Jarvis, Edward, 1803-1884

Physician; social statistician; author of books and articles on physiology, insanity, and social statistics; late in life, social historian of his native town, Concord, Mass.

Edward Jarvis (1803-1884) was born in Concord, Mass. He graduated from Harvard in 1826, and from the University of Vermont school of medicine in 1830. He practiced in Northfield, Concord, and Louisville, Ky., before returning to Dorchester, Mass., in 1843 to specialize in the treatment of the insane. Jarvis was also a well-known statistician. His many publications included: _History of Progress of Population in the U.S._ (Boston, 1877); _Insanity Among the Coloured Population of the Free States_ (Philadelphia, 1844); _Physiology and Laws of Health_ (New York, 1866); _Employment for Patients in the British Lunatic Asylums_ ([n.p., 1862]); and many more.

Edward Jarvis--physician, social statistician, author of books and articles on physiology, insanity, and social statistics, and (late in life) social historian of his native town Concord, Mass.--completed Houses and People in Concord in 1882. Adams Tolman--antiquarian, historian of Concord, collector of Native American artifacts, amateur botanist and entomologist, Secretary and Director of Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Concord), Secretary of Concord Antiquarian Society--transcribed and annotated the work in 1915.

Jarvis (Harvard, M.D. 1830) practiced medicine in Kentucky and Massachusetts. He established a house for in-patient care of the insane in Dorchester, Mass. in 1834. He prepared the report of the Massachusetts Commission on Insanity (1855) which led to the establishment of a state asylum at Northampton. He became physician at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind in 1849. His other contribution was in statistics. He pointed out errors in compilation of data in the U.S. Census of 1840. He was subsequently put in charge of data gathering and analysis for the 1850 and 1860 censuses, and he became the leading authority on vital statistics in the U.S. and Europe.

Physician; social statistician; author of books & articles on physiology, insanity, social statistics; social historian of Concord, Mass. Son of baker/farmer Dea. Francis Jarvis & Milicent Hosmer Jarvis. Born in Concord 1803; married Almira Hunt of Concord 1834; died in Dorchester 1884. Educated in Concord, at Harvard College (1826) & Harvard Medical School (1830). Taught school college winters. Practiced medicine in Northfield, Mass. 1830-1832; in Concord 1832-1837; in Louisville, Ky. 1837-1842. Returning to Mass., settled in Dorchester.

(Cont.) devoting himself to statistical research & care & treatment of insane. In 1854, appointed to Lunacy Commission to study insane population of Mass. In 1860, travelled to England & France, visited asylums, & attended International Statistical Congress (London). Examined & criticized 1850 & 1860 census figures; prepared extensive Mortality Report for U.S. Congress. Member of professional & other organizations (incl. Social Circle in Concord). Temperance advocate. Late in life, recorded.

(Cont.) research, lore, recollections, & analyses of life in his native town in Traditions and Reminiscences of Concord & Houses and People in Concord. Benefactor of Concord Free Public Library.