William Beaumont

William Beaumont
William Beaumont
Born	(1785-11-21)November 21, 1785 Lebanon, Connecticut
Died	April 25, 1853(1853-04-25) (aged 67)
Nationality	United States
Fields	Medicine
Known for	Research on digestion

William Beaumont (November 21, 1785 – April 25, 1853) was a surgeon in the U.S. Army who became known as the "Father of Gastric Physiology" following his research on human digestion.

William Beaumont was born to Samuel Beaumont and Lucretia Abel in Lebanon, Connecticut; his father was a farmer. He left his home after he turned twenty-one, moved to Champlain, New York and obtained a teaching job. In 1810 he relocated to St. Albans, Vermont where he trained to become a physician through an apprenticeship with Dr. Truman Powell. In June 1812, the Third Medical Society of the State of Vermont in Burlington examined his knowledge "on the anatomy of the human body, and the theory and practice of physic and surgery" and recommended him as "judicious and safe practitioner in the different avocations of the medical profession."

From 1812 until 1815, Beaumont served as an assistant surgeon in the Army during the War of 1812 participating in the Battle of Plattsburgh. After the war ended, he started a private practice in Plattsburgh, New York, but by 1820 Beaumont had rejoined the Army as a surgeon. He was assigned a location at Fort Mackinac. Beaumont took a leave in 1821, and married Deborah "Debby" Green Platt in Plattsburgh, before returning to his post. Deborah was divorced from Nathaniel Platt, whose uncle Zephaniah Platt founded Plattsburgh after the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Her father, Israel Green, was a third cousin of General Nathanael Greene.

On June 6, 1822, an employee of the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island, named Alexis St. Martin, was accidentally shot in the stomach by a discharge of a shotgun loaded with a buck shot from close range that injured his ribs and his stomach. Dr. Beaumont treated his wound, but expected St. Martin to die from his injuries. Despite this dire prediction, St. Martin survived – but with a hole, or fistula, in his stomach that never fully healed. Unable to continue work for the American Fur Company, he was hired as a handyman by Dr. Beaumont.