It
was 169 years ago today that Elizabeth Reed was taken from the Lawrence County
jail, riding on top of her coffin, to be hanged for the murder of her husband.
And her story remains one of questions, conflict, and mystery almost 170 years
later.
Elizabeth
(Betsey) Reed was a frontier wife from the tiny Illinois town of Heathsville.
She and her husband Leonard resided quietly in their home just outside of town.
But
Betsey was not well liked in the tiny village. Many of the local women found
her to be coldhearted, uncaring and too eccentric for their tastes. However, men appeared to be fascinated by
her, observing none of the traits that the women did.
Public
opinion of Leonard wasn’t much better.
Some viewed him as a calculated businessman who made ruthless decisions.
Others said he was a failure who was unwilling to try and fit into society. 
Then,
in May 1844, Betsey Reed was accused of giving her husband Leonard, a cup of
arsenic-laced sassafras tea (or some said, squirrel soup). He died the next day and she was charged with
murder based on a relative’s accusation. 
Reed
was arrested, taken to Palestine, Illinois and placed in the Crawford County
jail. The building was reportedly built from oak trees with walls that were
three feet thick. Then the unthinkable happened - a fire, reportedly started by
Betsey Reed, burned down the building. 
Officials
said that Betsey had had nothing in her possession that could have been used to
start the blaze, but the story spread like wildfire across the prairie. Soon insinuations
were made that she was a witch and spread around the community, titillating
resident. 
Reed
was moved to the Lawrence County jail in Lawrenceville, Illinois, about 25
miles away. The change of venue did
nothing to assist in her defense. The
story was so horrifying for the time that it was being covered by newspapers
from around the state, and around the country, some as far away as New York
City. |
| Augustus French |
 |
| Usher Linder |
Two
well-known attorneys, Augustus French and Usher Linder, prepared Betsey’s
defense. The only witness to the supposed poisoning was a relative, 16-year-old
Evelyn Deal. Evelyn said that she saw
Betsey pour a white powder into Leonard’s tea and then serve it to him. No
other evidence was given.
 |
| William Wilson |
Betsey’s
trial lasted for three days. During that time, she was never allowed to take
the stand in her own defense. Illinois
State Supreme Court Justice William Wilson, after hearing the evidence, pronounced
her guilty of murder and sentenced her to be hanged.
 |
| Lawrence County Courhouse |
It
was rumored that Betsey Reed ‘found God’ in the eleventh hour and had been
baptized in the Embarras River the night before. Newspaper reports said that she went to the
gallows, riding on top of her coffin, singing hymns and chanting religious
verses. The minister who presided,
Reverend John Seed, preached a long sermon to the crowd while Betsey continued
to sing and chant.
Ninety
minutes after the event began, Elizabeth (Betsey) Reed became the first woman
in the U.S. ever publicly executed, and the only woman executed
by hanging in the state of Illinois.
According to the New York
Daily Tribune, Betsey’s body was taken down and dissected. It was discovered that she had swallowed tiny
pieces of brick and pulverized glass in an attempt to kill herself and escape
the hangman’s noose.
Betsey Reed was buried
outside of the local town cemetery, in an unmarked grave. But family members, who did not believe she
was guilt, demanded she be given a proper burial. After waiting what they considered “long
enough” for her exhumation, relatives stole into town at night and dug up her
remains, taking them by river through the "Dark Bend" and across the prairie back to Heathsville.
Betsey was re-interred in
the tiny local cemetery called Baker, just outside of Heathsville. Up a narrow country lane, surrounded by crops
and woods, the cemetery has a gloomy feel, even during the day.
Elizabeth is buried next
to Leonard, the husband she was found guilty of murdering, at the back of Baker
cemetery. A simple stone marked E.R. can
be found in the grass. Along side it is
a replacement gravestone that simply lists their names, dates, and how they
died. Under Leonard’s name it says
“Death by murder.” Under Betsey’s name
it reads “Death by hanging.” |
| Two Orbs on Cemetery Road |
But according to the
Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunters, it appears that Betsey Reed did not go
‘quietly into that good night.’ After
exploring this cemetery they have reported paranormal activity around her and
Leonard’s graves including this EVP where a woman’s voice states, “I’m
innocent.” www.crawfordcountyghosthunters.com/EVPiminnocent.htm
It is now one hundred
sixty nine years later and questions still exist as to her guilt or
innocence. Regardless, Elizabeth Reed
has gone down in the annals of U.S. history as the first women to be hanged in
the state, and the country … a sad legacy, indeed.
~ Joy
