John McCaffary (c. 1820 – August 21, 1851) was an Irish-American farmer who was convicted and executed for the murder of his wife, Bridgett McCaffary. His execution by hanging was botched; he was unintentionally strangled for over 20 minutes until he died. His execution led to the abolition of

capital punishment in Wisconsin Capital punishment in Wisconsin was abolished in 1853. Wisconsin was one of the earliest United States jurisdictions to abolish capital punishment, and is the only state that has performed only one execution in its history. Since its admission ...

Murder of Bridgett McCaffary

On July 23, 1850, Bridgett McCaffary (née McKean) was

drowned Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...

in a backyard

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 census. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Ke ...

, a newly incorporated town in

Kenosha County, Wisconsin Kenosha County () is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,151, and was estimated to be 168,754 in 2024, making it the eighth-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its c ...

. John McCaffary, an immigrant farmer from Ireland, was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife. His trial began on May 6, 1851, and on May 23, 1851, the jury convicted him of willful murder. The judge sentenced him to death by hanging and the death warrant was signed by Governor

Nelson Dewey Nelson Webster Dewey (December 19, 1813July 21, 1889) was an American lawyer, land speculator, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first governor of Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin Senate and served several years in the Wis ...

. The John McCaffary House was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978.

Botched execution and abolition of Wisconsin's death penalty

John McCaffary was the only person ever to be executed by the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. He was executed by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

for the murder of his wife. McCaffary was hanged from a tree on August 21, 1851, before a crowd of 2,000 to 3,000 people in the area located now at the corner of 68th St and 14th Ave. The hanging was initially unsuccessful, and McCaffary remained alive and struggled on the end of the rope for approximately 20 minutes as he was slowly

strangled Strangling or strangulation is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain by restricting the flow of oxygen through the trachea. Fatal strangulation typically occurs ...

. McCaffary was buried in the Green Ridge Cemetery in Kenosha. He was the first person executed by Wisconsin after it became a state of the United States in 1848. The spectacle of McCaffary's slow death in front of thousands led reformers in Wisconsin to press for abolition of the death penalty. On July 12, 1853, Wisconsin Governor Leonard J. Farwell signed a law that abolished the death penalty in Wisconsin and replaced it with a penalty of

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. The law is still in effect and no one has been executed by Wisconsin since McCaffary's death.

Sources

*Cropley, Carrie
"The case of John McCaffary".
''Wisconsin Magazine of History''. vol. 35, no. 4 (1951–1952) pp. 281–288 *Hintz, Martin. (2007). ''Got Murder?: Shocking True Stories of Wisconsin's Notorious Killers''. Neenah, Wis.: Big Earth Publishing, . *Pendleton, Alexander T. and Blaine R. Renfert
"A Brief History of Wisconsin's Death Penalty,"
''Wisconsin Lawyer''. August 1993

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffary, John 1820s births 1851 deaths 19th-century Irish people 19th-century executions by the United States 19th-century executions of American people American people executed for murder Irish people convicted of murder Irish emigrants to the United States People executed by Wisconsin by hanging People from Kenosha, Wisconsin People convicted of murder by Wisconsin Place of birth missing

Murder of Bridgett McCaffary

Botched execution and abolition of Wisconsin's death penalty

See also

Sources

References