Nicholas Romayne (September 1756, in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was a

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 ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Biography

He was the son of a

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

, and received great educational advantages. At the beginning of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, he went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, where he was known as an able scholar, and took the degree of

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, presenting a thesis entitled “De Generatione Puris,” which was at one time famous. He subsequently studied in

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, and

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, and on his return settled in

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, and then in

, where he practised his profession. He embarked in the

William Blount William Blount ( ; April 6, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American politician, landowner and Founding Father who was one of the signers of the Constitution of the United States. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitution ...

conspiracy in instigating the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

and Creek

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to aid the

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in their attempt to conquer the Spanish territory in

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in 1797. He was seized and imprisoned, and subsequently again visited Europe. He was the first president of the New York Medical Society, and of the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, of which he was a founder, and in which he taught anatomy and the institutes of medicine. His students included Valentine Seaman, who mapped the 1795 yellow fever epidemic in New York and introduced the smallpox vaccine to the United States in 1799. Dr. John W. Francis said of him: “He was unwearied in toil and of mighty energy, dexterous in legislative bodies, and at one period of his career was vested with almost all the honors the medical profession can bestow.” Romayne published an address before the students of the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons on ''The Ethnology of the Red Man in America'' (New York, 1808).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romayne, Nicholas 1756 births 1817 deaths 18th-century American physicians People from Hackensack, New Jersey Alumni of the University of Edinburgh