Horsewhip Dispute Between McKenzie Family Stirs Norwood Church Circles

Norwood found itself in the midst of a lively and uncomfortable controversy this week after a horsewhipping incident between two well‑known brothers on Walpole Street spilled into both the Orthodox and Universalist church communities.

According to accounts, Mrs. Charles McKenzie openly admitted to striking her brother‑in‑law, Robert McKenzie, with a horsewhip during a confrontation on Sunday afternoon. The dispute, however, reaches far deeper than the moment of the assault, touching on years of family tension, property disagreements, and strained church relationships.

Years ago, Charles McKenzie, after earning a modest fortune at Winslow’s Tannery, moved with his wife and children to Peabody to start a business. The venture failed, and before leaving Norwood he transferred his Walpole Street homestead to Robert’s wife, who lived directly across the street. Charles later returned to Norwood, resumed work at the tannery, and after the death of his first wife, remarried.

This second marriage, it is said, was not welcomed by Robert, his wife, or even Charles’s children. The parties have since refused repeated requests to re‑transfer the property to Charles’s present wife, and the dispute has created considerable bitterness.

On Sunday, Robert claims he was returning from inspecting an old well on the neighboring property when Mrs. McKenzie approached him and struck him over the head and shoulders with a horsewhip. He says he allowed two blows before restraining her.

Mrs. McKenzie offers a sharply different account. She states that Robert was trespassing, that she told him he had no right on the property, and that he responded by claiming ownership and striking her, knocking her to the ground. She says she rose immediately and administered the whipping in response.

Mrs. McKenzie has sworn out a complaint in Judge Marden’s District Court, alleging assault and battery. A warrant was served on Robert McKenzie this morning at his workplace, ordering him to appear in Stoughton on Saturday to answer the charge.

The matter has caused considerable discussion in both church communities, where the families are active and well‑known, and where the dispute over property and family loyalty has now become a public affair.

Source: Boston Globe, April 25, 1893