Background
He was born on May 2, 1818 in Wilton, Maine, the second son of Dr. John Barker, who served in the War of 1812, and Phoebe (Abbott) Barker. His ancestors had come to America about 1640, settling in Massachusetts.
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book
The Puerperal Diseases: Clinical Lectures Delivered at Bellevue Hospital (Classic Reprint)
https://www.amazon.com/Puerperal-Diseases-Clinical-Lectures-Delivered/dp/B008QCTAV4?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B008QCTAV4
Benjamin Fordyce Barker
Edit ProfileEducation
He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1837. In 1841, he received the degree of M. D. from the Bowdoin Medical College.
On October 1, 1943 he sailed for France to study at the University of Paris. Before his course was finished, however, in the next year, he was called home on account of illness in his family. While he was in Paris he became intimate with Trousseau. Although Barker never returned to France to finish his studies, he was later granted a degree by the University.
Career
From 1838 to 1840 he worked in the office of Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, in Boston. Because of a tendency toward pulmonary disease, he moved to Norwich, Connecticut, where he soon became a successful practitioner. While there he also showed an interest in politics and is said to have stumped the state in a presidential election, making a speech in a different town every night for three months. His fondness for music, begun in his college days, continued; he sang in a church choir and composed some melodies.
After his year in Europe, he became professor of obstetrics in Bowdoin Medical College for a short period, but soon resigned because of his other activities. In 1848, he was made president of the Connecticut Medical Society and delivered an important address on "Some Forms of Disease of the Cervix Uteri. " The next year, at the suggestion of Dr. Willard Parker, he moved to New York and incorporated, with others, the New York Medical College, in which he filled the chair of obstetrics. At about this time he developed a partial paralysis of the vocal cords, which remained with him all the rest of his life; at times he was able to speak only in a hoarse whisper.
Within the next few years he was appointed obstetrician to many New York hospitals and, in 1861, succeeded in obtaining a charter, with the aid of his friends, for the Bellevue Hospital Medical School, in which he became professor of obstetrics and diseases of women, a position which he held until his death.
His practise was limited to non-operative obstetrics and gynecology. It is reported that he introduced the use of the hypodermic syringe into American medicine. In 1874, he published his book on Puerperal Diseases, a treatise which passed through many editions and was translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian. It was an excellent book for its time, especially rich in clinical descriptions of diseases.
Achievements
Works
Membership
He was connected with numerous medical societies; he founded and was the first president of the American Gynecological Society.
Personality
He always inspired confidence in his patients by his sanguine temperament, genial manner, and impressive presence; his counsel was wise and tempered by common sense.
Connections
On September 14, 1843, he married Elizabeth Lee Dwight of Harrisburg.
