Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook Vol 063 1978

THE TWO-SHILLING DOCTOR: A LEGEND AND AN ACCOUNT BOOK

By Radford B. Curdy Occasionally one encounters a mortal of a very strange cast who, for lack of better understanding, is perceived by others as being "peculiar." It was, alas, around just such an individual that sprang one of the oddest tales ever to be heard in the quiet countryside of Dutchess County.

New Hackensack, known in historical annals chiefly for its ancient Dutch church, was in early days a sleepy hamlet, not much disposed to notoriety. The meandering Wappingers, a geographical feature of immense importance, flowed close by and its high banks had been chosen by the early settlers for their homesteads.

It was here, not far from the creek and close by the church, that there lived a physician, known among his patients as the "Two-shilling Doctor." A familiar sight was he indeed, as he rode through the countryside calling on the sick; his single volume medical library in one pocket, his bleeder in the other. Protruding from his saddle bag, rarely parted from his person, was a great long leather bound volume - a meticulously kept, closely penned account book.

There was a deep strangeness about him, perhaps reflecting the fearful torment within. To his neighbors the water ran turbulent and deep - they had all heard, and some had even been witness to the curse and the tragedy surrounding Dr. Stephen Thorn.

Dr. Thorn came of a very respectable Long Island family, one which for generations had been a pillar of Flushing Quakerism. Records relating to his early life seem to have vanished, but it is known he was born about 1737, probably at White Plains, to which community his father Samuel had removed on his trek north, which ended with a new life in Rombout Precinct, Dutchess County. It appears that Dr. Thorn was already well established when his father died in 1759 and he was a practicing physician in 1762 when he married Mrs. Elizabeth Hicks. Whether he attended a medical school or studied with an established physician has never been determined. In 1772 he built a large brick home close by the New Hackensack Church and here raised a family of six children.

Dr. Thorn's early professional life seems to have been uneventful, marked only by an occasional problem in collecting a bill. But deep trouble marked most of his life and it began four short years after moving into his new home. The Revolution brought soul searching for many Dutchess County residents and some found themselves with no choice but to cling to their loyalty to George III. Among that group were the children of Samuel Thorn.

In 1775, Dr. Thorn, and his brothers Jonathan, Robert and John all refused to sign the Articles of Association. On October 17, 1776, Dr. Thorn and his brothers Robert and Jonathan were arrested for their loyalist sympathies and sent off to Exeter, New Hampshire. On March 7, 1777, Dr. Thorn and his brother Jonathan were allowed to return, owing to their having "behaved peaceable and not spoken against the American cause." Both Jonathan and Robert continued manifestly opposed to the whig cause, but Dr. Thorn had apparently become less inclined to support the Tories. Jonathan in May was 78