As we all know, George Washington was the first President of our country. He served from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. President Washington died on December 14, 1799, not quite a year after the founding of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland was established by the legislature in Annapolis.
When Washington died, there were several physicians attended him, two of whom were Gustavus Brown!
From Eugene F. Cordell's account of the Gustavus Browns:
The first Dr. Richard Brown was born in Scotland in 1689. He came to Maryland in 1708 on one of the King's ships that came to the Chesapeake Bay. He returned to Scotland for a few years, but came back to Maryland in 1734 and purchased "Rich Hill" near Port Tobacco in Charles County. He had 12 children by his first wife, and two by his second wife, one of whom was Gustavus Richard Brown.
Dr. G.R. Brown (1) acquired a large and lucrative practice in Charles County. In 1729, he was appointed to lay out the eventual town of Port Tobacco. He had two sons by his second wife, one named Richard, and the other name Gustavus Richard Brown (2), who was born in Port Tobacco on 17 October, 1747. Dr. Brown (1) died in April of 1762. He left his lands in Scotland to Richard and the lands in Maryland to Gustavus (2)
Gustavus (2) was educated in Scotland and after "walking" in the London hospitals for several months, he returned to Maryland via the Madeira Islands and brought home a collection of rare plants and flowers. He married and had four children, including Gustavus and Gustavus Richard (3)!
"As is well known," Gustavus (2) was called in consultation to George Washington's las illness by his old friends Drs. Craik and Dick. Washington was a personal friend and neighbor (across the Potomac at Mount Vernon) and was already dying when Gustavus arrived. The combined efforts of the three physicians were to no avail.
Dr. Gustavus Brown (2) died at his home at Rose Hill at age 56 on 30 September, 1804.
Honestly, I am still not sure how this all works!
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