Murder at Cherry Hill

The Murder at Cherry Hill occurred in 1827 near Albany, New York, when John Whipple was shot and killed at the Cherry Hill farm, home of a prominent Albany family, the Van Rensselaers. John's wife, Elsie, and her lover, Jesse Strang, were tried for the murder. While Elsie was acquitted as an accomplice, Strang was found guilty and sentenced to death for the crime; his execution was the last public hanging in Albany.

Known at the time as the Strang-Whipple case, the murder and subsequent trial revealed much about the society of the time. It touched upon important issues of the day such as women's roles and legal rights, social class, punishment and the law, and slavery in New York.

Jesse Strang, of Putnam County, New York, deserted his wife and children in the belief that his wife was unfaithful. He became a drifter and went to Ohio but shortly after returned to New York in 1826. The scandalous nature of his separation might have stopped then if there had not been a baggage problem that caused him to seek a job in Albany.

Strang met Elsie Whipple in a bar in Albany. Elsie was the daughter of Abraham Lansing and Elsie Van Rensselaer and wife of John Whipple. Strang fell in love with Elsie and took a job as a handyman under the name of Joseph Orton in Cherry Hill, the Van Rensselaers’ residence. Elsie in turn fell in love with him. Elsie tended to be grumpy, irksome, and prone to hysterics and violent shouting fits. She felt domineered and controlled by her husband. The lovers kept in touch with the help of members of the household who passed letters between them.

Elsie decided that the best thing for them to do was to kill John and run away. Elsie conspired with a reluctant Jesse to poison John’s tea with arsenic so they could elope, but their attempt failed.

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