The Murder of Mary Bean: And Other Stories

By Elizabeth A. DeWolfe, Dina Nayeri, Elizabeth De Wolfe

Book Overview

Winner of the New England Historical Book Award and the Peter C. Rollins Book Award

The facts and fiction of an infamous New England murder

When the winter ice melted in April 1850, residents of Saco, Maine, made a gruesome discovery: the body of a young girl submerged in a stream. Thanks to evidence left at the scene, a local physician was arrested and tried for the death of Mary Bean, the name given to the unidentified young girl; the cause of death was failed abortion. Garnering extensive newspaper coverage, the trial revealed many secrets: a poorly trained doctor, connections to an unsolved murder in New Hampshire, and the true identity of "Mary Bean"--a young Canadian mill worker named Berengera Caswell, missing since the previous winter. The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories examines the series of events that led Caswell to become Mary Bean and the intense curiosity and anxiety stimulated by this heavily watched trial.

In addition to the sensationalist murder accounts, De Wolfe looks back at these events through a wide-angle lens exploring such themes as the rapid social changes brought about by urbanization and industrialization in antebellum nineteenth-century society, factory work and the changing roles for women, unregulated sexuality and the specter of abortion, and the sentimental novel as a guidebook. She posits that the real threat to women in the nineteenth century was not murder but a society that had ambiguous feelings about the role of women in the economic system, in education, and as independent citizens.

Sure to place this case among the classics of crime literature, The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories features two reprinted accounts of Caswell's death, both fictional and originally printed in the 1850s, as well as an introduction that places these salacious accounts in a historical context. This book serves not simply as true crime but, rather, presents a seamy side of rapid industrial growth and the public anxiety over the emerging economic roles of women.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0873389182
• ISBN13: 9780873389181
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Kent State University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Death is the wages of sin

In April 1850, the residents of Saco, Maine, were shocked when the rat-gnawed body of what had once been a beautiful young woman was retrieved from an icy stream. All evidence pointed to a failed abortion as the cause of death, resulting in the arrest and trial of a prominent local doctor. The girl was referred to as Mary Bean, but the news coverage that attended the trial revealed that she was really Berengera Caswell, a young Canadian factory worker who had gone to the physician for `treatment' after being seduced and denied marriage. The case focused public attention on the perils of factory work, which took thousands of girls out of their parents' homes, and exposed societal discomfort with the evolving economic independence of women. Elizabeth DeWolfe has done a spectacular research and writing job. Her sources include Caswell family descendants, contemporary press reports of the trial, and authoritative accounts of early nineteenth century factory conditions. She explores the history of the penny press and the legal and social ambiguity surrounding abortion in ante-bellum America without crossing the line from academic analysis into a dull recital of facts. "The Murder of Mary Bean" is of particular interest because it reprints two fictional accounts, originally published in 1852, of Berengera Caswell's seduction and ruin. One, "Mary Bean, Factory Girl" cautions women that death is the wages of illicit passion, while the other, "Life of George Hamilton", uses treachery, murder, and suicide to keep men on the path on the path of righteousness. Although both plots bear a meagre resemblance to the real circumstances of Caswell's murder, they are fascinating examples of the true crime genre during its infancy.

Mystifying Murder.

This book is absolutely fantastic. Dr. Elizabeth De Wolfe tells the elusive story of Berengera Caswell/Mary Bean in a chilling way, but includes interesting facts about 1850. As a reader, I truly felt like I was being transported to Saco Maine in 1850 and found this poor girl's body strapped to a board in the culvert of Woodbury Brook. A fascinating story, and a wonderful true crime read!