Moses Gunn (1822 - 1887)

Born 10 Apr 1822 in East Bloomfield, Ontario, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Jane Augusta Terry — married 2 Mar 1848 in Washtenaw, Michigan, United States

Died 4 Nov 1887 at age 65 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

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Biography

Descendant of William Hickok, immigrant ancestor of Farmington, Colony of Connecticut.

photo of Moses Gunn, circa 1860

photo at Find A Grave

Moses Gunn Civil War surgeon under General McClellan 1876 portrait -- eBay offering as of 20 March 2022

another photo of Moses Gunn

"Summer visitors at Chicago who ride or drive for pleasure on the South-side avenues and boulevards often ask the name and profession of an elderly gentleman of very imposing presence and distinguished military bearing who is almost regularly seen, when the weather permits, taking dignified exercise on a splendidly-groomed horse, whose glossy black coat makes even more striking by contrast the white hair and beard of the rider. Any resident of Chicago who lives on the South-side can at once inform the inquirer that the rider is Dr. Moses Gunn, one of the best known and most distinguished of all Chicago's physicians and surgeons."^[1]

"MOSES GUNN was born at East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, April 20, 1822,^[2] son of Linus and Esther (Bronson) Gunn. Both his parents were natives of Massachusetts, the father being of Scotch ancestry. The son received his early training in the schools of his native place, and later began medical studies in the office of Dr. Carr, of Canandaigua. In 1844 he entered Geneva Medical College and was graduated Doctor of Medicine in 1846. Here he came under the instruction of Dr. Corydon La Ford, Professor of Anatomy; and between the two there sprang up a lifelong friendship. Immediately after his graduation he came to Ann Arbor and began his professional career. In addition to his regular practice he organized classes in Anatomy each year. In 1850 when the Department of Medicine and Surgery was opened in the University, he was invited to become a member of the original Faculty as Professor of Anatomy and Surgery. In 1854 the chair was divided, and he chose the chair of Surgery, while his former teacher Dr. Ford, was called to the chair of Anatomy. Thus they worked side by side for thirteen years, till Dr. Gunn resigned to accept the chair of Surgery in Rush Medical College. From 1867 to the year of his death he continued to lecture there and to practice his specialty in Chicago. From September 1, 1861, to July, 1862, he was Surgeon of the Fifth Michigan Infantry and went through the Peninsular Campaign with General McClellan's army. He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Geneva College in 1856, and the degree of Doctor of Laws from Chicago University in 1867. He was married in [Washtenaw Co. on 2 March]^[3]1848 to Jane Augusta Terry, of Ann Arbor. The oldest son, Glyndon, was drowned in the Detroit River in August, 1866, aged sixteen. A younger son, Malcolm was a student at Ann Arbor for a time, and afterward took his degree at Rush Medical College. Dr. Gunn died [at the age of 65] at his home in Chicago, November 4, 1887.^[2]"^[4] "His disease was a malignant affection of the liver,and was possibly the result of a dissection wound received several years [before his death], and from the effects of which he suffered quite severely at that time."^[5]

"Dr. Gunn was a man of commanding presence; he was upwards of six feet in height, with the erect carriage of a military man; long, curly hair and side whiskers. In the ampitheatre and operating room, he was the beau ideal of a surgeon; a skilled anatomist, a bold but judicious operation, he brought to his work vast storehouses of knowledge, well matured ideas, and gave it to his hearers in choice language suited to the capacities of his audiences. He was a born teacher, and an enthusiast in imparting instruction in his branch of science."^[6]

“Professor Gunn's reputation as one of the leading surgeons of the country was, however, largely attained after the establishment of his connection with Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois.... Here he remained actively engaged in his practice as a surgeon, and in his duties as a teacher of medicine, up to the time of his death, which occurred, after an illness of several weeks, on the fourth of November, 1887.... Professor Gunn was granted the degree of Doctor of Laws, by the University of Chicago, in the year 1877.

“At the date of his death, he was a member of the American Surgical Association, an original member of the American Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons, and in each capacity a member of the Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons, a member of the Illinois State Medical Society, of the American Medical Association, and of the Chicago Medical Society.

“Besides the work required in his college professorship he served as a surgeon on the active and consulting staff of a number of the public charities of this city, including the Cook County Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, St. Luke's Hospital, and more particularly the Presbyterian Hospital, where in later years some of his most brilliant surgical operations were per formed.

“Like most of the truly great surgeons of the civilized world, Professor Gunn won his exalted place in the ranks of his profession by his success, first, as a judicious, yet brilliant, always neat, and wonderfully successful operator; second, by his fame as an oral teacher of his art. He was indeed a scholarly and accurate writer, and had composed a systematic treatise on Surgery which was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire.

“But his fame, like that of Velpeau, Nélaton, Hunter, Parker and Mott, will always rest rather on what he did with his knife than with his All of his accomplishments, and they were not a few, were subordinated to his surgical skill, on which his reputation was firmly based. He was, for a physician, an unusually accurate accountant, a good churchman, an excellent horseman, a lover of the best general literature, a skillful architect, an amateur astronomer, and a man of refined tastes in all matters pertaining to art. But upon none of these subjects did he set his heart to any extent comparable with the untiring zeal and zest displayed in the discharge of his professional duties.

“With the enormous demands upon his time, he never, when in health, was known to fail to enter his lecture room at the stroke of the bell, or to be punctual at the appointed hour for a consultation. The clinical work he did in public was the chief delight of his life. There he was truly royal in word and act. His superb figure and commanding presence in the amphitheatre are the imperishable souvenirs of thousands of young medical men, who have learned from his life their first lesson in practical surgery, and have followed with their eyes the wonderful play of the instruments in his hand, guided by an anatomical knowledge that few, fully as he, possessed. . “Professor Gunn came thus to be known to the world at large, as one of the most eminent surgeons of his day—a man of remarkable presence, of high moral character, and of the best social position. But to those who were admitted to share the intimacy of his friendship, he exhibited qualities which others often scarcely suspected. He was in all these non-professional relations, found to be singularly modest, gentle as a woman, light-hearted as a boy, faithful in his friendships, fixed in an honest hatred of all shams and pretenders, and exhibiting in every judgment of his mind a strong common sense that illumined every dark corner into which he looked.

“Professor Moses Gunn was one of those men who would have been great in any sphere of life. viewed from every side, one of the greatest of the great men whose names the medical profession will always treasure with gratitude and respect. His memory is enshrined to -day in that pantheon of honor, where the most learned of jurists, the ablest ecclesiastics, the most successful military heroes, and the immortal poets and artists of America are numbered with its famous physicians ."^[7]

There is a grave marker at Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois,^[2], although some of the obituaries spoke of his remains being taken to Detroit for interment.^[5]

He was survived by his wife; daughter Clara, wife of Thomas Aiken Wright, a prominent business man of Kansas City; and sons Walter C. and Malcolm, both residing in Chicago.^[5]

The will of Dr. Moses Gunn, dated 15 May 1879, was probated on 15 November 1887 and his widow was appointed as executor. The estate consisted of real estate with a value of $43,500 and personal property valued at $6000. He gave his heavy guard-chain to his daughter Clara and his gold repeater-watch to his son Walter. and the remainder of his estate to his wife.^[8]

After Moses' death, his wife published his life story and a loving tribute to her husband.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "Notes and Queries: Moses Gunn, M.D., LL.D.," The American Practitioner: A Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery (January 1882): 188-190.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137772228/moses-gunn : accessed 20 March 2022), memorial page for Dr Moses Gunn (20 Apr 1822–4 Nov 1887), Find a Grave Memorial ID 137772228, citing Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA ; Maintained by Find a Grave (contributor 8).
3. ↑ "Michigan, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1822-1940," database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/736962:61374 : accessed 20 March 2022); citing "Various Michigan County marriage collections."
4. ↑ Burke A. Hinsdale and Isaac Newton Demmon, History of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1906), 224-225; imaged book, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 20 March 2022).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} "Their Last Summons: Dr. Moses Gunn, One of America's Foremost Surgeons, Breathes His Last," The Daily Inter Ocean [Chicago, Illinois], 5 November 1887, p. 8 , col. 1; image, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed 20 March 2022).
6. ↑ "Editorial: Moses Gunn, A. M., M. D.. L.L. D," The Peoria Medical Monthly: A Journal Devoted to Medicine & Surgery 8 (May 1887): 256 - 258.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Jane Augusta (Terry) Gunn, Memorial Sketches of Doctor Moses Gunn, by His Wife, with Extracts from His Letters and Eulogistic tributes from His Colleagues and Friends (Chicago: W. T. Keener, 1889), xvii - xx; imaged book, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 20 March 2022); citing "Professor James Nevins Hyde's Report on Necrology ... published in the Transactions of the Illinois State Medical Society for1888."
8. ↑ "In the Courts of Justice: The Will of the Late Dr. Moses Gunn," Chicago [Illinois] Tribune, 16 November 1887, p. 2 , col. 5; image, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed 20 March 2022).

See also:

"Moses Gunn (1822 - 1887) Professor of Surgery 1850 - 1867," Horace W. Davenport, University of Michigan Surgeons, 1850 - 1970, Who They Were and What They Did (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Historical Center for the Health Sciences, 1993), 1 - 12; imaged book, Google Books (https://books.google.com : accessed 20 March 2022).

"History of the University of Michigan Department of Surgery," Anne Duderstadt, The History of University of Michigan, 1817 - 2017 (http://um2017.org/History_of_Surgery.html : accessed 20 March 2022).

Historical Data Services, Inc., "Michigan Fifth Infantry (Three Years)(http://www.civilwardata.com/active/hdsquery.dll?RegimentHistory?1113&U%3E : accessed 20 March 2020).