On June 11, 1778, Loyalist David Redding, then living in Hoosick, N.Y., was hanged in the village of Bennington for “enemical conduct” after not one, but two trials. It was the first execution carried out in the fledgling independent state of Vermont (though it would not be the last).

Ethan Allen, newly released from British captivity, served as the State’s prosecutor in the second trial. Redding’s execution was only the beginning of his odyssey through history. Denied burial in 1778, his bones were not interred until 1981.

This illustrated presentation will look at Redding’s supposed crimes, his trials, his death, the fate of his bones, and how his case became an obsession for John Spargo, the founding director of the Bennington Museum.

Phil Holland has had a career as an English teacher and writer, but in semi-retirement, he has indulged a lifelong interest in history. He’s written about Robert Frost’s years in Bennington County, and a new edition of his popular book on the Battle of Bennington and the Bennington Monument will be out later this month. He’s a Vermont Humanities Speakers Bureau speaker and has spoken at MCL before, on the topic of Robert Frost. He first came to this region from Athol, Mass., to attend Bennington College, and he now lives happily on a dead-end dirt road in Pownal.

This presentation has been brought to the Library in partnership with the Manchester Historical Society as a part of Bennington 250, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Vermont Republic.