Dr. Thomas Hinde
by Margaret Strubel Hartman-Campbell
County Historian
According to early records, Thomas Hinde was the first physician and surgeon to practice in the Newport-Covington area. He was the personal physician and later surgeon-in-chief, to Patrick Henry of Virginia. Dr. Hinde had been with General James Wolfe in his expedition against Quebec, and with the general at the moment of his fall.
Dr. Hinde's life began in Oxfordshire, England on July 10, 1737. He studied physics and surgery under Dr. Thomas Brooke at St. Thomas Hospital in London, and at the age of nineteen, his master presented him the Royal College of Surgeons for a license. Shortly after he received the Commission of Surgeons' Mate in the Navy and sailed for America with the forces under the command of General Amherst. After landing in New York on June 10, 1757, he spent time at Halifax and Louisburg. It was his good fortune to be attached to the ship which bore the commander in chief, General James Wolfe, on his way to Quebec. He described the General as a 'tall and robest person with fair complexion and sandy hair; possessing a countenance calm, resolute, confident, and beaming with intelligence.'
Dr. Hinde was near the General at the moment of his fall, and when an aide explained, 'they run, they run', the General asked who runs? Dr. Hinde answered, 'the French sir, they are running in all directions.' General Wolfe replied, 'I die contented' and died in Dr. Hinde's arms. This death has been painted and shows Dr. Hinde feeling the pulse of the wounded General.
In 1765 he settled in Essex County, Virginia but soon afterwards left it for King George County and in 1767 married Mary Todd Hubbard, daughter of Benjamin Hubbard, an English merchant. They had eight children.
Children of Thomas Hinde and Mary Todd Hubbard
1. Elizabeth Clifford Hinde-11 June 1768
2.
Susannah Brooks Hinde-15 Dec 1770
3.
John W Hinde-31 March 1774
4.
Hannah Hubbard Hinde-6 March 1777
5.
Mary Todd Hinde-27 Jan 1780
5. Ann (Nancy) Winston Hinde-12 Dec 1783
6.
Thomas Spotwood Hinde-19 Apr 1785
7.
Martha (Patsey) Harrison Hinde-21 May 1787
He moved to Hanover County and in 1775 became General and Governor Patrick Henry's Chief Surgeon, and marched against Lord Dunmore.
Dr. Hinde was presented with a land grant after the war, which entitled him to 10,000 acres of land to be located in Kentucky. This land was in Clarke County and Dr. Hinde moved there in 1797. The first Methodist society at Ebenzer was organized in 1797 by Mary Hinde and consisted of eight persons; Dr. and Mary Hinde, Martha Hinde, William and Hannah Kavanaugh, John Martin, Mr. Summers, and Elizabeth Hieronymus. In the year 1798, the first church was built on the lands of John Martin and Dr. Hinde, of logs.
In 1799 he moved to Newport and his experiences with diseases aboard ships and in the armies made him fully equipped to serve at the Newport Barracks.
All but Martha of Dr. Hinde and Ann's children
married:
Elizabeth Hinde married Captain Robert Richardson
Susannah Hinde married Rev. Leroy Cole
John W Hinde married Elizabeth Snydor in 1797
Hannah Hinde married 1-Rev. William Kavanaugh-29 Mar 1798
2-William Taylor-native of Ireland in 1812
3-Tim Valentine Martin in 1817
Mary Hinde married 1-Edmund Taylor 4 Sep 1803
2-Colonel John McKinney-19 Mar 1817
Ann Winston Hinde married Richard Southgate 30 July 1799 in Newport
Thomas Hinde married 1-Belnda Bradford in 1809 in Cincinnati
2-Sarah Hinde married Cavilier O'Neill-Dec 1829 in Springfield Ill
In 1806, a small class of Methodists was formed in Newport at the house of Jonathan Huling, the tavern located at the southeast corner of Fourth and Columbia streets. The members were: Dr. Thomas Hinde, Mary Todd Hinde, Patsey Hinde, Ann Winston Hinde Southgate, Maria Lindsey, Clarissa Hulin, Eliza Butler, Susanna Butler, Rachel Ritterhouse, Margaret Martin, Ann R S Martin and Susanna W Martin.
In November 1810, Dr. and Mary Hinde visited
with their son, Thomas in Chillicothe, Ohio. They had taken their youngest
daughter, Patsey, who was described as "of a slender and delicate constitution."
She became ill. Her sister, Mary and brother-in-law, Major Edmund Taylor,
went to see her a little before she died which was April 2, 1811.
Dr. Hinde died
September 28, 1828 at the home of his daughter, Mary in Newport. The
National Republican and Ohio Political Register on Tuesday, October 7,
1828, carried the following:
"Departed this life on Sunday morning, 28th September, in Newport, Kentucky, Dr. Thomas Hinde, aged 92. The Doctor was a Surgeon in General Wolf's army at Quebec in 1758. He settled in Virginia in 1764, where he was distinguished as a surgeon and physician. He was surgeon to Patrick Henry in 1775, in his gun powder expedition; and for forty years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church."
The funeral sermon was delivered by Rev. Holliday of Cincinnati at the Court House at 11 am on Monday morning. Exactly where he was buried is not known, but assumed to be the Newport Cemetery which was moved to Evergreen Cemetery.
His last will and testament was presented in court and recorded November 25, 1828. Mary Todd Hinde was given his property and estate, including the following slaves, William-son of Pleasant, Martha Ann-daughter of Patty, Eliza and Winston-children of Sally.
To his son, John W Hinde he gave the following slaves: Pleasant, her children-John, Patty, Emily, Sary Jane, and Anthony. To Hannah H Taylor, his daughter, he gave her his slave, Sally and her two children, Susan and Sophia. To his daughter, Mary Taylor McKinney, he gave slaves, Henry and Susan, son and daughter of Jenny, Kitt, son of Sally and Thornton. To his daughter, Ann Winston Southgate, he gave slaves, Sukey, daughter of Pleasant and her children Sally and Nathan. To his daughter Susan Cole and Elizabeth Richardson, he gave unnamed slaves. To his son Thomas S he gave the slave, Ira, son of Pleasant.
Mary Todd Hubbard Hinde died in 1830 at the age
of 83 at the home of her daughter, Mary McKinney.