James Halligan (1778 – 5 June 1806) was an Irishman who emigrated to America and lived and worked in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He and Dominic Daley were arrested on November 12, 1805, and convicted for the murder of Marcus Lyon. Lyon's body had been found on November 10 nearby

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. Locals had seen strangers Halligan and Daley in the same area as Lyon's body the day before, and thirteen-year-old Laertes Fuller testified as such before a jury of inquest. Police were sent after the pair on November 11 and arrested them the following day. The trial for '' Commonwealth v. Dominic Daley and James Halligan'' was held in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

. Halligan and Daley's lawyers were only given two days to set up a defense for their clients. The prosecution's main point was Fuller's testimony, despite the fact that this held no solid proof of the crime and that even Fuller was not certain Halligan was there. The defense's lawyers had no witnesses, and the laws at the time in Massachusetts prevented the defendants from arguing for themselves. The only argument in defense of Daley and Halligan was the closing statement made by one of their lawyers, Francis Blake. Blake pointed out that the men were being charged solely because of their Irish nationality, yet the jury returned with a guilty verdict in under one hour.

Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus Jean-Louis Anne Madelain Lefebvre de Cheverus (also known as John Cheverus) (28 January 1768 – 19 July 1836) was a French Roman Catholic bishop and later cardinal. He was the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boston, Massachusetts ...

, a priest from Boston, came to assist them in their last moments, even through great personal risk. The two were

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 ...

on June 5, 1806. An estimated 15,000 people came to

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

to view the execution. The trial is now seen as a symbol of the prevalent bias against the Irish in New England at the time. On St. Patrick's Day 1984, Governor

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

issued a proclamation exonerating Daley and Halligan.Historic Northampton
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halligan, James 1778 births 1806 deaths 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) People from Boston American people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Massachusetts People executed for murder People executed by Massachusetts by hanging 19th-century executions by the United States 19th-century executions of American people Irish people executed abroad Executed Irish people Burials in Massachusetts Recipients of American gubernatorial pardons People wrongfully convicted of murder Wrongful executions 1805 murders in the United States

See also

References