John J. Cushing Correspondence

Collection

Call Number: Ms Coll 35

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of letters written by John J. Cushing from San Francisco to his mother, brother Edward, and sister Susan Cushing Cheney, in Providence, Rhode Island. They contain information on a wide variety of subjects including his homeopathic medical practice, relations with regular physicians, gold and copper mining (he owned a copper mine in Arizona), economic conditions, social life, San Francisco politics, his marriage, and the construction of his house.

Dates

1853-1873
Majority of material found within 1853 - 1857

Creator

Cushing, John J., 1822-1879

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is not under copyright.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased, 2011.

Arrangement

Arranged by date.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1 box, 33 items)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/med.ms.0035

Additional Description

Overview

John J. Cushing was an early homeopathic physician in San Francisco. The collection consists of letters to his family.

Biographical / Historical

John J. Cushing was born in Providence, Rhode Island on February 14, 1822, the son Daniel Cooke Cushing (1783-1830), a merchant in Providence, and Susan Barrett Cushing (1786-1862). With a medical diploma from an unidentified medical school, he moved to San Francisco in 1853 and began practice as one of the earliest homeopathic physicians in San Francisco. He served as first president of the Pacific Homoeopathic Medical Society in 1874. In 1856 he married Harriet Reed Barlow of Burlington, Vermont, who was a school teacher in San Francisco. In 1873 he moved to Marin County about six miles from Sausalito where he homesteaded property and built a sanitorium which he named Blithedale. He died at Blithedale on September 3, 1879.