George Wythe Sweeney
George Wythe Sweeney (sometimes spelled Sweeny, Sweney, Sweaney, Swany, Sweny, Swinny, or Swinney) was the grandnephew and likely murderer of George Wythe.[1] Although an exact date of birth is unknown, Sweeney is believed to have been born around 1790 to Jane (Moore) Sweeney and George Wythe Sweeney, George Wythe's nephew by his sister Ann (Wythe) Sweeney.[2] In 1806, Sweeney was living in the home of his great-uncle, from whom he was to inherit a significant amount of property.[3] By most accounts, Sweeney did not share the same high character as his great-uncle, as he was known as a gambler who had "proven himself unworthy of the home and education he had enjoyed for several years" by stealing items and forging checks.[4]
It is unclear whether Sweeney murdered his great-uncle in order to cover up his previous misdeeds or prematurely profit from his uncle's death.[5] Whatever the motivation, it is most likely that Sweeney was the culprit who poisoned the household food with arsenic and caused the death of George Wythe and the slave Michael Brown.[6] Wythe realized that he had been poisoned and his edits to his will excluding his grandnephew point to the person he believed was the culprit.[7]
Sweeney was acquitted of murder, largely because Virginia law at the time disallowed a slave from serving as a witness against a white defendant.[8] Other reasons may have been the fact that attending physicians did not perform complete autopsies, preventing a certain diagnosis, and the fact that Wythe may not have wanted his nephew to suffer beyond being disinherited.[9] Despite this acquittal, Sweeney was convicted of forging checks in Wythe's name with a penalty of six months imprisonment in jail and one hour in the pillory.[10] The sentence against him was never executed. [11]
After 1806, not much is known about Sweeney. The dubiously accurate Dove Memo states that Sweeney "went to Tennessee where he stole a horse, went to the penitentiary" and then was "lost sight of."[12] Another scholar notes that he "sought refuge in the west; where his career was brought to a premature and miserable close."[13]
See also
- Chancellor Wythe's Death
- Commonwealth against George Wythe Swinney
- Examinations of George Wythe Swinney for Forgery and Murder
- Hustings Court Minutes
- Hustings Court Order Book
- Memoranda Concerning the Death of Chancellor Wythe
- Murder of George Wythe
- Richmond Enquirer, 9 September 1806
- Richmond Enquirer, 2 June 1809
References
- ↑ Steve Henkel, "Murder in the Family," The American Genealogist 78 (2003): 87-88.
- ↑ Ibid., 94
- ↑ W. Edwin Hemphill, "Examinations of George Wythe Swinney for Forgery and Murder" in Murder of George Wythe, by Julian P. Boyd and W. Edwin Hemphill (Williamsburg: The Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1955).
- ↑ Julian P. Boyd, "The Murder of George Wythe," in Murder of George Wythe, by Julian P. Boyd and W. Edwin Hemphill (Williamsburg: The Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1955.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid. 17.
- ↑ Boyd, "The Murder of George Wythe," 29.
- ↑ Hemphill, "Examinations of George Wythe Swinney for Forgery and Murder," 63-64.
- ↑ Boyd, "The Murder of George Wythe," 29.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Dr. John Dove, "Memoranda Concerning the Death of Chancellor Wythe".
- ↑ Boyd, "The Murder of George Wythe," 29.
