Henry
Lee Heiskell, MD 1803 - 1855
Henry Lee Heiskell, the son of John
Heiskell and Ann Sowers, was born in Winchester, VA .
Henry Lee Heiskell, born March 16, 1803,
married Margaret L. Baldwin (Margaret Sowers), November 12, 1833.
Henry married for his second wife, Elizabeth Gouvenier, of Washington,
D. C. (the granddaughter of President Monroe, and the mother of
Capt. James Monroe Heiskell, of military fame), the ceremony taking
place in June, 1842. He was first assistant surgeon-general in
the United States army, and served in Florida during the Seminole
war.
(Source: History of the Upper Ohio Valley, vol. 1, Madison,
Wisc.: Brant & Fuller, 1891, p. 316)
Henry Lee Heiskell is buried in the Congressional
Cemetery. The above is an obituary they have on file.
Source: Andrew Jackson and early Tennessee history
by S. G. Heiskell (vol. 1:457) Nashville 1920. |
Obituary Record.—Died, at
the City of Washington, D. C, on Sunday, August 12, 1855,
Henry Lee Heiskell, M. 1)., Surgeon U. S. Army.
Dr. Heiskell was born in Winchester,
Va., March 16, 1803; graduated in medicine at the University
of Pennsylvania, in 1828; wan appointed an assistant surgeon
in the army on the 13th of July, 1832, and on the 7th of
July, 1838, promoted to the rank of surgeon. After serving
for several years at southern stations, and sharing in the
dangers and hardships of the Florida war, he was ordered
to Madison Barracks, Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., from whence,
in September, 1840, he was called to the City of Washington,
and assigned to duty in the Medical Bureau, as assistant
to the Surgeon-General.
In this position he remained until
his death, a period of fifteen years, having in that time
repeatedly received the appointment of Acting Surgeon-General,
and discharged all the duties of that office during the
absence of the SurgeonGeneral on official business, and
particularly while that officer was at the seat of war in
Mexico.
To the performance of the highly
responsible, and ofttimes delicate, duties devolving upon
him, Surgeon Heiskell brought a clear, comprehensive, and
sound judgment, and an elevated sense of honour and of justice,
which won and secured for him the esteem and confidence
of the Surgeon-General.
As the confidential assistant of
the Surgeon-General, his recommendations, in all matters
relating to the movements of the medical officers, were
governed by what he deemed the true interests of the service,
and the relative rights of the officers concerned. In business
pertaining to the monetary transactions of the Medical and
Hospital Department, his decisions were strictly in accordance
with the laws and regulations; but in cases where these
conflicted with the equitable claims of individuals, he
was ever ready to present the facts to those having authority
to extend relief.
Governed by fixed principles, and
guided by laws and regulations, his recommendations and
decisions at times necessarily conflicted with the wishes
and interests of individuals; but the reasonableness of
the former, and the impartial justice of the latter, as
well as the ability with which, when necessary, they were
argued and maintained, gave him not only great influence
with his associates in the army, but also created for him
an enviable reputation in all the administrative departments
of the government with which he had official business.
The elevated principles which characterized
him in his public career marked his conduct in all the relations
of private life. Naturally of a quick and ardent temperament,
he was prompt to resent an injury or an insult, while, at
the same time, his nice sense of honour and gentlemanly
feeling served as a sufficient barrier to prevent acts of
aggression on his part. His habits were eminently social,
and many who read these lines will recall his liberal hospitality.
In June, 1842, he married Elizabeth
K. Gouverneur, the daughter of Samuel L. Gouverneur, and
granddaughter of President Monroe, who, with four children,
survives him.
During the last three years of his
life, Dr. Heiskell's failing health served to withdraw him,
to a certain extent, from the busy cares of office. Urged
by the promptings and example of his wife, and guided by
a higher power, he added to his many virtues those brighter
excellencies which adorn the character of the Christian.
Having publicly dedicated himself to Christ, he knew no
looking back, but, with that decision and directness of
purpose which marked his conduct in worldly affairs, he
"pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus." Under the mild but
powerful influences of religion, the asperities which served
in some degree to mar the symmetry and beauty of his moral
character were softened or removed. He bore the sufferings
and trials of a long-protracted and painful illness with
patience and resignation, and, with firm reliance upon the
promises of the Saviour, he awaited his final orders as
became a true soldier of the cross.
(Source: American journal of the medical sciences.
NS.vol.30, Oct 1855:37)
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In 1846, General Winfield Scott began planning a military campaign
against Mexico. The Surgeon General of the United States, Thomas
Lawson, accompanied the invading force from December 1846 through
early 1848. His absence from Washington DC during this crucial
time meant that his subordinate, Henry Lee Heiskell, became acting
Surgeon General, making the important decisions about supply and
the apportionment of the Medical Department's limited number of
surgeons. Fortunately, Heiskell was thoroughly competent. 3
According to the General alumni catalogue of the University of
Pennsylvania, 1917, Henry Lee Heiskell held the rank of Major
in the US Army. He became an assistant surgeon in the US Army
on 13 July 1832, and was promoted to surgeon in July 1838. 5
During the Second
Seminole War Henry Lee Heiskell was stationed at Fort
Brooke (January 1834). 6 In 1836-37,
he was stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, Savannah, Georgia. 7
Henry Lee Heiskell published Case of Extra Uterine Foetation,
in which the Fcetus remained in the Abdomen forty years in
the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, May, 1828,
which was based on his inaugural dissertation, On extra-uterine
pregnancy. He was also on the editorial board of the Maryland
Medical and Surgical Journal (Baltimore, 1843). He graduated
with the class of 1828 of the University of Pennsylvania. 9
The beginning of the end of Rachel Jackson, the wife of Andrew
Jackson, came on December 18, 1828, when she suffered a heart
attack. "Jackson was seated at his writing desk when he heard
his wife's scream. ... over the next sixty hours General Jackson
watched her closely, rarely leaving her side. She rallied somewhat,
and begged her husband to get some rest. Finally, he consented
to lie on the sofa in an adjoining room. Dr. Henry Lee Heiskell,
visiting from Virginia, and Dr. Samuel Hogg, the Jackson's regular
physician, agreed to remain in the house." 8
Rachel died on December 22, 1828, and was buried in the the white
dress she had purchased for her husband's inaugural ceremonies
scheduled for the following March. Jackson became president in
1829.
There is an unsympathetic portrayal of Dr. Henry Lee Heiskell
in the novel Nobody's
hero by Frank Laumer. This fictional story takes place during
the Seminole War.
President James
Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright. They had two daughters,
Eliza Monroe Hay and Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur (1803–1850).
Maria Hester Monroe married her second cousin Samuel L. Gouverneur
on March 8, 1820, in the first wedding
ever performed in the White House. Samuel and Maria had three
children: James Monroe Gouverneur, a deaf-mute who died at the
Spring Grove Asylum in Baltimore 4,
Maryland; Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur and Samuel Laurence Gouverneur,
Jr. Henry Lee Heiskell's second wife was Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur.
They married on 9 Jun 1842 in Washington, DC. Elizabeth Kortright
Gouverneur and Henry Lee Heiskell MD. had the following children:
James Monroe Heiskell.
James Monroe Heiskell was born 5 June 1844 in Washington DC. He
died in 1899. He was married to Esther Fairfax Minor (daughter
of Col. John West Minor and Louisa Fairfax) on 26 February 1867
in Leesburg, Loudon County, Virginia. They had the following children:
Teakle Wallace Heiskell (born 29
January 1868 in Leesburg, VA; died about 1873).
Minor Fairfax Gouverneur Heiskell
born 15 December 1869 in Baltimore, Maryland; died 8 June 1933
in Baltimore. Married to Mary Fairfax Davis in Wilmington, New
Hanover County, North Carolina.
James Monroe Heiskell born 20 May
1872; died 20 October 1873. He was married to Marry Derringer
(daughter of Bronaugh Derringer and Estalena Woodland) on 2 July
1882 in Philadelphia, Penn. Mary Derringer died in 1941 in Baltimore,
Maryland. They had the following child: Marian Gouverneur Heiskell,
who was born on 27 June 1886 in Baltimore. She died on 5 Oct 19831.
She was married twice 1) E. Griswold Thelin 2) Richard Emory in
1905 in Baltimore. He died in November 1907 in San Jose, Calif.
Henry Lee Heiskell.
Henry Lee Heiskell (named after his father) was born on 17 Oct
1850 in Washington, DC. He died in 1914. He was married to Emma
Leona Heiskell on 16 Oct 1878. Henry Lee Heiskell and Emma Leona
Heiskell had the following children:
Esther
Hill Heiskell was born on 16 Sep 1879 in Oxon Hill, Prince
George's Co., MD. She died on 2 Jul 1954. She was married
to Edward (Edwin) Sefton in 1900.
Elizabeth
Kortright Gouverneur Heiskell was born in 1884. She died
on 25 Feb 1978. She was married to Harry Freeman Clark
in 1905.
John
Carroll Brent Heiskell was born on 1 Aug 1893 in Washington,
DC. He died on 3 Aug 1893 in Washington, DC.
John
Carroll Brent Heiskell was born on 13 Jul 1896. He died
in 1980.
Obituary notice in Catholic historical review, vol. 2,
1917:70.
Sydney Otho Heiskell,
MD. was born on 12 Jan 1858 in Wheeling, W. Va., and died suddenly
on Friday, 22 June 1906 of a cerebral hemorrhage, while sitting
on the front lawn of his home at the quarantine station on Patapsco
River and chatting to his wife and assistant, Dr. Thaddeus W.
Clarke. He was buried in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, MD.
He was a doctor of medicine, and studied at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons (Columbia University, NY). He was appointed the quarantine
physician for the port of Baltimore by Mayor William Pinkney Whyte.
He also worked at the Baltimore City Hospital, and before that
at the Spring Grove State Hospital (formerly Maryland Hospital
for the Insane). He helped organize the surgeons of the Maryland
National Guard into a permanent and well-equipped association.
He was a Lieutenant in the Maryland Naval Militia. He became the
assistant-surgeon of the US Navy, and served during the Spanish-American
War, where he played an important part in the capture of Ponce.
He was married to Abbey Townsend in 1882. Abbey died in 1884.
She was born in Baltimore, Baltimore Co., Maryland. He then married
to Doralyn Miller, a physician, in June 1900. She died in 1906.
1The Sporting Life (vol
28, no 12, 12 Dec 1896) reports that Dr. Sydney O. Heiskell was
elected president of the Baltimore Shooting Association on December
1, 1896. He was also elected to the Board of Trustees of the 12th
District Schools of Baltimore. 2
Elizabeth Kortright Gouverneur's brother, Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur
(Jr.) (1820-1880) married Marian Campbell (1821-1914). Marian
wrote As
I remember: recollections of American society during the nineteenth
century. On page 265, she describes her wedding, and recounts:
1 Sources: Maryland Medical Journal
vol 49 (1906:287); vol. 37 (1897:250); vol. 39 (1898)
2 History of Baltimore City and
County by John Thomas Scharf (1881:927)
3 The Army Medical Department,
1818-1865 by Mary C. Gillett. Washington DC, 1987: 111.
4 Sydney Otto Heiskell was a doctor
at this hospital.
5 A Dictonary of all officers,
who have been commissioned or have been appointed and served in
the Army of the United States by Charles K. Gardner. New
York, 1853:224.
6 General Scott by Marcus
Joseph Wright. New York, 1894:99. A compilation of registers
of the Army of the United States from 1815 to 1837 by William
A. Gordon. Washington DC, 1837:517.
7 A compilation of registers
of the Army of the United States from 1815 to 1837 by William
A. Gordon. Washington DC, 1837:547, 577.
8 The Life of Andrew Jackson By Robert
Vincent Remini. New York, 2001:170.
9 The Pennsylvania magazine of history
and biography, Volume 37 1913:123.
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