USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Historical sketch of Groton, Massachusetts. 1655-1890 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
During the first three years after the present church
91
GROTON.
was built, services therein were conducted under the auspices of the Methodist denomination, but since that period the society has made arrangements with the Congregational minister at Groton to supply the pulpit, and he preaches on each Sunday afternoon.
Services of the Episcopal Church were begun in connection with the Groton School at its opening in October, 1884. The parish is called St. John's Chapel of Groton School, and the sittings in the church are free. The services are conducted by the head master, Reverend Endicott Peabody. The present chapel was built in the year 1887, and consecrated on January 8, 1888, by the Bishop of the Diocese.
LAWRENCE ACADEMY .- During the early part of the year 1792 a voluntary association was formed at Groton, by certain people of the town and neighbor- hood, in order to establish an academy where a higher education could be obtained than was given at the district schools of that period. A subscription paper was circulated for the purpose of procuring funds to erect a suitable building. A subscription of five pounds currency was the smallest sum received from any person, and was denominated a share; ten pounds was called two shares; and so on. On April 27, 1792, the association organized by choosing trustees and the other customary officers; and from this as a beginning sprang the institution known formerly as Groton Academy, but now as Lawrence Academy. When it was first opened, in the spring of 1793, the exercises were held in the district school-house, on Farmers' Row. By a resolve of the Legislature, on Feb. 27, 1797, a grant of land was given to the academy,
92
GROTON.
which consisted of half a township situated in Wash- ington County, District of Maine. It comes now in Hodgdon, Aroostook County, and lies on the eastern frontier of the State, just south of Houlton.
Among the early friends and benefactors of the institution may be mentioned,-Benjamin Bancroft, Timothy Bigelow, James Brazer, Aaron Brown, Fran- cis Champney, Daniel Chaplin, Samuel Dana, Na- than Davis, Zechariah Fitch, Samuel Hemenway, Samuel Lawrence, Joshua Longley, Joseph Moors, William and Oliver Prescott, Samuel Rockwood, William Swan and Samson Woods.
During the summer of 1841 the Academy building was remodeled for the first time and somewhat en- larged by an addition to the rear, at a cost of $2000, generously given for the purpose by Amos Lawrence, Esq., of Boston. The grounds also were improved, and a fence, consisting of stone posts and chains, placed in front of the yard, as well as on the south side, separating it from the Brazer estate.
In the spring of 1844 William Lawrence, Esq., of Boston, an elder brother of Amos, gave the sum of $10,000 to be added to the permanent funds of the institution. In consequence of this liberal gift and other manifestations of their interest in the school, on the part of the two brothers, the trustees voted the annual meeting, on August 20, 1845, to petition the General Court to change the corporate name of the school to "The Lawrence Academy of Groton." At the next session of the Legislature the petition was duly presented and granted on February 28, 1846.
.
GROTON. 93
The benefactions of the Lawrence brothers did not cease with the change of name in the school. During the month of July, 1846, Amos Lawrence, Esq., bought the Brazer estate (so called), adjoining the Academy lot on the south, and formerly belonging to James Brazer, Esq., for the sum of $4400, and soon afterward conveyed it by deed to the trustees of Lawrence Academy. He also requested that all the buildings and fences on the place should be put in complete repair at his expense, which was accord- ingly done at a cost of more than $1200. During the next month William Lawrence, Esq., wrote to the trustees, offering to give $5000 to be used for the enlargement of the Academy building, for the erec- tion of a substantial stone and iron fence in front of the grounds, including the Dana and Brazer estates, and for the purchase of another bell for the school. The Dana estate, adjoining the Academy lot on the north, had formerly belonged to the Hon. Samuel Dana, and was bought by the trustees in the sum- mer of 1836. With this sum, thus generously placed in their hands, the trustees, during the ensuing au- tumn, enlarged the Academy by an extension on its north side, and very soon afterward carried out his wishes in the other matters. At Mr. Lawrence's death, which occurred on October 14, 1848, he be- queathed the sum of $20,000 to the institution.
Unfortunately, the main building of the Academy was burned to the ground on July 4, 1868, and a structure of brick and stone erected on the same site, which was dedicated June 29, 1871.
A celebration in connection with the history of
94
GROTON.
Lawrence Academy took place on July 12, 1854, when an address was delivered by the Rev. James Means, a former principal of the institution. It was a distinguished gathering, and known at that time as the " Jubilee." A full account of the proceedings was afterward published, with a general catalogue of the school from its beginning. Another re-union was held on June 21, 1883, when a dinner was given in the Town Hall to the old pupils. The assemblage .was not so large as the previous one, but quite as enthusiastic. The wish was generally expressed that the centennial anniversary of the school, which comes in the year 1893, should be duly celebrated. The proceedings on this occasion also were printed in a pamphlet form.
During the early days of New England there was no distinct class of men following the profession of medicine, but the practice was taken up in connec- tion with some other calling. In every community either the minister or the schoolmaster or some skilled nurse was expected to act in cases of need, and, for the most part, such persons performed the duties now undertaken by the faculty. In the early part of 1672 the Rev. Samuel Willard wrote a long account of a case of witchcraft which befell Eliza- beth Knapp, of Groton, and he relates how the "Physitian" came to see her on November 5, 1671, when he gave his judgment on the case, or, in other words, made the diagnosis. It would be an interest- ing fact to know who was the doctor then practicing in the neighborhood, but this is now beyond the reach of historical inquiry.
95
GROTON.
The earliest physician in Groton, mentioned by name, of whom I have found any trace, is Dr. Henry Blasdell, who was impressed into the public service by Colonel Edmund Goffe. On May 28, 1725, he pe- titioned the General Court that an allowance be made him for his professional services and for medi- cines furnished during the campaign of the previous autumn, while he was surgeon to the western forces. The amount of his bill was £26 14s. and the General Court allowed him £17 9s.
Dr. Ezekiel Chase, of Groton, was married at New- bury, on May 20, 1729, to Priscilla Merrill, of that town. She was a daughter of Nathan and Hannah (Kent) Merrill, and born at Newbury, on October 16, 1703.
Dr. Benjamin Morse was a son of Dr. Benjamin and Abigail (Dudley) Morse, and born at Sutton on March 20, 1740. He was married, on November 27, 1760, to Mary, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Barnard, also born at Sutton, on September 13, 1741; and while living in that town they had a family of six children.
Dr. Morse came to Groton probably during the Revolutionary period, and was a Representative to the General Court in the session of 1784, and several succeeding ones ; and he was also a delegate to the Convention for adopting the Constitution of the Uni- ted States, in the year 1788, where he opposed the adoption. He lived in the south part of the town, near the present village of Ayer; and the site of his house is laid down on the map of Groton, published in 1832. He died on May 31, 1833, aged ninety-three
96
GROTON.
years, and his widow, on December 16, 1835, aged ninety-four years.
Dr. Ephraim Ware, a physician of Groton, was married at Cambridge, on October 13, 1785, to Mrs. Abigail Gamage. He was a native of Needham, and born on January 14, 1725. His first wife was Martha, daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth Parker, of Groton, where they were married on July 26, 1764. She was born on January 7, 1737, and died at Groton on April 4, 1776. After their marriage they went to Dedham to live, as the records of that town say : " The Selectmen on the 2d Day of Augt., 1765, gave Orders to Israel Everett, Constable, to warn Ephraim Ware, Martha Ware [and three others] to depart this Town in 14 Days, or give Security to indemnify the Town." Such orders were in accordance with an old practice, then common throughout the Province, which aimed to prevent the permanent settlement of families in towns where they might become a public burden. Their two eldest children, both boys, were born at Ded- ham; and three other children-a daughter, Sarah, and two sons, who both died in infancy-were born at Groton. Sarah, born on September 18, 1769, was married to Richard Sawtell, of Groton, on March 10, 1796, and died on March 23, 1851, having been the mother of nine children.
Dr. Ephraim Woolson was practicing medicine at Groton in the year 1766. He was a son of Isaac and Sibyl Woolson, and born at Weston on April 11, 1740. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1760, and was married to Mary Richardson on July 29, 1765. Dr. Woolson appears to have been living
GROTON. 97
at Weston just before his residence at Groton, and in the year 1767 he bought land at Princeton, where six of his children were born. He was a justice of the peace, and is said to have died in the year 1802.
Dr. Jonathan Gove was a son of John and Tabitha (Livermore) Gove, and born in that part of Weston which is now Lincoln, on August 22, 1746. He grad- uated at Harvard College in the class of 1768, and studied medicine under the instruction of Dr. Oliver Prescott, of Groton. About the year 1770 he was mar- ried to Mary, daughter of Nathan and Mary (Patter- son) Hubbard, of this town, and here John and Lu- cinda, their two eldest children, were born and baptized. This son graduated at Dartmouth College in the class of 1793, studied law and died at Chillicothe, Ohio, in the year 1802. From Groton Dr. Gove removed to New Boston, New Hampshire, where three more children were born. His wife was born at Groton on January 9, 1748, and died at New Boston. He was married, secondly, on January 6, 1791, to Polly Dow, who became the mother of three children. Dr. Gove subsequently removed to Goffstown, New Hampshire, and died there on March 24, 1818.
Dr. Samuel Farnsworth was the youngest child of Isaac and Anna (Green) Farnsworth, and born at Groton on September 29, 1767. He was married, on November 25, 1788, to Betsey, daughter of Captain Zachariah and Lydia (Tuck) Fitch, and they had a family of eight children, of whom two sons, Samuel and Benjamin Franklin, were graduates of Dartmouth College in the class of 1813. Dr. Farnsworth subse- quently removed to Bridgeton, Maine, where he had a
7
98
GROTON.
successful career as a physician. His eldest child, Betsey, was born at Groton on July 2, 1789, and the next one, Samuel, at Bridgton on October 9, 1791 ; and the removal from this town took place in the year 1790. He died on November 4, 1817.
These several physicians practiced their profession in the neighborhood of Groton, though they had never taken medical degrees. Before the present century this was a common custom throughout the country ; and the instances were very exceptional where prac- titioners could rightfully append M.D. to their names. As a class they were men of shrewd sense and acute observers, and their practice was attended with suc- cess. Perhaps they made a better use of their oppor- tunities than we make to-day with our richly endowed medical schools and numerous hospitals.
During the last century Dr. Oliver Prescott was an eminent physician of Groton, and he took high professional rank throughout the Province. He was the youngest of three distinguished brothers, of whom the eldest was Judge James Prescott, who filled many important positions in civil life as well as in military circles; and the second was Colonel William Prescott, who commanded the American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Both Dr. Oliver Prescott and his son, Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., occupied exceptional place among the physicians of Middlesex County.
Dr. Oliver Prescott was a son of the Honorable Benjamin and Abigail (Oliver) Prescott, and born at Groton on April 27, 1731. He graduated at Harvard College with the highest honors in 1750, and then studied medicine under the tuition of Dr. Ebenezer
99
GROTON.
Robie, of Sudbury. On October 19, 1756, he was married to Lydia, daughter of David and Abigail (Jennison) Baldwin, of Sudbury, and they had eight children. His high standing in the profession gave him a place as a charter member of the Massachu- setts Medical Society in 1781, and at the commence- ment of 1791 Harvard College conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.D. He was also the president of the Middlesex Medical Society during the whole period of its existence. Apart from his professional laurels he likewise enjoyed many civil and military honors.
Dr. Prescott was town clerk during thirteen years, and selectman during thirty-two years. Before the Revolution he held the offices of major, lieutenant- colonel, colonel and general, respectively, in the militia. Subsequently, in the year 1778, he was ap- pointed third major-general of the militia, and in 1781 second major-general, but soon afterward; on ac- count of ill health, he resigned the position. He was a justice throughout the Commonwealth, a mem- ber of the Board of War, a member of the Council of Massachusetts, until he declined the office, and, in the year 1779, was appointed Judge of Probate, and con- tinued as such until his death. He took an active part in suppressing Shays's Rebellion, which had many supporters in this neighborhood. Dr. Prescott was one of the original trustees of Groton Academy, and the first president of the board ; and he was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He died on November 17, 1804, aged sev- enty-three years, and his wife on September 27, 1798, aged sixty-two years.
100
GROTON.
Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., was the eldest son of Dr. Oliver Prescott, and born at Groton on April 4, 1762. He pursued his preparatory studies under Master Moody at Dummer Academy, and graduated at Har- vard College in the class of 1783. He studied medi- cine under the direction of his father and Dr. James Lloyd, of Boston, and established himself in practice in his native town. With every social advantage in his favor he at once took high rank as a physician, and soon enjoyed a wide reputation. On Feb. 22, 1791, he was married to Nancy, daughter of Captain Leonard and Ann (Hall) Whiting, of Hollis, N. H., and they had nine children. His wife died on Sept. 13, 1821, aged fifty-eight years; and he was married, secondly, on Nov. 6, 1823, to Mrs. Elizabeth (Atkins) Oliver, who was born on Dec. 30, 1762, and died on May 21, 1835. Dr. Prescott was the town clerk and chairman of the selectmen from the year 1804 to 1811, and represented the town in the General Court dur- ing the sessions of 1809 and 1810. He was a trustee of Groton Academy from the time of its incorpora- tion until 1811, when he removed to Newburyport, where he died on September 26, 1827.
Dr. Joseph Mansfield was a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Whittemore) Mansfield, and born in Lynn on December 17, 1770. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1801, and among his class- mates were Tyler Bigelow, Thomas Bond, James Ab- bot Cummings, Timothy Fuller, Luther Lawrence, Stephen Minot and William Bant Sullivan, either na- tives or at some time residents of Groton. Both while an undergraduate, and while studying his profession, he
101
GROTON.
kept the district school on Farmer's Row, and even after he had acquired his profession he taught the same school with the understanding that his hours of instruction should conform somewhat to the needs of his practice. While in college he took high rank as a scholar, and, at an exhibition near the end of hisjunior year, he delivered a poem which at- tracted some attention in literary circles, and subse- quently was printed. He studied medicine with Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., and, on June 11, 1805, was mar- ried to Abi, daughter of Benjamin and Meriel (Nich- ols) Hartwell. About the year 1810 he built the large dwelling, with brick ends, near the Baptist meeting-house, where he resided until his death, which took place on April 23, 1830.
His son, Dr. George Mansfield, born at Groton on October 8, 1807, studied medicine and graduated at the Harvard Medical School in the class of 1832. He was married, on November 15, 1832, to Hannah Maria Curtis, of Boston, and died at Janesville, Wisconsin ,
on July 25, 1869.
Dr. Amos Bancroft was a son of Edward and Rach- el (Howard-Barron) Bancroft, of Pepperell, where he was born on May 23, 1767. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1791, and from the same institution took the degree of Bachelor of Med- icine in the year 1794. He began the practice of his profession at Westford, but soon afterwards removed to Weston, where he remained until the year 1811. He was married-first, on August 29, 1796, to Abigail, daughter of Captain Leonard and Ann (Hall) Whit- ing, of Hollis, New Hampshire, who was born on
102
GROTON.
March 25, 1772, and died at Weston, on December 4, 1799 ; secondly, on October 7, 1800, to Sarah, daugh- ter of Henry and Faith (Savage) Bass, of Boston, who was born on April 21, 1768, and died on April 30, 1837 ; thirdly, on October 17, 1839, to Eliza Doane, of Boston, who died on November 11, 1840; and fourthly, on October 31, 1841, to Mary, daughter of Richard and Martha (Hall) Kneeland, of Westford, who was born on February 25, 1789, and died on April 22, 1862.
Dr. Bancroft had a large practice and, at various times, a considerable number of medical students under his tuition, including among them the brothers James Freeman Dana and Samuel Luther Dana, who were grandsons of the Reverend Samuel Dana, a former minister of the town, and graduates of Harvard Col- lege in the class of 1813. He was frequently called in consultation by other physicians, and often at a long distance from home. In those days there were no railroads, and traveling was attended with many difficulties. During the winter, when the roads were blocked up with snow, he was obliged, sometimes, to travel on snow-shoes ; and, as his patients lived many miles apart, he was often absent from home for sever- al successive days. To add to his discomfort on such occasions it was difficult to obtain proper food, though there were at that period but few dwellings where he could not obtain some New England rum or other spirit to help restore exhausted nature. In the year 1811 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the honor- ary degree of M.D.
On July 12, 1848, while walking down State Street,
103
GROTON.
in Boston, he stepped from the sidewalk, in order to cross the way, when a wagon, coming along rapidly, knocked him down, and injured him so severely that he died in the course of a few hours.
Dr. Mansfield and Dr. Bancroft were the last phy- sicians of the town, who, while visiting patients, used to ride on horseback with saddle-bags, although they also drove much in sulkies. In early days, owing to bad roads, physicians on their professional rounds were in the habit of riding, and it was near the be- ginning of the present century, in this neighborhood, that the sulky, or covered gig, came into fashion among them. At the present time the four-wheeled buggy solely is used by physicians.
Dr. Joshua Green was a son of Joshua and Mary (Mosley) Green, and born at Wendell, on October 8, 1797. He attended school at the academies in New Salem, Westfield and Milton, and graduated at Har- vard College in the class of 1818. He studied medi- cine in the office of Dr. John Collins Warren, of Bos- ton, and took the degree of M.D. at the Harvard Medical School in the year 1821. Soon after taking this degree he was appointed apothecary at the Massachusetts General Hospital, then just opened for the reception of patients, where he remained for one year. At that time the apothecary, in addition to his own duties, performed those of the house- physician and the house-surgeon. In March, 1823, Dr. Green began to practice his profession at Sunder- land, and on January 5, 1824, was married to Eliza, daughter of Major Samuel and Susanna (Parker) Lawrence, of Groton. His wife was born on March
104
GROTON.
13, 1796, and died on August 20, 1874. During a winter of his college course he taught a district school at Groton, now known as the Moors School, and boarded in the family of Major Lawrence, who lived on Farmers' Row.
In the spring of 1825 Dr. Green removed to Gro- ton, where he continued the practice of medicine, but after about ten years, owing to ill health, he gradually gave up his profession. In the year 1832 a pulmon- ary hemorrhage compelled him to pass a winter in the island of Cuba, where to a fair degree he regained his health. He joined the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1826, and for many years was one of its councillors. He represented the town in the Legis- lature during the years 1836 and 1837, and was one of the trustees of Lawrence Academy from 1831 to 1867, and during most of this time either the secre- tary or the president of the board. On the seventy- fourth anniversary of his birth (October 8, 1871) he had a paralytic stroke, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. After the death of his wife he went to live with his only daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Lawrence (Green-Kendall) Swan, at Morristown, New Jersey, where he died on June 5, 1875.
Dr. Micah Eldredge was a son of Hezekiah and Abigail (Whiton) Eldredge, and born at Ashford, Connecticut, on May 24, 1776. He studied medicine with an elder brother, Dr. Hezekiah Eldredge, and in 1798 began the practice of his profession at Dunstable, where he resided for many years, living first on one side of the State line and then on the other. On October 1, 1797, Dr. Eldredge was married
.
105
GROTON.
to Sally, daughter of Tilly and Abigail (Hale) But- trick, of Princeton. In 1826 he removed to Groton, where he remained for two years, when he established himself at Dunstable, New Hampshire, (now Nashua). The honorary degree of M.D. was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College in 1841. He died at Milford, New Hampshire, on July 2, 1849, and was buried in the Hollis Street Cemetery at Nashua.
Dr. Jacob Williams was a son of Jacob and Han- nah (Sheple) Williams, and born at Groton on July 16, 1789. About the year 1816 he was practicing med- icine at the Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, and in June, 1822, he was married to Irene Locke, of Epsom. In the year 1828 he returned to his native town' and established himself as a physician; and while here his wife died on March 11, 1831. During the next year he was married, secondly, to Betsey Wakefield, of Kennebunk, Maine. He remained at Groton until the year 1835, when he removed to Ken- sington, New Hampshire, where he died on July 7, 1857.
Dr. James Wilson was a son of the Honorable Abiel and Abigail (Putnam) Wilson, and born at Wilton, N. H., December 4, 1796, on the farm where his great- grandfather, Jacob Putnam, began a settlement in the year 1739. He studied medicine under the tuition of Dr. John Wallace, of Milford, New Hampshire, and graduated at the Dartmouth Medical School in the class of 1821. He was practicing his profession at Boston in the early part of 1825, as his name appears in the directory of that year, and he removed to Gro- ton near the beginning of 1828. He was married, in
106
GROTON.
February of that year, to Elizabeth P. Wilson, of Bos- ton, a daughter of the city crier; and he came here under the patronage of Dr. Amos Bancroft, who de - sired some respite from a large practice, and acted as his sponsor in the community. After living at Groton during two years he returned to Boston and passed a brief period, and then removed to New York, where he remained for a short time. Soon af- terward he went to Cuba, where he spent the remain- der of his days, and died in Matanzas on November 23, 1868.
Dr. George Stearns was the youngest child of Eph- raim and Molly (Gilman) Stearns, and born at Wal- pole, New Hampshire, on May 10, 1802. He gradu- ated at the Harvard Medical School in the class of 1827, and began the practice of his profession in Bos- ton, where he remained about three years, when he settled at Groton. He was married, on July 2, 1868, to Mrs. Ann (Moulton) Gilson, widow of Joshua Gil- son, of Groton. Dr. Stearns was the last survivor of thirteen children, and died on March 7, 1882, at which time he was the oldest physician in the town.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.