In his long and eventful life, Edward Gantt (1742–1837) made important contributions to the newly independent American Republic, as well as to the development of scientific evidence-based American medicine. Unfortunately, his achievements have gone unrecognized and unreported in mainstream historical publications. Specifically, his service as the first designated White House doctor, and personal physician to President Thomas Jefferson from 1801 to 1809 has not been reported. The purpose of this paper is to document the biographical and scientific details of his extraordinary life and notable contributions.
The Francis W. Cragin Papers, The Pioneer Museum, Colorado Springs, CO: Notebook number 4, p. 2, interview by Cragin with Judith Maupin, great grandniece of Rev/Dr Gantt.
2.
Maryland Archives, Annapolis, Maryland: Patent Records, vol. AA (1663–1664), p. 399.
3.
SteinCF. A history of Calvert County Maryland, Baltimore: Schneidereith & Sons Press, 1977, pp. 83–83.
4.
Maryland Archives, Annapolis, Maryland: Testamentary Proceedings. Will of Thomas Gantt, vol. 16, pp. 36–37.
5.
Papenfuse EC, Day AF, Jordan, DW, et al. (eds) A biographical dictionary of the Maryland legislature: 1635–1789. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979, vol. 1, p. 172.
6.
Ibid., p. 342.
7.
Papenfuse EC, et al., vol. 2, p. 745.
8.
Papenfuse EC et al., vol. 1, pp. 341–342.
9.
McLachlan J. Princetonians: 1748–1768. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976, pp. 377–378 (Gantt) and pp. 453–456 (Clagett).
10.
Papenfuse et al., vol. 1, pp. 169–170.
11.
BrookeR. Inoculation for smallpox in children without incision. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London1742; 47: 470–470.
12.
BrookeR. Curing a pimple on a young lady’s mouth. Gentleman Magazine1752; 22: 278–278.
13.
BrookeR. Letter. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London1755; 51: 51–51.
14.
Papenfuse EC, et al., vol. 1, pp. 199–200. Daniel Carroll (1730–1796) was a prominent merchant of Lower Marlboro, Prince George’s County, near neighboring Nottingham Town.
15.
Price JM. One family’s empire: the Russell-Lee-Clark connection in Maryland, Britain and India, 1707–1857. Md Hist Mag 1977; 72: 165–225. James Russell (1708–1788) was a London and Maryland merchant who capably managed the tobacco consignment sale and other financial affairs of the Gantt family for 40 years, including looking after Edward Gantt while in London and Scotland (1764–1767).
16.
Utley GB, p. 18. The original of this letter is preserved in the Waring Collection, The Maryland Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.
17.
BellWJJr. Some American students of Dr. William Cullen of Edinburgh, 1755–1766. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society1950; 94: 275–281.
18.
Archives, Will of Thomas Gantt, Prince George’s County. Wills: 1765, vol. 1, pp. 576–577.
19.
PeacockE. Index to English speaking students who have graduated at Leyden University, London: Langmans, Green and Co, 1883, pp. 39–39.
20.
UnderwoodEA. English-speaking medical students at Leyden. Nature1969; 22: 810–814.
21.
Innes-SmithRW. English speaking students of medicine at the University of Leyden, Edinburgh and London: Oliver & Boyd, 1932, pp. 91–91.
22.
Papenfuse EC, et al., vol. 2, pp. 726–728.
23.
Ibid., pp. 691–693.
24.
Somerset Parish Register, Somerset County, Maryland. Transcribed and restored copy, Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarra History and Culture, Salisbury, Maryland, p. 19.
25.
Weiss FL. The Colonial Clergy of Maryland, Delaware and Georgia. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishers Co, Inc, 1978, p. 44.
26.
The Frances W. Cragin Papers: Notebook 4, p. 2.
27.
Jonathan Guest succeeded his father John Guest (1768–1817) as head of the firm of Guest and Co. bankers of Philadelphia, PA. In the early 19th century, his was the largest commercial business conglomerate in the United States.
28.
Archives Prince George’s County, MD (1785): Wills, vol. T#1, pp. 211–213.
29.
US Census of 1790 (Maryland), p. 94.
30.
Papenfuse EC et al., vol. 2, pp. 873–874.
31.
Entries from the three newspapers abstracted are published by sequential dates in Wright EF. Abstracts of the newspapers of Georgetown and the Federal City 1789–1799. Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 2000; Pippenger WE. Georgetown District of Columbia marriage and death notices: 1801–1838. Westminster, MD: Willow Bend Books, 2004; and Dixon JM. National Intelligencier and Washington Advertiser newspaper abstracts 1800–1810. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1996.
32.
Ibid., Archives. The original petition with 101 physician signatures is preserved in Annapolis.
33.
Senate Journal, 6th–9th Congress of the United States: 7 December 1801 to 2 December 1806, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
34.
HalseyH. How President Thomas Jefferson and Doctor Benjamin Waterhouse established vaccination. History of Medicine Series No. 5, New York: New York Academy of Medicine, 1936, pp. 17–17.
35.
Ibid., p. 28.
36.
DeppishLM. The White House physician: A history from Washington to George W. Bush, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2006, pp. 17–18. The Rev/Dr’s name is absent from this published thesis.
37.
StantonL. A well-ordered household: domestic servants in Jefferson’s White House. White House History2006; 17: 11–11.
38.
Bear JA and Stanton L (eds) Jefferson’s Personal Memorandum Books: Accounts with legal records and miscellany, 1767–1826. 2 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.
39.
JacksonC. Robert Barnes, forgotten philanthropist of Georgetown. Records of the Columbia Historical Society1904; 7: 39–48.
40.
Halsey YH. How President Thomas Jefferson and Doctor Benjamin Waterhouse established vaccination. History of Medicine Series No. 5. New York: New York Academy of Medicine, 1936, p. 30.
41.
Ibid., p. 34.
42.
Ibid., p. 41.
43.
Ibid., p. 44.
44.
Ibid., p. 55.
45.
Ibid., p. 52.
46.
Ibid., p. 55.
47.
Archives, Prince George’s County Land Records, vol. JRM 13: 561, “Indenture made February 12, 1810. Edward Gantt of Fairfax, VA to Levi Gantt of Prince George’s County for 500 pounds sterling, part of Brooke Grove”.
48.
Published online as Thomas Jefferson to Edward Gantt, 19 February 1812, Founder’s Online, the National Archives, “The Papers of Thomas Jefferson,” Retirement Series, vol. 4, 18 June 1811 to 30 April 1812. Looney J (ed) Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007, p. 508.
49.
Wistar C (1761–1818), MD Edinburgh 1786, Professor of Anatomy, Univ Pennsylvania Coll Med (1792–1818); Ford PL, The writings of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 10. New York: GP Putnam’s Sons, 1892, p. 125.
50.
The Francis W. Cragin Papers, The Pioneer Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado: Notebook number 4, p. 2, interview by Cragin with Judith Maupin, great grandniece of Rev/Dr Gantt.
51.
A more complete account of the ancestry and descendants of the Rev/Dr Gantt may be found in Cavanagh HD, Colonial Chesapeake Families, 2 vols. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Press, 2014.
