Send us a text

Long before modern true crime captivated audiences, there was the haunting tale of Bathsheba Spooner – a fascinating study in how revolution, politics, and gender collided in early American justice. As the Revolutionary War drew to a close, this Massachusetts woman orchestrated one of the new nation's most shocking murders, becoming the first female executed after America gained independence.
Born to privilege as the daughter of prominent loyalist Timothy Ruggles – Harvard graduate, Brigadier General, and former Speaker of the Massachusetts House – Bathsheba found herself trapped in an arranged marriage to Joshua Spooner, a man who reportedly inspired her "utter aversion." While her father fled to Nova Scotia as revolutionary fervor grew, she remained behind, increasingly isolated in a community that shunned her for her father's politics.
The arrival of Ezra Ross, a handsome 16-year-old Continental Army soldier, changed everything. Their forbidden affair led to pregnancy, creating a desperate situation in an era when adultery brought severe social and physical punishment. Her solution? Convince Ross and two British deserters to murder her husband for the princely sum of one thousand dollars. After beating Joshua Spooner to death and dumping his body down a well, the conspirators were captured within 24 hours, still wearing the dead man's clothes.
What followed was a trial steeped in the political tensions of its time. Despite her lawyer's attempts to argue insanity, the court – presided over by patriot judges – found all four guilty. Bathsheba's pleas to delay her execution until her child could be born went unheeded, and both she and her unborn son died on the gallows on July 2, 1778.
Modern analysts suggest Bathsheba might have been acquitted on grounds of mental instability had her case not been colored by anti-loyalist sentiment. Her story raises profound questions about political influence in justice, women's limited options in colonial America, and the sometimes deadly consequences of arranged marriages.
Dive into this riveting historical case that combines forbidden romance, political intrigue, and a murder that still fascinates almost 250 years later. Share your thoughts or suggest cases from your own hometown by messaging us on social media or emailing [email protected].

Source material:

New England Historical Society, https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/bathsheba-spooner-hanged-murder-or-loyalist-father/

Mass Moments, https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/brookfield-woman-put-to-death.html

Harvard https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:4198612$4i

Historical Ipswich https://historicipswich.net/2021/06/19/the-hanging-of-bathsheba-spooner-july-2-1778/

Barnacle, Sarah, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, march 9, 2025, Worcester County Wonders: The tale of Bathsheba Spooner, the first woman executed in the US, https://www.telegram.com/story/lifestyle/columns/2025/03/09/worcester-county-wonders-the-first-woman-executed-in-the-us/80494770007/

Green, Samuel Swett, publication date April 1889 The Case of Bathsheba Spooner, American Antiquarian of Massachusetts, 2025, http