Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/107

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McCLELLAN
McCLELLAN
85


army, with the promise of a colonelcy, but he de- clined. When peace was declared he returned to Woodstock and was several times elected to the state assembly. — His grandson, treorg-e, surgeon, b. in Woodstock, Conn., 23 Dec, 1796; d. in Phila- delphia, Pa., 9 May, 1847, was graduated at Yale in 1816. A fondness for natural science, developed under the influence of the elder Silliman, led him to adopt medicine as his profession, and he began his studies in New Haven under Dr. Thomas Hub- bard, but was graduated at ihe medical department •of thelJniversity of Pennsylvania in 1819. Even be- fore he obtained his degree he was elected resident physician to the hospital of the Philadelphia alms- house. During his first year of practice he per- formed the most important operations in surgery, such as lithotomy, extraction of the lens for cata- ract, and extirpation of the lower jaw. He opened a dissecting-room, and gave private courses of lectures, both on anatomy and surgery, and his class soon became so numerous as to require a larger room for their accommodation. His success was so great that he conceived the idea of found- ing a medical college, and with others he obtained from the legislature of Pennsylvania, in 1825, a charter for Jefferson medical college. In 1826 he began his public lectures as professor of surgery in the new college, which, notwithstanding the op- position of the profession and diihculty in obtain- ing a faculty, grew so rapidly that in ten years the students numbered 360. In* 1838 the faculty was reorganized, but without Dr. McClellan's name, and this action led to his immediately procuring the incorporation of the medical department of Penn- sylvania college. His lectures in connection with the new institution began in November, 1839, and continued until the spring of 1843. He was the originator of the extended system of medical edu- cation as it now exists in this country, and the clinical instruction of the college was originated by him. He acquired one of the largest practices known in the United States, and his reputation ex- tended to Europe, while he attracted patients from all parts of this country, the West Indies, and South America. As a surgeon he performed almost every capital operation known, together with many others that were original with himself. He was especially eminent in ophthalmic surgery and his operations for cataract and other diseases of the eye, and he was among the first to extract the lens, (jther operations, now quite common, were not used in the United States till performed by him, and he shares with Valentine Mott, of New York, and Jonn C. Wai-ren, of Boston, the credit of establish- ing many procedures new in this country. He did more than any other surgeon by the number and success of his operations to establish completely, as safe and feasible, the removal of the parotid gland. In earlier years he was a contributor of original papers to medical periodicals, and was one of the conductors of the " American Medical Review and Journal." Dr. McClellan edited Eberle's " Theory and Practice of Physic " (Philadelphia. 1840), and left in manuscript "The Principles and Practice of Surgery," (1847). It has been said of him that, " like Bowditch, he infused his spirit into his pupils. There are now hundreds of them scattered over the country who manifest it in their bold and efficient surgery, and who will welcome the publication of these principles which they once heard from his eloquent lips, and on which their success in practice has so much depended." See "Memoir " by his son in Gross's "Lives of Eminent Physicians and Surgeons" (Philadelphia, 1861).— His brother, Samuel, physician, b. in Woodstock, Conn., 21 Sept., 1800 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa.. 4 Jan., 1853, was graduated at the medical department of Yale in 1823, and then entered the office of George Mc- Clellan in Philadelphia. After a few years he set- tled in Bristol, Pa., but soon returned to Philadel- phia, where he renewed his association with his brother, particularly in ophthalmic surgery. He was likewise identified with the founding of Jeffer- son medical college, in which he was demonstra- tor and afterward professor of anatomy. This chair he relinquished to accept that of obstetrics. Subsequently he was elected professor of that branch in the medical department of Pennsylvania college, but soon resigned to follow his private practice, in which he continued until his death. — George's son, John Hill Brinton, phvsician, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 13 Aug., 1823; d."in Edin- burgh, Scotland, 20 July, 1874, was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1841, and at its medical department in 1844. In 1855 he was elected professor of anatomy in the medical department of Pennsylvania college, but held that appointment for a short time only. He was surgeon at St. Joseph's hospital from 1850 till 1862, and also at Will's eye hospital for many years. During the civil war he was connected with the South street hospital, and afterward was acting assistant sur- geon at Mower's hospital, where he performed some notable operations, accounts of which are given in " The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion " (Washington, 1870). Dr. McClellan had an extensive practice, both in surgery and in medicine, and was frequently called on to operate in different parts of the state. Among the opera- tions credited to him are the removal of the entire parotid gland, reported in his fathers " Surgery," and the first and only removal of the entire upper extremity for disease, including the shoulder-blade and collar-bone. He inherited much of his father's quickness, and his diagnosis of disease seemed al- most intuitive, while his extreme delicacy of feel- ing and genial nature made him a welcome visitor in the sick-room. Dr. McClellan edited " Princi- ples and Practice of Surgery " (Philadelphia, 1848), left in manuscript by his father. His son George was graduated at the Jefferson medical college in 1870, and now practises in Philadelphia. — The second Samuel's son, Carswell, civil engineer, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 3 Dec, 1835, was graduated at AVilliams, ]Mass., in 1855, and on 6 May, 1862, entered the 32d New' York regiment, was Avounded at Malvern Hill, and on 3 July became topographi- cal assistant on the staff of Gen. Andrew A. Hum- phreys. He was present at Fredericksburg, Chan- cellorsville, and Gettysburg where he was wounded again, and at the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac until April, 1864. He was taken ])risoner in the fight for the Weldon railroad on 19 Aug., 1864, but was paroled, 16 Nov., 1864. and resigned on that date. He was engineer in charge of loca- tion and construction works upon the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terra Haute, Northern Pacific, St. Paul and Pacific, and other western I'ailroads, from 1867 till 1881, when he became U. S. civil assistant engineer, which post he now (1887) holds. He is the author of the " Personal Memoirs and Military History of Ulysses S. Grant vs. the Record of the Army of the Potomac " (Boston, 1887). — Carswell's brother, Henry Brainerd, soldier, b. in Philadel- phia, Pa.. 17 Oct., 1840, was graduated at Williams in 1858. In 1862-3 he was adjutant of the 3d Virginia cavalry, and from 1863 till the end of the war served as assistant adjutant-general of the cavalry corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was chief of staff to Gens. James E. B. Stuart