Gershom Bulkeley

Gershom Bulkeley (1635 – December 2, 1713) was a Christian minister, physician, surgeon and magistrate.[1]

Early life, family and education

He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts[2] to Reverend Peter Bulkeley and Grace Chetwoode Bulkeley.[3] His father Peter Bulkeley was a graduate of St. John's College, Cambridge; and a founder of Concord, Massachusetts, as well as the first minister in the community.[3] The family were Puritan.[1]

Gershom Bulkeley was an early graduate of Harvard University, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1655 and possibly his master's degree in 1658.

Career

In 1661, Gershom Bulkeley became the minister of the Congregational church in New London, Connecticut, where he served for about five years.[4][3] He then became minister of the Congregational church in the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut where he served until 1677.[5][3] He left the ministry and practiced as a physician in Glastonbury.[4]

When the Salem Witch Trials spread from Massachusetts to Connecticut in the autumn of 1692, Bulkeley expressed considerable scepticism about the evidence, saying that he had heard nothing of any weight to convince him that anyone was guilty of witchcraft. In particular he argued that Marcy Disborough, one of the only two women accused in Connecticut who actually stood trial for witchcraft, was the victim of the malice of her neighbours. Mercy was founded guilty and sentenced to death, but she received a reprieve. She was set free and died some time after 1709.

Personal life

After receiving his master's degree, he married Sarah Chauncy, daughter of the President of Harvard University, Charles Chauncy.[4]

He died December 2, 1713[6] at age 77 (almost 78).[4] He was buried behind the Congregational Church in Weatherfield.[4]

In other works

Bulkeley is mentioned and appears in the historical novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond.[7] He is a tutor to John Holbrook who is learning to be a minister and is a respected leader to the community.

References
  1. Bilak, Donna (April 19, 2018). "Gershom Bulkeley (1635-1713): A Sensory Chymist in Colonial Connecticut". recipes.hypotheses.org. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  2. "The History of the Bulkeley Family". colchesterhistory.org. Colchester Historical Society. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  3. Jodziewicz, Thomas W. (2000). "Bulkeley, Gershom". oxfordindex.oup.com. American National Biography Online. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0101167.
  4. "The History of the Bulkeley Family : The Bulkeleys in Connecticut" (PDF). colchesterhistory.org. Colchester Historical Society. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  5. Steiner, WR (1904). "The Reverend Gershom Bulkeley of Connecticut, an Eminent Clerical Physician". Med Library Hist J. 2 (2): 91–103. PMC 1692197. PMID 18340841.
  6. "On the death of the very learned, pious and excelling Gershom Bulkley, Esq M.D. who had his mortality swallowed up of life, December the second 1713. Aetatis Suae, 78.[sic]". New London. T. Green. 1714. Retrieved January 7, 2021 – via Library of Congress.
  7. Speare, Elizabeth George (2011). The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0547550299.


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