Rebecca Briggs "Murdered by son?"

Rebecca Briggs, born 25 October 1600 in the City of London, England, was the wife of Thomas Cornell. Family-tree notes state that she died on 8 February 1673, with Newport, Rhode Island, given as the place of death. Those notes also describe her death as a disputed and notorious case in Portsmouth, for which her son Thomas Cornell was convicted and hanged, while later accounts questioned whether the death had been accidental.

Rebecca Briggs was born on 25 October 1600 in the City of London, England. She married Thomas Cornell. Family-tree notes identify Thomas as a son of Mary and Richard Cornell and name his siblings as Daniel, Samuel, and Sarah.

According to several biographical and genealogical records cited in the family-tree notes, Thomas Cornell came to America about 1636 with the second Winthrop Expedition, accompanied by Rebecca and many of their children. The notes caution that records disagree about the number and names of the children. The family reportedly lived first in Boston, then Portsmouth, New Amsterdam, and again in Portsmouth. Thomas was said to have kept an inn in Boston and to have been charged at least once with selling wine without a license.

The same notes state that Rebecca's brother was among the Antinomian followers led by Ann Hutchinson who were forced from Boston. They further state that Thomas moved with his family to Rhode Island in February 1646 and that they helped begin the settlement of Portsmouth in pursuit of religious freedom.

Rebecca's death later became the subject of a controversial murder case. The family-tree notes give her death date as 8 February 1673 and place it in Newport, Rhode Island, while a quoted local record states that “Rebecca Cornell, widow,” was “killed strangely at Portsmouth in her own dwelling house,” viewed twice by the coroner's inquest, exhumed, and then buried by her husband's grave on their land. On 23 May, according to the notes, her son Thomas was charged with her murder and was convicted and hanged.

The case was later described as unresolved or doubtful. John Cornell's Genealogy of the Cornell Family characterized the trial as appearing “like a farce” and suggested that Rebecca may have been burned accidentally while sitting by the fire and smoking a pipe. That account said that the prosecution was influenced chiefly by a vision reported by Rebecca's brother John Briggs, who said that she appeared after her death and declared, “See how I was burned with fire.” These are later interpretations and reported testimony, not a resolution of the circumstances of her death.

Historical context

The family-tree notes place Rebecca Briggs Cornell's family among migrants who moved between Boston, Portsmouth, and New Amsterdam during the colonial period. They also connect the family's move to Rhode Island with the religious conflict surrounding Ann Hutchinson and her Antinomian followers. Rebecca's death became associated with a colonial-era criminal prosecution whose evidence and outcome were later questioned by family and historical writers.

Sources & research

@S12@

Crane, Elaine Forman. Killed Strangely: The Story of Rebecca Cornell.

Cornell, John. Genealogy of the Cornell Family.

Quoted local record: “Rebecca Cornell, widow, was killed strangely at Portsmouth in her own dwelling house, and twice viewed by the Coroner's Inquest, digged up and buried again by her husband's grave in their own land.”