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W. Owens and George W. Towns.* All of these were democrats except William C. Dawson, who was a whig. Mr. Cleveland had served in the Twenty-fourth Congress. At the close of his second term he left Georgia. to engage in mercantile pursuits at Charleston, South Carolina, where he died in 1841. He was a native of DeKalb County, Georgia. Messrs. Glascock, Grantland, Haynes, Holsey, Jackson, Owens and Towns were also members of the preceding Congress; but each of these representatives, at the close of his term, in 1839, withdrew from the national councils. General Glascock was thrown from his horse in 1841, sustaining injuries from which he died at his home in Decatur, Georgia. His remains were taken to Augusta for final interment. He was an officer of note in the state militia, a lawyer of distinguished attainments, and a son of Gen. Thomas Glascock, of the Revolution. Seaton Grantland continued to wield a powerful influence in his district, chiefly as an editor of one of the famous old Milledgeville papers, and in 1840 supporting the whig candidates became a presidential elector on the whig ticket; but he did not re-enter national politics. Mr. Haynes had first taken his seat as a member of Congress in 1825. Ill health led to his retirement in 1839; and he died at his home in Sparta, Georgia, two years later. Mr. Holsey was a native of Virginia. He practiced law for a number of years, at Hamilton, Georgia, where he was living when elected to Congress. He afterwards removed to Athens, where he engaged in journalistic work; then removed to Columbus, where he died in 1859. Jabez Jackson came of the well-known Savannah family of this name but was a resident of Clarksville when elected to Congress. He took no further part in public affairs, after 1839. Mr. Owens was educated in England and read law under an eminent London barrister, Mr. Chitty. On retiring from Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Savannah. Mr. Towns afterwards became governor of the state, and more will be told of him later.

Before the Twenty-sixth Congress met there were sweeping changes (1839-1841).** William C. Dawson, of Greensboro, a whig, was the only one of the old members returned to the national House of Representatives. The others were: Julius C. Alford, of Lagrange, a whig; Edward J. Black, of Jacksonboro, a whig; Walter T. Colquitt, of Columbus, a whig; Mark A. Cooper, of Eatonton, a democrat; Richard W. Habersham, of Clarksville, a democrat; Thomas Butler King, of Waynesville, a whig; and Lott Warren, of Palmyra, a whig. The growing power of the whig party in Georgia is reflected in the foregoing list of congressmen, only two of whom were democrats. Judge Colquitt, though a whig, declined to support the whig candidates in the presidential contest of 1840; and resigning his seat in Congress was succeeded by Hon. Hines Holt, of Columbus.‡

*"Biog. Cong. Dir.,” 1774-1911, p. 145. ** Ibid., p. 151.

"Biog. Cong. Dir.," 1774-1911, p. 151.

Speaking of Major Cooper, a writer says: "As a result of his convictions, he, with E. J. Black and Walter T. Colquitt, became involved in a controversy with the other six members from Georgia, and there was a very bitter split, as a result of which Messrs. Black, Colquitt and Cooper, who had previously been elected as State Right Whigs, were next time elected as State Right Democrats. Major Cooper was

The Legislature of 1840 elected John MacPherson Berrien, a whig, to succeed Wilson Lumpkin, a democrat. Judge Berrien had already worn the toga from 1825 to 1829 and had been a member of President Jackson's cabinet as attorney-general of the United States.

Under the census of 1840, Georgia was allotted only eight members, 'due to a slight change in the basis of representation; but the new apportionment did not become effective until 1843. To the Twenty-Seventh Congress (1841-1843), Messrs. Alford, Dawson, Habersham, King, and Warren were all re-elected. Thomas F. Foster, Roger L. Gamble, James A. Meriwether and Eugenius A. Nisbet were the new members.* Messrs. Foster and Gamble, however, had served in Congress before, the former from 1829 to 1835; the latter from 1833 to 1835. Only one of the new members was a democrat. Messrs. Gamble, Meriwether and Nisbet were all elected as whigs. On December 2, 1842, Richard W. Habersham died and was succeeded by George W. Crawford, a whig. Mr. Habersham was a democrat. This same year three members resigned, Messrs. Alford, Dawson and Nisbet; and to succeed them Walter T. Colquitt, Mark A. Cooper, and Edward J. Black were elected.

then nominated for governor against Hon. George W. Crawford, but was defeated and after that took no part in political affairs except as a private citizen."-Walter G. Cooper, in "Men of Mark in Georgia," Vol. II, p. 212. W. J. Northen.

* Ibid., p. 157.

CHAPTER XXVII

DR. CRAWFORD W. LONG'S DISCOVERY OF ANESTHESIA INAUGURATES A NEW ERA IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND MARKS THE BIRTHDAY OF MODERN SURGERY-ON MARCH 30, 1842, DOCTOR LONG, AT JEFFERSON, EXTRACTS A TUMOR FROM THE NECK OF JAMES M. VENABLESULPHURIC ETHER IS EMPLOYED TO PRODUCE SLEEP-THE TUMOR EXTRACTED WITHOUT PAIN-AFFIDAVITS ESTABLISHING DATE AND CHARACTER OF THE OPERATION-HOW DOCTOR LONG CHANCED TO MAKE HIS WONDERFUL DISCOVERY OF THE ANESTHETIC POWER OF SULPHURIC ETHER-RIVAL CLAIMANTS-HORACE WELLS-WILLIAM T. G. MORTON-CHARLES T. JACKSON-BUT DOCTOR LONG EASILY FORESTALLS THEM ALL-RECOGNIZED TODAY ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WATER AND BY THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD AS THE DISCOVERER OF ANESTHESIASKETCH OF DOCTOR LONG'S PROFESSIONAL CAREER-DIES AT THE BEDSIDE OF A PATIENT IN 1878-DR. J. MARION SIMS, OF NEW YORK, MAKES A THOROUGH INQUIRY INTO ALL THE FACTS-PUBLISHES AN AUTHORITATIVE REVIEW-AN ADMIRER PRESENTS A LIFE-SIZE PORTRAIT OF DOCTOR LONG TO THE STATE OF GEORGIA-GEN. JOHN B. GORDON MAKES THE SPEECH OF PRESENTATION-THE DONOR IS AFTERWARDS BURIED BESIDE DOCTOR LONG IN ATHENS A MONUMENT IN HONOR OF THE GREAT DISCOVERER IS UNVEILED AT JEFFERSON-A TABLET TO HIS MEMORY IS PLACED ON THE WALLS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA—ALL THE EVIDENCE CAREFULLY WEIGHED.

On March 30, 1842, in the Town of Jefferson, Georgia, Dr. Crawford W. Long, then an unknown country doctor, barely twenty-seven years of age, performed an operation which marked an epoch in the history of medicine. At this time Doctor Long successfully employed sulphuric ether in extracting a tumor from the neck of James M. Venable. The patient, while under the influence of the anesthetic, experienced no sensation of pain whatever, and was not aware that an operation had been performed until consciousness was regained. It was the work of only a few moments; but from this operation dates the discovery of anesthesia-perhaps the greatest boon ever bestowed upon mankind. It put an end to the terrors of the knife, proclaimed the rise of modern surgery and dispelled the nightmare of centuries.

Doctor Long's discovery antedated Morton's by four years—that of Wells by two years and six months. He did not commercialize his chievement by seeking to obtain patent rights, nor did he make any haste to announce it with a flourish of trumpets; but the whole scientific world has at length come to recognize the priority of the Georgian's

[graphic]

FORMER HOME OF DR. CRAWFORD W. LONG IN ATHENS

claim.*

On March 30, 1912, there was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania a handsome bronze medallion in honor of Dr. Crawford W. Long, on which occasion some of the most noted physicians of America were present. On May 21, 1910, near the scene of his great discovery, in the Town of Jefferson, a substantial monument to Doctor Long was unveiled by the State Medical Association. In 1879, Mr. Henry L. Stuart, of New York, presented to the Legislature of Georgia a handsome life-size portrait of Doctor Long, which today hangs on the walls of the state capitol. Gen. John B. Gordon, in an eloquent speech, formally tendered the portrait. On this occasion Mr. Stuart himself was present. After the ceremonies he left for Athens to visit the grave of Doctor Long, and while there was fatally stricken with paralysis. Being without family ties or connections at the North, he was buried in accordance with his wishes in Oconee Cemetery, at Athens, in the same lot with the great discoverer, whose services to mankind he was one of the first to recognize and honor. The Republic of France has likewise paid tribute to Doctor Long; and Georgia has voted to place his statue in the nation's capitol at Washington.

When King Edward VII awakened after his operation for appendicitis, his first question was, "Who discovered anesthesia?" to which the answer came back, "Dr. Crawford Long, Your Majesty." This spontaneous tribute from the king's physician may be taken as an expression of British sentiment.

The following account of the discovery of anesthesia has been condensed from a sketch written by Mr. T. W. Reed for Men of Mark in Georgia. There is doubtless no one in the state more conversant with the facts in the case than Mr. Reed, who has long been a distinguished resident of the town in which the last twenty-six years of Doctor Long's life were spent. It was the celebrated Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who coined the word anesthesia; but the credit which attaches to the great discovery itself belongs to the modest Georgia doctor, whose mission in life was to mingle the sleeping liquid of Lethe's fabled fountain with the healing waters of Bethesda's pool.

To the discovery of anesthesia the human race must forever stand indebted. Through the magic of this great discovery the sum of human pain has been vastly lessened, the horrors of war have been mitigated, the advance of surgery has been made possible, the average duration of human life has been lengthened, and every department of human activity has been given additional energy, through which magnificent achievements have come to bless the world. Despite all claims to the contrary, the honor of having made this transcendent discovery belongs to Crawford W. Long. * The passing years have brought forth abundant evidence on this subject; and the State of Georgia, backed by the endorsement of the highest authority, has set her official seal upon the achievement of her distinguished son by legislative resolution that his statue shall be placed in Statuary Hall in the nation's capitol as one

* See "New International Encyclopaedia," New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., Vol. I, p. 492, under Anesthetic; also Vol. XII, p. 433, under Long, Crawford W.

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