Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 2.djvu/487

 TALIAFERRO

431

TATE

He died on the seventeenth of Septem- ber, 1887, of valvular heart trouble. His wife survived him only a few months.

J. A. R.

Atlanta Med. and Surg, Jour., 1884, n. s., vol. i. Atkinson's Phys. and Surgs. of the U. S.

Taliaferro, William J. (1795-1871).

William J. Taliaferro was born in Newington, Orange County, Virginia, in 1795. He was of Italian extraction; his ancestors came to this country long before the Revolution. His father, Col. Nicholas Taliaferro, served in that war, and at its close settled in Kentucky. The son inherited his father's patriotism. In the War of 1812 he served as a volun- teer in Ball's Kentucky Light Dragoons, which formed part of the left wing of Gen. Harrison's army. At Camp Seneca he enhsted in Com. Perry's fleet, and took part in the battle of Lake Erie. Soon thereafter he rejoined the army and served in the battle of Moravian Town, Canada West, October 5, 1813. For these services he received seven hundred dollars prize money, and a gold medal from the state of Kentucky. On his return from the army he began to study medicine with Dr. Keith, of Augusta, and in 1818 attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, where he witnessed for the first time the operation for cataract. He returned to Kentucky, and began practice in Washington, Mason County.

In 1823 he operated successfully for cataract on a boy five years old who had been bUnd from birth. After a few years he moved to Maysville, Kentucky, where his success as an oculist attracted patients from all parts of the south and west.

About this time Mr. Hitchcraft, a man of wealth and influence became blind, and spent much time and money, but refused to try Taliaferro and went east, and finally to Europe seeking relief from oculists. He returned home without improvement and disheartened, but, at the instance of friends, visited Dr. Talia- ferro, who said he could cure him. An

agreement was drawn up by his friends that he was to pay the doctor five thousand dollars if cured; if not, the doctor was to forfeit four thousand. The result was a perfect success, and Mr. Hitchcraft sent for the doctor, and said to him, "You have fulfilled your part of the engagement, now I will fulfill mine, and pay you the five thousand dollars. ' ' The doctor was astonished, and refused to accept so large a sum. In 1841 he moved to Cincinnati, and in 1843 married the widow of James Ramsey, of Hamilton, Ohio. No children were born. Late in life Dr. Taliaferro accepted the chair of ophthalmology in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, and lectured there until within a short time of his death, March 22, 1871.

A. G. D.

Tate, John Humphreys (1815-1892).

John Humphreys Tate, obstetrician, was born near Harper's Ferry, Charles- ton, Virginia, in 1815, and practised for fifty years in Cincinnati, Ohio. He came of good old stock; Magnus Tate, the elder, came from the Orkney Isles and landed in Philadelphia, May 20, 1696.

John H. was educated at Hanover College, South Hanover, and graduated there. He then studied with Prof. John Morehead of Cincinnati, matricu- lated in the Medical College of Ohio and graduated in 1840. After practising a few years Tate went to Paris to further his education in medicine and surgery and remained abroad for two years, most of the time being spent in Paris.

In 1856 he was elected to fill the chair of physiology, hygiene, and medical jurisprudence in the Medical College of Ohio, and to serve on the staff of the Commercial Hospital. After serving two years he resigned, and in 1870 became a member of the faculty of the Cincinnati Medical College, and in 1873 was elected president of the Cin- cinnati Academy of Medicine and from 1873 to 1875 served as obstetrician and gynecologist to the Cincinnati Hos- pital. Dr. John Tate was a gentleman of