who put the prussic acid in the sugar bowl

[mbhenty]

I have a trivia question for everyone.

I have been doing some research on prussic acid and Lizzie Borden.

I was looking through a book called DEADLY DOSES a writer's guide to poisons. In it is a passage that implied that Lizzie Borden tried killing her parents with prussic acid and that the police found traces of it in the sugar bowl.

After having a short chuckle..................

I began my search on the net to try and discover where they found their info.

I have never read such and account and was wondering where it came from.

I had little success. But I did come up with another account, this time a fictional novel by Katherine Hall Page called The Body in The Moon Light. In it was another passage which mentioned that Lizzie Borden tried killing her parents with prussic acid by placing it in the sugar bow.

Question:

Has anyone ever heard of the "prussic acid in the sugar bowl" scenario?

[snokkums]

I 've never heard of of that, but from what I have heard and read, that she did try to buy some poison.

[mbhenty]

Yes snokkums:

That is how these untrue and erroneous stories get started. By some author, writer, historian, etc who gets it all wrong.

Now, I can forgive the fiction writer Katherine Hall Page. She is writing fiction. And I can bet I know where she came up with the story about Lizzie, prussic acid, and the sugar bowl. From the book DEADLY DOSES.

DEADLY DOESE was written by Serita Deborah Stevens and Anne Klarner. Stevens has two books on the market about poisons. Deadly Doses Probably sits on the shelf of many writers of fiction. It is a nonfiction book about poisons, their backgrounds, and some case studies, used by writers of whodunits. I purchased it for that specific purpose 20 years ago, when it was published.

I don't know where Stevens and Klarner found their information.

Who knows?

It could have been made up by them. (innocently?) But, this becomes damaging to anyone who wants to look up the particulars on prussic acid and Lizzie Borden, using this book thinking that it is based on fact, and walking away with the wrong information.

Why.................because some hotshot author did not take the time to do the correct research.

[LizbethTurner]

I never heard that she put it in the sugar bowl. Did the Bordens even use a sugar bowl? Didn't a lot of sugar come in hard cones then?

In any case, do we believe Lizzie tried to purchase poison? I've always been inclined to believe she did.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

That's an interesting point Lizbeth.

I know they had sugar nippers back in Victorian times to break up sugar blocks or cones. (using a hammer would be very messy)

But, I think by the end of the Civil War the sugar cube was quite common.

We think of a sugar bowl holding granulated sugar.

If I remember right, Frank Spiering talks about Emma being addicted to sugar cubes and eating them like candy. At least that is what he says he discovered in researching Emma's life in New Hampshire. (Spiering's book LIZZIE pg222)

[snokkums]

Yes snokkums:

That is how these untrue and erroneous stories get started. By some author, writer, historian, etc who gets it all wrong.

Now, I can forgive the fiction writer Katherine Hall Page. She is writing fiction. And I can bet I know where she came up with the story about Lizzie, prussic acid, and the sugar bowl. From the book DEADLY DOSES.

DEADLY DOESE was written by Serita Deborah Stevens and Anne Klarner. Stevens has two books on the market about poisons. Deadly Doses Probably sits on the shelf of many writers of fiction. It is a nonfiction book about poisons, their backgrounds, and some case studies, used by writers of whodunits. I purchased it for that specific purpose 20 years ago, when it was published.

I don't know where Stevens and Klarner found their information.


It's kind of funny how some writer or some one gets a notion into their head and it gets written about no matter how untrue it is. It's kind of like, check your facts before you start writing about something.

Who knows?

It could have been made up by them. (innocently?) But, this becomes damaging to anyone who wants to look up the particulars on prussic acid and Lizzie Borden, using this book thinking that it is based on fact, and walking away with the wrong information.

Why.................because some hotshot author did not take the time to do the correct research.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Just wanted to expand on a detail which I mentioned in my post above.

Frank Spiering's book LIZZIE.

I mentioned that Frank Spiering investigated the fact that Emma Borden liked sucking on sugar cubes. This is information he declares he uncovered by speaking to people in New Market, NH who knew, or Knew about Emma. Second and third hand information.

I am not maintaining that this is the truth.

Who are these people he interviewed? Can we believe Spiering? Can we believe the people he spoke to? Anything Spiering says is debatable and should be taken with a grain of sugar (salt?). But, what would add creditability would be if a second or third investigator/writer interviewed the same people and come up with the same conclusion.

As it stands, we only have Spiering's word on it. And he has been proven wrong.

Did Emma suck sugar cubes? (no jokes please. )

She could have. Sounds like great fodder for fiction. But, I would never use it as fact. Hey, Spiering said it!

Thus, I am not spreading misinformation. Just adding a little sugar.

[twinsrwe]

... Has anyone ever heard of the "prussic acid in the sugar bowl" scenario? ...

This is the first I've hear of the police finding traces of prussic acid in the sugar bowl. It doesn't sound like a good idea to place poison in a sugar bowl if the only two people she was attempting to kill were Andrew and Abby.

[snokkums]

Yes:

Just wanted to expand on a detail which I mentioned in my post above.

Frank Spiering's book LIZZIE.

I mentioned that Frank Spiering investigated the fact that Emma Borden liked sucking on sugar cubes. This is information he declares he uncovered by speaking to people in New Market, NH who knew, or Knew about Emma. Second and third hand information.

I am not maintaining that this is the truth.

Who are these people he interviewed? Can we believe Spiering? Can we believe the people he spoke to? Anything Spiering says is debatable and should be taken with a grain of sugar (salt?). But, what would add creditability would be if a second or third investigator/writer interviewed the same people and come up with the same conclusion.

As it stands, we only have Spiering's word on it. And he has been proven wrong.

Did Emma suck sugar cubes? (no jokes please. )

She could have. Sounds like great fodder for fiction. But, I would never use it as fact. Hey, Spiering said it!

Thus, I am not spreading misinformation. Just adding a little sugar.

That' the first I've heard about Emma liking to suck on sugar cubes too. But,who know, that was a bit of a weird family anyway.I never knew the family to use sugar and the like in there tea, coffee or whatever they drank. But, like I said, who knows. That was a very weird family.