Jane Doe & Her Two Sons
The east Middlebury Cemetery is home to the victims of Vermont’s oldest cold case. In 1935, the remains of a woman and two adolescent boys, presumed to be her sons, were found in the woods about 4 miles outside of Middlebury. All of the victims had been killed in identical fashion - a single gunshot wound to the temple and by the time their remains had been found, it had been 3-5 years since they were killed. Their deaths were determined to be a triple homicide, but past that point the case went cold. Several leads and persons of interest were investigated, but no conclusive evidence was found. The remains sat boxed up in an office for decades, until they were finally laid to rest in Middlebury in 2015.
When a documentary film crew came to Middlebury to trace the story, the Sheldon contributed archival material on the triple murder. The film was related to the facial reconstructions project that let to recreation of the victims approximate facial features (see here) in the hopes that someone may recognize the deceased. So far the case remains unsolved.
Emory S. Bidwell
The inscription on Emory S. Bidwell’s grave reveals his haunting tale:
In memoriam
Emory S. Bidwell
of Co. B 5th Regt VT Vols
Born June 8 1844
Enlisted Sept 5 1861
Reenlisted Dec 16 1863
Wounded at the Battle of the
Wilderness May 5. A Rebel Prisoner
20 Days. Hung by
Mosby Guerillas
Oct. 5 1864
While there is little research on his life, his death caused by the “Mosby Guerillas” references the 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, a partisan ranger unit ordered to carry out guerilla warfare led by John S. Mosby, nicknamed the ‘grey ghost’ and often referred to as the “Mosby Raiders.”
Louise Manning
1885-1960,
“a most gracious lady”
Louise Manning, an African American woman, was born in South Carolina but she spent most of her life in Middlebury. She was orphaned at age 10 and raised by her grandmother. Around 1905, Sarah and Charles Partridge hired Louise to perform household chores and in time, she became Sarah’s companion until her death in 1917. Their son, Frank C. Partridge, a prominent diplomat and businessman, helped Louise attend a podiatry school at the Boston University. Upon her return, she purchased a house on South Street in Middlebury, where she lived until her death in 1960. Miss Manning, as she was known, was an active community member and a self-supporting professional woman. She advertised her services as chiropodist (now known as podiatrist) and supplemented her income by renting rooms in her home to vacationers from across the country. At times she also housed Middlebury College students of color.
Louise Manning’s social, culinary, gardening and community outreach skills were unsurpassed. She developed many friendships, among them, with her South Street neighbors, the Stephan Freeman family. Since the early 1920s, she was regularly mentioned in local newspapers as either host, guest, or an active member in various organizations, including the East Middlebury Red Cross, the Cornwall DAR, the Middlebury Bridge Club, and as committee member of the Youth Hostel on Rt. 7 South. When she passed, her friends established the “Louise Manning Memorial Fund” at the Ilsley Library to purchase books in the amount of $500 (over $5,000 today). The books were to reflect Miss Manning’s interests: “nature lore, gardening, youth, and social and racial questions.” She is buried in the Partridge Family plot in East Middlebury.