Last Public Hanging in West Virginia

Last Public Hanging in WV.kmz (4.06 KB)
Jackson County holds the dubious distinction of being the site of the last public hanging in the state of West Virginia.  On December 16, 1897, the Last Public Hanging in West Virginia was performed near Ripley, WV.  The sensational spectacle surrounding the hanging of convicted murderer John Morgan led the WV legislature to quickly ban all public hangings. It was the first state to do so.  In the future all executions would be held at the West Virginia State Prison at Moundsville, WV. *

John Morgan
John Morgan was convicted of brutally murdering Chloe Greene and two of her three children in the Grass Lick area of Jackson County. The execution drew more than 5,000 spectators, including a New York Sun special reporter assigned to cover the spectacle.  The reporter covering the event for The New York Sun wrote, "...every road and path leading into the town of Ripley was clogged with men and women on horse back, families in wagons, buggies and every conceivable type of conveyance." People came from as far away as Ohio to witness the event.

The chain of events that led to the hanging began less than six weeks earlier on November 3, 1897. Morgan, a local handyman and long-time friend of the Greene family, hid in the pre-dawn darkness with a hatchet in hand. One by one he attacked his victims, delivering fatal blows to Mrs. Greene, Jimmy Greene and Matilda Pfost. Another daughter, Alice Pfost, was attacked but survived. It was she who alerted neighbors to the crime.

Morgan was arrested within hours and incarcerated in Ripley. He was indicted on November 4, tried and convicted the following day, and sentenced the day after that. Two weeks before the hanging, Morgan escaped. He was at large two days before he was finally captured. Excitement was aroused by Morgan’s repeated oaths that he would never hang, at least on the scheduled date, but the execution happened as scheduled on December 16. *

 Read this article from The West Virginia State Prison Magazine-July 1926 describing in sensational detail the events surrounding the hanging, includes one of the very few up close photos of John Morgan on the gallows, with Sheriff J.O. Shinn adjusting the noose. Courtesy of Harrison County WV Genealogical Society.



Jackson Herald Report on the events of 1897. This report was just as or even more sensational than the report from the New York Sun and well worth reading! Courtesy of West Virginia Division of Culture and History

This photo shows the Gallows used to hang John Morgan with the masses of people attending! Courtesy of the WV Humanities Council & e-WV.
This field is now residential homes with the current Ripley High School located at the far left at the foot of the hill. This photo was taken approximately from the corner of the lot of Ripley's US Army Reserve Training Center looking to the SouthWest.  Unusual for the time & place, this uncredited photo and most of those taken of the event was reportedly taken by Susan King who had a photography studio in Ripley.

-WV 150 Years of History video clip on YouTube-
From WV Public Television

There are many more stories on the internet about this sensational execution, a few more can be found in the links here below.
I'll leave you to decide their accuracy.

www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16275275 [This one even argues his last name!]
www.hurherald.com/cgi-bin/db_scripts/articles?Action=user_view&db=hurheral_articles&id=51378
theresashauntedhistoryofthetri-state.blogspot.com/2011/05/hanging-of-john-morgan.html
A Google Search will find many more!

-Credits-  
* Text and Photos are a compilation of information from the following sources...
Please visit these sites where there is a wealth of information about West Virginia and it's storied history.

WV Humanities Council >>> www.wvhumanities.org/
e-WV The West Virginia Encyclopedia >>> www.wvencyclopedia.org/

West Virginia Division of Culture and History  >>>  www.wvculture.org/

Harrison County WV Genealogical Society >>> www.wvhcgs.com/

City of Ripley, WV >>> www.cityofripley.org/history.html

Special Note: I have made my best effort at correct attribution but it can be next to impossible with the many sources parroting other sources and those parroting others to know for certain. Thanks for your patience!

Nice presentation of a story I didn't want to read.

(The imagery in the area presently is remarkably sharp, although I didn't recognize Will Smith or Gene Hackman.)

Thanks washi! (I think!?  )  A bit macabre to be sure, but sadly, human history is full of this kind of behaviour.   We lived in Jackson County for many years while our children were growing up and for several of them in Ripley less than two blocks from the site of the gallows.  Certainly brings it home to know this happened almost in one's own back yard!