{{short description|American physician (1797-1879)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox medical person | name = George Bacon Wood | image = George B. Wood.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1797|03|13}} | birth_place = [[Greenwich Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey|Greenwich, New Jersey]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1879|03|30|1797|03|13}} | death_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | citizenship = | education = [[University of Pennsylvania]]<br/>([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], 1815) [[Perelman School of Medicine|University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine]]<br/>([[Doctor of Medicine|MD]], 1818) | occupation = Physician<br/>professor<br/>writer | years_active = | known_for = Chair of Materia Medica at the [[Perelman School of Medicine|Univ. of Penn. School of Medicine]]; Compiled first ''Dispensatory of the United States'' (1833); president of both the [[College of Physicians of Philadelphia]] and [[American Medical Association]] | spouse = Caroline Hahn | relations = [[Horatio C Wood]] (nephew) | signature = Signature of George Bacon Wood (1797–1879).png | profession = | field = | work_institutions = * [[Philadelphia College of Pharmacy]] * [[Perelman School of Medicine|University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine]] * [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] * [[University of Pennsylvania]] * [[College of Physicians of Philadelphia]] * [[American Medical Association]] | specialism = | research_field = | prizes = | child = | module2 = }}
'''George Bacon Wood''' (March 13, 1797 – March 30, 1879) was an American physician, chemist, professor, and writer. He was chair of chemistry and [[materia medica]] at the [[University of the Sciences|Philadelphia College of Pharmacy]]. He served as chair of materia medica, as well as chair and professor [[emeritus]] of theory and practice of medicine at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. He published frequently and is best known for the ''Dispensatory of the United States'' with Dr. [[Franklin Bache]], ''A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine'', and ''A Treatise on Therapeutics and Pharmacology of Materia Medica''.
He served as a trustee at the University of Pennsylvania and funded an endowment to create an auxiliary faculty for five chairs of medicine. He worked as a physician at the [[Pennsylvania School for the Deaf|Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf and Dumb]] from 1822 to 1844 and [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] from 1835 to 1844. He served as a trustee of [[Girard College]] and as president of the [[American Medical Association]], the [[College of Physicians of Philadelphia]], and the [[American Philosophical Society]].
==Early life and education== Wood was born on March 13, 1797, in [[Greenwich Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey|Greenwich, New Jersey]]<ref name=Appletons/> to Richard Wood and Elizabeth Bacon. His parents were [[Quakers|Quaker]] farmers. He studied in New York City under [[John Griscom]]<ref name=Jordan>{{cite book |last1=Jordan |first1=John W. |title=Colonial Families of Philadelphia - Volume I |date=1911 |publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company |location=New York |page=38 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Colonial_Families_of_Philadelphia/B0Y2AQAAMAAJ |access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref> and received his A.B. degree in 1815 and his M.D. in 1818 from the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name=UPenn>{{cite web |title=George Bacon Wood |url=https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/george-bacon-wood/ |website=archives.upenn.edu |publisher=University Archives and Records Center |access-date=25 April 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/generalalumnica00socigoog | title=General Alumni Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania, 1922 | publisher=University of Pennsylvania | date=1922 | accessdate=April 21, 2015 | author=General Alumni Society}}</ref>
==Career== He was professor of chemistry at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and in 1822 accepted the chair of chemistry. He served in that role until 1831 until it was changed to the chair of materia medica.<ref name=Littell>{{cite journal |last1=Littell |first1=Squire |title=Memoir of George B. Wood, M.D., LL.D., Late President of the College |journal=Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia |date=1879 |volume=5 |issue=3 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Transactions_of_the_College_of_Physicians_of_Philadelphia/Series_3/Volume_5/Memoir_of_George_B._Wood,_M.D.,_LL.D. |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> He resigned in 1835 to accept the same role in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1850, he was elected chair of the theory and practice of medicine to replace [[Nathaniel Chapman]].<ref name=obituary/> In 1860, he was unanimously appointed emeritus professor of the theory and practice of medicine<ref name=Warren/> and was succeeded in the chair by [[William Pepper]].<ref name=obituary/> He served as a trustee of the University from 1863 to 1879, and in 1865 endowed an auxiliary faculty with five chairs of medicine focused on botany, hygiene, medical jurisprudence and toxicology, mineralogy, and zoology and comparative medicine.<ref name=Ruschenberger/> He served as a trustee of Girard College from 1833 to 1841.<ref name=Jordan/>
He worked as a physician at the Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf and Dumb from 1822 to 1844 and the Pennsylvania Hospital from 1835 to 1844.<ref name=UPenn/> He served as president of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and of the American Philosophical Society<ref name=Warren/> (elected in 1829).<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?year=1829;year-max=1829;smode=advanced;f1-date=1829|access-date=2021-04-07|website=search.amphilsoc.org|archive-date=April 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423064628/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?year=1829;year-max=1829;smode=advanced;f1-date=1829|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a member of a number of other societies, and served as president of the American Medical Association from 1855 to 1856.<ref name=UPenn/>
Wood contributed frequently to medical literature, but he is best known for his ''A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine'', published in 1847, which ran through six editions, the last being in 1867. He also compiled with Dr. Franklin Bache, the ''Dispensatory of the United States'', which first appeared in 1833. He also wrote ''A Treatise on Therapeutics and Pharmacology of Materia Medica'' in 1847.<ref name=UPenn/> He gave a number of addresses, including a History of the Pennsylvania Hospital and a History of the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name=Warren/>
During the last four years of his life he was invalid and confined to his house, the last two years in his bed.<ref name=obituary>{{cite journal |title=Obituary - George B. Wood, M.D., Philadelphia |journal=Medical Record |date=1879 |volume=15 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Medical_Record/Volume_15/Obituary-George_B._Wood,_M.D. |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> He died on March 30, 1879, in Philadelphia<ref name=Warren>{{cite journal |last1=Warren |first1=John Collins |title=George B. Wood, M. D., LL. D. |journal=Boston Medical and Surgical Journal |volume=100 |issue=16 |date=1879 |page=549 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Boston_Medical_and_Surgical_Journal/Volume_100/Number_16/George_B._Wood,_M._D.,_LL._D.}}</ref> and was interred in Section 10, Lot 14 to 17,<ref>{{cite web |title=George B Wood |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/george-b-wood?id=Qo67M5Py |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> of [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]].<ref name=Littell/>
==Personal life== He married Caroline Hahn on April 2, 1823.<ref name=Ruschenberger>{{cite journal |last1=Ruschenberger |first1=William |title=Obituary Notice |journal=American Journal of the Medical Sciences |date=1879 |volume=78 |pages=591-596 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/American_Journal_of_the_Medical_Sciences/New_series/Volume_78/Obituary_Notice_of_George_B._Wood |access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> They had no children and she died in 1865.<ref name=Littell/> Wood's nephew [[Horatio C. Wood Jr.]] also became a noted physician.<ref name=Appletons>{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Wood, George Bacon|volume=VI|page=593|short=x}}</ref>
==Publications== *''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The%20History%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Pennsylvania The History of the University of Pennsylvania, From Its Origin to the Year 1827]'', Philadelphia: McCarty & Davis, 1834 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The%20Dispensatory%20of%20the%20United%20States%20of/S0VHAQAAMAAJ The Dispensatory of the United States of America]'', Philadelphia: Grigg & Elliot, 1839 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A%20Memoir%20of%20the%20Life%20and%20Character%20of%20th/SfItAAAAYAAJ A Memoir of the Life and Character of the Late Joseph Parrish, M.D. Read Before the Medical Society of Philadelphia, October 23d, 1840.]'', Philadelphia: Lydia R. Bailey, Printer, 1840 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/An%20Address%20on%20the%20Occasion%20of%20the%20Centen/CT8FAAAAYAAJ An Address on the Occasion of the Centennial Celebration of the Founding of the Pennsylvania Hospital, Delivered June 10th, 1851]'', Philadelphia: T.K. and P.G. Collins, 1851 *''[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A%20Biographical%20Memoir%20of%20Samuel%20George%20Morton,%20M.D. A Biographical Memoir of Samuel George Morton, M.D.]'', Philadelphia: T.K. and P.G. Collins, 1853 *''[https://books.google.mw/books?id=Ek43keFhDjsC A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine in Two Volumes - Vol. I.]'', Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co, 1855 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A%20Treatise%20on%20the%20practice%20of%20medicine%20v/GEoTEi63eicC A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine in Two Volumes - Vol. II.]'', Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co, 1855 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A%20Treatise%20on%20the%20Practice%20of%20Medicine/4jMAAAAAQAAJ A Treatise on Therapeutics, and Pharmacology of Materia Medica. In Two Volumes. Vol. I.]'', Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co., 1855 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A%20Treatise%20on%20Therapeutics%20and%20Pharmacol/qA0DAAAAQAAJ A Treatise on Therapeutics, and Pharmacology of Materia Medica. In Two Volumes. Vol. II.]'', Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1856 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings%20on%20the%20Occasion%20of%20Laying%20th/5GtIAAAAYAAJ Proceedings on the Occasion of Laying the Corner Stone of the New Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, at Philadelphia.]'', Philadelphia: T.K. and P.G. Collins, 1856 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Introductory%20to%20the%20Course%20of%20Lectures%20o/AzxCL-e9bWEC Introductory to the Course of Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Medicine, in the University of Pennsylvania]'', Philadelphia: Collins Printers, 1858 *''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Introductory%20Lectures%20and%20Addresses%20on%20M/kS8SAAAAYAAJ Introductory Lectures and Addresses on Medical Subjects Delivered Chiefly Before the Medical Classes of the University of Pennsylvania.]'', Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1859 *''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lUUBAAAAYAAJ Biographical Memoir of the Late Franklin Bache, M. D., Prepared at the Request of the American Philosophical Society, and Read Before the Society, June 16, 1865]'', Philadelphia: Sherman & Co., Printers., 1865
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|George B. Wood}} * {{find a Grave|90188947}} * {{Wikisource author-inline}} *{{Internet Archive author}}
{{s-start}} {{s-bus}} {{s-bef | before=[[Charles A. Pope]]}} {{s-ttl | title=President of the [[American Medical Association]] | years = 1855–1856}} {{s-aft | after=[[Zina Pitcher]]}} {{end}}
{{American Medical Association Presidents}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, George B.}} [[Category:1797 births]] [[Category:1879 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century American chemists]] [[Category:19th-century American medical doctors]] [[Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)]] [[Category:Chemists from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:People from Greenwich Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey]] [[Category:Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni]] [[Category:Medical doctors from Philadelphia]] [[Category:Presidents of the American Medical Association]] [[Category:Presidents of the American Philosophical Society]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty]] [[Category:University of the Sciences faculty]] [[Category:19th-century American male writers]]