BIOGRAPHIES FROM:
HISTORY OF
HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND
FROM 1608
(The YEAR of SMITH's EXPEDITION)
TO THE CLOSE OF THE WAR OF 1812
BY
WALTER W. PRESTON, A. M.
BEL AIR, MARYLAND
1901
Press of Sun Book Office
Baltimore, Md.
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DR.
JOHN ARCHER, M. B., son of Thomas Archer,
was born near Churchville, in Harford County (then Baltimore
county), May 5, 1741. His grandfather, John Archer,
came to America from the vicinity of Londonderry, Ireland,
in the early part of the eighteenth century. The
family is said to have descended from John de Archer,
who came to England with William the Conquerer
in 1066, as it is said all the Archers in Great
Britain were descended from him. Dr. John Archer
was the sole survivor of five children, all the others
having died of a malignant fever in infancy, he narrowly
escaping death at the same time. He is the ancestor of
all the Archers of that family now residing in
Harford county. He attended school at Nottingham
Academy, in Cecil county, where he was a classmate of Dr.
Benjamin Rush. In 1760 he graduated at Princeton
with the degree of A. B., and in 1763 received from the same
college the degree of A. M.
He studied theology, but on account of a throat
affection which impaired his speech, and for other reasons,
he was not well qualified for the ministry, and he turned
his attention to the study of medicine. He knew him.
He attended lectures at the College of Philadelphia, the
forerunner of the present University of Pennsylvania.
On Oct. 18, 1766, he married Catherine, daughter of
Thomas Harris, who lived nearby. In the recess
of the college Dr. Archer practiced medicine in New
Castle county, Del. On June 21, 1768, he graduated as
a physician, and as his name came first on the list of the
first graduating class, Dr. Archer received the first
medical degree ever conferred in America.
In July, 1769, he commenced the practice of his
profession in Harford county. He grew rapidly in
professional reputation and in the esteem of his neighbors.
He took a prominent part in public affairs at the time of
the Revolution, organizing on Sept. 16, 1775, a military
company at Churchville, and his name is subscribed to the
famous Bush declaration. On Nov. 27, 1776, he was
chosen an elector for the Senate of Maryland and a member of
a committee of observation for Harford county. He was
also a delegate to the first constitutional convention of
the State, which met at Annapolis in 1776, and which was
presided over by Matthew Tilghman. His Harford
colleagues in that convention were Jacob Bond, Henry
WIlson, Jr., and John Love. This convention
also drew up and adopted the bill of rights. In
1776 Dr. John Archer and Gabriel Duval were
chosen as presidential electors for the State of
Maryland. In 1800 he was elected to Congress by the
party of Jefferson, and was re-elected in 1802. His
sill as a physician was frequently called into service
during his term in Washington as a member of Congress.
He died suddenly Sept. 28, 1810, honored and respected by
all who knew him. He was author of many articles on
medicine and surgery, and was an eminent authority in his
Source:
History of Harford Co., Maryland - by Walter W. Preston, A. M. Bel
Air, Maryland - 1901 - Page 200 |
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