Adams, Zabdiel Boylston, Jr.

Dr. Zabdiel Boylston Adams Jr. (October 25, 1829 – May 1, 1902). [[Lot 2700]] A graduate of Harvard Medical School in 1853, Adams enlisted in the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as assistant surgeon in 1861. He then mustered as a surgeon with the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry on June 2, 1862, and was in charge of the Infantry’s field hospital at the Battle of Gettysburg. Wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness and captured, Adams was eventually paroled and discharged due to his injury. Rejoined the army in time for the Siege of Petersburg, where he was wounded yet again. He limped for the rest of his life, but it was a fruitful life of medical practice in Boston and Framingham, Mass., where he gained a reputation as an ardent pioneer of preventative medicine, particularly vaccination. There is a memorial plaque to Adams mounted on a boulder on the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Of over 2,000 memorials there, it is the only one dedicated to a physician. Son of [[Adams, Zabdiel B.|Zabdiel Boylston Adams]] and [[Adams, Sarah M.|Sarah May Adams]]. Brother of [[Fields, Annie Adams|Annie Adams Fields]].

Dr. Zabdiel Boylston Adams Jr. (October 25, 1829 – May 1, 1902). [[Lot 2700]] A graduate of Harvard Medical School in 1853, Zabdiel Boylston Adams enlisted in the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry as an assistant surgeon in 1861. He then mustered as a surgeon with the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry on June 2, 1862, and was in charge of the Infantry’s field hospital at the Battle of Gettysburg. Having returned to Boston after Gettysburg, he enlisted in the 56th Massachusetts, not as a surgeon, but as an infantry officer. During the very next major battle after Gettysburg, at the Wilderness in Virginia in 1864, he was badly wounded in the leg and captured. Eventually, Adams was paroled and discharged because of his wound, but still kept getting in harm’s way. He managed to rejoin the 56th in time for the Siege of Petersburg, where he was wounded yet again. He limped for the rest of his life, but it was a fruitful life of medical practice in Boston and Framingham, Mass., where he gained a reputation as an ardent pioneer of preventative medicine, particularly vaccination. There is a memorial plaque to Adams mounted on a boulder on the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Of over 2,000 memorials there, it is the only one dedicated to a physician. Son of [[Adams, Zabdiel B.|Zabdiel Boylston Adams]] and [[Adams, Sarah M.|Sarah May Adams]]. Brother of [[Fields, Annie Adams|Annie Adams Fields]].