(Thanks to Robert Elder of Last Words of the Executed — the blog, and the book — for the guest post. This post originally appeared on the Last Words blog. Fans of this here site are highly likely to enjoy following Elder’s own pithy, almanac-style collection of last words on the scaffold. -ed.)

“For God’s sake, don’t do that again.”

– Danforth Hartson, convicted of murder, hanging, California.
Executed July 15, 1857

Hartson (aka Sailor Jim) claimed self-defense in a fight that followed his argument with “estimable citizen” John Burke, whom he knocked to the ground and then shot in the chest. Burke was able to make a full statement, naming Hartson as the murderer, before he died.

Hartson’s last words came after he slipped through the noose and fell through the trap door.

On this day..

• 1942: Wenceslao Vinzons
• 1958: Nuri al-Said
• 1738: Baruch Leibov and Alexander Voznitsyn, Jew and convert
• 1381: John Ball, radical priest
• 1936: Charlotte Bryant
• 756: Yang Guifei, favored concubine
• 1883: Leoncio Prado, for defending his homeland
• 1927: Three persistent escapees
• 1907: Qiu Jin, Chinese feminist and revolutionary
• 1953: John Christie, a little late in the day
• 1977: Princess Misha'al bint Fahd al Saud and her lover
• Themed Set: The Feminine Mystique
• 1685: James Scott, Duke of Monmouth