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Monthly Archives: February 2012

Jeremiah Swift, Convict and Child Murderer by Robert Barnes

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Note: This week Early American Crime welcomes historian and genealogist Robert Barnes as a guest author. Even though Robert’s guest post is a first for him on this website, it is not the first time his work has appeared in this space, since his book, Colonial Families of Maryland: Bound and Determined to Succeed, served […]

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Early American Criminals: The Mother of the Infant in the Well

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

On Saturday morning, August 11, 1739, a female infant was discovered in a well near the outskirts of Portsmouth, NH. Warrants were immediately issued, and a search was conducted to find the mother who presumably had murdered the baby. By the afternoon, officers focused their attention on Sarah Simpson, a 27 year-old widow. Neighbors believed […]

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Crime Poems: Samuel Cooke’s Forged Notes

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

In March 1765, Samuel Cooke, a yeoman from Westfield, MA, pleaded guilty to forging two promissory notes for considerable sums of money. His scheme was exposed when he tried to redeem the fake notes by sending them to an attorney in Boston. As punishment, Cooke was sentenced to stand in the pillory for one hour […]

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Early American Criminals: William Fly’s Revenge

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

To this vile Crue you may the PIRATE add Who puts to Sea the Merchant to invade, And reaps the Profit of another’s Trade. He sculks behind some Rock, or swiftly flies From Creek to Creek, rich Vessels to surprise. By this ungodly Course the Robber gains, And lays up so much Wealth, that he […]

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Crime Poems: The Memory of Infanticide Committed by Elizabeth Shaw

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

On June 29, 1745, Elizabeth Shaw, a “weak, simple girl, deficient in mental capacity,” gave birth to a boy in Windham, CT. She was not happy. Her son was a bastard child, which could not only bring punishment and public humiliation upon her, but also incur the wrath of her “stern and rigid” father. She […]

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