George W. Benway

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Charge:	Polygamy
Sentence:	3 years
Years Imprisoned:	1.67
Year Crime:	1885
Year Convicted:	1885
Year Cleared:	1886
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Massachusetts
County or Region of Crime:	Norfolk
City of Crime:
Result:	Pardoned
Summary of Case:	"George W. Benway aka John Benway was wrongly convicted on April 13, 1885 of polygamy in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. After Benway's wife left him he believed she had died, and he remarried a woman and had several children with her. George Benway was prosecuted after it was discovered his first-wife was alive. After his conviction Benway was sentenced to three years in prison. While he was imprisoned it was discovered that Benway's first wife had divorced him. On December 1, 1886 George W. Benway was granted a full pardon by Massachusetts Governor Benjamin F. Butler based on the new evidence his first-wife had divorced him. Benway was released after a year and eight months imprisonment, and his remarriage to his second wife made his children with her to be legitimate."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On December 1, 1886 George W. Benway was granted a full pardon by Massachusetts Governor Benjamin F. Butler based on the new evidence his first-wife had divorced him. Benway was released after a year and eight months imprisonment, and his remarriage to his second wife made his children with her to be legitimate."
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Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in the year 1887, Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, p. 1198"
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George W. Benway

Charge:

Polygamy

Sentence:

3 years

Years Imprisoned:

1.67

Year Crime:

1885

Year Convicted:

1885

Year Cleared:

1886

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Massachusetts

County or Region of Crime:

Norfolk

City of Crime:

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in the year 1887, Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, p. 1198"

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