History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 48

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 48

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).

He married, April 13, 1847, Susan Augusta, daugh- ter of Professor Shurtleff, of Dartmouth. His death occurred at Hanover, April 21, 1851.

LUTHER BLODGETT MORSE, son of Joseph and Ab- igail (Stevens) Morse, was born in Rochester, Ver- mont, 13th August, 1820. His preliminary education was received at schools and academies in his native State. He studied medicine at Castleton and Wood- stock, Vt., and at Hanover, N. H., being graduated from Dartmouth in 1844.

Dr. Morse commenced practice in Lowell in 1845, remaining here in active practice eighteen years. He held various public offices while here ; was a member of the City Council and a director of the City Li- brary, and in 1856 and '57 was city physician. He was elected to the Legislature in 1853 and '54. He was also connected with the State militia, serving as surgeon of the Sixth Regiment for six years.

He married, 17th September, 1856, Julia M. Fletcher, daughter of Hon. Horatio Fletcher, of Lowell.

He removed to Watertown, Mass., in 1863, where he is now living. He has held offices as town phy- sician and member of the School Board of Water- town.

AUGUSTUS MASON was the son of William D. and Mary A. (Bolton) Mason, of Waltham, Mass., where he was born, 2d October, 1823. His family removed to Lowell in his childhood. He received an academ- ical education at New Hampton, N. H., and was grad- uated at the Harvard Medical School in 1844. He practiced for a short time in South Dedham (now Norwood), Mass., after which he spent a year in Paris. On his return he practiced in Lowell (and Billerica) ten years. He stood in high repute while here, and in May, 1849, he delivered a public oration in the City Hall, under the auspicies of the Middlesex Dis- trict Medical Society.

Dr. Mason removed to Brighton in 1855, where he practiced seventeen years. In 1873 he relinquished practice on account of his wife's ill-health, and went to Santa Barbara, California.

In 1877 he resumed his practice in Brighton, but with impaired health, and he died in 1882. He mar- ried, 6th December, 1850, Sarah Blanchard Rogers, of Billerica.

WALTER BURNHAM,2 son of Dr. Walter and Sub- mit (Smith) Burnham, was born at Brookfield, Vt., 12th January, 1808. He was graduated from the University of Vermont in 1829, and entered upon the practice of his profession in Guildhall, Vt. Thence

ead before the American Med. Asso. at Boston, 1849,

2 Vide "Journal of American Medical Association," August 18, 1883.

Waller Bunun D / -

Charles A. Savory

205

LOWELL.

he removed to Barre, and in 1846 he came to Lowell, where he soon became engaged in a large practice, mainly surgical.

Dr. Burnham was often called upon to fill positions of trust and responsibility by the citizens of Lowell. Among them were two terms of service in the Gene- ral Court. While a member of the Legislature he presented to that body a bill known as the " Anatomy Act," which provided for the use of certain material by the medical schools of the State and by physicians for the purposes of dissection. Mainly through his efforts the bill was passed, and with few, if any, mod- ifications, is now a statute law of Massachusetts.

Although a general surgeon, he gave not a little at- tention to ovariotomy. He made his first ovarian operation in 1851, at a time when the almost univer- sal sentiment of the medical world was opposed to this operation. His first case was successful, and others followed in rapid succession until, in 1881, his whole number of cases was about two hundred and fifty, of which more than seventy-five per cent. recov- ered.

To him is due, also, the credit of having been the first to remove, successfully, the uterus and its ap- pendages by abdominal section, an operation which at the time was naturally the topic of much discus- sion, and was noticed in the medical journals abroad as well as at home.

While in Vermont he was for some time treasurer of the State Medical Society.

In Lowell he served on the School Board in 1852, '53, '57, '58, '72 and '73. He belonged to the Ameri- can Medical Association, and was an honorary mem- ber of the Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont societies.

The doctor was especially beloved by young prac- titioners, to whom he always extended a helping hand. In all their difficulties and discouragements an appeal was answered with kind words and gener- ous acts.

He married, February 8, 1831, Annis, daughter of Hon. Theophilus Crawford, of Putney, Vt., by whom he had five children, three of whom are now living. A son (Arthur) was graduated from West Point second in his class, and at the time of his death was a brevet-major of engineers in the United States Army.

When returning from a professional visit to New York, in January, 1880, he received so severe an in- jury to the left elbow as to necessitate an amputation of the arm in the following year. From this time his health gradually failed until his death, which occurred January 16, 1883.

WALTER KIDDER, son of Moses Kidder, was born June 18, 1823, at Ashby, Mass. He studied medicine with his father and at the Harvard and Berkshire Medical Schools, and was graduated at the latter school in 1846. He commenced practice in Lowell with his father, and continued in practice six years. Then he moved to New York, resigning his practice and giving

his attention to an invention of his own for four or five years. In the Civil War he served as surgeon to Scott's "Nine Hundred," a body of cavalry from New York. Next he located as a physician at Townsend, Mass., about 1864. Two or three years later he set- tled in Jersey City, N. J., where he died January 29, 1872. He was married, February 15, 1854, to Lucy Russ Burnap, of Lowell. He had three sons.

JOEL SPALDING, son of Jonathan and Sarah (Dodge) Spalding, was born in Chelmsford (now Low- ell) March 2, 1820.

He was fitted for college at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N. H., and was graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in the class of 1841. He received his medical de- gree from the Berkshire Medical Institute of Pittsfield, Mass., and then attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, serving for one year as house physician at Bellevue Hospital.

In 1846 he commenced practice in Lowell, and he remained here for over forty years, living and dying in the house in which he was born.

In 1854 he was appointed coroner for Middlesex County. In 1857 he was elected city physician for the city of Lowell, and by successive elections held the office for five years. He was one of the counsel- ors for the Massachusetts Medical Society for many years. He also held office in the Middlesex North District Medical Society as counselor, vice-president and president.

He served on the staff of St. John's Hospital from its start (1866) until January, 1885.

The Masonic fraternity bestowed upon him high honors. In 1854 he was chosen Worshipful Master of Pentucket Lodge; was High Priest of Mount Horeb Chapter in 1856, '57 and '58; received the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite to the 32d, April 10, 1856, and on May 21st, 1862, was elevated to the 33d and last degree.

Dr. Spalding never married. Although possessed of an ample fortune, and by nature fond of society, he dedicated his life unreservedly to his profession, and died respected and beloved by the whole community January 30, 1888.

CHARLES AUGUSTUS SAVORY, son of Charles and Nancy (Vickery) Savory, was born in Beverly, Mass- achusetts, 25th December, 1813.

He studied medicine at Hanover, New Hampshire. receiving the degree of M.D. in 1835. In 1842 his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M.

He commenced practice in Hopkinton, New Hamp- shire, and lived there until 1844. He was appointed postmaster of Hopkinton in 1840, and from 1841 to 1843 was superintendent of the School Board. He went to Warren, New Hampshire, in 1844 and resided there a short time. Moving to Philadelphia, he was appointed Professor of Midwifery in a Medical Col- lege in that city, but he soon resigned his position .-

Dr. Savory came to Lowell in 1848, and has been

206

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

in active practice here ever since. He has devoted much time to foreign travel and study, having been abroad four times-in 1860, '66, '74 and '80. Although a general practitioner, he has made special study of the eye, and has been a elosc follower of Bowman, Critchett, Wells and Lawson, of Moorfields, London. He has also given much attention to general surgery, having performed nearly every operation known to the surgeon of to-day.

It may with fitness be mentioned here that he was one of the earliest to perform the operation of ovari- otomy. And with all his versatility, his operations have been uniformly successful and often brilliant. There are few men living to-day who can point to so large, so varied and so successful a practice as can Dr. Savory. He was one of the first surgeons in this country to advocate the use of perfect antisepsis in surgical operations, and his success has been in no small measure due to this.

He is an accomplished French scholar withal-in fact, a man of many parts. The writer of this paper was so fortunate as to enter upon the study of medi- cine under his pupilage and can speak from a per- sonal knowledge of these facts.

While in New Hampshire the doctor was honored in 1847 by being one of the members elected to ex- amine candidates for the degree of M.D. at Dart- mouth. And in 1848 he was chosen as a delegate to the American Medical Association.

He has always taken a keen interest in the Middle- sex North District Medical Society and has held nearly every office in its gift, being president of this society in 1860, '61 and '62.

He was a member of the original staff of St. John's Hospital and for many years was chairman of the board. He is now (1890) president of the Lowell Institution for Savings.

Dr. Savory married, 9th May, 1838, Mary, daughter of Dr. James Stark, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire.

EBEN KIMBALL SANBORN,1 son of Dr. John Tilton and Mary (Kimball) Sanborn, was born in Chester (now Hill), New Hampshire, 24th of January, 1828. He came to Lowell when twelve years of age, and his preparatory education was received in the schools of this city.

He studied medicine under the pupilage of his uncle, Dr. Gilman Kimball, and on receiving his degree at once stepped to the front rank of his pro- fession.

In 1853 Dr. Sanborn was chosen lecturer on Path- ological Anatomy in the Vermont State Medical School, and he spent the following winter in visiting the hospitals of England and Germany. At the close of his first course of lectures in Vermont he became connected with the Berkshire Medical Institution as teacher of Anatomy, and in the following year was elected Professor of Surgery in the same college.

He also for some time filled the position of Profes- sor of Surgery in the Medical Institute at Castleton, Vermont, and at the same time practiced in Rutland.

Hc married, 10th of October, 1855, Harriet Williams, daughter of John Avcry, agent of the Hamilton Mills, of Lowell.

The doctor was naturally of a mechanical turn of mind, and invented a useful splint, named for him the "Sanborn " splint.

He has published papers as follows : "Fractures of the Patella, treated by Adhesive Straps ;" " Ligamen- tous Union of the Radius and Ulna treated by Drill- ing and Wiring after Failure by other Means ;" " Un- united Fracture of the Humerus cured by the same method ;" "A New Method of Treating large Erectile Tumors, with a Review of the Pathology of the Disease and the Different Modes of Practice."

In April, 1861, he was commissioned surgeon to the First Vermont Regiment, and went to Fortress Monroe. He was thence sent to Newport News, where he became post-surgeon. At the solicitation of General Butler, he was transferred to the Thirty-first Massachusetts Regiment, and sent to Ship Island, where he died the 3d of April, 1862.

IRA LORISTON MOORE is the son of Ira and Mary Gordon (Brown) Moore, of Chester, New Hampshire, where he was born the 24th of November, 1824. He went to Lowell in 1840, and after attending the public schools there he prepared for college, entering Am- herst in 1847. After leaving Amherst he studied medicine in Lowell, with Dr. John W. Graves, and at the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, where he was graduated.

He commenced practice in Lowell, in partnership with Dr. Graves, and after about a year he opened an office by himself. While in Lowell he was twice elected director of the Public Library, and in 1856 he was chosen representative to the General Court.

He removed to Boston in 1860, where for ten years he devoted himself to the practice of medicine. Since then he has been engaged in real estate business. He is chairman of the executors and trustees of the Chamberlain estate of Boston, and to him is largely due the credit of constructing the Adams House of that city.

In 1861 Dr. Moore was elected a member of the Boston School Board for three years.

In 1865, '66, '70 and '71 he represented his district in the Legislature.

January 1, 1873, he married Charlotte Maria, daughter of Daniel and Maria Marble (Martin) Cham- berlain. They have had two children, one of whom is now living.

MOSES WARREN KIDDER, son of Dr. Moses Kidder, was born at Townsend, Mass., September 11, 1828. He studied medicine with his father and at the Harvard and Berkshire Medical Schools. He received his de- gree at the latter school in 1852. He then practiced in Lowell with his father while he lived, and con-

1 Vide " Communications Mass. Med. Soc.," vol. x. p. 163.

207

LOWELL.

tinued his profession until October, 1870. He was a member of the Lowell School Board in 1860 and 1861, and city physician in 1861, 1862 and 1863. In 1870, on account of ill health, he resigned his prac- tice. In 1872 he moved to Boston, where he lived until he went to Lincoln, in 1879. He resumed prac- tice in Lincoln in 1881, where he still resides. He was married, May 1, 1855, to Francis Maria Palmer, of Thetford, Vt. He has had six children, all born in Lowell and all now living.

DANIEL PARKER GAGE, son of Daniel and Mary (Gage) Gage, was born in Berlin, Mass., October 5, 1828. His preliminary education was received at the Newbury (Vermont) Academy. He subsequently taught school for several years before he commenced the study of medicine. He received the degree of M.D. from Harvard in 1855, and came at once to Lowell, where he remained through his life. In 1865, while making an autopsy, he was inoculated with the virus, and for the remainder of his life suffered from blood-poisoning, but, with great fortitude, he attended to a large practice until almost the end.

Dr. Gage served as assistant surgeon in the Thirty- third Massachusetts Regiment for seven months in 1862-63.

In March, 1867, he was appointed on the staff of St. John's Hospital, a position which he held until January, 1873. He was also for several years physi- cian to St. Peter's Orphan Asylum. He attended the meetings of the Middlesex North District Medical Society with great regularity, and was president of this society in 1875. Dr. Gage was a very popular man, and was often urged to accept public positions. He invariably refused all honors of this kind, with the exception that he served for two years (1866 and 1867) on the School Board.

He married, September 22, 1857, Elizabeth Norcutt Hammond, of East Cambridge.

WILLIAM BASS, son of Joel, Jr., and Catharine Wright (Burnham) Bass, was born in Williamstown, Vt., June 22, 1832. He received his degree of M.D. in 1856, and came at once to Lowell, associating him- self in practice with Dr. Walter Burnhan (q.v.).

In 1858 he left Lowell for the West, but at the end of two years he returned. He served as assistant sur- geon in the Sixth Regiment Massachusetts Volun- teers for several months in 1864.

Dr. Bass is a general practitioner, although he has given much attention to surgery. He has always been a constant attendant on the meetings of the Mid- dlesex North District Medical Society, and has been elected to nearly every office in the gift of the society, being president in 1884 and 1885. He has been on the staff of the Corporation Hospital and is at present on the surgical staff of St. John's Hospital. He has been physician to the Old Ladies' Home from the establishment of that institution. He married, Octo- ber 5, 1856, Elizabeth Gates Hunt.

JAMES GERRITT BRADT was born in Lowell, Sep-

tember 27, 1837. He was the son of Gerritt James and Selina Ann (Bayley) Bradt. He received his early education in our public schools and at the age of sixteen entered Harvard College. He left college during junior year on account of hemorrhage from the lungs and commenced the study of medicine. He attended medical lectures at Harvard and in the spring of 1858 was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. In 1859-60 he was Professor of Anatomy in the Medical College at Worcester.

Dr. Bradt commenced practice in Lowell, but be- fore he was fairly established he left for the seat of war, being appointed assistant surgeon of the Twenty- sixth Massachusetts Regiment in September, 1861. In September, 1862, he was made surgeon of the regiment and was with it in the campaign near New Orleans and also accompanied Sheridan in his famous Shenandoalı campaign. Much of the time while in the army he acted as division surgeon. Leaving the service in November, 1864, he returned to Lowell, and became a partner with Dr. Burnham in 1865.

He married, June 6, 1865, Julia Burnham, his partner's daughter. He was secretary of the Middle- sex North District Medical Society in 1866 and was re-elected in 1867, but was obliged to resign on ac- count of ill health.

He died of consumption January 22, 1868.

GEORGE HENRY WHITMORE, son of Levi and Mehitable Ellen (Edgell) Whitmore, was born in Stow, Mass., July 27, 1821. He received his degree at the Berkshire Medical College in 1845 and com- menced practice in Roxbury, but his health failing, he went to California, and afterward to London and Paris, where he studied in the hospitals for one year. On returning to this country he went to the Sand- wich Islands.

Dr. Whitmore began practice in Lowell in 1861 and remained here until his death. Although his residence here was unfortunately brief, he occupied a high position professionally and socially, and his name will be long held in remembrance as one of the three founders of the Young Men's Christian Association in this city. He married Lizzie A. Calef, of Lowell, June 27, 1861.

He was chosen resident physician of the Corpora- tion Hospital May 1, 1866, and he served acceptably until his death, which occurred May 18, 1869.

FRANCIS CHARLES PLUNKETT, son of Joseph Plunkett, barrister, and Frances (French) Plunkett, was born at Castlemore House, County Mayo, Ire- land, March 13, 1842.

He was educated at the Diocesan Seminary, Balla- ghederrin, same county. He passed the preliminary examination at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin in 1859 and was at once apprenticed to Dr. Andrew Dillon. He was graduated at the same col- lege in 1863, after which he spent a year at the Bal- laghederrin and Loughlin Dispensaries.

208

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Dr. Plunkett came to this country in 1864 and im- mediately joined the One Hundred and Eighty-third Ohio Volunteers as assistant surgcon. After one ycar's service he was mustercd out, having spent four months in charge of the Berry House Hospital, Wil- mington, N. C., and several months with the Invalid Corps at Washington. He then passed the examina- tion for the United States Army and received a com- mission as assistant surgeon, but declined it, prefer- ring private practice.

He came to Lowell in 1865 and has been here in active practice for the past twenty-five years. At first he was almost the only Catholic practitioner in the city and his practice soon became very extensive. Being thoroughly educated, naturally popular and with a robust constitution, he has maintained during all these years perhaps the most extensive practice in Lowell.

The doctor was one of the consulting surgeons to the Board of Health at the time of the small-pox epidemic, in 1871. He was on the original staff of St. John's Hospital and to-day is president of the board. He has given but little attention to politics, but served as alderman in 1887.

Dr. Plunkett has been twice married,-first, to Alice Ann Martin, in 1869; second, to Mary Anna McDuff, in 1876.

LORENZO SMITH Fox, son of Ralph and Sophia (Webster) Fox, was born in Dracut, February 7, 1840.

He received his degree of M.D. at Harvard in 1863, and on the 23d of March that year entered the service as assistant surgeon of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Regiment. He remained with this regiment until July, 1864, serving in the Louisiana campaign, and taking part in the Red River expedition under Gen- eral Banks. He re-entered the army in this month (July) as assistant surgeon U. S. A., and served in front of Petersburg and Richmond until the close of the Rebellion, and was one of the first to enter Rich- mond.

He commenced practice in Lowell in 1865, and has been here in active practice ever since. He has given special attention to surgery, and more particularly to gynæcology. He has performed the operation of ovariatomy many times, and with distinguished suc- cess. He read a paper entitled "Ten Cases of Ab- dominal Section " before the Gynæcological Society of Boston in 1885, and is now writing for publication a paper "Seventy-seven Cases of Abdominal Section," these being in addition to the first ten.

Dr. Fox has been connected with the Corporation Hospital since the formation of the staff in Novem- ber, 1881.

Dr. Fox is a member of the Loyal Legion U. S. A., and for several years was surgeon of Post 42. He served on the School Board in 1876-77. He was coun- cilor of the Middlesex North District Medical Society for many years, and was president of the society

in 1876-77. He is a member of the American Medi- cal Association, the British Medical Association and the Boston Gynæcological Society.

The doctor has been thrice married. He married Lizzie S. Swan (his present wifc) May 19, 1880.

MOSES GREELEY PARKER,1 son of Theodore and Hannah (Greelcy) Parker, was born in Dracut, Oct. 12, 1842. His preliminary education was received at the Howe School in Billerica and at Phillips Andover Academy, and he commenced the study of medicine under the pupilage of Drs. Nathan Allen and Jona- than Brown taking his degree from Harvard in 1864.

Passing the army and navy examination, he was assigned to the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteers as assistant surgeon, but by request of General Butler was transferred to Fortress . Monroe, and was mustered into service as assistant surgeon Second U. S. Colored Cavalry April 10, 1864, and was in engagements at Suffolk, Drury's Bluff, Point of Rocks, siege of Petersburg and Richmond.

He was honorably discharged May 24, 1865, and the following year entered the general practice of medicine in Lowell, where he now resides.

Dr. Parker has devoted much time to literature and has gained an enviable notoricty as a writer on scien- tific topics.

In 1873 he visited Europe, spending a year in Vienna, and after taking short courses at Berlin, Paris and London, returned to his practice in Lowell.

In 1875, under the auspices of the "Ministry at Large," he opened a free dispensary (see reports of Ministry at Large for 1875, '76, '77, '78 and '79.)

The doctor invented a thermo-cautery for medical use in 1876. He was appointed trustee of the Howe School, February 6, 1877.

He discovered and demonstrated by photography a peculiar rotary motion in lightning and other elec- trical currents in 1886. He was appointed on the staff of St. John's Hospital in January, 1889. He has always taken a deep interest in the Middlesex North District Medical Society, and for the past seven years has been a councilor of that society. Dr. Parker has read and published papers as follows:

"Early History of the Schools and Academies in Billerica,"2 " A Thermo-Cautery," 3 "Photo-Micog- raphy, the Best Means of Teaching and Illustrating Pathology," " Peculiar Rotary Motion found in

1 His father was Theodore Parker, son of Peter, son of Kendall, son of Jonathan, Jr., son of Jonathan, son of Deacon Thomas Parker, who was his first American ancestor, emigrating from England at the age of thirty, in the "Susan and Ellen," in 1635, settled in Lynn, was admit- ted freeman of the Colony 17th May, 1737, and afterwards removed to. Reading, Mass.

His mother was Hannah Greeley, daughter of Deacon Moses Greeley, Hudson, N. H., and Mary Derby, Harvard, Mass. Deacon Moses Gree- ley was the son of Joseph, son of Benjamin, son of Joseph, son of An- drew Greelie, who came from England and settled in Salisbury, Mass., and was deputy of Salisbury in 1640.

2 Lowell Courier June 28, 1878.

8 Trans. of the "Am. Med. Asso.," 1882, vol. 33, p. 243.

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.

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 48

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226