Next Chautauqua Series episode to explore Ceely Rose murders at Malabar Farm

MOUNT VERNON – “The People of mid-Ohio’s Pleasant Valley went on with their normal lives that cold and rainy spring of 1896, not knowing that young Ceely Rose was brooding.  She’d been told to forget her obsession with handsome Guy Berry. She’d been told about the danger of Rough-on-Rats poison. She’d heard about murdering those who stand in the way of love. By the time she was done, her family would be dead and others threatened.” 

So starts the description on the back cover of Mark S. Jordan’s new book, “The Ceely Rose Murders at Malabar Farm”.  

On Thursday, Oct. 28, just in time for Halloween, Jordan will lead this Chautauqua Series program. The presentation will occur at the Grand Hotel (12 Public Square in downtown Mount Vernon). Jordan will present the findings of his research starting at 7 p.m.. There will be no opening musical act for this presentation. 

For those familiar with the play “Ceely,” which Jordan wrote and directed, this story is familiar, but now he has expanded the story with extensive research and gives as thorough an investigation into the murders as is possible in this day and age. 

Jordan is a familiar face at the Chautauqua Series, having portrayed Orson Welles and Georg Friedrich Handel as well as sharing his research on an unsolved murder that occurred in Mount Vernon in the early 1900s.

The Chautauqua Series is sponsored in part by a grant from the Ariel Foundation, The programs are intended for families, students and all who wish to know more about history in a family friendly, entertaining manner. Audiences will be able to ask questions at the end of each program. Each show is donation-based, with all monies collected going to the performers.  

The schedule for 2021 is as follows:  

Nov. 11 – Amelia Earhart (Amy K. Stoner)  

Nov. 18 – Marie Curie (Tammy Souhrada)  

For more information about these programs, visit www.elixirpresents.com, or call 740-392-3018. If you would like to receive a “Gentle Reminder” on the Sunday before each program contact Mike Petee at elixir_petee@hotmail.com.