William Beaumont

William Beaumont (November 21, 1785 – April 25, 1853) was a surgeon in the U.S. Army who became known as the "Father of Gastric Physiology" following his research on human digestion.

Biography

Early life

William Beaumont was born to Samuel and Lucretia Beaumont in Lebanon, Connecticut. In 1811 William trained to become a physician through an apprenticeship with Dr. Truman Powell in St. Albans, Vermont. From 1812 until 1815, Beaumont served as a surgeon's mate in the Army during the War of 1812. After the war ended he started a private practice in Plattsburgh, New York, but by 1819 Beaumont had rejoined the Army as a surgeon. He was assigned a location at Fort Mackinac. Beaumont took a leave in 1821, and married Deborah Green Platt in Plattsburgh, before returning to his post. Deborah was divorced from Nathaniel Platt, whose uncle Zephaniah Platt founded Plattsburgh after the beginning of the Revolutionary War

Experiments with St. Martin

On June 6, 1822, an employee of the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island, named Alexis St. Martin, was accidentally shot in the stomach by a discharge of a shotgun loaded with a buck shot from close range that injured his ribs and his stomach. Dr. Beaumont treated his wound, but expected St. Martin to die from his injuries. Despite this dire prediction, St. Martin survived – but with a hole, or fistula, in his stomach that never fully healed. Unable to continue work for the American Fur Company, he was hired as a handyman by Dr. Beaumont.

William Beaumont (1427-1453)

William Beaumont (1427-1453), lord of the manor of Shirwell in North Devon was a substantial landholder in Devon.

Origins

William Beaumont was the 2nd son of Sir Thomas Beaumont (1401-1450) of Shirwell by his first wife Philippa Dinham, a daughter of Sir John III Dinham (1359-1428) of Hartland in North Devon, Kingskerswell and Nutwell in South Devon, Buckland Dinham in Somerset and Cardinham in Cornwall.

Sir Thomas Beaumont (1401-1450) married twice and produced seven sons none of whom left legitimate male progeny to inherit the lands, name and armorials of Beaumont, and the eventual splitting up of his estates, many of which had been held by his ancestors since the Norman Conquest of 1066, between his heirs through female lines was a process which was complex and lengthy and of significance to the history of several Devon manors and to the history of two prominent and long-enduring North Devon families, namely Basset and Chichester, and involved a further family, a branch of Bodrugan of Cornwall which later adopted the Beaumont name and arms.

William Beaumont (disambiguation)

William Beaumont was a US Army surgeon.

William Beaumont may also refer to:

See also