American Medical Biographies/Shippen, William (1712–1801)
Shippen, William (1712–1801)
William Shippen the elder was born in Philadelphia, October 1,1712, the son of Joseph Shippen and Abigail Grosse. His grandfather, Edward Shippen, mayor of Philadelphia, emigrated to this country from Cheshire, England, in 1668, and was proverbially distinguished as having three great things: "The biggest house, the biggest person, and the biggest coach."
William Shippen had a decided bent for medicine and early undertook its study. He was not long in securing a large and lucrative practice. He was remarkable for his generosity to the poor, giving them much of his time and money.
He married Susannah Harrison, of Philadelphia, in September, 1735, and had four sons. One of them, William Shippen, he trained for the medical profession, providing him with an excellent education in Europe. On the return of the young man in 1762, the father encouraged him to give a series of lectures on anatomy, thus inaugurating the first medical school of the country.
Dr. Shippen was elected to the Continental Congress in 1778 and re-elected in 1779. He was a member of Benjamin Franklin's "Junto," and was vice-president of the American Philosophical Society. He was the first physician to the Pennsylvania Hospital, 1753–1778. He was one of the twenty-four founders of the University of Pennsylvania and a trustee (1749–1779); a founder of the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and trustee (1765–1796); and one of the founders of the First Presbyterian Church (1742), of which he was a member for nearly sixty years, and in the graveyard of which he was buried.
Dr. Shippen was noted for his splendid health and physique; he rode horseback from Germantown to Philadelphia in the coldest weather without an overcoat and but a short time before his death he took a six mile walk. He never tasted wine or liquor until his last illness, which occurred when he was ninety years old, the end coming at Germantown, November 4, 1801.