Daniel Drake (October 20, 1785 – November 5, 1852) was a pioneering American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and prolific writer.

Early life

Drake was born in Plainfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, to Isaac Drake and Elizabeth Shotwell. He was the elder brother of Benjamin Drake, author of ''Life of

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

''. Daniel Drake "was predestined for the medical profession by his father. The latter, we are told by those who knew him, was a gentleman by nature and a Christian from convictions produced by a simple and unaffected study of the Word of God. His poverty he regretted, his ignorance he deplored."

Career

Drake studied under William Goforth in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

from 1800 to 1805, and received the first medical diploma west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

. Daniel graduated from the medical school of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and established a medical practice in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, in 1807. He mainly worked on the field of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

but also advocated

social reform Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

s and contributed to

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

, and medical geology. He is considered a relevant figure in the

history of medicine in the United States The history of medicine in the United States encompasses a variety of approaches to health care in the United States spanning from colonial days to the present. These interpretations of medicine vary from early folk remedies that fell under vario ...

. Scholar Gert H. Brieger has called him "a heroic figure in American medicine" whose fame is due to his writings, where he also tried to improve

medical education Medical education is vocational education, education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, including the initial training to become a physician (i.e., medical school and internship (medical), internship) and additional trainin ...

and scientific research. In 1818 Drake was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

and 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 ...

. The library of the AAS holds original copies of around thirty texts written by Drake. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1819. In 1819 he helped organize the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati which later became the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, where he served as a President. He secured a state appropriation for its support and that of a hospital. In 1827 Drake and Guy W. Wright M.D. founded The Western Medical and Physical Journal, of which they were editors. Then in 1828 he founded another journal, with a similar name, '' The Western Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences'', of which Drake was sole editor. He continued to edit this journal until 1848. In 1846 he,

William Maclay Awl William Maclay Awl (May 24, 1799 – November 19, 1876) was a psychiatrist, a politician and a mental health hospital administrator. Biography He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Mary (Maclay) Awl and lawyer and Senator Samuel Awl. He ...

and other members of the Ohio medical profession established the Ohio State Medical Society. He was a founding member of the Commercial Hospital and Lunatic Asylum in Ohio, and a fellow of the

College of Physicians of Philadelphia The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest private medical society in the United States. Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the dise ...

. He was connected, either as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

, at different times, at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

(

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

) and

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

(

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

). He was Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

. In 1852, he rejoined the faculty at the Medical College of Ohio but died a few days after receiving his appointment. He is buried at Spring Grove Cemetery.

Personal life

He was the father of Charles Daniel Drake. Drake's home was located at 429 East Third Street in Cincinnati. A religious man, he was a founding Member of Christ Church in Cincinnati, and he advocated the combination of Christian feelings and literature. He is the namesake of Cincinnati's Daniel Drake Park and the Daniel Drake Rehabilitation Center at the

University of Cincinnati Medical Center The University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC) is a primary teaching hospital for the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. At various times since its founding in 1821 it has been known by names including Cincinnati Hospital, Commercial ...

William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for speci ...

was a great admirer of Drake:

"It was his custom when he met anyone from
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
to ask if a statue to Daniel Drake had been erected, for he had made a vow never to visit that city until Drake had been accorded the honour which was his due."W.R.Bett, Osler: The Man and the Legend, Heinemann, London 1951, p.89.

Works

* ''Notices Concerning Cincinnati'' (1810; 1908)
''Natural and statistical view; or picture of Cincinnati and the Miami country''
(1815)
''An account of the epidemic cholera : as it appeared in Cincinnati''
(1832)
''Practical treatise on the history, prevention, and treatment of epidemic cholera''
(1832) * ''Practical Essays on Medical Education'' (1832)
''An introductory lecture on the means of promoting the intellectual improvement of the students and physicians of the valley of the Mississippi''
(1844) * ''Systematic Treatise on the Principal Diseases of the Interior Valley of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

'', (1850-54)
''Pioneer Life in Kentucky: A series of reminiscential letters from Daniel Drake ... to his children''
(1870); edited by his son Charles D. Drake

References

External links