Henry Patterson Loomis

Henry Patterson Loomis (April 29, 1859 − December 22, 1907) was an American physician who served as president of the American Academy of Medicine.[1]

Henry Patterson Loomis
Born(1859-04-29)April 29, 1859
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 1907(1907-12-22) (aged 48)
Alma materPrinceton University
New York University School of Medicine
Spouse
Julia Josephine Stimson
(m. 1887)
Children3, including Alfred
Parent(s)Sarah Patterson Loomis
Alfred Lebbeus Loomis
RelativesAlfred Lee Loomis Jr. (grandson)
Henry Loomis (grandson)

Early life edit

Loomis was born in New York City on April 29, 1859. He was a son of Sarah Jane (née Patterson) Loomis and Dr. Alfred Lebbeus Loomis, a physician who served as president of the Association of American Physicians.[2] After the death of his mother in 1880, his father remarried to Anna Maria (née Morris) Prince.[3] His sister, Adeline E. Loomis, later married their stepbrother John Dyneley Prince in 1889.[4]

He attended Princeton University, graduating in 1880. He received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1883, and studied at Heidelberg, Berlin and Vienna before returning to the U.S. in 1887.[5][6][7]

Career edit

He was a leading expert on heart and lung diseases and was a contributor to several medical journals and the author of a number of treatises on diseases.[6] Loomis was professor of pathology at New York University from 1887 to 1895, visiting physician at the New York Hospital in 1896, and consulting pathologist of the New York Board of Health in 1897. He was also a faculty member of Cornell University where he was a professor of therapeutics and clinical medicine.[8]

Personal life edit

On February 8, 1887, Loomis was married to Julia Josephine Stimson (1861–1933).[9] Julia was a sister of Dr. Lewis Atterbury Stimson, a prominent surgeon (father of U.S. Secretary of State and War Henry Stimson). Together, they were the parents of three children:[5][6][7]

  • Alfred Lee Loomis (1887–1975), who married Ellen Holman Farnsworth, a sister of Henry Weston Farnsworth, in 1912.[10]
  • Julia Atterbury Loomis (1890–1974), who married Landon Ketchum Thorne (1888–1964).
  • Henry Loomis, who died of rabies while still a small child; he was bitten by a rabid dog on the street near the family's house in Manhattan.[7]

In the summer of 1907, Loomis's wife filed suit for divorce, claiming that Emilie Grigsby (an heiress of the estate of Charles T. Yerkes) had a relationship with Loomis.[11] The family were snubbed socially as a result, since a divorce was regarded as a shameful event.[7]

He died of pneumonia on December 22, 1907, at his home in Manhattan[5] before the divorce went through.[7]

Descendants edit

Through his son Alfred, he was posthumously a grandfather of Alfred Lee Loomis Jr. (an Olympic gold medalist sailor),[12] William Farnsworth Loomis, and Henry Loomis (director of the Voice of America).[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Dr. Henry P. Loomis Dead". The Washington Herald. December 23, 1907. p. 3. Retrieved April 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Conant, Jennet (2013). Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II. Simon and Schuster. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-4767-6729-1. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. ^ Hoppin, Charles Arthur (1909). Descendants of Joseph Loomis in America: And His Antecedents in the Old World. E.S. Loomis. p. 468. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Prince–Loomis.; Wedding at the Church of the Holy Communion Yesterday". The New York Times. 6 October 1889. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Dr. Henry P. Loomis". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 23, 1907. p. 3. Retrieved April 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c "Death of Dr. Henry P. Loomis". Long Island Medical Journal: 29. 1908.
  7. ^ a b c d e Conant (2013), pp. 22−24.
  8. ^ Conant, Jennet (2013). Tuxedo Park: A Wall StreetTycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-87287-2.
  9. ^ "The Week in Society". New-York Tribune. February 13, 1887. p. 4. Retrieved April 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Time, Special to The New York (23 June 1912). "Loomis – Farnsworth; Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Farnsworth Married to A. L. Loomis". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Emilie Grigsby Named In Suit for Separation Against Yerkes' Doctor". The Washington Times. June 6, 1907. p. 5. Retrieved April 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Alfred Loomis Jr., Olympic Sailor, 81". The New York Times. September 13, 1994. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  13. ^ Grimes, William (13 November 2008). "Henry Loomis, Who Led Voice of America, Is Dead at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2020.

External links edit