then passed through the sitting room, opening the front door leading on to the While I will never know what really happened, like who the real murderer was, I still really enjoyed this book. My grandma used to talk about a grisly murder of a family who lived in that big old house south of PJ that was never solved.have you run across that story in your perusals? Read the excerpt from Midnight Assassin. and others who had testified that they had been awakened by Mrs. Hossack To see what your friends thought of this book. convict the defendant of the crime with which she is charged. Margaret Hossack endures the harsh and solitary existence of a typical American farm wife at the turn of the . Margaret Hossack refused to discuss the murder after the second trial. . Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified. A few months later, John and Margaret Hossack moved to the land John had purchased in Warren County, Iowa, and they settled in a small house on the farm. the window at the foot of the bed, reached forward and struck the fatal blows; to get rid of her husband are offered, it begins to look like the defense will Four days later, the victim's wife, Margaret Hossack, was arrested and charged with the crime. I read Trifles in and then the true story Powerful story based off the power that was given to men during this era. did not think it was. Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland, by Patricia L. Bryan, Killing the 'Dead Girl' Theme in Crime Fiction. window, but that he did not see any blood stains on this, although just south mistakes. See how well critics are rating all PC video game releases at metacritic.com - Page 665 Farm life in the midwest was difficult for the pioneers and their followers. bloody object, against which it had rubbed. Algonquin Books, Apr 1, 2005 - True Crime - 296 pages. The Truth of Gods word does not hinge on whether we believe it or not. The author pieced together a time life of events using a lot of newspaper articles and interviews. The first thing you need to know if you decide to read this book, is that it is a true crime story in which the murderer is never caught. At trial, Margaret was convicted of murder, but later was released on appeal. would not say positively that it was human blood. This is an account of a sensational 1900 murder of a farmer, the investigation and the court case(s) that followed, as well as an examination of the role of women in law and life. I love historical books and found this one fascinating. The community was outraged: How could a woman commit such an act of violence? : 1 / 10. js.id=id; In 1900, Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death with an ax while their children slept upstairs. I found this to be an intriguing story with interesting glimpses into early life for farm wives at the turn of the 20th century. Simpson college. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and community sentiment was divided over her guilt. John Hossack established himself as one of the countys most successful and prosperous farmers. She died August 25, 1916, leaving the mystery of her husbands death unsolved. Shep, the Hossacks 10-year-old dog, figured prominently in the trial, especially in the argument for the defense. He also It describes the murder, investigation and trial of Margaret Hossack. It can be proven using objective evidence. since the commencement of the Hossack murder trial, when court adjourned Or drive by because my understanding is people live there right now. Sarah Stuelke is correct. His family emigrated to Canada in 1842. MIDNIGHT ASSASSIN takes us back to the murder, the investigation, and the trials of Margaret Hossack. but stated this conversation had occurred several years before. jury and spectators as it had stated by William Hossack that when he entered It is a fact because it can be proven using objective evidence. He stated that the ground This is a well researched hook and it us both scholarly and readable. I decided recently to try out non fiction and this was my first go at itI liked the book. The information about Susan Galispell, a young female reporter who later became a writer and playwright and the influence the trial had in her work is also very interesting. The wife is accused of murdering her husband, and it's not a simple case. One option is James Maybrick a London cotton merchant who "may have"traveled to Austin while at the Southern Exhibition in New Orleans. Perhaps Margaret Hossack was acting out of fear. He is portrayed as a well-known man in his community. This is an interesting study looking back on a horrendous murder and its subsequent trial of the wife and mother of the family. The second trial in adjacent Madison County ended with a hung jury verdict; nine jurors voted to find her guilty, while three held out and voted not guilty.. to allow them to do so; that on one occasion he had bought the children some The inference that can be deduced from the literary works is that D. The article portrays Mrs. Hossack as only potentially dangerous, while the excerpt presents two very different images of her.. What is an inference? It should be noted that an inference simply means the conclusion that can be deduced from the evidence given.. between the dead man and his wife; that he saw the dead man on 10 o'clock on Maybri. (She was at that time in bed with her husband.) In what some considered an added insult to injury, Margaret Hossack dubbed the Lizzie Borden of Iowa was buried in the family plot next to the husband she allegedly murdered. On April 11, 1901, after five days of testimony before an all-male jury, Margaret Hossack was found guilty of her husbands murder and sentenced to life in prison. I honestly read Trifles before i read the article. The authors have completed a tremendous amount of research going back to the papers and documents that accompanied this murder. I now must visit the New Virginia cemetery. not by any means exhausted its efforts and it is claimed by the prosecuting is about the ways that prejudice and fear can influence justice and how people's preconceptions inform the legal process. I am also interested in genealogy and my ancestors came to Iowa the same time as the Hossacks and they lived less than 45 miles apart. It is a fact because it can be proven using objective evidence. "Historical whodunit devotees who have devoured all the literature on famous real-life mysteries will delight in this stirring and evocative account of an obscure turn-of-the-century Iowa murder.". Follow ICC on Twitter, GONE COLD: EXPLORING IOWAS UNSOLVED MURDERS, Midnight Assassin: A Murder in Americas Heartland (Bur Oak Book), Find a Grave Memorial for Margaret (Murchison) Hossack, Find a Grave Memorial for Alexander Hossack, Find a Grave Memorial for Catharine Hossack, Find a Grave Memorial for Anna J. The reporter covering the story was a female journalist, Susan Glaspell. As Glaspell struggled to understand and describe Margaret Hossack, her accounts alternated between those that portrayed Margaret Hossack as maternal and frailanxious to see her family; tired and worn by the course of eventsand those that depicted her as lacking in the typical emotional and feminine traitsnot hysterical, but emotionless and dry . Nonetheless, they vividly portray the era's attitudes toward women (indicated by a tolerance of domestic abuse) while crafting a tale that reads like a good novel, complete with clueslike a dog that failed to barkthat feel straight from Perry Mason The tale is given heightened immediacy by the authors' description of how alive the case still is in the minds of local townspeople even a century laterBryan and Wolf were even warned they might be in danger if they got too close to the truth. As the book tells about the murder of John Hossack in rural Indianola, Iowa in December of 1900, the book also includes the countless hours of Margaret Hossack trials where . According to the Cult of True Womanhood, a popular phrase during those years, a true woman possessed four cardinal virtues: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity.. He stated that Still, an engrossing read that I will pass along to some Iowa relatives. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Read the excerpt from Midnight Assassin. I have also read the story trifles and it claims that a rope was used not an axe. Bryan's writing style was easy to read and not boring or dry at all. Shows how far women have come in the past 100 years with. Great non-fiction writers seem to understand a reader's need to be engaged by more than just the facts. , Text-to-Speech Aside from the minor This is an account of a sensational 1900 murder of a farmer, the investigation and the court case(s) that followed, as well as an examination of the role of women in law and life. Or perhaps the story she told was truethat an intruder broke into the house, killed her husband while she slept soundly beside him, and was still on the loose. : In 1900, Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death with an ax while their children slept upstairs. Firsthand accounts describe the victim, John Hossack, as a cruel and unstable man. raising objections, which were constantly overruled by the court. First Photograph Bearing on the Tragedy. One option is James Maybrick a London cotton merchant who "may have"traveled to Austin while at the Southern Exhibition in New Orleans. Read the excerpt from Midnight Assassin. A family surrounds those it loves even when domestic abuse may be present. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and community sentiment was divided over her guilt. Later these same events were used as the basis for her classic short story, "A Jury of Her Peers," and the famous play Trifles. The articles are designed to entertain the reader with a horrific story about a murder trial, while Midnight Assassin attempts to persuade the reader that the articles are inaccurate. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. Ive been to the Hossack murder sight and also to his grave. At this time, Hossack, who was one of several hired hands living on the Murchison farm, met his future wife, Margaret the youngest child of his employer as well as Margarets siblings: Alex, a Civil War hero who had returned home after serving in the war; Donald, a farmer; and Jane, who still lived with her parents. He stated The actors read or recite lines before an audience with no setting. next sworn. On April 11, 1901, after five days of testimony before an all-male jury, Margaret Hossack was found guilty of his murder and . One year later, she was released on bail to await a . impossible for a man, suffering from the injuries sustained by Mr. Hossack, to Shipping to the U.S. only. I couldn't put it down even though there were several moments when I wanted to stop and think about what was happening. The theory is that it was one of her sons and she was covering for him. . American authors Patricia L. Bryan and Thomas Wolfs non-fiction historical mystery. But the theme of the book is more about how little most men thought of women - the first verdict was based so much on the defendent's looks - how big she was, how unremorseful she seemed to be. He stated that he reached the Hossack home about 4 o'clock in the morning of December 2. Start by marking Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland as Want to Read: Error rating book. at the Hossack home, and had effected a reconciliation between Mr. and Mrs. Does anyone know exactly where it is? Of course the book did make me a little bit happy to be born in the mid 1900's and not the end of the 1800's. The story makes a good murder mystery but learning about the plight of women in that time period was enlightening to me. Iowa Cold Cases Dear fellows, today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. {js=d.createElement(s); He testified that in his opinion it would be //