American Medical Biographies/Doughty, William Henry
Doughty, William Henry (1836–1905).
William Henry Doughty was born in Augusta, Georgia, February 5, 1836, son of Ebenezer Wesley Doughty, a leading business man of Augusta, and Margaret Crowell.
He was educated at Richmond Academy, and in medicine at the Medical College of Georgia, where his preceptors were Dugas, Ford, Eve, Campbell, receiving his M. D. in 1855. He practised in Augusta all his life. He was a surgeon in the Confederate Army, serving with distinction in Macon Hospital, Walker Division Hospital at Lauderdale Springs, Mississippi, and in the Second Georgia Hospital.
He was instrumental in founding the board of health of Augusta, and largely drafted the act of legislature for the board.
He was professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the Medical College of Georgia. He wrote: "Adaptation of Climate to the Consumptive for a Permanent Residence"; "A General Comparison of the Eastern and Western Slopes of America with the Southern Slopes of Europe"; "Special Climate of the Pacific Slope"; "Comparison of the Entire Pacific Slope with the State of Florida"; "The Physical Geography of the North Pacific Ocean, the Peculiarities of its Circulation, and Their Relations to the Climate of the Pacific Coast of the United States"; "Report of Two Cases of the Ligature of the Subclavian Artery"; "Atmospheric Distention of the Vagina in the Knee-Chest Posture; Is It the Real Factor, or Simply an Auxiliary in Reduction of Retro-Displacement"; "The Primary Conversion of Occipito-Anterior Positions of the Vertex with Cases Illustrating the Practice"; "The Therapeutic Effects and Uses of Mercury as Influenced by the Report of the Edinburgh Committee on the Actions of the Mercury, Podophyllin and Taraxacum on the Biliary Secretions"; "True Method of Treating Dislocations, Upwards and Backwards of the Scapular End of the Clavicle, with Report of a Case Illustrating the Principle Employed."
In 1855 he married Julia Sarah, daughter of Dr. William L. Felder, of Sumter, South Carolina.
He was in failing health for many weeks, but practised until his death on March 27, 1905.
Dr. Doughty was greatly beloved in his community, and at his death requests for permission to toll church bells during the funeral services came from Roman Catholics, and from other congregations, both white and negro.
His son was Dr. William Henry Doughty, Jr., of Augusta.