Windham

NILES, Edward S.

Men of Vermont: Illustrated Biographical History of Vermonters & Sons of 
Vermont. Ullery. Brattleboro: Transcript Publishing Company, 1894, part III, 
p 15 of 20 unnumbered leaves (portrait p 15)

Edward S. NILES, of Boston [Suffolk County], Massachusetts, was born in 1853 
in Halifax [Windham County, Vermont], son of Nathaniel and Mary (FISH) NILES. 
The NILES family is of Welch origin, and Dr. NILES is a descendant in the 
seventh generation of John NILES, the common ancestor of the NILES's in 
America, who settled at Dorchester [Suffolk County], Massachusetts, in 1634. 
Branches of the family located in Braintree [Norfolk County], Massachusetts, 
and in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont. In 1789 Oliver NILES, 
grandfather of Dr. [Edward S.] NILES, settled in what is now West Halifax 
[Windsor County, Vermont]. Nathaniel NILES, his [Oliver NILES'] son, who was 
a farmer and conspicuous in church affairs, married in Halifax [Windham 
County, Vermont], and was a resident of the town all his life. His 
[Nathaniel NILES'] wife [Mary (FISH) NILES] was a descendant of Samuel FISH, 
who came to this country from Saxony about the same time as the NILES's, and 
settled in Watertown [Middlesex County], Massachusetts. His family, like 
that of John NILES, branched out into Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. 
Nathaniel NILES was the father of a family of seven children, four sons and 
three daughters, of whom four are living: (1) James P. NILES, a dentist in 
Watertown [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]; (2) Adora, who is the wife of 
Will CARLETON, the poet and author; (3) Survier CLARK, wife of Dr. J. M. 
CLARK, of North Adams [Berkshire County], Massachusetts; and (4) Edward S.

Dr. [Edward S.] NILES was educated at Brattleboro [Windham County, Vermont], 
and from there went to Philadelphia, where the attended a business college, 
finally becoming a clerk in the office of the German consul. Next he was a 
traveling salesman for two years, and at the age of twenty-three, he took up 
the study of medicine with a brother-in-law in North Adams [Berkshire 
County], Massachusetts, going from there to Northampton [Hampshire County, 
Massachusetts], where he began the study of dentistry in the office of Dr. W. 
H. JONES, and for a time had charge of his office. In the fall of 1878, he 
went to Boston, entered the Harvard Medical School, and two years later 
graduated from the dental department with a degree of D. M. D. The same year 
he established an office on Boylston Street, Boston [Suffolk County, 
Massachusetts], where he is still located in that portion known as Copley 
square. Dr. NILES has been remarkably successful in a professional way, has 
a select clientage and has prospered financially. He has made a special 
study of what is known in dentistry as the chemistry of decay, was the first 
to demonstrate the presence of phosphoric acid in dental cavities, and explain 
the uses and manufacture of phosphate fillings. His experiments in this line 
have been of great value to the profession.

He has written a great deal for medical and dental publications, and has read 
papers before all of the following organizations, of which he is member: 
American Academy of Dental Science, New York Odontological Society, American 
Dental Association, Massachusetts Dental Association, Connecticut Valley 
Dental Society, Harvard Odontological Society, and the International Medical 
Congress. At the session of the International Congress, held in Berlin, 
Germany, in 1891, to which Dr. NILES was a delegate, he was one of the four 
dentists who were invited to Potsdam as guests of the Emperor. Outside of 
his profession, Dr. NILES is greatly interested in the work of the Hebrew 
Messianic Council, an organization for the promotion of Christianity among 
Jews, of which he is the originator and founder, as well as director. 
Associated with him in this work, which has been the means of bringing many 
of the Hebrew faith to [Christianity], are such men as D. L. MOODY, Rev. A. 
J. GORDON, Rev. Alex McKENZIE, and Russell STURGIS. Dr. NILES has written a 
book entitled "Experience of Christian Teaching Among the Jews of New England 
from 1889 to 1894," which has reached its second edition, and has in print a 
book entitled "Times and Seasons of the Messiah."

Dr. NILES is an active member of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, is a 
life member of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association; member of the 
Vermont Association of Boston, and the Congregational and Art Clubs. On 15 
April 1881 he [Dr. Edward S. NILES] married [Miss] Elizabeth P. WRIGHT, of 
Northampton [Hampshire County], Massachusetts, daughter of William H. WRIGHT, 
a descendant of one of the founders of that city, and has an interesting 
family of five children [surname NILES]: Eliot W., Helen Adora, Nathaniel 
W., David Sands, and Ruth Elizabeth.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly