|
In 1849, George Parkman and John Webster were prominent doctors in
Boston. Dr. Webster was in debt to Parkman, and when Parkman threatened to
take legal action to collect this debt, he killed Parkman. Webster dismembered the body, and then tried to incinerate it completely.
The murder occurred early in the
Brahmin Era, and was extremely shocking for its day. Parkman's house
still stands on Beacon Hill on Walnut Street.
A column in the November
27th 1912 Boston Globe by Harry V. Lawrence summarizes the crime:
"Dr. Webster killed George Parkman on Nov. 23, 1849, in the Massachusetts
Medical College Building on North Grove [Street] at Boston. On Jan. 25, 1850, the
Suffolk County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Dr. Webster, and he
was put on trial March 19, 1850, before the Supreme Court in the city of
Boston. Dr. Parkman was last seen alive at 1:45 p.m., [as] he was entering
the Massachusetts Medical College.
On Nov. 30, 1849, in a vault connected with the chemical laboratory, a
portion of a human body, and with it certain towels belonging to Dr. Webster
were found, and in the grate of the furnace, pressed into the cinders,
certain bones, parts of mineral teeth, and pieces of gold were located. A
little later other parts were found in a tea chest. Dr. Keep, a dentist,
identified the teeth as made by him for Dr. Parkman. About this time Dr.
Webster was in such a financial condition that all his property was under
mortgage to Dr. Parkman, and on Nov. 12 Dr. Parkman had threatened him with
a trustee process.
...
On April 1, 1850, Dr Webster was sentenced to death by Chief Justice Shaw
and be hanged at 9:40 a.m. on August 30, 1850 [which was carried out].
...
Dr. Webster was a very prominent man, and was master of arts and doctor of
medicine at Harvard University; member of the Massachusetts Medical Society,
and was connected with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences....
Dr. George Parkman was also a very prominent man, and was a master of
arts of Harvard University, doctor of medicine of the University of
Aberdeen, and a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society."
Less known about the murder was the intrigue after the sensational
Webster Trial. An article in the November 23rd 1884 Boston Globe
discussed the possibility that Webster was placed in a harness, and was never hanged. A story is re-told about a
sailor seeing Dr.
Webster in Fayal (or Faial), Azores, long after his death sentence. Other
witnesses describe how Webster's body was moved from the gallows site, and
was going to be brought to a neighbor's house. There was a concern his body would
be stolen and security precautions were taken. The article also asserted Webster's
body was placed in Copp's Hill Burying
Ground in his father's tomb (and not Mount Auburn Cemetery).
Return to Infamous Crimes
Page
|
