On October 26, 1855, upwards of 5,000 people crowded into the town of Coloma (then the county seat) to witness the double hanging of Jeremiah Crane and Mickey Free.

The two condemned men couldn’t have been more different. One was a tutor who was convicted of shooting his sweetheart in a love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. The other was a serial killer who preyed upon miners, particularly the Chinese, in El Dorado and surrounding counties.

Crane hailed from Kentucky and came to California to mine gold. He took up residence with the Newnham family in Ringgold, earning room and board by tutoring the family’s children in penmanship. The oldest child, Susan, was an impressionable 18-year-old who soon entered into a romance with Crane. A marriage was planned, but thwarted when it became known that Crane had a wife and four children in Kentucky.

Mr. Newnham dismissed Crane and ordered him not to see Susan again, but passion remained strong between the two. It was reported that Crane would sneak into Susan’s bedroom at night. They became more determined to join their lives, whether in this world or the next; Jeremiah vowed to shoot Susan and then shoot himself so they could be together for eternity.

Crane made good on his promise on August 10, 1855. Pulling away from an embrace with his beloved, he shot Susan in the head. The shot was not fatal, however, and she fled back toward her house. He then shot two more times bringing her to the ground, but not killing her. He carried her into the house and placed her on a sofa where she lingered for five days before expiring.

Crane disappeared and later reported that he tried to shoot himself that same day, but the gun had jammed. Another attempt to slit his wrists failed, due to the lack of anything sharp enough to cut his skin. 

It wasn’t long before men in the county were searching for him. He eluded capture for a number of days, but was picked up by the constable while sitting dejectedly in front of the Newnham home. An angry throng of over a thousand townspeople snatched him from the constable and took him to a cabin where they convened to determine his fate. A posse led by Sheriff Buel rescued him and took him to the jail in Coloma where he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to hang.

On the day of the hanging, Crane shared the gallows with serial killer Free. According to the daily journal of Stephen Wing, a contemporary of the condemned, both men took the matter very coolly. Crane read a long speech saying that “he did not mind dying, but he objected to the mode of punishment.” He also stated that he didn’t feel he committed murder, but had done the girl a favor as she had expressed a desire to die. At the conclusion of statements from both men, “they shook hands and bid each other goodbye and also the attendants.”

Article by Jerrie Beard

To read the story of his gallows-mate Mickey Free, check back next month.