Does ‘The Scarlet Letter’ have Connecticut roots?
By Patricia Suprenant
For the Journal Inquirer
Since its publication on March 16, 1850, scholars have speculated on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s source material for his novel “The Scarlet Letter.” Could the inspiration for this classic morality tale have been the forgotten “trial of the century” — that is, the 19th century?
The 1820 case of Connecticut v. Ammi Rogers had everything: sex, intrigue, a coverup, and a flight across state lines into Massachusetts. Even more captivating, it involved a romantic triangle: a Branford-born clergyman, a young Preston physician with political connections, and a beautiful, pregnant teenager from Griswold.
Newspaper coverage of the trial began immediately, on Oct. 5, 1820, and centered on the abortion that may have been performed with an “unusual instrument” by Rogers, a Yaleeducated Episcopal minister, on his teenage lover.…..