A Girl, 12, Is Hanged In Connecticut For Murder In 1786

Hannah Occuish, Last Female Executed In Connecticut, Was Possibly Youngest Person Ever In U.S. To Get Death Penalty


A drawing of Hannah Occuish's hanging, published in the Courant in 1964. (Courant File Image)

The last time a female was executed in Connecticut was more than two centuries ago, and the person punished by death was not a woman, but a child: Hannah Occuish was 12 years old when she was hanged in New London five days before Christmas 1786.

Hannah, who was sentenced to death for the murder of 6-year-old Eunice Bolles, may be the youngest person ever executed in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Hannah, whose mother was a Pequot and whose father was African American, reportedly became angry with Eunice after the two had spent time in a strawberry patch a few miles north of New London. Eunice went home and told her parents that Hannah had taken some of her strawberries.

About six weeks later, on July 21, 1786, Eunice was walking to school on "the Norwich road" when she was attacked by Hannah a few miles from her home. Hannah beat her to death with rocks and then attempted to cover her body with large stones.

Eunice's body was found about 9 that morning by a passerby.

"The head and body were mangled in a shocking manner, the back and one arm broken, and a number of heavy stones placed on the body, arms and legs," The Courant wrote in a July 31, 1786, story.

Hannah was identified as the suspect the day after the body was found. She admitted to killing Eunice.

"It was a cruel murder, and though it was committed by an ignorant and neglected child, she was duly charged with murder in the first degree," The Courant wrote in 1913. Hannah had been "bound out" to live with the widow of Ichabod Rogers. The term means Hannah was basically an indentured servant.

Hannah was tried in October and swiftly convicted. During her sentencing later that month, the judge chastised Hannah for the cruel act and for her attempts to make it look like an accident, according to an Oct. 30 Courant report.

"You have killed, and that in a barbarous and cruel manner, an innocent, harmless and helpless child — a child that could not possibly, from its tender years, have injured or done you any harm, or given you any just cause of resentment," the judge said. "And in the perpetration of this shocking deed, you have discovered such evidence of premeditated malice, and marks of such a mischievous and guileful discretion, in your attempts of concealment and endeavors to make it have the appearance as though it was the effect of accident, and not of violence."

Her hanging was set for Dec. 20. The gallows were constructed behind the old meetinghouse, near the corner of what is now Granite Street.

Though the hanging of a child may seem outrageous now, several Courant reflections of the case remind readers that things were different two centuries ago.

"Officials in those days did not concern themselves with the rehabilitation of criminals," reporter Joe De Bona wrote in 1964. "Their philosophy followed the Old Testament admonition: 'An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.'

"Moreover, in the England from which most of them stemmed, the age of a criminal was considered inconsequential; swift and relentless punishment was viewed as the only practicable method of keeping the lawless element in check," he wrote. "Such was the temper of the times."

It appears that Hannah's age was considered during her trial and sentencing, but the judge who delivered her sentence concluded: "The sparing of you on account of your age would, as the law says, be of dangerous consequence to the public, by holding up an idea, that children might commit such atrocious crimes with impunity."

Reports show that Hannah's reaction to her situation fluctuated wildly. After she was jailed, she was "uneasy" at first, but soon "seemed quite contented and happy."

"During her trial she appeared entirely unconscious. After the verdict was brought in she was carried back to the prison, where a person visited her and told her what must now be her punishment and that she must now prepare for death and another world," according to one account in The Courant. "She was greatly affected and continued in tears for most of the day but, after this she seemed unconcerned as before."

"During the time the judge was giving her sentence, she appeared less afflicted than any of the bystanders," The Courant wrote.

Hannah's anxiety heightened as her execution date neared, and she spent much of the day of her hanging in tears.

Thousands gathered to watch the hanging, a public spectacle. The Rev. Henry Channing from Yale College, who later became minister of the First Congregational Society in New London, prayed with Hannah every day during her imprisonment and delivered a lengthy sermon before the hanging, at Hannah's request. It was called "God Admonishing His People of Their Duty, As Parents and Masters."

"She seemed greatly afraid when at the gallows, and said but little to anyone," The Courant's Dec. 25, 1786, story read. "She thanked the Sheriff for his kindness, and launched into the eternal world."

http://www.ctnow.com/news/hc-250-han...,3170783.story