Benjamin Rush

He married Julia Stockton, the daughter of lawyer Richard Stockton, in 1776. The couple had 13 children of whom four died in their infancy.

He contracted typhus fever and died in 1813 at the age of 68.

The American Medical Association erected his bronze statue, known as the Rush Monument, on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Museum of Hygiene and Medical School in Washington in 1904 in a gesture to honour his memory.

Benjamin Rush was born in Philadelphia to to John Rush and Susanna Harvey. His father was a farmer turned gunsmith who died when Benjamin was just five or six years of age.

His mother moved with her children to Philadelphia in 1751 and operated a grocery store to support the family.

Young Benjamin and his brother were sent to live with his uncle, Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, so that they could get a proper education. Under his uncle’s guidance he attended the Nottingham Academy.

He enrolled at the College of New Jersey in 1759 and graduated with an arts degree in 1760 when he was hardly 15.

In 1761, he became an apprentice of Dr. John Redman and studied under him till 1766. During this period he also got the opportunity to meet eminent physicians like John Morgan and William Shippen, Jr.

He returned to Philadelphia in 1769 and opened a medical practice. He also got appointed as professor of chemistry at the College of Philadelphia.

While holding his teaching job, he wrote several articles on medical issues and published his first textbook on chemistry ‘A Syllabus of a Course of Lectures on Chemistry’. Being a nationalist, he also wrote numerous essays on patriotic issues.

During the early 1770’s he enthusiastically participated in the activities of Sons of Liberty, a group of American patriots.

He helped Thomas Paine in editing and publishing his seminal pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ which was published anonymously in January 1776. The pamphlet was published during the beginning of the American Revolution and presented a case for seeking freedom form the colonial rule.

In July 1776, he was elected as a delegate of the Continental Congress to represent Pennsylvania and he signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence on 2 August 1776.

His book ‘A Syllabus of a Course of Lectures on Chemistry’ (1770) was the first American chemistry textbook.

He published another very significant book, ‘Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind’ in 1812 which established him as the "father of American psychiatry".

He was one of the 56 signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. He represented Pennsylvania and signed on 2 August 1776.

He was an active social reformist who provided free medical care to poor patients, advocated for women’s rights, and founded many colleges to further the cause of higher education.