E-Newsletter | November 6, 2020 |
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Hester Rogers, the Scarlet Letter and
Murder in Meeting House Pond
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By Bethany Groff Dorau
I first “met” Hester Rogers on a dark night in October 2007 (also recorded as Esther, as these names were interchangeable in the 17th century). I was the mother of two young children and had been contracted to write my first book, A Brief History of Old Newbury (History Press). Though I had no business committing to such a task, I had long wished for a readable history to offer to visitors to the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm whose interest had been piqued by a tour. And so, two nights a week, I left my house on Prospect Street and wrote until the wee hours of the morning in my office at the farm.
I amassed quite a collection of sermons, letters and official documents from various archives and repositories (the venerable Museum of Old Newbury included). Among these documents was a collection of sermons with this catchy title, “Death the certain wages of sin to the impenitent: life the sure reward of grace to the penitent: together with the only way for youth to avoid the former, and attain the latter. : Deliver'd in three lecture sermons; occasioned by the imprisonment, condemnation and execution, of a young woman, who was guilty of murdering her infant begotten in whoredom. : To which is added, an account of her manner of life & death, in which the glory of free grace is displayed.”
Murdering infants begotten in whoredom? I had a dim memory of another Hester, this one with a living child, who seemed torn between murder and motherhood.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is watched carefully when her daughter is first born, “lest she should perpetrate violence on herself, or do some half-frenzied mischief to the poor babe.” Years later, Prynne wonders “whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide.”
The two unwed mothers are not directly linked - the fictional Hester lived fifty years before Newbury’s Hester, and infanticide was not an uncommon crime among desperate women who found themselves with child. But there, amid droning Puritan proselytizing, was another common thread. Hester Rogers, “poor wretch, (entered) into Prison a Bloody Malefactor, her Conscience laden with Sins of a Scarlet Die.”
Hester Rogers had first found her scarlet sins in Newbury, where she was apprenticed at age thirteen. It had started out well enough: she was taught to read and write and study the Bible, but when another servant in the household, a “Negro lad,” caught her attention, she entered into a lively teenage affair.
When a pregnancy resulted, however, a frightened Esther carried the baby to term undetected, smothered it at birth and buried it in her master’s garden. She was seventeen.
Two years later she completed her apprenticeship and went to work in a tavern in Kittery, Maine, but she was back within a year and once again became pregnant. For the second time, she carried the baby to term undetected, gave birth and, as tradition has it, drowned the newborn in the pond behind the meetinghouse, though in her confession she admitted only to covering the baby with leaves and snow, uncertain if it was dead or alive.
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Meeting House Pond. From the Snow photo collections of the Museum of Old Newbury. |
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This time, however, she was caught, arrested and imprisoned in Newbury in November 1700. At her trial in Boston, Newbury constable John Pike submitted a receipt for his expenses for “seizing and securing the body of Hester Rogers of said Newbury, apprehended by one of his majesty’s justices for murdering her children in the year 1700.”
Esther Rogers was transferred from Newbury to Ipswich jail, where she confessed her crimes and sought the company of several ministers. In Ipswich she experienced a prison conversion of such depth of feeling that, though it did not defer her execution, it profoundly affected all who tended to her. Ipswich minister, John Rogers (no apparent relation), wrote that she approached her death with such “composure of spirit, cheerfulness of countenance, pleasantness of speech, and a sort of complaisance in carriage towards the ministers who were assistant to her, [that she] melted the hearts of all that were within seeing or hearing, into tears of affection.”
It does not appear that Esther Rogers ever named her children’s father, and there was not enough evidence to try anyone for fornication or accomplice to murder. However, Joshua Coffin closes his account of the case by noting that three months after Rogers’s execution, Thomas Mossum, “a colored man,” was ordered out of Newbury with his family.
As with so many of these cases, Hester Roger’s story is told by a parade of men in positions of authority, and whose agenda requires her penitence and death.
When we can once again visit archives, I am headed to my usual haunts to look at original court records and try to hear Hester’s voice in them. I will try to understand what role, if any, the race of her partner played in her fateful decisions. In the meantime, I will spend some time with Hawthorne and wonder how much of Hester Prynne’s imagined experience was real for “our” Hester in Newbury.
Bethany Groff Dorau is a historian, writer and Regional Site Administrator for Historic New England, based at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury. Some of the material used in this story is taken from Dorau's book, A Brief History of Ould Newbury (History Press).
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Puzzle Me This...Free because of the Brave |
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During World War I and the years following, the American National Red Cross launched a series of fund-raising campaigns to support disabled veterans returning home.
A collection of so-called propaganda posters were produced to support these “War Fund” drives, the first of which was in June 1917. Their goal was to raise $100 million dollars to finance the organization's war relief efforts.
About this image: Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice: New York : American Lithographic Co., [1921]
This Veteran's Day, please take a moment to remember our freedom is protected by the men and women of our Armed Services. We at the Museum of Old Newbury thank these brave soldiers both past and present.
Click on the image to begin.
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We begin shipping the first annual Cushing House Calendar next week!
Order yours now. Perfect for holiday or anytime gifts. The 8.5"x11" wall piece features heavy grade, high quality, tear off pages for each month and includes a "Notes" section for handwritten reminders.
Each page features a crisp, clear image from the collections of the Museum of Old Newbury. January is a magical view of High Street after an ice storm; May features a lone cow grazing by the Merrimack; and August fittingly sports clammers and the shanties of Joppa. Colleen Turner Secino shares, "The image are really quite spectacular."
$16.50 per calendar, shipping included (for orders of more than 4, please contact us).
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Something is Always Cooking at the Museum
With falling leaves come thoughts of warm, filling and comforting soup. Liz Armstrong's hearty suggestion begs for a crispy baguette to soak up all the flavorful broth.
Lentil Soup with Lamb
1 pound ground lamb
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 medium carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 sprigs parsley, chopped
6 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine
1 cup green lentils, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
Zest of one lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
In a heavy pot, brown lamb over medium-high heat. Crumble as it browns. Remove and set aside. Add onions, garlic and carrots. Sauté on medium heat 15 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add parsley, broth, wine, lentils, cooked lamb and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Stir in lemon zest. Simmer 30 minutes. Serves 8.
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It's Not too Late:
Register today!
VIRTUAL EVENT: A Newburyport Travelogue
Everyone's favorite history buff, Jack Santos, has prepared a 40-minute travelogue that connects Newburyport to places spanning the globe. The virtual event will feature a live introduction, followed by the travelogue, then live questions and answers with the traipsing troubadour, himself. Okay, he won't be singing, but he will wax lyrical about Newburyport’s connections to the world – right from the comfort of your desktop!
Save the date! Part Two: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 | Registration to follow.
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Can't get enough Jack?
Watch and play along with last week's 'mysterious, spooky and all together ooky' episode of "Yeat Yeat, Don't Tell Me!" here.
(Editor's note: shout out to Museum of Old Newbury board member Emily Hoffman for being our first-ever participant to answer all eight questions correctly.)
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During this difficult period of COVID-19, we rely on your support more than ever. We are working to reschedule many of the programs that we have had to postpone, as well as develop new, online programs for you to enjoy and keep us connected. We hope, if you are able, that you will consider a donation to the museum. Thank you for your continued support.
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generosity of our sponsors:
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Museum of Old Newbury
98 High Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-462-2681
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