Newman, William (Execution of)
William Newman was hanged at Clinton (Van Buren County) on November 8, 1895, for murdering his wife, though he died denying the crime. William Newman, described as “a prominent white farmer,” lived in Van Buren County with his wife Mary and their seven children. The Newmans had been married for twenty-four years, “and their entire married life was one discord.” On August 17, 1895, the couple got into an argument; as it escalated, he threw a saucer at her, which broke on her back. They continued fighting the next morning until she left to seek some lost calves “and he started to visit a widow…of whom he was particularly fond.” He returned home shortly afterward, and when his children said …
