David Reese

Artist: Unknown; oil on canvas

David Meredith Reese was born in Maryland in 1800. He received his M.D. from the University of Maryland in 1819. He became a Vaccine Physician at Baltimore, 1824, and Censor the same year. He became a Professor of Medicine, Theory and the Practice of Medicine at Castleton College in Vermont from 1841-42. He returned to Baltimore and became a Professor of the Institutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence at Washington University, Baltimore from 1842 to 1845. He was an honorary member of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.

He moved to New York, and became a Professor of Medicine, Albany Medical College. He moved to new York City and became a Resident Physician, Bellevue Hospital, New York; a Founder of New York Academy of Medicine; Vice-President, American Medical Association, 1857; and a Professor of Practice of Medicine, New York Medical College, 1860.

Dr. Reese edited “Cooper's Dictionary of Practical Surgery,” American edition, 1844 and became the Editor of the American Medical Gazette, New York. Among his books are the “Humbugs of New York” a remonstrance against popular delusions, whether in science philosophy or religion.

Dr. Reese died in New York, May 13, 1861. The painting was a gift of Dr. Harry C. Hyde, 1956.