Murder and Mayhem in Boston

Last Thursday, the Rompers attended a lecture that was given by Brookline Adult Education titled "Murder and Mayhem in Boston". The speaker was from Boston By Foot, a non-profit organization that was founded in 1976 with the mission to "to promote public awareness of Boston's rich architectural and historical heritage through its guided tours, lecture series, and other activities". They have a plethora of tours that are given all across Boston from the North End, to Beacon Hill, and Back Bay. All of the docents are volunteers who have completed a six week course that includes writing four papers and passing an exam, making each volunteer much more than just your average tour guide. Even when the guides are brought off of the walking trails, such was the case with this lecture, they are still extremely engaging and incredibly knowledgable.

The woman who gave the lecture at Brookline Adult Education told various stories that even those who were born and raised in Boston were unfamiliar with. To being with, she told of Boston's "Hanging Elm Tree" which was located in the Boston Common. When someone committed an act that was punishable by death, the police would escort the perpetrated to the Commons where hundreds of people would be gathered to watch the public hanging. Many would come with a picnic lunch and bring their children along for the "entertainment".

In Boston, there were very few witch trials or hangings. However, she did tell of one "witch" from the North End named Goody Glover who was a maid for a wealthy family. Glover was a maid to a wealthy family and when her employer accused Glover's daughter of stealing linens, Glover revealed that it was in fact her employer's daughter who commited the crime. The employer's daughter went into a fit and Glover was charged with witchcraft and hanged.

Fast forwarding about two hundred years, brought us to Parkman Murder in which a Boston real estate giant was murdered by a Harvard University professor. For days, Mr. Parkman's murder went unsolved until a Harvard University janitor discovered Mr. Parkman's jaw in an incenorator. The professor was brought to trial which created a huge sensation. The Boston Police even sold tickets to the trial and changed the audience every ten minutes in order for the police to make a greater revenue.

More recently, in the 1960s, was the "Debutante Murder" in which a young hieress living on Beacon Hill murdered her boyfriend. The girl, a niece of Montgomery Cliff, was living with her grandmother on Beacon Hill when she discovered that her Brazilian boyfriend had impregnanted her and refused to be wed. When her grandmother left to vacation on Cape Cod, the girl invited her boyfriend over and killed him. She then took off pieces of his body, packed them in seven pieces of luggage, and brought with her to Brazil where she buried the body parts that she had harvested from her boyfriend. When she returned to the United States, she went to her general practitioner and declared herself insane. She was able to carry the baby to term, was eventually released from the mental hospital and now lives in Texas with her husband.

Of course, the lecture included old Boston favorites such as "The Great Fire", "The Great Molasses Flood", and "The Boston Strangler".

The entire lecture was fantastic. The stories were perfect for the Halloween spirit and told with great enthusiasm. Forutnately, the speaker was excited about the subject matter which made the lecture even more entertaining. She was equally interested in answering questions as she was in hearing other people's interpretations of these much loved tales. Overall, she was an excellent speaker and the stories that she chose to include were perfect!

-DLP