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Summary
Summary
"This is true crime at its most enthralling--prepare to be transported." --Terri Cheney, New York Times bestselling author of Manic
The 1830 murder of wealthy slaver Joseph White shook all of Salem, Massachusetts. Soon the crime drew national attention when it was discovered that two of the conspirators came from Salem's influential Crowninshield family: a clan of millionaire shipowners, cabinet secretaries, and congressmen.
A prosecution team led by famed Massachusetts senator Daniel Webster made the case even more newsworthy. Meanwhile, young Salem native Nathaniel Hawthorne--who knew several of the accused--observed and wrote.
Here, using source materials not available previously, Edward J. Renehan Jr. provides a riveting narrative of the cold-blooded murder, intense investigations, scandal-strewn trials, and grim executions that dominated headlines nearly two-hundred years ago.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Renehan (Commodore: The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt) takes an entertaining look at an 1830 murder case that, while little known today, made national news at the time. On April 6 of that year in Salem, Mass., Capt. Joseph White, an 82-year-old shipping magnate and former slaver, was found in his bed, bludgeoned and stabbed 13 times. Earlier, after White's grandniece had married his rival's son, Joe Knapp Jr., he disinherited her and forced his rival into bankruptcy. Ultimately, Joe Jr. and his brother, Frank, were arrested for orchestrating the murder and hiring two locals to do the deed. Frank was tried twice for the murder, the first ending in a hung jury. Daniel Webster was the prosecutor in the second trial, and his summation, considered a masterpiece of modern oratory, persuaded the jury to convict. Frank was hanged, and Nathaniel Hawthorne attended the execution. Joe Jr., who had confessed, was also convicted and hanged. Of the two actual murderers, one died by suicide in the Salem Jail, and the other was acquitted. Renehan argues convincingly that the trial inspired a character in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and influenced several of Edgar Allan Poe's works. This is a fascinating blend of true crime and American history. (Dec.)
Library Journal Review
Renehan's (The Kennedys at War) meticulously researched book details the 1830 murder of Captain Joseph White in Salem, MA. White was found in his bed, bludgeoned and stabbed; the only thing missing from his house was his will, and with so little evidence and so many suspects, the city was left reeling. White's killing also shocked Salem because he was part of a wealthy enslaver family renowned for its influence in the shipping industry, with family members serving in Congress and as cabinet secretaries. Four men were eventually charged with the murder--Joe and Frank Knapp and Richard and George Crowninshield. The prosecution was led by Senator Daniel Webster, which brought a great deal of attention to the case. Salem resident Nathaniel Hawthorne observed and wrote about the trial, and his later novels were influenced by the events he witnessed. Renehan's narrative is gripping; perhaps most interesting is that he uncovers related documents that were buried for centuries in local archives, --evidence of the ways in which wealth and influence can result in a selective history. VERDICT Readers of Nathaniel Hawthorne, lovers of history, and anyone who enjoys a good mystery will be absorbed by this bizarre true crime tale.--Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI
Table of Contents
| Prologue | p. xi |
| 1 Old Salem by Moonlight | p. 1 |
| 2 An Inconvenient Apparition | p. 5 |
| 3 Wharves and Decline | p. 13 |
| 4 A Melancholy Process of Decay | p. 20 |
| 5 Great the Pain This Monster Must Be In | p. 26 |
| 6 Murder as One of the Fine Arts | p. 32 |
| 7 The Knapps of Salem | p. 41 |
| 8 The Crowninshields of Salem | p. 47 |
| 9 Vigilance | p. 64 |
| 10 A Damned Eternal Fortune | p. 70 |
| 11 Forever Stained with Blood, Blood, Blood | p. 76 |
| 12 In the Hands of an Angry God | p. 85 |
| 13 Joseph Knapp Jr.'s Confession as Transcribed by Henry Colman | p. 93 |
| 14 The Fiend Has Robbed Justice of Its Victim | p. 97 |
| 15 An Elaborate Game of Chess | p. 101 |
| 16 Black Dan | p. 106 |
| 17 A Murder of No Ordinary Character | p. 111 |
| 18 The Cry of the People Is for Blood | p. 123 |
| 19 Refuting the Truth | p. 127 |
| 20 The Conclusion of Webster's Summation in the First Trial: "Suicide Is Confession" | p. 131 |
| 21 A Contagion of Unexampled Popular Frenzy | p. 135 |
| 22 Franklin Dexter's Summation at the Second Trial | p. 138 |
| 23 Daniel Webster's Summation at the Second Trial | p. 162 |
| 24 The Execution of Frank Knapp | p. 177 |
| 25 Emphatically Encompassed by a Sea of Blood | p. 181 |
| 26 She Must Be the Very Devil | p. 186 |
| 27 The Complaint of the Human Heart | p. 190 |
| 28 Ghosts | p. 193 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 209 |
| Appendix: The Last Will and Testament of Captain Joseph White | p. 211 |
| Notes | p. 215 |
| Bibliography | p. 227 |
| Index | p. 231 |