Biography

"In 1841 John C Colt, a man of many occupations, killed a creditor in New York City, was found guilty of the murder, and committed suicide in The Tombs jail on the day he was to be executed."

"Seward was overwhelmed with requests asking for a pardon for Colt, including those from 36 lawyers who visited him personally in Albany as well as from judges and attorneys close to Seward such as Judge Ambrose Spencer and former Attorney General Willis Hall.  Seward in the end would not pardon Colt, as he felt the attempted cover-up of the crime and Colt's demeanor throughout the trial were not the actions of a "penitent man"."

"Colt's body was placed only temporarily in St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, while arrangements were made by his family. A week later, on Friday, November 25, 1842, the body was removed from St. Mark's to Connecticut, where he was properly interred in the Colt Family plot at the Old North Cemetery in Hartford."

In 18421121AHW_WHS1, Alvah discusses his various conspiracy theories on the supposed 'suicide'. Primary accounts of the episode can be found at the newspaper links below. John married Caroline Henshaw in prison the morning before he died. Caroline was already married overseas in 1838 to John's brother, Samuel. Caroline gave birth to a son (John Caldwell Colt) that was supposedly John's, but many historians now believe the child to be Samuel's. Samuel took good care of his "nephew" after John's death. Marrying Caroline to John was a way to legitimize the child, Samuel having cast Caroline aside, feeling she wasn't a suitable wife for a successful business man like him (divorce was a social faux-pas).