Susan Eberhart Was Sinned Against
On a gloomy day in May 1873
Susan wore a lovely white dress
described as cambric-flushed.
Susan was perfectly willing to die.
Susan wore a lovely white dress
paid for by the sheriff.
Susan was perfectly willing to die
cheerful, confident and composed.
Paid for by the sheriff
Susan wore a calico sun bonnet.
Cheerful, confident and composed
Susan was escorted to the gallows.
Susan wore a calico sun bonnet
even though the day was gloomy.
Susan was escorted to the gallows
after making peace with God.
Even though the day was gloomy
Susan thought she’d be better off
after making peace with God
for helping to kill her lover’s wife.
Susan thought she’d be better off
going quietly to the gallows
for helping to kill her lover’s wife
though she’d tried to stop the murder.
Going quietly to the gallows
for giving her lover a handkerchief to smother his wife
though she’d tried to stop the murder,
Susan was more sinned against than sinner.
For giving her lover a handkerchief to smother his wife
Susan was sentenced to hang.
Susan was more sinned against than sinner
but saw death as a deliverance to be desired.
Susan was sentenced to hang
dying on a gloomy day in May 1873
but saw death as a deliverance to be desired
in her lovely, white, cambric-flushed dress.
Story of the Historical Susan Eberhard
This crime sent shock waves throughout the country, in part because the notion of hanging a white woman horrified many people. In coverage by the New York Times, its reporter called Susan’s execution “the saddest day ever witnessed in Georgia.” The Georgia Enterprise claimed that Susan’s lover, Enoch Spann, dragged her from her warm bed to “witness and partly participate in the dark and damning crime,” the killing of Enoch’s wife, Sarah. He did this after other murder plans and attempts failed, including when he tried to drown his elderly wife in the creek, but Susan (who was their servant) saved her. Pleas to have Susan’s sentence commuted to a life in prison did not, obviously, succeed. Some lines from this poem are paraphrased from contemporary news coverage.