Zabdiel Boylston

Zabdiel Boylston, FRS (March 9, 1679 – March 1, 1766) was a physician in the Boston area. As the first medical school in North America was not founded until 1765, Boylston apprenticed with his father, an English-born surgeon named Thomas Boylston, and studied under the Boston physician Dr. Cutler. Boylston is known for holding several "firsts" for an American-born physician: he performed the first surgical operation by an American physician, the first removal of gall bladder stones in 1710, and the first removal of a breast tumor in 1718. He was also the first physician to perform smallpox inoculations in North America. He was a great uncle of President John Adams, as well as philanthropist Ward Nicholas Boylston. Early life and education Zabdiel Boylston was born on March 9, 1679, in Muddy River, Massachusetts (now part of Brookline), the son of Thomas (1644 - 1695) and Mary (Gardner) Boylston (1648 - 1722). He married Jerusha Minot (1679 - 1764) in 1706. His son, John, was born in 1709. As the first medical school in North America was not founded until 1765, Boylston apprenticed with his father, a surgeon originally from Watertown, Massachusetts, and studied under the Boston physician Dr. John Cutler.