About the Author: James Smart

The ghost of William Beadle has flitted in and out of the consciousness of Wethersfield since he murdered his family on December 11, 1782.  To those growing up in Old Wethersfield, the macabre story seemed to be part of the DNA of the town, always lingering at the edge as …

William Beadle’s Last Will and Testament

THE WILL [This is a confused mixture of great and little Concerns I select a few things  chiefly  such as  respect  moral Ideas.   He is greatly incensed with the  public for Depreciation.] There is  a parcel of Continental Trash  that cost me  from first to last Twelve hundred Pounds.  I …

The Story of the Murder of the Beadle family by William Beadle

The following article is excerpted from “A Life of William Beadle” by James R. Smart. The complete work with footnotes and bibliography is available from the Library of the Wethersfield Historical Society. The poems illustrating this article are a broadside by William Woods followed by an account from the Connecticut …

An Advertisement by William Beadle in the Hartford Courant

ADVERTISEMENT. Addressed to the LADIES.Fair Ladies, ’tis not very arch, To talk about the first of March. That woful day when each of ye.Must leave your darling Nectar, TEA!Your China, which attracts the Eye.Like Lumber, must neglected lie:And dearest Tea-Kettle’s harder Lot.Must change him to a Porridge Pot.But now, methinks …