Background
Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh was born in Bennington, Vermont.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
Elizabeth Valkenburgh
Edit Profile
Career
Her parents died when she was around 5 years old and she was sent to Cambridge, New York to live. She had little education or religious upbringing. In her confession, she stated that he was an alcoholic, that he "misused the children", and that "we frequently quarrelled" when he was drunk.
Her son had offered to buy "a place" for her and the other children in the west, but John Van Valkenburgh opposed this.
She stated in her confession that "John was in a frolic for several weeks, during which time he never came home sober, nor provided anything for his family." She managed to purchase arsenic and poison his tea, although he recovered from the first dose of poison. Several weeks later, she mixed another dose in his brandy.
So gruesome was his death, however, she said that "if the deed could have been recalled, I would have done it with all my heart." She ran away, hid in a barn, and broke her leg in a fall from the haymow. She was captured, tried and convicted.
She was sentenced to death by hanging.
Many people, including ten of the jurors, petitioned Governor Silas Wright for clemency, but having studied the materials related to the crime, and despite being moved by her gender and poverty, could find no new evidence to stop the execution. She was executed on January 24, 1846. Because of her broken leg and her obesity, Van Valkenburgh was hanged in an unusual way.
She was carried to the gallows in her rocking chair and was rocking away when the trap was sprung.
-
Born
-
Died
January 24, 1846 (aged 46) -
Nationality
United States