the grounds, destroyed the gardens and orchards, set bonfires, and pulled down fences. The mob then left the grounds and dispersed a few hours later. Investigation, arrests, and trial The committee established by Mayor Lyman met every day except Sundays from August 13 to August 27. Testimony heard by this committee, and by the Charlestown selectmen's committee, led to thirteen arrests, of which eight were for the capital crimes of arson or burglary. The trials of the defendants began on December 2, 1834 with the trial of John R. Buzzell, the self-confessed ringleader of the mob. State Attorney General James T. Austin protested the early date of the trial, since death threats had been issued against any potential witnesses for the prosecution. Buzzell himself later stated, "The testimony against me was point blank and sufficient to have convicted twenty men, but somehow I proved an alibi, and the jury brought in a victory of not guilty, after having been out for twenty-one hours." Eventually, twelve of the thirteen defendants were acquitted. The thirteenth, a sixteen-year-old who had participated in book-burning at the riot, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. He was pardoned by Governor John Davis in response to multiple petitions, including one signed by five thousand citizens of Boston whose signatories included Bishop Fenwick and Mother Superior Mary St. George. Role of Lyman Beecher Rev. Lyman Beecher, a prominent Presbyterian minister, president of the Lane Theological Seminary, was preaching in the Boston area during the summer of 1834. "Catholics blamed Lyman, and charged that the churls had been 'goaded on by Dr. Lyman Beecher', but Lyman insisted that the sermon 'to which the mob ascribed was preached before his presence in Boston was generally known, and on the very evening of the riot, some miles distant from the scene, and that probably not one of the rioters had heard it or even 'knew of its delivery'. Nevertheless, the convent was burned, and just at the season when Lyman was alerting Massachusetts to danger from the 'despotic character and hostile designs of popery'." Aftermath The investigative committee formed by Mayor Lyman had recommended that the city of Charlestown or the county of Middlesex indemnify the diocese of Boston for the loss of the convent property; or, if they did not act, that the Massachusetts legislature investigate the matter and provide compensation. Following this recommendation, Bishop Fenwick