Josiah Bartlett

Josiah Bartlett (born November 21, 1729, Amesbury, Massachusetts—died May 19, 1795, Kingston, New Hampshire, U.S.) American physician and statesman who earned a reputation as a competent doctor and a respected politician. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Bartlett began to study medicine when he was 16 years old and in 1750 moved to nearby Kingston, New Hampshire, where he set up a practice. He gained acceptance with his treatment of fevers, stressing the use of cool liquids, instead of the hot liquids physicians previously recommended, along with keeping the patient under heavy blankets in a hot room. Bartlett was also one of the first physicians to use quinine, extracted from Peruvian bark, to treat diphtheria.

Bartlett’s reputation as an intelligent and respected physician grew, and in 1765 he became a member of New Hampshire colony’s Provincial Assembly. Bartlett served in that capacity until 1775, when he was elected to the Continental Congress. He was also a member of the Congress in 1776 and 1778. Bartlett cast the first vote for the proposed Articles of Confederation, and he was the second person to sign the Declaration of Independence. He then served as chief justice of the New Hampshire court of common pleas from 1779 to 1782 and as associate and later chief justice of the state’s supreme court from 1782 to 1790. Bartlett became president of the state in 1790, the title of which was changed to governor during his tenure. In 1791 he was also elected the first president of the New Hampshire Medical Society, which he led for two years. In 1794 he retired from the governorship and public life.