Esther Hagadorn was an American abolitionist who lived in Munsons Corners, Cortland County, New York during the American Civil War. The daughter of the Radical Republican Jehoiada Hagadorn and the sister of Benaiah Hagadorn, she shared her family's anti-slavery views, but she developed a romance with Thomas Jefferson Beech, the son of Copperhead activist Abner Beech. In 1862, Thomas enlisted in the Union Army to impress Esther. After her father rallied a crowd to burn down Abner Beech's home in retribution for the Copperheads' 1862 election victories in New York, Esther warned the Beeches and hid in their farm's wine cellar as the farmstead burned down. Her father located her locket among the debris of the farmhouse and, believing that he had killed his own daughter, he hanged himself. Benaiah helped Thomas return home shortly after, and he and Esther continued their relationship.