A little more drama...so I am working on the story of Carrie Martha Penird Sheehan Roe....and her felon husband Frank S. Roe of Erie County. And Franks mother, Hattie, who served a life sentence in Auburn prison for murdering her fourth husband, Emil Penseyres in December of 1886. A newspaper article told that at the age of 39 or 40 Frank Roe had been in prison or jail for at least 23 of those years. I followed NYS prison records...he was an inmate in several jails and in Dannemora and Auburn prisons. Most of his crimes revolved around grand larceny and were notoriously flamboyant. He seemed particularly experienced at stealing horses and rigs of all kinds...and heart pounding pursuits with police and enraged victims. The major drama occurred in December of 1886 when Emil Penseyres was shot to death in his Erie County home. By Hattie? By Frank? Examining the detailed accounts by the various family members, the DA settled on prosecuting Hattie...an addict...and minor criminal herself (for being a disreputable woman) and using her son, Frank as a witness against his mother. The testimonies were fraught with the familys troubles and painted a ghastly picture of dysfunction. Hattie alternated between wailing and sobbing the first day...decked out in what was described as a rakish Gainesborough bonnet to a somber black bonnet and veil for the second day of the trial. She was decidedly in control of herself though on occasioned her lips tightened and her eyes glistened. The Erie County courtroom was packed to overflowing for the two full days of the trial and as the newspaper recounts - The crowds that flock to the court room crane their necks and strain their eyes to catch a glimpse of the woman in black and seem to regard the testimony as an incidental part of the trial only. What they want is to the see the woman who is credited with having lived with four husbands and no one knows how many paramours, and taken the life of the most peaceable and faithful of all her countless admirers. Frank had stolen his stepfathers watch...pawned it and was confronted. A family fight escalated. Hattie was high strung, jealous...and fearful that Emil was going to leave her. A gun had been stashed in the Penseyres home...something about a dog that needed to be shot...and BOOM! Emil was dead. The jury came back with a verdict of 2nd degree murder and Hattie was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 38. She was transferred from Erie County to Auburn within days of the trial. At one point prominent members of the Womens Union petitioned NYS Governor Morton to pardon Hattie. She had been evaluated by doctors who deemed her mentally ill and the DA advised the governor that it would inadvisable to release her...for the good of society...as well as her own. Hattie served her complete life sentence in Auburn. For the next 20 years Frank pursued his life of crime...in and out of prison at one point crying like a baby when he was convicted and sent back to the slammer. In 1906 after a hot pursuit and take down, he joined his 57 year old mother as an inmate in Auburn prison.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 14:32:54 +0000
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