The Supreme Court at Greenwood
BY: BG EDITOR
Greenwood Courthouse — Architect's Blueprint
Folio, The Greenwood Museum
Apr 07, 2018 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)
Built in 1902-03, what is known today as Greenwood's City Hall was originally built as a provincial government building and courthouse. Designed by architect George Dillon Curtis, the building once housed the offices of Chief Constable William G. McMynn, the gold commissioner, the mining recorder and the Registrar of the Supreme and County Courts. Offices were on the main floor, with the courthouse itself being housed on the upper floor.
The courthouse facilities are still intact and available for viewing. The courtroom is strikingly beautiful, with 7 m. (24 ft.) ceilings made of red cedar and brilliant stained glass windows. Of the three jail cells built into the basement, one was part of the original design. In 1953, the City of Greenwood bought the Courthouse building to use as its City Hall.
The Greenwood Courthouse served as the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the County Court for the Southern County of Yale. Judicial proceedings took place here from 1902-03 to 1953. According to provincial records, however, Greenwood took on the mantle of its judicial identity even before the courthouse building was erected. As recorded in the folio, 'Orders-in-Council, Queen's Printer BC, BC Laws':
"In 1900 the British Columbia government established a Supreme Court registry at Greenwood, known as the Greenwood Registry, by Order-in-Council #0199-1900, dated April 10, 1900, effective May 15, 1900." [1]
There was no doubt a registry office located somewhere else in the City before the courthouse building was constructed. The BC Archives record also notes that Court orders for civil and criminal cases are fixed into a scrapbook, and include some letters of administration from after 1921.
"Greenwood, B.C. Court House", c. 1906
Postcard, Cole & Frith
In a study of early courthouses in Canada, as part of the Canadian Inventory of Historic Buildings [2] (CIHB) project, Edward Mills wrote, in 1976:
"Built around Greenwood's rapid growth as a mining and smelting centre in the Boundary district, the building is representative of the wooden court houses erected to meet the needs of the province's numerous boom towns around the turn of the Century. The rowdy, unstable social climates, coupled with the often delicate task of settling mining claim disputes required the presence of magistrates and various government officials."
Edward Mills also gives a description of the kinds of legal cases heard by judge and jury in the Greenwood Courthouse. He writes:
"The volume of cases heard at the Court house was substantial, although the vast majority appear to have dealt with houses of prostitution and their occupants. In 1907 alone, 103 charges of being keepers of houses of ill fame were heard, along with 66 charges of being inmates of the same. By contrast, ten charges of drunk and disorderly conduct, two of larceny, one of theft, and one of escaping from the jail in the cellar of the building were heard during that same period. When the Municipal Officials were confronted with the fact that it was impossible to tax illegal businesses, operators of houses of ill fame were arrested and fined on a monthly basis."
The notable omission in this description of the cases adjudicated at the Greenwood Courthouse are the three most serious: Mills does not mention the cases of the three men who were sentenced to death in Greenwood's courtroom. These three dark cases are recorded in a report entitled, Persons Sentenced To Death In Canada, 1867-1976: An Inventory of Case Files in the Fonds of the Department of Justice - Library and Archives Canada.[3] (The period covered is through 1976, the same year Mills wrote his survey for the CIHB.)
The first of the three criminals sentenced to death at Greenwood was Joshua Bell, a 32 yr. old male described as "Colored". His victim was Annie Allen of Phoenix B.C.. He stabbed his lover to death on August 12, 1904. The trial was held that same year in the Greenwood Courthouse, in front of Judge Hunter. The judge handed down a sentence of 'no mercy' (death), although the jury found in favour of mercy. The date of execution was fixed for January 13, 1905, and was presumably by hanging (although no coroner's report is on file). Correspondence, order-in-council, transcript of evidence, the judge's report and a report to the Minister of Justice are on file in the Library and Archives.
The second person to receive a death sentence in the Greenwood Courthouse was Frank (Francesco) Ceddio, a male of Italian descent. He was accused of murder in the death of Louise King in Niagara, B.C.. Now one among the many Boundary ghost towns, Niagara was situated near the junction of Fisherman Creek and the Granby River. Ms. King was apparently inside the Canada Hotel at Niagara when it was blown up with dynamite by Frank Ceddio on November 18, 1906. Louise King was killed and 9 others were wounded. A detailed account of the very dramatic event is told in Ghost Towns & Mining Camps of the Boundary Country by Garnet Basque.
Ceddio's trial was held in the Supreme Court at Greenwood on May 26, 1908, before Judge Clement. The judge found 'no mercy', and Ceddio's date of execution was fixed for July 31, 1908. He was given over for hanging at the Provincial Gaol [jail] in Kamloops. On file with the Library and Archives are the case correspondence, order-in-council, transcript of evidence, and coroner's inquest.
The third and last person sentenced to death in the Greenwood Courthouse was James A. Dale. On October 14, 1906, in Carmi, B.C., Dale shot and killed two men: Joseph Celle and Pete Godereau. His trial was held on May 23rd and 24th, 1907 at Greenwood, before Judge Clement's bench. Execution was fixed for July 18, 1907, and he was hanged at the Provincial Gaol in Kamloops on that date. On file with the Library and Archives are case correspondence, petitions, order-in-council, transcript of evidence, plans, report to the Minister of Justice, medical report, and the coroner's inquest.
In 2012, a series of articles was published in Kamloops This Week about the history of the law courts and provincial jail in Kamloops. Two of Canada's most infamous hangmen worked there, carrying out the orders of area courts. Part two of the five-part series, entitled Canada's hangmen lived dark but colourful lives"[4] , provides a rather gruesome telling of their personal stories. While many books and articles cover the fascinating details of what life was like in the Boundary during the mining boom and bust era, the reality of life and social order at that time comes into sharper focus when we hear historical reports on the workings of the courts.
The harsh reality of justice at the end of the 'long arm of the law' also gives us a new perspective in appreciating the architecture of our beautiful Greenwood Courthouse. In his CIHB survey, Edward Mills provides an excellent description of the physical facilities of the courtroom, judge's chamber and jail cells:
"There is a partial staircase beside the Prisoner's box which used to go down to the prison cells in the basement. The bottom part of the stairs has been removed. The prisoners box has two seats, one for the prisoner and one for the sheriff. The first door to the left on the outside wall was the private entrance for the Judge to the Courtroom. There is a staircase on the outside wall to the ground. The door to the left on the back wall was the Judge's private room. … The door to the right on the back wall was the Jury room. There is a spiral staircase in the corner of the building which the jury & witnesses used to reach the courtroom. It comes out in the Sheriff's office downstairs. … The doors to the right lead to the Barrister's library & robing room; and the Witness room & Grand Jury room."
Describing the jail in the basement, he writes:
"All the windows are barred on the outside. The guard's room is 1 & 1 1/2 times as high as solitary confinement with blackened walls (from the coal furnace). There was a small window but it has been blocked off. An outside door in the furnace room was used by the guard. Outside there is the remnants of a cole bin. The first cell is solitary confinement and the walls are granite masonry. The outside door, by the jail cells, (now blocked off) used to bring prisoners directly into the jail cells."
Given the great finality of the stories of Joshua Bell, Francesco Ceddio and James A. Dale, we can imagine the somber mood in which they walked, no doubt shackled to the sheriff, up the stairs from their jail cell, into the courthouse, and back down again.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] Canadian Inventory of Historic Buildings, The Greenwood Museum
[3] Persons Sentenced To Death In Canada, 1867-1976: An Inventory of Case Files in the Fonds of the Department of Justice - Library and Archives Canada
data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000001052.pdf
REFERENCES:
'Honeyman and Curtis' - Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia by Paul Mackenzie Bennett
