Skip to content

Monthly Archives: January 2012

Early American Criminals: Thomas Hellier’s “Hell upon Earth”

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

With the ill treatment by his mistress “burning and broyling in [his] Breast,” Thomas Hellier, an indentured servant on a Virginia plantation, knew he had to escape. In 1677, Hellier was tricked into signing an indentured servant contract back in England with the promise that he would not be forced to perform physical labor and […]

Filed in Criminals | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

Crime Poems: Competing Accounts of Moses Paul and the First Native American Publication

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

When Mrs. Clark refused to let Moses Paul, a Native American, “have a dram” at Clark’s Tavern in Bethany, CT on a Saturday night, he was incensed. He became so disorderly, in fact, that he was forcibly removed from the tavern, but not before he vowed to exact revenge. Not long after the disturbance, Moses […]

Filed in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Early American Criminals: Daniel Wilson: Horse Thief, Burglar, and Rapist

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Daniel Wilson was confident he could escape from prison one more time. He was being held in the Providence jail after committing a rape back in December 1773 in Smithfield, RI. He had escaped from the jail twice before, although both times he was caught and returned. But he vowed to himself on this early […]

Filed in Criminals | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Crime Poems: The Three Counterfeiters

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

In September 1766, Richard Hodges and John Newingham Clark were convicted by the Superior Court in Boston of breaking into a shop and stealing fifty pounds worth of goods. As punishment, they were each fined twenty pounds, ordered to pay triple damages, imprisoned for six months, and bound for good behavior for twelve months. After […]

Filed in Poems | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)