Who Killed the Farmer's Wife?
On May 22, 1877, - 148 years and seven days when we come together May 29th - a young woman had just finished picking a basketful of spring cabbage. Soon, she'd prepare a meal for her husband and children.
But she never got the chance. As she walked toward her house, a terrible thing happened to this wife and mother of three. Twenty-two year old Sallie Norfolk was found dead in a pool of blood with the basket of cabbage leaves by her side. Murdered. Who did it...and why? Finding the answer gripped Southern Maryland and parts of the US for months. It is a story that echoes these 148 years later.
Carol Booker, our guest for the 2025 Spring Dinner and Annual General Meeting, brings Sallie's story to life. In the process, she weaves a rich fabric of what life was like in late 19th century Southern Maryland. As in her earlier book, The Waterman's Widow, Ms. Booker draws the reader into the story. Illustrated with period photos of its characters and places, The Farmer's Wife is bone-chilling. You'll learn what if felt like to live in Southern Maryland a dozen years from the end of the Civil War as the State and the Nation went about rebuilding. You'll feel the chill of a harsh winter and the warmth of the Spring sun. You'll shudder as the events of this gruesome murder unfold.
Along with Carol Booker's engrossing history, the winner of the second annual Pete Himmelheber Award for outstanding contributions in research and interpretation of St. Mary's County History will be announced.
Seats are still available. You can make you can make reservations by clicking this link: 2025 Spring Dinner or by completing and returning the attached form.
It will be an evening to remember!
|