Blogs by Dave Tabler
Murder by Chocolate
2/4/2023 5:19:14 AM
It feels like Hallmark will have to film a Christmas special here sooner than later, but The Green in Dover, DE does have its shadows. Like, for example, the fact that the first murder by mail took place here.
The Commons. The Green. In medieval life, it was the social and market center, where common land was assigned to the villagers for pasturage.
The Green in modern day Dover is a notch up from pasture: well manicured elms, maples and sycamores offer a lush canopy above a carpet of bluegrass (the trees were planted in 1849 and The Green was fenced off for 10 years until they matured). We don’t have to tiptoe our way through sheep droppings, but there is still a sense here of the spot being the literal heart of this town. Summer concerts, Christmas caroling, a market faire in the fall, maypole dances in the spring, all take place here. The old State House, the Biggs Museum, the modern court all face The Green. Stately old homes from the first families of Delaware line the space.
It feels like Hallmark will have to film a Christmas special here sooner than later, but The Green does have its shadows.
In 1891, Mary Pennington of Dover married John P. Dunning, a newspaper reporter.
The couple, with their baby daughter, relocated to San Francisco, where Dunning began a torrid love affair with one Cordelia Botkin.
When Mary Dunning discovered her husband’s indiscretions, she returned home to her father’s house here on The Green.
When the Spanish-American War began, John Dunning decided to follow the troops to Cuba, broke off the affair with Cordelia, and declared that he was going to reconcile with his wife. Botkin was furious and she plotted sweet revenge.
With Dunning off to cover the war, and Botkin stewing in San Francisco, Mary Dunning was enjoying a summer family get-together at her father’s house one evening. After dinner, the family gathered on the veranda.
When Mary joined them, she had a box of candies that had arrived unexpectedly with a pretty handkerchief and a note, “With love to yourself and baby. — Mrs. C.” Thinking it was from one of her friends, Mary opened the box and passed the chocolates around.
That night, most of those who had attended the gathering became violently ill, with retching stomach pains and vomiting. Most recovered, but Mary Dunning and her sister, Ida, Mrs. Joshua Deane, died three days later.
Mary’s father had a chemist examine the unconsumed candy, and the chemist found that they were laced with arsenic. When Dunning, who had returned from the war, was shown the note from the candy box, he immediately said, “Cordelia.”
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More Blogs by Dave Tabler
• From Polar to Molar: A February Tale - Saturday, February 8, 2025
• Hey fellow authors! How about feedback? - Monday, January 8, 2024
• They clung to the wrecked ship’s rigging for 12 hours in the storm - Friday, February 17, 2023
• Why is the 2nd Thursday of August ‘Big Thursday’? - Wednesday, February 8, 2023
• What could be less controversial than naming your estate “Buena Vista” - Tuesday, February 7, 2023
• Best place in Delaware for a duel? - Monday, February 6, 2023
• Murder by Chocolate - Saturday, February 4, 2023
• Quimby's quagmire of an airqaft - Thursday, February 2, 2023
• Noise like that of an earthquake - Wednesday, February 1, 2023
• Red Demons, Green Flyers, and Knock-a-Bouts - Monday, January 30, 2023
• Strange trauma reaction from a jilted fiancé - Friday, January 27, 2023
• The Robin Hood we know today - Thursday, January 26, 2023
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