Coffee @ The Kennedy Museum
Join us for a hot cup of coffee, a fresh bagel, and a presentation by Gregory Williams Speaks. Gregory Williams will shed light on the intriguing story of Sandwich-born Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner, daughter of one of revolutionary Massachusetts’ most-hated Tories.
Unhappy in her marriage, Bathsheba orchestrated a truce between her teenaged Continental Army soldier lover and two escaped British Army soldiers. Shortly after, the body of Joshua Spooner was discovered, leading to the execution of the four perpetrators in 1778 Worcester.
This case marked the first death penalty trial in the newly-formed United States during the American Revolution, involving Bathsheba Spooner, her lover, and the two British soldiers, alongside her unfortunate husband.
About Gregory Williams
Gregory Williams was a District Court judge for 15 years,
retiring in 2015—for his last ten years, he was First Justice
of the Edgartown District Court. A citizen of both the U.S. and
Canada, he holds degrees from Western Maryland College (now
McDaniel College) (B.A., English); Queen Mary College,
University of London (M.A., English [20 th -century British
Literature], and Washington and Lee University School of Law
(J.D.). He talks on such topics as Massachusetts historical
crimes, notable Cape Cod figures, and the romantic-macabre.
He has served on the boards of several Cape non-profits,and is
the immediate past-president of the Sturgis Library Board. His
Facebook page, Gregory Williams Speaks, continues to signal his
scheduled events, and also offers peeks at odd bits of history, art,
and music.
Coffee provided by Bagels and Beyond Hyannis.