Documenting and Analyzing the History of Federal Executions
William Wyatt
William Wyatt was a sailor aboard the schooner Fox on a voyage from New Orleans to Veracruz, Mexico in 1817. En route, a dispute between Wyatt and Captain Cornelius Driscoll escalated to murder. Wyatt then sought to commandeer the ship into Mexico. The crew of the Fox fought back, shackled Wyatt, and returned to New Orleans.
New York Evening Post, April 28, 1818
Wyatt was convicted of murder in New Orleans in March 1818. After President Monroe declined to intervene, William Wyatt was hanged there on June 25, 1818.
I am a sociologist and death penalty scholar at the State University of New York at Geneseo. I am also a Pittsburgh native. My present research focuses on the history of the death penalty in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pa.
This website is dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and sharing information about all Allegheny County cases in which a death sentence was imposed.
Please share any questions or comments, errors or omissions, or other matters of interest related to these cases or to the broader history of the death penalty in Allegheny County.
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The Federal Death Penalty Project 