WEBVTT - The Perez Morton Affair 0:00:08.285 --> 0:00:13.445 School of humans. I'm not a good neighbor. I'm gonna 0:00:13.445 --> 0:00:14.005 admit that. 0:00:14.365 --> 0:00:16.645 Like I've lived in my apartment for three years, I 0:00:16.685 --> 0:00:19.085 don't know these people. I don't know their names, I 0:00:19.085 --> 0:00:21.845 don't know their business. But also I'm not trying to 0:00:21.845 --> 0:00:24.485 get into their business because of I mean, I would 0:00:24.485 --> 0:00:26.445 say it's out of respect, but it's really just out 0:00:26.445 --> 0:00:30.285 of laziness and fear of other people. But I will say, 0:00:30.325 --> 0:00:34.725 while I might be a slightly rude, standoffish neighbor, at 0:00:34.805 --> 0:00:37.445 least I didn't do this. At Least I didn't write 0:00:37.845 --> 0:00:41.125 a book that featured a lot of details about my 0:00:41.165 --> 0:00:44.925 neighbor's private life where there was some inter family cheating 0:00:45.205 --> 0:00:48.525 and then someone died by suicide. At least I didn't 0:00:48.525 --> 0:00:51.205 write that book that is now considered the first American novel. 0:00:52.125 --> 0:00:53.925 At least I didn't do that. You know, I didn't 0:00:53.965 --> 0:00:59.565 steal my neighbor's story and then sensationalize it so I 0:00:59.565 --> 0:01:02.845 could make a profit and then didn't even publish under 0:01:02.885 --> 0:01:06.685 my real name so that they didn't know it was me, 0:01:05.485 --> 0:01:08.045 me a punk ass bitch. 0:01:08.285 --> 0:01:09.685 At least I didn't do that. Guys. 0:01:09.925 --> 0:01:14.405 Okay, but weirdly enough, crazy that is something that did happen. 0:01:14.885 --> 0:01:17.125 The book was called The Power of Sympathy. It came 0:01:17.165 --> 0:01:20.765 out in seventeen eighty nine. And in today's episode, we're 0:01:20.765 --> 0:01:23.765 gonna hear about the tale that inspired. Part of the 0:01:23.805 --> 0:01:38.125 book involves cheating death. So cue the theme music. This 0:01:38.245 --> 0:01:40.845 is American filth. I'm Gabby Watts. Every week I tell 0:01:40.885 --> 0:01:44.885 you a filthy story from American history. This week's episode 0:01:45.005 --> 0:02:00.565 the Perez Morton Affair. Okay, do you guys remember the 0:02:00.605 --> 0:02:04.045 episode about an Carrie Randolph. She went on to later 0:02:04.165 --> 0:02:09.205 Mary Governor Morris, But remember she was accused of fucking 0:02:09.245 --> 0:02:12.165 her sister's husband and then having a baby by him, 0:02:12.205 --> 0:02:15.965 and then killing the baby and then killing him. Well, 0:02:16.045 --> 0:02:18.365 this story today is an affair that's very similar to that, 0:02:18.605 --> 0:02:21.085 where you have a younger sister sleeping with her older 0:02:21.125 --> 0:02:22.125 sister's husband. 0:02:22.805 --> 0:02:24.245 But this time it is for real. 0:02:24.565 --> 0:02:30.445 Yes, it was not just accusations, so let's get into it. 0:02:34.085 --> 0:02:37.885 The older sister in today's story is Sarah Wentworth ap Thorpe. 0:02:39.045 --> 0:02:41.165 That's right, what a beautiful name. Apthorpe. 0:02:42.525 --> 0:02:45.485 She was born in seventeen fifty six in Boston, and 0:02:45.525 --> 0:02:47.845 she would go on to be a very well known 0:02:47.885 --> 0:02:53.805 poet in a post revolutionary America. Her contemporaries even dubbed 0:02:53.805 --> 0:02:57.245 her the American Sappho. But she wanted to publish her 0:02:57.245 --> 0:02:59.885 poems until later. You know, women at the time, they 0:02:59.885 --> 0:03:02.445 weren't really out here hustling, grind and trying to get 0:03:02.445 --> 0:03:07.125 their shit published because ough propriety. How polite a woman published, 0:03:07.125 --> 0:03:09.805 That's crazy. So really a lot of her poems were 0:03:09.845 --> 0:03:15.405 just circulated amongst her friends and little literary circles. But 0:03:15.485 --> 0:03:19.085 later on she would start publishing under a pseudonym Felina. 0:03:19.845 --> 0:03:21.605 And the thing is about her work is a lot 0:03:21.645 --> 0:03:25.085 of her poems featured heroes who are either black or indigenous. 0:03:25.885 --> 0:03:29.245 She had one poem called the African Chief, which was 0:03:29.325 --> 0:03:34.205 an early abolitionist work, which probably pissed off her family 0:03:34.325 --> 0:03:37.925 because she came from a long line of slave traders. 0:03:39.125 --> 0:03:42.165 Her grandfather was Charles Apthorpe, and he had done so 0:03:42.245 --> 0:03:44.885 much slave trading that he was declared the richest man 0:03:44.965 --> 0:03:49.805 in Boston. Sarah's dad, James, continued the legacy and so 0:03:49.845 --> 0:03:52.285 when Sarah was born, she was the third of ten 0:03:52.405 --> 0:03:57.445 children and her family was very wealthy. Also, during the 0:03:57.445 --> 0:04:01.365 Revolutionary War, they were loyalists they're like, yes, Mommy Breton, 0:04:02.685 --> 0:04:05.205 and we're actually gonna meet up with Sarah when. 0:04:05.245 --> 0:04:06.965 She a few years into her marriage. 0:04:07.885 --> 0:04:10.645 In seventeen eighty one, when she was around twenty two, 0:04:10.845 --> 0:04:15.445 she married a dude named Perez Morton. Perez was a 0:04:15.485 --> 0:04:18.165 wealthy Bostonian and like a lot of dudes we talk 0:04:18.205 --> 0:04:21.805 about from this period, he was a lawyer and unlike 0:04:21.845 --> 0:04:24.125 Sarah's family, though, he was a patriot. 0:04:24.565 --> 0:04:26.485 During the Revolutionary War, he. 0:04:26.445 --> 0:04:28.765 Had been involved in the Committee of Safety and the 0:04:28.805 --> 0:04:32.605 Committee of Correspondence that were these kind of shadow governments 0:04:32.645 --> 0:04:35.605 where patriots would gather to figure out how to transition 0:04:35.765 --> 0:04:40.525 the cities to being independent American ones instead of stupid 0:04:40.525 --> 0:04:41.325 British ones. 0:04:42.765 --> 0:04:44.245 Later he would get into politics. 0:04:44.285 --> 0:04:48.085 He would be the Massachusetts Attorney General and also the 0:04:48.325 --> 0:04:51.805 speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. 0:04:51.805 --> 0:04:53.285 But that's later, Okay. 0:04:53.445 --> 0:04:57.125 Currently, he's just a lawyer and married to Sarah, and 0:04:57.245 --> 0:04:59.405 they live in a big aspec mansion in the heart 0:04:59.445 --> 0:05:03.125 of Boston. You know, Sarah's writing her poems. They have 0:05:03.245 --> 0:05:04.325 five kids. 0:05:05.005 --> 0:05:05.605 They got an. 0:05:05.565 --> 0:05:09.765 Elite social circle. Perez is good friends with John Adams. 0:05:10.805 --> 0:05:13.565 They're popular, they're notable. 0:05:14.405 --> 0:05:15.205 But then. 0:05:16.725 --> 0:05:20.405 It all gets undone because in the mid seventeen eighties, 0:05:20.845 --> 0:05:24.805 Sarah's younger sister, Francis Apthorpe, who everyone called Fanny, came 0:05:24.845 --> 0:05:28.125 to live with them, and while she was living there, 0:05:28.205 --> 0:05:30.165 guess what happened? Ah, well, you don't have to guess, 0:05:30.205 --> 0:05:33.685 because I already told you. Perez and Fanny started fucking. 0:05:34.205 --> 0:05:34.685 Oh no. 0:05:35.805 --> 0:05:38.885 And we know this is a double no no, because 0:05:39.445 --> 0:05:42.165 you know, not only is that cheating on your spouse, Perez, 0:05:42.605 --> 0:05:44.725 but because the two of them were in laws at 0:05:44.765 --> 0:05:50.925 the time, that was considered incest yucky. And the thing is, 0:05:50.965 --> 0:05:53.525 though no one really knows, you know, how did this 0:05:54.045 --> 0:05:58.165 affair start? You know, you could look at the power dynamics, 0:05:58.205 --> 0:05:59.925 You could look at Fanny. You know, when she came 0:05:59.965 --> 0:06:01.565 to live at the house, she was about twenty one, 0:06:02.325 --> 0:06:05.245 seven years younger than Sarah and also fifteen years younger 0:06:05.285 --> 0:06:09.805 than Perez. So we just think about that for a second. 0:06:11.725 --> 0:06:13.645 You know, did this a fair start? Because Perez is 0:06:13.645 --> 0:06:16.165 a big old pile of steaming donkey dung and used 0:06:16.165 --> 0:06:18.205 his power as the head of the house and a 0:06:18.245 --> 0:06:21.845 fancy notable lawyer to pressure her into banging. 0:06:22.765 --> 0:06:25.045 But at the same time, was Fanny into it? 0:06:25.965 --> 0:06:27.605 You know? What was she like, Fuck you, Sarah, I'm 0:06:27.605 --> 0:06:29.885 gonna fuck your husband while I live in your house. 0:06:30.125 --> 0:06:31.125 You know what's the deal. 0:06:35.965 --> 0:06:38.485 So in the course of the affair, Fanny became pregnant, 0:06:38.605 --> 0:06:41.325 and at the end of seventeen eighty seven, Fanny had 0:06:41.365 --> 0:06:44.165 a baby, a little girl, and the baby was taken 0:06:44.165 --> 0:06:47.085 outside Boston to be brought up secretly. But the thing is, 0:06:47.125 --> 0:06:50.005 it seems that even after the baby was born, Fanny 0:06:50.005 --> 0:06:53.165 and Perez continued fucking around. 0:06:54.285 --> 0:06:55.285 And I mean, I'm not. 0:06:55.285 --> 0:06:57.045 Gonna say that's all well and good, but I guess 0:06:57.085 --> 0:07:01.005 it would have been fine if nobody found out about it. 0:07:01.525 --> 0:07:06.085 I mean, obviously the Morton household knew. Sarah knew about it. 0:07:06.205 --> 0:07:09.045 I can't imagine she was feeling great about her sister 0:07:09.085 --> 0:07:12.605 and her husband having an affair. But the thing is, 0:07:12.645 --> 0:07:14.845 it also doesn't seem like this was the best kept 0:07:14.885 --> 0:07:20.285 secret around the neighborhood and around Boston. Like, for example, 0:07:20.365 --> 0:07:23.885 one of the neighbors to the Mortons was this guy 0:07:24.005 --> 0:07:27.645 named Betsy. She happened to be the niece of Abigail Adams, 0:07:28.085 --> 0:07:30.365 and she was also a good friend of Fanny's. And 0:07:30.485 --> 0:07:33.125 at some point Fanny wrote her diary that Fanny was 0:07:33.205 --> 0:07:37.205 quote very unwell, which is a very dignified way to 0:07:37.205 --> 0:07:41.605 say that bitch is pregnant. There are other whispers and 0:07:41.685 --> 0:07:46.525 rumors spreading about the household. But then the affair became 0:07:46.605 --> 0:07:50.205 the talk of the town in Boston, once the newspapers 0:07:50.245 --> 0:07:53.445 caught wind of what was happening and started publishing stories 0:07:53.485 --> 0:08:03.965 about it. So, yeah, once this affair was out there 0:08:04.005 --> 0:08:05.565 in the open and everyone was talking about it. But 0:08:05.605 --> 0:08:09.045 it was fucking stressful as hell. A lot was at stake, 0:08:09.245 --> 0:08:12.525 particularly for Fanny. You know, she could be ruined. She 0:08:12.605 --> 0:08:14.405 faced a lot of terrible things, like she could be 0:08:14.445 --> 0:08:18.405 abandoned by her family. She could be completely disgraced in society. 0:08:19.365 --> 0:08:21.285 And the thing is, there weren't very many choices for 0:08:21.365 --> 0:08:24.245 disgrace poor women. She'd have to become a prostitute to 0:08:24.285 --> 0:08:29.325 support herself. She'd be destitute and all alone. And really 0:08:29.365 --> 0:08:32.125 she was quite afraid that her family would leave her. 0:08:32.765 --> 0:08:35.845 Fanny and Sarah's dad, James, was pissed. But you know 0:08:35.925 --> 0:08:37.845 what was he pissed about. Was he pissed about the 0:08:37.885 --> 0:08:40.045 affair I'm mad at Fanny or was he. 0:08:40.045 --> 0:08:41.125 More pissed at Perez? 0:08:42.365 --> 0:08:45.045 While this press was happening, it seemed that Fanny was 0:08:45.085 --> 0:08:47.685 cooped up in the Morton house, and like, was that 0:08:47.725 --> 0:08:49.965 because she feared what her father would say to her? 0:08:50.325 --> 0:08:52.205 Or was it because Perez didn't want her to talk 0:08:52.245 --> 0:08:56.285 about the affair openly? James Louise I would hate to 0:08:56.325 --> 0:09:01.525 be in the middle of this situation. And then let's 0:09:01.525 --> 0:09:04.605 think about Sarah. You know, how was she feeling about 0:09:04.605 --> 0:09:07.325 the whole thing. It does seem that during the scandal 0:09:07.805 --> 0:09:10.765 that she did try to defend her sister. She actually 0:09:10.765 --> 0:09:13.605 did publish a poem in the newspaper under her pseudonym 0:09:14.005 --> 0:09:17.405 that sympathized with Fanny's fear that her family would abandon her. 0:09:18.085 --> 0:09:22.965 The poem said, where is the father fled with raptured breast? 0:09:23.485 --> 0:09:27.885 Where the fond mother in her offspring blessed ah wretched child? 0:09:27.885 --> 0:09:31.765 No friends, thy grief control, no melting parents, soothed thy 0:09:31.885 --> 0:09:32.765 anguish soul. 0:09:35.325 --> 0:09:44.405 I don't like poetry anyway. 0:09:45.005 --> 0:09:47.725 And the thing is, what Fanny and Sarah's dad specifically 0:09:47.805 --> 0:09:51.965 wanted was for Fanny to publicly declare who knocked her up, 0:09:52.165 --> 0:09:57.205 aka Perez. But this was stressing Fanny the fuck out, 0:09:57.645 --> 0:09:59.605 you know, as I said, she was afraid she would 0:09:59.645 --> 0:10:03.525 be disowned, abandoned, hated by the public, but also for 0:10:03.605 --> 0:10:08.925 whatever reason, she did want to name Perez instead of 0:10:08.965 --> 0:10:12.765 deciding what to do. On August twenty eighth, seventeen eighty eight, 0:10:13.125 --> 0:10:17.325 she took a bunch of laudanum and died. We'll be 0:10:17.405 --> 0:10:25.485 right back after these soothing advertisements. Damn, so this was 0:10:25.525 --> 0:10:28.685 so sad. On August twenty eight, seventeen eighty eight, Fanny 0:10:28.725 --> 0:10:30.205 overdose on laudanum and died. 0:10:31.565 --> 0:10:32.725 She was twenty two years old. 0:10:39.805 --> 0:10:43.205 And despite this terrible tragedy, instead of you know, giving 0:10:43.245 --> 0:10:46.965 the Apthorpes and the Morton space to grieve, the Bostonian 0:10:47.005 --> 0:10:48.925 public was still in a frenzy for info. 0:10:49.485 --> 0:10:51.125 The saga would not end. 0:10:53.285 --> 0:10:55.725 Because before Fanny had died, she had written a bunch 0:10:55.725 --> 0:10:58.565 of notes and letters about the turmoil she was facing. 0:10:59.365 --> 0:11:01.005 And then it seen that she had a sneaky made 0:11:01.085 --> 0:11:04.085 or something, because no who got their hands on those 0:11:04.165 --> 0:11:09.765 letters and notes, some grubby handed journalists. I mean, are 0:11:09.845 --> 0:11:12.245 you a journalist if you're just printing gossip? I don't know, 0:11:12.605 --> 0:11:14.765 or maybe if you think about the news, what is it? 0:11:14.765 --> 0:11:19.485 It's just gossip about the government and whatever. And the 0:11:19.565 --> 0:11:21.205 thing is, once they got those documents. 0:11:21.405 --> 0:11:21.965 No they did. 0:11:22.005 --> 0:11:26.485 They published them in the newspaper, horrifying, but also for 0:11:26.565 --> 0:11:31.045 the public so exciting. This was like their Epstein List. 0:11:32.445 --> 0:11:34.245 In one of the notes that Fanny had written, she 0:11:34.285 --> 0:11:37.805 apologized to her family, specifically to Sarah. She had written, 0:11:38.485 --> 0:11:40.925 I knew I was doing injury to one whom I 0:11:40.965 --> 0:11:44.205 supposed was all kindness to me. I pray her to 0:11:44.285 --> 0:11:47.125 forgive me, as I forgive them who have done me 0:11:47.245 --> 0:11:48.365 nothing but injuries. 0:11:49.365 --> 0:11:51.245 I request her not to place. 0:11:50.965 --> 0:11:54.605 This crime to that of black ingratitude, for I am 0:11:54.685 --> 0:12:00.365 sensible of the obligations I was under to her. And 0:12:00.405 --> 0:12:02.885 then in a diary entry that was published, she was 0:12:02.925 --> 0:12:06.085 pleading with Perez. She said, in the name of the heaven, 0:12:06.165 --> 0:12:08.245 let not my sweet infants suffer. 0:12:08.725 --> 0:12:11.925 Take care of it. Unhappy Morton if you ever loved 0:12:11.965 --> 0:12:24.485 its mother. And the thing is Once. 0:12:24.365 --> 0:12:27.285 These letters, notes, diary entries were published, all of it 0:12:27.325 --> 0:12:30.965 continued to snowball. More and more editorials were being published, 0:12:30.965 --> 0:12:36.165 along with public comments, and people started pointing fingers because 0:12:36.205 --> 0:12:38.725 everyone in Boston was trying to figure out who to 0:12:38.765 --> 0:12:43.685 blame for Fanny's devastating death. You know again was more 0:12:43.765 --> 0:12:46.285 in a big pile of Donkey Dung who had seduced 0:12:46.285 --> 0:12:50.605 and dishonored Fanny his victim or on the other side 0:12:50.605 --> 0:12:56.805 of it was Fanny just a crazy gal. In fact, 0:12:56.805 --> 0:13:00.285 the scandal was getting so frenzied. I mean, they probably 0:13:00.285 --> 0:13:03.445 weren't screaming like this, but he was getting so frenzied 0:13:03.645 --> 0:13:06.645 that an inquest was conducted in so September in October 0:13:06.685 --> 0:13:10.165 of seventeen eighty eight, looking into Fanny's death to see 0:13:10.165 --> 0:13:14.405 if Perez was somehow at fault, and the inquest involved 0:13:14.405 --> 0:13:18.045 not just an investigation by the coroner, but also featured 0:13:18.245 --> 0:13:23.525 arguments in front of a jury. Perez had some notable 0:13:23.525 --> 0:13:28.005 supporters like former Massachusetts Governor James Boden and John Adams, 0:13:28.845 --> 0:13:31.445 and it does seem that the apthorpes they just wanted 0:13:31.445 --> 0:13:35.685 the scandal to go away. So the coroner came back 0:13:35.765 --> 0:13:39.245 and said that indeed she had died by deliberate suicide. 0:13:39.645 --> 0:13:42.365 And then a newspaper put out this notice in early 0:13:42.405 --> 0:13:46.685 October seventeen eighty eight. It said, we are happy to 0:13:46.685 --> 0:13:49.445 be able to announce to the public that the accusations 0:13:49.445 --> 0:13:52.805 brought against a fellow citizen in consequence of a late 0:13:52.925 --> 0:13:55.765 unhappy event, and which has been the cause of so 0:13:55.885 --> 0:14:00.525 much domestic calamity and public speculation, have at the mutual 0:14:00.525 --> 0:14:03.845 desire of the parties, been submitted to and fully inquired 0:14:03.885 --> 0:14:07.605 into by their excellency James Boden and John Adams, and 0:14:07.685 --> 0:14:11.045 the result of their inquiry is that the said accusations 0:14:11.085 --> 0:14:14.085 have not been in any degree supported, and that therefore 0:14:14.325 --> 0:14:17.005 there is just ground for the restoration of peace and 0:14:17.045 --> 0:14:18.205 harmony between them. 0:14:18.725 --> 0:14:20.205 It would have been the wish. 0:14:19.965 --> 0:14:23.365 Of many that the extraordinary conduct of the deceased had 0:14:23.405 --> 0:14:28.245 been early attributed to the only accountable cause and insane 0:14:28.325 --> 0:14:31.205 state of mind. 0:14:32.365 --> 0:14:33.325 This notice is just. 0:14:33.365 --> 0:14:37.005 Like, hey, guys, calm down, no need to gossip and 0:14:37.005 --> 0:14:40.365 speculate about Perez anymore. He's a good guy, he's fine. 0:14:40.885 --> 0:14:44.605 Fanny was just the insane one. And at this point 0:14:44.725 --> 0:14:47.005 it does seem that the public was mostly on the 0:14:47.085 --> 0:14:50.645 side of Perez and was just assuming that Fanny had 0:14:50.645 --> 0:14:54.045 some sort of mental issue. So let's get to that, 0:14:54.085 --> 0:14:57.645 nosy neighbor. Now, minding your own. 0:14:57.525 --> 0:14:58.565 Business is boring. 0:14:58.725 --> 0:15:01.685 Like, I love gossip, but clearly everything that was being 0:15:01.725 --> 0:15:04.845 written about Fanny probably put a lot of pressure on 0:15:04.885 --> 0:15:09.045 her very stressed. But one dude went even further than 0:15:09.085 --> 0:15:10.965 writing editorials in a newspaper. 0:15:11.285 --> 0:15:12.885 His name was William Hill Brown. 0:15:13.205 --> 0:15:16.005 He lived near the Mortons, and like everyone in Boston, 0:15:16.045 --> 0:15:19.525 he was well acquainted with the scandal. He was the 0:15:19.525 --> 0:15:22.805 son of a clockmaker, one of the most celebrated in America. 0:15:23.685 --> 0:15:27.165 And despite you know, being well acquainted with time, William 0:15:27.245 --> 0:15:30.845 clearly didn't understand the concept of too soon when, at 0:15:30.845 --> 0:15:34.085 twenty four years old, in January seventeen eighty nine, mere 0:15:34.125 --> 0:15:37.845 months after Fanny's death, he published his novel called The 0:15:37.965 --> 0:15:43.965 Power of Sympathy. By the way, this is the sound 0:15:44.005 --> 0:15:48.685 of an old printing press. First of all, publishing, specifically 0:15:48.765 --> 0:15:50.885 a novel. At the time, that was a pretty big deal. 0:15:51.165 --> 0:15:54.645 People weren't really into novels yet. They thought they were suspicious. 0:15:54.805 --> 0:15:57.445 They're just like, why are you telling me this very long, 0:15:57.645 --> 0:15:58.565 fake story. 0:15:58.845 --> 0:16:03.965 Weird? But this novel, it was a big deal. 0:16:04.245 --> 0:16:08.125 You know, technically it was the first American novel, meaning 0:16:08.165 --> 0:16:11.205 it was written by American author, published by an American. 0:16:10.765 --> 0:16:12.925 And it was a story about Americans. 0:16:14.765 --> 0:16:17.445 And William hill Brown he knew people would be suspicious 0:16:17.485 --> 0:16:20.045 of a novel, so in the preface of the book, 0:16:20.085 --> 0:16:22.645 he's like, hey, yeah, this is a little story I 0:16:22.685 --> 0:16:25.765 made up in my wittle head. But at the same time, 0:16:26.245 --> 0:16:30.005 this book provides a great lesson in morality. He says, 0:16:30.085 --> 0:16:32.885 the point of the book is to quote expose the 0:16:32.885 --> 0:16:37.845 fatal consequences of seduction, and to inspire the female mind 0:16:37.925 --> 0:16:42.125 with a principle of self complacency, and to promote the 0:16:42.165 --> 0:16:48.285 economy of human life. Even before the book came out, 0:16:48.645 --> 0:16:53.485 William Hill Brown and his esteemed publisher, the printer Isaiah Thomas, 0:16:53.805 --> 0:16:56.205 decided that they would capitalize on the sensation of the 0:16:56.245 --> 0:16:59.045 Morton affair to promote the book. Ads for the novel 0:16:59.045 --> 0:17:02.605 started running in newspapers in January seventeen eighty nine, and 0:17:02.645 --> 0:17:05.485 those ads promised a connection between the scandal and the novel. 0:17:06.285 --> 0:17:07.485 And then once the novel was. 0:17:07.445 --> 0:17:10.845 Published, readers in Boston quickly saw that some of the 0:17:10.885 --> 0:17:13.565 events in the novel mirrored exactly what had happened in 0:17:13.605 --> 0:17:19.125 the Morton household. The way that the novel was written 0:17:19.325 --> 0:17:21.725 was in the form of sixty five letters written between 0:17:21.765 --> 0:17:25.565 the various characters, and it's in letters twenty one through 0:17:25.565 --> 0:17:29.525 twenty three where there's a subplot similar to the Morton affair. 0:17:30.525 --> 0:17:34.445 It's the story of the unmarried Ophelia who was seduced 0:17:34.445 --> 0:17:39.125 by her brother in law Martin, and then Ophelia kills herself. Wow, 0:17:39.125 --> 0:17:42.805 not subtle at all. Also, come on, Ophelia, are you 0:17:42.885 --> 0:17:46.165 kidding me? Couldn't you be slightly more creative than do 0:17:46.205 --> 0:17:50.365 a hack Hamlet reference? And then also Martin instead of Morton, 0:17:50.765 --> 0:17:57.525 like you barely changed the name. Isaiah Thomas and William 0:17:57.565 --> 0:18:02.445 Hill Brown thought that capitalizing on the affair would make 0:18:02.445 --> 0:18:06.245 America's first novel a huge success. In fact, William thought 0:18:06.285 --> 0:18:08.245 it would be such a hit that he was afraid. 0:18:08.885 --> 0:18:12.325 He ended up publishing anonymously so that the powerful Perez 0:18:12.365 --> 0:18:16.965 Morton wouldn't come after him. And before the novel came out, 0:18:16.965 --> 0:18:19.725 there were rumors that Perez had indeed tried to concoct 0:18:19.765 --> 0:18:23.045 a plan to suppress the novel. No one knows exactly 0:18:23.125 --> 0:18:23.565 what he was. 0:18:23.485 --> 0:18:24.005 Trying to do. 0:18:24.205 --> 0:18:27.045 Maybe he was trying to Pressurizaiah Brown to not publish it, 0:18:27.245 --> 0:18:28.405 or he had a scheme to buy up all the 0:18:28.445 --> 0:18:31.445 books before anyone else could get them. But luckily for 0:18:31.485 --> 0:18:35.005 Perez Morton, it seems that he really didn't need to 0:18:35.125 --> 0:18:38.405 bother suppressing the book at all, because the power of 0:18:38.445 --> 0:18:45.565 sympathy flopped and basically suppressed itself. No one was interested 0:18:45.565 --> 0:18:48.925 in buying it or reading it, and that's probably for 0:18:48.965 --> 0:18:54.165 a variety of reasons. One is that despite the fervor 0:18:54.165 --> 0:18:57.165 of the scandal in seventeen eighty eight, when the novel 0:18:57.165 --> 0:18:59.925 came out, the interest in the scandal was dying down, 0:19:00.765 --> 0:19:02.725 so people were probably like, Wow, why are you still 0:19:02.765 --> 0:19:03.445 talking about this? 0:19:03.445 --> 0:19:04.325 This is old news. 0:19:07.365 --> 0:19:10.165 Also, as I was saying, everyone was very skeptical about 0:19:10.205 --> 0:19:13.365 novels and fiction. Americans were just not ready for this 0:19:13.525 --> 0:19:17.165 art form. Or maybe the book actually sucked and that's 0:19:17.165 --> 0:19:20.045 why they weren't ready for it. Because soon after this 0:19:20.165 --> 0:19:23.285 book came out, another one came out called Charlotte Temple, 0:19:24.125 --> 0:19:33.565 and that got people reading. So the Power of Sympathy 0:19:33.645 --> 0:19:36.565 quickly went out of print and faded away until it 0:19:36.605 --> 0:19:39.325 was rediscovered as the first American novel in the mid 0:19:39.445 --> 0:19:42.645 nineteenth century. And then, because it was similar to the 0:19:42.685 --> 0:19:45.165 Morton affair, a lot of literary people assumed that the 0:19:45.205 --> 0:19:49.245 anonymous author was actually Sarah. They were like, yeah, Sarah 0:19:49.245 --> 0:19:52.245 Wentworth at Flort Morton wrote this story about her sister. 0:19:53.965 --> 0:19:56.885 The real author wasn't discovered until eighteen ninety four. There's 0:19:56.925 --> 0:19:59.205 this publisher who was trying to print and distribute more 0:19:59.205 --> 0:20:01.965 copies of the book, and he put Sarah's pseudonym on 0:20:02.005 --> 0:20:04.605 the front cover. That's when one of William Hill Brown's 0:20:04.645 --> 0:20:07.245 nieces came forward. It was like, actually, she didn't write it, 0:20:07.325 --> 0:20:10.965 my uncle dad. The Power of Sympathy wasn't the only 0:20:11.645 --> 0:20:15.005 art piece that got inspired by the scandal. In fact, 0:20:15.005 --> 0:20:18.125 in Rule Bennington, Vermont, in April seventeen eighty nine, there 0:20:18.205 --> 0:20:20.645 was a school that stage a play called The Fatal 0:20:20.645 --> 0:20:23.925 Effects of Seduction, and the scandal was the main plot 0:20:23.965 --> 0:20:27.365 of the story. Ah, I just love the idea of 0:20:27.405 --> 0:20:31.365 someone's doing a school play about seduction and suicide. They're 0:20:31.365 --> 0:20:33.285 a bit more edgy in seventeen eighty nine than they 0:20:33.325 --> 0:20:39.605 are now. So back in seventeen eighty nine, the Power 0:20:39.645 --> 0:20:42.725 of Sympathy came out, no one really seemed to care 0:20:42.765 --> 0:20:43.205 that much. 0:20:43.605 --> 0:20:45.485 But the Appthorpes and the Mortons. 0:20:45.125 --> 0:20:47.765 Were still reeling from their loss and trying to figure 0:20:47.765 --> 0:20:53.325 out how they could restore their reputations. So Sarah and 0:20:53.365 --> 0:20:56.685 Fanny had a brother, Charles, and he was a naval officer. 0:20:58.205 --> 0:21:01.485 He decided that one way they could restore their reputation 0:21:01.765 --> 0:21:06.445 was to challenge Perez to a duel. Yes, a duel 0:21:06.485 --> 0:21:11.245 shall solve everyone's problems. So in January seventeen eighty nine, 0:21:11.285 --> 0:21:13.605 he went up to Perez and was like, so you 0:21:13.645 --> 0:21:17.325 want a duel or what. And once you're offered a duel, 0:21:17.405 --> 0:21:20.245 you really have no choice but to accept because of 0:21:20.325 --> 0:21:23.565 gentlemanly honor and all that. But the thing is, it 0:21:23.565 --> 0:21:27.125 seems that Perez and Charles, neither of them really wanted. 0:21:26.845 --> 0:21:28.405 To do a duel. They were just like, this is 0:21:28.445 --> 0:21:29.365 just what you have to do. 0:21:30.965 --> 0:21:33.685 And it does seem that they might have made arrangements 0:21:33.725 --> 0:21:36.565 to have the duel stopped, because when they showed up 0:21:36.565 --> 0:21:38.205 at the place where they were going to have the duel, 0:21:38.285 --> 0:21:41.605 the sheriff was there. And they're like, oh, no, I 0:21:41.645 --> 0:21:44.085 guess we can't shoot each other because the sheriff is here. 0:21:44.205 --> 0:21:48.165 Oh dang, yeah, we can't reschedule. My schedule is packed. 0:21:48.205 --> 0:21:50.925 I simply just cannot fit another duel on my calendar. 0:21:51.605 --> 0:21:54.645 I just don't have another Dawn available until like many. 0:21:54.445 --> 0:21:55.205 Years from now. 0:21:58.965 --> 0:22:01.365 I think it's curious that after Fanny died, that's when 0:22:01.405 --> 0:22:03.565 Sarah started publishing more of her poems. 0:22:04.805 --> 0:22:06.325 She released several books. 0:22:06.045 --> 0:22:08.805 Of poetry over the next decade, And I do wonder 0:22:08.845 --> 0:22:10.965 if her sister's death had anything to do with her 0:22:11.005 --> 0:22:15.125 decision to publish more. I wonder if Perez before had 0:22:15.125 --> 0:22:18.605 been like, ugh, women publishing, that's so impolite. 0:22:18.645 --> 0:22:21.445 I don't like that. No one will publish in my house. 0:22:22.565 --> 0:22:25.725 But then after the scandal, maybe Sarah had this leverage 0:22:25.725 --> 0:22:27.525 and was like, bruh, you can't tell me what to 0:22:27.525 --> 0:22:29.805 do anymore. You fucked my sister and she killed herself. 0:22:30.125 --> 0:22:36.605 I'm going to publish some poems. And despite everything, Sarah 0:22:36.605 --> 0:22:40.085 and Perez stayed together. I mean, technically they could have divorced, 0:22:40.085 --> 0:22:41.885 but that probably would have caused more of a scandal, 0:22:42.605 --> 0:22:45.325 so they were married until Perez's death in eighteen thirty seven. 0:22:45.885 --> 0:22:48.085 Sarah died in eighteen forty six at the age of 0:22:48.085 --> 0:22:50.525 eighty six. She got to live Perez in all of 0:22:50.565 --> 0:22:53.805 her five children. We know that she and Perez had 0:22:53.805 --> 0:22:57.405 their last child in seventeen eighty seven, just six months 0:22:57.445 --> 0:23:01.285 before Fanny had hers. I mean, they could have had more, 0:23:01.565 --> 0:23:04.685 but I guess there's something about your husband having your 0:23:04.685 --> 0:23:08.045 sister's kid that's a bit of a turnoff. But in 0:23:08.085 --> 0:23:10.925 Sarah's poetry, she does hint at why she stayed with 0:23:10.965 --> 0:23:14.765 Perez as one common subject in her work is a 0:23:14.845 --> 0:23:18.885 mother's obligation to her children no matter what and the 0:23:18.925 --> 0:23:21.165 necessity of female resignation. 0:23:22.045 --> 0:23:28.885 Yikes. 0:23:34.125 --> 0:23:36.325 But the thing is, it does seem that Sarah had 0:23:36.365 --> 0:23:40.125 some sort of agency in all of this, because after 0:23:40.245 --> 0:23:45.525 this scandal went down, Sarah had an affair. And who 0:23:45.645 --> 0:23:49.485