Ann Hoag was executed in New York in 1852 for poisoning her deadbeat husband so she could elope with a young lover. She was only the fourth woman executed in the Empire State since US independence. Hoag did not appear to remember much about her own childhood when asked. She was 31 when the crime was committed, which puts her date of birth in 1820-21 although her exact birthday, place of birth, and real parents are not known. Hoag was an orphan who was taken in and raised by the Fulton family in Red Hook, but they viewed her as hired help more than a daughter. In 1839, following her 18th birthday, Ann met Nelson Hoag, a Dover resident, when his sister was marrying one of the Fultons' sons. Hoag, at 32 quite a bit older than Ann, was smitten with her and proposed marriage. Apparently Ann's step parents were eager enough to unload her that they offered Nelson $500 (a considerable sum of money in those days) and some household furnishings as a wedding gift, which they never gave.The marriage was not a happy one. Nelson's sisters did not like Ann and made it clear that they didn't like her. One of them told her that Nelson was cheating on her and Ann remarked that her husband was poor at business and never bought her anything. Sometimes she did piecework like rug making and sewing to earn money, but he would take anything earned from those jobs. Ann bore her husband five children over the years but by 1851 she'd tired of her marriage. At the same time Nelson began to develop significant health issues.
Around the same time, the Hoags took in a boarder/farmhand named William Somers and Ann fell in love with him. Once the two went off to Connecticut together to buy food and supplies during which time Ann bought arsenic, which unlike the other purchases she paid for in cash rather than buying on store credit. On July 2, Ann prepared a dish of oysters for Nelson, which she put the arsenic in and would not let anyone else eat from it. Nelson became sick shortly after eating the oysters and complained of stomach pains. Ann went out for another trip to a local general store to buy supplies and again bought arsenic paid for in cash. The store clerk advised her to be careful handling the arsenic due to its toxicity.Nelson died in the early morning hours of July 4 and was buried in the family plot behind the house. Ann and William Somers immmediately began selling all of his property and the two moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut together. Nelson's sisters remained suspicious. They thought their sister-in-law was saying unusual remarks lately, including predicting that Nelson would die soon. The body was exhumed for an autopsy and Dr. William Gibbons of Poughkeepsie examined the organs. He found high levels of arsenic in the liver and stomach. Deputy Sherman Howard and coroner Edward Taylor found Hoag and Somers asleep together in a house in Connecticut and they were extradicted to New York to be tried for murder.
Ann was tried at the Poughkeepsie County courthouse starting March 16, 1852 and because the defendant was a female, the case attracted a lot of attention. She had made two separate purchases of arsenic in Dover and in New Milford, Connecticut. The store clerk also remembered Ann telling him to keep quiet about her purchase of the stuff, which he declined to do and also reminded her of the dangers it could pose. Nelson's sisters testified and recalled Ann saying how their brother would soon die. If Ann had bought arsenic just as rat poison like she claimed, why was she so eager to hide it? The jury found her guilty after just two days and she was sentenced to be hanged on May 7. However, Ann soon found out that she was pregnant so the execution had to be delayed for the time being. She gave birth to a daughter in her cell on April 20.Governor Washington Hunt advised Dutchess County Sheriff Alonzo Mory that the execution should be delayed for a while so Ann could nurse her baby, but to still make sure it took place at a reasonable time. They decided to move the date to July 30 as another execution was scheduled for the same date--an African-American farmhand named Jonas Williams had been convicted of murdering and raping his 11 year old stepdaughter. Still maintaining her innocence, she mounted the scaffold on July 30. Jonas Williams followed a few hours later and both were buried on the grounds of the courthouse. Although Ann claimed William Somers was the real murderer of her husband, he was found innocent at his trial a few months later.Hoag was the last woman the state of New York executed until Roxalana Druse was hanged in 1887 for a similar parricide murder.
>>17210419>However, Ann soon found out that she was pregnant so the execution had to be delayed for the time being. She gave birth to a daughter in her cell on April 20.>Governor Washington Hunt advised Dutchess County Sheriff Alonzo Mory that the execution should be delayed for a while so Ann could nurse her baby, but to still make sure it took place at a reasonable time.I don't think they let you do that nowadays. If a bitch in jail has a baby it's just immediately taken and put up for adoption, they don't give you a grace period to nurse it for a while. Also p. sure they'd give birth at a hospital not in their cell.
>>17210417>>17210419>baby is born almost exactly 9 months after her husband is whackedHer and her honey really got down to work quickly didn't they?
this woman must have been one of the dumbest criminals ever up there with Ronald O'Bryan>goes and buys arsenic with cash which is odd when she's buying her other stuff on store credit>husband dies right afterwards>runs off with her honey
>>17210417how'd they catch them? there wasn't any FBI in the 1850s to go after interstate fugitives.
>>17210411>>17210417>>17210419Thanks, crimebro.
>>17210479cheaters have a tendency to live lala land
>>17210746The local sheriff just walked over into the next state and said hey we want this guy (or woman, whatever) he did X. Things were a lot simpler and less bureaucratic in the 19th century.
