Early life and career

Samuel Willard, the son of Dr. Nahum Willard of Lancaster, Massachusetts

Lancaster, Massachusetts

Lancaster is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. Incorporated in 1653, Lancaster is the oldest town in Worcester County...

, and a descendant of the famous Major Simon Willard of 17th-century Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1767. He studied medicine under Dr. Israel Atherton of Lancaster, Massachusetts

Lancaster, Massachusetts

Lancaster is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. Incorporated in 1653, Lancaster is the oldest town in Worcester County...

, setting up practice as a physician in the town of Uxbridge

Uxbridge, Massachusetts

Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It was first settled in 1662, incorporated in 1727 at Suffolk County, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. Uxbridge is south-southeast of Worcester, north-northwest of Providence, and southwest of Boston. It is part of...

 in 1770. Dr. Willard was an Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

-era figure in central Massachusetts who served in the miilitia in Shays' Rebellion

Shays' Rebellion

Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. The rebellion is named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War....

, the farmer's tax revolt in Western Massachusetts. As a physician in Uxbridge, Willard was particularly distinguished for his treatment of the insane, establishing an "insane asylum" that he ran at Uxbridge. Known for his "eccentricities", it was reported that he dunked his mentally ill patients in a local pond. 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

Samuel Willard

Reverend Samuel Willard was a Colonial clergyman. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts; graduated at Harvard in 1659; and was minister at Groton from 1663 to 1676, whence he was driven by the Indians during King Philip's War. The Reverend Willard was pastor of the Third Church, Boston, from...

, the minister of Third (Old South) Church in Boston (perhaps originally from Concord, Massachusetts

Concord, Massachusetts

Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...

), 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

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

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

Town meeting

A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....

 voted to outlaw smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

 inoculation, sometimes also referred to as "variolation". 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

Cowpox

Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...

 vaccines for smallpox (1796), introduced to America a few years later by Benjamin Waterhouse

Benjamin Waterhouse

Benjamin Waterhouse was a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School...

. (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.

Significance in U.S. history

Willard was chosen to represent Uxbridge to the Massachusetts ratification

Ratification

Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...

 of the U. S. Constitution on December 13, 1787. He removed to Worcester

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

, 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.