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Ten Greatest Doctors
Herewith are )lr. I.awrenee’s nominations
for this distinction. See whether you agree
with the selections which lio has made.
WHOM would you name as the
ten outstanding physicians
of North Carolina?
Л
difficult assignment, to say
the least, and when I submit my
own list, I do so with the knowl¬
edge that many of my readers will
have other names in mind which
they think should by all means
have been included. Perhaps they
are right, but at the same time.
I feel that all of the names I am
going to submit are worthy of
being mentioned. Perhaps the
only error that can be charged
against me is that I have not made
the list long enough.
I have, from the wealth of ma¬
terial at my disposal, made my
own selections, some because of
their primacy in the field of medi¬
cine; others because of their prim¬
acy in the service of the state; but
all because their names have be¬
come embodied in our historical
background.
EPHRAIM BREVARD, of Meck¬
lenburg: He is known to fame not
so much as a physician as on ac¬
count of the fact that he was the
author of the famous Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence of
May 20. 1775, the date carried
upon our State seal, and he is the
only physician who has been
honored by having a county scat
named in his honor. While best
known to history for this service,
he did not permit his patriotic
service to end there, but he served
as surgeon throughout the Revo¬
lution, being especially conspicu¬
ous in his service after the disas¬
trous battle of Camden Court
House where the patriot army
under Gates sustained such a
crushing defeat.
HUGH WILLIAMSON, of Cho¬
wan: He was one of the most
versatile men who ever lived with¬
in our borders, having been, at
different stages in his career, a
minister of the Gospel, a professor
of mathematics, a physician and
surgeon, a member of the Con¬
tinental Congress; a signer of the
Federal Constitutional; an authori¬
tative historian; an author of Na¬
tional reputation; and of varied
other activities. During the Revo-
By It. C . LAWRENCE
lution he gave himself entirely
over to the care of the wounded
and after the battle of Camden
Court House lie remained for sev¬
eral months upon that field caring
for the wounded at his own ex¬
pense. and continuing to serve in
that behalf until Independence had
been won. He was the only physi¬
cian who had any connection with
the Declaration of Independence
or the Federal Constitution; and
his name is embedded in history
not only on that account but also
because' of his two volume history
issued in 1812.
CALVIN JONES, of Wake:
Around 1800 he was a founder of
the State Medical Society of which
he served as Corresponding Secre¬
tary for twenty-five years, and
it was due to his efforts that life
was kept in this feeble organiza¬
tion. He was the best type of the
purely country Doctor; was one
of the most influential men of his
day; served as Surgeon of Militia;
wrote rather voluminously for the
press; and he was the owner of the
farm on which Wake Forest Col¬
lege was laid out and to which he
generously donated twenty-five per
cent of its value. He was of the
class beloved of his people.
NATHANIEL ALEXANDER, of
Mecklenburg: He was the only
physician to be elected as Gover¬
nor, and his memory is preserved
in our county of that name. It is
true that Thomas Burke was also
a physician, but he abandoned that
profession for that of the law long
prior to his election as Governor;
whereas Alexander remained in
active practice during his entire
life; and even while he occupied
the executive chair, he continued
the practice of his profession dur¬
ing such time as he could spare
from his official duties, it being
related that he ministered to the
sick and suffering even in the
Governor’s office, without accept¬
ing any reward for his services.
He was a member of one of our
leading families, for approximately
half the names signed to the Meck¬
lenburg Declaration were those of
the tribe of Alexander.
EDWARD WARREN, of Cho¬
wan: He had the most unique
career of any physician who passed
any part of his career within our
borders. A country Doctor in the
tiny town of Edenton. but a man
of brilliant attainments, he mar¬
ried the State’s richest heiress,
and going to Baltimore he founded
the College of Physicians and Sur¬
geons, which later became a part
of the University of Maryland.
When the Civil War opened his
Southern sympathies caused him
to return to Carolina, where he
became the intimate friend and
associate of Governor Vance, and
received from that eminent states¬
man appointment as Surgeon-Gen¬
eral of State troops, and he re¬
mained in the service of the South
until Appomattox sealed the doom
of the Confederacy. His restless
spirit then drove him abroad and
he became Surgeon-General in the
armies of the Khedive of Egypt,
performing a difficult operation
upon an important member of that
government, whereupon the grate¬
ful monarch created Warren a
Bey. corresponding to an English
Lord, Later he opened a hospital
in Paris, becoming so renowned as
a physician and surgeon that he
received decorations from the
French. Italian. Greek. Spanish
and other European Governments.
He left no descendants, and al¬
though he died so recently as fifty
years ago, his grave cannot now be
located. Sic transit gloria mundi.
E. BURKE HAYWOOD, of
Wake: He was a member of a
famous Carolina family, whose
name is preserved in the county of
that name, members of which have
served in every branch of the pub¬
lic service from United States
Senator down. He was a founder
of the Raleigh Academy of medi¬
cine. serving as its President; and
during the Civil War he served as
Confederate Surgeon-General; and
after the war he became a primate
( Continued on page 14)
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