John C. Best was born on April 8, 1865, in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, to Thomas Easton Best and Zilpha Sears. He was one of nine children and worked as a local farmhand before moving to Massachusetts. Mr. Best worked at J.B. Renton, a heel manufacturer, and later at Breakheart Hill Farm, which George E. Bailey owned. Mr. Best worked there in exchange for food and lodging.
Officials executed Mr. Best by electrocution in Boston, MA, on September 10, 1902, at 37.
