Samuel Frost (January 14, 1765 – October 31, 1793) was an American murderer who was acquitted of murdering his father, and later convicted of murdering a man named Captain Elisha Allen. He was then

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...

at his highly publicized execution on October 31, 1793.

Early life

Samuel Frost was born on January 14, 1765, in

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

, a town in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. In 1779, when Frost, one of three children, was 14 years old, his mother died after falling ill. Frost thought that his father's abuse towards his mother was what caused her death.

Murders

On September 23, 1783, at the age of 18, Frost murdered his father. While they were digging a ditch, Frost knocked his father over, and repeatedly stabbed him in the head with a

handspike A handspike is a metal bar or pipe that is used as a lever for prying or leverage, similar to a crowbar. Handspike is also an archaic term for a bar or lever, generally of wood, used in a windlass or capstan, for heaving anchor, and, in modifie ...

until his brains were exposed. Frost did this in retaliation for the death of his mother four years earlier. Frost was quickly apprehended and charged with murder. However, he was acquitted by reason of

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

during his

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

in April of the same year. After his acquittal, Frost was homeless. He would frequently do work for people in exchange for a temporary place to live. When he couldn't find anywhere to stay, Frost would live in the woods, surviving on apples and berries he found. One person he worked for was a man named Captain Elisha Allen. Allen would reportedly treat Frost like a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Frost ran away from Allen's estate several times, and was

flogged Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging ...

by Allen as punishment. On July 16, 1793, Samuel Frost murdered Elisha Allen. That afternoon, Allen ordered Frost to help him with his cabbage patch. While Allen kneeled to fix a plant in the garden, Frost hit him in the head with a

hoe Hoe or HOE may refer to: * Hoe (food), a Korean dish of raw fish * Hoe (letter), a Georgian letter * Hoe (tool), a hand tool used in gardening and farming ** Hoe-farming, a term for primitive forms of agriculture * Backhoe, a piece of excavati ...

. After Frost hit him with the hoe two more times, Allen said "Forbear Sam, you done enough." Frost ignored Allen's pleas, and hit him at least thirteen more times, killing him. At his second trial, Samuel Frost pleaded guilty to the murder of Captain Elisha Allen and was sentenced to death.

Execution

Before his execution, Frost frequently read the bible. He also banged his head against the walls of his prison cell to feel how his victims felt. When asked what he would do if he was free, Frost responded that there was one more person that he wanted to kill. Samuel Frost's execution happened on October 31, 1793, on a hill in Worcester, Massachusetts. After confessing to his murders in front of an audience of 2,000 people he was blind-folded and his hands were tied behind his back. He was then hanged. His last words were "I declare that I ever had a great aversion to stealing and telling lies, and think them to be great crimes. I always meant to tell the truth, and never stole, except taking a few apples from orchards may be called so." The hill that Frost was executed on became known as "Frost Hill" after his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Samuel 1765 births 1793 deaths American male criminals American people convicted of murder Patricides People acquitted by reason of insanity American people acquitted of murder People executed by Massachusetts by hanging