Report of the case of John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of George Parkman, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts : including the hearing on the petition for a writ of error, the prisoner's confessional statements and application for a commutation of sentence, and an appendix containing several interesting matters never before published / by George Bemis.

  • Webster, John White, 1793-1850.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the case of John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of George Parkman, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts : including the hearing on the petition for a writ of error, the prisoner's confessional statements and application for a commutation of sentence, and an appendix containing several interesting matters never before published / by George Bemis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    We shall offer, then, Gentlemen, in the first place, evidence to show you that Dr. George Parkman, a well-known and highly respectable citizen of Boston, was living, in good health and cheerful spirits, on the morning of Friday, the twenty-third day of November last; that he was engaged in his usual occupations on that day, up to fifteen minutes be- fore two o'clock, at which time he was last seen alive, en- tering the Medical College in Grove Street. He did not return to his dinner on that day ; a fact, which, on account of his well-known habits, was of itself calculated to excite uneasiness in his family. He was scrupulously observant of his appointments, and especially punctual at his meals ; and if ever obliged to be absent, he would be careful to apprise his family of the cause, and of his whereabouts. It will appear that he had, at that time, an invalid daugh- ter, to whom he was tenderly attached ; and upon that day, with a view, probably, of procuring a delicacy agreeable to her taste, he had purchased a quantity of lettuce, a rare plant at that season, which he left at a shop near the Medical Col- lege, with the intention, as the evidence indicates, of return- ing and taking it home with him upon going to his dinner. At that shop he made certain purchases, went from there towards the Medical College, saying that he would return in a few minutes. He did not return. And he did not return to his home. His family and his friends became alarmed. They waited, however, until the next morning, before making any public movement in relation to his absence. On that day, which was Saturday, the 24th, his relatives, those who had been in his employment, those who knew him and knew his habits, were informed of his disappearance ; and a general search, though conducted with somewhat less of publicity than was afterwards resorted to, was commenced. The police were applied to, to aid in that search; and in the evening papers of Saturday, notices were published, calling the attention of the public to the fact of his disappearance. Rumors of his having been seen were rife. When brought to the knowledge of those who conducted the search, they were promptly traced out, and were found in every instance to be entirely unfounded. His friends and the police heard so many confident statements of his having been seen in different parts of the city, that in one of the advertisements which was pub- lished at a very early period after his disappearance, he was represented by them as having been seen in or near Washing- ton Street on Friday afternoon at five o'clock. But on trac-