Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Fall 2015, Vol 41, No. 3 | Page 12

Ruminations
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ed for murder by the grand jury, following
an inquest.20 Dennet was killed in Averill,
shot by a pistol and then clubbed to death.
A jury of inquest found Gaius Kibbe to have
“anticipated the victim’s death,” but at trial
the petit jury concluded he was not guilty.
Alvah Sabins killed Silas Gates in 1813,
and a court of inquest determined he had
committed murder. Sabins was a member
of the Vermont Militia, called to service to
Champlain, New York, leaving the frontier
without a defense. Many mutinied, and
people back home lost confidence in the
war and the country. Gates had deserted
the U.S. Army and Sabins was in the party
of soldiers sent to apprehend him. Gates
fled his home and was shot by Sabins as
he ran, at a distance of twenty-five yards.21
An inquest was held, and verdict of the jury
was willful murder.22 After a grand jury indictment, Sabins was twice tried, but not
convicted, due to hung juries. Sabins had
a religious conversion the day he returned
home to his farm, became a Baptist preacher, Franklin County state senator, secretary
of state, Franklin County judge, and was
elected to two terms in the U.S. House.23
Betsey Gilson was accused of killing her
newborn, illegitimate child, in 1815, and
an inquest was held. The baby had been
found dead in a “vault of a necessary” near
the house of Josiah Perkins. The court of
inquest found the child had died “by the

visitation of God.” Her friends had suspected she was pregnant, but Betsey said it was
only a cold.
Selah Hickok killed his father-in-law Isaac
Hobbs in 1815, hitting his head with the
green cane. The inquest found willful murder. Selah was tried and found guilty of
manslaughter, and sentenced to thirteen
years hard labor. He was pardoned five
years later.24
After Alvira Ayers was drowned in a cistern at the home of her employer, Judge
Richard Skinner, in Manchester in 1824, an
inquest was held. The verdict was accidental drowning.25 The newspaper called it a
suspicious death. The editor of the New
Hampshire Patriot noted that the water in
the cistern wasn’t deep enough to d