| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 164 pages) : illustrations |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Prologue: the Kutztown Folk Festival -- Reading and the Oley Valley -- Fingers of guilt -- Middling stiff -- When law and humanity had but faint connection -- Twelve honest men -- A distraction from grim tidings -- As innocent as a child -- The last melancholy resource -- Ten o'clock to two o'clock and fifty minutes -- Slinking off anonymously -- A last hope -- Seduced by the devil -- Confession -- I poor wretch -- A final jolt -- Peace be to her -- The printers of Exeter Township -- The sad, sad song of Susanna Cox -- Advice from the dead to the living -- Her exit--infamy -- Epilogue: back to the festival. |
| Summary |
The unfortunate Susanna Cox gained notoriety for killing her illegitimate infant son. The fatal episode led to her hanging in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1809, the last public execution of a woman in the commonwealth. But was Susanna really the culprit? The legend of her fate, repeated in Pennsylvania German broadsides by the generations that followed, suggests she herself was a victim. Now, in this first full-length investigation into the tragedy, new evidence reveals some startling facts about how indifference, an undeveloped court system, and the inexact science of nineteenth-century forensics combined to determine Susanna's tragic fate. A full look at how Susanna's "sad song" became romanticized through broadside ballads follows, complete with illustrations. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Cox, Susanna, -1809.
|
|
Cox, Susanna, -1809. |
|
Cox, Susanna, -1809. |
|
Filicide -- Pennsylvania -- Berks County.
|
|
Filicide. |
|
Pennsylvania -- Berks County. |
|
Unmarried mothers -- Pennsylvania -- Berks County.
|
|
Unmarried mothers. |
|
Women murderers -- Pennsylvania -- Berks County.
|
|
Women murderers. |
|
Berks County (Pa.) -- History.
|
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
|
History.
|
| Added Author |
Earnest, Russell D.
|
|
Earnest, Corinne P.
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Suter, Patricia. Hanging of Susanna Cox. Mechanicsburg, PA : Stackpole Books, ©2010 9780811705608 (DLC) 2009049337 (OCoLC)473655667 |
| ISBN |
9780811740586 (electronic book) |
|
0811740587 (electronic book) |
|
1282934848 |
|
9781282934849 |
|
9780811705608 |
|
0811705609 |
|
