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All the United States Massachusetts Gardner Grave of The Kneeland Maids

Grave of The Kneeland Maids

This donated headstone marks the grave of a pair of elderly women who were mysteriously murdered.

Gardner, Massachusetts

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kensears37
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Grave of the Kneeland Sisters   Ken Sears
Grave of the Kneeland Sisters   Ken Sears
Grave of the Kneeland Sisters   Ken Sears
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About

On March 7, 1855, the bodies of the Kneeland Sisters (Miriam, 85, and Sarah Phinney, 75) were found in the home they shared in Gardner, Massachusetts. They were apparently bludgeoned to death with a chair leg (ironic, given Gardner's title as the Chair City), in a murder that has never been solved.

The bodies were found by a neighbor who came to check on them when cows were seen wandering the property. A sum of $500 was offered as a reward for an arrest. While the sisters were destitute, their family was well known in town and they were taken care of by many. A Mrs. Shattuck supposedly went blind from crying in grief during the funeral. Though the sisters were too poor to afford their own headstone, the local community came together to purchase one for them. 

A man named George Stacey was eventually arrested while boarding a train to Burlington, Vermont and tried for committing the murder. He had asked a co-worker at a chair factory (natch) if he felt that a chair leg would be able to kill a dog. He was also wearing clothes covered in blood, which he claimed was from a nosebleed, which, to be fair, he was prone to. A month after the murders, and while Stacy was in custody, the Kneeland home mysteriously burned down.

After a three day trial, he was acquitted. According to legend, a nephew of the sisters confessed to the murders on his deathbed, and there has also been speculation that the murders were a case of mistaken identity. Another set of sisters, Martha and Sylvia Pearley, who were well off, lived half a mile from the Kneeland Sisters.

In addition to the grave, the nearby Gardner Museum contains the wanted poster for the murders as well as a nightstand with blood splatters from the crime.

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Gravestones Crime Mystery Crime And Punishment Graves

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Behind the First Congregational Church in Gardner

Community Contributors

Added By

kensears37

Edited By

linguistjake

  • linguistjake

Published

November 23, 2015

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Sources
  • http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10281232
  • http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Grim+anniversary+marks+Kneelands+Maids+slaying.-a0286169088
Grave of The Kneeland Maids
28 Green Street
Gardner, Massachusetts, 01440
United States
42.580262, -71.986234
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Bicentennial Chair

Gardner, Massachusetts

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Gardner

Gardner

Massachusetts

Places 2
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Bicentennial Chair

Gardner, Massachusetts

miles away

S.K. Pierce Mansion

Gardner, Massachusetts

miles away

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Westminster, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Gardner

Gardner

Massachusetts

Places 2
Stories 1

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