Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England
In 1832, Sarah Cornell, an unmarried, pregnant mill-worker, was found hanged. A married Methodist minister was charged with the murder; his defense depended on showing Cornell's depravity. The trial threw tensions into relief: traditional New England, the new industries, independent wage-earning women, growing Methodism. It attracted prominent lawyers, avid reporters, playwrights, and pamphleteers. Citizen-amateur investigators raised questions science could not yet answer. Kasserman scrupulously reconstructs events and supplies contexts for evaluation but avoids imposing interpretations, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions. The historical care will engage scholars and true-crime buffs. Sally Mitchell, English Dept., Temple Univ., PhiladelphiaCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.