Biography:

Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott was born in Toronto, Ontario on the 7th of April 1837.  Dr. Abbott was the eldest of 3 children born to   Wilson Ruffin Abbott and the former Ellen Toyer.  Dr. Abbott’s father was a free black man who fled the southern United States with his wife, in search of safer conditions in the north. They arrived in Canada in 1835. Wilson Ruffin Abbott ran a tobacco store on King Street East in Toronto for a time and invested money in real estate.  Dr. Abbott’s siblings were; Amelia Etta Abbott and William Henson Abbott.

Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott was educated at the Buxton Mission School in the Elgin Settlement, near Chatham. Before attending medical school, Dr. Abbott attended the Oberlin College’s Preparatory Department in Oberlin, Ohio from 1856 to 1857.

Dr. Abbott graduated M.D. from The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in 1861, becoming the first Canadian-born black man to graduate from a Canadian medical school.

He joined the Union Army in 1863 and he served in the American Civil War as a surgeon. Dr. Abbott was attached to Camp Barker in Washington D.C. and he became a decorated war hero. In addition, he also presided over the Freedmans’ Hospital in Washington, and in Arlington.  President Abraham Lincoln was very impressed with Dr. Abbott’s work in the soldiers hospital.  Dr. Abbott attended a levee at the White House in uniform with Dr. Alexander Augusta, who was African-American and a fellow surgeon in the Union Army.  Dr. Abbott wrote that he and Dr. Augusta were warmly greeted by President Lincoln who introduced both men to Mrs. Lincoln.  Dr. Abbott wondered at the time, if they were the first persons of colour to be at a levee at the White House, as guests.

President Lincoln attended the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. with Mrs. Lincoln to see the play titled, “The American Cousin” on the 14th of April, 1865.  While the play was being performed he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.  Mr. Booth fled and President Lincoln was carried across the road to a boarding house owned be a tailor named William Petersen.  President Lincoln was placed in a bedroom on the first floor and while he was there a number of doctors attended his bedside.  Mrs. Lincoln had summoned her seamstress and confidante Elizabeth Keckley to be with her and Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott accompanied Mrs. Keckley to the Petersen Boarding House.  Nothing could be done to save the life of President Lincoln and he died the following day on April 15th, 1865.  His wife Mary Todd Lincoln, presented Dr. Abbott with the plaid shawl that President Lincoln had used to keep warm, on his way to his first inauguration on the 4th of March 1861.  The shawl was donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1963 by the grandson of Dr. Abbott.

Dr Abbott was discharged from the military in 1865.  He attended Trinity College from 1865 until 1867 when he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in medicine.  Dr. Abbott registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons on the 5th of June, 1869, although he had held a licence with the Medical Board since 1862.

Dr. Abbott married Mary Ann Casey on the 9th of August, 1871 in Toronto.  Mrs. Abbott was born in St. Catharines, Ontario on the 15th of September, 1855.  She was the eldest of 4 daughter born to Thomas Powers Casey and the former Mary Ann Adams.  Her father was a barber and her sisters were; Sarah Jane Casey, Hannah Elizabeth Casey and Henrietta Margaret Casey.  The Casey family moved to Toronto around 1867.

Dr. Abbott opened a medical practice in Chatham in 1871.  He was appointed as a Coroner for Kent County in 1874, a position he held until his resignation in 1881.  Dr. Abbott was the first black man to be appointed as a Coroner.  On page 37 of the 1876 Chatham Business Directory, Dr. Abbott’s name appears as one of the 7 Coroners listed for the Chatham area.  Dr. Abbott served as President of the Chatham Medical Society.  According to the 1875 Kent County Directory, Dr. Abbott’s medical practice was located on King Street in Chatham.  His medical practice is listed in the 1876-1877 Chatham Directory in the Huntons Block on William Street.  Further it records his residence was located at 16 Princess Street.  In the 1876-1877 Chatham Directory Dr. Abbott is listed as “M.D., Coroner, Wilberforce Educational Institute and Associate Editor Missionary Messenger”.  Dr. Abbott was the President of the Wilberforce Educational Institute from 1873 to 1880. This school prepared Chatham’s African Canadian students for university studies.

Dr. and Mrs. Abbott were the parents of 7 children.  Mary Helene Abbott was born on the 25th of June, 1872 in Chatham.  Wilson Ruffin Abbott was born on the 19th of July, 1873 in Chatham and named after Dr. Abbott’s father.  Mabel Jane Abbott was born on the 30th of April, 1875 in Chatham, but she died 4 days later.  Ida Jane Abbott was born on the 12th of January, 1878 in Chatham.  Grace Isabel Abbott was born in Dundas, Ontario on the 23rd of December, 1881.  Grace’s twin brother Alfred Ernest Abbott only lived for 3 days.  Gordon Anderson Abbott was born on the 5th of May, 1885 in Dundas.

Dr. Abbott advertised in the 1874-1875 Kent County Business Directory as practicing on King Street in Chatham.  He also advertised his medical practice in the 1877 Chatham Business Directory.  That publication listed his medical practice on the Huntons Block on William Street in Chatham and his residence at 16 Princess Street.

Dr. Abbott moved his family and his medical practice to Dundas, Ontario in 1881. Dr. Abbott was skilled not only as a physician, but also as a lecturer and musician. Dr. Abbott was the Associate Editor of a bimonthly publication called the Missionary Messenger, published through the British Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Abbott family moved to Oakville in 1889 and then to the City of Toronto in 1890.   According to the 1892 Ontario Medical Register, Dr. Abbott’s medical office was located at 119 Darling Avenue.  In 1894 Dr. Abbott became the Medical Superintendent of Provident Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.  Provident Hospital opened in 1891 and it was the first hospital in the United States that was owned and operated by an African-American, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.  Today it is operated by Cook County Health Services and the hospital is known as Provident Hospital of Cook County.

By 1898 Dr. and Mrs. Abbott had moved back to Toronto where he continued to lecture and teach.  The Ontario Medical Register listed Dr. Abbott’s office at 245 Ossington Avenue in Toronto.

According to the 1911 census Dr. Abbott was no longer practicing medicine, but relying on an income.

Dr. Abbott died on the 29th of December, 1913.   He was buried at the Toronto Necropolis.  His wife Mary Ann Abbott died on the 28th of April, 1931 and she was buried next to her husband in Toronto.  At the time of her death, she resided at 662 Broadview Avenue, in Toronto.

*Dr. Abbott’s son, Dr. Wilson Ruffin Abbott served with the United States Army during WWI and he appears on the Gathering Our Heroes website.  He died in Toronto when he was 65 years old.  

Photo: Courtesy of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society.

*Information about the location of the presidential shawl and the circumstances of the donation was confirmed by Mr. Joseph Kalper, Curator of Cultural History, Division of Museums & Historic Sites……with gratitude.