This article delves into the chilling murder of Sarah Cornell in 1832, uncovering a story of religious fervor, social upheaval, and a chilling injustice. While initially suspected as suicide, the discovery of bruises and a cryptic note led to accusations against Reverend Ephraim Avery. Explore this gripping true crime tale, examining the societal pressures faced by working women, the complexities of faith and morality, and the lasting impact of this unsolved case.
In the world of true crime , Fall River , Massachusetts, is known for Lizzie Borden, but another murder 60 years earlier captivated New England. Decades before Borden was born, another murder trial captured the attention of New Englanders — that of Methodist minister Ephraim Avery . 'I was really drawn in when I read the letters that she wrote her family,' says Kate Winkler Dawson, true crime historian and author of the new book about the case.
'And then, of course, there's this ominous note that she wrote and she locked in a trunk.' Sarah Cornell was known as a kind, generous woman as well as a skilled seamstress and weaver. She worked in Fall River in 1832, one of the many women who'd left their families to earn a living in the new factories that had sprung up all over New England. 'It was cheap, reliable labor for the factory owners, because you don't have men who are drinking and carousing around,' says Dawson. 'You had factory owners who were courting families and these young women and saying, 'Please come work for us, you'll have some financial independence. And, you know, you can kind of control your own life. We'll keep you protected.'' This was a big shift. Women had typically married, raised families, and otherwise stayed at home. If they earned wages, it was usually doing domestic work. 'It made people very uncomfortable, as any shift in society makes people uncomfortable if they want to stay rooted in their old-fashioned ways' says Dawson. 'And so I think the women were looked at, not with skepticism, but just really kind of cautiously, because with independence comes, really, the opportunity of becoming sinful. And this was a very, very religious area.' Sarah Cornell was herself enamored with the Methodist movement, which then was known for its charismatic style of worship: passionate preaching and camp meetings that lasted for days. 'They frankly sound like Burning Man, with religion,' says Dawson. 'There is alcohol. There are certainly a lot of flirting and certainly sex, to a point where one of my sources had said that there was a phrase called 'tent babies,' meaning: people would get pregnant so often at these tent revivals.' On the morning of December 21, 1832, on a farm on the southern part of town that was then in Tiverton, Rhode Island, John Durfee saw a figure hanging by the neck from one of his hay poles. The corpse was dressed in a dark, heavy cloak and bonnet, its legs were bent with knees not far from the ground. 'It was 26 degrees overnight, so cold that her hair had been frozen to her face. She'd been there all night, which is horrible to think about,' says Dawson. Durfee yelled. Neighbors came running to his farm, including a doctor named Thomas Wilbur. He recognized the woman as his patient, and told those gathered that she'd been distraught: she was unmarried and pregnant. But at first, he didn't tell all that he knew. The ground beneath Cornell was undisturbed, and her shoes were neatly next to her, says Dawson. 'I just don't think it occurred to any of the men looking at her that this was anything but a suicide, the end to a sad girl's story.' But when the body was brought inside, and the town matrons undressed it to wash and prepare it for burial, they immediately noticed scratches, abrasions, skinned knees stained with grass, and bruises along Cornell's back. Bruises around both hips looked as they were made by large hands. Inside her trunk were letters — some from her family, some sent to her unsigned — a vial of tansy oil and a note written in Cornell's own hand. It read: 'If I am missing, enquire of the Rev. E.K. Avery.' Ephraim Kingsbury Avery was a Methodist minister, married with a young family. Sarah Cornell had attended his church, briefly worked for him, and had asked for his help when questions over her moral character threatened her involvement with the Methodists. After Cornell's burial on the farm, a disturbed Dr. Wilbur revealed to Durfee what Cornell had told him: Avery had assaulted her at a camp meeting that August. When she confronted him later with news that she was pregnant, he gave her the tansy oil with instructions to take it to end the pregnancy. But Cornell wanted to have the baby. She'd been negotiating with Avery: her silence in exchange for financial support. Wilbur thought Avery had been manipulating her. 'Sarah had made some mistakes early in life,' Dawson says. 'She had been accused and confessed of stealing some small items of clothing. But in 1830, that would have haunted you for the rest of your life as a single young woman.' Avery's defense trashed Cornell's character before the trial and during, 'to essentially slut shame her,' says Dawson.
True Crime Sarah Cornell Ephraim Avery 19Th Century Methodist Murder Fall River Rhode Island Social History Religion Gender Roles
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