Mary Farmer

Case information

Mary Farmer was convicted of murdering Sarah Brennan and was executed by electrocution.

Timeline

• October 31, 1907 — Mary O’Brien Farmer went to the Watertown offices of Atty. Francis P. Burns and told him she was Sarah Brennan and had a deed she wanted transferred to Mary Farmer.
• November 26 — The deed was returned from the clerk’s office to James D. Farmer.
• January 7, 1908 — Mary Farmer and James Farmer had the deed drawn to Peter J. Farmer, and the deed/property was transferred to a child.
• April 23, 1908 — Mary Farmer told Patsy Brennan that he must vacate his house and that Sarah had gone away and would never return; she showed Patsy the deed made out to Mary Farmer.
• April 24, 1908 — A notice dated April 24, 1908 (signed) and addressed to Patrick Brennan was issued through Field & Swan, informing him to stay away from the property.
• April 27, 1908 — Sarah Brennan’s mutilated and decaying body was found in a trunk locked in a back shed or summer kitchen associated with the house where the Farmers had moved; the trunk belonged to Mary Farmer.
• April 28, 1908 — The Times reported the trunk contents after the lock was broken.
• April 29, 1908 — The Watertown Re-Union and other accounts described the discovery and the injuries described on the body; Mary’s conviction was later appealed.
• June 16, 1908 — Mary Farmer went to trial in the Jefferson County Courthouse before Justice Watson M. Rogers; after deliberating only three hours, a 12-member all-male jury returned a guilty verdict.
• March 29, 1909 — Mary Farmer was electrocuted at Auburn State Prison.
• March 28, 1909 — Mary Farmer signed and sworn a handwritten statement exonerating her husband in relation to Sarah Brennan’s death before a notary.
• March 25, 1909 — Mary Farmer’s confession statement was subscribed and sworn to before B. F. Winegar, notary public, Cayuga county (dated as “this 25th day of March, 1909”).

Background

Mary Farmer lived with her husband, James, in a run-down house known as Barton Tavern on Paddy Hill near Brownville in 1908. Sarah Brennan was Mary Farmer’s neighbor, friend, and landlady.

Mary Farmer was described as a slight woman with partial facial paralysis. She was executed in 1909, and she was identified as the only woman from Jefferson County ever executed and the second woman in New York to be electrocuted. She was also described as the second woman to die in the electric chair in New York; the first described was Mrs. Martha M. Place, executed in 1899 for the Brooklyn murder of her step-daughter. Seven other women had been executed by hanging in New York before the electric chair was instituted.

Mary Farmer moved into a portion of an old building formerly used as a hotel in Brownville known as Paddy Hill in May 1907 and then, in May 1907, they moved into a portion of an old building formerly used as a hotel in a part of Brownsville known as Paddy Hill. Sarah Brennan and her husband Patrick Brennan lived in a house nearby that had been occupied for twenty years and was owned by Mrs. Brennan.

Mary Farmer became a frequent caller at the Brennan home, and Sarah Brennan occasionally called on the Farmers.

Mary Farmer was said to have been overly fond of her ale in the account describing James’s habits; the narrative described James Farmer as a mill worker. A rumor around Paddy Hill and Brownville that the Brennans had sold their house to the Farmers was vehemently denied by Sarah and Patrick (Patsy) Brennan.

The offence

Mary Farmer was convicted of what was described as a murder of Sarah Brennan. Sarah Brennan was killed and her body was found in a trunk that belonged to Mary Farmer.

A detailed description of Sarah Brennan’s body included mutilation of the head and face and evidence of being battered by many blows from a blunt instrument. The trunk discovery included an account that the head was “blood-clotted,” the back was crushed “as with a blunt instrument,” and there was considerable blood in the bottom of the trunk. The head and face were described as “horribly mutilated by many blows from a blunt instrument,” and the body was described as fully dressed.

The narrative included an impersonation scheme involving deeds and the identity “Sarah Brennan,” which preceded the murder and was followed by attempts to take possession of Sarah Brennan’s house. After the killing, Mary Farmer assumed Sarah’s identity and arranged for the deed to Sarah’s house to be transferred into her (Mary’s) name, and she evicted Sarah’s husband and moved into the house herself. The trunk containing Sarah Brennan’s corpse was brought with the Farmers into the Brennan house.

Investigation

On April 27, 1908, Patsy Brennan, Sheriff Ezra D. Bellinger, and Attorney Floyd L. Carlisle knocked on the door of the Brennan house where the Farmers had moved. After a thorough search of the house, officials found a back shed or summer kitchen containing several boxes and two trunks not yet unpacked since the move. The larger trunk belonged to Mary Farmer.

The trunk was locked and no key could be produced. The sheriff broke the lock with a hammer. When the trunk lid was opened, the Times reported:

“The sickening odor of decaying flesh pervaded the room. A black cloth covered the contents of the trunk, which was little more than two-thirds filled. But when the cloth was pulled back a trifle, the stockinged outlines of a human foot and leg protruded. The cloth was the black skirt of a woman. The body was resting upon the face, the legs bent at the knees and the feet sticking upwards nearly to the top of the trunk. One end of the trunk was smeared with blood and here the horrified officers disclosed the head, blood-clotted, the back crushed in as with a blunt instrument. There was considerable blood in the bottom of the trunk and some of it had oozed through upon the floor in the corner.”

The Times reported further:

“Mr. and Mrs. Farmer disclaimed all knowledge of the body. They knew nothing about it, they said.”

A later account described that the body showed the left ear had been hacked off, there were three defense wounds on the left wrist, both lips had been cut straight through, and a long gash was made on the forehead over both eyes where the axe had broken through the skull. It further described that the left jaw had been broken, and that the victim appeared to have been struck from the side first and then “blows had been rained upon the face to finish the job,” according to an article called “Cruel Murder” in the Watertown Re-Union of April 29, 1908.

Arrest

Mary Farmer and James were arrested in connection with the crime. Mary Farmer initially told police that James had murdered Sarah Brennan, but later changed her story and said she had done it herself.

Mary and James were taken to the county jail. Mary Farmer was described as carrying the couple’s infant son, Peter, to whom the Brennan property was deeded on Jan. 7, 1908.

Trial

Mary Farmer’s trial took place on June 16, 1908, in the Jefferson County Courthouse before Justice Watson M. Rogers.

Mary was prosecuted by Dist. Atty. F. B. Pitcher, who was assisted by Carlisle. Mary’s defense was conducted by Attys. John B. Coughlin and Robert Willcox.

The defense attempted to show Mary was insane or that Sarah’s murder came about as a result of a fight between the two women, with Mary striking Sarah in self-defense. After deliberating only three hours, the 12-member, all male jury returned a guilty verdict.

Mary’s reaction to conviction and immediate sentencing to death by electrocution was described as one of “stoical indifference which had characterized her manner throughout the trial,” The Times reported.

The conviction was appealed “to no avail.”

Sentencing

Mary Farmer was sentenced to death by electrocution at Auburn State Prison.

Appeals

The conviction was appealed, and the appeal was described as unsuccessful.

Outcome

On March 29, 1909, Mary Farmer was electrocuted at Auburn State Prison.

The account described her execution as occurring shortly after 6 o’clock in the morning, with Father Hickey as her spiritual adviser. The account described that she prayed, that she murmured a final prayer, and that the execution proceeded with multiple contacts.

The account included the final murmur:

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Have mercy on my soul”

It also recorded statements by Dr. John Gerin and described electricity strength and number of contacts.

The priest’s account included the statement:

“a good Catholic.”

A note written the night before her execution recorded that her husband, James, was not involved and knew nothing of Sarah Brennan’s murder until after the trunk was opened.

Mary Farmer was later described as being laid to rest in St. Joseph’s Cemetery near Watertown.

Other details

Identity and forgery of deeds

The narrative described that Mary O’Brien Farmer impersonated Sarah Brennan in a lawyer’s office on October 31, 1907 at the Watertown offices of Atty. Francis P. Burns, telling him she was Sarah Brennan and that she had a deed she wanted transferred to Mary Farmer. The attorney transferred the deed.

The narrative stated that Mary forged Sarah’s signature and the deed was filed with the county clerk.

The narrative further described that on April 24, 1908 a notice was issued to Patrick Brennan stating that, by virtue of a deed dated October 31, 1907, your wife, Sarah Brennan, sold and conveyed to the undersigned the house and premises in the town of Hounsfield, Jefferson county, N.Y., near the village of Brownville; and that the undersigned became and now am the owner of said property, and that your wife has recently delivered to me the keys and possession of said house and property; and that the undersigned was now in sole and exclusive possession of all the household furniture and personal property in the house, which was sold to the undersigned by her by bill of sale and delivered to the undersigned, for which personal property the undersigned paid; and that he required Brennan to stay away and keep out of this house and off said premises, and instructed Brennan to remove wearing apparel and personal belongings before April 27, 1908; and that in case of failure, the undersigned would leave them with Daniel Woodard at his residence in said town subject to Brennan’s order; and forbade Brennan to come on said premises except for the purpose stated above.

The notice was dated April 24, 1908 and signed:

JAMES D. FARMER
FIELD & SWAN, Attorneys for J. D. Farmer

Accounts of Mary Farmer’s confessions

A confession statement attributed to Mary Farmer was provided in the record and included the following text verbatim:

“My husband, James D. Farmer, never had any hand in Sarah Brenan's death nor never knew anything about it till the trunk was opened. I never told him anything what happened. I feel he has been terribly wronged. James D. Farmer was not at home the day the affair happened; neither did James D. Farmer ever put a hand on Sarah Brenan after her death. Again I wish to say as strongly as I can that my husband, James D. Farmer, is entirely innocent of the death of Sarah Brenan, that he knowingly had no part in any plans that led to it, and that he knew nothing whatever about it.” (Signed) “MARY H. FARMER.”
“Subscrbed and sworn to before me this 25th day of March, 1909. ”
“B. F. WINEGAR. ”
“Notary public, Cayuga county.”

Another statement addressed to:

To Rev. J. J. Hickey:

was signed and sworn to before a notary on March 28, 1909, and included the following verbatim text:

“My husband, James D. Farmer, never had any hand in Sarah Brennan’s death, nor never knew anything about it till the trunk was opened. I never told him anything what had happened. I feel he has been terribly wronged. James D. Farmer was not at home the day the affair happened, neither did James D. Farmer ever put a hand on Sarah Brennan after her death. Again, I wish to say as strongly as I can that my husband, James D. Farmer, is entirely innocent of the death of Sarah Brennan, that he knowingly had no part in any plans that led to it and that he knew nothing whatever about it.” (Signed) MARY H. FARMER.
“Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of March, 1909.”
“B. F. WINEGAR Notary Public, Cayuga County.”

Witnesses, medical personnel, and prison personnel mentioned

The execution account named:

• Father Hickey as spiritual adviser.
• Dr. John Gerin as the prison physician.
• State Electrician Davis as describing the strength of the current and the contacts.
• Warden Benham.
• Captain Patterson.
• Dr. Edward Spitzka of Philadelphia and Dr. Charles of the pathological institute at Wards Island, N.Y. as performing the autopsy.
• Dr. H. M. Westfall of Moravia, N.Y., Miss Agnes Baird of Troy, N.Y., and Miss Margaret T. Byrne of Auburn as witnesses.

James Farmer proceedings mentioned

James Farmer was arrested and tried separately. He was convicted Oct. 30, but the conviction was reversed by the Court of Appeals after he had spent 53 weeks on death row at Auburn prison. James Farmer was later brought back to Jefferson County and tried for forgery of the Brennan deed; he was acquitted in 1910 and spent the rest of his life quietly as a mill worker in Brownville. The record also said James was in a cell only a few feet away from the death chamber when Mary was executed.