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Lines written relative to the murder of Marcus Lyon who was murdered in Wilbreham [i.e., Wilbraham] Nov. 9th 1805: manuscript.

 Collection
Collection MS-2018-058: Lines written relative to the murder of Marcus Lyon who was murdered in Wilbreham [i.e., Wilbraham] Nov. 9th 1805: manuscript.

Dates

  • Creation: not before 1859

Abstract

Anonymous and unfinished manuscript copy or draft of a ballad about the 1805 murder of Marcus Lyon in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Written on a folded leaf of stationery with watermark "Joynson 1859" and lithographed image of a woman waving a United States flag above the caption "True to the Stars and Stripes." The 15 extant stanzas relate the discovery of Lyon's body, but conclude without mention of the subsequent arrest, trial, and execution of Dominic Daley and James Halligan. According to Melvin G. William's "The Ballad of Marcus Lyon: The Story Lives On," in New York Folklore, v. 14, nos.1-2, the anonymous ballad was a well known element of local oral tradition in western Massachusetts, but is not known to have been published prior to its appearance in the Springfield Republican, on May 18, 1913. It was also reprinted in Chauncey Peck's History of Wilbraham, Massachusetts (1913), with the title "Marcus Lyon Ballad." A circa 1805 broadside ballad with the title "Lines wrote relative to the murder of Marcus Lyon" is a completely different poem.

http://www.historic-northampton.org/daleyandhalligan/HNDH-NYfolklorearticle.pdf

Historical note

Irish immigrants. Dominic Daley and James Halligan were convicted and executed for the 1805 murder of Marcus Lyon. In 1984 Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis officially exonerated them in a proclamation denouncing their arrest and trial as a miscarriage of justice driven by anti-Irish Catholic prejudice.

Extent

.5 Linear Feet (1 container ) : 1 item (4 pages) : paper ; 21 x 13 cm

Language of Materials

English

Materials Specific Details

Last page is blank. Title transcribed from caption.

Title
Lines written relative to the murder of Marcus Lyon who was murdered in Wilbreham [i.e., Wilbraham]: manuscript.
Subtitle
1805 November 9
Status
Marc Only
Author
Noah Sheola
Date
2018
Description rules
Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the John J. Burns Library Repository

Contact:
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467 United States
617-552-4861