The Other Side of the Hill: Dr. John Jeffries and the Dilemmas of the Loyalist Surgeon

Dr. John Jeffries (1744-1819) twice became one of the most prominent surgeons in Boston. His career was interrupted by the American Revolution. Having chosen the Loyalist side, from 1776 to 1790, he left his native city and served with the British Army in Nova Scotia and the Carolinas. After the war, he established a successful practice in London and made the first flight across the English Channel. Able to return in 1790, he resettled in Boston and again became a leading figure in the city's medical community. This essay gives a short synopsis of his extraordinary life and of the death of his friend Dr. Joseph Warren.