The Lives and Times of Our Founding Fathers - 11
In this post: John Penn, George Walton, Dr. Benjamin Rush
Founding Fathers Series
Step into history like never before.
Starting today and on a daily basis (Mon thru Fri), we will be posting 2 to 3 videos, about 5 minutes worth of videos, presenting the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the ladies of the American Revolution come alive through vivid, first-person storytelling.
This Series will be tagged on the right column of our blog as Founding Father Series
You may not know some, that does not devalue the contributions they provided in the founding of our country.
Their courage, sacrifice, and triumph unfold in gripping moments that shaped America’s founding.
If you are finding this series informative, continue on with researching the Founding Fathers in the Library of Congress as well as the National Archives. Once there, feel free to hone the search down to a particular Founding Father as well.
John Penn
John Penn was a Founding Father of the United States, born in Caroline County, Virginia. Although his father did not prioritize formal education, Penn studied law with his uncle, Edmund Pendleton, and became licensed to practice law at age 21 or 22. In 1774, Penn moved to North Carolina, where he became active in public affairs, serving in the Provincial Congress. He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and was re-elected in 1777, 1778, and 1779.
Penn signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a delegate for North Carolina. He was appointed to the North Carolina Board of War in 1780, where his efforts contributed to undermining British military campaigns. Penn died on September 14, 1788, at the age of 47 or 48. He was initially buried at his home in Granville County, North Carolina, but his remains were reinterred at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in 1894. The naval ship USS John Penn was named in his honor.
Wikipedia,
Perspectives
John Penn, the American Founding Father
John Penn, born in Virginia between 1740 and 1741, became a lawyer and later a significant figure in North Carolina's independence movement.
He served multiple terms in the Continental Congress and was a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.
Penn's contributions to the American Revolution and the early nation have sometimes been overlooked, but he was instrumental in undermining Cornwallis's military campaigns while serving on the North Carolina Board of War.
John Penn, the Colonial Governor of Pennsylvania
John Penn, born in London in 1729, was the grandson of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
He served as the last royal governor of colonial Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1771 and again from 1773 to 1776.
After the American Revolutionary War, his inherited proprietary rights were confiscated by the new state government, but he and his cousin, also named John Penn, received compensation.
George Walton
George Walton was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the Declaration of Independence, representing Georgia in the Continental Congress. He was born in Virginia, likely in either 1749 or 1750, near Farmville in Prince Edward or Cumberland County. His parents died when he was an infant, leading to his adoption by an uncle with whom he began an apprenticeship as a carpenter. Despite his uncle discouraging his studies, Walton continued to educate himself. In 1769, he moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he pursued a legal career and was admitted to the bar in 1774. By the eve of the American Revolution, he had become one of Georgia’s most successful lawyers.
Walton played an active role in the Revolutionary War and Georgia’s subsequent government. He served as secretary of the Georgia provincial congress in 1775 and was a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, 1777, 1780, and 1781. On July 2, 1776, he voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence for Georgia, along with Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall, and later signed the document. During the American Revolutionary War, he was commissioned as a colonel of the First Georgia Regiment of Militia. He was seriously wounded and captured during the 1778 British assault on Savannah, becoming a prisoner of war. Walton regained his freedom through a prisoner exchange in 1779 and was subsequently elected as the second chief executive of Georgia, a position he held again in 1789–1790. After the Revolution, he served as chief justice of Georgia from 1783 to 1789
Dr. Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a prominent American physician, educator, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born on January 4, 1746, in Byberry Township, Pennsylvania, he was the fourth of seven children. After his father’s death when he was six, Benjamin was sent to live with his uncle, Reverend Samuel Finley, to receive his education. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) at age 14 in 1760 and went on to complete medical studies at the University of Edinburgh, receiving his medical degree in 1768. He then trained at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, where he met Benjamin Franklin, who helped fund his medical education. Rush returned to Philadelphia in 1769 and became a professor of chemistry at the College of Philadelphia.
Rush was an enthusiastic supporter of the American Revolution and a leader of the American Enlightenment. He served as a Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, he was the first military surgeon in the United States and served as Surgeon General of the Middle Department of the Continental Army, contributing to improved soldier health and survival rates at Valley Forge. Beyond his medical contributions, Rush was a social reformer who advocated against slavery, supported prison reform, and promoted free public schools and education for women.
He made significant contributions to medicine, including pioneering national healthcare and revolutionizing the treatment of mental illness, publishing the first American text on psychiatry. Rush’s medical practice was influenced by figures like Cullen and John Brown. He also advocated for the inclusion of medical freedom in the Constitution to prevent the monopolization of healing practices.
Perspectives
Legacy as a Visionary and Pioneer
Benjamin Rush is considered one of the most significant Founding Fathers, a brilliant physician, and writer who pioneered national healthcare and revolutionized the treatment of mental illness.
He is recognized as a patriot, philosopher, author, lecturer, fervent evangelist, politician, and dedicated social reformer who supported the American Revolution and worked against slavery, for prison reform, and for modernized education.
Rush’s work in chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania, along with his advocacy for medical freedom in the Constitution, highlights his forward-thinking approach.
Critiques of his Medical Practices
Benjamin Rush was a leading advocate of “heroic medicine,” which included frequent and aggressive use of practices such as bloodletting, intestinal purging with mercury, vomiting with tartar emetic, and blistering of the skin.
His medical treatments during yellow fever epidemics in the 1790s were sometimes more feared by the public than the disease itself.
Medical officer P.M. Ashburn in 1929 stated that Rush, due to his social and professional prominence, was more potent in propagating and perpetuating medical errors than any other person of his day, thereby “blacken[ing] the record of medicine.”
Critics like Elisha Bartlett described Rush’s medical theories as containing a vast amount of “utter nonsense and unqualified absurdities.”