John Kearsley Mitchell (May 12, 1798 – April 4, 1858) was an American physician and writer, born in

Shepherdstown, Virginia Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River. Home to Shepherd University, the town's population was 1,734 at the time of the 2010 census. History 18t ...

(present-day

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

). Orphaned at the age of eight, and sent to his late father's family in Scotland at the age of thirteen, Kearsley was educated at Ayr Academy and the University of Edinburgh. He returned to the United States in 1814, and began studying medicine under Dr. Samuel Powel Griffitts (apprenticeship was a common method of medical education in this period) before enrolling at an institution for his medical education

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1819. Before he went to

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 ...

to practice his profession, he made three voyages to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

as ship's

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 ...

. In 1826 he became

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of medicine and physiology at the Philadelphia Medical Institute and in 1833 professor of

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

at the Franklin Institute. In 1827, Mitchell was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. From 1841 to 1858, he was professor of the theory and practice of medicine at

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 ...

. He was also the father of American physician and writer Silas Weir Mitchell (February 15, 1829 – January 4, 1914).

Works

* ''St. Helena'' (1821), a poem * ''On the Wisdom, Goodness and Power of God as Illustrated in the Properties of Water'' (1834) * ''Indecision, a Tale of the Far West, and Other Poems'' (1839) * ''On the Cryptogamous Origin of Malarious and Epidemic Fevers'' (1849) * ''Five Essays on Various Chemical and Medical Subjects'' (1858), published posthumously by his son

S. Weir Mitchell Silas Weir Mitchell (February 15, 1829 – January 4, 1914) was an American physician, scientist, novelist, and poet. He is considered the father of medical neurology, and he discovered causalgia (complex regional pain syndrome) and erythromela ...

. * * ''The Value of a Great Medical Reputation: With Suggestions for Its Attainment: A Lecture, Introductory to the Summer Course of the Medical Institute'' (1834)

Sources

Edgar Allan Poe Society of BaltimoreThe value of a great medical reputation : with suggestions for its attainment : a lecture, introductory to the summer course of the medical institute

References

1798 births 1858 deaths American medical academics 19th-century American poets American male poets American science writers American surgeons Educators from West Virginia Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Poets from Pennsylvania Poets from Virginia Poets from West Virginia Physicians from Philadelphia People from Shepherdstown, West Virginia Physicians from Virginia Physicians from West Virginia Thomas Jefferson University faculty 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American physicians American male non-fiction writers {{US-physician-stub