Murder Ending In Riverhead Hanging Remembered In Exhibit

Details and artifacts from a grisly 1854 double murder that resulted in a hanging in downtown Riverhead will be on display starting on Saturday, as the Southold Historical Society kicks off its Wickham Murders exhibition, based on a book by members of the society's administration.

Director Geoffrey Fleming and Collections Manager Amy Kasuga Folk wrote "Murder on Long Island: A Tale of Tragedy and Revenge," a 102-page exploration of the murders which occurred in Cutchogue and brought national interest for the savage turn of events that culminated in the axe murder of a husband and wife in the dead of night.

Ellen Holland - who later went on to live into her 80s and was a "pillar" in the Cutchogue community - was being courted by Nicholas Behan, both of whom worked as servants on the estate of Frances and James Wickham. When Holland refused to marry Behan, and reported his continued advances to the Wickhams, the couple dismissed the young man. He responded by sneaking into their home one night weeks after and slaughtering them with an axe.

Following a trial that brought news coverage from across the nation, close to 10,000 people came to witness Behan's hanging at the county courthouse in downtown Riverhead, at the current corner of Roanoke Avenue and West Main Street. Fleming said the onlookers were disappointed, however, when the state militia was called in to build a fence around the gallows, attempting to squash the blood lust that eventually led to the extinction of hangings in New York in general.

"Food vendors would come down and people would make a day of it," Fleming said.

The historical society director said hundreds of news articles were read throughout the few months of writing the book, as well as written transcripts of witnesses and more.

"There was a lot of myth surrounding these events," he said.

The display which kicks off Saturday - Friday night for SHS members - will feature the original murder weapon itself, the lock used to hold Behan in his cell, a model of the gallows used to hang the criminal and more. It opens at 1 p.m.