# Emeline Meaker

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{{Short description|American murderer (1838–1883)}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Emeline Lucy Meaker
| birth_date        = June 1838
| birth_place       = [Barre, Vermont](/source/Barre_(town)%2C_Vermont), U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1883|03|30|1838|6}}
| death_place       = Vermont State Prison, [Windsor, Vermont](/source/Windsor%2C_Vermont), U.S.
| conviction        = [First degree murder](/source/First_degree_murder)
| conviction_penalty = [Death](/source/Capital_punishment_in_Vermont)
| conviction_status = [Executed](/source/Executed)
| children          = Almon Meaker
}}

'''Emeline Lucy Meaker''' (sometimes reported as '''Lucy Emeline Meaker''') (June 1838 – March 30, 1883) was the first woman who was [legally executed](/source/capital_punishment_in_Vermont) by [Vermont](/source/Vermont).  In 1883, Meaker was convicted of and [hanged](/source/hanging) for the [murder](/source/murder) of her husband's [half-sister](/source/half-sister) Alice in [Duxbury, Vermont](/source/Duxbury%2C_Vermont).

==The crime==
Sometime in the spring of 1879, a [child welfare](/source/child_welfare) worker approached Meaker and her husband, Horace, to ask if they would consider taking Horace's eight-year-old [half-sister](/source/half-sister) Alice and her brother Henry into their home, as the children were living in an overcrowded [orphanage](/source/orphanage).<ref name = Hearn>Hearn, Daniel Allen, ''Legal Executions in New England: A comprehensive reference, 1623–1960'' (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999) pp. 273–274.</ref><ref name = BFP>"Mrs. Lucy E. Meaker Still Claims Innocence and Reproaches the Boy Almon", ''Burlington Free Press and Times'', March 30, 1883.</ref> Horace was offered a stipend of {{US$|400|1879}} to care for Alice, and so he agreed. Emeline Meaker was not pleased with the arrangement and beat, starved, and [otherwise mistreated](/source/Child_abuse) Alice, threatening to kill her on numerous occasions.<ref name = Hearn/><ref name = BFP/>

According to testimony provided by Meaker's son, Almon, Meaker ordered him to hire a horse and carriage and purchase a lethal dose of [strychnine](/source/strychnine) from an [apothecary](/source/apothecary), with the explanation that he intended to kill rats on his family's property. On April 23, 1880, Meaker and Almon seized Alice, placed a sack over the girl's head, and used the carriage to take her to a remote area outside [Waterbury, Vermont](/source/Waterbury%2C_Vermont), near what is now [Little River State Park](/source/Little_River_State_Park). When they arrived at a clearing by a stream, Almon handed the strychnine to his mother and she poured it into a drink which she gave to Alice. While Alice thrashed about in reaction to the poisoning, Meaker forcibly held her hand over Alice's mouth to keep the girl from crying out, keeping it there until Alice was dead, then Meaker and Almon buried Alice's body.<ref name = Hearn/><ref name = BFP/>

==Investigation and trial==
Alice's disappearance was investigated, and Almon confessed to the local [sheriff](/source/sheriff). At trial, both he and Meaker were sentenced to death. However, Almon's sentence was [commuted](/source/Commutation_of_sentence) by the [Vermont Legislature](/source/Vermont_Legislature) because it was believed that he was dominated by his mother.<ref name = Hearn/><ref name = BFP/> Almon's confession was published in the newspaper on the date set for Meaker's execution.<ref name = BFP/> It was reported that Meaker acted violently while in jail, but calmed as her execution date drew nearer.<ref name = BFP/>

==Execution==
On March 30, 1883, the morning of her scheduled execution, Meaker ate a large beefsteak, three potatoes, a slice of bread and butter, a piece of meat pie, and a cup of coffee. Then, at her request, she went to view the [gallows](/source/gallows), remarking that it was not half as bad as she thought it would be. She sent a message to her husband through the sheriff, and then ate a lunch consisting of two boiled eggs, two slices of toast, one potato, one doughnut, and a cup of coffee.<ref name = hanging>"A Life for a Life, Hanging of Mrs. Emeline Lucy Meaker at Windsor Prison", ''Burlington Free Press and Times''. March 31, 1883.</ref>

Over 125 spectators gathered in the prison guardroom at the Vermont State Prison in [Windsor County](/source/Windsor_County%2C_Vermont), and it was reported that the sheriff was besieged with requests for passes to witness the hanging.  When Meaker was finally led to the gallows, and asked (by slip of paper as she was deaf) if she had anything to say, Meaker said in a low voice, "May God forgive you all for hanging me, an innocent woman. I am as innocent as that man standing here," indicating a deputy.<ref name = hanging/> None of her family was present at the execution and her husband and children did not accept her body for burial after the execution.<ref name = Hearn/><ref name = hanging/>

== See also ==

* [Capital punishment in Vermont](/source/Capital_punishment_in_Vermont)
* [List of people executed in Vermont](/source/List_of_people_executed_in_Vermont)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meaker, Emeline}}
Category:1838 births
Category:1883 deaths
Category:19th-century executions by the United States
Category:19th-century executions of American people
Category:American deaf people
Category:American female murderers
Category:American murderers of children
Category:American people executed for murder
Category:American torturers
Category:Executed American women
Category:Executed female murderers
Category:Female murderers of children
Category:People convicted of murder by Vermont
Category:People executed by Vermont by hanging
Category:People from Burlington, Vermont
Category:Poisoners
Category:19th-century American murderers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Emeline Meaker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeline_Meaker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeline_Meaker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.