Blood & ivy : the 1849 murder that scandalized Harvard

by Paul Collins

Paper Book, 2018

Status

Available

Publication

New York, N.Y. : W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2018]

Description

A delectable true-crime story of scandal and murder at America's most celebrated universityOn November 23, 1849, in the heart of Boston, one of the city's richest men vanished. Dr. George Parkman, a Brahmin who owned much of Boston's West End, was last seen that afternoon visiting his alma mater, Harvard Medical School. Police scoured city tenements and the harbor-some leads put Parkman at sea or in Manhattan-but a Harvard janitor held a much darker suspicion: that their ruthless benefactor had never even left the Medical School building. His shocking discovery engulfed America in one of its most infamous trials, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. John White Webster, Harvard's professor of chemistry. A baffling case of red herrings, grave robbing, and dismemberment, it became a landmark in the use of medical forensics. Rich in characters and atmosphere, Blood & Ivy explores the fatal entanglement of new science and old money in one of America's greatest murder mysteries.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Othemts
This historical, true crime narrative relates the story of the murder of Dr. George Parkman, a Harvard-educated physician and philanthropist, and from a prominent Boston Brahmin family. The murderer is revealed to also be a well-born man, John White Webster, a chemistry professor at Harvard Medical
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College. I'm familiar with the story since it is central story of Boston By Foot's Dark Sie of Boston tour, but it's not a well-known historical incident these days. At the time though, the social class of both murderer and victim, and their connections with Harvard University made it an international scandal. Even 18 years later, English author Charles Dickens asked to visit the murder site on his visit to Boston.

Collins details the murder, investigation, trial, and conviction of Webster, but also focuses on the case's place within the chasms among Boston's social classes. Initial blame for Dr. Parkman's disappearance was directed at the Boston's Irish immigrant population, then swelling due to the famine in Ireland. Even after Webster is brought to trial, the defense's main strategy is to deflect attention to Ephraim Littlefield, the Harvard Medical College janitor who is the main witness. The class mores of the time saw the working man Littlefield as someone who better fit the mold of murderer.

Collins also explores the innovations that emerged from the case. These include dental forensics as Parkman's dentist was able to use dental molds to identify Parkman's remains. The judge, Justice Lemuel Shaw, also gave instructions to the jury regarding the definition of "reasonable doubt" that became widespread in American jurisprudence, and weren't updated in Massachusetts until 2015!

This book is a good introduction to this remarkable case for those unfamiliar with the story. As someone who has read quite a bit about the Parkman murder, I also picked up quite a few new tidbits.
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LibraryThing member maryreinert
Interesting story of a murder that took place in Boston in 1849. Dr. Parkman was a wealthy doctor and landlord who suddenly disappears on what seemed to be an average morning for him. In keeping with the culture, discretion prevents too much of a public notice, but eventually, it becomes known that
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the man has disappeared and rewards are offered by the family. Dr. Parkman was a Harvard graduate as were anyone who was anyone at that time in Boston.

Dr. John Webster was a chemistry professor at Harvard and in debt to Dr. Parkman. The janitor in the medical building where Dr. Webster taught along with Dr. Oliver Wendal Holmes becomes suspicious of Dr. Webster and takes it upon himself to find evidence. Parts of a human skeleton and torso are found.

The rest of the book outlines the trial of Dr. Webster. One of the most interesting themes of the book is the influence of Harvard on the culture of the times. The Harvard men were proud, wealthy, privileged, entitled, and almost everyone from the poorest to the richest believed that to be true.

The book is based on vast research and the notes and sources take up many pages at the end. An altogether interesting and fascinating read. Collins has a knack of bringing history alive along with all the minor details that provide a close look at the time.
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LibraryThing member JBD1
A typically Collinsian treatment of a historical incident, this time the brutal 1849 murder of George Parkman by John White Webster. Well written, engaging, and expertly researched.

Language

Barcode

10784
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