On Saturday morning, former Superior Court Judge Kenneth MacKenzie will tell the story of the gruesome murders in 1833 of two of Morristown’s most respected citizens, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sayre, and their servant Phoebe, by an immigrant employee, Antoine LeBlanc. It is the only triple murder in the history of Morristown, and the trial resulted in the public hanging of LeBlanc on the Morristown Green.
“It’s a grisly tale, which comes alive in the very courtroom where the most famous trial of the 19th century took place, in nine sweltering days in August of 1833,” said Judge MacKenzie.
Antoine LeBlanc a disgruntled employee, murdered his employers, the Sayres, with a shovel and buried them in a dung heap. Next, he killed their sleeping servant, Phoebe. He then ransacked their South Street home (now a Commerce Bank), stole clothes and their horse, and rode off into the night.
Even more gruesome is what happened to LeBlanc. He was later convicted by jury that deliberated for only 20 minutes after a nine-day trial that made news as far away as Philadelphia. Some 47 witnesses testified in what today would be considered remarkably swift justice: From murders to execution, the whole thing was over in five months.
The judge sentenced LeBlanc to death by hanging, which involved a special gallows made for LeBlanc at the Morristown Green. It was a horrific death, with pulleys hoisting the convicted killer eight feet off the ground as the public watched.
Further, for unknown reasons LeBlanc’s body was subjected to experimentation by a Princeton scientist and then dissected, by court order. It was also rumored that the old Atno Tannery, near today’s Morristown High School, turned LeBlanc’s skin into souvenir wallets.
LeBlanc finally confessed to the killings. The Sayres and Phoebe are buried in the Presbyterian Church cemetery in Morristown. The final resting place of LeBlanc’s remains are still a mystery.
In the mid 1990’s as part of Morristown’s First Night festivities, the trial was re-enacted in the same court room from a script based on court records. MacKenzie portrayed the LeBlanc judge, along with a cast of mixed amateurs and professional actors who brought the dramatic trial back to life. Judge MacKenzie enjoyed his acting role and is angling for a return engagement.
Date: Saturday June 12th at 10:00 am. Tour lasts about 1 ½ hours
Place: 6 Court Street, Morristown, NJ. You will sit in the court room where the dramatic trial took place!
Speaker: Honorable Kenneth C. MacKenzie, retired Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, historian, and member of the Board of Trustees of Historic Speedwell.
Admission: $10.00
Hi Sue — It’s a shame that the killer’s name lives on in local lore… while his victims largely are forgotten.
I just ran across this while cleaning out an old email account of mine. My dad was related to Samuel Sayre on his mothers side of the family. I found the story in my mom’s geneology notes. His mother was Francis Sears…the Sayre name dwarfed into Sears at some point. My dad was born in 1908 or 1907, Samuel Mathews in Hubbard, Ohio….to Thomas R. Mathews and Francis. I haven’t gotten back into my geneology work to see exactly how they were related. However, when I was studying this, there were “Beck’s” in the lineage.
Hello, I am looking to get in touch with Judge Kenneth MacKenzie in order to have him sign a Sports Illustrated cover on which he was featured. Any help you can offer would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Hi Connie–
We forwarded your question to retired Superior Court Judge Kenneth MacKenzie, who is an expert on this historic murder case. Here is his response:
“Samuel and his second wife Sarah, who were murdered by LeBlanc, had a daughter Mary. She was approximately 20 at the time of the killings. She had gone to visit relatives in Newton over the weekend when her parents were killed.”
Please let us know how your genealogical quest turns out!
Hi Connie–we are tracking this down and will get back to you.
Did Samuel Sayre and his wife, who were murdered at Morristown, NJ, in l833, have any children? If so, please tell me their names.
a possible descendant, if they had children,
Connie Beck of Ia