religion - Maine Ghost Hunters

[1897] Shiloh: The Cult in Durham

Maine Ghost Hunters — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:27:43 +0000

What is Shiloh Temple?

Shiloh Temple was built in 1897, and was considered the largest bible school in the world at the height of its existence. It’s 4 stories high but with a 7 story aluminum (golden) crowned turret in the front, called the “Jerusalem Tower”. This main structure was completed by unskilled & unpaid labor in a period of 6 months, and is the only remaining Shiloh structure existing today.

When Shiloh was in full-swing this temple complex was a compound on a high point in Durham, called “Beulah Hill”, overlooking the Androscoggin River. The Shiloh compound was built in a U-shape around the main Temple building comprised of 500 rooms able to house 1,000 members. It was designed to be a school to train missionaries, who would leave Shiloh to spread the word of God according to The Holy Ghost and Us Society, or more commonly referred to as “Sandfordism”. There were 2 buildings built separate from the main complex that were used as a hospital and a school. The hospital, which was named “Bethesda” – meaning “house of kindness” – was a faith healing hospital; meaning there were no medicines used there, only praying, and healing from divine intervention. The other building was named “Olivet” and it housed the colony’s private school for Shiloh Colony children. This private school did not permit outsiders.

The land Shiloh sits on was donated by a Durham resident to Frank Weston Sandford, the leader of the Evangelical Christian movement known as “The Kingdom”.

The name “Shiloh” pays respect to an ancient city in the Middle East that was known as a sanctuary for Israelites during biblical times. Biblically speaking, the name “Shiloh” means “place of peace” and Sandford believed God meant for the epicenter of his Earthly operations to be conducted from right here on Beulah Hill – at Shiloh.

To a large degree, the Shiloh Community was meant to be self-sufficient. It was almost 1,500 acres, which is about 2 square miles, and within it, conducting day-to-day business was a fully operational – and full-time – print shop; a shoe shop – which provided repairs as well as new shoes; carpenters, coopers, and blacksmiths. There was a post office, bakery, and the private school system mentioned earlier. Striving for ultimate self sufficiency, the Shiloh Colony was primarily agrarian in nature. There were farms and plenty of animals, at least at the beginning stages of the colony’s rise. A 1906 Livestock Census documented 50 horses and mules, 81 sheep, 81 cattle, 32 goats, and 586 chickens & turkeys that produced roughly 12,000 eggs a year. The main problem planting-farmers dealt with at the Shiloh Colony was the substandard soil around the compound. Beulah Hill was a barren area of land when it was donated to Shiloh Founder Frank Weston Sandford. Shiloh farmers quickly realized it would be a struggle to depend on the land to produce food due to the sandy nature of the soil; a realization which would haunt the colony in later years and potentially aid in its eventual downfall.

Shiloh Temple still stands but it’s no longer associated with Frank Weston Sandford’s established vision. In 1998 Shiloh Temple became its own independent non denominational Christian-based community church serving a small number of local families with worship services and Sunday School.

Frank Weston Sandford

Frank W. Sandford was an Evangelical Christian born in Bowdoinham, Maine in 1862. Early on in his childhood it was noticed he had this knack for capturing the attention of people by the way he spoke. His peers knew him as a go-getter; always the captain of the teams, or the coach. He was a natural born leader. His father died when he was 14 and by 16 he was a teacher at a local school. He had this gift that drew people toward him and a way of mesmerizing them into his world-view. He was educated as a young child in Bowdoinham and then went on to Nichols Latin Prep school in Lewiston before enrolling in Bates on a scholarship. At Bates he was a standout student; representing his class as “Class President”, giving the commencement speech at his 1886 graduation in which he graduated with honors, and making such an impressive name for himself as a catcher on the school’s baseball team (which he also coached) that he was heavily – and seriously – scouted by professional organizations. Despite the many offers he had to play professional baseball he decided the calling to do God’s work was more appealing, and this is when he started on the road that would eventually lead to Shiloh.

After college, he joined a church in Topsham and became ordained as a Free Will Baptist clergyman which led him to various missionary experiences. He traveled the world visiting Christian mission outposts in Japan, India, China, and Palestine where he developed this understanding that more people were being born than were being exposed to the glory of the word of God. Meaning, non-Christians were outnumbering Christians and the only way to really address this was to bring God to those who were either non-believers, or currently unaware of Christianity.

This mindset he developed was thrust into high gear when he named himself “Elijah II, The Living God” – the incarnation of Elijah and King David, from biblical times. Sandford had performed an exorcism on a friend and shortly after claimed to have heard the voice of God warn him about “Armageddon”. This was only one of many times Sandford claimed to hear the voice of God, directly. One particular incident when he heard this voice was so influential to him he completely altered his life direction. He claimed God told him “blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” from the Gospel of Matthew. This single quote, he believed God spoke to him, was the catalyst for him abandoning ‘academic religion’ and setting out on a mission where he was in direct contact with God. Meaning, from that point on he would derive his spiritual and religious directives, not from biblical interpretation, but directly from the voice of God.

Early Shiloh Days

After this revelation Sandford received from God (that he was to receive the word of God directly from the source itself) he set out on his evangelical mission to spread God’s word worldwide. He and his very supportive wife liquidated their assets and hit the road to evangelize the state of Maine, spreading the word of God at tent revival type set-ups, anywhere he was welcome, but eventually focusing his efforts around the coastal areas of the state for reasons that supported his livelihood. All this evangelical work cost money – money he didn’t have, and so he and his wife went without. They very often found themselves completely destitute, broke, homeless, starving – all while Sandford was preaching the word of God without asking for anything in return. He had a solid belief that God would provide for him to continue this most important work, and eventually it would appear as though, to Sandford, that this support was materializing when people started donating to his cause without being asked. He started receiving support in the form of housing, money donations, and gifts of land and property. The hill The Shiloh Colony was built on was donated to Sandford by a Durham farmer who had no use for the land because the soil was not fit for planting or grazing – it was too sandy. So with 3 cents in his pocket, an old spade someone threw out, and a borrowed wheelbarrow, Sandford broke ground on what we know now as “Shiloh”.

For a couple of years directly prior to this Sandford had evangelized coastal Maine towns, on the regular, as a locally renown faith healer, and he even printed his own magazine in which he encouraged others to join him and his ministry. This led to him opening “The Holy Ghost and Us” bible school – a tuition free experience that offered no courses, no teachers, no course materials or books, and no building to hold classes; just Sandford and a bible. It was from these students, and calls for help printed in his magazine, that Frank Weston Sandford elicited his first construction project – done with free labor, and donations of materials, goods & monies.

Life at the Shiloh Colony

The Shiloh Colony was built to house 1,000 missionary students. Days consisted of mandatory bible classes, devotions, chores, and prayer; prayer that could be scheduled or unscheduled. Meaning, if a sudden need to pray was requested by Sandford then everyone would stop what they were doing and pray, sometimes for hours on end. Life at Shiloh was dedicated to receiving the word of God and acting on it. If The Holy Ghost requested prayer at some random time of night or day, the entire colony would pray. It was understood everyone at the Shiloh Colony existed to serve God on God’s timeline, not their own. They didn’t fit God into their daily routine. God would make it known when prayer was needed and Sandford was to lead his followers to answer that call on God’s timeline – not simply when it was convenient for members of his flock. Life under the spiritual leadership of Frank W. Sandford was strict, rigid, and demanded unquestioning loyalty to Sandford himself. He was the self-proclaimed incarnation of Elijah and King David and he believed himself to be in direct contact with God, so he expected everyone under his watch believe the same. In order to be accepted into the Shiloh Colony new converts needed to give all of their earthly possessions to The Holy Ghost and Us Society, or “The Kingdom”, as It was also called. If they had a home they were to sell it and give all the money from the sale to The Kingdom. When they entered the colony they were penniless in every realistic way, which became as problematic as one might imagine when people decided the Shiloh Colony experience wasn’t working for them. One of Sandford’s primary reinforced beliefs was that God would provide what was needed. If necessities weren’t being met it was justified that the flock wasn’t suffering or sacrificing enough to deserve God’s good will. So, when hard times hit, Sandford would rationalize harsh discipline – such as whippings, long periods of fasting, and extended periods of solitary confinement, even and especially for children – as necessary exhibitions of the Colony’s devotion to God. Sandford demanded complete and total obedience from his flock. It was his way or the highway, and nobody was immune to this treatment, not even his own children. These practices were known to all in-coming converts and every person within the flock signed a contract – a 10 foot long scroll titled “Pledge of Loyalty” – attesting, in explicitly worded detail, to that fact. Meaning every new member of the Shiloh Colony joined knowing this was a faith healing evangelical community whose leader demanded complete and total obedience as God’s chosen one here on Earth. He was convinced he was the incarnation of Elijah, King David, and referred to himself as The Living God – and his flock believed him without question. This blind loyalty led to cult-like reverence which, in turn, led to storied accounts of very bad times within the colony, and later on, out on the open seas. Once someone became a member of the Shiloh Colony they lost their identity and were trapped within its walls. Their only way out was to escape. At Shiloh, every single member of the flock was there to serve God through Frank Weston Sandford. So when something questionable was being demanded of them, even if it was clearly wrong, even if it was going to bring harm to another person, the flock would just let it happen, justifying it as God’s Will because Sandford was Elijah, The Living God. I’ll speak more on this, in depth, later. There is much to tell about how this unquestioned adoration and blind obedience led to the darkest of chapters within The Holy Ghost and Us Society; far too many instances to mention in this short video, but we’ll review some of the most controversial happenings and explore them in terms of how they led to the eventual downfall of Frank Weston Sandford’s Shiloh Colony.

Controversy, Discord, and Lawsuits

Throughout the building of the Holy Ghost and Us Society lawsuits were not entirely uncommon. People would prepare to move their assets into Sandford’s name, as was required for admittance into “The Kingdom”, and family members would take legal action to stop them – many times seeking legal recourse to declare these relatives insane. Severe treatment of children led to a child abuse case against him; the charges being ‘child cruelty’ toward his 6 year old son John, who Sandford forced to fast – without food or water – for what turned out to be 72 hours. Little 6 year old John was punished for speaking to fellow members of the Shiloh Colony his father did not approve of. His punishment was a whipping. While the whipping itself was not actually done to him, John had finally given in at the 2 day mark. He’d been secluded in his bedroom for 2 days, with food and water in plain sight; the only barrier between his lips and life sustaining water was his own acceptance of being whipped before drinking it. He cried a lot, which didn’t help his situation, and he begged – over 75 times – for permission to drink the water. After he submitted to his fate and asked his father for the whipping his father told him Jesus suffered for his sins and had taken the punishment for him, but he was forced to continue the fast through a 3^rd day. The only redeeming aspect of this scenario is, there was a doctor who visited Shiloh to diagnose – but not treat – ailments within the colony. This doctor cleared the way for John’s fast to continue, saying he was healthy enough to withstand a 3^rd day. The State of Maine disagreed and found Frank Weston Sandford guilty of child cruelty.

Another case involving a juvenile resulted in the death of 14 year old Leander Bartlett. Young Bartlett had been secretly planning to escape the Shiloh Colony shortly before he was struck with diphtheria, and Sandford had found out. While Leander was suffering of diphtheria in Bethesda, Shiloh’s faith healing hospital – he was being denied every manner of medical assistance to help him heal and recover. The Holy Ghost and Us Society believed in faith healing as much as they did “the will of God”, so medicines were strictly forbidden.

A different ‘case in point’ to reinforce this notion would be the tragic death of one Mrs. Maria Lombard, an older lady who had become sick and developed pneumonia. A doctor was allowed to diagnose Mrs. Lombard’s condition, and she was even provided bottles of medicine to help in her recovery, but after the physician left – the Bethesda ‘faith healing” Hospital staff, sent to her home to help her, dumped out the medicine and continued on with their prayer-based healing methods, and so she died. Her family blamed the Shiloh Colony staff but the doctor who prescribed the medicines refused to be a party to legal charges.

Fourteen year-old Leander Bartlett was suffering from diphtheria within the walls of Bethesda during a particularly trying time within the Shiloh Colony. Sandford had declared an extended period of fasting called the “Fast of Nineveh” which was a mandatory period of 48 hours without any food or water for all members of the colony, including the sick, animals, and children. Leander was being tended to by a Mr. John Swart, who testified during a trial proceeding that Sanders proclaimed in the chapel he would willingly see young Bartlett laid out dead before him and did not care to offer the child any prayers for his well being, as he had disobeyed God’s directive by planning to run away and if God demanded his punishment is death, then so be it – essentially. Prayer, according to the beliefs of The Holy Ghost and Us Society is as powerful a force as medicine, for the sick. Bethesda did not deal in medical treatments. The medical treatments offered at Bethesda were prayers. Sandford denied Leander Bartlett food, water, medicine, and prayer. Frank Weston Sandford’s grip over his flock was so strong outsiders and those who had left, fled, or escaped Shiloh called it a cult and claimed Sandford had a hypnotic power over his subordinates. Leander Bartlett’s mother did very little to disprove these theories when she testified that she was in control of Leander’s care and that he was never forced to fast nor was he ever deprived of food or water during his ill health. And, that he received as much health care as she wanted him to receive. Her testimony was in complete opposition to the testimony of Mr. John Swart, who was her son’s nurse and direct health care provider during his final days.

The case of manslaughter for the death of Leander Bartlett plagued Frank W. Sandford for quite some time. He was made to go to trial 3 separate times over the matter, twice with the result of “disagreement” among the jury and once with the result of “guilty”. However, the ‘guilty’ verdict was overturned on an appeal. During this same period of time Frank Sandford was also facing numerous additional “cruelty to children” charges.

Global Missionary Work

After the Leander Bartlett manslaughter case was over Sandford, his family, and 30 chosen Holy Ghost and Us Society members boarded a yacht, within Shiloh’s fleet of boats called “The Kingdom Fleet”, to realize his ultimate goal of spreading the word of God on a global scale.

The truth is, Sandford’s Shiloh Colony was incredibly successful, thriving in population and new membership, until sickness and death became commonplace among the commune. Frank Weston Sandford had received notoriety across the country for being a renown faith healer, so when Shiloh Colony members became sick with smallpox, typhoid, diphtheria, and/or died – the cult he was leading started falling apart. People began leaving the sect in numbers so large he had to ‘stop the bleed’, so to speak. This is right around the time he was given this revelation from God that he needs to take his mission-work to the open ocean – to spread God’s word globally by means of a fleet of Yachts.

Every single chosen member of this crew would have obeyed the self-titled “Elijah” to a fault. They would have died for him, and as time would eventually tell – some of them did. They all signed the Loyalty creed and they all lived by it, without fault or failure and if they did happen to falter they accepted the consequences on Frank Weston Sandford’s terms because he was the embodiment of “Elijah” and “King David”. He was “The Living God”.

The Holy Ghost and Us Society was incorporated at the very start of the Shiloh Colony endeavor as “The Kingdom Corporation”. Frank Weston Sandford had a vision of proselytizing the world with a fleet of yachts he would sail under the flag of “The Kingdom Yacht Club”. The fleet was comprised of a number of sizeable sailing vessels as well as a small fishing boat named “The Ripple”. Among the larger of the yachts were; The Wanderer, which was an almost identical replica of a slave trading ship with the exact same name; The Kingdom – a barquentine schooner (meaning it had at least 3 masts) that could easily accommodate 60 crew and a bulk of the supplies necessary to support the global mission at hand of the entire trans-oceanic fleet; and The Coronet – which was a world renown racing yacht, the flagship of the entire fleet, and the yacht Frank Sandford and his family called ‘home’. The Coronet was able to carry 30 passengers comfortably. The size difference between The Kingdom and The Coronet would be akin to comparing a Tractor Trailer Truck to a Ferrari. The Kingdom was a beast, able to accommodate large amounts of people and supplies simultaneously, but she was not fast. The Coronet was really fast but she wasn’t able to hold as much. That said, Sandford made sure she was decked out with a large harp he was learning to play, a bunch of taxidermy accessories for his planned hunting and fishing endeavors, and a taxidermist to make use of these accessories.

The undertaking to spread the word of God was an unusual one by normal missionary standards. Frank Sandford’s vision was to sail along the coastline of specific islands and countries, but not to make landfall at any. Instead, the crew aboard each vessel would essentially partake in the practice of “intercessory prayer”. Meaning, the people on board would pray for the people on land to receive the word of God and to be moved in a way that would provoke conversion. Simply put, The Kingdom Yacht Club fleet would do drive-by’s of coastal communities around the world, blaring music they played on brass instruments from their respective yachts, and praying for those on land to find their way to God through these efforts.

There were ‘Holy Ghost and Us Society’ land-based missionary outposts in a small number of places around the world, one of which was in Jerusalem, Palestine. From this Jerusalem outpost, during the time The Kingdom Yacht Club was sailing the world, word was received that Shiloh member Florence Whittaker, the wife of one of the missionary ministers, wanted to return to the U.S. with her children, regardless if her minister husband wanted to return with her. So Sandford ordered the Barquentine Kingdom to pick up everyone from the Palestine mission outpost and bring them home to Maine. Mrs. Whittaker had no complaints about her experience aboard The Kingdom until it arrived at the Maine coast and she was not allowed to disembark. Sandford refused to let anyone off the yachts and demanded she get back together again with her husband. She and her children were kept as prisoners aboard the Kingdom until a court order demanding her release was put in place.

This was only the start of Sandford’s “Kingdom Fleet” legal disasters.

After the release of Mrs. Whittaker and her children she pursued legal action against Frank Sandford on the grounds of ‘forcible detention’. In response, he sailed away and avoided being served by refusing to come close enough to land for the authorities to hand him the legal papers necessary to begin the process of holding him accountable. The news of his evasion – like much of Sandford’s history with Shiloh and The Holy Ghost and Us Society – made headlines in newspapers across the country.

This is a great time to highlight that Shiloh was the largest bible school in the world. Sandford sought out new students and members from all over the globe and he’d been doing so for many years by this point. He wanted the attention because he needed to get the word out to every corner of the globe that God made Shiloh to be the epicenter of his work here on Earth – and to send donations to help him achieve that goal, of course. News media followed Sandford. People wanted to know what was going on with the Shiloh Colony and its leader. In his time, Frank Weston Sandford was a celebrity.

In his quest to flee from the law he decided to send The Kingdom to Africa to set up a missionary outpost and he would lead The Coronet to Greenland to do the same. So, he gathered 70 members of his sect and split them among the two yachts. The Coronet could only hold around 30 people comfortably so the rest were sent aboard the Barkentine Kingdom; that slower bulkier member of the fleet. Bad times hit fairly soon after their journey began when The Kingdom crashed off the coast of West Africa and Sandford had to race The Coronet down to where the crew was. Long story short, all stranded members of The Kingdom were boarded onto the Coronet – and this is a decision that could very well be considered “the beginning of the end”.

There were too many people on board the Coronet – double the maximum capacity of the racing yacht – and not enough provisions to keep everyone healthy. Food and water became scarce very quickly but Sandford claimed to have heard the voice of God tell him to “Continue” so that’s what he did; he pointed The Coronet back toward Greenland despite all of the hardship the crew was facing when that decision was made. On the way to Greenland The Coronet passed numerous ships that could have helped with providing food, water, meat, and vegetables – necessities to keeping a crew healthy. Sandford refused to stop and refused help all but one time, when a passing ship was able to offer food, but not fruits or vegetables. Scurvy soon set in and people were, literally, starving to death. Sandford told the crew God told him he was not to stop at U.S. or Canadian ports, not mentioning as a part of his messaging – that he was a wanted man in the U.S. due to the “forcible detention” case of Mrs. Whittaker and her children, at the very least.

The Coronet had weathered a significant number of really bad storms and because of that she was battered and in super rough shape. Her hand-powered water pump needed to be manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For the longest time, Sandford himself did not help out with the manning of this pump. It was always a bunch of other men. Men who were expending energy they didn’t have by burning calories their body was not taking in, and without a dependable water source to keep them hydrated. This was a disaster through and through. The entire crew – all members except Sandford and his family – were severely rationed from what food was available on the yacht, and were forced into fasting whenever Sandford deemed it necessary.

Sandford, on the other hand, made sure his family ate at least twice a day – and always food that was different than what the crew ate. He and his family had their meals prepared and served to them while all other members were starving, suffering from scurvy, and wasting away by the day. He did, however, join the water pump crew toward the end of his time on The Coronet after 6 crew members, all men, died of either scurvy, starvation, or both. When on land, 3 more succumbed to their battles with scurvy and starvation.

Before the Greenland excursion was finished there had been at least 1 “quiet mutiny” aboard, and it’s important to mention because George Hughey, one of the men who developed scurvy during this trip and who was aware of his impending death, begged Frank Sandford – Elijah, The Living God, the reason George was aboard The Coronet spreading the reach of God’s messaging to all points of the globe their little yacht could carry them… the one person on the face of the Earth with direct communication to God itself – to please ask God to heal him so he may continue on with this missionary work. He knew he was dying. He knew Frank Sandford as a genuine, bona fide, world renown – by this point – ‘faith healer’. He was begging for Sandford to ask God to spare his life – and Sandford’s response was that George had offended Sandford, and in doing so, offended God; it was out of his hands, and God will deal with him harshly, just as he deserves.

George Hughey died shortly thereafter.

Sandford’s death toll at sea was 6 but 3 more were eventually transported off The Coronet – a couple by legal force – to the closest marine hospital where they eventually died of scurvy and complications of starvation. One man, John Bolster, who was a member of The Holy Ghost and Us Society for over 11 years, 5 of them at sea, had weighed 165 pounds on a normal day, weighed only 85 pounds on the day of his death.

The End of Shiloh

The end of Frank Weston Sandford’s reign came when he was convicted of manslaughter for the death of George Hughey. Sandford refused legal counsel, so he represented himself during his trial. He spent almost no time cross examining any of the prosecution’s witnesses, and he made it clear he was relying on God to give him the judgment he deserves – which wound up being 10 years in a federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sandford was found guilty of manslaughter with points being made that he refused to seek help or to accept help when it was available to his crew during their time of need. He refused to anchor at visible land during many points along the journey telling his captain “how can we make port with these traitors on board?”; and, just as in Leander Bartlett’s case, he refused to offer prayer to help George Hughey during his final days. Shiloh was a faith-healing community. To members of the Shiloh Colony prayer – healing directly from God – was far more powerful than medicine. George Hughey was treated with the utmost cruelty in the clutch of his dying days.

Shiloh changed hands many times over the years after Sandford went to prison, eventually detaching from the church he founded, completely, in 1998. It’s now a completely independently functioning non-denominational church serving local families within the community.

Sandford eventually separated himself, physically, from his own creation and settled in a rural area of New York where he spread the word of God to a much smaller audience. He died without notice from the news media and he’d been buried in an undisclosed location for a few weeks before word was let out publicly that he had passed on March 4, 1948.

The post [1897] Shiloh: The Cult in Durham first appeared on Maine Ghost Hunters.

[1883] Maine’s Last Execution

Maine Ghost Hunters — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 23:04:12 +0000

[1883] Maine’s Last Execution

Synopsis

In the dead of night on September 3, 1883, a daring burglary attempt at the D.C. Gould Ship Chandlery and Provisions Store in Bath, Maine ended in tragedy when Daniel Wilkinson and his accomplice John Elliot were caught in the act. In a desperate attempt to escape, Wilkinson collided with Constable William Lawrence and without hesitation, shot Lawrence in the head with a .32 caliber revolver. The shocking events that followed would change the course of history in Maine.

Daniel Wilkinson and William Lawrence

Daniel Wilkinson was a man of elusive origins and enigmatic demeanor. Born in 1845 in London, he was thought to have been raised in an educated, financially well-off, family of faith. Daniel guarded the identity of his mother and father with unwavering secrecy until the day he died, leaving no trace for curious minds to follow. While he claimed his father worked as a tradesman, whispers among friends, acquaintances, and former workmates suggested a more prestigious connection—a clergyman, perhaps. Even his own brother, thought to be a missionary in India, was a story Daniel vehemently denied ever telling anyone. Restless and rebellious, Daniel Wilkinson’s thirst for adventure led him to run away from home at age 14, forsaking formal education in favor of life at sea, a decision that would eventually lead him to the shores of New England and the beginnings of a life of crime he wouldn’t live long enough to escape.

It was during his time in Thomaston State Prison, where fate would ultimately catch up with him, that Daniel revealed conflicting aspects of his character. He confided in a guard, claiming to have been raised as an Episcopalian, only to defy such beliefs openly, asserting his agnostic stance.

With a balding head, round face, and a portly figure, Daniel Wilkinson bore the physical marks of a life lived. He attributed his baldness to a battle with smallpox, claiming that hair would never grow in the affected areas after his recovery. At the time of his death Daniel was 39 years old, 5 foot 7, and weighed 170 pounds. Although the precise details of his arrival in the United States remain shrouded in uncertainty, it is believed that Daniel Wilkinson made his way to America around 1860 or shortly thereafter. His true origins and the secrets he held close accompanied him to the gallows, forever entwined with his surreptitious persona.

Wilkinson’s partner-in-crime on that fateful night of September 3, 1883 was a young man by the name of John Elliot, sometimes misspelled as John “Ewitt”. John was a scruffy-faced 22 year old sailor who was very familiar with seaports along the eastern coastline. He knew how to navigate getting aboard different ships and knew the type of work needed to be done while at sea. He had skills when it came to keeping a low profile about himself, traveling unnoticed, and getting from place to place along the east coast. Young Elliot had moppy brown hair, bluish gray eyes, stood at 5 foot 6 inches tall, and weighed around 130 pounds. He and Daniel Wilkinson met while the two were in Philadelphia. They hit it off and decided to start working together, which eventually evolved into them traveling together from state to state, bouncing off seaport and pier jobs to working on rivers and in the lumber industry.

The two men on duty the night of Constable William Lawrence’s death were Officer Lawrence, himself, and a rookie by the name of officer Kingsley, who had only been on the job for about 2 months to this point. Not much has been published about either officer but we do know that locals referred to Constable Lawrence as “Uncle Billy” and that he was one of the oldest and most trusted members of the Bath Police Department. He was a married father of one and was also a seasoned sailor, having spent many years serving as a First Officer aboard working vessels before taking a job on land within the ranks of Bath law enforcement.

Wilkinson’s Life Before the Shooting

Daniel Wilkinson’s life before the fateful shooting was a turbulent journey marked by restlessness and criminal exploits. At the age of 14, he embarked on a life at sea, traveling the world and gaining notoriety as a free-spirited wanderer. Arriving in America around 1860, Daniel wandered along the East Coast, taking odd jobs without committing to any particular trade.

In the winter of 1872, after his release from prison, Wilkinson found work as a logger at a logging camp in Harpswell, Maine. It was during this time that a heated incident occurred involving a dog that Wilkinson claimed to have purchased from a man from Lewiston. When the man tracked down Wilkinson at the logging camp, a public spectacle ensued, with Wilkinson vehemently denying the theft of this dog in front of a crowd of eager onlookers. However, once the man left with his dog, Daniel admitted to stealing the dog and that he had planned to sell it for extra cash. Despite these events, his workmates regarded him as a good man and enjoyed his company.

Daniel Wilkinson’s criminal history was riddled with thefts and escapades. In 1866, he was arrested for the theft of wheat from a grist mill in Pittsfield. Though he maintained his innocence, evidence linked tracks from the mill to the logging camp where Wilkinson worked alongside a man named Simonds. Further investigation led the police to the Simonds residence, where they discovered Mrs. Simonds and her daughter wearing stolen jewelry. In a surprising turn of events, Mr. Simonds returned home with the sack full of stolen wheat while the police were still there questioning his wife. The wheat was in a sack with the name of the grist mill it was stolen from, printed on the outside for all to see. Wilkinson and Simonds were both arrested, but Simonds managed to escape by bribing a guard with $25 he had made from selling a cow he stole a short time prior. Wilkinson, on the other hand, confessed to multiple robberies committed across various towns and led the sheriff to a hidden stash of stolen goods. His admitted criminal spree extended across the state of Maine and included the towns of Palmyra, Newport, Dover, Hartland, Fairfield, Clinton, and Winthrop.

With a history that included prior convictions for burglary and breaking and entering, Wilkinson had already established a pattern of unlawful behavior. His grudge against the State of Maine intensified after his conviction for the wheat theft, solidifying his commitment to a life of crime. Wilkinson’s position was the State of Maine sentenced him to 7 years in prison for the theft of wheat from this grist mill – a crime he held firm he didn’t commit.

Sentenced to a total of 14 years in American prisons over a span of approximately 15 years spent in the United States, Daniel Wilkinson’s troubled past and criminal exploits foreshadowed the tragedy that awaited him.

The Shooting

On the fateful night of September 3, 1883, Bath, Maine was thrust into a grim spotlight as the stage for a haunting tragedy that would resonate through its streets for years to follow. Daniel Wilkinson and John Elliot meticulously planned their burglary, carefully scouting the Bath business district and locating a hidden spot on the outskirts of town, now known as “Murderer’s Cave,” to store their tools and loot. As midnight approached, veteran officer William Lawrence and rookie officer Kingsley embarked on their rounds, patrolling the unlit sidewalks of Front Street.

In the darkness, Officer Kingsley ventured down Front Street, turning onto Arch Street and then Commercial Street. It was there that he heard the unmistakable sound of a break-in at the D.C. Gould Ship Chandlery and Provisions Store, accompanied by hushed voices. Kingsley swiftly blew his whistle three times, signaling for Lawrence’s attention and warning the intruders to halt. Ignoring the officer’s commands, both men fled, with one defiantly questioning mid-stride – and with no intention of stopping- “You wouldn’t shoot, would you?” Kingsley fired a shot, intending it as a warning, resulting in Elliot and Wilkinson scattering in opposite directions. This warning shot prompted Daniel Wilkinson to cock his loaded .32 caliber revolver and to run with it in his hand until he was certain he was in the clear.

While Elliot vanished into the night, Wilkinson sought refuge in an alley, unbeknownst to him that Officer Lawrence’s path would soon intersect. Kingsley, determined to apprehend the criminals, attempted to track them down, running through the darkened streets. Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the silence, prompting Kingsley to hasten toward the sound. Struggling, as he ran in pitch-black darkness, he stumbled over Officer Lawrence’s lifeless body, sprawled facedown on the sidewalk. Officer “Uncle Billy” Lawrence had been shot in the head and left for dead.

Capturing Daniel Wilkinson

On September 11, 1883, the capture and arraignment of Daniel Wilkinson unfolded in a series of events that brought him to justice. The City of Bath, lacking its own detective staff, enlisted the services of two detectives from the Wiggin & Wood Detective Agency – led by James Rodney Wood, a retired police officer from Boston. These detectives were hired for a daily rate of $10, in addition to expenses.

Prior to his capture, Wilkinson and his accomplice, John Elliot, resided in a boarding house in Brunswick. A week before they burglarized a store in Bath, a break-in occurred at a local store in Brunswick. The burglars had utilized a distinct type of chisel, which was later discovered at the scene of the DC Gould Ship Chandlery and Provisions Store in Bath. Furthermore, peculiarly shaped matchsticks found at the crime scene matched those found among Wilkinson and Elliot’s belongings in the boarding house they had vacated.

Following their criminal activities, Elliot traveled to Portland to lay low for a while. However, he eventually returned to the Brunswick area and stayed at the same boarding house. Something must have alarmed Elliot, because he abruptly departed without settling his boarding bill and left behind his bag with all his possessions. These belongings were unequivocally identified as belonging to John Elliot.

Elliot vanished on September 5, 1883, and speculations emerged that he had fled to England, where he couldn’t be extradited. Within Elliot’s abandoned bag, the detectives discovered an item that indicated Bangor, Maine, as the likely destination for Elliot and Wilkinson’s next move.

Eleven days later, following the discovery of the bag, Wilkinson was apprehended. At the time, he was working for a logging company on one of the rivers in the Bangor area. The day Wilkinson was caught came as a great surprise to him and he wound up being quite belligerent and animated during his encounter with police. A frisk conducted by the detectives revealed a .32 caliber revolver on his person. Furthermore, Wilkinson carried a travel bag containing additional rounds for the gun, a can of gunpowder, and some fuses—tools commonly associated with thieves, burglars, and safe breakers.

Wilkinson was subsequently put on a train bound for Bath. During the journey, he confessed the entirety of his crimes to the officers accompanying him.

According to his confession, he and John Elliot were attempting to break into a store when they were discovered by the officers. In their attempt to escape, Wilkinson collided with Officer Lawrence, who had reached out to apprehend him. Remember Daniel was already running with a cocked and loaded gun in his hand because Officer Kingsley had fired his weapon at them with a ‘warning shot’. Startled by the collision with Officer Lawrence, Wilkinson fired his gun – shooting Lawrence in the head. Seizing the opportunity for a getaway, Wilkinson stepped over Lawrence’s body and vanished into the darkness.

Officer William Lawrence had died instantly, with a bullet lodged in the base of his brain.

After the shooting, Wilkinson sought refuge in the cave where he and Elliot had operated prior to the burglary. Expecting Elliot to join him there, Wilkinson waited for about an hour. However, Elliot failed to appear, forcing Wilkinson to accept that they had parted ways and would not be traveling together from that point onward.

Wilkinson devised an escape plan, dashing up High Street until he reached the water’s edge. He stole a boat with a broken oar and rowed it across the river, eventually finding the rail line. From there, he made his way on foot to the nearest railroad station in Wiscasset, where he boarded the first train heading to Rockland. He remained in Rockland, hiding and keeping a low profile until Tuesday. On that day, he boarded a steamer bound for Bangor, where he was apprehended shortly after his arrival.

Wilkinson’s capture carried a significant reward of $1,000, prompting seven men from Portland, Bangor, and Bath to apply for it once he was finally caught. Judge Libby presided over the case and determined that the reward would be divided equally among the seven men. Interestingly, the detectives directly involved in the case declined the $1,000 reward offered by Mayor James Ledyard, asserting that accepting it could very well prejudice the jury.

The Trial

The state presented a compelling case against Daniel Wilkinson during his trial for the murder of Officer Lawrence. The prosecution’s argument hinged on the fact that Wilkinson was carrying a gun, indicating premeditated intent to use it against anyone who stood in his way.

The trial began on Thursday, January 3, 1884, with Detective Wood taking the stand as the first witness. Wood testified that Wilkinson had voluntarily confessed everything about the break-in and the murder of Officer Lawrence during their train ride. Detective Wood told Daniel Wilkinson, directly, that he knew Daniel was the one who threw the can of gun powder through the window of the store they were breaking into. Wilkinson, being eager to outsmart the detective with all the little things he thought he knew about the burglary and subsequent murder – incriminated himself by correcting Detective Wood, clarifying that it was actually Elliot who threw the can of gunpowder during the break-in. Wilkinson claimed that they were startled by Officer Kingsley, who threatened to shoot them if they didn’t stop to be arrested.

Detective Wood recounted an incident at the police station in Bangor where Wilkinson initially gave his name as “Ward.” Wood informed him that his true identity was Daniel Wilkinson and revealed that he had previously escaped from jail in Bath while awaiting transport to the Maine State Prison in Thomaston for a term of 3 years regarding a completely separate case, but was now facing far more serious charges, including the murder of Officer Lawrence.

Wilkinson admitted that he and Elliot hadn’t stopped running away when Officer Kingsley commanded them to. He said Kingsley fired a shot at them so Wilkinson cocked his .32 caliber revolver, held it in an open hand, and did not stop running while doing so.

As they turned a corner onto Front St., Wilkinson collided with Officer Lawrence. The encounter took place in complete darkness, with no streetlights or alternative light sources present. Officer Lawrence placed his hands on Wilkinson’s shoulders and Wilkinson defensively raised his hands in response. However, In the midst of the moment he pulled the trigger, discharging the weapon, killing Lawrence instantly. The gun was so close to Officer Lawrence’s head his face was left blackened by the gunfire.

After the murder, Wilkinson fled back to the cave he and Elliot had used as their hideout previous to the burglary. He waited one hour for Elliot to meet up with him, and when that didn’t happen, he fled to the river. He found a flat-bottomed boat with a broken oar, paddled across the river, located the railroad tracks, and ran along them to Wiscasset. There, he boarded a train and learned about the murder in Bath from a newspaper. Wilkinson sought refuge in Rockland for two days before ultimately making his way to Bangor, where he was apprehended.

The prosecution called several witnesses to support their case. One witness was a saloon owner from Portland who overheard Wilkinson and Elliot discussing their activities in Bath. According to the saloon owner, Elliot told Wilkinson to choose another town for their operations since he was wanted by the police in Bath. Wilkinson told him not to worry, if anyone tried to arrest Elliot “he’d pull Charlie on them” then patted his right side at his hip where his gun was held.

Another witness was the proprietor of a boarding house in Portland where Wilkinson and Elliot had stayed two weeks before the murder. She received a letter from Wilkinson, asking her to send his bag to him in Bangor by boat, a week after the murder occurred.

During the trial, Wilkinson recanted his initial confession while on the stand, claiming that the detectives had coerced him into confessing with false information. His defense argued that Wilkinson had been deceived by the detectives, who claimed they had already apprehended Elliot and that a confession would benefit Wilkinson. According to Wilkinson, much of what he said in his confession, including the part about killing Lawrence, was a fabrication.

In an interesting turn of events, Bath Mayor James C. Ledyard independently visited Wilkinson and had a private conversation with him. In a low-stress environment, Mayor Ledyard asked Wilkinson if he had killed Officer Lawrence, to which Wilkinson quietly responded, “yes.” Wilkinson also voluntarily admitted the same crime to another person at the jail named H.A. Duncan.

The trial lasted four days, and on Monday, January 6, 1884, at 4:00 pm, the jury announced their verdict: Daniel Wilkinson was found guilty of first-degree murder. Spectators in the courtroom expressed satisfaction with the outcome. Surprisingly, Wilkinson appeared unaffected by the decision, leaving the courtroom with a smile on his face as he was remanded to Thomaston State Prison.

Wilkinson’s sentence was death by hanging, scheduled to take place on November 26, 1885, between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Despite appeal attempts to have Daniel Wilkinson’s death sentence commuted, his requests for clemency were denied.

Nearing Execution Day

In the days immediately preceding the hanging Wilkinson found solace in pouring his troubled thoughts onto a paper. In his final letter to Belle Knowles, a cherished confidante from Augusta, he bared his soul, sharing the many things that burdened him and the thoughts that occupied his mind, all of which Belle had encouraged him to contemplate.

First and foremost, Wilkinson expressed his deep concern for Belle’s fragile heart condition, which seemed to defy improvement despite her unwavering strength. Belle had implored him to maintain hope and place his faith in God’s plan, but he admitted the difficulty he had with doing that. The constant scrutiny he endured was suffocating—every word he uttered and every action he took were scrutinized, eagerly seized upon by those seeking to exploit his predicament to suit their own agendas and preconceived notions about him and his case.

Knowing that his letters were likely being read added to his unease, leaving him unsure of how much privacy he truly possessed. Belle had also beseeched him to reveal his past, to share the depths of his experiences with her. However, Wilkinson confessed that he couldn’t fulfill this request. He agonized over the thought of his elderly parents discovering the manner in which he would meet his end, believing that the anguish would be so overwhelming it could potentially lead to their demise. The mere notion that he might be the cause of their suffering rendered life itself meaningless and unbearable to him.

In another correspondence, Wilkinson wrote to Lizzie, Belle’s 8 year old daughter, and disclosed a glimpse of how his life had spiraled into its current state. He spoke of his decision to run away from home, acknowledging that he should have stayed in school and pursued a different path. Instead, he found himself toiling away in salt mines, enduring the harsh realities of life at sea, working alongside lumbermen, and enduring the arduous labor of mills. He compared himself to a destitute, hungry dog, marginalized and judged by society, kicked to the curb rather than offered compassion and aid.

Wilkinson implored Lizzie to tap into her inherent humanity, to recognize the potential for goodness that resided within every wayward soul. It was Belle’s unwavering mission to help lost men rediscover their own humanity and, in doing so, find solace and connection with God through the very experiences that had led them astray.

As the days counted down to his impending execution, Wilkinson sought solace and understanding in the words he shared with Belle and Lizzie. Through their letters, he sought a sliver of hope, a glimmer of redemption amidst the darkness that surrounded him. Whether their words could assuage his burdens or merely serve as a temporary respite, only time would tell. But in their presence, he found solace, knowing that even in his darkest hour, there were those who believed in the power of humanity’s inherent goodness and the potential for redemption that lay within every soul.

Final Jail Cell Interview

The final jail cell interview with Daniel Wilkinson took place in cell #189 at Thomaston State Prison. A reporter from the Lewiston Journal conducted the interview, which lasted approximately 30 minutes on Thursday, a day before Wilkinson’s scheduled hanging on Friday.

To the reporter’s surprise, Wilkinson displayed an unexpectedly jovial demeanor throughout the interview. He laughed and smiled, although his voice noticeably trembled. Wilkinson admitted that he did not receive many visitors in prison, apart from the occasional visit from the prison chaplain, Reverend Frederick Towers. However, he did receive letters from Belle Knowles, a 40-year-old woman from Augusta, and her 8-year-old daughter, Lizzie. These letters focused on preparing Wilkinson for the afterlife through religious conversion.

During the interview, Wilkinson expressed his thoughts on his spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof. He confessed to not having any concrete beliefs in the afterlife and believed that death would bring about darkness and nothingness. He shared this sentiment with both the chaplain and Belle Knowles, stating that he considered himself agnostic and did not believe in everlasting life or Christianity.

Wilkinson refused to discuss his parents or anything related to his life in England. He was adamant about not wanting his father or mother to learn about the choices he had made in his adult life. He had not written to them in five years, so they remained unaware of his current circumstances. He purposely refrained from sending word to his friends in England out of fear that the information would reach his parents.

Furthermore, Wilkinson held firm to his belief that immigrants and black individuals were disproportionately hanged in Maine. As he had never become a citizen, he was not surprised that he had been sentenced to hang, and he expected his appeals to be denied.

Regarding his guilt, Wilkinson maintained that he was guilty of the death of Constable William Lawrence, but not of premeditated murder. He believed the shooting had happened in the heat of the moment and argued that he should not be hanged for accidentally shooting Officer Lawrence.

When asked about his true last name, Wilkinson claimed that it was indeed “Wilkinson,” but there was no way to prove it. He revealed that he had used different names with his employers and he wouldn’t tell anyone how to reach his former employers for the similar reason of not wanting his parents finding out what had happened to him – he was ashamed.

The interviewer didn’t believe the name of the man he was speaking with was ‘Daniel Wilkinson’ but he had no other suggestions as to what Wilkinson’s real last name might be. However, the he did note that Wilkinson appeared far more composed than the previous inmate he’d interviewed before their execution day. While the last executed inmate was sweaty, had bloodshot eyes and tremors, Wilkinson seemed bright-eyed and energetic. Additionally, Wilkinson displayed a healthy appetite during the interview.

When given the opportunity to make a statement on his own behalf to potentially sway public opinion about his circumstance, Wilkinson declined, stating that it didn’t matter what people thought of him after he died.

In terms of his overall thoughts about his situation, Wilkinson sincerely believed that the people of Maine were not receptive to immigrants. He felt wronged because he was an immigrant and believed that this was the reason he was being hanged. He perceived that people knew of his plight but didn’t come to his aid. Wilkinson held the belief that Mainers would rather see immigrants suffer and die than offer them assistance. He pointed out that five out of the last six executions in Maine involved either black individuals or foreign immigrants, reinforcing his view of systemic bias.

Execution Day

In the final days leading up to his execution, Wilkinson surprised those around him with his demeanor. He seemed to have no complaints, accepting his fate with an unsettling calmness. Confined to a solitary cell during the week preceding his hanging, he slept unusually well for a man in his predicament. His appetite remained robust, devouring everything given to him. When Deputy Warden Hinkley inquired about his well-being, Wilkinson assured him that he felt fine and had no issues to report.

Throughout this period, Wilkinson had numerous meetings with Chaplain Frederick Towers, engaging in deep discussions about faith and his own beliefs. He revealed that he had been born and raised Episcopalian but had lost his belief in God years ago, a sentiment he felt would not easily change. Despite the Chaplain’s attempts to appeal to Wilkinson’s spiritual side, encouraging him to return to God in his final days, the convicted man remained steadfast in his skepticism.

Chaplain Towers tried to appeal to Wilkinson’s ‘better self’, his conscience, and asked Wilkinson if he found himself in the presence of men he claimed had wronged him over the years, would he hurt them? Wilkinson responded, without reservation – he would absolutely seek his revenge on the men he felt had wronged him.

During one of their encounters, Wilkinson, puffing on a cigar, presented himself as indifferent and nonchalant about his impending demise. The Chaplain found him indignant, obstinate, and seemingly resigned to his situation. However, as the time for his hanging drew nearer, Chaplain Towers visited Wilkinson again. This time, the convict’s demeanor had shifted, displaying a more subdued tone and a curbed aggression. In a surprising turn of events, Wilkinson prayed with Chaplain Towers and tearfully admitted his vulnerability, revealing his uncertainty about the afterlife. It was a stark contrast from his previous belief that death simply led to eternal darkness.

Wilkinson confided in Towers, confessing his plan to commit suicide in his cell. However, his resolve was shaken when he received a touching letter from Mrs. Knowles, the woman from Augusta who had been writing him religious messages throughout his incarceration. Her words convinced him to face his death with courage, “like a man”. Still, he maintained his wish that his family never discover the true nature of his demise, revealing details about his father, a tradesman living near London, and expressing his self-perceived weakness within his family.

When asked about the disposal of his body, Wilkinson chose the prison cemetery as his final resting place. Then, at 11:00 am on the day of his hanging, a dramatic occurrence took place. Mrs. Belle Knowles, accompanied by her eight-year-old daughter Lizzie, arrived unexpectedly, claiming to come in the name of Christ. Wilkinson was genuinely glad to see her, and their brief meeting lasted only five minutes. In that fleeting moment, he confessed that she and her daughter were the only true friends he had on this side of the water.

Mrs. Knowles fervently expressed her belief that Jesus forgave the thief on the cross and would forgive Wilkinson as well. Although he wished for that forgiveness, he did not indicate a change of heart regarding religion. As a parting gift, Wilkinson gave her and her daughter a book of prayers and scriptures, inscribing their names within. Belle made two final pleas, asking him to disclose his real name and his parents’ names, but he steadfastly refused both requests.

As Belle Knowles left the room, she was overcome with emotion and nearly fainted, requiring the support of a guard. Pale and visibly shaken, she explained how her parents had initially misled her, claiming that the execution was postponed until the following month to prevent her from attending due to her fragile health. However, she learned of the true date, Friday, and rushed to the prison, determined to be there before his hanging. Despite her nervousness and illness, she had made it in time.

Before the execution took place, Belle exchanged kind words and a handshake with Chaplain Towers. Overwhelmed by the emotional weight of the situation, she departed, leaving behind an indelible mark on Wilkinson’s final moments.

The Hanging of Daniel Wilkinson

At precisely 11:00 am on Friday morning, the intricate process of Daniel Wilkinson’s hanging began. Law enforcement officers assembled outside his cell. His arms were shackled and bound tightly to his sides. Remarkably, Wilkinson appeared relaxed and unbothered by the solemn proceeding. Warden Bean handed the final warrant to Sheriff Irish, who proceeded to read it aloud, the weight of each word hanging heavy in the air.

Sheriff Irish and Reverend Towers, accompanied by two officers, began their somber walk toward the scaffold, flanked by Wilkinson. At 11:45 am, the convicted man emerged from the prison into the courtyard, accompanied by a group of officials from various parts of the state. Clad in black shirt and pants, his hands firmly tied, Wilkinson walked with his head bowed, a heavy sense of resignation enveloping him.

Approximately 30 individuals had gathered to witness the execution, most standing on the ground, their eyes fixed on the unfolding scene. From the time he stepped onto the trap door he had 7 minutes to live. Deputy Sheriff Parker bound his feet, while Deputy Morton meticulously secured the noose around his neck. In an audacious jest, Wilkinson remarked, “This is the way you murder men for $50 a head, is it?” His facial expressions betrayed a mix of anticipation and fear, his face noticeably redder than those who had preceded him.

Sheriff Irish signaled the commencement of the execution, prompting Chaplain Towers to approach Wilkinson. Whispering something in his ear, the chaplain clasped his hand before stepping back onto the scaffold. A final prayer, known as the “Visitation of Prisoners,” reverberated through the air as the chaplain beseeched, “In the midst of life we are in death. O Lord, lift up thy countenance upon us and guide us both now and forevermore, Amen.” Wilkinson’s countenance remained unchanged, his resolve unyielding.

Sheriff Irish, breaking the silence, posed the customary question, “Have you anything to say, Mr. Wilkinson?” In a simple yet resolute response, Wilkinson uttered, “No, sir.” A black cap was placed over his head, and with the removal of the safety lock on the spring holding the drop in place, the sheriff proceeded to carry out his duty. With a brief, customary phrase spoken, the sheriff touched the spring, setting in motion the irreversible sequence of events.

At almost exactly 12:00 pm, Wilkinson was dropped. His head fell to one side, contrary to the expected twirling motion. Convulsions coursed through his body for approximately a minute, and it became evident fairly quickly that his neck hadn’t snapped, and he didn’t die instantaneously. Instead, he faced a slow and agonizing demise, likely succumbing to asphyxiation under the hood that concealed his face.

Following his execution, Daniel Wilkinson’s final request was honored. His body was laid to rest in the prison graveyard, marked only by the impersonal designation of “#2695.” His grave, to this day, remains nameless, a silent testament to a life shrouded in darkness and a final chapter marked by the ultimate penalty of the law.

The post [1883] Maine’s Last Execution first appeared on Maine Ghost Hunters.

Mt. Hunger Massacre [1848]

Maine Ghost Hunters — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 16:57:28 +0000

Mt. Hunger Massacre [1848]

Introduction

We’re heading out to the mid-coast town of Edgecomb, Maine. Population 1,200, give or take. There’s a ton of history in this sleepy little community and while most of it’s celebrated, there are some events the locals have lost through time. In this case… have lost on the side of a mountain. A gruesome massacre leaving 6 dead, buried in graves that were dug before the murders took place. These days the story is scarcely remembered by the older generation, but the rumor about town is the killings were done with either a gun or a knife. We’re about to take you back to the 1800’s and tell you exactly what the press and first person witnesses had to say happened at the top … of Mount Hunger.

Historical Information

Mount Hunger is more of a hill than a Mountain, but since it’s the highest point in the area it’s known by the locals as “Mount Hunger”.

Mount Hunger was settled during at time when England needed masts for their ships, so they dropped people off in the New World to cut timber and serve the crown. People originally landed, quite literally, in a place called “Salt Cove” here in Edgecomb, but they quickly made a permanent settlement of houses up on the highest peak in town, and that’s on top of Mt. Hunger. Actually “Salt Marsh Cove” (I added this fact later, on 11-7-2017)

Up on Mt. Hunger there was very little tillable soil. As a matter of fact, when settlers started building houses up here there were no basements dug because they couldn’t get that far down into the dirt before they hit something hard and impenetrable. The people who settled the top of Mt. Hunger were a sort of 2^nd generation settler in this region. By the time they got here there was no more land available to buy down by the water, so they had to buy wherever was available and whatever they could afford. These people were foresters and farmers, and that’s important because they’re used to living off the land. They probably weren’t used to making a living off other people, other than selling what they grew or cut.

These are the people that wound up with the land on top of Mt. Hunger.

As already stated, the land lacked planting soil, and so you can bet there weren’t any big trees up there either. This is where the tragedy starts to form.

The earliest settlers landed here by order of King George – be it George II or George the III. The point is, they were here before the Revolutionary war. Which means well before 1776.

By the time this next generation of settlers of Foresters and Farmers had arrived, the plantable land was taken, and all the large pines had been cut and sent off to England to be used as masts in the King’s Navy. So, the people who bought land up on Mt. Hunger were either highly capable at some sort of trade or business that allowed for them to sustain themselves by the work of those in the lower lands, say, for food as an example – since this area *is* called Mt. Hunger – or they were very poor and sustained themselves by means that never really allowed them to get comfortable, let alone “get ahead”. They were always in a life or death game of survival up here by the time the mid 1800’s rolled around.

It’s these circumstances that brought 1 man to commit a travesty unto his own family that was so horrible we’re sure it’s left a permanent mark on this land.

The Tragedy

On May 11, 1848 George W. Pinkham took an axe to his wife and his 4 children. The oldest was 11. The youngest was 1. George’s mother is the one who found them all. They were all in their beds. The children’s eyes were closed and they were all pretty much decapitated. Their heads were still connected, but just barely. Their eyes were all closed, which made the investigators think they were all sleeping when they were struck. They never saw it coming.

George’s Wife was found half dressed, laying in bed in the same general condition, with her head nearly severed – but her eyes open. George was found dead also, having slit his own throat from ear to ear with a razor blade.

The Reason(s)

You’re probably asking “Why”. Why would someone do this to their family?

Some say they were starving to death up on Mt. Hunger. Some say George, and for that matter, his wife Lydia both had ongoing issues with mental instability. Others held firm to the notion that both George and Lydia were firm believers in a “Second Coming of Christ” religion known as “Millerism”.

Accordingly, they would have believed that suffering here on Earth meant a sure place in Heaven, and George was making martyrs of his family by moving them into the afterlife before Christ arrived on this Earthly plane – giving them eternal salvation.

The Neighbors

It was a tight little community up on the hill… and after reading these religious claims in the newspapers, as the reason for the murders, Pinkham’s neighbors – from the Free Will Baptist Church – came out in droves to denounce the notion, fully and emphatically.

They adamantly stated that not only was he not a believer in Millerism, he wasn’t a believer in anything. He was, as they said, “an infidel”. They even went so far as to voluntarily write a sort of Affadavit to attest to the fact that he was not, at all, an Adventist, which is a believer in the second coming of Christ. But that he was, in the past few years, not himself – claiming him to have been having fits of insanity for stretches of time.

Back then people were involuntarily committed to mental institutions for acts of insanity, including for holding opposing belief structures and denying the bible – which Pinkham did, publicly and without remorse. So we have to wonder just how truthful the “insanity” claim really was, considering they were all Baptist, themselves.

They also cleared up some more misinformation in the original telling of the murders as was printed in various newspapers.

George was originally stated to be a ship carpenter, making it seem as though he worked under someone else. But this was not true. He was, as the neighbors stated, a “Ship Master” – which we’re assuming to mean “Captain”, since documentation and genealogic research has him titled as “Captain”.

George was a prosperous Captain and Lydia came from a highly respectable family.

They weren’t starving up on “Hunger Hill”, as some call it today. At least not because they didn’t have a choice. They were eating a very strange and strict diet because George had taken to believe that the “regular” foods people eat cause depression and ‘destroy’ us. So his options were to starve or be destroyed by the food he and his family were forced to eat – because he couldn’t easily obtain the foods his strict diet required – or to take their lives himself. And, so that’s what he did.

The Wife

Somewhere along the line it was proposed that both George and Lydia suffered from bouts of insanity over the course of the last few years of their lives, but no examples of insanity were given And the reasons for suggesting insanity could be as simple as “George changed his diet and decided he didn’t believe in God or the bible anymore”.

Lydia was known to be a God Fearing “perfectionist”. Worshipping the Lord as was her duty to do so.

One member of Edgecomb’s selectboard actually suggested that George was fine until he married Lydia, and that his instability was caused by her religious fanaticism. Further suggesting he committed this heinous act of murdering his entire family because Lydia led him to do so.

Did Lydia give her permission for her own death, and the slaughter of her family?

A suicide note was found at the scene of the crime, and the first part was determined to have been written in a woman’s handwriting. The note wasn’t signed but those involved believed it to be the handwriting of Lydia. The last part was signed by George. The letter stated: [READ SUICIDE NOTE which is attached]

So, why are we blogging about this hill?

We’re blogging about Mount Hunger because, for years, hunters have heard strange sounds of screaming and crying from – what sounds like – little kids, and women.

People have walked the trails and woods up here and have had strange encounters with strong feelings of being watched, or having feelings of dread, suddenly and without apparent reason.

We have even been told of one person having a direct sighting of a strange looking apparition which happened ahead of them on the trail. The apparition appearing solid but looking not fully formed – something between a person and something else… something they couldn’t really describe. They stood an uncomfortable distance apart from each other and after being distracted by their dog, to look away, when they looked back, the figure was gone.

Conclusion

We hope you found our presentation of Edgecomb’s Mount Hunger to be informative and we encourage you to walk the River to River trail and experience these woods for yourself.

We think the burial plots of the 6 deceased are up there on the his hill somewhere. It’s not a family tomb as requested in their suicide note, and it would take some searching around to locate the graves, but if you find them, please take photos and video and reach out to us. Let us know where they are so we can pay our respects.

Remember to honor the dead in this area. They lived in a time, and with hardships, we cannot imagine. Their deaths are a testament to that fact. There is no judgment for what was done. That time has long past and it isn’t our place to do so.

The post Mt. Hunger Massacre [1848] first appeared on Maine Ghost Hunters.