William Pepper

Background

William Pepper was born on January 21, 1810 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of George and Mary Catharine (Seckel) Pepper, and a brother of George Seckel Pepper.

Education

William Pepper received his early education in a school at Holmesburg, from which he went to the College of New Jersey, graduating in 1828. He then began the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas T. Hewson, and in 1829 entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1832, the title of his thesis being "Apoplexy. "

Career

Soon after his graduation, there was an outbreak of Asiatic cholera in Philadelphia, during which William Pepper rendered good service as a resident in the Bush Hill Hospital. In the autumn of 1832 he went abroad for further study, working in Paris, particularly with Pierre Louis and Guillaume Dupuytren. At this time Paris attracted the most brilliant of the young American physicians, and he was one of a celebrated group which included Oliver Wendell Holmes. Returning to Philadelphia, he took up the practice of medicine. His first professional position was with the Philadelphia Dispensary, and, given charge of a district, he soon attracted attention by the character of his work.

In 1839 William Pepper was appointed to the staff of the Wills Eye Hospital and in 1841, to the Institute for Instruction of the Blind. In 1842 he was elected a physician to the Pennsylvania Hospital, a position which he held until 1858, and took a prominent part in the teaching carried on there. He was known as a keen diagnostician and was celebrated for his clear and practical instruction, especially in his clinical lectures. In 1860 Pepper was appointed professor of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, succeeding George B. Wood, which position he held for four years, ill health compelling his resignation.

William Pepper contributed a considerable number of articles to medical journals, but his influence seems to have been exerted more through his knowledge of disease and his excellent teaching than through his writings. During his stay in Paris, Pepper suffered from illness and spent part of a winter in the south of Europe. His health apparently was not robust. William Pepper suffered from hemoptysis from which he died on October 15, 1864.

Achievements

• William Pepper was a distinguished physician. He was known as one of the principal physicians at the Pennsylvania Hospital. As educator, he was best known as professor of the theory and practice of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Membership

William Pepper was a member of the Philadelphia Medical Society, of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, of the American Philosophical Society. He was also a fellow of the College of Physicians.

Personality

William Pepper is described as of delicate frame and quick and active in his movements. His portrait, in the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania, suggests a keen, kindly personality.

Connections

In 1840 William Pepper married Sarah Platt of Philadelphia. There were seven children, of whom two became physicians, George and William.

Father:

George Pepper

Mother:

Mary Catharine Seckel Pepper

Spouse:

Sarah Platt Pepper

Daughter :

Emily Pepper Watts

Brother:

Charles Pepper

Brother:

David Pepper

Sister :

Mary Pepper Norris

Sister :

Catherine Pepper Gardette

Brother :

Lawrence Seckel Pepper

Brother :

George Seckel Pepper

Brother :

Henry Pepper

Brother :

Edward Pepper

Brother :

Frederick Seckel Pepper

Son :

William Pepper

Son :

George Pepper

Son :

Albert Pepper