On the outskirts of Natchez sits Jefferson College. The historic school, chartered in 1802 and opened to students in 1811, is known for its connections to historical figures like Jefferson Davis and John James Audubon and to the state’s Constitutional Convention, which was held in a Methodist Church once found on the site. But, the school has a lesser known tie to a sensational New York murder.

On December 22, 1799, three years before Jefferson College was chartered, Gulielma “Elma” Sands left the boarding house where she lived in New York City, never to return. She told her cousin, Catherine Sands, sometime before she left that she was secretly marrying Levi Weeks, who was staying in the same boarding house, and who had been courting her.

Several days after her disappearance, a boy found a hand warmer in a nearby well. It was the same hand warmer that Sands was wearing when she left the boarding house. On January 2, 1800, eleven days after she went missing, searchers pulled her body out of the well. A medical exam later found she was pregnant.

Soon after the discovery, the Grand Jury indicted Levi Weeks for Sands’ murder. But Weeks was not without connections to help him. His brother was Ezra Weeks, a prominent New York citizen. Using his brother’s connections and money, Weeks hired Henry Brockholst Livingston, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton as his attorneys. The three men were the most prominent attorneys in New York.

Weeks’ sensational trial took place over two days, March 31 and April 1, 1800, and was coined “The Manhattan Well Murder.” During the trial, the court had three judges: Chief Justice John Lansing, Jr., Mayor Richard Harrison, and Recorder Richard Varick Cadwallader. David Colden, Assistant Attorney General and future mayor of New York, served as the prosecutor.

The state’s case against Weeks was heavily circumstantial, and the defense’s witnesses placed Weeks with his brother Ezra and some friends on the night in question. Chief Justice Lansing told the jury that there was insufficient evidence to convict Weeks, but he did not provide a direct verdict. The jury deliberated for only five minutes before coming to the decision to acquit Weeks.

Though the state lacked evidence to convict Weeks, and Lansing’s instructions were proper, his charge came under criticism. The public also disagreed with the verdict, and many ostracized Weeks over it. No other suspects were ever mentioned.

Weeks was eventually forced to leave New York and found his way to Natchez, where he became a respected architect and builder. Among his Natchez projects was Auburn, located in what is now Duncan Park. The home was completed in 1812 for Lyman Harding and was described by Weeks as being the first home in the territory that tried to incorporate or use orders of architecture.

Several years after completing Auburn, Weeks’ plan for Jefferson College’s East Wing was used to build the school’s first permanent structure. The building was completed in 1819, the same year he passed away.

Today, the East Wing sits among several buildings on Jefferson College’s campus and serves as a reminder of Natchez’s connection to the New York Well Murder.

Historic Jefferson College is administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and is open to the public. Site hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

 

Kelli Mitchell is a historian at Historic Jefferson College.