The
following is a dictated translation of the hand-written application to
the U. S. Navy Examination Board during the Civil War by a civilian
physician/surgeon for a position as a medical officer in the Federal
Navy or for promotion to Assistant Surgeon by an Acting Assistant
Surgeon. The actual
applications are in the possession of the author and presented to
enlighten the general public and other researchers as to the education
process before and during the Civil War, the personal history of the
applicants, as well as to show their personal level of medical knowledge
in answering the questions asked by the Navy Board of Examiners.
(Some applicants failed to pass and did not serve or served in the Union
Army.)
This written presentation was first of a part of a two-part exam consisting of a written
exam and an oral exam.
Many of these applications are rich
with highly detailed medical content offering an interesting perspective
on the medical knowledge and practices of the period.
A broad sampling of these exams is presented to
give you a 'picture' of the type of applicant being examined and
admitted to or rejected by the Federal Navy in 1863. Much more detail
on the individuals and their personal and naval history will be
presented in a forth-coming book by Dr. Herman.
(The actual written exam photos are available, but not presented on
these pages due to the size of the files. An
example
of a hand-written exam is on the
'List of all Applicants' page)
If you have additional information or images for any of these
doctors, please
contact us.
A list with links to
all applicants in this survey of U.S. Navy Applicants for 1863
Example of a handwritten exam given by the Navy Examination Board
Applicant: William J. Conor, M.D.
I was born at Toronto, Canada West on
the twelfth day of April in the year eighteen hundred and forty one.
My preliminary education was
principally furnished at the Upper Canada College of Toronto. I studied
all the branches taught in the institution; of Latin not beyond
Sallust’s Cataline [sic, should read “Catiline”] and Jugurtha, of Greek,
the Grammar and ordinary exercises; of French, the grammar, and reader
used in that institution. I studied geometry, Algebra, and the ordinary
rules of Arithmetic. Subsequently I studied Botany and Zoology at the
University of McGill Montreal C.E. and passed the examinations therin
[sic].
I have been engaged in
the study of Medicine three years and two months. When not attendant
upon lectures I study with Doctor P. Tertius Kempson of Canada West
during the three years, and with whom I obtained a considerable
knowledge of pharmacy, the physical properties of drugs, and practice of
medicine. I also obtained a knowledge of Surgery and practice of
medicine to some extent in the Montreal general Hospital.
I am a graduate of the Jefferson
Medical College Philadelphia.
William J. Conor.
My address is No. 121 South tenth
street. Philadelphia
Application incomplete...