MITCHELL, S. WEIR (SILAS WEIR), 1829-1914 Papers, 1788 (1850-1928) 1949 MSS 2/0241-03 Acc. 1990-146 To sections of the S. Weir Mitchell Collection: Collections are also searchable using the "find" button on your browser Genealogical Information, 1788-1912
Family Papers, 1806-1949
Correspondence, 1851-1928
Travel Journals and Diaries, 1851-1912 ...
Biographical Project, 1914-1931 Biographical S. Weir Mitchell, physician, novelist, and poet, was born in Philadelphia on 15 February 1829. Mitchell was the son of John Kearsley Mitchell (1798-1858), a physician and lecturer at Jefferson Medical College, and Matilda Henry Mitchell (1800-1872). S. Weir Mitchell entered the University of Pennsylvania at the age of fifteen but withdrew during his senior year when he became ill. In 1848, he enrolled in Jefferson Medical College, and by March 1850, at the age of twenty- one, Mitchell had completed his medical degree. In the fall of 1850, S. Weir Mitchell departed for Europe with his sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth stayed with her younger sister in England, and Mitchell settled in Paris to study medicine. During this influential year, Mitchell dined with Sir James Paget and Edward Jenner, studied with Claude Bernard, and purchased his own microscope. After a year in Paris, he travelled with his sister in Italy and Switzerland. At the request of their ailing father, Mitchell and Elizabeth returned home in the fall of 1851. Upon returning to Philadelphia, Mitchell set up a demanding schedule for himself; he assisted his father during the day and worked in the laboratory in the evenings. It was during this time that Mitchell conducted experiments with snake venom and first became interested in neurology. By 1855, John Kearsley Mitchell had retired, and Mitchell became responsible for the support of his parents and siblings. A few years later, Mitchell started a family of his own. He married Mary Middleton Elwyn in 1858, and the couple had two children, John K. Mitchell (1859-1917) and Langdon Elwyn Mitchell (1862-1935). In 1862, Mitchell's wife died of diphtheria. | |
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