Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Haskell, Abraham

HASKELL, Abraham, physician, b. in Lancaster, Mass., 16 Nov., 1746; d. in Ashby, Middlesex co., Mass., 13 Dec., 1834. He followed the trade of a shoemaker till he was of age, but was fitted for Harvard, studied medicine under Israel Atherton, of Lancaster, and began his practice in Lunenburg. He removed thence to Leominster in 1810, and in 1833 joined his son, who was a physician in Ashby. He became a member of the Massachusetts medical society soon after its establishment, was a successful practitioner, and labored faithfully during the spotted-fever panic in Worcester county. He wrote chiefly for his amusement, but read dissertations on “Croup,” “Spotted Fever,” and other subjects before the Massachusetts medical society, which were published in its “Transactions.” He also printed a paper on “Ichthyosis,” in the “New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery.” He delivered a fourth of July oration at Fitchburg, which was published.