Welcome to Green-wood cemetery. Our 'Ghost Hunt' cache is part of a multi-city series of sites related to the unsolved Hall-Mills double homicide of 1922. *We moved this at the suggestion of a few resourceful geocachers. I GRANT you, friend, that all SIGNS point to an easy find, even for GREEN users.*
Green-wood cemetery is the burial place of murder victim Rev. Edward Hall...and the people who most likely killed him: his wife and brother in-laws. On September 16th, 1922, Edward Hall and his lover, Eleanor Mills, were found viciously murdered on the outskirts of town in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They had been missing for two days, but no one had reported their absence to the police. Finally, at 10am on September 16th, two members of the public discovered the bodies. The police failed to conduct a proper investigation, and the crime scene was destroyed by curious onlookers. The authorities quickly agreed that the right thing to do would be to return Edward Hall's body to his widow for burial, apparently never considering (or not caring) that her family may have been the one to kill him. With the help of her family, she quickly buried him here, in Green-Wood, over thirty miles (and several jurisdictions) away from their home.
Eventually, four years later, a grand jury finally brought charges against Frances Hall and her two older brothers, "Simple" Willie Stevens and Henry Stevens. Together they were accused, and together they were aquitted. The paid for one of the first "million dollar defense teams", and were sure to select lawyers who would signal their class, wealth, and straight-laced upbringing.
Despite the accusation of murder, and public knowledge of Edward’s infidelity with Eleanor Mills, Frances Hall chose to be buried by her late husband's side, and now the entire family lies together in the Stevens family crypt, although none of their names are to be found on the site.
"Mrs. Frances Stevens Hall, one of the most dramatic figures in the unsolved Hall-Mills murder mystery, died at her home here this morning at the age of 68. She had been in poor health for some time and recently had suffered several heart attacks". The New York Times. December 19, 1942. p. 47.
"Willie Stevens, 70, of Hall-Mills Case; Eccentric Figure of Murder Trial Dies in New Brunswick 11 Days After Sister Proved a firm witness. Last of 4 Members of Family Tried and Acquitted of Slaying of Rector and Choir Singer". The New York Times. December 31, 1942. p. 15.
"Henry Stevens, who was one of the defendants in the Hall–Mills murder case, died of heart disease last night at his home here. His death came thirteen years to the day after a jury had found him not guilty". The New York Times. December 4, 1939. p. 10.
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NYWanderer, First to Find! Congratulations!