Daniel Brainard (May 15, 1812 – October 10, 1866) was a Chicago-based surgeon and founder of

Rush Medical College Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1837, it is affiliated with Rush University Medical Center, and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. ...

Personal life

Brainard came to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1836, at the age of 24, and immediately set up a medical practice, soon after which he applied to the Illinois state legislature for a charter for what was to become

. The charter was granted on March 2, 1837, two days before the city of Chicago was incorporated. He chose the name for the school after

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

, the only physician with medical training to sign the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. Brainard died from

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in Chicago on October 10, 1866, and was buried at

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Irving Park R ...

Career

Brainard made his reputation in Chicago by successfully amputating at the hip joint the leg of an injured canal worker, the first such operation in the United States. His other accomplishments include being the city’s first surgeon, editor of the ''Illinois Medical and Surgical Journal'', proponent of the first general hospital for the city and then the first county hospital. He was also an organizer for the county and state medical societies. Brainard was the president and professor of surgery at Rush from its founding until his death at age 54 of cholera, a subject he had lectured on a few hours before he himself succumbed to the disease. Brainard ran for mayor of Chicago in 1858. By 1897, Rush Medical College was the largest medical school in America.

is now part of

Rush University Rush University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois. The university, founded in 1972, is the academic arm of Rush University Medical Center. Rush University comprises: * Rush Medical College * Rush University College of Nursing * Rush ...

and its affiliated medical center

Rush University Medical Center Rush University Medical Center (Rush) is an academic medical center in the Illinois Medical District neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is the hospital for the Rush University System for Health, which includes Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rus ...

, formerly Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brainard, Daniel American surgeons University and college founders Physicians from Chicago 1812 births 1866 deaths Rush University Deaths from cholera Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)

Personal life

Career

See also

References