[URBAN NOTE] "“Fun and frolic” at a Toronto double hanging"

[rfmcdonald]

Spacing Toronto's Chris Bateman notes how a double execution in Toronto a century and a half ago was a major social event.

The public gallows were built against the west wall of the jail on Front St. the morning of the executions. A heavy rain fell during the night and the area around the 14-foot wooden structure was a quagmire. Around 7:oo, O’Leary’s sister visited her brother’s cell one last time.

“They threw themselves into each other’s arms,” wrote the Globe. “His sister’s distress deeply moved the heart of O’Leary. He cried bitterly, and deplored his unhappy fate.”

O’Leary and Fleming were bound and shackled and the hanging ropes attached to the gallows around 8:00. The crowd outside the jail had swelled considerably and there were cheers when Sheriff Frederick William Jarvis appeared to make his final inspection.

Many pushed and shoved to gain the best view. Wagons were drawn up and used as makeshift podiums, as were several stone piles near the wall of the jail. The crush was enough to knock several people from their perches, resulting in cheers and bursts of laughter. Merchants, labourers, elderly women, mothers with babies, and children were all present, “pushing, crowding, and hooting.”

The condemned pair were led to the gallows at around 9:45, accompanied by Mr. William Davey, a Wesleyan City Missionary who ministered to the pair during their final night in prison, two reverends, and several police officers. The hangman, his face shielded by a dark mask, was a felon recently admitted to the jail for disorderly conduct. For executing O’Leary and Fleming he would be paid $80.