Lunch and Learn: Patients in the Parlor

Imagine being treated by your doctor in THEIR home. This sounds strange to us, but in 17 th century Connecticut this was
a common practice. Join us as George Elliot, PhD candidate at Brown University, explores the life and reputation of
Gershom Bulkeley of Wethersfield using manuscripts and letters from the CMCH collection and from other archives
throughout New England.

Bulkeley was a political polemicist, minister, surveyor as well as legal thinker in his many decades of prominence in late
17th-century Connecticut. However, he was also an alchemist and widely renowned physician. Using his training under
older practitioners, his experience as a surgeon during King Philip’s War, and his imported medical goods and
ingredients, Bulkeley acquired a reputation across western New England for his laboratory-produced alchemical
medicines and his skills as a doctor. Such a reputation drew thousands of patients over 30 years to Bulkeley’s home and
his family parlor. His alchemical medicine spread widely across the many towns and generations of colonial Connecticut
and Massachusetts inhabitants.

This program is free. To secure a spot, register HERE now. You’ll receive an email confirmation with the Zoom link,
and we’ll send you a reminder at 10:00 AM on the day of the program.

George Elliott is a current PhD candidate at Brown University. There, he studies early modern science, alchemy,
medicine, and 17th-century colonial New England.

If you would like to make a donation to help the CMCH keep history alive, please click HERE. Or, to learn about the benefits
of museum membership, click HERE!

Questions? Contact Jennifer Busa, Public Programs and Special Events Coordinator, at jennifer_busa@chs.org.

Image: Buttolph Williams House – “Great Hall” or Parlor. From the Webb Deane Stevens House collection. webb-deane-stevens.org