A short time before Dr. Moore settled in South Royalton the corps of doctors in town was increased by the advent of James Ephraim Morse, M. D., into Royalton village. Dr. Morse took his degree from Dartmouth Medical College in 1850. He practiced in W. Hartford until 1865, when he removed to Royalton, and bought the large two-story house, known as the George Lyman house, now occupied by Mr. Hanks. The death of Dr. Danforth made a good opening for a physician in that village, and Dr. Morse soon had a large practice, which he held and increased up to the time of his death. Gentlemanly in manner and of a genial disposition, he made many warm friends during his seventeen years of residence in town, and acquired an enviable reputation as a successful practitioner. His son Fred became a physician, and practiced for a short time in Royalton village. He graduated from Baltimore, Md., Med. Coll. Practiced for a time in Evansville, Ind., and is now in Denver, Col.

The third native doctor was Daniel Webster Lovejoy, M. D., great-grandson of the first settler in town, Robert Havens. Dr. Lovejoy was educated in Royalton and South Woodstock academies. He had taught a few terms when the Civil War broke out, and he enlisted as sergeant in the 16th Vt. Vols., and later went as a recruit in the 9th Regt. His health was so impaired by his service as to debar him from any hard labor, and after recovery from a long illness he entered Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1867. Mercantile life did not appeal to him. On his mother's side there were many physicians, Dr. Jason Spalding of Sharon, Dr. James Spalding of Montpelier, Dr. Phineas Spalding of Haverhill, N. H., and he felt drawn to that profession. He studied with his cousin, Dr. Horace Fales of Waterbury, and attended two courses of lectures in the U. V. M. He then entered Bellevue Hospital College, Long Island, and was to have graduated from that institution in June, 1871. A few days before the examinations, his mother suddenly died, and grief and overwork compelled him to give up all effort for months. In the spring of 1872 he took a course at Dartmouth Medical College, and was graduated from that institution the same year. He at once located at South Royalton, where he remained until his death.

Dr. Lovejoy had the true physician's instinct and sympathy, and was remarkably accurate in diagnosis. His cases were all carefully studied in his office. He trusted much to nature, and gave less medicine than the generality of physicians of the orthodox school. His disease which he had contracted in the army occasionally prostrated him, but in spite of this drawback his practice continually increased. The strain, however, was too great, and after only eight years he succumbed. His brother

physicians from many towns fought heroically to save him, but in vain. He died "the beloved physician."

Simeon Belknap, M. D., was located at Royalton village, 1867-68. He was a grandson of the Simeon Belknap who was taken prisoner by the Indians, Oct. 16, 1780, and the son of Seymour Belknap of East Barnard, and brother of J. O. Belknap of South Royalton. He studied medicine with Dr. Huntington of Rochester, and graduated from the Medical Department of the U. V. M. in 1860. After spending a year in a hospital in Boston he formed a partnership with his preceptor. The West called to him, and he removed to Niles, Mich., in 1873. He took a front rank in the medical profession, and held numerous important offices. He was a member of the Pan American Medical Congress.

In his boyhood home at East Barnard he was an especial favorite, and he always retained that charming personality that makes friends. He married in 1860 Miss Addie M. Rice of Cincinnati, and had two sons, Dr. Fred R. and Simeon, Jr. He died in 1908. The esteem in which he was held is evidenced by the fact that every place of business in Niles was closed during the funeral.

The place left vacant by Dr. Morse in Royalton village was ably filled by Clayton Philemon House, M. D., a graduate from the Medical Department of the U. V. M. in 1881. Being a native of E. Bethel, he secured considerable practice in that town, and was eminently successful in his profession. He was ably assisted by his accomplished wife, who was Miss Minnie Tower, a graduate of Montpelier Seminary, an unusually bright and capable woman. It was to the great regret of the community that he left in 1888 for Spokane, Washington. In 1891 he removed to Conconully, and in 1894 to Oroville of the same state, where he is in practice at present.

There are always some disciples of the good old-fashioned way of treating disease by the use of herbs and roots, nature's simple remedies. There is room, therefore, for the botanical doctor, wherever the law will allow him to practice. Such a doctor, holding no degree, but skilled in decoctions, and with native and acquired ability to diagnose ordinary diseases with accuracy, was Dr. John Manchester. He removed to Royalton in 1847, and bought a small place adjoining the Gen. Elias Stevens farm. Here he lived in a quiet way, and practiced the healing art in Royalton and other towns until about 1870, when the infirmities of age compelled him to abandon effort of this kind. He was a respected citizen of the town, having friendly relations with doctors of a different faith, some of whom, perhaps, profited by his knowledge. One of his sons, Byron Albert, studied medicine

regularly, graduating from the Medical College at Woodstock in 1852. Dr. Byron, as he was called, opened an office in South Royalton the same year, but his health, always frail, was not equal to the strain of active practice, and he died in the spring of the next year. Another son, Constant W., was also a regular physician, an honored and successful practitioner of Lebanon, N. H., for many years.

Homeopathy has had little foothold in Royalton. It has not been learned that any physician of that persuasion settled in town prior to 1879. About this time Dr. Forrest Leavitt, a native of Laconia, N. H., moved to Royalton and opened an office. He was a young man recently married, and had one infant son. Dr. Leavitt won converts to his faith quite as much by personal magnetism as by his skill. In a brief time he had secured a considerable patronage among some of the best families in town, which he held as long as he remained. Nothing can be said regarding his preparation for the practice of medicine, as inquiries have not been answered. About the year 1894 he removed to Somerville, Mass., where he is at present. No other homeopathic physician has since located here.

After the death of Dr. Lovejoy, Arthur Brown Bisbee, M. D., came to South Royalton. He was educated at Barre Academy before beginning the study of medicine in 1878 with Dr. Sumner Putnam of Montpelier. He attended lectures at Dartmouth Medical College and the Medical Department of the U. V. M. He received his degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, in May, 1882. He came to South Royalton in July of that year.

His fine preparation and his native ability, coupled with a sterling character, soon won for him a lucrative practice. He was universally liked, both as a man and as a physician, and entered heartily into the interests of the people. He married in 1886, Alice M. Putnam, the daughter of his preceptor. His outlook here was promising, but he decided to remove to Montpelier in 1887, where he still resides. He has held several honorary offices in his profession, serving at one time as President of the Vermont Medical Society. Since 1888 he has been Medical Director of the National Life Insurance Company of Montpelier, and has now given up general practice.

Frank Gillis Mills, M. D., was born in Topsham, Oct. 6, 1857. His preparatory education was received in the academy at Chelsea, where he studied medicine with Dr. B. W. Braley. He graduated from the Medical Department of the U. V. M. in 1880, and came soon after to South Royalton, and entered into partnership with Dr. H. H. Whitcomb. He was an energetic physician, devoted to his work and his patients, always ready to re