Good morning, Whitewater
The week ends free of any scheduled municipal, public meetings in Whitewater.
The Wisconsin Historical Society notes that on this date in 1851, Wisconsin conducted its last execution:
1851 – John McCaffrey Executed
On this date John McCaffrey was executed, the last execution to be carried out under Wisconsin law. McCaffrey received the death penalty for murdering his wife, Bridget McCaffrey. McCaffrey was tried in the county court in May 1851. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. This murder trial was the first major trial to be held in Kenosha. 3,000 citizens turned out to witness McCaffrey’s execution by hanging.
The restraints that bound him on the gallows ultimately found their way into the Society’s Museum collection; you can view them and learn more about his hanging in our Museum Object of the Week series. McCaffrey’s execution revived a strong statewide campaign to abolish the death penalty. Two years later, in 1853, the Death Penalty Repeal Act was signed into law. That story is briefly told in the Odd Wisconsin entry, “Death to Capital Punishment.”
Links in original.
Here’s today’s almanac:
| Almanac | ||
|---|---|---|
| Friday, August 21, 2009 | Sunrise | Sunset |
| Official Time | 06:07 AM | 07:48 PM |
| Civil Twilight | 05:37 AM | 08:18 PM |
| Tomorrow | 06:08 AM | 07:46 PM |
| Tomorrow will be: | 3 minutes shorter | |
| Amount of sunlight: | 13h 41 m | |
| Amount of daylight: | 14h 41 m | |
| Moon phase: | New Moon | |