Dr. John de Sequeyra (b. 1712 London, d. 1795
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...
) was born into a Spanish-Portuguese Jewish family whose ancestors were once court physicians to the Kings and Queens of Spain and Portugal. He was the middle son of Dr. Abraham de Sequeira (1665-1747) who was a member of
Bevis Marks Synagogue
Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim ( he, קָהָל קָדוֹשׁ שַׁעַר הַשָׁמַיִם, "Holy Congregation Gate of Heaven"), is the oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom in continuous use. It is loc ...
in London.
[Notes on an Early Virginia Physician, ROBERT SHOSTECK, 1970]
Medical career
He studied medicine in Holland beginning in 1736 and received his degree in 1739 from the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
. In Holland he was known as "Johannes de Sigueyra" and "Iohannes Disiqueyra" .
In 1745, he moved to Williamsburg, Virginia where he practiced medicine.
Between 1745 and 1781 he compiled a manuscript entitled "Diseases in Virginia." He was a physician who attended about 85 households during a
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemic of 1747/8.
In 1769, Colonel
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, as he was known then, frequently called in Dr. Sequeyra to treat his stepdaughter "Patsy," daughter of
Martha Park Custis. Patsy suffered from increasingly debilitating
epileptic seizures
An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...
which eventually led to her death.
In 1773, the first insane asylum in the 13 colonies,
Eastern State Hospital was built in Williamsburg, Virginia, and it remains in operation to this day. Dr. John de Sequeyra was one of the first physicians attached to the facility. So accomplished in caring for the residents, was Dr. Sequeyra, that when he retired in 1795 it took two doctors to back-fill his position.
Tomatoes
John Hill John Hill may refer to:
Business
* John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary
* John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter
* John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...
once wrote – "''Those who are us'd to eat with the Portuguese Jews know the value of it''"; he was speaking of the tomato. John Custis IV, a Williamsburg resident, sent a letter to Peter Collinson, in 1741, inquiring about this thing called a "tomato".
Tomatoes
The tomato is the edible Berry (botany), berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to th ...
made their way to
Colonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...
by way of the
West Indies Slave Trade – it was a staple food of the slaves who learned to discern the poisonous varieties from the edible varieties.
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 ...
himself informs us that introduction of the tomato as an edible fruit is due to the work of Dr. John de Sequeyra.
[Lucia Stanton, Monticello Research Report, 1992]
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequeyra, John de
Jewish-American history
American Sephardic Jews
1710s births
Medical doctors from London
English emigrants
1719 deaths
English expatriates in the Netherlands
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
People from Williamsburg, Virginia
18th-century American physicians