UNIDENTIFIED: May 26, 1865 Boston, Massachusetts John Doe

On May 26, 1865, the body of a young boy was found in the Boston Harbor in  Boston, Massachusetts. He was never claimed and was buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery in an unmarked grave in the potter's field. 

Its believed the boy was around 8-years-old. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

UNIDENTIFIED: January 15, 1865 Nashville, Tennessee John Doe

  On January 15, 1865, in or around Nashville, Tennessee a man was killed by a shotgun blast that severed his arm. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Murder of Thomas A. Byne

In 1865 44-year-old Thomas A. Byne was a slave owner, physician, and noteworthy landowner. He lived in upper Burke County, Georgia. At this time 6 or 7 of his newly freed slaves began to plot against him. They believed that they would get his land split among them.

On July 18, 1865, one of the former slaves, Essex Walker, shot Thomas to death with a shotgun. It was unclear if Essex was the ringleader or just the trigger man. He was arrested and convicted of the crime. Essex was hanged on March 23, 1866, in Augusta, Georgia.

SOURCES:
Legal Executions in Georgia page 6

Murder of Elizabeth A. Darwin

On July 13, 1865, Gabriel J. Forsee had slit the throat of 36-year-old Elizabeth Darwin at her home in Monroe County, Illinois. She had previously testified against him in court and on the night of the killing, she may have rejected his sexual advances. In response he killed her. The knife he used was described as "for the value of one dollar".

Gabriel did not realize that a little girl who occupied the same apartment as Elizabeth would have seen him. She woke up to voices and with the aid of a light she was able to see Gabriel. She testified against him in court and in September he was found guilty and had gotten the death penalty. After his conviction, his wife and kids didn't contact him.

On June 2, 1866, he was hung between the courthouse and jail in Waterloo.

SOURCES:
The Woodstock Sentinel June 7, 1866
Darwintern
The Combined History of Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties Illinois page 158
Legal Executions in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and Missouri page 3

The Lynching of Amy Spain

The Hanging of Amy Spain - contemporary engraving from Harper's Bazaar

17-year-old Amy Spain became a martyr for freedom in 1865. She was biracial of a white and a black parent. She was a slave and owned by Major Albertus C. Spain, a Mexican-American War veteran who owned a large property in Darlington, South Carolina.

In early 1865 a detachment of the Union Army arrived in Darlington as a part of the Carolinas Campaign. She expressed her excitement for her future freedom by exclaiming "Bless the Lord, the Yankees have come!". This was what sealed her fate.

At that time the town, many of the white residents (mostly men) deserted the town. It had turned out that her and others took what they wanted from empty homes and warehouses. Amy took things from her master. The Union was only there for a short time and the Confederate army re-occupied the town.

Amy was called a "ringleader" of the looting and accused her of guiding Union troops to places where valuables were hidden. She was arrested for treason and conduct unbecoming a slave by the Confederate Military. She would go to trial and Major Albertus C. Spain defended her.

Behind bars, Amy heroically heard her sentence to death and she declared she was prepared to die. On March 10, 1865 She defied her persecutors, and as she walked the scaffold towards her death she declared she was "going to a place where she would receive a crown of glory". She was interrupted by an oath by one of her executioners.

She was then hung from the sycamore tree in the Darlington town square.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Capital Punishment UK
Black History
Executed Today