Hi all, this post is about a brick wall of mine. I'm hoping to get some input from fresh eyes that can help confirm or deny a lead I stumbled on to. I will give a timeline:
1. Approximately 1837-1838 ; William Harper (dates unknown) marries Elizabeth Murphy (c.1815, Ireland - 1900, Bourg-Louis, Canada)
2. 2 June 1839 ; somewhere in northeastern America, likely New York, William and Elizabeth have twin daughters Margaret and Mary
3. 1839-1846 ; missing period
4. 1846 ; Mary, and presumably her twin sister and mother, all return to Bourg-Louis (date from 1901 census, Mary is the only one of the three alive at this point)
5. 1 Nov 1847 ; Elizabeth Murphy remarries in Bourg-Louis, Canada
The problem is clear. I have a name and little else for the father of the twin girls. Records (census forms, death records) from the twins indicate he was possibly born in England, Ireland, or New York.
While searching newspaper articles, I wound up reading about a murder case involving a man named William Harper in NYC. Another timeline:
1. Night of 26 Oct 1845 ; William Harper stabs and kills a man named John Kempf in an altercation at the latter's tavern. William Harper is arrested.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/329349660/?terms=%22william%20harper%22&match=12. 30 Oct 1845 ; John Kempf dies of his wound.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FD1H-F573. 24 Dec 1845 ; Trial information, gives age for William Harper as about 26-27 years old.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/329355113/?terms=%22william%20harper%22&match=14. 6 Jan 1846 ; William Harper is found guilty and sentenced to be hung on 28 Feb 1846. Article mentions a
wife and twin girls in the audience.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/79061295/?terms=%22william%20harper%22&match=15. 22 Jan 1846 ; argument for imprisonment for William Harper rather than death. Recommendation that the sentence is commuted.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/79061672/?terms=%22william%20harper%22&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/117449204/6. 15 Feb 1846 ; Governor will convene council in the next day or two to consider life imprisonment.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/329257252Trail goes cold. No February death record found for William Harper.
I am interested in this case for several reasons. First, the timeline works quite well with the dates I know. If William were hung or imprisoned, his wife leaves NYC in 1846 to return to her family for help raising the twins. Second, the rough age of William would put him within a few years of the same age as Elizabeth. Third, and most interesting, the one article in #4 mentions that William had twin girls at the time of sentencing. The twins would be about 6 years old by this point.
How best to proceed? I assume he would have been sent to Sing Sing. It doesn't look like records would have been kept there for the time that I need. The reason I can't find a February 1846 death record could be that he died much later, if imprisoned for life. I can't find any other newspaper articles after 15 Feb 1846.
1850 census in Ossining (Sing Sing) for William Harper, born approximately 1811 in England, murderer, imprisoned in 1846:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DCY9-T8R?i=81&cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZM3-4MCCould I finally have found my man?