Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime That Captivated a Nation by Bruce Dorsey
A pregnant Sarah Maria Cornell died in December 1832, that much is certain. But how she came to be hanging near that fateful haystack is, and has been, up for debate. As the scandalous details unfolded including the alleged murderer and father of Cornell's unborn child, a Methodist church leader, possible insanity of the victim, and plenty of sinful and illicit activities, the town and the nation became enraptured in America's very first "crime of the century."
Meticulously, thoughtfully, and carefully, author Bruce Dorsey lays out the facts, as far as they can be understood, the court case, the fictions that erupted around Cornell's death including plays, songs, and poems, and the context for all of it. While at times the narrative can get a bit inundated with these details, the overarching story is compelling, iconic, and an important historical flashpoint which makes Murder in a Mill Town worth a read.
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