The Murder of Thomas Chamberlain

The 52 Ancestors Challenge, Week 43: "Cause of Death"

​THOMAS CHAMBERLAIN of Groton, Massachusetts, a miller, was my 9th Great-Grandfather. He was killed in Chelmsford on the 11th of May, 1709, assaulted by Israel Procter (Proctor) of Chelmsford, who used a bayonet (then spelled baggonett) or short sword to inflict several mortal wounds against Chamberlain on his side and groin area, who died instantly.

Proctor was subsequently arrested, and pled not guilty. The case went by quickly, as jurors entered a judgment on July 28th of the same year. 

Suffolk County Court File Vol. 77 Item 7783

Israel Proctor was found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to receive thirty stripes upon his naked body, while being tied to a cart's tail, this following him having been tied to the gallows for an hour, with a rope around his neck. He was also ordered to pay (the amount not readable on the paper) to the widow of Chamberlain for her support.
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30 stripes from a whip, and monetary compensation, for the killing of a man. There must be more to this court case, though I've been unable to find the minutes from this case (there are files available online, but this one was not among them). Two filed testimonies were found: One, by Samuel and Isaac Barnes, who were in the company of Thomas Chamberlain and Israel Proctor (along with Samuel and Joseph Chamberlain, Timothy Adams, and John Read) that day, and testified that there was peace among the two men at the time they departed for home. The other item involved the finding of a piece of neck cloth, one that matched the torn piece found bloodied under the body of Thomas Chamberlain, they being a match to the one that Mr Proctor was wearing that day.

Israel Proctor, the son of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Massachusetts, died 9 June 1755. He was the brother of Sarah (Proctor) Chamberlain, the deceased Thomas' mother.

The widow ABIGAIL (NUTTING) CHAMBERLAIN was six months pregnant at the time of her husband's murder. She gave birth to daughter SARAH CHAMBERLAIN, my 8th Great-Grandmother, on 4 Aug 1709, a week after the verdict was announced. Abigail died some time after 1713 [Middlesex County Probate, File 4200]. ​

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NOTE: Of interest is the punishment of "30 stripes" on his naked body, for the charge of manslaughter. There are numerous cases in the early Massachusetts court books [see Record of the Court of Assistants, pg 70, for an example] where people, having only been convicted of adultery (of even found not guilty, but guilty of acting in such a way) would receive 39 stripes from the whip while tied to the cart's tail, lay up in prison, and then receive 30 MORE whippings on the way back to the court house, where they were then discharged. 

Sources:
-Suffolk County Court: File #7783 (on Family Search)
- Court Record #7713 (warrant for holding Proctor in jail), #25013 (bill of constable Jonathan Hill of Chelmsford, who arrested and delivered Proctor), #27946 (Barnes testimony),  #28051 (testimony on a piece of neckcloth)
- Superior Court of Judicature, 1700-1714 (film 945843): pages 239-240 (Family Search)
- A genealogy of descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass (pg 5, 8)
- Memorials of the Descendants of William Shattuck (pg 372: Chamberlain Memorials)
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