Emeline Meaker
| Emeline Lucy Meaker | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 1838 |
| Died | March 30, 1883 (aged 44) Vermont State Prison in Windsor County, Vermont |
| Criminal penalty | Death by hanging |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Children | Almon Meaker |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
Emeline Lucy Meaker (sometimes reported as Lucy Emeline Meaker) (June 1838 – March 30, 1883) was the first woman who was legally executed by Vermont. In 1883, Meaker was convicted of and hanged for the murder of her husband's niece Alice near Burlington.
Sometime in the spring of 1879, a child welfare worker approached Meaker and her husband to ask if they would consider taking Mr. Meaker’s eight-year-old niece, Alice and her brother, Henry, into their home, as the children were living in an overcrowded orphanage. Mr. Meaker was offered a stipend of $400 to care for Alice, and so he agreed. Emeline Meaker was not pleased with the arrangement and beat, starved, and otherwise mistreated Alice.
In 1883, Meaker decided to kill Alice, and ordered her son Almon to get a lethal dose of strychnine from an apothecary. Meaker and Almon seized Alice, placed a sack over the girl’s head, and took her to a remote area outside Burlington. When they arrived at a clearing by a stream, Almon handed the poison to his mother and she poured it into a drink which she gave to Alice. While Alice thrashed about in reaction to the strychnine poisoning, Meaker forcibly held her hand over Alice’s mouth to keep the girl from crying out, keeping it there until Alice was dead, and then Almon and his mother buried Alice’s body.
Alice’s disappearance was investigated, and Almon confessed to the local sheriff. At trial, both he and Emeline were sentenced to death; however, Almon’s sentence was commuted by the Vermont Legislature because it was believed that he was dominated by his mother. Almon's confession was published in the newspaper on the date set for Emeline’s execution. It was reported that Emeline acted violently while in jail, but calmed as her execution date drew nearer.
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, 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 dinner consisting of two boiled eggs, two slices of toast, one potato, one doughnut, and a cup of coffee.
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