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FRANK SPAULDING ABBOTT, the son of the Rev. Charles Edwards and his wife, Mary
E. (Spaulding) Abbott, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1842. During his boyhood
the family removed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Mr. Abbott opened a private school,
Springside, in which our classmate fitted for college, entered our Class September, 1859, and
remained with us through the course. His name stands at the head of our Class roll. He
was a member of the 'Logian Literary Society, of the Lyceum of Natural History, and of
Greylock Baseball Club. In his college career Abbott is particularly remembered for his
fleetness of foot and his quick, alert movements on the baseball field and in our football
games. As a fielder in baseball and an out-runner in football he was not surpassed during
his four years in college.
After graduation our classmate returned to his home in Pittsfield and began the study
of medicine in Berkshire Medical College, where he eventually took two courses of lectures.
But these lectures were interrupted at the very beginning by an invitation to become
assistant physician in the Insane Retreat of Hartford, Connecticut. Abbott accepted this
position, continuing his studies, meanwhile, under Dr. Green, of Hartford. Later he
resumed his attendance upon lectures at Pittsfield, and for two winters walked the New
York hospitals.
In 1866, in partnership with another physician, he began the practice of medicine in
Norwich, Connecticut, where he remained until 1871, and during this period, in 1869,
married a Miss Fairbanks, of Boston. In July, 1871, Abbott accepted Greeley's advice to
the young men of his day, moved westward, and opened an office in Des Moines, Iowa.
Hardly had he established himself in this thriving city when a great affliction, in the death
of his wife, March 2, 1872, and of a little daughter, five months old, came upon him. Not
long after these sad events he returned to the East and opened an office in Brooklyn, New
York, not far from Prospect Park. Here he remained until some time after our Twentieth
Reunion, when he again turned his face westward, going this time to the Pacific coast. He
has practiced medicine in Los Angeles, Pasadena and San Jos‚, and is now living in
Berkeley, California.
While in Brooklyn, Abbott was one of the founders of a social club, composed of
professional and literary men, in the vicinity of his Brooklyn residence, and known as "The
Twilight Club."
In the absence of direct information from this classmate the following report from
Merwin is very acceptable: "Abbott was in Pasadena six years ago, practicing medicine for
some months; a widower; tall and erect, a figure that attracted attention; interested in
matters of public welfare; a prime mover in organizing The Twilight Club' here, members
of which are the select professional and business and literary men of the city. After leaving
Pasadena he spent some time in San Jose, California, and is now in Berkeley, of the same
State. Abbott had much to say of his old classmates, who will be glad to learn that
Frank whose experience has been a sad one in many ways, keeps the kindly heart as of yore and
has the bearing of a gentleman of culture and refinement."
Source:
Class of Sixty-Three Williams College Fortieth Year Report, by
the Class Historian, Thomas Todd Printer, Boston, 1903
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