Annice (died August 23, 1828) was the first female slave known to have been executed in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. She was

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

for the murders of five children, two of whom were her own. Annice was owned by Jeremiah Prior of

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

, Missouri. On July 27, 1828, she was indicted for the murders of five slave children also owned by Prior – Ann, Billy, Nancy, Nelly, and Phebe. Billy (aged five) and Nancy (aged two) were Annice's own children, but the parentages and ages of the others were not identified. According to the indictment, she pushed the children "into a certain collection of water of the depth of five feet and there choaked , suffocated and drowned, of which they instantly died". Annice was given a jury trial and a defense attorney, but was found guilty. She was publicly hanged by Sheriff Shubael Allen the following month, at the county seat of

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. Hers was the first legal execution in Clay County (established 1822), and she is the first enslaved woman known to have been executed in Missouri. One author has suggested that by killing the children Annice was "depriving her owner of no fewer than five potentially valuable properties", thus striking out against "the curse of involuntary servitude". Annice is the only slave known to have been executed for

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of resou ...

in Missouri, but a number of other instances have been found in other states. Enslaved women believed that by killing their children they were sparing them a lifetime of subjugation. There has been some speculation that Annice was the mother of another female slave of the same name, who was lynched in Clay County in 1850 for the attempted murder of her owner. However, there is no direct evidence linking the two other than their shared names and location.Frazier (2001), p. 255. In 1976, Clay County erected a memorial plaque at Tryst Falls (near

Excelsior Springs Excelsior Springs is a city in Clay and Ray counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 10,553 at the 2020 census. It is located approximately northeast of central Kansas City, Missour ...

), identifying it as the location of the drownings. The plaque was modified a few decades later to remove the specific details of Annice's actions.

References

{{reflist 1828 deaths 1828 in Missouri 1828 murders in the United States 19th-century American slaves 19th-century executions by the United States 19th-century executions of American people American female murderers American murderers of children American people executed for murder Executed African-American people Executed American mass murderers Executed American women Filicides in the United States People executed by Missouri by hanging People from Clay County, Missouri Year of birth unknown 19th-century American women 19th-century African-American people 19th-century African-American women

See also

References