Elizabeth Emerson: Owings Stone Family Genealogy — 20,000+ ancestors and their relatives

Birth 26 Jan 1665 Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass.

Gender Female

Cause of Death hanged

Died 8 Jun 1693 Boston, Suffolk Co., Mass.

Person ID I672 Owings Stone Genealogy, Ancestry & Heritage

Last Modified 12 Feb 1999 00:00:00

Father MICHAEL EMERSON, b. 16 Apr 1627, England, Lincolnshire, Cadney

Mother HANNAH WEBSTER, b. 1635, Ipswich, Essex Co., Mass.

Family ID F65 Group Sheet

Family Samuel Ladd, b. 1 Nov 1646, Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass.

Notes

Samuel Ladd had an ongoing extramarital affair with Elizabeth, resulting in three children.

Children

	1. Dorothy Emerson, b. 10 Apr 1686, Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass.
	2. Son Emerson, b. 1691, Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass.
	3. Son Emerson, b. 1691, Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass.

Family ID F4605 Group Sheet

Notes	Elizabeth Emerson, a single woman, gave birth to a daughter Dorothy - no record of what became of her. Five years later she gave birth to twin sons. In both cases, the father was Samuel Ladd, 14 years her senior and not her husband (also the 10G uncle of OStone). He was married to Martha Corliss at the time and had 6 children with her. The indictment of Elizabeth alleged that she murdered the two boys, put their bodies in a small bag and hid them in the house until the next day. Then she buried them in the yard of the Emerson home. Elizabeth pled not guilty, but the court found her guilty of murder. While it is unclrear whether she did in fact try to hide the bodies, the source points out that there is reason to believe she did not kill the babies. First, if nobody knew she pregnant with twins, the babies must have been born premature. Premature boys have a harder time surviving, even in more medically advanced times. Certainly the chances of survival of premature twin boys in an unattended birth at that time was slim. After the trial, Elizabeth was held in prison for two years. The Rev. Cotton Mather eventually induced her to confess to the murders. He expressed disappointment when she was sentenced to hang on a day when he could not be present, but he managed to arrive and give a sermon on her unchastity, apparently mentioning murder very little. He later called it one of the greatest sermons ever preached in America. [2]

Sources
[S130] Pimental, Cecile N. & Noreen C. Framberg, (Parker River Researchers)

[S92] James, Jane Emerson, Ph.D.

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