Stewart Rawlings Mott

Dr. Stewart Rawlings Mott was a medical practitioner who was hired as the primary caregiver to the twins Wilbur and Eliza Swain by their father, Caleb. Mott was married with a child, and had a house and private practice in Galen, Vermont, although he was born in Texas. Described as "melancholy and private", even the twins when they were children would note his "profound sadness". His father was an architect, and after the daily examinations of the children, he would often wander the mansion, perhaps becoming aware of its secret passageways.

Bust of Hippocrates

Called "Flocka Butt" in the twins' deceptive babble, the main part of his job consisted of taking daily measurements of Wilbur and Eliza's weight, height, and general health, including urinalysis. He wrote by-weekly reports to their parents—which their mother Letitia saved her whole life—of basic information, such as their ever-greater food consumption, massive growth, cheerful disposition, and resistance to common childhood diseases. Later in life, Wilbur would wonder whether Mott was aware of their secret intelligence and was trying to protect them, or if he was simply "comatose", since he consistently reported their mental age as between two and three, although the two likely gave many unintended clues of their intelligence. In addition to tending to the twins, he continued his general practice in town including, for example, the care of Oveta Cooper's mother. While seemingly unsurprised at the twins sudden intellect on their fifteenth birthday, he did say he was "certainly very happy for everyone" about it. He was fired after the twins exposed their intelligence.

By coincidence, he was staying at the Ritz in Boston on business the night of Wilbur Swain's party celebrating his graduation from Harvard Medical School. However, having just had what would be his final communication in life with his sister Eliza, Swain failed to recognize Mott. An hour later, learning who he was, Swain expressed regret at not being able to talk with him more. Mott left a graduation present for him, written on Ritz stationary: "'If you can do no good, at least do no harm.' Hippocrates." Later, after Swain was elected President of the United States, he would meet Mott's grandson, Stewart Oriole-2 Mott, who was then the self-declared King of Michigan, and who bore an uncanny resemblance to his grandfather. Swain took the opportunity to ask him about his grandfather's seeming sadness. The younger Mott replied that he knew of no criminals or problems with addiction in that part of his family and speculated that maybe his grandfather was "just one of those people who was born unhappy."