Jason Fairbanks

also written Jason Fayerbanke, Jason in the book

Biography

Placed three generations before Floyd. Hanged for murdering Elizabeth Fales. Described as 21 years old, six feet tall, and the youngest son of Ebenezer Fairbanks, with a frozen elbow from a botched mercury treatment for smallpox. The account abruptly calls him 'Jonathan' in the sentence about proclaiming innocence and escaping to Canada; that name inconsistency is unresolved. It reports a confession to a friend after an initial claim of a botched double suicide. A violent electrical storm interrupted his hanging. Later legends claimed resuscitation and flight to South America; these are presented as legends, not established survival.

Timeline

September 1, 1801
Hanging of Jason Fairbanks
Hanged for murdering Elizabeth Fales at age 21. A violent electrical storm interrupted the hanging; later tales of revival and flight to South America are explicitly legends.
History of the Guild Family
date not given
Murder of Elizabeth Fales
The quoted report describes an attack near an apple tree and birch thicket, barely 80 rods from the home. The subsequent account attributes the killing to rejection of a marriage proposal.
History of the Guild Family
Before the September 1, 1801 hanging
Escape to Canada and recapture
The Jason narrative calls the escapee 'Jonathan'. It recounts claims of innocence and a botched double suicide, escape from jail, a confession to a friend in Canada, and recapture and trial.
History of the Guild Family

Stories mentioning Jason

Jason Fairbanks and the Legends After the HangingJason Fairbanks, youngest son of Ebenezer Fairbanks, was hanged on September 1, 1801 for murdering Elizabeth Fales. The narrative recounts his physical impairment, intellectual pursuits, claims of innocence and a failed double suicide, escape to Canada, reported confession, recapture and trial. It calls him 'Jonathan' during the escape account without explanation. A storm interrupted the hanging, and subsequent legends claimed that friends revived him and that he escaped to South America; the narrator compares these tales to those about Elvis Presley.

Referenced in

History of the Guild Family — EARLY HISTORY OF THE FAIRBANKS FAMILY

Family corrections

Notes sent in by the family and approved on review. They sit alongside the original record — the book's wording is never changed.

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