The Confession of Mary Cole.

The Confession of Mary Cole, 1813.

Cornelius and Mary Cole lived in a farmhouse in Sussex County, New Jersey, with their two children and Mary’s widowed mother, Agnes Teaurs. Cornelius bought the property from Agnes in exchange for an annuity of $50 per year for the rest of her life. Mary and her husband did not live happily with Agnes. According to Mary, her mother was always very hard on her, and she insisted on sleeping in the same bed as Mary and Cornelius, even though they provided her with another bed.

In December 1811, Agnes apparently moved out of the house. Mary told the neighbors that Agnes was offended by something the couple did, so she packed up and moved in with her brother in Bergen County. The following March, Mary and Cornelius left as well, moving in with his family. They rented the farm to another family.

The family that moved into the farmhouse perceived an unusual and unpleasant odor. They believed it was coming from beneath the floor, and in June, they pulled up some floorboards in the kitchen and found the source. It was the dead body of a woman lying in a shallow hole covered with ashes and swingle tow (flax fiber). They raised an alarm, the neighbors collected in the kitchen and were able to identify the body as that of Agnes Teaurs.

Her skull had been fractured by a severe blow from an axe or a hammer, and her throat was cut from one ear to the other. A coroner’s jury found that her death had been “willful murder, committed by Cole and his wife.” A warrant was issued to apprehend Cornelius and Mary. They were apprehended in their home in Bergen County and taken before Judge Pennington in Newark, New Jersey, who committed them to jail.

Before their trial, Mary confessed. She said that on December 15, they had guests who remained until almost midnight. After they left, Cornelius went to bed. Mary and her mother had a dispute in the room where Cornelius was sleeping. According to Mary, as the quarrel escalated, Agnes threatened her with a knife. Mary grabbed an axe and struck her mother on the head, knocking her down and fracturing her skull. Then Mary took a jackknife and cut her mother’s throat. She awakened Cornelius and told him what she had done.

The next morning, he dug a hole under the floorboards, put the body in the hole, covered it with ashes and tow, then replaced the boards. They told the story that Agnes had moved out, and they were believed until the body was found.

The Coles were tried for murder in the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Sussex County. Mary was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. Cornelius was acquitted of murdering Agnes, but found guilty of concealing her murder. He was fined $250 and sentenced to two years imprisonment in the State Prison. Mary’s attorney tried to lessen the crime to manslaughter, but all who heard the trial were satisfied with the verdict.

Mary Cole was hanged in Newton, New Jersey, on June 26, 1812. Her last words were:

It is a hard thing for me to die, but I must. I do not deserve to die; my mother came at me with a knife to kill me, and I was so afraid and mad that I did not know what I did. I hope all will take warning by me, and not let their passion get the better of their judgment.

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Sources: 

Cole, Mary, The Confession of Mary Cole (New York: Printed for the purchasers, 1813.)

 “[At a Court of Oyer and Terminer],” Sentinel of Freedom, June 2, 1812.
“[On Friday, 26 ult.],” Sentinel of Freedom, July 14, 1812.
“Legislative Acts/Legal Proceedings,” Long-Island Star, July 15, 1812.
“Newton, Sussex-County, June 2,” Trenton Federalist, June 8, 1812.