Page 90

“…more slaves of his own now…”

The records of Sims’s transactions involving his slaves—mostly borrowing money from friends, with enslaved persons used as collateral—are held at the probate office of the Montgomery County courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama.

“…errand boy and messenger.”

Sims does not describe the enslaved boy who accompanied him on rounds, but Baldwin did. See “…and bought a buggy…” and “…more slaves of his own now…” above. George is the proper age for this task. The quote is from an account of a banquet thrown in Sims’s honor when he returned to Montgomery late in life. The account was later printed as an appendix in Sims’s autobiography.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 445.

“Theresa’s mother offered financial support…”

Harris, S. (1950). Woman's surgeon: The life story of J. Marion Sims. New York: Macmillan, p. 65.

“…barbecues and squirrel hunts…”

Hardy Vickers Wooten: Diaries, 1813-1856, pp. 57, 105, held at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama. Although Wooten was not in Philadelphia at precisely the same time as Sims, they became colleagues and friends in Alabama.

“…Pratts, Hilliard…Milburn.”

As will be revealed later in the book, a son of the Pratt family married Sims’s daughter—they were from Mobile, but had family in Marion County, adjacent to Autauga County. I think this event, or something like it, has to be how Thomas Pratt first encountered Sims’s daughter. Similarly, Sims does not describe how he met Henry Hilliard, who became a congressman for a time, but it is very likely social occasions. Reverend Milburn went on to be Sims’s friend, and spoke at the first anniversary celebration of Woman’s Hospital, in NY. The pamphlet printed after the occasion is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.

“…like Senator William Rufus King…”

King’s will, a transcript of which is held at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, Alabama, reveals that he owned a plantation in Lowndes County, in addition to Selma. King was a lifelong politician, and when he was in Alabama he would have seized every opportunity to mix with local influential persons. He plays a greater role later in the book.

“…Sims attended a ball…”

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), April 8, 1877, p. 7.

The source for the Clay Ball in Montgomery in 1844 does not specify that it was held at the Rialto, and it does not say that Henry LeVert attended, though his wife did. I assume that her husband would have come along, and that Sims would have attended, as it was close to his home (the only other realistic choice for a venue would have been Montgomery Hall, just as close), and he would not have missed the chance to hobknob with the wealthy, or to meet Josiah Nott’s old friend, whom Sims had long heard about. I am operating on the assumption that Sims was aware of LeVert’s experiments with metallic suture material long before his own experiments.

“…another capital jaw surgery…”

Darrach, W. (1847). Memoir of George McClellan. Philadelphia: J.G. Auner, p. 26.

“…ejected from the medical school he had founded.”

Gould is quoting Samuel Gross at length.

Gould, G. M. (1904). Jefferson medical college of Philadelphia, benefactors, alumni, hospital, etc., its founders, officers, instructors, 1826-1904. New York: Lewis Publishing Company, p. 43.

“…Granville Sharp Sims…”

Harris, S. (1950). Woman's surgeon: The life story of J. Marion Sims. New York: Macmillan, p. 31.

“…never to forget.”

Although Sims did not speak directly to McClellan’s and Pattison’s feuds being central to his views about how to conduct his professional life, he did, decades later—as will be seen in later chapters—conduct his own feuds in very much the same spirit.

“…a young woman named Margaret…”

Once again, there is disagreement in the basic facts of the case between Sims’s original publication and his autobiography. I have mostly relied on the former.

SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 210.

“Double Congenital Hare-lip—Absence of the Superior Incisors and their portion of Alveolar Process,” J. Marion Sims, American Journal of Dental Science, September 1844, p. 51.