USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Peterborough > History of the town of Peterborough, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire > Part 62
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When the New Hampshire troops were called out to repel the invasion by powerful armies on our Northern frontier, Gen. Stark was appointed to the command, and Robert Wilson was a Major in his division of militia. He was present at the various engagements of Benning- ton, Saratoga, etc., and was appointed by Gen. Stark to command a guard detailed to escort six hundred Hes- sian prisoners of war from Bennington to Boston.
Maj. Robert Wilson d. on the 25th of December, 1790, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. His death was sudden, and occasioned by a strangulated hernia. An operation would probably have saved him, but no surgeon of competent skill was near, and he d., as thou- sands have before, from the ignorance and incompetency of medical attendants. Mrs. Wilson survived her hus- band thirty-five years. She m., 2d hus., Enos Knight, of New Ipswich, Sept. 16, 1803. She was a widow again many years, and resided at the old residence. She d. Dec. 22, 1825, æ. 90 yrs.
Anne, b. March 28, 1764; d. Aug. 16, 1771, æ. 7 yrs. She was killed by a log falling off a fence upon her.
2 3 t James, b. Aug. 16, 1766 ; m., Ist w., Elizabeth Steele ; 2d w., Elizabeth Little.
t William, b. Feb. 8, 1770 ; m. Dotia Smith.
Anne, b. May 3, 1768 ; m. Jeremiah Swan.
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Mary, b. May 21, 1775 ; m. Gen. John Steele. Fohn, b. Jan. 10, 1772 ; m. -; d. Belfast, Me., 1848, æ. 76 yrs. He was an eminent lawyer ; a member of Congress in 1813, '14.
8 Sarah, b. 1777; m. Joseph Haynes Johnson, Nov. 6, 1803; d. in Illinois ; ch., (1) Lucretia Knapp, b. 1804; educated at Cincinnati ; m. John Scott Harri-
4 5 6
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JAMES WILSON.
son, son of President Harrison ; d. 1829, æ. 25 yrs. ; (2) Susette Grafton, b. 1808 ; m. Josiah C. Smith ; r. Mississippi. She d. 1830. (3) Joseph Haynes, b. Feb. 29, 1812 ; spent his early life in Montreal ; went to the mines in California ; made extensive travels, and re- turned to Lacon, Ill., where he now resides ; (4) Mary Wilson, b. Jan. 8, 1811 ; m. Rev. Wm. N. Stinson. She d. at Amity, Ia .; (5) Caroline A .; m. Robert Brown ; d. -; (6) Charlotte Ann, b. July 4, 1817 ; m. Hugh T. Reed, a lawyer. She d. 1841; c .; (7) James Wilson, b. 1819 ; was a mechanic and natu- ral inventor ; d. of cholera, 1849 ; (8) Elizabeth Sarah ; educated at Keene, N. H. ; m. John T. Fisk, of Ken- tucky, who has since become an eminent lawyer. He was Lieut .- Governor of Kentucky during the rebellion, and a loyal man during the civil war.
Joseph, b. 1780 ; d. April 24, 1794, æ. 13 yrs.
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JAMES WILSON. His opportunities for early educa- tion were very limited in that early day in the town, when the people were obliged to make the most ener- getic exertions to secure for themselves a living. Young Wilson remembered very distinctly the alarm given at his father's house of the British attack on Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775. He remem- bered also the great stir among the people of the town when the brave men were taking their departure to join their patriotic brethren in the battle of Bunker Hill, of the same year.
On his eleventh birthday he was aiding and assisting some Peterborough men in driving cattle from the town to Bennington, for the support of Stark's army. His father, then a Major, and almost every able-bodied màn in town were among Stark's troops, and took part in the Bennington battle, Aug. 16, 1777. He remained at home with his parents, working on the farm, until the close of the Revolutionary War.
About the year 1782 or '83, he was, by the persevering efforts of his mother, as mentioned before, allowed to go to Phillips (Andover) Academy to prepare for college. He entered Harvard College in 1785. He was then a stout, strong, well-developed, muscular young man of nineteen years of age. When he entered college, he was the stoutest, most skilful, and best wrestler in the institu- tion. Wrestling was then the test of championship, and Wilson took the badge for this feat in his Freshman year, and retained it during the whole period of his college life. There is good authority for this statement. Sixty years afterward, upon the introduction of his son, J.
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JAMES WILSON.
Wilson, Jr., to the late Hon. John Quincy Adams, he said, when ascertaining his parentage, " Your father was the best wrestler in college."
James Wilson graduated at Harvard in 1789, and im- mediately entered the office of Judge Lincoln, of Worces- ter, Mass., as a student of law. He remained with Judge Lincoln, pursuing his law studies, till Dec. 25, 1790, when he was summoned home by his mother, on account of the sudden death of his father. He was united with his mother in the administration of his father's estate. He remained in Peterborough from that time, completing his legal studies in the office of Judge Smith, who was then a practising lawyer in town. Mr. Wilson was admitted to the bar in New Hampshire, in 1792, and as Judge Smith was elected to Congress from New Hampshire in 1791, and continued to hold that office for several succeeding years, and finally removed to Exeter, Mr. Wilson commenced the practice of his profession in his native town. He remained there till 1815, when he removed to Keene, where he continued the active practice of his profession until 1823, when his son was admitted to the bar, and succeeded to the busi- ness of the office and in the courts.
Mr. Wilson was a good lawyer, understood the science of the law thoroughly, was a man of quick and clear perception, vigilant in the preparation of his cases, and managed them, before the court and the jury, with distin- guished ability. In that particular branch of the pro- fessional duties of a lawyer he had but few superiors and not many equals in the State.
He had an extensive practice in the Counties of Hills- boro and Cheshire, attending all the courts of both coun- ties, and was retained as council, on one side or the other, in most of the cases that were tried.
In addition to his business in the courts, he did a large business in justice courts, in both Hillsboro and Che- shire Counties.
Mr. Wilson, while in the active practice of his profes- sion, had many young men in his office as students of law ; while at Peterborough, Gen. James Miller, John Wilson, D. Smiley, Thomas F. Goodhue, Zacheus Porter, Stephen P. Steele, David Scott, Charles J. Stuart, Mat- thew Perkins. After he removed to Keene, David Steele, . Amos A. Parker, Amasa Edes, and J. Wilson, Jr., all studied their profession with him. He held many offices of trust and honor in town, - moderator five years, from 1800 to 1814; representative to the General Court, from 1803 to 1815. He was a member of Congress for
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JAMES WILSON.
the Hillsboro District, from 1809 to 1811, the first two years of President Madison's administration.
Mr. Wilson was all his life an out-and-out, old-fash- ioned Federalist of the old school. The delegation from New Hampshire to the Eleventh Congress was unan- imously of the Federal party. It was changed in the next Congress, and Mr. Wilson was not in public office afterwards.
He m.,. Ist w., Elizabeth Steele, 1792, dau. Capt. David and Janet Little Steele ; she d. Nov. 4, 1806. He m., 2d w., Elizabeth Little, dau. Wallis Little, Esq., of Shirley, Mass., in November, 1810; she d. at Keene, Sept. 30, 1830. Mr. Wilson was a good citizen, a kind, generous, noble-hearted man, a grateful, dutiful son, a good husband and a sympathetic parent, 'very kind to his children and to all his friends. He was industri- ous, just, and vigilant in all matters of business, and died universally respected and esteemed by all who knew him. He d. at Keene, the 4th of January, 1839, æ. 73 yrs. ; Ist w., two ch .; 2d w., three ch.
Charlotte, b. May, 1794 ; d. March 26, 1796 ; æ. I yr., 10 mos.
t James, Fr., b. March 18, 1797 ; m. Mary L. Richardson. Robert, b. Sept. 24, 1811 ; m. -; c .; d. at Keene, April 8, 1870, æ. 58 yrs., 6 mos.
Elizabeth Jane, b. September, 1815 ; m. William G. Hunter ; c.
Sarah M. A., b. 1819 ; m. Col. Frank Lee, of Boston.
WILLIAM WILSON. He kept a public house, situated on the east side of the Street Road, a short distance north of his father's residence, which was much patron- ized in the early part of the century. All the assemblies and balls in town for many years were held at his house, and most of the public meetings. There were no accommodations for this purpose elsewhere. He lived in town all his long life, but ceased to entertain travel- lers many years before his decease. He m. Dotia Smith, of Hadley, Mass., b. Sept. 16, 1783, and d. Sept. 12, 1871, æ. 88 yrs. He d. July 6, 1860, æ. 90 yrs.
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Mary, b. June 22, 1807 ; d. Sept. 11, 1825, æ. 18 yrs. Eunice, b. Dec. 1, 1808 ; m. William Gibbon, Marlboro, Mass., Feb. 12, 1835 ; three ch. living.
I7 Joseph, b. Sept. 1, 1810; d. June II, 1812, æ. 16 mos. William, b. May 28, 1812 ; d. Jan. 16, 1814, æ. 19 mos.
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I8 Sarah Ann, b. May 18, 1814 ; m, James Scott, Esq.
20 James, b. Feb. 11, 1816 ; m. Sybil Stone, May 15, 1845.
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CHARLOTTE G. WILSON.
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Charlotte G., b. Oct. 24, 1818; m., May 3, 1848, James Jackson ; r. Cazenovia, N. Y.
22 Harriet H., b. July 26, 1821; d. Aug. 13, 1821, @. 18 dys.
Fane Gregg, b. March 14, 1823 ; d. Aug. 12, 1851, æ. 28 yrs. John, b. 1826 ; d. April 9, 1828, æ. 2 yrs.
t George W., b. July 7, 1828 ; m., Ist.w., H. Maria Smiley ; 2d w., Katie M. Grimes.
3- II JAMES WILSON, Jr. The following autobiography has been kindly furnished by Gen. Wilson at my request : ---- " His early life was passed in his native town, with only such educational privileges as were there to be had, which at that early day were very limited. His mother became an invalid when her son James was only two years old, and remained so during the remainder of her life, thus depriving him of that kind, maternal care and attention so indispensable to the proper development of a young mind. She departed this life when he was in the ninth year of his age.
" In the year 1807, young Wilson was sent for a few months to the academy at New Ipswich. In 1808, he was sent to Atkinson Academy, where he remained for some three or four years. In the year 1813, he attended Phillips (Exeter) Academy, at Exeter, N. H., for some six months.
"Our country was then involved in war with Great Britain, and young Wilson* at sixteen years of age was desirous of joining the American army, as some of his acquaintance but little older than himself already had done. His father would not give his consent to his son's enlistment, and he was not old enough to be subject to the draft. Disappointed and vexed at being deprived of the privilege of entering upon a military career, he left Exeter, and returning to his native town went into the North Factory at Peterborough as a common hand. He continued to work in the cotton factory during the autumn of 1813, the whole of the year 1814, and until the spring of 1815, when peace between the United States and England was proclaimed. That put an end not only to the war, but also to the manufacture of cot- ton at the North Factory. When peace between those countries came, in 1815, the price of cotton advanced, and the price of American manufactured cotton goods immediately declined, so that the proprietors of the factory had to shut down their gates. Young Wilson went home in the spring of 1815, and worked on his father's farm as a common farm-laborer. He worked
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JAMES WILSON.
during the following summer. In the autumn of that year, as his father was about removing to Keene, the son, having 'no whither else to go,' picked up his books and went back to his studies.
"James Wilson, Jr., entered Middlebury College in 1816, graduated from that institution in 1820, entered his father's office at Keene as a student at law, and was admitted to the bar in Cheshire County, N. H., at the fall term, 1823.
" His father, J. Wilson, Sen., retired from the active professional duties of his office on the admission of his son to the bar, and the young man, attaining his father's business, continued to practise law in Cheshire and Sul- livan and Grafton and Coos Counties, until the year 1836, when by a stroke of paralysis his father became unable to attend to his own private affairs, and required his son's assistance. He then gave up the northern counties, but continued the practice of the law in Cheshire.
"On leaving college in 1820, and fixing his residence at Keene, J. Wilson, Jr., entered the military service of the State. He was elected Captain of the Keene Light Infantry on the Ist day of January, 1821, and continued in the militia, constantly doing duty, until 1839, when he resigned the office of Major-General of the Third Divi- sion of New Hampshire Militia.
" At the March election in 1825, he was chosen as one of the two Representatives from the town of Keene to the State Legislature. In 1828, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire. In that House there were several men of distinguished reputation and of prominent standing in the Whig party, such as the Hon. Ezekiel Webster, the Hon. B. M. Farley, the Hon. Joseph Bell, Hon. P. Noyes, and others from different parts of the State. From the year 1825 to the year 1840 inclusive, he represented the town of Keene in the State Legislature, every year ex- cept the years 1833, '38, and '39. The last two years, viz., 1838 and '39, he was the candidate of the Whig par- ty in the State for Governor, but was defeated by his Democratic opponent.
"The year 1840 was a year of great political awakening in this country. The Democratic party had nominated Martin Van Buren as President of the United States for a second term. The Whigs went into the political battle under the banner of 'Tippecanoe and Tyler too,' 'and with them' determined to 'beat little Van.' The Whigs succeeded. Gen. James Wilson, of New Hampshire ('Long Fim,' as he was then familiarly called), did a good deal of political service in that campaign. He stumped
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JAMES WILSON.
almost all the New England States, spoke several times in Pennsylvania, and gave a whole month's work, on the stump, in the State of New York (Mr. Van Buren's State). Mr. Van Buren lost New York, Pennsylvania, and most of the New England States, and was defeated. "Gen. Harrison was elected President, and John Tyler Vice-President. They were inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1841. Gen. Harrison lived only one month after his inauguration, and Mr. Tyler suc- ceeded to the presidency. About June, 1841, Mr. Tyler offered to Gen. Wilson the office of Surveyor-General of Public Lands in the then Territories of Wisconsin and Iowa, which office he accepted, and took possession of the Surveyor-General's office, at Dubuque, Iowa, in the early part of the summer. He continued to hold that office and to perform its duties for four years. In 1845, James K. Polk having been elected President, he was removed.
"In 1846, the voters of the town of Keene returned Gen. Wilson again, as their representative, to the Gen- eral Court. That year the Whigs and a party styling themselves 'Independent Democrats' succeeded in de- feating the regular old line Democracy in New Hamp- shire. The State was districted for the choice of Representatives to Congress, and the following year he was elected a Representative from the Third Congres- sional District to the Thirtieth Congress. He was re- elected to the Thirty-first Congress, and held his seat until the 9th day of September, 1850, when he resigned and left this Eastern country for California. He resided in California eleven years continuously, and only returned East at the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion in 1861. On meeting his old friend, Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, Mr. Lincoln .of- fered him a Brigadier-General's commission in the army of the United States, which offer Gen. Wilson declined, for the reason of his advanced age and his physical infirm- ities. He remained East about a year and a half, giving such aid and moral support as he could to the Union cause. He returned to California in the autumn of 1862, and resided there until 1867, when he left the Pa- cific coast and returned to his old home in Keene, to live out the residue of his days among his old friends and ac- quaintances who had been so true and kind to him throughout so many, many years.
"In 1870 and '71, the voters of Keene elected him again to represent them in the General Court of the State of New Hampshire."
Gen. Wilson possessed much reputation as a lawyer,
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HUGH WILSON.
and had his whole efforts been turned to his profession, he must have become eminent. He was drawn off by the military and by politics, so that his profession be- came quite neglected. But in both these departments he excelled-there were in the State very few military men his equals,-and as a politician he gained great reputation. His power of addressing and holding a great multitude in times of excitement was extraor- dinary. It may be said in truth that he had very few equals in that oratory required for a political campaign. His success was wonderful; he gained good opinions at all points,-almost made his opponents yield to his mode of putting the political topics handled.
He now survives, at nearly eighty years of age, in the full possession of all his faculties, and resides at his former residence in Keene. But for bodily infirmities, we know not but his efficiency would be as great as ever ; mentally he seems as competent for active ser- vice as in his best days. May he be spared many years.
Mary E., b. Oct. 27, 1826 ; m. John Sherwood, New York ; three ch.
James E., b. July 28, 1829 ; d. March 9, 1832, æ. 3 yrs. William R., b. Nov. 22, 1830 ; d. March 17, 1834, æ. 4 yrs.
Annie F., b. Sept. 23, 1832 ; m. Col. Francis S. Fisk ; five ch.
Charlotte f., b. Aug. 31, 1835 ; m. Frank S. Taintor ; three ch. ; r. New York.
James H., b. Dec. 31, 1837.
Daniel W., b. Feb. 13, 1841 ; d. Jan. 18, 1846, æ. 5 yrs.
GEORGE W. WILSON is a harness-maker by trade. He lives in village, and is employed in upholstering at Briggs' Patent Piano Stool Manufactory. He m., Ist w., March 31, 1853, H. Maria Smiley, dau. of David Smiley, Jr. ; d. July 23, 1855, æ. 25 yrs. ; c .; m., 2d w., Katie M. Grimes, Sept. 22, 1867 ; she d. July 8, 1876, æ. 33 yrs. ; 2d w., three ch.
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William F., b. Aug. 19, 1868. Hattie M., b. Dec. 8, 1869.
Bessie, b. May 13, 1873 ; d. soon after birth.
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HUGH WILSON, a race, as far as known, entirely dis- tinct from the above. He came from Londonderry, where he was an important character. He was moder- ator in Londonderry in 1742 and also in 1750, and not
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HUGH WILSON.
after. He was also a representative to the General Court in 1738, and selectman 1737, '38, '39. It is sup- posed that he moved to town not far from 1752 or '53, having been here for some time previous in preparing. He was authorized by the charter to call the first meet- ing of the town under the act of incorporation, and was chosen moderator March 17, 1760, John Ferguson, town clerk ; Hugh Wilson, Thomas Morison, Jonathan Morison, Joseph Caldwell, and John Swan, selectmen ; surveyors of highways, Hugh Wilson, Thomas Morison, Jonathan Morison, John Smith, Thomas Cuningham, and John Robbe ; tithing-men, James Robbe and Hugh Dunlap ; constable, William Robbe, Jr. He was moder- ator seven years, from 1760 to '73, and selectman 1760, '64, '72. His name often appears in the town records till 1774, when it is no longer found, after the following vote, Sept. 12, 1774 : " Voted, To acquit Hugh Wilson on ac- count of his delivering up the charter of the town, and voted that Samuel Mitchell should have charge of the same charter." The inference here is, that he had shown some reluctance to give up the charter of the town, which was justly in his hands, and having consented to do it the vote was in vindication of this act.
We know nothing of what became of this important character after the above date, nor have we any trace, for the last seventy years or more, of a single member of his family. He bought three long lots a mile long, that made six hundred acres, nearly a mile square. The Pratt place was nearly the centre of it. The Mussey farm embraces a part of it, given to his son John, who sold it to Patrick White in 1777. He was also justice of the peace. He was m. when he came to town, and had four ch. by his Ist w., and according to notes of Samuel Smith he m. Hugh Gregg's sister, and then followed three more ch.
t Fohn, b. Londonderry, -; m. Barbara Gregg.
2 3 Ann, b. Londonderry, March 20, 1726 ; m. Joseph Ham- mill ; d. March 19, 1796, æ. 70 yrs.
Jenny, b. -; m. (Black) John Gregg.
4 5 Robert, b. July 8, 1731.
6 Margaret, b. July 8, 1733 ; m. Charles Cowell.
Hugh, b. Londonderry, April 7, 1742.
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8 Samuel, b. Londonderry, April 14, 1746 ; m. Sarah Dar- rah.
9 Molly, b. Londonderry, Oct. 11, 1748 ; m. John Mc- Donald.
IO James, b. Londonderry, -; m. Martha Taggart, dau.
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JOHN YOUNG.
of Heeland Taggart. He lived in various places ; d. of small-pox in Canada, in 1798.
JOHN WILSON m. Barbara Gregg.
John, b. Oct. 5, 1759. (12) Hugh, b. Oct. 16, 1761. Margaret, b. Jan. 8, 1764. (14) Ann, b. April 3, 1766.
THE YOUNG FAMILY.
JOHN YOUNG (Dr.) was the first physician of Peter- borough, of whose early life and education very little is known. He was b. in Worcester, Mass., June 2, 1739, and after obtaining such an education as the times af- forded, he studied his profession with the elder Dr. Green. The preparation for the profession of medicine in those days must have been very meagre compared with even the advantages now enjoyed, which are poor enough. He was considered among the best read men of his day, and our old people had a very high opinion of his medical knowledge and skill. He commenced his practice in Pelham, Mass., where he continued for a short time, and during this period he married and also buried his first wife. He now returned to Worcester, and was m. to Elizabeth Smith, who was b. Jan. 17, 1740, and they removed to Peterborough about 1764. We have no means of fixing definitely the precise time when he came to town. In his old account-books some charges are made in 1764, but none go back of this date. His name first appears on the town records as moderator of a meeting held Jan. 1, 1765, and then it occasionally occurs all alone, to 1800. He was moder- ator eight years, and selectman five years. He seems to have been a prominent man with our fathers in all these years previous to the present century. They had a large family of ten children after they came to town, none of whom are now living. They all left Peterborough early but one daughter, Jane, who was unmarried, and lived and died here. Mrs. Young survived her husband many years, and was again married to Samuel Twitchell, Esq., of Dublin (father to the late Dr. Amos Twitchell, of Keene), but again became a widow, and returned to Peterborough and spent the residue of her life with her daughter Jane. She d. Sept. 25, 1825, æ. 84 yrs.
Dr. Young sustained the reputation of being one of the best physicians of his day, and was extensively em- ployed in all this region. The elderly people of the town always spoke highly of his skill and judgment as a
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JOHN YOUNG.
physician, while they deplored his intemperate habits, which grew upon him and greatly abridged his useful- ness, especially during the latter part of his life. Among a hospitable people, such as were the early settlers of this town, the temptations to intemperance were very great, particularly to the physician. He could hardly avoid falling into this vice, unless he had been a "total abstinence man," a thing unheard of in those days. The practice of medicine was attended with great hardship. The roads were poor, often little more than bridle-paths, or the course pointed out by blazed trees. All was an interminable forest yet inhabited by wild beasts. I am told by an aged inhabitant of this town, now living, Mr. Elihu Thayer, that about ninety years ago Dr. Young, on a professional visit to his father's house- Deacon Christopher Thayer's, -came into the house in great trepidation, having been followed by a wolf, which had been attracted by a quarter of beef his brother had just brought home on his saddle before him. He stayed all night, fearing to go home through the woods.
The charges for medical services were very low at this time, and also very poorly paid. The early settlers had little to pay with but the produce of their farms; and I suppose the ancient doctor then shared the same fate with his successors, - that his bill was the last to be pro- vided for, and most easily pushed on from year to year without payment. It was the custom of the early physi- cians to charge so much a mile, and extra for all the medicines dispensed. Dr. Young, before the Revolu- tion, charged eightpence per mile, but he afterwards in- creased it to one shilling a mile. The medicines were charged high - they were probably more expensive than at the present time, - and if our subject may be author- ity, they were used with a pretty liberal hand. In Dr. Young's charges there is great profuseness of medicine in some of his cases, and it would often be difficult to devise with what intention a great deal of it was pre- scribed. It was no doubt necessary for the reputation of the doctor, and to satisfy the patient.
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