Albert Freeman Africanus King (18 January 1841 – 13 December 1914) was an English-born American physician who was pressed into service at the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on 14 April 1865. He was one of a few physicians who served in both the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. In addition, King was one of the earliest to suggest the connection between

mosquitos Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...

and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

Early life

On January 18, 1841, King was born in Ambrosden, a village near

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an eco town at North-East Bicester and self-build village aGraven Hill Its loca ...

in the

Cherwell District Cherwell ( ) is a local government district in northern Oxfordshire, England. The district takes its name from the River Cherwell, which drains south through the region to flow into the River Thames at Oxford. Towns in Cherwell include Banbur ...

of north-eastern

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

in England. He was the youngest of three children of Edward King and Louisa Freeman. His sister was Stella Louisa Elizabeth King (born 1838) and brother was Claudius Edward Richard King (born 1839). His father was a doctor interested in the colonization of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. He was named Africanus "because of his father's admiration" for that continent. He attended Maley's School and the Bicester Diocesan School. His family left Liverpool on 26 August 1854 to

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the United States. They arrived in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, on 7 September 1854 (but some records indicate 1851) and first settled in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

. In 1855, they moved to Bushy Bridges, Prince William County.

Education and early career

King earned his ( MD) degree from National Medical College of Columbian University (now

George Washington University Medical School The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (abbreviated as GW Medical School or SMHS) is the professional medical school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. SMHS is one of the most selective med ...

) in 1861 at age twenty. In November he became an Acting Assistant Surgeon to Major J. W. L. Daniel of 15th AL Infantry, Confederate States Army, and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. In 1864 he was appointed Acting Assistant Surgeon in the U.S. Army, and worked at the Lincoln Hospital, Washington, D.C. In 1865, he became lecturer on

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...

at the National Medical College of Columbian University, and also obtained his second MD degree from

Lincoln assassination

During the

, King was in Washington, DC. On 14 April 1865 he was in the audience at

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater bo ...

when President Abraham Lincoln was shot by

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth ...

. He helped carry the dying President to a house across the street. Some suggest King was the first physician to reach Lincoln but the accounts of the other physicians present, Dr. Charles Augustus Leale and Dr. Charles Sabin Taft, suggest that King was second or third.

Later life

In 1871 King became a professor of

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a sur ...

both at

University of Vermont College of Medicine The Robert Larner College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Vermont, a public research university in Burlington, Vermont. Established in 1822, it is the nation's seventh oldest medical school. The primary teaching hospital for ...

and Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. and at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...

. From 1879 to 1894 he was Dean of National Medical College, Medical Department, at National Medical College of Columbian University.

Mosquito-malaria theory

In 1882, King proposed a method to eradicate malaria from Washington, DC. His method was to encircle the city with a wire screen as high as the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...

. Many people took this as a jest, partly because the link between malaria and mosquitoes had, at that time, been hypothesized by only a few physicians. It was not until 1898 that

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the ...

proved mosquitoes were a vector for malaria (he won the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

for the discovery just four years later). However impractical, King was on the right track for malaria control, well in advance of the rest of the medical profession.

Honours

King was elected President of Medical Society of Washington, D.C. in 1883, and again in 1903. In 1883

awarded him honorary master's degree. From 1885 to 1887 he was President of Washington Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. He received

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

degree from University of Vermont in 1894. He was Fellow of British Gynecological Society, American Gynecological Society, and

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

. He was Consulting Physician at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C.. He was elected member of Washington Academy of Sciences, and Associate Member of the

Victoria Institute The Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain, was founded in 1865, as a response to the publication of ''On the Origin of Species'' and ''Essays and Reviews''. Its stated objective was to defend "the great truths revealed in ...

, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain.

Personal life and death

King married Ellen Amory Dexter of Boston on 17 October 1894. Together they had two daughters, Louisa Freeman and Sarah Vincent. His wife died in 1935. King died in Washington, D.C. due to senile debility, and is interred at

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...

References

Sources

* Honigsbaum, Mark. ''The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria'', Picador, 2003. * Kunhardt, Dorothy Meserve, and Kunhardt Jr., Phillip B. ''Twenty Days: A Narrative in Text and Pictures of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the Twenty Days and Nights That Followed''. New York: Castle Books, 1965. * McCullough, David. ''

The Path Between the Seas ''The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914'' (1977) is a book by the American historian David McCullough, published by Simon & Schuster. The 698-page book contains 80 photographs, two maps and extensive source refe ...

''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1977. * Roos, Charles A. ''Physicians to the Presidents, and Their Patients: A Biobibliography'', ''Bulletin of the Medical Library Association''. 1961.

External links

A Manual of Obstetrics By Albert Freeman Africanus King

American National Biography Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Albert Freeman Africanus 1841 births 1914 deaths American medical researchers American obstetricians People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln English emigrants to the United States Malariologists People from Bicester George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences alumni Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery