Johannes Beuren Van

Background

Van Beuren was born in Amsterdam and came to New York at the age of twenty-two.

Education

Van Beuren had been a student of the renowned Dutch physician Hermannus Boerhaave, who had made the medical department of the University of Leyden famous throughout Europe.

With this training he soon established a large practice in New York, where few of the so-called physicians had ever seen the inside of a medical school.

Career

After practicing in New York for more than twenty years, Van Beuren removed about 1724 to Flatbush, Long Island, and lived there until 1728, when he returned to New York. In 1736, an almshouse, known as the "Publick Workhouse and House of Correction, " was built on the site of the present City Hall.

The hospital department was a room about twenty-five feet square on the second floor, containing six beds, and Van Beuren, through the influence of the governor of the colony it is said, was appointed its first medical director. He held the position until his death. This was the beginning of Bellevue Hospital, which may lay claim to being the oldest hospital in the United States.

Achievements

• As Boerhaave in Holland was among the first to teach that pure air, cleanliness, and simple buildings are the first requirements for a hospital, it may be presumed that these principles were established by his former pupil in the new hospital in New York.

Connections

Van Beuren was married at New York, on June 15, 1707, to Maria Meyer, the daughter of Pieter Meyer and his wife, Batje Jans, of New York. They had fifteen children. His marriage and the baptisms of all but two of the children are recorded in the register of the Dutch Church.

Five of his sons were physicians, and one of them, Beekman Van Beuren, who was the physician at the almshouse from 1765 to 1776, is credited with the introduction of inoculation for smallpox in the public institutions of the city. William Holme Van Buren was a descendant.

Father:

Michiel van Buren

Born in 1656.

Mother:

Christina Addickers

Born in 1660.

Wife:

Marytje Meyer

February 13, 1687 - April 28, 1774

Daughter:

Christina van Beuren

1711 - 11 March 1729

Daughter:

Maria Smith (van Beuren)

Born in 1713.

Daughter:

Elizabeth van Beuren

Daughter:

Elizabeth Kemmena (van Beuren)

Daughter:

Cornelia van Beuren

Daughter:

Christina van Beren

August 3, 1729 - September 6, 1731

Daughter:

Catharina de Grauw (van Beuren)

Son:

Michiel van Beren

January 26, 1715 - 1723

Son:

Beekman van Beuren

November 1732 - June 1, 1812

Son:

Pieter van Beuren

1709 - 1712

Son:

Hendrick van Beuren

November 12, 1725 - September 19, 1797

Son:

Michael van Beuren

1723 - 26 March 1816

Son:

Pieter van Buren

1713 - 1787

Son:

Johannes van Beuren

1708 - 1769

Son:

Dr. James van Beuren

August 3, 1729 - September 25, 1797