Zoophilia Wiki - User contributions [en]

User:Errtgrftgferwq

2013-02-27T12:59:08Z

109.149.22.162:

'''George Spencer''' (c.1600 – April 8, 1642) was the first non-[[Native Americans in the United States |native]] person to be [[List of people executed in Connecticut|executed in Connecticut]]. Amongst his charges was [[sodomy]] after an alleged [[zoophilia|sexual act with an animal]].

==Biography==
George Spencer is described as an ugly, balding servant with a [[Ocular prosthesis |glass eye]].<ref name="Murrin">Murrin, John M. [http://dpubs.libraries.psu.edu/DPubS?service=Repository&version=1.0&verb=Disseminate&view=body&content-type=pdf_1&handle=psu.ph/1143738929# "Things Fearful to Name": Bestiality in Colonial America]. ''[[Princeton University]]''. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref><ref name="Graham">Graham, Judith S. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NtBqFf4GEUMC&printsec=frontcover Puritan Family Life: The Diary of Samuel Sewall]. ''UPNE''. 2003. p.76. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref> He is believed to have lived for a time in [[Boston]] and while there was found guilty of receiving stolen goods.<ref name="Murrin" /> His punishment was a [[flogging]]. He then moved to the [[New Haven Colony]],<ref name="Murrin" /> and continued to be a "habitual troublemaker".<ref name="Graham" /> He was open about his lack of faith, never praying in the years of being in [[New England]] and only reading the Bible when forced to by his master.<ref name="Murrin" /><ref name="Cressy">Cressy, David. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Zc2iPZ4jN2AC&printsec=frontcover Coming over: migration and communication between England and New England in the seventeenth century]. ''Cambridge University Press''. 1987. p.101. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref> He had regularly been accused of illegal and even depraved acts by neighbours, but evidence of his wrongdoings were never more compelling than the discovery in early 1642.<ref name="Dikes">Dikes, Jason. [http://www.austincc.edu/jdikes/Sex%20Ways%20ALL.pdf Massachusetts Sex Ways: Puritan Ideas of Flesh and the Spirit]. ''Austin Community College''. p.4. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref>

=== Trial and execution ===

When a sow gave birth to a malformed, one-eyed piglet it was considered a manifestation of God's proof of Spencer's sins. Spencer was arrested, and the [[Puritan]] authorities deemed the birth a work of God. They believed that this was irrefutable evidence that an act of bestiality had taken place.<ref name="Chapin">Chapin, Bradley. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XbJG5aKhXS4C&printsec=frontcover Criminal Justice in Colonial America, 1606-1660]. ''University of Georgia Press''. 2010. pp.38–39. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref> He was charged with "prophane, atheistical carriage, in unfaithfulness and stubbornness to his master, a course of notorious lying, filthiness, scoffing at the ordinances, ways and people of God".<ref name="Cressy" />

Spencer was told that "he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall finde mercie",<ref name="Murrin" /> but it was never made clear to him whether this mercy related to the proceedings of the court or those of God.<ref name="Chapin" /> Having witnessed a repentant child molester being whipped for his crime Spencer believed that his best option was to confess.<ref name="Murrin" /> On the realisation that this might lead to a death sentence he retracted his statement. He repeated this confession and retraction again, trying to find the best solution to his situation.<ref name="Murrin" /><ref name="Graham" /><ref name="Dikes" />

When the trial began the magistrates knew the necessity of having two witnesses to the crime. They used Spencer's retracted confessions as one witness and the stillborn piglet as the other, ruling that this was sufficient to determine his guilt.<ref name="Murrin" /><ref name="Graham" /><ref name="Cressy" /><ref name="Dikes" /><ref name="Chapin" /> On April 8, 1642, the sow was put to death by the sword and Spencer was hanged.<ref name="Murrin" />

Spencer's death was early in the history of New England and is reported to be only the second execution to take place in Connecticut and the first of a non-Native American.<ref>[http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ESPYyear.pdf Executions is the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File]. ''Death Penalty Information Center''. p.1. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref>

== Similar case ==

In 1645, [[Thomas Hogg (New Haven)|Thomas Hogg]], another servant in New Haven, was imprisoned for several months for very similar crimes. A sow gave birth to two deformed piglets that resembled Hogg. However, Hogg never confessed to the crime, and the requirement of finding two witnesses could not be met.<ref name="Murrin" />

== See also ==

* [[Capital punishment in Connecticut]]
* [[Crime in Connecticut]]
* [[List of individuals executed in Connecticut]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Spencer, George
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American criminal
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 1642
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, George}}
[[Category:1642 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from New Haven, Connecticut]]
[[Category:People executed by Connecticut Colony]]
[[Category:People executed by hanging]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:People executed for sodomy]]
[[Category:Zoosexuality]]

User:Errtgrftgferwq

2013-02-27T12:56:33Z

109.149.22.162: /* Biography */

'''George Spencer''' (c.1600 – April 8, 1642) was the first non-native person to be [[List of people executed in Connecticut|executed in Connecticut]]. Amongst his charges was [[sodomy]] after an alleged [[zoophilia|sexual act with an animal]].

==Biography==
George Spencer is described as an ugly, balding servant with a [[Ocular prosthesis |glass eye]].<ref name="Murrin">Murrin, John M. [http://dpubs.libraries.psu.edu/DPubS?service=Repository&version=1.0&verb=Disseminate&view=body&content-type=pdf_1&handle=psu.ph/1143738929# "Things Fearful to Name": Bestiality in Colonial America]. ''[[Princeton University]]''. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref><ref name="Graham">Graham, Judith S. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NtBqFf4GEUMC&printsec=frontcover Puritan Family Life: The Diary of Samuel Sewall]. ''UPNE''. 2003. p.76. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref> He is believed to have lived for a time in [[Boston]] and while there was found guilty of receiving stolen goods.<ref name="Murrin" /> His punishment was a [[flogging]]. He then moved to the [[New Haven Colony]],<ref name="Murrin" /> and continued to be a "habitual troublemaker".<ref name="Graham" /> He was open about his lack of faith, never praying in the years of being in [[New England]] and only reading the Bible when forced to by his master.<ref name="Murrin" /><ref name="Cressy">Cressy, David. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Zc2iPZ4jN2AC&printsec=frontcover Coming over: migration and communication between England and New England in the seventeenth century]. ''Cambridge University Press''. 1987. p.101. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref> He had regularly been accused of illegal and even depraved acts by neighbours, but evidence of his wrongdoings were never more compelling than the discovery in early 1642.<ref name="Dikes">Dikes, Jason. [http://www.austincc.edu/jdikes/Sex%20Ways%20ALL.pdf Massachusetts Sex Ways: Puritan Ideas of Flesh and the Spirit]. ''Austin Community College''. p.4. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref>

=== Trial and execution ===

When a sow gave birth to a malformed, one-eyed piglet it was considered a manifestation of God's proof of Spencer's sins. Spencer was arrested, and the [[Puritan]] society deemed the birth a work of God. They believed that this was irrefutable evidence that an act of bestiality had taken place.<ref name="Chapin">Chapin, Bradley. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XbJG5aKhXS4C&printsec=frontcover Criminal Justice in Colonial America, 1606-1660]. ''University of Georgia Press''. 2010. pp.38–39. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref> He was charged with "prophane, atheistical carriage, in unfaithfulness and stubbornness to his master, a course of notorious lying, filthiness, scoffing at the ordinances, ways and people of God".<ref name="Cressy" />

Spencer was told that "he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall finde mercie",<ref name="Murrin" /> but it was never made clear to him whether this mercy related to the proceedings of the court or those of God.<ref name="Chapin" /> Having witnessed a repentant child molester being whipped for his crime Spencer believed that his best option was to confess.<ref name="Murrin" /> On the realisation that this might lead to a death sentence he retracted his statement. He repeated this confession and retraction again, trying to find the best solution to his situation.<ref name="Murrin" /><ref name="Graham" /><ref name="Dikes" />

When the trial began the magistrates knew the necessity of having two witnesses to the crime. They used Spencer's retracted confessions as one witness and the stillborn piglet as the other, ruling that this was sufficient to determine his guilt.<ref name="Murrin" /><ref name="Graham" /><ref name="Cressy" /><ref name="Dikes" /><ref name="Chapin" /> On April 8, 1642, the sow was put to death by the sword and Spencer was hanged.<ref name="Murrin" />

Spencer's death was early in the history of New England and is reported to be only the second execution to take place in Connecticut and the first of a non-Native American.<ref>[http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/ESPYyear.pdf Executions is the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File]. ''Death Penalty Information Center''. p.1. Accessed November 1, 2011.</ref>

== Similar case ==

In 1645, [[Thomas Hogg (New Haven)|Thomas Hogg]], another servant in New Haven, was imprisoned for several months for very similar crimes. A sow gave birth to two deformed piglets that resembled Hogg. However, Hogg never confessed to the crime, and the requirement of finding two witnesses could not be met.<ref name="Murrin" />

== See also ==

* [[Capital punishment in Connecticut]]
* [[Crime in Connecticut]]
* [[List of individuals executed in Connecticut]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Spencer, George
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American criminal
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 1642
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, George}}
[[Category:1642 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from New Haven, Connecticut]]
[[Category:People executed by Connecticut Colony]]
[[Category:People executed by hanging]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:People executed for sodomy]]
[[Category:Zoosexuality]]

Template:Nobeidore.raw

2013-02-27T12:39:01Z

109.149.22.162: /* Background */

{{Infobox court case
|name = New Haven v. Thomas Hogg
|court = New Haven Colony Court
|image =
|caption =
|full name =
|date decided = 1647
|citations =
|transcripts =
|judges =
|number of judges =
|decision by =
|prior actions =
|subsequent actions =
|related actions = [[George Spencer (sex offender)|Trial of George Spencer]]
|opinions =
|keywords = {{flatlist|*[[Bestiality]]
*[[sodomy]]}}
|italic title =No
}}
The '''Trial of Thomas Hogg''' took place in [[New Haven Colony]] in 1647. Hogg was accused of [[bestiality]] when a neighbourhood [[domestic pig|sow]] gave birth to piglets that allegedly resembled him. Unlike several men and boys convicted of the crime and consequently hanged in the 1640s and ensuing decades, Hogg refused to confess, thus avoiding the [[capital punishment in Connecticut|death penalty]]. Called "the most interesting buggery case" ever, it left an enduring mark in the history of capital punishment.

== Background ==

Thomas Hogg was a servant from [[New Haven Colony]], where the one-eyed [[George Spencer (New Haven)|George Spencer]] confessed to [[sodomy]] after a sow gave birth to a deformed one-eyed piglet, which led to his execution in early April 1642.<ref name="Chehardy"/> Like Spencer, Hogg did not enjoy a good reputation. He was considered a liar and a thief, and his appearance offended his neighbours.<ref name="Godbeer"/> Women of various social positions, including a "[[Nigger |neager]]" [[Slavery in the United States |slavewoman]] named Lucretia, reported his [[indecency]], as he allowed his "filthy nakedness" (penis and scrotum) to show through his [[breeches]]. Hogg, who suffered from a painful [[inguinal hernia]], argued that his indecency was not intentional.<ref name="Goodheart"/>

== Charges and trial ==

Five years after Spencer's execution, the unfortunately named Hogg ("hog" being another name for [[domestic pig]]) was implicated in "the most interesting buggery case" ever.<ref name="Jackson">{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=Charles|title=The other Americans: sexual variance in the National past|publisher=[[Praeger]]|year=1996|isbn=0275955516|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> He was already awaiting trial for theft, dishonesty and indecent exposure when he faced the charges of [[bestiality]],<ref name="McManus"/> after a sow gave birth to two piglets that resembled him.<ref name="Chehardy ">{{cite web|last=Chehardy |first=Kimberley N.|year=|url=http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1999-2000/Chehardy.htm|title=‘Wickedness Breaks Forth’: The Crime Of Sodomy In Colonial New England|accessdate=2 February 2013}}</ref> Hogg's mistress, Mrs. Lamberton, found the birth to be a sign from God, and told the authorities that one of the "monsters" had "a faire and white skinne and head, as Thomas Hogg is",<ref name="Goodheart"/><ref name="Jackson"/> and the other "a head lik a childs and one eye lik him, the biger on the right side, as if God would describe the party, with the description of the instrument of bestyalie".<ref name="Goodheart">{{cite web|last=Goodheart|first=Lawrence B.|title=The Solemn Sentence of Death: Capital Punishment in Connecticut|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]]|year=2011|isbn=1558498478|accessdate=2 February 2013|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=bEIush39IB8C&dq=%22servant+Thomas+Hogg%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s}}</ref>

[[Theophilus Eaton]], governor of the colony, and his deputy brought Hogg to a barnyard where the crime was supposed to have taken place. They ordered him to scratch the sow<ref name="Chehardy"/> under her ear,<ref name="Goodheart"/> after which "there appeared a working of lust in the sow, insomuch that she powred out seede before them".<ref name="Chehardy"/> Hogg was then ordered to scratch another sow, but she was not stimulated.<ref name="Chehardy"/><ref name="Goodheart"/><ref name="Friedman">{{cite web|last=Friedman|first=Lawrence|title=Crime And Punishment In American History|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|year=1994|isbn=0465024467|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="Beirne">{{cite web|last=Beirne|first=Piers|title=Confronting Animal Abuse: Law, Criminology, and Human-Animal Relationships|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=2009|isbn=0742599744|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref> The governor and deputy governor were frustrated that, despite their experiment and irrefutable proof of his guilt, Hogg denied the charges. Without the confession, the "impudent lyar" could not be hanged<ref name="Goodheart"/> because the requirement of two witnesses could not be met.<ref name="Godbeer">{{cite book|last=Godbeer|first=Richard|title=Sexual Revolution in Early America|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|year=2004|isbn=0801878918|accessdate=2 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="McManus"/> Instead, he was convicted of lying and stealing,<ref name="McManus"/> for which he was severely whipped and incarcerated.<ref name="Chehardy"/><ref name="Goodheart"/> While imprisoned, Hogg was kept on a "mean diet and hard labor, that his lusts not be fed".<ref name="Goodheart"/>

== Aftermath ==

The situation left a permanent mark on capital punishment jurisprudence.<ref name="Goodheart"/> Hogg appears again in court records in 1648, when he was admonished for failing to appear for guard duty.<ref name="Chehardy"/><ref name="McManus">{{cite book|last=McManus|first=Edgar J.|title=Law and Liberty in Early New England: Criminal Justice and Due Process, 1620–1692|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]]|year=2009|isbn=1558497722|accessdate=3 February 2013}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==

*[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/01/when_bestiality_gets_blamed_on_the_animals.html In early America, farm animals took the blame for zoophilic sex.]

[[Category:1647 in law]]
[[Category:1647 in the Thirteen Colonies]]
[[Category:Legal history of Connecticut]]
[[Category:New England Puritanism]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Connecticut]]
[[Category:Sex crime trials]]
[[Category:Trials in the United States]]
[[Category:Zoosexuality]]