Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1116

NAME STEPHENSON 1094 STEPHENSON respectively by Hugh Mercer (q. v.)i also a physician and a native of Scotland, and Adam Stephen. Stephen took an active part in the war, and became a general in the Continental Army, also filling the position of peace com- missioner to the Indians. The town of Mar- tinsburg in Berkeley County (now West Vir- ginia) was founded and laid out by Stephen. The following quaint mention of two oper- ations done by him are from a curious old manuscript endorsed in the handwriting of Dr. Rush in 1775, and read: "Stephen made himself known by making an incision into the liver of Mrs. Mercer of Stafford County, cleansing and healing the ulcers there, con- trary to the opinion of all the faculty em- ployed to cure the lady." It would seem probable that this was a case of abscess of the liver which was cured by operation. He also did an operation on one Abraham Hill for aneurysm, "restoring him the use of his arm and hand." Dr. Stephen was noted for his talents, energy, learning, and skill in his professional work. He died at an advanced age, at his home in Martinsburg in November, 1791. Robert M. Slaughter. Stephenson, Benjamin Franklin (1823-1871) Benjamin Franklin Stephenson, organizer of the Grand Army of the Republic, was the son of James and Margaret Clinton Stephenson. The father was a native of South Carolina who emigrated to Kentucky, there met Margaret Clinton, whom he married and they then moved to Wayne County, Il- linois. There Dr. Stephenson was born Octo- ber 3, 1823, being one of a large family. When three years of age he was taken by his parents to Sangamon County, where he grew to manhood. He had few opportunities for obtaining an education, and was unable to study medicine until he had attained hi? majority. He began this study with his brother. Dr,^Wm. Stephenson at Mount Pleas- ant, Iowa. He afterwards attended lectures at Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1850. He began practice at Petersburg, Illinois, and in 1855 was married to Miss Barbara B. Moore. From 1855 to 1857 he lectured on general, spe- cial and surgical anatomy in the Iowa Med- ical College, at Keokuk, Iowa. He was sur- geon of the 14th Illinois Infantry in the Civil War, serving three years, when he was mustered out. For meritorious services in the battle of Shiloh Dr. Stephenson had been given the rank of major. He then returned to Springfield, Illinois, and resumed private prac- tice and was a popular and successful prac- titioner. In 1866 he was the organizer of the Grand Army of the Republic. His plans not having met with much favor in Springfield, he went to Decatur, Illinois, to bring the matter be- fore some of the war veterans in that city with the result that the first post was estab- lished, the ritual determined on, the name selected and the charter secured. After the organization of the Grand Army Dr. Stephen- son devoted time and energy in its interest, to his personal detriment. The organization in its early years grew slowly and he saw meagre returns from his efforts. After years of toil, disabled and discouraged, he removed his family to the old home at Petersburg, Illinois. He died August 30, 1871, at Rock Creek, Menard County, Illinois, and was buried in the cemetery at that place, and on August 29, 1882, his remains were removed to Petersburg, Illinois, and interned in the soldiers' flat of Rose Hill Cemetery on the bank of the Sangamon River. On October 2, 1894, a beautiful granite monument was dedi- cated to his memory by his comrades of the Grand Army. Dr. Stephenson was a surgeon of ability, beloved by the men of whom he had charge, and a loyal patriot. On April 6, 1915, a tablet was unveiled at 253 South Park Street, Decatur, Illinois, marking the birthplace of the Grand Army of the Republic. The inscription on the tablet reads : "Birthplace of the Grand Army of the Re- public. In a second floor room on this spot the Grand Army of the Republic was organ- ized April 6, 1866, by Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson. This Tablet is placed by the De- partment of Illinois Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, April 6, 1915." George H. Weaver. Jour, of the Illinois St. Historical See, vol. viii. No. 1, April, 1915, p. 142. HistJ. of the Grand Army of the Republic, New York, 1889. Dr. B. F. Stephenson, A Memoir, by his daugh- ter, Mary Harriet Stephenson, Springfield, 1894. Stephenson, John (1797-1842) John Stephenson was born in Montreal, in 1797, and received his early education from the Sulpicians, although he was not a Catholic. He was apprenticed to William Robertson as a medical pupil in 1815, for which privilege he paid fifty pounds and in 1817 went to Edinburgh and took his degree in 1820. He also became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and studied under