Benjamin Page began as a young new doctor ready to try up-to-date treatments of the time. He studied anatomy, sold imported medicines, set broken bones and practiced minor surgery. Through his mentors he had professional ties to English and Scottish medical sources as well as to American. His aim and achievement was a full-time medical career, including obstetrical medicine formerly practiced by female midwives. In these ways, he embodied the late eighteenth-century professional male doctor.

How did Dr. Page's practice compare to those of other doctors in town? What was his training? Who were his patients? Find out more about this man-midwife by exploring the documents below.

Memorials or obituaries are a good place to start when trying to find out more about someone in the past.

Newspaper advertisements placed by Ben Page in Hallowell newspapers tell us more about the doctor's practice.

Letters and other informal records, saved for generations, offer unintended, illuminating glimpses into the past.

Probate records, if they exist, detail what a person owned at the time of his or her death.

Financial records yield up social as well as economic information to the historian willing to read closely.

Martha's Diary documents many of Benjamin Page's treatments over the years, as well as those of other doctors in town, from Martha's unique vantage point.