Mease, James, 1771-1846

James Mease (Aug. 11, 1771-May 14, 1846), physician, scientific thinker and author, was one of Philadelphia's most prominent citizens and an ardent booster of both the United States and Pennsylvania. His interests were wide-ranging, as were his contacts with notable figures in science, agriculture and natural history in the United States and abroad. Mease was born in Philadelphia into a wealthy and patriotic shipping merchant family; during the Revolutionary War his father, John Mease, served in the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse. James graduated from the College of the University of Pennsylvania, and received an M.D. degree in 1792 from the same institution. He married Sarah Butler, the daughter of a South Carolina senator, in 1800. During part of the War of 1812 the younger Mease served as a hospital surgeon. Mease was one of the managers of the "Company for the Improvement of the Vine," in connection with which he developed a vineyard; he was a prominent member of The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, a member, curator, and councilor of the American Philosophical Society, and one of the founders and first vice-president of the Philadelphia Athenaeum. Mease belonged to an informal international network of scientifically-inclined thinkers who shared information, books, pamphlets, geological samples, seeds, etc. in an ongoing exchange. He wrote to Count Rumford, to Sir Joseph Banks, sent a pamphlet to Cuvier, had a lively correspondence with the Scottish horticultural writer, John C. Loudon, and sent rocks to Donald Stewart, mineralogist of the Dublin Society. On the subject of the Pennsylvania penal system and general criminal reform he wrote to the President of the United States, cabinet department heads, state governors, and numerous federal and state legislators. He was interested in a wide range of agricultural and horticultural topics, in various technologies, in geology, in the medicinal properties of plants. All together these papers render a portrait of a remarkably intelligent, dedicated and thoughtful individual.

From the description of James Mease papers, 1794-1848. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 738619454

Philadelphia physician.

From the description of ALS : Philadelphia, to Julius Timoleon Ducatel, 1834 Apr. 10. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122490278

From the description of ALS : Philadelphia, to Jane Aitken, 1810 Mar. 15. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122541878

Physician and scientist of Philadelphia.

From the description of Letter, 1796, Sept. 6 : to Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia. (Duke University). WorldCat record id: 31705715

Physician, philanthropist and antiquarian of Philadelphia.

From the description of Papers, 1811-1842, Philadelphia. (Duke University). WorldCat record id: 35201001

Jared Sparks was a clergyman, editor, historian, and president of Harvard College; he became an American Philosophical Society member in 1837.

From the guide to the Jared Sparks selected papers, 1819-1863 Franklin Bache S. D. Bradford William Duane Peter S. Du Ponceau J. Francis Fisher George Gibbs Henry D. Gilpin Edward D. Ingraham James Mease William B. Reed Henry Stevens, Sr. Henry Stevens, Jr. Benjamin Vaughan Petty Vaughan William Vaughan There are also extracts from Sparks's journal, 1831-1841, relating to his Franklin researches. Table of contents (11 pp.). (Film 570), 1819-1863, (American Philosophical Society)

Biography

James Mease (Aug. 11, 1771-May 14, 1846), physician, scientific thinker and author, was one of Philadelphia's most prominent citizens and an ardent booster of both the United States and Pennsylvania. His interests were wide-ranging, as were his contacts with notable figures in science, agriculture and natural history in the United States and abroad.

Mease was born in Philadelphia into a wealthy and patriotic shipping merchant family; during the Revolutionary War his father, John Mease, served in the Philadelphia Troop of Light Horse. James graduated from the College of the University of Pennsylvania, and received an M.D. degree in 1792 from the same institution. He married Sarah Butler, the daughter of a South Carolina senator, in 1800. During part of the War of 1812 the younger Mease served as a hospital surgeon. Mease was one of the managers of the "Company for the Improvement of the Vine," in connection with which he developed a vineyard; he was a prominent member of The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, a member, curator, and councilor of the American Philosophical Society, and one of the founders and first vice-president of the Philadelphia Athenaeum

Mease belonged to an informal international network of scientifically-inclined thinkers who shared information, books, pamphlets, geological samples, seeds, etc. in an ongoing exchange. He wrote to Count Rumford, to Sir Joseph Banks, sent a pamphlet to Cuvier, had a lively correspondence with the Scottish horticultural writer, John C. Loudon, and sent rocks to Donald Stewart, mineralogist of the Dublin Society. On the subject of the Pennsylvania penal system and general criminal reform he wrote to the President of the United States, cabinet department heads, state governors, and numerous federal and state legislators. He was interested in a wide range of agricultural and horticultural topics, in various technologies, in geology, in the medicinal properties of plants. All together these papers render a portrait of a remarkably intelligent, dedicated and thoughtful individual.

From the guide to the James Mease Papers, 1794-1848, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections Division)

James Mease was born on August 11, 1771, the son of Philadelphians John and Esther (Miller) Mease. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1787, he continued in medical school there, receiving his M.D. in 1792. Early in his medical career, Mease published several articles, and he served as a surgeon for nine months during the War of 1812. His published contributions to medical knowledge, however, were less significant than his contributions to several other fields. In addition to several medical works, Mease edited the well-received Domestic Encyclopedia (1803-04) and the two volume Archives of useful knowledge (1811-12), but he remains best known for his Picture of Philadelphia (1807) and his Geological Account of the United States (1807), which was among the earliest geological treatises by an American. A numismatist, Mease published "Description of Some of the Medals Struck in Relation to Important Events in North America" in the Collections of the New York Historical Society (vol. 3, 1821). Many of his papers were read before the American Philosophical Society, to which he was elected in 1802 and of which he was an officer, 1824-1836. He was a founder and first vice-president of the Philadelphia Athenaeum.

On July 3, 1800, Mease married Sarah Butler, the daughter of South Carolina Senator, Pierce Butler. They had two sons, both of whom changed their surnames as adults to Butler in order to secure an inheritance. One of the sons, Pierce Butler, married the renowned stage actress, Frances Anne Kemble. James Mease died in Philadelphia on May 14, 1846, and was buried in the cemetery of Third Presbyterian Church.

From the guide to the James Mease journal, Mease, James, 1835; 1841, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)