A Death Once Thought Murder
- By Bruce McKinney
Copy of the Poughkeepsie Broadside held by the National Library of Australia
In November 1800 in Dutchess County in the town of Hyde Park, Catherine Berringer died a suspicious death and her fiancé, John Benner was soon arrested for the crime. The accusation was murder by poison in an era when the death penalty was casually applied. Given that Hyde Park was [and still is] in the boonies the accused was remanded to Poughkeepsie in County, some miles south, no doubt to avoid expedited justice. In the area thieves were regularly hung and justice summarily applied.
In time John Benner would be cleared and return to Hyde Park to become an honored citizen. The crime however enflamed the local imagination and poems were written to remember the story if not the facts. This particular crime, and Miss Berringer specifically, became the face that like that of Helen of Troy, launched, if not a thousand ships then perhaps a hundred dinghies. No doubt Mr. Benner wished to sink them all. He could be cleared but not disconnected and fresh accounts were issued into the 1830's. Details of the crime was also set to music. Murder set to a dirge!
One online account has this to say about the case, "amid the excitement a poet named Smith composed a "Funeral Dirge," mourning Miss Barringer's untimely death and accusing Benner of the crime. In this dirge "the murderer is depicted in his cell, haunted by the specter of his victim, who whispers into his ear the words "Prepare to meet thy God." "Frances M. Leonard, in his sketch of Jenks, recalled learning of the dirge in the 1830s."
An early handwritten account was posted on eBay recently and I purchased it for $185. This piece is titled "Tribute to the Memory of Catherine Berringer who was murdered by her Lover John Benner of Rhinebeck, N. York." The language is similar but not identical to a printed document, attributed but not confirmed to Poughkeepsie, 1800, and thought by some to be the first printed account of this sorry episode. The writer of the document I acquired is Asa Dean who identifies himself in a bold script that would make John Hancock blush.
He signs the document Asa Dean of Raynham, Bristol County, Massachusetts and in the same hand "Claverack July 14th, 1809." In doing so he confirms that he is local [ in nearby Columbia County] and this is an early account. His version is the same 14 verses provided in the printed version although his text differs in some respects.
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A Death Once Thought Murder
- By Bruce McKinney
An early draft of a cold account
The printed broadside version, attributed to Poughkeepsie c 1800, reads:
A tribute to the memory of
Catherine Berrenger
of the Town of Rhinebeck
Who fell a victim to Death on the 4th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1800,
by swallowing a portion of Arsenic, supposed to be administered to her by JOHN
BENNER, to whom she was promised in marriage, and who has been confi-
ned in the gaol of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, for the same offense.
The second version is Asa Dean's manuscript copy dated 1809:
A tribute of respect to the Memory of
Catharine Berring [er]
of the town of Rhinebeck,
who fell a victim, to death, on the 4th day of November 1800,
by swallowing a portion of Arsenic, supposed to be administered to her by John
Benner, to whom she was promised in marriage, and who is now confined
in the gaol of Poughkeepsie.
They are similar but not the same.
For this there are several possibilities.
The printed text is earlier and Mr. Dean inaccurately transcribed his version.
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A Death Once Thought Murder
- By Bruce McKinney
Asa Dean, shades of John Hancock
There may be other versions and Mr. Dean may have relied on one of them. At this time there were presses in Hudson, Catskill, Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh. The subject would have been of interest to readers in Western, Massachusetts and Connecticut as well. I have not located other copies however.
Mr. Dean's holographic version is conceivably earlier than many later printings and may have been relied on substantially if not entirely.
While the crime took place late in the year 1800 there is no confirmation when the attached printed account was published. The only firm date I have at this point is the date on the manuscript. It's 1809 and from what I gather most evidence of references to the crime appear between 1810 and 1835. So it seems possible, but not probable that this manuscript could be a very early, even original source. Possible, but not likely.
Finally, the title doesn't leave much to the imagination or allow for any possibility that Mr. Benner did not commit the crime although in the fullness of time, he convinced authorities he was not the culprit. The dirge would most make sense if written while Mr. Dean prepared to hang. In time I'll review the local newspapers of that time and learn the timing of his being taken into custody and later his release. In with the other details of the story they'll probably be references to the dirge.
As to the spellings of the victim's name, they vary and I have transcribed them accurately. No doubt had Miss Berringer lived a bit longer she would have died anyway, - of embarrassment.
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