Mike Roth and Stanley T. White, printed by Seaber Turner & Associates,
Date of Publication
2014.
Physical Description
546 p. : illustrations (some color), maps ; 31 cm
Notes
Maps on endpapers.
Includes index.
Summary
"Book includes over 900 photos dating from the late 1800's to the current day. Each business or structure explores the original history from its beginning, right up to the current day occupants. This is the most complete history ever written about the Borough of Quarryville, in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A treasure-trove of genealogy, historical maps, black and white "period" photos, color photography, and more! Simply a "must have" for anyone with roots in that part of Pennsylvania"--Publisher's description.
"Presents information on the people and areas of Lebanon affected by the Bridge over Norfolk Southern project. It provides a glimpse of the history of some families who lived in the bridge area; it also provides information on some businesses that were located on the sites where the new bridges will be constructed."--Page ii.
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.
pt. 1. Telling the story -- "Drive the heathen out of the land" -- "Some hot headed ill advised persons" -- "The same spirit & frantic rage" -- "Persons of undoubted probity & veracity" -- pt. 2. Retelling the story -- "I never heard one word of it till it was just over" -- "A mighty noise and hubbub" -- "Shot, scalped, hacked, and cut to pieces" -- "One of those youthful ebullitions of wrath" -- "The innocent were destined to share the fate of the guilty" -- "A zone of vicious racial violence" -- pt. 3. Killers and abettors -- "The most respectable of men" -- "They had possession and would keep it" -- "Eternal shame & reproach" -- pt. 4. Death and reconciliation -- "The remains of the victims of a terrible crime" -- "Slaughter'd, kill'd, and cut off a whole tribe" -- "Who was left to mourn for these people?"
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, v. 136, no. 1, January 2012.Lancaster History Library - Periodical Article905.748 HSP v. 136, no. 1
