James McClurg (1746 – July 9, 1823) was an American physician and

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

who served as a delegate to the

Philadelphia Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention f ...

which drafted the United States Constitution in 1787. McClurg served as the 18th, 21st, and 24th mayor of Richmond,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. His lifelong friendship with

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

dated from their school days.

Medical career

James McClurg was one of the most distinguished physicians in the colonies. He was a graduate of the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, where he later served as a professor, and received his medical degree from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in Scotland in 1770. He also studied in London and Paris. McClurg practiced first in Williamsburg, then in Richmond. McClurg's work and writings were respected by the medical community on both sides of the Atlantic. His ''Experiments upon the Human Bile and Reflections on the Biliary Secretions'' (London: 1772), was translated into several languages. In 1774, 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 ...

. McClurg served as a surgeon of the American navy in Hampton, Virginia during 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 was appointed Physician General and Director of Hospitals for Virginia's military forces in 1777. On December 4, 1779, the Board of Visitors at the College of William and Mary voted to appoint McClurg as the first Chair of Anatomy and Medicine at the college, a position he held until moving to Richmond and returning to private practice in 1784. McClurg achieved renown in Richmond for his efforts to stop various epidemics, including the yellow fever in 1798. However, his contagious disease focus later brought criticism in connection with the botched toxicological work in the celebrated trial concerning the murder of Judge

George Wythe George Wythe (; December 3, 1726 – June 8, 1806) was an American academic, scholar and judge who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The first of the seven signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence from ...

, whom he initially thought suffered from cholera, not arsenic poisoning. McClurg was also the first honoree of the ''Philadelphia Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences.'' In 1820 and 1821 McClurg was president of Virginia's State Medical Society.

Public service

To prevent the Francophobic

Arthur Lee (diplomat) Arthur Lee (20 December 1740 – 12 December 1792) was a physician and opponent of slavery in colonial Virginia in North America who served as an American diplomat during the American Revolutionary War. He helped negotiate and signed the 1778 ...

from becoming The Continental Congress's first Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1781,

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

, still wanting to vote for a Virginian, nominated McClurg as a third candidate, along with the previously-nominated Lee and

Robert R. Livingston (chancellor) Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", aft ...

. The French minister, Anne-César, Chevalier de la Luzerne, thereafter convinced New Jersey's

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...

, who was paradoxically a pro-Lee Francophile, that diplomatic troubles would likely ensue should Lee be elected, and Witherspoon abstained, tilting New Jersey's vote and the election to Livingston.Irving Brant, ''James Madison: The Nationalist, 1780-1787'', Indianapolis, Ind. and New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1948, p. 124. Livingston won seven states, compared to three for Lee and two for McClurg. When Patrick Henry refused to attend the Philadelphia Convention, Virginia's legislature selected McClurg as a delegate along with

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including ...

Edmund Randolph Edmund Jennings Randolph (August 10, 1753 September 12, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, and the 7th Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to create ...

and

. McClurg thus became one of three physicians (with

Hugh Williamson Hugh Williamson (December 5, 1735 – May 22, 1819) was an American Founding Father, physician, and politician. He is best known as a signatory to the U.S. Constitution, and for representing North Carolina at the Constitutional Convention. Wi ...

and James McHenry) involved in crafting the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

. McClurg advocated increased executive powers while at the Convention, but returned to Virginia in early August. He never returned, worried that his "vote would only operate to produce a division, & so destroy the vote of the state", and thus did not sign the final draft when finished in September 1787. President Washington later considered nominating him as Secretary of State, after

resigned. McClurg served on Virginia's Executive Council during Washington's administration. A Richmond city councilman for more than a dozen years, McClurg was elected Mayor of Richmond for three terms, first in 1797.

Personal life

James McClurg was born in

Elizabeth City County, Virginia Elizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 until 1952 when it was merged into the city of Hampton. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order ...

in 1746 to Walter McClurg, a British naval surgeon. In 1779 he married Elizabeth Seldon with whom he had two children. His daughter Elizabeth Selden McClurg eventually married John Wickham, a celebrated Richmond attorney. Widowed in 1818, McClurg left his practice to his nephew, James Drew McCaw, who was also a physician. Although a Presbyterian, McClurg is buried at

St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...

in Richmond. He died on July 9, 1823 in Richmond.

Publications

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References

External links