Deadly Smallpox
In colonial Boston, smallpox roared into town roughly every fifteen years, sometimes from sailors. Easily transmitted, smallpox in Boston killed between 5-15% of the population each time.[1] Smallpox has been the deadliest disease humans have ever known. In the 20th century alone, smallpox killed between 300 and 500 million people world-wide, until its successful eradication in 1980.
An Enslaved Man Provides the Knowledge to Prevent Smallpox
In the early 1700’s, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston and Reverend Cotton Mather were determined to find a method to prevent smallpox. Onesimus, a West African man Reverend Mather owned, provided that necessary knowledge. When Reverend Mather asked if he had had smallpox, Onesimus confounded Mather, replying both “yes” and “no”. Onesimus went on to explain that his West African mother had pricked his skin with a small amount of smallpox so he could never get the full disease. This knowledge was revolutionary. No one in the Americas and very few in Europe had heard of a way to prevent the dread disease.
Curious about Onesimus’s account, Mather walked down to the harbor to ask other first-generation Africans, some of whom confirmed Onesimus’ knowledge. Mather then told his good friend Dr. Zabdiel Boylston what to do when smallpox returned to Boston: take the smallpox pus from a very ill person; then prick the arms of healthy people, who will sicken but recover. Afterwards, they will be forever immune from the disease.
In 1720 the deadly smallpox returned to Boston.
Curious about Onesimus’s account, Mather walked down to the harbor to ask other first-generation Africans, some of whom confirmed Onesimus’ knowledge. Mather then told his good friend Dr. Zabdiel Boylston what to do when smallpox returned to Boston: take the smallpox pus from a very ill person; then prick the arms of healthy people, who will sicken but recover. Afterwards, they will be forever immune from the disease.
In 1720 the deadly smallpox returned to Boston.
Experiments against Smallpox
Using smallpox pus, Dr. Boylston began his dangerous experiment on three people who could not give their assent to being experimented on: the enslaved man, Jack, and Jack’s toddler son, Jackie, plus “my Son Thomas of about six.”[2] All three received the same dose on the same day, as Boylston wanted to experiment on “all sorts of persons: Whites, Blacks and of all ages and constitutions.” [2] The three sickened but survived. Within the next few weeks, Moll, also enslaved to Boylston, was inoculated too.
Of what happened to Jack and Jackie after the experiment, no record has been found. They did not die in Brookline. They were likely sold away.
Of what happened to Jack and Jackie after the experiment, no record has been found. They did not die in Brookline. They were likely sold away.
The experiment met both Resistance and Success
The powerful clergy and almost all the doctors of Boston organized to stop Dr. Boylston from inoculating people. The doctors thought his actions were dangerous, while the clergy announced that Boylston was interfering with God who alone decided who would live and who would die. Two hundred eighty-six people chose to come to Boylston’s home to be pricked with live smallpox, sometimes arriving quietly in the dark. They represented a cross-section of Boston. Boylston published the full details in an article in London stating, “I have not used this Practice only to the healthful and strong, but to the weak and diseased, the aged and the young: Not only to the rich, but have carried it into the houses of the poor”. He also inoculated a number of enslaved people, including his enslaved woman Moll.
Of the 286 people he inoculated, just six, or 2%, died. Yet during that epidemic roughly 17% of all Bostonians succumbed to smallpox. [3]
Over the years, Boylston’s experiment gradually received wide acceptance. During the American Revolution, after thousands of people had died of smallpox, General Washington ordered all new recruits to be inoculated or to show that they had already been inoculated.[4] It was only many years later, in 1796, that the English scientist, Edward Jenner, developed a vaccine from cowpox which prevented smallpox but without the risk of contracting it.
Of the 286 people he inoculated, just six, or 2%, died. Yet during that epidemic roughly 17% of all Bostonians succumbed to smallpox. [3]
Over the years, Boylston’s experiment gradually received wide acceptance. During the American Revolution, after thousands of people had died of smallpox, General Washington ordered all new recruits to be inoculated or to show that they had already been inoculated.[4] It was only many years later, in 1796, that the English scientist, Edward Jenner, developed a vaccine from cowpox which prevented smallpox but without the risk of contracting it.
More information on Dr. Boylston and Onesiumus
Nowhere is Onesimus’ medical knowledge acknowledged or celebrated, except in some history books. However, Dr. Boylston’s smallpox work is widely praised.
After living in Boston for many years, Dr. Boylston returned to Brookline, living in the stately home he’d grown up in. His house remains standing, set back on a hill above the Brookline Reservoir. He is buried in the town’s Old Burying Ground in a prominent tomb high on the hill. Buried with Dr. Boylston are his wife, his enslaved man Boston and a number of Boylston descendants. No further information is available on the others he had enslaved: Jack, Jackie or Moll.
Engraved on his tombstone is praise for his smallpox work and for his kindness to all.
Two Young Men Escape Slavery→
After living in Boston for many years, Dr. Boylston returned to Brookline, living in the stately home he’d grown up in. His house remains standing, set back on a hill above the Brookline Reservoir. He is buried in the town’s Old Burying Ground in a prominent tomb high on the hill. Buried with Dr. Boylston are his wife, his enslaved man Boston and a number of Boylston descendants. No further information is available on the others he had enslaved: Jack, Jackie or Moll.
Engraved on his tombstone is praise for his smallpox work and for his kindness to all.
Two Young Men Escape Slavery→
Notes and Citations
[1] Tony Williams, The Pox and the Covenant: Mather, Franklin and the Epidemic that Changed America’s Destiny. Sourcebooks, 2010, pp. 21-25, 60-67.
[2] Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, An Historical Account of the Small-Pox Inoculated in New England upon All Sorts of Persons, Whites, Blacks, and of All Ages and Constitutions. London: S. Chandler, 1726.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Michael Willrich, Smallpox: an American History, New York, the Penguin Press, 2011, p. 35.
[2] Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, An Historical Account of the Small-Pox Inoculated in New England upon All Sorts of Persons, Whites, Blacks, and of All Ages and Constitutions. London: S. Chandler, 1726.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Michael Willrich, Smallpox: an American History, New York, the Penguin Press, 2011, p. 35.