373: The Murder Case that Inspired The Scarlet Letter w/ Kate Winkler Dawson

01/06/25 • 65 min

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Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Maria Cornell was found dead in a quiet farmyard in a small New England town. When her troubled past and a secret correspondence with charismatic Methodist minister Reverend Ephraim Avery was uncovered, more questions emerged. Was Sarah’s death a suicide...or something much darker? Determined to uncover the real story, Victorian writer Catharine Read Arnold Williams threw herself into the investigation as the trial was unfolding and wrote what many claim to be the first American true-crime narrative, Fall River. The murder divided the country and inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter—but the reverend was not convicted, and questions linger to this day about what really led to Sarah Cornell’s death. Until now.

Acclaimed true-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson is my returning guest, and her new book "The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne" is officially on sale on January 7th.

The author's website: https://www.katewinklerdawson.com/

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The author's website: https://www.katewinklerdawson.com/

Our sponsor this week is Acorns. Head here https://acorns.com/notorious or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today!

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Previous Episode

MoNo Encore: Catch Me If You Can's Frank Abagnale - Perpetrator of the Ultimate Hoax? w/ Alan C. Logan

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Happy New Year everyone! This Most Notorious Encore episode revisits my conversation with Alan Logan, originally released on May 19, 2021.

Most of us are familiar with the critically acclaimed film called Catch Me If You Can, based on the autobiography of legendary confidence man Frank Abagnale. It's the story of a brazen teenage imposter who through charm and intellect was able to pass as an attorney, a doctor, a pilot and a university professor in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

My guest, Alan C. Logan, has done extensive research into Frank Abagnale's well-known and near-mythical narrative, found it riddled with holes, and lays out some of what he has discovered for us on this week's episode of Most Notorious.

Alan Logan's book is called "The Greatest Hoax on Earth: Catching Truth, While We Can", and can be ordered in bookstores, online retailers, and through his website at: http://www.greatesthoax.com/

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Next Episode

374: The Mafia, the Kennedys & Hoover w/ Louis Ferrante

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Louis Ferrante is back on the show, sharing more of his extensive research into the history of the American Mafia. In volume two of his trilogy, called "Borgata: Clash of Titans", he focuses on the Mafia during the height of its power in the 1960s and 70s. In our interview he talks about the origins of the animosity between the mob and Bobby Kennedy, and how he believes Bobby's pressure led to his brother's assassination. We also go quite a bit into J. Edgar Hoover's role in the conflict, and I ask Lou what he thinks happened to Jimmy Hoffa's body.

More about the author and his work here: https://louisferrante.com/

Our sponsor this week is Acorns. Head here https://acorns.com/notorious or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices