Lexington, VA (November 20, 2009) - On Monday, November 30th, at 7:30 pm, the Rockbridge Historical Society will present its final public history program for 2009 in the Auditorium of Nichols Engineering Hall, at VMI. The event is free and open to the public.
The life of Dr. Ephraim McDowell will be portrayed on stage in a one-man show by L. Henry Dowell, Artistic Director of The Gusto Theatre Company in London, Kentucky. Mr. Dowell attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, and received his BA in Theatre from Moreland State University. He has over 20 years experience in playwriting, acting, directing, and producing.
On Christmas Day of 1809, 1,000 miles from the nearest hospital, and 35 years before the development of anesthesia, two Rockbridge County natives came together to make medical history. Dr. Ephraim McDowell removed a twenty-two-and-one-half-pound ovarian tumor from 46-year-old Jane Todd Crawford, who had grown up near Whistle Creek. It was the world’s first recorded, successful ovariotomy, and the operation brought McDowell worldwide acclaim as the father of abdominal surgery.
Born into a prominent Rockbridge family in 1777, he was sent to Staunton as a teenager to apprentice under the noted physician, Alexander Humphreys, who had studied at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland – then the world’s pre-eminent school of medicine. In 1792, McDowell continued his studies in Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, President George Washington asked his father – a colonel in the American Revolution – to immigrate to Kentucky to settle land claims. Samuel McDowell complied with the President’s request, and moved with his family to Danville, Kentucky.
Returning to America in 1795, Ephraim established a medical practice in his family’s new hometown, and soon earned a reputation as an extraordinary anatomist and surgeon.
McDowell was called to Green County, KY to consult with doctors attending Mrs. Crawford. They believed she was suffering from a likely-fatal complication of pregnancy. In excruciating pain, her abdomen hung down to her knees. Dr. McDowell diagnosed a huge ovarian tumor. He told her that conventional medical wisdom decreed opening the abdomen meant certain death, but he’d operate, if she could travel to his surgery. Doctor and patient both understood this was her only hope for survival.
She rode for several days to reach Danville, resting the tumor on the saddle horn. McDowell operated on Christmas Day, hoping this would be a propitious date. As he often did before surgery, he scribbled a prayer on a piece of paper, and placed it in his pocket. Assisted by his nephew while Crawford sang hymns to distract herself from the pain, he removed a tumor weighing over 22 pounds. Five days later, he found Crawford standing, making her bed.
She was soon on the way home to survive another 32 years. McDowell’s audacity and phenomenal skill saved Crawford’s life, and paved the way for operations that have since saved thousands. He subsequently performed the procedure a number additional times, losing only one patient.
RHS is one of the oldest, largest, and most active, county historical societies in Virginia. Its mission is local history education and historic preservation. It owns three historic buildings, formal gardens and extensive grounds. It sponsors local history scholarship, produces related publications, operates a museum of local history, publishes a newsletter, and conducts six free public history programs annually.
For information regarding Society membership and upcoming events, call
(540) 464-1058, or visit the RHS Website: www.rockhist.org.
|  | This bronze statue of Ephraim McDowell is located in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. The collection consists of 100 statues – two from each state. This one was given by the Commonwealth of Kentucky to honor McDowell’s achievements in medicine and surgery.
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