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The Room with the Little Door
Roland Burnham Molineux was convicted of murder - by poison - and sent to death row at Sing Sing - the title of this book of stories and impressions refers to the door to the death chamber. After 3 years he was acquitted in a retrial.
He describes the other inmates, their lives and troubles, and how the District Attorney’s office in the early 1900s would let police officers pretend to be priests or lawyers hired by the families, to coax confessions from the accused.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
He describes the other inmates, their lives and troubles, and how the District Attorney’s office in the early 1900s would let police officers pretend to be priests or lawyers hired by the families, to coax confessions from the accused.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
263 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1902
2 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Roland Burnham Molineux
21 books1 followerRoland Burnham Molineux (1866–1917) was a paint-factory chemist and social climber from Brooklyn. He was arrested for having sent a bottle of poisoned Bromo‐Seltzer to the manager of the Knickerbocker Athletic Club after an argument. The manager's cousin, Katherine J. Adams, took some and died. He was charged with murder in the first degree for having caused her death by poisoning. The proceedings lasted from November 1899 to February 1900, making the People v. Molineux the longest and one of the most expensive trials in New York history to that date. After two mistrials Molineux was found guilty, but the verdict was appealed, and he was acquitted in a retrial after three years in prison. He then wrote books as well as a play. Tensions related to the production of the play apparently proved too much for the author, for shortly after the play closed he was committed to an insane asylum where he died four years later.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 9, 2016
This was an unexpected surprise, I came across the cover at gutenberg.org, and started reading the book.
Molineux spent several years on death row in the early 1900s before he was aquitted, and his tales and impressions are well written, intelligent and quite eerie. If half of what he writes about the NY District attorney and the press is true, that's scary business!
Molineux spent several years on death row in the early 1900s before he was aquitted, and his tales and impressions are well written, intelligent and quite eerie. If half of what he writes about the NY District attorney and the press is true, that's scary business!
June 5, 2019
An odd and interesting little book that combines the author's personal philosophy, black humor, and descriptions of the death house conditions. Both the main text and the afterward by a journalist assume the reader's familiarity with Molineux's murder trials, so there are a lot of questions that aren't answered. The Wikipedia entry fills in those gaps, and reveals why the book is of real historical interest.
October 28, 2019
Fun read about a man's experiences on death row during the turn of the 20th century New York. Familiarity with what brought the author to death row would help, but fine as a standalone. I actually had some familiarity with the case as I had read a blog about it before reading this, and as I write this review I'm currently midway through Harold Schechter's excellent long-form treatment of the Molineux Poisoning affair, 'The Devil's Gentleman'.
Some interesting things to note
- The author just does not talk much of anything about his past and what brought him to death row, although there are references to poison(his fellow prisoners gifting him Bromo-Seltzer in jest)
- The author (I think rightly) rails against handwriting experts (of the time at least) owing to their dubious qualifications and lack of standardized training
- While completely lambasting trial by media (what he called the "fourth degree" or investigation), he seems to support the use of torture (the "third degree") while being completely aware of its brutal limits
- For a man widely seen as a pompous snob before his imprisonment he seemed to have bonded well and found camaraderie with his fellow condemned, most of whom were working class, some poor immigrants barely able to speak english, and was able to both make the best of his situation, and mourn the latest taken to the "Little Door" with respect
The author would eventually be acquitted and released in his retrial
after finishing Schechter's book I shall try to find and read the play "The Man Inside", also by this book's author and also relating to his prison experience, which was written while he was suffering from the late-stage syphillis which would eventually drive him insane and dead in 1917.
Some interesting things to note
- The author just does not talk much of anything about his past and what brought him to death row, although there are references to poison(his fellow prisoners gifting him Bromo-Seltzer in jest)
- The author (I think rightly) rails against handwriting experts (of the time at least) owing to their dubious qualifications and lack of standardized training
- While completely lambasting trial by media (what he called the "fourth degree" or investigation), he seems to support the use of torture (the "third degree") while being completely aware of its brutal limits
- For a man widely seen as a pompous snob before his imprisonment he seemed to have bonded well and found camaraderie with his fellow condemned, most of whom were working class, some poor immigrants barely able to speak english, and was able to both make the best of his situation, and mourn the latest taken to the "Little Door" with respect
The author would eventually be acquitted and released in his retrial
after finishing Schechter's book I shall try to find and read the play "The Man Inside", also by this book's author and also relating to his prison experience, which was written while he was suffering from the late-stage syphillis which would eventually drive him insane and dead in 1917.
November 10, 2018
It's a collection of real stories happened behind the bar in US. The author was a death row inmate before his acquittal made him a free man to tell the tale.
Honestly didn't appealed to me. Not because stories told was not interesting. But more to the colloquial way it penned up that made me hard to absorb and feel it. Not my cup of tea. Yet it may sits well with the American as it was written in their slang. So they will have better comprehension than me in understanding it..
Honestly didn't appealed to me. Not because stories told was not interesting. But more to the colloquial way it penned up that made me hard to absorb and feel it. Not my cup of tea. Yet it may sits well with the American as it was written in their slang. So they will have better comprehension than me in understanding it..
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews