The Hanging of Betsey Reed: A Wabash River Tragedy on the Illinois Frontier

In 1845, twenty thousand people gathered to witness the hanging of Elizabeth “Betsey” Reed. A resident of the Palestine area, she was convicted of murdering her husband by serving him a cup of sassafras tea laced with arsenic. She became the first and only woman ever to be hanged in the State of Illinois. Despised by the mob and considered a witch by many, she rode to the gallows sitting atop her coffin, singing hymns of praise. Was she a murderess or a victim of her own reputation? Based on actual events, The Hanging of Betsey Reed is a tale of treachery and deceit on the Illinois frontier.