David Sturges Fairchild

Background

David Sturges was born on September 16, 1847, in Fairfield, Vermont, United States; the son of Eli Fairchild and Grace Dimond (Sturges) Fairchild.

Education

David Fairchild began his medical education, serving a preceptorship under John Cromton. From 1866 to 1867 he attended the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In 1868 he received a degree from Albany Medical College in Albany, New York, United States.

Career

David Fairchild practiced medicine in Minnesota before relocating to Ames, in 1873. In Ames, Fairchild continued his private practice, but also quickly emerged as a leader among local physicians. In 1873 he organized the Story County Medical Society, and later became its president. Fairchild was named physician for Iowa Agricultural College, in 1877. He served as professor of anatomy at the short-lived Iowa Agricultural College of Medicine, organizing Ames’s first modern hospital in 1885.

Fairchild was named to the faculty of the Iowa College of Physicians and Surgeons, later to become the College of Medicine at Drake University, and spent two years as its president. His advocacy was vital to the establishment of the state-funded tuberculosis sanitarium at the State University of Iowa, in 1904, a notable contribution to the state’s public health.

Concurrent with his activity as medical educator, Fairchild was engaged as the surgeon for the Chicago and North Western Railroad, covering all the lines within Iowa. He held a similar post for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway system. That experience allowed him to devote more of his attention to surgery. That, in turn, gave Fairchild ample cases to write up for medical journals.

In the late stages of his career, Fairchild became editor of Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society, from 1911 to 1928. He was a willing and valued adviser to authors, advancing medical science and practice in Iowa. As Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society editor, Fairchild developed a keen interest in Iowa’s medical history. He contributed many articles in that field, and he ultimately resigned his position as editor to devote more time to writing medical history.

Much of what is known about Iowa medicine in the 19th century is due to Fairchild’s diligent efforts to preserve the story of Iowa’s pioneer physicians, many of them his peers. He wrote three monographs in the last three years of his life, History of Medicine in Iowa, Medicine in Iowa from Its Early Settlement to 1876, and The Iowa Medical Profession during the Great War. These are Fairchild’s most enduring legacy.

Membership

• David became president of the Iowa State Medical Society, in 1895.

  Iowa State Medical Society , United States

• David was named president of the Western Surgical Association, in 1898.

  Western Surgical Association

Connections

On May 1, 1870 David Fairchild married Wilhelmina Conrad Tattersall. They had a son, David Sturges.

Father:

Eli Fairchild

Mother:

Grace Dimond (Sturges) Fairchild

Spouse:

Wilhelmina Conrad Tattersall

Son:

David Sturges

References

• The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs.
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