John Franklin Gray (September 23, 1804 – June 9, 1882) was an American educator and physician, a pioneer in the field of
homoeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a di ...
and one of its first practitioners in the United States. He is also recognized as an important medical reformer.
Biography
Early life and ancestors
John Franklin Gray
[Raymond, 19][Raymond, 20][Brace, 34–35–36–37] was born on September 23, 1804, at
Sherburne, New York
Sherburne is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. The population was 4,048 at the 2010 census. The town contains two villages, Sherburne and Earlville. The town is at the northern border of Chenango County.
History
The area ...
and died on June 9, 1882, at the
Fifth Avenue Hotel
The Fifth Avenue Hotel was a luxury hotel located at 200 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City from 1859 to 1908. It had an entire block of frontage between 23rd Street and 24th Street, at the southwest corner of Madison Square.
S ...
, in New York City. He was the fourth of five sons of John Gray,
[Raymond, 17][Raymond, 12] (December 15, 1769 - April 24, 1859), and the grandson of John Gray, a founder of Sherburne, and Elizabeth Skeel. Two of Dr. Gray's brothers, Dr. Alfred W. Gray (1802–1873) and Dr. Patrick Wells Gray (1806–1882), were both prominent homeopathic physicians and surgeons. Dr. Gray's father served as a captain in Col. Samuel Whiting's 4th
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
of the Connecticut Militia in the American Revolutionary War. He was appointed and served as first Judge of the
Court of Common Pleas
A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...
for Chenango County, New York until 1819 when the family removed to
Sheridan,
Chautauqua County, New York. His life was celebrated by the poet
John Greenleaf Whittier, at his funeral in 1859 thus recalls him:
His mother was Diantha Burritt,
(January 9, 1776 - October 14, 1846) the daughter of the Rev.
Blackleach Burritt
Blackleach Burritt (1744 – August 27, 1794) was a preacher during the American Revolutionary War. During the war, he was incarcerated in a sugar house prison.Mather., p. 206
Early life and ancestors
Blackleach Burritt was born at Ripton Pari ...
, who graduated from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1765, and was a great-great grandson of Governor
William Leete
William Leete (1612 or 1613 – 16 April 1683) was Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683.
Biography
Leete was born about 1612 or 1613 at Diddington, Huntingdonshire, E ...
, who was the Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and
Governor of Connecticut
The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...
from 1676 to 1683; and Martha Welles (1744 - April 1786) a daughter of Gideon Welles and Eunice Walker and a great-great granddaughter of Governor
Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and fro ...
the Fourth Colonial Governor of Connecticut. Diantha had been a school teacher in Vermont before her marriage, at Winhall, Vermont on May 26, 1793, and was a poet and woman of literary taste.
His mother was instrumental in encouraging his interest in medicine as his profession. Her favorite brother, Dr. Eli Burritt, born March 12, 1773, at Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York and died September 1, 1823, in
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
,
Rensselaer County, New York was a physician and encouraged Gray's interest in medicine as well.
He graduated from
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...
in 1800, and was licensed to practice medicine at Troy, New York, on March 29, 1802, and he quickly gained recognition for his medical skills.
Dr.
Francis Wayland (1796–1865), fourth president of
Brown University, said the following about his former teacher: "Dr. Burritt was a man of remarkable logical powers of enthusiastic love of his profession, and of great and deserved confidence in his own judgment. He stood at the head of his profession in Troy, and in the neighboring region, and was a person of high moral character".
Marriage and family
He married on September 25, 1826, in New York City, Elizabeth Williams Hull, born in 1808 in
New Hartford, New York and died on May 28, 1868, in New York City, and is buried in
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
beside her husband.
She was the daughter of Dr. Amos Gift Hull, a prominent and eminent physician of New York City and one of the founders of the State Medical Society of New York and his third wife, Eunice Williams. She was a sister of Dr. Amos Gerald Hull
[Bradford http://www.homeoint.org/seror/biograph/hull.htm][Cleave 416] (1810–1859), an 1832 graduate of
Rutgers Medical College and an influential homeopathic physician who visited
Samuel Hahnemann
Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (; 10 April 1755 – 2 July 1843) was a German physician, best known for creating the pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine called homeopathy.
Early life
Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann was ...
, the founder of homeopathy, in Paris, in 1836–37, of which he wrote a very interesting account of him.
John and Elizabeth were the parents of eight children, all born in New York City: Elizabeth Williams Gray, John Hull Gray, John Franklin Gray, Jr., John Frederick Schiller Gray, Josephine Augusta Gray, Emma Geraldine Hull Gray, Mary Ludlow Gray and Edward Hull Gray.
Their daughter, Elizabeth Williams Gray,
married Dr. Lewis Tillman Warner an influential and respected homeopathic physician. Their daughter, Louise Tillman Warner,
[Raymond, 22] married Charles Loring Brace, Jr., a graduate of
Phillips Academy,
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...
and a graduate of Yale College class of 1876 with a degree in Civil Engineering.
He was a
Mugwump
The Mugwumps were Republican political activists in the United States who were intensely opposed to political corruption. They were never formally organized. Typically they switched parties from the Republican Party by supporting Democratic ...
in politics. He was employed as Superintendent and Engineer of Construction with the
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway at
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. When his father died in 1890, he was invited by the trustees of the New York Children's Aid Society to take up as Secretary and
Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
of that society. A son of Louise and Charles was
Gerald Warner Brace, (1901–1978) was an American writer, educator, sailor and boat builder.
He was the son of Letitia Neill
[Brace, 90] of Belfast, Ireland and
Charles Loring Brace
Charles Loring Brace (June 19, 1826 – August 11, 1890) was an American philanthropist who contributed to the field of social reform. He is considered a father of the modern foster care movement and was most renowned for starting the Orphan T ...
,
[O'Connor, 6] Yale College 1846, who was a contributing philanthropist in the field of social reform. He is considered a father of the modern foster care movement and was most renowned for starting the
Orphan Train
The Orphan Train Movement was a supervised welfare program that transported children from crowded Eastern cities of the United States to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the Midwest. The orphan trains operated between 1854 and 1929, ...
movement of the mid-19th century, and for founding The
Children's Aid Society
Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employees ...
in 1853.
Dr. Warner's second wife was Sarah Loring MacKaye, (1841–1876) a woman of extraordinary charm and brilliance, and a pianist of professional ability. She was the daughter of Emily Steele and Colonel James M. MacKaye, a successful attorney and an ardent abolitionist and an organizer of The Wells Fargo Express Company, and President of American Telegraph Company. Sarah was a sister of American playwright, actor, theater manager and inventor James Morrison
Steele MacKaye.
Their son, John Frederick Schiller Gray,
was also a physician. He was an 1851 graduate of
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...
and an 1871 graduate of the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...
and practiced medicine with his father after graduating. He also practiced medicine in Paris,
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
and
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
. He served in the Twentieth New York Infantry and had fought at the
Battle of Antietam, He gave
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
a fearful account of the battlefield at half past 9 the night following the engagement at The Vault at Pfaff's.
[Kaplan, 93][Kaplan, 94] he later served as a major on the staff of General
Edward Canby
Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (November 9, 1817 – April 11, 1873) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War.
In 1861–1862, Canby commanded the Department of New Mexico, defeating the Confederate Gen ...
. He was a member of the Fred Gray Association.
Education
He began the study of medicine in the academy in Hamilton, New York, (now Madison University) for two years, He first entered the office of Dr. Haven, of Hamilton, New York and he stayed there for two years. He then left for Dunkirk, New York, where he opened a private school, studying medicine all the time under Dr. Ezra Williams.
[King, 79–80–81–82–94–95–200–201]
In 1824, when just 20 years old, he removed to New York City and received instruction from Drs.
Valentine Mott
Valentine Mott (August 20, 1785April 26, 1865) was an American surgeon.
Life
Valentine Mott was born at Glen Cove, New York. He graduated at Columbia College, studied under Sir Astley Cooper in London, and also spent a winter in Edinburgh. A ...
and
David Hosack
David Hosack (August 31, 1769 – December 22, 1835) was a noted American physician, botanist, and educator. He remains widely known as the doctor who tended to the fatal injuries of Alexander Hamilton after his duel with Aaron Burr in July 1 ...
[
] (August 31, 1769 – December 22, 1835). Dr Hosack was a noted physician, botanist, and educator, who is perhaps most widely known as the doctor who attended to
Alexander Hamilton after Hamilton's deadly duel with
Aaron Burr. Hosack was also a founder of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
[Cleave 454]
It was a common practice in the early 19th century for students to receive a part of their education through a system of apprenticeships until medical schools were to assume a major role in education. These apprenticeships usually covered a period of three years and were regulated by local medical societies.
During the time of his studies he was appointed assistant surgeon in the navy; and as it was necessary that he should be a graduate or licentiate in order to hold this position, he was accorded a license by the county medical society. He graduated from
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...
in 1826.
Career
Immediately after graduating and completing his residency, he opened an office on Charlton Street in New York City. In acquiring his practice he was assisted by his future father-in-law, Dr. A. G. Hull, of New York, by Dr. Hosack, and by Dr. Watts. Dr. Gray's success in obtaining patients and social patronage was very strong and rapid ; so much so, that in his first year he was enabled to get married and to support a moderate house comfortably, and in his second to sustain a doctor's horse and gig.
Soon after starting in private practice he began the study of the French language, and carried it far enough to read medical authors; two years later he began the German, and kept at it till he could read it fluently and even speak it with palpable scope and accuracy of diction.
Soon after, he learned of Hahnemann's medical theories through Hans B. Gram, a Danish doctor, who was born in Boston of Danish parents and was educated in Denmark. He heard Dr. Gram lecture, but was not convinced. He then reluctantly consented to let Dr. Gram treat one of his patients, whose case had resisted his own skill. Dr. Gram had remarkable success, not only with that patient but with others, and Dr. Gray was converted to homeopathy.
[Haller, 117] He did not, however, believe that homeopathy and allopathic medicine to be mutually exclusive, but rather believed them to be complementary.
[Rothstein, 163]
In 1828, Dr. Gray adopted homœopathy as the major rule in his practice and announced his intention to practice according to that system openly, and in consequence lost his profitable practice and all his professional friends. He endured many hardships and much ill-treatment for his devotion to homeopathy.
Dr. Gray was the first to propose the formation of a national society of homeopathy, and in 1844 the American Institute of Homeopathy was organized.
In 1833, he commenced the practice of medicine in partnership with his brother-in-law. Dr. Amos Gerald Hull.
In 1834, he founded the New York Homœopathic Society. Its stated purpose was for ''the purpose of protecting, enriching and disseminating such of the propositions and testimonies of Homœopathia as upon mature trial they shall find to be sound and available''. The first officers of the society were: president, John F. Gray ; vice-presidents, Edward A. Strong, George Baxter ; corresponding secretary,
Federal Vanderburgh ; recording secretary, Daniel Seymour ; treasurer, F. A. Lohse ; registrar, A. Gerald Hull ; librarian, F. L. Wilsey ; finance committee, J. H. Patterson, Oliver S. Strong, L. M. H. Butler, William Bock.
This society was composed of physicians and laymen. William Cullen Bryant, the poet-editor, was a member. He was an early convert to homœopathy and all his life was a strong supporter of its principles.
Personal life and spiritualism
Every week, the Grays hosted a salon remarkable for attracting the leading artists and intellectuals of the day as well as other prominent medical men of the city who attended, and they became well known as social leaders in the city, supporting causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. Dr. Gray befriended the poets
William Cullen Bryant
William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...
,
John Greenleaf Whittier and
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
and was a patron of American artists including,
Asher Brown Durand
Asher Brown Durand (August 21, 1796, – September 17, 1886) was an American painter of the Hudson River School.
Early life
Durand was born in, and eventually died in, Maplewood, New Jersey (then called Jefferson Village). He was the eight ...
and
Frederic Edwin Church as well as
Samuel Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...
, the inventor of telegraphy
He was also a well-known and prominent
Spiritualist in New York as well as a frequent lecturer on the subject. He was a close friend and associate with Kate, Leah and Margaret Fox (the
Fox sisters
The Fox sisters were three sisters from Rochester, New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism: Leah (April 8, 1813 – November 1, 1890), Margaretta (also called Maggie), (October 7, 1833 – March 8, 1893) and Catheri ...
),
Andrew Jackson Davis
Andrew Jackson Davis (August 11, 1826January 13, 1910) was an American Spiritualist, born in Blooming Grove, New York.
Early years
Davis had little education. In 1843 he heard lectures in Poughkeepsie on animal magnetism, the precursor of hy ...
,
Amy and Isaac Post and with the
Davenport brothers.
He became a noted philanthropist in his later years, especially to the poor, and was consulted in various social issues.
Awards and honors
He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from
Hamilton College
Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
in 1871.
[Raymond, 21] He was also a life member of the New York Chapter of
The Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...
.
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...
referred to Gray as "the father of homeopathy in America" in his June 1882 obituary.
Death
He died on June 9, 1882, at New York City. He is buried in
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
[Hills, 115]
Descendants
* Dr.
C. Loring Brace
Charles Loring Brace IV (December 19, 1930 – September 7, 2019) was an American anthropologist, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan's Department of Anthropology and Curator Emeritus at the University's Museum of Anthropological Arc ...
IV, Biological anthropologist.
*
Gerald Warner Brace (1901–1978) was an American writer, educator, sailor and boat builder.
*Gerald Hull Gray
[Harvard 361]
List of works
* ''The early annals of homœopathy in New York : a discourse before the Homœopathic Societies of New York and Brooklyn, on 10 April 1863, the anniversary of the birthday of Hahnemann''. New York : Homœopathic Medical Society of the County of New York, 1863
* ''Homoeopathy in New-York, and the late Abraham D. Wilson, A.M., M.D.''. New York : William S. Dorr, Printer, 1865
References
Sources
*Brace, Charles Loring. ''The life of Charles Loring Brace, chiefly told in his own letters''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1894.
*Brace, Gerald Warner. ''Days that Were''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1976.
*Bradford, Thomas Lindsley, M.D. ''The Pioneers of Homœopathy''. Philadelphia : Boericke & Tafel, 1897.
*
Cleave, Egbert. ''Cleave's biographical cyclopaedia of homoeopathic physicians and surgeons''. Philadelphia: Galaxy publishing company, 1873.
*Dexter, Franklin B. ''Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History''. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1903.
*Haller, John S. ''American medicine in transition 1840-1910''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, ©1981. .
*Hills, Alfred K.. ''
New York Medical Times''. New York: E.B. Colby & Company, 1881.
*Kaplan, Justin. ''Walt Whitman: A Life''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.
*Clark, Edward S. ''The Stephens Family, with Collateral Branches''. New York: Job Printers and Eletrotypers, 1891.
*Harvard College (1780- ). Class of 1889.. ''Twenty-fifth anniversary, 1889-1914 : Seventh report of the class secretary''. Boston : Cockayne, 1914.
*King, William Harvey, ed. History of Homoeopathy and Its Institutions in America''. Vol. I. New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1905.
*O'Connor, Stephen. ''Orphan trains : the story of Charles Loring Brace and the children he saved and failed''. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004.1. .
*
Raymond, Marcius Denison ''Gray genealogy : being a genealogical record and history of the descendants of John Gray, of Beverly, Mass., and also including sketches of other Gray families''. New York: Higginson Book Company, 1887.
*Rothstein, William G. ''American physicians in the nineteenth century : from sects to science''. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
Further reading
*Winston, Julian. ''The Faces of Homeopathy: An Illustrated History of the First 200 Years''. Tawa, New Zealand: Great Awk Publishing, 1999.
*Haller, John S. ''The history of American homeopathy : the academic years, 1820-1935''. New York: Pharmaceutical Products Press, ©2005 .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, John Franklin
Physicians from New York City
19th-century American physicians
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
1804 births
1881 deaths
American homeopaths
American spiritualists
People from Sherburne, New York
Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery