Dr. Gabriel Grant (September 4, 1826 – November 8, 1909) was an American
surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...
and
Union Army major who was awarded the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
for his actions during the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
Early life
Gabriel Grant was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1826. His father was Charles Grant, an officer in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
and he was a descendant of
Robert Treat
Robert Treat (February 23, 1622July 12, 1710) was an English-born politician, military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Connecticut from 1683 to 1687 and 1689 to 1698. In 1666, he co-founded the colonial settlemen ...
, one of the Puritan founders of Newark. He attended
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
, graduating in 1846 with a
Masters. He later graduated from the
College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1851.
[ ]
Career
In 1852, he worked as a surgeon in Panama during the height of the
California Gold Rush
The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
[ at a time when hordes of prospectors traveled across the isthmus on their way to the gold fields by sea and organized the American Hospital the following year.][ ][ He then returned to practice medicine in his hometown of Newark. In 1854, he was part of a special commission set up to fight the ]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 ...
epidemic in the city.
Civil War
With the onset of the Civil War, he joined the 2nd Infantry Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers as a surgeon from June to October 1861. He was then appointed to the U.S. Volunteers before joining the brigade under the command of William French.[ His citation reads:
In February 1863, he was appointed Medical Director of Hospitals in ]Evanston, Indiana
Evanston is an unincorporated community in Huff Township, Spencer County, in the U.S. state of Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to ...
,[ and was placed in charge of the United States Army Hospital in ]Madison, Indiana
Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the large ...
, on September 4 of the same year.[ He resigned his commission in January 1865][
After the war, he was elected as a companion of the New York Commandery of the ]Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States
The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was consisted ...
.
Personal life
Grant married the Caroline Manice in 1864. After the war, they lived in Newark, but soon moved to New York City, where all four of their children (three sons, one daughter) were born. The eldest was the lawyer, eugenicist
Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetics, genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human Phenotype, phenotypes by ...
, and conservationist Madison Grant
Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known for his work as a conservation movement, conservationist, eugenics, eugenicist, and advocate of scientific racism. Grant i ...
.[
Gabriel Grant died at his home at 22 East 49th Street, ]Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, New York, at the age of 83.[ He was survived by his wife and three sons.][
]
See also
* List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: G–L
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Gabriel
1826 births
1909 deaths
American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor
Physicians from Newark, New Jersey
Union army officers
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
Place of death missing
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Williams College alumni