Birth Born on October 15, 1842 in Bridgetown, Annapolis Co., NS Death Died on November 17, 1924 in Wolfville, Kings Co., NS Buried in Willow Bank Cemetery in Wolfville, Kings Co., NS Marriages BROWN, Anne M. Married on October 20, 1880 in Halifax, Halifax Regional Municipality, NS Children DEWITT, Nellie Anderson: July 19, 1887 - January 18, 1962 Notes Occupation: Physician Historical Information: Dr. George Erastus DeWitt was a Wolfville health officer. He was born in 1842 in Bridgetown, Nova Scotia, a Loyalist descendant. George graduated from Harvard University's medical school in 1872. He practiced medicine in three Nova Scotia communities - Chester, Halifax and Wolfville (1892). George was not only the town medical officer, he served as mayor for three terms. Four years after moving to Wolfville, the town experienced an outbreak of scarlet fever. George set about enforcing the town's newly adopted regulations to deal with the crisis. With the assistance of the police, violators were fined, and homes were disinfected and fumigated. A smallpox outbreak five years later in Kentville, prompted the adoption of a vaccination policy. All Wolfville residents were required to be vaccinated or pay a $50 fine. These effective initiatives were the model for subsequent epidemics of typhoid, and diphtheria. Dr. DeWitt was influenced to further his knowledge of consumption when his daughter Carrie contracted tuberculosis. He departed for Gravenhurst, Ontario, to study at the only Canadian tuberculosis treatment centre. Upon his return to Wolfville, he bought and converted two small houses overlooking Wolfville, founding the Highland View Sanatorium in 1899. The Sanatorium functioned until 1903 when it was replaced by a larger Kentville Sanatorium. Dr. DeWitt campaigned for sewers to replace cesspools, and successfully persuaded the town to adopt this measure in 1903. He was the first person in Wolfville to suggest water chlorination, though it was his son Avery who initiated this suggestion. Dr. DeWitt died at the age of 82 in Wolfville, and his son, Dr. Avery DeWitt followed in his footsteps. Sources Nova Scotia Deaths: Book 93 Pg. 994 Images George & Anne (Brown) DeWitt George Dewitt Death