Ann Wyley (or Wiley; died March 26, 1777) was an enslaved woman hanged for burglary in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, at the time part of the British

Province of Quebec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

. She is the only black person and one of the only two women known to have been legally executed in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and the only woman whose identity is known. Wyley was co-owned by James Abbott and Thomas Finchley, two businessmen in the fur trade who operated a store near

Fort Detroit A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

. It is unknown when or how she came to be in their possession. In mid-1774, Wyley was charged with stealing a collection of items from her enslavers, including a purse containing six

guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

s (), a handkerchief, two pairs of women's shoes, and a piece of flannel. Another of the firm's laborers, Jean Contencineau (probably an

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as paymen ...

), was also charged as an accomplice, while a third worker, Charles Landry, confessed to involvement but was let free; the two men had both stolen beaver, otter, and raccoon skins. Wyley and Contencineau were additionally charged with

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

, as they were alleged to have lit a fire to cover their traces. After their arrest, Wyley and Contencineau did not face trial until mid-1776, imprisoned in Fort Detroit. The town notary and justice of the peace,

Philippe DeJean Philippe DeJean (1736 – c.1809) was a judge in Fort Detroit until he was captured during the American Revolution. He was born 5 April 1736 in Toulouse, France, the son of Philippe Dejean and Jeanne de Rocques de Carbouere. His father was a legal ...

, granted the pair a jury trial. They were acquitted of arson, as there was only circumstantial evidence, but found guilty of the burglary; Contencineau had testified that Wyley was the "mastermind" of their scheme. As the fort had suffered a recent spate of petty thefts, DeJean wished to make an example of them. He sentenced them to death, a decision ratified by Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamilton. Wyley and Contencineau were publicly hanged on March 27, 1777. According to some sources, DeJean offered to pardon Wyley if she performed Contencineau's execution herself, as no one else was willing to serve as executioner. She did so "in such a clumsy fashion that the spectators were horrified at the struggles of the victim" but was then hanged anyway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyley, Ann 1777 deaths People executed in British North America by hanging People executed by the Province of Quebec (1763–1791) Capital punishment in Michigan 18th-century American slaves People from Detroit American people convicted of burglary Executed American women Executed African-American people People executed for theft 18th-century African-American women 18th-century African-American people African-American history of Michigan People executed by public hanging

See also

References