Samuel Willard (physician)

Samuel Willard (April 13, 1748–March 7, 1801) was an American physician.

Early life and career

Samuel Willard, the son of Dr. Nahum Willard of Lancaster, Massachusetts, and a descendant of the famous Major Simon Willard of 17th-century Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard University in 1767.^[1] He studied medicine under Dr. Israel Atherton of Lancaster, Massachusetts, setting up practice as a physician in the town of Uxbridge in 1770. Dr. Willard was an Revolutionary War-era figure in central Massachusetts who served in the miilitia in Shays' Rebellion, the farmer's tax revolt in Western Massachusetts. As a physician in Uxbridge, Willard was particularly distinguished for his treatment of the insane,^[1] establishing an "insane asylum" that he ran at Uxbridge. Known for his "eccentricities",^[2] it was reported that he dunked his mentally ill patients in a local pond.^[3] It appears that he was one the earliest physician to undertake the treatment of behavioral health problems with immersion in cold water. Could this be the origin of the modern terminology applied for anger management, "chill" ?

Dr. Samuel Willard of Uxbridge is not to be confused with Rev. Samuel Willard, the minister of Third (Old South) Church in Boston (perhaps originally from Concord, Massachusetts), who opposed the 1692 witchcraft trials. He is also not to be confused with the later Dr. Samuel Willard, a Civil War-era surgeon from Lunenburg, Vermont, who died in Chicago.

Willard reportedly held slaves prior to 1783, when Massachusetts became the first state in the US to abolish slavery.

Willard also served as the first postmaster in Uxbridge, and reportedly was a Tory, during the Revolution.

Smallpox

In 1775, while Dr. Willard was in Uxbridge, the open town meeting voted to outlaw smallpox inoculation, sometimes also referred to as "variolation".^[4] This original practice for preventing the epidemic spread of smallpox, (introducing smallpox matter into the system through a scratch in the skin, thus arousing the growth of protective antibodies) preceded the English Sir William Jenner's work in developing the Vaccinia or cowpox vaccines for smallpox (1796), introduced to America a few years later by Benjamin Waterhouse. (The word "vaccine" itself comes from the Latin root for the word for cow, from cowpox, vaca.) Dr. Willard spent a good part of his career battling this disease in his rounds as a country doctor in 18th century Uxbridge; he treated many cases of smallpox in Uxbridge, and was described as having smallpox scars on his arms.^[5]

Significance in U.S. history

Willard was chosen to represent Uxbridge to the Massachusetts ratification of the U. S. Constitution on December 13, 1787.^[6] He removed to Worcester, and died on March 7, 1801, according to the first reference, at the age of 52. Another reference has him dying at age 63, on Sept. 11, 1811 according to Judge Henry Chapin and on Sept. 9th, 1811 in the Uxbridge Vital Records.^[7]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Lincoln, William (1862). "History of Worcester, Mass. from its Earliest settlement to 1836" by Charles Hersey. Worcester, Mass.: Hersey/Henry Howland Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=8MRCObZ79wEC&pg=PA222&lpg=PA222&dq=dr+samuel+willard+of+uxbridge+born+died&source=web&ots=S6ESRPlmUJ&sig=R_ZoRrfb3opH2W7xVR64NWE6Inc. 
2. ^ "A Guide to Women's Diaries". Manuscript Collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society Library. http://www.rihs.org/mssinv/WomenGuide.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-23. 
3. ^ Marvin, AP (1879). History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its earliest beginnings to the present time; Vol. lI. Boston, MA: CF Jewitt and Company. pp. 146. 
4. ^ Chapin, Henry (1881). Address Delivered at the Unitarian Church in Uxbridge; 1864. Worcester, Mass.: Charles Hamilton Press (Harvard Library; from Google Books). 
5. ^ Backofen, Walter A (2001). Elias Frost, M.D., and his strategy for being remembered. pp. 6. OCLC: 58438763. 
6. ^ "Massachusetts supplements". wisconisinhistory.org. http://wisconsinhistory.org/ratification/digital/resource/supplements/mass.supp.0305.htm.. Retrieved 2007-10-20. 
7. ^ Baldwin, Thomas Williams (1916). Vital Records of Uxbridge, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: Wright and Potter Printing. pp. 369. http://books.google.com/books?id=6lj7wmu0U2IC&dq=Samuel+Taft+of+Uxbridge&pg=PA235&ots=kbl8tM2at5&sig=MW5Zl5YQwXgYUawOVq1iwYpt-bU&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3DSamuel%2BTaft%2Bof%2BUxbridge&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=2&cad=legacy#PPA321,M1. Retrieved 2007-11-02. 

Persondata
Name	Willard, Samuel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1748
Place of birth
Date of death	1801
Place of death