Eli Geddings, M.D.
University of Maryland, 1833
GEDDINGS,
Eli, physician, born in the district of Newberry, South Carolina, in
1799 ; died in Charleston, South Carolina, 9 October, 1878. His
first education was received in Abbeville academy, and he was
graduated in medicine by the examining board of the Medical society
of South Carolina in 1820. He began practice in St. George's parish,
Colleton district, but soon returned to Abbeville, where he formed a
connection with Dr. E. S. Davis. During the winter of 1821-'2 he
attended lectures in the University of Pennsylvania. He went to
Calhoun settlement, Abbeville district, where he continued until
1824, when he removed to Charleston, and was one of the first to
receive a degree from the Medical College in 1825. He voluntarily
discharged the duties of demonstrator of anatomy, and after a year
spent in the hospitals of Paris and London held this office until
1828, when he resigned it to open a private school of practical
anatomy and surgery, in which he was successful.
In 1831 he accepted the chair
of anatomy and physiology in the University of Maryland, and removed
to Baltimore, where he edited the "Baltimore Medical Journal" in
1833, which in 1835 was changed to the "North American Archives of
Medical and Surgical Science," to which he contributed essays and
editorials. He returned to Charleston in 1837 to take the chair of
pathological anatomy and medical jurisprudence in the Medical
College. He practiced in all branches of medicine and surgery. In
1849 he held the chair of surgery, which he resigned in 1858 so that
Professor Dickson might be reinstated.
He was a surgeon in the
Confederate army during the civil war. When the fall of Charleston
was imminent, his rare medical library was sent to Columbia, where
it perished in the fire that destroyed a large part of the City.
This library embraced valuable works collected in Europe, and
illustrated all branches of medical literature and scientific
subjects. His collection of surgical instruments and apparatus was
stolen while he was absent from his home during the bombardment of
the City.
Several years before he had
organized in connection with the College a medical and surgical
polyclinic, which he revived after the war. In 1871 he resigned his
chair, and was elected professor emeritus of the institutes and
practices of medicine. In that year a new chair of clinical medicine
was created, to which he was elected, and he gave clinical lectures
for two years. His early papers, published in the" American Journal
of Medical Science" (Philadelphia), include reviews and sketches in
various languages.
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia,
Copyright © 2001 VirtualologyTM
Information
supplied by Dr. Terry Hambrecht regarding Eli Geddings:
Appointed Surgeon,
02/05/1862 to rank from 10/26/1861.
Confirmed as Surgeon
by the C.S. Senate on 02/05/1862.
Served as a
Surgeon, Tallahassee General Hospital, 05/01/1863.
Served on
various Army Medical Boards, mainly examining the
qualifications of other C.S. physicians.
He died in
Charleston, 10/09/1878. He may be buried in Magnolia
Cemetery, Charleston
