The Southwick Tragedy

Young Amasa Holcomb had felt something amiss when he returned to the seemingly empty house he shared with his parents: Henry and the former Miss Keturah Dibble.

It was about five o'clock when the seven-year-old arrived home after school on Thursday, November 17, 1859. Amasa figured his parents were out visiting, so he walked to his uncle's house and spent the night there.

The following morning, Amasa returned to the house, which still appeared empty. Having heard a faint noise coming from the cellar, he procured a light and went down to investigate. He found his mother weltered in blood as she lay on the floor in a corner opposite the stairway that led to the kitchen.

On the back of her head, she had five-or-six wounds that oozed a jelly-like substance. Her left eye was blackened and badly bruised. A large oak scantling, probably from the potato bin, was found near her. It had bloody handprints on one end and pieces of her head on the other. It looked like she crawled all over the dark cellar floor, searching for a way out.

Keturah was unable to give an intelligible account of what happened to her. Newspapers across the country dubbed it "The Southwick Tragedy."

Discrepancies surround the actual amount, but after finding bloody clothes in Henry's bedroom, Southwick selectmen authorized a reward for his apprehension. Some boys hunting in the woods claimed to have spotted Henry about a mile west of his home headed towards Connecticut.

Henry's father, Southwick's famed telescope manufacturer, Amasa Holcomb, served in both the upper and lower (legislative) houses of the Massachusetts General Court. He was a Methodist minister and a self-taught man with great brilliance. He published a card to his son for distribution on Tuesday, the twenty-second. In it, Amasa entreated Henry to come home immediately. He told him that Keturah was alive and improving and that she asked him to write that she "…wished you to come home."

The card turned out to be unnecessary because Henry returned home on his own accord around nine o'clock Monday evening. Amasa, who had just returned from Springfield, found him as he stood in front of his bedroom mirror, adjusting his necktie. Henry denied any guilt but would accept any consequence if proven such. He told his father about his whereabouts. Henry may have walked from Southwick to Bristol, Conn. From there, he boarded a train and spent Friday night in New York City. Henry then continued to Philadelphia. He returned to Southwick via the Canal Railroad from New Haven.

Tuesday morning Amasa called for the constable. He cited poor road conditions and his fatigued horse as causes for the delay in notifying authorities.

The constable questioned the two and left Henry in the custody of his father after the pair signed a written declaration of voluntary surrender. He did this so the Town of Southwick would not have to pay the reward to the officers who spent countless hours searching for Henry.

Questions surrounding the impropriety of such an arrangement occurred to someone, and an arrest warrant was issued.

Meanwhile, Henry paid a visit to his brother and then returned to his father's house for dinner. Henry was arrested around five o'clock as he sat at the dinner table with his parents, sister, and brother. He spent Tuesday night in jail in Westfield.

There was a massive turnout for Henry's arraignment, held at the town hall in Westfield on the afternoon of November 23. More than two-thirds of Southwick's male population traveled to Westfield to watch the spectacle unfold.

Paraded into court, Henry showed no emotion as he pleaded not guilty to assault with intent to kill. He waived examination and was bound over to the December session of the newly formed Massachusetts Superior Court, established on April 5, 1859.

After Henry's brother Milton, his father, and Sardis Gillett paid his $10,000 bail, he was released. Many Southwick residents cried: "Money Triumphs Justice!"

Henry immediately returned to Southwick to care for his wife, who was recovering in his father's home, where they would both be living.

Southwick was full of gossip. Speculation abounded that Henry was not caring for his wife out of affection, but instead, it was in his best interest to keep her alive as evidence for the upcoming trial to prove he had no intent to kill.

Henry still held his position at the Methodist Church and in the church choir. He was dismissed by January 29, 1860, after he came and took his seat in the church choir, and all the other singers got up and left.

Lightning struck on August 15, 1860. It caused a fire that burned the barns and sheds on the Southwick property of Keturah's brother, Willis Dibble. In addition to the uninsured outbuildings, the fire claimed a substantial amount of hay, grain, farming tools, and other equipment.

Willis was one of the best-known traveling salesmen in the region. He was in Upstate New York when the fire occurred and likely read about his misfortune in the local newspaper there. Following the blaze, Willis was temporarily committed to the State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton. Having been deemed cured, he was later released. (The asylum, which opened in 1858, underwent several name changes before becoming Northampton State Hospital.)

State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton

Keturah's delicate health reportedly caused the postponement of Henry's trial at least twice. He appeared in front of the Massachusetts Superior Court in December of 1860. Henry denied that he had fled because he supposed his wife to be dead. He told the court she was "still sensible" when he left. He also stated that she never charged upon him any crime.

When asked why he did it, Henry reportedly answered: "There is a mystery about it that will never be explained."  

Although described by neighbors as a loving, affectionate wife, Keturah was subject to fits of jealous rage for which Henry had no patience. Henry's niece, 19-year-old Miss Emma, a daughter of Milton, visited the couple on the day of the attack. Keturah became enraged and may have accused Henry of having intercourse with the young girl.

After deliberating all night, a hung jury forced the Commonwealth to withdraw the "intent to kill" charge on the condition that Henry pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of simple assault. He was sentenced to eighteen months in the House of Corrections, set to expire on May 27, 1862.

Henry was unaware that his mother, the former Miss Gillet Kendall (b. June 2, 1787), had fallen ill. She died February 2, 1861, and Henry's father secured him a leave of absence to attend her funeral in Southwick, which he did in the company of an officer.

Amasa (b. June 18, 1787) remarried on January 23, 1862. He tied the knot with a possible distant cousin of his, the former Miss Maria Holcomb. Depending on the source, she was born November 13 in either 1803 or 1804. Maria died on April 29, 1874, and Amasa followed suit on February 27, 1875.

There were seventy prisoners in the Hampden County Jail and House of Corrections in Springfield in July 1861. Thirteen of the prisoners were female. Most incarcerated men at the time were serving short sentences for drunkenness, with the most severe offense being Henry Holcomb's. (Also jailed at the same time was Israel S. Fox of Westfield, who served forty days for "maliciously driving a horse" that belonged to David S. Rising of Southwick.)

Henry was pardoned by Massachusetts Governor John Albion Andrew, in conjunction with the state Governor's Council, in either January or February 1862. The move, which restored Henry's civil rights, took effect on April 1, roughly eight weeks before the end of his sentence.

Keturah's Grave

Keturah (b. December 9, 1821) never fully recovered from the attack. She was sent to the Northampton Lunatic Asylum. She died there on March 23, 1884.

Her father, Reuben Dibble Jr. (b. November 25, 1788), was committed to the Worcester Lunatic Asylum. Institutionalized circa 1850, he died there on May 16, 1857.

The young Vining boys savagely beat Willis Dibble in November 1873. They hit him with a chair and their fists in an unprovoked attack at the Southwick Hotel (today's Southwick Inn). He survived the violent assault but was never the same. (See "Southwick Inn Chronology" for additional reading on the historic Southwick Inn.)

Willis was a member of the Fat Men's Association. He weighed in at a hefty 278 pounds at a club event held on August 25, 1874, in Norwalk, Connecticut.

In compliance with a new Massachusetts state law, Willis received notification on March 3, 1880, that he would be sent back to the Northampton Insane Asylum following bouts of insanity.

The next day, he watched from his bedroom window as officers approached. Willis (b. July 2, 1818) took a razor and cut his throat from ear to ear. It took about ten minutes for him to bleed out and die.

The Dibble family suffered another loss when Willis' son, John (b. February 10, 1852), died of consumption on May 2.

Holcomb Family Plot

Henry and Keturah's son, Amasa (b. October 7, 1852), became a prominent resident of Southwick, where he lived his entire life. He was active in local affairs, having moderated town meetings for twenty years. He had held various positions of trust in town, including that of the Dickinson Grammar School (originally Southwick Academy; est. 1827) and the Methodist church (ca. 1820).

 Amasa was married to his first wife on September 13, 1876, until her death on June 14, 1887. He remarried on November 30, 1888.

There was little fanfare when Henry Holcomb (b. March 5, 1823) died of heart disease in Southwick on May 4, 1897. He was buried, between Keturah and his son's first wife, in Southwick Cemetery.

Amasa had fallen ill during the summer of 1921. He spent about three weeks in Noble Hospital. Having died there on August 17, his body was removed to the undertaking rooms of Lambson Furniture Company. A large number of mourners turned out for Amasa's funeral. His final resting place is next to his second wife in New Southwick Cemetery.

Lester Vining (b. November 27, 1852), one of the brothers who attacked Willis Dibble, was murdered on April 13, 1938, by his daughter in the kitchen of their Southwick home. (See related story: "A Dark Day on Vining Hill.") 

Henry Holcomb's Grave

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