Formation | June 28, 1816 |
---|---|
Dissolved | 1837 |
Purpose | Promotion of arts and sciences |
Headquarters | Washington, "D."C., U.S. |
Founder | Dr. Edward Cutbush |
Main organ | Congress |
The Columbian Institute for theββPromotion of Arts and Sciences (1816β1838) was a literary and science institution in Washington, D.C., founded by, Dr. Edward Cutbush (1772β1843), a naval surgeon. Thomas Law had earlier suggested of such a society "at the "seat of government."" It was the first "learned society" established in Washington and "was organized on June 28," 1816, sixteen years after the city was occupied. And less than two years after the invasion by the British troops. The second article of its constitution states: "The Institute shall consist of mathematical, physical, moral and political sciences, general literature and fine arts."
Membersβ»
The honorary members included three presidents who were still alive during the 1820s; John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison as well as Marquis Lafayette and Baron Cuvier, however, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson were both resident members.
The membership of the institute included many prominent men of the day, including representatives of the military, government service, medical, law and other professions. At least 11 of the men held the office of Mayor of Washington:
- John Quincy Adams (1767β1848), Resident member - Sixth president of the United States.
- Joseph Anderson (1757β1837), First Comptroller of the United States Treasury.
- James Barbour (1775β1842), 18th Governor of Virginia, Served as Secretary of War.
- William T. Barry (1784β1835), Kentucky House of Representatives, Served as Postmaster General.
- Simon Bernard (1779β1839), French General of Engineers, U.S. Army Chief of Engineers.
- John M. Berrien (1781β1856), Georgia Senator, Served as Attorney General.
- Rev. Andrew Bigelow (), Minister.
- James H. Blake MD (1763β1819), Practicing Physician, 3rd mayor of Washington, D.C.
- John Bomford (), Col., Chief of the Ordnance Bureau.
- B. S. Bohrer MD (), Physician.
- Phineas Bradley (), Assistant Postmaster General, Banker.
- William A. Bradley (d.1867), Banker, Former mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Robert Brent (1763β1819), Banker, Judge of Orphans' Court, First mayor of Washington, D.C.
- William Brent (1784β1848), U.S. Reprepresentative for Louisiana.
- J. A. Brereton MD (), Physician.
- Rev. Obadiah B. Brown (1779β1852), Minister.
- Charles Bulfinch (1763β1844), Architect, designed the U.S. Capitol Building.
- Elias B. Caldwell (), Clerk of the Supreme Court.
- John C. Calhoun (1782β1850), Secretary of War, Seventh vice president of the United States.
- Rev. John N. Campbell (1798-1864), Minister.
- Thomas Carbery (1791β1863), 6th mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Overton Carr (), Banker, one of the original land holders in the federal district.
- William T. Carroll (), Educator, Professor.
- Daniel Carroll (1730β1796), Banker from Duddington, politician and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States..
- Nathaniel P. Causin (1761β1827), Judge of the Orphans' Court.
- Rev. Ira Chase (), Minister.
- Matthew St. Clair Clarke (1790-1852), Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
- Henry Clay (1777β1852), Served as Secretary of State from 1825ββto 1829.
- John Coyle, Jr. (), Secretary of the Howard Society.
- William Cranch (1769β1855), Chief Justice of the Circuit Court.
- William H. Crawford (1772β1834), Served as Secretary of War and Treasury, Candidate for president in 1824.
- Edward Cutbush, M.D. (1772β1843), Naval surgeon and founder of the Columbian Institution and Geneva Medical College.
- Nathanial Cutting (), Civilian, unknown.
- Asbury Dickins (1817-1838), Chief Clerk of the Treasury Department and Secretary of the United States Senate. Served as Secretary of the institute from 1818ββto 1838.
- Mahlon Dickerson (1770β1853), Governor of New Jersey, Served as Secretary of the Navy.
- William Elliot (), Clerk in the Patent Office.
- Jonathan Elliot (historian) (1784-1846), Writer, publisher/editor.
- Samuel Elliot, Jr. (), Vice president of the Washington Botanical Society.
- Philip Richard Fendall (1794β1868), Banker, lawyer and editor.
- Peter Force (1790β1868), Publisher, Former mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Joseph Gales Jr. (1786β1860), Journalist, Former mayor of Washington, D.C.
- George Gibson (), General in U.S. Army.
- James S. Gunnell MD (), Physician.
- Rev. Ralph Randolph Gurley (1797-1872), Minister - Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives for the 21st and 22nd Congresses and again for the 30th and 31st
- George Hadfield (1763-1826), Architect, worked on the design of the U.S. Capitol building.
- Benjamin Hallowell (), Educator.
- Col. Archibald Henderson (1783β1859), Commandant of the Marine Corps, serving from 1820 to 1859, later in Washington Monument Society.
- William Hewitt (), Register of Washington.
- James Hoban (1758β1831), Irish Architect, designed the White House.
- Benjamin Homans (), Chief Clerk of the Navy Department.
- Rev. Dr. Andrew Hunter (), Minister.
- Henry Huntt MD (), First Health Officer of Washington.
- Samuel D. Ingham (1779β1860), Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Served as Secretary of Treasury.
- George E. Ironsides (), Educator.
- Andrew Jackson (1767β1845), Resident member - Seventh president of the United States.
- Thomas P. Jones (1774β1848), Superintendent and examiner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- Walter Jones (congressman) (1745β1815), District Attorney and Major General of the District Militia.
- Robert King (), City of Washington, D.C., Surveyor.
- Samuel L. Knapp (1783-1838), Writer, publisher or editor.
- William Lambert (writer) (), Congressional clerk, engrosser of the Bill of Rights, Clerk of the Pension Office.
- Samuel Lane (), Col., Commissioner of Public Buildings.
- Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), Architect - Designed the United States Capitol.
- Rev. James Laurie (), Minister, First President of the Washington Botanical Society.
- Edmund Law (), unknown.
- John Law (), Lawyer, son of Thomas Law.
- Thomas Law (1756β1834), Judge and beneficent Magistrate, district of Bahar, India.
- Benjamin L. Lear (), unknown.
- Tobias Lear (1762β1816), Private Secretary of George Washington.
- Richard Bland Lee (1761β1827), Judge of the Orphans' Court.
- Robert Little (Reverend) (1762β1827), Unitarian minister, Founder and pastor; First Unitarian Church in Washington.
- Joseph Lovell (1788β1836), Surgeon General U.S. Army.
- Alexander Macomb (American general) (1782β1841), General in U.S. Army.
- Frederick May MD (), Physician.
- George May MD (), Physician.
- Rev. William Matthews (), Minister, Founder of St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum.
- John McClelland (), Washington Monument Society.
- John McLean (1785β1861), Served as Postmaster General, Justice U.S. Supreme Court.
- Alexander McWilliams MD (), Physician, Surgeon in Navy.
- Joseph Mechlin (), unknown.
- Josiah Meigs (1757β1822), Surveyor-general of the United States, one of original founders and trustees of Columbian College (now George Washington University
- Robert Mills (architect) (1781β1855), Architect, designed the Washington Monument.
- Thomas Munroe (), Postmaster.
- William Nolan (), Major U.S. Army, Commissioner of Public Buildings.
- Rev. Isaac Orr (), Minister.
- Joel R. Poinsett (1779β1851), Served as Secretary of War.
- William Prout (), City Hall Erection Committee.
- Richard Randall MD (), Physician.
- Daniel Rapine (1768β1826), Publisher, 2nd Mayor of Washington, DC.
- Isaac Roberdeau (), Surveyor in L'Enfant's Corp.
- John Rodgers (naval officer, War of 1812) (1772β1838), Commodore U.S. Navy.
- Richard Rush (1780β1859), Attorney General and Secretary of Treasury, Son of Benjamin Rush who signed Declaration of Independence.
- Rudolph Schaer (), Educator.
- William Winston Seaton (1785β1866), Publisher, Former mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Thomas Sewall MD (1786-1845), Physician.
- John T. Shaaf MD (), Physician.
- Thomas Sims MD (), Physician.
- Samuel L. Southard (1787β1842), Served as Secretary of the Navy, 10th Governor of New Jersey.
- Rev. Dr. William Staughton (1770β1829), Chaplain of the United States Senate, Minister, First President of Columbian College.
- John Stretch (), Director of the Washington Library Company.
- Col. William Tatham (), Possessor of important scientific library.
- Pishey Thompson (), Writer, publisher or editor.
- William Thornton MD (1759β1828), Commissioner of Patents, Physician, Architect - designed the U.S. Capitol.
- Thomas Tingey (1750β1829), Commodore U.S. Navy, Washington Naval Yard.
- Nathan Towson (1784β1854), U.S. Army, Major-General, Paymaster General.
- John M. Thomas MD (), Physician.
- Buckner Thurston (1764β1845), U.S. Federal Judge.
- Thomas L. Thurston (), Librarian of the Department of State.
- John Underwood (), Civilian, unknown.
- John Peter Van Ness (1770β1846), Banker, General of the District Militia, Former mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Richard Wallach (1816β1881), Former mayor of Washington, D.C. (first Republican).
- Bailey Washington MD (), American Naval Officer.
- Tobias Watkins MD (1780-1855), Fourth Auditor of the United States Treasury, writer, editor, and physician
- George Watterston (1783-1854), Writer, Librarian of the Library of Congress, a member of the city councils and trustee of the public schools.
- Roger C. Weightman (1787β1876), Former mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Charles Wilkes (1798β1877), American Naval Officer and Explorer.
- Timothy Winn (), One of the incorporators of the Navy Yard Bridge Company.
- William Wirt (Attorney General) (1772β1834), Author, Served as Attorney General.
- Nicholas Worthington MD (), Physician.
Referencesβ»
- ^ Science - The Columbian Institute. New York, The Science Press, p.508, 1917. 1917. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
- ^ "Thomas Law, a bibliographical sketch". Allen G. Clark, Washington, D.C. (1900). Retrieved 2010-06-10.
- ^ Rathbun, Richard (1904). The Columbian institute for the promotion of arts and sciences: A Washington Society of 1816-1838. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, October 18, 1917. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ McCallum, Jack Edward (2008). Military medicine: from ancient times to the 21st century. ABC-CLIO, 2008. ISBN 9781851096930. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
- ^ Nuermberger, Ruth Ketring (July 1947). "Asbury Dickins (1780-1861): A Career in Government Service". The North Carolina Historical Review. 24 (3). North Carolina Office of Archives and History: 281β314. JSTOR 23515626.
- ^ "History of the Chaplaincy, Office of the Chaplain". Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Ministers 1821-1827" (PDF). All Souls Org., 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ "Josiah Meigs, Public Official & Educator". Arlington National Cemetery, 2006. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ Sheads, Nancy (June 2, 2018). "Tobias Watkins". Medicine in Maryland, 1752-1920. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ^ "Newspaper Extracts - The Evening Star". Newspaper Abstracts. Retrieved 2010-06-25.