George Clark and Henry Roberts

George Clark was the captain of the piratical ship Louisa when it attacked several ships at anchor off the Isle of May in Scotland on November 30, 1818.

New York Evening Post, December 10, 1819

At trial in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, Clark was sentenced to death on March 21, 1820. Henry Roberts received the same sentence. Two other crew members, John Jones and Benjamin Bradsford, were likewise sentenced to death but recommended to mercy.

George Clark and Henry Roberts were hanged together in Charleston on May 12, 1820.

York (Pa.) Gazette, May 23, 1820
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Author: Bill Lofquist

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.

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