George Spencer ( 1600 – April 8, 1642) was the second person in history to be executed in Connecticut. He was executed by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

for charges of

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

after being wrongfully convicted for an alleged sexual act with an animal, in which it was erroneously claimed that Spencer had fathered a female pig's offspring. His hanging was the first

wrongful execution Wrongful execution is a miscarriage of justice occurring when an innocent person is put to death by capital punishment. Opponents of capital punishment often cite cases of wrongful execution as arguments, while proponents argue that innocence c ...

in Connecticut's history. After a review of the case in 2015, Spencer was given a posthumous

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

by Superior Court Judge John C. Blue, concluding that Spencer's confession was coerced and thus inadmissible, while also stating that Spencer's alleged crime of fathering a piglet was "biologically impossible". Spencer's case was described by Blue as the "first verifiable

false confession A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogatio ...

in American history".

Biography

George Spencer is described as an ugly, balding servant with a

glass eye An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. Someone with an ocular prosthesis is altogether blind ...

.Murrin, John M
"Things Fearful to Name": Bestiality in Colonial America
''

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

''. Accessed November 1, 2011.Graham, Judith S
Puritan Family Life: The Diary of Samuel Sewall
''UPNE''. 2003. p.76. Accessed November 1, 2011. He is believed to have lived for a time in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and while there was found guilty of receiving stolen goods. His punishment was a

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

. He then moved to the

New Haven Colony New Haven Colony was an English colony from 1638 to 1664 that included settlements on the north shore of Long Island Sound, with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The colony joined Connecticut Colony in 16 ...

, and continued to be a "habitual troublemaker". He was open about his lack of faith, never praying in the years of being in Connecticut and only reading the Bible when forced to by his master.Cressy, David
Coming over: migration and communication between England and New England in the seventeenth century
''Cambridge University Press''. 1987. p.101. Accessed November 1, 2011.

Trial and execution

When a

sow Sow or SOW may refer to: * Sowing, the process of planting Female animals * Badger * Bear * Guinea pig * Hedgehog * Suidae ** Wild boar ** Pig Arts, entertainment and media * Sow (band), a musical project of Anna Wildsmith * "Sow", a poem by Sy ...

gave birth to a malformed, one-eyed piglet it was considered a manifestation of God's proof of Spencer's sins. Spencer was arrested, and the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

authorities deemed the birth a work of God. They believed that this was irrefutable evidence that an act of bestiality had taken place.Chapin, Bradley
Criminal Justice in Colonial America, 1606-1660
''University of Georgia Press''. 2010. pp.38–39. Accessed November 1, 2011. He was charged with "prophane, atheistical carriage, in unfaithfulness and stubbornness to his master, a course of notorious lying, filthiness, scoffing at the ordinances, ways and people of God". Spencer was told that "he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall finde mercie", but it was never made clear to him whether this mercy related to the proceedings of the court or those of God. Having witnessed a repentant child molester being whipped for his crime Spencer believed that his best option was to confess. On the realisation that this might lead to a death sentence he retracted his statement. He repeated this confession and retraction again, trying to find the best solution to his situation.Dikes, Jason
Massachusetts Sex Ways: Puritan Ideas of Flesh and the Spirit
. ''Austin Community College''. p.4. Accessed November 1, 2011. When the trial began the magistrates knew the necessity of having two witnesses to the crime. They used Spencer's retracted confessions as one witness and the stillborn piglet as the other, ruling that this was sufficient to determine his guilt. On April 8, 1642, the sow was put to death by the sword and Spencer was hanged. Spencer's death was early in the history of Connecticut and is reported to be only the second execution to take place in Connecticut and the first of a non-Native American.Executions is the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File
''Death Penalty Information Center''. p.1. Accessed November 1, 2011.

Pardon

On August 28, 2015, in a review of old New Haven criminal cases by Superior Court judge John C. Blue, George Spencer was granted a posthumous

for his convictions, with Blue ruling that Spencer's confession was forced and that the alleged crime of fathering a piglet was "biologically impossible". Blue called Spencer's case the "first verifiable

in American history".

Similar case

In 1645, Thomas Hogg, another servant in New Haven, was imprisoned for several months for very similar crimes. A sow gave birth to two deformed piglets that allegedly resembled Hogg. However, Hogg never confessed to the crime, and the requirement of finding two witnesses could not be met.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, George Year of birth uncertain 1642 deaths American people convicted of sodomy Deaths by person in Connecticut False confessions Overturned convictions in the United States People executed by Connecticut Colony by hanging People from Boston People from New Haven, Connecticut People executed for sodomy 17th-century executions of American people Sex crime trials in the United States Trials in Connecticut Zoophilia 17th-century trials Wrongful executions in the United States

Biography

Trial and execution

Pardon

Similar case

See also

References