USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 31
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Among very early physicians in Danvers, the old books mention Drs. Clapp, Cilley, Gould, Porter, Patten and Carleton. A son-in-law
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of Dr Holten lies buried in Danvers, and this is his tombstone inscrip- tion: "George Osgood, M. D .; he practiced medicine here fifty-five years; beloved by all who knew him. He passed to his rest, May 26, 1863, aged 79 years 2 months." Dr. Ebenezer Hunt practiced medicine in Danvers more than half a century, dying in 1874. Other prominent physicians of this town prior to the eighties were Drs. Grosvenor, J. W. Snow, P. M. Chase, Lewis Whiting, Wm. Winslow Eaton, D. Homer Bachelder, Edgar O. Fowler, Woodbury G. Frost, Frank Gardner and H. F. Bachelder.
In 1921 those practicing medicine and surgery are Drs. Fred Bald- win, C. L. Buck, Charles F. Deering, J. Ed Magee, Herbert L. Mains, John Moriarty, Ed. N. Niles, Mrs. Blanche B. Sartwell (Ost.), John F. Sartwell (Ost.), and John F. Valentine.
Medical History of Lynn-The history of the medical pro- fession in Lynn does not begin until the town was fifty years old. Lynn was no exception to most of the small towns of New England, and as a matter of fact, of all England of the seventeenth century. The Ply- mouth Colony had a doctor, who came with the colonists, and he was sent for to visit the surrounding towns when there was dire distress. At the invitation of the authorities, he visited Roxbury and Salem when an epidemic prevailed that the people could not control. At first Lynn was very fortunate in regard to sickness. William Wood, who was a sort of a press-agent for New England, says of the healthfulness of Lynn, "Out of that Towne, from whence I came, in three years and a half, there died but three; to make good which losses, I have seen foure children Bap- tized at one time." Wood takes rather too rosy a view of the healthful- ness of the climate, but his statement in regard to Lynn for the first three years was probably quite true. The reasons for the lack of sick- ness at first are: First, the settlers did not come directly to Lynn, and had therefore recovered from typhus fever, which infested practically every ship in those days; and secondly, the first settlers had all been ex- posed to small-pox before they reached New England. They were ex- posed to small-pox in 1663, when the Indian chief, John Sagamore, and many of his people died of it, and the Indian children were distributed among the settlers, but none contracted it.
Before the days of vaccination, small-pox was a dreaded disease and it was believed that it was safer to be inoculated with the disease than to run the risk of catching it. The following is an account of the inocula- tion of a company of Lynn people. "Lynn, May 14, 1777. There was a company of us went to Marblehead to have the small-pox. We had for our doctors, Benjamin Burchstead and Robert Deaverix, and for our nurse, Amos Breed. Hired a house of Gideon Phillips, viz: Abraham Breed, Jonathan Phillips, William Breed, Simeon Breed, Richard Pratt, Jr., Nathan Breed, Jr., Rufus Newhall, James Breed, Jr., John Curtin, Jr., James Fairne, Jr., William Newhall, Jr., David Lewis, Micajah Alley,
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Jabez Breed, Jr., Micajah Newhall, Paul Farrington, Ebenezer Porter, William Johnson, Amos Newhall, making nineteen in all; and all came home well."
The first mention of a physician in Lynn is in 1680, when Dr. Philip Read (1680) of Lynn complained to the court at Salem of Mrs. Margaret Gifford, as being a witch. She was a respectable woman and the wife of John Gifford, formerly agent for the Iron Works. The complaint said, "he verily believed she was a witch, for there were some things that could not be accounted for by natural causes." Mrs. Gifford gave no re- gard to her summons, and the Court very prudently suspended their inquiries.
The next physician to settle in Lynn was Doctor Burchsted, in 1685. He was evidently a well-educated physician, and "Lewis and Newhall" gives the following account of him: "John Henry Burchsted, a native of Silesia, married Mary, widow of Nathaniel Kertland, 24 April, 1690. Henry, his son, was born 3rd October, 1690. They were both eminent physicians and lived on the south side of Essex street, between High and Pearl. (There were two sons both physicians; one was a sur- geon in the British Navy; the other was Dr. Henry, of Lynn, who also had a son Henry, a physician). Dr. John Henry Burchsted died 20th September, 1721, aged 64.
The Burchsteds, father and son, were the only physicians until 1744. In this year John Lewis began practice here, and in 1747 Nathaniel Henchman, a son of a minister of the same name, is listed as a physician. We do not find another new doctor for twenty-two years (1769) when John Flagg came. In 1771 we find the name of Jonathan Norwood, in 1775 John Perkins, in 1779 Abijah Cheever, and in 1782 Aaron Lummus. In one hundred years the names of ten physicians are given, but two and possibly three of them did not practice. Philip Read received no mention after his appearance when he accused Mrs. Gifford of being a witch. This was the one enduring episode of his life in Lynn, or anywhere else, so far as the writer can learn. John Perkins was an old man when he settled in Lynnfield, having practiced for forty years in Boston. He did not probably do much active practice after he came here. Abijah Cheever graduated in 1779 and immediately went into the service with the Revolutionary army. After peace was declared he settled in Boston, where he and his descendants have been engaged in the practice of medi- cine ever since.
Lynn has the credit of furnishing two surgeons to the Revolutionary army, Abijah Cheever, mentioned above, and Doctor John Flagg, who was commissioned colonel. He was an active patriot, a member of the Committee of Safety and looked after the recruits. He did not see active service in the field except his brief service at the battle of Lexington. James Gardner, who settled in Lynn in 1792, and married Doctor Flagg's daughter, was a Revolutionary soldier, but did not study medicine until after the close of the war.
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The fees for physicians were low. It was not until Lynn had reached the rank of a city, in 1850, that the physicians by mutual consent agreed to charge seventy-five cents a call for house visits. Furthermore, the people did not call a doctor until they were actually obliged to do so. It is quite probable that the early physicians were part-time farmers. That is, they owned a small farm and raised their food by working the land during their leisure.
Aaron Lummus was the only one who remained in Lynn who lived to see the transition period of medicine. The historians say that he practiced for fifty years, was very successful and much beloved, but those who knew him say that he became very much discouraged at the lack of success of his methods. This discouragement was very prevalent among thoughtful men, and it gave rise to all sorts of fads. There were water curists, eclectics, botanical physicians, Grahamites and countless others.
In the fifty years from 1782 to 1832, there were nine new physicians who settled in Lynn-James Gardner, 1792; Rufus Barrus, 1798; Peter G. Robbins, 1805; John Lummus, 1816; he was a son of the old doctor; Edward L. Coffin, 1817; Richard Haseltine, 1817; William E. Brown, 1828; Charles O. Barker, 1831; William Prescott, 1832. This division is not entirely artificial. It includes the War of 1812, the growth of the national spirit, and the ending in 1832 was just before the deluge of "isms."
The increase of cases of consumption had a very depressing effect upon the people. Beginning soon after the Revolution, the disease be- came a serious menace. Lewis says, "From some cause, however, there are a great number of deaths by consumption. Formerly, a death by this disease was a rare occurrence, and then the individual was ill for many years, and the subjects were usually aged persons. In 1727, when a young man died of consumption at the age of nineteen, it was noticed as a remarkable circumstance; but now, young people frequently die of that disease after an illness of a few months. Of 316 persons, whose deaths were noticed in the First Parish for about twenty years previous to 1824, 112 were the subjects of consumption. In some years since, more than half the deaths have been occasioned by that insidious mal- ady. There is something improper and unnatural in this. It is doubtless owing to the habits of the people, to their confinement in close rooms, over hot stoves, and to their want of exercise, free air, and ablutions."
For the following sixty years consumption was a veritable scourge. During the latter part of that period it gradually diminished, but as late as 1880 it was the leading cause of death in the city.
The physicians whose names appear in the next period of fifty years are: 1835-Edward A. Kittredge; 1836-Abramham Gould; 1836-Silas Durkee; 1836-Daniel Perley; 1837-James Clark; 1837-Asa T. New- hall; 1842-Joseph M. Nye; 1843-William Read; 1843 -- Charles H. Nich- ols ; 1843-John Phillips ; 1840-Isaiah Haley. The City Directory of 1851
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gave A. S. Adams, E. Porter Eastman, I. F. Galloupe, William L. Har- mon, Joseph B. Holder, Daniel A. Johnson, Edward L. Newhall, James M. Nye, John Renton, R. S. Rogers, Dryden Smith, Charles Weeks; the Directory of 1854 has Dearing T. Haven, John Hilton, William Kings- ford, J. Marden, John O'Flaherty, Nathaniel Ruggles. In 1856-J. M. Blaisdell, Josiah Brown, J. M. True; 1858-Bowman Breed, A. S. Adams, H. C. Angell, William Slocum; 1860-John Delaski, David F. Drew, B. F. Green, J. P. Prince; 1865-Henry C. Ahlborn, Mary E. Breed, the first woman physician in Lynn, M. J. Flanders, Julius Weber, Cornelius A. Ahearne, D. A. Allen, Horace C. Bartlett, John S. Emerson, J. W. Good- ell, D. W. Jones, W. B. Ramsdell; 1869-Mrs. C. A. Batchelder, E. T. Butman, A. M. Cushing, James H. Kimball, Joseph G. Perley, Joseph G. Pinkham, George Cahill; 1871-Eugene V. Cushing, Esther H. Hawkes, Edward S. Haywood, Richard Kennedy, George W. Musso, John H. Sher- man, William Thompson, J. O. Webster; 1873-Mrs. E. T. Butman, George E. Clark, Levi Farndon, T. T. Graves, Charles R. Kellam, P. T. Jenness, J. W. Lindsay, Charles A. Lovejoy, Selian D. Mason, John A. McArthur, William B. Reynolds, William E. Tarbell, George S. Wood- man ; 1876-F. A. W. Bergengren, Charles R. Brown, Coeleb Burnham, C. B. Caples, S. W. Clark, R. Fletcher Dearborn, Mrs. I. P. Haywood, J. McMahon, D. H. Spofford, S. A. Toothaker, J. C. Weeks, Isaac C. Win- chester, G. B. Yeaton; 1878-Miss M. M. Averill, Henry W. Boynton, William D. Corken, Monica Mason, J. W. Moore, R. K. Noyes, Frank L. Radcliff, Chauncy C. Sheldon; 1880-Albert Barrows, Andrew Baylies, Herman I. Barry, Charles H. Brockway, George Burdett, Mary E. Clark. Henry Colman, Lucy B. Guerney, Horace W. Jackson, Charles E. Meader; 1882-William H. Baker, John W. Bosworth, William Enright, George H. Felton, R. H. Golden, Edward P. Hale, Stephen W. Hopkins, Henri A. Jendrault, James E. Keating, Charles Lloyd, John J. MacMahan, Stella Manning, William A. McDonald, J. W. Moore, M. Rogers Sim- mons, Gustavius F. Walker.
The fifty years from 1832 to 1882 are memorable in the history of medicine in general and of Lynn in particular. Firstly, there was a notable increase in the number of doctors. While there were only nine new physicians in the fifty years from 1782 to 1832, there were one hundred twenty-six new names listed in the next fifty years. Secondly -On October 17, 1846, the first public demonstration of ether anaes- thesia was given at the Massachusetts General Hospital. It was the privilege of one Lynn physician (Doctor Galloupe) to be present. He was still a medical student, but the event must have made a lasting im- pression upon his after life. Thirdly-In 1864 Pasteur published his lectures on fermentation and his work laid the foundation of modern medicine. Fourthly-In 1855 Florence Nightingale laid the foundation of modern nursing. Fifthly-In 1867 Lister read his first paper on the antiseptic treatment of wounds. Upon anaesthesia, nursing and
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antesepis depend all the progress that has been made in modern sur- gery. Sixth-The Civil War showed the people how dependent they were upon the doctors.
On October 31, 1874, a meeting was held in Nathan Breed's parlor, to see what could be done about establishing a hospital in Lynn, and here was born the Lynn Hospital. The first hospital was financed and conducted by the Lynn Union for Christian Work. The first hospital was located at 12 Waterhill street. It was a small affair, but it min- istered to the sick from March, 1875, to May, 1879, when it closed its doors, to be succeeded five years later by the present Lynn Hospital. It served its purpose in showing the people the need for a hospital and led to a continual agitation through the press, by public meetings, and penny collections that did not cease until the present model institution was opened.
The first physician to locate in Lynn after 1832 was Edward A. Kittredge. He is described by those who knew him as of a striking personality. He wore long black curls, had a cleft palate, and was al- ways ready to express his opinions upon all subjects with force and conviction. He lived in Lynn for many years. In the Directory of 1841 we find among others a vegetable physician and a botanic physician. In 1837 Dr. Asa T. Newhall located in Lynn and there have been New- halls practicing in Lynn ever since.
The first Homeopathic physician to locate in Lynn was David A. Johnson. He probably came in the late forties. His name appears for the first time in the Lynn Directory of 1851. Whether there was a directory between 1841 and 1851 I do not know, but I have not been able to find one.
Doctors Emerson, Lovejoy and Sheldon were connected with the first hospital and they occupied a prominent position in the develop- ment of the present one. The physicians of Lynn who served as sur- geons in the Civil War were: Bowman Breed, Isaac F. Galloupe and J. P. Prince.
The following is the list of physicians from 1884 to 1921:
1884-George M. Barrell, John W. Bosworth, Frank W. Chandros, Charles W. Galloupe, Benjamin Goodwin, James H. Grant, Alice Guilford, Solomon H. Holbrook, Michael H. Hughes, Charles E. Jenkins, Thomas F. Joyce, Carey F. Marshall, James W. Moore, Mrs. E. Newcomb, Frank D. Stevens, William Watters.
1886-H. F. Bradbury, F. F. Brigham, John De Wolfe, Francena J. Dilling- ham, Stephen M. Furbush, Roscoe Hill, William E. Holbrook, George W. Huse, William B. Little, George G. Merrow, Miss Lucy J. Pike, Joseph H. Potts, S. W. Stilphen, Edwin P. Wing.
1888-Everett F. Adams, John B. Andrews, Eben F. Blake, Thomas Cole, Charles De Langle, Michael F. Donevan, Roscoe E. Freeman, George W. Gale, (East Saugus), Frank L. Judkins, J. R. Kinney, Henry P. Leonard, Frank T. Lougee, Normon R. Miller, Frank A. Morse, Luther Newcomb, Herbert W. New- hall, J. F. O'Shea, Isaac Stearns, Frank E. Stone.
1890-Miss Myra D. Allen, R. F. Cross, Philip F. Dillon, J. E. Frothingham,
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L. M. Marston, William A. McDonald, William H. Merry, Harry J. Pearce, Mur- dock C. Smith.
1892-Cornelius A. Ahearne, Jr., J. Armand Bedard, Eben F. Blake, Arthur L. Blue, E. E. Deal, George H. Gray, Leonard F. Hatch, George W. Haywood, Edson G. Holmes, William T. Hopkins, Warren J. Johnson, Elgin W. Jones, Will- iam R. King, J. S. Lewis, John J. Mangan, John J. McGuigan, John J. McMann, Joseph Mitchell, John Richmond, Edward O. Wright.
1894-Howard E. Abbott, Charles H. Bangs, Arthur B. Chase, James Farish, Charles F. Faulkner, G. W. Fowler, Oscar F. George, T. R. Grow, Edward Hanna, Melvin A. Harmon, Arthur Hodges, William H. Knight, Charles D. S. Lovell, William E. McPherson, John A. Morse, Emil F. Ruppel, William Seaman, Michael Seney, George A. Spencer, Clarence A. Stetson, George F. Woodill, and Erwin Wright.
1896-Leland M. Baker, James Castle, I. H. Chicoine, Charles E. Clark, Caro- lus M. Cobb, M. Coutre, Benjamin F. Green, Allston F. Hunt, H. D. Kennard, Frank W. Kenny, James A. Keown, William H. A. Knight, Albert Marle, Edward B. Marston, Charles W. Putnam, Charles W. Richardson, John W. Ridley, T. K. Serijan, Albert L. Whipple.
1898-John A. Balcom, E. Van Deusen Gray, George B. Carr, Maria J .- Cushing, Stephen R. Davis, A. S. Dennison, Charles E. Dever, F. B. Dezell, Eugene Dolloff, Arthur E. Harris, Edward B. Herrick, Mary Hobbs Iredale, Francis A. Lane, Archibald H. Martin, Clarence E. Meramble, Charles A. Pratt, Willard F. Read, N. A. Springer, Edith C. Varney, Mabel I. Waldron, Walton B. Warde, Frank L. Whipple.
1900-Tekla Berg, Alfred Preston Bowen, Ora W. Castle, William H. Clark, William L. Fraser, Thomas N. Frost, Benj. F. Green, Mildred A. Libby, Wilmot L. Marden, J. Brayton Martin, S. K. Momjian, Thomas T. Perkins, Everett White.
1902-Frederick L. Bishop, Nathaniel P. Breed, Alexander Caird, William B. Chase, Joseph U. Eells, George B. Foster, Howard K. Glidden, William D. Harris, Alfred T. Hawes, F. W. MacPherson ,Edward T. Mannix, Ora Marvin, Geo. H. Musso, A. Lester Newhall, G. A. Troxell, William H. Watters.
1904-Charles H. Bergengren, Nathaniel L. Berry, Frank E. Blake, Winfred O. Brown, Thomas F. Cogan, Gustav Desy, Peter C. Devlin, Clarence H. Dobson, T. J. Duncanson, F. Albert Foster, Perley Harriman, Walter S. D. Hitchcock, John H. Mullen, Charles E. Rich, Frederick L. Sanborn, Mark Shrum, William Ward, James J. Wilson, Charles A. Worthen.
1906-Orrin C. Blair, Walter L. Burns, Marion Cowan, Alice Surry Cutler, Harland A. Danforth, George A. Davis, Charles B. Frothingham, Gustav Hart- man, Walter L. Hearn, Harold A. Johnson, Willard W. Lemaire, Butler Metzger, Charles H. Mitchell, Howard F. Morse, Harrington Munroe, William F. O'Reilly, Martin W. Peck, Ella Severance, A. H. Stockbridge, John W. Trask.
1908-John H. Andrews, Hamlin P. Bennett, Arthur E. Darling, Charles L. Hoitt, James A. Jones, George H. Kirkpatrick, William Liebman, Roy W. Mathes, William L. Soule, Arthur W. Tucker.
1910-Curtis W. Cotton, George W. Eastman ,Charles L. M. Judkins, Isabell C. R. Livingstone, Frederick J. McIntire, W. Reignald Marshall, Howard N. Nason, Willis G. Neally, Charles A. Oak, Samuel Paltum, William G. Shepherd, Charles E. Stone.
1912-J. Harper Blaidsell, Gladys L. Carr, Harry C. Clarke, John A. Daly, Joseph W. Godfrey, Leonard W. Hassett, G. W. Heaslip, Frances G. Lamb John- son, Arthur E. Joslyn, George W. Lougee, George A. Lyons, Alexander McRobbie, Stanislas Martel, F. Harvey Newhall, James O'Keefe, Oscar L. Spencer, J. Robert White.
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1914-Oliver Bixby, J. Arthur Courtemanche, Ellsworth Garipay, Thomas F. Grady, Levon Hagopian, T. Francis Hennessey, Nathan L. Jacobson, Charles H. Merrill, Everett A. Merrill, Edward S. O'Keefe, Charles O. Pratt, Willard L. Quennell, William S. Schley, Edward Shon, A. Leo Strain.
1916-Louis A. Blanchet, Frank B. Collotn, John Costello, Horace Hill, Wil- liam S. Hodnett, Muriel E. Lewis, Louis H. Limauro, William E. Mclellan, Sam- uel G. Underhill, Perez W. Wainshel, John H. Clarke.
1918-John D. Constantinides, William V. Kane, Edward W. Karcher, Thomas B. Rafferty, Thomas W. Shaw, Oliver A. T. Swain, Joseph P. Trainor, Angello Zarrella.
1920-Charles J. Allen, George E. Allen, Thomas A. Barry, Harry H. Butler, Alden V. Cooper, Henry L. Davis, Earl U. Hussey, Frank W. A. Mitchell, Wilbur M. Paige, Raymond F. Rauscher, Arthur J. Ring, Frank E. Schubnehl, Timothy E. Shine.
From 1882 to 1920 there were two hundred and ninety-six new physi- cians given in the directory. A part of this number stayed but a short time and the remainder took the place of the older doctors, of those who died, or retired, or their services were rendered necessary by the growth of the city. The notable events in the medical history of Lynn during this period were the opening of the present hospital and the World War.
The hospital at first was a small affair and accommodated but six patients. It was soon evident that room must be found for more patients, and a new ward was soon added. The hospital was opened for patients on March 12, 1883. Doctor Charles A. Lovejoy was given full charge, and on his management the success or failure of the enterprise depended. Doctor Lovejoy invited to serve with him on the staff Drs. Edward New- hall, I. F. Galloupe, David F. Drew, J. W. Goodell, J. S. Emerson, J. G. Pinkham, Henry Colman, and C. C. Sheldon. These men laid the founda- tion of the present hospital and some of them were spared to see the growth of the hospital era in New England. From a beginning with accommodations for six patients the hospital has grown to an institution able to care for one hundred and fifty patients.
The war with Spain was not large enough or prolonged enough to make a serious demand upon Lynn's medical profession. The author can find only one Lynn physician who served in that war, Dr. James Keown.
Of the one hundred and fifty physicians in Lynn, thirty-five respond- ed to the call of their country in the World War. The names are given below. Many of them saw service across the seas and they all did their duty in whatever station the government placed them. They are as fol- lows: J. A. Bedard, N. P. Breed, A. E. Darling, H. L. Davis, E. Dolloff, G. W. Eastman, W. L. Fraser, L. C. Furbush, G. H. Gray, L. W. Hassett, G. Hartman, C. L. Hoitt, W. L. Hearn, L. W. Harris, C. L. Judkins, A. E. Joslyn, H. A. Johnson, W. V. Kane, G. H. Kirkpatrick, W. F. Lemaire, L. H. Limauro, B. Metzger, R. W. Mathes, W. E. Mclellan, C. H. Mer- rill, E. Merrill, E. S. O'Keefe, G. C. Parcher (Saugus), F. W. A. Mitchell, R. F. Rauscher, W. S. Schley, Oscar L. Spencer, J. W. Trask, S. G. Under- hill, R. White.
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Physicians of Essex (Town) - The first resident physician in Essex was Dr. Ebenezer Davis, who settled there in 1770. He was succeeded by Drs. Parker Russ, in 1778, and Reuben D. Mussey, in 1805, whose son won distinction in the Civil War, becoming a general. Dr. Thomas Sewall succeeded Dr. Mussey, practicing in Essex for a decade or more. Dr. Oscar F. Swasey came in 1853, and a few years later moved to Beverly, where he achieved much popularity as a surgeon. Dr. William H. Hull commenced medical practice in Essex in 1859, served in the Civil war and returned to take up practice in Essex again. He sold his house and practice to Dr. Towne. Dr. Josiah Lamson was one of the noted doctors of his day in this county. He retired from his practice in 1861, and was succeeded by Dr. John D. Lovering. In 1880 the last named moved to New Hampshire, and was succeeded in Essex by Dr. A. P. Woodman. The present physicians of the town of Essex are Drs. Ernest C. Steeves and A. H. Haig, at South Essex.
Rockport Physicians - In 1887 the following list of physi- cians, who had practiced at one date or another in Rockport, but were then deceased, was published in a general history of this county: Dr. John Manning, died 1841, aged eighty years; his father was Dr. John Manning of Ipswich, and he the son of Joseph Manning, another physi- cian of Ipswich. The John Manning of Rockport accumulated a for- tune, mostly by his practice, with some farm interests which he posses- sed. He served six terms as representative to the General Court. He had one son, a physician in his native town, where he died in 1843, aged forty-four years.
Another aged physician of Rockport was Dr. James Goss, who died in 1842, aged seventy-nine years. Besides his medical work, he also wrote legal instruments and acknowledged such instruments as wills, deeds, etc. He was a representative at the General Court in 1832. Dr. Edward E. Barden died in 1875, aged twenty-nine years and seven months. He was a son of Rev. Stillman and Sarah Barden, a Univer- salist minister of Rockport for a number of years. Benjamin Haskell, aged sixty-eight, died in 1878; he was born in Rockport, graduated at Amherst and at Bowdoin College, Maine, where he received his medical education. The physicians of Rockport at the present time (1921) are Drs. E. E. Cleaves, A. M. Tupper and Dr. Phillips.
Physicians of Topsfield-According to best authority obtainable, the first physician to practice in Topsfield was Dr. Michael Dwinnell. His grandfather was probably a French Huguenot, who settled here before 1668. Dr. Dwinnell was born in Topsfield in 1705 and practiced there as late as 1733. The next physician was Dr. Richard Dexter, who began his medical practice here in 1740 and died in 1783. Dr. Joseph Brad- street, born in Topsfield in 1727, practiced medicine to some extent, but was not successful; he taught school at times and finally died a pauper in 1790.
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In 1783 the year, in which Dr. Dexter died, two physicians came to Topsfield-Nehemiah Cleaveland and John Merriam. Dr. Cleaveland was born in Ipswich in 1760. Besides his medical work, he was State Senator many terms, as well as serving as session justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas. In 1823 he was appointed chief justice of the Court of Sessions in Essex county. In 1837, aged seventy-six years, he passed from earth's shining circles. Dr. Merriam was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1758; he died of consumption in 1817.
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