Frankie Stewart Silver

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Frances Stewart Silver (died July 12, 1833) was hanged in Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, for the ax murder of her husband Charles. Frankie Silver, as she is known, is incorrectly believed to have been the first woman executed in Burke County.

1 The Murder
2 Trial and Execution
3 Literary References
4 References
5 External links

[edit] The Murder

On December 22, 1831, Charles Silver was hacked to death and dismembered in the cabin he shared with his wife and their daughter Nancy, who was 13 months old at the time. Charles is buried in three separate graves in the Silver family cemetery behind the Kona Baptist Church in Kona, Mitchell County, North Carolina. The dismembered parts of Charles's body were not discovered all at once, and so they were buried piecemeal as they were found; this accounts for the existence of three separate graves.

[edit] Trial and Execution

Shortly after the murder, suspicion fell on Charles's wife Frankie. Barely 18 at the time of her husband's death, Frankie was tried, swiftly convicted and sentenced to death for the murder. Frankie was hanged on July 12, 1833. As she was led to the gallows, Frankie tried to make a final statement, but her father drowned her out by shouting "Die with it in you, Frankie!" What exactly she planned to say remains a mystery to this day.

[edit] Literary References

- The case of Frankie Silver served as the basis for Sharyn McCrumb's 1999 novel, The Ballad of Frankie Silver. In it, McCrumb's series character Spencer Arrowood takes a fresh look at the Frankie Silver case and at a (fictional) modern murder with many parallels.