Thomas Cadwalader (c. 1707 – November 14, 1779) was an American physician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][2]

Thomas Cadwalader
Portrait of Dr. Cadwalader, by Charles Willson Peale, 1770
Bornc. 1707
DiedNovember 14, 1779 (aged c. 72)
EducationFriends Public Schools
Rheims University
OccupationPhysician
Spouse
Hannah Lambert
(m. 1738)
ChildrenJohn, Lambert, and 6 daughters
Parent(s)John Cadwalader
Martha Jones
RelativesSee Cadwalader family

Early life

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Cadwalader was born in Philadelphia in c. 1707. He was the only son of four children born of Martha (née Jones) Cadwalader (1679–1747) and John Cadwalader (1677–1734), who was born in Bala, Wales before coming to the Province of Pennsylvania in British America in 1697, seeking a place to practice his Quaker faith.[3]

He was educated at the Friends Public Schools (today known as the William Penn Charter School) in Philadelphia.[3]

Career

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After studying medicine with his uncle Dr. Evan Jones, he traveled to London, where he was an understudy of English surgeon William Cheselden. In France, he likely attended lectures at Rheims University.[4]

In 1739, he moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where he served as commissioner of the pleas and peace from 1739 to 1744 and as chief burgess of Trenton from 1746 to 1750. In 1745, his medical essay on "dry-gripes," a condition similar to colic, was published. Before he moved back to Philadelphia, he donated five hundred pounds to Trenton to erect a public library.

After returning to Philadelphia in 1750, he was elected in 1751 to the city's Common Council. He served on Pennsylvania's Provincial Council from 1755 until the Revolution. He was a founder in 1751, and one of the first doctors, at the Pennsylvania Hospital, where he worked until his death.[2]

Dr. Cadwalader was one of the first to inoculate patients against smallpox.[4] He was a founder and director of the Library Company of Philadelphia, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, where he served as vice president from 1769 to 1770.[2]

Personal life

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Coat of Arms of Thomas Cadwalader

In June 1738, Thomas married Hannah Lambert (1712-1786), a daughter of Thomas Lambert Jr. and Anne (née Wood) Lambert.[3] Together they had eight children, six daughters and two sons who were both active in the American Revolutionary War:

Cadwalader died on November 14, 1779, at age 72, in Trenton.[3]

Descendants

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Through his daughter Martha, he was a grandfather of Rachael Dagworthy, who married U.S. Senator William H. Wells.[5]

Through his son Lambert, he was posthumously a grandfather of Thomas McCall Cadwalader, who married Maria Charlotte Gouverneur (the sister of Assemblyman Samuel L. Gouverneur and the niece of Elizabeth Kortright and U.S. President James Monroe).[12]

Legacy

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Cadwalader Park, in Trenton, New Jersey, was named in his family's honor. The park has an area of nearly 100 acres (0.40 km2), and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and built starting in 1887.

References

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  1. ^ Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L. (eds.). "Cadwalader, Thomas" . American Medical Biographies . Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company.
  2. ^ a b c Dr. Thomas Cadwalader (1707-1779) Archived 2018-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, Penn Biographies (University of Pennsylvania).
  3. ^ a b c d "Cadwalader Family Papers" (PDF). Collection 1454. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 29, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Packard, Francis R. (1912). "Cadwalader, Thomas (1708–1779)". In Howard A. Kelly (ed.). A Cyclopedia of American Medical Biography. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: W. D Saunders and Company. p. 154.
  5. ^ a b The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 1917. p. 356. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  6. ^ Weeks, p. 68
  7. ^ Jordan, John W. (1914). Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 111: 720-723. John Cadwalader family history Archived 2023-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Browning, Charles Henry (1891). Americans of Royal Descent: A Collection of Genealogies of American Families Whose Lineage is Traced to the Legitimate Issue of Kings. Porter & Costes. pp. 138, 419. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  9. ^ Stern, Mark Abbott (4 November 2015). David Franks: Colonial Merchant. Penn State Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-271-07606-5. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  10. ^ Carpenter, Edward; Carpenter, Louis Henry (1912). Samuel Carpenter and His Descendants. private circulation. p. 260. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  11. ^ Keith, Charles Penrose (1997). The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania: Who Held Office Between 1733-1776 and Those Earlier Councillors who Were Some Time Chief Magistrates of the Province, and Their Descendants. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 390–391. ISBN 978-0-8063-1529-4. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  12. ^ Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography: Illustrated. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. 1914. p. 896. Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2023.

Further reading

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