Cotton Tufts was born on May 30, 1732 in Medford, Massachussets, the fourth child of Simon and Abigail (Smith) Tufts, and a nephew of John Tufts.
His great-grandfather, Peter Tufts, emigrated from England to Charlestown about 1638. His father, who was a graduate of Harvard College, was the first physician to practise in Medford.
Education
Young Cotton, a serious student, entered Harvard at fourteen and, having received three scholarships, the last one of fifteen pounds, was graduated with the degree of A. M. in 1749.
After a short period of teaching school, he studied medicine with his elder brother Simon, a graduate of Harvard College, who had followed in his father's footsteps in Medford, and began practice in Weymouth, April 1752.
Harvard College granted him an honorary degree of M. D. in 1785.
Career
He spent part of the preceding year in Weymouth, for during an epidemic of diphtheria he took an active part in assisting the older physicians; as a result he settled there and spent the rest of his life in that community.
Tufts not only became the leading practitioner of Weymouth but was also an important figure in medical, scientific, and political affairs of Massachusetts.
In 1765 he planned a state medical society, a project which fell through for lack of adequate support, and in 1781 it was he who was most forceful in organizing the Massachusetts Medical Society. He was elected president in 1787.
It is said that he missed attending only two out of forty meetings in Boston during a period of thirteen years, although he lived twelve miles away and travel was often difficult in winter.
He was a friend of John Adams, whose private affairs he administered while Adams was at his London post.
He died of natural causes at the age of 96.
Achievements
Religion
He was a deacon of his church.
Politics
He represented the town of Weymouth in the meetings against the Stamp Act, and after the Revolution, although he had not entered the army, he voted affirmatively in the Massachusetts convention to ratify the new United States Constitution in 1788.
Membership
He was elected president of Massachusetts Medical Society in 1787.
In 1780 he became one of the charter members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He was a trustee of Derby Academy in Hingham, and president of the Society for the Reformation of Morals.
Connections
He was twice married, first (December 2, 1755) to Lucy Quincy, daughter of John Quincy of Braintree, by whom he had one son, Cotton, graduate of Harvard College in 1777; second (Oct. 22, 1789) to Mrs. Susanna Warner of Gloucester, who survived him.