YOUR SILENT NEIGHBORS, George W. Eddy, Collinsville Doctor
by David K. Leff
Town Poet Laureate and Deputy Town Historian

Originally from Schuylerville, New York, George W. Eddy (1883-1982) attended school in New York and graduated from medical school at the University of Vermont in 1904. While in college he played baseball and football, and later organized an athletic association in Canton.

He practiced medicine for a time in Hartford with his uncle Dr. James H. Naylor. Afterward, he came to Collinsville where he treated local residents for over fifty years. He made his home and kept his office at 137 Main Street. He was a courtesy staff member of Hartford Hospital, allowing him limited privileges. For the most part he was a country style doctor. Early in his career, he devoted much time to patients suffering from the influenza epidemic that hit the United States around the end of World War I.

A public spirited man, Eddy was the first chairman of the Canton Board of Finance. In 1923 was elected for a term as state representative where he was chairman of the Public Health and Safety Committee, leading the successful push for mandatory smallpox vaccination. He was on the board of directors of the New Hartford branch of United Bank and Trust, a member of the Governor’s Horse Guard, and a charter member of the Avon Country Club where he was a golf champion.

A funeral was held on a Wednesday afternoon at the Charles H. Vincent and Sons Funeral Home on Albany Turnpike. Reverend Bruce Anderson of the Collinsville Congregational Church officiated. Eddy was survived by his wife Anne Margaret Rollins Eddy, three sons, a daughter and foster daughter.

Dr. George W. Eddy is buried in the Village Cemetery, Collinsville.

“Your Silent Neighbors” introduces readers to people out of Canton’s past.  Readers are encouraged to visit these gravesites and pay their respects to the people who have helped make our community what it is today.