Massachusetts Homeopathic Fraternity
By early 1841, there were enough practitioners in the Boston area to form the Massachusetts Homeopathic Fraternity, the first local medical society of the new movement. The physicians began to meet "for mutual improvement"on December 25, 1840, and then the group became formalized with the adoption of a constitution and by-laws in the following February. At that time, the Fraternity had only six members; in addition to Drs. Gregg and Flagg, these were Luther Clark (1810-1884), William Ward Cutler (d. 1870), John Phillips Spooner (d. 1878), and Charles Wild (d. 1864). Francis Clarke (d. 1852) and Christopher Minot Weld (d. 1878) joined later in the year. With the exception of Samuel Gregg, all the charter members of the Fraternity had degrees from Harvard Medical School, but there were still relatively few degree-granting medical institutions in the United States at this time and, as yet, no homeopathic ones.
Historical records of the Fraternity have been preserved from its inception, and E. U. Jones said of the group, "The meetings were held for a long time at the houses of the different members, and were interesting to a degree, which we of the present day can hardly conceive. They constituted the only means by which mutual knowledge could be gained, or mutual help rendered. But little formality existed, and conversation upon cases of interest and difficulty filled the hour." During the fifteen years of its existence, the Massachusetts Homeopathic Fraternity had over 80 members, drawn from the eastern portion of the state. Most of the Fraternity's members were graduates of Harvard Medical School; the minutes of a meeting on September 3, 1844, record a postponement due to a Harvard alumni anniversary celebration.