Hampden County Crime-Related Newspaper Stories

Springfield, Mass. April 29 1806. On Thursday last the trial of Dominick Daley and James Hallighan, for the murder of Marcus Lyon, at Wilbraham, in Nov. last, came on before the Supreme Judicial Court then fitting at Northampton. On account of the great concourse of people from that and the neighboring towns, the trial was held in the Meeting house. It commenced about nine o’clock in the morning, and continued until eleven at night, when the jury returned a verdict of guilty against each of the prisoners. Four gentlemen of the bar were assigned as counsel for the criminals; one of whom, F. Blake, Esq., of Worcester, spoke at great length and with much ability; the attention of the other gentlemen was principally directed to the examinations of witnesses. On Friday sentence of DEATH was passed on the prisoners, in a very solemn and expressive manner, by Judge Sedgwick. Daley seemed in some degree agitated, and immediately after sentence was pronounced fell upon his knees, apparently in prayer; but Hallighan, who, previous to the trial, was by many supposed much the least criminal, exhibited stronger marks of total insensibility, or obstinate and hardened wickedness, than is often witnessed. [The Centinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - 1806 May 28 - submitted by a Friend of Free Genealogy NP] 1824 A man named Daniel N. Stedman, murdered another named George Stow, on the 11th ult. At Bladford, Mass. They were at work with others, collecting timber, when Stow being rather indolent, Stedman put a snow ball into his pocket. When Stow discovered this, he was much irritated and struck Stedman one or twice across the back with a stick; which provoked the latter to inflict a blow with a lever, which terminated his adversary’s life in 24 hours. [Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - April 7 1824 - Submitted by a Friend of Free Genealogy NP] 1908 CHICOPEE HEARING IN BEAULIEU CASE Found Guilty of Larceny, But Entered an Appeal to Superior Court. In police court yesterday morning Noe H. Beaulieu of Aldenville was found guilty of larceny of $34 from Miss Agnes Martin of the Falls, and was fined $30.  Beaulieu appealed through his attorney, C.T. Callahan of Holyoke, and he was released under a $200 bond for appearance in the superior court in Springfield.  In the trial, which was long, it was alleged that Beaulieu represented that he was the agent of an insurance company with the power of attorney.  He persuaded the complainant, it was alleged, to sign certain papers which she could not read, which empowered him to collect insurance money which he kept as a fee.  According to the testimony of Miss Martin, her property was set on fire by lightning in July, 1907. Members of the family put the fire out and then notified the E.C. Clark company of Holyoke and the Dwight O. Judd company with whom the property was insured.  The witness testified that the first she saw of Beaulieu was a week after the fire, when he met her in Holyoke and asked her to go to his office and sign some papers.  She said she signed the papers, not knowing what they contained, in view of the fact that Beaulieu told her that she would have to sign the papers in order that he might send to Boston and collect the insurance for her. Again the following Saturday she signed some more papers for Beaulieu, she said, and after she had signed them her brother interfered and wanted to know what the papers were. Winifred Martin said that on July 18 Beaulieu came to the house and said that he had been sent by the E.C. Clark company to ascertain the damage to the property.  She told him that they did not want a lawyer, and he said that it would not cost the family anything and that the E.C.Clark company would pay the bill.  He wanted to see the policies and she gave them to him and he took them away with him.  She also said that Beaulieu told her to throw water on all the damaged woodwork, and that he went to the barn and did some more damage with an ax.  She said that her brother stopped the payment of the Dwight O. Judd policy, and that they tried to stop the payment of the other policy, but that the payment had already been made from Boston by draft.  Beaulieu got her sister to indorse[sic] the draft and he then cashed it and kept the money. Miss Mary A. McCarty, bookkeeper for the E.C. Clark company, testified that the company did not ask Beaulieu to act for them.  He represented to the company, she said, that he was a lawyer for the Martins, and that was why the draft was sent to him instead of to the Martins.  She said that the company had never asked Beaulieu to represent them, but that they had asked another man of the same name to act for them as a favor. In his own defense that Miss Agnes Martin had asked him to be her lawyer through his father, Louis Beaulieu, and that before his father as a witness she had signed his power of attorney.  He said that he could not produce the power of attorney, but that he thought that it was in Michigan. He also said that he got the draft for $30 and that he kept it as part of his fee with the full knowledge of Miss Martin. [Source: Springfield Republican, Jun 25, 1908- transcribed by a Friend of Free Genealogy NW]             © Genealogy Trails All data on this website is Copyright by Genealogy Trails with full rights reserved for original submitters.