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     Paul Thorndike Hamlen was born on 13 September 1922 at Faulkner Hospital in Brookline, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts.¹ He died on 15 September 1922 in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.^3,4 He was buried on 17 September 1922 at Evergreen Cemetery (Section H, Lot 21, Grave 5) in Portland, Cumberland Co., Maine.^3,5

     Helen Heath Fisk was born on 22 October 1936 in Montclair, Essex Co., New Jersey.² She married John Sherman Hamlen, son of Joseph Rochemont Hamlen and Martha Thorndike, on 10 November 1962 at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York, New York.¹ They were later divorced.⁴ She died on 17 August 2022 at the Cedar Hill Assisted Living Facility in Reading, Windsor Co., Vermont, at age 85.²
     She graduated from Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, Essex Co., New Jersey, and from Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, Essex Co., Massachusetts.² She also studied at Reid Hall in Paris, France.¹
     She moved to Reading, Windsor Co., Vermont, where she built and ran the "House on Heartbreak Hill," a bed and breakfast.²
     She loved horses, and was a member of the Norfolk Hunt in Massachusetts. After moving to Vermont she helped establish the Myopia Driving Club, and was a member of the Green Mountain Horse Association and St, James Church in Woodstock, Windsor Co.²

     John Charles Rock was born on 24 March 1890 in Marlborough, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts.^3,2 He married Anna Thorndike, daughter of Paul Thorndike and Rachel Ewing Sherman, on 3 January 1925 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts. The ceremony was performed by Cardinal William O'Connell, Archbishop of Boston.¹ He died on 4 December 1984 at Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire, at age 94 from heart failure.⁴ He was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory in Jamaica Plain, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.⁵
     Before entering college he worked for the United Fruit Co. in Guatemala from about July 1909 to February 1910^6,7, then in construction in Rhode Island. In each of those jobs he was promoted, but then fired after nine months.⁶
     He graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, with a B.S. in 1915, and from Harvard Medical School with his M.D. in 1918. He went on to become a pioneer physician and researcher in human fertilization and reproduction. His initial work was focused on infertility issues, but he is most well-known for his work in the 1950s with Dr. Gregory Pincus, a biology professor at Boston University, that culminated in the development of the birth control pill.⁸ He was the first person to propose in-vitro fertilization, in 1937⁴, and he and Arthur Hertig were the first to actually demonstrate it, in 1944.⁸ He was also one of the first to successfully freeze human sperm cells.⁹
     He began his career in obstetrics at the Boston Lying-In Hospital in Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, in 1919. From 1922 to 1956 he was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, ultimately being appointed clinical professor of gynecology. He also served as director of the Fertility and Endocrine Clinic at the Free Hospital for Women in Brookline, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts, from 1926 to 1956, and founded the Rhythm Clinic at the Free Hospital in 1936. He left Harvard and the Free Hospital in 1956, and founded the Rock Reproductive Clinic, also in Brookline.⁸
     He was a devout Roman Catholic, and his work naturally resulted in conflicts with church officials, starting as early as 1931 when he signed a petition for the repeal of a Massachusetts law banning contraceptives. He also wrote the book The Time Has Come, published in 1963, arguing for a change in the church's position on the use of contraceptives.⁸ He maintained that the pill's effect was "completely physiological and therefore in accord with nature," and thus consistent with the church's position. He also testified to committees in Congress and gave many presentations throughout the world warning about the problem of overpopulation.⁹
     He spent most of his life living in the Boston area, and he and his wife Anna are listed there in the 1930 census with their children and two servants.¹⁰ He fully retired in 1971, at age 80, and moved to Temple, Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire.⁸

More Information / Background

• John Rock (American scientist)
  
• March 24, 1890 - Birth Control Pioneer Born.
  

     Rachel Sherman Rock was born on 30 December 1925 in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.² She married Hartwig Achenbach, son of Herman Friedrich Achenbach and Erna Wentzler, on 21 December 1948 at St. Theresa's Church in West Roxbury, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.³ She died on 12 June 2015 at home in Groveland, Essex Co., Massachusetts, at age 89.^2,1
     She graduated in 1944 from Milton Academy in Milton, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts.⁴
     She and her husband Hartwig moved to Danvers, Essex Co., Massachusetts, in 1956.⁵ She became a cytologist (one who examines cells to help diagnose diseases and conditions), one of the first in the country, working at the Free Hospital for Women in Brookline, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts. She specialized in the then-new study of cervical cells, having trained under Dr. George Papanikolaou, a pioneer in early detection of cervical cancer and inventor of the Pap test.^2,1 She also served for a time on the school committee in Danvers, Essex Co., Massachusetts.²

     Hartwig Achenbach was born on 26 February 1921 in Bringhausen, Germany.^3,4 He married Rachel Sherman Rock, daughter of John Charles Rock and Anna Thorndike, on 21 December 1948 at St. Theresa's Church in West Roxbury, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.¹ He died on 10 March 2022 at age 101.⁴
     He came to the United States at age 2, along with his mother and his four-year-old sister Irmgard, leaving Hamburg, Germany, on 22 December 1923 on the SS Albert Ballin. and arriving in New York City on 1 January 1924.⁵ His father had arrived about three weeks earlier, sailing from Hamburg on 29 November 1923 on the SS Cleveland, and arriving in New York on 10 December.⁶ They lived for a short time in Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio,^5,4, then moved to Orange Co., Florida, in September 1924.⁷
     In 1938, at age 17, he traveled by steamer from Tampa, Florida, to Hamburg, Germany, to visit family, working as a cabin boy along the way.⁴
     He graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Alachua Co., in 1943 with a degree in engineering.^4,8
     He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 2 September 1943 in Jacksonville, Florida. In early 1944 he was stationed at the Advanced Amphibious Training Base in Bizerte, Tunisia, and on 18 April was transferred to the USS LST 386, a landing ship for troops and equipment, as a pharmacist's mate (i.e., Navy medic).⁹ The LST 386 was then in England, preparing for the upcoming invasion of France.
     On D-Day, 6 June 1944, they were part of a small group of ships that simulated a landing near Pas de Calais, attempting to deceive the Germans into thinking the invasion was occurring there. They were fired upon by German troops at Cape Gris Nez, but no ship was hit. They began actual landings the next day, unloading British troops, combat vehicles, and equipment at Juno Beach, near the village of Courseulles-sur-Mer, without incident. Over the next two weeks they made several more shuttles between England and Normandy.
     A severe storm hit on 19 June while they were making a trip to Normandy, and continued for three days. They initially anchored off shore, planning to wait it out. But the large load of ammunition they were carrying was badly needed by British forces, and they beached the boat during the storm, waiting for the next low tide to unload. While waiting, the ship's hull was badly damaged from repeatedly hitting the bottom. They returned to England for repairs, and the ship was decommissioned in December 1944 and turned over to the British.¹⁰
     On 1 December 1945, as a member of the Naval Reserves, he was received on board the USS Zircon, an armed patrol yacht, again as a Pharmacist's Mate.¹¹ By then the Zircon had been ordered to sail to Charleston, South Carolina, for decommissioning¹², and he was with the ship for just three months. He was transferred on 2 March 1946 to the receiving station in Philadelphia, then to Jacksonville, Florida.¹³
     After his service he entered Harvard Medical School in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts, and graduated with his M.D. degree on 22 June 1950.⁸
     He and his wife Rachel moved to Danvers, Essex Co., Massachusetts, in 1956.⁴ He joined Hunt Memorial Hospital in Danvers, where he remained his entire career practicing general surgery and gynecology. He also worked at Cable Hospital in Ipswich, Essex Co., for several years, splitting time between the two hospitals, taught at Harvard Medical School, and served on various medical committees, including one on ethics.
     He traveled extensively as part of his career, teaching and working in disaster relief, throughout eastern and western Europe, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. His travels were often with organizations like Care and Earthwatch, and with the SS Hope, the hospital ship operated by Project Hope.⁴

     John Rock was born on 15 July 1927.² He died in a car accident on 15 August 1946 in Framingham, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, at age 19.^2,3 He was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory in Jamaica Plain, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.²
     He served in the U. S. Marine Corps, enlisting on 5 January 1945.²

     Ann Jane Rock was born on 7 January 1929 in Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.^1,2 She married Henry Walter Levinson, son of Herman D. Levinson and Rose Meadow, on 17 September 1951 at the Milton Academy Chapel in Milton, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts.³ She died on 29 April 2002 at home in Manhattan, New York, at age 73 from cancer.⁴ She was buried at Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory in Jamaica Plain, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts.⁵
     She detested her given name Ann Jane and went by her initials "A. J."⁶
     She graduated from Milton Academy in Milton, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts, then from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania, as a history major. After graduating she worked for the CIA for a short time, then in 1957 returned to school, doing graduate work in psychology and sociology at Columbia University in New York.⁴
     For a short time after their marriage she and her husband Henry lived in DeRidder, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, near Fort Polk where he was stationed with the Army. They later moved into an apartment on E. 96th St. in Manhattan, New York, New York, on the upper east side. In 1964, using money they won in a raffle for the down payment, they bought a second home, a historic summer house on Fire Island in Saltaire, Suffolk Co., New York, that the family enjoyed visiting for many years.⁶
     For several years she taught at various Manhattan private schools⁴, and helped create the first extensive curriculum on sex education and relationships for private schools in New York City. From 1968 to 1975 she served as the dean of girls at the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in New York.⁷
     In 1976 she was named executive director of the Euthanasia Educational Council (renamed Concern for Dying in 1978), an organization based in New York that lobbied nationally on behalf of the terminally ill, advocating for the patient's right to determine their own treatment. During her tenure the group played a major role in developing and publicizing the use of living wills. She suffered a serious stroke in 1987, and formally retired from the organization in 1988.⁴

     Henry Walter Levinson was born on 21 January 1928 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania.³ He married Ann Jane Rock, daughter of John Charles Rock and Anna Thorndike, on 17 September 1951 at the Milton Academy Chapel in Milton, Norfolk Co., Massachusetts.¹ He died on 28 October 2007 at age 79.²
     He graduated from Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, in 1948.¹ He went on to Columbia University in New York, New York, graduating with an M.B.A. in 1956, and spent his entire career in media sales.⁴
     For a short time after their marriage he and his wife A. J. lived in DeRidder, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, near Fort Polk where he was stationed with the Army. They later moved into an apartment on E. 96th St. in Manhattan, New York, New York, on the upper east side. In 1964, using money they won in a raffle for the down payment, they bought a second home, a historic summer house on Fire Island in Saltaire, Suffolk Co., New York, that the family enjoyed visiting for many years.⁵ In 2003, after his wife's death the previous year, he and his daughters Martha and Katharine moved together to Newburyport, Essex Co., Massachusetts.⁵