This week in 1882

“Folks, hear me, as I’se to be hanged. I’se free from any guilt about Nash Carter. I had a child by another man, but was smart enough to keep my husband from knowing it.”

— Matilda Carter, convicted of murder, hanging, North Carolina.
Executed January 13, 1882

Carter was sentenced to death for the murder of her much older husband, Nash Carter, after he voiced concerns about her acquaintance with a group of young men. While he was sleeping, prosecutors said, Mrs. Carter and three accomplices slipped a noose around Mr. Carter’s neck and pulled. On the scaffold, fellow convicted murderer Joe Hay admitted to adultery with Mrs. Carter.