Killing of the Yates family

In late December 1781, in New York, James Yates killed his wife and their four children. Contemporary newspaper reports from the period, including a brief account in The Pennsylvania Packet, describe neighbors as shocked by the crime, stating Yates had appeared healthy and sane beforehand and was not someone they would have expected to commit such an act. Yates was born in West-Chester County and had been a member of the Society of Shakers, a religious community.

According to the reporting, Yates later said he was "tempted to this horrid deed by the spirit" on the night of the killings. Three of his four children were killed inside the family home, while his wife was found on a nearby road with the youngest child on top of her, suggesting she may have been attempting to escape. A club was found at the scene, and the victims had head wounds consistent with that weapon. Several of the family's animals, including cattle, a dog, and two horses, were also killed that night.

The following morning, Yates went to his parents' house reportedly nude and told them what he had done. They initially did not believe him until they went to the home and saw the bodies themselves. Yates appeared confused and was described as being in a state of madness, at one point claiming the bodies were not his family and that his wife was Native American. He reportedly showed little remorse and stated that he believed his actions were acceptable. His brother, who was present, was able to control him without restraint. Yates was subsequently imprisoned in Albany.

Fifteen years later, in 1796, a more detailed narrative titled "An Account of a Murder Committed by Mr. J---- Y----, upon His Family, in December, A.D. 1781" was published in two parts in the New-York Weekly Magazine, submitted by a writer identified only as "ANNA," who said she obtained the account from a woman who had known Yates. This later account, whose authenticity has been questioned due to its highly detailed nature and the long gap since the crime, describes a religious gathering at the Yates home on the night in question, a "Spirit" instructing Yates to rid himself of his "idols," and a sequence of killings involving an axe and a fence stake. The account states Yates eventually fled to his sister's house, was restrained, and was taken first to Tomhanick before ultimately being imprisoned in Albany, from which he reportedly escaped twice.

The case is also noted for its likely influence on Charles Brockden Brown's 1798 gothic novel Wieland, whose protagonist similarly hears voices instructing him to kill his family; Brown's preface to the novel references "an authentic case, remarkably similar," believed to allude to the Yates killings, which had been covered in publications including the New York Weekly Magazine, Philadelphia Minerva, and the Salem Gazette. <parameter name="timeline">[{"date":"1781-12","event":"James Yates kills his wife and four children in New York; newspapers report the crime in the following weeks."},{"date":"1796-07-20","event":"First part of 'An Account of a Murder Committed by Mr. J---- Y----, upon His Family' published in the New-York Weekly Magazine."},{"date":"1796-07-27","event":"Second part of the account published in the New-York Weekly Magazine."}]