This week in 1793

“I declare that I ever had a great aversion to stealing and telling lies, and think them to be great crimes. I always meant to tell truth, and never stole, except taking a few apples from orchards may be called so.”

— Samuel Frost, convicted of murder, hanging, Massachusetts.
Executed October 31, 1793

Before he was fourteen years of age, Frost killed his father, who had mistreated his mother. The young teen hit his father in the head with a shovel, then continued to strike his skull. He went to jail for a time but was released and moved from home to home. Eventually, he stayed with a man identified as Captain Allen, upon whom he repeated his crime: Frost beat him to death with a garden hoe.