Thomas Cadwalader ( – November 14, 1779) was an American physician in

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 ...

.Dr. Thomas Cadwalader (1707-1779)
, ''Penn Biographies'' (

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 ...

Early life

Cadwalader was born in

in . He was the only son of four children born of Martha ( Jones) Cadwalader (1679–1747) and John Cadwalader (1677–1734), who was born in Bala, Wales before coming to the

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

in 1697, seeking a place to practice his

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

faith. He was educated at the Friends Public Schools (today known as the

William Penn Charter School William Penn Charter School (commonly known as Penn Charter or simply PC) is an elite private school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1689 at the urging of William Penn as the "Public Grammar School" and chartered in 1689 to b ...

) in Philadelphia.

Career

After studying medicine with his uncle Dr. Evan Jones, he traveled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he was an understudy of English surgeon

William Cheselden William Cheselden (; 19 October 168810 April 1752) was an English surgeon and teacher of anatomy and surgery, who was influential in establishing surgery as a scientific medical profession. Via the medical missionary Benjamin Hobson, his wor ...

. In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he likely attended lectures at Rheims University. In 1739, he moved to

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

, where he served as commissioner of the pleas and peace from 1739 to 1744 and as chief burgess of Trenton from 1746 to 1750. In 1745, his medical essay on "dry-gripes," a condition similar to

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content ou ...

, was published. Before he moved back to Philadelphia, he donated five hundred pounds to Trenton to erect a public library. After returning to Philadelphia in 1750, he was elected in 1751 to the city's Common Council. He served on Pennsylvania's Provincial Council from 1755 until the Revolution. He was a founder in 1751, and one of the first doctors, at the

Pennsylvania Hospital Pennsylvania Hospital is a Private hospital, private, non-profit, 515-bed teaching hospital located at 800 Spruce Street (Philadelphia), Spruce Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia, The hospital was founded on May 11, 17 ...

, where he worked until his death. Dr. Cadwalader was one of the first to inoculate patients against

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. He was a founder and director of the

Library Company of Philadelphia The Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) is a non-profit organization based on Locust Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia. Founded as a library in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company of Philadelphia has a ...

, and a member of 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 ...

, where he served as vice president from 1769 to 1770.

Personal life

In June 1738, Thomas married Hannah Lambert (1712-1786), a daughter of Thomas Lambert Jr. and Anne ( Wood) Lambert. Together they had eight children, six daughters and two sons who were both active in 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 ...

: * Anne Cadwalader, who died in infancy. * Martha Cadwalader (1739–1791), who married Gen. John Dagworthy in 1774. * John Cadwalader (1742–1786), who married Elizabeth Lloyd, the daughter of Edward Lloyd and sister of Edward Lloyd IV, in 1768.Weeks, p. 68 After her death, he married Williamina Bond, a daughter of Dr. Phineas Bond, and niece of Thomas Bond, in 1779.Jordan, John W. (1914). ''Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography''. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 111: 720-723
John Cadwalader family history
* Lambert Cadwalader (1742–1823), who married Mary McCall, the daughter of Archibald and Judith (née Kemble) McCall. * Mary Cadwalader (1744–1791), who married her cousin Sen.

Philemon Dickinson Philemon Dickinson (April 5, 1739February 4, 1809) was an American lawyer and politician from Trenton, New Jersey. As a brigadier general of the New Jersey militia, he was one of the most effective militia officers of the American Revolutiona ...

, a younger brother of

Founding Father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13, O.S. November 2">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. November 21732Various sources indicate a birth date of November 8, 12 or 13, but his most recent biographer ...

. * Rebecca Cadwalader (1746–1821), who married Sen.

, after the death of her sister Mary. * Margaret Cadwalader (1748–1820), who married Gen. Samuel Meredith in 1772; he later became the 2nd

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage pr ...

. * Elizabeth Cadwalader (1754–1799), who died unmarried. Cadwalader died on November 14, 1779, at age 72, in Trenton.

Descendants

Through his daughter Martha, he was a grandfather of Rachael Dagworthy, who married

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

William H. Wells. Through his son Lambert, he was posthumously a grandfather of

Thomas McCall Cadwalader Thomas McCall Cadwalader (September 11, 1795 – October 22, 1873) was an American who trained to be a lawyer but made his career in the military, retiring as a major general. Early life Thomas McCall Cadwalader was born on the family estate c ...

, who married Maria Charlotte Gouverneur (the sister of Assemblyman Samuel L. Gouverneur and the niece of Elizabeth Kortright and

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

Legacy

Cadwalader Park Cadwalader Park is a city park located in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The nearly green space is Trenton's oldest park. It is named for Thomas Cadwalader, who lived for a while near Trenton where he became the chief bu ...

, in

, was named in his family's honor. The park has an area of nearly , and was designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

and built starting in 1887.

Early life

Career

Personal life

Descendants

Legacy

References

Further reading