A Crime "Shrouded in Mystery": State, Church, and Community in the Kinnear's Mills Post Office Case, 1899-1905

Abstract

By examining the inquiries into the apparent theft of $200 from an envelope posted by a local clergyman, as well as the public response to those inquiries, this study explores the culture and social dynamics of a rural, English-speaking community in Quebec at the turn of the last century. The case reveals much about the nature of the community, the role of the church, the biases of the law enforcement system, and the propensity of the rural population to continue resisting external authority at the dawn of Canada’s new industrial age.