Criminal Intimacy: The Southwick Scandal of 1888
📜 UNEARTHED — This story has been assembled from separate events and narrative fragments.
— A Southwick Time Machine Original
On October 25, 1886, Jason Elbridge Stiles of Southwick, Massachusetts, was riding in a wagon near the train depot with Dr. G. W. Brace when their horse became frightened. Both men were thrown from the wagon and suffered severe bruising.
 |
| Southwick Railroad Station |
Less than two years later, Jason Stiles found himself at the center of one of the most sensational scandals Southwick had witnessed up to that time.
On Friday, June 8, 1888, Stiles—then single and living in Southwick—was arrested on a complaint sworn out by Franklin A. Osborne, a Southwick merchant and the town’s postmaster. Osborne charged Stiles with criminal intimacy with his wife, an offense under Massachusetts law at the time.
A warrant was also issued for Mrs. Osborne on a charge of adultery. Franklin Osborne and Frances C. Miner married on April 6, 1881, but by 1888, Osborne had already applied for a divorce, which Frances Osborne contested. In response to her husband’s filing, Frances countersued, citing extreme cruelty and seeking $1,000 in alimony. She attached Osborne’s real estate to secure the claim.
The affair created intense excitement throughout Southwick. Many residents followed the case closely, and the majority were sympathetic to Mr. Osborne.
The following day, Saturday, June 9, 1888, Stiles and Mrs. Osborne appeared in police court in Westfield, Massachusetts. Their trials were postponed for two weeks, and both were held under $300 bonds. Mrs. Osborne was able to secure bail. Stiles was not.
On Saturday, June 23, 1888, the scandal received a full airing in open court. The Osbornes were well known in Southwick, and the proceedings drew considerable attention. During testimony, two of Franklin Osborne’s younger brothers stated that they had seen Mrs. Osborne sitting on Stiles’s lap. One brother testified that Stiles later hid under her bed, and that the pair spent hours together in her bedroom. Eventually, one of the brothers saw Stiles climbing out of Mrs. Osborne’s bedroom window.
Other witnesses came forward and testified that they had seen the couple together.
The evidence presented was described as very conclusive and included an admission by Stiles to the injured husband that he had engaged in criminal intimacy with his wife, deepening public sympathy for Franklin Osborne. The judge ordered both Mrs. Osborne and Stiles to post bonds of $500 each pending trial before the Superior Court. Despite the seriousness of the charges, Mrs. Osborne bonded herself out and visited Stiles while he remained in lockup. In the presence of officers, she embraced her lover in a shocking display, sending gossip through Southwick into overdrive and intensifying disapproval of Stiles and, to a lesser degree, Mrs. Osborne. Public opinion hardened: Stiles was widely blamed for the destruction of another man’s home, while Mrs. Osborne, too, became the subject of censure.The ultimate outcome of the adultery cases is unclear, but the separate divorce action moved forward. It was tried on October 31, 1888, occupying most of the court’s morning session. The divorce was granted, and in 1889, Franklin Osborne married Miss Mary W. Howe.
That same year, Osborne’s store—located where the original Southwick Free Public Library now stands—burned to the ground. (Frances Osborne remarried in 1896.)
 | |||
Site of the former Baptist parsonage, purchased by Franklin Osborne for $1,000 in 1886. He relocated his store here and lived upstairs. The building was destroyed by fire in 1889. The Southwick Free Public Library was later constructed on this site. Shortly after the sale, a new parsonage and barn were built next door to Osborne's store and are partially visible at left.
Jason E. Stiles married Hattie (Stevens) Ladd on June 25, 1892. They welcomed a baby boy, Jason Lewis Stiles, on October 5, 1893. (Hattie had sons from a previous marriage, Irving Anson Ladd and Wallace I. Ladd. She married her first husband, Edward A. Ladd, on December 3, 1880.)
On Tuesday, November 17, 1896, Jason E. Stiles returned from a hunting expedition in the middle of the afternoon. That evening, he and Hattie went to his father’s home in Southwick.
Around 6:30 p.m., after Stiles had been drinking, he became involved in a heated quarrel with his wife over matters that remain unclear. The dispute escalated, and Stiles drew a revolver from his pocket. As his wife stepped into an adjoining room, he fired at her. The shot missed and lodged in a wall beyond her. Stiles then turned the weapon on himself, firing two shots. The first missed and struck the ceiling. The second entered the back of his neck, traveling upward and lodging in his brain near the base of his skull.
Physicians gave him little hope of recovery, but surprisingly, he survived.
Beyond the death of his horse in 1907 and the acquisition of another shortly thereafter, the historical record offers few details about Stiles’s life in the years that followed, though he appears to have remained in fragile health.
On May 18, 1914, he returned home after spending approximately five weeks in Noble Hospital, where he had been treated for appendicitis.
Still in poor health, Stiles was admitted to a hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, after weeks of severe liver trouble and underwent an operation on May 25, 1915. He died there at 4:20 p.m. on May 29, 1915. He left his horse to his son, Jason L. Stiles.
The town’s all-consuming gossip over the Stiles scandal of 1888 gave way to outrage — and even the threat of vigilante justice — in 1917.
— Another story uncovered and preserved by the Southwick Time Machine.
Jason Elbridge Stiles: June 5, 1865 — May 29, 1915.
Hattie Elizabeth (Stevens) (Ladd) Stiles: January 1864 — March 20, 1929.
Jason Lewis Stiles: October 5, 1893 — August 18, 1954.
Franklin Adelbert Osborne: October 3, 1859 — October 11, 1917.
Frances Cora (Miner) (Osborne) Farnham: September 1862 — April 1, 1940.
Mary Wadleigh (Howe) Osborne: March 25, 1859 — April 6, 1954.
Minot Franklin Osborne: 1884 — October 8, 1884.
This article is based on original primary-source research, including but
not limited to official records, census data, period maps, directories, and newspapers, as well as historical recollections recorded around 1950. Southwick Time Machine stories are living documents. Research is ongoing, and this account may evolve as new information comes to light.
Some stories of Southwick’s past have never been told.
Your support makes it possible to uncover more of them.
Every donation helps uncover the town’s hidden history.
Your support makes it possible to uncover more of them.
Every donation helps uncover the town’s hidden history.
Period sources vary in the spelling of some names.
Some sources state that Franklin Osborne and Frances Miner married on April 5, 1881.
Some sources state that Franklin was born on October 31. However, October 3 is believed to be correct.
Franklin A. Osborne, Grocer
Franklin A. Osborne was born in Blandford, Massachusetts. He entered the grocery business at a young age, working in his father’s store as a boy. Around the age of 20, he opened his own grocery store in Southwick, Massachusetts, at the location now occupied by Country Colonial, a gift shop and furniture store.
In the summer of 1886, Osborne relocated his business across the street to the former Baptist parsonage (where the original Southwick Public Library is today). He purchased it for $1,000 on June 17, 1886. A new parsonage was built next door to the old one. Charles A. Reed took over the space vacated by Osborne and opened his own store. (After Reed’s death in 1915, the location housed several general stores over the years, including Healy’s and Balch Bros.)
Osborne lived above his new store, which doubled as a post office. His store was destroyed by fire in 1889. He later relocated to Westfield, Massachusetts, where he and his brother operated the old City Market. The Osborne brothers eventually went into business under the name Osborne Bros. & Hall, engaging in the grocery trade and later expanding into meat and provisions.
The firm became the leading grocery concern in Westfield. In addition to Franklin Osborne, Albert S. Osborne, Edwin E. Osborne, and George W. Osborne were associated with the family business. The store operated at different locations over the years, including 116 Elm Street and 140 Elm Street.
Franklin and Frances Osborne suffered the loss of an infant son, Minot Franklin Osborne, who died in 1884 at the age of three months and seven days.
Franklin's father's store in Blandford was destroyed by fire in 1892.
Franklin Adelbert Osborne: October 3, 1859 — October 11, 1917.
 |
| Balch Bros. center store. The building once housed Osborne's store. Today, it is Country Colonial. |
Dr. George Wells Brace
Dr. Brace maintained a medical practice in Southwick from 1886 to 1899. In addition to his medical work, he served the town in several official capacities, including town clerk, library trustee, and school physician. He also operated a medical practice in Westfield for 33 years. At one point, the governor of Massachusetts appointed him to the Pensions Examining Board.
Dr. Brace maintained a medical practice in Southwick from 1886 to 1899. In addition to his medical work, he served the town in several official capacities, including town clerk, library trustee, and school physician. He also operated a medical practice in Westfield for 33 years. At one point, the governor of Massachusetts appointed him to the Pensions Examining Board.
George Wells Brace, M.D.: February 16, 1852 — May 17, 1832.
Hattie Elizabeth (Stevens) (Ladd) Stiles
Hattie Stiles died at Noble Hospital on the morning of March 20, 1929. She was born in East Canaan, Connecticut. She was approximately 16 years younger than her first husband, Edward A. Ladd. Hattie and Edward Ladd were married on December 3, 1880. They had a son, Wallace, born on August 14, 1882.
Hattie Stiles died at Noble Hospital on the morning of March 20, 1929. She was born in East Canaan, Connecticut. She was approximately 16 years younger than her first husband, Edward A. Ladd. Hattie and Edward Ladd were married on December 3, 1880. They had a son, Wallace, born on August 14, 1882.
Hattie Elizabeth (Stevens) (Ladd) Stiles: January 1864 — March 20, 1929.
Irving Anson Ladd
Irving A. Ladd lived in Southwick and attended school there. He later died in Great Barrington from the effects of influenza. On April 15, 1911, Irving went trout fishing in Sandisfield, where he caught one fish. During the outing, he lost his pocketbook, which contained approximately $30. In February 1917, Irving’s stepbrother, Jason L. Stiles, traveled to Canaan, Connecticut, to spend about a week with him. The brothers seemed to have visited each other often; sometimes they would travel together to visit relatives.
Irving A. Ladd lived in Southwick and attended school there. He later died in Great Barrington from the effects of influenza. On April 15, 1911, Irving went trout fishing in Sandisfield, where he caught one fish. During the outing, he lost his pocketbook, which contained approximately $30. In February 1917, Irving’s stepbrother, Jason L. Stiles, traveled to Canaan, Connecticut, to spend about a week with him. The brothers seemed to have visited each other often; sometimes they would travel together to visit relatives.
Irving Anson Ladd: July 23, 1885 — October 8, 1918.
The Death of Edward Ladd
On May 7, 1893, Edward A. Ladd was walking along the track of the Reading Railroad about a half-mile east of Canaan, Connecticut. Ladd, a well-known wagon maker who had operated a shop in Canaan for several years, was no stranger to the area or the rails that cut through it.
As he walked, a switch engine, No. 1273—locally known as the Pusher— was backing down the track behind him after pushing freight cars up the steep grade. After rounding a curve, the engineer and the conductor saw a man on the track ahead. The whistle was blown immediately, and the engine was reversed, but it could not stop in time.
Ladd was partially deaf, and it is believed he never heard the train approaching. Traveling at an estimated fifteen miles per hour, the engine struck him from behind, knocking him down onto the rails and running him over. The wheels passed over his body, severing his head. Death was instantaneous.
The violence of the accident shocked those who came upon the scene. Witnesses later claimed that one of Ladd’s feet was also severed, though the coroner recorded only a broken leg in his official report.
A coroner’s inquest was held soon afterward, but the railroad’s employees were absolved of any wrongdoing. The death was ruled an accident—one more grim reminder of the dangers posed by railroads in an era when tracks were often used as footpaths.
About one month before Edward Ladd’s death, he was sued for unpaid board.
Edward A. Ladd: abt. 1848 — May 7, 1893.
Amazon may pay the Southwick Time Machine a small commission for any purchases you make when you access your Amazon account through any of the Amazon links on this page.