Judge David Sewall's charge to the Grand Jury, Portland, 1789
Maine Historical Society
Suspect: Thomas Bird
Accusation: Piracy, Mutiny, Murder on the High Seas
Location: Atlantic Ocean and Casco Bay, Maine
Date: 1788
Victim: Captain John Connor
Along the coast of Indonesia, the British sloop Mary ferried prisoners for slave markets to British and Dutch ships in deeper waters in exchange for money, sundry goods, and spices. While aboard the Mary, crew members allegedly experienced extreme brutality at the hands of their captain, John Connor. Reportedly, Capt. Connor once beat a crew member to death and threatened others from rendering aid. Eventually, crewmen Thomas Bird (circa 1760-1790) and Hans Hanson killed Capt. Connor, while a third man, Josiah Jackson from Massachusetts, slept on deck.
Bird, Hanson, and Jackson then sailed the Mary to Cape Elizabeth, Maine where Jackson’s cousin lived, and attempted to sell the ship’s sundry goods, which drew the attention of local authorities. The recently enacted United States Constitution placed federal jurisdiction over maritime cases, allowing a local naval officer to seize the British ship and imprison the crew for conducting undocumented foreign trade, and potentially possessing a stolen vessel.
The authorities soon learned of Capt. Connor’s death. Released on bail, Jackson fled home to Massachusetts. The court acquitted Norwegian crewman Hans Hanson, but sentenced Bird, who admitted to killing the captain, to death. Bird’s attorneys sent a pardon request to President George Washington. After its rejection, the US Marshal executed Thomas Bird at Portland on June 25, 1790—the first federal execution in the newly-formed United States.