The Murder of Mary Bean


Spinning Room of Pepperell Mills, Biddeford, 1910

Spinning Room of Pepperell Mills, Biddeford, 1910
Item 23522   info
McArthur Public Library

Berengera worked in the carding room of the Amoskeag mill in Manchester, New Hampshire, putting in 12-hour days and earning on average $3.25 per week.

Despite the long days, textile operatives enjoyed many evening activities including shopping, exhibitions, lectures, and strolling along the factory canals.

In the early summer of 1849, Caswell met a young machine operative named William Long. Their relationship became intimate over the summer – a behavior of which middle class moralists highly disapproved.

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