Warwick's Most Famous Murder Trial

Way back in 1819, when Sugar Loaf was still a part of the Town of Warwick, the nation was gripped by the murder trial of Richard Jennings. The accused were James Teed, David Dunning, Hannah Teed, David Conklin and Jack Hodges, an African-American. The men were found guilty, and James Teed and David Dunning were were executed on April 16, 1819 for the crime. It was so famous that a pamphlet on the trial was published, and is considered an "early American imprint" today. A copy of the pamphlet is owned by the Historical Society of the Town of Warwick, and also in the collection is a manuscript on the trial by noted Sugar Loaf historian, Don Barrell. The manuscript was purchased many years ago by Elmire Conklin, and recently donated to the society.

You can "read all about it" in a book on famous crimes, published in 1834, on Google Books-- follow the link below:

Excerpt from The Record of Crimes in the United States

According to Don Barrell, in his article "Old Warwick Valley and the Ways of Its People", published in the Warwick Valley Dispatch on July 16, 1975 (full transcription of the article is found in the Warwick Heritage Database),

“When James Teed and David Dunning were hung for the murder of Richard Jennings in 1819, no church, community or private owners would allow the murderers to be buried in their grounds, and the matter became a problem. At last, Mr. James Hallock and wife said the men might be buried at this place, outside the fence of the old cemetery, and they were quickly buried.

In the night a party of men came and drove two long, sharpened locust posts down through the grave and body of each man, to stand unmolested for more than fifty years. It was a sign of the horror, shame and disgust of the community. An old time treatment to horse thieves and murderers."