The Free James Titus Project!

Thank You for Your Interest

2010-12-20T05:54:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your interest in the Free James Titus Project!

This page is dedicated to Freeing James Titus, a Janitor at a Methodist Seminary in Hackettstown, New Jersey, when an 18 year old kitchen worker named Tillie Smith was raped and murdered on April 8, 1886. The Prosecutor and the Pinkerton Detectives ran out of leads after only a week, but the Yellow Journalists decided that the Janitor did it.

James Titus, an industrious janitor, beloved husband and father to a baby girl, served 19 years for a crime he did not commit because James Creelman and Joseph Pulitzer wanted to sell newspapers.

Even today, publications like "Weird NJ" and groups like TAPS encourage people to come to Hackettstown and hunt for the ghost of Tillie Smith. The townspeople of Hackettstown today are reminded of this year round, but especially in October. The historic society sells "Got Ghosts?" T-shirts to raise funs.

Janitor Titus's family has been wiped out. His wife died a month before he got out of prison. His last remaining descendant, a granddaughter, died in 1997. Tillie's murderer was never caught.

The Free James Project is dedicated to obtaining the first posthumous pardon in state history for old Janitor Titus.

We need all the help we can get. Please join.

"Hard to tell the difference between facts and folklore..."

2010-11-29T22:44:00.000-08:00

"Evilness sells...that's the name of the game."

"In order to study the laws of history we must change the subject completely, forget all about kings, ministers and generals, and turn to the homogeneous, infinitesimal elements that move the masses to action. No one can say how far it is within man's grasp to arrive at the laws of history in this way, but it is obvious that this is the only possible way of discovering any historical laws, and human intelligence has hitherto not devoted to this way of thinking a millionth part of the effort that historians have put into describing the doings of various kings, ministers and generals, and expounding their own opinions of these doings."
-Leo Tolstoy, "War & Peace" Volume III, Part III, Chapter 1

Free James Titus Radio Interview

2010-11-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

Original Broadcast Date: 11/15/09
WRNJ Radio

Mead/Meade

2010-11-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

Influential sociologist George Herbert Mead entered Harvard in 1887. I wonder if he could have been a relation to "Student Meade", who testified against James Titus and tried to collect the $10,000 reward before disappearing.¹ We may never know.

¹Sullivan, Denis. In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Flemington: D.H. Moreau Books, 2000.

What is a show trial?

2010-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial. The term was first recorded in the 1930s. There is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant and that the actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as an impressive example and as a warning. Show trials tend to be retributive rather than correctional justice.

Such trials can exhibit scant regard for the principles of jurisprudence and even for the letter of the law. Defendants have little real opportunity to justify themselves: they have often signed statements under duress and/or suffered torture prior to appearing in the court-room.

Example...

More at Wikipedia...

War & Peace - Volume III, Part I, Chapter I

2010-08-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

Although on a conscious level a man lives for himself, he is actually being used as an unconscious instrument for the attainment of humanity's historical aims. A deed once done becomes irrevocable, and any action comes together over time with millions of actions performed by other people to create historical significance. The higher a man stands on the social scale, the more contact he has with other men and the greater his impact on them, the more obvious are the inevitability and the element of predestination involved in everything he does.¹

¹Leo Tolstoy

The Innocence Project Can't Help James Titus - UPDATED

2010-08-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from the Innocence Project addressed to "James Titus c/o Erik Anderson" yesterday.

Unfortunately, it says that the Innocence Project will not be able to help me unless I can find DNA evidence from the crime, which happened on April 8, 1886.

According to records, there was more DNA than one man was capable of producing inside Tillie's body. Unfortunately, I don't think that the public is going to approve exhuming Tillie's body in an attempt to find it now. I'm no expert, but I think it's safe to say that the DNA has been destroyed by natural decay over the years.

That's the update for today.

Stay tuned! We are going to Free James Titus!

UPDATE - here's the letter:

Click Here to Read the Letter

The Ethics of the Historian

2010-08-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

It is true that, whether he is labeling a museum exhibit or writing a biography, the historian that lets himself be carried away by the hope that he is describing a "first", "oldest," "largest," or whatever, may be in for some embarassment. But there is nothing especially ethical about a desire to avoid embarassment; even burglars take care to avoid discovery. Embarassment is not the penalty to be feared. The historian who knowingly lets the truth be covered up or stretched out of shape may never be contradicted. His authority may be accepted in good faith. Those who doubt him may shrug their shoulders and say nothing, not wishing to upset him with inconvenient facts or arguments. The ethics of the historian are important precisely because he can so often expoect his sins to go unexposed. This is even truer of the local historian than of the professional academic. ¹

¹Felt, Thomas E. Researching, Writing and Publishing Local HistoryNashville: American Association of State and Local History, 1981. ISBN-0-910050-53-8

FreeJamesTitus Facebook Badge

2010-07-22T15:12:00.001-07:00

The Free James Titus Movement

Promote Your Page Too

Innocence Project Event - The Wrongfully Convicted

2010-07-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

Wish James Titus could have spoken at this event.

An "untimely death casts a gloom over the entire community."

2010-06-30T12:55:00.001-07:00

Click on picture to read article.

9/30/1886: JANITOR TITUS HAS AN ATTACK OF NERVOUS PROSTRATION

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

TILLIE SMIITH'S MURDER.; JANITOR TITUS HAS AN ATTACK OF NERVOUS PROSTRATION.
New York Times - September 30, 1886, Wednesday

Page 2, 1028 words

BELVIDERE, N.J., Sept. 29.--This was the second day of the trail of James J. Titus for the outrage and murder of Tillie Smith at the Centenary Collegiate Institute, at Hackettstown. The morning opened bright and clear, and visitors were early on the street seeking relief from the close, stifling air of the overcrowded hotels.

Read the entire article...

And remember:

Where a defendant demonstrates a history of psychiatric problems and a current thought disorder, creating a reasonable basis to question his or her competency to stand trial or to raise a defense centering on mental condition, the court is obligated to conduct a further inquiry either by appointing counsel or directing that a psychiatric examination be conducted.
State v. Ehrenberg, 284 N.J. Super. 309 (1994)

WNTI Studios - 4/27/2010

2010-04-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

WNTI 91.9 FM - Public Radio From Centenary College- Where Great Music Lives

William Randolph Hearst on Crushing Men

2010-04-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

My father once asked him, he said: "Mr. Hearst, why don't you concentrate more of your energy on motion pictures, which has a worldwide audience, instead of journalism which appeals to one city or one nation." He thought a minute, and he said: "Well, Douglas, I'll tell you. I thought of it, but I decided against it because I realized you can crush a man with journalism, and you can't with motion picture." That was his answer.

-Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - The American Experience (PBS Documentary)

New Press Release

2010-04-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

The following press release has been sent to over a dozen media outlets serving New Jersey and the nation:

PRESS RELEASE

From The Desk of:
Erik B. Anderson – Founder: The Free James Titus Movement
Contact: Erik - freejamestitus@myspace.com

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR NOT READY FOR POSTHUMOUS PARDONS

April 2, 2010 – Last November, a letter written by Erik B. Anderson of Independence Township, New Jersey, was sent to Governor Corzine, asking for a posthumous pardon on behalf of a Hackettstown Janitor named James Titus, 29, husband and father, convicted of an 1886 rape and murder. Titus was the night watchman on April 8, 1886. A kitchen worker named Tillie Smith had asked him to let her in after 10 o’clock that night, a deliberate violation of the strict rules of the Victorian Methodist Seminary. Titus refused. Tillie’s body was found “outraged” and strangled the next morning.

Smith was seen in the company of a man named Munnich that night. They and their friends had been followed and harassed by Frank Weeder and five other members of the town gang on their way back to the college. Inexplicably, detectives abandoned the case within a week. Outraged journalists from Joseph Pulitzer’s The World and The New York Times led an aggressive campaign to prosecute someone for outraging the pure, innocent Tillie.

According to an anecdote by “Old Newspaperman” published in a 1940’s-era Dear Lou column found in the files of the Hackettstown Historical Society (source unknown), the famous yellow journalist James Creelman, (“just out of the cub stage”) laid in wait in the belfry for a Janitor known as Mr. T to ring the bell. At the appointed time, Creelman jumped out at the Janitor, shouting “You killed Tillie Smith! You killed Tillie Smith!” The janitor subsequently went stark raving mad and was soon brought in on suspicion.

A LOCAL LEGEND

Tillie’s Ghost has been said to haunt Centenary College for more than a century. Hackettstown is a popular place for paranormal researchers of all ages, readers of Weird NJ Magazine and Ghost Hunters on Cable Television. It is no coincidence that the whole thing was started by a journalist. The story of Tillie Smith is a publishing phenomenon.

The most authoritative book on the subject is In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case (2000) by Denis Sullivan, a friend of Erik B. Anderson’s family. Many other books mix fact and fiction, but Sullivan’s book thoroughly examines the transcript, the original newspaper stories, the death certificate, etc..

His conclusion:

A careful reading of the trial transcript supports the argument that Titus' guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt. The state never proved that rape had been committed at the time and place alleged, let alone that Titus had committed it. (Chapter 8, p124)

* * * * * * * *

Erik B. Anderson sent an application for Executive Clemency to the State Parole Board in December 2009. Susan Meyer, the Governor’s Counsel’s Aide in charge of Executive Clemency, suggested he do it even though the Governor’s office does not have a policy for posthumous pardons. As it stands, the NJ Parole Board requires applications for pardons to be filled out personally. James Titus died in 1952. A posthumous pardon now would be the first posthumous pardon in state history!

Mr. Anderson is seeking publicity for his campaign to Free James Titus!

Erik has already done interviews for The Warren Reporter (Newspaper) and WRNJ-AM Oldies 1510 Radio News.

Please call for more information, or email freejamestitus@myspace.com.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

freejamestitus.blogspot.com myspace.com/freejamestitus twitter.com/freejamestitus

# # #

New Postcard

2010-04-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

Click here to read larger version.

Click here to read more about James Baldwin!

The FJTM Has Enemies

2010-03-31T15:06:00.001-07:00

The Free James Titus Movement Has Enemies
Originally uploaded by Erik B. Anderson

Someone was very naughty at the Stiger St. Quick Chek in Hackettstown this week.

It has always been difficult keeping postcards promoting the Free James Titus Movement there. Many days over the past months have been spent in frustration because I could put a postcard on the public bulletin board, and within as little as four hours, it is gone.

Now someone has boldly ripped the latest postcard in half and stuck it back up there.

This one has a quote from James Baldwin on it:

Sentimentality, the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion, is the mark of dishonesty, the inability to feel; the wet eyes of the sentimentalist betray his aversion to experience, his fear of life, his arid heart; and it is always, therefore, the signal of secret and violent inhumanity, the mask of cruelty.

Then I wrote:

Remember Tillie Smith!
Free James Titus!

and finally

He didn't kill anyone in 1886!.

This doesn't surprise me at all. It shouldn't surprise anyone who has read the book that the James Baldwin quote comes from, Notes of a Native Son.

Ah well...

If I'm able to post fingerprints, I will.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Smoking Gun

2010-03-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

From the files of the Hackettstown Historic Society.

Anybody know what publications printed "Dear Lou" in the 1940's?

The Fire Could Have Been Prevented

2010-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

There was a big fire in Hackettstown on Halloween night, 1899.

Hackettstown Historian Dan LeMasters told me today that the Centenary College Fire (Halloween 1899) was caused in the boiler room by loose rags lying around in the long place.
The Denis Sullivan book about Tillie Smith said that James Titus was a very conscientious janitor. When It his duties are listed, the first one was tending the furnace.

He would have been manager of the Maintenance Department by 1899. If he had not been sent to jail for a murder he did not commit, there would have been no fire. Hackettstown would be a totally different place.

What do you think?

Free James Titus! - Shame James Creelman!

2010-03-18T15:29:00.001-07:00

James Creelman
Originally uploaded by Erik B. Anderson

"...If the war against Spain is justified in the eyes of history, then "yellow journalism" deserves its place among the most useful intrumentalities of civilization. It may be guilty of giving the world a lop-sided view of events by exaggerating the importance of a few things and ignoring others, it may offend the eye by typographical violence, it may sometimes proclaim it's own deeds too loudly; but it never deserted the case of the poor and the downtrodden."
-James Creelman¹

¹James Creelman, On the Great Highway. Boston, 1901; pp. 177-78.

James Creelman Reported on Tillie Smith

2010-03-08T09:43:00.001-08:00

James Creelman -
"Yellow Journalist"

At the Hackettstown Historical Society, there is a very fragile copy of The World from May 4, 1886. The lead article is: "Is the Janitor Guilty? Just What the Law Alleges In the Murder of the Little Servant." The name of the reporter who wrote the article is not given, but under a subsection reminiscent of the "Fair and Balanced" journalism we have today. It reads:

IV. The Results of Careful Work.

Two newspaper men from New York determined that Tillie's slayer should not escape. They over the ground and thought out the case without having any theory in advance. It seemed to them clear that the girl was murdered indoors.

The article goes on to explain why the reporter(s) thought that the murder must have been committed indoors.

But indoors where?
The murderer would hardly have carried the corpse towards a building where there was a vigilant watchman and more than three hundred students. It seemed the first to the newspapermen - the professional detectives had not thought of this - more likely that the body was carried away from the institute towards the open fields. The place at which the body was found was the only spot where he knew he could get over the fence most easily. Once off the institute grounds the body, in this theory was laid down. The evidences pointed strongly towards the big brick building.
What evidences? The only thing this paragraph shows is that the reporters have made up their mind about what happened.

The article continues:

   Who alone in that building knew that the girl would be out after the closing hours? According to his own testimony Janitor Titus alone knew?
   Who had sufficient light, time, security from intrusion and discovery to have done the foul deed
  Janitor Titus.
  Against his simple statement that the girl did not intend to come back that night was the fact that she did come back.

Titus was incorrect, so he must be guilty?

Against his statement that she expressed fear of the matron was the fact that she matron was a mild, kind woman, who gently chided late hours and was never stern.

Really? A matron at a rural Methodist girls' college in Victorian Times never stern? That is just plain unlikely. But, leaving aside whether or not the matron of the college was, in fact, stern or not. That is not what needs to be disproved. What the reporter needs to disprove is that Tillie, a known associate of the town gang, was afraid of the most authoritative figure at the school.

Titus had just made the tour of the the corridors and was the only one in the building who knew absolutely that everybody else was in bed and that all the lights were out. Tillie had asked him to let her in, and he was the only person who had a right to open at that hour the side door of the dark rear basement. The girl left Munnich at 10.10 o'clock, at the front gate, and started towards this side door. If she knocked it was the duty of Titus to open the door. She would then have stood in a dark passageway, opening on a corridor.
She would have been face to face with Titus."

"If...would....would." Solid case, guys! I can see why you are so much better than those "professional" investigators.

Again, this article does not name the New York Reporters who have decided they know who killed Tillie Smith "without having any theory in advance". They didn't have any theory in advance of the time they are describing, namely, the exact point at which they started having a theory. That point was in advance of the time they wrote their article. After the point they describe themselves as having no theory in advance of conducting their investigation, they had a theory and they advanced it all over "The World", perhaps the biggest newspapers in the entire world. That is a well-known technique of Yellow Journalists. The theory they advanced wasn't really that James Titus was guilty. It was that they are not going to sell any newspapers if the Tillie Smith case doesn't get "advanced" by the likes of us.

The name of the reporter who wrote the article about the theory advanced by the mystery reporters, is not given in the article about them and their theory. Are they one and the same? I think so, but it will take time to find out. In fact, it may never be found out. The article "Is the Janitor guilty?" is much longer than the few segments I have posted here. I can tell by reading it that it must have had a profound effect on the public.

I have reason to suspect the reporters of the article and the reporters who are the subject of the article are the same. According to my theory, at least one of them was James Creelman, the famous Yellow Journalist in the picture above who was known for his vivid, personal and highly subjective writing.

Go check out the Tillie Smith file at the Hackettstown Historical Society. Check out the "Dear Lou" column from the 1940's. I hope it has as profound an effect on you as it did on me.

The burden of proof was on the Prosecution and the reporters who want the public to believe in their theory. They talk about "evidences" and "facts" but they don't show us evidence or facts. All I have to do to free James Titus is to show that their theories do not stand up to the test of reasonable doubt.

Be not afraid (at least of me). I am not freeing a killer. I am freeing an innocent man. The real killer should have been caught 123 years ago. Why that was not done is a source of shame in this community even today.

I have decided not to publish the Dear Lou column until I learn more about it. I encourage you all to come to the Museum. It is open most weekdays and on Sunday afternoons. In the meantime, learn more about James Creelman.

Per Wikipedia:

In 1872, Creelman moved to New York, where his interest in literature and law attracted the patronage of Thomas De Witt Talmage and Republican party boss Roscoe Conking. His first job was in the print shop of the Episcopalian newspaper Church and State. He later moved to the print shop of the Brooklyn Eagle. By 1876 he joined the New York Herald as a reporter.

Creelman traveled extensively to find stories and was unafraid to take on great personal risk in their pursuit. He joined adventurer and showman Paul Boyton on his treks across the Yellowstone River and Mississippi River, dodged bullets reporting on the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys and interviewed Sitting Bull. He also interviewed Mexican President Porfirio Diaz, wherein Diaz stated he would not run for reelection in 1910 to allow new leadership for Mexico, a promise he did not keep and that in part led to the Mexican Revolution.

After stints at several other newspapers, including the Paris Herald, the Evening Telegram, and magazines Illustrated American and Cosmopolitan, Creelman landed at Joseph Pulitzer's New York World in 1894, where he accompanied the Japanese Army and wrote about the tensions between Japan and China.

But Creelman's most significant assignment came in 1896, on a trip to Cuba to report on tensions brewing between the island nation and Spain. By 1897, William Randolph Hearst had recruited Creelman to his newspaper, the New York Journal, and assigned Creelman to cover the war between Cuba and Spain, which broke out in 1898.

More anon.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Beat It by Michael Jackson

More Michael Jackson music on iLike

Free James Titus!

2010-03-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

Robert Stockton Green Was Elected NJ's Governor...

2010-02-24T15:13:00.000-08:00

...six days before James Titus was sentenced to die.

Don't believe me? Read all about it.

He was on the committee of pardons¹ that reduced his sentence in March, too!
This is fascinating stuff. It really is.

¹Sullivan 114

Free James Titus Has a Facebook Fan Page

2010-02-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Previously all we had was a Facebook Group!

Erik B. Anderson is a fan of

The Free James Titus Movement

Create your Fan Badge

Wouldn't it be nice if this page got more fans than the Draft Betty White phenomenon?

Good Question

2010-02-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

"Is it reasonable to suppose that an intelligent and hitherto law-abiding man with an unblemished record, highly regarded in his community, completely trusted by his employer, a man without even a single complaint against him in 11 years of employment around female students and staff, can become a reckless, murderous rapist wihtout warning, virtually overnight?"

Denis Sullivan, In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Page 125

Susan Meyer Wants to Clear Something Up

2010-02-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

Greetings Friends:

Susan Meyer, the Governor's Counsel's Official in charge of Executive Clemency told me that they don't have a "No Posthumous Pardons" policy in Trenton. She made it clear to me that they just don't have a policy for Posthumous Pardons yet. It has never been done before. No one has ever applied for a posthumous pardon, so they have to develop a way to do it.

I hope that is clear. She has been extremely helpful, and nice and generous with her time.

With the new governor in office, they haven't gotten around to it yet. She asked me (and all of you) to be patient.

I don't want anyone to think that I have hostile feelings for her because they don't give out posthumous pardons.

Don't get me wrong, I still want people to write to the Governor to tell him why he should develop a policy to give James Titus a posthumous pardon. I jus tdon't want people to call them up and be unnecessarily difficult. They're adults, they can take it with a grain of salt, but they don't deserve it.

Thanks everyone.

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

More info: http://www.nj.gov/governor/

It's Up To You Now

2010-02-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, folks, I have sent in the Application for Executive Clemency. I followed Susan Meyer's instructions. She is the director of the Executive Clemency Division in the Governor's Counsel's Office. When I called Carinne Rivers, the director of the Executive Clemency Division at the State Parole Board, she said she wanted to send them back to me because the policy of "no posthumous pardons" is still in effect.

Luckily, I was able to reach Susan Meyer, who instructed Ms. Rivers to keep the application on file until the policy can be changed at a later date.

So now all we need to do is change the policy!

Easier said than done, right?

That is why we need you. Please, call the Governor's office - 609-292-6000 - ask Susan Meyer to change the policy. New Jersey should grant pardons to anyone, whether they are living or dead, if there is evidence of innocence, or reasonable doubt or unfair prosecution or any other legitimate reason for a pardon.

That is how offices like that work. They need feedback from the public showing support for any action they want to take.

Do some research on your own. Tell them why they should Free James Titus!

Encourage others to do the same. Please.

Promote the Free James Titus Movement on Delicious, or StumbleUpon or Digg. Write a letter to the editor. Post flyers in every Quick Chek in the state! Do something.

It's up to you.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

"[N]ot one word of real evidence."

2010-01-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

Hackettstown Gazette, May 7 1886

It is true the air is full of theories and suspicions, and the reporters of the metropolitan papers have woven an ingenious network of circumstantial evidence around James Titus and have manufactured public opinion so fast that the belief has settled into a positive conviction in the minds of a majority of our citizens that the right man has been found. ... [N]ot one word of real evidence has been adduced to convict him of this crime...we think it would be just as well to hold off condemnation of this man until something is shown connecting him directly with [it]...3

The indictment of James J. Titus was also written on May 7, 1886:

...hat James J. Titus, of the Town of Hackettstown, in the said County of Warren, on the 8th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1886, at the town aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, in and upon one Matilda Smith, then and there feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder, contrary to the form and statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace of this State, the government and the dignity of the same.

...the said James J. Titus, on the 8th day of April, in the year aforesaid [1886], in said county and within the jurisdiction aforesaid, in and upone one Matilda Smith, in the peace of God and this State then and there being, did commit, rape and in attempting to commit rape, and in committing rape in and upon her, the said Matilda Smith, did kill the said Matilda Smith contrary to th eform of the statute in such case made and provided, against the peace of this State the government and dignity of the same.

...that the said James J. Titus, on the eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, at the town and country aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, with force and arms in and upon the said Matilda Smith, in the peace of God and of this State then and there being, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought did make an assault, and that he, the said James J. Titus, on and about the neck and throat of the said Matilda Smith did then and there foloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought fix, fasten and grasp with his hands, and that the said James J. Titus with his hands aforesaid, her the said Matilda Smith then and there feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did choke, suffocate and strangle, of which said choking, suffocating and strangling she, the said Matilda Smith, then and there instantly died; and so the Inquest aforesaid, on their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said James J. Titus, in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, her the said Matilda Smith, did kill and murder contrary to the statute in such case made and provided and against the peace of this State, the government and dignity of the same...²

But Tillie Smith didn't die on April 8th, 1886. According to her death certificate, she died between on April 8th between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m..³

¹ Sullivan, Denis. In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Flemington, NJ: D.H. Moreau Books, 2000. p135
²Ibid. p46
³Ibid. p47

123 Years Ago Today - Titus Was Sentenced To Die

2010-01-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

My counsel have said in my defense all that can be said. But I wish to make one or two remarks for myself. I have to express my regret that upon my trial I was unfitted both mentally and physically to be a witness in my own behalf. I am of a low and despondent turn of mind at all times and this feeling coupled with the close confinement to which I was subjected entirely broke me down both in mind and body.

Since my trial, owing to the kind and gracious treatment of the sheriff allowing me freely to walk out in the corridor of the jail, I have been much improved in mind and body. And now I wish here to protest, before this court and before the world, against the conduct of the jury that tried me.

They tried me in my absence and falsely convicted me of a crime of which I declare here and now in the presence of this court and my countrymen who now hear me that I am not guilty.

And I most humbly ask the court to spare my feelings by sentencing me in as few words as possible, as nothing the court can say about the crime of which I am convicted can apply to me, as I solemnly repeat that I am not guilty of it.

These are all the remarks that I desire to make. I am now ready to hear the judgment of the Court.

James Titus
Warren County Courthouse
Belvidere, New Jersey
January 24, 1887

Source: NY Times: "...a more disagreeable day one can hardly imagine..."

New Postcard: All The Remarks I Desire To Make

2010-01-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

You might see this postcard on a bulletin board in the Hackettstown Area. Look in the Laundromats and the Quick Cheks. If you see anyone try to take it down, ask them their name. If they are not Erik Anderson, ask them if they are authorized to take it down. Thanks.

Erik

More postcards here and here.

New Postcard - RE: Warren Reporter Story

2010-01-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

FJT's Got Mail!

2010-01-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Someone wrote to the Free James Titus Myspace Page on January 2, 2010 , saying:

"Why don't you put this kind of effort into something that might benefit people who are actually LIVING today? Titus is long gone. Let it go already."

I was upset a little bit when I got that message; but, then I read a message from someone who wrote to us on January 1, 2010:

"As a local resident and paranormal investigator, I too have researched the Tillie Smith case. I also believe Mr. Titus to be innocent of the crime.
Tillie spent her last night on earth at a local club, formerly located on the corner of Grand and Main Street, across from what is today Charlie Brown's, the former Claraden House Inn. She was escorted home by a salesman who was staying that night at the inn across the street from the club, which is now the site of the uniform shop. On the way back to Centenary, they were accosted by Tillie's estranged boyfriend, who I believe was the real culprit in the crime....The ex-bpyfriend had motive and opportunity, while Mr. Titus had neither. I also do not rule out that the ex-boyfriend had accomplice(s).
My team of scientific researchers stands willing to assist you in any way. "

Please keep writing!

If you don't have a myspace page to use, you can just send e-mail to freejamestitus @ myspace dot com. I think that will work.

Have a Blessed New Year Everyone!

Sincerely,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Cross-posted here.

Open Letter to Governor Corzine - 12/31/09

2010-01-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

December 31, 2009

Erik B. Anderson
Hackettstown, NJ 07840

http://freejamestitus.blogspot.com

The Honorable Jon S. Corzine
Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625

RE: Pardon Needed

Dear Governor Corzine:

I previously wrote to you on November 7, 2009 asking (demanding) a pardon for James Titus, who served more than seventeen years in New Jersey State Prison for the Hackettstown murder of Tillie Smith, which occurred in 1886. Not long after that, I received an application for executive clemency from the New Jersey State Parole Board. Unfortunately, the cover letter states: "In order to be eligible for Executive Clemency, an applicant must have been convicted of a criminal offense in New Jersey..." (emphasis added). This is unfortunate because James Titus died in 1952 at the age of 95 years old.

I called Carinne Rivers immediately. I left a message for her. She called me back very quickly, in my opinion. She was most helpful. She stated that no one has ever applied for a posthumous pardon in New Jersey before. I asked her to inquire about how to become the first person to obtain a posthumous pardon for someone in New Jersey.

Ms. Rivers called me back a few days later. She said I would need to speak to Lisa Puglisi, director of the Legal Unit. I immediately left a message for Ms. Puglisi. After about two weeks, I wrote a letter to her explaining the situation. I spoke to her on the phone yesterday. She said she spoke to someone on the "Governor's Council". She may have been referring to the Governor's Counsel, I am really not sure.

Now you are aware of the progress of the situation so far. I want a chance to apply for a pardon for this man. The whole thing was a case of mass hysteria. It was an outrageous rape and murder. It happened during the Victorian era. The prosecutor ran out of leads. Titus was a likely suspect, but his conviction was based on circumstantial evidence. His confession, most believe, was made later in order to avoid the death penalty. There is a ton of reasonable doubt, Governor Corzine.

Ms. Puglisi sounded like your Governor's Council (or Counsel) just told her, as a matter of fact, that, that in order to get a pardon, a convicted person has to apply for it himself and that's the way it goes. She is not in a position to change anything but you are. Surely, poor Janitor Titus cannot meet that requirement. In fact, his last remaining granddaughter died in 1997. I would like to apply for the pardon on his behalf. I am asking you to make a way to do that.

It is possible. It can be done. It has been done in other states. Lenny Bruce got a posthumous pardon in 2003. Other less famous cases are rare, but they do exist. Making it possible to apply for a posthumous pardon would not only benefit Janitor Titus. I believe it would benefit family members of deceased convicts and others in New Jersey interested in correcting mistakes made by the courts that deceased victims cannot fix themselves.

I am not asking that the standards required to obtain a posthumous pardon be any less rigorous than pardons for living persons. I am only asking that it be possible to submit evidence of injustice to your office when it really exists.

Thank you for your time.

God bless you in your future endeavors and have a happy new year.

Sincerely,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

CC: State Senator Michael Doherty
Todd Petty, The Warren Reporter

Open Letter To Legal Unit Director, NJ State Parole Board

2009-12-28T11:41:00.000-08:00

December 19, 2009

Erik B. Anderson

Hackettstown, NJ 07840

Lisa Puglisi, Director
Legal Unit
New Jersey State Parole Board
P.O. Box 862
Trenton, NJ 08625

RE: Posthumous Pardon

Dear Ms. Puglisi:

I spoke to Ms. Carinne Rivers at length about my wish to apply for a pardon not for myself, but for James Titus, who was convicted of the murder of Tillie Smith here in Hackettstown in 1887. Mr. Titus died in 1952, but the Tillie Smith story remains a "legend" in Hackettstown. I am a historian and a sociologist. I am working on my own book about this case, and I just feel that it is time to pardon this man. It is the only right thing to do.

James Titus was found guilty because of the public pressure on the people of Warren County because of the extreme nature of the crime. Tillie was also raped, and in Victorian times, the entire community was gripped by a kind of mass hysteria that young Janitor Titus, a man whose father committed suicide when he was fifteen and might be considered "mentally ill" today, was powerless to defend himself against.

Anyway, there is much more to the story. I hope to write my own book about it someday. In the meantime, Ms. Rivers told me that no one has ever applied for a posthumous pardon in the State of New Jersey before. It appears that there is no formal way to do it, and she referred me to you.

Do you think that the New Jersey State Parole Board can create a method to apply for a posthumous pardon on its' own, or do you think a legislative solution from the Assembly and/or Senate would be needed? I am willing to do what it takes to ensure that it is at least possible to apply for a posthumous pardon. James Titus' last remaining family member, a grand-daughter, died in 1997, but I am sure that it is conceivable that someday someone else will want to apply for a posthumous pardon for their own family member or friend in New Jersey. Obviously, there is a need for a method to apply for a posthumous pardon in teh Executive Clemency Unit of the New Jersey State Parole Board.

I left one message on your telephone after Ms. Rivers told me she talked to you about it. That was about two weeks ago. I will call again. I do not wish to be a burden on your organization. I hope you can see how developing a method to apply for a posthumous pardon would be beneficial to the citizens of New Jersey now and on into the future.

Have a pleasant holiday season.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson

Assemblyman Titus Lasted Only One Term

2009-12-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

I wonder what he said.

This clipping was found in the Titus File at the Hackettstown Historical Society. It was obviously published on May 12, 1986. The publication is not known. At least not yet.

"They mah hang me, but they can't hang my soul."

2009-12-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

I found this in the archive at the Hackettstown Historical Society. It did not come with a source. I suspect this was printed in the Express-Times, but I really have no idea.

Warren Reporter Story - Free James Titus! - UPDATED

2009-12-13T14:37:00.001-08:00

An image of James Titus,

who was convicted of the 1866(sic)

murder of Tillie Smith in Hackettstown.

Independence Township man leads charge to have Hackettstown man convicted of Tillie Smith murder pardoned -- nearly 150 years later

By Warren Reporter

December 06, 2009, 4:04PM

Story Written By Todd Petty

Regardless of whether you believe in ghosts, Hackettstown residents have been aware of the presence of Tillie Smith for well over a century. Murdered in 1866 (sic), Tillie’s name still elicits an impassioned reaction from local residents – it is a part of their dialogue, a part of their folklore, and a part of their history.

However, pieces of the story may still remain unwritten — there remains a specter of doubt regarding the involvement of James Titus, the man who was found guilty and sentenced to prison for seventeen years for Tillie’s murder.

One resident in particular from Independence Township, Erik Anderson, is determined to close the case once and for all. Anderson is working to have Titus pardoned for a crime that he does not believe that Titus ever committed.

“If you look at the case and if you read the trial documents, it’s really obvious that there is a ton of reasonable doubt,” Anderson said.

More...

UPDATE!

This article was on NJ.com on December 6, 2009. I just discovered that it was printed on the front page of the Print Edition of the Warren Reporter (under the fold) on January 1, 2010! The title of the piece was shortened, the date of the crime was corrected and one or two other typoes were fixed.
I found this in the Hackettstown Historical Society already:

click here for a better view of the article

Not a bad way to start the new year!

Free James Titus Postcards

2009-12-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

If you live in the Hackettstown Area, check the bulletin boards at the local convenience stores, banks, laundromats and other retail outlets. You might see one of these postcards.

If you are in the Hackettstown area and you want some postcards, send me a note. We can work something out. I have about a hundred now. The supply is limited, but I can make more if there is a need.

Warm Regards

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

More postcards here and here.

Listen to the Free James Titus Radio Interview

2009-12-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

The interview can be heard on the Free James Titus Myspace Page.

http://www.myspace.com/freejamestitus

Thank you, Joyce Estey for your enthusiastic comments ("most interesting mail [she has] received in a long time"), and everyone else who made this possible at WRNJ Radio, a Hackettstown Institution.

Free James Titus

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

We Received an Executive Clemency Application

2009-12-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

At first I thought it was a mistake. I have never been convicted of a crime, so I can't apply for Executive Clemency. The second page advised me "IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY" to notify them of any address changes. It was scary to read that.

It was only after I was waiting on hold to speak to Ms. Rivers did I realize that the reason this was sent to me was probably because I wrote to the Governor about James Titus.

Click on Picture to see Larger Image

Unfortunately, Mr. Titus is not able to fill this application out himself. But, it is really great to have been heard, and to know that there is a formal procedure to get James Titus Pardoned for the heinous murder he did not commit 123 years ago.

I will keep this blog updated with my progress. Please do not forget to call the Governor before he finishes his term on January 19, 2010. That's more than a month, and it sounds like a lot of time, but as most of you probably know, it goes fast. Now is the time to Free James Titus!

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

The Press Is Interested in "Free James Titus"

2009-11-30T10:22:00.000-08:00

Greetings Freedom Fighters:

On October 31, 2009, I sent a press release similar to this one to several media outlets, including the Star-Ledger, Express-Times, Daily Record and New Jersey Herald newspapers; History, Smithsonian and American Heritage Magazine: New Jersey Monthly Magazine; and, several radio stations, too.

Almost immediately, I got a call back from Joyce Estey of WRNJ Radio, who said the press release was the most interesting thing she had gotten in the mail in a long time. I did a five minute interview with her on the spot. You can hear that interview on the Free James Titus Myspace Music Player. If you have a myspace page, it would be awesome if you could add it to your player for a while. This issue really needs to get some attention. Governor Corzine is only going to be Governor for a little while longer. It is the right time for him to be considering pardons. Gov. Christie is a "law and order" guy, and a conservative. That's not a bad thing, but I feel that he doesn' t have much incentive to pardon James Titus right away.

Anyway, last Wednesday, I got a call from Todd Petty, a reporter for the weekly county newspaper called The Warren Reporter. He was very enthusiastic about it, too. I could tell by the way he wished me good luck at the end of the interview. If we succeed at this, it will be very exciting, so I don't blame him one bit.

I have sent updated press releases out to many other outlets, and I will continue to do many things to draw attention to the Free James Titus Movement, but I need your help. It seems so simple and obvious that anyone with the power to do so would pardon James Titus if he or she would just look at the evidence, but as you know, these things can get very complicated.

Please write and call the Governor. Please do it multiple times. Especially now. Tell your friends. Bring it up at an Amnesty International meeting. Bring it up in your history class if you're taking one. It's very important.

I will keep posting updates here. I know that people are interested in this. We need more than interest, though. We need more than speeches and outrage. We need action. We need a pardon for James Titus. It's simple. There is more guilt involved in buying a Big Mac at McDonald's than there is in pardoning his 123 year old murder conviction.

Thank you everyone who has helped so far. As long as I live, I will not give up the fight to free James Titus.

Have a blessed holiday season.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Weird NJ is Speechless!

2009-11-24T14:47:00.000-08:00

by Erik B. Anderson - November 24, 2009

In late August of 2009, I wrote a lament poem about the Tillie Smith case and made it into a postcard that looks like this:

I sent it to a number of people and posted it on a few bulletin boards around Hackettstown, where the Rape and Murder happened in 1886. The only response I got was from Weird NJ, which is a publishing phenomenon around Warren County.

It follows:

Mark S. says

"Hey Erik-
RE: Tillie Smith-
We've Never sent "Investigators" about the Tillie Smith murder to Hackettstown. You must be mistaking us with someone else!
Regards
Mark S."

After about ten days - on September 21, 2009 - I finally got sick of being scared whoever this guy is and his flip postcard, and I thought of something to write:

And I haven't heard back from them since.

And this is why:

Not only do they send investigators to Hackettstown on their web site, they give them directions. The message below is copied directly from a page on WeirdNJ.com.

TILLIE: THE GHOST OF CENTENARY COLLEGE

Centenary College is located in Hackettstown, New Jersey on Jefferson Street. Tillie Smith was killed in 1867. There is a memorial to her in Union Cemetery in Hackettstown, on Mountain Avenue.

Hackettstown itself is located off Exit 19 on Interstate 80. To reach the college, make a left off the offramp, and proceed four miles on Route 517 to the first stop light. Go straight through the light and look for Jefferson Street on your left (it’s the fourth or fifth left). You should be able to see the school from there. I hope I’ve been of some help to you.

- Letter via E-mail

The entire URL is http://www.weirdnj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28

So, who is Mark S.? Does anybody know? Is it this guy?

Bueller? Bueller?

I am tired of ghosthunters and paranormal investigators coming around my town. It is scary. It is haunting. That's how I stand on the issue. How does Mark S. stand on the issue? Will he comment on this blog? Will he state publicly what his last name is? Weird NJ is a successful for profit publishing phenomenon that delights in scaring people, and they encourage their readers to go to towns where real people like me are trying to live peacefully. And they deny it when someone calls them out on it.

Shenanigans! That's right! I call Shenanigans.

Here is something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving: Halloween is a whole eleven months away.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Something out of Oedipus the King, Part 1

2009-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

But to condemn me like this, on mere suspicion,
Without any evidence! I can’t endure that!
It is unjust to condemn people with no good reason.
If mere supposition, unsupported,
Is all your evidence, you can call bad men honest
And decent citizens crooks and villains,
And justice will be done to none of them!
A reliable friend is a precious possession,
Worth a man’s life. Throw friendship away,
You destroy something living and irreplaceable.
The truth of this will emerge in time.
Time is the one incorruptible judge.
One minute is long enough to accuse a man.
To prove his innocence takes longer.

-Creon

THE FREE JAMES TITUS MOVEMENT HAS BEGUN

2009-11-17T07:35:00.001-08:00

PRESS RELEASE

From The Desk of: Erik B. Anderson Contact: Erik - 908-979-3493

THE FREE JAMES TITUS MOVEMENT HAS BEGUN

November 7, 2009 - Erik B. Anderson, a resident of Independence Township (NJ), today asked Governor Jon Corzine to pardon James Titus, the man found guilty of the 1886 rape and murder of Tillie Smith in Hackettstown. In the book In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case by Denis Sullivan, it is written:

A careful reading of the trial transcript supports the argument that Titus' guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt. The state never proved that rape had been committed at the time and place alleged, let alone that Titus had committed it. (Chapter Eight; Page 124)
In his letter to the Governor,

Mr. Anderson wrote:

James Titus was a small, frail, young man. His father committed suicide when he was only fifteen. He was prone to what we would call panic attacks today….He was terrified. They were going to hang him! He was able to stay alive by signing a confession, but in exchange he had to serve nineteen years doing hard labor at the New Jersey State Prison. The Reverend who said a prayer at the “last public rite that will ever be offered to poor Tillie Smith” at the Union Cemetery, after it was all over, said: “We regret, O God, to-day that there has been so much leniency shown the murderer in this case (NY Times, Nov. 24, 1887).”

Reverends are supposed to be compassionate! That one wasn’t. Please be compassionate, President Governor Corzine!

The Free James Titus Movement is something that has been building up inside Mr. Anderson for a long time. “It’s just bizarre that whenever I hear anyone talk about Tillie Smith, they get real quiet and tell uncomfortable jokes. This is a rape and murder we’re talking about, not a Halloween legend. I’m tired of living in so-called Weird New Jersey,” he says. Expect an online presence: a petition, a blog, a MySpace page, a Facebook group and more. “A Pardon is something that should happen. It is plain as day that there was reasonable doubt. The fact it occurred over 120 years ago makes it even more imperative that a Pardon happen as soon as possible. The real killer is still out there. Why would anyone want to stop this?”

Every American Citizen Has A Moral Obligation To Circulate Petitions, Write Letters, And Do What They Can To Free James Titus.

freejamestitus.blogspot.com/ * myspace.com/freejamestitustwitter.com/freejamestitus

*********************

Erik B. Anderson is a performing artist, a scholar and a concerned citizen. In 1996, he worked as an intern at the Chester County Historical Society Museum and Library when he was a Sociology major at West Chester University (PA). He won a debate with William F. Buckley, Jr. that same year. His other achievements include: visiting slave castles in Ghana in 1995; managing a Campaign Office in Hackettstown for Congressional Candidate Anne Wolfe in 2004; and, helping True Crime author Ann Rule (The Stranger Beside Me: The True Inside Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy) in 2002.

#30#

Reasonable Doubt in the Warren Republican

2009-11-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

The Front Page of the Warren County Republican (April 16, 1886) is currently on display in the front room of the Hackettstown Historical Society. It looks like this:

There is a lot of information on that one big page. Statements from witnesses are published. In the first column, it says this:

Miss Smith was a girl of remarkable physical vigor. Although her face was not comely, she had a beautiful form with magnificent shoulders and limbs. Her strength was a matter of comment among her fellow servants, and that she made a furious resistance is certain. She was overcome by the vise-like clutch of the hand upon her neck. That one man could have overcome her is not believed by those who know her. It is supposed that at least two were concerned in the crime.

So if one man could not have overcome her, how is it that James Titus, a scrawny little janitor, was found guilty and served almost twenty years doing hard labor for the crime?

I rest my case.

The Hackettstown Historical Society Museum is located at 106 Church Street, Hackettstown, NJ. The museum is open on Monday and Tuesday from 9:00-2:00pm; Wednesday and Friday from 9:00-4:00pm and Sundays from 2:00-4:00pm. It is closed on holidays. Special groups and other times may be accommodated by appointment.

When you're there, look at the calling card tray by the door. The calling card on top yesterday said Rebecca Titus. Go pay your respects.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

American Heritage Usage Panel Rules Against Hackettstown Historical Society

2009-11-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

According to the Hackettstown Historical Society:

James Titus served 19 years for the 1886 murder of Tillie Smith before he was paroled by the Court of Pardons and released from prision on December 27, 1904. For the nearly fifty years that followed, he lived ironically, in Hackettstown, amongst the same neighbors and townsfolk who championed his conviction. James Titus died in June 1952 and is buried in Union Cemetery, Hackettstown. Unfortunately, no one will ever really know the truth about happened that fateful night or if justice was truly served.

Erik B. Anderson doesn't like it when someone says "no one will ever really know the truth," perhaps it's because he loved the X-Files so much in college. In the spring of 2009, he read on Wikipedia that:

The American Heritage Dictionary’s usage panel found it unacceptable to use the word ironic to describe mere unfortunate coincidences or surprising disappointments that “suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly.”

So he wrote to the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel. They ruled in July, but it took three tries to get this letter to him:

Click on the image to read a larger version of the letter.

So there you have it, the use of the word ironically is "somewhat misleading" when the Hackettstown Historical Society uses it to refer to James Titus living in Hackettstown, among the townspeople who wanted to kill him, for nearly fifty years after he served his sentence. So I ask the Hackettstown Historical Society: Can they defend their use of the word ironically in this article?

Furthermore, what is so ironic about the building that Tillie Smith was allegedly raped and murdered in burning to the ground on Halloween night? The American Heritage Dictionary Editors think that statement is "somewhat misleading" too. Normally, one doesn't think of a historic society publication as being "sensational," but there it is. Right before your eyes.

Anybody want to buy a T-shirt?

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

"Guilty of mur..."

2009-10-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

The chief justice arrived first, then Prosecutor Smith, and finally J.G. Shipman, whose back yard abutted on the courthouse. The jury was summoned and filed in solemnly, indicating what the verdict was likely to be.

Titus was brought in last, looking very upset and evidently suspecting the worst.

The clerk of the court spoke: "Prisoner look on the jury; jury look on the prisoner. Gentleman, have you agred on a verdict?'

The jurors anwered in unison: "We have."

"Who shall say for you?"

"Our foreman."

The clerk now turned to Formeman James Lake, and asked: "Do you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty as charged in the indictments?"

Perhaps it was the awesome realziation that his next few words were going to bring about another person's death that made Lake nearly gag as he tried to get them out. He struggled to control his voice: "Guilty of mur..."

But the strain proved more than he could handle, and he paused, choking on the word with a sob, then finally blurting it out: "...murder in the first degree." He then collapsed into his seat.

Titus received the verdict wihout emotion, and Shipman demanded that the jury be polled. Some of the members seemed so overcome by the emotion of the moment that they could not utter the word "guilty," and simply nodded their heads.

The trial was over. Chief Justice Beasley discharged the jurors after thanking them for their service, and the prisoner was returned to the county jail to await sentencing.

Sullivan, Denis. In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Flemington, NJ: D.H. Moreau Books, 2000. ISBN 0-9662789-3-3

Titus' guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt

2009-10-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the emotional force of the crime and the need to call someone to account for it proved in the end more persuasive than either side's arguments.
A careful reading of the trial transcript supports the argument that Titus' guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt. The state never proved that rape had been committed at the time and place alleged, let alone that Titus had committed it.

Consider this.

"Man's lust is a potent force," Prosecutor Henry S. Harris declared in the opening of a summation that went on to accuse Titus of sacrificing the life of Tillie Smith to it. Indeed lust is a potent force, but was thet state's position credible that Titus' lustful thoughts, evidenced by allegedly salacious remarks to Mead and others, foretold criminal activity? How many millions have made passing remarks of the same type and never followed them with an antisocial act? What minister has not had less-than-religious thoughts about a parishioner; what accountant has not considered embezzlement? Who can argue reasonably that the thought being the father of the deed extends, as a general rule, to crime?

Sullivan, Denis. In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Flemington, NJ: D.H. Moreau Books, 2000. Chapeter Eight, Page 124

James Titus: These are all the remarks that I desire to make.

2009-10-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

My counsel have said in my defense all that can be said. But I wish to make one or two remarks for myself. I have to express my regret that upon my trial I was unfitted both mentally and physically to be a witness in my own behalf. I am of a low and despondent turn o fmind at all times and this feeling coupled with the close confinement to which I was subjected entirely broke me down both in mind and body.
Since my trial, owing to the kind and gracious treatment of the sheriff allowing me freely to walk out in the corridor of the jail, I have been much improved in mind and body. And now I wish here to protest, before this court and before the world, against the conduct of the jury that tried me.
They tried me in my absence and falsely convicted me of a crime of which I declare here and now in the presence of this court and my countrymen who now hear me that I am not guilty.
And I most humbly ask the court to spare my feelings by sentencing me in as few words as possible, as nothing the court can say about the crime of which I am convicted can apply to me, as I solemnly repeat that I am not guilty of it.
These are all the remarks that I desire to make.

Then, turning to the chief justice and calmly folding his arms, Titus said, "I am now ready to hear the judgment of the Court."

Sullivan, Denis. In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Flemington, NJ: D.H. Moreau Books, 2000.

James Titus's Wife Died Before He Got Out of Prison

2009-10-31T11:16:00.000-07:00

Click on image to read Nettie Titus' obituary.

My Lover's Gone by Dido

Rebecca Titus Was a Good Mother

2009-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

She taught her son how to live for 95 years.

Click on picture to read obituary for Mrs. Rebecca Titus.

James Titus Lost His Father to Suicide in 1872

2009-10-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

Click on picture to read article.

James J. Titus (1857-1952) - R.I.P.

2009-10-31T11:10:00.001-07:00

Who raped Tillie Smith?

2009-10-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Who raped Tillie Smith?
Who killed her?
It wasn't Janitor Titus.
Was it one person or two?
Where did they go?
Did they rape again?
Did they kill again?
Why doesn't this concern anyone?

The historical society sells T-shirts that say:
got ghosts?
It's a great fund-raiser.
Weird New Jersey sends "journalists" to Hackettstown
They pretend they are Ghostbusters.
They play with toys.
They have fun.
They even get on television.

But who raped Tillie Smith?
Who killed her?
It wasn't Janitor Titus.
Was it one person or two?
Where did they go?
Did they rape again?
Did they kill again?
Why doesn't this concern anyone?

-Erik B. Anderson