The New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser

NEW PORT, January 4.

We have been favoured with the following Copy of a letter from a Gentleman in Weathersfield, in the State of Connecticut, dated December 14, 1782.

"SIR,

The occasion of my addressing you at this time is truly melancholy: 'tis no other than the untimely death of the whole family.—Last Wednesday morning Mr. William Beadle of this Town, was left of God to perpetrate the most horrid Murder that this or any other Country, I believe, ever heard of, and with the utmost coolness and forethought.

He arose before sunrise, and having dispatched his maid (the only person who lived in the house with him, except his wife and our children) to Doctor Farnworth: under pretence of his wife's being sick, with a letter, and which announced his hellish purpose, in rather ambiguous terms. He proceeded to murder his wife and four children, first by knocking each of them on the head with an ax, and then cutting their throats from ear to ear, with a large carving knife, which he had prepared with the keenest edge for the business, 'tis highly probable that not one of the five ever knew what hurt them--a strong opiate was found in a glass on the table, which it is believed he gave to each the night before to lay them fast asleep; the girl was called early, and bid to rise gently and not to wake the children, and says he left them asleep. This done, he went down into the lower room, laid aside his ax and knife, and with two pistols, one at each ear, he put an end to his own life, both were found discharged lying by him.--Suppose all was done before the girl reached the Doctr's, but the discharge of the pistols was not heard by the neighbours. You can better conceive than I can describe the horror and consternation of all around us at the execrable deed.--He has left many, and very lengthy writings and papers, addressed principally to Col. Chester and Mr. Mitchell, and to several other gentlemen, the principal design of those to Mr.
Mitchell, was to justify his principles, which are, he says, truly deistical, and also, to justify his carrying his theory into practice; among these papers there is an instrument which he calls a Will, in which he desires his wife's three nearest female relations may have all his estate (except a few small legacies) and has ordered Col. Chester to deliver all the monies he can collect to Thaddeus Burr, Esq; for their use: he has also appointed him his executor, and given him his blessing in case of his punctually fulfilling his will, and a most terrible curse in case of neglect in any particular. His will begins thus:

November, 1782.

The Will of William Beadle addressed to Colonel J. Chester.

"Let the dead bury the dead: but let the living be first thought of."—then after giving orders to dispose of his house, hogs, and fowls, he says, "Now for the dead. In this case I have a whim that I suppose must indicate distraction more than any of the rest. I mean that we be buried in the cloaths we usually wear. Let not one of the least things be added. Let a wooden box or case be made full large enough to contain us all, and let all be put therein. Let this box be of the natural colour that God gave to the wood, let no black come near it for the hearts it contains will be pure and white. It will not do for one of my principles to approach holy ground, and if it would, I beg to be excused.—The place I live on belongs to the public and may be called common ground, I therefore beg that a hole may be dug in the grass lot before the garden, large enough to contain the box that contains us, let us be covered up; and each man to his farm and his merchandize. For I believe the sun will till shine on that spot with the same benign influence it ever did."

Authority ordered the murderer to be drawn by a horse on a small sled, tied on a board with his cloaths on, and head foremost and with the bloody knife on his breast, to a point at the river's edge, just where a creek puts up, and a hole dug at low water mark, and to be buried without any kind of coffin or box.

The mother and four children were buried in the common burying ground, in one grave, attended by a numerous company of mourners.