Alice Bishop was born in 1616 not much was known about her. There are a couple of theories about her beginnings. One is that she may have come over on the Mayflower. Her parents may have been Christopher Martin and Marie Prower. Those two did not survive long enough to see the settlement of Plymouth. They died in January of 1621 which would mean she was orphaned in a new land. Another theory is that she was an indentured servant brought over in 1632. However, it's never going to be positive where her start was.
Alice was married twice. Her first marriage was to George Clark in January of 1639. She would have two daughters with him, Abagail (1641) and Martha (1644). George would also die in 1644. On December 5th Alice would marry 24-year-old Richard Bishop. The two would have a daughter, Damaris (1645). They would live in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
On July 22, 1648, Richard was away from home. Family friend 23-year-old Rachel Ramsden would drop by their home to spend time with 32-year-old Alice. At the time 4-year-old Martha was sleeping in a bed in the loft. It was a place only accessible by a ladder. Alice did not seem any different.
Alice would ask Rachel to go get some buttermilk for her from a neighbor's house. Rachel would agree to do so. Alice would give her a kettle and Rachel would leave to go get some for her. When Rachel came back to the home she saw something very alarming.
There was a puddle of blood under the loft ladder. Rachel would describe Alice as sad and dumpish. She would ask her why there was blood. Alice would only point up the ladder. Rachel climbed up the ladder and saw a horrifying sight. There was blood everywhere and even the mattress was soaked in it. It was all Martha's as she had been killed.
Rachel would flee the home and run to her parents. She would tell them of Alice's deed. Her father would then find the colonial governor and they would gather 12 men to go to the Bishop's home. Alice was in hysterics when they arrived.
The men would ascend into the loft to find Martha's body with the murder weapon next to her. She was lying on her left side. There were numerous cuts in her throat and she was stabbed in the windpipe. She was gone and there was no way to help her. It was a brutal and violent murder.
When they asked Alice why she murdered her daughter she had no idea. She stated that she did not remember doing that she had no answer for them. That she was sorry for killing her daughter.
On October 4th the trial for the murder would begin. Bradford was in attendance along with all General Assistant and a jury of twelve colony men. Alice would be found guilty of the murder and would be set to hang.
She was the fifth person hanged in the Plymouth Colony and the first woman.
We will never know why Alice Bishop killed her daughter Martha, and why she did it in such a ferocious manner. It's never stated where the other children were, but why did she only kill Martha.
SOURCES:
Murderpedia
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