Blood & Ivy: The 1849 Murder That Scandalized Harvard

by Paul Collins,
The San Francisco Chronicle, August 16, 2018

On Nov. 23, 1849, Dr. George Parkman, a wealthy Boston Brahmin, ordered sugar and butter at his neighborhood grocery store and asked the clerk to hold a paper bag with lettuce for him for five minutes. Apparently, he then visited Harvard Medical School, his alma mater. When the perennially punctilious Parkman failed to appear at the remainder of his afternoon appointments, his family grew alarmed. The police conducted a massive manhunt and a reward for information about his whereabouts was offered.