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
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.)
69/662
![such inquiries for him as they could, without making unne- cessary publicity. If they should hear nothing of him before two in the afternoon, then I could communicate word to the police generally, and have investigation made throughout the city. 1 accordingly sent for the police officers on the west station, and directed them to make inquiry, in a private way, for Dr. Parkman, and to institute such search as they could, in his unoccupied houses, by pretending an errand about drains, nuisances, and the like. At two o'clock, I got no fur- ther information, than that he was last seen, Friday, in the neighborhood of the Medical College ; and Messrs. Blake and Shaw called to tell me, that no intelligence had been obtained of him, and that they wanted the whole police notified of his absence. I did so, and at the same time advised the insertion of an advertisement in the evening papers, of his absence. It was, accordingly, inserted in the Transcript and Journal; I know, at least, that it was inserted in the Journal, for I re- member telling the reporter of that paper of it, who happened to be in my office at the time. [The Court here intimated, that it seemed unnecessary to go into more extended proof of the fact of the disappearance of Dr. Parkman. The counsel for the prosecution stated that they did not propose to press that point further, but that they were desirous to show, in a general way, by this witness, who had the more immediate superintendence of the search for the deceased, how extensive and minute that search had been.] I should say that it would have been impossible, with the means which I had at command, to make a more extensive and particular search, than was made, to discover the where- abouts of Dr. Parkman ; both in the city, and out of the city. Messengers were sent in all directions, for fifty or sixty miles, to the towns in the country, and to towns all up and down the sea-coast, including both sides of the Cape. We searched over land and water, and under the water. The river and harbor were dragged. And every report that we could hear of him, far or near, we sent and had investigated. We pub- lished and circulated, among other things, 28.000 hand-bills, of four different notices, of which the following are copies. [Produced and read to the jury.] SPECIAL NOTICE. George Parkman, M. D., a well known, and highly re- spectable citizen of Boston, left his house in Walnut street, to meet an engagement of business, on Friday last, Novem- ber 23d, between twelve and one o'clock, P. M., and was](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21163194_0069.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
