Today in 1830, Stephen G. Simmons was executed in Detroit for killing his wife, marking Michigan's last death penalty before its abolition in 1846. His moving final address and hymn contributed to changing public opinion, leading Michigan to become the first English-speaking government to abolish capital punishment.
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It was on this day in 1830, Stephen G. Simmons, after having tried by a jury of peers and found guilty of killing his wife in a drunken fury, was executed on the gallows in Detroit. His was the last state execution before Michigan abolished the death penalty in 1846. According to the Clark Historical Library, the way Simmons acted at his execution helped turn the tide of public opinion against execution. He delivered a moving address, admitted his guilt in his wife’s murder, and then sang a hymn asking for God’s forgiveness. When Governor Alpheus Felch signed the statute which abolished capital punishment for first degree murder on May 18, 1846, the state of Michigan became the first government in the English speaking-world to do so.