Charles Knowlton
- Early, controversial
proponent of birth control
Note: This article, from a 1904 publication,
still didn't mention that birth control was the subject matter he was imprisoned
for.... nmt:
" KNOWLTON, Charles, physician and author,
was born in Templeton, Mass., in 1801; son of Stephen and — (Houghton)
Knowlton. He was graduated at Dartmouth (N.H.) Medical School in 1823,
and married Tabitha Foster Stuart, daughter of Richard Stuart, of Winchendon,
Mass. He settled in Ashfield, Mass., and attained a high reputation.
He published Modern Materialism (1829), and in 1833 a small book entitled
Fruits of Philosophy, presenting a remedy for the danger pointed out by
John Malthus, and before him by Plato, Aristotle, Hume, and Benjamin
Franklin. This publication subjected Dr. Knowlton to severe criticism,
and imprisonment for three months. In 1876 Annie Besant and Charles
Bradlaugh republished it, in England, with additions. Mr, Bradlaugh
was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of £200, but
on appeal the penalties were remitted. Dr. Knowlton died in Winchendon,
Mass., in 1850."
The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary
of Notable Americans: Volume VI
Here are web pages on Annie Besant, one of
the original womenliberators, which
mentions she and her husband publishing the abovework
by Charles Knowlton:
KNOWLTON, Marcus Perrin, jurist, was born in Wilbraham, Mass.,
Feb. 3, 1839; son of Merrick and Fatima (Perrin) Knowlton; grandson of
Amasa and Margaret (Toplift) Knowlton; and a descendant of William Knowlton,
whose father, Capt. William Knowlton, sailed from London, England, for
Nova Scotia, in 1633, and died on the voyage; and his widow with three
sons, John, William and Thomas, after remaining awhile in Nova Scotia,
removed to Ipswich, Mass. Marcus Perrin Knowlton prepared for college at
Monson academy, Mass., and was graduated from Yale, A.B., 1860. He was
admitted to the bar at Springfield, Mass., in 1869; was a representative
in the general court of Massachusetts in 1878, and a state senator, 1880-81.
In August, 1881, he was appointed a justice of the superior court of Massachusetts,
and in September, 1887, was made a justice of the supreme judicial
court of the state. He was twice married: first, July 18, 1867, to Sophia
Ritchie, who died, Feb. 18, 1886, leaving no children; and secondly,
May 21, 1891, to Rose Mary Ladd, of Portland, Maine. He received the honorary
degree of LL.D. from Yale university in 1895, and from Harvard university
in 1900.
The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans:
Volume VI
