This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.
This is the continuation of the article “The Ephraim McDowell House and Museum (3)”. For the first article, click here.
The rest of the house is interesting. The kitchen is an open hearth typical of the times and beneath the operating room. Candle molds, butter churners, baking tables, iron cooking utensils, etc. The guide explained that most of the cooking work was done by slaves.
To the back of the house if a large garden. Part of it is shaped as a Maltese cross, and this is where Dr. McDowell cultivated medicinal plants and herbs for his practice and the apothecary, The garden has several monuments, one of which is the original slab that covered Dr. McDowell's tomb.
The apothecary
This "pharmacy" of the times is incredibly well-preserved, maintained and furnished. It is said that Dr. McDowell worked so much at this place that he eventually moved to the country to a second house he named "Cambiskenneth" after a famous local native american chief.
The apothecary has a basement that is off-limits to visitors, but there are photographs of the location for visitors to see.
Some of the porcelain and glass containers still have some of their contents.
Additional historic buildings
Just across from the McDowell House and Museum is the Constitution Square, a site that I would encourage you to visit. Following is an excerpt of the Danville KY website on the Constitution Square Historic Site:
"This is the birthplace of Kentucky's statehood. In 1776, Kentucky was still part of the frontier and a county of Virginia. The Wilderness Road, blazed by Daniel Boone, led pioneers through the Cumberland Gap and into Central Kentucky. Danville's prominent location on the Wilderness Road caused it to become a crossroad for early settlers, and a center of political activity.
By 1785, Danville was chosen as Kentucky's first seat of government, and a meetinghouse, courthouse and jail were built to administer the growing territory. Still bound to Virginia laws, though, several Danville citizens formed the political club that recognized the need for a convention to discuss statehood. Between 1784-1792, ten constitutional conventions took place at the courthouse of Constitution Square. In 1790, Kentucky delegates accepted Virginia's terms for separation from the state. On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state in the union, and Isaac Shelby, a Revolutionary War hero, was named the first Governor of the Commonwealth."
Several original buildings and replicas are found at this site.
In closing this series of articles I can only say that this was an interesting personal and learning experience. Being able to visit The Ephraim McDowell House and Museum allowed me to envision the life of this time. To place it in perspective the year that Dr. McDowell operated on Mrs. Crawford was 1809. On the same year Abraham Lincoln was born (only 35 miles from the farm of Mrs. Crawford), James Madison was the 4th president of the United States of America (which had only 15 states and 6 territories), Napoleon occupied Vienna, and Ludwig van Beethoven had just finished writing his Fifth Symphony.
Following is a large image of the original house prior to its renovation. The image is in the public domain from a biographical book by Dr. McDowell's granddaughter Mary Young Ridenbaugh.
Click on the image for a larger depiction
Sources:
1. “Ephraim McDowell and Jane Todd Crawford, the Bicentennial of a Surgical Masterpiece” Benigno, BB Obst & Gynecol (2009) 113. 5:1141-1144
2. “The Biography of Ephraim McDowell, M.D.; The Father of Ovariotomy” Ridenbaugh, MY, 1890 CL Webster & Co.
3. “Ephraim McDowell: "Father of ovariotomy" and founder of abdominal surgery, with an appendix on Jane Todd Crawford” Schachner, A 1921, J.B. Lippincott Co. (Interesting discovery in an Ex-Libris in this book)
