Benjamin Winslow Dudley (1785-1870) was an American surgeon and academic in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, United States. Trained at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, in London, and in Paris, he performed hundreds of

lithotomy Lithotomy from Greek for "lithos" (stone) and "tomos" (cut), is a surgical method for removal of calculi, stones formed inside certain organs, such as the urinary tract (kidney stones), bladder (bladder stones), and gallbladder (gallstones), tha ...

trephination Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from Medieval Latin from Greek , literally "borer, auger"), is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drille ...

s and treated

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

s. In his lectures and writing, he stressed the importance of preparation and cleanliness. He served as a professor of medicine at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

from 1817 to 1850, where he taught many future physicians who treated members (and later veterans) of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

Early life

Benjamin Winslow Dudley was born on April 12, 1785, in

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...

.John E. Kieber (ed.)
''The Kentucky Encyclopedia''
Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2015, pp. 271-272 His father was Ambrose Parson Dudley and his mother, the former Ann Parker. By the age of one, in 1786, he moved to

Bryan Station Bryan Station (also Bryan's Station, and often misspelled Bryant's Station) was an early fortified settlement in Lexington, Kentucky. It was located on present-day Bryan Station Road, about three miles (5 km) northeast of New Circle Road, on ...

, Kentucky, an early fortified settlement near Lexington, with his parents and six siblings. By 1797, they moved to Lexington. One of his brothers, Reverend Thomas Parker Dudley, later served as a Baptist pastor in

Georgetown, Kentucky Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the 6th-largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originall ...

from 1827 to 1880.B.O. Gaines
''The B.O. Gaines History of Scott County''
Scott County, Kentucky: B.O. Gaines Printery, 1790, p. 317 Dudley was trained by Dr Frederick Ridgely in Lexington. He attended the

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

at the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, graduating in 1806. He briefly attended

in Lexington. Dudley took a break from his studies to get on a

flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...

along 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 buy flour and sell it for profit to Europeans. With that money, he traveled to London, where he continued his medical studies from 1810 to 1814. His professors included

John Abernethy John Abernethy may refer to: *John Abernethy (bishop), Scottish bishop, died 1639 *John Abernethy (judge) (born 1947), Australian judge *John Abernethy (minister) (1680–1740), Presbyterian minister in Ireland *John Abernethy (surgeon) (1764–1831 ...

and

Samuel Cooper Samuel or Sam Cooper may refer to: *Samuel Cooper (painter) (1609–1672), English miniature painter *Samuel Cooper (clergyman) (1725–1783), Congregationalist minister in Boston, Massachusetts * Samuel Cooper (surgeon) (1780–1848), English surge ...

, two prominent surgeons. Dudley subsequently joined the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

. He also studied in Paris, where one of his professors was no other than Baron

Dominique Larrey Baron Dominique Jean Larrey (; 8 July 1766 – 25 July 1842) was a French surgeon and military doctor, who distinguished himself in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. An important innovator in battlefield medicine and triage ...

, Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's personal physician. Dudley moved back to Lexington in 1816.

Career

Dudley was appointed as the Chair of the Department of Anatomy and Surgery at Transylvania University in 1817. He also served as Professor of Medicine until 1850. Over the course of more than three decades, he hired faculty members to the department and oversaw the medical education of over 6,000 students. One day, Dudley had an argument with a colleague,

William H. Richardson William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

. The two men resolved their disagreement over a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

. After Dudley won the duel, both men became friends. Many of his students who became physicians in their own rights, went on to treat members of the Confederate States Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

of 1861–1865, and later veterans. However, the focus on cleanliness which Dudley had taught them only caught on when

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of su ...

published his research on antiseptics in 1867, after the war. As a surgeon, Dudley performed

, or gallstone removal, up to 225 times. He also performed

, the practice of drilling a hole in a patient's head to cure them of traumatic epilepsy. Moreover, he performed surgery on patients with

s. He focused on the importance of preparation and cleanliness. In 1836, Dudley wrote '' Observations on the nature and treatment of calculous diseases''. Dudley became known for his expertise as a surgeon throughout the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

Personal life

Dudley married Anna Maria Short on June 8, 1821. They had two sons, Charles Wilkins Dudley and William Ambrose Dudley. Their daughter, Anna, married Edward R. Tilford. They resided at the Fairlawn mansion in Lexington, Kentucky. The house is now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places listings in Fayette County, Kentucky This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Fayette County, Kentucky. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Fayette County, Kentucky, Uni ...

Death and legacy

Dudley died on January 20, 1870, in Lexington, Kentucky. Dudley was commended in the '' Annals of Medical History''. His portrait, painted by

Matthew Harris Jouett Matthew Harris Jouett (Mercer County, Kentucky, 22 April 1788 – Lexington, Kentucky, 10 August 1827) was a noted American portrait painter, famous for painting portraits including Thomas Jefferson, George Rogers Clark and Lafayette. Personal ...

in 1825–1826, can be seen at the

Frick Collection The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...

on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

of New York City.Frick Collection: Jouett, Matthew Harris, 1787-1827. , Dr. Benjamin Winslow Dudley. , oil on panel.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Benjamin Winslow 1785 births 1870 deaths People from Spotsylvania County, Virginia People from Lexington, Kentucky Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Transylvania University faculty American medical writers American surgeons 19th-century American writers American male non-fiction writers 19th-century American male writers