Rose Butler


Rose Butler was a convicted American arsonist and former slave. In July 1819, she was hanged for arson.

Early life

Butler was born in November of 1799, in Mount Pleasant, New York. She lived with a Colonel Straing, at Mount Pleasant, and later moved to New York City in order to live with Abraham Child.

House slave

In 1817, she moved to live with William L. Morris.

Arson arrest

In 1819, Butler was arrested for arson. She was tried at an Oyer and terminer court by Smith Thompson. The case was appealed to the New York Supreme Court, and the court unanimously convicted her.

Hanging

Butler resided at Bridewell Prison and was subsequently hanged near present day Washington Square Park, from a gallows in the city's potter's field, on the eastern side of Minetta Creek, about 500 feet from the Hangman's Elm. The hanging attracted 10,000 spectators.