HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Site of the 1833 LeBlanc ax murders — the Morristown farmhouse where three people were killed in one night and the killer's skin was reportedly tanned into purses
217 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public sidewalk drive-by. No admission. The building has operated as commercial space; exterior viewing from South Street is always accessible.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalk along South Street.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1800 · Site of 1833 triple murder by Antoine LeBlanc · LeBlanc's execution drew an estimated 12,000 spectators to the Morristown Green · LeBlanc's skin reportedly tanned into leather objects — held by Morris County Historical Society · National Register of Historic Places listing · Considered 'Trial of the (19th) Century' in New Jersey legal history
Antoine LeBlanc arrived in Morris County in the spring of 1833, a French-speaking immigrant who had taken work as a farmhand for Samuel Sayre, a well-regarded Morristown merchant, and his wife. The couple lived with a servant, Phoebe, at their farmhouse on South Street. By accounts compiled by the North Jersey History & Genealogy Center, LeBlanc resented his situation, had accumulated debts, and had formed a plan to rob the household and flee.
On the night of May 11, 1833, LeBlanc killed all three occupants: Mr. Sayre and Mrs. Sayre with an ax, and Phoebe with a club. He buried the bodies in a manure pile on the property in an apparent attempt to conceal the crime. LeBlanc was arrested shortly afterward — he was found with the Sayre family's silver — tried in Morris County, and convicted of murder.
The public hanging took place on the Morristown Green on September 6, 1833. Contemporary accounts estimated 12,000 people attended, making it one of the most heavily attended public executions in New Jersey history. The crowd and the spectacle reflected both the notoriety of the triple murder and the era's public attitude toward criminal justice.
What followed the execution attracted its own historical attention. LeBlanc's body was given to physicians for an anatomical demonstration. According to the Wikipedia entry and local historical accounts, his skin was subsequently tanned into leather and made into small objects — a wallet, purses, and other items — that were kept as curiosities. A group of these objects, along with a death mask of LeBlanc's face, was discovered in a shed in the Morristown area in 1995. The objects are now held by the Morris County Historical Society.
The Sayre property at 217 South Street passed through successive owners and uses across the 19th and 20th centuries, including conversion to restaurant use. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Paranormal accounts, particularly connected to the servant Phoebe, appear in local ghost-lore accounts of Morristown.
Sources
Among the three murder victims at the Sayre farmhouse, Phoebe — the family's servant — is the figure most associated with paranormal accounts of 217 South Street. The reasoning offered in local ghost-lore is consistent: Samuel and Mrs. Sayre belonged to a family with social standing and a named legacy, but Phoebe's identity, beyond her first name, has largely disappeared from the historical record. That erasure, combined with the brutality of her death, makes her the residual figure in accounts of the site.
Morristown's broader haunted reputation — the Morristown Green itself, the surrounding historic district, the Ford Mansion — provides context for the Sayre house stories. The LeBlanc case was one of the most sensational events in 19th-century Morris County history, and its aftermath (the execution spectacle, the tanning of LeBlanc's skin) generated the kind of cultural residue that tends to accumulate in local ghost narratives.
The property has changed hands and uses multiple times since 1833. Paranormal accounts are anecdotal and informal, appearing in local walking-tour descriptions and Weird NJ-adjacent oral tradition rather than in documented investigation reports. The building's significance as a dark tourism site rests primarily on the documented historical record of the murders rather than on verified paranormal investigation.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The building at 217 South Street stands on the site of the 1833 Sayre farmhouse where Antoine LeBlanc murdered three people. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The North Jersey History & Genealogy Center at the Morristown and Morris Township Library holds primary documents on the case a short walk away.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Kansas City, MO
On June 17, 1933, gunmen ambushed a federal law-enforcement party in the south parking lot of Kansas City Union Station, killing four officers — including FBI Special Agent Raymond Caffrey — and the prisoner they were transporting, escaped bank robber Frank Nash. The FBI attributed the attack primarily to Vernon Miller and, controversially, to Pretty Boy Floyd and Adam Richetti. The killings outraged Congress and directly prompted legislation granting FBI agents the permanent authority to carry firearms and make arrests.
Morristown, NJ
Morristown Green has served as the civic center of Morris County since the colonial period. On September 6, 1833, it was the site of the last public execution in Morris County when Antoine LeBlanc was hanged before an estimated 12,000 spectators for the ax-and-club murders of his employer Samuel Sayre, Sayre's wife, and their servant Phoebe. The crowd that gathered was one of the largest public assemblages in New Jersey's early history.
Flemington, NJ
The Hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington was completed in 1828 in the Greek Revival style and has served continuously as the county's seat of justice. Its significance in American history is primarily the 1935 trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, convicted here for the kidnapping and first-degree murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh. The trial lasted six weeks and drew international press coverage, earning the 'Trial of the Century' designation.