Bathsheba Spooner, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Bathsheba Spooner

first woman to be executed in the United States by Americans

Date of Birth: 15-Feb-1746

Place of Birth: Sandwich, Massachusetts, United States

Date of Death: 02-Jul-1778

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner (February 15, 1746 – July 2, 1778) was the first woman to be executed in the United States following the Declaration of Independence. The daughter of a prominent Colonial American lawyer, justice and military officer, Bathsheba Ruggles had an arranged marriage to a wealthy farmer, Joshua Spooner.
She then became lovers with a young soldier from the Continental Army, Ezra Ross, and became pregnant.
She enlisted the assistance of Ross and two others to murder her husband.
On the night of March 1, 1778, one of them beat Joshua Spooner to death and they put his body in the Spooner well.
Bathsheba Spooner and the three men were soon arrested, tried for and convicted of Spooner's murder and sentenced to death. Spooner petitioned to have her execution delayed because of her pregnancy, which was first denied and then supported by some members of a group charged with examining her to verify the pregnancy.
After the four were executed, a post-mortem examination revealed that she was five months pregnant.
Historians have pointed out that the trial and execution may have been hastened by anti-Loyalist sentiment.