John Rhea Barton (April 1794 – January 1, 1871) was an American

orthopedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

remembered for describing

Barton's fracture A Barton's fracture is a type of wrist injury where there is a broken bone associated with a dislocated bone in the wrist, typically occurring after falling on top of a bent wrist. It is an intra-articular fracture of the distal radius with disloc ...

Early life

Barton was born in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

in April 1794. He was the son of Elizabeth (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Rhea) Barton (b. 1759) and William Barton (1754–1817), a lawyer who designed the Great Seal of the United States. Among his siblings was older brother was William Paul Crillon Barton, the medical botanist, physician, professor, naval surgeon, and botanical illustrator. His uncle,

Benjamin Smith Barton Benjamin Smith Barton (February 10, 1766 – December 19, 1815) was an American botanist, naturalist, and physician. He was one of the first professors of natural history in the United States and built the largest collection of botanical specime ...

, was an eminent medical botanist and vice-president of 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 ...

. Barton graduated from the School of Medicine (now known as the

Perelman 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 ...

) 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 1818 and started teaching there soon after.

Career

He became surgeon at the Philadelphia Almshouse, working for

Philip Syng Physick Philip Syng Physick (July 7, 1768 – December 15, 1837) was an American physician and professor born in Philadelphia. Life and career Dr. Physick was born in Philadelphia on July 7, 1768, to Edmund and Abigail Syng Physick. Physick gradu ...

, and returned to the Pennsylvania Hospital as surgeon in 1823. He was said to be

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

, and did not move around once positioned for an operation. He originated the

osteotomy An osteotomy is a surgical operation whereby a bone is cut to shorten or lengthen it or to change its alignment. It is sometimes performed to correct a hallux valgus, or to straighten a bone that has healed crookedly following a fracture. It is ...

for joint

ankylosis Ankylosis is a stiffness of a joint due to abnormal adhesion and rigidity of the bones of the joint, which may be the result of injury or disease. The rigidity may be complete or partial and may be due to inflammation of the tendinous or muscular ...

, performing a femoral osteotomy between the greater and

lesser trochanter The lesser trochanter is a conical posteromedial bony projection of the femoral shaft. it serves as the principal insertion site of the iliopsoas muscle. Structure The lesser trochanter is a conical posteromedial projection of the shaft of the fe ...

s; in 1826 he performed a hip osteotomy in seven minutes. He is also known for the ''Barton bandage'', a figure-of-eight

bandage A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applie ...

to support the jaw, and ''Barton forceps'', curved

obstetric Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

forceps Forceps (plural forceps or considered a plural noun without a singular, often a pair of forceps; the Latin plural ''forcipes'' is no longer recorded in most dictionaries) are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Fo ...

Personal life

Barton was married to Ann Fries Frazer (1807–1837). Ann was the daughter of Robert Frazer, the District Attorney for Delaware County, and granddaughter of Gen. Persifor Frazer. In Philadelphia, the Bartons resided at 512 South Broad Street. Together, they were the parents of: * Alice Bell Barton (1833–1903), who married Edward Shippen Willing (1822–1906), grandson of

Thomas Willing Thomas Willing (December 19, 1731 – January 19, 1821) was an American merchant, politician and slave trader who served as mayor of Philadelphia and was a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress. He also served as the first presi ...

, who served as

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

and the first president of

First Bank of the United States First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, and the great-grandson of

Charles Willing Charles Willing (May 18, 1710 – November 30, 1754) was a Philadelphia merchant, trader and politician; twice he served as Mayor of Philadelphia, from 1748 until 1749 and again in 1754. Early life Charles Willing was born in Bristol, Engla ...

, also a Mayor of Philadelphia. After his first wife's death, Barton remarried to heiress Susanna Ridgway Rotch, the daughter of merchant Jacob Ridgway. Barton died on January 1, 1871, 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 ...

. He was buried 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 ...

in Philadelphia.

Descendants

Through his daughter Alice, he was the grandfather of John Rhea Barton Willing, who did not marry;

Susan Ridgway Willing Susan Ridgway Willing Lawrance (August 1, 1866 – May 2, 1933) was an American socialite who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Willing was born on August 1, 1866 in Newport, Rhode Island. She was the eldest chi ...

, who married Francis Cooper Lawrance Jr.; and

Ava Lowle Willing Ava Lowle Willing (September 15, 1868 – June 9, 1958) was an American socialite. She was the first wife of Colonel John Jacob Astor IV and later married Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale. Early life Ava Lowle Willing was born on September ...

, who was married to

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sinki ...

(son of William B. Astor, Jr. and

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn Astor (September 22, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was a prominent American socialite of the second half of the 19th century who led the Four Hundred. Famous for being referred to later in life as "the Mrs. Asto ...

) until 1910, and, thereafter, to

Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale (29 October 1854 – 21 October 1925) was a British Liberal politician. Early life Thomas Lister was born on 29 October 1854 in Fontainebleau, France, the eldest son of Thomas Lister, 3rd Baron Ribblesdale ...

.The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), Frank Willing Leach, ''Genealogies of Old Philadelphia Families'' Published in the Sunday North American, vol. 1, p. 133.

Legacy

In 1877, his widow Susan Ridgley Barton endowed "The John Rhea Barton Professorship of Surgery," at the

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 ...

, the first endowed chair in surgery in the U.S.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, John Rhea 1794 births 1871 deaths American orthopedic surgeons 19th-century American physicians 19th-century surgeons People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Physicians from Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania faculty Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)