The trial of Prof. John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, at the Medical college (North Grove street) on the 23d of November, 1849 : Supreme judicial court, before Chief Justice Shaw, and Associate Justices Wilde, Dewey, and Metcalf. Counsel for the government, Attorney General J.H. Clifford, and George Bemis, esq. Counsel for the defence, Hon. Pliny Merrick, and E.D. Sohier, esq. / Reported for Boston journal.
- Webster, John White, 1793-1850
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The trial of Prof. John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of Dr. George Parkman, at the Medical college (North Grove street) on the 23d of November, 1849 : Supreme judicial court, before Chief Justice Shaw, and Associate Justices Wilde, Dewey, and Metcalf. Counsel for the government, Attorney General J.H. Clifford, and George Bemis, esq. Counsel for the defence, Hon. Pliny Merrick, and E.D. Sohier, esq. / Reported for Boston journal. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![said mortal wound the said George Parkman then and there instantly died. And so the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do say, that the said John W. Web- ster, him the said George Parkman, in manner and form aforesaid, then and tliere feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth aforesaid, and contrary to the form of the Statute in such case made and provided. And the Jurorsaforesaid. upon their oath aforesaid, do further present that the said John W. Webster, at Boston aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, on the 23d day of No- vember iast past, in and upon the said George Parkman, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did make an assault; and that he, the said John W. Webster, then and there, with a certain hammer which he, the said John W. Webster, in both his hands, then and there had and held, him, the said George Parkman, in and upon the head of him, the said George Parkman, then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethouglit, did strike, giving unto him, the said George Parkman, then and there with the hammer aforesaid, bj' the stroke afore- said, iii manner aforesaid, in and upon the head of him the said George Parkman, one mortal wound—of which said mortal wound, he, the said George Parkman, then and there instantly died—and so the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said John W. Webster, him, the said George Parkman, in manner and form aforesaid, then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder—against the peace of said Commonwealth, and contrary to the form of the Statute in such case made and provided. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present—that the said John VV. Webster, at Bos- ton aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, on the twenty-third day of November last past, in and upon the body of the said George Parkman, feloniously, wilfully and of his malice aforethought, did make an assault—and that the said John W. Webster, then and there, with his hands and feet, him, the said George Parkman, feloniously, wil- fully, and of his malice aforethought, did strike, beat, and kick in and upon the head, breast, back, belly, sides, and other parts of the body of him, the said George Park- man, and did, then and there, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, cast and throw the said George Parkman, down, unto, and upon the floor, with great force and violence there, giving unto said George Park- man, then and there, as well as by the ^beating, striking, and kicking of him, the said George Parkman, in manner and form aforesaid, as by the casting and throwing of him, the said George Parkman, down as aforesaid, several mortal strokes,wounds and bruises, in and upon the head, breast, back, belly, sides, and other parts of the body of him, the said George Parkman—of which said mortal strokes, wounds and bruises, he thesaid George Parkman, then and there instantly died. And so the Jurors afore- said, upon their oath aforesaid, do say that the said John W. Webster, him the said George Parkman, in manner and form aforesaid, then and there, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against the peace ol said Commonwealth, and contrary to the form of the statute, in *uoh case made and provided. And the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present—That the said John W. Webster, at Bos- ton aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, in a certain build- ing known as the Medical College, there situate, on the tveenty-third day of November last past, in and upon the said George Parkman, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did make an assault; and him the said George Parkman in some way and manner, and by some means, instruments, and weapons, to the Jurors un- known, did then and there tieloniously, wilfully, and of malice aforethought, deprive of life—so that he, the said George Parkman, then and there died—and so the Jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do say, that the said -John W. Webster, him the said George Parkman, in the manner and by the means aforesaid, to them the said Ju- rors unknown, then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder—against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth aforesaid, and contrary to the i'orm of the Statute in such case made and provided. DANIEL RHODES, Foreman of the Grand Jury. John H. Clifford, Attorney General. At a quarter to eleven, the traverse jurors, not empan- elled, were excused from further attendance on this trial. Attorney General Clifford rose. He,said he would not follow tl)e usual formulas and request them to lay aside all prejudice, lor he felt that such a request was unneces- sary. They had duties to (jerform—dithcult, disagreeahle duties—but duties nevertheless. They had to weigh the evidence which would be laid before them, and to decide on the innocence or guilt of the piisoner: and this was the highest duty which could be enirusted to them under the goverrunent of this Commonwealth. His duty was a different one. He had to place before them the charges against the prisoner. He knev/ that there was a common idea that jprostcuting officers should ];ress their accusations beyond ths limits of fairness and truth; and thia idea he repudi- ated and disavowed. He would not hold his office one moment if this idea could be justified by facts His duty was to give an outline of the evidence, and he would do so, as plainly and simply as possible. The accusation has two divisions. First, we say that Dr. Parkman is dead; second, that he was murdered by the prisoner at the bar. On the 2Sd November, Dr Park- man disappeared, and was last seen at 12 o'clock of the same day at the Medical College, in Grove street. On that day he made some purchases at a grocerv stoie, which he sent home, but did not return'himself His family became alarmed. The search, which was at first private, commenced on that day. On Saturday, the fact of his disappearance was made public, placards Were is- sued, and the entire police in the city were engaged in the search. Kumors were rife, but they were generally false. He was represented as having been seen in Washington street, but this was found to be false. Fear soon deepen- ed into a certainty of his having met foul piay. In the course of Sunday, the day after the publication of the advertisements in the newspapers, his friends learned from Web.ster that Parkman had been in his, Webster's company, on Friday between one and two o'clock, at the Medical College. The search was continued during the week. Salem, Cambridge, and other towns, were vis- ited, and the river was dragged. The various houses, yards and cellars of the Doctor were thoroughly searched. They went every where, but in vain. And up to this day it has not come to the knowledge of the government that Dr. Parkman was seen or heard of after his entering the Medical College in Grove street. On Monday and Tuesday the Medical College was ex- amined. There was no suspicion entertained of Professor Webster, until every effort to find Dr. Parkman had been exhausted; and it was mainly from the fact that his dis- appearance took place somewhere near the Medical Col- lege, that suspicion rested in that quarter. On Friday, 30th Nov., in a vault connected with the laboratory of the prisoner, parts of a human body were found, resembling the missing man. On Saturday, in the course of the day, there was found in a rerpote corner—a place which had been noticed but not examined on Tuesday—a tea-chest, in which were imbedded portions of a human body cov- ered with tan and minerals. They consisted of a thorax and left thi^. There was also found a hunting-knife and piece of twine, a portion of which will be produced The remains were submitted to comj)etent men, and found similar in many respects to the body of Dr. Parkman, and dissimilar in none. There were missing—the arms, both feet, and 'he riglit leg from the knee to the ankle. The height of the man to whom these remains belonged, muxt have been the height of Dr. Parkman. Witnesses will be produced to explain how the exact height of the original man can be ascertained from such remains as exist. ' The height was five feet, ten inches and a half—exactly the height of Parkman. The Doctor was a person of peculiar form and shape, and the remains are those of such a person. In the bones found in the furnace not one jiortion disagreed with any portion of the body found in the vault of the laboratory. Some of the bones howed evidences of having been fractured before being put into the furnace. A block of mineral teeth was also discovered, and com- petent men—the most skilful dentists of the city—will be produced to prove that they were a set manufactured at one time for Dr. Parkman, and always worn by him. The bones of the right lower jaw were found in fragments, but when those fragments were put together, the peculiar conformation corresponded with Parkman's, as will be proved by a mould of his jaw, which can be produced. There will be also evidence to show that those remains were not the remains of a subject which had been used for di.ssection ; indeed this can be proved incontrovertibly by the evidence of respectable officers of the (;ollege. And now it will be necessary to understand somewhat of the personal relations of Webster and Parkman. This will be necessary to explain the motives which could in- fluence Webster to the commission of such an act as that with which he stands charged. In 1842 pecuniary connections commenced between them. Since that time Webster has been embarrassed, and constantly oppressed by debt. All his personal prop- erty, including bis furniture and cabinet of minerahs, was mortgaged to Parkman, as security for money loaned by him (Parkman) to Webster. Subsequently Webster made a conve\aiice of the cabinet of minerals, which had been mortgaged in favor of Parkman, to Kobert G. Shaw. li.is fact offended Parkman, and lie demanded from Webster a payment of the surhs which were due to hira. Though a liberal man in donations, and open-handed generally, he was strictly punctual in all his busjue.ss ar- rangements, and he expected a similar punctuality in oth- ers.' Honorable himself he belived others honorable, and resented any breach of contract or word, resolutely and at once. Webster promised to pay him from the proceeds of tick- ets sold for a course of lectures on chemistry which he was about to deliver in the Medical College. Besides his fixed salary as an ofiicial of the College, he had other money-re- sources in the saie of tickets for public lectures. The](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21083629_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
