parkman
murder
the story
In November 1849, a sensational murder shook the city of Boston to its core. It all began
when Dr. George Parkman, a scion of one of Boston's richest families, suddenly vanished.
One week later, the janitor of the HarvardMedical School discovered body parts hidden in
the laboratory of a mild-mannered professor of chemistry named John Webster. Though his
influential friends supported his innocence, Webster was convicted of murdering Dr.
Parkman. The trial created a spectacle that drew crowds in the tens of thousands.
Although the Parkman story is well documented, many elusive details and contradictory evidence remain. In the 150 years since the trial, several historians and writers have interpreted the Parkman case. Their stories range from scholarly works to historical novels, and each presents the elements of the case [link] in subtly different ways. How this story has evolved in print, first in the press, then in several varying trial reports, and as varying historical accounts written by a judge [link to Robert Sullivan bio] , a novelist [link to Helen Thomson bio] , and finally a historian writing as a novelist [link to Simon Schama bio].
