Stearns, Samuel, 1741-1809

Samuel Stearns (1741-1809) was born in Bolton, Mass., and died in Brattleboro, Vt. He was a physician and astronomer who settled in Paxton, Mass., from 1771 to 1784, and issued annually a North-American Almanack. Because the "Sons of Liberty" dubbed him a Tory, his practice declined and in 1780 he was jailed in Worcester on the charge of passing counterfeit bills. He escaped to the protection of the British in New York, practicing on Long Island until the end of the war. In 1782, he published the first Nautical Almanack ever printed in America. In 1784 Stearns returned to Paxton and was once again jailed in Worcester until 1787, at which time he moved to Brattleboro, Vt. In 1788 he went to England to obtain reimbursement for his losses, and in 1790 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws from Aberdeen University in Scotland. His further travels in Europe at this time are described in his Dr. Stearns's Tour From London to Paris ... (London, 1790). In 1791 he published The American Oracle, a collection of his contributions to the Philadelphia Magazine, and other miscellaneous materials. He returned to the United States in 1791, and continued publication of his almanacs. His American Herbal was published in 1801. Stearns labored for twenty-eight years on a "Medical Dispensatory," a compendium of extant medical knowledge, but died before its completion.

Samuel Stearns resided in or near Cambridge, Massachusetts, circa 1760 to 1785. He sold a variety of agricultural products as well as timber and cider to residents in Boston, Waltham, Roxbury, Lexington, Concord, Cambridge and Watertown. Students at Harvard College frequently purchased cider from Samuel Stearns' mill.

Samuel Stearns married Mary Biglo Ware on May 15, 1760 and had thirteen children.