THE AMES MURDER PT2

((Originally published in March 2007))


Jonathan Ames Jr. married Ruth Perley on Dec 19th, 1768 and
took his new bride home to live in his parents house which might
very well have been the same one built by Robert (E)Ames. The
story goes that, as often happens with newlyweds, the bride and
mother in law didn't seem to get along very well. The couple’s
first child was born in May in 1769 and there was no sign of
anything out of the ordinary until the morning of June 5th when
a neighbor, Mrs. Kimball, came to call on the young wife and was
informed by the elder Mrs. Ames that Ruth was ill.



Despite Mrs. Ames’ objections Mrs. Kimball insisted on seeing
Ruth and found the younger woman in agony and frothing at the
mouth. The illness has begun at 7 am in the morning and within
four or five hours Ruth Perley Ames was dead. The funeral and
burial was swift and the townsfolk of Boxford became highly
suspicious of the cause of the young bride’s death. They petitioned
for a coroner’s inquest and on July 10th the proceedings began
looking into whether Ruth had been poisoned.


It’s not my intention to recount the whole story. It can be read
here in the article from the Essex Antiquarian. But I did want to
point out some interesting aspects of the case. It’s probably the
last recorded instance of the medieval custom of “ordeal by
touch” in New England if not in America as a whole. Briefly, the
accused was made to touch the corpse’s neck with the index finger
of his left hand. If the touch caused the body to bleed at the point
of contact then the accused was guilty. There had been insufficient
evidence presented so far and apparently the townsfolk or one of
the jury proposed that Jonathan Ames and his mother be put to
the test with the exhumed body of Ruth Perley Ames.


Both Jonathan and his mother refused to take part in the ordeal
and so were taken off to jail in nearby Salem where a grand jury
indicted Mrs. Ames for murder and Jonathan as her accessory.
On November 9th Jonathan’s sister Elizabeth was also arrested
as an accessory and the trial began in Superior Court on November
14th.


The account of the trial reads almost like an episode of Law &
Order. The Crown was represented by Jonathan Sewall. The
accused was represented by Sewall’s old friend and fellow law
student, John Adams. By this time Jonathan had turned King's
Evidence against his mother and accused her of killing Ruth by
poisoning her with “rats bane”. There were four judges who
heard the case, three of whom seemed to feel the evidence was
sufficient for a guilty verdict. The fourth judge was unconvinced
due to the uncertainty of physicians as to whether it had indeed
been “rat’s bane“ (or arsenic as we now call it ) that had killed
the victim and also because it was not certain who administered
the poison in the first place.


The trial lasted late into the night and the jury got the case at 2am
on November 15th. At 9am, they came back with a verdict: Not
guilty. The Ames family was freed but would soon after leave town.


So, what relation is Jonathan Ames to me? What of the identity of
his mother, known only in the Antiquarian account as “Elizabeth
Ames”? Where did they all go to when they left Boxford in
shame? And what of Mrs. Kimball?

THE AMES MURDER PT1

((I originally posted this series back in March 2007. Since
there was an echo of  the witchcraft hysteria in it, I thought
I'd revisit it for Halloween)) 

I was surfing through the US GenWeb’s Essex County site
the other night and came across a reference to a murder
in Boxford Ma. It happened in 1769 and involved a Jonathan
Ames who was accused of murdering his wife Ruth(Perley)
and involved testimony by a neighbor, a Mrs. Kimball.



This got my attention quickly. My 3x great grandmother was
Arvilla Ames and she was a descendant of Priscilla Kimball.
The Ames or Eames line is one of my favorites because the
family has been part of interesting events in New England
Colonial history. Robert (E)Ames, whose ancestry is unknown,
married Rebecca Blake who was one of those convicted of
witchcraft in the Salem witch hysteria. She later was given a
reprieve and the couple lived out their lives in the town of
Boxford.


Their son John married Priscilla Kimball, the daughter of
Thomas Kimball and Mary Smith The Kimball family was
living in Rowley Ma. when they were attacked by Indians on
May 2nd ,1676. Thomas was killed and Mary and their five
children, including Priscilla, were taken captive for forty-one
days before the chief of the Pennacook tribe persuaded the
raiding Indians to release their captives.


Priscilla grew to adulthood and married John Ames. They
hada farm in Boxford but they sold it in March of 1715 or 1716
and moved to Groton, Ma. John was standing one day at the
front door of what is referred to as “his garrison” (Was this
simply a fortified farmhouse or a trading post sort of building?)
when he was shot by an Indian on July 9th, 1724. He is said to
have been the last man slain by an Indian in Groton although
there appears to be some debate over that.


The Indian who was presumed to be the murderer was killed
in turn by Jacob Ames, John and Priscilla’s second oldest son.

So as you see, the Ames and Kimballs had gone through some
trying times already. When I ran across the reference of an
article in the Essex Antiquarian on a murder involving Jonathan
Ames and someone named Kimball, I had to look into it to see
how it related to my family genealogy.


Which I’ll go into next time!

"THE MURDEROUS TOMAHAWK": THE PETITION OF MARY KIMBALL 1676

In my previous post about the death of John Ames, I mentioned that his wife
Priscilla Kimball's father, Thomas Kimball, had been killed by Indians and that
she, her mother, and four sibings had been taken captive. The incident had
occurred during King Philip's War on 3May 1676 and is recounted in George
Wingate Chase's History of Haverhill Massachusetts:

"Haverhill was not long permitted to escape the murderous tomahawk. On the
2d of May , one of its own people, Ephraim Kingsbury, was killed by the Indians.
He is believed to have been the first person slain in this town by the savages,
but the incidents connected with his death have been lost . The next day,
(May 3d,) the house of Thomas Kimball, of Bradford, was attacked, and he was
killed ; and his wife and five children,— Joanna, Thomas, Joseph, Priscilla, and
John,—taken captive. Phillip Eastman. of Haverhill, was captured at the
same time

This outrage was committed by three well known "converted Indians," named
Symon, Andrew, and Peter. There is a tradition, that they set out with the intention
of killing some one in Rowley, whom they supposed had injured them, but finding
the night too far spent, they did not dare proceed further, and so avenged
themeelves on Mr. Kimball. It is quite probable that Symon intended to wreak his
vengeance on some one who was concerned in securing his punishment for the
theft before mentioned. He was a cruel and blood-thirsty villain, as the following
facts will abundantly show.

Soon after her return from captivity, Mrs. Kimball addressed the following
petition to the Governor and Council:

"To the Hon. Governor and Councell.
The humble petition of Mary Kimball sheweth that Simon, the Indian who
killed my husband, Thomas Kimball, hath threatened to kill me and my children
if ever I goe to my own house, so that I dare not goe to looke after what little I
have there left, for fear of my life being taken away by him; and therefore, doe
humbly entreate the Hon. Governor and Councell that some course may be taken,
as God shall direct, and your wisdom, shall think best, to secure him; for I am in
continual fear of my life by him; and if any course may be taken for the recovery
of what is yet left in their hands of my goods that they have not destroyed, (as
there was two kittens and two or three bags of linnen when I came from them)
that I might have it restored, leaving myself and my concernes under God, to
your wisdoms. Remaine your humble suppliant. 'Mary Kimball." (pp124-125)"
Mary Kimball was born Mary Smith in 1637 9n Ipswich, Ma, the daughter of
John Smith and Isabella Drake. She was my 9x great grandmother.

Symon the Indian was involved in an attack on another town where one of
my ancestors lived, and I'll tell that story next.

BEDTIME GENEALOGY 4: THE AMES MURDER

I was surfing through the US GenWeb’s Essex County site
the other night and came across a reference to a murder
in Boxford Ma. It happened in 1769 and involved a Jonathan
Ames who was accused of murdering his wife Ruth(Perley)
and involved testimony by a neighbor, a Mrs. Kimball.



This got my attention quickly. My 3x great grandmother was
Arvilla Ames and she was a descendant of Priscilla Kimball.
The Ames or Eames line is one of my favorites because the
family has been part of interesting events in New England
Colonial history. Robert (E)Ames, whose ancestry is unknown,
married Rebecca Blake who was one of those convicted of
witchcraft in the Salem witch hysteria. She later was given a
reprieve and the couple lived out their lives in the town of
Boxford.


Their son John married Priscilla Kimball, the daughter of
Thomas Kimball and Mary Smith The Kimball family was
living in Rowley Ma. when they were attacked by Indians on
May 2nd ,1676. Thomas was killed and Mary and their five
children, including Priscilla, were taken captive for forty-one
days before the chief of the Pennacook tribe persuaded the
raiding Indians to release their captives.


Priscilla grew to adulthood and married John Ames. They
hada farm in Boxford but they sold it in March of 1715 or 1716
and moved to Groton, Ma. John was standing one day at the
front door of what is referred to as “his garrison” (Was this
simply a fortified farmhouse or a trading post sort of building?)
when he was shot by an Indian on July 9th, 1724. He is said to
have been the last man slain by an Indian in Groton although
there appears to be some debate over that.


The Indian who was presumed to be the murderer was killed
in turn by Jacob Ames, John and Priscilla’s second oldest son.

So as you see, the Ames and Kimballs had gone through some
trying times already. When I ran across the reference of an
article in the Essex Antiquarian on a murder involving Jonathan
Ames and someone named Kimball, I had to look into it to see
how it related to my family genealogy.


Which I’ll go into next time!