
The Jackson-Carter Memorial, located on Tower Hill Road in South Kingstown.
![]() The Jackson-Carter Memorial, located on Tower Hill Road in South Kingstown. Quahog.org > Attractions > Jackson-Carter Memorial Jackson-Carter MemorialCain, meet Abel. Tower Hill Road, South Kingstown It's an old English custom to mark the spot where a murder has taken place with a "murder memorial" that tells the story of the killing. Supposedly there are only two such memorials in the United States. One is in Vermont and the other is here in Rhode Island.
We have another version of the story from Joseph's brother, Thomas Robinson Hazard. In his 1888 Jonny-Cake Letters, Thomas supplies some extra details but also disagrees with his brother on some important points. Captain Thomas Carter of Newport, finding himself shipwrecked and penniless on the North Carolina coast, set out on foot to return to his home port. Passing through Virginia, he made the acquaintance of William Jackson, a fellow on his way to Boston with a horse load of deerskins. Naturally they fell in together, and, according to Joseph Hazard, Jackson was a hospitable friend to Carter, giving him some money and sharing the use of his horse.
Mrs. Nash happened to be visiting the village of Tower Hill on the day the body was found. According to Joseph, she recognized Jackson "by means of a button she had sewn upon his vest only a few hours before he left her house." No mention of an unusual lock of hair. Mrs. Nash supplied the information that Jackson had last been seen by her in the company of Captain Carter. Authorities soon captured Carter in Newport and brought him back to Rochester (as Kingston was then known) to stand trial. On April 4, 1751, Carter was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hung in chains. The Reverend Dr. James MacSparran attended the trial and took the opportunity to offer a lengthy sermon upon the subject of Thou shalt not kill. "After outlining the circumstances under which it is lawful to kill," wrote Carl R. Woodward in Plantation in Yankeeland (1971), "the earnest divine discoursed upon the heinous crime of murder, condemning the flagrant evils of covetousness, anger, malice, revenge, reveling and drunkenness, which so often lead to the taking of human life. To the condemned man, despite the foul character of his crime, he held out hope for the salvation of the transgressor's soul, but only if he would repent and make a full confession and restitution. Then followed a long and eloquent prayer for pardon at the Divine Seat of Judgment. Apparently the prisoner was moved by the pastor's appeal, for Carter's written confession, with Dr. MacSparran's interlinings, is a matter of record." It's hard to imagine anything like this taking place in an American courtroom today. Not only is this sort of thing forbidden by the First Amendment, but the Reverend's remarks, very likely prepared in advance of the trial, presume Carter's guilt.
According to both Joseph and Thomas, the spectacle of Carter's mouldering corpse was a terrifying sight that remained long in the memories of area residents and passersby. Joseph says, "the shrieking—as it were—of its chains, &c., during boisterous winds at night, were the terror of many persons who lived thereto, or passed thereby." Thomas adds, "I have heard say the soil and verdure were for years after made rank and dark with blood." Thomas, in a 1915 reprint of the Jonny-Cake Letters, noted that his "brother Joe has had a permanent stone monument placed on the spot where Jackson was killed, which until then was marked by a stone in the foundation of the wall, on which the figures 1742 were chiseled." Although the Jonny-Cake Letters were originally published prior to the erection of the memorial, it's interesting to note that Thomas didn't take the opportunity in the 1915 reprint to correct some of his facts, although he must by that time have been familiar with his brother's text. Complete Marker TextEast side North side West side South side InformationCost: free Time required: allow ten minutes Hours: dawn to dusk Finding it: from Route 95 take exit 9 to Route 4 south, which becomes Route 1; follow Route 1 south toward Wakefield; when you reach the traffic lights at the Stedman Government Center in Wakefield, pull into the driveway of the closed Animal Hospital on your right just past the lights; the memorial is hidden within the bushes next to the road and at the end of the driveway. What’s nearbyDistances between points are actual distances, without regard to water or plundering demons. Your travel distance will be longer. This article last edited February 9, 2015 © 1999–2019 Quahog.org (with the exception of elements provided by contributors, as noted). |
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