USA > Maine > York County > Parsonsfield > A history of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine > Part 18
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144
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
SUMNER GILMAN, M. D.,
studied medicine with Dr. James Bradbury, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1833. He located at Wakefield where he practiced until his death in 1841. In early life he taught school to some extent, and was quite successful in his professional career,-though he was rather peculiar, careless in his style and phraseology, and eccentric in his habits. He was the son of Daniel and Mary (Hobbs) Gilman, and was born in Parsonsfield, March 7, 1800.
WOODBURY GILMAN, M. D.,
was brother of the above, twenty-two years his junior, and was a superior scholar and close student. He studied medicine with Dr. Asahel Dearborn of Effing- ham, N. H., and graduated at Dartmouth in 1845. He commenced practice in Kittery, Maine, a few years later went to Epping, N. H., and thence to Buffalo, New York, where he died December 7, 1876, aged 54 years. He left one child, a daughter. He accumulated a large property.
MOSES E. SWEAT, A. M., M. D.,
second son of Dr. Moses and Eliza (Wedgewood) Sweat, was born January 12, 1861. See sketch by Dr. Joseph Ricker, page 63.
MOSES M. SMART, A. M., M. D.,
eldest son of Gardiner and Sally Mighel Smart, was born May, 1812, and died Oct. 2, 1885, aged 73 years. See sketch of his life by Dr. Joseph Ricker, p. 62.
TRISTRAM REDMAN, M. D.,
son of Tristram and Hannah (Burbank) Redman, born in Saco, June 15, 1807. Studied medicine with Dr. Bradbury and graduated at Dartmouth in 1831. He commenced practice in Cherryfield, and was very successful. He was an early advocate of temperance, and freedom for the enslaved, and was twice elected to the State Senate. He was married soon after he became established in business, to Miss Freeman, and died April, 1861, aged 55 years.
ALVA PARKER, M. D.,
was born in Parsonsfield in 1811. Studied medicine with Dr. Moses Sweat, and graduated at Bowdoin in 1835. Soon after he commenced practice at Lebanon, Maine, where he remained twelve years. Thence he removed to Great Falls, N. H., where he died in 1851.
CHARLES G. PARSONS, M. D.,
was the son of Col. Joseph Parsons, and was born February 15, 1807. He was a student of medicine under Dr. James Bradbury, whose daughter he married, and graduated at Bowdoin in 1837. He then moved to Windham and commenced
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JOSEPH ADDISON PARSONS M.D.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
practice, but soon abandoned it, in a great measure, and sought other employ- ments. In 1852 and 1853, he made an extensive tour in the Southern States, and collected many facts relative to the institution of slavery, which served as a basis of a series of lectures which he delivered in several of the New England States. He was among the very first to give the "true inwardness " of that abominable institution that so long cursed this land, and that found so many advocates among the Democracy of the North. He was also an open, earnest and able advocate of temperance, being active in the formation of the first temperance society in Parsonsfield; an easy writer and a pleasant speaker, a man of keen sympathies, quick perceptions, generous impulses, extremely hospitable, and of vitalizing enthusiasm.
In 1855, he wrote a work entitled "Inside View of Slavery, or a Tour Among the Planters," with an introduction by Mrs. H. B. Stowe, in which he gave a thrilling account of what he observed while traveling the few years previous in the South. In 1864 he received an appointment under Lincoln, as United States Consul to Trinidad, but was obliged to decline the position in consequence of failing health. Mrs. Parsons died, and after a time he married Miss Alice J. Walker of Portsmouth, a person of much literary taste and talent, and one in whom he found an agreeable, helpful and devoted companion, who yet survives.
JOSEPH ADDISON PARSONS, M. D.,
brother of Charles G., one of a family of sixteen children, who died in Wind- ham in the winter of 1886, had been in the profession forty-eight years. He was born June 30, 1815, and was a student at the same time and graduated in the same class with Charles. His long professional career was passed in Windham, where his friendships were firm and abiding. He was far more conservative than his brother, yet ever on the side of humanity, justice and progress,-generous to a fault, kind to the poor, and full of sympathy for those in need, and a practi- tioner of decision, ability and skill. Past the meridian of life he married Miss Mary E. Ginn of Winterport, Maine, an estimable lady who survives him. Neither of these brothers left issue.
JAMES M. BUZZELL, M. D.,
the seventh son of Rev. John and Anna Buzzell, was born in Parsonsfield, Nov. 4, 1812, attended school at Limerick, Effingham, N. H., and Parsonsfield Semin- ary, completing his preparatory course for college at the latter institution under Rev. Hosea Quinby. Commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Moses Sweat in 1833, attended a course of lectures at Bowdoin in 1834, where he was assistant demonstrator of anatomy. In 1835 he attended a second course at Dartmouth where he was demonstrator, and at that time carved a model of the sphenoid bone (the most irregular bone in the system), five times the natural size. It was formed from a block of bass plank glued together, which Prof. Muzzey pro-
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146
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
nounced to be a " perfect model of the sphenoid bone," and which Prof. Muzzey took with him to the medical college of Cincinnati, where it now remains. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1837. Soon after he located for a short time at Standish Corner, Maine, then removed to Little Falls, Gorham, and remained there till 1843. He then became connected with and publisher of the F. W. Baptist Repository, and soon removed to Limerick, where he continued as editor, publisher and physician till 1852. From this district he was chosen to the Legislature in 1851 and 1852, at the time the Maine Law was passed; was a mem- ber of the committee that reported it.
In 1852 he removed to Portland where he remained till 1856. In 1848 he was elected Professor of anatomy and surgery in the medical school at Worcester, Mass., where he lectured two terms. In 1856 he was elected Professor of Surgery in the Penn College at Philadelphia, where he lectured two terms. He practiced four years at Springfield, Mass., where he successfully removed the parotid gland after it had grown to the size of a man's head, ligating the primitive carotid. In 1871 he lectured at the Ninth street Medical College in Philadelphia upon anatomy, and the three years following at Pennsylvania Medical University upon surgery. His life has been a very busy one, and now at the age of seventy-five, he is in active practice in Portland, Maine.
DR. AARON BUZZELL,
an elder brother, studied medicine in Deerfield, N. H., with Drs. Graves and Broadhead, attended lectures at Dartmouth, and after a short term of practice in Strafford, N. H., removed to Norfolkborough, Va., where he died aged about 45 years. He left a son, James Andrew Buzzell, who was surgeon of the Third New Hampshire regiment, and won honor and distinction, dying from fever in- duced by hardships, exposure and labor as medical director, and care of prisoners from the pens of Andersonville and Libby.
WILLIAM WEDGWOOD SWEAT, M. D.,
son of Moses and Eliza (Wedgwood) Sweat, prepared for college at Limerick and Parsonsfield Seminaries. Studied medicine with his father, attended two courses of lectures at Bowdoin and one at Castleton, Vt., where he graduated in 1845. He afterwards took a special course at New York College of Physicians and Sur- geons, and thus thoroughly equipped he commenced practice in his native town where he remained but a short time. He then went to New Bedford, Mass., where he practiced some five years. He then removed to Portland, Maine, where he remained ten years; thence to Mattapoisett, Mass., where he died July 12, 1872, aged 52 years. He was very sagacious, full of commiseration for the ills and afflictions of others, and bounteous in his liberality. He married Miss Sarah Meigs of New Bedford, and there is one son, William, now a resident of Portland.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
JOHN BUZZELL SWEAT, M. D.,
youngest brother of the above, was born July 26, 1826. His preparatory educa- tion was obtained at Parsonsfield Seminary. After pursuing the study of medi- cine with his father for a time, he attended lectures at Castleton, Vt., one course at Bowdoin and two at New York, where he graduated in 1849. He was genial, eminently social, generous, magnanimous, full of sympathy, of jollity and mirth, witty and entertaining, symmetrical and grand in form and feature, with a pleas- ing address, and giving promise of a career of great usefulness. At once after graduating he commenced practice of his profession with his father, continuing therein until 1855, when, in company with his brother, Hon. L. D. M. Sweat, he went abroad, where he spent nearly a year visiting the various important hospi- tals of the older countries. He was elected twice to the Legislature, and in the autumn of 1856, crowded with professional duties, he contracted typhoid fever, of which he died November 21st, aged 30 years, missed and mourned as has been one other of this town in earlier or later time. The high rank in surgery which was attained by the father was ever held by the three sons who followed the pro- ssion, Moses E., William W. and John B. The two latter were by nature richly endowed, and by education and training thoroughly prepared for the practice of this important branch, in which they excelled.
DR. THOMAS AYER DROWN
was the son of Thomas and Mitty (Wiggin) Drown, and was born Nov. 23, 1813. He was the second child, and they were left to the care of the mother, as the father died previous to the birth of Thomas. Adverse circumstances attended him in his early life, but as early as 1835 he entered the office of Dr. James Brad- bury as a student. He practiced in several places, not always meeting with de- sired success, and died in 1886, aged 73 years.
SAMUEL M. SMITH, M. D.,
was the son of James and Betsey Smith, and was born in Parsonsfield, January 23, 1812. Studied medicine with Dr. Moses Sweat and graduated at Bowdoin in 1835. He taught school in Belfast, Prospect and neighboring towns to earn money to defray the expenses incurred. Soon after graduating he commenced practice in Charleston, and in April of 1836 was married by Rev. Silas M. Keen of Searsport, to Miss Mary E. Nickerson of Chatham, Mass. Then he removed to Sullivan, where he remained but a few months, then went to Cooper, after- wards incorporated as Meddybemps. Here he remained a series of years, enjoying the confidence of the community, having a large practice, much interested in all the reforms of the day, lecturing on temperance, opposing with his might the advance of slavery, and was actively engaged in religious work, building a church entirely at his own expense for the Baptist denomination, being a deacon of a
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
church of that body of Christians for many years and always paying very liberally for the support of the ministry.
In 1854 he moved to Baring and continued in active practice until 1866, when his health failing he moved to Minneapolis, but the change of climate not bring- ing the desired relief, he returned to Baring where he died September 28, 1868. His family consisted of thirteen children, only four of whom are now living, one daughter the wife of A. B. Getchell, Esq., of Baring, and three sons, the eldest E. T. N. Smith, a druggist in Silver City, Idaho, the other two physicians, one residing in Baring, Dr. J. R. N. Smith, and the other A. N. Smith, in Dover, New Hampshire.
AMZI SANBORN, M. D.,
youngest child of John and Hannah (Bachelder) Sanborn, was born in Parsons- field on the first day of the week, of the month and of the year 1809. He studied medicine in New York with Dr. Wooster Beach, the author of "Beach's House- hold Physician," and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1832. He soon after returned to his home, where he tarried but a short time, and then commenced practice in Chesterville. In September, 1835, he married Miss Julia A. Pierce of that town. His health was never firm, and in 1836 he went to Bucyrus, Ohio, tarrying for a season, and then traveled through much of the western country with his family in his own carriage. His health improving he returned East, and settled in West Dedham, Mass., where he practiced for several years, but finally returned to Maine, to the town of Phillips, where he died of consumption, January 12, 1861, aged fifty-two years and eleven days, and was buried in Chester- ville by the side of the remains of his first wife who died November 13, 1852. His second marriage was to Miss Mary Wheeler of Phillips, December 6, 1855, who is now living. By the first marriage there were six children, two of whom are living, the eldest, Mrs. Ellen (Sanborn), wife of Dr. F. M. Everleth of Wal- doboro, and Edward W. Sanborn of Benicia, Cal. There were two children by the second marriage, one dying in infancy and the other a daughter, now the wife of A. M. Greenwood of Phillips, Maine. Dr. Sanborn was a man of keen per- ceptions, discriminating, cautious and correct in his judgment, was thoroughly prepared for the duties of the profession, possessed a good knowledge of human nature, was active and energetic, a close observer and a shrewd financier. In his religious views he was a Universalist and in politics a Democrat.
His professional life, although suffering from disease for many years, was emi- nently successful, being held in high esteem not only by those of the communi- ties where he resided, but by the members of the profession as well.
C. F. BONNEY, M. D.,
who died in Manchester, N. H., in 1886, at the age of sixty-eight years, was from 1847 to 1852 in practice in Parsonsfield. He then removed to Cornish, where he
149
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
remained twenty years, thence to Manchester, N. H., where the remainder of his professional life was passed. He was a native of Winthrop, Maine, and was born April 9, 1818. At the age of fourteen years he went to Boston and obtained em- ployment in an apothecary store. Ten years later he went to New York and served for four years as hospital steward. In the fall and winter of 1843-'44 he attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and in 1844 received license from the New York Medical Society to practice medicine. He graduated in 1846 from the same college. He was twice married, his second wife, who survives him, being sister of Hon. P. C. Chenery, United States Senator from New Hampshire. Dr. Bonney was an acute observer, a shrewd financier, an honored success in the profession, and a man highly honored and respected.
DR. N. R. MARTIN,
of Saccarappa, practiced medicine in this town from 1852 to 1856, since which time he has occupied his present field. He was born in Portsmouth, N. H., March 28, 1820. Studied medicine with Drs. Nathaniel Brooks and Ebenezer B. Bangs of Saco, and received a diploma from Worcester Medical College in 1851. In 1847 he married Miss Eliza Bangs of Limerick, Maine.
CHARLES LOUGEE, M. D.,
born in Parsonsfield, October 23, 1813, son of Capt. John and Anna (Parsons) Lougee, studied medicine with Dr. Ham of Newfield, and graduated at Bow- doin in 1837. He practiced a few months at Dunstan Corner. His health failed early and he died of consumption, May 13, 1838, and was buried near his old home in Parsonsfield. His wife, the daughter of Noah Burnham, Esq., of this town, survived him but a short time.
DR. MOSES S. WILSON,
now, and for many years past at Lincoln, Maine, was a native of Parsonsfield, and son of Moses Wilson. In his early manhood he was a school teacher of good repute. He has been in continuous practice of his profession for more than forty years. Although modest and retiring he has made life a success.
JOSEPH HUNTRESS, M. D.,
who died a few years since at Sandwich, N. H., was a native of this town, and graduated at Dartmouth in the class of 1844. He first settled in Yarmouth where he remained a few years. For a time he served in the army, and was in Law- rence, Mass., for a time, and then in Sandwich until his death.
RICHARD LORD, M. D.,
now in the shoe business in Haverhill, Mass., studied medicine with Dr. G. L. Bennett and graduated at Castleton, Vt. After receiving his diploma he went
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
to Sangerville, Maine, and practiced a few months. He then gave up the prac- tice of medicine, went to Saco and studied dentistry, which he practiced for a few years, but finally went to Haverhill and engaged in the business he now follows. He was the son of Dea. John Lord and younger brother of the late C. B. Lord of Alfred, and was possessed of much natural talent and aptitude.
SIMEON MUDGETT, M. D.,
son of David and Salome (Merrill) Mudgett, was born February 22, 1819. He was a student of medicine under Dr. G. L. Bennett, and graduated at Castleton, Vermont, in 1846. In 1847 he commenced practice in Bartlett, N. H., where he remained about two years, and then went to Sangerville, Maine, and practiced there and at Guilford until 1870, when he removed to Dexter where he has since resided. In 1851 he married Miss Hannah S. Demming of Guilford, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter. His eldest son is one of the pub- lishers of the Bangor Commercial. Modest and retiring he brings to his profes- sional work a clear intellect, a calm reason, and an honesty of purpose which have commanded the respect and confidence of the communities in which his life has thus far been passed. He is closely devoted to his profession, and has a large and quite lucrative practice.
OSCAR BURBANK, M. D.,
of Waverley, Iowa, who has been in practice about forty years, was a native of this town. Two years since, when preparing for the Centennial celebration of Parsonsfield, I took occasion to look up the physicians to whom she had given birth, and addressed a letter of enquiry to him, to which I received the following reply. Although it was not written for publication, it contains matter descrip- tive of the man. It is as follows:
DEAR DOCTOR :- Your kind, interrogatory note was duly received. I thank you for the invitation to be present at the Centennial celebration. In reply to the main question in your note, I will say that on September 25, 1819, in a very early period of my life, my visible existence commenced, but whence or whither is still unsolved. Struggling through the vicissitudes of infantile life, with wind- colic, measles, chicken-pox and vaccination (I was never baptized), I found my- self attending the high school at the Middle Road, which, with three subsequent terms at the academy, where we spoke " On Linden when the sun was low," con- stituted my literary education. Like Topsy, I grew up, with advice in abund- ance and cash in perspective. I taught school, learned a trade, and one day found myself pursuing the study of medicine in Boston, where on March 4, 1848, I was granted the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Harvard. I commenced prac- tice in Lowell, Mass. In 1849 I went to California, and on September 8, 1854, with my wife and two-year-old daughter came to Waverly, Iowa, where I have resided ever since. Professionally I have had a fair share of the public confi- dence, and it has been my fortune to do the greater part of the important surgi- cal operations in this region. Financially I do not regard myself a success, but have accumulated a fair competence.
Fraternally yours,
OSCAR BURBANK.
GEO. N.WALKER & CO. LITH. BOSTON
Samuel Knapp Joule M. D. SAMUEL KNAPP TOWLE, M.D.
15I
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
SAMUEL KNAPP TOWLE, M. D.,
son of Harvey Moore Towle and Clarissa (Knapp) Towle, was born in Parsons- field in 1829; was educated in the common schools and Parsonsfield Seminary, and was graduated from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Penn., in 1858. He at once settled in Haverhill, Mass., and has continued practice there excepting when absent in the service of the government. In 1862 he was mar- ried to Isadore Noyes of Haverhill. During the late civil war he was surgeon of the Thirtieth Massachusetts Volunteers, and during much of his service was in charge of large field and general hospitals in Louisiana and Virginia.
I am pleased to make the following extract from a letter written by Medical In- spector Stipp of the United States army, relative to the services and eminent standing of Dr. Towle. Speaking of the United States General Hospital Asylum building, Baton Rouge, La., which was under his charge, he says: " This hospital contained some five hundred beds,* and was frequently full of sick and wounded soldiers, especially of wounded soldiers, after the battles of Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, and later from the Red River expedition in May, 1864, under Major- General N. P. Banks. The high character for skill, as a physician and surgeon, was most faithfully maintained by the success of his operations and the large number restored to duty under his management. As an executive officer few if any can claim superiority. He was esteemed by his associates and loved by the inmates under his care, and appreciated by the officers of the army, as a faithful, skillful, kind, watchful officer and gentleman. In all my tours of inspection, north and south, I found no hospital more carefully and properly managed, both as to the comforts of the inmates, character and skill in every department, and to the best interests of the government." Such is the testimony of one who knew and appreciated his worth.
In 1873-74, he spent the larger part of a year in Europe in professional studies, mostly at Vienna, but partly at Paris and London. During a second visit abroad in 1880, accompanied by Mrs. Towle, he incurred in England a severe pneumonia, from the effects of which he did not fully recover. until after removal to a milder climate near Fort Monroe, Va., where he is yet on duty as surgeon of the Na- tional Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. This he considers temporary, and retains his home in Haverhill, Mass., where his many warm friends assure him of a cordial welcome socially and professionally on his return. His half-brother,
MELVIN COX TOWLE, A. M., M. D.,
was a man possessed of superior qualities of head and heart, as was evidenced in his short professional career. A brief but well deserved tribute to his memory is paid by Dr. Joseph Ricker in his paper on College Graduates, page 68.
* There were over nine hundred beds.
I 52
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
DAVID WATSON, M. D.,
practiced medicine in Parsonsfield for a time. He was a native of Limerick, Maine, and son of David Watson, late of that town. He studied medicine with Dr. William Swasey of Limerick, attended lectures at Bowdoin in 1857, and then became a student of Professor E. R. Peasley and was his assistant in surgery during his second term at Bowdoin; was demonstrator of anatomy at Dartmouth one term and attended his fourth term of lectures at New York University Med- ical College, graduating there in 1860. He then practiced about two years in this town, and in the spring of 1863 entered the United States navy, resigning in 1865. He then went to Conway, N. H., where he remained till 1868, then to New York city where he tarried five years; thence to Bryant's Pond, Maine, where he practiced two years, and in 1875 removed again to Conway, N. H., where he now resides.
JOHN T. WEDGWOOD, M. D.,
of Cornish, Maine, was the son of Captain Jesse and Catherine (Paine) Wedg- wood, and was born April 17, 1832. He devoted much time to music, teaching vocal classes for a series of years, having, in addition to a natural talent therefor, been under the instruction of E. Bruce, Esq., of Boston, and also a member of the musical societies of Boston, conducted by Carl Zerhann, for some three years. He studied medicine with Dr. Moses Sweat, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1861. The winter following he attended a course of lectures at Harvard, and in May, 1862, commenced practice at Limington. Here he remained five years, when he removed to Cornish where he now resides. In January, 1862, he married Miss Ruth F., daughter of Dr. Calvin Topliff of Freedom, N. H., by whom he has two daughters, both possessed of fine musical talents. Mrs. Wedgwood died in 1880, and in October, 1882, Dr. Wedgwood married Miss Fannie E. Bowers of Baldwin. He is a wonderfully energetic and active business man, closely devoted to his profession, and a successful financier.
PAUL MERRILL, M. D.,
was the son of Henry and Rebecca (Merrill) Merrill, and was born in Parsons- field, April 23, 1832. Studied medicine with Dr. G. L. Bennett, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1856. He then obtained the position of assistant physician at the Maine Insane Hospital, remaining there three years. Thence he went to Vassalboro' where he practiced about one year, then came to Parsonsfield where he remained three years, then to Augusta where he tarried seven years, then again to this town, where he died February 7, 1870. He was married to Miss Re- becca Medora Lee of Vassalboro', on September 14, 1868, who survived him less than two years. They had two children, both sons, one a resident of Parsons- field and one in Augusta. Dr. Merrill was well educated and thoroughly pre- pared for the duties of the profession.
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