Martha Curnutt (1812 - 1887)

Born 1812 in Tennessee, USA

Wife of Noah Casto — married 15 Aug 1839 (to 1843) in Cole County, Missouri, USA

Descendants

Died 4 Apr 1887 at about age 75 in Missouri, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: DK Clews [send private message] and Teri Taylor [send private message]

Biography

Martha Curnutt is Notable.

Martha Curnutt is buried in Avery Cemetery.

Ancestor of noted actress Cynthia Nixon and the main focus of her episode of Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). ^[1]

Martha was convicted of 1st degree Manslaughter^[2] after murdering her abusive husband with an ax in his sleep.^[3] After murdering him she immediately went to a neighbor's house and related the situation stating that her husband, Noah, had told her that she would die before sunset that day.^[4]

Martha Casto was the second female inmate of the Missouri State Penitentiary^[5], entering prison in August of 1843. During her time there she was housed with the male inmates but kept separate in her own cell. She was not contracted out for hard labor as the other inmates were but worked outside the prison at the homes of Captain Ezra Richmond and Judge James Brown, where she was abused by Mrs. Brown.^[6][7]

On top of all this, she fell pregnant while incarcerated - indicating that she was sexually abused by at least one person who had access to her while imprisoned. When her daughter was born, in the fall of 1844, nothing was provided for the birth, the doctor refused to attend her and Mrs. Brown would not let anyone else do so either. Only another prisoner was assigned to assist her. She wasn't even provided clothes or material for the child for a week after the child was born. She was not allowed to have a fire and so was in the cell with her newborn daughter, without warmth, until a pardon^[8] was issued by the governor for her release in December of 1844.^[9]

Some suppose that the deliberate cruelty to her was an attempt to dispose of the child and the evidence of maltreatment that she evidenced.^[10] In November of 1844 a petition was submitted to Governor John C Edwards for the pardon of Martha Casto due to the birth of her child and her situation. There were significant signatures, both in quantity and quality, on this petition - including WP Hall, a future Congressman and Governor, and LW Boggs, a former Governor, among others. Although sympathy for Martha's plight and the injustice of it may have played a role in the petition, it is likely that the societal and political ramifications may have held greater concern.^[11] The Governor issued her pardon on 7 December 1844.

By 1850, Martha is living with her father as "Martha Curnutt." Her children: Mary, Noah S. and Sarah, who was the child born in the penitentiary, were all listed with the surname Curnutt. All association with Noah Casto seemed to have been shed. Even Mary's death certificate listed Martha Curnutt as the mother and the father as unknown. In Martha's pension application (her son Noah died in the Civil War), she states that her husband died in 1842. Martha lived with her daughter, Mary Nixon, until her death in 1844.^[12][13] She is buried in a rural cemetery, Avery Cemetery, in Leasburg, Missouri, along with her daughter and son-in-law.^[14][15][16]

Research Notes

George Thompson's book is available to read at Archive.org.^[17]

Sources

1. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014.
2. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is looking at a copy of the original court records for the State of Missouri vs Martha Casto provided by historian Donna Schuele at the Missouri State Archives.
3. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is looking at a copy of pages from "History of Barry County", beginning on pg 629 - provided to her by historian Donna Schuele at the Missouri State Archives.
4. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is looking at a microfilm of the Jefferson Inquirer for 20 July 1843 at the Missouri State Historical Society."A man... had been in the habit of treating his wife in a manner too brutal and shocking to think of. On the morning of the day mentioned [a day last week], he told his wife to get up and get breakfast for himself and her two children - and then to commence saying her prayers, for she should die, he swore before sunset. She got up and made a fire, and returned to the room where her unnatural husband slept - he was laying on his back in a sound sleep. She took the ax with which she had been chopping wood, and with one blow sunk it deep into his head, just through the eyes. She immediately went to the house of a neighbor and related the circumstances as they occurred, giving as a reason that she was certain he would kill her that day and concluded that it was his life for hers."
5. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is looking at a copy of pages from "History of Barry County", beginning on pg 629 - provided to her by historian Donna Schuele at the Missouri State Archives.
6. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is reading from a published account of a prisoner who had been a contemporary of Martha Casto, George Thompson. His book was published in 1848.
7. ↑ Wikipedia: Martha Curnutt Casto accessed 4 May 2015.
8. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is reading from a published account of a prisoner who had been a contemporary of Martha Casto, George Thompson. His book was published in 1848.
9. ↑ Wikipedia: Martha Curnutt Casto accessed 4 May 2015.
10. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is discussing the situation with historian Prof. Patricia Cohen.
11. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is consulting Martha Curnutt Casto's pardon at the Missouri State Archives with the assistance of Historian & Dir. of the State Historical Society of Missouri, Gary R Kremer.
12. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #100971113
13. ↑ Wikipedia: Martha Curnutt Casto accessed 4 May 2015.
14. ↑ "Cynthia Nixon." Who Do You Think You Are (US) (Season 5 Episode 1). TLC. 23 July 2014. Note: Cynthia is consulting Findagrave.com to find Martha Curnutt's burial location. She then visits the site and leaves flowers at her stone.
15. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100971113/martha-mary-curnutt : accessed 10 January 2022), memorial page for Martha Mary Curnutt (1812–4 Apr 1887), Find a Grave Memorial ID 100971113, citing Avery Cemetery, Leasburg, Crawford County, Missouri, USA ; Maintained by Nancy Arnold Thompson (contributor 47192413) .
16. ↑ Wikipedia: Martha Curnutt Casto accessed 4 May 2015.
17. ↑ Thompson, George. Prison Life and Reflections; or, A Narrative of the Arrest, Trial, Conviction, Imprisonment, Treatment, Observations, Reflections, and Deliverance of Work, Burr, and Thompson, who Suffered an Unjust and Cruel Imprisonment in Missouri Penitentiary, for Attempting to Aid Some Slaves to Liberty. Three Parts in One Volume. Hartford: A. Work, 1851. Archive.org Accessed 10 Jan 2022. https://archive.org/details/prisonlifereflec03thom/page/286/mode/2up?q=child