Charles Guiteau
[This song was written about Charles Julius Guiteau (September 8, 1841 – June 30, 1882), an American preacher, writer, and lawyer who was convicted of assassinating U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.
It's found in Randolph/Ark,OK; Arnold/AL; Belden/MO; Brown/NC; Burt/PA; Hubbard/UT; Hudson/MS; Lomax (this version claims to be a transcription of Harrell's recording, but even a casual glance shows that it is not); Morris/FL; Owens/TX. Laws also lists four journal articles (texts from CO, OK, SC, IA) and three Library of Congress recordings (NY, VA, MS). More recently, two southern versions of the song have been published by McNeil and Combs/Wilgus; there is also a version printed by Friedman. [ref. Bob Waltz]
R. Matteson 2014]
CHARLES GUITEAU
Come, all you tender Christians,
From everywhere you be,
And likewise, pay attention
To these few words from me.
On the thirtieth day of June
I am condemned to die,
For the murder of James A. Garfield,
upon the scaffold high.
My name is Charles Guiteau,
My name I'll never deny,
Though I leave my aged parents
I'm sorry for to die.
Chorus:
My name is Charles Guiteau,
My name I'll never deny,
For the murder of James A. Garfield,
Upon the scaffold high. [1]
It was down at the depot
To make my escape.
And Providence was against me,
It proved to be too late.
I tried to sing and play
And found that would not go;
The people were against me,
It proved to have no show.
It's now I'm at the scaffold
I bid you all adieu,
The hangman now is a-waiting,
It's a quarter after two.
The black cap's on my face,
No longer can I see,
But when I'm dead and buried,
Dear Lord, remember me.
1. The writer also heard this line sung: I was doomed to die.