It’s Wednesday and Garbage Day!!

Woo-wee! So much fun! I’m busily writing Resurrectionist Man, or rather correcting and adding stuff I found.
I’m at Part Two, the trial and events surrounding the trial. The Suffolk County (Mass.) Grand Jury sure did a number on Prof. Webster. Based on Littlefield’s testimony, they indicted Webster for (1) stabbing Parkman, (2) hitting him in the head with a hammer, and then kicking & beating him, and (3) for killing him by “means unknown to the jury.”

More from Researching

I’m still perusing the trial transcript. It was written by George Bemis, the prosecutor hired by Massachusetts Attorney General Clifford to assist him. Seems like the judges and Clifford edited it before it went to press, but it’s probably a reasonable and true account of the trial.
I counted up the witnesses at the trial. The prosecution called 75 including 4 who also testified for the defense. Only 42 for the defense.
When Webster was in the Leverett Street Jail in Boston awaiting execution, the 1850 census shows there were 1 murder (Webster), 1 broker, 1 brothel operator, 35 for larceny, 21 for assault, 12 for burglary, 1 for arson, 11 drunks, 2 for receiving stolen goods, and 4 for selling without a license.

The Trial Transcript

I have started to re-read Bemis’s transcript of the trial to see if I missed anything. The Massachusetts D.A. Clifford really hammered Webster in his opening remarks for the prosecution. But the coroner’s jury and the grand jury did that before the trial. Webster didn’t have a chance. As one member of the trial jury said (he reported after the trial): “Is this all we have from the defense? We had no choice but to convict the professor.” — or words to that effect.

HOOT!! This morning I get to take left-overs to the dump, aka transfer station. There’s not a whole lot, though. Speaking of “hoot”, we spotted a couple of dozen Canadian geese heading south yesterday afternoon. The swooped about 50 meters over our house, honking like they were happy or something.

Friday, my birthday!

The garage sale is going pretty well. It’s now about 5:30 pm and we’ve made a little over $300. Raining off and on during the day.

Now, about The Book…. I found out that the Websters have a family plot in Mt. Auburn cemetery in Boston. Two little kids are buried there along with Webster’s father and mother, etc. Two kids are John who died at age 18 months and Harriet who died at age 10. After Harriet died, they had another daughter, and they named her Harriet.

Got a copy of Webster’s probate file. Lists everything that he owned. Harriet (Mrs. Webster) owed money after all the bills were paid. She was awarded $450 for her troubles as administatrix of the estate. First thing she had to do was pay George Parkman, Jr. the entire amount he had borrowed from Parkman… $1,200 I think.

The Latest

We’re having a garage sale, so the past couple of days have been prepping for that. Meanwhile, I’ve discovered some interesting things about Ephraim Littlefield. Fiest off, he got the reward money for finding Parkman’s body in Webster’s indoor outhouse, aka “the privey”, even though at the trial he testified to never wanting the money. After the trial, he had a model of the Leverett St. jail built, and took that plus wax models of Webster and Parkman to NYC where he exhibited them for a fee, of course.

The plot thickens!! I have little doubt that Littlefield did the dastardly deed.

What I’ve written so far

The Murder of Andrew Sigler was published in August, 2005 by Dog Ear Press. Since then it has sold more than 700 copies. Not a big deal you say, but I’m impressed. It is a book about a woman caught in an abusive relationship and her only way out …is only a bullet away. The story takes place in Hurley, Wisconsin, in the mid-1920s. The book won an Honorable Mention in the IPPY Awards (one of twelve best books from indeoendent publishers).

I’m working on another true crime titled “Resurrectionist Man”. Dr. George Parkman was murdered in 1849 in Boston. Professor John White Webster was executed for the murder, but I doubt if he killed Parkman. There are many glaring inconsistencies about the crime. The custodian of the medical college, Ephraim Littlefield, was responsible. When I researched the case, I discovered that Littlefield had motive, means and opportunity. The title “Resurrectionist Man” came from Littlefield’s sideline profession: supplying bodies to the Harvard Medical School where he had his residence and Webster was Professor of Chemistry.

Like my first true crime book, this one melds fact with fiction.