EPISODE 10: AN UNSETTLED DEBT
In this week’s episode, Kate and Paul survey the 1884 Boston case involving a doctor, a Harvard Professor, and a janitor. An unpaid debt and some citizen-led investigation leads to a crack in this case.
Sources:
“Report of the case of John W. Webster: “The Trail of J.W. Webster” (The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts)
“A Case of Murder Most Foul at Harvard” (The Boston Globe) 1994.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/440630853/?terms=%22john%20white%20webster%22&match=1
“The Trial of Prof. John White Wesbter” (Evening Transcript) 1850.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101863552/trial-of-prof-john-white-webster/
John White Webster burial notice (The Brooklyn Daily Eagle) 1850.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3066986/john-white-webster-of-boston-burial/
“Professor John W. Webster” Richmond Enquirer. 1850.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/339037010/?terms=%22john%20white%20webster%22&match=1
“Bones of Contention” by Mara Bovsun (New York Daily News) 2004.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/408966902/?terms=%22john%20white%20webster%22&match=1
“The Boston Murder” (The Vermont Patriot and State Gazette) 1849.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/legacy/488949935/?terms=%22john%20white%20webster%22&match=1
“Murder in the Medical School: The Parkman-Webster case, Boston 1849-1850” by Corinne Hogan (Royal School of Surgeons of England)
https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/murder-in-the-medical-school/
“Grisly Murder Case Shocked Medical School” by Howard White (Harvard Crimson) 1957.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1957/4/19/grisly-murder-case-shocked-med-school/
“Ephraim Littlefield” (PBS)
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/murder-ephraim-littlefield/
“The Murder of Dr. Parkman” (PBS)
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/murder-dr-parkman/
“Murder at Harvard Medical School: The story of the 19th century slaying that shocked Boston” by Dialynn Dwyer (Boston.com)
https://www.boston.com/news/history/2017/11/22/a-19th-century-murder-at-harvard-medical-school/