Dr. Theodore Jewett

Dr. Theodore H. Jewett (March 24, 1815-September 20, 1878), Sarah Orne Jewett’s father, was her companion, intellectual comrade, and mentor, offering advice she valued: “Don’t try to write about people and things, tell them just as they are.” Graduating from Berwick Academy, Bowdoin College, and Philadelphia’s Jefferson Medical College, Dr. Jewett practiced medicine in South Berwick at the urging of his father, Captain Theodore Jewett, who had lost two of his four sons to illness and tragedy at sea. As Dr. Jewett’s family expanded, Grandfather Jewett had a second house built on the family compound to accommodate them and keep the family close. Dr. Jewett held the positions as Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children in the Medical Department of Bowdoin, consulting surgeon to the Maine General Hospital, Surgeon of the First Maine District, and for several years, president of the Maine Medical Society. He made substantial contributions to the medical literature of his era. His death at age sixty-three had a profound effect on Sarah.