Dr. Samuel Shaw 1790 – 1870

Samuel Shaw was born on May 6, 1790, in Abington, Massachusetts, approximately twenty miles from Boston. When he was nearly two years old, his father moved the family to Plainfield, Massachusetts. The journey from the coast took place in February 1792, with the family traveling in a covered sleigh. As they emerged from the damp forest covering Bear Mountain and the Swift River valley, they were greeted by Deacon Richards, who brought them a meal prepared by Shaw’s aunt, Lydia Richards. Upon arriving at their farm in the southeastern part of Plainfield, the family initially stayed in a rough cabin until a proper frame house could be constructed.

Samuel’s boyhood was spent working on his father’s farm, which included mowing and pastureland along with five acres each of flax and corn, and two acres each of wheat and rye. Flax was typically harvested in early August, and pulling one-quarter of an acre was considered a good day’s work. However, young Samuel often impressed his father by using his remarkable strength to complete the work of two men.

In the autumn of 1807, Samuel fell gravely ill with typhoid fever and suffered a second bout the following year, brought on by overexertion. These experiences motivated him to pursue a career in medicine. Determined to achieve this goal, he bought his time from his father and, in the winter of 1809, began studying Latin and Greek under Parson Moses Hallock in Plainfield.

To fund his medical education, Samuel taught school for six consecutive winters, from 1811 to 1817. He began his formal medical training with Dr. Peter Bryant in Cummington during the summer of 1817. While staying at the Bryant Homestead, Samuel studied medicine and accompanied Dr. Bryant on patient visits. He shared a garret bedroom with Dr. Bryant’s son, the future poet William Cullen Bryant. It was during this time that Samuel started a romantic relationship with the Bryant’s daughter, Sarah.

Samuel quickly gained proficiency in treating illnesses, and during the winter of 1817–18, Dr. Bryant entrusted him with the care of Cummington’s patients while he attended the Massachusetts Senate. In 1818, Samuel entered a medical partnership with Dr. Bryant, which ended prematurely with Dr. Bryant’s death in 1820. Dr. Bryant left his medical library to Samuel, and the collection remains in his office to this day.

Over the next two winters (1819–20 and 1820–21), Dr. Shaw attended medical lectures in Boston, where his talents earned him recognition from esteemed professors Dr. Warren and Dr. Jackson. Several prominent families invited him to settle in Boston, impressed by his medical expertise.

Cummington, however, held a stronger pull for Samuel Shaw, and he soon returned to Sarah Bryant. The couple married on September 13, 1821. Their union was blessed with one child, a daughter named Ellen Theresa, born at the Bryant Homestead on October 24, 1822.

For several years, the residents of Plainfield had urged Dr. Shaw to become their physician. In 1824, he finally agreed and moved to the village, taking up residence in what would later be known as the Winslow Cottage. Tragically, his life there was quickly overshadowed by sorrow when his beloved wife Sarah passed away on December 12, 1824.

In 1830, Dr. Shaw married Elizabeth Owen Clarke of Northampton, Massachusetts. Three years later, in 1833, he built the large house that still stands at the crossroads in Plainfield Center. It became both his family home and the base of his medical practice.

Dr. Shaw continued his active medical career until 1854. One evening in September of that year, he was urgently called to West Cummington to attend to his married daughter, Ellen. On the steep road descending from West Hill to the Westfield Valley, his horse was startled, and he was thrown from his carriage. The injuries he sustained were severe, and though he survived another sixteen years, he never fully recovered. For some time after the accident, he was still able to visit patients, but always with someone else driving his horse.

Samuel and Elizabeth Shaw had six children—four daughters and two sons. Of these, the youngest was Laura A. Shaw, who would later become the mother of Clara Elizabeth Hudson. All six children survived the hazards of childhood, except their eldest daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, who died of croup on September 26, 1834.

In his later years, Dr. Shaw was lovingly cared for by his wife Elizabeth and their daughters. Elizabeth herself passed away from pneumonia on September 27, 1863. Dr. Shaw lived to celebrate his 80th birthday but passed away shortly thereafter, on September 24, 1870.