Died October 14, 1848
One of the Billings boys featured in last month's eNews as a subterranean celebrity was named for Dr. Albus Rea, so we decided to look into the life of the doctor himself.
Albus Rea was born in Windham in 1795. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1822 with a medical degree, and practiced medicine in Portland for 25 years. Married twice—to Nancy Brown in 1826 (she died 10 years later), and then to Dorcas Moody in 1838, he had at least 3 children.
In 1824, Dr. Rea was the attending physician during an outbreak of smallpox at a house on the corner of Middle and India Streets. Only 4 of the 12 who were infected survived. Soon after, he became a founding member of the Portland Society of the New Jerusalem Church. He was also the first physician in Portland to practice homeopathic medicine.
He lived and worked on Congress Street, and died at the age of 54 in 1848. He was buried next to his first wife Nancy and his 1-year-old son Samuel, who had died 3 years before. In 1885, his second wife Dorcas joined them in Section A, Row 5. Marble markers are found on all 4 graves, although the good doctor’s stone is in dire need of some TLC.
Big thanks to Ron Romano for sleuthing out the connection of Albus to last month's subterranean celebrity. Although we aren't completely sure why the Billings decided to name their son after him, it could have been for many reasons including his aptitude for being a good pastor and doctor.
You can suggest a subterranean celebrity! Just send an email—it doesn't take much to make a nice little story. An index of all of our Subterranean Celebrities is available.
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