EP 80: The Purrington Family Massacre
In this week's episode, Paul and Kate head to 1806 Augusta, Maine where neighbors are alerted to an active crime scene but are unable to stop almost an entire family from being murdered. With archaic technology, multiple murder weapons, and some survivor statements, will there be enough to close this case?
Sources:
“A midwife’s tale: the life of Martha Ballard, Based on her Diary, 1785 – 1812” by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1990)
https://archive.org/details/midwifestalelife00ulririch
“1806 Murders a ‘Horrid Spectacle’” by Lynn Ascrizzi (Morning Sentinel) 2006.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/856492916/?terms=%22james%20purrinton%22&match=1
“Image 1 of Horrid Murder!” by Peter Edes (Library of Congress) 1806.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.02600800/
“The Purrinton Murders” (DoHistory/Martha Ballard’s Diary Online)
https://dohistory.org/diary/themes/purrinton/index.html
“Illustrated History of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625 – 1799 – 1892, Part 1” by Henry D. Kingsbury, Simeon L. Deyo
https://books.google.com/books?id=WfIgAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA406&dq=Malta+war+Maine&output=text
“The Grisly Story Of The Purrinton Massacre, When A Revolutionary War Veteran Killed His Family With An Ax” by Genevieve Carlton (All That’s Interesting) 2023.
https://allthatsinteresting.com/Purrinton-massacre
“A Murder Reminiscence” (Chicago Inter-Ocean)
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22455739/james-scales-Purrinton#view-photo=248547412
“Purrinton Tragedy of 1806 is Recalled” (Bulletin of the Maine State Library)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bulletin/1RThAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA4&printsec=frontcover
“Ballard was an expert on life and its scandals” (Kennebec Journal) 1990.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/859374691/?terms=%22james%20purrinton%22%20Bowdoinham&match=1
“Augusta, July 11th” (Green Mountain Patriot) 1806.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/green-mountain-patriot-purrington-massac/93321092/
“Universalism” (Britannica)