John P. Phair
Anne Freese, the proprietor of a brothel in Rutland, Vermont was found stabbed to death and her home burned down early in the morning of Tuesday, June 9, 1874. Jewelry was missing from her quarters, leading police to believe whoever possessed the missing items must have killed her. Police were immediately suspicious of her ‘close associate,’ 28 year old John P. Phair who was known as a “ne’er do well” in his youth. Phair had left town the morning of the fire, according to him, to go to Rhode Island to look for work, stopping in Boston only briefly to change trains. However, a pawn shop owner in Boston identified him as the man who pawned a watch matching exactly one missing from Ms. Freese’s possessions, down to the serial number. This evidence was enough to convict Phair and sentence him to the death penalty. He continued to protest, claiming the judge (who had sentenced him to hard labor as a teenager) was biased against him and the pawn shop owner was mistaken. His repeated claims of innocence kicked up a stir in the press across New England with many conflicted over whether he had been convicted justly. Despite a reprieve for his initial execution date, he was hung in St. Alban’s on April 10th, 1879 for murder.
Read the full tale here to decide whether you believe his pleas of innocence.
Joshua Aldrich
Joshua Aldrich took an incredible journey to become a well-liked resident of Vermont, and more broadly New England. An obituary from the time of his passing sums up his life best:
“The deceased was born in slavery in 1845 on the Whitfield estate at Goldsboro, North Carolina. At the breaking out of the Civil War his master joined the Confederate army and Mr. Aldrich accompanied him as a waiter. During the war he escaped from the confederate camp and made his way into Union lines, enlisting in 1864 in Co.I 96th New York Volunteers and srving until 1866 when he was honorably discharged on account of the close of the war.
Soon after this he came north, making his home in Shelburne, this state, where he remained for a number of years [ he only resided outside of VT between the passing of his first wife (Cynthia Phelps) and the passing of his second wife (Orphah Storms) ].
‘Josh’ as he was familiarly called, notwithstanding being born in slavery, and the adverse conditions which surrounded his early life, developed into a man of some education, gained through his own efforts, was honest, was sober, of good character, and was well liked by all his acquaintances.”