The Manchester prisoner notorious for being the only woman executed in the US state of Nevada

Elizabeth Potts from Hulme remains the first, and only, woman executed in the US state

A woman from Manchester holds the unenviable accolade of being the only woman executed in the US state of Nevada. Dating back to 1863, Nevada has a long and dark history of legal executions.

However, while more than 70 people have been put to death there through the years, only one was a woman—and she was from Manchester. Born in Hulme in December 1846, Elizabeth Potts (born Elizabeth Atherton) later lived on Pigeon Street, off London Road, when she was 16, according to the 1861 census.

Following her father's death, Elizabeth married Josiah Potts in Deansgate in December 1862. They soon emigrated to the US, taking with them their one-year-old daughter, Alice May.

Arriving by ship in New York on May 16, 1864, they settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, Elizabeth is said to have given birth to seven more children, although some reports on the number vary.

After Josiah secured a job with the Central Pacific Railway, the family moved west, eventually settling in Carlin, Nevada, in 1886. Shortly after, Elizabeth separated from Josiah, travelling to California and entering a bigamous marriage with another Mancunian, Miles Faucett.

An older man, Miles, 57, reportedly fell head over heels for Elizabeth - lavishing her with jewellery and fine clothes. But this marriage did not last, and feeling homesick, she soon returned to Carlin, Nevada, despite Miles' threats to reveal her bigamy if she did not continue their relationship.

Despite their acrimonious split, Miles, who lived just outside Carlin, continued to keep in contact with Elizabeth and her family. At one point, he boarded with the Potts before purchasing his own property while Elizabeth continued to cook him meals and wash his clothes.

What is even stranger is that there is no evidence to suggest that Josiah was even aware of his wife's bigamous marriage to Miles.

On January 1, 1888, Miles told a friend, J.P. Linebarger, that he would visit the Potts family to collect money they owed him. He told his friend he could use his knowledge of their bigamous marriage to persuade Elizabeth to pay the debt.

When Miles and his friend arrived at the Potts' home, Elizabeth invited them to stay the night. However, Linebarger declined and spent the night alone back in his homestead. After that night, Miles was never seen alive again.

Since Carlin was known as a transient town with many people moving through, Miles' sudden disappearance didn't cause great concern. However, Linebarger's suspicions were raised, so he visited Josiah to question him about his friend's disappearance.

Josiah said Miles had left town and sold him his ranch, wagon and belongings. Pressed further, he admitted they had also argued, with Miles taking off in a huff.

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Unconvinced, Linebarger went to the local law enforcement, and a few days later, Deputy George McIntosh rode out to Miles' ranch to find the place ransacked. Several expensive items were found in the Potts' home, but after they produced a bill of sale, no foul play was suspected, and the investigation was closed.

Later the same year, the Potts packed up their belongings and left Carlin for Wyoming. Around December, Amelia Brewer - a local journalist who was considered to be psychic - rented the Potts' former home with her husband, George.

Writing under the moniker Busy Bee, she wrote the following story for the Elko Free Press on January 5, 1889, shortly after moving in: "I have intended to write you for several weeks, but when one moves to a new place, one naturally is kept very busy for awhile.

"It is a little exciting when one has the good luck to move into a veritable haunted house. So far, the ghost hasn't scared any of us, but he is here just the same. Sometimes he taps on the headboard of the bed, other times he stalks across the kitchen floor and then he hammers away at the door, but nobody's there.

"But the gayest capers of all are cut up in the cellar. There he holds high revels, upsets the pickles, and carries on generally."

In fact, it was the strange occurrences that led George to investigate the cellar several times before he discovered a mutilated body in a shallow grave. The corpse was identified as Miles due to clothing and a knife being found on him that he was known to own.

An order to arrest the Potts' was issued, and the pair were returned to Carlin by Sheriff L.R. (Lou) Barnard and Constable J.F. Triplett, where they were indicted on murder charges.

The Trial

The couple pleaded not guilty but admitted that the remains found in the cellar were that of Miles Faucett. Elizabeth testified she had caught Miles acting inappropriately with her daughter, while Josiah claimed he had signed over all his property after admitting what he was accused of before taking his own life.

Josiah said Miles did this with the family's revolver after saying, "No you don't; you will be blamed for this'."

Josiah told the court: "I came to the conclusion to bury him, because I was so overcome with fright. I thought I should be blamed for it. I took him down in the cellar."

While other family members corroborated the story, the jury refused to believe it, and the couple were found guilty of murder. As the verdict was read out, Josiah is said to have bowed his head while Elizabeth calmly looked straight ahead without a flicker of emotion.

Judge Bigelow ordered the couple to be "hanged by the neck until dead", with their execution date set for May 17, 1889.

The date for the execution was moved to June 20, 1890, following an appeal of the sentence, which ultimately failed. But Sheriff Lou Barnard strongly opposed the decision to carry out the execution as, like many others, he was vehemently opposed to hanging a woman - especially one convicted on circumstantial evidence.

Despite petitions and a later appeal on behalf of the Potts by the same judge who had originally sentenced them to death, all objections to the sentence failed.

A scaffold was constructed and tested in Placerville, California - historically known as 'Hangtown' - before being shipped to Elko, Nevada, for the execution. The gallows were erected behind the old courthouse with a tall fence built to enclose the jail yard and ensure privacy, before being tested with sandbags in place of Josiah and Elizabeth.

With the couple maintaining their innocence right up until the end, the case attracted much attention, with the rare act of hanging a woman seen as particularly controversial.

Public intrigue was heightened by reports of Elizabeth's behaviour before the execution. Although appearing more stalwart than her husband at times, she tried to take her own life the day before the execution but was foiled by guards.

An article from the San Diego Union newspaper of June 26, 1890, reported: "At 10:30 o'clock the Sheriff read the death-warrants to Josiah and Elizabeth Potts. Josiah stood in a despondent attitude, with his head bowed down against the iron bars, and not once during the reading of the warrant did he lift his head. His wife stood erect, clad in a neat muslin suit draped in black, with a red rose in her bodice. She was pale, but with a most determined aspect in every feature."

Both continued to claim their innocence as they were led to the gallows with a crowd of around 60 witnesses. Seating themselves on the stools provided, Josiah and Elizabeth were bound with leather straps. It's reported that Elizabeth helped to adjust them herself while Josiah sat through it all in disbelief.

Elizabeth and Josiah are said to have kissed softly for the last time as the ropes were stretched around their necks and black hoods placed over their faces.

Moments later, Sherriff Barnard cut the cord which released the trap door, sending the couple to their deaths. Ironically, their bodies were then taken to a potter's field and buried near Miles Faucett's - the victim's remains.

'It is a dreadful thing to hang a woman, but not so dreadful as for a woman to be a murderer'

A journalist from the San Francisco Daily Report at the time wrote: "It is to the credit of Elko, Nevada, that it hangs a woman guilty of murder. It is a dreadful thing to hang a woman, but not so dreadful as for a woman to be a murderer. Evidently, Elko possesses citizens who, when on a jury, have some respect for their oath. In San Francisco, Mrs. Potts would have walked out of court a free woman."

Elizabeth was the first and only woman executed in Nevada so far. Another woman, Priscilla Joyce Ford, was on death row in the state but escaped execution after she died in custody on January 29, 2005.