Dr. John Moody Blodgett
Dr. John Moody Blodgett is born in November 1880 (The surname Moody comes from his Grandfather surname on his mother side, Mary Eliza Hillard’s father is John Moody Hillard). Dr. Blodgett’s father Benjamin Howard Blodgett dies when is he 20. We find John Moody living with his grandparents on Main Street, West Stewartstown, John Piper Blodgett, a farmer, b. 1831, d. 1917, and his wife Josephine S Keasar (b.1838, d. 1912, she is the daughter of Benjamin Young Keysar, and the younger sister of Olive Alice Keysar, the wife of William Piper and mother of Thomas W Piper, owner of ''The House'').
After John father’s death in 1900, John’s mother, Mary Eliza will remarry in 1903. in West Stewartstown. with Herbert F. Watts, 10 years younger, and will try to begin a new family. They will have a daughter in 1906 who dies in 1908, at age 2.
After the death of his father, in 1900, John Moody Bloodget who is 19 lives with his grandparents John Piper Blodgett 69, a farmer, and Josephine, 62, In the 1900 US Census, he is listed as ''farm laborer''.
In the Census of 1910, John Moody Bloodget is 29 and still lives with his grandparents John Piper Blodgett 79, and Josephine, 72. John is not listed as doctor, although he graduates from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, later that year 1910.
In 1916, at the age of 35, Dr. Blodgett marries Mary E. Duncan 25. Soon after, in 1917, he is drafted for WW I. At his return in 1918, they will have a son, Benjamin. Soon after, they will have 2 daughters, Jane in 1919, and Josephine in 1921.
In 1942, Dr. Blodgett is again drafted for WWII. John is then 61, lives with wife Mary 49, and daughter Josephine 19, and son Benjamin 25. Jane 23 gets married that same year.
Note about the draft for WW I and WW II: for World War I, the conscription was initially in the age range from 21 to 30, and expanded in 1918 to an age range of 18 to 45. For WW II, in 1942, the government initiated a ''4th registration'' targeting older men 45 to 65 years of age, but it was not aimed for military service on the front but for help on the home front.
Dating from after 1916, photo of Dr. John Blodgett and Mrs. Blodgett by Center Street; his house would be on the right. The house behind on the left is where was Hiram Blanchard's house in 1892. On the right where was L.W. Alger Store and later, after 1897, Morrison's Clothing House.
Photo: courtesy of Alice M. Ward Memorial Library. Canaan Public Library, Canaan, VT.
