Memoir of Edward Shippen, M. D., U. S. N., Second President of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

PUBLICATIONS 07 THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Vol. V. MARCH, 1912. No. 1. MEMOIR OF EDWARD SHIPPEN, M. D., U. S. N., SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA. BY JOSIAH GRANVILLE LEACH. The subject of this memoir, Rear-Admiral Edward Shippen, M. D., was born in Mercer County, New Jersey, 18 June, 1826, and died at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, 16 June, 1911. He was seventh in descent from the Honorable Edward' Shippen, who, born on his ancestral estate at Methley, Yorkshire, England, in 1639, came to America as early as 1668, and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he entered upon a successful career as a merchant, becoming prominent and wealthy. At his coming, he was attached to the Church of England, and in 1669, he joined the artillery company, now famously known as the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts." Two years later, he married Elizabeth Lybrand, a Quakeress, and became a member of the Society of Friends, and, in Memoir of Edward Shippen, M. D., U. S. N. 3 delpbia ; in 1765, Prothonotary of the Supreme Court ; in 1770, a Provincial Councillor ; in 1784, president Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, and, in the same year, one of the Judges of the High Court of Errors and Appeals ; in 1791, assistant Judge of the Supreme Court, and in 1799, Chief Justice of the same, succeeding the eminent Chief Justice McKean, and serving in this capacity until late in 1805, when he resigned the office on account of infirmities of age, and died a few months later. Chief Justice Shippen married Margaret, daughter of the Honorable Tench Francis, Attorney General of Pennsylvania, and by her was the father of Dr. Edwards Shippen, born 11 December, 1758; died 22 October, 1809; graduated at the University of Pennsylvania : studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh ; practiced in his profession, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; married Elizabeth Juliana Footman, by whom he had Richard' Shippen, born 2 February, 1795; died 18 May, 1868 ; married Anne Elizabeth Farmer, and had by her, four children, of whom the subject of this memoir, was the eldest. Rear-Admiral Edward' Shippen, or Dr. Shippen, as be was usually styled, was carefully prepared for college, and matriculated at Princeton University, from which he was graduated in 1845, receiving the degrees of A. B. and A. M. in course. Upon leaving that institution, he began the study of medicine at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which be received the degree of M. D. in 1848. The following year he was appointed from Pennsylvania, to the navy of the United States, as assistant surgeon ; and thus he entered upon a medical career in the Navy, which covered a period of nearly forty years, and proved both honorable and distinguished. On 26 April, 1861, at the opening of the Civil War, he was promoted Surgeon, and on 17 March, 1876, Medical Director, with rank of captain, retiring on account of age limit, 18 June, 1888. In 1907, he became Rear-Admiral on the 2 Memoir of Edward Shippen, M. D., U. S. N. consequence, was made to share in the persecutions and sufferings meted out in his day to so many of his religious faith in Boston, resulting in his quitting that town, and removing with his family to Philadelphia, where he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. Through his commercial transactions, he had become well known to the social, business, and political leaders in Philadelphia, who, recognizing his high character and eminent worth, welcomed him among them with great cordiality, and soon thereafter, he was invested with public honors of the first importance. In 1695 he was chosen speaker of the Provincial Assembly ; in 1696, a member of the Provincial Council, in which body he served until his death, being its president in 1702-4, and in this capacity, acting governor of the Province for a time. In Penn's charter of 25 October, 1701, Mr. Shippen was named as Mayor for the City of Philadelphia, and filled that office until 5 October, 1703, when he declined further service, and his successor was chosen. Joseph' Shippen, second son of Edward' Shippen by wife Elizabeth Lybrand, was born in Boston, 28 February, 1678/9, and died at Philadelphia, June, 1741. He was a merchant and a member of Franklin's "Junto." By his first wife, Abigail Grosse, he was the father of Edward' Shippen, born 9 July, 1703: died 25 September, 1781; for many years a member of Common Councils of Philadelphia ; Mayor of the city in 1744, a founder of the College of New Jersey—now Princeton University—, and one of the subscribers to the Philadelphia Academy, the parent of the University of Pennsylvania ; married as first wife, Sarah Plumley, and had by her, Edward' Shippen, the eminent jurist, born 16 February, 1728/9. The latter was sent to Europe by his father, and studied law at the Middle Temple, London ; was admitted as a barrister in 1750; returned to Philadelphia, and entered on the practice of the law there. In 1752, he was appointed Judge of the Admiralty in Phila- 4 Memoir of Edward Shippen, M. D., U. S. N. retired list. His active service in the Navy is here outlined : Attached to sloop Marion, East Indian Squadron, 1849-1852; receiving ship, Ohio, Boston, 1852-1853; Fulton, Fishing Banks Squadron, 1853; Hetzel, Coast Survey, 1854; Dolphin, Coast of Africa, 1855-1857; rendezvous, Philadelphia, 1858; steamer Caledonia, Paraguay Expedition, 1859; flagship Congress, Brazil Squadron, 1859-1861; frigate Congress, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 1861-1862; in the Congress when attacked by the Confederate ram Merrimac, at Newport News, and injured by a shell ; Recorder of Medical Examining Board, Philadelphia, 1862; receiving ship and special recruiting duty, New York, 1862-1864; frigate New Ironsides, North Atlantic Squadron, 1864-1865; at both battles of Fort Fisher, and at Bermuda Hundred ; steam sloop Canandaigua, European Squadron, 1866-1868; during which he made the Russian cruise, under Admiral Farragut ; member of Naval Retiring Board, Philadelphia, 1868; Surgeon of the Naval Academy, Annapolis, 1869-1871; Fleet Surgeon, European Station, 1871-1873; Navy Yard, Philadelphia, 1873; Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, 1874-1879; President of the Naval Examining Board, Philadelphia, 1880-1881; President of Board of Examiners, March, 1881-1883; Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, 1883-1886; special duty at Philadelphia, 1886-1888. Dr. Shippen was a man of keen intelligence ; marked literary taste and cultured mind. Throughout his life he was a diligent reader, and kept in touch with the best thought of the world. After his retirement from active duty in the Navy, he could be seen almost daily, when health permitted, wending his way to the Philadelphia Library, returning books, and taking back home a handful of unread ones. He was not only a lover of literature, but a maker as well, as is evidenced by the following authorships : Thirty Years at Sea ; A Christmas at Sea ; Naval Battles of America, 1905; Naval Battles of the World, Memoir of Edward Shippen, M. D., U. S. N. 5 1905; and, in addition thereto, he was a contributor to magazines. He was a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion ; Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars in Pennsylvania ; Vice-President of the University Club, Philadelphia; member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and of other organizations, and President of this, The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, which latter position he filled from almost the day the Society was founded to the day of his death. He was deeply interested in the objects for which our Society was organized ; and was most helpful in furthering its welfare, so much so, that his death is a matter to be long mourned by its membership. Dr. Shippen possessed an attractive personality, and his ready wit, his genial and social disposition, and the kindly courtesy which marked his intercourse with men, made him beloved by those who came in close contact with him. All recognized in him the qualities which make up "a gentleman of the old school." He married, 13 January, 1853, Mary Catharine Paul, daughter of the late Dr. John Rodman Paul, an eminent physician of Philadelphia. She pre-deceased her husband. He is survived by three daughters, Anna, wife of George Willing ; Katharine Paul, widow of Dr. Frederick A. Packard, and Margaret, wife of Edwards S. Dunn, and a grandson, Edward Shippen Barnes, son of a deceased daughter, Flizfthpth Paul Barnes.