The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, 1877-06-14
THE MURDER OF MISS HANSON.
A New Hampshire Tragedy.-A Farmer En-
pioys His Hired Man to Murder a Young

ploys His Hired Man to Murder Young
Lady.
New England of recent years has been
fruitful in terrible crimes, but no tragedy
has equaled in deliberate savagery the
killing of Mss Susan j. Hanson, of
Brookfeld, N. H., in November, 1874,
as its revolving details are now develop
ed by the confession of Charles w. Cook,
of Pennington. He did the killing on
the promise of $500 reward from Joseph
B. Buzzell, farmer of means and re.
puted respectability, O former suitor OF
Miss Hanson's, and defendant at the
time in breach of promise suit brought
by her.
Susan J. Hanson was native and life
long resident of Brookfeld, thirty-four
years old, attractive, amiable and cul-
tured above most country girls. She had
known Farmer Buzzell intimately always;
they had grown up near neighbors, were
engaged before the girl had reached her
twentieth year, and several times he had
appointed and postponed the wedding
day. A few months before the tragedy
the lover, to everybody's surprise, mar
ried another woman. The friends of
Miss Hanson were naturally indignant
and outraged, and at their earnest solici-
tations the deserted girl consented to
bring breach of promise suit against
Buzzell.
The legal papers had been served, but
the night before the first hearing Of the
case the plaintiff was killed. She was
sitting in the early evening with her
mother, brother and o little nephew in
their cosy New England kitchen, when
binding explosion occurred, the lamp
went out and Miss Hanson fell dead. A
hole in the window and seventeen shot
and slugs in the woman's body disclosed
the horrible work of an assassin.
Buzzell was naturally arrested and
tried. The imprint of a gunstock near
the window through which the shot had
been fred ccrresponded to gun he had
formerly owned but which could not be
found; wagon track from which man
was followed through piece of plowed
land near the Hanson's corresponded to
his, the wadding of the gun had been
from newspaper he was known to take
but after a weeks trial the evidence
against Farmer Buzzell was held to be
not convicting. The Hanson house was
soon after deserted by its occupants be-
cause of its terrible associations, and the
local public gave over expecting that the
murderer of Susan Hanson would be
brought to justice in this world.
usslic excitement because of the muir
der was somewhat revived, however, in
the spring of 1876 by,the burning of the
fine farm buildings of one of the wit
nesses against Buzzell in tue murder
trial, and again IN the fall and last VIII
ter by the incendiary firing of buildings
belonging to two more men who had
given evidence unfavorable to the de-
fendant. Reward OF 81, 900 was offered
for the arrest of the incendiary, and Bos-
ton detectives began to "shadow" Chas.
W. Cook, who had been Buzzell's hired
man for years.
The officers became workmen in the
shoe factory at Pennington, whittier
Cook had removed, and few days ago
arrested him as Buzzell's accomplice in
the murder and incendiarisms. Over
come at finding agents of the law in his
new friends, the young man has made a
voluntary confession of the means en-
ployed by Buzzen to revenge himself
on Miss Hanson and his neighbors. He
says:
We went up across the hills and pas
lures leading to the Hanson house to a
little knoll where the barn used to stand,
about three rods from the house. [
think Buzzell then asked me if I would
kill her, and I told him 10, that I had
rather be killed myself. He said he
would give me $500, and that he had
witnesses who would swear We were not
on the road. We went to the front side
of the house and looked into the win
dows and saw Susan, her brother and
mother and little boy. Buzzell wanted
me to shoot, and said I had got to do it
or he would blow my head off. was
afraid he would. He leveled the gun
and told me to fire it. I took it and fred
at Susan Hanson, and went back of Solt-
ridges barn. Buzzell went directly for
his house.
The wretched lad was made to testify
to an alibi in Buzzell's favor at the pre-
vious trial, and was then sent out of
town by the farmer, who subsequently
recalled him to burn the property OF
those who had sought to Justly fasten
upon him the killing of Miss Hanson.