On This Date in Minnesota History: March 23

March 23, 1860 - On this date, Ann Bilansky (born Mary Ann Evards Wright) became the first white person and the only woman ever to be legally executed in Minnesota. Bilansky, a housewife convicted in 1859 of poisoning her husband with arsenic, was put to death by hanging on gallows erected at the Court House Square at the corner of Fifth and Cedar Streets, St. Paul. The case is also notable because it appears possible that Bilansky was innocent and, in any event, she did not receive a fair trial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Bilansky

http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/55/v55i08p350-363.pdf

Ann Bilansky Hanging in St. Paul

http://www.streetsofsaintpaul.com/2011/12/how-to-murder-your-husband-and-not-get.html