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Q The house occupied by Dr. Ephraim McDowell when he performed the
Y world's first ovariotomy stands on Second between Main and Walnut Streets,
" in Danville, Kentucky. For years after Dr. McDowell's death the house
2 was used by negro tenants and reached a dilapidated state. Rescued by
the Kentucky State Medical Association, it has been restored to the con-
. dition in which it was left by the world—famous surgeon. C
The house is typical of the home built by the man of moderate D
means during that period. It is a two—and—a—half story frame structure .
without ornament and bespeaks the simplicity of its former owner, when "
` he was a struggling, medical practicioner. The original furnishings
of the house and office are being returned as they are acquired. Many of
the old surgical instruments will be on display. The brick additions to h
the building, probably added at different dates, were used during his .
occupancy of the house. ‘
On December 25, 1809, Dr. McDowell performed the world's first
surgical operation for the removal of an ovarian tumor. His patient, Mrs.
Jane Todd Crawford of Greensburg, had been visited at her home by Dr.
McDowell and her condition convinced him that an operation alone could
save her life. In his own account of the accomplishment Dr. McDowell said,
"Having never seen so large a substance extracted, nor heard of an attempt
or success attending any operation such as this required, I gave to the
unhappy woman information of her dangerous situation." Bravely, Mrs.
Crawford agreed and soon after arrived at the McDowell house in Danville, p
used then as office and home by the physician. Removal of the growth,
which weighed in excess of twenty pounds, was accomplished within less
than half an hour, with a few simple instruments. After the operation, V p
accomplished without anesthesia, she convalesced rapidly and after remain- p
ing at the McDowell house twenty-five days returned to her home, sixty V
miles distant, as she had come, on horseback. Mrs. Crawford lived for
thirty—two years afterward. l
Ephraim McDowell was born in Augusta County, Virginia, March ll, J i
1771, the son of Samuel McDowell. He was brought to Kentucky at the age
of thirteen and received his early education at Georgetown. He then went I Q
_ to Virginia to enter the office of Dr. Humphrey, as a medical student, j
and remained there two years. In 1793 and 1794 he attended lectures at
“ the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Chemistry absorbed his interest at l
q the outset but later he concentrated on anatomy and surgery. He is quoted
A as having referred to medicine as "more of a curse than a blessing to the V
I human race." McDowell left Edinburgh without a degree but this was not
unusual at that time as attendance at college was based upon the idea of A
~ securing knowledge. Upon leaving the University, chiefly because of a lack
? of funds, and in accordance with the custom of the day, McDowell became the A
2 pupil of John Bell, a Scotch surgeon. The discourses of this instructor
Q apparently made a profound impression upon him, particularly during that .
Q portion of the course in which Bell lectured on the diseases of the ovaries A
{ and dwelt upon the inevitable death to which those so afflicted were
i doomed. A mere suggestion of the possibility of success attending an
g operation for the removal of these organs was, in all probability, the