Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Part 147

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1189

USA > Ohio > Hancock County > Findlay > Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens > Part 147

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The distemper was now extended to Cambridge ar: Boylston inoculated a number of the students and two instructors. The General Assembly had been sitting in !! bridge since November 7, 1721, having been adjourned : town on account of the epidemic in Boston, and Gov. Shute, therefore, had asked for a short session. In the e. of a few weeks, however, one of the Boston members o. smallpox. It was supposed that he had become inles through the Speaker, Dr. Clark, who was the leading phre of Boston and in active practice. The Assembly imme adjourned and did not meet again until the following when the epidemic had ceased.

The custom of inoculating, urged as a duty by the citizens, ministers and magistrates, who offered exam; themselves and in their families, now became definitely lished and ceased only with the disappearance of the &

During its course Dr. Boylston had inoculated 244 p and Dr. Thompson had inoculated 25 in Cambridge sz! Roby 11 in Roxbury. Dr. Boylston had inoculated 10 p. in Charlestown, but was so busy in Boston and Roxbury = could see them but once. The Courant states: " "We bas" Persons have had the Small Pox inoculated upon them :1 bury." Of the 280 inoculated persons only six died. : tality of one in forty-six, in contrast to one in six or those who had become diseased through contagion.

Reports now were received from London of the intrer of inoculation into England. The News-Letter of ( !: 16-23, 1721, published as news from London that

A Representation has been made to his Majesty, b 5 Physicians, that the Small-pox may be communicated, and " great Success, by Incision or Inoculating, as 'tis commoniy len as might be experienc'd, if some proper Objects to prat- were found out. And we are assured that two of the condes Prisoners, now in Newgate, have offered themselves to ane the Experiment, upon Condition of receiving his Majesty: gracious Pardon.

In the Gazette of October 23-30, 1721, it was annoen the eruption had appeared on some of the inoculated ??

" Some Observations on The New Method, etc., op. cit.

" courant DOC Bare 21-2, No. 22.

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- from the London Mercury of September 16, : "Great Numbers of Persons in the City and in the rbs are under the Inoculation of the Small Pox. Among est the oldest Son of a Noble Duke in Hanover Square." :rease Mather published " an account of the communica- f Dr. Walter Harris of London with regard to the inocu- of small-pox. In this is an abstract of the communica- of Timoni and a statement of the inoculation of the ren of the Hon. Wortley Montague. The News-Letter arch 5-12, 1722, No. 945, reports from the St. James's ing Post, August 17, 1721, the letters of Timoni and of ini as printed in the Philosophical Transactions and . Dr. Douglass had refused to show even to the Lieu- t Governor after they had been returned by Cotton er. Mr. Campbell, the publisher of the News-Letter, a note to the effect that a copy of these letters had been 3 possession for five months.

e epidemic had now come to an end and Dr. Boylston's s met with a deserved recognition from Isaac Greenwood, vards Professor of Natural Philosophy in Harvard Col-

He published, February 25, 1721, 2, a pamphlet en- , " A Friendly Debate; or a DIALOGUE between ACADEMI- nd SAWNY & MUNDUNGUS, Two Eminent PHYSICIANS, Some of their Late PERFORMANCES." This he dedicated llows:

my very Worthy Physician, Mr. ZABDIEL BOYLSTON.

how no Person so proper, to present the following Dialogue your Self.

h has been your undaunted Resolution, and truly Heroic ge, thro' the whole Course of your dangerous Enterprize; uch Your Conduct and Wisdom, as merit our highest Re-

and most public Thanks. To You under the Auspicious lence of GOD, we are Indebted for the Blessing of INOCULA- for you can claim the undivided Honour of Introducing it ; us. And hadst not thou began it, perhaps, there would .ve been found a Soul so truly great, as to have undertaken r this, Sir, I am bold to say, Your Name shall be mention'd Honour, whilst those Physicians, and others, who have z'd themselves by their Malice and opposition to you, shall erwise spoken of.

ated cases still occurred and the Selectmen found it ent to make the following proclamation,“

pril, 1722: WHEREAS sundry Evil-minded Persons have of dustriously reported in the Country Towns, that the Small again very brief in this Town, many Persons now Sick of istemper, and several lately dead. This is to Certifie that port is false & groundless, there being but three Folks now to have the Small-Pox; . ... Could the Inventor of such ous Lyes be fully discovered it would be of Publick Ser- If any Families that have had that Distemper have not · aired their Houses and Bedding. It is Recommended to h more especially Innholders and those that entertain

rant, Dec. 25-Jan. 1, 1721 (2), No. 22.

ette, Jan. 29-Feb. 5, 1721 (2), No. 115; also, Some further t from London of the Small-Por Inoculated. The Second 1721 (2).

Is-Letter, April 9-16, 1722, No. 950.

airing and cleansing their Houses and Bedding.

On May 11, 1722, however, Dr. Boylston inoculated six per- sons and on May 15, 1722, it was voted"

that a gard be forthwith Set at the House of Mr Joseph Hub- bard, Blacksmith to prevent the Removal of Mr Samll Sewal and Sundry others at Said House without orders and Direction of of the Select men they having bin Inoculated for the Smal Pox.

Voted also that there be a gard Set at the House of Coll John Alford for the Same Reason Mrs Joana Alford being there and having Inoculated.

* *

* # . * * * #

Voted that a message be sent to Coll John Alford (by Doctr Boylston & Constable Titmarsh) to acquaint him that the Select men Doe Assigne Spectakle Island to be [the] place his Sister be forth with Remoued unto.

At the same meeting a committee was appointed " to draw up instructions for the representatives of Boston to present to the Assembly for the purpose of preventing the practice of in- oculation in any town or place without the approval of the Selectmen. This vote was passed because there had been dis- pute whether the law relating to the spreading of smallpox gave full power to the Selectmen to do what was needful to prevent the spreading of any contagious distemper and remove persons who may be infected.

On the same day the Selectmen applied " for a warrant to remove Mr. Sewall, his wife, two children and one other of his family who had been inoculated from Mr. Hubbard's house to Spectacle Island, also to remove Joan Alford.

The committee appointed at the town meeting of May 15, 1722, reported " three days later :

We also in a Special manner Recomend to your Consideration what Refers to the preventing the Spreading of any Contagious Distemper And whereas the Inoculating or Transplanting of the Smal pox has of late bin practised among us to the Terror of many of the Inhabitants.

We desire you to use your best Endeavor that it may be under a propper Regulation, and not practissed in any Town or place without the approbation of the Select men of Such Town, And in as much as there has bin some late Dispute about the meaning of the Law that Refers to preventing the spreading of the Smal pox, etc., whether the Select men have full power to doe what is needfull to prevent the Spreading of any Contagious dis- temper and Remoue persons that may be Infected. It is there- fore proposed that the Select men of Every Town may be Clothed with full power to obtain the great End & Designe of that Law, which is for the Preservation, Health and Safety, of the In- habitants.

In the Courant of May 14-21, 1722, No. 42, the following notice is inserted :

By the Select-Men of Boston

Whereas it is reported in the Country Towns, That great Num- bers are now sick of the Small Pox in Boston, not only in the Common Way, but also that greater Numbers are inoculated for that Distemper, These are therefore to signify That the said Report is false and groundless; for that according to the best

" Boston Town Records, 1722, 165.

50 Boston Town Records, 1722, 165.

51 Selectmen's Minutes, 1722, 97.

52 Boston Town Records, 1722, 166.

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JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL BULLETIN.

Informations, there are not above three or four now sick in the Town in the Common way; and the Select Men having sent for Dr. Boylstone, he solemnly declared in the publick Town-Meeting, that there were no more than six Persons in Boston under Inocu- lation of the Small-Pox, and that it was performed on them on Fri- day and Saturday, the 11th and 12th Instant; And the said Doctor Boylstone then also did solemnly declare and promise That he would not either directly or indirectly inoculate any Person within said Town for the Future without License and Approbation of the Authority of the Town.

Whereupon they may also certify, That the said Six Persons under Inoculation, were by Order of said Select Men, and Warrant from Two Justices of the Peace, immediately sent down to the Hospital on Spectacle Island.

According to Hutchinson," the Representatives passed a bill prohibiting inoculation, but the Council refused to agree to it. It took special action, however, with reference to the inoculated persons at Spectacle Island by ordering,"

2 June, 1722. That the persons so Inoculated shall not Come up to the Town of Boston during this present Session of the General Assembly without Leave first obtained.

The simultaneous introduction of inoculation in England, although meeting with decided opposition, was not attended with such excitement and fear as in Boston. At this time Sir Hans Sloane was one of the most distinguished physicians in London. He was President of the Royal College of Physi- cians, Physician-General to the Army, one of the physicians to Queen Anne and present in her fatal illness. He was also the physician of the Princess Caroline, wife of George II. He had been Secretary to the Royal Society, and it was at his in- stigation that Pylarini had written the account of inoculation published in the Philosophical Transactions in 1716.

His participation in the introduction of inoculation into England led him to prepare a statement which he intendedl should be published in 1736, although it was not printed until some twenty years later.38

It appears that the Princess Caroline had become interested in the subject on account of the dangerous illness of her daughter whom Dr. Sloane was treating for smallpox, and doubtless had been made acquainted with the communications in the Philosophical Transactions. She knew of the successful inoculation of the Montague children and requested that the experiment might be tried upon some condemned criminals who were to be freed in case of its success. This was done by Mr. Maitland, the surgeon who had inoculated the Montague children. In order to test the protective influence of the in- oculation Sir Hans Sloane and Dr. Steigerthal, physician to George I, hired one of the inoculated criminals to act as nurse and bedfellow to a patient with smallpox. Princess Caroline also caused several charity children to be inoculated. The success of these inoculations and of others led the princess to ask Dr. Sloane for his opinion of the expediency of inoculating her daughters. Through his statements to her and to George

53 Op. cit., II, 249.

" Province Laws, X, 161.

" Phil. Trans., 1755. XLIX, 516.

I, two of her daughters were inoculated," April 19, l': Sergeant-Surgeon Amyand under the direction of St Sloane. Two years later two of her sons were inoculated in Germany by Mr. Maitland, the other in London by Seo Surgeon Amyand, again under the direction of Sir Sloane.

The progress of inoculation during the epidemic in Bo had been followed in England. The Reverend Mr. Matter a statement," dated March 10, 1722, showing the morta. " inoculated smallpox to have been only one in sixty, alt. at a later period in England there were but two deaths z. cases. This contrast led Dr. Jurin, then Secretary Royal Society, to consider that the operators in England more cautious. That this was not the universal opini: pears in an extract from the letter of Dr. Thomas written from Salem, June 4, 1723. In this he states:"

We don't as yet See any ill Effects of Inoculation, but te oculated are as yet as well, and some of them a great deal than ever; as for the ill Consequences that have been in Essa I can't tell what they may arise from, but I can hardly think : are the genuine effects of Inoculation, but may arise from previous Disposition to such Distempers as you mention or f want of due Evacuation after Inoculating and too soon bes. the places of Incision.

With the diminution in the mortality from smallp England came a lessening in the frequency of inoculatka in 1725 the number of deaths from smallpox in Londen 3188, one-eighth of the total mortality," although during : year only 151 persons were inoculated in Great Britain. only 105 persons in the following year.

It was at this time that Zabdiel Boylston spent a Ter" England. He was then the inoculator with the large : dividual experience, although his publications on the ss; were but few and brief. It is quite possible that he had invited to visit England for the purpose of presentin: : experience, especially as he had made no further com. cation since the cessation of the Boston epidemie in : Douglass " suggests that he went to England to seek prod: employment as an experienced inoculator on account of : of business at home. This slur was immediately answer" in a communication dated March 3, 1729, 30, in which stated that Dr. Boylston, though often asked, refuse. inoculate persons while in London.

It is quite probable that Sir Hans Sloane invited hix visit London, certainly he urged him to publish his exper .? " The latter is made apparent in his preface to the " Hista: Account." In this he declares that

Writing is a Talent which, of all Things, I never made E Pretentions to and little thought of giving at this Tice

" The History of the Inoculation of the Small-Por in & Britain, etc. William Woodville, 1796, I, 104.

57 Phil. Trans., XXXII, 1724, 213.

" Phil. Trans., XXXIII, 1726.

39 Woodville, op. cit., 175.

00 Dissertation Concerning Inoculation of the Small-Pox. Li-

"1 A LETTER to Doctor ZABDIEL BOYLSTON; Occasioned by a CONCERNING INOCULATION;

DISSERTATION

Printed at Ex MDCCXXX.

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., I a Message from a Superior Person that an Account of my :ss of inoculating the Small-Pox in New England might be ful, as being of great use, and beneficial to the Publick, I m'd it as the strongest Obligation upon me so to do, and in liance to that Command I have done it faithfully. If I had ›sed any Advantage to myself, in the Practice here, I should done it above a Year past, on my Arrival in London, and low on my return home.

is surmised that Dr. Boylston first presented his ex- ence to the Royal College of Physicians of which Dr. ne was President, or to the Royal Society of which he made a member in July, 1726, but direct evidence upon point is lacking. The only published " communication e by him to the latter is on " Ambergris in Whales," 'ence to which and to his love for horses is to be found in a letter in the Massachusetts Historical Society from him enjamin Colman, dated London, February 26, 1724, 5. ne " Historical Account " is printed in almost a sumptu- nanner as compared with the second edition published in on in 1730. Its form suggests that Dr. Boylston's affairs in a prosperous condition at the time, and additional nce on this point, as well as of a kindly if not forgiving sition, is afforded by Ward Nicholas Boylston's state- " of his interview with Benjamin Franklin. While near : in 1783, Mr. Boylston was introduced to Franklin who :o him,

shall ever revere the name of Boylston; Sir, are you of the y of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston of Boston?" to which I replied le was my great-uncle, "then, Sir, I must tell you I owe thing I now am to him. . ... When Dr. Boylston was in nd, I was there reduced to the greatest distress, a youth ut money, friends or counsel. I applied in my extreme dis- to him, who supplied me with twenty guineas; and relying s judgment, I visited him as opportunities offered, and by therly counsels and encouragements I was saved from the of destruction which awaited me, and my future fortune ased upon his parental advice and timely assistance. Sir, you will visit me as often as you find you have leisure while is."

le remains to be recorded of Dr. Boylston's career subse- to his return to Boston, which he reached before the f October, 1726. He resumed his practice, which must een greatly in demand after his reception in England. 1 it is called " " great in town and country " and " every tioner gives him the preference to Douglass in curing

Ai The practice of inoculation had become so well shed that in the epidemic of 1729-30, imported from Ire- the Selectmen no longer were urged to remove the ated to the pesthouse, but precautions were recommended tect the inhabitants from those inoculated within the The following extract " from the Town Records illus- this change of sentiment. At the town-meeting of

1. Trans., 1726, XXXIII, 193.

E. Hist. & Genealog. Reg., 1881, XXXV, 150. etter to Doctor Zabdiel Boylston, etc., 1730. ton Town Records, 1729, 14.

habitants

That the Town might Consult proper methods for preventing the spreading of the Small Pox by Inoculation.

Since the Date of which Petition a Considerable Number of the Inhabitants within a few days past have bin Inoculated, and Sundry Others are preparing therefore, In Consideration whereof the Town came unto the Following Vote,

That it be Earnestly Recommended to the Inhabitants and Freeholders and in an Especial Manner to Masters of Familyes. That all Proper care be taken That Such Persons as Shall for the Future be Inoculated for the Small Pox do Imediately keep in their Houses First giving notice to the Neighborhood of Such their Designs, And that during the Opperation of the Distemper all proper Methods be taken to prevent it's Spreading. And that they would not come or walke abroad in the Streets, Lanes or Alleys within the Town Until their Incisions are well clensed and Healed: Further that the Practitioners in Physick would give to the Select men or to the Town Clerk, the number of Persons by them Inoculated once a week at least, with an Impartial Account of the Operation on their Several Patients in the Course of their Inoculation.

Of the physicians who originally had opposed inoculation, Dr. Williams" entered upon its practice in 1730 " with the utmost caution." Dr. Cutler " writes to Dr. Gray of London, May 30 (1730?) :

The Small Pox is now overspreading this town and strikes terror into the whole country. The Contagion has proved mortal to many, and has therefore inclined great numbers to venture upon inoculation, which has been attended with great success. I have submitted my wife and seven children and a servant to the practice. The most visible effect of this affliction is to set us in. parties. The main of the church are against it; and it seems that he is no Churchman or Christian who is for it.

Even Dr. Douglass " regarded it as " a considerable improve- ment in Physick." He states that most of those opposed acknowledge that inoculated smallpox is easier than when the disease is accidentally received, that the former is less fatal and that the symptoms are more favorable. He finds that it is the custom for the practitioners to inoculate when requested, but not to persuade or dissuade the applicant. In the last years of his life he became a more earnest advocate and rec- ognized " that

The novel practice of procuring the Small-pox by inoculation, is a very considerable and most beneficial improvement in that article of medical practice . . . . The small-pox received by cuti- cular incisions has a better chance for life and an easy decumbi- ture; that is, the small-pox so received is less mortal and gener- ally more favourable, than when received in the accidental or . natural way.

66 The METHOD of Practice in the SMALL Pox with Observations on the Way of Inoculation. Taken from a Manuscript of the late Dr. Nathaniel Williams, etc. Edited by Thomas Prince, MDCCLII, 13. "7 A Brief Memoir of William Douglass, M. D. By Timothy L. Jennison, M. D., Mass. Med. Soc. Comm., 1834, V, 236. 68 Dissertation Concerning Inoculation of the Small Pox, MDCCXXXI, 8.

" A Summary, etc., op. cit., II, 406.

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He continues " to credit Cotton Mather with no other motive than " the desire for the imaginary honour of a new-fangled notion," and his sentiments towards Dr. Boylston remain un- changed. For he adds in a foot note," "This undaunted opera- tor imagined that by going to London with a quackbill of his inoculation performance in New-England, he might acquire a fortune in London; but so it happened, that void of common discretion to couch his ignorance and silly mean assurance, he returned to Boston without being called upon to perform any inoculation."

By way of contrast his friend, Dr. Isaac Watts, writes to Dr. Boylston from Newington in a letter of April 25, 1735, reproduced by Peter Thacher " in his memoir, " The inocu- lation was a glorious and successful retreat, or if you will, a victory over the powers of death in Boston, when it was first practised under your conduct. It has not been so happy among us in England, nor do I find it has been equally happy in New-England since, but the want of conduct in the under- takers, may be are considerable cause of it."

After the publication of the American edition of Bolyston's Historical Account, in 1730, there was no further epidemic of smallpox in Boston until 1752. Douglass relates " that

A ship from London, Capt. Cousins, with the small-pox aboard, was bulged Dec. 24, 1751, in Nahant bay near Boston; the people of Chelsey, the adjacent town, compassionately assisting to save the ship's crew, received the small-pox; about one in four or five died. . ... It arrived in Boston in January following, by a sailor belonging to the Ship, and got into five or six families, but did not much spread till the twentieth of March, 1752, and Mon- day the twenty-third, inoculation was let loose; some greedy practitioners indiscriminately inoculated any persons who could be pursuaded to receive it, even pregnant women, puerpeas, old negroes, and the like.

Of the 15,734 residents of the town 1800 fled through fear of the smallpox; of those remaining 7,653 had smallpox; of these 2109 were inoculated." The mortality among those not inoculated was one in ten or eleven, while of the inoculated only one in sixty-eight died. In England under Daniel Sutton and his assistants, between the years 1764 and 1766, nearly 20,000 persons were inoculated with but three deaths and these were not fairly attributable to the inoculation."

Dr. Boylston thus lived long enough to see inoculation well- established and successful and to know that he was recognized as one of the world's benefactors.

Dr. Thomas Boylston, the father of Zabdiel, owned a home- stead of ninety-six acres in Brookline which after his death was deeded and sold to Peter Boylston by his brothers and sister. About the year 1736, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, who is said to have accumulated a handsome fortune, bought the homestead

1º Summary, etc., II, p. 409.

11 Summary, etc., p. 409. 12 Loc. cit.

" Summary, etc., II, 347.

1+ Selectmen's Minutes, 1752, 283.

" The Practice of Inoculation Justified, A Sermon by Robert Houlton, M. A., Chaplain to the Earl of Dorchester and officiating ( . man of Mr. Sutton's. Essex, 3d Ed., 1767.

of his brother Peter, who removed to Boston and open- shop." After purchasing the homestead, he built the mass. still standing in excellent preservation and now the residz- of Mr. George Lee. In 1741 his brother Peter's pes : transferred to him, and in 1744 he voted at a town mehr; Brookline. It is known that he continued to practise med. until he was over seventy years of age, for among the Mss the Boston Public Library is a certificate which Zabdiel B. ton of Boston gave to Thomas Fleet in November, 1152. t. effect that the physical disability of the latter was such e; prevent his being exposed as a watchman in bad were This library also possesses a receipt from him for medi. and attendance dated Boston, April 23, 1753. It is pr. that Dr. Boylston resided continuously or interruptei: Brookline during this period, but eventually he retired country seat where, according to Peter Thacher, "ente: by age and disease he passed his last days in the dignity .. ever accompanies those who have acted their part well in ."

Inscribed on his tomb in the old cemetery at Brookline .: far from his boyhood's home, are the words:

Sacred to the memory of Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, Esq., physics and F. R. S. who first introduced the practice of inoculation z America. Through a life of extensive benevolence, he was alos faithful to his word, just in his dealings, affable in his marca and after a long sickness, in which he was exemplary for . patience and resignation to his Maker, he quitted this [ .. life in a just expectation of a happy immortality, March 1, 5.

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Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Part 147

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1189

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1189