Park family

Dr. John Park (1775-1852) of Newburyport, Boston, and Worcester, Mass., studied medicine under various physicians, became assistant surgeon in Santo Domingo for several years, and participated in two naval voyages to the West Indies on board the U.S.S. Warren from 1799 to 1801 during the undeclared war with France. In 1799 he married Louisa Adams (1773-1813) while he was in the service. She was the daughter of Rev. Moses Adams (1749-1819), pastor of the Acton, Mass., Congregational Church, and Abigail Stone Adams (1749-1812), who kept a store in the basement of the parsonage to help supplement the family income. Upon his return in 1801, Dr. Park chose to give up medicine and founded the New England Repertory (later the Boston Daily Advertiser), a federalist newspaper in Newburyport from 1803 to 1811. He later entered the field of education, founding the Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies in 1811, and became a pioneer in an improved system of classical education for women. Dr. Park retired to Worcester in 1831 with his second wife, Agnes Major ( -1857), and became a collector of rare books. His children were Louisa Jane Park Hall (1802-1892), a poet and author; John Cochran Park (1804-1889), a state representative and Newton judge; and Mary Ann Park Thomas (1811-1885).