The Affair of the Veiled Murderess: An Antebellum Scandal and Mystery (Excelsior Editions) - Hardcover
Synopsis
An account of a mysterious murder committed in nineteenth-century Troy, New York, and the sensational trial that ensued.
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About the Author
Jeanne Winston Adler is the author of Early Days in the Adirondacks: The Photographs of Seneca Ray Stoddard and the editor of In the Path of War: Children of the American Revolution and Chainbreaker’s War: A Seneca Chief Remembers the American Revolution. She lives in Salem, New York.
From the Back Cover
Troy, New York, 1853. Two Irish immigrants--a man and a woman--die shortly after drinking beer poured by a neighbor. Was it poisoned? And if so, was their slayer the beautiful mistress of an important Democratic politician? Many Trojans soon answer yes to both questions, but others question the woman's guilt. Rumored to be the once-respectable Miss Charlotte Wood, a former student at Emma Willard's elite Troy Female Seminary and the runaway wife of a British lord, the identity of the glamorous accused remains in doubt, and the air of mystery surrounding her case is only heightened by the defendant's decision to remain hidden behind a veil during her trial. As the affair widens to include the antebellum social and political worlds of Troy and Albany, the blossoming scandal threatens important people on both sides of the Atlantic.
Drawing on newspapers, court documents, and other records of the time, Jeanne Winston Adler attempts to come to an understanding of the truth behind the strange affair of the veiled murderess. In the process, she addresses a number of topics important to our understanding of nineteenth-century life in New York State, including the changing roles of women, the marginal position of the Irish, and the contentious political firmament of the time.
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