gold watch from the British board of trade for services to English seamen.
WEBSTER, John White, chemist, b. in Boston,
Mass., 20 May, 1793; d. there, 30 Aug., 1850.
He was graduated at Harvard in 1811, and at its
medical department in 1815. In 1824 he was
appointed lecturer in chemistry, mineralogy, and
geology in that institution, and in 1827 he was
elected to the chair of chemistry and mineralogy,
which he then held until the year of his death.
In 1842 Prof. Webster borrowed a sum of money
from Dr. George Parkman, afterward increased
to upward of $2,000, as security for which he
gaves notes and mortgages on household property
and collections. The mineral cabinets he
secretly disposed of, and during an interview with
Parkman, to whom he paid considerable money,
the latter accused him of dishonesty in selling his
collections, and threatened to foreclose the
mortgages. An arrangement was made for a meeting
on 23 Nov., 1849, at the college laboratory, at
which Parkman was murdered. According to the
confession made by Webster, at the time appointed
Parkman arrived, and at once asked for the
money, which not being forthcoming, he “called
me a scoundrel and a liar, and went on heaping on
me the most bitter taunts and opprobrious
epithets.” Seizing a billet of wood, Webster struck
Parkman a blow on the side of the head, which
killed him. The concealment of the body at once
presented itself as the only means of escaping the
fatal effects of the crime, and Webster immediately
dismembered it, burning such parts with the
clothes as he could, and concealing the remaining
parts for further treatment. As soon as Parkman's
disappearance was noted, efforts were made to find
him, and he was traced to the laboratory. Further
search revealed parts of the cadaver, and Webster
was arrested. On the trial, which lasted eleven
days, the chain of circumstantial evidence was
perfect in its conclusions as to the identity of the
body. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jeffries Wyman, and
others testified as to the anatomical proportions of
the body. The teeth were identified beyond doubt
by the dentist who had made them for Parkman.
Webster was defended by John H. Clifford, and
116 witnesses were examined on the trial.
Notwithstanding that every effort was made in his
behalf, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and he
was hanged. During 1823-'6 he was one of the
editors with John Ware and Daniel Treadwell, of
the “Boston Journal of Philosophy and Arts,”
and he published “Description of the Island of
St. Michael” (Boston, 1821); “A Manual of
Chemistry” (1826); and edited Playfair's “Liebig's
Organic Chemistry” (Cambridge, 1841). Several
reports of his trial were published, including one by
George Bemis, one of the counsel (Boston, 1850).
WEBSTER, Joseph Dana, soldier, b. in Old
Hampton, N. H., 25 Aug., 1811 ; d. in Chicago, 111.,
12 March, 1876. His father, Josiah (1772-1837),
was pastor at Hampton from 1808 until his death.
The son was graduated at Dartmouth in 1832, and
read law in Newburyport, Mass., but became a clerk
in the engineer and war offices in Washington, was
made a U. S. civil engineer in 1835, and on 7 July,
1838, entered the army as 2d lieutenant of topo-
graphical engineers. He served through the Mexi-
can war, and was promoted 1st lieutenant in July,
1849, and captain in March, 1853, but resigned in
April, 1854, and removed to Chicago, where he en-
gaged in business. He was president of the com-
mission that perfected the remarkable system of
sewerage for that place, and also planned and exe-
cuted the operations whereby the grade of a large
part of the city was made from two to eight feet
higher, whole blocks being raised by jack-screws
while new foundations were inserted. He entered
the service of the state at the opening of the civil
war, took charge of the construction of fortifica-
tions at Cairo, 111., and Paducah, Ky., in April, and
was made paymaster, with rank of major, of U. S.
volunteers on 1 June, but in February, 1862, he be-
came colonel of the 1st Illinois artillery. He was
chief of Gen. Grant's staff for several months, was
E resent at the capture of Fort Henry and Fort
>onelson, and at Shiloh was also chief of artillery.
At the close of the first day's fight at Shiloh he oc-
cupied with all available artillery the ridge that
covered Pittsburg Landing, thus checking the
hitherto victorious Confederates. He received the
highest commendation in Gen. Grant's official re-
port, and continued to be his chief of staff till, in
October, 1862, he was detailed by the war depart-
ment to make a survey of the Illinois and Michigan
canal. He was commissioned brigadier-general of
volunteers, 29 Nov., 1862, and, after serving for
some time as military governor of Memphis, Tenn.,
and as superintendent of military railroads, was
again Grant's chief of staff in the Vicksburg cam-
paign, and from 1864 till the close of hostilities
held the same post under Gen. William T. Sherman.
He was with Gen. George H. Thomas at the battle
of Nashville. Gen. Webster was given the brevet
of major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865, re-
signed on 6 Nov., and returned to Chicago, where
he remained during the rest of his life. He was
assessor of internal revenue in that city in 1869-'72,
and then assistant U. S. treasurer there till July,
1872, when he became collector of revenue.
WEBSTER, Joseph Philbrick, musician, b.
in Manchester, N. H., in 1820 ; d. in Elkhorn, Wis.,
18 Jan., 1875. He acquired a good English educa-
tion at Pembroke academy, and at ten years of age
could play by ear upon the violin and flute. At
twenty years of age he went to Boston, where for
three years he was under the instruction of Dr.
Lowell Mason and other teachers of music, and be-
came known as a singer. At twenty-eight he lost
his voice, after which he taught music in Connecti-
cut, and from 1850 till 1855 in the south. While
there he became a bitter foe to slavery, and this feel-
ing was subsequently manifested in his many war
songs. He afterward removed to Indianapolis, and
then to Elkhorn, Wis., where he died. He com-
posed a great number of sentimental songs. His
cantata of " The Rebellion," in which is expressed
his sorrow for the death of Lincoln, is one of his
best efforts. His war songs were very popular in
their day. Among his ballads are " Sweet Bv and
By," " Lorena," and " The Golden Stair."
WEBSTER, Nathan Bnrnham, educator, b. in Unity, N. H„ 13 June, 1821. He was educated at Norwich university, but left in 1840, without being graduated, to take charge of the Virginia literary, scientific, and military academy which had been established by Cant. Alden Partridge in Portsmouth.
Two years later he resigned and established a similar school in Charleston, S. C. In 1844 he returned to the Virginia military academy, but in 1847 he
taught in Richmond and lectured on physics in Richmond college. During 1848-'9 ho was civil engineer in the U. S. navy-yard at Norfolk, Va., and then he founded the Virginia collegiate institute, and conducted it in Norfolk till 1862, when, owing to the civil war he removed to Ottawa, Canada, where he established a similar school. He opened the Webster institute in Norfolk in 1869, which he there continued till 1886. Prof. Webster invented the meteorgraph, an automatic meteoro-
