Paul A. Appleton, M.D., was born on December 6, 1887, in Providence, Rhode Island.

He was an American surgeon and obstetrician. He graduated from Brown University (B.Ph., 1911) and Harvard University (M.D., 1915). Making a specialty in surgery, he began to practice in Providence, Rhode Island. During World War One, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the Rhode Island National Guard and acted as medical examiner. In 1918, he was appointed instructor of medical surgery at the School of Military Surgery, M.O.T.C., at Camp Greenleaf, Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1919, he became a member of the surgical staff of the United States Army General Hospital at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Upon returning to civil life, Dr. Appleton resumed his practice in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a Fellow of the American Medical Association, a member of the Providence Medical Society, the Rhode Island Medical Society, the American Association of Surgery, and the New England Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. He contributed to the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.

In 1920, he married Frances Elizabeth Ricker (1895-1973). He died on December 24, 1948, in Providence, Rhode Island.