Documenting and Analyzing the History of Federal Executions
Calvin James
Henry Reuben, Albert Kemp, Tony Love, and Calvin James, who lived near Tishomingo, traveled together to Texas in July 1885 to buy whiskey, which was illegal in the Indian Territory.
As they returned, James killed Love, who was holding the whiskey. Both men were Black.
When Love did not return home, his family began a search. The men were captured and taken to Fort Smith.
Daily Arkansas Gazette, April 2, 1886
At trial, Kemp and Reuben testified against James, avoiding prosecution as a result. James was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in early May 1886. With two other men, he was hanged on July 23, 1886.
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 