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He is remembered for his role as the first variolator in North America and one of a handful of men who introduced the practice into the Western world.

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Zabdiel Boylston.

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Zabdiel Boylston

(9 Mar 1676 - 1 Mar 1766)

American physician who introduced smallpox inoculation into the American colonies, though he had no medical degree. His only education was from his father.

Short biography of Zabdiel Boylston >>

A smallpox epidemic struck Boston, Mass., in May 1721, and continued through the year.

At the time, Reverend Cotton Mather lived in Boston had known of the practice of inoculation since 1706. A slave, Onesimus, had explained to him how he had been inoculated as a child in Africa. The practice was an ancient one, and Mather was fascinated by the idea. He encouraged physicians to try it, without success. Then, at Mather's urging, one doctor, Zabdiel Boylston, was courageous enough to use the procedure.

On Monday, 26 June 1721, Boylston applied the technique, initially on his only son, Thomas, and two slaves—one grown and one a boy. This was a history making event, introducing the practice of inoculation to the American colonies for the first time.

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Zabdiel Boylston

Boston physician

Zabdiel Boylston, FRS (March 9, 1679 – March 1, 1766) was a physician in the Boston area. As the first medical school in North America was not founded until 1765, Boylston apprenticed with his father, an English-born surgeon named Thomas Boylston, and studied under the Boston physician Dr. Cutler. Boylston is known for holding several "firsts" for an American-born physician: he performed the first surgical operation by an American physician, the first removal of gall bladder stones in 1710, and the first removal of a breast tumor in 1718. He was also the first physician to perform smallpox inoculations in North America.

He was a great uncle of President John Adams,^[1] as well as philanthropist Ward Nicholas Boylston.^[2]

Early life and education

Zabdiel Boylston was born on March 9, 1679, in Muddy River, Massachusetts (now part of Brookline),^[3] the son of Thomas (1644 - 1695) and Mary (Gardner) Boylston (1648 - 1722).^[2] He married Jerusha Minot (1679 - 1764) in 1706.^[2] His son,

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Dr. Zabdiel Boylston (1679-1766)

He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and was the great-uncle of President John Adams and Mary (Boylston) Hallowell, mother of Ward Nicholas Boylston, the first American to visit Smyrna, Baalbek, Jerusalem and Cairo. Having apprenticed under his father and Dr. Cutler, Zabdiel became a physician and practised in and around Boston. Zabdiel Boylston was the first American to perform a surgical operation; the first to remove gall bladder stones (1710); and, the first to remove a breast tumor (1718). But, his greatest achievement was his introduction of an inoculation for smallpox in 1721 that saved countless lives - despite objections that he was challenging the will of God - cementing his reputation as one of the most revered names in American medical history. In 1723, he was invited to London by the court physician Sir Hans Sloane where legend has it that he inoculated Princess Caroline, and perhaps other members of the Royal family too. He remained in London for some years during which time he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and published