Individual Details

Dr. Samuel Warren Abbott was born June 12, 1827, at Woburn, Massachusetts. He was of colonial ancestry, his grandfather and both of his great grandfathers taking part in the Battle of Lexington. His father was Captain Samuel Abbott and his mother, Ruth Winn. After attending the public schools in Woburn he went to Warren Academy and later to Phillips Academy in Andover, from which he was graduated in 1854. He then entered Brown University at Providence, and in 1858 received the degree of A.B. He attended the Harvard Medical School, and was graduated in 1862. This was during the Civil War, and even before he received his degree, Dr. Abbott entered the service of his country as Assistant Surgeon in the navy. One of the notable engagements in which he took part was that of the monitor Catskill. In 1864, he resigned from the navy and was appointed Surgeon to the First Massachusetts Cavalry, remaining actively engaged with this regiment until the end of the war. He was with the Army of the Potomac in the Petersburg Campaign, and was mustered out of service in July, 1865.
 
Between 1865 and 1869, he practiced his profession in Woburn. Between 1869 and 1902, he resided in Wakefield, and after that, up to the time of his death, lived in Newton Centre.While in Wakefield he held the position of Coroner of Middlesex County from 1872 to 1877 and Medical Examiner from 1872 to 1884. He also served upon the school committees and boards of health in both Woburn and Wakefield, and upon the sewerage commission of Wakefield.
 
On January 7, 1864, he married Miss Martha W. Sullivan of Boston, and at the time of his death she and four children survived him, one son and three daughters. In 1882, Dr. Abbott was appointed Health Officer of the Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity,succeeding Dr. Henry P. Walcott in this position. In 1886, when the State Board of Health was reorganized, Dr. Abbott became acting secretary and executive officer, a position which he held until his death in 1904 — twenty-two years in all. His previous experience had well fitted him for the work, and his old friend Morris Schaff said truly that " Dr. Abbott came near being the most ideal public servant that this Commonwealth ever had or ever will have in her service."
 
Taken from:  George Chandler Whipple, State Sanitation: A Review of the Work of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, Cambridge:  Harvard University Press, 1917, pp 206-207.

Birth	12 Jun 1837	Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Education	1858	Brown University; A.B. degree - Providence Rhode Island
Education	1862	Harvard University; M. D. - Cambridge, Massachusetts
Marriage	7 Jan 1864	Martha Whittlesey Sullivan
Death	22 Oct 1904	Newton, Massachusetts

Spouse	Martha Whittlesey Sullivan (1839 - )
Child	Samuel Abbott (1864 - )
Child	Ruth Elizabeth Abbott (1866 - )
Child	Anne Rebecca Abbott (1873 - )
Child	Flora Winn Abbott (1879 - 1883)

Father	Samuel Abbott (1789 - 1855)
Mother	Ruth Winn (1796 - 1871)
Sibling	Elizabeth Winn Abbott (1822 - 1847)
Sibling	Mary Newel Abbott (1826 - 1909)