Background
William Beaumont was born on November 21, 1785, in Lebanon, Connecticut. He grew up on the family farm to Samuel and Lucretia Beaumont.
William Beaumont (1785-1853) was a surgeon in the United States Army and is called the "Father of Gastric Physiology" because of his research on human digestion.
1845
Portrait of William Beaumont
1850
William Beaumont, half-length, seated, full face, holding a book by Chester Harding.
Oil painting of Beaumont by Deane Keller.
Dr. William Beaumont
1845
Portrait of William Beaumont
1850
William Beaumont, half-length, seated, full face, holding a book by Chester Harding.
Oil painting of Beaumont by Deane Keller.
William Beaumont, a surgeon in the United States Army.
Dr. William Beaumont
Despite a gory gunshot wound to the stomach, Alexis St. Martin went on to have a long, healthy life. Here, St. Martin at the age of 81.
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1833
physician physiologist scientist Surgeon
William Beaumont was born on November 21, 1785, in Lebanon, Connecticut. He grew up on the family farm to Samuel and Lucretia Beaumont.
William Beaumont attended village schools until 1806 when he left to become the village schoolmaster in Champlain. He began studying medicine in his spare time, and in 1810 he became an apprentice to a doctor in Vermont. While still a student, he began a lifelong habit of keeping a journal describing daily events and the symptoms and treatment of patients.
Beaumont served as a surgeon's mate in the War of 1812. He described in his journal grueling days and nights spent treating the wounded. After the war, Beaumont returned to private practice in Plattsburg, New York. In 1820 he reenlisted as an army surgeon and was sent to Fort Mackinac, Michigan Territory. His account of the journey contains vivid descriptions of the voyage along the recently completed Erie Canal and through the Canadian wilderness. He was the only doctor in the territory, and his practice included soldiers and their families, Native Americans, trappers, and settlers. In 1821 Beaumont returned briefly to Plattsburgh.
On June 6, 1822, when Alexis St. Martin, a young Canadian, suffered a stomach wound in a hunting accident, Beaumont was called to treat him. With Beaumont's skillful surgery and subsequent care, St. Martin recovered but was left with a permanent opening in his stomach. When authorities threatened to send the young convalescent back to Canada, Beaumont supported him in his own house for several years. During this time he was able to study the digestive process by examining the interior of the patient's stomach as various foods were ingested.
Beaumont's observations and chemical analyses of gastric juices provided the foundations for conclusions which are still valid. In 1824, when Beaumont was transferred to Fort Niagara, New York, he attempted to take St. Martin with him, but the young man returned to Canada. President John Quincy Adams promoted Beaumont to the rank of a surgeon in 1826. He served at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and later at Fort Crawford, Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, he had finally persuaded St. Martin to come to Fort Crawford for further experiments, but his plans to take his patient to Europe for demonstrations and study were interrupted by an outbreak of cholera. Later in 1832 Beaumont used a 6-month furlough to take St. Martin to Washington, D. C., for an extensive series of experiments. Both the surgeon general and the secretary of war supported the project with funds and facilities, and they even enlisted St. Martin in the army as a sergeant in exchange for his cooperation. These experiments led to Beaumont's Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Digestion (1833).
Beaumont had additional experiments in mind, but St. Martin returned to Canada forever in 1834. Beaumont's last post was in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained the rest of his life. After his retirement in 1840, he continued the private practice until his death in March 1853.
William Beaumont's major achievement was in his contribution to the development of gastric physiology by substantiating observations of other scientists and by stimulating new investigations. He demonstrated both in the stomach and outside the body, that digestion is the result of a chemical process. He is remembered for extensive studies of the human digestive system based on experiments on a live patient.
Another achievement was in him describing the occurrence of acute gastritis as a consequence of different causes, most frequently the excessive ingestion of alcoholic beverages or overloading the stomach with irritating foods. He also observed a reddening of the mucous membrane and cessation of gastric secretion in febrile states.
Several institutions are named for William Beaumont, including: Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Missouri, William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Michigan, William Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. Also Beaumont Highway, in Beaumont's hometown of Lebanon, was named in his honor and Beaumont Hall, which houses the Biology and Psychology programs at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, too.
Quotations:
"The whole charge, consisting of powder and duck shot, was received in the left side at not more than two or three feet distance from the muzzle of the piece... carrying away by its force integuments more than the size of the palm of a man's hand."
"I submit a body of facts which cannot be invalidated. My opinions may be doubted, denied, or approved, according to as they conflict or agree with the opinions of each individual who may read them; but their worth will be best determined by the foundation on which they rest - the incontrovertible facts."
Although Beaumont was self-educated, he had a curious mind and was eager to learn.
In 1821 William Beaumont married Deborah Platt, the daughter of Israel Green, who was a third cousin of General Nathanael Greene. Deborah was divorced from Nathaniel Platt, whose uncle Zephaniah Platt founded Plattsburgh after the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
St. Martin worked for the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island, and he suffered a musket wound that injured his ribs and stomach. He was brought to see Dr. Beaumont, an Army doctor at Fort Mackinac. He treated St. Martin, but did not believe he would survive. He miraculously lived but he had a permanent hole in his stomach. Medical types call this a fistula.
