Kansas Charley : the story of a nineteenth-century boy murderer / Joan Jacobs Brumberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Miller, Charley, 1874-1892.

Miller, Charley.

Murderers--United States--Biography.

Murderers.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xii, 273 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Viking, 2003.

Summary:

Orphaned at the age of six, Charles Miller spent his adolescence riding the rails under the self-styled moniker "Kansas Charley." On a September evening in 1890, when he was only fifteen years old, he shot and killed two young men in a boxcar headed for Wyoming. His trial lasted just three days, ending in a death sentence that resulted in his controversial 1892 hanging in Cheyenne. Most Americans regard "kids who kill" as a problem unique to our era, but the moving tale of Kansas Charley reminds us that it is a long-standing issue. In this engaging and well-paced narrative Brumberg takes us into a world of poverty, tragedy, and abuse, revealing the people and places that shaped Charles Miller's behavior, his crime, and his punishment. Kansas Charley brings vividly to life a thought-provoking chapter in American history and in the history of the juvenile justice system. It also sheds light on our contemporary predicament, encouraging us to think about what it means to continue to uphold the juvenile death penalty in the twenty-first century. Brumberg tells Miller's story with clarity and compassion, suggesting that then, as now, the decision to execute is often politically motivated.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Cradle of Youth 11

Chapter 2 Becoming "Kansas Charley" 44

Chapter 3 "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" 66

Chapter 4 Attention, at Last 85

Chapter 5 In Court 107

Chapter 6 Boys Don't Cry 126

Chapter 7 The Politics of Clemency 155

Chapter 8 Acting Out 185

Chapter 9 A Stormy April 202

Chapter 10 "I Can Die Game" 216.

Notes:

Map on lining papers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [249]-266) and index.

ISBN:

067003228X

OCLC:

51756031