Dr. Antoine François Pierre Saugrain (

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, 17/02/1763

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

–

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, 05/03/1820) was a French-born physician and chemist. Born in Versailles, Saugrain was educated in

as a physician and chemist by Antoine Fourcroy and

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

; Saugrain was brother-in-law to

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (; 28 May 1738 – 26 March 1814) was a French physician, politician, and freemason who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France, as a less painful method of execution than ...

, who had married Louise Saugrain, Antoine's sister. In 1783 he traveled to North America to serve as a mineralogist for

Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent (also spelled Saint–Maxent) (1724 – August 8, 1794) was a French merchant and military officer who played a major role in the development of French and Spanish Louisiana. St. Maxent was born in Longwy, Meurth ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, where he was admitted to the practice of surgery. He also collaborated with his brother-in-law on the development of vaccines. In 1787 Dr. Saugrain traveled to the United States bearing a letter of introduction from

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. He became part of a scientific expedition to explore the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

led by the botanist Picque in 1788. However, Saugrain was injured during an Indian raid and returned to France. Dr. Saugrain was soon forced to flee France because of his royalist beliefs at the beginning of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

in 1789 (Saugrain's family line had held the position of royal librarian for over 250 years by the time of the Revolution). He returned to the United States and helped found a French émigré community at

Gallipolis, Ohio Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of Chillicothe and 44 miles northwest of Charlesto ...

. It was there that he married Genevieve Rosalie Michau on 20/03/1793. In 1799 the Saugrains moved to

, a city which had been developed by French immigrants as part of

Louisiana (New France) Louisiana (french: La Louisiane; ''La Louisiane Française'') or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682 to 1769 and 1801 (nominally) to 1803, the area was named in honor of King Louis XIV, ...

. Dr. Saugrain was the city's only physician until the United States took possession of St. Louis following the 1803

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

by the United States. Saugrain prepared specimens for

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

to send to President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

in early 1804. He also provided the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

with medical supplies. Dr. Saugrain was the first physician west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

to use the Jenner cowpox vaccine to prevent smallpox, beginning in 1809. From a public health perspective, his willingness to vaccinate anyone, regardless of ability to pay is especially noteworthy. The Missouri State Historical Society has a copy of an advertisement of Dr. Saugrain’s offering vaccine to all persons of indigent circumstances as well as to doctors who lived outside his practice area. Outside medicine Dr. Saugrain also had interests in mineralogy, physics and chemistry. Saugrain experimented with early versions of phosphorus matches and manufactured thermometers and barometers at Gallipolis. His daughter Rosalie Saugrain (1797–1787) was married to the

pioneer businessmen Henry Von

Phul Olympian spirits (or ''Olympic spirits'', ''Olympick spirits'') refers to seven (or sometimes fourteen) spirits mentioned in several Renaissance and post-Renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the ''Arbatel de magia veterum'', ...

(1784–1874), brother of the American artist Anna Maria von Phul. He was the grandfather of Frank (Francis) von Phul (1835–1922). In 1944 a

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

was named in his honor.

Sources

United States National Park Service
* Priddy, Bob. ''Across Our Wide

'',

Independence Press Herald House or Herald Publishing House is the publishing division of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. It publishes books, periodicals and other materials at the direction of the First Presidency. Its history dates to the publicatio ...

, 1982.
Saugrain Family Papers
Missouri History Museum Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Saugraine, Atoine 1763 births 1820 deaths 18th-century French chemists Physicians from Missouri Scientists from St. Louis People from Gallipolis, Ohio Scientists from Paris 18th-century American physicians 19th-century American physicians 19th-century American chemists French emigrants to the United States Physicians from Paris Physicians from Ohio