Truimph Over Tragedy

Horace Wells, D.D.S.
(1815-1848)

Born in Vermont, Horace Wells studied dentistry in Boston and began practicing in Hartford, Connecticut in 1836. He first opened an office on Main Street. A talented practitioner, Wells soon became one of Hartford’s most successful dentists.

On the evening of December 10, 1844, Wells attended an exhibition in Hartford where members of the audience were administered nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, would then provide the evening’s “entertainment” while under its influence. Wells noted that one participant had cut his leg during his “adventure” but, feeling no pain, was unaware of it. He immediately grasped the implications of his observation and was determined to explore its possibilities.

The following day with friend Dr. John Riggs and Dr. Colton in attendance, Wells had a tooth extracted while under the influence of nitrous oxide during which he felt no pain. After this, both Wells and Riggs used the gas frequently to painlessly extract teeth and, in 1845, Wells traveled to Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital to demonstrate the use of the gas in a surgical operation. Unfortunately, Wells did not administer enough gas to the patient and he cried out in pain. The audience bood and jeered and Wells departed disheartened.

Shortly thereafter, Dr. William Morton, who had been associated with Wells for a short time and with whom Wells shared the information he had gained in studying anesthesia, went to Boston. He began working with Dr. Jackson to manufacture an anesthesia that combined nitrous oxide gas and ether. This formula was successfully used in operations at Massachusetts General, and the two established themselves at the hospital as the discoverers of the principle of anesthesia.

During this time, Wells traveled to Paris to meet with members of the scientific community. There his claims to the discovery of anesthesia and his intent to give it to the world without expecting to derive any monetary benefit were fully recognized. Upon his return, he found that Morton and Jackson had placed patents on their product with the intent to create a monopoly on this life-saving and merciful boon to mankind. Wells disclaimed their rights to the patents on the grounds that their product was nothing more than his original nitrous oxide compound. Of a highstrung and sensitive nature, Wells became increasingly unstable and distraught. He soon began to inhale nitrous oxide and chloroform both experimentally and to ease his stress.

By January 1848, Wells had moved to New York City where he practiced from an office in his residence at 120 Chambers Street. On January 21 (Wells’s 33rd birthday), while mentally deranged from the effects of an overdose of chloroform, Wells was arrested for throwing acid at two women on Broadway and was taken to "the Tombs". The following day Wells was permitted to return to his rooms to retrieve a razor and other personal necessities. Unknown to his guard, he also retrieved a bottle of chloroform. He attended church services in the Tombs on Sunday and, feeling guilty of his terrible crime, committed suicide later that day. Unfortunately, Wells died before witnessing the medical community crediting him as the discoverer of anesthesia.

Originally buried in Hartford’s Old North Cemetery, in 1908 Wells’s son Charles had his parents disinterred from Old North and reinterred at Cedar Hill Cemetery. He also commissioned sculptor Louis Potter to create a fitting memorial to his father. Historically significant, the resulting monument is unique to cemetery artwork in that it expresses human triumph rather than loss and sorrow.

Wells Monument Restoration

In 2002, Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation launched a program to restore its major bronze sculptures. With support from the Horace Wells Club of Connecticut, the Hartford Medical and Dental Societies, the Connecticut Dental Association, Aetna Foundation, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Foundation was able to restore Dr. Horace Wells's monument as well as replace the side sculptures, which had been stolen more than 20 years earlier. The restoration was completed in 2004.