Thomas Harris (January 3, 1784March 4, 1861) was a U.S. naval officer. He served as the second chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
Career
Harris was born in
East Whiteland Township,
Chester County Chester County may refer to:
* Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
* Chester County, South Carolina, United States
* Chester County, Tennessee, United States
* Cheshire or the County Palatine of Chester, a ceremonial county in the North Wes ...
,
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, ...
, to
William Harris William or Will or Willie Harris may refer to:
Politicians and political activists
*William Harris (born 1504) (1504–?), MP for Newport, Cornwall
*William Harris (died 1556), MP for Maldon (UK Parliament constituency), Maldon
*William Harris (MP ...
and Mary Campbell Harris. He attended the Brandywine Academy in Chester County. On 19 April 1809, Dr. Harris graduated from the Medical School 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 entered the U.S. naval service during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, and remained there for the rest of his life. He was appointed a surgeon in the navy on 20 July 1812. On 22 September of that year he was ordered to the then commanded by
Jacob Jones. He thus took part in the celebrated engagement between the ''Wasp'' and on 18 October, in which the ''Frolic'' was captured. Later in the day, the ''Wasp'' and her prize were taken by the British
ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...
HMS ''Poictiers'' and carried to
Bermuda
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, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
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. The officers and crew of the ''Wasp'' were shortly returned to the United States. Harris served in the Atlantic and on Lake Ontario thereafter. Dr. Harris was one of those who received the thanks of Congress and the medal awarded to all officers who took part in this action.
In March 1815, Harris sailed with
Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was an American naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the Unite ...
in the
campaign
Campaign or The Campaign may refer to:
Types of campaigns
* Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed
*Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme
* Bl ...
against the
Barbary Pirates
The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...
. He was placed in charge of the wounded.
[J.S. Harris, ''Record of the Harris Family''. P. 48.]
His most important subsequent service was at Philadelphia. While serving in this city, he oversaw the construction of the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia; he served as the president of the naval board of medical examiners; and he organized the first postgraduate medical school to give instruction in naval medicine. He was one of the best known and most skillful surgeons of his day, and many distinguished civilians came to him for relief. In 1832, he operated on President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
and extracted a bullet that the president had received in a duel nearly 20 years before. In 1837 he published a biography of Commodore William Bainbridge.
[Harris T, 1837](_blank)
In 1828, he 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 ...
.
In April 1844, Surgeon Harris was appointed chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and served in this capacity until 30 September 1853. During his tenure, he brought about improvements in the organization of the bureau and was much interested in the character and qualifications of the young physicians entering the Medical Corps of the Navy.
Personal life
First marriage
Harris married Jane Phillips Hodgdon, daughter of Major Samuel Hodgdon, who had been an army officer from 1776 to 1800, and who later became president of the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities. They had five children. Jane died July 21, 1834.
Second marriage
Harris subsequently married Esther White Macpherson (1803 – May 18, 1855), who was a daughter of Major Samuel Macpherson (a soldier in the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
) and Elizabeth White, daughter of
William White, the first Episcopalian Bishop of Pennsylvania.
Family
Harris' father,
William Harris William or Will or Willie Harris may refer to:
Politicians and political activists
*William Harris (born 1504) (1504–?), MP for Newport, Cornwall
*William Harris (died 1556), MP for Maldon (UK Parliament constituency), Maldon
*William Harris (MP ...
, was a soldier 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 ...
and a member of the Pennsylvania legislature. His brother
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
was in the Marine Corps for over fifty years, serving as its sixth commandant.
Harris' nephew,
Joseph Smith Harris
Joseph Smith Harris (April 29, 1836 – June 1, 1910) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and railroad executive. Largely self-taught, he worked on several projects for the U.S. government, including the Coast Survey of the Mississippi ...
, participated in the Coast Survey, the Northwest Boundary Survey, and in 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 ...
. He later became president of the
Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly calle ...
.
Death
He died on 4 March 1861 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.
References
*Harris, Joseph S. ''Record of the Harris Family, descended from John Harris, Born 1680 in Wiltshire, England''. George F. Lasher, Philadelphia. 1903.
*Harris, Thomas. ''The life and services of Commodore William Bainbridge, United States Navy''. Carey Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia. 1837.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Thomas
1784 births
1861 deaths
People from Chester County, Pennsylvania
United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni
United States Navy Medical Corps officers
Military personnel from Pennsylvania