The Sewing Girl's Tale

April 4, 2022
The story behind the 1793 rape trial of Harry Bedlow, the scion of two “prosperous, old Dutch families” in New York City, is untangled in this immersive chronicle. Sweet (Bodies Politic), history professor at the University of North Carolina, details how 26-year-old Bedlow, who had a reputation as a “very great rake,” lied about his identity to 17-year-old seamstress Lanah Sawyer before abducting and assaulting her in a “bawdy house.” Lanah struggled to convince her family about the truth of her ordeal, yet Bedlow was eventually charged with rape and brought to trial, where prosecutors cast him “as a symbol of the debauchery and luxury of an aristocratic order overthrown by the revolution, and Lanah Sawyer and her peers—hardworking, modest, and unpretentious—as the true representatives of republican virtue.” The jury acquitted Bedlow of the crime, and even though Lanah’s stepfather eventually won a “seduction lawsuit” against him, collecting the settlement proved difficult. Embellishing the thin historical record with lengthy discussions about Revolutionary era politics, contemporaneous romance novels, the development of Manhattan, Alexander Hamilton’s alleged affair with Maria Reynolds, and other matters, Sweet paints an evocative portrait of 18th-century New York. The result is a vivid addition to the history of sexual politics in America.

Starred review from June 1, 2022

An engrossing, historical, true crime narrative that reconstructs the 1793 rape of Lanah Sawyer. The subsequent trial of Henry "Harry" Bedlow and the societal consequences of the crime are still relevant today. Sweet (Bodies Politic) provides an exhaustively researched and detailed reconstruction of a lesser known but extremely important case in American legal history. The book not only provides a masterful view of the criminal case, but it also places the narrative in the context of 18th century New York City, with a searing portrait of sexual politics and the limits of justice for women and those in low-income areas. The well-documented work includes a variety of primary sources including newspaper accounts, legal documents, and diaries. It also includes numerous illustrations, maps, an extensive bibliography, and an index. VERDICT An important and highly readable addition to the history of crime and sexual politics in America that will be of interest to historians, women-focused history researchers, sociologists, and fans of true crime. --Theresa Muraski

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2022
A history professor examines a woman's court fight to restore her violated sexual honor in 1790s America. In 1793, a seamstress named Lanah Sawyer was raped by Harry Bedlow, "an elite sexual predator" who posed as a lawyer to gain her trust. In this incisive historical investigation, Sweet, a history professor at the University of North Carolina and former director of its program in sexuality studies, reconstructs a memorable story that reveals the virulent anti-feminism embedded in American democracy. Sawyer had the spotless reputation society required of all "decent" women; Sweet notes that any fall from grace would plunge her into "a world of scandal and shame from which she might never emerge." Despite her lower status as a working-class woman, Sawyer sought legal reparations. "Even if others couldn't see past her social station, her work as a sewing girl, Lanah Sawyer could," writes Sweet. "She felt she had a right to a revolutionary dream of human equality. Other dreamers, too, were crushed in these years. Some of them, like her, had the courage to fight back." In the contentious trial that followed, Bedlow was cast as the victim of Sawyer's wiles. Newspapers debates begun by elite women emphasized the sexual double standard, but a male backlash against "disorderly women"--e.g., the owner of the bawdy house where Bedlow raped Sawyer--overwhelmed those voices. Ultimately, Sawyer's stepfather successfully sued Bedlow for seduction--i.e., for breaching his right to give consent to intercourse with his daughter. "In seduction suits," writes Sweet, "the question of consent was hardly mentioned, much less disputed. Jurors--and everyone else involved--generally took the woman's father at his word." This carefully researched book will appeal to historians, feminist scholars, and anyone with an interest in narratives that chronicle female erasure in a social system created by and for the benefit of (White) men. A thoughtful and engaging history lesson.

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June 30, 2022
Sweet (Bodies Politic, 2003) unravels the politics, social history, and trial surrounding the rape of Lanah Sawyer. The 17-year-old seamstress met Harry Bedlow, a man nearly 10 years her senior widely known around New York City as a rake, in the summer of 1793. After being sexually assaulted in a back room of a brothel, Lanah did something that very few women in Revolutionary-era America did: she brought Bedlow to trial. The ensuing trial and not-guilty verdict rocked the city, leading to everything from Lanah's stepfather filing additional lawsuits to riots in the city, where protesters tore down the site of the assault. The history of Manhattan, Revolutionary-era politics, class differences, and the social history of sex, marriage, and assault in the times bolster the tale, creating an incredibly immersive, highly readable exploration of an important moment in American history, perfect for readers of true crime, history, women's history, and narrative nonfiction alike.

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