She Reveals The SIN She Witnessed As A Girl. Warning: This Story Will Haunt You.
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Published 2019-12-03
It is a strange and sad story and my doc details the efforts that my team over a nine-month period to investigate it. We concluded that, even with the minor errors that Nettie Mitchell may have made in telling it, the basic story was true.
I took the interview that you are watching here to the executive producer of PBS American Experience series and she gave us the funds to make a one-hour documentary that both investigated the story and dramatized it titled Sins Of Our Mothers.
Some of the people that you see in this film clip corroborated what Nettie told my cameraman back in the 1975 when he recorded this interview. And I complement PBS for running a story like this involved with the Oedipus complex, Puritan sin (really sin in any culture), the sex abuse difficulties young women endured when they went to work in the mills of Massachusetts back in the mid-1800s.
Sin was a central concept in Puritan theology and was taken very seriously in New England during the 1800s. The Puritans believed that human beings were born sinful and that salvation could only be attained through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Puritan New England, sin was not just a personal failing but a crime against God and society. Puritan communities were tightly controlled with strict rules to prevent sinful behavior. Puritan ministers preached about sin regularly and sin was viewed as a very real danger to the community. Punishments for sin were severe and included public shaming, fines, imprisonment and even banishment.
Puritans were particularly concerned with sexual sins such as adultery and fornication which they believed threatened the sanctity of marriage. They were also deeply opposed to gambling, drinking and other forms of "worldly" pleasure, which they saw as distractions from the pursuit of godliness.
Life for rural Maine farmers in 1850 was difficult and marked by hardship and isolation. Most farmers lived on small, family-owned farms. Farmers typically had to contend with a challenging climate, as the winters were long and harsh, and the growing season was short. The soil in Maine was also rocky and infertile, making it difficult to grow crops.
Farmers worked long hours, often starting before dawn and continuing until well after sunset, in order to tend to their crops and livestock. They relied heavily on manual labor, with most tasks performed by hand or with the help of draft animals such as horses or oxen.
In addition to the challenges of farming, rural Maine farmers also faced social and economic isolation. Many lived far from towns or cities and had limited access to markets or goods and services. They also had limited access to education and cultural amenities.
This may be why a rural Maine farmer family trusted that when they sent their daughter Emmeline to work in the Lowell woolen Mills, she would be safe and protected as the broadsides hosted around the state of Maine for all to read claimed.
But it is also true that throughout New England and maybe throughout the country at that time, shunning was an active part of community life. Shunning was a form of social ostracism where individuals who were seen as violating community norms or religious beliefs were publicly condemned and excluded from social interactions. Shunning was often used as a way to enforce moral standards in the community. Those who were accused of violating these standards, such as engaging in extramarital affairs or consuming alcohol, would be publicly shamed and excluded from social events, including church services. Those who were shunned would be denied access to critical resources, such as food and supplies, and would be excluded from the support and assistance of their community.
Individuals who were shunned experienced significant social and economic hardship. They might lose their livelihoods or be forced to move away from their communities in order to avoid the stigma of being shunned. Despite its harshness, shunning was seen as an important way to maintain the moral fabric of the community. It was used as a way to enforce social norms and to discourage behaviors that were seen as immoral or sinful.
All of the above helps to understand how & why what happened to Emmeline according to Nettie Mitchell, could have happened. For me Nettie Mitchell was a courageous journalist/storyteller. She held it inside for so long and was pleased when we made the documentary (titled Sins Of Our Mothers), & provoked Judith Rosner to write the book Emmeline. The money she received helped her live the rest of her life in some level of comfort.
I want to thank the advertisers who post on my video. They include Portland to Bar Harbor and Rome, Maine.
David Hoffman filmmaker
All Comments (21)
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Here is the complete story of how and why this occurred. It will help you to understand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPW_TGp8MrE And this 98-year-old lady who I interviewed back in 1979 was just amazing. She lived a life that is completely gone now. -https://youtu.be/js91H5wB11Q David Hoffman filmmaker
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Let me tell you a story. My great grandmother Pearl was born out of wedlock in 1899. Pearl was immediately put in an orphanage and it was hushed up. About a year later Pearl's mom met and married a man. She didn't dare tell him that she'd had an illegitimate child. A few months after the wedding he found out. What did he do? He went straight to that orphanage and brought my great grandmother home and raised her like his own. For every awful human there's a human with an absolute soul of gold. We just need to decide which human we want to be. Edit: Pearls youngest daughter Peggy passed away in March. She was in her 90s. She loved hearing about all the nice comments everyone has written. Pearl passed long before there was any kind of social media but Peggy said Pearl would have gotten a big kick out of all of your kind comments. I have a some hilarious memories of Pearl. When she got old and had a lot of aches and pains she demanded that her oldest grandson give her some pot. Jim would try to pretend that he never had any but Pearl knew better. Jim always smelled like skunk weed lol! Anyway Pearl did not like "the pot". We had a lot of covered dish lunches at our church. When it was time for the blessing and someone said "shhhh" to get everyone to be quiet Pearl would say "it" ....in other words "shh....it". She never swore but for some reason she thought that was hilarious...and it was. Peggy also started making that joke and now I do it in honor of Pearl and Peggy.
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In the very early 1950's when I was about six we lived near a sweet old lady who used to make us cookies after school. My sister and I used to go to see her everyday after school. My parents didn't know her, she was just our friend. Things were very different and far safer in those days. Thinking about it now, she lived alone, didn't seem to have a car or to leave the house. We had to cross a railroad track to get to her little house. One day, I was by myself and went to cross the railroad track on the way home. A train was coming and I was hesitating to cross but I didn't want to wait for a long train. The engineer was honking wildly and I could see him looking freaked because there was nothing he could do to stop the train. I saw my mother across the street, yelling don't cross, stay back! But I leapt across right at the last moment. The train was probably no more than 20 feet from me. I got a switching when my mother got hold of me. She said I could never go to see the old lady again. I guess as a kid it didn't strike me that my sister and I may have been the only company that old lady had in a day, but as I've gotten older and company gets scarcer, I have thought about it. No one phoned her and I don't know if she even had a phone. So I guess she made her cookies and no one came until she gave up. It must have been a shock and a great sadness to her for us to just stop coming. A while back, I searched for our old address. The neighborhood had hardly changed, I suppose because rail yards had grown up over time and no one really wanted to live there. Our house was pretty much as it had been. Believe it or not as I looked around the neighborhood I saw what must have been her old house still standing. Of course the old lady died long ago. It was very sad for me to realize what two little girls never returning without explanation might have meant to a lonely old soul. Wherever she is now, I hope she could hear me explaining to her what happened.
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This story has played out countless times in Ireland where I live. The things that were done to young women and girls who, through no fault of their own, were perceived to be "fallen women" sickens me.
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Nettie made her life matter by telling the ladies story and showing her kindness as a little girl ❤. RIP Emmeline ❤
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I once heard this saying from someone: “when an old person dies, a library burns down”. This story was *riveting*. A 🌹for Emmaline.
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This story broke my heart. The very 1st time my mom had sex she became pregnant w me. She was only 15. Everyone except my father wanted me to b aborted. Everyone was very mean n rotten to my mom while she was pregnant. One day my mom was out shopping n needed to sit down. A woman moved over n told her to sit n was the only person that was kind to her during her entire pregnancy. The woman n her spoke for quite awhile. The woman's name was Melanie. I found this out by asking my mom one day where she came up w my name. I am named after the only person thar was kind to her during her entire pregnancy.
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What's even sadder about what happened to Emmeline, is the fact that not only was she an innocent child, who was seduced by her boss, who was much older, but the possibility, that he molested her, and because she was so naive, and poor, she was afraid to say anything. And eventhough the money she sent home, kept her family alive, they were too evil, and ungrateful to stand by her! I hope her entire family is rotting in hell!!😢😢
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So sad that as a 14 yr old child she was held accountable and not the man who took advantage of her.
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What a heartbreaking story! A boss gets a young girl pregnant and she is shunned the rest of her life by a community that should have helped her and not criticize her. That’s appalling.
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These stories are SO SO very common. We have generations of women who have been abused by others, especially under the guise of organized religions. I treat PTSD in survivors of assault and there are survivors everywhere all over the world with untold stories and unhealed wounds. This breaks my heart, but I feel honored to help women recover. So many Americans really don't want to admit that we have been living in a culture of abuse and oppression, but the truth is everywhere...we just need to listen more.
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My heart goes out to the lady that this elderly woman is talking about in the story. Everything she went through and then dying alone and abandoned by everyone knowing nobody wanted you. That had to be the worst feeling knowing that nobody wanted you that no one loved you.
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"I think her sister sinned more than she." Absolutely heartbreaking.
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I’m an old man, and a Christian, I would say this woman committed no sin, but certainly all of those around her did. I am heartbroken.
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I grew up in southern Maine, a little town called Berwick, and I can attest that even in the late 70s and early 80s, shunning was a thing. While this was a terrible thing, I'm glad Nettie had a chance to tell the story. I get the feeling that she felt a lot better after getting that off her chest.
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My two sisters and I have a horror story of our own that lasted every day for seven years. For most it would be hard to believe . I'am the only sister still continues to seek help for more than 40 years. In and out of the hospital for depression and medications. Now that all the monsters involved are now passed I wish I had a chance for someone to listen to our story.
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This is so tragic and breaks my heart. This kind of thing happened so often in in early America and was so unfair to young fragile woman and treated as objects. Men ruled the land and no one questioned it. What a complete crock! Thank you for presenting this story! This elderly lady was just beautiful!!
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I agree with Nettie's mother. The family of Emeline sinned more than she did. A lot of people who call themselves Christian completely miss the message of Jesus. Forgive.
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When an elder dies, a library burns to the ground. What a beautiful quote..we need to hang on to rhe wisdom and humility of our elders, in a world that is too fast and too cool 😎 Btw, This is not my quote, I seen it elsewhere and it is beautiful. Take care, God bless.
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What a wonderful woman. Thank you for this. Shunning is evil. Individuals use The Silent Treatment to punish other individuals- like spouses. I know.
