TITLE: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF PHYSICIANS IN ROCHESTER, N.H. SOURCE: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Samuel G. Drake, Publisher, ©1847 Vol - 1 - 50 - (publications July 1847 pg 276-278) SUBMITTER: Cathy Parziale 6/30/2000 ************************************************************************ [For the account of the following medical gentlemen we are indebted to Dr. Samuel Pray.] Dr. James Jackson: was the first physician who settled in Rochester. He went from Connecticut but in what year he went and how long he lived in the town, is not known. Dr. James How: Was the son of Deacon How of Methuen, and brother of David How, Esq., of Haverhill, Ms. He went to Rochester about the year 1777, and practised in his profession till near the time of his death, in 1807. He was a Rep- resentative to the State Legislature several years, and was elected a member of the N.H. Medical Society in 1791, soon after the Charter was granted. He was also surgeon’s mate in the army of the Revolution. He died at the age of 53. Dr. Samuel Pray: Was born at South Berwick, Me., July 3, 1769. He received his preparatory education at Dummer Academy. Newbury, Ms., in the years 1784, ‘85, and ‘86, studied medicine with Dr. Jacob Kittredge of Dover, three years, and commenced the practice of his profession in September, 1792, at Rochester, where he has resided about fifty-five years. He united with a number of physicians in the old county of Strafford in 1811, who constituted the Strafford District of the N.H. Medical Society, of which he was Secretary several years. He was elected a Fellow of the N.H. M. Society in 1816, and has been one of the Censors for Strafford District. Dec. 14, 1821, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Medical society at Dartmouth College. Dr. Timothy F. Preston: went to Rochester in the year 1807, and resided in town about a year, and then returned to New Ipswich, his native place. Dr. John Perkins: went to Rochester in 1807, and resided there till 1815, when he moved with his family to Jaffrey. It is not known where he received his education. Dr. Asa Perkins: went from Dover, his native place to Rochester, in 1816, and resided there two years, and then returned to Dover, where he now resides. He is the son of William Perkins, who was a merchant in Dover, and who died several years since. The doctor studied medicine with Dr. Jabez Dow of Dover. He was born April 5, 1793. Having abandoned his profession, he entered into mercantile business. Dr. James Farrington: went to Rochester in August 1818, and has resided in town, to this time [1847]. He was born at Conway, October, 1791, and is the third son, now living, of Jeremiah Farrington, late of Conway, who emigrated when a young man from Concord, N.H. and with several others formed a settlement upon the banks of the Saco river, in that section of the country then called by the Indians Pequawket, now Conway and Fryeburg; and grandson of Stephen Farrington, who was one of the first settlers of Concord, and whose wife was a sister of Jonathan and Samuel Bradley, who, with Obadiah Peters, John Bean, and John Lufkin, were massacred by the Indians, Aug. 11, 1746, between Concord and Hopkinton, and to whose memory a granite monument has been erected on the spot where the massacre was perpetrated, by their surviving relatives. He received an academic education at Fryeburg Academy, where in 1814 he was prepared to enter college. He commenced the study of medicine under the tuition of Dr. Moses Chandler of Fryeburg, Me., February, 1815, and concluded his term of study under the instruction of Dr. Jabez Dow of Dover in February, 1818. He was examined in the science of medicine and surgery by the Censors of the N.H. Medical Society, Drs. Crosby and Pray, July 18, 1818, and commenced practice in Rochester on the 9th of August following. He is a Fellow of the N.H. Medical Society, and has been Censor and a Counsellor of the Society, and for several years President of the Strafford District Society. He has been a Representative and Senator in the State Legislature, and in 1837 was elected a member of the 25th congress of the united States. In 1845 he was appointed by the Executive of the State one of the Trustees of the N.H. Asylum for the Insane. Dr. Farrington was married, in 1827, to Mary D., eldest daughter of Mr. Joseph Hanson of Rochester, and has four children living; three sons and one daughter. Formerly he had students in medicine, among whom were Dr. Joseph H. Smith, now a successful practitioner in Dover, Dr. Timothy Upham, an eminent physician, late of Waterford, N.Y., and a son of the Hon. Nathaniel Upham, late of Rochester, also Dr. Alfred Upham, now a physician in the city of New York. Dr. Farrington has had an extensive business in his profession for twenty-five years, and has performed many difficult surgical operations. Dr. Calvin Cutter, Dr. Thorndike Wells, and a Dr. Turner: from Massachusetts, went to Rochester and tarried a shot time in 1832 and 1833, and then returned to their native towns. Dr. Rufus K. Pearl: was born at Farmington, Feb. 6, 1815, attended Medical lectures at Bowdom and Dartmouth Colleges, and studied medicine with Dr. Wight of Gilmanton. He commenced practice in Rochester in 1810, and being out of health, he left the profession, and has gone into trade in the village of that place. Dr. John W. Pray: is the son of Dr. Samuel Pray of Rochester, with whom he studied medicine. He was born in Rochester, August, 1814, attended Medical Lectures at Dartmouth College, commenced the practice of his profession in Barrington, in 1840, and continued at that place three years, when he returned to Rochester and went into practice with his father. Dr. Richard Russel: moved from Great Falls village to Rochester, about the year 1811, and resided in town about three years, and then returned to Great Falls, in 1841. It is not known when he began the practice of his profession, nor what was his education. Dr. Jeremiah Garland: was born at Strafford, Sept. 23, 1815, and commenced the practice of his profession at Rochester, in 1844. He attended Medical Lectures at New York, in the old medical and surgical institution, and obtained the degree of M.D. at that institution. He studied medicine with Drs. Chadbourne and Haynes of Concord. **************************************************************************** * * * * Notice: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.