William James Mayo (June 29, 1861 – July 28, 1939) was a physician and surgeon in the United States and one of the seven founders of the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

. He and his brother,

Charles Horace Mayo Charles Horace Mayo (July 19, 1865 – May 26, 1939) was an American medical practitioner and was one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic along with his brother William James Mayo, Augustus Stinchfield, Christopher Graham, E. Star Judd, Henr ...

, both joined their father's private medical practice in Rochester, Minnesota, US, after graduating from medical school in the 1880s. In 1919, that practice became the not-for-profit Mayo Clinic.

Augustus Stinchfield Augustus W. Stinchfield (December 21, 1842 – March 15, 1917) was an American physician and one of the co-founders—along with Drs. Charles Horace Mayo, William James Mayo, Christopher Graham, E. Starr Judd, Henry Stanley Plummer, Melvin M ...

was also asked to join the medical practice in 1892 by William Worrall Mayo. Once Stinchfield was hired, W. W. Mayo retired at age 73. Others who were invited to be part of the enterprise were C. Graham, E. Starr Judd,

Henry Stanley Plummer Henry Stanley Plummer ( – ) was an American internist and endocrinologist who, along with William Mayo, Charles Mayo, Augustus Stinchfield, E. Starr Judd, Christopher Graham, and Donald Balfour founded Mayo Clinic. Plummer is also immortal ...

, Melvin Millet and

Donald Balfour Donald Church Balfour (August 22, 1882 – July 25, 1963) was a Canadian medical educator and surgeon who specialized in gastrointestinal surgery. He worked at the Mayo Clinic from 1907 until 1947, and was director of the Mayo Foundation for Medica ...

Early years

William James Mayo was born to

William Worrall Mayo William Worrall Mayo (May 31, 1819 – March 6, 1911) was a British-American medical doctor and chemist. He is best known for establishing the private medical practice that later evolved into the Mayo Clinic. He was a descendant of a famous En ...

and his wife Louise in

Le Sueur, Minnesota Le Sueur is a city in Le Sueur County in the U.S. state of Minnesota, between Mankato and the Twin Cities. It lies along the Minnesota River and U.S. Highway 169. Le Sueur was named in honor of the French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur. Th ...

, in his parents' home. As a child, William and his brother Charles frequently accompanied their father as he went about his business as a pioneer physician. They began by helping out with very menial tasks, and were gradually given more responsibility. Eventually, the boys were administering anesthesia and tying off blood vessels. One night at the age of 16, Will accompanied his father to an abandoned hotel where one of the elder Mayo's patients worked as the caretaker. The patient had just died and Mayo was going to perform an

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...

. Will stood by and watched the procedure and after about an hour, it was time to go to another patient's home. Mayo asked his son to stay behind and clean up. "Sew up the incisions and then tuck the sheet around the corpse. When you finish, go right home." Will nervously began to stitch up the incisions on the body and recounted the incident many years later saying, "I'm about as proud of the fact that I walked out of there, instead of ran, as of anything else I ever made myself do".

Education and career

Mayo earned his medical degree at the University of Michigan Medical School in 1883, where he became a founder of

Nu Sigma Nu Nu Sigma Nu () was an international professional fraternity for medicine, now existing as a handful of stable remaining chapters. It was founded on 2 March 1882 by five medical students at the University of Michigan, who identified as their immed ...

Medical Fraternity. Afterwards he returned to Rochester to practice medicine alongside his father and his brother Charles. On August 21, 1883, a tornado struck Rochester, killing 29 people and seriously injuring over 55 others. One-third of the town was destroyed, but young Will and his family escaped serious harm. The relief efforts began immediately with a temporary hospital being established at the town's dance hall. The Mayo brothers were extensively involved in treating the injured who were brought there for help.

Mother Alfred Moes Mary Alfred Moes, (born Maria Catherine Moes; October 28, 1828 – December 18, 1899) was a Roman Catholic nun who was instrumental in establishing first the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate in Joliet, Illinois, as well as the Sisters o ...

and the Sisters of Saint Francis were called in to act as nurses (despite the fact they were trained as teachers and had little if any medical experience). After the crisis had subsided, Mother Alfred Moes approached

about establishing a hospital in Rochester. On September 30, 1889, Saint Mary's Hospital opened. W.W. Mayo, 70 years old, became the consulting physician and surgeon at the hospital, and his two sons began seeing patients and performing surgery with the assistance of the Sisters of Saint Francis.

Personal life and death

William J. Mayo married Hattie Marie Damon (1864–1952) in 1884. They had 5 children, two of whom survived infancy. Carrie born in 1887 and Pheobe in 1897 both married physicians at the Mayo Clinic. He died in July 1939 of

gastric carcinoma Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymp ...

(stomach cancer) in Rochester, Minnesota. That type of tumor had been a major focus of his surgical practice. Mayo is buried with his family members near his parents and brother at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester. The United States Postal Service printed a stamp depicting him and his brother,

, on September 11, 1964. Both William J. Mayo and his brother Charles H. Mayo were prominent

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

of the

Grand Lodge of Minnesota The Grand Lodge of Minnesota, formally known as "The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Minnesota," is the oldest independent Masonic Grand Lodge established in Minnesota. It was formed in 1853. History Many early s ...

, and members of Rochester Lodge #21. The Dr. William J. Mayo House in Rochester is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Military service

William J. Mayo served in World War I at the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

(O6), as chief adviser for U.S. Army surgical services in the office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General. His brother Charles was also a Colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and alternated with William as the associate chief adviser for surgical care of U.S. Army soldiers. When President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

organized the Committee of American Physicians for Medical Preparedness in 1916, William was named its chairman and Charles as one of its members. That committee subsequently became the General Medical Board of the Council for National Defense. William was made a member of its executive committee and Charles was his alternate. During World War I, the Mayo Clinic continued to be busy. Many draftees were examined and war training classes were conducted for new physicians in the medical corps. William and Charles designed courses to educate military doctors on the latest scientific and surgical developments. The two brothers divided their time between Rochester and their duties in Washington, D.C. so that one of them would always be at the Clinic. This schedule took a toll on their health; Charles contracted pneumonia during one of his stints in Washington, and William developed hepatitis while in Rochester in 1918. After hostilities ended in November 1918, both of the Mayo brothers were promoted to the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

(O7) in the

U.S. Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...

. In addition, they both received the U.S.

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

Recipients of the Army Distinguished Service Medal
homeofheroes.com for their wartime service to the country. File:William James Mayo as Colonel in US Army 1917.jpg, William J. Mayo as a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, 1917 File:Reeve 972-2 (2901231977).jpg, Mayo as a major in the Medical Corps File:Distservmedal.jpg, U.S. Distinguished Service Medal File:William j. Mayo letter for distinguished service medal 1919.jpg, Letter from U.S. War Department to William Mayo for Distinguished Service Medal File:OfficeDrWillMayo.jpg, William James Mayo's last office in the

Plummer Building The Plummer Building in Rochester, Minnesota, Rochester, Minnesota, is one of the many architecturally significant buildings on the Mayo Clinic campus. This new "Mayo Clinic" building, opened in 1928, added much needed space to the ever-expandin ...

, as it was during his lifetime. File:DrsMayoStamp.jpg, Doctors Mayo stamp

Predictions

In September 1931, Mayo and other prominent individuals of the time were invited by '' The New York Times'' to make a prediction concerning the world in eighty years time in the future, in 2011, to celebrate the paper's hundred-and-sixtieth anniversary since its establishment in 1851. Mayo's prediction was that the

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

of developed countries would reach 70 years, compared to less than sixty years in 1931. "Three-score and ten" means 70 years. The average life expectancy in the United States was approximately 78 years as of 2010, and it exceeded 80 years in other countries such as Japan.

References

External links

*
Mayo Clinic History
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, William James 1861 births 1939 deaths United States Army Medical Corps officers People from Le Sueur, Minnesota People from Rochester, Minnesota Mayo Clinic people College fraternity founders United States Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Minnesota Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) American surgeons Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Minnesota Physicians from Minnesota University of Michigan Medical School alumni Nu Sigma Nu United States Army generals United States Army reservists Presidents of the American Medical Association