The murderous child
George Green killed Margaret O’Connor for no apparent reason
Murder at any time is a repugnant act. When committed by an adult, we look for deep-rooted motives. What drove the murderer to the commission of the deed? Was it greed? Was it anger or passion? But when murder is committed by a child, we look elsewhere. What emotion or drive could compel a child to take another’s life?
In 1849, in the township of Emily, near Peterborough, Ont., a murder took place that shocked the community and the nation. Eliza and Thomas Rowan were God-fearing, honest folks, who laboured long and hard on their farm. When they heard that the widow O’Connor was having a difficult time making ends meet since the recent loss of her husband, Eliza and Thomas agreed to take in tiny, five-year-old Margaret O’Connor.
Soon the little girl was an integral member of the Rowan family. She loved to play with and feed the animals on the farm and seemed to be always laughing and smiling. The Rowans loved the little girl as if she were their own.
Prior to Margaret joining the family, the Rowans had adopted another youngster. For two years, young George Green had been living with the family.
As an infant, George had been placed with Rev. Mr. Dick, a presbyterian minister. In 1847, the Rowans had taken George to their farm. When the boy reached the age of nine, the Rowans realized he needed some formal education, but the district school was too far away for him to attend regularly. Every so often they would sit George down at the kitchen table and go over some reading and sums.
George seemed to take his farm chores with vigour and good humour. He fed the chickens, milked some of the cows and was pretty helpful around the farm. When Margaret joined the Rowans, George and the little girl often performed chores together.
In the autumn of 1849, George was 11, Margaret was five. Events were about to unfold that would affect both their lives forever.
Samuel Hannah lived about a mile down the road from the Rowans. One fine day, Thomas hitched up his team. He was going to a plowing “bee” at Samuel’s Place. Eliza was planning on spending some time with a neighbour while Thomas was plowing. Her husband would drop her off on his way to the bee.
Before the Rowans left their farm for the day, Thomas gave instructions to George to “raise 10 or 12 rows of potatoes.” This sort of casual instruction was over and above the normal chores the young lad was expected to do around the farm.
Thomas shouted to George as the team galloped out of the yard, “When Margaret goes out to you, you may have her help you to pick the potatoes and place them in the wheelbarrow.”
George nodded and waved to the Rowans as they drove out of sight. The next time Thomas Rowan was to see George, the boy was running toward him on Samuel Hannah’s farm shouting, “Margaret has been eaten by a bear.”
For some reason, which he had difficulty explaining later, Thomas Rowan instinctively felt George was lying. He angrily turned upon the young lad, “You have killed the little girl. You have murdered Margaret.” The words came fast and furious. They were unnatural words, directed against a protesting, sobbing child. The youngster swore he was telling the truth.
All the men rushed to the Rowan farm to hunt for some trace of the missing girl. George pointed out where the bear had come upon little Margaret. He illustrated how the unsuspecting child had held out her hand to the bear, an act she had performed many times when she gave young calves their milk bottles. The boy pointed to the place in the fence where the bear had jumped, carrying Margaret with him.
The men searched until darkness made it impossible to continue. They could find no evidence that a bear had dragged a child in the soft earth. They found no bear tracks or torn clothing. In fact, they could find no evidence a bear had been anywhere near the Rowan farm.
With the search at a standstill, the men turned their attention back to George Green. They grilled him until finally he fell asleep, still insisting a bear had carried the unfortunate Margaret away.
All the farmers in the area, as well as young George, were up bright and early the next morning to continue the search. Around noon they found the pathetic body of tiny Margaret O’Connor. She had been bludgeoned to death with a hoe that lay beside her body. Her attacker had struck her repeatedly in the head and all over her body until she was dead. The blade of the hoe that George had been using to “raise the potatoes” had blood and strands of the dead girl’s hair adhering to it.
The men fixed their stares upon George Green. The savageness of the attack upon the helpless child was beyond their comprehension. Adamantly protesting his innocence, George was taken into custody and lodged in the Peterborough Jail.
On May 3, 1850, to my knowledge, the youngest defendant ever to stand trial for murder in Canada, faced his accusers.
The scene was strange. Solemn, educated men were to argue the merits of his case. A black-robed, learned judge was to direct the proceedings and, in the end, a jury was to pass judgement on his innocence or guilt. The object of all this attention was a small, trembling child.
Thomas Rowan explained the circumstances leading up to the finding of Margaret’s body. Eliza Rowan then took up the story. She told the court George confessed to the murder after he had been placed in jail. Margaret had come out to the field where George was digging the potatoes. George had never thought of killing Margaret before. It was only when she was with him in the field that he had “taken the notion of killing her.” Suddenly he struck her with the hoe again and again until she lay still.
The crowd in the courtroom looked down at the young lad in the prisoner’s box. They stared in disbelief. The defence called no witnesses.
George was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang on June 26, 1850. On June 4, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in Kingston Penitentiary.
After a few weeks’ confinement, George became pale and weak. Several months later, two prisoners were relieved of their usual work detail. They slowly carried a tiny pine box, which they placed in an unmarked grave. The little boy who had hacked Margaret O’Connor to death had arrived at his final resting place.