Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story

Overview

This is the story of Elizabeth Reed who in 1845 became the first woman to be hanged in Illinois. She was accused of poisoning her husband Leonard with arsenic laced tea and was convicted by a jury of 12 men. The circumstances of her arrest, trial, conviction, execution, burial, and afterlife have been debated ever since. Folklore exists today that suggests her spirit wanders the countryside.