An 1887 murder rocked the 'Bridgertons of Islip.' Now, a town intern reconstructs the case for Living History Day
Mollie Sebor, 19, of Islip, is shown at Oakwood Cemetery in Bay Shore on Thursday, June 1, 2023, next to the grave marker of Cynthiana Clock Hawkins, who was fatally shot by her son, Francis Asbury Hawkins in October 1887 in Bay Shore. Sebor, who is an intern with the Islip Town Historian’s Office, has written a script telling the story of Francis Asbury Hawkins, that will be performed by volunteers at Living History Day in Sayville on June 10. Francis Asbury Hawkins was arrested and sentenced to hang. He was executed in 1888, the last hanging in Suffolk County. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
It should have been a happy time for Francis Asbury Hawkins.
It was 1887 and the 22-year-old had announced his engagement to a woman he loved. But the news led to tragedy.
In early October, the day before the wedding, Hawkins shot his mother outside Oakwood Cemetery because she opposed the engagement. Hawkins was tried for murder and sentenced to death. There was great public interest in the case at the time, with multiple newspapers focused on Hawkins’ trial and execution.
“They were the Bridgertons of Islip. So this is like, if Colin Bridgerton killed his mother. That’s how high scale this was,” said Mollie Sebor, 19, an intern with the Islip Town historian’s office, who has reconstructed the details of the murder and subsequent trial, preparing a script to be reenacted by volunteers at Islip's Living History Day on June 10.
'An Islip Murder So Foul'
The reenactment of Francis Asbury Hawkins’ trial, titled “An Islip Murder So Foul,” is planned for June 10, 1 p.m. at Islip Grange Park. Attendees at the mock trial will act as the jury and decide on a verdict for the young lover — although there’s no going back in time to change his actual fate.
The Bridgertons are a high-ranked, wealthy family depicted in the hit Netflix series "Bridgerton," a fictional period romance.
Francis Asbury Hawkins was the son of a wealthy merchant who was among "the best known residents of the south side of the island," according to one newspaper from the time. Cynthiana Clock Hawkins, Francis' mother, was also from a prominent Islip family.
Living History Day, an interactive event the town started in 2019, will feature displays and programs focused on town history from several local groups, including the Sayville Farmers Market and the Bayport Aerodrome.
The event presents "an unique opportunity to hear unforgettable stories about early life in our town," Islip supervisor Angie Carpenter said.
The Town Clerk’s office plans to display records for visitors to search for relatives’ war records and there will be demonstrations of colonial homemaking, military drills near a Civil War recruitment campsite and historic children’s games.
The highlight, however, will be the 1 p.m. reenactment of Hawkins’ trial, titled “An Islip Murder So Foul,” at Islip Grange Park. Attendees at the mock trial will act as the jury and decide on a verdict for the young lover — although there’s no going back in time to change his actual fate.
"The goal is to see how we as a society today would charge somebody" in that situation, Sedor said, noting that Hawkins had made a plea for insanity.
Local news reports claim that “an entire courtyard” applied to witness Hawkins’ hanging in 1888, the last in Suffolk County. Only 22 selected by the sheriff were let in.
“It was a rather incredible case. I mean, after all, if you’re going to kill your mother in sight of most of your relatives — it proves how small Suffolk County was back then, because there would have been no way of finding a jury that didn’t know the Clock family,” said Islip Town historian George Munkenbeck, referring to the maiden name of Hawkins’ mother.
The historian's office has tracked down the route Hawkins took on the day he murdered his mother, and the properties he and his mother lived on, which still exist, Sedor said. The office has even tracked down a descendant of some of the witnesses to participate in the reenactment.
Sedor said she is also working on an interactive murder mystery for children based on the case that she plans to eventually distribute at local libraries.
Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
