John Kearsley Mitchell
John Kearsley Mitchell (May 12, 1798 – April 4, 1858) was an American medical doctor and writer, born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (present-day West Virginia). Orphaned at the age of eight, and sent to his late father's family in Scotland at the age of thirteen, Kearsley was educated at Ayr Academy and the University of Edinburgh. He returned to the United States in 1814, and began studying medicine under Samuel Powel Griffitts (apprenticeship was a common method of medical education in this period) before enrolling at an institution for his medical education.
Also recorded as John K. Mitchell
John Kearsley Mitchell

engraved by Welch Walters from a daguerreotype by M.P. Simons · Public domain
- Name
- John Kearsley Mitchell
- Born
- 12 May 1798
- Birthplace
- Shepherdstown, West Virginia, U.S.
- Died
- 4 April 1858
- Place of death
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Education
- University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
- Known for
- Medical and chemistry research
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- writer · surgeon · poet
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John Kearsley Mitchell (May 12, 1798 – April 4, 1858) was an American medical doctor and writer, born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (present-day West Virginia). Orphaned at the age of eight, and sent to his late father's family in Scotland at the age of thirteen, Kearsley was educated at Ayr Academy and the University of Edinburgh. He returned to the United States in 1814, and began studying medicine under Samuel Powel Griffitts (apprenticeship was a common method of medical education in this period) before enrolling at an institution for his medical education.
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wikidata · Q6242585 · wikipedia · John Kearsley Mitchell
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Biography
Biography
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1819. Before he went to Philadelphia to practice his profession, he made three voyages to East Asia as ship's surgeon. In 1826 he became professor of medicine and physiology at the Philadelphia Medical Institute and in 1833 professor of chemistry at the Franklin Institute. In 1827, Mitchell was elected to the American Philosophical Society. From 1841 to 1858, he was professor of the theory and practice of medicine at Jefferson Medical College. Mitchell was a freemason and served as grand master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1858. He was also the father of American physician and writer Silas Weir Mitchell (February 15, 1829 – January 4, 1914).
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Kearsley Mitchell • Born — 12 May 1798 • Birthplace — Shepherdstown, West Virginia, U.S. • Died — 4 April 1858 • Place of death — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Education — University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine • Children — Silas Weir Mitchell • Known for — Medical and chemistry research
Works
Works
• St. Helena (1821), a poem • On the Penetratieness of Fluids (AJMS, Nov. 1830) • On the Wisdom, Goodness and Power of God as Illustrated in the Properties of Water (1834) • Indecision, a Tale of the Far West, and Other Poems (1839) • On the Cryptogamous Origin of Malarious and Epidemic Fevers (1849) • Five Essays on Various Chemical and Medical Subjects (1858), published posthumously by his son S. Weir Mitchell. * • The Value of a Great Medical Reputation: With Suggestions for Its Attainment: A Lecture, Introductory to the Summer Course of the Medical Institute (1834),
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Jefferson County.
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Philadelphia.
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- 1.https://archive.org/details/62750510R.nlm.nih.gov
- 2.Duyckinck, E. A. and G. L., “John K. Mitchell,” Cyclopedia of American Literature, New York: Charles Scribner, 1856, Volume 2: pages 381-382
- 3.APS Member History. search.amphilsoc.org.
- 4.Past Grand Masters. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. 11 December 2017.
- 5.Mitchell, J. K. (1995). On the penetrativeness of fluids. Journal of Membrane Science, 100(1), 11–16. doi:10.1016/0376-7388(94)00227-P
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