George McClellan (December 22, 1796 in
Woodstock, Connecticut
Woodstock is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,221 at the 2020 census.
History
17th century
In the mid-17th century, John Eliot, a Puritan missionary to the Native Americans, established "praying town ...
– May 9, 1847 in
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 ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
) was a 19th-century American
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
. He is best known for founding the
Jefferson Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...
and the Medical Department of Pennsylvania College, and his pioneering work in surgery, including writing a widely used textbook.
Life and work
McClellan was born on December 22, 1796, in
Woodstock, Connecticut
Woodstock is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,221 at the 2020 census.
History
17th century
In the mid-17th century, John Eliot, a Puritan missionary to the Native Americans, established "praying town ...
, the son of Eunice (Eldredge) and James McClellan. His family was of
Scottish and English ancestry.
His great-grandfather fought on the
Jacobite side in the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
, the last
pitched battle
A pitched battle or set-piece battle is a battle in which opposing forces each anticipate the setting of the battle, and each chooses to commit to it. Either side may have the option to disengage before the battle starts or shortly thereafter. A ...
in Britain, before immigrating to
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
. George McClellan's grandfather,
Samuel McClellan
Samuel McClellan (January 4, 1730 – October 17, 1807) was an American brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Samuel McClellan served as Ensign and Lieutenant in the French and Indian War ...
was a
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Through his father, he was also a descendant of Plymouth, Massachusetts Governor
William Bradford.
Throughout his life, George McClellan was known for his personality, having a mix of positive and negative traits. He had a good memory for names and faces of virtually everyone he met. One former student recalled a brief meeting with the doctor and then being recognized even one year later, stating, "the moment we entered Doctor McClellan's office, he recognized and named each one of us, although he had seen us only once before, a year back, and only a very short time."
However, Darrach wrote, "McClellan had his peculiarities." He often came across as disrespectful and even insubordinate and spoke in a "rapid incoherent manner." It has been noted that he routinely perturbed individuals above him in title. Nonetheless, some people just accepted this as something that came with his "surgical zeal."
McClellan's famous family includes his wife, Elizabeth (Brinton), two sons, John Hill Brinton McClellan, who was a physician, and the other, General
George Brinton McClellan
George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American soldier, American Civil War, Civil War Union general, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey. A graduate ...
, who was a major general during the American Civil War. His grandson, George McClellan (1849–1913) became the Chair of Anatomy at Jefferson Medical College and authored the famous medical text, ''Regional Anatomy''.
George McClellan died early in the morning on May 9, 1847, from
exsanguination
Exsanguination is death caused by loss of blood. Depending upon the health of the individual, people usually die from losing half to two-thirds of their blood; a loss of roughly one-third of the blood volume is considered very serious. Even a sing ...
due to an ulcerated lesion below the
sigmoid flexure
The sigmoid colon (or pelvic colon) is the part of the large intestine that is closest to the rectum and anus. It forms a loop that averages about in length. The loop is typically shaped like a Greek letter sigma (ς) or Latin letter S (thus ''s ...
of the colon.
He is interred at
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
The cemetery is ...
, Philadelphia.
Career
McClellan entered into the sophomore class at
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
at the age of sixteen and excelled in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and published
natural sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
articles in the ''
American Journal of Science
The ''American Journal of Science'' (''AJS'') is the United States of America's longest-running scientific journal, having been published continuously since its conception in 1818 by Professor Benjamin Silliman, who edited and financed it himself ...
''.
In 1815, at age 18, he obtained his
baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to:
* ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification
* Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree
* English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...
degree. He then took up the study of medicine, first with Thomas Hubbard of
Pomfret, Connecticut
Pomfret is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,266 in 2020 according to the 2020 United States Census. The land was purchased from Native Americans in 1686 (the ...
, later Professor of Surgery of the Medical College of New Haven, with whom he remained one year. In 1817, he went to Philadelphia to attend
medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, and to become the private pupil of John Syng Dorsey, Professor of Materia Medica, receiving his
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...
degree in 1819.
Founder of medical schools
George McClellan gave a series of private
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
lectures before deciding to found a new medical school. Many unsuccessful requests had already been made for a new medical school in Philadelphia so he and others had the idea to couple it with
Jefferson College in
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. The town li ...
.
With this in mind, the group made a request to the
Legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
in 1824, and in 1825, received a charter for what was to become
Jefferson Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...
.
With the "highly regarded"
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medi ...
already being in
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 ...
, it was considered "professional heresy" to open a second school, but McClellan thought that opening a second medical school would just lead to more students going to Philadelphia to study medicine.
Because of this, physicians at that time noted that he had to choose instructors "greatly inferior in talent to himself" and it was not a sure thing that the school would survive. The
Jefferson Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...
opened in 1826, in Philadelphia,
and in 1836 had an entering class of 360 medical students nonetheless and McClellan lectured in
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
.
In 1838, Jefferson College separated from Jefferson Medical College, and all instructors, including McClellan, were vacated and the trustees hired all new individuals to teach. This change, unrelated to McClellan's leaving, led the school came to be considered a "legitimate" medical school.
For his next project, McClellan opened ''The
Medical Department of Pennsylvania College'' with Samuel Colhoun, William Rush, and
Samuel George Morton
Samuel George Morton (January 26, 1799 – May 15, 1851) was an American physician, natural scientist, and writer who argued against the single creation story of the Bible, monogenism, instead supporting a theory of multiple racial creations, poly ...
in Philadelphia, giving the first course of lectures in November 1839.
Due to monetary circumstances, the four men resigned their professorships in 1843.
In 1858, the school planned to merge with the ''Philadelphia College of Medicine'', but that school closed the next year in 1859. 1861 saw the Medical Department of Pennsylvania College close due to unpaid bills and low enrollment secondary to 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 ...
.
Nonetheless, his ''extended'' medical education system (referring to more years spent in school than the standard 2 to 3 at the time) became widely accepted and spread among schools.
As a teacher
Even before founding Jefferson Medical College, McClellan was regarded as a great teacher, with his colleague, William Darrach, stating, "
teacher so qualified will attract pupils." He had added an anatomy and surgery teaching room next to his office and lectured nightly to students of his medical classes.
Before, and while at Jefferson, McClellan had a successful lectureship in
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
until 1838 when Jefferson College separated from Jefferson Medical College and the teaching positions were all vacated.
He then went on to teach at the new school he co-founded.
As a surgeon
McClellan was an accomplished and famous surgeon, leading to
Samuel George Morton
Samuel George Morton (January 26, 1799 – May 15, 1851) was an American physician, natural scientist, and writer who argued against the single creation story of the Bible, monogenism, instead supporting a theory of multiple racial creations, poly ...
summing up what many of his contemporaries thought of him in a memorandum from March 8, 1845:
The day before yesterday I was present at an operation performed by Dr. George McClellan, on a gentleman from Virginia. It consisted in the removal of the whole of the parotid gland in a scirrhous and much enlarged state, from the left side of the face. Nothing could exceed the combined coolness and skill manifested by Dr. M. throughout this terrible operation, which he has now performed for the eleventh time, and hitherto with remarkable success. On this occasion, however, he was doomed to disappointment, for the patient died last night, about thirty-six hours after the operation. McClellan sent for me in the evening, to see the dying man with him, and we met in the chamber of death between ten and eleven o'clock. I had sometimes heard McClellan spoken of as a heartless surgeon, devoid of feeling or sympathy for those who came under his knife; but I can solemnly aver that I have seldom witnessed more unaffected sorrow than he manifested on this occasion. He walked the room incessantly, and repeatedly clasped my hands in his, while he expressed, in emphatic language, the feelings that preyed upon his mind. He moreover assured me, that he seldom performed one of his severer operations without first asking the blessing of God on his undertaking; and that days and nights of painful anxiety, often preceded those great professional efforts which have justly placed his name on the pinnacle of surgical fame. The gurgling respiration of the unfortunate patient announced the near approach of death, and I withdrew, full of sympathy for the agonized emotions of my friend.
His name became widespread and he was known to have performed more surgeries than any other during his lifetime. His fame led him to operate on patients from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, but he also attracted patients from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, especially for operations in ophthalmic surgery. McClellan was one of the first surgeons to perform a
lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...
extraction, and was the first American to perform many operations, including removal of the
parotid gland
The parotid gland is a major salivary gland in many animals. In humans, the two parotid glands are present on either side of the mouth and in front of both ears. They are the largest of the salivary glands. Each parotid is wrapped around the man ...
.
Expertise led to his contributing to the ''
American Medical Review and Journal
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
'', editing textbooks, and writing a widely used surgery textbook, ''The Principles and Practice of Surgery''. The book was left as a manuscript in 1847, but was edited by his son John H. B. McClellan and published the following year.
References
External links
A Brief History of Thomas Jefferson University
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, George
1796 births
1847 deaths
Physicians from Philadelphia
People from Woodstock, Connecticut
Thomas Jefferson University
Yale College alumni
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni
American surgeons
University and college founders
19th-century American physicians
McClellan family
19th-century surgeons