Ephraim Avery Trial: 1833

The initial coroners' jury in Tiverton, which met before the autopsy of Cornell's body, concluded that she had "committed suicide by hanging herself upon a stake … and was influenced to commit said crime by the wicked conduct of a married man." After the post-mortem, however, a second coroners' jury in Bristol accused Avery of being the "principal or accessory" in her death. Avery was arrested for murder, but was quickly released on his own recognizance.

The residents of Fall River were shocked by Cornell's death. When she was buried on Christmas Eve, a large, angry crowd attended her funeral. That evening, at a mass meeting in Fall River, funds were pledged and two committees selected "to aid the inhabitants of Tiverton" in the investigation of the crime. On Christmas Day (the holiday was not celebrated in Puritan-dominated New England), one hundred men from Fall River chartered a steamer, sailed to Bristol, and marched to Avery's home. Once there, they demanded that the reverend show himself, but he stayed upstairs while a friend confronted the crowd. There might have been a lynching if the steamer had not rung its bell announcing its return to Fall River.

An inquest was then held in Bristol. In the end, the two justices of the peace concluded that there was not enough evidence to try Avery for murder. The residents of Fall River were outraged and rumors flew that at least one of the judges was a Methodist who wanted to protect the reputation of the church. Harvey Harnden, Fall River's deputy sheriff, then got a warrant for Avery's arrest from a Rhode Island Superior Court judge, but the minister had fled before a Rhode Island sheriff could serve it.

Avery supposedly ran on the advice of a friend after being told that his life was in danger. He was found by Harnden in Rindge, New Hampshire, on January 20, 1833, and was promptly returned to Rhode Island, where he was committed to the Newport jail. On March 8, the pastor was indicted for murder by the Newport County grand jury and he pleaded "not guilty."