USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume III > Part 28
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Nathan Leavenworth, son of the Rev. Mark and Sarah (Hull) Leavenworth, was born in Waterbury December 11, 1761. He grad- uated from Yale college in 1778, and the next year joined the conti- nental army as surgeon's mate, a position which he held until the close of the war. Soon after this he became a member of the county Medical society, and in October, 1784, settled in Darlington - district, S. C., where he remained in practice until ill health com- pelled him to leave it. He returned to Waterbury in 1793, and lived an invalid until his death, which occurred January 9, 1799.
DR. EDWARD FIELD.
Edward Field, son of Dr. Simeon and Margaret (Reynolds) Field, was born in Enfield, July 1, 1777. He began his medical studies at home and continued them with Dr. Coggswell of Hartford. In 1799 he received a commission in the navy as surgeon's mate, and embarked for a three years' cruise in the East Indies. The voyage proved a disastrous one; the ship was dismasted, there was mutiny on board, and the young physician in assisting to subdue the muti- neers was wounded in the right wrist. The voyage lasted hardly a year, but its experience destroyed the charm of a sea-going life for Dr. Field. About 1800, he established himself as a village doctor in Waterbury, and labored here for the remaining forty years of his life.
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His first home in town was in the family of Mrs. Sarah Leaven- worth, widow of the Rev. Mark Leavenworth, and in 1807 he mar- ried her grand-daughter, Sarah Baldwin. Mrs. Leavenworth's house stood where the residence of the Misses Merriman now is, east of the First church, and Dr. Field and his wife continued to live here until after Mrs. Leavenworth's death, when the house became his. In 1816 he removed the old Leavenworth house, and built upon the same lot the dwelling now occupied by the Misses Merriman .*
His first wife died in 1808, and in 1810 he married her sister, Esther Baldwin. He had six children: Dr. Junius Leavenworth, the only child of his first marriage; Henry Baldwin (see page 151); Anetta, who died in 1815 at two years of age; Mary Margaret, wife of C. B. Merriman (see page 420); Charlotte Anetta, who married Samuel G. Blackman; and Dr. Edward Gustavus. (For Junius and Edward, see page 864.) Dr. Field was received as a member of the First church, July 5, 1840, and died November 17 of the same year.
DR. MELINES C. LEAVENWORTH.
Melines Conkling Leavenworth, the eldest son of Mark and Anna (Cook) Leavenworth, was born in Waterbury, January 15, 1796. He studied at the Cheshire and Ellsworth academies, and at the age of eighteen commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Edward Field. He soon removed to Great Barrington and entered the office of Dr. Baldwin, where he remained for one year. He then studied for a time with Dr. Jonathan Knight and subsequently with Dr. Eli Ives of New Haven. He graduated from the Yale Medical school in 1817, and afterwards devoted himself exclusively to the study of botany, of which he was passionately fond. He was selected by the faculty of Yale college to make a tour of the south in search of specimens and herbal treasures, together with Dr. J. G. Percival. He decided to remain in the south, and began practice in Alabama, and afterwards removed to Georgia. Having a desire to enter the military service he obtained the appointment of assistant surgeon in the United States army. He remained in this position eleven years, serving through the Florida war, and during his army life never lost an opportunity of continuing his botanical researches. Whenever he obtained leave of absence his time was spent in making diligent search for new plants in unex- plored regions.
* The conditions of life were very primitive at that time; the doctor's house was both office and phar- macy, and the side door was always left unlocked so that any one desiring to consult the physician could enter at any time. Physicians in those days thought themselves fortunate if they could collect the regular fee of two shillings a visit. It was afterwards increased to half a dollar.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
He resigned his position in the army in 1842, returned to Water- bury and opened an office here. He continued in practice for many years. Upon the breaking out of the civil war, he applied for a position in the service. He was appointed assistant surgeon in the Twelfth regiment of Connecticut volunteers, and entered upon his duties in the autumn of 1861. He died of pneumonia at New Orleans, November 18, 1862. He never married. In the sketch of his life in the "Leavenworth Genealogy," he is described as "free from all affectation, modest, but of an independent spirit, generous to a fault, more mindful of others than of himself. His integrity," it is added, "was without a stain, and in the various walks of life he has left an enviable record."*
DR. GIDEON L. PLATT.
Gideon Lucian Platt was born in Middlebury, July 20, 1813. He was a descendant, in the sixth generation, from Richard Platt, an original settler of Milford, through his son, Lieutenant Joseph Platt, and his grandson, Gideon, and was the fifth Gideon Platt in lineal descent.
After passing through the earlier stages of his education in the schools of the town he entered the then famous classical school of Simeon Hart at Farmington, where he remained until ready to begin his professional studies. These he pursued under the care of Dr. Henry Bronson, and afterward with Dr. William Tully, one of the professors in the Yale Medical school. He attended also the regular course of instruction in the school and graduated in 1838. He began his life work in Waterbury at the age of twenty- nine. He was at first associated in practice with Dr. Henry Bronson, until Dr. Bronson removed to New Haven, in 1842. His second partnership (formed in May, 1852) was with "Dr. P. G. Rockwell, from New York;" his third, which continued to the time of his death, was with Dr. Walter Hamlin Holmes, of Calais, Me., who married his only daughter. He was honored in 1880 by an election to the presidency of the New Haven county Medical society, and in 1881 to the same office in the Connecticut Medical society. He was the originator of the Apothecaries' Hall company and the principal owner in it, and was a judicious investor in real estate, which increased greatly in value during his holding; while a more conservative man in all the lines of his activity it would be difficult to find.
* A trivial incident illustrates how completely absorbed he, sometimes became in the pursuit of his favorite study: Once when driving with a friend, he exclaimed "Stop that horse ! Why don't you stop that horse ? I want to pick those flowers." "Dr. Leavenworth," was the reply, "why don't you stop him your- self ? You are driving."
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On December 18, 1844, Dr. Platt married Caroline Tudor (a lineal descendant of Elder William Brewster of Plymouth colony, also of Owen Tudor of Windsor, of the Rev. Samuel Tudor and of his son Dr. Elihu Tudor, the eminent surgeon, who was one of the founders of the Connecticut Medical society). After a half century of valuable service to the town he died on November 11, 1889, leaving four children: Dr. Lucian Tudor, Medora Caroline (Mrs. Holmes), Dr. Walter Brewster, and Charles Easton, since deceased.
The half century from 1838 to 1888 witnessed great and radical changes in place and people here. Dr. Platt, the young man, began his professional life in a plain country town of 3500 inhabitants, who were scattered over a widespread area, and who depended upon agriculture for their subsistence. Its rugged hills became a part of his daily round, and their rock-faced welcome met him as he toiled with his faithful sorrel horse up their heights and into the long stretches of country, north, south, east and west, to meet the calls that came to him. As the years went on and his skill increased (wisdom, taught by experience), his practice grew until his name became a household word in all the region; a word that stood as a tower of refuge from the woes of pain and illness in many a remote farm house, no less than in the homes of the ancient village itself. His "manner in the sick room " was always reassuring. He entered gently, his fine and gracious presence at once impressing the new patient pleasantly, and the accustomed patient anew with confidence. He persuaded with a power altogether his own. A half century is a long time to serve the public in, but Dr. Platt never faltered in his work until it was nearly done. Although the inhabitants increased and the town of 3500 became the city of 35,000, he gently, tenderly, wisely ministered to his patients, welcoming the new life, and with his own hands often closing the eyes of the departed for the long, sweet sleep of death, and always with a firm belief in the life to come. His work afforded a clear and steady delineation of the character and purpose of a line of men, like himself, of Puritan life and lineage. It may be said, without the slightest disparage- ment to present or future practitioners of the art of healing, that this honored and beloved physician was the last example of the departing line that Waterbury will know, for the time that made such a man and such a life possible has gone forever.
DR. JOHN DEACON.
John Deacon was born in New Orleans, L.a., August 20, 1827. He came to Connecticut at an early age, and attended the private
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
school of Samuel Beardsley in Monroe and the academy in New- town. He graduated from the Yale Medical school in 1847, and im- mediately received an appointment as assistant physician in Bel- levue hospital, New York. He came to Waterbury in 1848, and practiced his profession here nearly thirty years.
In 1848 he married Nancy Shelton, daughter of Dr. Sturges Bulkley (see below). She died about a year after her marriage, and in 1852 he married Mary G., daughter of Edward Sparks. She died June 13, 1869, in her forty-second year, leaving five daughters and a son. Dr. Deacon died June 9, 1877.
John S. Deacon, son of Dr. John Deacon, was born September 2, 1855. He was connected for a number of years with the business department of the Waterbury American, and died August 21, 1892.
DR. STURGES BULKLEY.
Sturges Bulkley was born in Weston, October 12, 1799. He pur- sued his classical studies under the tuition of the Rev. Samuel M. Phelps of Ridgefield. He afterward entered the office of Dr. Nehe- miah Perry as a medical student, and attended lectures at the Yale Medical school at the time when Dr. Nathan Smith occupied the chair of surgery. According to a custom then common he took a license to practice medicine in the spring of 1821, and soon after- wards established himself in the town of Monroe, and remained there nearly thirty years. He removed to Waterbury in 1850, and died in this city, July 9, 1857. He was buried in the East Village cemetery in Monroe.
Dr. Bulkley married Nancy Shelton of Monroe, by whom he had three daughters: Nancy Shelton, who became the first wife of Dr. John Deacon; Cornelia Hepsibah, wife of S. T. Rogers, and Sarah Jane, deceased.
DR. GEORGE E. PERKINS.
George Edwin Perkins, son of Moses and Mary (Harrison) Per- kins, was born in New Haven, May 13, 1821. He graduated from the Yale Medical school in 1843, and immediately established him- self as a physician in North Madison. He came to Waterbury in May, 1847, began the practice of his profession here in the office for- merly occupied by Dr. Melines C. Leavenworth in Gothic hall, and continued it until his death, which took place August 22, 1876.
On May 13, 1858, he married Margaret A., daughter of Ard Wel- ton. She died in October, 1860, and in March, 1874, he married Mary J., eldest daughter of Lemuel H. Munson. He had no children.
MOSES HARRISON PERKINS, a younger brother of the above, grad- uated from the Yale Medical school in 1849. He was associated with
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his brother for several years, but afterwards removed to Columbia, where he practiced his profession until his death, February 17, 1874. He was appointed assistant surgeon of the Fifteenth regiment of Connecticut infantry during the war, but the condition of his health prevented his continuance in the field.
DR. T. D. DOUGHERTY.
Thomas Dennis Dougherty, son of Thomas and Eleanor (McGonigh) Dougherty, was born in county Donegal, Ireland, May 28, 1829. When two years of age he came to America, and was edu- cated at Mount St. Mary's college, Emmitsburg, Md., from which he graduated in 1849. From that date until 1851 he was professor of Greek and of chemistry at Calvert college, Md. Having decided to study - medicine, he entered the Col- lege of Physicians and Sur- geons in New York city, and there took the first prize for the best essay. After grad- uation he lived in Washing- ton, D. C., in New York city and in New Haven, and in March, 1854, came to Water- bury, where the remainder of his life was spent, and where, while diligently pursuing his profession, he held va- rious positions of trust. He was a member of the commit- tee of twenty-one appointed in 1868 by the common coun- cil to recommend to them some course of action in re- gard to the receipt and use of Silas Bronson's bequest DR. T. D. DOUGHERTY. for a public library. He was a member of the board of agents of the Bronson library from 1869, and a member of the board of education from 1864 to the time of his death. He was registrar of births, marriages and deaths from 1862 to 1872, and school visitor and town physician for several years.
In February, 1860, Dr. Dougherty married Margaret A., only daughter of Michael and Ann (Delany) Neville, who was the first
in
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Roman Catholic girl in Waterbury that was sent to a boarding school or college. They had four sons and four daughters, the eldest of whom was married November 1, 1886, to James E. July of Providence, R. I. Dr. Dougherty died November 22, 1878.
DR. J. J. JACQUES.
John Josiah Jacques was born in Tolland, October 11, 1831. His father, Amos Jacques, was a builder by trade, and his family was brought up on a farm, but the three sons entered the medical pro- fession, and the daughter married a physician. Mr. Jacques studied medicine with his brother-in-law, Dr. I. J. Sperry of Hartford, and afterwards graduated from a medical college at Worcester, Mass. He settled first at Plymouth Hill, where he practiced for two years. On April 1, 1854, he removed to Waterbury, and resided here until his death. In addition to practicing as a physician, he estab- lished a large drug business, and carried it on for many years in the Park drug store on Park place. He was road commissioner for one term, also postmaster from March, 1867, to June, 1869 (page 170). He was a man of very positive opinions, a public-spirited citizen, and possessed of practical good sense. At one time he was known throughout the state as a political speaker. He was a powerful champion of whatever cause he espoused, and habitually chose the side which he believed to be right, without regard to consequences. He placed the lovers of music and the drama under lasting obliga- tions to him by building in 1887 the opera house which bears his name.
On July 8, 1851, he married Susan L., daughter of Guy C. Marsh of Hartford. They had two sons, one of whom died in childhood. For Eugene L., see elsewhere. Dr. Jacques died April 10, 1887.
DR. ALFRED NORTH.
Alfred North, the son of Phineas and Louisa (Wetmore) North, was born in Goshen, October 5, 1836. He received his prepara- tory education at the Norfolk academy and graduated from Brown university in 1859. After studying for a few months with Dr. Buell of Litchfield, he entered the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, and at the same time received private instruction from Dr. Gurdon Buck, then surgeon to the New York hospital. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1861, and was immediately appointed on the house staff of the hospital. During the second year of the civil war he went with two other physicians (Drs. Robert F. Weir and George L. Porter) to the front, to do army surgery, and was busily occupied in a hospital which had been established at Frederick City, Md., after the battles of
Alfred forth
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Antietam and South Mountain; but after some months the hospi- tal was closed, and he returned to New York and finished his term.
In 1863 he came to Waterbury and speedily secured for himself. a large and lucrative practice. He became widely known as a skill- ful and thorough-going physician and an expert surgeon. In sur- gery he exhibited not only knowledge but exceptional promptness and courage, and in this field achieved the chief successes of his life. He was surgeon for the New York and New England and the Naugatuck railroads, was medical examiner for many insurance companies and for the town of Watertown, and one of the medical directors of the Connecticut Indemnity association. He was vice- president of the Waterbury Medical society, member of the county and state Medical societies, and chief of the staff of consulting phy- sicians at the Waterbury hospital. A writer in the New York World spoke of him after his death as "a bold and versatile sur- geon, enthusiastic in his profession, ceaseless in his toil, and pos- sessed of business acumen as well," and added: "Probably not a doctor who has lived in Connecticut has condensed into thirty years so vast an amount of varied professional work." In 1881 he associated with himself Dr. Thomas L. Axtelle in a partnership which continued until July 1, 1893, when on account of Dr. North's failing health it was dissolved.
On September 24, 1863, he married Amelia Henrietta, daughter of Dr. Gurdon Buck. Their children are Susie Saltonstall, who was married to Herbert Rowland, October 6, 1894; Annie Wetmore, and three who died in infancy. Dr. North died November 17, 1893.
DR. E. L. GRIGGS.
Edward L. Griggs, the youngest of the four sons of Charles and Frances C. (Drake) Griggs (see page 391), was born in South Wind- sor, July 18, 1838. In 1845 he removed with his family to Water- bury and studied at the academy until fifteen years of age. After serving as an apothecaries' assistant for four years he began the study of medicine, and spent two years at the Yale Medical college, and one at the Long Island College hospital. He received his med- ical degree in 1864 and since that time has resided in Waterbury. Dr. Griggs is unmarried, and leads a somewhat retired life, but is recognized not only as a physician of exceptional learning and ability, but as a gentleman whose personal traits render him especially attractive to those who know him well. His very posi- tive opinions are so quaintly expressed that they are always interesting, and his attacks upon the evils of the times are lighted up by the corruscations of a refined wit, and he is not only an unique conversationalist but a skillful musician.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
DR. F. E. CASTLE.
Frank Edwin Castle, son of Dr. Andrew Castle and grandson of Dr. Jehiel Castle, was born in Woodbridge, February 25, 1845. At the age of twenty-one he commenced the study of medicine, first in the offices of Drs. Park and Townsend of New Haven, and after- wards at the Yale Medical school, from which he graduated in Jan-
THE CASTLE BLOCK, AND DR. W. L. BARBER'S RESIDENCE AND OFFICE.
uary, 1870. After a short service in the New Haven hospital he removed to Waterbury, in April, 1870, and has since continued to practice in this city. On September 30, 1875, he married Margaret, daughter of C. B. Merriman.
DR. C. S. RODMAN.
Charles Shepard Rodman, son of Dr. William W. Rodman (see page 857), was born in Waterbury August 24, 1845. He was edu- cated in the schools of the town and at the Hopkins Grammar school, New Haven. He took a three years chemical course at the Sheffield Scientific school and devoted two years to the study of anatomy at the Yale Medical school. Here he received, in both
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years of his course, the Jewett prize for the best anatomical work, and when he graduated from the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in New York in 1868 he ranked as one of the honor men- of his class.
Soon after his graduation he returned to Waterbury, and has been in active practice here ever since. His interest in special branches of medical science has led him for many years to spend a portion of his time in the hospitals and laboratories of New York. He is a member of the local and state medical associations, and
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DR. C. S. RODMAN'S RESIDENCE; ALSO THE WATERBURY CLUB HOUSE (FORMERLY THE RESIDENCE OF DR. ALFRED NORTH).
physician to the Waterbury hospital, and has written occasionally essays that have been published on ophthalmic surgery and other topics.
In 1872 he married Cornelia J., the youngest daughter of Charles Benedict. She died November 26, 1879, leaving four children: Mary Mitchell; Charles Benedict, born August 2, 1875; Edith Buck- ingham, who was born June 1, 1877, and died July 25, 1891; and Cornelia Benedict. He married in 1884 Louise R., daughter of J. D. Kellogg of Northampton, Mass.
DR. S. B. MUNN.
Stephen Benjamin Munn, son of Benjamin and Fanny (Merriman) Munn, was born in Southington, September 8, 1827. From 1830 to 1839 he lived in Farmington and from 1839 to 1841 in Wolcott, and
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
came to Waterbury in 1864. He became a practitioner of medicine of the Eclectic school in 1858, under the laws of New York, and received a degree from the Georgia Eclectic Medical college in 1877. He was made an honorary graduate of the United States Medical college, N. Y., in 1880, and an " ad eundem " graduate of the Bennett college of Eclectic Medicine and Surgery of Chicago in 1883. He was elected president of the National Eclectic Medical association for 1887 and 1888, and has been three times president of the state association. He is also an honorary member of the Eclec- tic Medical societies of Chicago, of Michigan, Georgia and Penn- sylvania. During the early years of his residence in Waterbury he was deeply interested in theological questions and was at one time a public advocate of the doctrine of the second advent. He was the health officer of Waterbury in 1881 and 1882.
In May, 1847, he married Louisa M. Perkins of Southington. Their children are Howard E. Munn and Alice L., wife H. P. Walker. His second marriage took place May 27, 1875.
PHYSICIANS ESTABLISHED IN WATERBURY SINCE 1870.
STEPHEN CHALKER BARTLETT Was born in Guilford, April 19, 1839, and received his professional education at the Yale Medical school, from which he graduated in January, 1866. He commenced prac- tice in Naugatuck, and remained there until his removal to Water- bury, which took place in 1872. He served as acting assistant sur- geon in the United States navy in 1864 and 1865, and was elected a fellow of the Connecticut Medical society in 1876. On September- 22, 1869, he married Julia B., daughter of A. J. Pickett, by whom he had one child, Russell, born January 15, 1877. He died February 3, 1879
EDWARD W. McDONALD was born in Ireland in March, 1845, and was educated at the national schools. In May, 1868, he came to America, and commenced the study of medicine in the University of the City of New York, from which he graduated in February, 1871. He was then appointed house physician and surgeon at St. Vincent's hospital, New York city, where he remained one year. He came to Waterbury in May, 1872, and has since practiced medi- ' .cine in this city.
WALTER LEWIS BARBER, son of Benham and Mary Barber, was born in Litchfield, June 26, 1851. He was educated at the Torring- ton academy, and graduated from the Bellevue hospital Medical college in 1873. In 1877 he came to Waterbury and has since resided here as a practicing physician. He served the city as reg- istrar of vital statistics from 1883 to 1886.
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On October 24, 1878 Dr. Barber married Fannie M. G. Hart. She died in 1881, leaving twin children, Fannie and Walter.
WALTER HAMLIN HOLMES Was born in Calais, Me., June 23, 1854. He graduated from Bowdoin college in 1875, and from the Harvard Medical school in 1879. From 1878 to 1880 he was connected with the Boston City hospital, for six months as "medical externe " and for a year as "surgical interne " and house surgeon. He came to Waterbury in March, 1880, and in November of the same year formed a partnership with Dr. Gideon L. Platt (see page 838). In 1892 Dr. Holmes's health began to fail, and in 1894 he was com- pelled to give up his practice. Until his mental powers gave way, he retained, more than most men, his interest in the studies of his collegiate course, taking special pleasure in reading classical authors in the original. On philosophical and theological subjects he was an independent thinker, but remained faithful through all intellectual vicissitudes to the Unitarian faith of his childhood.
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