The Gallows of Oklahoma City 

By Bobby J. Dobbs 

Deep within the walls of the modern glass-and-steel building at 100 W. Main, marks the spot of the first and only judicial execution ever to take place in Oklahoma City.

The 1895 hanging of John Milligan was the first use of capital punishment in the nascent Oklahoma Territory, and it took place amid fierce debate. John Milligan was a murderer – an axe murderer, to be exact. The crimes he confessed to and was convicted of were so brutal and heinous that even today they would shock the conscience of the public.

Milligan was 19 and had recently moved to the territory from Tennessee. He lived with a foster family that had taken him under their wing. The Clarks – Gabe, Hannah, and their 8-year-old granddaughter Amelda –lived in a small cabin on a farm in the far northeastern corner of Oklahoma County.  Milligan was allowed to live there as well, provided he worked and contributed to the household. But, according to testimony at his trial, Milligan was lazy and refused to pull his own weight. Gabe Clark gave him an ultimatum: shape up or ship out. Resentful, Milligan conceived a plot. 

Having recently sold some mules, the Clarks had saved about $75. The money was kept hidden in a belt under Mrs. Clark’s dress. Milligan knew of this, and on the night of November 5th, 1893, he lay in his cot waiting for the family to go to sleep. At about 10pm, Milligan crept into the Clarks’ bedroom armed with an axe and a straight razor. Knowing that Mrs. Clark was stronger than her elderly husband, he decided to eliminate her first and “split open her face”. Mr. Clark, awoken by the noise, rose and struggled with Milligan until he too was felled by the killer’s axe.

Milligan then turned his attention upon the last member of the Clark family: the little 8-year-old girl, Amelda.  He brutally struck her with the axe and used the straight razor to cut her throat. He then snatched Clark’s watch and the money from Mrs. Clark’s body and fled.

The next morning, a neighbor discovered a grisly scene. Mrs. Clark was already dead, but Mr. Clark and little Amelda still clung to life. The neighbor sent for the sheriff, and a manhunt began. Gabe Clark was taken to Oklahoma City for treatment of his wounds but would succumb to them a few days later. But, before he died, he gave a full account of the attack to the sheriff. Little Amelda would recover and go on to testify later at Milligan’s trial. 

Milligan fled on foot and secured a ride to Guthrie by offering a farmer “an unreasonable sum of money”. At Guthrie, he boarded a northbound train. Oklahoma County Sheriff John M. Fightmaster suspected that Milligan may have been on his way back to Tennessee and sent a telegraph to authorities in the region, warning them to be on the lookout. On November 7th, Milligan was captured at a train station in East St. Louis, Illinois. Among the items found on his person were a gold watch engraved with the initials “G.C.” and $35 in cash. 

Milligan was brought back to Oklahoma City and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Milligan’s trial began on February 9th, 1894. The state’s star witness was little Amelda Clark. Her testimony, along with the half-healed scars on her neck and forehead, made a strong impact upon the jury. The conviction came on February 11th. Milligan was sentenced to death by hanging, to be carried out on April 6th, 1894.

Milligan’s attorneys were able to obtain a stay of execution pending a review by the territorial Supreme Court, which took up the case in June. The court affirmed his conviction, and a new execution date was set for January 11th, 1895.

Surprisingly, capital punishment in Oklahoma Territory was controversial even in 1894. This was largely due to the efforts of an Irishman named Dr. John R. Furlong, a nationally recognized figure known for his efforts on behalf of the sick and impoverished, as well as “strange and wonderful cures “that were attributed to him.

On the eve of Milligan’s execution, Furlong raced south from Guthrie with a 60-day stay of execution in his hands. Acting Governor Lowe felt that Furlong deserved an opportunity to plead his case for the abolition of capital punishment in Oklahoma to the 3rd Territorial Legislature, which was now in session.

Furlong urged the legislature to pass a bill repealing the death penalty “to save this new land from the stain of legal murder”. Though many in the legislature opposed the bill, most admired his efforts.  Furlong worked tirelessly, writing opinion pieces for newspapers, and delivering public speeches. On February 22nd, he was given the opportunity to personally address the Senate.

His powerful speech was widely reported and reprinted throughout the territory. Furlong called upon the lawmakers to “abolish this relic of the dark ages” and implored them to make Oklahoma Territory “a beacon for the rest of the nation to follow into the enlightened age.”

The following day, the 13 members of the Senate voted on the bill. By the slimmest of margins, the bill to abolish the death penalty passed by a vote of 7-6. Next, it would have to go to the House of Representatives for final passage.

Dr. Furlong had two weeks before the end of the legislative session to convince the House to take up the Senate’s bill and secure enough votes for its passage. On the final day of the legislative session, it was reported that Furlong had found enough votes to pass that hurdle.

His neck was broken instantly, and he dangled motionless for 12 minutes before being cut down, placed in a casket, and taken to Fairlawn Cemetery for burial. Today, his unmarked grave is only a few feet away from the final resting place of one of his victims. 

Gabe Clark, after being brought to Oklahoma City unsuccessfully for treatment of his wounds, was not taken back for burial beside his wife. Instead, like Milligan, he was buried in the pauper’s section of Fairlawn Cemetery.

Three days after the execution, a Guthrie newspaper printed the following: “Capital Punishment has now been established in Oklahoma by this act (Milligan’s hanging) and there will probably be few attempts and no success in abolishing it in the future.”

In an ironic postscript, Representative Harry St. John, who tabled the bill to abolish the death penalty, was himself arrested for the murder of his wife only three weeks after Milligan’s execution. St. John died of influenza before his capital murder trial could begin.