Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1187

NAME TUFTS 1165 TUFTS from nie. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee.' " According to Thacher it is related that Dr. Tufts introduced a new and original treatment for the throat distemper that helped him make a successful start in practice. He was married by the Rev. Mr. Smith, De- cember 2, 1755, to Lucy Quincy, daughter of Colonel John Quincy, of Braintree, by whom he had one son, Cotton. His wife died, Oc- tober 30, 1783, and he married Mrs. Susanna Warner of Gloucester, October 12, 1789. He had a large practice in Weymouth and the surrounding country. According to his diary he made frequent journeys to Boston and kept in close touch with his Brother Cotton in Med- ford. In 1780 he was one of the incorporators of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he was a member of the convention to adopt the Constitution of the United States. In 1765 he wrote the spirited and patriotic instructions to the representatives of the town of Weymouth against the Stamp Act, and in 1784 he was a member of the Massachusetts Senate. Dr. Tufts was an incorporator of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1781, being the second vice-president of the society from 1785 to 1787, and its fourth president from 1787 to 1795. It may have been while plaiuiing for the formation of this society that he wrote the subjoined letter, found among his papers. It is in his handwriting, but is without date : "Sir: "Divers gentlemen of the profession have met together for the friendly purpose of forming an association for the advancement of medical knowledge, promoting good will and harmony and discountenancing empirics. This meeting was in consequence of a paper wrote by an anonymous writer proposing such a scheme in which were invited as underneath. The meet- ing is adjourned to the first Wednesday in June at Gardiner's Tavern on Boston Neck at two o'clock p. m. The gentlemen have desired me to invite you to attend the same and join them in accomplishing so benevolent a scheme and any plan that you can suggest for the (word illegible) of such meeting will be kindly received. In behalf of the gentlemen I now act as scribe, and am, "Your Very Obedient Servant, "To Dr John Wisson of Hopkington." From the first meeting of the Council of this society, July 18, 1782, through his term as president, thirteen years. Dr. Tufts was absent from only two of the forty meetings held dur- ing that time. A record of fidelity when it is considered that he lived twelve miles away. For more than forty years Dr. Tufts was deacon of the old North Church in Weymouth, and he was one of the trustees of Derby Acad- emy in Hingham, besides being president of the Society for Moral Reform. It is said of him that "In social life he was distinguished by urbanity of manner and cour- teous address ; in conversation pleasant, inter- esting and instructive." His death occurred in Weymouth, December 8, 1815. A very interesting and quaint oil painting of the doctor hangs on the wall' of the Fifield Room in the Boston Medical Library, the gift of William Tufts Brigham,. A. B., Harvard, 1862, of Honolulu, Hawaii. Walter L. Burrage. Orig. Letters and Diary of Dr. Cotton Tufts, Bost. Med. Lib., Fifield Collection. Amer. Med. Biog. James Thacher, 1S2S. Biog. Dictny. of the First Settlers of New England. John Eliot, 1S09. Diaries of Rev. William Smith and Cotton Tufts, Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc, 3 series, vol. ii. p. 467. Hist. Sketch of the Town of Wevmouth. Mass.. from 1622 to 1884. Gilbert Nash. Weymouth. 1885. Tufts, Simon (1700-1747). Simon Tufts, Sr., the earliest physician in Medford, was born January 31, 1700, in Med- ford, the youngest son of Peter Tufts the second, son of Peter Tufts the first, who came to Charlestown from England in 1650. Simon' was the ninth child of Peter and his second wife, Mary, daughter of the Rev. Seaborn Cot- ton. As there were twelve children by this- wife and four by the first, it is plain that there was no aiding of race suicide in this family. He graduated .A.. B. from Harvard College in 1724, probably studying medicine at the same time, for he began practice in Medford the year of his graduation. He married Abigail Sinith and had seven children, the oldest son, Simon (1727-1786), succeeding him in the practice of medicine in Medford ; the fourth child being the eminent Cotton Tufts, M. D., of Weymouth (q. v.). He had an extensive practice, and was called often to visit the sick at Harvard College, re- fusing to receive fees, however, from the students. The doctor was a justice of the peace and a special justice. He died on his birthday, January 31, 1747. Funeral sermons were preached in his honor in Medford, Boston, Cambridge and Charles- town. Walter L. Burrage. A Genealog. Dictny of First Settlers of New Eng- land. James Savage. 1860, Earlv Phys. of Medford. C, M. Green. 1898, Amer, Med, Biog, James Thacher, 1928.