Dr.

Charles Best: Maine Born Canadian

By

Charles Francis

By late summer of 1921, letters were pouring into the University of Toronto from
parents who had learned that two scientists there had discovered a cure for
diabetes. What had happened was that parents, whose children were diabetics, had
the first hope that their children's lives might be made better to the extent that
they would live out full normal lives. While it would still be some time before
insulin would be on the market- the period between actual discovery and
development- the cure for the dreaded condition had indeed been found.

Two men are generally recognized as having discovered insulin. They are Frederick
Banting and Charles Best. In 1921 Dr. Frederick Banting was a well-respected
professor of physiology at the University of Toronto. Charles Best was a young man
fresh out of Pembrook, Maine, who had just completed four years of undergraduate
work in Banting's field at the Toronto university.

What you say, Charles Best was from Maine? But he is one of the greatest Canadians
of all time.
Actually both statements are correct. Charles Best was born in West Pembrook,
Maine. In fact there is a memorial to him in the Maine State House in Augusta. It
identifies him as one of the most significant Maine born figures of all time.
However, Best was a Canadian citizen all his life. Prior to his enrollment at the
University of Toronto, his father, Dr. Herbert Best, testified to that fact.

Today it can be said that Charles Best stands as a citizen of the world for his
contributions to medical science and the subsequent betterment of mankind. Charles
Best can also be said to be a citizen of the international community that is Bay
of Fundy, for the family history of the Bests extends to both shores of the bay,
including the Maine shores of Fundy.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of insulin actually
went to Frederick Banting and a man named J. J. R. McLeod. After the Nobel was
awarded, however, Banting publicly stated that he was sharing his work with Best.
As for Best, he would go on to earn doctorates in medicine and physiology, become
Director of the Banting and Best Institute at the University of Toronto and
develop heparin, an anticoagulant or blood thinner vital in the treatment of
people suffering with heart conditions.

Charles Best was born to Dr. Herbert and Margaret Best in West Pembrook, Maine on
February 27, 1899. Herbert and Margaret Best were Annapolis Valley natives with
roots going back in Nova Scotia to the mid 1700's to Halifax. Bests in the
Cornwallis Township and Berwick areas were noted for raising horses, a
circumstance which would play an important part of Charles Best's early years.
Herbert and Margaret Best moved to the Eastport area of Maine before the
implementation of immigration and naturalization laws. This explains, in part, why
Charles Best was a Canadian citizen.
Herbert Best served the Eastport area as a physician for more than forty years.
The fact that Herbert Best used the facilities of the hospital in St. Stephen, New
Brunswick serves as evidence that this region of eastern Maine was part of an
international community.

The Best family home in West Pembroke was on Schooner Cove on Leighton Neck.
Leighton Neck juts into Cobscook Bay, which in turn is a part of Passamaquoddy Bay
and the larger Bay of Fundy. Leighton Neck is famous for a reversing falls. Today
a portion of the neck is set aside as Reversing Falls Park. The area was- as it
still is- a uniquely beautiful one. Today the house that Charles Best was born in
is a National Historic Landmark.

Charles Best grew up attending schools in Pembroke and Eastport. Best's son, Henry
Best has written and spoken eloquently on his father's life. He tells a story of
how- when the Bests lived briefly in Eastport- the future University of Toronto
professor was implicated in releasing the brakes on an Eastport fire truck. The
truck ended up in Passamaquoddy Bay.

One of Charles Best's favorite pastimes was accompanying his father as the elder
Best drove his buggy to make house calls. What intrigued the youngster most were
the horses. Many of the Best horses came from the Best farm in the Annapolis
Valley. Horses would remain one of Charles Best's great loves throughout his life.

During World War I, just prior to his entering the University of Toronto, Charles
Best served in the army. His rank was that of sergeant and he was in charge of
horses.

The story of how Charles Best became involved in the discovery of insulin can only
be described as serendipitous. Just after graduating with honours in physiology
and chemistry from the University of Toronto, Frederick Banting offered him a
summer job. Three months later Best's name was known in the worldwide medical
community as co-discoverer of insulin. Basically, Banting did the surgical work,
which mainly involved dogs, and Best did the chemical assay work of isolating the
components of insulin. It must have been grueling work, for at one point Best
wrote his fiancee, "It is about midnight of the fifth consecutive night up and I
am getting the disease called insomnia. I cannot sleep even when I have the
chance."

The Nobel Prize nominations for medicine and physiology were made some three years
after the discovery of insulin. Banting and Best had passed on the results of
their work to Dr. John McLeod in England. McLeod had subsequently developed a
readily dispensable form of the drug. Banting and McLeod were nominated for the
Nobel Prize by several Americans and a Dane who were less than familiar with the
sequence of events leading to McLeod's involvement. Ironically, it would later be
established that a Romanian had made a similar discovery to Banting and Best at
about the same time as they made theirs.

When news of the Nobel Prize award was made public, Frederick Banting immediately
sent a telegram to the master of ceremonies of a banquet in Boston where Best was
the featured speaker. The telegram read, "At any meeting or dinner, please read
the following stop I ascribe to Best equal share in the Discovery stop hurt that
he is not so acknowledged by the Nobel trustees stop will share with him stop."
Shortly after World War II, the University of Toronto established the Charles Best
Institute in Best's honour. Here Best headed the university's departments of
physiology and medicine. Today the Charles Best Institute is recognized as one of
the best medical research facilities in the world.

Charles Best was a Canadian citizen all his life. However, as long as he lived
the family maintained their home near Pembroke's Reversing Falls Park. His family
viewed the time Best spent relaxing there as the most important in his life.

Author's note: Intriguingly Charles Best is not the only person to achieve
notoriety that was born in the Leighton Neck house that Herbert and Margaret Best
purchased in Maine. It is also the birthplace of a famous Civil War general,
Benjamin Bixby Murray.
Both Frederick Banting and Charles Best were in the top 100 great Canadians of all
time. Banting was number four and Best was seventy-seven. I am at a loss to
explain how Best failed to place in the top ten.
Dr. Charles Best: Maine Born Canadian

By

Charles Francis

By late summer of 1921, letters were pouring into the University of Toronto from
parents who had learned that two scientists there had discovered a cure for
diabetes. What had happened was that parents, whose children were diabetics, had
the first hope that their children's lives might be made better to the extent that
they would live out full normal lives. While it would still be some time before
insulin would be on the market- the period between actual discovery and
development- the cure for the dreaded condition had indeed been found.

Two men are generally recognized as having discovered insulin. They are Frederick
Banting and Charles Best. In 1921 Dr. Frederick Banting was a well-respected
professor of physiology at the University of Toronto. Charles Best was a young man
fresh out of Pembrook, Maine, who had just completed four years of undergraduate
work in Banting's field at the Toronto university.

What you say, Charles Best was from Maine? But he is one of the greatest Canadians
of all time.
Actually both statements are correct. Charles Best was born in West Pembrook,
Maine. In fact there is a memorial to him in the Maine State House in Augusta. It
identifies him as one of the most significant Maine born figures of all time.
However, Best was a Canadian citizen all his life. Prior to his enrollment at the
University of Toronto, his father, Dr. Herbert Best, testified to that fact.

Today it can be said that Charles Best stands as a citizen of the world for his
contributions to medical science and the subsequent betterment of mankind. Charles
Best can also be said to be a citizen of the international community that is Bay
of Fundy, for the family history of the Bests extends to both shores of the bay,
including the Maine shores of Fundy.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of insulin actually
went to Frederick Banting and a man named J. J. R. McLeod. After the Nobel was
awarded, however, Banting publicly stated that he was sharing his work with Best.
As for Best, he would go on to earn doctorates in medicine and physiology, become
Director of the Banting and Best Institute at the University of Toronto and
develop heparin, an anticoagulant or blood thinner vital in the treatment of
people suffering with heart conditions.

Charles Best was born to Dr. Herbert and Margaret Best in West Pembrook, Maine on
February 27, 1899. Herbert and Margaret Best were Annapolis Valley natives with
roots going back in Nova Scotia to the mid 1700's to Halifax. Bests in the
Cornwallis Township and Berwick areas were noted for raising horses, a
circumstance which would play an important part of Charles Best's early years.
Herbert and Margaret Best moved to the Eastport area of Maine before the
implementation of immigration and naturalization laws. This explains, in part, why
Charles Best was a Canadian citizen.
Herbert Best served the Eastport area as a physician for more than forty years.
The fact that Herbert Best used the facilities of the hospital in St. Stephen, New
Brunswick serves as evidence that this region of eastern Maine was part of an
international community.
The Best family home in West Pembroke was on Schooner Cove on Leighton Neck.
Leighton Neck juts into Cobscook Bay, which in turn is a part of Passamaquoddy Bay
and the larger Bay of Fundy. Leighton Neck is famous for a reversing falls. Today
a portion of the neck is set aside as Reversing Falls Park. The area was- as it
still is- a uniquely beautiful one. Today the house that Charles Best was born in
is a National Historic Landmark.

Charles Best grew up attending schools in Pembroke and Eastport. Best's son, Henry
Best has written and spoken eloquently on his father's life. He tells a story of
how- when the Bests lived briefly in Eastport- the future University of Toronto
professor was implicated in releasing the brakes on an Eastport fire truck. The
truck ended up in Passamaquoddy Bay.

One of Charles Best's favorite pastimes was accompanying his father as the elder
Best drove his buggy to make house calls. What intrigued the youngster most were
the horses. Many of the Best horses came from the Best farm in the Annapolis
Valley. Horses would remain one of Charles Best's great loves throughout his life.

During World War I, just prior to his entering the University of Toronto, Charles
Best served in the army. His rank was that of sergeant and he was in charge of
horses.

The story of how Charles Best became involved in the discovery of insulin can only
be described as serendipitous. Just after graduating with honours in physiology
and chemistry from the University of Toronto, Frederick Banting offered him a
summer job. Three months later Best's name was known in the worldwide medical
community as co-discoverer of insulin. Basically, Banting did the surgical work,
which mainly involved dogs, and Best did the chemical assay work of isolating the
components of insulin. It must have been grueling work, for at one point Best
wrote his fiancee, "It is about midnight of the fifth consecutive night up and I
am getting the disease called insomnia. I cannot sleep even when I have the
chance."

The Nobel Prize nominations for medicine and physiology were made some three years
after the discovery of insulin. Banting and Best had passed on the results of
their work to Dr. John McLeod in England. McLeod had subsequently developed a
readily dispensable form of the drug. Banting and McLeod were nominated for the
Nobel Prize by several Americans and a Dane who were less than familiar with the
sequence of events leading to McLeod's involvement. Ironically, it would later be
established that a Romanian had made a similar discovery to Banting and Best at
about the same time as they made theirs.

When news of the Nobel Prize award was made public, Frederick Banting immediately
sent a telegram to the master of ceremonies of a banquet in Boston where Best was
the featured speaker. The telegram read, "At any meeting or dinner, please read
the following stop I ascribe to Best equal share in the Discovery stop hurt that
he is not so acknowledged by the Nobel trustees stop will share with him stop."
Shortly after World War II, the University of Toronto established the Charles Best
Institute in Best's honour. Here Best headed the university's departments of
physiology and medicine. Today the Charles Best Institute is recognized as one of
the best medical research facilities in the world.

Charles Best was a Canadian citizen all his life. However, as long as he lived
the family maintained their home near Pembroke's Reversing Falls Park. His family
viewed the time Best spent relaxing there as the most important in his life.
Author's note: Intriguingly Charles Best is not the only person to achieve
notoriety that was born in the Leighton Neck house that Herbert and Margaret Best
purchased in Maine. It is also the birthplace of a famous Civil War general,
Benjamin Bixby Murray.

Both Frederick Banting and Charles Best were in the top 100 great Canadians of all
time. Banting was number four and Best was seventy-seven. I am at a loss to
explain how Best failed to place in the top ten.
Dr. Charles Best: Maine Born Canadian

By

Charles Francis

By late summer of 1921, letters were pouring into the University of Toronto from
parents who had learned that two scientists there had discovered a cure for
diabetes. What had happened was that parents, whose children were diabetics, had
the first hope that their children's lives might be made better to the extent that
they would live out full normal lives. While it would still be some time before
insulin would be on the market- the period between actual discovery and
development- the cure for the dreaded condition had indeed been found.

Two men are generally recognized as having discovered insulin. They are Frederick
Banting and Charles Best. In 1921 Dr. Frederick Banting was a well-respected
professor of physiology at the University of Toronto. Charles Best was a young man
fresh out of Pembrook, Maine, who had just completed four years of undergraduate
work in Banting's field at the Toronto university.

What you say, Charles Best was from Maine? But he is one of the greatest Canadians
of all time.
Actually both statements are correct. Charles Best was born in West Pembrook,
Maine. In fact there is a memorial to him in the Maine State House in Augusta. It
identifies him as one of the most significant Maine born figures of all time.
However, Best was a Canadian citizen all his life. Prior to his enrollment at the
University of Toronto, his father, Dr. Herbert Best, testified to that fact.

Today it can be said that Charles Best stands as a citizen of the world for his
contributions to medical science and the subsequent betterment of mankind. Charles
Best can also be said to be a citizen of the international community that is Bay
of Fundy, for the family history of the Bests extends to both shores of the bay,
including the Maine shores of Fundy.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of insulin actually
went to Frederick Banting and a man named J. J. R. McLeod. After the Nobel was
awarded, however, Banting publicly stated that he was sharing his work with Best.
As for Best, he would go on to earn doctorates in medicine and physiology, become
Director of the Banting and Best Institute at the University of Toronto and
develop heparin, an anticoagulant or blood thinner vital in the treatment of
people suffering with heart conditions.

Charles Best was born to Dr. Herbert and Margaret Best in West Pembrook, Maine on
February 27, 1899. Herbert and Margaret Best were Annapolis Valley natives with
roots going back in Nova Scotia to the mid 1700's to Halifax. Bests in the
Cornwallis Township and Berwick areas were noted for raising horses, a
circumstance which would play an important part of Charles Best's early years.
Herbert and Margaret Best moved to the Eastport area of Maine before the
implementation of immigration and naturalization laws. This explains, in part, why
Charles Best was a Canadian citizen.
Herbert Best served the Eastport area as a physician for more than forty years.
The fact that Herbert Best used the facilities of the hospital in St. Stephen, New
Brunswick serves as evidence that this region of eastern Maine was part of an
international community.

The Best family home in West Pembroke was on Schooner Cove on Leighton Neck.
Leighton Neck juts into Cobscook Bay, which in turn is a part of Passamaquoddy Bay
and the larger Bay of Fundy. Leighton Neck is famous for a reversing falls. Today
a portion of the neck is set aside as Reversing Falls Park. The area was- as it
still is- a uniquely beautiful one. Today the house that Charles Best was born in
is a National Historic Landmark.

Charles Best grew up attending schools in Pembroke and Eastport. Best's son, Henry
Best has written and spoken eloquently on his father's life. He tells a story of
how- when the Bests lived briefly in Eastport- the future University of Toronto
professor was implicated in releasing the brakes on an Eastport fire truck. The
truck ended up in Passamaquoddy Bay.

One of Charles Best's favorite pastimes was accompanying his father as the elder
Best drove his buggy to make house calls. What intrigued the youngster most were
the horses. Many of the Best horses came from the Best farm in the Annapolis
Valley. Horses would remain one of Charles Best's great loves throughout his life.

During World War I, just prior to his entering the University of Toronto, Charles
Best served in the army. His rank was that of sergeant and he was in charge of
horses.

The story of how Charles Best became involved in the discovery of insulin can only
be described as serendipitous. Just after graduating with honours in physiology
and chemistry from the University of Toronto, Frederick Banting offered him a
summer job. Three months later Best's name was known in the worldwide medical
community as co-discoverer of insulin. Basically, Banting did the surgical work,
which mainly involved dogs, and Best did the chemical assay work of isolating the
components of insulin. It must have been grueling work, for at one point Best
wrote his fiancee, "It is about midnight of the fifth consecutive night up and I
am getting the disease called insomnia. I cannot sleep even when I have the
chance."

The Nobel Prize nominations for medicine and physiology were made some three years
after the discovery of insulin. Banting and Best had passed on the results of
their work to Dr. John McLeod in England. McLeod had subsequently developed a
readily dispensable form of the drug. Banting and McLeod were nominated for the
Nobel Prize by several Americans and a Dane who were less than familiar with the
sequence of events leading to McLeod's involvement. Ironically, it would later be
established that a Romanian had made a similar discovery to Banting and Best at
about the same time as they made theirs.

When news of the Nobel Prize award was made public, Frederick Banting immediately
sent a telegram to the master of ceremonies of a banquet in Boston where Best was
the featured speaker. The telegram read, "At any meeting or dinner, please read
the following stop I ascribe to Best equal share in the Discovery stop hurt that
he is not so acknowledged by the Nobel trustees stop will share with him stop."
Shortly after World War II, the University of Toronto established the Charles Best
Institute in Best's honour. Here Best headed the university's departments of
physiology and medicine. Today the Charles Best Institute is recognized as one of
the best medical research facilities in the world.
Charles Best was a Canadian citizen all his life. However, as long as he lived
the family maintained their home near Pembroke's Reversing Falls Park. His family
viewed the time Best spent relaxing there as the most important in his life.

Author's note: Intriguingly Charles Best is not the only person to achieve
notoriety that was born in the Leighton Neck house that Herbert and Margaret Best
purchased in Maine. It is also the birthplace of a famous Civil War general,
Benjamin Bixby Murray.

Both Frederick Banting and Charles Best were in the top 100 great Canadians of all
time. Banting was number four and Best was seventy-seven. I am at a loss to
explain how Best failed to place in the top ten.