Murder on Long Island : A 19th Century Tale of Tragedy and Revenge

Local historians Geoffrey Fleming and Amy Folk uncover this gruesome 19th-century story of revenge and murder on Long Island.

In the mid-19th century, James Wickham was a wealthy farmer with a large estate in Cutchogue, Long Island. His extensive property included a mansion and eighty acres of farmland that were maintained by a staff of servants. In 1854, Wickham got into an argument with one of his workers, Nicholas Behan, after Behan harassed another employee who refused to marry him.

Several days after Behan's dismissal, he crept back into the house in the dead of night. With an axe, he butchered Wickham and his wife, Frances, and fled to a nearby swamp. Behan was captured, tried, convicted and, on December 15, became one of the last people to be hanged in Suffolk County.

Geoffrey Fleming has worked at a wide variety of museums and historical societies on Long Island, and has served on several boards and committees. Fleming is author or co-author of 12 books. Amy Folk is the collections manager for the Southold Historical Society. She is the co-author of Hotels and Inns of Long Island's North Fork.