Lewis Henry Steiner (May 4, 1827 – February 18, 1892) was an American medical doctor and librarian. He was a member of the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

from 1872 to 1884.

Biography

Lewis Henry Steiner was born in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

. He was educated at Marshall College, Pennsylvania, where he received the degree of A.M. in 1849, and was graduated the same year at the medical department of 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 ...

. He began to practise in Frederick, but in 1852 moved to Baltimore, where for three years he was associated with John R. W. Dunbar in the conduct of the Baltimore Medical Institute, at the end of which time he returned to Frederick. Soon after he began to practise his attention was especially directed to

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 ...

and the allied sciences, and during his residence in Baltimore his time was largely occupied in teaching. He was professor of chemistry and natural history in Columbian College, Washington, D.C., and also of chemistry and

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

in the National Medical College, Washington, in 1853; lecturer on chemistry and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

in St. James College, Maryland, in 1854; lecturer on applied chemistry in the

Maryland Institute The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the ...

in 1855, and professor of chemistry in the Maryland College of Pharmacy in 1856. By 1855, he had given up the practice of medicine to devote his career to the natural sciences, botany and chemistry in particular. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he was actively employed as an inspector by the

United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the American Civil W ...

, and for a period was in charge of its operations in the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

as chief inspector. He published a brief history of the Commission in 1866. He became president of the Frederick County School Board in 1865 where a major interest was in developing school facilities for African-American children. In 1871 he was elected by the Republicans to the

, representing Frederick County for four years. He was re-elected for a like term in 1875, and again in 1879. He served until 1884. From 1855 until 1858, he was a contributor to, and afterward assistant editor of, ''The American Medical Monthly''. His efforts were chiefly responsible for the Maryland General Assembly adopting the 1876

Great Seal of Maryland The Great Seal of the State of Maryland is the official government emblem of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its official service is to authenticate acts by the General Assembly of Maryland (state legislature), but it is also used for display purpos ...

, which remains the State's Seal to this day. In 1884 he was appointed librarian of the

Enoch Pratt Free Library The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library and office headquarters are located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupy the northeastern three quarters of a city block bound ...

, remaining there until his death. He was a

Reformed Church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

elder. A collection of his papers is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.

Family

In 1866, he married Sarah Spencer Smyth. They had six children, of which one, his son Bernard Christian Steiner, succeeded his father as librarian.

Works

*edition of Heinrich Will, ''Outlines of Chemical Analysis'', translated from the 3rd German edition, with Daniel Brud (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1855) *''Cantate Domino: a Collection of Chants, Hymns, etc., for Church Service'', with Henry Schwing (Boston, 1859) *''Report containing a Diary kept during the Rebel Occupation of Frederick, Md., etc.'' (New York, 1862) He published other translations from the German, with monographs, reports, lectures, and speeches.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Lewis Henry 1827 births 1892 deaths People from Frederick, Maryland Physicians from Maryland People of Maryland in the American Civil War American librarians Republican Party Maryland state senators 19th-century American physicians 19th-century American politicians