SEWING GIRL'S TALE: A Story of Crime and Consequences

A young woman's fight to bring her rapist to justice was even more problematic in 1793 Manhattan than it is today. This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story of 17-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer, who had been walking out with a young man posing under a pseudonym who was in fact the notorious seducer Harry Bedlow. One evening as it grew dark Harry took Lanah to an alley of brothels, forcing her into the establishment of Mother Carey, although Carey initially tried to resist, perhaps realising that Lanah was a respectable girl. Harry persisted and in spite of Lanah's repeated refusal to consent to sex, he raped her, leaving her clothes torn and bloodstained. The following day Lanah remained at the house while she mended her clothes, treating Mother Carey scornfully, then went to a friend's to get her help with breaking the story to her stepfather. John Callanan was a man of spirit who believed in his step-daughter, and together they brought a criminal case against Bedlow. The author, a professor of history, has researched the trial fully and gives a detailed account of the claims and counter-claims. The defence rested their main case on the claim that Lanah had herself visited Mother Carey's brothel looking for Harry the day before. Although the prosecution was able to establish that Lanah had been occupied in visits that left her no time to detour via the brothel, the ultimate decision of the jury was that Bedlow was Not Guilty. Lanah and her stepfather were not willing to give up, although Lanah made a suicide attempt that was intercepted. Public opinion ran in Lanah's favour, with articles and protests in the press from women who were starting the movement for women's rights. One defender, with the pseudonym Justitia, controversially proclaimed that "There is no natural difference in the intellectual faculties of the two sexes." When John Callanan brought a civil case for defamation of character, Bedlow had to pay crippling damages. Meanwhile letters had surfaced, handled by Bedlow's celebrated attorney Alexander Hamilton, which purported to be Lanah's confession of lying in court, but they were widely regarded as forgeries. 365pp, colour reproductions. Remainder mark.