Frank Hastings Hamilton

Who was Frank Hastings Hamilton?

Frank Hastings Hamilton was a noted American surgeon.

Hamilton was the son of Calvin and Lucinda Hamilton. Through his mother, he was a descendant of Thomas Hastings who came from the East Anglia region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. Hamilton graduated from Union College in 1830 and received the degree of MD degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1835.

After teaching in various colleges, he became in 1861 professor in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He was a military surgeon for two years in the Civil War and was appointed medical inspector with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1863. Among the many positions of honor and trust which he held was the presidency of the New York Society of Medical Jurisprudence.

He served as consulting surgeon to various hospitals and asylums and became widely known as an authority on surgery, his three large works having a recognized place in the literature of medical science. They are:

Treatise on Fractures and Dislocations

Practical Treatise on Military Surgery

The Principles and Practice of Surgery