Bemis Report of the Webster Trial, 1850 [1897], Image No: 110   Enlarge and print image (65K)           << PREVIOUS  NEXT >>
clear space clear space clear space white space


 

Bemis Report of the Webster Trial, 1850 [1897], Image No: 110   Enlarge and print image (65K)           << PREVIOUS  NEXT >>
llZ TRIAL OF JOHN W. WEBSTER. scrape the tan off, and see how the body looked. I told him not to. 1 did not see Officer Tarlton there, with a stick. The tan was not taken off, until the next afternoon. 1 scraped off what little tan was scraped off, with my hand. The neck end of the thorax was up, in the tea- chest, and I felt it cold when I put my arm in, as I have previously stated. I told Mr. Thompson, the clerk who went with me to Dr. Webster's house, that I .thought that .the Doctor appeared very singularly; that I thought he trembled. I further told him, that I did not know but that it was his natural way. I had no suspicion, of him, at that time. His manner was rather singular, quick and nervous. It was just after dark, when we arrived at Cambridge, on Sunday afternoon. Our object was, to ascertain the date of the mortgage. Tuesday, the 27th, was the first time that I was at the College. Dr. Webster's words were, that "Dr. Parkman was at the College between half-past one and two, P. M." I did not state before the coroner's jury, that "Dr. Webster said that Dr. Parkman was at the College at half- past one, P. M.;" if I said so, I did not state it rightly. I made a mem- orandum of this conversation, either on the same night, or the next morning, before leaving the office. I think that I made a memorandum of .the Sunday's conversation with Dr. Webster, on the next Monday forenoon. I did not put down there, that he trembled, but believe that I said that he was very much excited. I think that Mr. Clapp was by the privy-door, when the answer was made by Littlefield, as to what the privy was. I did not notice a fire in the furnace of the lower laboratory. There is a trench round the foundation -wa11. The tide flows in the trench under the laboratory, and not over the whole ground;-to judge from the appearance of the ground. The trench, I should think, is three feet deep. The ground slants towards the north and west sides. A man cannot stand upright, except in the trench. The slope is not very steep, by the privy; when you get about six feet from the hole, it is much steeper. I can't state what the angle is. I found the towels, directly under the privy-hole. The labels of the minerals did not look as if they had been written a long time; they might have been written five or six months. To the Attorney General.-Mr. Eaton was there, after I had taken the -tea-chest out by the window. S. Parkman Blake, sworn,-examined by Mr. Bemis. I am a nephew of the late Dr. George Parkman. I took a very active part in the search for him. In connection with that, I called on Dr. Webster at the Medical College, on Monday morning, after his disappearance, between ten and eleven o'clock. As I was going up the front steps, I met a person, apparently a student, of whom I inquired for .the janitor; and he rang .the bell for him. Mr. Littlefield presently appeared, and I inquired of him, if Dr. Webster lectured that day, and told him, that I wished to see the Doctor. Mr. Littlefield replied, that he did not lecture that day, and that he believed he was then in. He tried the door of the lecture-room, it was fastened. Mr. Littlefield asked my name, and said that he would go round the back way, and give my name to Dr. Webster; and he went down the stairs from the front entry. After waiting, what I thought, was an unreasonable time, he unbolted the front door of the lecture- room, passed out, and I went in. I saw Dr. Webster coming out of his back private room. He had on a smoking-cap and working-dress. I took particular notice of his appearance, as I descended the steps of the lecture-room. He stood, fixed to the spot, until I approached him. I told him, that I had learned that he had an interview with Dr. Parkman, and that I had come to learn all the particulars of that inter-