Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 2.djvu/527

 VAN RENSSELAER

469

VATTIER

York superintending its electrotypinf;; and teacliing Hebrew, then on his return to Beirut supervised the printing of Bibles; conducted an Arabic journal and was professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the Syrian Protestant Col- lege; also helping to found the Astronom- ical Observatory and working hard in tlie Greek and St. John's Hospital.

He died on November 13, 1896, at four in the morning after a useful life of nearly seventy-eight years, just before his last brief illness translating Wallace's " Ben Hur" into Arabic.

D. W.

Van Rensselaer, Jeremiah (179.3-1S71).

Jeremiah Van Rensselaer was born in Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York, in 1793. He was a descendant of the old Dutch settlers who, in 1637. founded the colony of Rensselaerwyck. After completing his academic studies at Yale College, he, in 1S13, went to New York and worked uniler his uncle. Dr. Archibald Bruce, where he acquired that taste for the natural sciences, for which in after years he was distinguished. After getting his M. D. in 1817, he went abroad and spent three years in attendance upon the lectures and hospitals in Edinburgh, London and Paris. Upon his return to New York he practised extensively. He was for many years corresponding secretary of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, and during 1895 de- livered a course of lectures before the New York Athenaeum with great success. In 1852 he retired from active pursuits to the care of his estates at Greenbush. He returned to New York after a visit abroad in feeble health, and a few months later, in 1871, died of pneumonia.

The Med. Register of N. Y., 1871, vol. ix.

Vattier, John Loring (1808-1881).

He was the son of Charles Vattier, of Le Havre, France, who emigrated to this country and came West as a member of Gen. St. Clair's Army, locating here and amassing a fortune dealing in real estate. His mother was Pamela Loring, of Balti-

more, Marjdand, and he was born on October 31, 1808, in a little house at the corner of Front and Eastern Row, now Broadway, Cincinnati, Ohio. After go- ing to the best schools of that day, but principally to private preceptors, he entered into the services of an apothe- cary, with the object of becoming a phy- sician and in 1827 took up medicine and matriculated in the Medical College of Ohio, under Prof. Whitman, Slack, and Cobb; between terms he devoted his time to the steamboat traffic, reading medi- cine in spare moments of long trips. He was a clerk on the "Alexander Hamil- ton," at the time it made the first through trip of any steamboat between Cincinnati and St. Louis. He finally graduated in 1830 and settled in Aurora, Indiana, but the field not being attractive enough, he returned to Cincinnati and embarked in the wholesale drug business, the firm name being Ramsay and Vattier, which venture of about four years' duration became unprofitable and the firm dis- solved, and in 1863 he returned to prac- tise medicine in his native city, which he did to the time of his death, enjoying a successful career. At one time he was a partner of the renowned Dr. John T Shot well.

At the time of the Seminole W^ar and trouble leading up to the Mexican War, he was appointed by Maj. Melancthon J. Wade as surgeon of the First Regiment, third brigade of first division, Ohio Mihtia.

In 1853 Vattier was appointed post- master at Cincinnati by Pres. Pierce and continued in office until May, 1858, and again in 1859 he was appointed to the same office by Pres. Buchanan and remained there until the administration of Pres. Lincoln.

At different times he was trustee and director of many institutions, among the public ones may be stated, the City Hospital, Longview Asylum, Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery and the Medical College of Ohio; with the latter he was identified closely and did much towards bringing it into prominence.