William Maclay Awl (May 24, 1799 – November 19, 1876) was a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and a

mental health hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

administrator.

Biography

He was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, to Mary (Maclay) Awl and lawyer and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Samuel Awl. He studied basic medical concepts under a local

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. At age 20 he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. Failing to graduate, he began a temporary practice in his hometown, specializing in anatomy and surgery, but later accompanied a knapsacker to

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the south-central part of the state. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,552. The city is near the Hocking River, about southeast of Columbus and southwest of Zanesville. It is ...

, in 1826. In 1830 he married Rebecca Loughey. He then practiced his profession in many towns within Ohio, but finally settled in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, in 1833 where he stayed for the rest of his life. He was the first

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 ...

west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

to tie the left

Common carotid artery In anatomy, the left and right common carotid arteries (carotids) (Entry "carotid"
in
insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

. He was once stated that if he could fix his eyes on those of even the most violent lunatic he could control him without difficulty, an accomplishment which he succeeded in doing several times. He was a common witness in court to cases of doubtful insanity. Both he and Marmaduke B. Wright were members of the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

. Together they promoted a bill which later became law in 1835 in which Ohio insanity cases would come under the care of the state. William Maclay Awl then was acting superintendent of the "State Hospital", which opened in 1838. Also in 1838 he was president of the Association of Superintendents of Asylums for the Insane of the United States and Canada. He held this position until 1851. He headed a bill which founded schools for the education of the blind and feeble-minded in Ohio. In addition, in 1846, he,

Daniel Drake Daniel Drake (October 20, 1785 – November 5, 1852) was a pioneering American physician and prolific writer. Early life Drake was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, to Isaac Drake and Elizabeth Shotwell. He was the elder brother of Benjamin ...

, and other leading members of his field to establish the Ohio State Medical Society.

Notes

References

* Johnson, Allen, ed. ''Dictionary of American Biography''. New York:Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. {{DEFAULTSORT:Awl, William Maclay 1799 births 1876 deaths American psychiatrists American surgeons Politicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Members of the Ohio General Assembly Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Presidents of the American Psychiatric Association 19th-century American politicians