Will Jonas Parker's killer be brought to justice? It was now the first week of July 1850, and the Parker murder trial was finally reaching a conclusion. Public excitement ran high. Since May 31, each day 300 to 500 fascinated spectators had packed the hall.

Attorneys J. G. Abbott, C. J. Atherton and future President Franklin Pierce presented the closing arguments for the defense. They made a show of discrediting the prosecution's witnesses. As Pierce described, “I saw…felons unloosed from the jails of this and a neighboring state…even John Brown…had well nigh become a hero and his past vileness was forgotten…Who fished up Eliza Smith, and brought her here to testify? What a fiction is her whole story!”

Prosecutor S. H. Ayer attempted to demean the defense team, but the audience likely saw his pronouncement as a compliment: “If laughter was needed, Mr. Atherton was prepared to give occasion for it; if tears, Gen. Pierce was ready with his pathos; if close argument was called for, Mr. Abbott was not at a loss to present it.” He soldiered on to summarize the prosecution's case, but had do battle with little solid evidence to present.

On July 5, Judge C. E. Potter issued his verdicts. New Hampshire's legal system was different then than it is today. This trial was similar to a modern grand jury hearing, as it was Potter's job to rule on whether or not the defendants should be held over for a jury trial. He wasted no time in announcing that William C. Clark and Horace Wentworth were to be discharged immediately due to lack of evidence. According to a courtroom report, when Horace heard the verdict, he “…was convulsed with agitation, and tears fell fast upon his cheeks.” Potter announced, however, that Asa and Henry Wentworth must face a jury.

This second trial took place in October. No new evidence was brought forth, so the two men were quickly exonerated. But, despite their acquittals, the Wentworth brothers continued to live under a veil of suspicion. The mystery remained: Who killed Jonas L. Parker? One of the defense attorneys, Benjamin F. Butler of Lowell, Massachusetts, went on to become a Union general during the Civil War, and was elected governor of Massachusetts, serving in 1883-1884. While governor, he visited Manchester to take part in a veterans' event. He was chatting with some prominent Manchester citizens when he casually mentioned that he thought he knew who murdered Jonas Parker. The press got hold of this, and Butler was assailed with demands that he reveal what he knew. So, he wrote a letter to a member of the Wentworth family, telling the story.

At the time Butler was involved in the 1850 trial, he also represented a Mr. Pierson in Massachusetts who had murdered his wife and two children. Butler was struck by the fact that Pierson had killed his wife with a knife and a razor, the same type of weapons used to kill Parker. Then, Butler learned that Pierson had driven a wagon from Manchester to Lowell the night of the Parker murder, plus Pierson was familiar with other details of the crime. Butler didn't see a need to disclose his suspicions at the time, as he was sure that the defendants would be acquitted due to the weakness of the evidence against them.

It turned out that Pierson's brother and Jonas Parker had been close friends. This brother had owned a hotel in Lowell, Massachusetts, when he stole $2,000 from a guest. When he was about to be arrested for the crime, he gave the money to Parker for safekeeping. He served five years in prison for the robbery. During this time, Parker moved to Manchester where he opened a bowling saloon and speculated in real estate — ventures that were presumably financed with the stolen money. He even became the town's tax collector! After this Pierson brother was released from prison he moved to Manchester and began frequenting Parker's saloon. The two men appeared to be friendly, however Parker had apparently declined to return the $2,000. So, on the fateful night of March 26, 1845, it seems that the Pierson brothers took revenge by brutally ending Parker's life and robbing him of his considerable cash.

Next week: Moody Currier, Manchester's “Renaissance man.”

Aurore Eaton is executive director of Manchester Historic Association; email her at aeaton@manchesterhistoric.org