1929: Constantine Beaver, Alaskan native
September 7th, 2012 Headsman
On this date in 1929, Alaskan native Constantine Beaver hanged in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Described as a “woodsman”, Beaver shot his friend Egnatty Necketta during a drunken altercation the previous December.
Neither Beaver himself nor the several witnesses spoke or understood English, so much of the trial was conducted via interpreters. The jury, in finding him guilty, availed an option to remain silent as to the penalty, punting the decision to the judge — who went with hanging. Several jurors then protested, too late, that they hadn’t understood that was a possible outcome of their silent penalty decision.
In pre-statehood Alaska under federal governance, it was U.S. President Herbert Hoover 4,000 miles away in Washington who would have the final say in this affair — riding high, as it happened, at the very moment of the stock market peak right before the economic meltdown that would define his presidency.
Hoover said no.
Hopeful throughout the greater part of the night that a stay of execution would arrive Beaver bore himself with fortitude when informed that he must die. His only wish was that the intervening time might speed by so that his mental agony might be ended.
…
When Beaver reached the death chamber he broke into a tribal chant which continued until the floor opened beneath him.
It was “the saddest affair I’ve had to witness,” said a U.S. deputy who was present at the execution. And it was the last hanging ever conducted in Fairbanks.
Of possible interest: “American Indian Executions in Historical Context” by David V. Baker, a lengthy pdf.
On this day..
- 1833: Nils Narumseie, terror of Kanten - 2020
- 1619: Melchior Grodziecki, Istvan Pongracz and Marko Krizin, Jesuits - 2019
- 1952: Mustafa Khamis and Muhammad al-Baqri, Egyptian labor activists - 2018
- 1960: George Scott - 2017
- 1736: Captain John Porteous, riotously lynched - 2016
- 1732: Pompey, poisoner of James Madison's grandfather - 2015
- 1914: Seven retreating Frenchmen, with surprising results - 2014
- 1849: Elisha Reese, suitor - 2013
- 1768: Isaac Frasier, three strikes offender - 2011
- 2000: Lu Cheng, possible wrongful Taiwanese execution - 2010
- 1984: Ernest Dobbert, child abuser - 2009
- 1943: 186 prisoners at Plotzensee Prison - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Alaska,Capital Punishment,Common Criminals,Crime,Death Penalty,Disfavored Minorities,Execution,Hanged,Murder,Racial and Ethnic Minorities,U.S. Federal,USA
Tags: 1920s, 1929, constantine beaver, egnatty necketta, fairbanks, names, september 7
