by Edouard A. Stackpole

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Dr. Samuel Gelston — Medical Pioneer

OUR HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION recently received as a gift an excellent copy of a painting of Dr. Samuel Gelston, a physician who played a prominent role in Nantucket during the exciting times of the American Revolution. Dr. Gelston came to Nantucket from Southampton, on Long Island, and introduced the practice of inoculation against smallpox in or about the year 1772. He had attempted to set up places where such a practice could be established, but found the communities on the mainland, where he sought to establish himself, were opposed to it, and eventually came to Nantucket.

Here, there had been efforts to establish houses where inoculation could be practiced, the first area being on Coatue Point in October, 1763. But this vote of the Town was rescinded the following month, and a new area designated, this being at Shimmo. This section was "east of George Hussey's lot, between the shore and pond, near where Joseph Marshall's house stood". The name "pest house shore" then came into existence and continued in usage here until only a few years ago. In August, 1764, the town voted the vote of the previous year be reconsidered and that "inoculation for the smallpox not be practiced or carried on in this town".

With Dr. Samuel Gelston's arrival agitation for inoculation was revived. It was a crude method, at best. One attempt at a hospital in Marblehead, Mass., ended when the citizens burned iiu, structure in January, 1774. The terrible smallpox epidemic in Boston in 1764, with all its horror, became too familiar a catastrophe, and had a part in the fluctuating reactions of the citizens. One of the reasons for the British evacuation of Boston in March, 1776, was the fear of another epidemic. The shifting of public support for inoculation was characteristic of the times. Dr. Gelston was able to convince the selectmen of Nantucket that he could place the smallpox "hospital" in a remote place and eliminate the danger of contagion. The site he selected was the barren Gravelly Island, between Muskeget and Tuckernuck.

In 1772, the town became alarmed by the fact that a number of those who had been inoculated at the Gravelly Island establishment were leaving the place before they were allowed to go. Because Dr. Gelston had, by this time, established himself in the Town as a reputable physician, the selectmen decided to pay him for the cost of erecting his "hospital", and close the place. At a cost of over $1000 the deal was completed, and Dr. Gelston continued to carry on his regular practice in the Town but agreed to stop the inoculations. The date of the transaction is given by Obed Macy as 1778.

During the Revolution, Dr. Gelston made no effort to disguise the fact that he was in complete sympathy with the Crown. This led to im-

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET mediate problems, as some of the mainland authorities representing the Continentals felt that Gelston was too outspoken in advancing the cause of King George. An armed guard was sent to Nantucket to capture him, and the guard brought him to Plymouth, where he was thrust into jail. Bitter at this treatment, Gelston, with the help of sympathetic friends, escaped and returned to Nantucket to rejoin his wife and eight children. But a second armed detachment came to the Island and recaptured him, to again remand him to the mainland jail. Dr. Gelston then sent a petition to General Court of Massachusetts, pleading for release, promising, "in the future, to govern hmself with calmness and moderation in every action that may tend to promote the good of his country". Supported by the declarations of Nantucketers, he was subsequently released and returned home.

When the American Tories were making their raids along the coast in privateers, Gelston joined with Stephen Paddack and Capt. Timothy Folger to form a committee, sponsored by the Town, to intercede with these "Refugees", as they were called. The Tory fleet had gathered at Holmes Hole, (Vineyard Haven) on Martha's Vineyard, and the committee went there to put the desperate situation of Nantucket before Captain George Leonard, their commander. As both the neutral role of the Town, and the deliberations of the Quakers were well known to both sides, the vigorous presentations of the committee served to dissuade the Refugees from carrying out their plans to raid Nantucket. This was during that sad year of 1779.

Dr. Samuel Gelston had married Ann Cotton in Long Island before coming to Nantucket, and the couple were the parents of eight children. One of the sons, Roland Gelston, also became a prominent physician in Nantucket. Dr. Roland Gelston married Love Pinkham in 1782. Another son, Cotton Gelston, married Anna Folger, of Nantucket.

Born on March 24,1727, Dr. Samuel Gelston died on July 6,1782, at the age of 58. His busy and interesting life, which was also a part of the life of Nantucket and its people during the most hazardous of times — the days before and during the Revolutionary War. The great Nantucket historian, Alexander Starbuck, once wrote of the man: "Dr. Gelston was a man who stood in good repute among his fellow townsmen, and acted quite an important part in negotiations for the town. He was not the only prominent man whose character was calumniated or misrepresented, and they came out of the ordeal of arraignment before the General Court of Massachusetts with uninjured reputations".

E.A.S.