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All the United States New Hampshire Suncook Josie Langmaid Monument

Josie Langmaid Monument

Murder scene memorialized in perpetuity by grisly obelisk.

Suncook, New Hampshire

Added By
J.W. Ocker
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A close-up of one of the inscriptions.   http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/
The Josie Langmaid obelisk.   http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/
The stone “hub” that marks the spot where Langmaid’s headless corpse was found.   http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/
Poetic Inscription on Monument   Greg Boggis
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
  e1savage / Atlas Obscura User
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About

On October 4, 1875, in the town of Pembroke, NH, 17-year-old Josie Langmaid went missing. After she didn’t show up for school, search parties were organized, and within 24 hours she was found - in two pieces. Someone had attacked and abused her on her way to school and severed her head from her body. About a week later, a woodcutter named Joseph Lapage was arrested, tried, and found guilty of her murder. He was hanged on March 15, 1878, in the state capital of Concord.

Back in Pembroke, Josie was laid to rest in a graveyard on what is now Pinewood Road. However, a simple funeral and interment wasn’t enough closure for the town. They erected a somewhat grisly obelisk near the spot where her body was found.

Located on Academy Road, right across the street from the Three Rivers School, the 15-foot-tall marker eulogizes Josie, but also goes into the sordid details of her death and discovery. It even gives directions to the place, or two places, where her head and body were found. To this day, at least one of the two spots is still marked with a short granite post some distance in the forest behind the monument.

Related Tags

Monuments Memento Mori Catacombs And Crypts

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The monument sits across from Three Rivers School on Academy Road.

Community Contributors

Added By

JWOcker

Edited By

GregBoggis, e1savage

  • GregBoggis
  • e1savage

Published

August 2, 2010

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Sources
  • Murder By Gaslight: Josie Landmaid - "The Murdered Maiden Student:" http://murderbygasslight.blogspot.com/2010/02/josie-langmaid-murdered-maiden-student.html
  • Nutfield Genealogy: Murder of Josie Langmaid, Pembroke, New Hampshire: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/10/murder-of-josie-langmaid-pembroke-new.html
  • The New England Grimpendium: http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Grimpendium-J-Ocker/dp/0881509191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279457058&sr=8-1
Josie Langmaid Monument
Academy Road
Suncook, New Hampshire, 03275
United States
43.147272, -71.446113
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