NEW-YORK STATE MUSEUM, OLD CITY-HALL, S. MARKET-STREET, ALBANY.A STRIKING REPRESENTATION OF THE MURDER OF MAJOR BIRDSALL, BY JAMES HAMILTON.

[New York State Museum]: [Hamilton, James]

Published by [Albany, N.Y., 1855

Broadside, 20 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches. Woodcut illustration in upper margin. Four closed tears (no loss to text), seven early repairs to tears (text slightly affected), old folds and crumpling, some soiling, but overall still sharp and clear. Good. A dramatic broadside announcing a new waxwork exhibit depicting the murder of Major Benjamin Birdsall by James Hamilton, along with Hamilton's subsequent execution by hanging. At the very top, there is a small woodcut of Hamilton on the gallows. The text below promises that viewers can see the scene "at the moment the ball entered the Major's side. Both the figures are dressed in the same clothing worn by them at the time the affair took place; and the Rifle in the hands of Hamilton, is the identical one with which the murderous deed was committed." Visitors are also guaranteed "a correct likeness of James Hamilton on the gallows, the moment previous to his execution, dressed in the identical apparel worn by him at the time, and the same rope round his neck with which he was hung." According to his brief autobiography (dictated to Calvin Pepper), Hamilton's was a sad story: a rough childhood in which he turned to crime, and was in and out of debt and trouble, until he learned that soldiers were exempt from the bailiffs, and so he enlisted in the 6th U.S. Infantry Regiment in Albany in 1812. He fought at York and Fort George, and was then captured by the British. After his release, he bounced in and out of the Army - tried to join the Navy - and was in and out of the Army again. Despite slipping deeper into vice and debauchery, he ended up in the Army one more time, joining Major Birdsall's rifle company stationed at Albany in early 1818. In July of the same year, so drunk he could not remember the act, he shot Birdsall, and was executed November 6, 1818. The date "December 24, 1818" appears at the lower left corner of the page, but it is not clear what it references. The New-York State Museum was not founded until 1836, and not open to the public until 1845. It was initially located at the Old State House (not "Old City-Hall" as found here), and moved when the hall was demolished in 1855. No doubt the murder of Major Birdsall was still exciting news, as much for the murder as for Hamilton's salacious autobiography. This broadside is decidedly rare. We could find no other record of it in OCLC or on the market. THE LIFE AND DYING CONFESSIONS OF JAMES HAMILTON, EXECUTED FOR THE MURDER OF MAJOR BENJAMIN BIRDSALL, NOV. 6, 1818, ALBANY (Albany: [Calvin Pepper], 1819). Seller Inventory # WRCAM55650

Bibliographic Details

Title: NEW-YORK STATE MUSEUM, OLD CITY-HALL, S. ...
Publisher: [Albany, N.Y.
Publication Date: 1855