USA - Rhode Island. Governor pardons hanged in 1845

Rhode Island governor pardons hanged in 1845. Gov. Lincoln Chafee today pardoned the last man executed in Rhode Island, an Irish immigrant who was hanged more than 150 years ago following what is believed to be a trial tainted by widespread bigotry against Irish Catholics. Gordon was convicted of the Dec. 31, 1843 killing of Amasa Sprague, a wealthy mill owner and the brother of a U.S. senator. Gordon was hanged on Feb. 14, 1845 at the age of 29. But law professors and historians now say the evidence against him was circumstantial and prejudice against Irish Catholics compromised his trial. Chafee signed the proclamation pardoning Gordon at the Old State House in Providence, where Gordon's trial took place. The governor called Gordon's trial and execution a "dark spot" in Rhode Island history and said the pardon was long overdue. The proclamation signed by the governor in the very room in which Gordon was believed to have been convicted says the Irishman was executed for a murder he did not commit. Rhode Island's General Assembly passed legislation urging Chafee to grant the pardon. The state lawmakers who sponsored the resolution in the Senate and House of Representatives, including Rep. Peter Martin, D-Newport, and Sen. Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick, attended the public ceremony. The death penalty was abolished in Rhode Island in 1852 before being reintroduced two decades later. It was abolished again in 1984. Gordon was executed by hanging on the grounds of the old state jail, the site today of the Providence Place mall. Mr Gordon’s last words were: "I forgive them. I forgive all my persecutors, because they did not know what they were doing. I hope all good Christians pray for me."