Grant Williams worked in building the Rock Island rail line near Ardmore, Indian Territory. His pay in August 1904 was less than what he was due. When that situation was not rectified, he shot and killed paymaster James Dolan on October 19. He also shot another worker with whom Dolan was talking and a passerby.
Fleeing to Arkansas, Williams was not arrested for more than a year. Returned to McAlester to stand trial in federal court, Williams, who was Black, was convicted and sentenced to hang.
On November 3, 1905, Grant Williams was hanged.
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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.
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 