Thomas Cornell "Hung for Murder"

Thomas Cornell, born 21 October 1627 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England, died 23 May 1673 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, British Colonial America. Family-tree notes state that he was convicted and hanged for the murder of his mother, Rebecca Cornell, though the circumstances and evidence have been described as unresolved and controversial.

Thomas Cornell was born on 21 October 1627 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. He later lived in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, in British Colonial America.

In 1673, Cornell became associated with the death of his mother, Rebecca Cornell. The family-tree notes quote a local record describing her as a widow who “was killed strangely at Portsmouth in her own dwelling house,” was viewed twice by the coroner’s inquest, and was then buried beside her husband in their own land.

According to the notes, Thomas was charged with murder on 23 May. He was found guilty of murdering his mother and was hanged. The same notes emphasize that the death was never conclusively resolved. John Cornell, in his Genealogy of the Cornell Family, characterized the trial as relying principally on a reported vision of Rebecca’s brother, John Briggs, in which she appeared after her death and said, “See how I was burned with fire.” John Cornell suggested an alternative explanation: that Rebecca may have been accidentally burned while sitting by the fire and smoking a pipe, perhaps after a coal fell from the fire or her pipe.

Thomas Cornell died on 23 May 1673 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, British Colonial America.

Historical context

The surviving family-tree notes present Thomas Cornell’s case as an infamous colonial-era murder mystery. They preserve both the account of his conviction and execution and later commentary questioning whether the evidence established murder rather than an accidental death by fire.

Sources & research

@S12@

Crane, Elaine Forham. Killed strangely: The story of Rebecca Cornell.

Cornell, John. Genealogy of the Cornell Family.

Local record quoted in the original family-tree notes concerning Rebecca Cornell’s death and coroner’s inquest.