In the spring of 1821, Daniel D. Farmer, a married farmer of Goffstown, New Hampshire, was under severe personal and legal strain following a bastardy accusation brought against him by Anna Ayer, a town pauper. Farmer steadfastly denied the charge, yet the complaint resulted in his arrest, financial loss, and public disgrace. Believing the accusation false and motivated by others seeking to shield the true father, Farmer became increasingly agitated as the matter lingered unresolved. On the evening of April 4, 1821, after consuming alcohol and acting under mounting resentment, he went to Ayer’s home to confront her regarding the prosecution.
During that confrontation, Ayer allegedly admitted that another man was responsible for her condition and that Farmer had been named for the sake of expediency. Enraged by the confession and her apparent indifference, Farmer struck her in a sudden outburst of violence. Ayer sustained fatal injuries and died soon thereafter. Farmer was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder, despite his insistence that the act was unpremeditated and committed in a moment of passion. He was sentenced to death and executed in Amherst in January 1822, his case becoming a widely discussed example of how accusation, passion, and intemperance could converge in irreversible tragedy.
The life and confessions of Daniel Davis Farmer
Contents
- Life &c., p. 5
- Valedictory Address, 14
- Correspondence, 17
- Appendix, 29
- The Execution, 31
Source
Farmer, Daniel Davis, The life and confessions of Daniel Davis Farmer : who was executed at Amherst, N.H. on the 3d day of January, 1822, for the murder of the widow Anna Ayer, at Goffstown, on the 4th of April, 1821 : to which is added his valedictory address and some of his correspondence during his imprisonment, Amherst, N.H. : Printed by Elijah Mansur, 1822.