Wanna hang? (image courtesy of Chris 73.)

I found this old print article in the February 3, 1853 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Like all great stories, it contains a hanging, witchcraft and a pair of pants. The two men who were hanged, William Saul and John Howlett, were river pirates convicted of murdering a watchmen on the deck of a vessel. An excerpt from “Witchcraft–High Price of Old Pants”:

“We had supposed that witches, witchcraft and all things appertaining thereto, except spiritual rappings, were quietly resting in their graves for the last century. But it appears we are mistaken. A curious proof that such superstitions are not altogether exploded, occurred in relation to Saul and Howlett, who were executed a few days back.

A Dutchman who was to be present at the execution, was applied to by another Dutchman to procure him a small piece from the clothes in which the malefactors were to be hanged, and for which he promised to pay a liberal price. The man to whom the application was made, asked the applicant what inducement he had to procure pieces of the malefactors’ dress. ‘I want it,’ replied he, ‘to witch people.’

A day or two after the execution, the man who wanted to ‘witch people’ applied to his friend for what he had bespoken from him, but the latter had forgotten to procure it and instead of delivering the real article according to contract, he cut two strips from an old pair of pants and received $10 for them, and no doubt they were just as good as the genuine article.”