On the eighteenth of June, 1819, Lyman Sperry, Sr. left his wife at home to attend a church meeting. Little did he realize how much his faith would be tried or the tragedy that he would find upon his return. For several months his wife Mary Foote Sperry had made statements to friends that she was very afraid that she and her children would be thrown into poverty, that they would be destitute and without a home. The friends were puzzled and concerned as there seemed to be no reason for her fears.
On that day the oldest daughter was visiting a friend. Mary, also called Polly went to the woods and gathered some hemlock, made it into a drink and attempted to feed it to the children and took it herself. She and two children died. the three older children who were at home were ill but recovered. The newspaper account only mentioned five children, but there appears to have been an infant named Angeline who was not quite seven months of age, therefore not weaned and probably not able to swallow much poison. Angeline lived to the age of seventy years, never married and was listed as an invalid. The other survivors were Mary who was not home, Lyman, Jr., Samuel and Lorinda.
One might imagine that post-partum depression/psychosis may have been a factor in this sad tale. At the same time, it is amazing that the other children lived.
The story is the the one I wrote. Elizabeth Snow
Contributor: Bonita
On that day the oldest daughter was visiting a friend. Mary, also called Polly went to the woods and gathered some hemlock, made it into a drink and attempted to feed it to the children and took it herself. She and two children died. the three older children who were at home were ill but recovered. The newspaper account only mentioned five children, but there appears to have been an infant named Angeline who was not quite seven months of age, therefore not weaned and probably not able to swallow much poison. Angeline lived to the age of seventy years, never married and was listed as an invalid. The other survivors were Mary who was not home, Lyman, Jr., Samuel and Lorinda.
One might imagine that post-partum depression/psychosis may have been a factor in this sad tale. At the same time, it is amazing that the other children lived.
The story is the the one I wrote. Elizabeth Snow
Contributor: Bonita
On the eighteenth of June, 1819, Lyman Sperry, Sr. left his wife at home to attend a church meeting. Little did he realize how much his faith would be tried or the tragedy that he would find upon his return. For several months his wife Mary Foote Sperry had made statements to friends that she was very afraid that she and her children would be thrown into poverty, that they would be destitute and without a home. The friends were puzzled and concerned as there seemed to be no reason for her fears.
On that day the oldest daughter was visiting a friend. Mary, also called Polly went to the woods and gathered some hemlock, made it into a drink and attempted to feed it to the children and took it herself. She and two children died. the three older children who were at home were ill but recovered. The newspaper account only mentioned five children, but there appears to have been an infant named Angeline who was not quite seven months of age, therefore not weaned and probably not able to swallow much poison. Angeline lived to the age of seventy years, never married and was listed as an invalid. The other survivors were Mary who was not home, Lyman, Jr., Samuel and Lorinda.
One might imagine that post-partum depression/psychosis may have been a factor in this sad tale. At the same time, it is amazing that the other children lived.
The story is the the one I wrote. Elizabeth Snow
Contributor: Bonita
On that day the oldest daughter was visiting a friend. Mary, also called Polly went to the woods and gathered some hemlock, made it into a drink and attempted to feed it to the children and took it herself. She and two children died. the three older children who were at home were ill but recovered. The newspaper account only mentioned five children, but there appears to have been an infant named Angeline who was not quite seven months of age, therefore not weaned and probably not able to swallow much poison. Angeline lived to the age of seventy years, never married and was listed as an invalid. The other survivors were Mary who was not home, Lyman, Jr., Samuel and Lorinda.
One might imagine that post-partum depression/psychosis may have been a factor in this sad tale. At the same time, it is amazing that the other children lived.
The story is the the one I wrote. Elizabeth Snow
Contributor: Bonita
Inscription
"Behold me dust,
Where death will bring
You all at last."
Gravesite Details
w/o Lyman Sperry; gave hemlock to her children; killing 2 of them, plus herself. She was suffering from mental illness or post-partum depression
Family Members
Siblings
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