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

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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

. 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 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...

. 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 people, French-born Catholic Church, Catholic prelate who served as the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, Bishop ...

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

hanged 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 ...

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

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

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 politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

issued a proclamation exonerating Daley and Halligan.Historic Northampton
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halligan, James 1770s births 1806 deaths 18th-century Irish people Irish emigrants to the United States People from Boston People convicted of murder by Massachusetts American 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 American people wrongfully convicted of murder Place of birth missing People who have received posthumous pardons Recipients of gubernatorial pardons in Massachusetts Wrongful executions in the United States

See also

References