Elizabeth Potts

Elizabeth Potts
Elizabeth Potts
Born	Elizabeth Atherton; December 21, 1846; Manchester, England
Died	June 20, 1890 (aged 43); Elko, Nevada, U.S.
Occupation	Housewife
Known for	Convicted of murder; only woman legally executed in Nevada
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	First degree murder
Criminal penalty	Death

Elizabeth Potts (née Atherton; December 21, 1846 – June 20, 1890) was convicted of murder in 1889 and hanged the following year, the only woman ever to be legally executed in the U.S. state of Nevada. Her husband, Josiah Potts, was executed simultaneously, having been convicted of the murder and partial dismemberment of 57 year old, British born, Miles Fawcett.^[2]^[3]

Biography

Born Elizabeth Atherton in Hulme, Manchester, England; Potts was the daughter of Michael Atherton and Jane Bradshaw.^[4] Her father was an engineer who died two years prior to her marriage to Josiah Potts (1842–1890) in Manchester, England.^[5] Her mother was originally from Orrell, Greater Manchester and was a beerhouse keeper during the 1860’s.^[6] Her paternal ancestors were from Wigan.

At the age of 19, Potts emigrated from the Port of Liverpool to the United States with her husband and one year old daughter, Alice May, departing on the SS City of Cork and ^[7] arriving in New York on May 16, 1864.^[8] The young family were able to make the journey in their own cabin instead of steerage.

Potts settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was mother to at least eight children, including, in addition to Alice May, a son named George (b. 1866), a daughter named Virginia Louise (b. 1868), a daughter Leisna (or Sarna, records differ, born July 1869 in Wisconsin), a son named Charles Henry (b. ca. 1871), a daughter Ida May(b. ca. 1878), a son named Frank Leo (b. 1881), and a daughter named Edith (b. 1883).^[9]^[10]

Her husband Josiah, a machinist, secured a position with the Central Pacific Railroad, and the Potts family moved west, initially to Terrace, Utah, and in 1886, onto Carlin, Nevada.

Potts temporarily separated from her husband, possibly due to financial hardships and traveled to Fresno, California, where she willingly entered into a bigamous marriage with Miles Fawcett (1830-1888), an English born carpenter in 1887. ^[11]^[12]

Potts subsequently returned to her marital home in Carlin, Nevada to be with Josiah. At the same time Fawcett became a boarder in the Potts household. Shortly after, Fawcett purchased a ranch nearby, and moved there, however he continued to visit Potts regularly and she provided him with bread and washed his laundry.^[10]^[13]

The disappearance and untimely death of Miles Fawcett

On January 1, 1888, Fawcett told a friend, J.P. Linebarger, that he intended to visit the Pottses to collect some money they owed him, and that he had knowledge about Elizabeth's past that he could use to convince her to pay the debt. Fawcett and Linebarger arrived together at the Potts' home, and Potts invited Fawcett to spend the night. Fawcett accepted, and Linebarger left. Fawcett was never seen alive again.^[10] In the days that followed, when questioned about Fawcett’s disappearance, Potts husband, Josiah said that Fawcett had been called away on business in another state.^[10]^[13]

In the summer of 1888, Potts and her family moved to Rock Springs, Wyoming, and their house in Carlin was rented to a family named Brewer. In January 1889, George Brewer discovered mutilated human remains in the home's cellar. The remains were identified as those of Miles Fawcett. Potts, and her husband Josiah were arrested for the murder of Fawcett.^[10]^[14] There are multiple inconsistencies in press articles, such as Fawcett being a 70 year old at the time of death and his remains being found under the floorboards of his own home.^[15]

Death and legacy

Potts and her husband, Josiah were indicted for murder in the first degree and tried.^[10] They were both convicted of murder and sentenced to the death penalty. A double gallows, manufactured in Placerville, California, was obtained for the hanging and invitations were issued to attend the June 20, 1890 event.^[9]^[13]^[16] With 52 men in attendance, they were hanged simultaneously.^[17] The initial interment was at the Elko Cemetery but they were re-interred in a common grave when the cemetery was relocated.^[14]

The circumstances behind Potts bigamous marriage was not public knowledge until after the execution was first reported in August 1890.^[11] The story was picked up by a San Francisco journalist two years later who told a tale of romance and crime, where a husband and wife met their death by execution whilst retaining a secret which, if revealed, might have saved them from the gallows.^[18] ^[13]

Potts is the only woman ever to be legally executed in the history of Nevada.^[13]^[14] The hanging of this husband and wife was the last legal execution in Elko County;^[14] a state law passed in 1901 ended the practice of conducting executions in Nevada's county seats.^[19]

References

^ "Eliza Atherton Entry on the Atherton One Name Study". atherton.one-name.net.
^ "Historic sentence fits the crime:The hanging of Elizabeth Potts marks Nevada's only execution of a woman". Nevada Magazine. 2017.
^ "The Ghost Cries Murder, HOWARD HICKSON'S HISTORIES".
^ "Manchester, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1901 (Cathedral)". Ancestry.com.
^ "Manchester, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930". Ancestry.com.
^ "Elizabeth Atherton in the 1861 England Census". Ancestry.com.
^ "S/S City of Cork". Scottish Built Ships. Norway Heritage. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
^ "New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957". Ancestry.com.
^ ^a ^b Wilson 2007, p. 87.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Deseret News Company 1890, p. 41.
^ ^a ^b "Another chapter of the Potts murder case". The Pioche Weekly Record, Nevada, August 16. 1890. p. 2.
^ "Romance of a Hanging". Ogden Standard, Utah, August 10. 1890. p. 2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Rutter 2008, p. 50.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hall 2002, pp. 136–37.
^ "Hanging Women". Silver State, Winnemucca, Nevada, April 24. 1895. p. 3.
^ "Gallows built for the Potts". Ancestry.com.
^ "The Execution. Josiah and Elizabeth Potts suffer the penalty of the law for murder. Scenes and incidents of their last moments". Elko Daily Independent, Elko, Nevada, June 20. 1890. p. 5.
^ "Light on a dark deed: Why the Potts killed Miles Fawcett. A romance and a crime. A husband and wife meet death on the gallows, retaining a secret, which if revealed, might have cleared them". San Francisco Morning Call, September 25. 1892. p. 3.
^ "An Outline of Capital Punishment in Nevada". Nevada State Library and Archives. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 19 Nov 2022.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Deseret News Company (1890). The Deseret Weekly. Vol. 41 (Public domain ed.). Deseret News Company.

Bibliography

Hall, Shawn (June 2002). Connecting The West: Historic Railroad Stops And Stage Stations In Elko County, Nevada. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0-87417-499-1.
Rutter, Michael (2008). Bedside Book of Bad Girls: Outlaw Women of the Old West. Farcountry Press. ISBN 978-1-56037-462-6.
Wilson, R. Michael (2007). Frontier Justice in the Wild West: Bungled, Bizarre and Fascinating Executions. Globe Pequot Press. ISBN 978-0-7627-4389-6.