William S. Wallace notes on the lectures of John Redman Coxe

Item

Identifier: 10a 37

Scope and Contents

One volume (143 pages) of notes on materia medica lectures delivered by John Redman Coxe. Lectures are dated from Nov. 24, 1821 to Jan. 11, 1822 and cover the topics venesection, emetics, cathartics, anthelmintics, and diuretics.

Dates

1821 - 1822

Creator

Wallace, William S. (Person)

Biographical / Historical

William S. Wallace received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1824. He set up private practice in Lancaster County, Pa., but moved in 1836 to Sangamon County, Illinois, where he established himself in the burgeoning state capital, Springfield. He was a founding member of the Illinois State Medical Society. In 1839 he married Frances Todd, sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, who was married to Abraham Lincoln. Wallace became the family physician to the Lincolns. In particular he was called to attend the children during their illnesses. Although Wallace accompanied the Lincolns on the train ride to Washington, D.C., when they went to live in the White House, he did not officially attend the family during the Lincoln presidency, but instead served an appointment as a paymaster in the Union army. Exposure during his military service brought on his death in 1867.

John Redman Coxe was born on 16 September 1773 in Trenton, N.J. and died in Philadelphia on 22 March 1864. Coxe studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 and attended the University of Pennsylvania, which granted him a medical degree in 1794. He furthered his medical studies for two years in London, Paris, and Edinburgh, before returning again to Philadelphia to set up private practice. During the second outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1798, Dr. Coxe was appointed Physician to the Poor by the Board of Health. He served several years as a physician at Pennsylvania Hospital and the Philadelphia Dispensary. Coxe held the positions of Professor of Chemistry (1809-1818) and Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy (1818-1835) at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a strong advocate of vaccination and the first to practice this new preventive method in Philadelphia. Dr. Coxe also added to the knowledge of materia medica by cultivating a true jalap plant (1829) and developing a “Hive Syrup” that remained in common use for fifty years. From 1804-1811, Coxe published the first regularly issued periodical in Philadelphia and the second American medical journal, The Medical Museum.