Members of the 1892 Bowdoin College Maine Medical School class, with Salustiano Fanduiz on the right. Courtesy of Bowdoin College

In the late 19th century, when racial bigotry and injustice still commanded most of America, one Black physician generously served our local communities, cared for the indigent and enjoyed social popularity in Brunswick.

Salustiano Fanduiz began his life in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the son of Constantino and Maria Valentina Fanduiz. By the time Salustiano was 23 years old, he was well educated and had learned to speak English by reading the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Salustiano also dreamed of emigrating to Brunswick and becoming a physician.

Salustiano Fanduiz in about 1890. Courtesy of the Maine Historical Society

By 1890, Fanduiz had arrived in Brunswick and applied for admission to the Maine Medical School, which was overseen by Bowdoin College. Once Fanduiz passed the rigorous entrance exams, he was admitted to the Maine Medical School’s Class of 1892. By all accounts, it appears Salustiano was well liked by his fellow classmates and local residents.

While a student, Fanduiz had lived with Samuel F. Purington at the corner of Cedar and Union streets in Brunswick. Once graduated, by mid-July 1892, Fanduiz opened an office in the same building.

Salustiano advertised as a “physician and surgeon,” and patients quickly began filing in. One Brunswick Telegraph report proclaimed that “Mr. William Barker is steadily improving under the treatment of Dr. Fanduiz.”

Salustiano’s dedication to his patients even extended to helping feed the poor. The Brunswick Telegraph “reported on the doctor’s solo hunting trip” to the Moosehead Lakes Region in November 1898 “that yielded plenty of venison for his patients.”

Fanduiz also pursued his love of horses and soon purchased a “beautiful three year old colt … trotter” named “Benvenuto Boone.” In the summer months, when Fanduiz wasn’t caring for the sick in Harpswell, Topsham or Brunswick, he could be found at one of Maine’s State Fairs, where he entered Boone into the races.

Boone was well known to many and often considered a favorite to win. When Salustiano and Boone raced at the Durham Fair in September 1896, they were described as the “easy winner in three straight heats.”

In October 1897, Fanduiz entered in the “2.5 horse race” at the Topsham Fair. There in front of a crowd of “ten thousand” — many cheering for the good doctor — Fanduiz took Boone across the finish line for the first-place win. Fanduiz loved living in Brunswick, but a storm back in his homeland forced him to make a tough decision.

By January 1899, after a decade in Brunswick, Salustiano Fanduiz decided to head back to his homeland. There, a political battle raged under the rule of a brutal dictator. But Fanduiz felt he could help bring “the American plan” and proper medical care back to the Dominican Republic.

Salustiano Fanduiz in a photograph believed taken in 1892. Courtesy of the Maine Historical Society

Once back in the Dominican Republic, Fanduiz wasted no time and soon cared for a child who had become gravely ill and was “given up by skilled physicians.” Fanduiz “devoted himself entirely to this case” and soon the child had been “saved from the jaws of death.” And Dr. Fanduiz “would not take a cent in exchange for all his labor and kindness.”

But the fight for control of the Dominican Republic was ongoing and Fanduiz, who opposed the cruel regime of Ulises Heureaux, also became “an insurgent leader” who raised “1,500 of the 10,000” revolutionaries fighting for “Jeffersonian Democracy.” Fanduiz was now “roughing in the woods, fighting most of the time.”

By July 1899, Dictator Heureaux had been assassinated and the Dominican Republic only grew more unstable. By August 1901, Fanduiz was arrested, imprisoned as a political prisoner.

Back in Brunswick, many worried over the well-being of Fanduiz. His letters to friends had ceased, and no one could determine what had happened to him, as most feared he was dead.

Then, in November 1904, after three long years, a letter was received by the Purington family on Union Street. Fanduiz explained, “I was caught prisoner, and in prison for politics.” Now free, Fanduiz once again sought a return to medicine and service to the people of his country.

By 1916, after years of private practice, Fanduiz was appointed as the “inspector de hygiene at San Pedro de Macronis” and he worked with “the United State military … to begin public health initiatives … on malaria preventions.” Fanduiz would spend the remainder of his life in public service.

On Jan. 2, 1941, Dr. Salustiano Fanduiz passed away at the age of 72 at San Cristobal, where he had been working as a volunteer physician at the Juan Pablo Pina Hospital. Fanduiz had indeed devoted his life in service to others.

Dr. Salustiano Fanduiz serves as one of the greatest examples of kindness, generosity and service to others, ever found among the true and local legends of our Stories from Maine.

Lori-Suzanne Dell is a Brunswick author and historian. She has published four books and runs the “Stories from Maine” Facebook page.

The Maine Medical School Class of 1892 in front of Adam’s Hall. Salustiano Fanduiz is seated center-left. Courtesy of Bowdoin College