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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    outside front-door. I suppose that I may have stayed in Dr. Holmes's room, fifteen minutes. Dr. Holmes was the last out of the building, and I immediately locked the outside front-door. I then went down stairs to clean out the furnaces, for the fires next morning. 1 always prepare the furnaces in the afternoon, for the next morning. 1 went up stairs into the Professors', (Ware, Bigelow, and Channing's,) private back-room, and cleared out the stove there. This room is on the same floor as Dr. Webster's. [The witness here explained the locality of the three lec- ture-rooms, and the back private room, by the model. The anatomical, (Professor Holmes's,) was shown to be in the story above the chemical, or that occupied by Professor Webster. The medical, or that used by Professors, Ware, Channing, and Bigelow, and in which the witness laid down, before going up to Professor Holmes's, was seen to be the one on the opposite side of the front entry, and on the same floor with the chemical.] I then went down stairs, to Dr. Webster's laboratory-stairs door, that leads out into my cellar, to clean out his stoves. The door is the one that I had used all that season, and by which the Doctor, himself, used to go in and out. There are two doors there ; one in the inner, and one in the outer, partition- wall. I tried the outer one, and found it bolted, on the in- side. I then went round, to the other laboratory-door, on the same floor, (that which leads out of the store-room,) and found it, also, bolted. I put in my key, and lifted the latch, but found it fastened, on the inside. I thought that I heard him, in there, walking. I heard the Cochituate water, running. I then went up stairs, through the front entry, and tried the door, that leads into the lecture-room. I put my key into the door, to unlock it. I found it unlocked, but bolted, on the inside. I went down stairs, again, went into my kitchen, stopped a spell, and then went, and laid down. About four o'clock, P. M., Miss Sarah Buzzell, a young la- dy, staying at my house, from Medford, came- to my bed- room, and told me, that there was a gentleman, at the door, that wanted to see me. I got up, and went out, to see the gentleman : it was Mr. Pettee, messenger of the New Eng- land Bank, the collector for the College. A student, by the name of Ridgeway, was going out of town, early, the next morning ; and Mr. Pettee had come there to fill out the tickets, for him, for the course of lectures. H<- filled out all, except for Dr. Webster's course, and those I had, myself. I had half a dozen, which the Professor gave me, to sell, if