12/13-year-old Nathaniel Sewell was sent over from England to Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1643. He was to be an apprentice to William Franklin. William Franklin was cruel to the young boy. He would beat, starve, and torture the young boy. He would be left outside wet during the winter and hanging him in the chimney.
When Nathaniel was dying William strapped him across a horse and would have him ride like that through five miles of winter weather. He would go in front of Magistrate saying the boy was a useless servant. It wouldn't state when, but Nathaniel would die in 1644.
He did not feel guilty about the boy's death and on the contrary, he felt enraged he was getting charged with it. His attitude towards the whole ordeal caused him to excommunicated from his church. He would go to trial in April of 1644. He would be convicted of wilful murder and sentenced to hang in June of 1644.
SOURCES;
Historic Ipswich
The Daily News
Legal Execution in New England
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