Alexander Hodgdon Stevens
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Alexander Hodgdon Stevens (September 4, 1789 – March 30, 1869) was an American surgeon who served as the second
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of the
American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...
from 1848 to 1849.


Early life

Stevens was born in
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on September 4, 1789. He was one of eleven children born to New York City merchant
Ebenezer Stevens Ebenezer Stevens (August 11, 1751 – September 2, 1823) was a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, a major general in the New York state militia, and a New York City merchant. Early life Stevens was ...
. His mother was Lucretia (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Ledyard) Sands Stevens. From his father's first marriage, he was a half-sibling to Horatio Gates Stevens and Rebecca Hodgden (née Stevens) Schermerhorn, wife of John Peter Schermerhorn (a brother of Abraham Schermerhorn). Among his full-siblings were Samuel Stevens; William Stevens; Henry Hewgill Stevens; Mary Lucretia (née Stevens) Rhinelander;
John Austin Stevens John Austin Stevens Jr. (January 21, 1827 – June 16, 1910) was a leader of business, an adviser of government and a student of the American Revolution. While he was born to a prominent banking family with political connections, it was his inte ...
, father of John A. Stevens Jr.; and Byam Kerby Stevens, who married Frances Gallatin (daughter of
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and Ambassador
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) and was the father of Byam K. Stevens Jr. He graduated from
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in 1807, studied in the office of Edward Miller, attended medical lectures in the
New York College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving ...
and at the
University of Pennsylvania Medical School The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the olde ...
, and received his M.D. from the latter institution in 1811. His thesis on “The Proximate Causes of Inflammation” was praised by medical men.


Career

After graduating from Medical School, Stevens traveled to
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with the object of pursuing surgical studies, but, on being captured by an
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cruiser and taken into
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, he went to London and received instruction from John Abernethy and
Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology ...
for a year, and then studied for a year longer under Alexis Boyer and Baron Larrey in
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. On his return to the United States, he was appointed a surgeon in the
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. Establishing himself in New York City, he was elected professor of surgery in the New York medical institution in 1814. When appointed surgeon to the
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in 1818, he introduced the European system of surgical demonstrations and instruction at the bedside. In 1825 he became professor of the principles and practice of surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He became professor of clinical surgery in 1837, but in the following year resigned his active duties in this institution and in the college, and thenceforth acted mainly as a consulting surgeon, both in public and private practice. He was appointed consulting surgeon to the New York hospital, and emeritus professor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of which he was made president in 1841. He was president of the
American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...
in 1848–49. In 1848, he was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
. In 1849 he received from the
New York State University The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...
the degree of
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He retired from the presidency of the college faculty in 1855.


Personal life

Stevens was married three times: firstly to Mary Jane Bayard (1792–1823); secondly to Catherine Morris (1801–1838), a granddaughter of
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, in 1825; and thirdly to Phoebe Coles Lloyd (1818–1907).


Published works

Besides his contributions to medical periodicals, he published: * ''Inflammation of the Eye'' (Philadelphia, 1811) * ''Cases of Fungus Haematodes of the Eye'' (New York, 1818) * ''Medical and Surgical Register, consisting chiefly of Cases in the New York Hospital'', with John Watts Jr., and Valentine Mott (1818) * Astley Cooper, ''First Lines of Surgery'', editor (1822) * ''Clinical Lecture in Injuries'' (1837) * ''Lectures on Lithotomy'' (1838) * ''Address to Graduates'' (1847) * ''Plea of Humanity in Behalf of Medical Education'', an address before the New York state medical association (Albany, 1849).


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Alexander Hodgdon 1789 births 1869 deaths American surgeons Yale University alumni Physicians from New York City Presidents of the American Medical Association New York College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni