During the first one hundred and forty years of Plymouth's existence, 27 physicians practiced in the town. Some are listed
here.
ABIJAH WRIGHT Arrived in Plymouth ca 1770 and was the first physician in this town. In addition to his medical duties,
he was also a farmer. He attended to his patients via snowshoes in winter and on horseback in other seasons. He
resided in a remote part of town and was not prominent in town affairs. He served in the Revolution as a Private. When
the town of Hebron was incorporated in 1792, his homestead was cut off from Plymouth. He died there in 1828.
PETER EMERSON A native of Hollis, Peter Emerson was the son of Rev. Daniel Emerson. He came to Plymouth in
1770 and remained in this town for about eight years. When his wife died in 1778, he left the area, eventually settling in
Hillsborough, where he died in 1827.
JOHN ROGERS Originally from Leominster, Massachusetts, Dr. John Rogers was the son of Rev. John Rogers. In 1776
he graduated from Harvard University. He married in 1782 and that month he settled in Plymouth. He was the third
physician in Plymouth, the first to be college educated. He was active in town politics and served on many
committees. He was the first postmaster and a member of the board of school supervisors. He died in 1814.
JONATHAN ROBBINS His parents moved to Plymouth in 1776 from New Ipswich, Massachusetts. He served in the
Revolution and returned to Plymouth in 1788 and lived in the south part of town for several years before moving to town. In
addition to his practice in Plymouth he attended families in Hebron and Bridgewater. He died in 1833.
THOMAS BURNSIDE A graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, class of 1807, Thomas Burnside arrived in Plymouth in
the summer of that year. On account of failing health, he left town after two years and died in 1815.
SAMUEL ROGERS Samuel was born in Plymouth, the son of Dr. John Rogers. He studied medicine with his father and
began practicing in 1817. His practice extended into the surrounding communities. He was a quiet man, of medium
height, with an unassuming manner. In 1858, he died in Plymouth.
BENJAMIN F. SIMPSON His family moved to Rumney in 1809 from Windham, where he was born. He graduated from
Dartmouth Medical School with the class of 1825 and practiced in Plymouth from 1825 to 1829. He was associated with
Dr. Jonathan Robbins, Dr. Samuel Rogers, and Dr. John Bailey. He returned to Windham for a number of years, later to
Lowell, Massachusetts. He died in 1883.
JOHN BAILEY, A native of Brattleborough, Vermont, John was born in 1802. He graduated from Dartmouth Medical
School in 1827 and practiced in Plymouth from that year until 1835. He was in business with his father-in-law, Dr.
Jonathan Robbins. He later returned to his birth place and shortly thereafter he moved south, to Macon, Georgia, where
he died of chronic pulmonary disease in 1841.
SAMUEL LONG In the summer of 1832, Samuel Long arrived in Plymouth after two years of practice in Hopkinton,
Massachusetts. He soon became a beloved physician due to not just his medical skill, but to his amiable traits of
character. He died at the age of 54 and the tremendous loss was felt by many in this community. He had been a man of
mild temper, quiet dignity, and superior moral qualities.
ROBERT BURNS A native of Hudson, NH, Robert was born in 1792. As a child, his family moved to Rumney. He studied
medicine with Dr. Ezra Bartlett of Warren. He attended Dartmouth Medical School, but did not graduate. While attending
Dartmouth he was called to attend patients stricken with spotted fever in the town of Warren. He remained in the town in
active practice until 1818, when he moved to Hebron, where he remained for the next 17 years. In the spring of 1835 he
moved to Plymouth, where he was associated for over 20 years with Dr.s Samuel Rogers and Samuel Long. He died in
1866.
NORMAN CURTIS STEVENS An 1842 graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, Norman Curtis Stevens was born in
Plainfield in 1816. Upon graduating he moved to Plymouth where he stayed until 1847. He served in the War of the
Rebellion as a contract surgeon. After the war he lived in Newton, Massachusetts, where he died in 1871.
HORACE P. GOODRICH A Vermont native, Horace Goodrich studied medicine with Dr. Austin S. Durkee of Enfield,
and practiced according to the theories of the Botanic School of Medicine. He practiced in Plymouth with considerable
success, from 1844 to 1851. He died in Franklin in 1881.
AUSTIN S. DURKEE A Williamstown, Vermont native, Dr. Durkee resided for a brief time in Ohio, where he was a
postmaster during President Van Buren's administration. He arrived in Plymouth in 1856 and remained here until 1863
when he moved to Bristol. He died in Franklin in 1881.
JEREMIAH C. GARLAND Born in Strafford, Dr. Garland graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New
York, in 1844. He came to Plymouth in 1857 and remained here for eight years. He was a cautious and successful
physician. From 1863 to 1865 he was with the Army as an Assistant Hospital Surgeon. He retired in Nashua in 1890 and
there he died in 1900 at the age of 86.
CYRUS KINGSBURY KELLEY He was born in Gilmanton and pursued a course of study at the Gilmanton Academy and
graduated at the University of Vermont Medical School in 1844. The honorary M.D. degree was conferred by Dartmouth
in 1867. He came to Plymouth from Tilton in 1858 and practiced here for 11 years before moving to Massachusetts. In
1879 he returned to Plymouth, where he remained in practice until his death in 1898.
JOSEPH WM. PRESTON A Canadian by birth, Joseph Preston graduated from Harvard Medical School and practiced
in Bristol and Bridgewater a few years before coming to Plymouth in 1864. He enjoyed a successful practice here for the
next 15 years. He returned to Bristol in 1880 and opened a drug store there for about four years. He later moved to
Somersworth, where he continued in business as a druggist. He retired in 1892 and moved to Massachusetts. He died
of apoplexy in 1893.
SILAS WRIGHT DAVIS Born in Gilford, Silas Davis settled in Plymouth in 1867. He remained here for 13 years before
moving to Massachusetts. And later to Tilton. He died at his winter home in Florida in 1888.
MOSES CURRIER EATON Born in Wentworth in 1838, he graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1865. He
practiced in Warren and Wentworth before moving to Plymouth in 1869. He died in 1872.
TRISTRAM ROGERS He was born in Walden, Vermont and studied medicine with Dr. Walter Burnham of Lowell,
Massachusetts. He graduated in 1855 from the Worcester Medical Institution and practiced in New Hampton for about
15 years before moving to Plymouth in 1871. In 1870 Dr. Rogers adopted the philosophy of the homeopaths. He was the
only homeopathic physician in this town until the arrival of Dr. Albert J. Marston. Dr. Rogers practiced here for 34 years
and became the Dean of the resident physicians.
JESSE APPLETON SANBORN In 1820 he was born in Meredith. He practiced in Plymouth for 16 years, coming here
from Campton in 1872. He was a man small in stature, but kind and a good physician. He died in 1888.
ROBERT BURNS Robert Burns was born in Plymouth and pursued an enlarged course of professional study at Harvard
Medical School and in Philadelphia. He began practicing in this town in 1880 and remained here until 1898.He was
Surgeon of the Regiment of the 1st NH Regiment in the Spanish American War. Immediately after, in 1899, he was
commissioned by President McKinley, Brigade Surgeon, with the rank of Major and assigned to duty with the Army in the
Philippines. He was mustered out in 1903 and moved to Boston, Massachusetts.
ALBERT J. MARSTON He was born In Bridgewater, the son of John Blake and Eliza Ann Dow. He graduated from the
Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, class of 1876. He practiced in Plymouth from 1879 to 1881. He than went to
Philadelphia until 1900, when he returned to Plymouth.
HAVEN PALMER Dr. Palmer was born in Jefferson in 1843. He studied medicine with Dr. John W. Barney of Lancaster
and graduated at Bowdoin Medical College in 1871. In 1883 he arrived in Plymouth. He remained prominent in this town
for many years until his death.
ENOS HUCKINS Born and educated in Warren, Enos Huckins was a medical student for two years at the Eclectic
Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed a course of study and graduated at the Medical School, University of
Pennsylvania in 1876. He practiced for four years in Warren, four in Ashland, and moved to Plymouth in 1884. He
adhered to the Eclectic School and was appointed a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners in 1897 for two
years. He was reappointed in 1899. He died in 1903 and is buried in Warren.
WM. RUSSELL GARLAND Dr. Bill was born in Thornton and educated in the schools of Plymouth and Holderness and
the academy at New Hampton. He graduated from Dartmouth Medical College in 1886. In 1895 he moved his practice
from Campton to Plymouth.
JOHN WHEELER John was born in Alton, New Hampshire in 1872. He pursued a preparatory course at Brewster Free
Academy in Wolfborough and two years at Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1895 and
Dartmoouth Medical School in 1898. He came to Plymouth in the spring of 1898. He enjoyed an extensive practice and
was held in high esteem by the community.
ALONZO D. MUCHMORE Alonzo was born in Orford. In 1861 he enlisted in the 6th NH Infantry and was discharged on
account of a disability in 1862. For several years he farmed and studied medicine as opportunities presented
themselves. He was granted a certificate by the censors of the New Hampshire Eclectic Medical Society in 1879, and
began to practice medicine in Campton, where he remained for several years. He attended lectures at the Eclectic
Medical College of Maine and graduated in 1883, pursuing a post graduate course at Burlington, Vermont in 1889. He
later lived in Holderness and practiced there and in Plymouth.