Parker, Willard, 1800-1884

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Brooklyn doctor.

From the description of Papers, 1829-1894. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 155453028

New York surgeon; lecturer at Columbia University and New York Hospital.

From the description of Lectures on surgery, 1847-1848 / by Willard Parker ... (University of Minnesota). WorldCat record id: 62552886

U.S. surgeon and professor of surgery.

From the description of Letter, 1866, Aug. 10 : New York City. (Duke University). WorldCat record id: 35231069

Willard Parker, an eminent American surgeon, was born at Lyndeborough, N.H., on September 2, 1800, the son of Jonathan and Hannah (Clark) Parker. After receiving his A.B. from Harvard in 1826, Parker served an apprenticeship with two of America's greatest surgeons, John C. Warren and S. D. Townsend, in Boston, earning his medical degree in 1830. He held a series of faculty positions at various medical colleges for the next seven years before settling in New York City for what would prove to be his last job, professor of the principles and practice of surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Parker held this post until his retirement in 1880, the last ten years serving as professor emeritus.

According to the New York Times, Parker was an unusually skilled surgeon. He was said to be ambidextrous and able to perform surgery equally with either hand. Among his other accomplishments, in 1867 he became the first American to remove a ruptured appendix successfully, and he was the author of several monographs on cancer, including a volume of case histories of breast cancer that was published posthumously in 1885. In addition to building an extensive surgical practice in New York City, Parker served as consulting physician to five urban hospitals during his teaching career. Further, he was extremely active in the associations of the profession, and served as an organizer of the New York Pathological Society, the Society for Widows and Orphans of Medical Men, the New York City Board of Health, and the New York Academy of Medicine, of which he was President in 1856.

Willard Parker was married twice: first, on June 21, 1831, to Caroline Sarah Allen, daughter of Dr. Luther Allen of Stirling, Mass.; second, on May 25, 1844, to Mary Ann (Bissell) Coit, daughter of Josiah and Henrietta (Perkins) Bissell. He had two children by the first marriage and three by the second. One of his sons from the second marriage, Willard Parker Jr., followed his father into medical practice, and a daughter, Mrs. Lindley (d.1870), became a missionary.

Willard Parker died at his home at 41 E. 12th Street in New York City on April 25, 1884. He is buried in New Canaan, Conn., where he owned a farm for many years.

From the guide to the Willard Parker papers, Parker, Willard papers, 1841-1877, 1861-1869, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Parker, Willard, 1800-1884. [Letter] 1868 May 23, New York [to] T.G. Cacton / Willard Parker. Texas Tech University Libraries, Academic Library
creatorOf Willard Parker papers 1841-1877 1861-1869 Parker, Willard papers William L. Clements Library
creatorOf Parker, Willard, 1800-1884. Lectures on surgery, 1847-1848 / by Willard Parker ... University of Minnesota, Biomedical Library
creatorOf Papers, 1829-1894. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Earle, Pliny, 1809-1892. Papers, 1806-1897. Duke University, Medical Center Library & Archives
referencedIn Henry, Frederick P. (Frederick Porteous), 1844-1919. Notes, 1865-1866 / by Dr. Frederick P. Henry. College of Physicians of Philadelphia
creatorOf Parker, Willard, 1800-1884. Letter, 1866, Aug. 10 : New York City. Duke University, Medical Center Library & Archives
creatorOf Parker, Willard, 1800-1884. Willard Parker papers 1841-1877, bulk 1861-1869. William L. Clements Library
creatorOf Coventry, C. B. (Charles Brodhead), 1801-1875. [Manuscript notes of thirty-five lectures on obstetrics delivered at the Berkshire Medical Institition, Sept.-Oct. 1830.]. University of Rochester Medical Center
referencedIn Willard Parker Hospital (New York, N.Y.). Medical Board. Minutes, 1934-1955. New York Academy of Medicine
referencedIn Miscellaneous physicians' diaries, 1791-1946. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
creatorOf Earle, Pliny, 1809-1892. Papers, 1806-1897. Duke University, Medical Center Library & Archives
creatorOf Adams, John, d. 1855. [Collection of 19th-century matriculation tickets, lecture admission cards, schedule cards, and graduation tickets from various colleges of medicine and pharmacy.]. Library company of Philadelphia
creatorOf Brown, D. Tilden (David Tilden), 1822-1889. David Tilden Brown Papers, 1848-1866 (bulk 1849). Newberry Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York
Subject
Anatomy
Breast
Cancer
Clinical medicine
Injuries
Medical students
Medicine
Medicine
Mentally ill
Surgery
Surgery
Surgery
Temperance
Therapeutics
Tobacco
Occupation
Physicians
Activity

Person

Birth 1800-09-02

Death 1884-04-25

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