This week in 1891

“Oh, Jesus, I give myself to Thee; Thy will be done. I hope that this will be a warning to others.”

— James M. Eubanks, convicted of murder, hanging, California.
Executed January 19, 1891

Eubanks shot his daughter, Ana, in the chest, then turned the shotgun on himself, but missed. Relatives’ testimony revealed that Eubanks was a hard drinker who repeatedly abused his daughter and admitted, according to a female relative, to having an incestuous relationship with her that resulted in a pregnancy.

He wrote in his confession: “I am a nuisance to the world; so I leave it in disgust. But I could get along in it sometime yet if I had no children; so good-bye.”