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Samuel Prescott Hildreth

pioneer physician, scientist, historian

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ7412417
Source-derived summary

Samuel Prescott Hildreth (1783–1863) was a pioneer medical doctor, scientist, and historian, writing numerous scientific and historical works. His history books are largely based on first-person accounts and primary documents, providing insight into the early settlement of Marietta, Ohio, and the Northwest Territory and the lives of early pioneers.

Early life

Samuel Prescott Hildreth was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, on September 30, 1783. His father, Dr. Samuel Hildreth of Massachusetts, was a physician with a regiment of volunteers during the American Revolutionary War, served as surgeon aboard a privateer, and became a prisoner-of-war. Samuel Prescott Hildreth was educated at the Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. He began medical studies under his father, completed studies under care of Dr. Thomas Kittredge of Andover, and received his diploma in 1805 after examination by the Massachusetts Medical Society. He subsequently practiced medicine in Hampstead, New Hampshire, until relocating to Ohio in 1806.

Massachusetts to Ohio

His father, Samuel Hildreth, was a shareholder in the Ohio Company of Associates, and had considered moving to Ohio.

Editorial summary

“Samuel Prescott Hildreth” enters the record as pioneer physician, scientist, historian. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Samuel, Prescott and Hildreth can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1783, 1863, 1805, 1806—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1783-09-30. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Samuel, Prescott and Hildreth.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Samuel Prescott Hildreth” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Samuel, Prescott and Hildreth provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7412417. VIAF identifies the subject as 18717286. The Library of Congress control number is n86827162. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1783, 1863, 1805 and 1806.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Samuel Prescott Hildreth”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Samuel Prescott Hildreth primary sources, Samuel Prescott Hildreth archive and Samuel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Samuel Prescott Hildreth”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Samuel Prescott Hildreth” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.