Murder in a Mill Town

History as true crime, Murder in a Mill Town tells a story of sex, religion, and violence, delving into the nation's first "trial of the century." Illuminating how the young American nation confronted sexual violence, abortion, suicides, mobs, "fake news," conspiracy politics, and sensational popular culture, its plots and twists echo from the past into the present.

Bruce Dorsey is a Professor of History at Swarthmore College. He is the author of the award-winning Reforming Men and Women: Gender in the Antebellum City. He lives in New York City and Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Preface: Before the Curtain Rises
Act I Murder
1. The Haystack
2. The Manufacturer
3. A Troubled Marriage
4. Native Sons
5. "Useful in this World"
6. "Factory Girl"
7. "Crazy Dow"
8. A Methodist Family
9. Moving Planet
10. Circuit Rider
11. Slanderer
12. Moral Police
13. Examination
14. Manhunt
15. "If I am missing"
Act II Trial
16. Courtroom Tales
17. Physicians, Bodies, and Women
18. Doctor Visits
19. Sex Talk
20. Bad Stories
21. Passions and Self-Murder
22. "This most extraordinary of all cases"
Act III Scandal
23. Mobs and More Murders
24. Conspiracies
25. Vindication
26. Camp Meetings
27. Seduction
28. Fake News
29. Stage and Song
Coda
Notes
Index