Gershom Bulkeley

Gershom Bulkeley was a Christian minister and physician who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1635 to Reverend Peter Bulkeley and Grace Chetwoode Bulkeley. His father, a graduate of St. John’s College, Cambridge was a founder of Concord, Massachusetts as well as the first minister in the community.

Gershom Bulkeley was an early graduate of Harvard University, receiving his bachelors degree in 1655 and his masters degree in 1658. After receiving his masters degree he married Sarah Chauncy daughter of then Harvard President, Charles Chauncy. In 1661 became the minister of the Congregational church in New London, CT, where he served for roughly 5 years. He then became minister of the Congregational church in the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut where he served until 1677. He left the ministry and practiced as a physician in Glastonbury, CT.

He is mentioned in The Witch of Blackbird Pond as a tutor of a student named John Holbrook who is learning to be a minister.