Josiah Bartlett
- katellashisadventure
- 5 days ago
- 13 min read
Josiah Bartlett was born on November 21, 1729, in Amesbury, Essex County, MA, to Stephen and Mary Bartlett. He was the youngest of seven children. His father was a cobbler, and the family lineage can be traced back to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. His ancestor, Adam Barttelot, was esquire to a Knight, Sir Brian, who would become Brian de Stopham. Adam fought at the Battle of Hastings during the invasions. There is limited documentation suggesting that Adam may have been a 7th-generation descendant of Prince Berthelot, a nephew of Charlemagne of France. Adam, along with Sir Brian, would receive a grant of land in Sussex, which would eventually become the village of Stopham.[1]
Richard Bartlett, Josiah’s Great-Great Grandfather, came to Newbury, MA, in 1634/1635 and settled there. He was a shoemaker and an elder in the Puritan Church, and he brought with him a Breeches (Geneva) Bible inscribed with the birth dates of family ancestors and other members. His son, Richard Bartlett Jr., was a representative in the colonial legislature from 1679 to 1681 and again in 1684. Josiah Bartlett’s mother came from a family that was “wealthy in landed property.” [2]
Dr. Bartlett began his education at the local Amesbury School but was tutored in Latin and Greek by Reverend Dr. John Webster. At age 16, he began studying medicine under Dr. Ordway. Dr. Ordway was related to Dr. Bartlett through his marriage to the widow of Dr. Bartlett’s uncle, Thomas Bartlett. In those days, the colonies had adopted many English educational customs, one of which was an apprenticeship in a chosen profession. For example, in medicine, the study/apprenticeship lasted five to seven years before an individual began his own practice. During Dr. Bartlett’s time with Dr. Ordway, he read all the books in Dr. Ordway’s library as well as the libraries of other local gentlemen, such as the Reverend Dr. Webster. It was during this time that he developed an interest in Mathematics and history. Dr. Bartlett would study for five years before starting his own practice.
In 1750, at the age of 21, Dr. Bartlett moved to Kingston to open his medical practice. The only possessions he had were some clothes, about £30, a small horse, saddle, and saddlebags that carried some medicine, surgeon’s instruments in a pocket case, and some teeth-extraction instruments. In those days, doctors were also dentists. He found accommodations with Reverend Joseph Secombe, who has a large library, and Dr. Bartlett uses it to further his studies. From this humble start, he soon develops a large and thriving practice, which focuses on compassionate care for his patients through observation. This comes about after his own serious bout with a severe fever.
In 1752, he contracted a severe fever, which was life-threatening, and, against Dr. Ordway’s advice, began to treat himself. The normal procedure during that time was to deprive the patient of liquid, keep the patient in a hot room, pile on blankets, and drench the patient in hot liquid and heating medicines until they recovered or died. Dr. Bartlett decided he was going to do things his own way and begged the two attendants, who were with him, to give him cold cider. They refused at first, lest he should perish, and they would be blamed for his death, but after a while they agreed to do what he asked. He instructed them to draw a quart of cider and, at regular intervals through the night, to give him one-half of a cup.[3] By morning, his fever had broken, and he learned that binding himself to the medical rules for treating patients was not wise; instead, he developed acute observation of people to aid his practice. However, this would not be the only time Dr. Bartlett would make an important medical discovery.
In 1754, distemper hit Kingston, NH, and spread like wildfire. Kingston had experienced an epidemic in 1735, which had killed many adults and children, mostly under the age of 10. Distemper is a disease of the throat, and today it is better known as diphtheria, scarlet fever, or a strain of strep throat. By observing his patients, Dr. Bartlett discovers that the disease is putrid rather than inflammatory, as previously accepted by the medical community. He utilizes Peruvian Bark in his treatment along with cool drinks, and first tries this on his own infant daughter. She recovers from the disease, and he begins to treat other patients with Peruvian Bark, who also recover from the disease. This discovery would bring him recognition, but the New England Medical Society would temporarily suspend him for failing to follow proper procedures. The proper treatment procedure at the time included bleeding, emetics, drugs, and starvation, which sometimes resulted in death.
On January 15, 1754, Dr. Bartlett married his cousin Mary Bartlett. She was the daughter of his uncle, Joseph Bartlett, and was described as amiable and of excellent character. Together, they would have 12 children: Mary, who was born on December 28, 1754, and died on July 7, 1826. She would marry Jonathan Greely and have five children. Next came Lois, who was born in 1756 and died, without issue, on February 28, 1798. Miriam was born on June 19, 1758, and died on May 27, 1785. She married Joseph Calef and had at least 3 children. Another daughter, Rhonda, was born on May 22, 1760, and her death is unknown. Hanna was born on August 31, 1762, and died in September 1762. Their first son, Levi, was born on September 3, 1763, and died on January 30, 1828. He would become a doctor and marry twice. Once to a woman named Abigail and to a woman named Sarah, and would have at least 7 children between the two marriages. His second son, Josiah, was born August 20, 1765, and died December 30, 1765. Another daughter, Dorothy, was born June 9, 1767, and died the same day. In 1768, a second Josiah was born, and he lived until April 16, 1838. He married a woman named Sarah, and he also served in the US Congress. Ezra was born on September 13, 1770, and passed on December 5, 1848. He married Hannah, and they had at least three children. Sarah was born on July 29, 1773, and passed away in October 1847. She married Amos Gale and had at least 1 child. Their last daughter and child was born on December 13, 1776, and passed on April 17, 1777. Three of his sons would become doctors, and 7 grandsons would also become doctors. Josiah and Mary would be together until her death on July 14, 1789.
The homestead that Josiah and Mary raised their family in has been in the family for seven generations and was up for sale in the summer of 2014. [4] It still retains many of its original features, including an old-fashioned indoor privy and a tin tub. It currently sits on 18 original acres. It is a large white farmhouse with a Linden tree from Philadelphia in front of the home. Dr. Bartlett planted the tree on a return trip home from Philadelphia in 1776. From this home, Dr. Bartlett would begin to engage in politics in 1757, when he was elected as a Town Selectman. It would also be the scene of a fire in May of 1774. Dr. Bartlett would blame the local loyalists for setting the fire because of their opposition to his political activities.
While his political career may have begun in 1757, he was always a republican at heart, who believed in the good of his country and opposed many royal policies. In 1765, he was elected to the Provincial Assembly and often found himself in the minority because he supported colonial interests. Governor Wentworth would often try to sway Dr. Bartlett to his side through a variety of appointments, such as Justice of the Peace and the Colonel of the 7th Militia Regiment. But Dr. Bartlett would not be swayed; he opposed the Governor in 1768 over a grant issue and eventually lost his appointments in 1774.
He opposed the Stamp Act as well as the Townshend Acts with vigor during his time in the Assembly. These Acts were especially galling because they were predicated on the idea that the colonists needed to pay for the French and Indian War and had not supplied their fair share. This was false, as the colonies had furnished men and supplies at their own expense and had suffered more than the British people because the war had occurred in America rather than in England. In addition, colonists had gone to Cuba to help the English in their conquest mission and had reaped none of the benefits. It was this later event that led Parliament to begin taxing the colonies, which the colonies considered grossly unjust because they had no representation in Parliament. In fact, the colonies had told Parliament leaders that they were willing to be taxed if they had representation in Parliament. However, they noted, “taxes imposed by the British Government without having any voice in it, or even being consulted, were arbitrary, unjust, and fit only to be borne by slaves, and which, as Englishmen, they were bound to resist.” [5] Dr. Bartlett would serve in the Provincial Assembly until 1775.
By 1774, he was appointed to the Committee of Correspondence and the Committee of Safety. These committees had sprung up throughout the colonies, and their purpose was to communicate with leaders of other colonies, to pass and receive vital information, and to address safety matters. Even within a colony, there would be local committees that would pass information between communities and on to the state level. It was upon the formation of these committees that Governor Wentworth dissolved the Assembly, but this did not stop Dr. Bartlett from engaging in the liberty movement and continuing his work on the Committee of Correspondence. Through this committee, he would actively communicate with Samuel Adams and other New England patriots.
He was elected to the First Continental Congress, but due to a fire at his home, he did not attend until the Second Continental Congress, arriving in Philadelphia in the summer of 1775. During this time, he is reappointed Colonel of the 7th Militia Regiment by President Thornton. He was one of the more active delegates in Congress, but he did not partake in many debates. He would serve on several important committees, including Secret Correspondence, Marine Affairs, Medicine, Clothing and Qualification of Army Officers, Munitions, and Privateering. In January 1776, he wrote to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety to “request that delegates may be appointed and sent here as soon as may be the Representing a Colony is to weight and important to be left to one man.” [6] In the first session of Congress, the members would meet from 9 am to 4 pm.
During the 1776 session of Congress, he would vote for independence, and because of the custom of voting from North to South, he would be the first one to cast a yea vote “for”, and to sign the Declaration of Independence after John Hancock on August 2, 1776. He would write again in February of 1776 that, “The time is now at hand when we shall see that whether America has virtue enough to be free or not.” In a series of letters written in late 1776 through early 1777 to Whipple and others, Dr. Bartlett raised concerns about the counterfeiting of Continental dollars, which was driving up prices. This was a critical concern for him and many others at the time because counterfeiting of Continental dollars was contributing to the rising inflation the colonies were experiencing. In December of 1776, he wrote that “Agreeable to the request of Congress we shall have purchased a considerable quantity of shoes, stockings, mittens, hats, shirts, ec.ec. and many more are agreed for and have wrote to congress for money to pay for them agreeable to order: Twenty Thousand Dollars are requested for the purpose and I hope you and your colleague will use your endeavors to see it sent soon, as our treasury is almost empty and I am loth we should make more paper money.” [7] Counterfeiting was not a new issue for the colonies, as it had been a problem since 1690, but it was more of a problem now due to wartime economic conditions in some places. Before the war, counterfeiting was carried out by private organizations, but during the war, England counterfeited American dollars as a weapon of war to undermine the war effort. In April of 1777, he wrote:
“We have lately discovered a most diabolical scheme to ruin the paper currency by counterfeiting it, vast quantities of the Massachusetts bills & ours that are now passing are counterfeit and so neatly done that it is extremely difficult to discover the difference, we are but newly acquainted with the scheme and have not made all the discoveries we had hoped for, but what appears at present, it is a Tory plan and one of the most infernal that was ever hatched. There are a great number of people bound together by the most solemn oaths and imprecations and to stand by each other & to destroy the persons who betray them…R. Foule, Benj. Whitney & some others in this state are certainly concerned and we have reason to think that most of the Tories in New Hampshire are in on the plan. Last Thursday by agreement Massachusetts and this state seized on a considerable number who are now confined, hope we shall make further discovery & defeat the plan; no trouble pains or danger will be spared for that purpose.”[8]
A significant problem for the colonies at this time was that each state had its own money, and often, there was little information shared about it. Also, design variations added to the inability to decipher real from counterfeit money. Counterfeit detectors were being implemented, such as sending proof sheets from each colony to the others, and Dr. Bartlett alludes to this in March and April of 1777 when he wrote:
“There are many Continental bills passing which are much suspected of being counterfeit and we find much difficulty in detecting them for want of the proof sheets of each emission being sent to our treasury agreeable to the order of Congress. I am desired to write to you and request that they may be sent forward. I believe that many are suspected are only from the alterations made in the different emissions… Pray remember to send forward… the proof sheets of money.”[9]
By April the situations are worsening and Dr. Bartlett once again wrote Whipple to say “Since so much money is counterfeit people begin to be scrupulous of the continental bills, and are looking or marks, but by reason we have no standard of the former emissions, we are not able to detect them if there are any, and I have some reason to suspect are some & that they came from New York; I wish you would procure proof sheets of every emission and send them forward to me to be kept in the treasury of this state for that purpose agreeable to a former order of Congress.” [10]
Counterfeiting would remain a problem throughout the war, but it would not result in America’s defeat.
During the 1777 session, he was absent due to being on the battlefield. He went to Vermont during this time to bring in New Hampshire troops and medical supplies for the wounded. When Congress moved to York in September 1777, he returned. But on his trip there, he has to pass through a forest that is allegedly infested with bandits. Upon stopping at a local tavern, he hears the story of what a paymaster had done when he went into the forest. The paymaster changed out of his military uniform and into some Quaker clothes while hiding the army pay in his saddlebags. Upon meeting the bandits, the paymaster talked about religion and moral duties, all while having the moral superiority air of the Quakers. Noting that he only had a few dollars, but they were more than welcome to it. This act deceived the robbers and let the military paymaster pass unharmed. By listening to this story, Dr. Bartlett and his servant are delayed long enough to see other members of Congress arrive at the tavern. They would all set off together with their guns, but would encounter no problems on their way to York.
When Congress returned to Philadelphia after the British left, it found the city in a complete mess. Fine homes were used as stables, with manure shoveled into the basements through holes cut in the parlor floors. The Congress could not meet at the State House because it was in a shambles, and Dr. Bartlett would note in his journals that the whole countryside was a scene of desolation, with homes destroyed, fencing gone, as well as stock and orchards destroyed. Even with all this destruction, there was still work to be done, and the Congress was soon embroiled once again in tough issues facing the country. By November of 1777, Dr. Bartlett voted on and signed the Articles of Confederation. He would be re-elected in March and August of 1778, and continue to work hard in Congress, but on October 31, 1778, he took leave for private reasons, retiring due to exhaustion, and returned to New Hampshire.
Upon his return to New Hampshire, Dr. Bartlett was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of the Common Pleas and resumed many of his activities. He would continue to serve in some judicial position for many years. In 1788, he was elected to the New Hampshire Ratifying Convention and was appointed its Chairman. He would use his popularity and persuasive skills to convince small towns in New Hampshire to vote for the new Constitution. The vote is remarkably close, 47-37, but New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution and put it into operation. He would be elected to the US Senate in 1789 but would decline that position.
1790 is a good and busy year for Dr. Bartlett, as he receives an honorary degree from Dartmouth and is also selected as the commencement speaker. It was an event that was even sweeter because his son was a member of the graduating class. He was also elected the Chief Executive of New Hampshire and would serve in this position until 1794. It was an overwhelming victory as he was elected with 75% of the vote. He received 7385 out of 9854 votes cast.
During his tenure, his title would change to Governor, with the implementation of a new state constitution. He would also seek and secure a charter from the Legislature to establish the New Hampshire Medical Society. Dr. Bartlett would write the Constitution and bylaws and serve as the first President of the Society. Aside from this, his gubernatorial administration would include policies such as paying off the debt, revising laws, fulfilling obligations to the newly formed Federal Government, improving the selection process for judicial officers, and promoting agriculture. [11] He would retire from public life at the end of his term.
Unfortunately, he would not enjoy retirement for long as he passed away on May 19, 1795, in his home in Kingston, NH.
TidBits Described as being tall, well-built, with auburn hair. Considered unpretentious with a quick mind and sound judgment. He liked to wear a white stock at his throat, ruffles at his wrist, silk hose, short clothes, and low-heeled shoes with silver buckles. He grew up a Calvinist but turned to the Universalist church. There is a bronze statue of him in Amesbury, MA The President on the show “The West Wing” is named Josiah Bartlett
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[3] Biographical Sketch of The Honorable Josiah Bartlett.” Collections, Topographical, Historical & Biological, Relating Principally to New Hampshire (1822‑1822) (August 1, 1822): 141.
[4] The home is currently a private residence.
[5] “Biographical Sketch of The Honorable Josiah Bartlett.” Collections, Topographical, Historical & Biological, Relating Principally to New Hampshire (1822‑1822 (August 1, 1822): 141.
[7] Batchelder, Robert F. “The Counterfeiting of Colonial Paper Money as Seen Through The Letters of Signer of The Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett.” Manuscripts 31, no. 3 (1979): 208.
[8] Batchelder, Robert F. “The Counterfeiting of Colonial Paper Money as Seen Through The Letters of Signer of The Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett.” 207-211.
[9] Batchelder, Robert F. “The Counterfeiting of Colonial Paper Money as Seen Through The Letters of Signer of The Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett.” 210
[10] Batchelder, Robert F. “The Counterfeiting of Colonial Paper Money as Seen Through The Letters of Signer of The Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett.” 210.
[11] “Biography of Hon. Josiah Bartlett, Signer of the Declaration of Independence.” Accessed July 15, 2015. http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cst/bartlett/josiabio.htm.
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