Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England [Paperback]

David Richard Kasserman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0812212223 | ISBN-13: 978-0812212228 | Publication Date: April 1, 1986

Fall River Outrage recounts one of the most sensational and widely reported murder cases in early nineteenth-century America. When, in 1832, a pregnant mill worker was found hanged, the investigation implicated a prominent Methodist minister. Fearing adverse publicity, both the industrialists of Fall River and the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church engaged in energetic campaigns to obtain a favorable verdict. It was also one of the earliest attempts by American lawyers to prove their client innocent by assassinating the moral character of the female victim. Fall River Outrage provides insight in American social, legal, and labor history as well as women's studies.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

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., Philadelphia
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A meticulous account that reads as engrossing as a modern murder mystery. . . . A deeply textured and highly readable book on which any such synthesis [about the social forces in Jacksonian America] must draw."—New York Times

"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."—Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (April 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812212223
• ISBN-13: 978-0812212228
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,470,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The murder of Sarah Cornell, or Church vs. State, April 25, 2009

By 

Rose Keefe "author" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England (Paperback)

Sixty years before Lizzie Borden and her legendary axe splashed blood over the name of Fall River, Massachusetts, the growing community was the site of a murder that put the industrial revolution and the Methodist faith on trial.

In December 1832, unmarried and pregnant mill worker Sarah Maria Cornell was found hanging from a haystack support pole outside Fall River. A prominent Methodist minister named Ephraim Kingsbury Avery was accused of seducing and then murdering her. When Avery went to trial, two large and opposing institutions faced off.

The Fall River industrialists portrayed Sarah Cornell as an innocent victim of a "wicked married man". Kasserman wrote, "In trying to clear her name, they protected their own." Their concerns were valid: in 1832 more women were leaving their parents' homes to take jobs in mills and factories, and if these workplaces became known as hotbeds of immorality, parental intervention could deprive them of badly needed workers.

The Methodist Episcopal Church supported the opposite impression of the victim: the more lascivious she appeared to have been, the less likely it was that Avery alone had a reason to kill her. Methodism, with its emphasis on emotionality and easy salvation, was regarded with suspicion in a society dominated by the austere Calvinist Congregational Church. The Methodist leaders could ill afford to have a scandal topple the precarious position the church occupied in Jacksonian America. Apparently Avery's lawyers, in condemning Sarah Cornell as a harlot, were the first to use the character of the female victim as a defense strategy.

Although I enjoyed this book, it might not be suitable reading for those who prefer a lighter, creative nonfiction approach to crime writing. Kasserman adheres faithfully to the record, and does not condense much for the sake of clarity or smooth flow. Personally, I'm glad that he was so thorough. Such solid research contributes greatly to our understanding of early American society.

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly an Outrage, October 24, 2011

By 

Mary Ingram (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England (Paperback)

This is an extremely well written book. A young girl,
a factory worker in Lowell, MA in the 1830's was found
hanged in a most gruesome way. She had left a note that
if anything happened to her to go to this certain
Methodist minister who was very well known. Authorities
discovered she was pregnant when hanged. On the day
she asked for time off in the afternoon to meet someone.
Later it was discovered it was the minister who denied
he had murdered her. Thus began a trial and what a trial.
In some ways I was surprised authorities were as far
advanced as they were in finding information. Although
it was biased right from the first. The girl had had a
checkered past and they tore her past into bits trying
to make her look as bad as they could. Of course to their
way of thinking the minister could not be guilty of doing
the least wrong thing so you can well imagine how it was
going to turn out. But in the end-you have heard how
some get their just desserts so to speak. To put it
mildly I do not think I would have liked to have lived
in that time. It's strange when you think about it;
moderately modern times really did not even begin in
earnest until 1900 and then we had a few years to go
at that.

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder most local, August 25, 2011

By 

Beryl F (Norwich, CT) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fall River Outrage: Life, Murder, and Justice in Early Industrial New England (Paperback)

Few would realize the intrigue of a local court case in 1832. The first reading left me a bit confused but interested so a second attempt armed with a map CT, RI and MA helped as did a pad and pen for character notes and references as the presentation is a bit hard to follow. It would make a great movie.