| Notes |
- from "History of the town of Haverhill, New Hampshire", 1918 (archive.org)
Peyton Randolph Baker was born Sept. 2, 1825. Graduated at Dartmouth in the Class of 1848 and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, N.Y., 1853. He was a physician and died May 17, 1873, at Warren, Me. Oliver Randolph Baker, a clothing merchant at Bradford, Vt., was a son of his.
- from "The Amherst Farmer's Cabinet", 12 Sep 1876 (genealogybank.com)
THE LOWELL MURDER - It appears that the woman who killed Charles Ricker, at Lowell, last week, is none other then Lucy Ann Mink, the same who was arrested and tried for killing Dr. Baker, of Warren, Maine, formerly of this place, whom the jury failed to convict, but of whose guilt there was little doubt in the minds of the public. The murderess came to Lowell some eight months since, assuming the name of Lula A. Martin, and was employed at the boarding house of the brother of Ricker's as a domestic. Ricker was quite intimate with her until he learned that she was the person who was tried for the murder of Dr. Baker. She is dark complexed, of medium height, and weighs about one hundred pounds. Ricker made a statement of the circumstances of the tragedy before his death which was substantially as follows: He had kept company with her since February last, but of last had not been so attentive as formerly. She frequently followed him on the street and seemed anxious to renew their intimacy. She invited him to visit her on the night of the fatal shooting, and she was with him two hours at her room, on the third floor of No. 88 Merrimack street. The door was locked and there was no light in the room, for the reason, as she said, that there was no kerosene for her lamps. She went to the sink apparently for a drink of water, and returned and stood partially against the door to keep him from going out, and facing him, she fired the pistol when only a foot distant. He did not see pistol till the moment she fired. There was no scuffle and no angry words. After the shoots were fired he held her hands to prevent a second discharge of the pistol, and as soon as his cries brought help, he went to the doctor's office and then to his lodgings where he died Saturday afternoon.
- from "The San Francisco Bulletin", 28 Dec 1876 (genealogybank.com)
"LOVELY WOMAN" - MISS LUCY MANK SHOOTS TWO OF HER LOVERS
LOWELL, Mass., December 19th. - The Supreme Judicial Court, which assembled this this city to-day, has on its hands the trial for murder of a most remarkable and dangerous woman, one who has already been tried and acquitted of the charge of killing one lover, and is now to answer to the charge of murdering a second, the green-eyed monster being the alleged provocation in both instances. The woman's name is variously given a Lulu Martin, Lucy A. Mink and Lucy Mank, and the first murder with which she was charged was committed some three or four years ago in Warren, Maine. The victim was a Dr. Baker, who met his death from a pistol shot in this woman's house, she at the time being generally supposed to be the Doctor's mistress. She was promptly arrested at the time, and a few months later was placed on trial for causing the Doctor's death. The examination lasted several days, and the proceedings were watched with thrilling interest by the whole community, the prevailing opinion being that she was guilty. The Government failed to make out a case, however, and the woman was accordingly acquitted. Nothing more was heard by the public of this woman until a few months since, when she turned up in this city as the defendant and heroine in the murder of another lover, named Charles S. Ricker, last August, for this crime she has just been placed on trial. On the day of th tragedy the woman wrote a note to her victim, asking him to see her in her room in the evening. On the same day she went to a gunshop here in Lowell, and had a revolver cleaned and some new cartridges supplied, and on the same evening a pistol shot was heard in her room, and when the other occupants of the house went to investigate the cause, they found that her lover had been fatally shot. Her friends at the time set up the theory of accident, claiming that she was actuated by jealousy of another woman, and having failed in an attempt at reconciliation she attempted to shoot herself and that her fried, in preventing suicide, was himself accidentally shot by a misdirection of the weapon. William B. Gale, of Waltham, who was assigned as counsel for the alleged murderess, was quite taken back when he went to see her a few day since in relation to matters her defense. She politely but coolly told him that she had not sent for him, and she wanted no lawyer to intercede for her. She furthermore said that if at the trial he assumed to act for her she would tell the judge and jury that had acted without her authority and in opposition to her wishes. She positively refused to relate any incident of the tragedy, choosing to keep her own confidence, on the ground that she did not need Mr. Gale's services or the assistance of any one else. She said she made no objection to him personally, but did not want to talk to him as a lawyer, and during the entire interview was cool and courteous. When brought into court this morning the condition of affairs was explained. and the wheels of justice are temporarily blocked in consequence. The woman is by no means insane, and the motive for her singular conduct is a mystery. The presiding Judge and counsel on both sides agreed to a delay, and the fair murderess was remanded to jail pending a decision how to proceed. The case is attracting considerable attention from the fact that the defendant's antecedents are a mystery, and the two men whom she is reputed to have murdered were prominent in their respective communities.
- from "The Montpelier Argus and Patriot", 6 Jun 1877 (genealogybank.com)
The trial of Lucy Ann Mink of killing Charles Ricker, at Lowell, Mass., in August, 1875, closed last Thursday, with a verdict of manslaughter. The verdict is something of a surprise, for the evidence seemed to show that the shooting was either deliberate murder or pure accident. She had been very intimate with Ricker, and was engaged to be married to him, but he had gradually deserted her for other women, and had thus made her madly jealous. On the night of the shooting they had an interview in her room of a stormy character, and at the close a shot was fired, and Ricker fell mortally wounded. The defense claimed that the shooting was accidental; that Miss Mink had bought the pistol for the purpose of committing suicide, and that when she attempted to do so Ricker tied to take the weapon away, when it was discharged. Ricker, however, in his dying statement declared the woman intended to kill him, and it looks as if the jury made up a compromise verdict.
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1825 - 1873 (47 years)
