mary

Mary Secaur

Mary Secaur was a 14-year-old half-orphan (her father was still alive in Lancaster, Ohio, but unable to care for her or her brother) who was living near relatives with the Citterly family.

Day describes her as "large and well-developed for a child of her age." Many of the contemporary accounts of this poor girl describe her as "well-developed," but their rationale for this including this detail is cloudy. The men writing these accounts seem confused as to how to handle her, swinging between describing her as an innocent child and as a near-woman.

Day, for example, describes her in innocent terms:

Her mother died some three years ago, since which time she has been living in the family of Mr. John Citterly, of Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. She was a gentle, tractable child; being dutiful and of a kind and loving disposition, she had so ingratiated herself with Mr and Mrs Citterly, and so won upon their affections during her stay in the family, that, having no children of their own, they had determined to adopt her and make her heir to their estate. And not only had she, by her gentle ways and winning manners, conquered for herself a place in the affections of the Citterlys, but she had by the same process secured the good will and esteem of all her acquaintances, and she was the universal favorite of all--both old and young--in the neighborhood.

The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, however, painted a different picture in its original story about the murder: "It appears that the girl had a lover--he was arrested for committing the deed, but proved an alibi." The "official" version of the story, represented by Day's account, leave out the lover detail but do include the information about an original subject. If she had a lover, why cover that up in the official narrative? If not, why include it in the Tribune story? The Tribune stories of the murder tend toward the sensational and often include "facts" not included in other versions.

I prefer to think of her as a normal 14-year-old girl who was brutally raped and murdered by some evil person or persons. It makes me very sad to think of the terror of her last moments.