Frederick County

 William Hilleary                        

William Hilleary was born at Mount Pleasant in Frederick County, Md on March 25, 1775, son of John and Anne Perry Hilleary. Studied under Dr Philip Thomas for three years. He  never “graduated” but set up practice in Frederick County. During the War of 1812, he served as a Surgeon of Colonel Ragan's Regiment During his career, Dr. Hilleary educated a number of physicians of the western part of Maryland. He never married and died March 15, 1834.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

There is another Dr. William Hilleary who pre-dates our Dr. Hilleary by several years, and most available information is about him.

 

Francis Brown Sappington              

Francis Brown Sappington was the son of Francis Sappington of Libertytown, Frederick County, Md., born in 1754. In 1780, Dr. Brown furnished clothing in support of the Patriots of the American Revolutionary War. He married Ann Ridgley on November 2, 1783 A picture of this Founder was exhibited at the Centennial. Died at Libertytown on May 1, 1832 at an advanced age.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

In January, 2021, MedChi acquired a ledger which belonged to Dr. Sappington, and covered the years 1797-1803. You can read about it here.

 

Joseph Sim Smith                       Frederick County

Joseph Sim Smith was born on his father's place near the Patuxent River, Calvert County, Md. He was the son of Dr. Clement Smith and grandson of Dr. Patrick Sim of Prince George County. Later, he became the father of Dr. Samuel P. Smith of Cumberland. Dr. Smith was a Surgeon's Mate in the Maryland Line until 1780, and then was commissioned Cornet in Armand's Partisan Legion, serving as such until 1782. After the Revolution, he settled in practice at Taneytown. He was a Censor in 1803, Major of Militia in 1793, and Justice of Peace 1802-07, 1814 and 1819. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Col. Thomas Price of the Revolution. Dr. Joseph Sim Smith died at Taneytown in Carroll County, Md on September 5, 1822.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

Philip Thomas                    Frederick County

Philip Thomas was born near Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland on June 11, 1747. He was a son of James Thomas. He became a medical pupil of Dr. Thomas VanDyke of Philadelphia for four years and attended lectures at Philadelphia. In 1796, he moved to Frederick County, Maryland. He became the chairman of the Committee of Safety of Frederick County during the American Revolution. He was the Medical Purveyor of Frederick County from 1781 to 1783.

Dr. Thomas was an Elector for President George Washington. Dr. Thomas was a founder of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland and was the second President of the organization, his term lasting from 1812 until 1815. 

He married Jane Contee Hanson, daughter of the President of the Continental Congress, John Hanson. He died in Frederick, Maryland on April 25, 1815.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

Philip Thomas was born in Chestertown in 1747, to parents of Scottish and English heritage. He apprenticed with a physician in Chestertown, and spent some time in Philadelphia, in 1768 and 1769, attending lectures at the oldest medical school in the country, at the University of Pennsylvania. He could not afford to pursue a degree, but he completed his apprenticeship and obtained letters of recommendation from various teachers.

He came to Frederick after being certified. He chose Frederick because there were few established physicians here at that time. In 1772, he built a house at 110 W. Patrick St. John Hanson and his family lived next door, so it wasn't unusual that Thomas would have met and married daughter Jane Hanson, which he did in 1773. Thomas joined the militia in 1776, and remained in through the duration of the Revolutionary War. His wife died in 1781, but he remained involved with the war effort until it ended in 1783.

He lived on a farm known as Mount Philip. Mount Philip Road is named after Thomas' farm. On that farm, he bred horses. He was known as an accomplished equestrian and commanded a cavalry troop during the Revolutionary War. His duties weren't just medical, even after the Revolutionary War. He was a Federalist, and became one of the first electoral college members that voted in George Washington as president. He also served as a revenue collector.  

Thomas trained a half-dozen physicians who practiced in Frederick. In 1801, he became the second president of the Medical Chirurgical Society, and retained that post until 1815. "He would have been re-elected again, but he died," Dr. Chase said. "He was one of the few to suggest creation of a medical school."

He died in 1815 during an epidemic. He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Source: Maryland Medical Journal (2000)

 

John Tyler                                     Frederick County

John Tyler was born in Prince George County, Md on June 29, 1763. He began study of medicine under Dr. Smith of Georgetown and was a pupil at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London and received diploma in 1784. He was also a pupil of Drs. John Hunter, Fordyce, Pott, Baillie, and others. He began practice at Frederick City, Md. in 1786, according to Quinan. 

The first oculist in America acquired a great reputation in ophthalmology, one of the first in the United States to operate for cataract with patients coming long distances to be couched. Dr. Tyler was an officer in the “Whiskey Insurrection” in Pennsylvania. He was Elector of Thomas Jefferson. Being possessed of a competency and his hearing becoming dulled by age and disease, he retired from practice. Dr. Thomas died, unmarried, at Frederick City on October 15, 1841.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

Because of the commonality of his name, including the tenth President of the United States, it is difficult to find additional information about Dr. John Tyler.