Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 6 minutes ago
Dark Histories is primarily an audio podcast, available on all your podcast apps, wherever you listen: pod.link/1279731673
In the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, lies a 281 acre wooded parkland area known as Arnold’s Arboretum. A beautiful botanical garden and research institution planted in naturalistic style, its serene park walks bely a history before its life as the arboretum, where dark events in its past stained the ground and transformed a popular picnic spot into an ugly memorial that few wished to visit. Several years later, these events in Boston found themselves tied into a story of a murderer that the contemporary press called “The most monstrous and inhuman criminal of modern times - or indeed any time,” though despite their shocking nature, they have somehow become largely forgotten, if not for a bizarre report of a ghost sighting that keeps the linked cases alive, sparking the public imagination.
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
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SOURCES
Brent, Henry Johnson (1868) Was it a Ghost? The murders in Bussey's wood. An extraordinary narrative. Loring, USA.
Bangor Daily Whig & Courier (1865) A Terrible Tragedy In Roxbury. Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.3. USA
New York Daily Herald (1865) Horrible Tragedy In Roxbury. New York Daily Herald, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.8. USA
Hartford Courant (1865) Horrible Murder And Outrage. Hartford Courant, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.2. USA
The Burlington Free Press (1865) Tragedy In Roxbury. The Burlington Free Press, Wednesday, 21 June 1865, p.2. USA
The Enterprise & Vermonter (1865) Horrid Murder At West Roxbury, Mass. The Enterprise & Vermonter, Friday, 23 June 1865, p.2. USA
The Indianapolis Star (1865) The Roxbury Tragedy. The Indianapolis Star, Monday, 26 June 1865, p.2. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) Coroner’s Inquest In The Case Of The Murdered Children. Boston Evening Transcript, Tuesday, 27 June 1865, p.4. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) Reward. Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, 28 June 1865, p.3. USA
The Buffalo Commercial (1865) Arrest Of The Supposed Murderer Of The Joyce Children. The Buffalo Commercial, Wednesday, 12 July 1865, p.2. USA
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1865) AIsabella Joyce - The Late Boston Tragedy. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Friday, 14 July 1865, p.1. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) The Recent Tragedy In West Roxbury. Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, 19 July 1865, p.4. USA
New York Daily Herald (1865) The Roxbury Tragedy. New York Daily Herald, Friday, 21 July 1865, p.8. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) The West Roxbury Tragedy. Boston Evening Transcript, Monday, 24 July 1865, p.3. USA
DeWolfe, Byron (1872) Georgiana Lovering, Or The Northwood Tragedy. New Hampshire, USA.
Spirit of the Age (1874) Franklin B. Evans. Spirit of the Age, Thursday 26 February 1874, p.3, USA.
Brown, Janice (2004) Early History of Town of Strafford, Strafford County, New Hampshire. USA.
St Johnsbury Caledonian (1873) The New Hampshire Murder. St Johnsbury Caledonian, Friday 14 February 1843, p.2. USA.
Lewis, John B. (1896) Stratagems and conspiracies to defraud life insurance companies. J. H. McLellan, USA.
Schecter, Harold (2012) Psycho USA, Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of. Ballantine Books, USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1872) A Young Girl Outraged And Murdered By Her Uncle. Boston Evening Transcript, Monday, 04 November 1872, p.1. USA
The Boston Globe (1872) The Northwood Tragedy. The Boston Globe, Friday, 08 November 1872, p.5. USA
The Argus & Patriot (1872) Summary Of News. The Argus & Patriot, Thursday, 14 November 1872, p.5. USA
North Star (1872) The Northwood Murder. North Star, Friday 29 November 1872, p.2. USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Northwood, N.H, Murder. Monday 03 February 1873, p.4. USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Murder Trial At Exeter, N.H.. Tuesday 04 February 1873, p.4. USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Murder Trial At Exeter, N.H.. Wednesday 05 February 1873, p.4. USA.
Rutland Independent (1873) Confessions Of Evans. Rutland Independent, Saturday 08 February 1873. P.8. USA
Dark Histories is primarily an audio podcast, available on all your podcast apps, wherever you listen: pod.link/1279731673
In the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, lies a 281 acre wooded parkland area known as Arnold’s Arboretum. A beautiful botanical garden and research institution planted in naturalistic style, its serene park walks bely a history before its life as the arboretum, where dark events in its past stained the ground and transformed a popular picnic spot into an ugly memorial that few wished to visit. Several years later, these events in Boston found themselves tied into a story of a murderer that the contemporary press called “The most monstrous and inhuman criminal of modern times - or indeed any time,” though despite their shocking nature, they have somehow become largely forgotten, if not for a bizarre report of a ghost sighting that keeps the linked cases alive, sparking the public imagination.
-------
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, check out betterhelp.com/darkhistories to get 10% off your first month.
-------
SOURCES
Brent, Henry Johnson (1868) Was it a Ghost? The murders in Bussey's wood. An extraordinary narrative. Loring, USA.
Bangor Daily Whig & Courier (1865) A Terrible Tragedy In Roxbury. Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.3. USA
New York Daily Herald (1865) Horrible Tragedy In Roxbury. New York Daily Herald, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.8. USA
Hartford Courant (1865) Horrible Murder And Outrage. Hartford Courant, Tuesday, 20 June 1865, p.2. USA
The Burlington Free Press (1865) Tragedy In Roxbury. The Burlington Free Press, Wednesday, 21 June 1865, p.2. USA
The Enterprise & Vermonter (1865) Horrid Murder At West Roxbury, Mass. The Enterprise & Vermonter, Friday, 23 June 1865, p.2. USA
The Indianapolis Star (1865) The Roxbury Tragedy. The Indianapolis Star, Monday, 26 June 1865, p.2. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) Coroner’s Inquest In The Case Of The Murdered Children. Boston Evening Transcript, Tuesday, 27 June 1865, p.4. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) Reward. Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, 28 June 1865, p.3. USA
The Buffalo Commercial (1865) Arrest Of The Supposed Murderer Of The Joyce Children. The Buffalo Commercial, Wednesday, 12 July 1865, p.2. USA
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1865) AIsabella Joyce - The Late Boston Tragedy. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Friday, 14 July 1865, p.1. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) The Recent Tragedy In West Roxbury. Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, 19 July 1865, p.4. USA
New York Daily Herald (1865) The Roxbury Tragedy. New York Daily Herald, Friday, 21 July 1865, p.8. USA
Boston Evening Transcript (1865) The West Roxbury Tragedy. Boston Evening Transcript, Monday, 24 July 1865, p.3. USA
DeWolfe, Byron (1872) Georgiana Lovering, Or The Northwood Tragedy. New Hampshire, USA.
Spirit of the Age (1874) Franklin B. Evans. Spirit of the Age, Thursday 26 February 1874, p.3, USA.
Brown, Janice (2004) Early History of Town of Strafford, Strafford County, New Hampshire. USA.
St Johnsbury Caledonian (1873) The New Hampshire Murder. St Johnsbury Caledonian, Friday 14 February 1843, p.2. USA.
Lewis, John B. (1896) Stratagems and conspiracies to defraud life insurance companies. J. H. McLellan, USA.
Schecter, Harold (2012) Psycho USA, Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of. Ballantine Books, USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1872) A Young Girl Outraged And Murdered By Her Uncle. Boston Evening Transcript, Monday, 04 November 1872, p.1. USA
The Boston Globe (1872) The Northwood Tragedy. The Boston Globe, Friday, 08 November 1872, p.5. USA
The Argus & Patriot (1872) Summary Of News. The Argus & Patriot, Thursday, 14 November 1872, p.5. USA
North Star (1872) The Northwood Murder. North Star, Friday 29 November 1872, p.2. USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Northwood, N.H, Murder. Monday 03 February 1873, p.4. USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Murder Trial At Exeter, N.H.. Tuesday 04 February 1873, p.4. USA.
Boston Evening Transcript (1873) The Murder Trial At Exeter, N.H.. Wednesday 05 February 1873, p.4. USA.
Rutland Independent (1873) Confessions Of Evans. Rutland Independent, Saturday 08 February 1873. P.8. USA
