Gurdon Buck

Background

Gurdon Buck was born on May 4, 1807 and was a son of a New York merchant bearing the same name, by his cousin, Susannah Manwaring, who, like her husband, was a grandchild of Gov. Gurdon Saltonstall of Connecticut.

Education

Buck received his preliminary education at the Nelson Classical School where he prepared for higher studies, but instead of going to college he yielded to his father's wishes and became a clerk in the house of G. & D. Buck. Soon developing an interest in medicine, however, he left his position and entered the office of Dr. Thomas Cock, under whom he completed his medical studies. In 1830 he obtained his M. D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at New York.

Career

After eighteen months in the New York Hospital (1832) he had the advantage of two years' study in the hospitals of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. When he finally settled in New York (1837) he became visiting surgeon to the New York Hospital, and later to St. Luke's (1846) and to the Presbyterian Hospital (1872); in addition he was associated from 1852 to 1862 with the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Buck was one of the great American surgeons of the pre-Lister era.

His methods were well described in a pamphlet published in 1867 entitled Description of an Improved Extension Apparatus for the Treatment of Fracture of the Thigh. As early as 1842 Buck had performed a successful excision of the olecranon process of the elbow joint. He was also a pioneer in plastic surgery of the face, and the year before his death he published Contributions to Reparative Surgery (1876), an admirable monograph describing his own experience in this field. It was excellently illustrated from photographs of his cases and attracted wide attention, being translated into three foreign languages.

Achievements

• Gurdon Buck is remembered as a scholarly anatomist and a bold operator, he was at the same time rapid, skilful, and humane. His chief achievement was in the establishment of The New York Academy of Medicine in 1847. A complete bibliography of his numerous contributions to medical and surgical journals is given in the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York for 1877. His chief contributions relate to his methods of managing fractures and to plastic surgery. His advocacy of treatment of fractures of the thigh by means of weights and pulleys received prompt recognition in other parts of the world. The device which he introduced is still used and is known as "Buck's extension. "

Works

More photos

• book

  • Contributions Reparative Surgery: Its Application to the to of Treatment of Produced by Destructive Disease, or Injury; Congenital Defects From Arrest ... Tractions From Burns (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Contributions Reparative Surgery: Its Applic...)

  • Contributions Reparative Surgery: Its Application to the to of Treatment of Produced by Destructive Disease, or Injury; Congenital Defects From Arrest ... Tractions From Burns (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Contributions Reparative Surgery: Its Applic...)

  • On Abscesses in the Lower Abdominal Cavity and Its Parietes (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from On Abscesses in the Lower Abdominal Cavity a...)

  • Contributions Reparative Surgery Its Application to the to the Treatment of Produced Ey Destructive Disease, or Injury: Congenital Defects from Arrest ... Tractions from Burns (Classic Reprint)

    (The volume now offered to the medical profession contains...)

  • Abscesses Originating in the Right Iliac Fossa (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Abscesses Originating in the Right Iliac Fos...)

  • Reconstruction of the Mouth After Loss of the Under Lip by a New Operation (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Reconstruction of the Mouth After Loss of th...)

  • Contributions To Reparative Surgery: Showing Its Application To The Treatment Of Deformities, Produced By Destructive Disease Or Injury; Congenital ... And Cicatricial Contractions From Burns

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Contributions to reparative surgery

    (Contributions to reparative surgery. Showing its applicat...)

  • Case of destruction of the body of the lower jaw, and extensive disfiguration of the face, from a shell wound: Reparative autoplastic operation

Views

He studied his cases with a diligence that was rare in those early days, and especially praiseworthy was the attention which he bestowed upon post-operative treatment. He kept careful case histories and his surgical publications always reflected his painstaking methods.

Connections

On a second trip to Europe in 1836 he married (July 27), Henriette Elizabeth Wolff of Geneva, Switzerland. His son, Albert H. Buck was a physician.

Sister :

Elizabeth Buck Auchincloss

1816–1902

Sister :

Rebecca Coit Buck

1818–1870

father :

Gurdon Buck

1777–1852

Wife:

Henriette Elizabeth Wolff

Daughter:

Amelia Henrietta Buck North

1838–1899

mother :

Susannah Manwaring Buck

1783–1839

Son:

Albert Henry Buck

1842–1922

Brother:

George Buck

1821–1824

Brother :

Henry Buck

1824–1831

Brother :

Daniel Winthrop Buck

1810–1832

Brother :

David Buck

1806–1875

References

• The Bucks of Wethersfield