On December 2, 1897, Charles Perkins (alias Henry Whitfield) killed George Miller in Muskogee, Indian Territory. Miller had previously intervened in Perkins’ efforts to talk with Nancy Adkins, a slight which Perkins vowed to avenge.
Perkins, who was Black, was captured in Atoka and returned to Muskogee for trial.
Charles Perkins was convicted of murder in federal court on April 2, 1898, and sentenced to death on April 27.
With K.B. Brooks, Perkins was hanged on July 1, 1898; they were the first people hanged under federal jurisdiction in Oklahoma.
The Federal Death Penalty Project 