The witch of New York

the trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice
Alex Hortis
Book - 2024

"Before the sensational cases of Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony--before even Lizzie Borden--there was Polly Bodine, the first American woman put on trial for capital murder in our nation's debut media circus. On Christmas night, December 25, 1843, in a serene village on Staten Island, shocked neighbors discovered the burnt remains of twenty-four-year-old mother Emeline Houseman and her infant daughter, Ann Eliza. In a perverse nativity, someone bludgeoned to death a mother and child in their home--and then covered up the crime with hellfire. When an ambitious district attorney charges Polly Bodine (Emelin's sister-in-law) with a double homicide, the new "penny press" explodes. Polly is a perfect media villain: she's a separated wife who drinks gin, commits adultery, and has had multiple abortions. Between June 1844 and April 1846, the nation was enthralled by her three trials--in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Newburgh--for the "Christmas murders." After Polly's legal dream team entered the fray, the press and the public debated not only her guilt, but her character and fate as a fallen woman in society. Public opinion split into different camps over her case. Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman covered her case as young newsmen. P. T. Barnum made a circus out of it. James Fenimore Cooper's last novel was inspired by her trials"--

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hortis, Alex, 1972- (Author)
Other Authors: Green, Tim (Cover designer)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Pegasus Crime, 2024.
Edition:First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
Subjects:

MARC

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100 1 |a Hortis, Alex,  |d 1972-  |e author. 
245 1 4 |a The witch of New York :  |b the trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice /  |c Alex Hortis. 
246 3 0 |a Trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice 
250 |a First Pegasus Books cloth edition. 
264 1 |a New York :  |b Pegasus Crime,  |c 2024. 
264 4 |c Ã2024 
300 |a xx, 315 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates :  |b illustrations (some color) ;  |c 24 cm 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
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505 0 |a Prologue: Christmas night 1843 -- Part I: A fallen woman. Islands in the stream ; Sex and the 1840s city ; Incendiaries ; Low-speed chase ; They would hang her without judge or jury ; Confessions of the sun ; The living jury of the nation ; Dream teams -- Part II: The Staten Island trial. Poe cracks the case ; The people v. Mary Bodine ; Ghosts of Granite Village ; Trial by water ; Breaking news ; Consciousness of guilt ; Playing the Jew card ; Sisters ; The man in the Spanish cloak ; The runaway juror ; Undue prejudice -- Part III: The Manhattan trial. Barnum's witch ; Eldridge Street jail ; Trial by fire ; Mayor Harper ; The weight of the baskets ; Gala night at the Park Theatre ; To conceal the circumstances of her pregnancy ; The opposite counsel ; Cruel and unbecoming curiosity ; Judge Edmond's charge ; April thunderstorms ; The hanging of Polly Bodine ; Witch trial interlude ; The appeal ; Six thousand jurors -- Part IV: The Newburgh trial. National police gazette ; Whitman's sympathy ; George Washington camped here ; Fragment of the mother's dress ; Orange County House v. United States Hotel ; The gangs that infest New York ; Judgment night ; Polly Bodine in the popular imagination -- Epilogue: Another prison -- Afterword: Lawyers will not save us. 
520 |a "Before the sensational cases of Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony--before even Lizzie Borden--there was Polly Bodine, the first American woman put on trial for capital murder in our nation's debut media circus. On Christmas night, December 25, 1843, in a serene village on Staten Island, shocked neighbors discovered the burnt remains of twenty-four-year-old mother Emeline Houseman and her infant daughter, Ann Eliza. In a perverse nativity, someone bludgeoned to death a mother and child in their home--and then covered up the crime with hellfire. When an ambitious district attorney charges Polly Bodine (Emelin's sister-in-law) with a double homicide, the new "penny press" explodes. Polly is a perfect media villain: she's a separated wife who drinks gin, commits adultery, and has had multiple abortions. Between June 1844 and April 1846, the nation was enthralled by her three trials--in Staten Island, Manhattan, and Newburgh--for the "Christmas murders." After Polly's legal dream team entered the fray, the press and the public debated not only her guilt, but her character and fate as a fallen woman in society. Public opinion split into different camps over her case. Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman covered her case as young newsmen. P. T. Barnum made a circus out of it. James Fenimore Cooper's last novel was inspired by her trials"--  |c Amazon. 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references and index. 
600 1 0 |a Bodine, Polly  |v Trials, litigation, etc. 
650 0 |a Trials (Murder)  |z New York (State)  |x History  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Tabloid newspapers  |z New York (State)  |z New York  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Murder  |z New York (State)  |z New York  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Infanticide  |z New York (State)  |z New York  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Trials (Murder)  |z New York (State)  |z New York  |y 19th century. 
650 0 |a Trials (Arson)  |z New York (State)  |y 19th century. 
655 7 |a True crime stories.  |2 lcgft 
700 1 |a Green, Tim,  |e cover designer. 
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