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Summary
The John and Bridget McCaffary House
5732 13th Court, Kenosha, Kenosha County
Date of Construction: 1842
On July 23, 1850 in a simple, unassuming house, John McCaffary strangled his wife Bridget and then, while she was still breathing, stuffed her into a large barrel filled with dirty water. Needless to say, Bridget drowned in over a foot of sludge, and her husband would soon suffer the consequences.
In May 1851, with anti-capital punishment fervor at an all-time high throughout the state, McCaffary was sentenced to death. While many Wisconsin citizens and journalists expressed outrage at the sentence, McCaffary, convinced that his dead wife was haunting him, feverishly turned to religion in his last months. However, it was too late.
On August 21, 1851, county officials and the Kenosha City Guard accompanied McCaffary to the scaffold. In front of a raucous crowd of 2,000-3,000, McCaffary publicly confessed and the sheriff tipped the spring. It took McCaffary nearly 20 gruesome minutes to die.
Using the horrible execution to incite the public against the death penalty, Kenosha journalist Christopher Latham Sholes condemned the murder in his newspaper the Kenosha Telegraph and then decided to run for assembly. After Sholes won, he and Senator Marvin Bovee crafted and rallied for a bill that abolished the death penalty in 1853. McCaffary's execution was not only the first and last execution supported by the State of Wisconsin, but also played a key role in the campaign to abolish the death penalty in Wisconsin.
More information about the case may be found on the Wisconsin Historical Society website.
Property Details
| Criteria | Person,Event |
|---|---|
| Area Of Significance | Law,Social History |
| Period of Significance | 1850-1874 |
| Architectural Style | No Style Listed |
| Architect | Unknown |
| Resource Type | Building |
| Historic Use | Single Dwelling |
Resources Within The Property
| Contributing Buildings | 1 |
|---|---|
| Contributing Sites | 0 |
| Contributing Structures | 0 |
| Contributing Objects | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Buildings | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Sites | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Structures | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Objects | 0 |
Designations
| Historic Status | Listed in the National Register |
|---|---|
| National Historic Landmark Listing Date | Jan 31, 1978 |
| Historic Status | Listed in the State Register |
| National Historic Landmark Listing Date | Jan 1, 1989 |
State & National Registers of Historic Places
The State Register and National Register recognize buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that are significant in national, state, or local history. The State Historic Preservation Office in conjunction with the National Park Service maintains the list for Wisconsin and makes the data available to the public for research and education.
Questions?
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Email UsAttribution
For a credit line: Wisconsin Historical Society, Creator, Title, Unique Identifier.
The Unique Identifier can be found at the top or bottom of the page for each item. The name of a downloaded file is NOT the unique identifier.
For bibliographic citations please consult the UW-Madison Libraries Citation Research Guide to ensure compliance with appropriate style guidelines.
Petition for repealing the act that abolished the death penalty
1854
Petitioners request that the death penalty be reinstated as punishment for murder.
Petition for abolishing the death penalty
1851 - 1853
Petitioners from Waukesha County request that the death penalty be abolished and that imprisonment for life be instituted.
Petition for abolishing the death penalty
1849 - 1850
Petitioners from Dodge County request that the legislature abolish the death penalty.
Christopher Latham Sholes
A portrait of Christopher Latham Sholes, the inventor of the typewriter. Sholes was an editor in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and later continued this work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sholes invented the typew...
