USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > The early history of the medical profession in the county of Norfolk, Mass. : an address delivered before the Norfolk District Medical Society, at its annual meeting, May 10, 1823 > Part 1
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THE
EARLY HISTORY OF TITE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN THE COUNTY OF NORFOLK, MASS.
AN ADDRESS
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
NORFOLK DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY,
AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING, MAY 10, 1853.
BY EBENEZER ALDEN, M.D.
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY.
FROM THE BOSTON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL.
26392 BOSTON :
S. K. WHIPPLE & CO ...... 100 WASHINGTON ST. 1853.
DAVID CLAPP, Printer, Boston.
ADDRESS.
FELLOWS OF THE NORFOLK DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY, AND GEN- TLEMEN,-In accordance with your appointment, I have collected and propose now to present some historical notices of the medical profession in the County of Norfolk, particularly in relation to its early history. The recorded materials for such a purpose, especially during the first cen- tury after its settlement, are indeed scanty ; and information obtainable from tradition is becoming every day more vague with the lapse of time. I can only say, that I have consulted original documents whenever they were accessible, and have stated nothing as fact which did not appear to be well authenticated.
I am aware that it may be said that a physician's time may be more profitably employed, than in searching musty records with the view of exhuming the names and reputation of men, who, however useful in their day, have been too long buried out of sight of the present generation to llave any interest awakened either in their characters or success in life.
To such a cavil I reply, that every physician is bound to sustain the reputation of liis profession by all honorable means ; and perhaps in no way, aside from his own virtuous example, can he do this more success- fully than by recording the good deeds and perpetuating the memory of the virtues of those who have preceded him in the same line of pursuit.
The life of a physician is at best a monotonous one. His opportuni- ties for social and professional intercourse are infrequent. It is a life of toil, of self-denial-and, witli rare exceptions, of inadequate pecuniary compensation. The physician has no time he can properly call his own. Other men engaged in laborious pursuits are permitted to partake of their food without interruption, and to sleep quietly at night. Not so with the physician. For liim no scason is sacred. He is liable to be called at any hour. The Sabbath, a day of rest to others, is to him but too often a day of incessant toil. In scasons of severe sickness, when the pestilence walketh in darkness and destruction wasteth at noon-day. he is especially exposed to danger. If others flee, he is expected to re-
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main at his post ; and it often happens, that after having been honored as the successful instrument of rescuing multitudes from an untimely grave, he himself falls a victim to the destroyer. So fell Samuel Ful- ler, the earliest physician in New England; and so, quite recently in this county, died of ship fever good Dr. Thaxter of Dorchester, and the amiable Wyman of Stoughton.
Brethren, let us cherish the memory of such men. As we drop the tear of sympathy over their graves, we can scarcely fail to grow wiser and better. A thought of their sufferings will lighten our own ; and should any of us perish, as they did, in the conscientious discharge of duty, it may console us in the hour of our departure to reflect that after our decease we shall " still live," not only in the grateful recollections, but also in the worthy deeds of some, who, emulating our example, may be led by it to practise the virtues they admire.
The County of Norfolk embraces, within an area of about four hun- dred miles, one city and twenty-two towns. The number of inliabitants in 1850 was about 79,000, and the density of the population not far from two hundred persons to a square mile. The number of physicians at the same period was about eighty-eight, and' of clergymen eight-nine ; so that it may be said, without great inaccuracy, that each religious so- ciety or parish has its own physician and minister. It must be con- fessed that in almost every community a few individuals may be found who seem indisposed to regard the pious instructions of the one, and quite incapable of estimating the value of the services of the other. One would think that these modern pseudo-reformers imagine themselves to have received a commission to upturn the foundations of society. With such, change in whatever direction is progress. They have more faith in fiction than in fact. Old doctrines they discard because they are old, and new dogmas they receive because they are new ; the greater the apparent absurdity of these dogmas, in their view, the more profound their real truth. Nevertheless, as these persons have " method in their madness," they should be allowed the largest liberty consistent with pub- lic safety, and are rather to be won than driven to the adoption of wiser and more consistent opinions.
In the early history of the country, the professions of divinity and medicine were frequently found in the hands of the same incumbent. The ministers of that period " practised " as well as preached. Indeed, in all nations in their forming state the two professions have been identi- cal, until, in consequence of the increase of duties demanded, and the necessity of more time and a more careful training required for
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their successful performance, they are disjoined. The union of the medical and priestly offices was established among the ancient Israel- ites as early as the time of Moses. Perhaps the origin of this union may be thus explained. Disease is an abnormal condition, and in early times was deemed a supernatural infliction on account of moral delin- quency on the part of the suffering individual or others. Hence the question of the disciples to the Saviour-" Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind ?" Sometimes, indeed, disease was a punishment ; as in the case of Miriam, who for her rebellion against Moses was smitten with leprosy ; and of Gehazi, who for his covetousness and falsehood went out from the presence of Elisha " a leper as white as snow." It is not surprising that in a rude age a general principle should have been assumed from a few isolated facts, and so the opinion become common tliat all diseases are to be considered in the light of a penal infliction. Under such an impression, it was natural that the sick man should apply for relief to his religious teaclicr ; his first step being to propitiate the Deity. In the case of leprosy, Moses directed the subject to apply to the priest for the examination and cure of his disease ; and on his recovery to make a votive offering at the Templc. Isaiah officiated for Hezekiah both as prophet and physician ; not only predicting his recovery, but prescribing the remedies in the use of which it was to be effected. The Jewish Temple became at length the great hospital of the nation, as well as the central point of its religious rites and worship.
In Egypt, also, and in Greece, the custom seems to have been early established of collecting and posting up in temples and other public places an account of medicines uscd and other appliances made, by which marvellous cures had been cffected. In the progress of civilization and with an increase of light, this chaotic mass of materials began to assumc form and shape. Medical science was the result. The works of Hip- pocrates cmbody not only his individual experience, but also the wisdom of preceding ages ; and the famous oath which he was accustomed to administer to all his pupils before they were permitted to assume the responsible dutics of their calling, contains a code of medical ethics un- surpassed cven in modern times, as a guide to the profession in their in- tercourse witli cach other and the community .- [See Note A.]
Some of the popular medical theories and remedies of ancient times were no doubt sufficiently ludicrous ; but it admits of a question whether the most visionary of them may not find a parallel even in our own boasted age of scientific progress.
One of the remarkable remedies of ancient times, the virtues of which
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seem to have been overlooked by the moderns, was the amethyst worn as a charm. With respect to this precious stone (and precious remedy, too, if it really possessed half the virtues ascribed to it), it takes its name* from the virtue thereof. For " being laid to the umbilicus, it first draws the vapor of the wine to itself, then dispelling the same, and so preserving him that weareth it from drunkenness. Wherefore, this pearl is a great conservative of temperance."+
The nearest approach in modern times to the discovery of a real " amethyst," or cure for drunkenness, which has come to my knowledge, was announced in a recent communication to the Boston Natural History Society, as reported in the " Evening Traveller." It appears that a certain physician, resident in Florida, las ascertained by personal expe- riment, that after having "intoxicated himself considerably with bran- dy," he can by swallowing a pill containing a small quantity of the poison of the rattlesnake, completely neutralize the intoxication ; that on increasing the quantity of brandy until the intoxication becomes " pretty deep," he can, by taking three of the poison pills, not only remove the intoxication, but so reduce the pulse and depress the system that it be- comes necessary, from danger of collapse, to resort quickly to powerful stimulants. In other words, three of the pills produce in this doctor's case a state of sobriety actually alarming. In confirmation of this state- ment, a case was related at the same scientific meeting, of a man in Athens, Ga., who, while lying under a fence in a very intoxicated state, was bitten by a very large and active snake, yet no harm followed to the man, whatever may have happened to the serpent.
We have all heard of the notice in former days, " drunk for a penny, dead drunk for two pence, and clean straw for nothing." Who knows that in the marchi of modern improvement we may not live to see ap- pended to the bills of fare in some of our fashionable saloons and hotels, in addition to the variety of liquors recommended-" Amethyst pills, a sure preventive of intoxication, will be furnished gratis at the close of the entertainment, to any gentleman who may unfortunately have oc- casion to use them."-[See Note B.]
The early history of medicine in Massachusetts is involved in great ob- scurity. The names of but few practitioners, during the first century after its settlement, have come down to us, and of these few we know but little. The title of " doctor" was not often applied in the most ancient records ; and indeed at that early period but few well-educated men devoted themselves exclusively to the cure of the sick.
Alpha privative, and methno to be drunken.
f Ancient Commentary on the Revelation, printed in 1612.
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In presenting such facts as I have been able to collect, it will be con- venient to adopt a geographical arrangement of towns, which nearly co- incides with the order of their settlement, rather than an alphabetical one. Omitting, for the present, Cohasset, which is more naturally asso- ciated with Plymouth County than with Norfolk, Weymouth on the east- ern border of the County first claims our attention.
WEYMOUTH.
Weymouth was the second settlement of white men in New England. Weston's colony, which commenced operations there in 1622, was broken up the following year. The people, in consequence of their excessive improvidence, " fell into great extremity," and before their dispersion were dependent on Plymouth, not only for medical advice, but for sus- tenance also. During the next twenty years, up to the close of the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Newman, who in 1644, with many of his peo- ple, removed to Rehoboth, I liave been unable to find the name of any resident physician in the settlement. In that year Rev. Thomas Thacher was inducted into the ministry at Weymouth, where for twenty years he continued, executing the double office of physician and pastor. He pre- viously resided several years in the family and under the tuition of Rev. Charles Chauncey, at Scituate, where he acquired a high reputation as a classical scholar, and also as a proficient in theology and medicine : unlike certain medico-theologians of the present day, who certainly have not succeeded in obtaining the reputation of very profound attainments either in theology or medicine. After the death of his wife, he resigned his pastorate and removed to Boston, where for several years he preached occasionally, but was chiefly occupied in the discharge of his medical duties. To him, it has been said, belongs the honor of having been the author of the first medical tract ever published in Massachusetts, en- titled-" A Brief Guide to the Common People in the Smallpox and Measles "; first published in Boston in 1677, and a second edition in 1702. In 1669 he was installed as the first pastor of the Old South Church in Boston. He did not wholly relinquish his medical pursuits, liowever ; for Cotton Mather informs us, that having preached for his father, he visited a sick person after going out of the assembly, whereby he got soine harm, which turned into a fever, of which he died October 15, 1678, aged 58.
The next physician in Weymouth, of whom any tradition remains, was Dr. Beal. He is said to have resided in the North Parish, near to Hingham line. Dr. Richards informs me that he sustained a good repu- tation as a citizen and physician.
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Dr. Nathaniel White, a native of Weymouth, was born in 1690, and died in 1758. He first settled in the North Parish, but afterwards re- moved to the south part of the town. He was inuch employed in public business, and his name often appears on the town records. He acquired and sustained a great reputation for skill, and for many years enjoyed a widely-extended practice in Weymouth and the vicinity.
Dr. Benjamin Richards, born in 1714, settled in North Weymouth, and had a good reputation and business until his death, which occurred in 1755, at the age of 41.
Hon. Cotton Tufts, the immediate successor of the last two named physicians, was born at Medford in 1731 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1749 ; studied medicine with his brother, Dr. Simon Tufts, who in Medford succeeded to his father's name, reputation and business. Dr. Tufts was esteemed as a well-educated and judicious physician. In early and middle life, he had an extended medical practice. He was one of the original members of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and from 1787 to 1793 its President. He was much in public life ; a finished and well- bred gentleman of the old school, courteous, dignified, never assuming to himself titles or place which did not belong to him, nor shrinking from the performance of any duty to which he was properly called. He pos- sessed a remarkable syminetry of character, which commanded univer- sal respect. Towards the close of life his time was so much engrossed with public trusts, that he was not much occupied in general practice. As long as he was able to go out, however, his counsel was much sought in difficult cases. He was very kind to young men just commencing professional life, as I can testify from personal knowledge, and ever ready, when requested, to open to them the stores of his ample experience.
Dr. James Torrey settled in South Weymouth in 1783, and was tlie only physician there for more than thirty years. He was a native of Connecticut, and practised medicine there and in Nantucket a few years before his residence in Weymouth. He had a fair reputation and busi- ness for that day. Having been a seventh son, it is said that in early life he sometimes so far yielded to the whim of the times as to apply his gift in the cure of scrofula ; and when accompanied with the use of the famous Harlaem oil, or " Medicamentum gratia probatum," it was pro- bably not less successful than the "touch " of his royal competitors. However that may have been, in subsequent years he wholly discon- tinued the practice, and left behind him that good name which is " better than precious ointment." He died December 16, 1817, aged 64.
Dr. James Lovell, who died in 1820 at the age of 52, was in early life engaged in medical practice in North Weymouth, where he was
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much esteemed. Soon after 1800 he entirely relinquished medical pursuits.
Dr. Noah Fifield was born at East Kingston, N. H., July 22, 1783. He studied medicine under the direction of Dr. William Sanborn, of Fal- moutlı, Me., and Dr. Nathan Mckinstry, of Newbury, Vt .; attended medical lectures at Cambridge in 1804, and settled as a physician in Weymouth in January, 1806, where he still resides, at the age of 70, in the enjoyment of a competence acquired by unremitting industry and devotion to the interests of liis employers.
Dr. George Fordyce Fifield, a promising young physician, son of the preceding, a graduate of Harvard College in 1841, after having studied his profession commenced business with his father, but died in 1846, of lumbar abscess, having lived long enough to give promise of extensive usefulness liad his life been continued,
In South Weymouthi, Dr. Appleton Howe, the respected Vice Presi- dent of this Society, established himself soon after the death of Dr. Tor- rey, in 1817, where he continues to reside, with a widely-extended and increasing reputation. Whatever, therefore, may have been the charac- ter of the medical faculty in Weymouth in ancient times, the present generation has been well served. Other physicians, besides those men- tioned, have been residents there, but so recently or for so limited a pe- riod that it does not seem necessary to allude to them by name in this sketch.
BRAINTREE originally included within its limits the present towns of Quincy, Braintree and Randolph. It was settled as early as 1624 or 1625, but not incorporated until 1640. Before that period it had been an appendage of Boston ; and for many years afterwards the inhabitants, having been too few to sustain a physician of their own, appear to have been dependent on Boston and the neighboring towns of Roxbury and Dorchester for medical advice in important cases.
QUINCY.
Dr. John Wilson, son of Dr. Edmund Wilson of London, and grand- son of Rev. John Wilson, first pastor of the First Church in Boston, ap- pears to liave been the earliest resident physician in old "Brantry," now Quincy. His domicile was on lands granted by the Town of Boston to their first minister. He was well educated, but not, as some suppose, the graduate at Harvard in 1705. He probably received luis medical educa- tion in London. He seems to have sustained an excellent reputation, both as a citizen and a physician. In his time " fever and ague " was a very pre-
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valent disease in his vicinity ; and there is a tradition that he was accustom- ed to remark, that the period would arrive when that disease would disap- pear from this section of the country, and other diseases take its place. Although the precise date of his death has not been ascertained, it pro- bably occurred early in the autumn of 1727, as administration was grant- ed on his estate on the 16th of October of that year.
Dr. Edward Stedman succeeded Dr. Wilson. He married a daughter of Major Lemuel Vassal.
Leonard Hoar, M.D., who graduated at Harvard College in 1650, it is said, practised medicine here until his accession to the presidency of the College in 1672. He died at Quincy, Nov. 28, 1675, aged 48.
Dr. Henry Turner, who was educated as an apothecary in London, settled in Quincy as early as 1775. He was never extensively engaged in medical practice. He died January 21, 1773, at the age of 84.
Dr. Henry Turner, Jun., son of the preceding, was a regularly-edu- cated physician, but died before his father. His widow Abigail, after his decease, married Samuel Bass, in 1757, and they were the parents of the late Capt. Josiah Bass.
Dr. Elisha Savil (Harvard College, 1743) was a reputable physician, and from an examination of his ledger, loaned to me by one of his de- scendants, I find that he had an extended business from 1750 to 1768, not only in Quincy, but also in Milton and in the middle and south precincts of old Braintree. He died at the early age of 44, April 30, 1768, of lung fever, made fatal by exposure in visiting a patient after the accession of the disease.
Dr. Ebenezer Crosby, a native of Quincy, who graduated at Harvard College in 1777, it is said practised medicine for a short period in the place of his nativity. Of this there may be some doubt. Dr. Thacher (Medical Biography, i., 57), says that he completed his medical educa- tion at the University of Pennsylvania ; that he was at an early period of the Revolutionary war appointed surgeon to General Washington's guard, and was received into his military family, in which he continued until near the close of the war. He afterwards settled in New York, where he acquired a reputable practice and was much esteemed. In 1785, he was elected a Professor in Columbia College, which appoint- ment lie retained until his death, July 16, 1788.
Dr. Thomas Phipps was a native of Brighton. He graduated at Har- vard College in 1757 ; went to Quincy in 1768, immediately after the death of Dr. Savil, and for many years enjoyed a lucrative and extend- ed business. He was esteemed as a worthy man and good physician. Towards the close of his life, which terminated November, 4, 1817, at
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the age of 80, he became entirely deaf, which materially impaired his usefulness.
Dr. Ebenezer Brackett, son of Mr. James Brackett, was born at Quincy, in 1773. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1791 ; studied medicine, and commenced business with fair prospects of success, but fell a victim to pulmonary disease in 1794.
Dr. Thomas Phipps, Jun., studied medicine with his father, and was for a time associated with him in business. He was held in high repute by his patients. His death occurred August 30, 1832. On that day he left his house apparently in his usual, although not confirmed, health. He had proceeded but a few rods, when he fell and instantly expired, at the age of 46.
Dr. Benjamin Vinton, born October 14, 1774 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1796, and settled in Quincy in 1801, having previously offi- ciated for a time as surgeon's mate in a vessel of war. He had a good reputation as a physician, and as such acquired a fair share of business. In 1813 he fell a victim to a disease of the urinary organs, probably Bright's disease, leaving a widow, who still survives, and three daughters, all of whom have since died of consumption.
Dr. Ebenezer Woodward (Dartmouth 1817; M.D. Harvard 1823) settled in Quincy immediately after receiving his medical degree, and from that period to the present has rarely been absent from his circle of business.
BRAINTREE.
The present town of Braintree was originally the middle precinct of the old town of the same name. Although incorporated in 1707, it had no resident physician until 1779.
Dr. Daniel Fogg, a native of New Hampshire, and a medical pupil of Dr. Thomas Kittredge of Andover, in that year took up his residence in Braintree. He was a worthy man and a good physician. Having been reserved in his manners, and for many years exceedingly deaf, his business was very much confined to the vicinity in which he lived. He died suddenly, in 1830, of disease of the heart, while walking in his gar- den, aged 71.
Dr. Ebenezer Thayer, a native of Braintree, settled at the Iron-works near Weymouth in 1800, but within five years died of fever, at the age of 30.
Dr. Joseph Bossuet resided for a time in the same neighborhood. He was a French physician, well educated, and had for a time resided in the West Indies. He had a good reputation as a surgeon. His lack of self-control prevented him from acquiring in this country an extended
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business. He performed in Braintree one operation, which gave him some notoriety, having removed from the urinary bladder a calculus of considerable size, and with it the remains of an extra-uterine fœtus. The patient recovered and survived many years, and before her death presented the carefully-preserved bones and other remains to Dr. H. I. Bowditch, of Boston, and through him to the Boston Society for Medical Improvement.
Dr. Jonathan Wild is a native of Braintree ; graduated at Harvard College in 1804 ; was a medical pupil of Dr. Ebenezer Alden, of Ran- dolph, and resided there a few years after the death of his instructer. In 1813, however, he returned to his native town, and has been the prin- cipal physician there for the last thirty years.
RANDOLPH.
Dr. Moses Baker, a friend and probably fellow pupil of Dr. Benjamin Church, of Boston, settled in the "New Southt Precinct of Braintree," now Randolph, about the year 1755, and had a good share of business in that and the neighboring parishes until his death, which occurred De- cember 10, 1781.
Dr. Ephraim Wales was the second physician in Randolph. He gra- duated at Harvard College in 1768, was a medical pupil of Dr. Amos Putnam of Danvers, and settled in this his native parish as early as 1770. He was well educated, was the instructer of numerous pupils, and had a large circle of practice. His youngest son, bearing the same name, after his father's death, which occurred April 7, 1805, at the age of 59, pur- sued his profession, and is still a resident on the site of the old family mansion.
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