<<note...this story was
previously posted on this blog on Halloween, 2011, but it is one of my
favorites so I'm dusting it off for a repost today! For those of you who
haven't read it yet, this is a TRUE ghost story from where we used to live,
Newport, RI.>>
THE TIME…1673
THE PLACE…
A 100 acre farm in Portsmouth, RI (currently the site of The Valley Inn, pictured on the left.)
THE SITUATION…
Thomas Cornell, a farmer aged 46, had a lot of hungry mouths to
feed. He was the father of four sons from his first marriage, two
children (with a third on the way) from his second marriage to Sarah, plus his
widowed mother Rebecca, age 73. All nine people lived under one very tiny
roof. And, while Thomas did all the work, Rebecca owned the farm and thus
controlled things.
THE PROBLEM…
There were rumors that not all was well on the Cornell farm.
Reports of elder abuse ran rampant through the small community. Local
legend has it that Rebecca had confided she felt sure she’d be “done away with”
by year’s end.
WHAT HAPPENED…
February 8, 1673, Thomas arrived at the dinner table at 7 p.m. after
visiting his mother in her room for an hour and a half, and announced she would
not be joining the family for the meal. After dinner, Sarah sent one of
the elder sons up to the room to take Rebecca a glass of warm milk. He
opened the door and found flames on the floor around the fireplace. He
ran to get help. After the flames were out, a charred corpse was
discovered in the corner. It was identified (based on the slippers worn)
to be that of Rebecca Cornell.
THE VERDICT…
The town elders conducted a 17th century CSI investigation
and declared the following: “Rebecca Cornell was brought to her untimely
death by an Unhappy Accident of fire as Shee (sic) satt (sic) in her Rome
(sic).”
WAS IT AN ACCIDENT? It
made sense that a flaming ember had escaped from her pipe, causing her woolen
clothes to catch fire and burn her around her head, shoulders and chest.
BUT…(and this is where the
ghost story comes in): Two nights after her burial, Rebecca’s brother
John Briggs had a visitor while he slept. His bed sheets were ripped off
and a ghostly apparition appeared. According to local historian Larry
Stanford (in his book Sordid Stories
form the City by the Sea) John Briggs cried out to the spirit, “In the
name of God, what art though?” The dimly lit spirit replied, “I am your
sister Cornell,” then repeated twice, “See how I was burned by fire!”
John shared his experience with the village elders and Rebecca’s body was
exhumed for additional investigation. This time the medical examiners
found a puncture wound (the size of a spinning wheel spindle) and bruising near
her heart. It was determined that Rebecca had indeed been murdered.
SOOOOOO,WHO DID IT?
Thomas Cornell was the last to see his mother alive, and the person who
benefited most from her death. Plus there were all those rumors of elder
abuse and threats Rebecca had received. So it was no big surprise when on
May 16, 1673, on the steps of Newport, Rhode Island’s historic White Horse
Tavern, the verdict was handed down proclaiming Thomas Cornell guilty of
murdering his mother and sentencing him to death one week hence. The
hanging was held on Miantonomi Hill, atop which now sits the World War 1
Memorial.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STORY…
This is the only case in U.S. History where a ghost’s
testimony led to a murder conviction.
IN A WEIRD TWIST OF FATE…
While Thomas Cornell was found guilty of patricide, his
five-generations later granddaughter Lizzie Borden was found NOT guilty of
patricide in the whacking death of her parents in Fall River,
Massachusetts.
AN ODD FACT…
The girl born after the trial and hanging of her father was named
Innocent Cornell.
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