An extend search first of the historical records in the Massachusetts Genealogical Society at Ashburton Place, later at the Massachusett Historical Society at the Old State House (with the kind assistance of Captain Clark, Mr. Graham and Mr. Smith custodians of the society rooms), failed to through any light upon the subject. The records at the Boston City Hall were also consulted, through the courtesy of Mr. Edward McGlinnon, who informed me that undoubtedly if the birth of Gram had been recorded, it must be found in the one small volume of records extending over the century (from 1700 to 1800) including the period of the Revolution, for prior to 1800 the city was not required to record them, they being found for the most part in parish books, or as was for long the custom of recording them, only in family records. Furthermore, all the records contained in this one volume were obtained from this source. A careful search of the history of the Burdick family failed to note any marriage with a Gram.
My first search through the city records was unsuccessful, and I had about given up hope of reward, when a casual reference to this same volume at the Boston Public Library revealed the following notations.
Hans Benj. (not Burch he it noted,) son of Hans Gram and Jane his wife, 18 July, 1787.
Joanna Burdick, daughter of Hans Gram and Jane, his wife 1 June, 1801.
It is known that Gram had at least one sister (according to Dr. Smith possibly another beside Mrs. Greenlief) and from the association of the name of Burdick, might it not be inferred this record is that of his younger sister? At any rate the date here given – July 13, 1787 (instead of 1796) might easily be that of Hans Burch Gram despite the discrepancy in spelling, as children were frequently christened under a slightly different name from that recorded by the registrar of births. At all events, my personal efforts have convinced me that the date here given is undoubtedly the correct one, especially so no such name as Gram appears in the year 1786 or 1788. Hence the very definite entry in the year 1787, giving the month and actual day of the month cannot fail to be convincing.
Therefore, it seems only fitting that some definite record be made of this important date in the history of American homoeopathy, and likewise be given to the world. And to this end. I wish to present to the International Hahnemannian Association, these brief data regarding Hans Burch Gram, acquired in the city of his birth.
Benjamin Collins Woodbury was born August 13, 1882, at Patten, Maine. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Collins, a homeopathic physician, and Matidle Albina (Knowles). He attended Patten Academy and received his M.D. from Boston University Medical School in 1906. Following graduation Dr. Woodbury began his practice in Lewiston and Winthrop, Maine, and in 1907 moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he practiced for the next nine years. Dr. Woodbury married Miss Gertrude Fancis O'Neill of Boston at Eliot, Maine on June 18, 1915.
In March, 1919, Dr. Woodbury left the Islands and located in San Francisco where he practiced for two years and then returned to the East and established a practice in Boston. He was a trustee and a member of the staff of the Hahnemann Hospital, Boston, and in 1947 was elected president if the International Hahnemann Institute, Washington, D.C. He also gave many lectures on homeopathy at Boston University and at postgraduate sessions of the American foundation of Homeopathy.
Dr. Woodbury died on January 22, 1948, in Boston at the age of 65.
The doctor was the author of "Materia Medica for Nurses", published in 1922 and of many articles in medical journals in England, India, and the United States. Dr. Woodbury was also a writer of plays and poetry.