Dr. John Sprague

1718 - 1798  (79 years)

• Name	John Sprague
  Prefix	Dr.
  Born	4 Dec 1718	Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA
  Christened	7 Dec 1718	First Church - Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA
  Gender	Male
  Died	29 May 1798	Dedham, Norfolk Co., MA
  Notes	"The Sprague Family: from Dorset, to Massachusetts & Gibraltar", by Joan Watkins, 1992, correspondent. John Sprague born in 1718 decided to become a Physician. He went to Melrose School and Harvard College. Then he moved to Boston to continue his studies with the learned Doctors William Douglas and Louis Delhonde (Delhonde), a frenchman with a wide reputation. It is thought that Dr. Delhonde and his family had fled France at the end of the 17th Century being of Huguenot persuasion. By 1743 at the age of 25 John was in practice by himself. In April the next year he married Elizabeth Delhonde, the daughter of his mentor. They bought a house in Boston with land on the south side of Winter Street where they lived in style appropriate to a rapidly growing practice. They had three sons: Lawrence 1746, Edward in 1749 and John in 1752. Dr. John (Senior) became particularly noted for the battle he waged against smallpox and the newly formulated ideas of inoculation. In fact in a particular outbreak in 1745 he was prevented by the Selectmen of Boston from helping victims, as this form of vaccination was not lawfully recognised. However, during a subsequent epidemic, one of his houses was turned into a smallpox hospital. He was also active at the Quarantine Station at Point Shirley, inoculating free many of the poor of the town. He was then thanked formally by the Selectmen, they having had a change of heart. It is interesting that the vaccination of smallpox initiated by others in Europe and in particular Renner was not accredited until the 1770s, yet Dr. John was carrying out this practice well before this date. It is reported that he left a locked box, now in the Library of Congress. As far as it is know it has never been opened and no one knows what he kept in it, possibly secret records of his vaccination campaign. Sadly after just 11 years of marriage, his wife Elizabeth died in 1757 so that Dr. John was made Guardian of the three sons, namely Lawrence, Edward and John, and in 1761 he was honored by an appointment to the Committee to visit schools. The Doctor moved to Dedham where he bought a mansion house from Peter Luce and some adjoining land. On this he built an elegant house. Unfortunately both the houses burnt down in a large fire that engulfed the area in 1765. Undaunted he immediately built a large one, said to have a 75 foot frontage. In 1770 Dr. John married again Esther Harrison, a widow. This united his considerable fortune with her even larger one. At the age of 52 he intended to live the life of a retired gentleman, but was unable to turn away his many patients and was "too fond of making money, or to forgive his many debtors." He had a shrewd and well read mind, and very interested in politics, Had his leanings been the wrong one his reputation might have suffered, but he was an active son of liberty. He entertained leading politicians among them Robert Paine in 1749 and John Adams in 1751 plotting many schemes together. During the American war, he earned a great name as a Consultant and younger physicians flocked to him for advice and his reputation spread among laymen for his kill in diagnosis. He was well known in the Harvard community and was one of the more generous donors to the campaign to replace the books and apparatus lost in their fire in 1764. In 1779 Dedham sent him to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. At the end of 1792 he was awarded a MD which was then given by Harvard purely as an Honorary Degree. After a long and interesting life he died of a fever in 1798 at the age of 79. He was buried from his other house in Winter Street, Boston. _____________ "The Brothers Ralph & William Sprague and some of Their Descendants", by Frank William Sprague, 1909, page 12. John Sprague was appointed guardian of his three children 27 May 1757, after the death of his first wife, their mother, they being her heirs and under fourteen years of age.
  Person ID	I52129	Stedman/Steadman/Steedman Families of the New World
  Last Modified	7 Jan 2006

  
  

  Father	Joseph Sprague,   b. 24 Oct 1691, Malden, Middlesex Co., MA ,   d. 12 Mar 1737/38, Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA  (Age 46 years)
  Mother	Sarah Stedman,   b. 1693,   d. 29 Jan 1721/22, Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA  (Age 29 years)
  Married	30 Nov 1714	First Church - Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA   [1, 2, 3]
  Family ID	F3328	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Elizabeth Dolhonde,   b. Abt 1725, Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA ,   d. Bef 27 May 1757  (Age ~ 32 years)
  Marriage intent	28 Feb 1743/44	Boston, Suffolk Co., MA
  Marriage intent	28 Mar 1745	Boston, Suffolk Co., MA
  Married	11 Apr 1745	Boston, Suffolk Co., MA
  	Dolhonde, Elizabeth Married:  Apr 11, 1745     in:  Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Gender:  F     This record can be found at:  Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0818093-0818095. Spouse name:  Sprague, John Dolhonde, Elizabeth Married:  Mar 28, 1745     in:  Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Gender:  F     This record can be found at:  Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0818093-0818095. Spouse name:  Sprague, John
  Children	1. Dr. Lawrence Sprague,   b. 1746,   d. Unknown   2. Rev. Edward Sprague,   b. 20 May 1750, Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA ,   d. 16 Dec 1817  (Age 67 years)   3. Dr. John Sprague,   b. 10 Sep 1752, Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA ,   d. 17 Apr 1800  (Age 47 years)
  Last Modified	7 Jan 2006
  Family ID	F19237	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Esther [--?--],   d. 7 Oct 1811
  Married	Aft 1757
  Last Modified	7 Jan 2006
  Family ID	F19238	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 4 Dec 1718 - Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA Marriage intent - 28 Feb 1743/44 - Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Marriage intent - 28 Mar 1745 - Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Married - 11 Apr 1745 - Boston, Suffolk Co., MA Died - 29 May 1798 - Dedham, Norfolk Co., MA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S140] Stedman Genealogy, Dr. Charles Ellery Stedman, M.D., (1880), C 1430, SG STE 5. [S56] Massachusetts Marriage Index, Broderbund Family Archive #231. [S57] Massachusetts Vital Records, Cambridge, p. 370 (Reliability: 3).