Sprinkled
in among his daily entries that recorded the Bible verses
he had read, the timings of his morning walks to the
Capitol and back, the weather reports, and notes on
meetings with members of his Cabinet and the Congress,
you'll find President John Quincy Adams, left, met
several times with Dr. Eleazar Parmly.
The pioneering dentist called at the White House to
introduce himself to the nation's sixth president -- in
those days just about anyone who wanted to could drop in
on the chief executive.
Adams met with Eleazar in
November, 1826, as recorded in Diary No. 37, pp. 113 and
115. Below are the transcripts; you can follow the links
to the Massachusetts Historical Society's digital images
of the pages.
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Monday, Nov.
13, 1826
... Dr. Parmely
presented himself as a dentist and I took the
opportunity to have a decayed tooth drawn. He also
scaled off the tartar which has been for years
collecting upon my lower front teeth, and urged the
drawing of another--the consideration of which I
postponed till tomorrow. ...
Tuesday, Nov. 14, 1826
... Dr. Parmely
came and completed his operations upon my teeth. He
declined taking pay, but asked me for a
recommendation. He is going soon to Charleston, S.C.,
and will call again tomorrow. ...
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 1826
... Dr. Parmely
came to introduce his brother [probably Dr. Levi
Spear Parmly,
1790-1859, who settled in New Orleans in 1822], gave
me a bit of dentifrice and took leave; going on the
steamboat to Norfolk [Va.] on his way to Charleston,
S.C. ...
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