Fourth Week - Saturday's "Medfield Historical Minute"

A Medfield Historical Minute...

This "Medfield Historical Minute" is brought to you by town historian Richard DeSorgher.
A little something to read and learn to give you a little break during this time of boredom during isolation due to the Coronavirus Crisis. A different "Medfield Historical Minute" will appear each day during the Crisis.

"In 1924 Dr. Arthur Mitchell, practicing physician in Medfield for more than 48 years died. He was born in Temple, Maine on March 16, 1864 and was graduated from Dartmouth and Bowdoin Colleges. He began practicing in Medfield in 1886. While practicing in Medfield he always had his trusted dog, “Jack” by his side. At one point while responding to a house-call during a raging storm, Jack dove into the white-capped currents, when Dr. Mitchell was swept into the flood waters. He was under the rapids and his lungs filling with water when he saw from the corner of his eyes, his faithful dog and companion. All he remembered was holding onto Jack for dear life and seeing the shore come closer and closer. Reaching the river bank, he was able to pull himself onto the bank with Jack still by his side. During Dr. Mitchell’s funeral all town businesses were closed. The doctor’s body was cremated and his ashes buried in Temple, Maine. In the will of Dr Mitchell, it decreed that his ashes be buried in the family lot in the cemetery beside his “faithful’ dog Jack, because the dog had saved his life. A painting of the dog by John A.S. Monks (now at the historical society) was left to his former housekeeper and later donated to the historical society. The traffic signal box in Medfield Center in front of Bank of America displays that painting of Jack."