Murder & Mayhem in Central Massachusetts

by Rachel Faugno

"A chilling chronicle of local true-life murders that reach back into the long-forgotten seamy history of Worcester County" (Vitality Magazine).

The bucolic image of central Massachusetts belies a dark and sometimes deadly past. Grisly crimes and grim misdeeds reach back to colonial settlement in Worcester County, from an escaped slave hanged for rape in 1768 at the Worcester jail to the Sutton choir singer convicted of drowning his wife in 1935. Henry Hammond's 1899 suicide and the others that followed shook Spencer residents to their cores. Some crimes still grip the imaginations of residents, while others have faded from collective memory. Author Rachel Faugno investigates this sinister history.

Includes photos!

Genres: True Crime

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 29, 2016

About the author

Rachel Faugno has worked as a teacher, newspaper correspondent, freelance writer, and magazine editor. Raised in Utah and California, she has lived in Massachusetts since the 1970s. She writes:

WHEN I MOVED TO BROOKFIELD, Massachusetts, around 1975, one of the first bits of local history I heard about was the murder of Joshua Spooner by his wife, Bathsheba. A well-to-do resident of Brookfield, Bathsheba was hanged for the crime in 1778, making her the first woman executed in the newly formed United States.

The murder caused a sensation, in part because she was the daughter of a prominent Tory who was forced to flee when the American Revolution broke out. She was also pregnant with her teen-aged lover’s child. To many observers, the unwillingness to delay the execution until after the child was born – four months elapsed between the murder and the hanging – seemed like an outburst of anti-Tory fervor. Legal precedent held that pregnant convicts should be allowed to deliver their child before being sent to the gallows.

Over the years, Bathsheba has garnered much sympathy, seen by some as a victim of her times. She has been the subject of books and articles, and to this day visitors make the trek to the scene of the crime, which is clearly marked, and to the local cemetery, where Joshua’s headstone bluntly names his wife as his murderer.

I myself became intrigued by her story. During the years that I was raising a family and working at various jobs, an idea for a novel percolated in the back of my mind: What if the spirit of Bathsheba was searching for someone to give birth to the child whose life was cut short? What if a distant relative came to Brookfield in modern times and was visited by Bathsheba? What if that relative – I chose to call her Caroline – learned that Bathsheba had belonged to a coven of witches still in existence? What if Caroline was slowly drawn into that coven? And what if her life began to mirror Bathsheba’s own?

The elements for the story slowly came together, and in 2014 I began working on what eventually became THE WITCHING TIME.

One day, to clear my head, I took a walk in a large state park that has reverted to woodland. I came across an old cemetery in which a lonely grave lay separate from all the others. The headstone was surrounded by stuffed animals and other small mementos.

Curious, I stopped to read the inscription. Buried beneath the headstone were six young children, murdered by their mother in 1901. They lay all but forgotten in a pauper’s grave, unmarked for more than 100 years until some local residents raised funds to install a headstone.

From that sad story, I was inspired to do research for MURDER AND MAYHEM IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS. The book focuses on historic regional crimes and includes a chapter on Bathsheba Spooner.

The two books were published within two months of each other. One is a work of fiction, the other is based on fact. Despite their differences, both reveal the inescapable truth that despair, conflict, and violence have always been with us. Society changes, but human nature doesn’t.

Reviews

[Nina Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing stories but tremendously sad, especially riveting because it all happened in the area I live, including the town I live in. A shocking, well written, gruesome history of the tiny farm towns I'm so familiar with, with photos of streets, buildings, and names I recognize. It arouses my curiosity enough to make me want to take a ride to the noted graveyards, buildings I never knew were once railroad stations, villages where public hangings took place, and the prominent family mansions of two mysterious suicides, now apartment houses. The stories are disturbing, but I'm sure anyone who lives in Central Massachusetts would find it's history compelling. I highly recommend it.

[Joanne Roach-Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about various crimes in Worcester County, Massachusetts from Colonial times to the early 1930's. Many of the stories are tragic accounts of desperate individuals from well known, prosperous families. These stories and families are part of the history of these towns and reveal that mental illness and mayhem was alive and well in early Massachusetts history. The numerous documents, newspaper accounts and photographs help connect the reader to the events and to the history of these towns. It brings a greater understanding of the times and people in which they happened.
Rachel Faugno pieces the clues and stories together and captures the readers interest with clear and concise narratives. She brings to life true tales of iniquities and intrigue, making this an eye-opening and fascinating read.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Who knew all this murder took place so close to home. Very interesting stories, anyone in any other part of the world should read this book.

[Bookwormthings · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting but it seems unkind to those involved to include tragedies caused by significant mental illness in a book entitled murder and mayhem. The suicides likewise.

[Nick Vantangoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff

I hope that more books like this come out. At times this book tells the reader of unknown things. It is refreshingly awful.

[SoTired · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Interesting stories, well told. I’d recommend it.

[Joseph Lellman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories if you're into grisly, gruesome murders.

[David Dull · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

There are some fun or interesting stories in this book. Easy read. Local stories for central Massachusetts as advertised.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting true crime read from old crime cases in Worcester County.