Susanna Cox

Susanna Cox (c. 1785–1809) was a young domestic servant in Berks County, Pennsylvania who was convicted of murdering her illegitimate infant son on April 7, 1809. She was executed in Reading, Pennsylvania on June 10, 1809.

History On the morning of February 17, 1809, the employer of Susanna Cox found the body of her baby in a rubbish bin behind his property. Cox was immediately questioned, and while she admitted that the baby was hers, she insisted that it was stillborn. After a short investigation, she was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death on April 7, 1809. Her court-appointed lawyers did little to defend her and no witnesses were called to testify on her behalf. Following her conviction, her case was taken up by Muehlenberg, a wealthy lawyer in Reading, and her case was taken to the Governor in hopes the conviction could be reversed. The law in Pennsylvania at the time allowed for no recourse after a conviction. After a short imprisonment in the local sheriff's home, Cox was executed in Reading on June 10, 1809. The case is credited with the later adoption of an appeals process in the state.

Berks County was home to large populations of German-language immigrants who settled there in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Baptised in the Lutheran church as Susanna Gax, Cox shared this German heritage (referred to as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch). Cox was an uneducated woman who spoke a German dialect and could do little to defend herself in court. She had worked for the family of Jacob Geehr for eleven years, having been born into a poor family with few resources to educate or care for her. Little is known about her life before she came to work for the Geehrs, as she could not read or write and spent most of her time caring for the Geehrs' children. Up until 2022, the ballad was read at the annual summer Kutztown Folk Festival and Susanna Cox was hanged in effigy from a gallows created for this purpose.

Musical adaptation In the 21st century, there have been several musical adaptations of the topic, including the following works: Brintzenhoff, Keith: "Ballad of Susanna Cox" (Keith Brintzenhoff with Mitch Miller, Mike Hertzog & Karlene Brintzenhoff) Those Galloping Hordes: "Things I grew up with" an album dedicated to the life and execution of Susanna Cox by a Pennsylvanian indie band (Members unknown), 2012 Werner, Michael: "Die Gschicht vun die Susanna Gax" (Michael Werner & The New Paltz Band), 2014