Samuel Duffield (269)

Samuel Duffield (c.1733–27 November 1814) was an apothecary, physician, and APS curator, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1768. The son of Irish immigrants, Duffield was born in Lancaster County, PA.. Little is known of Duffield’s early life and education, but a letter from APS Member Thomas Bond reveals that the boy likely studied under that formidable physician where he learned how to inoculate against smallpox, a procedure that, sadly, would always be needed. Wanting to expand his formal education, in 1765 Duffield enrolled in the Medical Department of the College of Philadelphia, receiving his degree in 1768 in a ceremony presided over by APS Member Provost William Smith. Rather than immediately open up his own practice, Duffield opened an apothecary where he sold, in addition to the usual assortment of drugs, ready-made medicine chests for ship captains and others who could not quickly fetch a physician. Respect for his skills led to appointments as a physician to the Almshouse in 1772, and in 1774 he joined local physicians and APS Members William Shippen Jr. and Benjamin Rush in inoculating impoverished children at home. When fighting began in the American Revolution, Duffield reached out to Benjamin Rush to help: together they served as “Surgeons and Physicians employed on board the Armed Boats,” their time divided between triage and rustling up medical supplies. Philadelphia turned to Duffield again when yellow fever struck the city in 1793, when he served in the dangerous position of Port Physician. Unsurprisingly, Duffield fell ill but, after rest (and avoiding Benjamin Rush’s suggested treatment of heavy bleeding) recovered and returned to attending the sick, especially abandoned children. In addition to medicine, Duffield was a long-time supporter of Philadelphia’s Third Presbyterian Church. Long a man of science, Duffield joined the call to resume APS meetings in 1779 and quickly resumed his position as curator while also serving on the Council from 1802-1807. When he died in 1814, he had outlived his wife, Mary Bryant, by two decades, but was survived by all five children. Duffield was the brother of APS Member GeorgeDuffield, chaplain to the Continental Congress. (PI)