The Morton Testimonial Association
In 1861, a group of physicians in Boston met and formed the Morton Testimonial Association to raise funds for the support of W. T. G. Morton and his family. According to the Association's prospectus,
While all mankind have been benefited, Dr. Morton has been a loser, to a large amount, by his discovery, in a worldly point of view; and in consequence of the time consumed, the expenses incurred in its introduction, and the suspension of his professional labors, he is less advantageously situated than before…. It is now proposed to procure and present to him an adequate testimonial, not as a compensation, for a full compensation is in its nature impossible, but as a remuneration for his expenditure, and as an expression of the deep and grateful sense entertained by his fellow creatures of the inestimable benefit he has conferred upon them.
A subsequent page shows pledges of $500.00 each from Nathaniel Ingersoll Bowditch and Amos A. Lawrence. Subscriptions to the Morton Testimonial were also raised in New York and Philadelphia.