9. John Gordon was pardoned 150 years after being hanged for the crime of murder
John Gordon holds the distinction of being the last person (to date) to be executed by the State of Rhode Island, hanged on February 14, 1845. A native of Ireland, Gordon was convicted of the murder of Amasa Sprague, a wealthy and influential textile manufacturer. Sprague had used his influence to cause Nicholas Gordon, brother of John, to lose his license to sell liquor, after several incidents in which employees of his mill had become intoxicated at Gordon’s establishment. Nicholas, John, and another brother, William, were charged with beating Sprague to death. The brothers were Irish Catholic immigrants, a fact noted by at least one judge at their trials, which were held individually.
John was convicted of the crime (his brothers were not) and sentenced to death. He appealed, and Judge Job Durfee, who had presided at the original trial also heard the appeal (he also heard the cases of the two brothers who were not convicted). In his instructions to the jury, Durfee directed that they “give greater weight to Yankee witnesses than Irish witnesses”. Despite the evidence being contradictory Gordon was found guilty. After John Gordon was hanged Rhode Island abolished the death penalty, later reinstituted it, and again abolished it in 1984. In the 21st century, the state’s General Assembly urged the governor to pardon Gordon via legislation in both houses, and he was pardoned in 2011.