THE

HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL

REGISTER.

APRIL, 1878.

MEMORIAL OF NATHAN COOLEY KEEP, M.D., D.M.D.

JATHAN COOLEY KEEP was born in Longmeadow, Mass., December 23, 1800. This ancient town had been the home of his ancestors for more than a hundred and fifty years. Coming into life amid its peaceful surroundings, familiar from his infancy with the models of dignified deportment which abounded in those homes of purity and piety, he there laid the foundation for that dignity of character and bearing, that unswerving uprightness and genuine benevolence, which marked his course in life.

Among the chief forces contributing to the formation of Dr. Keep's character must, however, be considered the personal influence of his parents. His father, Samuel Keep, was remarkable for his lively disposition and his sprightliness of mind. He was enterprising and sanguine. He attracted attention by his pithy, sententious sayings, and the terse way in which he would state a point had often considerable influence in the town meeting. He had great ingenuity and mechanical skill, and was wont to perform with his own hands many of the operations for which the aid of the carpenter, blacksmith or wheelwright is ordinarily sought. His character in many of its traits was most happily supplemented by that of his wife, Anne Bliss, who added to the excellent qualities which he possessed a rare practical judgment. She was the balance-wheel of the household. Especially were her discernment and sagacity valued in the treatment of disease. It would not be strange if Dr. Keep's own knowledge of disease; his fertility in suggesting expedients for relief in the sick room and his willingness and ability to lend personal help in relieving suffering in all its forms, were a kind of natural inheritance from his mother. Skill in the use of tools which had been apparent in him from childhood, seemed to mark him out for some mechanical pursuit, and his own inclination led him to select, with the approval of his friends, the trade of a jeweller. In 1815,

In 1868, three years after the delivery of the above address, there appeared "The first annual announcement of the Dental School of Harvard University, established to meet a want long felt by the dental profession of New England." "Its aim was declared to be "to raise the standard of dental education, by giving thorough instruction in all branches of science and art required by the dental practitioner." "The connection of this school with the University furnished the profession a guarantee that its standard would be high, as it must necessarily be to keep pace with the other departments.' A large force of distinguished professors was announced, with Dr. Keep as the dean of the faculty. An Infirmary was established in connection with the Massachusetts General Hospital, to remain open throughout the year, offering the students great facilities for acquiring practical knowledge and dexterity. During the first year over one thousand patients were there treated.

The Infirmary has been increasingly useful, and the Dental School has become an assured success, though endowments are needed to enlarge its usefulness. Its establishment must be regarded as marking an important era in the history of dental science. In 1870 Dr. Keep received from Harvard College the honorary degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine.

The following interesting estimate of the professional career and general character of Dr. Keep is furnished by his valued friend, Dr. Augustus A. Hayes, long and widely known as State Assayer.

"I have known Dr. Keep very intimately. I first knew him in Boston about 1830. He was then an enthusiast in his profession, seeking from all sides information, which he digested and brought into the form of scientific aid in his pursuits. He was the first man, in this part of the country certainly, who, after acquiring a medical education, made dentistry a distinct branch. It was considered a very doubtful and hazardous thing. I think his instructor advised against it. It was supposed it would be a failure. Singularly enough he became eminent very soon, and his eminence and success tended very largely to build up dentistry as a profession, and I should say as an American profession, for at this moment American dentists are not only eminent in skill, but take precedence of all others. Few men could have succeeded as he did. There really were no sources of information. Dr. Keep was very quick in perceiving any advantage likely to result from an improvement, and his practical applications denoted great ability and acuteness. He was enabled to keep in advance of the science of his profession. He ventured on original applications of science, and became an inventor. He was one of the first of the original manufacturers of porcelain teeth in this country, and carried the art of the manufacture to a high degree of precision. In a competitive exposition he received the first premium for the excellence of his imitation of the natural teeth, and was considered unequalled in all that pertained to the niceties of the manufacture. His signal ability in this direction made him a master in his art. He was also an inventor of many of the tools in daily use, and many of his special adaptations were for a time of high value. He fully appreciated the possibilities of his profession, and the

value of personal character, and was foremost in advocating the formation of the Harvard Dental School as the best means of permanently securing a high professional standard.

"In the daily practice of his profession, which is eminently that of alleviating pain and distress, Dr. Keep carried a sensitive and extremely kind disposition, which won the love of his patients, while his skill compelled their admiration and respect. His tender interest in children made him a favorite with them, and often enabled him to dispel their natural timidity and fear. His kindness of disposition was manifested in so many directions that no one could approach him without being impressed by his manner. He never became hardened to the infliction of pain. In some cases he was unable to operate after a time, so intense was his sympathy with his patients. In every way he sought to alleviate pain. He was always ready as a counsellor in giving cautious advice, and in helping to render rough places smooth. His gratuitous operations were very numerous. was a true philanthropist."

He

Dr. Keep was the recipient of a large number of unsolicited testimonials which came to him from the grateful subjects of his skill, from governors and senators, learned professors and preachers, and from the humble and the poor as well, and they were all accepted by him as they were sent, in hearty good faith, and with unaffected delight.

Any sketch of Dr. Keep would be incomplete without some allusion to the celebrated trial of Prof. John W. Webster for the murder of Dr. Parkman in 1850, in which trial he was a leading witness. On his single testimony the fate of the unhappy man was seen by all to depend. One of the eminent counsel remarked, in reference to Dr. Keep, "Not for the world would I stand in his place and take the responsibility resting on him."

No one knew the importance of his testimony better than Dr. Keep himself, or could feel it more deeply. His knowledge of the case was positive and definite, and his duty was plain. With all the clearness characteristic of his accurate mind, he gave in his testimony with orderly precision, coming at length to the culminating point, when, under an awful sense of his responsibility, he pronounced the words which, he well knew, must consign to an ignominious death an eminent member of a kindred profession, who happened, moreover, to be among the first to speak a cordial word to him when he came a stranger to Boston, and with whom he had always been on friendly terms. It is not surprising that overcome by his emotions he burst into tears, unable to proceed, while the court and all present were visibly moved. It was a memorable scene. If the eminent Justice who presided at the trial was scarcely able to command his feelings when pronouncing the sentence of death upon the wretched culprit, how sorely must the sensitive heart of Dr. Keep have been wrung, when at the stern call of justice he was thus compelled to utter the testimony which constituted the warrant and ground for that drea sentence of the law!

after having enjoyed the limited education which the village school afforded, the boy of fifteen left his home for Newark, N. J., where he was apprenticed to John Taylor, a manufacturing jeweller. He had nearly completed the term of his indentures, when a general stagnation in the jewelry business led his employer to dismiss his apprentices, and Nathan, now master of his trade, but without the opening to which his finished apprenticeship would naturally have introduced him, returned to Longmeadow.

Five years absence from the farm had strengthened his determination to seek his livelihood elsewhere than in his native town, and the idea suggested itself of going to Boston and devoting himself to dentistry.

This is not the place to enlarge upon the condition of this important art, and especially of mechanical dentistry, in the year 1821, when he first went to Boston. It is but the simple truth to say, that Dr. Keep was obliged to a great extent to make his own tools, and to discover for himself the best way of performing many of the delicate and difficult tasks which are continually presenting themselves to the practitioner. He could have had no bettter training than the years of apprenticeship in Newark, where he had gained a manual dexterity and a practical experience in working with metals, in which the few dentists of that time were deficient. It ought not to pass unnoticed that he early recognized the truth that the highest eminence in the specialty of dentistry involved a general acquaintance with medical science. Under this conviction he attended, without interrupting the active practice of his profession, the regular course of lectures at the Medical School of Harvard College, where he took his medical degree in the year 1827.

Such practical training for his professional work as he received was had from Dr. John Randall, of Boston, who, as was common in those days, united some practice of dentistry with the general practice of a physician.

During the long period of his active practice, Dr. Keep's time and thoughts were never selfishly absorbed by his professional cares and duties. He uniformly had the good of the profession at heart. He cherished a cordial and generous interest in the success of his brethren, and labored to promote among them a spirit of mutual confidence and good will. No one was more happy than he to recognize the triumphs of the many ingenious and able men who, in these later years, have achieved distinction in the field in which he was a pioneer. There was nothing narrow or exclusive in his course respecting the progress of his art, as there was nothing ungenerous in his character. His spirit in this respect is well expressed in the following extract from an address delivered by him before the Massachusetts Dental Society, on "The Aims and Duties of the Dental Profession," and published in 1865. He said: