Spear, Charles, 1801-1863

The title refers to the murder of Dr. George Parkman of Harvard Medical School. John White Webster was convicted and hanged for the gruesome murder in 1850. The trial caused a sensation and was the subject of a great deal of publicity due, at least in part, to the fact that both the victim and killer were affiliated with Harvard and part of the brahmin ranks of Boston society.

Charles Spear (1803-1863) served as a Universalist minister in Brewster, Chicopee, Rockport, and Boston, Massachusetts. He also served as a Universalist missionary in the Hartford, Connecticut, area. He devoted his life to prison reform and was staunchly against the death penalty. Spear also apprenticed as a printer and worked as editor of the Religious Inquirer from 1832 to 1834. In 1845, he began to edit and publish a monthly magazine entitled The Hangman, later retitled The Prisoners' Friend, dedicated to reforming prisons as rehabilitation centers. He also published Essays on the Punishment of Death and Names and Titles of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Charles Spear was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, about 1835 and lived in that town until after 1863. According to family lore, Spear worked for the Adams family while living in Quincy. A great-uncle, Daniel Spear, was deacon in the Stone Church in Quincy Square. Spear Street and Spear farm were named after family members.

Before 1868, Charles Spear moved to Dorchester, Massachusetts, and was superintendent of streets there as well as taking charge of the poor farm. While living in Dorchester, he and his wife lived on Dorchester Avenue.