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First Mass Murder in the U.S. was in Washington, CT!
Because Connecticut was one of the first colonies to be formed by European settlers, nearly 400 years ago, it has also accumulated quite a large number of “firsts” in the annals of history.
One of the more notorious events was the first mass murder in the history of the young nation.
One might think that a crime like this would have occurred in a well populated area – like Hartford or New Haven, both of which counted their citizenry in the thousands in the late 1700s. But it actually occurred in a very rural section of the state, in a town that had just changed its name from Judea in favor of the military general who was leading the attempt by the colonial forces to overthrow the British government that controlled the colonies at the time. And so, this case would ultimately take place in the freshly minted town of Washington.
Other towns played central roles in the case – such as New Milford, the largest town in the state in terms of square acreage. In the Merryall section, the Davenport family had established themselves, with the father running an ironworks – a tough and dangerous occupation. The family had four sons, and Barnett Davenport was the third one to be born.
Sometimes, people can just tell when a youngster is headed in a particular direction in life – whether it be a standout athlete, a prodigious intellectual, or some other claim to fame. In the case of young Barnett, it seemed to be a life of trouble. All young men his age committed their fair share of relatively harmless pranks and antics, but Barnett was different. He stole horses at a young age and seemed destined for a life of self-made challenges.
It appeared that he might turn himself around by entering the military and fighting for the cause of independence. He did go off and fight for a time, but even that ended poorly, with Barnett going AWOL – absent without leave – originally starting as a legitimate absence, to visit his family, but winding up as something far worse.
What did Barnett Davenport do? How was he caught? What was his sentence?
Hear how the first mass murder in United States history unfolded in tiny Washington in 1780.
Click this link to hear the story on the podcast Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut’s Beaten Path, with your host Mike Allen: https://tinyurl.com/zuxxp6h6
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