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Examination of Benjamin W. Greene scrapbook, 1866

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Summary

Creator:
Anonymous
Abstract:
This scrapbook, titled "The Examination of Benjamin W. Greene," contains clippings of three short articles published in the Hartford Courant newspaper of testimony given at the trial of accused murderer Benjamin W. Greene in early 1866. Greene was charged with the murder of Eunice North Greene, his wife, on November 5, 1865, and the court sought to determine whether the homicide (and Benjamin's subsequent suicide attempt) was due to insanity.
Extent:
1 volume
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Meg Bossio, April 2022

Background

Scope and Content:

This scrapbook, titled "The Examination of Benjamin W. Greene," contains clippings of three short articles published in the Hartford Courant newspaper of testimony given at the trial of accused murderer Benjamin W. Greene in early 1866. Greene was charged with the murder of Eunice North Greene, his wife, on November 5, 1865, and the court sought to determine whether the homicide (and Benjamin's subsequent suicide attempt) was due to insanity.

An investigation of the Greene household allowed witnesses to piece together the progression of events on November 5, 1865. As Eunice was reading, Benjamin approached her from behind and cut her neck with a razor. She was able to call for help after Benjamin fled and to name him as the perpetrator, but her wounds were too severe to overcome. After a brief search, two men found Benjamin inside of a locked room, lying next to the same razor used to kill Eunice. Despite having cut his own wrists and neck in a suicide attempt, he was able to be stabilized and survived.

The loss of Eunice and Benjamin's eldest daughter, Harriet North Day (1831-1864), was consistently cited as the reason for the sharp decline in Benjamin's mental and physical health. The family physician, Dr. Beresford, held Benjamin's "singular and peculiar delusions with regard to his domestic affairs" (p. 2) as evidence of his mental instability. Often centered around Eunice, or supposed financial burdens, the validity of those claims was challenged by what Dr. Beresford and other witnesses observed prior to the homicide (p. 7, 11, 12, 14).

Before the murder, Benjamin repeatedly denied help from his family and friends, blocking at least one attempt by physicians to inform Eunice (p. 4) of his mental state. His nephew, William D. Wyatt (1828-1884), tried several times to intervene and help his uncle—both at his own behest and at Eunice's—but ultimately failed. William did not deem it safe to be alone with Benjamin, and testified that during one visit, Eunice told him that her husband was "a crazy man" and "had been a deranged man for years" (p. 11).

The scrapbook does not include the final ruling of the court, but the following is a quotation from an article [not present] containing the verdict, published in the Hartford Courant on March 14, 1866:

"The finding that Mr. Greene was insane at the time he killed his wife, will undoubtedly render his will, which was made in July last, and which was referred to in the testimony offered during his examination, of no account. In this will he bequeathed all his property to Robert E. Day, his son-in-law, and Mr. Day's little daughter. His action, in this respect, would seem to show that he labored under the delusion claimed that his whole family, with the exception of Mrs. Day, was leagued against him. After her death he said he had lost his best friend, and from that time forward declined in health rapidly."
Biographical / Historical:

Eunice North Woodruff was born in 1804 in Berlin, Connecticut, to parents David Woodruff (1770-1839) and Eunice North Woodruff (1773-1826). On July 28, 1828, Eunice married Benjamin W. Greene in Hartford, Connecticut. Benjamin was born around 1801 in Rhode Island, but lived most of his life in Hartford. The couple had three daughters, including Harriet North Day (1830-1864), Frances W. Bennett (1834-1906), and Alice L. Wyatt (1842-1871). Ultimately, Benjamin became a founding director on the board of the Connecticut Fire Insurance Company, organized in 1850. Apparently, following the death of the family's oldest daughter Harriet in 1864, Benjamin Greene's mental health severely deteriorated. On November 5, 1865, he murdered Eunice and attempted to take his own life in the same manner. His 1866 trial proceedings were published in the local Hartford Courant. Benjamin W. Greene died on October 4, 1867, and is buried beside Eunice in the Old North Cemetery in Hartford.

Acquisition Information:
2022. M-7409 .
Arrangement:

The collection is a single bound volume.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Examination of Benjamin W. Greene Scrapbook, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

Examination of Benjamin W. Greene scrapbook, 1866
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Total components 1
Last indexed 2023-08-08