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Boylston St. resident owned a number of highly valued properties and was, himself, regarded highly by many for contributions to Old South Church and Advancement of Surgical Teaching.
In 1912, the piece of land at 114-120 Purchase Street, flanked by Spear Alley and Cotton Place, belonged to Dr. David W. Cheever. This property was located beside the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company, which was established the year 1867 and which became New England's largest independent trust organization. Dr. Cheever's property can be see to the right of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company, in the background of the photo at left.
An article written by the Boston Globe tells us that as of May 28th, 1911, Doctor Cheever lived with his wife, Miss Anna C. Nichols of Boston, and their five surviving children on Boylston Street, a residential area which remains popular among affluent individuals to this day.
The Globe's August 1896 real estate section also reported Cheever's sale of 349-351 Federal and 216-226 Kneeland Street at an assessed value of $39,800.
Perhaps it was through the Cheever family's long-standing tradition of academic excellence that David inherited his gift for teaching. His great, great grandfather, Ezekiel Cheever, was one of the first, and certainly most famous, masters of the Boston Latin School. As well, his parents and paternal grandfather were well-respected citizens of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; his mother hailing from the prominent Haven family and his father and grandfather skilled surgeons. He was homeschooled until the age of seventeen, when he was admitted to Harvard College. There he remained until 1858, studying the liberal arts, and later, anatomy, surgery, and obstetrics under the direction of the Medical School's most famous professors. He graduated with honors and began to practice in a clinical setting at just twenty-seven years old. After a period of small successes, the great Oliver Wendell Holmes offered Cheever the position of "demonstrator of anatomy" at Harvard Medical School. Later, his son David Cheever II would be elected president of the freshman class at Harvard Medical School.
During his eight years as demonstrator of anatomy, which were only the beginning of a thirty-three year career in teaching at the college, Cheever single-handedly revolutionized the teaching of anatomy and physiology by introducing competitive dissections and quizzes (now commonly referred to as practicals).
Cheever began his career as a visiting surgeon at the newly founded Boston City Hospital and went on to lead a highly prolific career as a full professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. He practiced surgery until he could no longer do so at the age of seventy-two, and continued to care for his patients until shortly before his death at the age of eighty-four.
A large part of Doctor Cheever's prolific career was derived from his writing. At right is an article written by Dr. Cheever, titled “Lectures on Surgery” which was published in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, of which Dr. Cheever was editor. The BMSJ would later come to be known as The New England Journal of Medicine.
The Old South Church on Boylston Street ~ 1900
A man of excellent character and valued opinion
Doctor Cheever held many positions, among them:
president of the American Surgical Association
president of the Massachusetts Medical Society
president of the Boston Medical Library and, as previously mentioned,
editor of what would come to be known as The New England Journal of Medicine.
He and his family attended the Old South Church, which stood in close proximity to their home on Boylston Street. A 1905 article in the Globe, titled “Doctor’s Religion,” chronicled a series of addresses which were given during the Lenten season on the topic of “Vocation and Religion…” The Monday, April 3rd article details an address given by Dr. Cheever on April 2nd, 1905 titled: “The Religion of a Physician.” He concludes his address with a keen statement regarding what it means to be a Christian and a Physician at the same time: "Man is made happier by confidence in the church" however, "the true physician lives in his calling; he works for one object, and that is a noble one. He who has a healthy body, and who treats his patient as himself, is the ideal doctor."
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