Elizabeth Pain (c. 1652 – 26 November 1704), sometimes spelled Elizabeth Paine or Elisabeth Payne, was a settler in colonial

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

who was brought to trial after the death of her child. She was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

of the murder charge but found guilty of

negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...

, fined, and flogged. According to some writers and by popular tradition, aspects of Pain's life and her

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

are considered an inspiration for the life and grave of character

Hester Prynne Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel ''The Scarlet Letter''. She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in ...

in the novel ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, ...

'' by

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

.Shackleton, Robert (1916). ''The Book of Boston.'' The Penn Publishing Company, p. 11Barlowe, Jamie (2000). The Scarlet Mob of Scribblers: Rereading Hester Prynne Southern Illinois University Press,

Biography

Pain was a

spinster ''Spinster'' is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally den ...

who had a child

out of wedlock Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

, considered evidence of illegal fornication. She later married Samuel Pain. On March 6, 1692, the child died. Pain was brought to trial for murder in 1693. She was found not guilty of murder but was found guilty of negligence in not seeking help. She was fined and ordered to be whipped with twenty lashes. According to court records:

Elisabeth Payne spinster being presented by the Grand Jury, in March last for murdering of her child was now brought to the
Barr Barr may refer to: Places * Barr (placename element), element of place names meaning 'wooded hill', 'natural barrier' * Barr, Ayrshire, a village in Scotland * Barr Building (Washington, DC), listed on the US National Register of Historic Places ...
& Indicted by the name of Elizabeth Payne spinster for not having the feare of God before her eyes & being led by the Instigation of the diuil did on our about the 6th day of March last willfully murder her child Contrary to the Peace of our Soueraigne Lord the king his Crowne & dignity the laws of God and of this Jurisdiction holding up her hand at the Barr pleaded not Guilty & put herself on trial by God & the Country. Accordingly, after the Indictment & evidence produced were read Committed to the Jury and are on file the Jury brought in their verdict not Guilty according to Indictment but greatly negligent in not calling for help for the preservation of the child's life. The Court on Consideration of the Case for her fornication sentenced her to be whipped with twenty stripes paying & discharging the charge of her trial & fees of the Court stands Committed till the sentence be performed.Noble, John; Cronin, John F., eds. (1901). ''Volume 1 of Records of the Court of Assistants of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, 1630-1692.'' Published by the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts

Posthumous fame

Pain's grave is at

King's Chapel Burying Ground King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic graveyard on Tremont Street, near its intersection with School Street, in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1630, it is the oldest graveyard in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. Despi ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, and is engraved:

HERE LYES Y^e BODY OF ELIZABETH PAIN WIFE TO SAMUEL PAIN AGED NEAR 52 YEARS, DEPARTED THIS LIFE NOUEMB^R Y^e 26 1704

Pain's grave is in the same

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

mentioned in ''

'', which ends with a description of Hester Prynne's grave:

So said Hester Prynne, and glanced her sad eyes downward at the scarlet letter. And, after many, many years, a new grave was delved, near an old and sunken one, in that burial–ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tomb-stone served for both. All around, there were monuments carved with armorial bearings; and on this simple slab of slate—as the curious investigator may still discern, and perplex himself with the purport—there appeared the semblance of an engraved escutcheon. It bore a device, a herald's wording of which may serve for a motto and brief description of our now concluded legend; so sombre is it, and relieved only by one ever-glowing point of light gloomier than the shadow:—

"ON A
FIELD Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...
, SABLE, THE LETTER A, GULES"

Pain's headstone has "an engraved escutcheon" on which enthusiasts see art ofthe letter A (for

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

): it appears in the shield to the right of two lions.Petronella, Mary Melvin; Edward W. Gordon; Victorian Society in America New England Chapter (2004). ''Victorian Boston Today: Twelve Walking Tours.'' UPNE, Scholar Laurie Rozakis has argued that an alternate or additional source for the story may be Hester Craford, a woman flogged for fornication with John Wedg.Rozakis, Laurie (1986). Another possible source of Hawthorne's Hester Prynne. ''American Transcendental Quarterly'', 59:63-71

References

External links

Image of Pain's gravestone
via Celebrate Boston {{DEFAULTSORT:Pain, Elizabeth Burials in Boston People acquitted of murder People of colonial Massachusetts 1652 births 1704 deaths