A Hanging in Detroit: Stephen Gifford Simmons and the Last Execution Under Michigan Law

by David G. Chardavoyne

Book Overview

The first historical study--and a riveting account--of the last execution in Michigan.

On September 24, 1830, Stephen G. Simmons, a fifty-year-old tavern keeper and farmer, was hanged in Detroit for murdering his wife, Levana Simmons, in a drunken, jealous rage. Michigan executed only two people during the fifty-year period, from 1796 to 1846, when the death penalty was legal within its boundaries. Simmons was the second and last...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814331335
• ISBN13: 9780814331330
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 8.8"