CHARLES N. HEWITT AND FAMILY:

Charles Nathaniel Hewitt was born June 3, 1836 at Vergennes, Vermont, the son of Dr. Henry and Althea (Brush) Hewitt. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Potsdam, New York, where he was instructed in medicine by his father. He was sent to an academy in Cheshire, Connecticut, prior to enrolling at Geneva Grammar School in New York. In 1853 he was admitted to Boart College in Geneva, New York. After graduating from Hobart in 1856, he entered Albany Medical College, graduating as valedictorian in 1857. He practiced medicine in Geneva until his muster in to the New York 50th Engineer Corps. He served throughout the eastern theater of the Civil War, both as a surgeon and as a medical circuit rider.

After his discharge from the military, he resumed medical practice in Potsdam, New York. In 1886 he joined Dr. Augustine B. Hawley in the latter's medical practice in Red Wing, Minnesota. In 1872, Hewitt became the first secretary of the Minnesota State Board of Health. One of his highest priorities was educating the citizenry about communicable diseases, especially diphtheria. In 1889 he traveled to Europe to attend conferences and meet with medical personnel in Dublin, London, Berlin, Munich, and Paris, expanding his bacteriological research. In 1890 he was back in practice where he established the first bacteriological laboratory west of the Alleghenies. He resigned from the State Board of Health in 1897. He continued to practice in Red Wing but after 1904 saw fewer patients. He died July 7, 1910, at the home of his daughter in Summit, New Jersey.

On April 22, 1869, he married Helen Robinson Hawley, daughter of Dr. Joel and Miranda (Phillips) Hawley in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Their son, Edwin Hawley Hewitt, was born March 26, 1874 in Red Wing, Minnesota. He married Caroline Christian and became an architect in Minnesota. He died in Excelsior Township, Hennepin County, on August 11, 1939, without finishing the biography of his father.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Charles N. Hewitt and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 5965; 6916; 12,830; 12,993; 16,633

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Processed by: Alex Kent, April 2012

Catalog ID number: 990017300460104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Health boards.

Health officers.

Hygiene.

Medical laws and legislation.

Medicine -- Societies, etc.

Persons:

Buck, Solon J. (Solon Justus), 1884-1962.

Chesley, A. J. (Albert Justus), 1877-1955.

Folwell, William Watts, 1833-1929.

Hewitt family.

Hewitt, Edwin Hawley, 1874-1939.

Mayo, William James, 1861-1939.

McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885.

Whipple, Henry Benjamin, 1822-1901.

Organizations:

Goodhue County Medical Association.

Hobart College.

Minnesota. State Board of Health.

University of Minnesota.

Places:

Boston (Mass.)

Goodhue County (Minn.)

Red Wing (Minn.)

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns.

United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Hospitals.

Document Types:

Genealogies.

Lectures.

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