William Shippen Jr. (October 21, 1736 – July 11, 1808), was the first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery and obstetrics in

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

and founded the first maternity hospital in America. He was the 3rd Director General of Hospitals of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

Early life

He was born on October 21, 1736, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of

William Shippen Sr. William Shippen Sr. (October 1, 1712November 4, 1801) was an American physician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was also a civic and educational leader who represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress. Biography William was born to J ...

(1712–1801), also a doctor, and Susannah (

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 ...

Harrison) Shippen. His sister, Susan Shippen, was married to Samuel Blair, the second

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

of the United States House of Representatives. He studied with Reverend

Samuel Finley Samuel Finley (July 2, 1715 – July 17, 1766) was an Irish-born American Presbyterian minister and academic. He founded the West Nottingham Academy and was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later ren ...

at West Nottingham Academy and then attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), graduating in 1754. His valedictory address won praise from

Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...

and George Whitefield. Shippen studied medicine first with his father, then went to England and Scotland and in 1761 earned his medical degree at the University of Edinburgh Medical School.

Career

Shippen followed his father

into a medical career. At his father's encouragement, William Jr. commenced America's first series of anatomy lectures in 1762. He became one of the first professors (of anatomy, surgery, and midwifery) of America's first medical school (the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania), which he co-founded in 1765 with Dr. John Morgan. At the time, male midwifery was considered "offensive" and people threw stones through the windows of his dissecting rooms and occasionally burst into his rooms in mobs. Like his father, William Shippen Jr. was elected to the revived American Philosophical Society in 1767, where he served as Curator from 1771 to 1772, and as Secretary from 1772 to 1773.

American Revolution

During the American Revolutionary War, Shippen served as Chief Physician & Director General of the Hospital of the Continental Army in New Jersey (1776) and as Director General of the Hospitals West of the Hudson River (October 1776). Ultimately, he served (April 11, 1777 – January 1781) as Director of Hospitals for the Continental Army, a precursor of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army. Shippen had connived to replace Dr. Morgan, his predecessor in that position. Later Morgan, with the assistance of Dr. Benjamin Rush, brought about his forced resignation. He was subsequently court martialed for misappropriating supplies intended for recovering soldiers and underreporting deaths, but was acquitted on a technicality. Shippen was among the founders of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and served as its president 1805–1808. He was also a member of the original board of trustees of

Old Pine Street Church Old Pine Street Church is a Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania built in 1768. American Revolution Old Pine became known as the ''"Church of the Patriots"'', because many of the parishioners such as John Adams, stood with George Was ...

Personal life

Shippen was married to Alice Lee (1736–1817), the daughter of Thomas Lee and

Hannah Harrison Ludwell Hannah Harrison Ludwell Lee (December 5, 1701 – January 25, 1750) was an American colonial heiress and the wife of Colonel Thomas Lee. A granddaughter of Philip Ludwell and Benjamin Harrison II, she was a prominent figure within the American ge ...

. They were the parents of

Anne Shippen Anne Hume "Nancy" Livingston (born Shippen) (24 February 1763 – 25 August 1841) was an American journal writer. Early life Shippen was born on 24 February 1763 in Shippen House in Shippensburg. She was a daughter of William Shippen Jr. (173 ...

in 1763 who was a noted diarist. Shippen died on July 11, 1808, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

References

Notes Sources *Randolph Shipley Klein, ''Portrait of an Early American Family: The Shippens of Pennsylvania Across Five Generations''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1975.
Columbia Encyclopedia article

External links

PortraitNotes from a lecture on Midwifery by Dr. William Shippen Jr., taken by Uriah Derickson on April 7, 1798 at the Pennsylvania Hospital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shippen, William Jr. 1736 births 1808 deaths Educators from Philadelphia Continental Army staff officers People of colonial Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution Physicians in the American Revolution Princeton University alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Pennsylvania faculty American people of English descent

William Shippen Jr. William Shippen Jr. (October 21, 1736 – July 11, 1808), was the first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery and obstetrics in Colonial America and founded the first maternity hospital in America. He was the 3rd Surgeons General of the United ...

Surgeons General of the United States Army 18th-century American physicians Physicians from Philadelphia