Stranger: Found in the Longyard
Sweltering heat blanketed New England on July 10, 1881. In the Longyard section of Southwick, Massachusetts, an unmistakable stench filled the air, leading to a grim discovery.
High above the ground—more than thirty feet—the partly decomposed body of a middle-aged man hung from a tree, suspended by a single foot wedged between the branches. The head had long since rotted away, rolling some distance from the tree, and around the discolored neck was a blue silk handkerchief, tied tightly—a grim, silent witness to the man’s final act.
Investigators believed they could reconstruct what had occurred. Weeks earlier, the man had apparently climbed into the tree, fashioned a noose from the handkerchief, and ended his own life. Over time, the weight of the body caused the upper knot to gradually slip. When the body fell, one foot became trapped among the branches, leaving him suspended in the air until someone discovered the scene.
The question remained: Who was this desperate soul who had chosen such a lonely spot to end his life?
The only clues lay beneath the tree. A wallet had fallen—or perhaps remained in the pocket of his long frock coat, depending on which account one trusted. Inside, investigators found a small sum of money and a more revealing item: a receipt for a board bill made out to George N. Mayo by a hotel in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.
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| Dirt road in Jaffrey, New Hampshire |
The physical description offered little help in identifying him. The man had brown hair and whiskers, both slightly tinged with gray—features that could describe countless men in New England in 1881. His long frock coat suggested a man of at least modest means, someone who had traveled from New Hampshire to this remote corner of Massachusetts.
Local residents of the Longyard recalled seeing a stranger matching this description in the vicinity several weeks before the body was discovered. But he had spoken to no one, made no connections, left no impression beyond his presence. He was, in every sense, a man alone.
Authorities theorized that the stranger likely hailed from Keene, New Hampshire, though whether George N. Mayo was the dead man's true name or simply someone whose receipt he carried remained a mystery. Had he been staying at the hotel in Jaffrey under his own name? Was he fleeing from something—or someone—in New Hampshire? What drove him to Southwick? Why climb high into a tree in an isolated section of town to end his life?
The answers died with the stranger in the trees, leaving behind only questions and a blue silk handkerchief that told the story of a tragedy.
Explore more mysteries and tragedies from this historic corner of Southwick.
Edited Out/Author’s Additional Research Notes
Working Titles: The Blue Handkerchief, Stranger in the Trees.
A heat wave hit the East Coast from Virginia to Maine around July 8, 1881, with some areas reaching more than 100F. (101F in Manchester, New Hampshire on July 10, 1881)
Some sources say the receipt said George H. Mayo.
Census records show that a George Mayo lived in Southwick in the 1860s.
No records found of a George Mayo in Keene around 1881.
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