Moses L. Hobart - The Man Who Knew Too Much 
The Story of Quarantine's Transition from the Board of Health to a Political Fiefdom

  

Moses Hobart was born September 27, 1780 in Hingham, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel and Abigail.[1] He was the seventh generation directly descended from Edmund Hobart who landed in America in 1633.[2] As the eldest of five children he was expected to be an example for his siblings. Moses lost his mother when he was eleven years old and his father at the age of twenty one. These life events undoubtedly had a major influence on his career forcing him to find his way in the world at a relatively early age. He married Betsy Sumner on November 9, 1806 in Dorchester, Massachusetts and their first son Moses Leavitt Hobart Jr. was born June 28, 1810 in Boston, Massachusetts. While it is not clear how Moses Hobart was employed in the years prior to his appointment as Island Keeper for Rainsford Island, he is said to have been a merchant and probably had some political connections in the small town of Boston.[3]  The town’s Board of Health advertised in the Columbian Centinel for a new Island Keeper on April 15, 1818.[4] He succeeded to the post of Island Keeper in 1818 soon after the untimely death of Henry Spear.  He most likely accepted the post of Island Keeper prior to the beginning of the quarantine season which began in June of that year. As Island Keeper he was expected to reside on Rainsford Island with his family and attend to the needs of quarantined sailors and Bostonians. During his reign at Rainsford Island, he witnessed the transition of power over the quarantine station from the independent board of health under the jurisdiction of lay persons elected at large to that of the Boston City Council under a Mayor, Board of Aldermen and Common Council form of government. This transition occurred in 1822 when Boston residents voted to adopt a city charter based on a representative form of government. This would be the first step in the eventual dismantling of Boston's quarantine program in the pre-Civil War era.

Mr. Hobart was annually re-elected to his post over the next seven years even maintaining his political standing during the transition from the independent Board of Health to the new Health Commissioners working under the direct authority of the Boston City Council. Hobart’s career ran in parallel with that of Dr. Thomas Welsh the Principal Physician for Rainsford Island (later called the Resident Physician) until Aaron Dexter was named the Resident Physician in 1825. Apparently, Dexter, Hobart and Thomas Jackson, the Health Commissioner did not get along and their feud became a political embarrassment for the City.[5] Perhaps influenced by their feud, both Hobart and Dexter were not re-elected to their posts in 1826. They were replaced by John Oliver as Island Keeper and Dr. Jerome Smith as Resident Physician.  Moses Hobart remained in Boston for some time but eventually moved to Hillsboro, Illinois where he died on January 28, 1839.[6] Even though he journeyed far away from his hometown of Hingham, his death was prominently covered in the March 2, 1839 edition of the Hingham Patriot. The editors declared “An honest upright man has been styled the noblest work of God. Such a man was the deceased.”[7]

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[1] Ancestry.com Family Tree. Accessed online: http://person.ancestry.com/tree/35449795/person/19122795436

[2] Margaret Griffith, Hobart Genealogy: Descendants of Edmund Hobart of Hingham, MA, San Francisco, CA, 1952, pp. 1 & 45. Accessed online at Ancestry.com at:

[3] Repertory, November 321, 1806, p. 2

[4] Columbian Centinel, April 15, 1818, p. 2

[5] Boston Commercial Gazette, November 17, 1825, p. 2

[6] Ancestry.com Family Tree. Accessed online: http://person.ancestry.com/tree/35449795/person/19122795436

[7] Hingham Patriot, March 2, 1839, p. 3

John Minot – The Man with Connections in High Places

John Minot was born November 16, 1783 in Dorchester Massachusetts.  He came from a long line of Minot ancestors dating to the arrival of George Minot who arrived on May 30, 1630 in Plymouth. He married Calla Smith on November 27, 1806 and they had six children only two of whom survived into adulthood.[1] As an eighth generation American, John Minot had an extensive number of family and community connections which served him well as he served as a United States customs inspector for Boston  and Charlestown (1825-1829) and later as the Island Keeper for Rainsford Island serving the needs of the Commonwealth.[2] He lost his position as a customs inspector in 1829 when John Quincy Adams stepped down from the Presidency. His loss of employment was a subject of concern to the former president but being out of office he no longer could dole out patronage. Nevertheless, his personal influence may have been a factor in John Minot’s later appointment as Island Keeper for the Rainsford Island Hospital. [3]

Minot was appointed Keeper of Rainsford Island Hospital on March 18, 1833 and kept this position until July 31, 1841 when he was replaced by George P. Tewksbury, formerly the Captain of the Quarantine Boat.  During his Island Keeper career he worked closely with Dr. J.V.C. Smith, the city’s Port Physician. His services were in demand during 1839 when the city experienced its first resurgence of smallpox since 1800 when Benjamin Waterhouse promoted the use of cowpox as a vaccine against this deadly disease.  This epidemic forced Boston’s politicians to reassess the value of Rainsford Island and recommit resources to it island quarantine program. Soon after the epidemic, the city fathers decided to streamline it quarantine services as an economy measure and Minot’s post was eliminated. His career did not end with this loss of city employment. He was soon reconnected with the U.S. Customs Office with a special inspector assignment where he was paid $3 per day until his services are dispensed with.[4]

John Minot died at his home on Bradford Street in Boston on March 5, 1861 after five days of severe pneumonia.  He outlived his wife who died ten years earlier.[5]

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[1]  Joseph Grafton Minot, A genealogical record of theMinot family in America and England, 1897, Boston, p. 46; http://person.ancestry.com/tree/43797045/person/26081878916/story

https://archive.org/stream/genealogicalreco00mino#page/n113/mode/2up/search/john+minot

[2] Massachusetts Register, 1828,, Massachusetts Register 1827, Massachusetts Register 1829, Massachusetts Register 1826, Massachusetts Register 1825

[3] On September 8, 1831 John Quincy Adams’ journal indicates that John Minot contacted him asking for a favor in seeking new employment.  

[4] Secretary of the Treasury, Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, House Document No 173, 27th Congress, Third Session, February 22, 1843, p.7 contained in House Documents, Index to the Documents of the 27th Congress, Third Session, Volume 5, Compiled by Samuel Burche.;   

Bay State Democrat, March 14, 1842, p. 1

[5] http://person.ancestry.com/tree/43797045/person/26081878916/story