Harford County

John Archer                                

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 the newly established College of Medicine of Philadelphia 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.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

 

Thomas Archer                           

Thomas Archer was born in Harford County, Md. on February 23, 1768. He was eldest of six sons and a pupil of his father, John Archer, who was also a Founder. Dr. Archer served in Congress from 1801 to 1807. He began his medical practice in 1788, and continued in Harford County for 25 years. He was an invalid for many years, suffering from inflamatory rheumatism. He died there October 7, 1821. No human being could lay a wrong at his door

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

 

Thomas H. Birckhead              

Thomas Howell Birckhead was probably born in Harford County. He married Mrs. Elizabeth Waters, née Wetherell. He lived and died on his estate near Magnolia Station of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad. He was trustee of the first school in Harford County in 1798. The Maryland Medical Recorder March 1830 speaks of the late Dr Birckhead, evidently meaning this one.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

 

Elijah Davis                                 

Elijah Davis was born in Chester County, PA on July 22, 1760. Attended medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania from 1784 to 1785. Dr. Davis was taken prisoner at the Battle of Long Island in 1776, carried to England and imprisoned on Jersey prison ship for two years until he was exchanged. He then went to Paris and studied medicine there. He came home, but went a second time to Paris and is said to have taken MD at the University of Paris. He came to Harford County in June of 1786 and practiced at Bellevue, Harford County. Dr. Davis was a member of the House of Delegates from 1800-1803 and 1807-1808 and of the State Senate in 1811 and 1813. In addition to being a Founder, he was an Honorary Member of the Medical Society of Baltimore, founded 1812. Dr. Elijah Davis died in Harford County on June 29, 1829.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)