Shakespeare, Edward Oram

Extract

Shakespeare, Edward Oram (19 May 1846–01 June 1900), physician, bacteriologist, and public health advocate, was born in New Castle County, Delaware, the son of William McIntire Shakespeare and Catherine Haman. Shakespeare’s eulogists omit reference to his parent’s occupations but mention that he was a descendant of English dramatist William Shakespeare’s brother and that his family had been established in Delaware for several generations at the time of his birth. Shakespeare attended Reynolds’ Classical Academy in Dover, Delaware. While an undergraduate at Dickinson College, Shakespeare served as an apprentice to two physicians in Dover. After earning an A.B. in 1867, he entered medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1869. He then spent less than five years in partnership with Isaac Jurup, “an old established physician of large practice” in Dover (Watson, p. 163) before returning to Philadelphia, where he remained an active member of the medical scene until his death. He had a number of institutional affiliations, but none occupied him full time or defined his career. In 1889 he married Mary Louise Baird, the daughter of an officer of the Baldwin Locomotive Works; they had two children....