Mary Cecilia Rogers was born in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1820, into a family already marked by loss. Her father died when she was young, leaving her mother, Phoebe, a widow for the second time. Phoebe had been married before to a wealthy merchant, and of the five children born to that first marriage, only two survived infancy. In 1837, after the death of her second husband, Phoebe moved with her seventeen-year-old daughter Mary to New York, where they lived with Phoebe’s sister.
It was a difficult time for the widow, who had to find a way to support herself and her child in a city where fewer than ten percent of women held jobs outside the home. Mary grew into a striking young woman, known not only for her beauty but also for her dignified manner. She attracted the attention of young gentlemen wherever she went. One of those men was John Anderson, a cigar store owner, who asked Mary to come and work for him.
Her mother initially objected, especially since Anderson’s customers were predominantly men, but she eventually agreed. Mary earned a generous wage, and Anderson’s decision proved commercially brilliant. Customers flocked to his store for the chance to see the beautiful young woman behind the counter. One admirer was so taken with her that he wrote a poem describing her heaven-like smile and star-like eyes, which was published in the New York Herald.
Soon afterward, literary figures such as James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and Fitz-Greene Halleck began visiting the store. Then, in October 1838, Mary suddenly disappeared. Newspapers reported her absence, and one account claimed that her mother had found a suicide note and that the local coroner had concluded Mary was fixed in an unalterable determination to destroy herself. A few days later, Mary returned unharmed, saying she had only been visiting an aunt outside the city.
Some papers called the whole episode a hoax designed by Anderson to draw even more attention to his cigar store. After her return, however, Mary changed. She still worked hard, but she seemed reserved and at times solemn. Rumors began to circulate that she had been seen in the company of a tall, handsome gentleman during the time she was said to be visiting her aunt.
Phoebe Rogers had since taken a lease on a boarding house, and Mary left Anderson’s employment to work alongside her mother. Many of the boarders were captivated by her, including a young law clerk named Alfred Cromelien. But Mary had already fallen for another boarder, a cord-cutter named Daniel Payne. He was not wealthy, but he was handsome and charming, and he openly declared his affection.
He asked for her hand in marriage, and Mary accepted. Her mother was not happy. She thought Payne kind-hearted but wanted her daughter to marry into a more elite social circle, hoping for a gentleman who could improve the family’s circumstances. On Sunday, July 25, 1841, Mary went to church.
After the service, she told her fiancé that she would visit a relative named Mrs. Downing, who lived on Bleecker Street. Payne said he would come later that evening to accompany her home. As the day progressed, however, an unabating storm descended on New York.
The rain was so strong that Payne assumed Mary would not want to travel back through it, so he did not go to meet her. The next day, the storm had cleared. Mary did not return. When Payne arrived at the boarding house from work, Phoebe Rogers told him her daughter was still missing, and she was growing anxious.
Payne immediately went to Bleecker Street. Mrs. Downing was surprised by his visit. She had not seen Mary and had not expected to see her the previous day.
She had heard nothing from Mary and had no idea where she might be. Payne walked along Broadway, asking anyone who knew Mary if they had seen her, but no one had. He returned to the lodging house and told Phoebe the news. Together, they notified the police that Mary Rogers was missing.
Three days later, on Wednesday, July 28, three men walking near Sybil’s Cave in Hoboken spotted something floating in the river. They rowed out to investigate and were horrified to find the body of a young woman. They brought it to shore, and though the area was not usually frequented, a large crowd soon gathered. One of those who came was Alfred Cromelien.
He confirmed that the young woman was Mary Rogers. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy found that Mary’s face had been beaten. A cord was fastened around her waist, and a piece of lace, evidently torn from her dress, was tied around her neck. There were cord marks on her wrists, and it appeared she had been sexually assaulted.
The doctor concluded she had been murdered, assaulted, killed, and dressed before being placed in the water. He noted that the knot tied on her bonnet was rudimentary, the kind a sailor would tie, not a delicate young lady. Mary Rogers again became headline news across New York, with stories about the beautiful cigar girl who had been brutally murdered appearing in every paper. The press speculated on who might have been responsible.
Her fiancé, Daniel Payne, seemed an obvious suspect. It was suggested that because Phoebe Rogers did not think him good enough for her daughter, he may have killed Mary in a rage. Other papers suggested she had been the victim of a random attack. The police investigation moved slowly.
New York was a rapidly growing city with a population of 320,000, but its police force had not kept pace. The city was served by just one night watch, a hundred city marshals, thirty-one constables, and fifty-one police officers. Payne told them that on the day of the murder he had been drinking most of the day and had been with relatives. His alibi was confirmed by several people.
The police arrested other suspects, but each had alibis. A former boarder named Joseph Morse gave a contradictory statement, but no evidence was found against him. Another previous lodger was a sailor, which made him a suspect because of the sailor’s knot, but again there was no evidence. In September, the location of the attack was discovered in the woods around Hoboken.
Teenagers found a silk scarf, petticoats, a parasol, and a lady’s handkerchief with the initials MR. They told their mother, Mrs. Frederica Loss, who ran a nearby tavern called Nick Moore’s House. She informed the police and said she remembered a young couple dining at the tavern on July 25.
That evening, she had heard what she thought was a woman’s scream, but after looking out the door, she concluded the noise must have been from an animal. She was certain, however, that the young lady she had served was Mary Rogers. Police inspected the site and found the long grass trodden down, evidence of a struggle, and a track leading to the river that may have been made by dragging a body. Mary’s mother confirmed that the items belonged to her daughter.
The police tried to identify the mysterious man Mary had been seen with. Rumors circulated that he was a naval officer, but there was no evidence. Many believed Phoebe Rogers knew far more about her daughter’s secret than she was willing to admit. Although Payne had an alibi for the day of the murder, many still considered him a suspect.
Since Mary’s death, he had started drinking heavily and had even claimed to have seen her ghost. On October 7, he took the ferry to Hoboken, stopped at Mrs. Loss’s tavern for a few drinks, and then proceeded to the place where Mary had been killed. He sat on the grass, drank laudanum, and died.
A note in his pocket read, “May God forgive me for my misspent life. ” Some concluded this was a confession of guilt. Others thought he had been driven mad by despair. The police had no more suspects, and the case of the beautiful cigar girl faded from the newspapers.
The people of New York moved on to other stories. There were occasional theories, mainly about how Mrs. Loss came to possess Mary’s belongings. Some believed her teenage children had found the items shortly after the body was discovered but that Mrs.
Loss had held onto them until the police announced a reward. This, however, was only speculation. A year later, when talk of the murder had long since ceased, a freak accident reignited interest. Mrs.
Loss was accidentally shot by one of her sons as she lay in her bed. In a very bad way, she sent for a New Jersey judge, saying she had something to confess. When Judge Merritt arrived, Mrs. Loss told a strange and macabre tale.
She said Mary Rogers had come to her tavern on July 25, 1841, with a tall, handsome doctor. Mary was with child, and the doctor had arranged to perform a termination. Complications resulted in the young lady’s death. Unaware of what to do, the doctor departed, leaving Mrs.
Loss to dispose of the body. She said her sons took the body to the river and placed the petticoat and other items in a nearby pond before scattering them in the dense thicket of the woods near Sybil’s Cave. She said she did not know the doctor’s name. Shortly after this confession, Mrs.
Loss died. Some newspapers accepted the confession and announced that the mystery had been solved. The Tribune wrote that the fearful mystery which had struck terror into so many hearts had at last been explained by circumstances in which no one could fail to perceive a providential agency. The police, however, were not convinced.
The deathbed confession contradicted known facts. The coroner had reported that Mary had died by strangulation. There was no mention of a botched termination as the cause of death. Newspapers quickly tried to identify the mysterious doctor.
Some speculated that the person responsible was not a man but a woman who had a reputation for quietly helping unmarried young women terminate unwanted pregnancies. Her name was Madame Restell. She was known to Judge Merritt, had come to New York from England in 1831, and had no real medical training but had become infamous for providing assistance to young women, mainly from the higher social circles. Some papers also brought up Mary’s 1838 disappearance, suggesting she may have disappeared to terminate a pregnancy.
There was no evidence that Madame Restell had ever met Mary or that Mary had ever been pregnant. The coroner’s cause of death had not changed, but the case again captured the public’s interest. Mrs. Loss’s children were questioned.
Both said the deathbed statement was not true and was just a tale invented by a dying woman. At the end of 1842, Edgar Allan Poe published a story titled “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt,” retelling the case of Mary Rogers but setting it in Paris. Once published, speculation began again. Some believed Mrs.
Loss’s confession was probably true. Others thought Daniel Payne was guilty. Suspects also included Alfred Cromelien and even John Anderson.
But despite all the theories, gossip, and hearsay, exactly why and how the beautiful cigar girl Mary Cecilia Rogers died remains a mystery to this day.