Richard Holland
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Richard Holland (1806 - 1898)

Dr. Richard Holland
Born in Lewiston, Lincoln, Massachusetts, United Statesmap [uncertain]
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , and
Husband of — married 22 Jan 1833 in Brunswick, Cumberland, Maine, United Statesmap
Descendants descendants
Father of
Died at age 91 in Watertown, Jefferson, New York, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 2 Jan 2022
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Biography

Richard Holland was born 8 Dec 1806 to John Holland and Rebeckah Ilsley.[1] His place of birth is uncertain. His family had removed from Massachusetts to Maine probably about 1793, and was in Topsham by 1803 (see John Holland's profile for additional detail and sources). It is likely that Richard was born in either Topsham or Lewiston, but there is no way to be certain unless additional records are uncovered.

Richard married Mary Jane Swift in Brunswick 22 Jan 1833.[2] Richard and Mary had four children together:

Richard's wife Mary died on 4 Mar 1845,[7] probably in childbirth - according to the inscription on her headstone, she is buried with an unnamed infant.

Richard seems to have been an ambitious man. In 1830 he was a member of the Nucleus Club of Brunswick, Maine, an association for "the improvement of the mind, and for cultivation of social dispositions and for moral and scientific attainments..."[8] Mary's father, Lemuel Swift, had been a hat maker in Brunswick for many years. After Lemuel's death in 1820, Joshua Lufkin, who had learned the trade from him, carried on the business.[9] Richard also learned the trade, and acquired the business from Joshua in 1829.[10]

A few years after he married, Richard expanded his commercial activities. He opened a dry goods store in Bangor in 1836.[11] In 1837 he foreclosed on a mortgage of $1000 to Charles Swain of Brunswick.[12] In 1841 he opened a dry goods store in Bath,[13] and subsequently advertised a wide array of items for sale in Bath, such as 50,000 feet of dimension timber, 200 reams of wrapping paper,[14] 40 tons of hay,[15] and 1000 pounds of Goshen cheese.[16]

Richard was also active in the local milita, achieving progressively higher ranks. He is recorded in the Brunswick vital records for the birth of his first three children as "Capt. Richard Holland,"[17] having perhaps been entered as such at the birth of his first child in 1833. When he attended a military convention of the 2nd Brigade in 1839, his rank is given as Lt. Col.,[18] and when he was chosen to serve on a Division Court Martial in 1841, he was the Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade. [19] In 1842 Richard was elected General of the 1st Brigade,[20] and the following year he was considered for Major General of the 4th Division, although he lost the election in the House of Representatives.[21]

After his wife's death, Richard made a major shift in the direction of his life. In 1847, Richard bought 8 acres of land on what is now Higby Road in Frankfort, NY, about 4 miles southeast of Utica, called himself Dr. Richard Holland and opened the New Graefenberg Water-Cure Establishment.[22][23] Richard carried out a series of land transactions with the seeming intention to secure a supply of water for his clinic. The best springs appear to have been located on a neighboring farm that had been owned by Nathaniel Hungerford, prior to his death in 1825.[24] Although the 40-acre farm was then occupied by Nathaniel's son Diodate Hungerford, the property rights were apparently shared between seven members of the Crane family. Diodate had sold to Richard six of the 8 acres on which the clinic was built.[25] In a series of transaction between November 1849 and November 1850, Richard acquired all the rights to the 40 acres of the Hungerford farm.[26][27][28] He then sold those 40 acres to Diodate for $1,[29] although somewhat oddly that deed was not recorded until shortly after Diodate's death, over 30 years later. So Richard was responsible for the property tax payments throughout that period, and apparently trusted Diodate not to withhold any water that Richard needed to operate the clinic. To prevent any local competition for Richard's clinic, during the brief period that he actually owned the property, he deeded the surplus water rights, i.e. whatever water was left after the clinic was fully supplied, to the newly-formed Utica Water Works, with the stipulation that they not provide water to any other water-cure establishment.[30]

Starting in 1849 and continuing for some years after, Richard published a monthly journal devoted to the water cure (named The New Greaefenberg Water-Cure Reporter until June 1850, The American Water Cure Reporter thereafter[31]). It has been said that he authored a four-volume set of books on the water cure,[32] although no evidence of them has been found. In 1850 a post office was established at the clinic, known as "New Grafenberg", and Richard was appointed postmaster.[33] In 1852 he was awarded an M.D. by Syracuse Medical College.[34] He is not on the list of honorary degree recipients, so one presumes it was an earned degree, although the requirements for such were considerably less stringent than in modern times.[35]

Richard remarried in Lyonsdale, NY on 29 Nov 1854 to Henrietta Lyon .[36] This marriage only lasted about three years,[37] and may have been annulled, since Henrietta went back to using her maiden name.[38] Richard married a third time to Anna S. Wood, the daughter of Collins Wood of Rutland, NY some time before 1860.[39]

Richard lived at his clinic in Frankfort until at least 1865.[6][40][39][41] The clinic received favorable reports,[42][43] and seems to have been successful; a contemporary history states that more than a thousand patients had been treated during the first 8 years of operation.[23] New Graffenberg and similar water cure clinics around the country were something of a fad, frequented primarily by the wealthy and prominent, and sometimes seeming more of a vacation resort than a medical establishment. For example, the New Graffenberg clinic had a bowling alley and billard room.[43]

The waning popularity of the water cure as the 1850's passed is reflected in the census data for Richard's clinic. The 1850 census lists 21 people at the clinic in addition to Richard and his children. It is difficult to distinguish between patients, their servants, and clinical staff, but based on the limited data provided by the census, there were probably about six patients. The 1855 census lists 15 people resident outside of Richard's family, five patients and ten servants, although the previously cited newspaper article reported 30 patients being treated when the reporter visited in that same year. By the time of the 1860 census, there two servants and a single patient at the clinic; and in 1865 only Richard and his wife Anna lived there, and it was reported that the clinic was not open to the public that year.[44]

The declining popularity of the clinic may have motivated Richard to sell it to Washington Tucker of Watertown and William Thomas of Frankfort in October 1857 for $14,000.[45] Richard continued to operate the water-cure clinic, as evidenced by a testimonial letter published the following year,[46] which included Washington Tucker of Watertown among its roughly one hundred signatories. It may have been through Mr. Tucker that Richard met his third wife Anna; Mr. Tucker was married to Anna's younger sister Amy.[47]

The clinic was destroyed by fire in 1866.[48] Richard carried $9,600 in insurance; it is not known if a claim was paid.

In 1870 Richard and Anna were living in Mount Morris, NY with two servants and a gardener.[49] By 1875, they had moved to Rodman in Jefferson County, where Anna's parents, Collins and Anna Wood, lived. Mr. Wood passed away in 1878[50] leaving Anna (Richard's wife) as his executrix and sole heir,[47] and Anna's mother died in 1880.[51] Richard and Anna lived together in Rodman until 1 Nov 1888, when they went to the Keep Home in Watertown.[52][37] At the Davis St. Temple in Watertown in 1891 Richard delivered "his famous lecture in which he claims that man ought to live to be two hundred years of age."[53]

Anna died at the Keep Home in 1896, and was buried in Brookside Cemetery in Watertown.[54] Richard followed on 10 May 1898,[37] and is buried beside Anna,[55] although the inscription on the grave marker reportedly reads "H. Holland," and a birth year of 1808 is given rather than 1806.

Research Notes

Check Brookside Cemetery for Richard's grave; check probate records for his will (if any).

Sources

  1. ↑ "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900", database, FamilySearch ([1] : 14 January 2020), Richard Holland, 1806.
  2. ↑ "Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921," database with images, FamilySearch ([2] : 22 July 2021), Richard Holland and Mary Jane Swift, 22 Jan 1833.
  3. ↑ "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900", database, FamilySearch ([3] : 22 July 2021), Richard Holland in entry for Helen M. Holland, 1833.
  4. ↑ "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900", database, FamilySearch ([4] : 22 July 2021), Richard Holland in entry for George E. Holland, 1835.
  5. ↑ "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900", database, FamilySearch ([5] : 22 July 2021), Richard Holland in entry for Mary F. Holland, 1839.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch ([6] : 23 December 2020), Richard Holland, Frankfort, Herkimer, New York.
  7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([7] : 2 January 2022), memorial page for Mary J. Holland (unknown–4 Mar 1845), Find a Grave Memorial ID 20514777, citing Davis Cemetery, Lewiston, Androscoggin County, Maine, USA.
  8. ↑ Constitution, Rules and Orders, By-laws and Library Regulations of the Nucleus Club, Griffin's Press:Brunswick, 1830 ([8] : 2 Jan 2022).
  9. ↑ George Augustus Wheeler and Henry Warren Wheeler, History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine: Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot, Alfred Mudge & Son Printers : Boston, Massachusetts, 1878, pp. 581-2 ([9] : 2 Jan 2022).
  10. ↑ "New Establishment," Maine Baptist Herald, 7 Oct 1829, p. 3 ([10] : 20 Jan 2022).
  11. ↑ "New Dry Goods Store," Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig and Courier, 5 Jul 1836, p. 4 ([11] : 3 Jan 2022).
  12. ↑ "Sheriff's Sale," Daily Easter Argus (Portland, Maine), 5 Aug 1837, p. 3 ([12] : 20 Jan 2022).
  13. ↑ "New Store and New Goods!!," advertisement in Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 8 Jul 1841, p. 4 ([13] : 20 Jan 2022).
  14. ↑ "50,000 Feet" and "200 Reams," Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 27 Jan 1842 p. 3 [14] : 20 Jan 2022).
  15. ↑ "Pressed Hay!," Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 6 Jan 1842, p. 3 ([15] : 20 Jan 2022).
  16. ↑ "Goshen Cheese," Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 16 Dec 1841, p. 3 ([16] : 20 Jan 2022).
  17. ↑ Joseph C. Anderson; Jonathan W. Forsaith, Vital Records of Brunswick, Maine, 1740-1860 and the Forsaith book of Brunswick family records, Compiled 1876-1880 by Jonathan W. Forsaith, Town Clerk, Maine Genealogical Society Special Publication No. 45, Rockport, Maine : Picton Press, 2004, p. 354
  18. ↑ "Military Convention,"Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 10 Oct 1839, p. 2 ([17] : 20 Jan 2022).
  19. ↑ "State of Maine, General Order No. 26," Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 3 Jun 1841, p. 4 ([18] : 20 Jan 2022).
  20. ↑ "Military," Lincoln Telegraph (Bath, Maine), 10 Mar 1842, p. 3 ([19] : 20 Jan 2022).
  21. ↑ "House of Representatives," Thrice Weekly Age (Augusta, Maine), 16 Mar 1843, p. 3 ([20] : 20 Jan 2022).
  22. ↑ Henry Foster, M.D., ed. "The New Graefenberg Water-Cure Reporter", Vol. 1, No. 1, R. Holland, pub., Utica, NY, Jan. 1849, p. 3.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Nathaniel Soley Benton, A history of Herkimer county, including the upper Mohawk valley, J. Munsell : Albany, 1856, p. 400 ([21] : 7 Jan 2022).
  24. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([22] : 9 February 2022), memorial page for Nathaniel Hungerford (23 May 1768–25 May 1825), Find a Grave Memorial ID 54891924, citing Graffenburg Cemetery, Herkimer County, New York, USA.
  25. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch ([23] : 3 March 2021), Diodate Hungerford, 1847.
  26. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch ([24] : 29 January 2021), Richd Holland, 1850.
  27. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch ([25] : 29 January 2021), Richd Holland, 1850.
  28. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch ([26] : 29 January 2021), Richd Holland, 1851.
  29. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch ([27] : 29 January 2021), Richd Holland, 1850.
  30. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975", database with images, FamilySearch ([28] : 3 March 2021), Richard Holland, 1850.
  31. ↑ Alternative Medicine and Health, 1810-1877, [29] : 3 Jan 2022.
  32. ↑ Personal recollection of Lucy Dale Lints, recorded 15 Jun 2020 at her home in Waterville, NY; notes in possession of Michael C. Lints, Brookfield, VT.
  33. ↑ "New Post Office," Oneida Morning Herald, Utica, NY, 1 May 1850 p. 1 ([30] : 4 Jan 2022).
  34. ↑ "M.D.'s", Oneida Morning Herald, Utica, NY, 20 Mar 1852, p. 1 ([31] : 4 Jan 2022).
  35. ↑ Francesca Lee, "Medical Schools of the 1800s," the classroom, 17 May 2019 ([32]: 8 Feb 2022).
  36. ↑ "Married," Boonville (NY) Ledger, 23 Dec 1854, p. 3 ([33] : 20 Jan 2022).
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Richard Holland obituary, Utica (NY) Daily Press, 12 May 1898, p. 4 ([34]: 3 Jan 2022).
  38. ↑ "New York State Census, 1865," database with images, FamilySearch ([35] : 8 March 2021), Henrietta D Lyons in household of Caleb Lyons, District 02, Westfield, Richmond, New York, United States.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch ([36] : 18 February 2021), Richard Howland, 1860.
  40. ↑ "New York State Census, 1855," database with images, FamilySearch ([37] : 3 March 2021), Richd Holland, E.D. 2, Frankfort, Herkimer, New York, United States; citing line #8, family #48.
  41. ↑ "New York State Census, 1865," database with images, FamilySearch ([38] : 8 March 2021), Prichard Holland, District 02, Frankfort, Herkimer, New York, United States; citing Census, p. 23.
  42. ↑ "New Graeffenferg Water Cure," Daily Journal (Syracuse, NY), 19 Sep 1855, p. 2 ([39] : 20 Jan 2022).
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 "New Graefenberg," Utica (NY) Daily Gazette, 12 Sep 1849, p. 2 ([40] : 20 Jan 2022).
  44. ↑ "Grafenberg," Oneida Weekly Herald, 14 Jul 1865, p. 3 ([41] : 8 Feb 2022).
  45. ↑ "United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975," database with images, FamilySearch ([42] : 8 Feb 2022), Herkimer > Deeds 1856-1858 vol 71-72 > image 459 of 648; multiple county courthouses, New York.
  46. ↑ "Where to Find a 'Pearl of Great Price' - Health," Oneida Weekly Herald (Utica NY), 25 Nov 1858, p. 3 ([43] : 8 Feb 2022).
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 New York. Surrogate's Court (Jefferson County), Record of Wills (Jefferson County, New York), 1830-1900; from Ancestry.com, New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999 [database on-line], Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.: Lehi, UT, 2015 Ancestry Record 8800 #5374292.
  48. ↑ "The Graefenberg Water Cure Destroyed," Utica (NY) Daily Observer, 19 Nov 1866, p. 3 ([44] : 8 Feb 2022).
  49. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch ([45] : 29 May 2021), Richard Holland, 1870.
  50. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([46] : 8 February 2022), memorial page for Deacon Collins Wood (unknown–16 Sep 1878), Find a Grave Memorial ID 90395414, citing Zoar Cemetery, Jefferson County, New York, USA.
  51. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([47] : 8 February 2022), memorial page for Anna Wood (unknown–14 May 1880), Find a Grave Memorial ID 90395495, citing Zoar Cemetery, Jefferson County, New York, USA.
  52. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch ([48] : 29 December 2021), Richard Holland, Rodman, Jefferson, New York.
  53. ↑ "Brevities", The Watertown (NY) Herald, 28 Nov 1891, p. 1 ([49] : 4 Jan 2022).
  54. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([50] : 4 January 2022), memorial page for Anna S. Holland (1819–1896), Find a Grave Memorial ID 40777248, citing Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, Jefferson County, New York, USA.
  55. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([51] : 4 January 2022), memorial page for H. Holland (1808–1898), Find a Grave Memorial ID 40777269, citing Brookside Cemetery, Watertown, Jefferson County, New York, USA.




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New Graefenberg Water-Cure Institute
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