Hewitt, Charles N. (Charles Nathaniel), 1835-1910

Charles Nathaniel Hewitt was born June 3, 1836 at Vergennes, Vermont, the son of Dr. Henry and Althea (Brush) Hewitt. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Potsdam, New York, where he was instructed in medicine by his father. He was sent to an academy in Cheshire, Connecticut, prior to enrolling at Geneva Grammar School in New York. In 1853 he was admitted to Boart College in Geneva, New York. After graduating from Hobart in 1856, he entered Albany Medical College, graduating as valedictorian in 1857. He practiced medicine in Geneva until his muster in to the New York 50th Engineer Corps. He served throughout the eastern theater of the Civil War, both as a surgeon and as a medical circuit rider.

After his discharge from the military, he resumed medical practice in Potsdam, New York. In 1886 he joined Dr. Augustine B. Hawley in the latter's medical practice in Red Wing, Minnesota. In 1872, Hewitt became the first secretary of the Minnesota State Board of Health. One of his highest priorities was educating the citizenry about communicable diseases, especially diphtheria. In 1889 he traveled to Europe to attend conferences and meet with medical personnel in Dublin, London, Berlin, Munich, and Paris, expanding his bacteriological research. In 1890 he was back in practice where he established the first bacteriological laboratory west of the Alleghenies. He resigned from the State Board of Health in 1897. He continued to practice in Red Wing but after 1904 saw fewer patients. He died July 7, 1910, at the home of his daughter in Summit, New Jersey.

On April 22, 1869, he married Helen Robinson Hawley, daughter of Dr. Joel and Miranda (Phillips) Hawley in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Their son, Edwin Hawley Hewitt, was born March 26, 1874 in Red Wing, Minnesota. He married Caroline Christian and became an architect in Minnesota. He died in Excelsior Township, Hennepin County, on August 11, 1939, without finishing the biography of his father.

From the guide to the Charles N. Hewitt and family papers., 1850-2010 (bulk 1850-1938)., (Minnesota Historical Society)