Fee hanging is history topic

The next session of History at Noon session, sponsored by the Wayne County Historical Society, will be held April 7 at the Old Jail Museum on 21 Butternut Street, Lyons. Museum Director Andrea Evangelist will be the speaker and her topic will be 'The Hanging of William Fee.'

Since the 1823 founding of Wayne County, only one person has been hanged by order of a court of justice. The executed man was named William Fee. Fee was accused of murdering a woman, whose identity was never known, and hanged on March 23, 1860. At the time the murder took place in the Town of Galen, Fee was a worker on the Erie Canal Enlargement in Wayne County. After Fee's arrest, the entire town talked of nothing except the murder trial that was about to take place. Farmers got together and housewives gossiped about whether William Fee had really murdered the woman. After a court trial, in which he was convicted, Fee was sentenced to death by hanging. His execution was held in the north hall of the Wayne County Jail - in the building that now houses the Wayne County Historical Society Museum.

Registration for this free event is necessary as seating is limited. Participants may bring a bag lunch, if desired, and cookies and coffee will be served compliments of the Historical Society and Zappia Vending Service, Inc.

For more information or to obtain a complete list of upcoming lecture topics, call the Society office at 315.946.4943, Monday-Friday 10-4.

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