The Brutal Death of Berengera Caswell

Murder, She Told

Kristen Seavey

Society & Culture, Documentary, True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1849 - Saco, Maine. In April of 1850, as the sun shone on Woodbury Brook in Saco, Maine, a boy made a grisly discovery: the body of a young woman tied to a board. It was soon determined that the woman, known as Mary Bean, was killed during a botched abortion from the local botanic doctor, James Smith. During the course of the trial, it was revealed that Mary Bean was actually Berengera Caswell, a 21-year-old Canadian factory worker who was trying to make a life for herself in New England. The murder of Mary Bean was written into a fictional, salacious true crime novella, warning young women against the dangers of promiscuity and the inevitable demise of working mill girls. For years, the death of Berengera Caswell remained buried under the moral parable of her infamous pseudonym... until 2007, when the true identity of Mary Bean was unearthed for the modern era. This episode discusses and describes abortion in the historical context of the 1850's. Please listen with care. Read The Murder of Mary Bean Book Connect on Instagram @murdershetoldpodcast Detailed sources can be found at murdershetold.com. Support the show here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Murder She Told, true crime stories from Maine, New England and small town USA.
0:19.4	I'm Kristen Zeevy.
0:21.5	You can connect with me at MurderSheTold.com or on Instagram at MurderSheTold Podcast.
0:31.0	This episode discusses and contains descriptions of abortion in the historical context of the 1850s.
0:38.0	If this is a trigger for you, please listen with care.
0:48.0	Life was exciting and new for Baron Garrick as well.
0:52.0	She and her two sisters had just kicked off the dust from their small rural hometown near Sherbrook in Quebec Province
0:59.0	and arrived in Lowell, Massachusetts to start a new life.
1:03.0	They had heard stories of other young girls leaving their families and going to work in the New England factories
1:10.0	and the prospect of earning their own wages and having an opportunity to see the world before being married off to some local boy back home sounded terrific.
1:20.0	Baron Garrick, Ruth and Tyson arrived in Lowell, Massachusetts and quickly found work.
1:26.0	But they heard that things might be better in Manchester, so after just a few months, they packed up their belongings and moved to New Hampshire, where they were to live for several years.
1:36.0	Wealthy entrepreneurs and businessmen were creating entire towns centered around factory life.
1:43.0	It was the industrial revolution and the textile industry in New England was booming.
1:49.0	Manchester was one of those towns and the men behind Amaskeg manufacturing company endeavored to craft a utopian factory city with their mill being at the center of it.
2:00.0	It was 1848, just 10 years after the town of Manchester had been founded and it was thriving.
2:07.0	All three sisters found work at the textile factory.
2:11.0	Baron Garrick worked in the carting room where Raw Cotton was cleaned and converted into thread.
2:17.0	Her sister Tyson found work in the weaving department.
2:20.0	They worked hard and they were surrounded by other young women like themselves.
2:25.0	80% of the workforce was female and though it was exciting to be earning their own money, women were poorly paid.
2:34.0	Baron Garrick made only about $1.50 an hour in today's money and she worked long shifts.
	...

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