Samuel Green

Overview

Samuel Green was executed by hanging in Massachusetts on April 25, 1822. He was described as a disturbed man who carried out serial killings across New England from 1817 to 1822.

Background

Samuel Green was born in the hamlet of Meredith, New Hampshire. His poor hardworking parents believed he was “possess” early on when he played truant from school. They resorted to thrashing him with switches.

While he was a teenage apprentice to a blacksmith, Green was caught stealing and was whipped again. On his return home, he was whipped again. After that, he threw the family dog down the well in revenge. The dead animal contaminated the water, and the well had to be cleaned, leading to Green being whipped again. He then stabbed the family pig and was whipped again for it.

The family gave up on him and sent him to New Hampton to live with a man called Dunne. For a short period, Green settled down into school, but he soon began to truantly again and was beaten. He stole a jew’s harp from a local store and was flogged when apprehended. He fled home to his parents, who flogged him into unconsciousness when they had heard the news, and then sent him back to Dunne.

At Dunne’s, Dunne flayed Samuel’s back until a layer of flesh had peeled away. Green decided to kill Dunne for the last beating.

The offence

Green arranged for an axe to accidentally fall on Dunne’s master’s head. If that failed, a pitch fork was to be placed above the barn door. Dunne escaped both incidents with only minor injury. Green was tied to the barn door and whipped until his back was a welted bloody mass of flesh. Green retaliated by destroying a hogshead of cider, and he was whipped again for this. He then tried to burn down Dunne’s bar unsuccessfully, and was beaten senseless with whips and Dunne’s fists. Dunne gave up after some time, and Green left to embark on a career of passing counterfeit notes with another youth named Ash in New Hampton.

When Green and Ash passed a school house, Green decided to seek vengeance on those who represented the pain of his childhood and threw a large piece of timber under a speeding sleigh loaded with children, almost killing them. The school master caught the two youths and beat them severely. For revenge, Green and Ash lay in wait for the schoolmaster in a remote spot. They knocked him unconscious with rocks, stripped him naked, tied him up, and left him to freeze to death. He was found hours later and narrowly survived.

Green and Ash moved through Guildford and Burlington, Vermont. Green enlisted in the army, quickly went AWOL, and was flogged at the guardhouse when he was caught. He fled again and went home to New Hampshire, where he was described as wealthy with thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit notes. He purchased a cow for his mother, and spent the rest on himself with fancy clothes, a horse, expensive jewellery, and meals. When the money ran out, Green went to Boston and hired himself out as a servant to wealthy men. During the day he was described as a loyal servant, and at night he robbed his masters and fled.

Outside Bath, New Hampshire, Green again teamed with Ash. They encountered a jewellery sales man who allowed them to inspect his wares. Later, the two waited to ambush the peddler. When he strode past them, they knocked him from his mule and took his money. Ash said they should kill the man. Green hesitated and then brought his club down upon the unconscious man, bashing in his head and killing him on the spot.

Green then ranged though New England, robbing and murdering at will. He was jailed several times on suspicion, but evidence was lacking in most cases. Ash also helped Green to escape on several occasions.

Once in Montreal, Green fought his way through an entire posse of men while looting a jewellery store and shot several of the men. He was finally caught and thrown into jail. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang. Ash broke him out of jail, and they returned to New Hampshire.

After a quiet period of hiding out, Green went on another crime spree burglarising stores in Albany, New York and in New York City. He then went to Vermont, where he robbed and shot to death a wealthy French traveller. Green’s trail was described as including rape, horse stealing, burglary, counterfeiting, and murder across New England, from Montpelier, Vermont to Schenectady, New York, and from Saco, Maine to Barre, Vermont.

Investigation, arrest, and imprisonment

Green’s end began when he was arrested in Danvers, Massachusetts for stealing $30 worth of goods from a store when he was blind drunk. He was convicted and sent to Boston State Prison for a four year sentence. He attempted escape several times and was fitted with special shackles with weighted clogs to slow his movements, and several more years were added to his sentence.

Green learned that a prisoner named Billy Williams had informed on him about his last escape attempt. Once released from solitary confinement, Green vowed revenge.

He put poison into William’s food, but Billy Williams did not eat it.

Trial and sentencing

Green cornered Billy Williams alone in a shop on November 8, 1821. Wielding an iron bar, Green pounced on the informer and brought the weapon down on William’s head, giving him a fractured skull. While the man lay unconscious at Green’s feet, Green kept hammering at him with the bar, breaking all of William’s ribs and his arms and legs. Billy Williams died a week later from his injuries.

It was stated that Green was tried for Williams’ murder and sentenced to hang. On April 25, 1822, following a long trial, a rope was put around his neck.

Execution

Green was executed by hanging on April 25, 1822 in Massachusetts. Just before the trap was sprung, he told the priest who stood at his side that he had no words for the crowd gathered to see him die:

“They shall know my fate,” he cryptically told the man, “for I have written my confession out in full.”

The priest asked him if he was penitent for the sins he had committed. Green replied:

“If you wish it,”

He then “plunged to his death.” The rope snapped his neck and he was dead in moments. It was also stated that his promised “confession” never materialized.

Other details

• Samuel Green was described as standing nearly six feet tall, heavily muscular, and having a savage-looking face and burning dark eyes.
• He was described as known as the “Terror of New England.”
• He was described as becoming America’s first serial killer and “Enemy Number One.”
• Bounties were offered for his capture, and “half the country was looking for him.”
• Samuel Green was described as a career criminal who killed rape and robbery victims.
• Ash was identified as a youth who helped Green pass counterfeit notes, ambush and kill the schoolmaster, and escape from jail, including after Green was sentenced to hang.
• A man whose name was never known was described as Green’s employer in the business of passing counterfeit bills, and as teaching Green to become an expert card cheat and how to pick locks and duplicate keys.
• A jewellery sales man was identified as the victim from outside Bath, New Hampshire, who was knocked from his mule and killed.
• A wealthy French traveller was identified as a victim in Vermont.
• The status field stated the execution location as Massachusetts and the date as April 25, 1822.
• Green’s disposition was described as being hanged in Massachusetts in April 1822.
• The number of victims was given as “Numerous.”