Ebenezer Alden ( – ) was an American medical biographer, Army surgeon, and physician.

Biography

Ebenezer Alden was born on in

Randolph, Massachusetts "To Say What One Feels" , pushpin_map = , pushpin_label_position = right , pushpin_label = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Massachusetts , coordinates = , s ...

. He was descended through both father (Dr. Ebenezer Alden) and mother (Sarah Bass) directly from

John Alden John Alden (c. 1598 - September 12, 1687) was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the ''Mayflower'' which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, US. He was hired in Sou ...

of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

.'' He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1808 and received his M. B. from

Dartmouth Medical School The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth is the graduate medical school of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fourth oldest medical school in the United States, it was founded in 1797 by New England physician Nathan Smith. It is o ...

in 1811 and M. D. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1812, during his pupilage coming under the instruction of Nathan Smith,

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, ...

Benjamin Smith Barton Benjamin Smith Barton (February 10, 1766 – December 19, 1815) was an American botanist, naturalist, and physician. He was one of the first professors of natural history in the United States and built the largest collection of botanical specime ...

, and Casper Wistar. Following graduation, he was employed as a surgeon in the U.S. Army during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and was stationed in Boston. He returned to Randolph to practice medicine. In 1818 he married Anne Kimball, daughter of Capt. Edmund Kimball, of

Newburyport Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

; they had six children. From 1837 to near the close of life he was a trustee of

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

and

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

. He was also a trustee of

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

and was one of the original trustees of

Thayer Academy Thayer Academy (TA) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory day school located in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. The academy, conceived in 1871 at the bequest of General Sylvanus Thayer, known as the father of the United Sta ...

of Braintree. He was elected as one of nine Counsellors for the newly-formed

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts on November 27, 1839, and is the second oldest continuousl ...

in 1839. He was a dedicated member of the First Congregational Church, Randolph. Alden was a bibliophile and built up a notable private library of rare books and pamphlets, especially those pertaining to the history of American medicine and the ecclesiastical and civil history of New England. Some of his books eventually were donated to the Medical Society of the County of Kings, Brooklyn, NY, and to

Cornell University Library The Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. As of 2014, it holds over 8 million printed volumes and over a million ebooks. More than 90 percent of its current 120,000 Periodical literature, periodical titles are ...

. He had a strong love for antiquarian and genealogical pursuits, joining the

New England Historic Genealogical Society The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, and was President of the Massachusetts Temperance Union. He also was a singer, and even at the age of eighty-one, he joined the chorus of the

National Peace Jubilee The National Peace Jubilee was a celebration that commemorated the end of the American Civil War, organized by Patrick Gilmore in Boston from June 15-19, 1869. It featured an orchestra and a chorus, as well as numerous soloists. More than 11,000 p ...

in Boston, in 1869. He was totally blind for the last five or six years of his life. Alden died at his home in Randolph, January 26, 1881, aged ninety-three.

Selected works

Some of his writings have been digitized, including:
The Early History of the Medical Profession in the County of Norfolk
Boston, 1853
Memoir of Bartholomew Brown, Esquire, Randolph
1862
Medical uses of alcohol
1870? * Memorial of the Descendants of the Hon. John Alden, 1867
An address, delivered in Hanover, N.H., before the Dartmouth Medical Society, on their first anniversary, Dec. 28th, 1819

Historical Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Massachusetts Medical Society
1839. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alden, Ebenezer Created via preloaddraft 1881 deaths Harvard College alumni Geisel School of Medicine alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni 1788 births Genealogists Physicians from Massachusetts Bibliophiles Medical historians People from Randolph, Massachusetts 19th-century American physicians