- George (1767-1793) married Hannah Gibble about 1791 and was lost at sea. “They had only one son, Samuel II (1792-1875), who studied medicine under Dr. John Poythress, who had a private infirmary in Beaufort before his death in 1813.
Dr. Poythress has been of interest to the listserv for several years…
From: Barbara Neal
Subject: Re: [POYTHRESS] Dr. John Poythress, died 1813 Beaufort, NC
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 19:25:57 -0700
>From our Poythress research website (poythress.net) one can see a
transcription of his will: at the top bar put your cursor on "Primary
Records" at the top of the page, and then when it lights up, click on "Wills
& Estates"
There scroll down the list of items, and click on “John Poythress of
Carteret County, Town of Beaufort, NC 10 Mar 1818” He mentions wife Polly,
but no children. Witnesses were Wm Bell & Jno Hyson, as transcribed there.
Yes, this fellow is one of the ones who has gotten my interest, as to who he
was & wanting to figure out who was his father.
I’m thrilled to learn, Sandy that he was listed as “Dr. John Poythress”
Seems likely to me at that time “Dr” would have only been used for a medical
doctor. Great addition to our tiny bit of info about him. Thanks for
finding the item.
And we have…
From: Sandy
Subject: Re: [POYTHRESS] Dr. John Poythress, died 1813 Beaufort, NC
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2009 12:54:32 -0600
References: <5cd6ab520903061310x34c34fb8jbb378f1a7a97ca8d@mail.gmail.com><7e4a72960903061825u34334885mcd0e3ccc24495a10@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <7e4a72960903061825u34334885mcd0e3ccc24495a10@mail.gmail.com>
Barbara,
I just found something else, snippets really, on Dr. John Poythress, via a
search of Google Books.
These are more recent books, so are not available in their entirety.
From: “Frustrated Patriots: North Carolina and the War of 1812”
By Sarah McCulloh Lemmon
Published by University of North Carolina Press, 1973
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized Mar 1, 2007
ISBN 0807812099, 9780807812099
pg 91:
“Many physicians were interested in attending such large groups of men,
especially if located in their home towns. Dr. John Poythress of Beaufort
asked for a commission, only to have a rival candidate, Dr. James Manney,
….”
(there ends the snippet!!)
And here is yet another….this from:
“A Story of North Carolina’s Historic Beaufort,” by Mamre’ Marsh Wilson
Published by The History Press, 2007
ISBN 1596291680, 9781596291683
pg. 54
“A town cannot actually survive life without having a doctor, dentist or
pharmacist to take care of the folks who live there. The same is true in
Beaufort. Medicine here and throughout the state and country has come a long
way since the early 1800s when the first medical doctor arrived. Dr. John
Poythress was legally appointed the port physician for Beaufort. He
advertised in the Raleigh Star about the opening of a private infirmary. But
having died later in the year, his dream went with him.”
(It then goes on to give details of other doctors, including Dr. James L.
Manney, a native of Poughkeepsie, NY, who had come south with his wife in
1809 to Beaufort by way of New Bern.)
FYI, I did not spot John Poythress (or any other Poythress for that matter)
in the 1810 Carteret Co. census, nor could I find a Mary or Polly (or any
other) Poythress in Carteret Co in 1820. I also didn’t find a marriage
record for John to Mary/Polly among the NC marriage records.
This doesn’t help with identifying Dr. John’s parents, but at least it’s a
smidgen of something. Possibly that first book might have a bit more than
the teensy bit that’s shown, however. Since he apparently was the first
appointed port doctor, it seems possible there may be records somewhere
concerning his appointment which might perhaps at least tell where he was
living when appointed, and perhaps something of his background. It would
also be fun to track down the referenced ad run in the Raleigh Star. I’ll
see if I can find it, but I don’t think it came up in the search which
produced the notice of his death. However, I’ll take a closer look. Possibly
it was in an issue that’s not within the digitized collection, however.
-Sandy