Dr. Wilson and the Round Schoolhouse

Brookline’s round schoolhouse – possibly the only one in the country – built in 1822, was designed by its founding instructor, Dr. John Wilson, a distinguished-looking British gentleman who was also the town’s part-time physician. Solidly constructed from red brick, with windows facing all directions, the school is a unique piece of Vermont architecture. Its architect is no less unique, for Dr. Wilson – if that was indeed his name – was indisputably a man of mystery.

Why, the locals wondered, would such an aristocratic gentleman work as a lowly schoolteacher? And why would he hole up in tiny Brookline when his medical skills could earn him a fortune in Brattleboro or Burlington? His behavior was an ongoing puzzle. Though brilliant and eloquent, he would never talk about his past. And why did he occasionally walk with a noticeable limp and invariably wear high collars or thick scarves when neither fashion nor weather required them? And, the ladies wondered, why was he so charming yet remote?

In May 1847, when Dr. Wilson passed away, the answers to question about him finally came. As he lay dying, he summoned his closes friend exacting a promise that he should be buried in the clothes he was wearing, including his scarf and boots. Fortunately for collectors of new England legend and lore, the friend disregarded the doctor’s dying wish. Undressing the corpse revealed a cork prosthesis where Dr. Wilson’s heel had been shot away. There was a nasty scar of a musket ball on his withered leg, and his neck was horribly disfigured, as if he had been slashed, shackled, or unsuccessfully hanged. Someone discovered a stiletto concealed in his walking stick. An examination of his home revealed an abundant cache of swords, guns, and ammunition.

Eventually people in the town put two and two together: Their reclusive schoolmaster was none other than the infamous British highwayman Captain Thunderbolt. For over a decade, he and his accomplice, Mr. Lightfoot, had terrorized the Irish countryside and the England-Scotland border. Knows as a swashbuckling Robin-Hood-like rogue, Captain Thunderbolt was said to have robbed the rich, given to the poor, and squirreled enough away to escape to the wilds of America. There, hiding in rural Vermont, he became a model citizen. But he never stopped peering warily in all directions from the windows of his lookout – Brookline’s round brick schoolhouse.
The story of Captain Thunderbolt is many layered and fascinating. But if it all sounds like fiction to you, it can be easily verified. Just stop in the Brooks Library in Brattleboro. Its Vermont Room displays some of Dr. Wilson’s possessions that were recovered after his death. Among them are his false heel, his medical instruments, his photograph, and his intriguing sword cane.

Prescription Filled by Dr.Wilson (aka Captain Thunderbolt)

Mrs. H. E. Bond has in her possession an interesting souvenir of Dr. John Wilson, known in the early forties as “Thunderbolt,” and supposed to have been the notorious highwayman of Ireland and Scotland. It is a prescription written probably about 1843 or 1844 for her father, Wilder Knight. Mr. Knight had been a victim of indigestion and to cure his ills had been using a seaton, a form of torture that is no longer practiced. A piece of thread was passed at regular intervals the pleasing operation of pulling it back and forth was indulged in by the one to be cured. This caused running sores and was supposed to alleviate the suffering and finally the cure of the disease. It was used indiscriminately for almost any disease and was supposed to have almost miraculous powers, which may easily be believed as the pain of the thread wearing at the skin probably would take a person’s mind off any other troubles he might have.

Mr. Knight’s indigestion did not seem to improve to any great extent under the action of the seaton and Dr. Wilson was called in to prescribe. He ordered the seaton to be removed and prescribed as follows: “Ry for a Compoound to Restore the blood & to Cure the Dispptick Complaint & Regulate the bowels take Sasseperilla roots &am; &am; Dandelion roots & with black Cherry bark & nettle roots a handful Each boil in 3 Quarts of water Down to a quart Strain off & add a table spoonful each of Gum alloes & gum myrrh & add a pint of rum & half a pint of molases take three table spoonfuls at a time before Breakfast & supper evrey Day til Gone.” The spelling, capitals and lack of punctuation are Dr. Wilson’s own. Mrs. Bond is taking especial care of the document as it is doubtful if many of the former highwayman’s prescriptions have been preserved.

Source:Vermont Phoenix, September 29, 1911

A Newspaper Ad by Dr. Wilson

Dr. John Wilson, the reformed Scottish highwayman known as Captain Thunderbolt, always kept his full Ayrshire county accents. In this ad for his stray horse, the country doctor spells out “Cornal,” the Scottish pronunciation for “colonel,” in referring to Col. Erastus Hubbard of the Fort Bridgeman farm in Vernon, Vermont. Erastus was the son of Rev. John Hubbard of Northfield, Massachusetts.

Dr. Wilson was respected by the local Vernon physician Dr. Cyrus Washburn, who praised his Brattleboro colleague’s skill. Wilson was reported well liked by children as well. It is very possible that Wilson was attending at the birth of Col. Hubbard’s granddaughter, Sarah, born to Frederick Franks and Laura Hubbard on October 4, 1835.

“Sorrel” is from a very old word that indicated “the color of dried leaves.” The former chief partner in the infamous career of “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” during 1815-1821 in Scotland, Ireland, and Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Canada, this Dr. John Wilson, apparently recovered his faithful transportation quickly – his newspaper ad ran for only one week.

Source:Vermont Phoenix, October 2, 1835

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