When I thought about true crime I used to envision those dreadful supermarket tabloids and cheap paperbacks with lurid covers that according to my Shakespeare scholar English professor mother only certain people (not us) read. Now the popular podcasts that have made the genre so much more mainstream come to mind. But I certainly never envisioned a cold case that goes back, not years or decades but centuries and inspired one of those classic novels by long deceased white men most of us had to discuss the themes of to pass high school English...
...until I read Kate Winkler Dawson's The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynn.
On a frigid December night in 1832 Rhode Island farmer John Durfee stumbled upon a gruesome sight. The body of a young woman, Sarah Maria Cornell, was found hanging by her neck.
Back then they didn't have the resources we have now to identify causes of death. The men, without examining Sarah (because preparation of corpses for burial was women's work then) proclaimed that she had committed suicide. Her doctor, who lived nearby, had said she was pregnant out of wedlock. They figured in light of this evidence of her sinful conduct well of course she'd want to take her life.
The women who washed Sarah's body disagreed. They had found massive evidence of violence and realized that she was murdered. When they were looking through her possessions to try to locate nearest of kin they found a slip of paper with a cryptic message. If she was ever missing they should look for Ephraim Avery, a very charismatic Methodist minister.
Anyone who has ever set foot in a Methodist church in this century will find this hard to believe (as I did), but in the early decades of the nineteenth century the Methodist Church was not part of the religious establishment. With their "not properly trained" clergy and those scandalous outdoor revivals, presumed to be the site of sexual promiscuity and other sins, Methodist ministers were the cautionary tale Congregational and Episcopal congregations were warned about in Sunday sermons. So a lot of people then would have believed a minister murdering to cover up evidence of his misdeeds to be highly credible.
The book's subtitle alludes to two authors. Catherine Read Arnold Williams came on the scene about half a year after Sarah's death when the trial of her accused killer was breaking news. She was a divorced single parent at a time when it was very challenging. She was supporting herself and her daughter by revenue from her published books. Her methodology and the reflection that went into writing Fall River, considered by many to be America's true crime story, constitutes an important strand in the overall narrative.
The second author, Kate Winkler Dawson, entered the picture about a century and a half after Catherine's death. She was able to bring the investigative techniques developed since the early nineteenth century to an analysis of not only the crime and investigation, but the work and biases of her deceased co author.
So who would I recommend The Sinners All Bow to? 1) True crime story affecianados. We're talking solid narrative with a lot of suspense and complexity. 2) History buffs with an interest in the early years of the industrial revolution. 3) Feminist scholars for its insights into the position of women in this tumultuous time.
On a purrrsonal note, Eugene and I had a super 36th anniversary. He took me to Applebee's for supper and then we went for a drive. It was very hot and humid. I've been putting the backpacks 🎒 together to distribute at the barbeque. I just have to buy a few more items with donated money. I'm really looking forward to seeing the happy kids and families.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and to people who have donated backpacks, school supplies, and money.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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