DULLARD GENERAL



“….those wonderful regions which are unlocked to the mind’s eye by the wand of the god of dreams.”- Washington Irving

    Martin Van Buren guided Washington Irving to this idyllic Catskill spot, unlocked by the “god of dreams,” a few miles east of my house. Stop on Rt. 17K, near Shawangunk Road, and look down the mountain. The view through the morning fog will be the same. You can’t see a thing. 
  When the fog burns off, the place Washington Irving so poetically mused over will materialize in all its glory. It has at various times been an Indian Village, outlaw den, “the jewel of the Catskills,” and 200 years later is Bloomingburg, New York. This “dream” has devolved into a sad, grimy little nightmare, known for contentious Hassidic sprawl, voter fraud, horrific cases of child abuse, run-down bungalows, and backwoods trailers. This is the manifestation of the alien curse: casinos, quickie-marts, box stores, gas stations, truck stops, sprawling distribution warehouses, dangling wires, rampant disenfranchisement, and crooked telephone poles.  

  When Sam Pitts, Jesse Wood and Captain Howell found the body of Dick Jennings lying there, frozen solid; it took some doing to peel him off the ground. The warm body had melted the ground all around and when it cooled in death, had frozen in place. The arms stuck straight out, like Christ dropped face down from the cross. Captain Howell told them not to touch anything while he surveyed the scene. Dick had been dead a while. The body had been there all the time, in a little dip in the field, in plain sight of Coe Teed’s house. Nobody had even attempted to hide it.
  Once they moved Dick’s heavy great coat, Jesse Wood took an ax and shovel, carefully chopping a trench all around the body, working the flat spade under his arms and down the length of his frozen corpse. Eventually the corpse was pried loose, leaving a a rough T-shaped trough, breaking one arm at the shoulder, leaving quite a bit of torn fabric and frozen flesh behind. They loaded Richard Jennings’ stiff into Sam’s wagon and took the turnpike back to Seward’s in Florida. But before they did, they paid the Dunnings a visit. David Dunning had been loading wood across the field the whole time they were peeling Dick off the ground and hadn’t even come over to ask what all the commotion was about.

William M’Worter sworn
By the DA:

Q. Can you describe Dunning’s house?
A.  It is 18’x30’, contains two rooms, separated by the chimney and an entry. The front door is towards the east. A small door leads out west from Dunning’s room. The Dunnings occupy the north room and the Teeds the south.

Margaret Dunning sworn
By Mr. Price for the defense:

Q. Did you see Jack with a gun on Monday morning?
A. I am sure almost that Jack came through our room with his gun, and said he was going to shoot a partridge for breakfast.
Q. Where was your husband when Jack went off with his gun?
A. He was eating his breakfast or chopping wood at the door. He cut near an hour, then went to the stable to take care of his horses and returned to cut wood.
Q. Did you see Mr. Jennings that morning?
A. I saw Mr. Jennings go past, near the woodpile, while David was cutting wood.
Q. Was your husband in the house after Jack went away, till he returned?
A. He drew a pail of water and brought it to me.

Cross by M. Van Buren:

Q. What did Jack say when he came back to your house?
A. He said he had kilt Mr. Jennings. Mrs. Teed said it was impossible, and did not believe him, for I had before heard him use such wild language when he was drunk.
Q. Did you see the pieces of the gun?
A. Yes, he gave them to Mrs. Teed. She said she would put them away.
Q. Do you believe Mr. Teed knew of the murder?
A. I  do not believe he did.
Q. Did you hear Jack threaten anyone?
A. When he came back from the woods he told Mrs. Teed, that if she or anyone else told of him, he would kill them.

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