Phillis, was an enslaved African woman in colonial Massachusetts, who was executed by burning at the stake in 1755. Alongside her with another enslaved man, Mark, she was accused of poisoning her abusive enslaver, John Codman, in retaliation for ongoing abuse.
Captain John Codman was a well-known and wealthy merchant in Charlestown, Massachusetts, who owned several slaves. Among them were Mark, Phillis, and Phebe—three slaves who, by all accounts, found his harsh treatment intolerable. In fact, Codman’s treatment of his slaves had been so severe that Mark, the leader of the conspiracy, had already attempted to free himself from the oppressive conditions. Six years earlier, Mark had set fire to Codman’s workshop in hopes that the financial loss would force his master to sell him. When that failed, a more drastic plan began to take shape.
Mark, who was literate, began to search for ways to justify the murder of his master. According to historical accounts, he read the Bible in search of passages that might condone his actions. He concluded that if he could kill Codman without spilling blood, it would not be sinful.
Mark enlisted the help of Phillis and Phebe, two of Codman’s female slaves, to help him carry out his plan. Mark believed that poison would be the most effective means of killing Codman without bloodshed, and he sought out others who could help him acquire the necessary substances.
Mark reached out to other slaves in the area, using his connections to secure the lethal substances. Phillis and Phebe then took the poison and made a lethal mixture, keeping it hidden in a vial. They carefully plotted how to administer it to Codman without arousing suspicion.
Phillis and Phebe began slipping the poison into Codman’s food over time. They sometimes gave the food directly to Codman, while at other times, they would prepare it to be innocently served by one of Codman’s daughters, further disguising their plot.
Codman’s health deteriorated, and his death on July 1, 1755, was quickly suspected to be the result of foul play. A coroner’s jury examined his body the next day and concluded that he had been poisoned. Ten days later, Phillis and Mark were arrested and subjected to torture, during which they confessed to their roles in the crime and sentenced to death.
Phillis, being the main person who administered the poison, was sentenced to be burned at the stake, while Mark was sentenced to be hanged.
On September 18, 1755, Phillis and Mark were executed in a public spectacle. Phillis was burnt at the stake—a rare and particularly brutal form of execution, reserved for the most heinous crimes. It was only the second recorded instance in Massachusetts where someone was executed in this manner, the first being Maria, an African slave who had attempted to murder her owner by setting his house on fire.
Mark was hanged by the neck until dead. His punishment did not end there, as his body was then publicly displayed in an iron gibbet to strike fear into the hearts of other existing or potential rebels and to send a clear message to the enslaved population about the consequences of defying their masters. Mark’s body remained in the iron gibbet in public view for an astounding twenty years, eventually becoming a landmark in the area.
According to newspaper reports from the time, the execution of Phillis and mark drew an enormous crowd. The Boston News-Letter described the event, stating that the spectacle was “attended by the greatest Number of Spectators ever known on such an Occasion.”
While Phillis and Mark were executed, the fate of the other conspirators is unclear. However, it is likely that they were sent to the sugar colonies in the Caribbean to work in the fields, which was a standard form of punishment for rebellious slaves.
Source:
https://streetsofsalem.com/tag/ballads/
http://www.celebrateboston.com/crime/puritan-mark-and-phillis-executions.htm
