The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler : A Story of Rape, Incest, and Justice in Early America

Brown, Irene Quenzler; Brown, Richard D.

ISBN 10: 0674010205 / ISBN 13: 9780674010208

Published by Belknap Press / Harvard Univ, Cambridge (Mass. ), 2003

About this Item

Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Crem cloth spine over cream boards. Bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership inscription. 388 pages clean and tight. In 1860 an anxious crowd of thousands descended upon Lenox, Massachusetts, for the public hanging of Ephraim Wheeler, condemned for the rape of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Betsy. Not all witnesses believed justice had triumphed. The death penalty had become controversial; no one had been executed for rape in Massachusetts in more than a quarter century. Wheeler maintained his innocence. Over one hundred local citizens petitioned for his pardon-including, most remarkably, Betsy and her mother. Impoverished, illiterate, a failed farmer who married into a mixed-race family and clashed routinely with his wife, Wheeler existed on the margins of society. Using the trial report to reconstruct the tragic crime and drawing on Wheeler's jailhouse autobiography to unravel his troubled family history, Irene Quenzler Brown and Richard D. Brown illuminate a rarely seen slice of early America. They imaginatively and sensitively explore issues of family violence, poverty, gender, race and class, religion, and capital punishment, revealing similarities between death penalty politics in America today and two hundred years ago. Beautifully crafted, engagingly written, this unforgettable story probes deeply held beliefs about morality and about the nature of justice. Size: 8vo.

Seller Inventory # 130125

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler : A Story of Rape, Incest, and Justice in Early America
• Publisher: Belknap Press / Harvard Univ, Cambridge (Mass. )
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674010205
• ISBN 13: 9780674010208
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

In 1806 an anxious crowd of thousands descended upon Lenox, Massachusetts, for the public hanging of Ephraim Wheeler, condemned for the rape of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Betsy. Not all witnesses believed justice had triumphed. The death penalty had become controversial; no one had been executed for rape in Massachusetts in more than a quarter century. Wheeler maintained his innocence. Over one hundred local citizens petitioned for his pardon--including, most remarkably, Betsy and her mother.

Impoverished, illiterate, a failed farmer who married into a mixed-race family and clashed routinely with his wife, Wheeler existed on the margins of society. Using the trial report to reconstruct the tragic crime and drawing on Wheeler's jailhouse autobiography to unravel his troubled family history, Irene Quenzler Brown and Richard D. Brown illuminate a rarely seen slice of early America. They imaginatively and sensitively explore issues of family violence, poverty, gender, race and class, religion, and capital punishment, revealing similarities between death penalty politics in America today and two hundred years ago.

Beautifully crafted, engagingly written, this unforgettable story probes deeply held beliefs about morality and about the nature of justice.

About the Authors

Irene Quenzler Brown, a historian, is Associate Professor of Family Studies, University of Connecticut.

Richard D. Brown is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History, University of Connecticut, and Director, University of Connecticut Humanities Institute.