Medical knowledge was still hit-and-miss in the early 19th century, but both Dolley Madison and Louisa Adams had the good fortune to have Dr. Physick treat their serious problems.
The Good Doctor Physick
Philip Syng Physick (1768-1837) was born to a prominent Philadelphia family who recognized their son’s academic prowess early on. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania when he was 17, and went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said to be the finest medical school in Europe.
When he returned to Philadelphia, he was recognized quickly as an outstanding physician, and mentored by the noted Dr. Benjamin Rush, of “signer” fame.
Physick had many talents – and quirks. He pioneered several procedures, commonplace today: blood transfusions, cataract surgery, and perhaps more importantly, he designed and crafted various instruments of differing sizes and shapes for faster and more efficient surgery. But he was also demanding and uncompromising and many people considered him eccentric, if not downright peculiar.
Nevertheless, his abilities as a doctor and surgeon were unquestioned. He was the best!
Dolley Madison’s Knee
Around 1805, when James Madison was Secretary of State, his wife Dolley developed a painful ulcerated tumor (severely inflamed abscess) on her knee. Medical care, such as it was, was imperative. Dolley consulted with physicians and surgeons in Washington and Georgetown, but her problem was unresponsive to the treatments they prescribed. When the word “amputation” became part of their diagnostic conversation, Dolley and the Secretary of State were alarmed. She was only 37! Madison finally insisted that she go to Philadelphia – where the best physicians in the country practiced their science.
When Dolley hesitated about leaving her overworked husband, with his own iffy health, he brought her to Philadelphia himself.
Dr. Physick, who by that time held a Chair of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, examined Dolley’s knee and said it would take some time, but he insisted he could cure her – without amputation, and without surgery. He immobilized her leg in splints and treated the problem with wraps and bandages dipped in caustic medications to destroy the tumor.
It took five months. It was the only instance that Dolley and James Madison were apart for any length of time. But Dolley Madison walked away on her own two legs. She was cured. And both Madisons were happy to sing the praises of Dr. Physick.
Louisa Catherine Adams …
It is likely that Dolley Madison and Louisa Adams knew of each other then, but any indication of a personal acquaintance at the time of Dolley’s abscessed knee may be stretching it. John Quincy and Louisa Adams had recently returned from his diplomatic assignments in Europe, and he had been elected Senator from Massachusetts.
Louisa remained in New England with a small toddler, an infant, and another baby on the way.
But Madison knew JQA and thought highly of the young man, who was about the same age as his wife. Very shortly after Madison was elected to his own term as President (1809-1818), he appointed the young diplomat as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of the Tsar of Russia. Louisa and her two-year old son went with him. Her two older boys remained with family in Massachusetts.
The Adamses did not return to the USA until 1817, when he was made Secretary of State under President James Monroe. Meanwhile ex-President Madison and his wife returned to their plantation in central Virginia, where they remained until Madison’s death twenty years later.
Louisa’s Personal Problem: 1821
Louisa Adams had a long history of miscarriages and stillborns. Of her 15 recorded pregnancies, only four were actually born, and only three lived to maturity. Frequent pregnancies usually come with a physical toll on the mother, and Louisa Adams was no exception. In addition to several chronic ailments, she had an “unmentionable” one: piles, or in today’s vernacular, hemorrhoids. They are basically varicose veins in the rectum, making normal evacuation difficult and painful, and possibly dangerous.
Louisa was not the only one in her family with that problem. Her brother was plagued with it for years. Finally, in 1821, a desperate Thomas Johnson decided to go to Philadelphia for Dr. Physick’s surgery, which had become very successful. He suggested that his sister Louisa accompany him, and perhaps consult the physician regarding her own similar case.
She did. It was one of those situations where the “prep” takes much longer, and is actually more distasteful than the surgery itself: Nearly a month of limiting one’s food to a foul-tasting, finely-chopped herbal soup prior to the operation. The surgery itself took less than an hour, helped to a fair degree by a hefty dose of laudanum to dull the pain. Recovery was relatively quick – and successful.
After Tom’s happy result, Louisa opted to undergo the surgery herself – with the same happy results.
Fast Forward to the 1840s
After a lifetime of innovative and highly regarded medical practice, Philip Syng Physick died in 1837. He was nearly seventy.
James Madison died in 1836 at 85, and the Widow Dolley was in severe financial straits. At nearly seventy, she could no longer manage the plantation, which had been failing for several years. When she visited some friends in Washington (where she hadn’t been for two decades) everyone remembered the hugely popular former First Lady, so she decided to move to the capital city for her remaining days.
Former President and now-Congressman John Quincy Adams and his wife Louisa lived nearby and became close personal friends. They played whist together frequently.
It is not unlikely that the two former First Ladies chatted privately on occasion about the late Dr. Physick, who had treated them both so successfully – for different ailments !
Sources:
Allgor, Catherine – A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation – 2006 Henry Holt and Company
Shepherd, Jack – Cannibals of the Heart – 1980, McGraw Hill
http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/physick_philip_syng.html
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