Or we think he did... the invitation included a card to allow admittance (non transferable!) and it was not used.
Victor Bardwell died on 31 March 1932 at the age of 78. He was a cattle dealer and farmer and widely known and respected in Franklin County. His imposing house and farm at the top of Polar Hill was a thriving enterprise. The story was told that if any many needed money, he could walk out to West Whately and Victor Bardwell would give him a day's work.
In 1897 Bardwell was selected to serve as one of the jury in the trial of John O'Neil. O'Neil was a neer-do-well man accused of strangling Hattie McLeod, then raping her corpse. Hattie was a 37 year old widow, living with her father in Shelburne Falls. The trail was a sensation widely reported in the newspapers and O'Neil was easily convicted. On 7 January 1898, one year less one day from Hattie's death, O'Neil became the last man to be hanged in Franklin County.
