Thomas Boylston (January 26, 1644-1695) was a
medical doctor
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...
in colonial Massachusetts.
Early life and family
Thomas Boylston was born in 1644 in
Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...
to Thomas Boylston Sr. He became a surgeon in 1665 and married Mary Gardner and they had twelve children. One of his sons,
Zabdiel, taught medicine by the father, followed his professional steps and grew up to be a prominent physician.
He was surveyor of the
Muddy River in 1674 and lived at the western end of the
Brookline Reservoir—which was then a marshy meadow—at what is now a private residence. He lived in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
(Muddy River) near what is now
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Public Garden (Boston) ...
on land from his wife's family.
[John William Denehy, ''A History of Brookline, Massachusetts, from the First ...'' (1906) p. 88]
He was the great-grandfather of
U.S. President John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
, through his granddaughter,
Susanna.
References
People from colonial Massachusetts
17th-century American physicians
1644 births
1695 deaths
Adams family
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