August 29, 2008  Nine to Five  Haymarket souvenir medallion The
news that Governor Oglesby would not commute the sentences of
Parsons, Spies, Engel, and Fischer was received by the four men
with composure. They had long been prepared for the worst. A
deputy sheriff who was with Parsons on the night of November 10
reported that he was in good spirits, indeed "very cheerful and
hopeful." Parsons, in a garrulous mood, talked almost
incessantly for several hours. He spoke about socialism and
anarchism, about Haymarket, about his wife and children. It was
not until he reached the last subject that he manifested any
regret, and "the more he talked about it, the more sorrowful he
became." He said that Lucy was "a brave woman, a true wife, and
a good mother."  After the lights had been turned out and the
prisoners settled down for the night, the silence of death row
was broken by Parson's voice, reciting Whittier's poem "The
Reformer": Whether on the gallows high, Or in the battle van,
The noblest place for man to di