Background
He was born on May 4, 1778 at Annapolis, Maryland, United States.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
John Shaw
Edit ProfileEducation
He entered St. John's College in that city at its opening in 1789 and graduated as Latin salutatorian in October 1796, in the same class with his close friend, Francis Scott Key.
For two years he remained at Annapolis studying medicine under Dr. John Thomas Shaaff and reading widely in Greek and medieval medical literature.
Career
His first published poem, apparently, was "The Voice of Freedom" in the Baltimore Telegraphe for May 13, 1795. In November 1798 he went to Philadelphia to continue his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, but a boyish freak led him to take the post of surgeon on a squadron about to sail for Algiers, and on December 23 he embarked with James Leander Cathcart and William Eaton on the brig Sophia.
For a few months he was Eaton's secretary at Tunis and was then sent to London to confer on diplomatic business with the elder Rufus King. He visited Italy, Gibraltar, and Lisbon, and learned not only Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian but also some Arabic.
He returned to Annapolis in the spring of 1800. In 1803 he accompanied the colony sent out by Thomas Douglas, fifth Earl of Selkirk, to Prince Edward Island, where he had to cope with a severe epidemic. Early in 1805 he returned once more to Annapolis and took up practice with his old teacher Shaaff.
In 1807 he joined with James Cocke and John Beale Davidge to secure a charter from the state legislature for the College of Medicine of Maryland, the fifth medical school in the United States, and the forerunner of the University of Maryland. The three founders and their colleagues gave instruction in their own houses, Shaw taking charge of the work in chemistry. He taught and worked with enthusiasm.
He had contributed poems to Joseph Dennie's Port Folio between 1801 and 1805 under the name of Ithacus (A. H. Smyth, The Philadelphia Magazines and their Contributors, 1892).
He died at sea while voyaging from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Bahamas.
Achievements
-
John Shaw was surgeon on a squadron about to sail for Algiers, Prince Edward Island, where he restored health to the settlement, which at the time of his arrival was languishing under the attacks of an infectious fever. He gave instructions in chemistry in College of Medicine of Maryland. His most famous poem was "The Voice of Freedom".
Connections
On February 12, 1807 he married Jane Selby (or Telby) of Annapolis.
-
Born
-
Died
January 10, 1809 (aged 30) -
Nationality
American