Hugh Williamson Physician, Patriot, and Founding Father

by Sheldon, George F.

• ISBN13: 9781591027706
• ISBN10: 1591027705
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-22
• Publisher: Humanities Press

Summary

Hugh Williamson (1735-1819) was a physician, a member of the educated intelligentsia in colonial America, and a signer of the US Constitution. Although he is one of the lesser-known Founding Fathers, he has been likened to Benjamin Franklin for his breadth of interest spanning science, medicine, government public policy, and Hamiltonian capitalism. His range of accomplishments was prodigious. Before the Revolutionary War, he was among the planners of the Boston Tea Party. When war broke out, he acted as a spy and a courier for Benjamin Franklin, and later became surgeon general of the North Carolina Revolutionary War Militia. After the war, he served in the North Carolina legislature, the Constitutional Convention, and the first US House of Representatives. In this first book-length biography of Hugh Williamson, Dr George Sheldon presents an appealing portrait of an often overlooked colonial patriot and an important member of the medical establishment in 18th-century America. Sheldon reveals many interesting details about Williamson's multifaceted life. He was a member of the University of Pennsylvania's first graduating class. He served as a courier in Europe before and during the Revolutionary War, arousing the suspicions of both the British and a contingent of Americans that he was a double agent. After the war Williamson not only served as a physician and politician in North Carolina but as the first secretary of the board of governors of the University of North Carolina, the first nondenominational institution of higher education in America. His expertise ranged from the cause of the 1792 fever outbreak in North Carolina and the correct installation of lightning rods, to work with George Washington on the draining of the Great Dismal Swamp and management of the Bloomingdale estate of his wife's family, which included much of present-day New York City. For anyone interested in the important contributors to early American history, this excellent biography of Hugh Williamson will be indispensable reading.

Author Biography

George F. Sheldon, MD, is professor of surgery and social medicine at the University of North Carolina, where he teaches the History of Medicine. He is editor of the Internet portal e-FACS.org, author of over 400 articles and book chapters, and coauthor (with John Davis and William R. Drucker) of Surgery: A Problem-Solving Approach.

Table of Contents

Dedication	p. 5
Foreword	p. 11
Preface	p. 13
Prologue: "He Was No Ordinary Man"	p. 21
Chronology	p. 23
Early Years	p. 37
Scientist	p. 47
Revolutionary War Spy	p. 59
Continental Congress and Secret Committees	p. 83
The War for Independence in North Carolina	p. 99
The Revolutionary War Moves South	p. 109
State and National Legislator	p. 127
Williamson in the Continental Congress	p. 147
The Constitutional Convention	p. 165
The Struggle for Ratification of the Constitution	p. 189
Educator	p. 207
Entrepreneur	p. 223
Williamson the Man	p. 247
"Remarks on the New Plan of Government"	p. 265
Publications by Hugh Williamson in the New York Historical Society	p. 281
Notes	p. 285
Bibliography	p. 311
Index	p. 327
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