This Day in History: "One of the darkest days in Connecticut history occurred today in 1780, as 19-year-old Revolutionary War deserter Barnett Davenport brutally murdered his employer and his entire family in what many historians recognize as the first documented mass murder in American history." Source
"To a casual historian, the name Barnett Davenport may seem obscure or even innocuous. But the bearer of that name became one of the most significant killers of whom you've never heard – when he was only 19. Years before the US met its first serial killers, Davenport became the the country's first mass murderer. He ferociously beat and killed multiple members of a family who had employed him, including their young granddaughter, leaving the victims as well as the rest of the living family members to burn as he escaped. His horrific actions on one cold night in 1780 changed the way people thought about crime and criminals at that time." Source
"Barnett Davenport was found guilty of murder and arson. He was sentenced to 40 lashes and to hang at Gallow’s Lane at Litchfield, CT, on May 8, 1780...Barnett Davenport’s brutal murder of the Mallory family ushered in a new era for the American justice system and the fledgling nation’s collective psyche in general. Having never dealt with a crime like this previously, no one knew quite how to handle it.
Colonial Americans were taught, and believed, that criminals were sinners who had lost their way and needed to be guided back to the flock. But after witnessing a crime as heinous and depraved as this, they had to consider the possibility that some criminals were so evil they were beyond redemption." Source
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