Henry Evans

In 1828 an official execution took place in Jefferson County. Henry Evans had leased a residence from a brother of Joshua Rogers, and when Rogers, Henry Diamond, and a third man began drinking they decided to kick Evans from the property. Evans had locked himself up in the house but the three forcibly entered, threatening him and using abusive language. Evans then picked up an ax and mortally wounded Rogers and Diamond, and badly hurt the third man, who later died (some accounts say he recovered). He also shot a constable and killed him (questionable?). Evans, known for a bad temper and being a terror to his neighborhood, outweighed the extenuating circumstances in the juror's minds and after only half an hour's deliberation they returned a guilty verdict. A large crowd consisting of residences from this county and even surrounding areas came to watch the hanging, which took place on August 22 in a vacant lot on the corner of LeRay Street and West Main Street, the sheriff at the time, Henry Hale Coffeen, was the hangman. Evans' body was not allowed to be buried in the Brownville cemetery, so Evans' friends had to take his body three or four miles away from the village and bury it in the night. This was said to be the first execution of it's kind in the area. The place where the murders took place is called "Slaughter Hill" and is situated between Brownville and Perch River Village.

{From Marc's History of Jefferson Count]}

See also

Notorious Jefferson County Crime