The murder of George E. Bailey occurred on October 8, 1900, at Breakheart Hill Farm in Saugus, Massachusetts. Bailey's employee, John C. Best, was subsequently convicted of the murder and executed.
George E. Bailey
Bailey was born in Whitefield, Maine. He married a woman in Lynn, Massachusetts, and the couple moved to Alna, Maine. They had two children before her death. Bailey later married Abbie Hilton of Wiscasset, Maine. They lived in Wiscasset, where Bailey worked as a blacksmith. The couple had four children together.
In the spring of 1897, Bailey abandoned his family and ran off with Susie Young, his wife's half-sister. Abbie Bailey was unable to support herself and the family's six children. They were placed with families in Whitefield and Wiscasset and she eventually found employment as a housekeeper.
Bailey and Young initially resided at the home of Henry O. Mitchell in Saugus, but the couple moved in October 1897 when Bailey leased Breakheart Hill Farm, an eighteen-acre (7 hectare) farm located on the three-hundred-acre (120 ha) Breakheart Hill Forest, from the Breakheart Hill Forestry, an association of wealthy businessmen from Lynn. Bailey was also hired to take care of their hunting camps at Breakheart Hill Forest for 20¢ per hour. About a year after moving into Breakheart Hill, Young gave birth to Bailey's child, a son.
John C. Best
John Courtney Best was born on April 8, 1865, in Sackville, New Brunswick. He was one of nine children. Best attended school full-time until about the age of twelve, when he moved in with an uncle. He then attended school during the winter and worked on the farm the rest of the year until the age of fifteen. During his youth, Best also became an award-winning marksman.
For ten years Best worked on the farm of A. Alfred Ayer, a friend of his father. After that he worked in Sackville at a shoe factory for about a year, at a grocery store for about four months, and at a hotel until he left for Massachusetts.
In 1891, Best's sister, Nettie Stiles, returned to Sackville from her home in Lynn, Massachusetts, for a visit. She requested that Best accompany her on her trip back. He remained with her in Lynn and found employment at J. B. Renton, a heel manufacturer.
In September 1898, Best was arrested for assault and sentenced to serve four months in the Salem House of Correction. Upon his release he returned to Lynn and worked for another heel manufacturer, J. G. Brown. He later returned to J. B. Renton where he remained until the company's employees went on strike.
During the strike, Best was hired by Bailey to work at Breakheart Hill for one month. He returned to heel manufacturing, but in May 1900 he returned to Breakheart to work full time. Best agreed to do half of the cultivating on the farm in exchange for a room to sleep in and half of the profits from the crops.
Relationship between Bailey and Best
Bailey, Young, and Best appeared to live harmoniously at Breakheart Hill, however Best and Bailey complained about each other outside of the farm. Best complained that Bailey was cruel to the animals and did not pay him all that he was entitled to. Bailey complained that Best was lazy and had a drinking problem. Bailey would withhold Best's pay until after the crops were sold to keep him from drinking away all of his share. Bailey would also give him less than he requested for farm equipment because Best tended to spend any money he had on him at the saloon.
Susie Young described Best as a harsh man who would go on a drinking binge for one or two weeks at a time. When he was drunk, she stated that Best would act crazily and once said while intoxicated that he would just as soon kill a man as not. However, she also said that she had only once seen Best and Bailey argue.
Disappearance of George E. Bailey
On September 27, 1900, Young left Breakheart Hill to visit her sick mother in Wiscasset. She took her son with her. Bailey did not accompany her as he felt he could never return to Wiscasset due to the circumstances of his departure. Thus, Bailey and Best were alone at Breakheart Hill.
