Self-taught

Nature was his preceptor, philosophy

His mistress, and astronomy his prompter,

Disappointment ever succeeded his best

Endeavours; he deserved better –

Ingratitude was the reward of

His labours:

Samuel Stearns was one of those Enlightenment Guys: a self-proclaimed physician, an accomplished astronomer, a naturalist, and late in life he bounced over to Scotland for a Doctor of Laws. He traveled, and wrote, publishing an Almanack annually for some years.

He was accused of being a British sympathizer during the tail end of the Revolutionary War, so he sought refuge with the British for a while but was later jailed in Massachusetts. After his release, he spent a lot of time and energy seeking restitution from the British for the injuries he suffered… but didn’t get much relief.

And so began the bitterness.

Eventually Dr. Stearns moved to Brattleboro, and he spent the last years of his life toiling away on a comprehensive medical text and herbarium. But he didn’t have the money to get it published, so he also spent a lot of energy trying to raise it. Again, no joy.

By the end, he’d become known as a crank, no matter how scholarly he might have been. And although whoever chiseled this epitaph tried to be generous, I wonder how many people were truly sorry to see him dead.

He earned a long entry in the 1923 Annals of Brattleboro, and he has his own Wikipedia article. Many of his published works are available via a print-on-demand company in India. Is that enough recognition for such a mind? Since if I’m remembered at all it will be for being a bit smarter than average, I’d like to shout NO!, and join the Stearnsian Bitterists in their railing against the unfairness of it all. But really yes, I bet he got his just deserts… 200 years of “give it a rest, old man.”

Peace to his ashes.