Arnold, Richard Dennis (19 August 1808–10 July 1876), physician, was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Joseph Arnold and Eliza Dennis, occupations unknown. Despite hardships accompanying the deaths of both parents during childhood, Arnold, who had been an only child, received an excellent preliminary education and graduated with distinction from Princeton in 1826. He immediately began a medical apprenticeship under William R. Waring, a distinguished preceptor and member of an illustrious Charleston and Savannah family of physicians. After receiving his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1830, Arnold served for two years as a resident house officer in Philadelphia’s old Blockley Hospital before returning to Savannah where in 1833 he married Margaret Baugh Stirk. Their only child, Eleanor, born the next year, became the lifelong object of her father’s loving solicitude following her mother’s untimely death from pulmonary tuberculosis in 1850....
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Arnold, Richard Dennis (1808-1876), physician
John H. Ellis
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Douglass, William (1681-1752), doctor, historian, and pioneer in colonial philanthropy
Peter R. Virgadamo
Douglass, William ( October 1681–21 October 1752), doctor, historian, and pioneer in colonial philanthropy, was born in Gifford, Scotland, the son of George Douglass, chamberlain to the marquis of Tweeddale, and Katherine Inglis. His father, a man of distinction in local affairs, was able to afford a fine education for his son. William earned his master’s degree in 1705 from Edinburgh University where, influenced by Dr. Archibald Pitcairne, he decided on a medical career. At the University of Leyden he studied under Dr. Herman Boerhaave and then earned his medical degree from the University of Utrecht in 1712. His medical dissertation, ...
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Flick, Lawrence Francis (1856-1938), physician, historian, and early leader in the campaign against tuberculosis
Barbara Bates
Flick, Lawrence Francis (10 August 1856–07 July 1938), physician, historian, and early leader in the campaign against tuberculosis, was born in Carroll Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, the son of John Flick, a mill owner and farmer, and Elizabeth Schabacher (changed to Sharbaugh). Flick grew up on the family farm, but poor health excused him from the usual chores. A bookish boy and a devout Roman Catholic, he first attended local schools. For most of his teenage years, he studied at St. Vincent’s, a Benedictine college in Beatty (now Latrobe), Pennsylvania, but symptoms suggesting tuberculosis cut short his classwork, and he returned home. After a period of indecision and various jobs, he entered Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and graduated in 1879. He then completed an internship at Philadelphia Hospital and opened an office for the practice of medicine. His persisting illness, however, was finally diagnosed as tuberculosis and, following his physicians’ advice, he traveled to the West for his health. By 1883, improvement allowed him to resume his practice, which soon included increasing numbers of patients with tuberculosis. “When I recovered from tuberculosis as a young man,” he wrote, “I consecrated my life to the welfare of those afflicted with the disease and to the protection of those who had not yet contracted it” ( ...
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Gibbes, Robert Wilson (1809-1866), writer, physician, and scientist
Charles D. Kay
Gibbes, Robert Wilson (08 July 1809–15 October 1866), writer, physician, and scientist, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of William Hasell Gibbes, a lawyer, and Mary Philip Wilson. It was a well-established Charleston family. Gibbes’s father achieved considerable notoriety for his achievements in the Revolution, and his grandfather served as chief justice of South Carolina early in the previous century....
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Hildreth, Samuel Prescott (1783-1863), physician, naturalist, and historian
Keith L. Miller
Hildreth, Samuel Prescott (30 September 1783–24 July 1863), physician, naturalist, and historian, was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel Hildreth, a physician and farmer, and Abigail Bodwell. At age fifteen he entered Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts; he spent four terms at Andover and Franklin academies. He studied medicine first under his father and then for two years under Thomas Kittredge of Andover. To complete his education, he attended an eight-week course at Harvard Medical School, after which he received a diploma from the Medical Society of Massachusetts in 1805....
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Lyon, Irving Whitall (1840-1896), antiquarian, author, and physician
Peter Swift Seibert
Lyon, Irving Whitall (19 October 1840–04 March 1896), antiquarian, author, and physician, was born in Bedford, New York, the son of Solomon Lyon and Hannah Rundell. He graduated from the Lawrenceville (Pa.) Preparatory School, the Vermont Medical College, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Lyon practiced medicine for a brief period with the Union army during the Civil War, followed by work at the Bellevue Hospital in New York City (1864–1866). In 1866 he turned to private practice and relocated to Hartford, Connecticut, where he worked for the remainder of his life. In addition to publishing numerous articles on medicine and surgery, Lyon was also medical examiner for the Hartford Life and Annuity Company. At the time of his death, he was serving an extended term as president of the Hartford County Medical Society. He married Mary Elizabeth Tucker of New York; the couple had three children....
