Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Read my article on Anthony Lamb, who was perhaps America’s most successful transported convict, in February’s issue of The Readex Report: “‘Human Serpents sent us by our Mother Country’: The Transformation of Anthony Lamb, Transported Convict.”
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J. L. Bell posted a follow-up to my recent article about the burglar William Linsey on his Boston [...]
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Even though William Linsey was orphaned at a young age, this rough start did not appear to have any negative impact on him. Linsey was originally born in Palmer, MA in 1746, but at the age of two he went to live with Phinehas Mixture in Dudley, MA. By Linsey’s own account, Mixture raised him [...]
Filed in Criminals
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Also tagged Branding, Burglary, Connecticut, Forgery, Fraud, Imprisonment, New England, New Hampshire, Prisons and Jails, Theft, Whipping
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
All of you who read these Lines may see
The sad and dire Effects of Sin:
Therefore if Sinners still you’l be,
Leave off to read ere you begin. (from A Few Lines)
These lines form the opening of A Few Lines upon the Awful Execution of John Ormesby & Matthew Cushing, one of two poems written [...]
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Note: This post is the conclusion of the story of the “Harvard-Educated Burglars.”
In his History of New England, John Winthrop notes on June 5, 1644,
Two of our ministers’ sons, being students in the college, robbed two dwelling houses in the night of some 15 pounds. Being found out, they were ordered by the governours [...]
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
James Ward and Joseph Welde were positioned for success. Both were sons of prominent Puritan church men who were respected members of Massachusetts society, and both were enrolled at Harvard College, which would help them follow in their fathers’ footsteps and become leaders in their community.
One night in March 1644, Ward and Welde burglarized the [...]
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Outside of murder, burglary and robbery were considered the most egregious crimes in England and colonial America. Since burglars and robbers threaten the well-being and lives of victims while taking their property, they are regarded as worse than thieves, who try to steal without detection or intimidation. Burglary also conjures up feelings of discomfort, fear, [...]
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
In the earliest days of colonial America, burglary was not considered much of a problem. Most people in the community knew each other, and strangers were quickly identified. As more people settled in America and cities grew bigger, however, burglary became a much more frequent occurrence, and it increasingly was treated with harsh punishment.
Massachusetts
Even [...]
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Outside of murder, which cuts to the core of who we are as human beings, burglary is perhaps the ultimate criminal transgression in America, because it violates two strong American principles at the very same time: the protection of property and the right to privacy. It also brings with it a potential for violence, since [...]
Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies.
Lots of convict servants tried to run away from their owners in an attempt to escape harsh treatment from them or to regain their freedom and possibly return to Great Britain, or both. Almost as soon as the practice of convict [...]
The Massachusetts Superior Court celebrated its 150th anniversary on June 4, 2009 in Worcester, MA by reenacting the trial of Bathsheba Spooner. Everyone in the packed audience would surely agree that the performance was both entertaining and informative. Seeing real people play the parts of the historical actors in this colonial murder drama [...]
