Ephraim McDowell was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia on November 11, 1771, the ninth of eleven children. When Ephraime was 12 years old, his father, Samuel McDowell, a veteran of the French and Indian War and a colonel during the American Revolution, was appointed land commissioner and moved his family to Danville, Kentucky.
Life wasn’t easy on the frontier and not much is known about young Ephraim’s education in Kentucky. In 1791 he went to Staunton, Virginia to begin an apprenticeship to Dr. Alexander Humphreys. From there he traveled to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, the seat of medical learning at the time. After 2 years in Scotland, he returned to open his practice of medicine in Danville in 1795. In 1797 he purchased an apothecary shop.
In 1802, Ephraim married Sarah Shelby, daughter of Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky. They purchased a house adjacent to the apothecary shop. The McDowell’s had nine children in this house, with five living to adulthood.
Dr. Ephraime McDowell was a pioneer in abdominal surgical techniques. He performed the first ovariotomy in the United States in 1809. The patient was Mrs. Jane Crawford, who believed she was expecting twins, however upon examination, Dr. McDowell realized she had an ovarian tumor.
It was Christmas morning, 1809, when Dr. McDowell began his historic operation. Can you believe Mrs. Crawford had travelled 60 miles on horseback a few days earlier to Dr. McDowell’s home in Danville for the surgery! She rested a few days before the operation (no anesthesia in those days either). These people were tough…
Dr. Ephraime McDowell wrote out a prayer, prior to performing the surgery and placed it in his pocket during the surgery. The ovarian tumor removed during the surgery weighed twenty-two and one-half pounds, and Mrs. Crawford’s surgery was a success!
Jane Crawford returned to her home in Green County twenty-five days after the operation and lived another thirty-two years. This was the first successful removal of an ovarian tumor in the world.
In 1812, Dr. Ephraime McDowell operated on 17-year-old James K. Polk. James was quite sickly during his childhood. Luckily James’ father learned of a Dr. Ephraime McDowell and brought his son James to him for medical attention. Dr. McDowell removed a gall stone and repaired a hernia. James’ health greatly improved after the surgery and he was able to dedicate himself to his studies. James later wrote a letter to the good doctor, thanking him for the surgery that brought him to health. James K. Polk went on to become the 11th U.S. President.
Dr. McDowell became a member of the Philadelphia Medical Society in 1817 and was a founder of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. This frontier doctor travelled throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, sometimes riding hundreds of miles to take charge of particularly difficult cases.
Sadly, in June 1830, Dr. Ephraime McDowell was stricken with an acute attack of violent pain, nausea, and fever. He died on June 25, most likely a victim of appendicitis.
Dr. Ephraime McDowell is the subject of one of the statues from Kentucky in the National Statuary Hall Collection. The bronze statue was created by the well-known sculptor, Charles H. Niehaus, and dedicated on March 3, 1929.
Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute visit The Table of Contents and the Facebook Page. (I’ll be adding to the Substack Table of Contents as I transfer the Blog Posts. Please subscribe to this Substack 😊🇺🇸🤓)
Another story of a pioneer most of us have never heard of. Thank you for expanding my knowledge.
Many thanks for this one Diana!!