Thomas Harris (January 3, 1784March 4, 1861) was a U.S. naval officer. He served as the second chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

Career

Harris was born in East Whiteland Township,

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

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 ...

, to William Harris and Mary Campbell Harris. He attended the Brandywine Academy in Chester County. On 19 April 1809, Dr. Harris 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 ...

. He entered the U.S. naval service during 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 remained there for the rest of his life. He was appointed a surgeon in the navy on 20 July 1812. On 22 September of that year he was ordered to the then commanded by Jacob Jones. He thus took part in the celebrated engagement between the ''Wasp'' and on 18 October, in which the ''Frolic'' was captured. Later in the day, the ''Wasp'' and her prize were taken by the British

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

HMS ''Poictiers'' and carried to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. The officers and crew of the ''Wasp'' were shortly returned to the United States. Harris served in the Atlantic and on Lake Ontario thereafter. Dr. Harris was one of those who received the thanks of Congress and the medal awarded to all officers who took part in this action. In March 1815, Harris sailed with

Stephen Decatur Commodore (United States), Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was a United States Navy officer. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County. His father, Ste ...

in the campaign against the

Barbary Pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

. He was placed in charge of the wounded.J.S. Harris, ''Record of the Harris Family''. P. 48. His most important subsequent service was at Philadelphia. While serving in this city, he oversaw the construction of the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia; he served as the president of the naval board of medical examiners; and he organized the first postgraduate medical school to give instruction in naval medicine. He was one of the best known and most skillful surgeons of his day, and many distinguished civilians came to him for relief. In 1832, he operated on President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and extracted a bullet that the president had received in a duel nearly 20 years before. In 1837 he published a biography of Commodore William Bainbridge.Harris T, 1837
In 1828, he was elected to 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 ...

. In April 1844, Surgeon Harris was appointed chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and served in this capacity until 30 September 1853. During his tenure, he brought about improvements in the organization of the bureau and was much interested in the character and qualifications of the young physicians entering the Medical Corps of the Navy.

Personal life

First marriage

Harris married Jane Phillips Hodgdon, daughter of Major Samuel Hodgdon, who had been an army officer from 1776 to 1800, and who later became president of the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities. They had five children. Jane died July 21, 1834.

Second marriage

Harris subsequently married Esther White Macpherson (1803 – May 18, 1855), who was a daughter of Major Samuel Macpherson (a soldier in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

) and Elizabeth White, daughter of William White, the first Episcopalian Bishop of Pennsylvania.

Family

Harris' father, William Harris, was a soldier 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 ...

and a member of the Pennsylvania legislature. His brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was in the Marine Corps for over fifty years, serving as its sixth commandant. Harris' nephew,

Joseph Smith Harris Joseph Smith Harris (April 29, 1836 – June 1, 1910) was an American surveyor, civil engineer, and railroad executive. Largely self-taught, he worked on several projects for the United States Government, including the United States Coast S ...

, participated in the Coast Survey, the Northwest Boundary Survey, and in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He later became president of the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called the Reading Railr ...

Death

He died on 4 March 1861 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.

References

*Harris, Joseph S. ''Record of the Harris Family, descended from John Harris, Born 1680 in Wiltshire, England''. George F. Lasher, Philadelphia. 1903. *Harris, Thomas. ''The life and services of Commodore William Bainbridge, United States Navy''. Carey Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia. 1837. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Thomas 1784 births 1861 deaths People from Chester County, Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Military personnel from Pennsylvania United States Navy Medical Corps officers