In January 1851, 17-year-old Maria Van Dusen defied her wealthy, respected parents and married John Hendrickson, a local young man known for his idle ways and tarnished reputation. Maria’s father, a retired Albany County Clerk, suspected the match was motivated by money, yet he allowed the couple to live in his Clarksville home for the sake of his youngest daughter. The arrangement collapsed that summer when Hendrickson abruptly left after being accused of a gross assault on a respectable young lady. He fled to Corning, where he rekindled a relationship with a woman named Miss Maria Shoonmaker, who had no idea he was already married.
After proposing to her again and giving her a ring and photograph, he abandoned her too and returned to Clarksville to beg his wife’s forgiveness. Shortly after taking him back, Maria gave birth to a baby girl. The couple’s attempts to reconcile were overshadowed by tragedy when the infant was found dead on December 17, 1851. The child had not been ill, and her sudden death shocked the household.
Soon after, Maria learned that Hendrickson had also transmitted a humiliating ailment he claimed to have contracted from a fall on a railroad. Maria’s father expelled his son-in-law again in January 1852, but Maria refused to give up on the marriage, a decision shaped by an era in which divorce was heavily stigmatized. Over the following months, the couple attempted to reconcile, with Maria staying periodically at her father-in-law’s home in Bethlehem. On October 4, 1852, Maria’s father was found dead in his barn in what was initially considered a horse-related accident.
Though he was not immediately linked to the death, suspicions among neighbors later hinted at Hendrickson’s possible involvement. Lawrence Van Dusen’s will left his estate to his wife, with the remainder divided among his children upon her death. After her father’s passing, the relationship between Maria and Hendrickson deteriorated sharply. She accused him of taking her belongings, gambling, and attempting to poison her with dubious medication.
When she discovered a note from Miss Shoonmaker referring to an impending marriage, her disillusionment deepened. She told him that though they shared a bed, any portion of her father’s fortune that awaited her would forever remain out of his reach. In late February 1853, Hendrickson and his sister-in-law fetched Maria to return to Bethlehem. To outsiders, the couple appeared to be getting along well.
They occupied a small attic room in his father’s home. At around 2 a. m. on Monday, March 7, 1853, Hendrickson awoke to find his wife lifeless beside him.
Despite attempts by his father and neighbors to revive her, Maria Hendrickson was dead. The sudden death of a previously healthy young woman quickly raised suspicion in the community. Coroner Smith arrived the next day accompanied by the sheriff and Dr. John Swinburne, a physician with considerable experience in criminal investigations.
Swinburne immediately noted the unnatural pallor of Maria’s skin and her bluish lips and ordered a post-mortem. When Hendrickson learned of this, he said, “You won’t find any arsenic,” and allegedly asked whether poison placed in the stomach the previous day could be detected. The autopsy, conducted by Dr. Swinburne and Dr.
Smith, revealed signs pointing to poisoning. Organs sent to Dr. Salisbury, a noted physician and chemist, tested positive for aconite, also known as monkshood or wolf’s bane, a plant whose roots contain one of the most dangerous toxins known at the time. The investigation uncovered that in the weeks before Maria’s death, Hendrickson had attempted to purchase prussic acid in Albany and had later bought an ounce of tincture of aconite from a chemist shop owned by Mr.
Burrows. Following Maria’s funeral, Hendrickson was arrested, denied any involvement in his wife’s death, and was charged with murder. The trial opened on Monday, June 13, 1853, in Albany before Judge Richard P. Marvin.
Hendrickson pleaded not guilty. The prosecution built its case on three pillars: moral evidence, medical evidence, and chemical evidence. The court heard that Hendrickson was morally adrift, extravagant, and completely lacking in diligence. The prosecution told the jury, “Affection he had none; child he had none; expectations he had none.
He was idle and addicted to almost every vice. ”
The prosecution also detailed Hendrickson’s displeasure when Maria’s widowed mother refused to rent her property to him and instead rented it to another man. Medical experts testified about the condition of Maria’s organs, while the chemist who sold the aconite confirmed the purchase but could not identify the buyer with certainty. Hendrickson’s defense disputed that Maria died by poison, arguing that the prosecution’s medical experts had limited experience with aconite and that its effects were poorly documented.
The defense’s own medical expert, Dr. Ebenezer Ammons, testified that the testing methods used by the prosecution could not reliably determine the presence of aconite. Mrs. Van Dusen, Maria’s mother, testified about her son-in-law’s treatment of her daughter.
She described a December 1852 disagreement in which Maria rejected his offer to bring her medicine, responding, “No, you want to get me some of that poison that you got me last summer. ” Maria had reportedly told her mother the medicine made her feel very poorly and that she destroyed it. After a 21-day trial and six days of closing arguments, the jury deliberated for a day before returning a guilty verdict. When asked if he had anything to say, Hendrickson replied, “I am not guilty.
” The judge sentenced him to death by hanging. An appeal delayed the execution, but the state supreme court upheld the verdict on April 4, 1854. With no recourse left, Hendrickson’s execution was set for May 5. The day before he went to the gallows, he spoke at length with Reverend Kennedy.
At 11:30 a. m. , John Hendrickson was hanged within the walls of Albany prison, witnessed by officials, jurors, clergymen, and reporters. Afterward, Reverend Kennedy shared that Hendrickson “persisted in declarations of his innocence up to the last moment.
” The town was left to grapple with the reality of the crime committed within its midst, united by sorrow for the victim and the lives shattered in its wake.