Lewis Henry Steiner (May 4, 1827 – February 18, 1892) was an American medical doctor and librarian. He was a member of the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

from 1872 to 1884.

Biography

Lewis Henry Steiner was born in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in, and the county seat of, Frederick County, Maryland, United States. Frederick's population was 78,171 people as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Maryland, second-largest ...

. He was educated at Marshall College, Pennsylvania, where he received the degree of A.M. in 1849, and was graduated the same year at the medical department 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 ...

. He began to practise in Frederick, but in 1852 moved to Baltimore, where for three years he was associated with John R. W. Dunbar in the conduct of the Baltimore Medical Institute, at the end of which time he returned to Frederick. Soon after he began to practise his attention was especially directed to

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and the allied sciences, and during his residence in Baltimore his time was largely occupied in teaching. He was professor of chemistry and

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Columbian College The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first un ...

, Washington, D.C., and also of chemistry and

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

in the National Medical College, Washington, in 1853; lecturer on chemistry and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

in St. James College, Maryland, in 1854; lecturer on applied chemistry in the Maryland Institute in 1855, and professor of chemistry in the Maryland College of Pharmacy in 1856. By 1855, he had given up the practice of medicine to devote his career to the natural sciences, botany and chemistry in particular. 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 ...

, he was actively employed as an inspector by the

United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private Aid agency, relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the Ameri ...

, and for a period was in charge of its operations in the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the primary field army of the Union army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the Battle of ...

as chief inspector. He published a brief history of the Commission in 1866. He became president of the Frederick County School Board in 1865 where a major interest was in developing school facilities for African-American children. In 1871 he was elected by the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

, representing Frederick County for four years. He was re-elected for a like term in 1875, and again in 1879. He served until 1884. From 1855 until 1858, he was a contributor to, and afterward assistant editor of, ''The American Medical Monthly''. His efforts were chiefly responsible for the Maryland General Assembly adopting the 1876 Great Seal of Maryland, which remains the State's Seal to this day. In 1884 he was appointed librarian of the

Enoch Pratt Free Library The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library is located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupies the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded by West Franklin S ...

, remaining there until his death. He was a

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

elder. A collection of his papers is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.

Family

In 1866, he married Sarah Spencer Smyth. They had six children, of which one, his son

Bernard Christian Steiner Bernard Christian Steiner (August 13, 1867 in Guilford, Connecticut – January 12, 1926) was a United States educator, librarian and jurist. Biography He prepared for college at the academy of Frederick, Maryland, then attended Yale, where ...

, succeeded his father as librarian.

Works

*edition of Heinrich Will, ''Outlines of Chemical Analysis'', translated from the 3rd German edition, with Daniel Brud (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1855) *''Cantate Domino: a Collection of Chants, Hymns, etc., for Church Service'', with Henry Schwing (Boston, 1859) *''Report containing a Diary kept during the Rebel Occupation of Frederick, Md., etc.'' (New York, 1862) He published other translations from the German, with monographs, reports, lectures, and speeches.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Lewis Henry 1827 births 1892 deaths People from Frederick, Maryland Physicians from Maryland People of Maryland in the American Civil War American librarians Republican Party Maryland state senators 19th-century American physicians 19th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly