The rectangular top with
molded edge above a conforming case fitted with a
long drawer over banks of three short drawers, centering
a document drawer with scalloped apron above the kneehole
with recessed drawer mounted with ornate brass hinges,
opening to an interior fitted with a bank of valanced
cubbyholes, the whole on a molded base raised on bracket
feet. Retains original cast-brass hardware.

Provenance: Dr. Edward
Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829) of Salem, Massachusetts;
to his sister, then given to her servant, Lucy A.
Berry (b. 1812); to her daughter Sarah E. Smith (as
recounted by Charles F. Smith in a
letter dated Sept. 18th, 1867). The desk was then
purchased from the Smith family by Kenneth (?) W.
Osgood, where it has been passed down through the
family to the prior owner.

Height 30 1/2 in. Width: 35 1/2
in. Depth: 19 1/2 in

The following is the Northeast Auctions listing for
this desk for their August 5, 2007 Americana Sale.

Notes on Provenance:

Edward
Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829) was a pioneering
American physician whose early advocacy of smallpox
vaccinations did much to safeguard the health of Salem’s
inhabitants. After testing the inoculation on himself
with no ill effects, he convinced over 600 of his
patients to do the same. He also was one of the first
to understand the connection between lead poisoning
and pewter dishes. He recorded daily observations,
including specifics of weather for over 75 years,
in order to find a connection between diseases and
weather conditions. Ultimately he created 122 daybooks
relating to his medical practice and a 120-volume
diary.

(At right: Edward Augustus
Holyoke, by James Frothingham… Courtesy of the Peabody
Essex Museum.)

Holyoke trained in medicine
long before medical school programs were established
in the Colonies, and he was the first to receive an
honorary medical degree some 40 years after his own
graduation from Harvard. He, in turn, imparted his
medical knowledge to over 35 apprentices. In addition,
Holyoke was the first President of the Massachusetts
Medical Society and a contributor to its publication,
now The New England Journal of Medicine.

Always inquisitive, Holyoke
was a founding member and president of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences and a founder of the
Philosophical and Social libraries which merged as
the Salem Athenaeum and Essex Historical Society.

The son of Reverend Edward
Holyoke, President of Harvard, Edward Augustus married
Judith Pickman in 1755. She was the daughter of Benjamin
Pickman, the donor of a silver tankard (lot 58). During
the Revolution, Holyoke sent his family to live in
Nova Scotia until the conclusion of the War because
of his Loyalist leanings. However, he stayed in heavily
patriotic Salem to care for his patients, and eventually
became an advocate of their cause.

Like his father-in-law,
Holyoke was actively involved in church matters. He
was one of the leaders of the 1772 movement to divide
the First and North Church, serving on the committee
and supplying his house for the meeting of the breakaway
congregation. This tankard was given to the North
Church. Upon his death, he left a bequest to the North
Church to relieve the suffering of widows and unmarried
women (see extract from his will illustrated here).

Holyoke was one of Salem’s
most renowned inhabitants, not only for his many contributions
to the health and welfare of Salem’s citizenry, but
also for his extraordinary longevity, as he lived
101 years. (See: Exercises in Commemoration of the
Three Hundredth Anniversary of the Gathering of the
First Church in Salem, Massachusetts, 1930, pp. 56-64;
Jim McAllister, “Salem Tales: Edward Augustus
Holyoke,” 2006)

– Christie’s Lot Notes,
Sale 1839, Lot 59 – THE EDWARD HOLYOKE SILVER TANKARD

Edward Augustus Holyoke 1728 – 1829, Physician
and Scientist

(At left:Edward
Holyoke, 1759-61, by John Singleton Copley, oil on
canvas

50 1/2 x 40 1/2 in., Harvard University Portrait Collection.)

On Aug. 21, 1828, many
of Salem’s most important citizens gathered at the
Essex House to pay tribute to one of the town’s most
beloved citizens, Dr. Edward Augustus Holyoke on the
occasion of his 100th birthday. The highlight of the
event was a toast offered by the honoree to his beloved
Massachusetts Medical Society.

Holyoke was born in Marblehead,
the son of the Rev. Edward Holyoke and Margaret Appleton
of Ipswich. In 1737 his father was appointed president
of Harvard and the family moved to Cambridge. The
younger Edward entered the college at the age of 14
and graduated in the class of 1746.

After a brief stint as
a teacher in Lexington and Roxbury, Holyoke moved
to his mother’s hometown of Ipswich to study medicine
under the esteemed physician, Col. Thomas Perry. When
his two-year apprenticeship ended in 1749, Holyoke
settled in Salem and opened a practice.

After a shaky start – he
replaced a physician who was beloved by the local
populace – the young doctor began attracting patients
locally and in communities as far away as Methuen
and Cape Ann. Traveling by horseback, chaise, or on
foot, Holyoke over the next 80 years would cover an
estimated one-and-a-half-million miles and make approximately
a quarter-of-a-million house calls. During his career,
35 aspiring physicians would apprentice under the
respected Salem doctor.

Throughout his long and
successful career, Holyoke remained dedicated to the
study of medicine and new medical treatments. For
75 years he kept daily weather records in the hopes
of finding scientific connections between local atmospheric
conditions and specific diseases. This venture proved
unsuccessful, but he made many other contributions
to the field of medicine. Holyoke, for example, was
one of the first to make the connection between the
use of pewter dishes and lead poisoning.

Holyoke’s open-mindedness
made him a pioneer in the treatment and prevention
of smallpox. When an epidemic of this deadly disease
hit the Salem area in 1777,

Holyoke, after first making
out his will, allowed himself to be innoculated by
Dr. Nathaniel Perkins in Boston. He survived the highly
controversial treatment, and
subsequently convinced
more than 600 of his own patients to let him innoculate
them.
Only two died, and the
success of this treatment made Holyoke an early adherent
of smallpox vaccination in later years.

Tragically, all of Holyoke’s
expertise and experience often failed him when it
came to treating his own family. His first wife, Judith
Pickman, died in childbirth. And of the 12 children
Edward had with Mary Vial, only four survived infancy.

His political leanings
caused additional problems for Holyoke’s family during
the Revolutionary War era. An avowed Loyalist who
had the nerve to socialize with the hated Royal Governor,
Thomas Hutchinson, Holyoke lost much of his standing
in heavily patriotic Salem. While he chose to stay
and care for his patients throughout the war, the
physician wisely sent his family to live in Nova Scotia
until it ended in 1783.

During the course of the
conflict Holyoke came to believe in the patriotic
cause and was singled out for many honors. In 1781,
he was tapped by the Legislature to organize the Massachusetts
Medical Society. He served for a time as the organization’s
president and was a frequent contributor to its publication,
now the New England Journal of Medicine. In 1783 he
was awarded the first M.D. degree ever given by the
Harvard Medical School.

Holyoke’s interests were
not limited to science and medicine. He was a founder
of both the Social and Philosphical libraries in Salem,
and was a driving force in the merger of these two
institutions into the Salem Athenaeum in 1810. He
was also an incorporator of the Essex Historical Society,
later the Essex Institute, in 1821.

When the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences was formed in 1790 for the encouragement
and dissemination of knowledge, Holyoke joined the
likes of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin as
a charter member. He later served as the academy’s
president for six years.

Holyoke, a near vegetarian
who liked his liquor and tobacco, died in 1829. He
left behind 122 daybooks relating to his medical practice
and a 120-volume diary.

Jim
McAllister
– From Online City
Guide of Salem, MA