Valentine Seaman was an American physician who introduced the smallpox vaccine to the United States and mapped yellow fever in New York City.
14 Facts About Valentine Seaman
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Valentine Seaman's father, Willet Seaman, was a descendant of Captain John Seaman, who sailed to North America from Brightlington, England, in 1620, settling thereafter in Hempstead, Long Island.
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Valentine Seaman settled in New York City on Beekman Street with his wife and 10 children.
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Valentine Seaman was an attending surgeon at New York Hospital from 1796 until his death.
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Valentine Seaman is best known for mapping the spread of yellow fever in New York City and introducing the smallpox vaccination to the United States.
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Valentine Seaman then mapped local waste sites, compared the two maps, and concluded that yellow fever originated in these waste areas.
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Valentine Seaman acquired the vaccination serum from Jenner and, in 1799, successfully vaccinated his own children with it.
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Valentine Seaman taught medicine as well, focusing in particular on women's education.
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Valentine Seaman was the first American physician to teach a class of women in midwifery in the almshouse.
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Valentine Seaman wrote The Midwives Monitor in 1800 for their instruction.
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Valentine Seaman, a Quaker, was against slavery and was a member of the New York Manumission Society, which advocated for the abolition of slavery in New York state.
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Valentine Seaman died at the age of 47 from tuberculosis, leaving behind a legacy of public health innovations and advocacy.
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Valentine Seaman had 10 children, including daughter Eliza Seaman Leggett, as well as sons John Ferris Seaman and Valentine Seaman, who owned an estate in 1855 in the Inwood area of upper Manhattan.
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Valentine Seaman's papers are housed at the Samuel J Wood Library at Weill Cornell Medicine.