| Author: | Paula vW. Dail, PhD | EMail: | pdail@charter.net | ICWP Member?: | Yes | Nearest Large City: | chicago;milwaukee;madison, WI | Country: | USA | Play Title: | HANGIN' WILL CAFFEE | Runtime: | 91-120 minutes | Synopsis: | HANGIN' WILL CAFFEE is a tale of swift justice on the Wisconsin frontier, and is based upon a true story - sort of - with a little gallows politics and suffrage thrown in. Issues of women's rights and the death penalty are strongly evident in subtle ways, and the audience is left wondering whether justice was too swiftly done.
BACKGROUND
When an Act of Congress established the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 the region was a thriving lead industry economy with a culture often likened to the lawless western frontier. Conflicts between miners and mine owners were frequent and lawbreakers were many. Because of local lifestyle habits, both lawyers and citizens frequently complained that it was nearly impossible to find twelve sober men to form a jury to provide due process to a criminal when one was actually caught. In the winter of 1842 a local miner, William Caffee, shot Samuel Southwick. The ensuing trial was held in the county seat of Mineral Point. Moses Strong, a hard drinking lawyer and member of the Territorial legislature well known for his remarkable ability to harangue a jury, unsuccessfully defended Caffee, who was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. While not common, when they did occur hangings tended to draw large crowds. As a result, a phenomenon known as “gallows politics” arose because opportunistic politicians began taking advantage of these occasions to give long-winded political speeches to the big crowds. The condemned began complaining that they shouldn’t have to stand with a noose around their neck, waiting to be hung, while politicians spewed endless political rhetoric. In response, a compassionate Territorial Legislature passed a law giving a condemned man the right to decide whether he wanted to be hung before or after the political speeches. One prisoner later remarked that his decision would be based upon who was speaking! More than 5000 people, from as far away as Dubuque and Galena came to witness William Caffee’s execution, bringing picnic lunches and planning to spend “Hangin’ Day” enjoying a band concert and suffering through as few political speeches as possible. An entire company of the Wisconsin Calvary was requisitioned to escort Caffee to the gallows and he was carried to his death in the back of a wagon, sitting astride his coffin beating out the dirge with beer bottles. This famous hanging remains vivid in local memory because Caffee’s ghost is said to still inhabit The Walker House, a notorious Mineral Point landmark.
| Male: | 10 | Female: | 2 | Max. Cast: | 12 | Min. Cast: | 9 | Media: | Stage | Genre: | Comedy | Theme: | Frontier justice | Web Page: | | First Name: | Paula | Last Name: | Dail | Notes: | |
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