USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > The story of Essex County, Volume II > Part 27
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Another eminent physician who settled in Essex County at an early time and later removed elsewhere was Dr. John Clarke, who came to Newbury in 1637. He was granted a farm of four hundred acres at the mouth of Cart Creek. At the town meeting of Septem- ber 28, 1638, "It was granted that Mr. Clarke in respect to his call- ing should be freed and exempted from public rates either for the country or the towne so long as he shall remayne with us and exercise his calling among us."31
During his residence at Newbury he was prominent in the life of the community, serving as an associate magistrate in the County Court at Ipswich in 1639, and representing Newbury in the General Court in 1639 and 1643. After ten years of service, he removed to Ips- wich, in 1647, and soon after went to Boston, where he died in 1664.
28. "History of Medicine in Mass.," Samuel A. Green, p. 31, A. Williams and Co., Boston, 1881.
29. Ibid., p. 31.
30. Ibid., p. 31.
31. "History of Newbury, Mass.," John J. Currier, p. 662. Darwell and Upham, Boston, 1902.
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Another physician who practiced in Newbury for a time, and later settled in Boston, was Dr. William Snelling. Dr. Snelling came from Chaddlewood, Devonshire, and began his Newbury practice about the time Dr. Clarke removed to Ipswich. Little is known of his ability as a physician, but it appears that he was of a rash nature, and rather coarse in his manners. On March 30, 1652, he was fined in the County Court at Salem for "indiscreet words spoken in jest." Dr. Snelling moved to Boston in 1654, where he presumably carried on his profession.
Dr. Peter Toppan, of Newbury, was one of the earliest permanent physicians of Essex County. He was a son of Abraham and Susanna (Goodale) Toppan, and came with his parents to Newbury as a child of about three years. He grew up, and apparently received most of his education, in Newbury. It is not known under whom he received his medical training, but he appears to have been a compe- tent physician. He probably commenced his practice about the year 1660, and continued for many years in Newbury. He married Jane Batt, daughter of Christopher Batt, and was the father of Rev. Christopher Toppan, who was ordained pastor of the first church in Newbury in 1696. Dr. Toppan died in 1707.
Perhaps the most spectacular personality among all the physicians who practiced in this section during the first century of its settlement was Dr. Henry Greenland. To all accounts, he was a skilled sur- geon and physician, but it was not his medical ability that most fre- quently brought his name into the colonial records.
The first reference to Dr. Greenland's sojourn in Newbury occurred on March 31, 1663, when John Emery was fined £4 and costs for entertaining him at his house for four months. Whether the fine can be explained by the character of Dr. Greenland, or by the fact that Emery was not licensed to keep an ordinary, is uncer- tain. On May 21 of that year, Emery and others petitioned the General Court and the selectmen of Newbury to restore the amount of the fine, on the grounds that the need for a physician in the com- munity was such that Emery's action was excusable.
Dr. Greenland was a vigorous, pleasure-loving man, whose ener- getic and belligerent nature kept him constantly in trouble. As an associate of the notorious Captain Walter Barefoot, who later became Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire, he engaged in sev-
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eral spectacular escapades which have come down to the present in the records, and there is little doubt that many remarkable acts of this irrepressible pair have since been forgotten. The first dif- ficulty in which Dr. Greenland found himself during his stay in New- buryport was of a scandalous nature, and occurred at the same time that Emery was prosecuted, probably having a causative relation to the latter incident. According to John J. Currier, he was charged with making indecent proposals to Mary, wife of John Rolfe. He was convicted and sentenced "to go from hence to the prison, there to remain until the next session of the court and then to be brought forth and whipt unless he pay a fine of thirty pounds."32
Besides having morals unbecoming a physician, Dr. Greenland appears to have been fond of strong drink and inclined toward brawl- ing. It was customary about this time for men to gather in the eve- ning in the ordinary kept by Stephen Swett, since the Blue Anchor Tavern, near what is now Newbury upper green, to drink rum, and discuss the news of the day. Greenland and Captain Barefoot doubt- less frequented this establishment, and, as both were intensely inter- ested in politics, joined freely in the discussion. At one of these gatherings Greenland and Barefoot engaged in an altercation with, and finally attacked, William Thomas and Richard Dole. For this misdemeanor they were fined £5 each, on September 27, 1664.
After the brawl at Swett's tavern, little is heard of Dr. Green- land until January 12, 1666, when he sold his house on the corner of Ordway's Lane and the way by the river, now the intersection of Market and Merrimac streets, to Israel Webster, and departed for Portsmouth. From this time on the adventures of Greenland and Captain Barefoot are connected principally with districts about Ports- mouth and Kittery.
In 1670 Dr. Greenland was again in the toils of the law, this time for a truly remarkable conspiracy. He proposed his plan to Robert Gardner, a seaman on board the ship "Marmadin," George Fountain, master, at the Isles of Shoals. It involved the abduction and transportation to England of Richard Cutts, who was wanted for treason against the King. The scheme was to be prosecuted, apparently, so that Greenland and his confederates could seize and keep Mr. Cutts' money and belongings. This procedure was par-
32. Ibid., p. 142.
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ticularly unpopular in Portsmouth, where the general sentiment toward the crown was in accord with the opinions expressed by Mr. Cutts.
About this time other legal difficulties beset Dr. Greenland, for he and Captain Barefoot were sued, successfully, by a group of Hampton men. That same year, 1670, Greenland, probably in con- nection with the attempted abduction of Mr. Cutts. "was accused of disloyalty to the government of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and was denounced as an impractical and overzealous supporter of the King."33 He was arrested and imprisoned, and when released he was ordered to leave that jurisdiction, being given a short time to dispose of his estate and move his family. It is not certain whether he obeyed the order, or if he did, where he went. He is said to have been in Kittery in 1671.
Less spectacular, personally, than Dr. Henry Greenland, but more distinguished as a physician, was Dr. John Henry Burchstead, of Lynn, who began his practice in that town in 1685. Like the emi- nent Doctor Johannes Demosmaker, of Hingham and Boston, whose descendants bore the Anglicized name of Cutler, Dr. Burchstead was a continental European by birth, and the founder of a family that was connected with medicine for several generations. He was born in Silesia, and apparently was well educated in his profession. He settled in Lynn in 1685, and in 1690 married Mary, widow of Nathaniel Kirtland. His two sons were physicians, one, Henry, practicing in Lynn, and the other a surgeon in the British Navy. A grandson, also Henry, practiced medicine. The Dr. Benjamin B. Burchstead, of Lynn, who has been mentioned in connection with smallpox inoculation, was probably a grandson or great-grandson of the original settler. Dr. John Henry Burchstead, after years of successful practice, died September 20, 1721, at the age of sixty-four.
Dr. Humphrey Bradstreet was another able physician who prac- ticed medicine in Essex County before the beginning of the eighteenth century. He was born in Ipswich in 1669-70, and was among the first natives of Essex County to achieve prominence in medicine. He married Sarah Pierce, of Newbury. He evidently received a fair education, and acquired his medical knowledge at a very early age.
33. Ibid., p. 142.
Essex-55
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He is first heard from when serving as a surgeon with the militia in the vicinity of York, Maine, just after that town had suffered a dis- astrous attack from the Indians. At that time Dr. Bradstreet was only about twenty-one years of age, but his letter to the Governor and Council shows an evident understanding of his calling :
"PORTSMO. January ye 26:1691/2
To the Honble the Govern' and Councill of
ye Massatuset Collony in N England
May it please your honours I make bold with all humble submission to acquaint yo" Honours that I am altogether out of Medicens for gunn shott wounds as for ye first Intentions, and as wee have had very lamentable Incursions soe lately at York and killing and wounding & Carrying away, as your Hon's have already heard wee humbly hope, and how sud- dainly we may have ye like God only knows-wch in his Mercie prevent, and should I be Comma [n]ded to march out with an armie speedely Such things must be procured but Cannot be had here, and for those few medicens yt were last sent Some of them might be prop" for ye last Intentions but not for ye first, I have made bold to Intimate underneath what medisens may be proper, humbly subscribe that I am yo' Hon's most Ready and humbly devoted Servnt.
HUMPHREY BRADSTREET."34
According to Dr. Green, the term first intention, as applied to the healing of wounds, was still in general use in 1881, but last inten- tion was no longer heard at that time, and probably denoted healing by granulation.
This list of twenty-five medicines described by Dr. Bradstreet is rather impressive in appearance, and includes such items as Oleum catellovum, or puppies' oil, a remedy that has since gone out of use. Latin suffixes on Anglo-Saxon roots are found in such combinations as Emplastrum Sticticum, an odd but expressive term.
Dr. Bradstreet afterward settled in Rowley, where he practiced medicine for a time, later removing to Newbury, where he died in 1717.
34. "History of Medicine in Massachusetts," Samuel A. Green, p. 52. A. Williams and Co., Boston, 1881.
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During the century after 1750, a number of skilled and well- educated physicians were in practice in Essex County, several of whom occupied high places in their communities and in medical science. It would be of no advantage to attempt to list or describe all the physicians in the county during this period, but certain indi- viduals stood out, and are worthy of mention.
Probably the most learned, best loved, and most prominent of all the physicians who practiced in Essex County during this period was Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke, of Salem.
Dr. Holyoke was born in Salem, August 1, 1728, the son of President Holyoke, of Harvard College. He was graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1746, and studied medicine under Dr. Thomas Berry, of Ipswich. He was the first person to receive the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Harvard, and later a degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him. When his training was completed he undertook the practice of medicine in Salem and met with almost immediate success.
Dr. Holyoke was a man of great vigor, high intellect, and charm- ing personality. His ability as a surgeon brought him wide recogni- tion, not only in Essex County, but throughout New England. Dur- ing his seventy-nine years as a practicing physician, for Dr. Holyoke lived to be over one hundred, it is said that he had visited, profes- sionally, every home in Salem. Besides his eminence as a physician, Dr. Holyoke was very active in the community, and held several positions of trust and honor. At the time of his death he was presi- dent of the Salem Atheneum, of the Salem Savings Bank, of the Essex Historical Society, and of the Salem Dispensary. In addition to these activities, he was among the original members, and for a time president, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
An important part of the life work of Dr. Holyoke was con- nected with the founding and business of the Massachusetts Medical Society. The need for a State medical society had long been felt, both as a means of discriminating between ignorant and incompetent physicians and those fitted by character, intelligence, and education to practice the profession, and of establishing a permanent connec- tion among the physicians of the State, which should tend to increase the knowledge of new phases of medical science. Distances between various parts of Massachusetts were then very much greater, as
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measured in time, than they are today, and without a common meet- ing place to which there was active incentive to go, many physicians were almost completely isolated from contact with other members of their profession.
Dr. Holyoke was most active in the organization of the medical society. In the charter, which was secured November 1, 1781, he was authorized to fix the time and place of the first meeting of the society. After two meetings of the organization during the spring of 1782, permanent officers were elected on June 5, Dr. Holyoke being honored by the office of president. Among the thirty-one char- ter members of the Massachusetts Medical Society, four other emi- nent Essex County physicians were represented : Dr. Joseph Orne, of Salem; Dr. Samuel Holton, of Danvers; Dr. Micajah Sawyer, of Newburyport; and Dr. John Barnard Swett, of Newburyport.
Dr. Holyoke, at the time of his election to the presidency of the medical society, was fifty-four years old, and the possessor of a flour- ishing practice in Salem. He continued his practice from that time, 1782, until a few short years before his death, which occurred in 1829. On the centennial anniversary of his birth, he was tendered a public dinner by some fifty physicians of Boston and Salem, at which he displayed remarkable vigor for a man of his years, smoking his pipe at the table, and proposing an appropriate toast to the medical society and its members.
In regard to the scientific accomplishments of Dr. Holyoke, his near anticipation of the great discovery of Laennec is described at length by Dr. Green, on pages 94, 95, and 96 of the "History of Medicine in Massachusetts." Apparently he was able to keep up his scientific research, as well as his broad practice and his numerous other activities.
Another distinguished Salem physician, of a later generation than Dr. Holyoke, was Dr. George B. Loring. Dr. Loring was born in North Andover in 1817, and was graduated from Harvard Medi- cal School in 1842. From 1842 to 1850 he practiced medicine in Salem, and was surgeon of the United States Marine Hospital, Chel- sea, from 1843 to 1850. He served as a commissioner to revive the Marine Hospital System in 1849.
Besides his work in medicine, Dr. Loring had many and diverse interests. He was for many years connected with State and national
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politics. From 1866 to 1868 he was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, a United States Senator from 1873 to 1877, a member of the House from 1877 to 1881, and United States Commissioner of Agriculture from 1881 to 1885. Dr. Loring was a prolific writer, contributing articles to the "New England Journal of Surgery and Medicine" as early as 1843. His other writings included "Scientific and Practical Agriculture," the "Assassination of President Lincoln," and "Unity and Power of the Republic." In addition, he was deeply interested in literature, and contributed to such periodicals as the "Southern Literary Magazine" and the "North American Review." His interest in agriculture was further attested by his service as presi- dent of the New England Agricultural Society from its establishment in 1864.
A distinguished physician who practiced in Haverhill during this period was Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall. Dr. Saltonstall was born in Haverhill February 10, 1846, a son of Judge Richard Saltonstall, and was graduated from Harvard College in 1766. His profes- sional skill and gentlemanly bearing soon brought him the profound respect of the community. Dr. Saltonstall gave much of his atten- tion to the care of the poor, and was active in civic affairs. With the coming of the Revolution he took the side of the colonies, in spite of the fact that most of his relatives were avowed loyalists. After many years of useful service, he died May 15, 1815, aged sixty-five. He was the father of the Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, who was outstand- ing in Massachusetts affairs.
Dr. Rufus Longley took up the practice of medicine in Haver- hill where Dr. Saltonstall left off. A native of Shirley, Massachu- setts, Dr. Longley studied at Lawrence Academy, Groton, and attended Harvard for two years, after which he enrolled at Dart- mouth, where he received a medical degree. He commenced prac- tice in Haverhill in 1812, and soon built up a large practice. Besides being well known as a physician, Dr. Longley was prominent in social affairs, and was a frequent officeholder. He was a leader in Masonry, serving as Master of the Merrimack Lodge of Freemasons from 1817 to 1826, and from 1852 to 1854. He further served the com- munity as president both of the Haverhill Savings Bank and the Mer- rimack Bank. Dr. Longley died March 12, 1854.
Newburyport was the home of several of the most eminent phy- sicians of Essex County during the century following 1750. For
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THE STORY OF ESSEX COUNTY
part of this period Newburyport was one of the commercial and cultural centers of New England, and many prominent men of the various professions were attracted to this town.
Dr. Micajah Sawyer was among the leaders in the medical pro- fession in Newburyport. He was born in Newbury, July 15, 1737, a son of Dr. Enoch Sawyer, and was graduated from Harvard in 1756. He began practice in Newbury, "by the water side," which part of the town was incorporated as Newburyport in 1764. He married Sibyll Farnham and lived on the northwest side of King Street, now State Street. Dr. Sawyer died in 1815, having lived through Newburyport's greatest years. During his life his skill as a physician was widely recognized, and he was a charter member of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Second in prestige to Dr. Holyoke, alone, among the physicians of Essex County who were practicing before the beginning of the nineteenth century, was Dr. John Barnard Swett, of Newburyport. He was born in Marblehead in 1752, a son of Samuel Swett, and was probably the best educated and trained physician among his contemporaries. He was graduated from Harvard College at the early age of fifteen, with the class of 1767, and studied surgery in Edinburgh, then the great medical center of the Western World. Before returning to this country he had several years' experience in English and French hospitals. He returned to Marblehead in 1778 and enlisted as a surgeon in the expedition to Rhode Island under General Sullivan, later serving in the expedition to the Penobscot under General Lovell and Captain Saltonstall. He married Char- lotte Bowne, of Marblehead.
At the close of his military service, Dr. Swett, at the request of friends and kinsmen, took up the practice of medicine in Newbury- port. He soon had a large practice, and was highly respected. His skill won him wide renown, and at the age of twenty-nine he was hon- ored by a charter membership in the Massachusetts Medical Society. He was elected to the office of corresponding secretary at the first election of permanent officers of this organization, in 1782. At the time of his death, which occurred in the epidemic of yellow fever of 1796, Dr. Swett occupied a prominent place in the community and had a host of friends. His untimely death was a blow to Newbury- port and may have prevented valuable additions to medical science.
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A native of Newburyport who became a distinguished physician was Dr. James Jackson. Dr. Samuel A. Green writes :
"Dr. James Jackson . ... is perhaps the most con- spicuous character in the medical annals of Massachusetts. I doubt whether any physician in the State ever exerted so large and lasting an influence over his professional brethren or his patients. Born in Newburyport, October 3, 1777; graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1796; he studied under the remarkable Dr. Holyoke, of Salem. In the year 1812 he was appointed to the Hersey professorship of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, which he continued to hold until 1836. At this time he gave up the active duties of the office, and was chosen Professor Emeritus. His writ- ings are numerous, and all his writings show great wisdom as well as literary culture. During a period of more than half a century, he was a frequent contributor to the pages of 'The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery,' and of 'The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.' His death took place on August 27, 1867."3
Dr. Jackson was a prime mover in the foundation of the Mas- sachusetts General Hospital, having prepared a circular letter, with the aid of Dr. John Collins Warren, dated August 20, 1810, of which Mr. Bowditch, in his "History of the Massachusetts General Hospital," expressed the opinion it "might be regarded as the corner stone of the institution."36 Dr. Jackson and Dr. Warren had worked together before, having published, in the year 1808, under the auspices of the medical society, a "Pharmacopoeia," after the plan of that of the Edinburgh College, designed to modernize the nomen- clature in order to attain greater uniformity among the prescriptions of physicians.
Another native of Newburyport who gained eminence in the New England medical profession was Dr. Henry Coit Perkins. He was born at the Wolfe Tavern, November 13, 1804, a son of Thomas and Elisabeth (Storey) Perkins, was graduated from Harvard Col- · lege in 1824, and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1827.
35. Ibid., p. 118.
36. Ibid., p. 118.
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Dr. Perkins began the practice of medicine in Newburyport, where he remained the rest of his life. He married Harriet, daughter of John Davenport. His eminence as a physician caused him to be elected president of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1866.
Besides his activities in the medical profession, Dr. Perkins had broad interests in other fields. He made a study of the sciences and art, and made, in 1828, what was probably the first daguerreotype produced in the United States. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is said to have possessed a splen- did library. Dr. Perkins died February 1, 1873.
Another physician prominent both in professional and public life was Dr. Samuel Holton, of Danvers. Dr. Holton was born June 9, 1738, in Salem Village, which became Danvers fourteen years later. He studied medicine under Dr. Jonathan. Prince, of Danvers, and began his practice in Gloucester, soon after returning to his native town. Apparently Dr. Holton became an accomplished phy- sician, for he was included among the charter members of the Mas- sachusetts Medical Society, but his public affairs have attracted more attention in history than his medical works.
Dr. Holton first came into prominence in connection with "Sons of Liberty," with which organization he was long associated. He was chosen unanimously to represent the town at the convention held at Faneuil Hall on September 22, 1768, and that same year was a member of General Court. He was a member of the Provincial Congress, in 1775, the General Committee of Safety, and the Execu- tive Council of the provisional government. He served as a dele- gate, in 1778, to the Congress which formed the Articles of Confed- eration, and was in the Congress five years under the Confederation and two under the Constitution. Besides these many offices of national importance, Dr. Holton was active in local and county affairs, serving for many years as Judge of Common Pleas and Judge of Probate for Essex County.
In a discussion of the history of the medical profession in Essex County the old-fashioned "family doctor" should not be neglected. He was a true public servant, ready at all hours of the day or night to attend the needs of his patients, irrespective of the distance or weather. He was quite often without a formal medical education, but his wide experience with illness under the most trying circum-
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stances frequently made his aid fully as valuable as that of better informed physicians in the larger towns and cities. Unlike our highly skilled and educated modern physicians, for his type has almost entirely died out, he considered it a breach of ethics to send a bill or solicit payment for his services. This custom has given way to economic and social changes, but in retrospect it makes his memory all the more fond. He was beloved by his patients and the commu- nity in general, and occupied a social position in his neighborhood that might compensate for his lack of worldly possessions. Scores of his type have practiced medicine in Essex County, and now remain only as names in the record books, or memories in the minds of the oldest residents.
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