Tobias Watkins was an American physician, editor, writer, educator, and political appointee in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area.
19 Facts About Tobias Watkins
1.
2.
Tobias Watkins played leading roles in early American literary institutions such as The Portico and the Delphian Club and in early American medical institutions such as The Baltimore Medical and Physical Recorder and The Maryland State Medical Society.
3.
Tobias Watkins graduated from St John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1798 and received a Doctorate of Medicine from the College of Philadelphia Department of Medicine in 1802.
4.
Between 1799 and 1801, Watkins served as an assistant surgeon in the United States Navy.
5.
Tobias Watkins opened his first private medical practice in Havre de Grace, Maryland in 1803, but moved it shortly thereafter to Baltimore.
6.
In 1818 Tobias Watkins was appointed an assistant surgeon general in the United States Army under Surgeon General Joseph Lovell and assigned to inspect the medical staff and facilities of the Army Division of the North.
7.
The army was reorganized again in 1821 and Tobias Watkins returned to private medical practice upon honorable discharge.
8.
Tobias Watkins founded The Baltimore Medical and Physical Recorder, Maryland's first and the US's fifth medical journal.
9.
Tobias Watkins edited and published the journal monthly from April 1808 through its final issue in August 1809.
10.
The Portico was closely associated with the Delphian Club, which Tobias Watkins co-founded with John Neal, John Pierpont, and four other men in Baltimore in 1816.
11.
Shortly after its establishment, Tobias Watkins served as the club's president, known as the "Tripod," and earned the nickname In 1821 he published Tales of the Tripod; Or A Delphian Evening under this nickname, a collection of three stories, two of which are about fellow Delphian Paul Allen.
12.
Tobias Watkins helped John Neal publish his first novel in 1817 and worked with Neal in 1818 to write most of A History of the American Revolution, otherwise attributed to fellow Delphian Paul Allen.
13.
Tobias Watkins was a close friend of John Quincy Adams, who, as US Secretary of State under President James Monroe, secured Watkins an appointment as secretary to the Spanish Commission.
14.
Tobias Watkins was sentenced to nine months in prison and a fine equal to his embezzlement, but he was held in prison for an additional two years for inability to pay the fine.
15.
Tobias Watkins's trial attracted considerable public attention and was an embarrassment to President Adams, who recorded in his journal:.
16.
Tobias Watkins felt abandoned by Adams and wrote to John Neal from prison, asking him to.
17.
In 1833 Tobias Watkins petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the district court's criminal jurisdiction in his conviction.
18.
Tobias Watkins petitioned again for a writ of habeas corpus and was released again the following month.
19.
Tobias Watkins was the first High Priest of the Encampment of the Knights Templar in 1812.