USA > New Hampshire > State builders; an illustrated historical and biographical record of the state of New Hampshire at the beginning of the twentieth century > Part 12
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and law is the perfection of reason," and it requires the most critical analysis and sound judgment to work out the various problems and put them into proper shape for the best good of the people. No one who is not trained in the law and has not learned the art of discrimina- tion is competent to perform this task. Ours being a gov- ernment of law, it would be impossible to administer it without those skilled in this science.
The laws are not only made, but they are executed by this class of men. They have laid aside the duties of the advocate and the making of briefs, and put on the robe of justice, still they are lawyers. We might ask with Cicero, "What is so king like, so munificent as to bestow help on those who supplicate our aid? to raise the op- pressed and save our fellow citizens from peril and pre- serve them to the state?"
Lawyers by their education and by their habit of thought and action, naturally become conservative, and adhere to fundamental principles; hence they are slow to change, but cling to fundamental truths. They adhere to organic law and constitutional guarantees. In this lies the safety of the state and nation, for they are anchored to something that is reliable, and are unmoved when danger threatens the state. It is the lawyer who stands at the helm ever ready to guide the "ship of state" through the storm.
The life, liberty, and property of the individual are placed in the care and custody of the lawyer, and if he is true to his profession, they are sacredly and securely cared for. Not only this, the great interests of state and nation are in his keeping. He is also called upon to care for and consider those more delicate relations of domestic life, which are constantly pressing upon him. More than this, he has always been ready to answer the call of country "when grim-visaged war" is seen throughout the land. Many of the active and prominent lawyers in New Hamp-
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shire left their practice and went to the front during the War of the Revolution and during the War of the Rebel- lion, and there, as elsewhere, maintained the honor and integrity of the nation.
Proud as we should be of the name and fame of the New Hampshire Bench and Bar for what it has been in the past, we believe that it is still an honor to the state, and that the profession has made progress during the last twenty-five years. The rules of Court now require that all students shall be examined by a competent committee, and they must pass a rigid examination before they can be admitted to practice at the bar. The bar has been elevated by this means, and attorneys are very much bet- ter prepared than ever before.
This, briefly, is what has been done by the Bench and Bar of New Hampshire. The work accomplished makes a bright page in the history of the state. Its motto is, "Fiat justicia ruat coelum." Each and every member of the bar ought to be deeply impressed with the dignity and greatness of his calling. It is a noble profession, and no. one but an active member can realize the great responsi- bility which is assumed by those who belong to it. The lawyer has not only his own personal cares and duties, but he must bear the burdens of his clients, and keep constantly in mind their interests and their welfare in all the complicated matters committed to his keeping, and this involves study and anxious thought.
Nowhere has the profession attained a prouder or more honorable position than in New Hampshire. From the earliest times in her history it has been celebrated for its high character and learning. Let it be guarded and pro- tected with a jealous eye and it will continue to be in the future as it has been in the past, the great conservator of state and nation.
No class of men has ever been more ready to sound the praises of the "Old Granite State" than her lawyers.
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Their love and affection for her hills and valleys have been made manifest throughout her history. They have championed her cause wherever and whenever an oppor- tunity has been presented, and have always been loyal to all of her interests. On the other hand, the state has placed her best interests in their keeping, and crowned them with her highest honors.
"Of law there can be no less acknowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world."
NOTE. - For some of the facts in this paper the author is indebted to the late Hon. Charles H. Bell, in his admirable work entitled " The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire."
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NOTES ON THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
BY IRVING A. WATSON, A.M., M.D.
No class of men has a cleaner record, or has done more for the upbuilding of the state from the earliest Colonial period to the present time than the medical profession. History shows that our physicians have not only stood in the front rank of their profession, but that, through all the struggles and vicissitudes of the Commonwealth from its very planting to the twentieth century, they have been among the leaders, whether in war or peace, serving with a loyalty and patriotism unchallenged and unexcelled.
The little colony which began the building of the state of New Hampshire at Strawberry Bank, in 1623, struggled with all the hardships incident to the severest of pioneer life, without a physician for eight years, when, in 1631, with the new impetus which was given the colony by the arrival of some fifty men and twenty-two women, came Dr. Renald Fernald, the first physician to settle in the Province of New Hampshire and the second in New England, Dr. Samuel Fuller, more frequently designated as Deacon Samuel Fuller, who came over in the "Mayflower" and settled at Plymouth Colony, being the first. It is an interesting fact that under such circum- stances a regularly educated physician should have set- tled with this little colony; and to what extent its future was due to his guiding presence cannot be shown, but it is among the probabilities that its successful career was largely shaped by him.
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Dr. Fernald was born in Bristol, England, July 6, 1595. He is said to have resigned a position in the Eng- lish navy to come to America, and, sailing in the "War- wick," arrived at Strawberry Bank July 4, 1631. That he was a man of ability, and that he served the colony to which he had joined himself with honor and fidelity, is evident from the few records left of his career. He was captain of a military company; Grand Juror in 1643; Town Recorder, 1654-1656; was Trial Justice of the Peace, Recorder of Deeds, Surveyor and Commissioner, and Clerk of Portsmouth at the time of his death, Octo- ber 6, 1656.
The name of Strawberry Bank was changed to Ports- mouth through the efforts of Dr. Fernald, in a petition which he with four others presented to the General Court in May, 1653, giving for a reason that the name of Strawberry Bank was "accidentally so called by reason of the bank of strawberries that was found in this place, and now your petitioners' humble desire is to have it called Portsmouth, being a name most suitable for this place, it being at the river's mouth, and a good harbor as any in the land."
The first coronor's inquest held in New Hampshire was in January, 1655, by a jury of twelve men, under the direction of Dr. Fernald, who certifies that the said jury returned the following verdict :
"Wee whose names are subscribed doe testifie how wee found Thomas Tuttell, the son of John Tuttell by the stump of a tree which he had newly fallin upon another limb of the other tree rebounding back and fell upon him, which was the cause of his death as wee consider : this was found the last day of the last March."
After the death of Dr. Fernald, in 1656, I find no evidence of there having been any regular physician in the colony, or province, for many years, the next, per- haps, being Walter Barefoote, who lived at Newcastle as
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early as 1660, but who seemed almost wholly engaged in politics, although he was a physician. He was Counsel- lor in 1682, and Chief Magistrate of the province in 1685. He died in 1688.
The second practising physician in the Province was probably John Fletcher, who lived in Portsmouth, was ad- mitted freeman in 1669. He was one of the nine found- ers of the first church in Portsmouth, in 1671. He died September 5, 1695.
Perhaps the next in order to be designated as a phy- sician was John Buss, who was also a minister, and who settled at Dover in the Oyster River Parish, now Dur- ham, in 1684. He practised medicine and preached from that date to 1718, when he retired.
The practice of medicine at this time, as well as for many years afterward, was to a considerable extent in the hands of the ministers, who added this accomplishment to their chosen labor of saving souls, maintaining intact their inelastic and unyielding dogmas, exercising a cen- sorship over the words and actions of their parishioners, standing guard against heresy and at all points fighting the devil with a few, but to them, all of the legitimate and sanctified weapons of religious warfare. To them medical science was as positive and as circumscribed as their theology. A limited knowledge of anatomy, and less of physiology, with the most empirical doctrine of thera- peutics constituted a sufficient medical education. There was no pathology, no chemistry, no microscopic investi- gations, no post-mortem examinations to verify diag- nosis, no clinical thermometers, stethoscopes, ophthalmo- scopes, etc., in fact, little beyond prayer; venesection, emetics, and cathartics, which were the chief and con- stant reliance of the practitioner, to which all forms of disease, or the patient, succumbed. Green (History of Medicine in Massachusetts ) says that "the ministers were expert in phlebotomy and they were wont to bleed and
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pray in all severe cases." The text-books taught that bleeding was in nearly all diseases the first thing to be resorted to, and in plethoric persons repeated bleedings were often recorded. So universally was this operation believed in as a remedial procedure and as a preventive of disease, that it became a very general practice among the well to be bled at least every spring. Barbers often performed this operation as well as extracted teeth. Emetics were also in great favor, applicable to almost every phase of ill health, Cathartics were used to an almost unlimited extent. With this heroic and appalling method of medical treatment, a patient, if he were fortu- nate enough to recover, must have been forever after in doubt as to what cured him.
The next physician of note in the Province was Dr. Thomas Packer, who began practice in Portsmouth about 1687, and remained there until his death in 1724. Dr. Packer was born in Portsmouth, England, educated as a surgeon in London, came to this country when a young man, and after residing a short time in Salem, Mass., located permanently in Portsmouth. He was a man of large influence and in high favor, most of the time, with the Royal Government. The General Court of New Hampshire was held at his house at one time. He also was noted for entertaining the royal guests that visited the province; was influential in the community, and so well thought of by the governor as to be included in the real estate allotment of several towns .* He also held several military and civic offices.
Perhaps the next physicians in chronological order were Dr. Thomas Alden and Dr. Jonathan Crosbee, who were in Dover as early as 1717 and 1718 respectively.
Dr. Joseph Peirce, who was quite a prominent and able physician for his time, began practice in Portsmouth,
* See Biographical Sketch of Dr. Packer by the author in Granite Monthly, February, 1900.
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probably about the time of Dr. Packer's death, in 1724. He was in successful practice in that place until January 17, 1749, at which time he died of small-pox. Dr. Peirce, in 1744, was commissioned "Surgeon Gen. of ye N. Hampshire Troops and Naval Forces," in which capacity he served the province well.
Dr. John Ross was a physician of some note in Ports- mouth, and was practising in that place as late as 1747. He was one of the incorporators of Barrington, in 1722, and of Kingswood, in 1737. He practised medicine for many years in Portsmouth.
Although Exeter was settled in 1638, as far as can be ascertained no physician located there until about 1718 or 1720, although it is not supposed that during this entire period the town was without some one who practised the healing art, though perhaps in special cases medical aid may have been received from Portsmouth. Dr. Thomas Dean, who was born in Boston, November 28, 1694, began practising in Exeter between about the dates above stated, and followed his profession there until his death in 1768. In official capacity he served as selectman of the town, and was captain and afterwards major in the Militia. He was one of the proprietors of the town of Gilmanton.
The next physician to settle in that town was Dr. Josiah Gilman, who was born in Exeter February 25, 1710, and died January 1, 1793. He was an able medical practitioner, a man of considerable education and good business capacity; was loyal to the colony and served the province well.
From his time to the Revolutionary period, the fol- lowing physicians, some of whose names will be forever perpetuated in the history of the colony, were engaged in the practice of medicine in Exeter: Dudley Odlin, Robert Gilman, Eliphalet Hale, John Giddings, John Odlin, Nathaniel Gilman, Caleb G. Adams, John Lam-
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son, Joseph Tilton, Samuel Tenney and Nathaniel Pea- body. Evidently all these physicians were men of unusual ability and patriotism, and did more or less ser- vice for the Province and for the country. Dr. Giddings was selectman, representative, commanded"a company in the Revolution, and was nominated a candidate to the Continental Congress, but modestly declined. Dr. Adams served in the Revolution as Surgeon of Col. Poore's Third New Hampshire Regiment; Dr. Lamson was noted for his eventful life, which from the time of his coming of age was largely devoted to the service of his country, serving as surgeon's mate under Col. Nathaniel Meserve; was captured by the Indians after the surrender of Mont- calm; held a prisoner by the French in Montreal, was ran- somed, finally exchanged, and sent to England, where, having attracted the attention of Gen. Edward Wolfe, father of the future captor of Quebec, he was appointed Surgeon's Mate in the King's regiment, under Wolfe's command. Two years later, he returned to Exeter, subse- quently served as surgeon in another regiment. Dr. Joseph Tilton served as Surgeon on board the "Pri- vateer" during the Revolution. Dr. Nathaniel Peabody became an eminent physician, and also a man of note, having served as Adjutant-General of the Militia of the state; a delegate to the Continental Congress; a member of the State Legislature, and Major-General of the Militia. Dr. Tenney, from the breaking out of the Revolution, entered the army, was present in season to assist the wounded at Bunker Hill. At the close of the war he re- turned to Exeter and continued the practice of his pro- fession.
The physicians of Dover, from the time of Dr. Cros- bee, about 1718, down to the Revolutionary War, were Samuel Merrow, Thomas Miller, Cheney Smith, Moses Carr, Moses Howe, Ebenezer Noyes, Ezra Green and Samuel Wigglesworth, all of whom, so far as can be
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learned, were able and reputable men, some of whom served the Province in a military or a political capacity.
Dr. Miller was appointed surgeon of a New Hamp- shire regiment under Colonel Moore, in the Louisburg ex- pedition, in 1745; but I find no record of his accepting the appointment.
Dr. Smith was assistant surgeon of a New Hampshire regiment in 1759.
Dr. Moses Carr, in addition to his medical practice, was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1776 to 1784, and was also a charter member of the New Hampshire Medical Society.
Dr. Ezra Green was born June 17, 1746 O. S .; grad- uated from Harvard College in 1765; settled in Dover as physician in 1767; immediately following the battle of Bunker Hill he joined a New Hampshire regiment under Colonel Reed as surgeon, and served until the winter of 1776; in 1777, was commissioned Surgeon of the war ship "Ranger" under command of Capt. John Paul Jones, sailed for France in November of that year, and was in the engagement with the "Drake"; sailed again as Sur- geon of the "Ranger" two years later, and in 1780 as Sur- geon of the "Alexander," serving in that capacity until 1781, when his Revolutionary service ended. He was the first postmaster of Dover, and held the office several years. He was a member of the State Convention in 1778, which adopted the Constitution of the United States, and was one of the founders of the New Hamp- shire Medical Society.
Dr. Samuel Wigglesworth was born April 25, 1734, and graduated from Harvard College in 1752. He was Surgeon in Colonel Waldron's regiment in 1775-1776; Surgeon in Colonel Wingate's regiment in 1776-1777.
Among the early physicians of Portsmouth were Na- thaniel Rogers, Nathaniel Sargent, Clement Jackson, Hall Jackson, Joshua Brackett, and Ammi R. Cutter.
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All of the above were men of distinction and some of renown.
Dr. Nathaniel Rogers was born in 1700; graduated from Harvard College in 1717. Among his civil services was that of Representative to the Legislature and Speaker of the House.
Dr. Nathaniel Sargent graduated from Harvard Col- lege in 1717. He was a practitioner of renown.
Dr. Clement Jackson was one of the most eminent physicians of Portsmouth for many years. His practice was extensive. He died in 1788, at the age of 83.
Dr. Hall Jackson, a son of. Dr. Clement Jackson, was born in Portsmouth about 1739; completed his medical education in the hospitals of London, and afterwards became distinguished in his profession. Several hospitals for inoculating smallpox were placed in his charge. He received an honorary degree of M. D. from Harvard; was one of the charter members of the New Hampshire Med- ical Society. He was an ardent patriot, taking personal command of an artillery company having three brass cannon.
Dr. Joshua Brackett was born in Greenland May, 1733; graduated from Harvard College in 1752. He first stud- ied theology, afterwards medicine. His ability as a physi- cian was recognized to the extent that he was made an honorary member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1783, and received an honorary degree from Harvard in 1792. He was first Vice President of the New Hamp- shire Medical Society, and in 1793 was elected its presi- dent. He had the largest medical library in the state, consisting of one hundred and forty volumes, which he presented to the New Hampshire Medical Society. He was appointed judge of the Maritime Court for this state at the time of the Revolution, and held that office until the duties of it were transferred to the District Court. He died in 1802.
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Dr. Ammi R. Cutter was born in 1735; graduated from Harvard College in 1752. After the completion of his medical studies he was appointed surgeon of a regiment raised to oppose the French and Indians, and continued with his regiment on the frontier until they were or- dered to Cape Breton. He was at the capture of Louis- burg in 1758. He was invited to accept the office of Consul under the Royal Government, but declined because it would interfere with his professional duties. In 1777, he assumed charge of the medical department of the Northern army, with which he remained until the sur- render of General Burgoyne. He was delegate to the Convention that formed the Constitution of New Hamp- shire. He was several years president of the New Hamp- shire Medical Society.
During this early period there resided at Kingston Drs. Thomas Green, Amos Gale and Josiah Bartlett.
Thomas Green and Amos Gale were both distinguished in their profession, as indeed was the Gale family, on account of the number of physicians bearing that name.
Josiah Bartlett was not only a distinguished practi- tioner of medicine, but was even more distinguished as a statesman, whose first thought was the welfare of the province and the state. He was born in Kingston in 1729, and at the age of twenty-one began in Kingston, where he became one of the foremost prac- titioners of the state. He was the founder of the New Hampshire Medical Society, which received its charter through his efforts in 1791. In public and political life he exerted a great influence for the welfare of the state, first appearing in public as a representa- tive to the legislature of the province of New Hamp- shire. He was a member of the committee of safety; was chosen one of the delegates to the general con- gress in Philadelphia in 1744, but declined election; the following year he was appointed to command a
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regiment by the first provincial congress, of which Dr. Matthew Thornton was president; the same year he was chosen to the continental congress, and was re- elected the following year and signed the Declaration of Independence; in 1779, was appointed chief justice of the court of common pleas; in 1782,, was promoted to be justice of the superior court, and in 1788, made chief jus- tice of the state. He also served as president of New Hampshire, and afterwards was elected first governor. He was a great man, far-sighted, and thoroughly trusted by the people. His influence for the welfare of the state was second to no man living during that trying period.
Ebenezer Thompson of Durham, born in 1737 O. S., through civil preferment, left the practice of medicine for the service of the state and country. He was a man of marked ability, and rose step by step through various official positions to that of judge of the superior court. During the Revolutionary period he held the three im- portant offices of councillor, member of the committee of safety, and secretary of state. In 1778, he was chosen representative to the continental congress. He held the position of special justice of the superior court, clerk of the court of common pleas, representative to the general court, justice of the inferior court of common pleas, and, finally, justice of the superior court. He was one of the presidential electors when Washington was chosen president.
In Londonderry there resided another physician of note, and a patriot whose name, like that of Josiah Bartlett, will be forever perpetuated in the history of the country, Matthew Thornton, New Hampshire's other signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Ire- land about 1714; came to this country when an infant; received an academical education; studied medicine and commenced practice in Londonderry, where he acquired an extensive and well merited reputation as a physician
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and surgeon as well as the distinction of being an ag- gressive and public-spirited patriot. Dr. Thornton par- ticipated in the perils of the expedition against Louis- burg as surgeon of the New Hampshire division of the army. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War he held the rank of colonel in the militia. He was also commissioned justice of the peace under the administra- tion of Benning Wentworth. In 1775, when the British government was dissolved and the provincial government formed for temporary purposes, he was appointed first president. In 1776, he was elected Speaker of the general assembly, and was appointed by the house of representa- tives a delegate to represent the state of New Hampshire in congress. The same year he was appointed judge of the superior court of New Hampshire, which office he held till 1782. He had previously received the appoint- ment of chief justice of the court of common pleas. After the close of the Revolution, he served as a member of the general court, and also as a member of the senate.
Dr. Isaac Thom was one of the earlier distinguished physicians of the state. Born at Windham in 1746; com- menced practice in that town, but later removed to Lon- donderry. He was prominent in public affairs. Aside from minor offices, he was a member of the committee of safety during the Revolution; was justice of the peace, and the first postmaster of Londonderry, and one of the charter members of the New Hampshire Medical Society.
Another physician who did much for the independence of the country was Henry Dearborn, who was born in Hampton in 1751, and settled in Nottingham as a physi- cian in 1772. Upon the news of the Battle of Lexington he marched with sixty volunteers to the scene of action; on the seventeenth of June he marched to Bunker Hill with his company under Stark, and fought most bravely under the eye of that general. In September he joined Arnold's expedition through the wilds of Maine and
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Canada. In the assault on Quebec he was taken prisoner; was exchanged in March, 1777, and appointed Major in Scannell's regiment; he was in the battle of Stillwater and Saratoga, and fought with such ability as to be noticed in orders by General Gates. He was with General Sullivan in his expedition against the Indians in 1799, and was in Yorktown at the surrender of Cornwallis. After the war he settled in Maine, where he was marshal by ap- pointment of Washington. He was a member of Con- gress two terms; secretary of war under Jefferson; col- lector of the port of Boston; in 1812 was appointed major general in the army of the United States, was captured at York in Canada, and Fort George at the mouth of the Niagara; he was recalled in July, 1813, put in command of the Military District of New York City; in 1822 he was appointed by President Monroe, Minister Plenipo- tentiary to Portugal.
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