SHREWSBURY — Questions persist about an infamous murder that occurred in what is now West Long Branch in 1863. Peter Slocum, descendant of a prominent Monmouth County family, was found guilty of the murder of his wife and was hanged, but debate about his guilt continues today.
On Monday, March 8, the Shrewsbury Towne-Monmouth Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) will host the “Slocum Murder Trial Presentation.” The meeting is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. at the Shrewsbury Historical Society building in the Shrewsbury Municipal Complex, at the corner of Route 35 and Sycamore Avenue.
The Slocum killing took place in Mechanicsville on Tuesday, July 14, 1863. Twentyeight year-old Peter Slocum, whose family’s roots dated back to the Monmouth Patent of 1665, was tried and executed for murdering his wife, Abigail, with a shotgun at close range. But there are still many questions that have gone unanswered, and in reviewing the case today, some historians have drawn different conclusions. Was the murder an accident? Was the culprit familiar with the surroundings of the house? Was Peter set up? Did they hang an innocent man? And where did they bury Peter Slocum, whose grave site has never been located?
Come hear the tale told by local historian Arthur T. Green II, who has researched the event, and draw your own conclusions. For more information, call Georgia Hayes Dempster at 732-872-8820.