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that occasion; have heard Dr. P. use very severe language; he would
sometimes call a man a
knave or dishonest man; have heard him talk harshly to people who, deserved
it; never heard
him use profane language. : .., , . :. . , . .. _ .. . .: , , __ _ . ,' „
[Here, from the confusion in the Court-room, and the distance of the
reporter's seat from the
witness stand, much of the testimony was unavoidably lost.]
Litttlefield knocked twice at Prof. W.'s door, r * ather loudly; do not
know that there was any-
thi peculiar in the manner of knocking ; do not remember whether there was
any conversation
i Ue lecture-room; officer Starkireather went with me to the lecture-room;
Prof. W. was
n t
dressed in his working-dress, that is to say, he had on an apron and cap
the first time we saw
him; he was also dressed in the apron and cap the second time; Prof. W.
said that Mr. Clapp
had taken a privy key away; I saw tan in the tea chest-am sure of it; I saw
a saw there also;
it was a butcher's saw; I use that expression because it was a fine-tooth
hand-saw, such as
butchers use; saw something on the handle of the knife, which I thought was
blood.
Direct examination.-The saw was such as carpenters use for fine work.
PATRICK M`GowArr called.-I lived with Dr. I ar$man at the time he
disappeared; remem-
ber that a man called between 8 and 9 o'clock on the morning of the 23d of
November, to see Dr.
P. ; cannot say whether the prisoner at the bar is the one or not; Dr. P.
was at that time pass-
ing from his study to the office, and he advanced to meet the man who
called; I'heard the Dr.
say that he would meet him at half-past one o'clock that day; the Dr. left
the house shortly after,
and did not return to dinner; Dr. P. was a very punctual man.
Cross-examined.-I went to live with Dr. P. the 6th of September; I attended
the door; do
not know how many others called to see him that day ; did not tell any body
that day that the
Dr. had gone away and would not be back again. ,.
ROBERT G. SHAW called.-Am brother-in-law to Dr. George P. ; he was 66 years
of age at
the time of his disappearance; was intimately acquainted with the
defendant; I last saw Dr. P.
on the morning of the day he was missing, about 10 o'clock; there was
nothing unusual in his
appearance at the time; we walked together from my house to State street.
On the Saturday following, his wife sent for me; I went to her house and
found her in great
distress; I immediately took measures, in concert with the relatives' of
the family, to solve the
mystery of the Doctor's absence; our suspicions rested on a man who had
several months
before robbed the Doctor; a reward,of $';000 was immediately offered for
the recovery of the -
Doctor alive, or $1000 for his body; the fit st reward was offered the
Saturday after his disap-
pearance; I saw the remains found at the Me(l;cal College put together.
By Government-do you believe they were the remains of your brother-in-law,
Dr: P. ?
[Objected to by defense, as incompetent to testify. The Bench held a
consultation upon the
objections urged by defense, and declared that the question was admissible,
as showing that there
was good reason to believe it to be the body of Dr. P. in the mind of the
witness. The Attorney
General urged the question.]
When I saw the remains of the body found, I recognized them to be parts of
the Doctor's body,
as I believe, by the hair on the breast, from its color, and by one of his
legs which I saw one day
hr my office; I discovered nothing different in the appearance of the
remains from the parts of the
body of Dr. P. ; I knew, also, that he wore false teeth, similar to.those
found at the College.
Mr. Shaw was here requested by the Government counsel to relate what he
knew of the pecu-
niary embarrassments of Prof. W. He stated that, in the latter part of 1848
Prof. W. called
upon me and said he was in great distress, pecuniarily, and that he should
like to get from me
some money on a mortgage of his, mineral cabinet; he said an officer was
about to seize his furni-
ture, and that his family were in great distress; I told him that I had not
got the money at that
time, but if he could get my note discounted, he might have it; he said he
thought $600 would
relieve him for that time. He took the note, got it discounted, and gave me
a receipt.
Here Mr. Shaw read a paper signed by Prof. John W. Webster. The paper was
aw.acknowl.
edgment of the receipt, of $600 from R. G. Shaw, in part payment for a
cabinet of 'minerals, at
that time in his (Webster's) possession containing about 5,000 specimens.
On this cabinet, Mr.
Shaw showed by documents that he had advanced a further sum of $600-in all
$1,200. I asked
Dr. P. g short time afterwards what salary Prof W. had at Cambridge and
said that he appeared
somewhat pressed for money, inasmuch as he had but a short time before,
April, 1849, sold me a
cabinet of minerals to raise money.
At this Dr. P. remarked that they were not his (Webster's) to sell, and he
told me that if I
would come to his house he would show me the mort age of the cabinet to him
by Prof. W.; the
Doctor seemed very angry; I remarked that if Pro . W. had told a falsehood
in the matter, he
ought to be severely punished. [Here the Attorney General, Clifford read a
copy of the Mort-
gage written by Webster to Parkman, whereby he (W.) had mortgaged all his
furniture, books,
minerals,' chemical apparatus,, &c., constituting his entire personal
property; this mortgage was
recorded in Middlesex county, February 13 1847.
I mentioned this circumstance to a friend of mine some time afterwards, and
offered to subscribe
iu paper my name for $500, with the intention of buying the Cabinet to
present to the College,
V ov ded others would subscribe a sufficient amount to purchase the
minerals. I subscribed the
500,with the understanding that that amount should be an offset by what was
due me by Prof. 1P.
The amount of $1200 was raised, the Cabinet purchased, and the balance of
$700 paid to me.
Cross-examined-I believe the remains to be the body of Dr. G. Parkman from
the fact that the
Dr. was missing, as much as from the hair on. his breast; if he had not
been missing, I should not
have thought anything about the peculiarity of his hair.,
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