6. Nathaniel Cushing{6}, Esq., father of the subject of this Notice,
resided at Pembroke, now Hanson; married Mary, daughter of Rev. Ezekiel
Dodge of Abington, who graduated at H. C., 1749, and died 1770, aged
48. Their children were _Ezekiel Dodge_7, Mehetabel, Lucy, George, and
Elijah.
7. Ezekiel Dodge Cushing{7}, was born in 1790; graduated at Harvard
University, in 1808; commenced the study of medicine under the tuition
of Dr. Gad Hitchcock, of his native town; and after one year, became a
pupil of Dr. Nathan Smith, Professor in the Medical School of Dartmouth
College, where he received the degree of Bachelor in Medicine, in 1811.
His education was extended by attendance on the Hospitals and Lectures
in Philadelphia. He then visited London and Paris; in the former
city, acting as a dresser in St. Thomas' Hospital, while attending
the Lectures of Abernethy, Sir Astley Cooper, and others; and in the
latter, was present when it was occupied by the allies, witnessing
daily in the crowded hospitals a most extensive surgical practice.
Thus furnished for the practical duties of his profession, he returned
to his native country and settled in Boston, where he acquired the
reputation of an able and successful physician, and obtained a
respectable circle of business.
After a few years, perhaps being too impatient "to bide his time,"
and desirous of pursuing a more active life, he removed to Hanover,
where his services were much sought, and highly appreciated in a
widely extended circle. He was frequently called to advise with his
professional brethren in cases of difficulty, and to them as well as
to his employers, his opinions gave great satisfaction. It could not
well be otherwise, for he possessed eminent skill and tact in his
profession, and with it that urbanity and kindness of manner, which
secured the confidence of all with whom he had intercourse.
Just as his reputation had become established, and when his prospects
for long life and extended usefulness appeared most fair, he was
smitten with disease, appearing first in the form of an epileptic
affection, and then of partial paralysis, which issued in an entire
loss of tone in the digestive organs, and ultimately terminated in his
death, on the fifth of April, 1828, at the age of 38.
Thus died an amiable man and accomplished physician. Possessing
naturally a vigorous constitution, he probably in early life exposed
himself to unnecessary dangers; and when disease fastened upon him its
iron grasp, relying too much on his former experience, he failed to
exercise that care in his own case, which he would have recommended to
others in like circumstances. His memory will be cherished by all who
knew him, and his virtues may well be emulated by every aspirant to
honest fame, in the profession of which he was an ornament.
He married Delia Sawyer, daughter of Capt.---- Sawyer of Boston, and
left seven children; all of whom, except two who died young, with
their widowed mother survive to mourn his early death.
The following lines of his Epitaph, written by one who knew him well,
are remarkably just.
"Where'er the scenes of woe were laid,
His presence brightened hope and health;
Enough for him that duty bade,
Without the _line_ of sordid wealth."
See History of Scituate, and a Dissertation of George C. Shattuck, M.
D., in the Communications of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Vol. IV.