Bathsheba (Ruggles) Spooner (1745 - 1778)

Born 13 Feb 1745 in Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Wife of Joshua Spooner — married 15 Jan 1766 in Hardwick, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay

Died 2 Jul 1778 at age 33 in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts

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Biography

Bathsheba (Ruggles) Spooner is Notable.

Bathsheba and President John Adams are 2nd cousins.

Bathsheba was born in 13 February 1745 in Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Timothy Ruggles and Bathsheba Bourne. ^[1] She married Joshua Spooner at Hardwick in 1766.^[2]

The Crime

She was hanged in 1778 at thirty-two years old, along with three soldiers for killing her husband, Joshua Spooner. She was carrying the child of her 16 year old paramour Ezra Ross, also hanged along with the two other men, Private Williams Brooks and Sergeant James Buchanan; all four were convicted of the murder of Spooner. She was the first woman to be executed in the United States by Americans rather than the British.

Trial and Death

The trial took place at Worcester’s Old South meetinghouse on April 24, 1778 and lasted all day. It was the first capital trial to be held under the newly formed United States government in Massachusetts, and it passed judgment on what was considered to be one of the most extraordinary crimes to be committed in New England.

Buchanan, Brooks, and Ross were all found guilty of murdering Joshua Spooner, and Bathsheba was found guilty of being an accessory to it. All four received a death sentence for their participation. After sentencing, Bathsheba sought a stay of execution by claiming she was pregnant, and a jury of matrons was convened to examine her. They concluded, however, that she was not with child. Bathsheba desperately asked to be examined one more time, although this time her request was refused. She took the news of the rejection in stride, but she asked that her body be examined after her death to prove the truth of her claim.

The four participants in the crime were hanged together on the same gallows on July 2, 1778 in front of an enormous crowd. Later that evening, a group of surgeons gathered to examine Bathsheba’s body, and she was indeed found to be pregnant with a 5 month-old male fetus.

Ancestors

She is a descendant of John Howland, Pilgrim.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29L-RDB5 : 18 February 2020), Bathshua Ruggles, 13 Feb 1745; citing Birth, Sandwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 004934221.
2. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCHN-XLF : 24 January 2020), Bathsheba Ruggles in entry for Joshua Spooner, 1766.

• Navas, Deborah; Murdered By His Wife. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999.
• Early American Crime, Bathsheba Spooner
• Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner on Wikipedia
• “Boston, April 30, 1778.” New-England Chronicle, published as The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser April 30, 1778. Database: America’s Historical Newspapers, Newsbank/Readex.
• Chandler, Peleg W. American Criminal Trials. Vol. 2. Boston: Timothy H. Carter and Company, 1844. Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/americancriminal02chaniala.
• The Dying Declaration of James Buchanan, Ezra Ross, and William Brooks, Who Were Executed at Worcester, July 2, 1778 for the Murder of Mr. Joshua Spooner. [Worcester?], [1778?]. Database: Early American Imprints I, Newsbank/Readex.
• Lawson, John D., ed. American State Trials: A Collection of the Important and Interesting Criminal Trials Which Have Taken Place in the United States from the Beginning of Our Government to the Present Day. Vol. 2. St. Louis: F. H. Thomas Law Book Co., 1914. Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=7_EUAAAAYAAJ.
• Maccarty, Thaddeus. The Guilt of Innocent Blood Put Away: A Sermon Preached at Worcester, July 2, 1778. On the Occasion of the Execution of James Buchanan, William Brooks, Ezra Ross, and Bathshua Spooner, for the Murder of Mr. Joshua Spooner. Worcester, MA: Isaiah Thomas, 1778. Database: Early American Imprints I, Newsbank/Readex.
• Williams, Daniel E. Pillars of Salt: An Anthology of Early American Criminal Narratives. Madison, WI: Madison House Publishers, 1993.
• “Worcester, March 5.” The Massachusetts Spy: Or, American Oracle of Liberty March 5, 1778. Database: America’s Historical Newspapers, Newsbank/Readex.

See also: "Bathsheba Spooner: A Revolutionary Murder Conspiracy" https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/57328848-bathsheba-spooner

A recording by the author worth listening to: https://historycamp.org/andrew-noone-bathsheba-spooner-a-revolutionary-murder-conspiracy/

• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #40581415 (accessed 8 November 2023)
  Memorial page for Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner (15 Feb 1746-2 Jul 1778); Maintained by Tom Cummings (contributor 41886604).