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Dr. Westel Willoughby was one of the early settlers of Newport. He came on to the Royal Grant in 1792, at twenty three years of age, and settled about two miles away on the hills north-east of Norway village; a rough old country for a young man of his education and ability.
Westel Willoughby was born about 1769. He was a statesman and a judge in New York and a Medical Doctor who pioneered advances in Obstetrics and the training and certification of doctors. His work at Fairfield Medical College resulted in the dramatic increases in the survival of women after childbirth primarily by discovering the benefit of rigorous sanitation procedures and the improved education of Doctors through medical institutions and curriculum. The town of Willoughby, Ohio was named for him though he never set foot there. He had served as a Medical Surgeon in the War of 1812.
Westel Willoughby was loved and respect by many who knew him and his name was a common given name in both the Babcock family and the Willoughby family in the years after his passing. He was married three times.
Dr. Willoughby married Rhoda Judd in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on November 11th, 1790. It is unclear if they had any children. Upon his move to Norway, near Newport, New York in 1792, Rhoda refused to go. She was described as having "a will and a way of her own". (Information from the slide show in the sources. Primarily slide 16.)
They were thought to have divorce around 1794, but few people were ever aware of this aspect of his past. After his death in 1844 one of his St. John steps-sons visited her to have her sign off on the Doctor's Will, but Rhoda refused.
In 1804 Rhoda Judd had remarried to Nathaniel Slosson and her divorce from the doctor is mention in "The Genealogy, History, and Alliances of the American House of Delano" on page 171, Slosson having been in the Delano line. The notation indicates that Rhoda's divorce was obtained by someone bearing false witness against the Doctor and admitting such upon their deathbed. It is unclear if this was Rhoda or a different person making the confession decades later.
At the time the stigma of divorce could have damaged his status in the community as a reputable doctor and also harmed his political prospects.
Second he married Sarah "Sally" Cole. This is thought to have occurred in October 1805 in Herkimer County, New York. They appear to have had a few children together. Her illness towards the end of her life is mentioned in his correspondence with the founders of the Willoughby School in Ohio. She died in 1838 leaving him a widower.
The widow Mariah Babcock St. John was Willoughby's third spouse. The did not have children together, but her children resided with them and later assisted with the settling of his Will. A note on her Find A Grave Memorial suggests she married Westel on 28 Oct 1839 in Saratoga County, NY.. Elsewhere different months are suggested.
"How Willoughby Got its Name" clarifies some myths about Dr. Willoughby's relation to the town and Medical School named after him. The founders of the school did try to entice him to relocate to their town, but he wrote that his wife Sarah was too ill for him to relocate. Still he supported their project and sent curriculum for their first year course, recommended instructors, and donated enough to the school to start a library. The Town name was right around that time changed from Chagrin to Willoughby, though he never set foot there. His famous oil portrait was given to his sister when he died, not to the town or school.
Research Notes: Birth records indicate his parents are Ruth Arnold and Westel Willoughy Sr. and he had many sibilings. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/L6RD-4K5
A few sources mention an unfortunate blot upon his reputation due to his repeating verbatim a commencement address given a few years earlier by a Professor Sewell. This was done with no credit to the author and was written about in several journals of the time.
Both Fairfield Medical College and The Willoughby School in Ohio had occasional scandals whereby medical students had stolen bodies from graveyards to use in their study of anatomy.
https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p267401coll36/id/6401/
The naming of Willoughby Ohio: https://willoughbyohio.com/history/
Willoughby Area Welcome Center: https://www.willoughbyareawelcomecenter.com/willoughby/
Find A Grave Memorial ID 7254664: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7254664/westel-willoughby
My thanks to Mary E Huey for links to sources - Vicki
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Westal is 23 degrees from Herbert Adair, 20 degrees from Richard Adams, 17 degrees from Mel Blanc, 21 degrees from Dick Bruna, 19 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 31 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 20 degrees from Sam Edwards, 18 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 21 degrees from Marty Krofft, 15 degrees from Junius Matthews, 14 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 20 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
W > Willoughby > Westel Willoughby Jr. M.D.
My apologies, Willoughby-1955 did not show up for me when I created my entry. Would you please review and consider merging with your profile? Thank you, Vicki