Old Leonard, aka "Dr. Quack"

Colebrook’s most famous (or infamous) character was without a doubt Leonard Gillette, more commonly known as “Old Leonard� by the inhabitants of the town. His father, Levi, begins to show up on the pages of various Colebrook tax and property lists in the 1820s. Leonard married Phebe Hart of Colebrook on April 20, 1840.

The person who wrote most extensively about Leonard was Henry Hart Vining, and it is his account that we will republish here for the reader’s enjoyment.

He named the article simply “Doctor Quack.�

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“It is a common and true saying that every country contains the best cures for its own diseases. No other part of the globe can afford stronger proof of all the truth of the remark than this very country of the United States of America, the paradise of freedom in which to dwell. Instead of sending our ships to foreign climates after costly, unnatural medicine, why is it we do not open our eyes on the vegetable kingdom around us as being more natural to our constitutions?

“What then, is the use, in the name of common sense, of importing Peruvian bark from South America, when the common boxwood of our country produces the same effect? Or, of sending to Europe for Spanish flies, when the American potato flies, which may be collected in large quantities, are far better, and will draw a blister without poisoning, which the Spanish fly is very apt to do, you all very well know.

“This was the philosophy of Leonard Gillette, who lived in a little house at the corner of the roads, on top of Beech Hill, in the town of Colebrook, in northwestern Connecticut. [The house no longer exists, but it was the one I was born and raised in. In modern terms, it was at the eastern side of the intersection of Beech Hill Road and Moses Road.]

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“‘Old Leonard,’ as he was called by everyone, was tall, loose-jointed, lantern-jawed and painfully cadaverous. His shock of white hair added to his strange appearance and when his sense of humor produced an open smile, his face was positively ghastly. He lived in his little old house beside the road for many years and grew quinces, which he sold for miles around. These quince bushes grew near the road and bore huge crops of wonderfully smelling fruit, which were the envy of all the neighborhood.

“Why did they grow so profusely? Old Leonard would say, ‘Why, you see, they get all the wash from the kitchen sink and all the surplus from my herb medicines; if herbs are good for folks, why not for quinces?’

[Two of those quince bushes still grow and produce a bumper crop every year for my daughter. Quinces are very particular where they will grow; at one site they will flourish, while 100 yards away they will flatly refuse to survive. Whether Old Leonard’s thrived there because of the reasons stated is accurate or not, the fact remains that no better explanation has come to light in the past 175 years.]

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“Yes, Dr. Leonard Gillette was an herb doctor and peddled his cures and tonics throughout all the county and over the border into Massachusetts. He also carried essences and Yankee notions. Slung over his shoulder was a pair of saddle bags. In one of these he carried his essences (which were of excellent quality). In the other were ‘Yankee notions’: needles, pins, thread, shoelaces and, as he called them, ‘hanks’ of linen thread. In his right hand he carried a wicker-covered demi-john of alcohol as a solvent for his essences and camphor gum. He had the reputation of being the demi-john’s best customer. He was a keen trader and would haggle over a penny in a sale, but if he could not win it, would give in with a fatalistic smile.

“One cold night he arrived at the home of Rev. Mr. Russell [667 Colebrook Road today]. He was so much under the influence of his potations that Mr. Russell did not dare to refuse him shelter, for fear he would freeze to death. It was a somewhat embarrassing situation, as Mrs. Russell had company, and the old man was sick and noisy most of the night.

The next morning Old Leonard was given a warm breakfast and then Mr. Russell charged him $10 for his night’s lodging. Old Leonard was amazed and distressed to the point of tears, and pleaded to have the charge reduced, but Mr. Russell was insistent and threatened him with arrest for drunkenness unless it was paid. It was pitiful to see the old miser dole out the money, a half dollar at a time, vainly hoping to the last that his enemy would relent. It is needless to say that he never called at the minister’s house again.

[This account was previously recorded by Jane Smith, a resident of the Russell home.  See “Memories of Colebrook, Connecticut — 1868-1877â€� by Jane E. W. Smith.]

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“Many and varied were the remedies which Dr. Gillette used on his patients. If a child had whooping cough, he took moosewood bark [also called hobblebush], made a very strong tea, sweetened it well with honey for constant drink. Then he braided a band of the same bark and put it around the neck, keeping the patient from the damp air until cured.

“For deafness — take a black ash sapling 4 feet long and 6 or 8 inches through, put one end in a fire. Save the sap from the other end, let stand till it settles clear, take equal portions of the sap and olive oil and put in a phial, add castile soap, the size of a large pea, shake well together before using. Put two drops into the ear at night and stop with cotton till morning.

“For sour mouth or lips, caused by a cold, select three white flint stones about the size of a common pea, swallow them; this will almost always effect a cure.�

Old Leonard had a book published entitled “The Botanical Physician, a Collection of Useful Prescriptions.� It was a book of 37 pages, filled with remedies, symptoms of diseases and a description of roots, herbs and plants. Many curious remedies appear in this book, some of which we will reprint next time.

Bob Grigg is the town historian in Colebrook.