hanged at the same time. Cyphus was convicted of killing a "love rival" and the three white men were condemned for the murder of city policemen, as reported in the 27 August 1949 issue of The Baltimore Afro-American, in an article discussing the outdated method of execution.