Voting Station

William T.G. Morton

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Doctor

The Resume

    (August 9, 1819-July 15, 1868)
    Born in Charlton, Massachusetts
    Full name was William Thomas Green Morton
    Dentist
    Performed a painless tooth extraction after administering ether to a patient (September 30, 1846)
    In a public demonstration, administered ether to Edward Gilbert Abbott after which surgeon John Collins Warren painlessly removed a tumor from Abbott’s neck (October 16, 1846)

Why he might be annoying:

    When his fiancée’s parents objected to his career, he agreed to enroll in Harvard’s medical school.
    He dropped out after the wedding.
    He feuded with Horace Wells, who had performed a tooth extraction using nitrous oxide as an anesthetic, over who deserved credit for discovering anesthesia.
    He tried to patent his anesthetic under the name Letheon.
    His patent proved unenforceable once doctors recognized that Letheon was actually ether, already widely available as a solvent.
    He unsuccessfully petitioned Congress four times asking for $100,000 as ‘national recompense.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    Although there had been earlier uses of anesthesia, his public demonstration resulted in its widespread acceptance by the medical community.
    He joined the Army of the Potomac as a volunteer surgeon and treated soldiers after the Battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness.
    When he was hospitalized dying from a stroke, the chief surgeon recognized him and told his interns, ‘Young gentlemen, you see lying before you a man who has done more for humanity and for the relief of suffering than any man who has ever lived.’

Credit: C. Fishel


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    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 126 Votes: 53.97% Annoying