Bathsheba Spooner

Death of Bathsheba Spooner

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Bathsheba Spooner, was the first woman in American history to be exEcuted, following the Declaration of Independence.

The daughter of prominent Loyalist brigadier general, Timothy Ruggles, Bathsheba had an arranged marriage to wealthy farmer Joshua Spooner.

The marriage took place on 15th January 1766.

The Spooners lived in relative affluence in a two-story house in Brookfield, Massachusetts, and had four children between 1767 and 1775.

Spooner was later described as an abusive man, for whom his wife had developed utter hatred.

In the spring of 1777, sixteen-year-old Ezra Ross, a soldier in the Continental Army, fell ill en route to his home in Linebrook.

Bathsheba nursed him back to health.

They soon began an affair, and Bathseba found herself pregnant.

It was then she began urging Ezra Ross to kill her husband.

On the night of 1st March 1778, Bathseba's husband was beaten to death, and his body deposited in a well.

Bathsheba and her lover Ezra, were soon arrested, tried, and convicted of Joshua Spooner's murder, and sentenced to death.

At the trial on 24th April 1778, Ezra Ross had signed a confession, "that he had no intention of harming the deceased, was not aware of the plan until a few hours before the murder, had not assisted in the murder and pretended to support it, to maintain his affair with Bathsheba".

He argued that Bathsheba had a "disordered mind," and that her actions were irrational.

With the executions set for 4th June 1778, Bathsheba petitioned to have her exEcution delayed, because of her pregnancy.

Bathsheba was examined by a panel of twelve women and two male midwives.

All swore that she was not "quick with child."

When Bathsheba protested the report, a second examination was conducted, confirming the claim of pregnancy.

The court did not accept the secondary findings and 32 year old Bathsheba was hanged alongside Ezra Ross, on 2nd July 1778, in Worcester's Washington Square, before a crowd of 5,000 spectators.

A postmortem examination revealed that Bathsheba was five months pregnant, with a male foetus.

Bathsheba's body was claimed by her sister Mary, and was buried in an unmarked grave on her sister's Green Estate, which today is the site of Green Hill Park in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathsheba_Spooner

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