Seymour, Eleanor Curran.

Biography

These papers concern three generations of physicians, Robert Curran, M.D. (1806-1872), his son-in-law, Francis Asbury Seymour, M.D. (1843-1920), and Dr. Seymour's daughter, Eleanor Curran Seymour, M.D. (1877-1961).

Dr. Robert Curran was characterized by his granddaughter as a physician, preacher, teacher, and author. He had taught in a public school and was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church before obtaining a license to practice medicine in 1831; in 1838 he graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He was appointed Professor of Physiology and General Pathology at the Indiana Central Medical College in 1850, and Professor of Physiology and Pathology in his alma mater in Cincinnati. Dr. Curran was highly respected both within the medical profession and within his church.

For Dr. Francis A. Seymour, his daughter used teacher, preacher, physician, surgeon to describe him. He, too, first taught in public schools, studied medicine, discontinued that study to take up theology, was licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but returned to medicine, and graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine. In 1864, just before the close of his final medical school year, he was appointed Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army; he finished the Civil War as Chief Executive Officer of Jefferson General Hospital, Jeffersonville, Indiana. After his marriage in 1866 he joined his new father-in-law, Robert Curran, in the latter's practice in Jeffersonville. He also served on the faculty of the Kentucky School of Medicine. Ill health motivated a move to California in 1880, and to Los Angeles in 1882, where he remained in continuous practice until his death. Dr. Seymour served as president of the County Medical Association, assistant editor of "The Southern California Practitioner", member of the State Board of Health, and was prominent in many medical and philanthropic activities. He was also an active and important participant in the activities of the Methodist Church.

Dr. Eleanor Curran Seymour, Dr. Francis Seymour's only daughter, obtained her medical degree from USC in 1903. She interned at Women's and Children's Hospital, San Francisco, then moved back to Los Angeles, where she served variously as instructor in Bacteriology at USC, Resident in Anesthesia, X-Ray, and Pathology at Pacific Hospital, and as long-term Resident in Olive View County Tuberculosis Sanatarium. Dr. E. Seymour was active in the American Medical Association, the Los Angeles County Medical Society, and several anesthetist societies, serving as President of the American Association of Anesthetists meeting in 1923.

From the guide to the Seymour Family Papers, 1842-1947, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections Division)