Taking the Tour

On the trail of the Josie Langmaid murder

STORY & PHOTOS BY MARSHALL HUDSON

Our little convoy pulled out of the parking lot at Pembroke Town Library, took a hard right and traveled back in time 150 years.

The convoy was three cars strong and interconnected by cellphones so each passenger could hear the narrative being given by the tour guide in the lead vehicle.

Our tour guide, Ms. Avree Kelly Clark, is the author of the book, “Malice Aforethought,” which tells the true and tragic story of the murder of Josie Langmaid in 1875.

Clark is bubbly and enthusiastic and speaks rapidly. She effortlessly rattles off dates and names as she points out places of relevance along the tour while engaging us with the Langmaid story. As we drive Pembroke’s main streets and backroads, the phone coverage is spotty in places, and the call drops, leaving some caravan riders playing catch-up when the call reconnects. I’m fortunate to be riding shotgun in the lead vehicle and not missing any of the details.

We learn that, on the morning of Oct. 4, 1875, Josie Langmaid was getting ready to leave for school but running late. Josie is described as pretty, intelligent and well-liked by her peers, teachers and neighbors. Seventeen-year-old Josie usually walked to school with her brother, Waldo, who was a year younger.

They attended Pembroke Academy, about 2½ miles from the Langmaid farm. Typically, the siblings would link up with friends and other students also on their way to school. Lilia Fowler was a particularly close friend of Josie. The two girls were nearly the same age, and Lilia often waited for Josie so they could walk together.

That morning, Josie was alone because she had left the farm late, and her brother had gone on ahead. Josie planned to meet up with Lilia Fowler, but Lilia waited as long she dared, and not wanting to be late for school herself, she accepted a ride from a passing neighbor in a horsedrawn wagon. Josie did not arrive at school that day, and her brother, Waldo, assumed she had stayed home.

When Waldo returned home after school and their parents learned that Josie had not made it to school, they contacted friends and neighbors, and a search party was quickly organized to scour the woods between the Langmaids’ home and Pembroke Academy.

When darkness fell the search continued, with men using torches to light their way in the woods. About 9 o’clock that evening, the body of Josie Langmaid was found half a mile from the school. By flickering torchlight, the searchers could see that her clothing was torn and her head was not with her body.

The next morning the search continued, and Josie’s head was found about a half mile from where her body had been located the night before. Out at the road searchers found a broken, bloodstained, wooden club. The townspeople of Pembroke and Suncook were both heartbroken and outraged that a crime so heinous had been committed in their midst. They were also frightened that the monster who had committed it was still on the loose.

The killer turned out to be a man named Joseph LePage. LePage lived in Suncook with his wife and children but was originally from Quebec. He spoke very little English and worked as a woodcutter chopping wood for the Pembroke mills.

LePage was eventually caught, tried and found guilty of murder in the first degree. His attorney appealed the verdict on the grounds that some of the testimony was not relevant and should not have been admitted. The state Supreme Court agreed, and the verdict was thrown out. LePage was tried a second time and was again convicted and sentenced to hang.

On March 14, 1878, the day before his execution, the condemned man made his last confession to two Catholic priests. Likely out of fear of the afterlife and wanting to confess his sins, LePage confessed his crimes.

He admitted to raping and killing Josie Langmaid and described a spot where he had hidden a ring and some of Josie’s other possessions. The items were found where LePage indicated, eliminating any doubt that he was the killer. LePage was hanged for his horrible act on March 15, 1878.

Josie was buried in the Langmaid family plot at the Buck Street Cemetery on the east side of Pembroke. Our caravan stopped at this cemetery so our tour group could pay respects and place flowers on the final resting place of the murdered schoolgirl. Josie’s younger brother, Waldo, lies in a grave beside her, along with their mother and father.

Our tour continued on to a tall monument erected by the citizens of Pembroke to remember Josie. The monument is situated near the murder site, and engraved upon it are directions out into the swampy woods and the location where her body was found. The hardy members of our tour group trekked into the woods to see a leaning granite post quietly marking the spot. It was here that our tour guide, Avree Kelly Clark, attempted to answer our questions.

From his confession and the information provided about hiding Josie’s ring, Joseph LePage must have been the killer. But did he confess the whole truth? Evidence suggests there were other victims as well and unanswered questions remain. Clark believes Lilia Fowler may have been the intended victim and Josie was an unfortunate girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is also speculation that LePage may not have acted alone. Clark probes at these unanswered questions in her book and welcomed hearing our differing opinions.

Our now pensive and somber group returns to the cars and convoys to the Suncook mill tenement housing where LePage once resided, and then on to the jail that once confined him while awaiting trial. Wrapping up the tour, our convoy makes a hard right turn and travels back into the Pembroke Library parking lot, and back into the present after a glimpse of life and a tragic death in 1875. Rest in peace, Josie Langmaid — you are not forgotten.

Josie Langmaid, who was murdered on Oct. 4, 1875, lived with her family in Pembroke.

Top: Avree Kelly Clark, author of a book about the 1875 murder of Josie Langmaid (above), leads a tour in Pembroke that includes a visit to Langmaid’s grave.