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 ...

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, 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

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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

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. 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
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,

, 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

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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