Quest for truth continues 147 years after Slocum murder

On the night of July 14, 1863, in the town of Mechanicsville (now West Long Branch) Abigail

Bob Waitt Sr. (l-r), Bob Waitt Jr., Joann Slocum Mazzucca and Arthur T. Green II pose for a portrait following a presentation on the murder of Abigail Slocum in 1863 and the trial and hanging of her husband, Peter, who is a distant relative of all four. Green led the inquiry, which examined whether Peter Slocum was wrongfully convicted. LAUREN CASSELBERRY C. Slocum, 29 years old

and the mother of four young children, was murdered in her bed by a shotgun blast.

Her husband, Peter E. Slocum, 28, was accused, tried and convicted of the crime, with the sentence of hanging carried out on the public gallows that were located in front of the present-day Hall of Records in Freehold.

To debate if the actual murderer was punished, this murder and trial were revisited during “The Slocum Murder 1863,” a presentation by Arthur T. Green II, a local historian residing in West Long Branch and a distant cousin of Peter Slocum. The event was hosted by the Shrewsbury Towne- Monmouth Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) and held at the Shrewsbury Historical Society building the evening of March 8.

A field at the Slocum farm that was located in Mechanicsville, now West Long Branch. Green, a member of numerous historical societies and a military weapons and equipment expert, began his presentation by cautioning the audience of more than 50 people that at the time of the murder, criminal forensics were not up to today’s standards. Also, moral values and tolerance for its infractions were different. He then proceeded with a time line for the night of the murder.

At approximately 5 a.m. July 15, some of the Slocum children, Louis, 9, Alonzo, 6, Maria, 4, and Mary Matilda, 18 months, notified neighbors of their mother’s death. A neighbor’s son, James Waters, was sent to Green’s Hotel (Bath Hotel) about five miles away to fetch their father, Peter, who worked there as handyman in addition to farming his own property.

Peter returned to his home around 7:30 a.m. with his mother-in-law, Zilphia Cooper Chasey, and his sister-in-law, Alcine Chasey, 18. Alcine lived with Peter and Abigail to help out on the farm, but moved out nine days before the murder. Rumors circulated that “public familiarity” was noticed between Peter and Alcine.

Arthur T. Green II explains the details surrounding the 1863 Slocum murder trial during a presentation held at the Shrewsbury Historical Society building on March 8. Inset: Peter Slocum’s protestation of innocence prior to his hanging was reported in a local newspaper. A coroner’s inquest at the house within hours of the murder and completed by Dr. T.G. Chattle determined that a shotgun blast to the head with a “blank” load containing only wadding was the cause of death. The death occurred between 11 p.m. and midnight. Peter’s shotgun, with the shot hidden as a safety precaution, was in the house and had been recently fired. It was enough evidence for the inquest jury, and Peter was arrested and sent to the Monmouth County jail with bail set at $100,000, an unheardof sum at the time.

The trial began Sept. 9 and lasted eight days. Peter was allowed to attend his wife’s funeral. The lead prosecutor was state Attorney General Frederick Frelinghuysen and the defense lawyers were Philip J. Ryall and Joseph D. Bedel. The defense produced upstanding witnesses to Peter’s whereabouts on the night in question. Defense evidence included a longstanding feud with a neighbor, Solomon Gardner, and the visit of two men the evening of the murder with money subsequently missing from the house. Also, at the prosecuting attorney’s order, a key witness for the defense was jailed and not able to testify at the trial.

The prosecution’s circumstantial evidence and hint of adultery were enough to sway the all-male jury, which took only a half-hour to convict Peter of murder in the first degree. On Nov. 27, Peter Slocum was executed by hanging. He maintained his innocence by saying, “If they hang me, they will hang an innocent man, but I would rather be hung innocent than guilty.” He was allowed to see his children, who were adopted by his stepbrother, William B. Slocum, following Peter’s execution. Peter’s hanging was a public spectacle and included a band. His last words were: “I ain’t afraid to die like a man. Meet me in heaven, all of you.”

Peter’s father-in-law, Samuel Chasey, claimed his body. No local cemetery would permit burial, and it is believed that Peter’s body was buried on the family farm, a lot now on the corner of Oakwood Avenue and Wall Street in West Long Branch.

It was this lot that piqued Green’s curiosity and led him to research the Slocum murder, he told the audience.

“At Halloween time when I would go trick-or-treating in the area, my grandfather would warn me to stay clear of that lot because the ghost of Peter Slocum may come and get me,” Green said. “When I was older, I started wondering about this family legend and then learned all the inconsistencies of the trial and murder.”

Green asked the audience at the presentation if anyone thought Peter was guilty. No one raised a hand. Lester Pierce, a resident of Lincroft and a Slocum cousin who was in the audience, did not believe his ancestor was guilty and said he learned more details from the presentation. He asked Green who he thought did kill Abigail.

Green replied that there is sufficient reasonable doubt to point to a number of people as known or unknown suspects.

“It could be an accidental shooting by the oldest child or Solomon Gardner [the prime suspect choice of Green’s wife, Michele] who threatened Abigail, or a robbery gone bad,” Green said. “Any lawyer or police officer I’ve talked with about this case say Peter would never have been convicted today on the evidence of the prosecution.”

As to why after 147 years this murder is still debated, Green said: “It was the O.J. Simpson trial of its day with Civil War soldiers discussing it in their letters. Also, the Slocum family dated back to a land grant, the Monmouth Patent of 1665, and were part of the original settlers of Monmouth County. My purpose is to give documented facts about a poor farmer, who was a swearing nonpillar of society, who may have been convicted for reasons other than his wife’s murder.”

Bob Waitt, a resident of Interlaken and a cousin of Green’s, attended Green’s presentation. Peter Slocum was Waitt’s great-greatgrandfather, and Mary Matilda, the youngest Slocum child, was his great-grandmother, he said. Also attending was Waitt’s son Bob of Freehold, the great-great-great-grandson of Peter.

Even after 147 years, Waitt said it is important to get the true facts about the murder.

“The murder was never discussed by my family members,” he said. “Even my father, Francis, who is 92 years old and now lives in Florida, said it was never discussed and he didn’t know of the murder until about 10 years ago. In 1937 he and other family members were pallbearers at Alcine Booth’s (Abigail’s sister) funeral in Long Branch. At the time he knew nothing of the murder or her connection to it.”

Waitt said that at the time of the murder there were around 600 residents of what is now West Long Branch Borough. Everyone seemed to be related, and cousins were numerous. He met Jo Ann Slocum Mazzucca, also his cousin, when she placed a newspaper ad for the annual Slocum reunion, tentatively slated for September this year.

“Our family reunions draw about 40 to 50 people, and we talk mainly about relationships and how we determined that Slocums in Monmouth County descend from Nathaniel Slocum who settled here around the 1660s,” said Slocum Mazzucca, who chairs the reunion with Frank Slocum from Indiana.

A resident of Shrewsbury and a member of the NSDAR, she said that Peter Slocum was her great-great-grandfather David Slocum’s cousin. The victim, Abigail Slocum, was a cousin to her great-greatgrandmother, Zilphia Ann Morris Slocum.

“I think the Slocum murder is a fascinating historical story, and the debate goes on because there is no closure,” Slocum Mazzucca said. “I believe there is no way Peter could have had time to go home and back to the Green Hotel to commit the murder.”

For more information about the Slocum murder or to schedule a historic military presentation, contact Green at 732-222-1207 or email atdegren2@yahoo.com. If interested in the Slocum reunion or the NSDAR, call Slocum Mazzucca at 732-530-3936 or e-mail jslocum10@comcast.net.

LAUREN CASSELBERRY