Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1227

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1205
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WAT KINS 1205 WATSON 1783, and settled near his place of birth. His early training was in the district schools and his academic work was at St. Mary's College; he received his medical edncation at the Uni- versity of Louisville, graduating in 1870. In 1871 he married Miss Kate P. Roach, and four daughters and one son were born; the son, Dr. John R. Wathen being professor of surgery in the Univeristy of Louisville. William H. Wathen was one of the found- ers of the Kentucky School of Medicine and served as its dean for a number of years, holding the chair of gj'necology and abdom- inal surgery on its faculty that he retained after the consolidation with the University of Louisville. He was a fellow of the American Gyneco- logical Society ; president of the Kentucky State liledical Society in 1888; a member of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological So- ciet}-, the Mississippi Valley Medical Society, the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; chairman of the section on obstetrics and gynecolog>' of the American Medical Association in 1889, and orator on surgery in 1907. He did much work in surgery and was a leader among the specialists in his state, especially in the field of vaginal surgery; a tireless, enthusiastic worker, a contributor of many s'urgical papers to the journals and so- ciety transactions. In appearance, tall and gaunt, with an earnest face somewhat like Lincoln's. In con- versation and society discussions, he seemed at first to have a sort of mutiny in his speech, which added to the impression of earnestness as he broke through the impediments and his ideas found expression. He was deeply interested in education and was widely known to the physicians of the South, many of whom had been his students. He was one of the few men in the South who limited his work to gynecology and abdominal surgery. He continued his daily work up to his death of angina pectoris at St. Anthony's Hospital, October 7, 1913. John R, Wathen. Watkins, Tobias (1780-1855) Tobias Watkins was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, December 12, 1780, and was educated at St. John's College, Annapolis, where he graduated in 1798. His medical de- gree was received at the Philadelphia medical college in 1802. In 1799 he became assistant surgeon in the United States Navy, but resigned January 1, 1801. He received his M. D., was licentiate in midwifery and in 1803 began practice at Havre de Grace, Maryland, but soon moved to Balti- more. He was physician to the Marine Hos- pital, major and surgeon in the United States Army, 1813, and assistant surgeon-general, 1818; he was high priest and grand master in the Masonic Order. Watkins was fourth auditor of the United States Treasury in 1824-9, but was imprisoned 1829-33 for "appropriating the public money." Editor of the Baltimore Medical and Physi- cal Recorder, lSOS-9, he was one of the editors of Portfolio, and author of "Tales of the Tri- pod, or, A Delphian Evening," Baltimore, 1821. He died at Washington, November 14, 1855. Med. Ann. of Md., Cordell. 1903. Appleton's Cyclop. Amer. Biog., N. Y., 1888. Watson, Beriah Andre (1836-1892) Beriah A. Watson, surgeon, was born near Lake George, New York, March 26, 1836, the third son of Perry and Marion Watson. He at- tended the local schools and the State Normal School, Albany, and studied medicine with Dr. James Reilly at Succasunna, New Jersey, ma- triculating at New York University in 1859, and taking his M. D. there in 1861. He served as surgeon during the Civil War in the United States' service and after the battle of Gettysburg was commissioned sur- geon with the rank of major. After this he settled in Jersey City and was instrtimental in the formation of the New Jersey Academy of Medicine, and was one of the organizers of the Jersey City Hospitals, where he became surgeon in 1869. In 1873 he was surgeon to St. Francis' Hospital and, later, to Christ Hospital. Even with all his work as surgeon he man- aged to do a great deal of writing in his li- brary — one of the largest medical libraries in the State. He took a great interest in miner- alogy also, and had a good collection. A keen sportsman — he had many trophies hanging on his walls and wrote a volume in 1888, "The Sportsman's Paradise." The passage of the act that legalized the dissection of the human cadaver in New Jersey was secured principally through his efforts and those of Dr. John D. McGill. His death on December 22, 1892, was the result of exposure and fatigue while in pur- suit of game. His wife and one daughter survived him. His writings, of which there is a fairly long list in the catalogue of the Surgeon-General's Library, Washington, D. C, included : "A Case of Facial Neuralgia treated by Extirpa-