Hi Don, I have wondered why he only got six years myself - the brutality of the crime (which i did not completely spell out in my original post) certainly made my skin crawl. The other thing I wonder is why none of the three adults who stood by and watched it happen were not charged in the murder! Donna > > From: "Don Taylor" <dtaylor120@cfl.rr.com> > Date: 2006/03/14 Tue PM 06:31:05 EST > To: RIGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [RIGENWEB] Murder in South County in early 1800s committed by Wm C Brown > > Six years for killing a five year old? They should have hung him by his > fingers and toes. > Don T. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "M. E. Potter" <potter@inch.com> > To: <RIGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 5:07 PM > Subject: Re: [RIGENWEB] Murder in South County in early 1800s committed by > Wm C Brown > > > > Hi Donna, > > > > From the database of "Early American Newspapers, Series I, 1690-1876, > > available to members on the NEHGS website, I found the following: > > > > From the Portland Gazette, and Maine Advertiser, Vol. XVII, Iss. 5, pg. > > 2, 1814-05-09: "In Rhode Island, last week, William C. Brown, was tried > > for the murder of Mary Hallowell [or Halloway--see below] aged 5. An > > account of the manner of committing the crime was published in Feb. last. > > She was punished with such horrid barbarities for not telling the letter > P. > > as to cause her death. Brown was found guilty of murder in the second > > degree and sentenced to six years imprisonment and a fine of 2000 > dollars." > > > > From the Constitutionalist and Weekly Magazine, Vol. III, Iss. 47, pg. 3, > > 1814-05-10: "PROVIDENCE, MAY 3. / At the late term of the Supreme > > Judicial Court, in Washington County, William C. Brown, a schoolmaster, > was > > tried for the murder of Mary Halloway, an infant of five years old, whom > he > > punished for not pronouncing a letter as he ordered, in such a brutal > > manner as to occasion her death. Forty-nine witnesses were examined, and > > the Jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder of the second degree. He > > has been sentenced to six years imprisonment and a fine of 2000 dollars." > > > > From the Connecticut Gazette, Vol. LI, Iss. 2636, pg. 4, > > 1814-05-18: "PROVIDENCE, May 3. / INTERESTING TRIAL. / At the April term > > of the Supreme Judicial Court, holden the last week, in the county of > > Washington, William C. Brown, of South-Kingston, was indicted for a murder > > committed the 27th day of December, 1813, on the body of Mary Halloway, an > > infant of five years of age. The trial commenced on Friday morning at 9 > > o'clock. Forty-nine witnesses were sworn and examined, and the arguments > > of counsel were not finished until between 5 and 6 o'clock on Saturday > > morning. The Jury retired, and about 8 o'clock the same morning, returned > > a verdict of guilty of murder of the second degree. On the same day, the > > sentence of the Court was pronounced upon the prisoner, which was > > imprisonment for six years and a fine of two thousand dollars. / Samuel W. > > Bridgham, Esq. Attorney General was counsel in behalf of the State, and > > John Whipple and Levi Trotten [unclear, perhaps Trotter], Esqrs. for the > > prisoner." > > > > Regards, > > Margaret > > > > > > > > > > > > At 12:31 PM 3/9/2006, you wrote: > > >In doing some research on the Peleg Brown family, I ran across an item in > > >an old newspaper, the Rhode Island American of January 28, 1814. They had > > >published a letter written by someone to a family member stationed at > Fort > > >Trumbull. The letter went into detail about how on the 27th of "December > > >last" William C. Brown, son of Peleg Brown, had murdered a 4-5 year old > > >child who lived with him. He killed the child because she was having > > >trouble learning her alphabet. There was a description of a horrific > > >crime, and then the writer added that the whole scene was witnessed by > > >Brown's wife and "Baker and his wife" - none of whom did anything to stop > > >the crime. > > > > > >I have been trying to find out the name of the little girl as well as any > > >info on a trial, jail sentence, etc. There's a big gap in the births of > > >children to William and his wife, Sally Kenyon, which may be accounted > for > > >by the fact that he could have been incarcerated, but I can find nothing > > >else on the crime to support that. > > > > > >Have any of you South County history experts heard of this crime? Any > info > > >is appreciated. > > >Donna in RI > > > > > > > > > > > >==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== > > >Visit RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative: http://www.rootsweb.com/ > > >WorldConnect Project -- Connecting the World One GEDCOM at a Time > > >http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ > > > > > > ==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== > > Newport County RIGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~rinewpor/ > > To unsubscribe: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/mailist.html#unsubscribe > > > ==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== > Support RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative: http://www.rootsweb.com/ > Surname Helper Search http://cgi.rootsweb.com/surhelp/srchall.html > >