Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 4

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Trial notes

State vs. Spooner

Lovet Linkon ) I was one of the Guard & board at Mr. Ephraim Walkers, I was at Mr. Spooners the Tuesday before the murder; begening of Feby. I was coming from Oakam Mr. Spooner asked me wr. I was going & we went to Oakam together Mr. Ross went with him. afterwards I went to Mrs. Spooners house & asked her if he was got home. She sd. no. I looked into the other Room & saw 2 soldiers, the Serjeant & the other, afterward, When he was got home in the Eving I went to him & some body lookd into the window, after some regulars were in the Kitchen the sarjent & als Mr. Spooner bid me go out, but consented to let them stay. I heard Sarjt. say if Mr. Spooner shd. turn me out of Doors I wd. have his life before morning. She told me Ross was hid because of galling the horse, & the Serjt. & Brooks had not been there lately. Joseph: Ball ) word came down that a man was murthered. those men had no money a few days ago, they now had money enough, found the buckels on Brook. found Ross hid in Walkers, Jacket & had on Mr. Spooners Jacket & Breeches, Buchanon bleeded himself & tryd to get away. Ross desired me to call a minister. he appeard Quite Adgit Mary Walker ) Mrs. Spooner gave Serjt. a Letter sd. she must go to Dr. Greens, Spent evning at our house & brought some Cloth for a shirt for him Brooks indecent behavior, the Serjt. made up medicines for her Serjt. at our house Thursday Eving Mrs. Spooner rid up to door, & ask’d if Serjt. Buc. was in the house, he went to door & ask’d her to get off, she gave him a Letter & sd. it was a Letter from young Grenadier at her house, it was to make him to go to the Hill, she came back soon from Dr. Greens & sd. she had forgot to give him a peice of cloth, she sd. he left it there wn. he was at her house. she askd me to make the shirt for Buc. & she wd. come & knit for me, the Serjt. wrote several Letters there on Friday Mrs. Spooner, familiarity between Mrs. Spooner & Brooks Saturday the Serjt. mix’d powders, he & Mrs. Spooner up Stairs: She askd him wn. he would go. he sd. Sunday noon. Serjt. uneasy she did not come, PM she came, & he went to her horse with her stroked a hair from her 41 eye & she said after whispering to him, tomorrow night 11. Clock, you say he sd. yes 11 oClock. I ask’d what was to be done, he sd. he was to meet the Grenadier Monday morning. Serjt. Br. & Ross 8 o’Clock, they sd. they were persued by Springfield Guards Mrs. Spooner found the Guard in persuit of them Serjt. & Brooks sd. Ross was Mrs. Spooners Cozin & kept a great Store. Ross sd. he had never seen Mrs. Spooner, he walked abt. & leaned agt. the side of the house ~~Br.~~ Serjt. gave me a Ruffled Shirt to rip of the Ruffles I did, Brooks sd. he had been to Mrs. Spooners & she had given them a Shirt & a pair of Stockings & that Buch had not been there. Prue ) Ser. & Br. were at our house fort night before Thursday on Thursday Serjt. B. at our House. Mrs. Spooner there, I wondered, she came there, the Serjt. sd. he wd. come agn. she did he help’d her off of horse, & took off her hat & Cloak. She stay’d all the Evning, Serjt. Buch. pulld her & she went out, & Brooks went out, he calld her out twice, her talk was to the Serjt. the Serjt. was for changing hankerchief. she went away at 10 clock, she was told wn. she first came in that Mr. was gone a Journy, Saturday morning Serjt. impatient for Mrs. Spooner desired if Mrs. Spooner came to tell her he was sick, she came & went up Stairs I went up & saw them sitting on the Bed I came down, I saw the papers of powders in her pocket book, she went upon the Stairs & talked to Serjt. Buchanon, he sd. at 11 oClock Serjt. & Br. went of in meeting time; toward day, they came to our house. Brooks wrist was all swell’d. Ross sd. that they had a fall. I askd Brooks for his white Cloaths, he sd. he had sold them, they did not call. ~~Brook's~~ Ross name, Serjt. Clap’d his breast & threw himself on the Bed Brooks gave me the watch, Ross desired me to hide him for he did not want to be seen with them.1

MS .

After the grand jury returned its indictment:

Hereupon the sd: William Brooks, James Buchannon Ezra Ross & Bathsheba Spooner are brought and set at the Bar here, by the Sheriff of the County of Worcester and arraigned & upon their arraignment they severally plead, That thereof they are not guilty & for trial, they put them selves upon God & the Countery; Thereupon a Jury Viz—Ephraim May, Jonathan Philips, Ebenezer Lovel, David Bigelow, Benja. Stowell, Saml. Forbush, Joseph Herrington, John Phelps, Manasseh Sawyer, Elisha Goddard, Abraham Batchelor, & Mark Batchelor, are immediately called & Sworn to try the Issue, who, after having fully heard all the Evidence upon their oaths say That the sd: William Brooks, James Buchannon, Ezra Ross & Bathsheba Spooner, are Severally guilty of the murther specified in the Indictment against the Law & ca.

Hereupon the Attorney pr. State moves the Court, for Sentence of Death against the sd. William Brooks, James Buchannon, Ezra Ross & Bathsheba Spooner. Thereupon the sd. Court pronounce 42 Sentence as follows Viz: That the said William Brooks James Buchannon, Ezra Ross & Bathsheba Spooner be severally hanged by the Neck till they are dead &c.

(Superiour Court of Judicature Minute Books, Worcester County, Apr. 1778. Massachusetts Judicial Archives, Boston, Mass.)

This case is covered in detail in Peleg W. Chandler, American Criminal Trials (Boston, 1844), 2:1–58, based upon the SCJ records and trial notes by Judge Jedediah Foster and the defense attorney Levi Lincoln. In the appendix (pp. 375–383) are additional documents relating to the case, including the indictment, death warrant, petition for a reprieve, reprieve, writ de ventre inspiciendo, return of the sheriff, opinion of midwives, and final return of the sheriff. See also Navas, Murdered by His Wife, which includes extensive source material.

This case was notorious in its day because of the social standing of the victim and his wife, feelings against her father as one of the county’s most prominent loyalists, and especially the unwitting execution of an expectant mother. A post-mortem examination revealed that Bathsheba Spooner was five months pregnant, supporting her pre-trial claim. Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, one of the few who believed Mrs. Spooner’s concern about her unborn child, preached the execution sermon on July 2 on the text “The Guilt of Innocent Blood Put Away.”

RTP noted in his diary, Apr. 23: “Wm. Brooks James Buchanon & Ezra Ross & Bathsheba Spooner arrainged for Murder of Joshua Spooner”; Apr. 24: “the said Prisners tried in meeting House tryal began at 9 oClock, lasted till 1 o’Clock in morning witht. intermission”; Apr. 25: “Jury brought in Verdict all Guilty & they were then sentenced. Court finished before noon.”

RTP noted an unusual outcome to another murder trial, which began later the same month. Maj. Nathaniel Danielson was tried for the murder of Jabez Nichols on Apr. 30 at Northampton. The next day, “The Jury in sd. Case being asked if the Prisoner at the Bar was guilty or not guilty said not guilty wch. being recorded & a motion made for the Prisoner to be discharged without day one of the Jury said, the Foreman had not delivered all the Verdict, & that they meant to say he was guilty of manslaughter, & expected to be asked another Q: but the Court sd. the Verdict was recorded & could not be altered, & the Pris. was discharged” (RTP Diary, May 1, 1778).