JOHN ARCHER

Artist: Unknown; Oil on canvas

John Archer was born on May 5, 1741 at “Uncle’s Goodwill”, the estate of his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Archer. “Uncle’s Goodwill” would later become known as Medical Hall.

Archer attended Nottingham Academy in Cecil County. After graduating from Nottingham, he went to Princeton University, graduated in 1760, and then received a master’s degree in theology in 1763. He attended the newly established College of Medicine of Philadelphia (Collegium et Academia Philadelphiensis), now known as University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his medical degree on July 21, 1768. He was the first member of the first class to graduate from the school, and thus, the first graduate from medical school in America.

Archer built a home in the 1780s named “Medical Hall” which had a separate doctor’s office constructed near the main house. Between 1786 and 1800 he trained fifty students in medicine at his place, including five of his six sons.

In addition to his time spent in medicine, Archer gained a revolutionary spirit and became involved in politics. He was chosen to be a delegate to the Annapolis Convention from 1777-1779. In 1776, Archer served as a delegate to Maryland’s Constitutional Convention. During the Revolutionary War, he was a captain of the Lower Cross Roads Militia Company, as well as a member of the War Commission.

When the war was complete, he became Lord Justice, and then judge of the Orphans’ Court in 1782. In 1799, he and his son, Dr. Thomas Archer, were among charter members who founded the Maryland Medical and Chirurgical Faculty. Dr. Archer then served a six-year term as a member of Congress beginning in 1802.

After a long struggle with rheumatism, Dr. John Archer died at Medical Hall on Sept. 28, 1810.

For a long read on Dr. Archer and the other early physicians in Harford County, please click here.