Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1221

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WARREN
1199
WASHINGTON

Dr. Warren was a man of delicate frame and of refined and distinguished bearing. He combined a cheerful disposition with qualities of mind and heart which made him popular with patients and friends alike who flocked in large numbers to pay him a final tribute.

Warren, Joseph (1741–1775)

Joseph Warren, son of Joseph Warren, farmer, and Mary Stevens, was born at Roxbury, June 11, 1741, and after graduating at Harvard, in 1759, was appointed master of the Roxbury grammar school. He studied medicine under Dr. James Lloyd (q.v.), and at the age of twenty-three established himself permanently as a physician in Boston. By his successful treatment of smallpox patients, during the epidemic that scourged the New England cities at that period, he acquired a high reputation among the faculty. One of his most illustrious patients was John Adams, afterwards president of the United States, who was so favorably impressed with the young doctor that he retained him as his family physician.

In 1764 he married Elizabeth Hooton, a young lady who inherited an ample fortune.

His zeal in the cause of patriotism rendered him indifferent to bright prospects of professional advancement, and he soon gave himself, heart and soul, to American freedom. At every town meeting held in Boston, from the arrival of the British troops in October, 1768, to their removal in March, 1770, his voice was heard and his influence felt. In March, 1772, he delivered the anniversary oration upon the "Massacre," and again, March 5, 1775, he gave the oration in the old South Church in spite of threats from the British that his life was in danger. At the meeting of the Provincial Congress at Watertown, May 31, 1775, Dr. Warren was unanimously chosen its president and on June 14 he was chosen second major-general of the Massachusetts forces. On the morning of June 17, 1775, he met the committee of Safety at Gen. Ward's headquarters on Cambridge Common. Hearing the British had landed at Charlestown he mounted his horse and rode over to Bunker Hill He asked for the place of greatest need and danger, and, near the end of the battle when the Americans were retreating and he was trying to rally the militia he was struck by a ball in the head and instantly killed. A monument was erected by his brother masons twenty years after, but the Bunker Hill Monument now stands in its place.

Abridged from a paper in the Am. Jour. of Clin. Med., June, 1909.
Portrait in the Surg.-Gen.'s lib., Wash., D. C.

Wasdin, Eugene (1859–1911)

Eugene Wasdin, surgeon in the United States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, was born in Georgetown, South Carolina, September 28, 1859, son of Thomas W. Wasdin and Mary Eliza Tarbox. His ancestry was of old English stock; his early education was had in the public schools of Georgetown, after which he started a business career; but he soon decided to study medicine, and entered the South Carolina Medical College and graduated first honor man in 1882. In 1883 he entered the United States Marine Hospital Service as assistant surgeon; in 1886 he was made passed assistant surgeon, and surgeon in 1898.

Wasdin held the chair of pathology and bacteriology in the South Carolina Medical College, 1891–1893, and during that time established a well-equipped bacteriological laboratory in the college.

He did notable work in yellow fever epidemics and in 1897 was sent by the Government to Havana at the head of a commission to study yellow fever, especially with reference to the Sanarelli bacillus; he continued this work in 1899 at the Pasteur Institute at Paris, and in recognition of his services was decorated by King Humbert, of Italy; the same year he represented the United States at the International Medical Congress, held at Brussells.

Stationed at Buffalo when President McKinley was assassinated, he was one of the attending surgeons; the first to reach his side and continuing in attendance until the President's death.

In 1884 he married Agnes Morgan of Georgetown, South Carolina; there were no children.

A nervous breakdown of long standing terminated in death at Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1911.

Washington, James Augustus (1803–1847)

James Augustus Washington was born in the town of Kinston, North Carolina, July 31, 1803. His father, John Washington, came to. North Carolina from Virginia, and was of the same family as the Washington, though of this fact Mr. Washington never made especial mention. His mother, Elizabeth Cobb, of a prominent North Carolina family, was a humanitarian in the broadest sense; her lifelong custom was to visit the sick and distressed, one of her children usually accompanying her with a bountiful basket to relieve the hunger and pains of poverty. From this source Dr. Washington inherited his great love