Charles Knowlton
Encyclopedia
Charles Knowlton was an American
physician
, atheist and writer.
. His parents were Stephen and Comfort (White) Knowlton; his grandfather Ezekiel Knowlton, who was a Captain in the revolution and a longtime state legislator. Knowlton attended local schools, then New Salem Academy. At age 18, he taught school briefly in Alstead, NH. As a young man, Knowlton was extremely concerned about his health. This led him to spend time with Richard Stuart, a “jack of all trades” in Winchendon who was experimenting with electricity. Knowlton married Stuart’s daughter, Tabitha, and his condition was instantly cured.
Knowlton studied medicine with several area doctors, and attended two terms of 14-week “medical lectures” at Dartmouth. He supplemented his education by digging up and dissecting corpses. Knowlton was awarded his M.D. in 1824, moved to Hawley, Massachusetts
to begin his practice, and then served two months in the Worcester County jail for illegal dissection.
of body and spirit, and Knowlton presents a psychological theory that’s been described as “early behaviorism
.” Knowlton moved his family to North Adams, Massachusetts
in 1827, to be closer to a printer. In the summer of 1829, he took a “one-horse load” of books down to New York city. He failed to sell any, but probably visited local freethinkers like Robert Dale Owen
. Knowlton named his second son Stephen Owen, after his father and his friend. Knowlton was convinced Modern Materialism would make him as famous as John Locke
, who he quotes on the title page.
. A year later, the town’s new minister, Mason Grosvenor, began a campaign against “infidelity and licentiousness,” targeting Knowlton as its source. Knowlton had written a little book called The Fruits of Philosophy, or the Private Companion of Young Married People, and had been showing it to his patients. It contained a summary of what was then known about the physiology of conception, listed a number of methods to treat infertility and impotence, and explained a method of birth control
he had developed: to wash out the vagina after intercourse with certain chemical solutions.
Knowlton was prosecuted and fined in Taunton, Mass for the book. Abner Kneeland
printed a second edition of Fruits of Philosophy in Boston in 1832, allowing it a wider circulation than the few closely guarded copies Knowlton had been lending to patients. This led to Knowlton’s imprisonment in Cambridge at “hard labor” for three months, and was a central issue in Kneeland’s blasphemy trial in 1838. Reverend Grosvenor filed a complaint against Knowlton in Franklin County, but after two juries failed to convict him, the charges were dropped. Grosvenor left Ashfield, and became a general agent for the Aetna
insurance company.
Knowlton died February 20, 1850. Twenty-seven years later, Charles Bradlaugh
and Annie Besant
were tried in London for publishing Knowlton’s Fruits of Philosophy there. The book had been selling in moderate numbers in the interim; the publicity of the Bradlaugh-Besant trial made it an overnight bestseller. Its circulation increased from an average of 700 per year to 125,000 in just one year; Besant subsequently published her own birth control manual. The trial, and Knowlton’s Fruits of Philosophy are credited with reversing British population growth and popularizing contraception in Great Britain and America.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, atheist and writer.
Education
Knowlton was born May 10, 1800 in Templeton, MassachusettsTempleton, Massachusetts
Templeton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,013 at the 2010 census. The town comprises four main villages: Templeton Center, East Templeton, Baldwinville, and Otter River...
. His parents were Stephen and Comfort (White) Knowlton; his grandfather Ezekiel Knowlton, who was a Captain in the revolution and a longtime state legislator. Knowlton attended local schools, then New Salem Academy. At age 18, he taught school briefly in Alstead, NH. As a young man, Knowlton was extremely concerned about his health. This led him to spend time with Richard Stuart, a “jack of all trades” in Winchendon who was experimenting with electricity. Knowlton married Stuart’s daughter, Tabitha, and his condition was instantly cured.
Knowlton studied medicine with several area doctors, and attended two terms of 14-week “medical lectures” at Dartmouth. He supplemented his education by digging up and dissecting corpses. Knowlton was awarded his M.D. in 1824, moved to Hawley, Massachusetts
Hawley, Massachusetts
Hawley is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 337 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
to begin his practice, and then served two months in the Worcester County jail for illegal dissection.
Modern Materialism
While in jail, Knowlton formulated ideas that he eventually published as Elements of Modern Materialism in 1829. The book challenges the religious dualismDualism (philosophy of mind)
In philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter, which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical....
of body and spirit, and Knowlton presents a psychological theory that’s been described as “early behaviorism
Behaviorism
Behaviorism , also called the learning perspective , is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do—including acting, thinking, and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behavior...
.” Knowlton moved his family to North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
in 1827, to be closer to a printer. In the summer of 1829, he took a “one-horse load” of books down to New York city. He failed to sell any, but probably visited local freethinkers like Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen was a longtime exponent in his adopted United States of the socialist doctrines of his father, Robert Owen, as well as a politician in the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
. Knowlton named his second son Stephen Owen, after his father and his friend. Knowlton was convinced Modern Materialism would make him as famous as John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, who he quotes on the title page.
Fruits of Philosophy
In 1832, Knowlton moved his family and medical practice to Ashfield, MassachusettsAshfield, Massachusetts
Ashfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,737 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
. A year later, the town’s new minister, Mason Grosvenor, began a campaign against “infidelity and licentiousness,” targeting Knowlton as its source. Knowlton had written a little book called The Fruits of Philosophy, or the Private Companion of Young Married People, and had been showing it to his patients. It contained a summary of what was then known about the physiology of conception, listed a number of methods to treat infertility and impotence, and explained a method of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
he had developed: to wash out the vagina after intercourse with certain chemical solutions.
Knowlton was prosecuted and fined in Taunton, Mass for the book. Abner Kneeland
Abner Kneeland
Abner Kneeland was an American evangelist and theologian who advocated many views, religious and social, which were considered extremely radical for his day. Due to his very public stance on these issues, Kneeland became the last man jailed in the United States for blasphemy.-Early life and...
printed a second edition of Fruits of Philosophy in Boston in 1832, allowing it a wider circulation than the few closely guarded copies Knowlton had been lending to patients. This led to Knowlton’s imprisonment in Cambridge at “hard labor” for three months, and was a central issue in Kneeland’s blasphemy trial in 1838. Reverend Grosvenor filed a complaint against Knowlton in Franklin County, but after two juries failed to convict him, the charges were dropped. Grosvenor left Ashfield, and became a general agent for the Aetna
Aetna
Aetna, Inc. is an American health insurance company, providing a range of traditional and consumer directed health care insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care, and disability plans, and medical management...
insurance company.
Later life
Knowlton became the leading country doctor in western Massachusetts, with a “ride” that covered thirty towns. He contributed several articles to the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, as well as Kneeland’s freethought paper, the Boston Investigator. Knowlton was an officer of several freethinking societies in New England and New York, and founded “The Friends of Mental Liberty” in Greenfield in 1845. In addition to affirming its members' right of “freely enquiring into the truth of all religions which claim to be a Revelation from some intelligent being superior to man,” the group’s Constitution declared that “Female members of this Society shall enjoy the same rights and privileges as male members.”Knowlton died February 20, 1850. Twenty-seven years later, Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866.-Early life:...
and Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
were tried in London for publishing Knowlton’s Fruits of Philosophy there. The book had been selling in moderate numbers in the interim; the publicity of the Bradlaugh-Besant trial made it an overnight bestseller. Its circulation increased from an average of 700 per year to 125,000 in just one year; Besant subsequently published her own birth control manual. The trial, and Knowlton’s Fruits of Philosophy are credited with reversing British population growth and popularizing contraception in Great Britain and America.
Writings
- Elements of Modern Materialism (Adams, Mass.: Oakey, 1829)
- Fruits of Philosophy (1891 Bradlaugh-Besant Reprint)