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The Hanging of the Notorious Outlaw Copeland
After a number of trials as well as confusion over which state had the right to hold him, Copeland was returned to Old Augusta, where he was tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. He spent several weeks in the tiny brick jail, reliving his life of crime in conversations with the sheriff who had captured him.
On the night before his execution, Copeland wrote a now famous letter to his mother Rebecca, deploring his life of crime and telling her that "had you given me the proper advice when young, I would now perhaps be doing well.?
He also told her that he was ?morti-( fied to think how distantly you have treated me while here in prison ? not the first time have you been here to seej me.? Then he added that ?I can freely excuse you for all this,? and he bid her? a "long farewell.?	j
The morning of the execution ? Oct. j 30, 1857 ? was sunny and clear, and , thousands of spectators filled the open J area surrounding the gallows. Before | the sentence was carried out, Copeland was questioned by several people in the crowd concerning particular crimes, but, according to Sheriff Pitts, ?he