Bathsheba Spooner: A Revolutionary Murder Conspiracy

Join historian Andrew Noone to discover the most infamous 18th century true crime mystery you’ve never heard of. What possessed a woman from the elite of eighteenth-century New England society to conspire with American and British soldiers to murder her husband at the midpoint of the American Revolution? The story of Bathsheba Spooner has alternately fascinated and baffled residents of Worcester County for centuries. Beyond central Massachusetts, the tale is largely unknown. Many, when first hearing of the scandal, assume it to be the stuff of legend. It was, in fact, the most sensational “true crime” tragedy of the American 1700’s. The episode’s ingredients included a cold, possibly abusive husband, a handsome, directionless teenager, a pair of roughened British prisoners-of-war, and readily available cash set aflame by social and political isolation, wartime uncertainty and social upheaval. Add to this mixture a haughty, impetuous and (possibly insane) beautiful woman, and what resulted was a brutal homicide whose notoriety was only heightened by the distraction of New Englanders war-weary and economically stressed. Join historian Andrew Noone to discover the most infamous true crime mystery you’ve never heard of. LHM Members: $10 Nonmembers: $15