09/01/2026
We have the sign in front of our house about The John Love Murder. I attached the picture of our sign in comments. 😱
THREE BROTHERS, ONE GALLOWS — BUFFALO, NEW YORK — 1825
On June 7, 1825, Buffalo witnessed one of the most extraordinary and grim spectacles in its early history.
Three brothers—Nelson, Israel Jr. and Isaac Thayer—were brought to the west side of Niagara Square, where all three would be hanged together on a single gallows for the murder of John Love.
The story had begun miles away in the wilderness of the young Town of Boston, New York.
The Thayers were a poor family headed by their father, Israel Thayer. Living with them for periods of time was John Love, a boarder who reportedly worked as a sailor during the summer and a peddler during the winter. Love had also loaned money to the family.
Then, in the fall of 1824, John Love disappeared.
Before long, people noticed something peculiar.
The Thayer brothers suddenly seemed to have more money than before—and they were seen riding Love's horse.
When questioned, they claimed Love had gone away and had allowed them to use the animal.
But suspicion grew stronger when the brothers attempted to collect debts owed to Love and produced what was believed to be a forged power of attorney.
Something had happened to John Love.
A reward of $10 was eventually offered for the discovery of his body.
Months after his disappearance, the terrible truth emerged.
Love's remains were discovered in a shallow grave only a short distance from Israel Jr.'s cabin, concealed with brush in a gully. By then winter had frozen the ground, and several months had passed since Love had vanished.
The entire Thayer family—the father and his three sons—was arrested.
Eventually, the three brothers confessed to the murder.
Their father was released.
For Nelson, Israel Jr. and Isaac, however, there would be no return home.
They were sentenced to death.
And Buffalo was chosen for their ex*****on.
THE GALLOWS AT NIAGARA SQUARE
On June 7, crowds poured into Buffalo.
Some historical accounts place the number of spectators at an astonishing 30,000 people.
Try to imagine Niagara Square not as we know it today, surrounded by City Hall and downtown buildings, but as it appeared more than two centuries ago.
No automobiles.
No electric lights.
No modern skyline.
And gathered around one wooden gallows...
thousands upon thousands of people waiting to watch three brothers die.
A sermon was delivered before the ex*****on.
Then came one of the strangest details associated with the story.
As the condemned brothers faced the enormous crowd, accounts describe them behaving in a bizarre and defiant manner.
They reportedly began imitating animals.
They barked.
They crowed.
They made animal sounds toward the spectators who had gathered to watch their ex*****on.
Imagine being somewhere in that immense crowd.
The murmuring of thousands of people surrounds you.
Above them stand three condemned brothers.
And from the gallows come the unmistakable sounds of men barking and crowing like animals.
Was it mockery?
Defiance?
Fear?
A final attempt to shock the people who had come to watch them die?
Whatever the reason, it became another disturbing detail attached to an already extraordinary event.
Then the moment arrived.
On a single gallows on the west side of Niagara Square, Nelson, Israel Jr. and Isaac Thayer were hanged together.
Three brothers.
One gallows.
And according to historical accounts, a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands.
Today, people cross Niagara Square every day.
Cars circle the square. Workers hurry toward offices. Visitors photograph Buffalo City Hall. Festivals and celebrations fill the surrounding streets.
Most probably have no idea what happened on that same ground in 1825.
More than two centuries have passed since the Thayer brothers stood upon the gallows.
The wilderness surrounding Buffalo disappeared.
The city grew around Niagara Square.
And the thousands of people who witnessed that strange June day eventually disappeared into history themselves.
But the story survived.
A murder in the wilderness.
A body hidden in a shallow grave.
A forged document.
Three brothers sentenced to death.
Thousands gathered in Niagara Square.
And in their final moments...
the strange sound of animals coming from the gallows.
Buffalo's past is filled with remarkable stories.
Some inspiring.
Some mysterious.
And some very, very dark.
This was Buffalo in 1825.
BUT DID THE THAYER BROTHERS EVER LEAVE NIAGARA SQUARE?
More than a century after the ex*****on, Buffalo City Hall rose beside Niagara Square, opening in 1931 on a site at the western edge of the square.
The gallows are long gone.
The thousands who gathered to witness the ex*****on are gone.
But according to Buffalo ghost lore, the story of the Thayer brothers may not have ended in 1825.
Over the years, paranormal stories have become associated with Niagara Square and Buffalo City Hall, and one modern Buffalo ghost-tour tradition specifically connects unexplained sounds around City Hall with the three executed brothers.
Some say the brothers can still be heard calling out from beyond the grave.
That possibility becomes especially unsettling when remembering accounts of their final moments.
Before their ex*****on, the brothers were said to have behaved strangely before the enormous crowd, reportedly barking, crowing and imitating the sounds of animals.
Imagine Niagara Square late at night.
The traffic has disappeared.
City Hall towers above the empty square.
The streets are quiet.
Then, somewhere in the darkness, you hear a strange cry.
Perhaps a shout.
Perhaps something resembling an animal.
You turn around...
and no one is there.
Is it simply the wind moving between the buildings?
The ordinary sounds of a city after dark?
Or could Niagara Square somehow retain an echo of the extraordinary scene that unfolded there nearly two centuries ago?
There is no historical evidence proving that the spirits of the Thayer brothers haunt Buffalo City Hall. That part of the story belongs to Buffalo's paranormal folklore rather than documented history.
But the ex*****on itself was very real.
Three brothers stood together on a single gallows in Niagara Square while a crowd estimated in the tens of thousands watched them die.
And today, Buffalo City Hall stands beside the square where it happened.
So the next time you find yourself walking through Niagara Square after dark...
listen.
Because according to the legend, the Thayer brothers may still have something to say. Visitors and staff at Buffalo City Hall report hearing strange oinking and pig-squealing noises in the stairwells and lobby during the early morning hours.
