Anderson Ruffin Abbott,
M.D.Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(7 April 1837 – 29 December 1913) was the first
Black Canadian'Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin...
to be a licensed
physicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
. His career included participation in the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and attending the death bed of
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
.
Early life
Abbott was born in
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
as the son of
Wilson Ruffin AbbottWilson Ruffin Abbott was an American-born Black Canadian and successful businessman and landowner in Toronto, Ontario.Having to flee the United States in 1834, he became a wealthy man in Toronto and one of the largest landowners in the ward...
and Ellen (Toyer) Abbott. The Abbotts were a prominent
blackThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
family in Toronto who had left
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
as “free people of color” after their store had been ransacked. After living a short time in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, they relocated to Canada in 1835 or 1836. Wilson Abbott soon began to purchase
real estateIn general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
in and around Toronto. He owned 48 properties by 1871 and also became active in politics.He was also the first black Canadian who served the American civil war.
The family's prosperity allowed Anderson Ruffin Abbott to receive an excellent education. He attended both private and public schools including
William KingWilliam King may refer to:*Bill King, , American radio announcer*Billy King , Irish cricketer*Willie King , blues guitarist and singer...
’s school in the black settlement of Buxton, near Chatham. He was an honour student at the Toronto Academy and later attended at
Oberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
in
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. After returning to Canada he graduated from the
Toronto School of MedicineThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 1857. He matriculated in medicine that year at the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and then studied for four years under
Alexander Thomas AugustaAlexander Thomas Augusta was a surgeon, professor of medicine, and veteran of the American Civil War. Augusta was born to free African American parents in Norfolk, Virginia. At that time he began to learn to read while working as a barber although it was illegal to do so in Virginia at that time....
, a fellow black physician. Abbott received a licence to practise from the
Medical Board of Upper CanadaThe Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
in 1861, thus becoming the first Canadian-born black doctor.
Civil War
Abbott applied for a commission as an assistant
surgeonIn medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
in the
Union ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
in February 1863 but his offer was evidently not accepted. That April, he applied to be a “medical cadet” in the
United States Colored TroopsThe United States Colored Troops were regiments of the United States Army during the American Civil War that were composed of African American soldiers. First recruited in 1863, by the end of the Civil War, the men of the 175 regiments of the USCT constituted approximately one-tenth of the Union...
but was finally accepted as a civilian surgeon under contract. He served in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
from June 1863 to August 1865, first at the
Contraband HospitalGrand Contraband Camp was located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula near Fort Monroe during and immediately after the American Civil War. The area was a refuge for escaped slaves who the Union forces refused to return to their former Confederate masters, by defining them as...
and then at the
Freedman's HospitalForerunner of the Howard University Hospital, Freedmen's Hospital served the black community in the District of Columbia for more than a century. First established in 1862 on the grounds of the Camp Barker, 13th and R Streets, NW, Freedmen's Hospital and Asylum cared for freed, disabled, and aged...
. He then went to a hospital in Arlington, Virginia. Receiving numerous commendations and becoming popular in Washington society, Abbott was one of only eight black surgeons to serve in the Civil War, a fact that fostered a friendly relationship between him and the president. Abbott was among the group who stood vigil in
Petersen HouseThe Petersen House is a 19th-century federal style rowhouse located at 516 10th Street NW in Washington, D.C. On April 15, 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln died there after being shot the previous evening at Ford's Theater, which was located across the street. The house was built in...
over the
mortally-wounded LincolnThe assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
in April 1865, and Abbott kept "minutes" recording Lincoln's condition through the night before his death on April 15.
Mary Todd LincolnMary Ann Lincoln was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.-Life before the White House:...
later presented Abbott with the plaid shawl that Lincoln had worn to his 1861
inaugurationAn inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
.
Post-war career
In 1866, Abbott resigned from service to the Union Army and returned to Canada. He attended primary medical classes at the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
the following year. While he did not graduate, he established a medical practice and was admitted to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 1871. In an Anglican wedding ceremony in Toronto on 9 August 1871, he married Mary Ann Casey, the 18-year-old daughter of a successful black barber. Abbott and his wife moved to Chatham were he resumed his medical practice. They eventually had three daughters and two sons.
Like his father, Abbott soon became an important member of the black community in Toronto. From 1873 to 1880, he fought against racially segregated schools as president of the Wilberforce Educational Institute and was appointed
coronerA coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
for
Kent County, OntarioKent County, area 2,458 sq km is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. Population in 2006 was 108,589.The county was created in 1792 and named by John Graves Simcoe in honour of the English County. The county is in an alluvial plain between Lake St...
in 1874, the first Black man to hold that office. Abbott contributed to a local newspaper, the
Chatham Planet, and was associate editor of the
Messenger, the journal of the local
British Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe British Methodist Episcopal Church is a Protestant church in Canada that has its roots in the African Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States....
. Abbott was made president of both the Chatham Literary and Debating Society and the Chatham Medical Society in 1878. Abbott moved his medical practice to
Dundas, OntarioDundas is a formerly independent town and now constituent community in the city of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. It's nickname is the Valley Town. The population has been stable for decades at about twenty thousand, largely because it has not annexed rural land from the protected Dundas Valley...
in 1881. In 1883 he became a trustee of that community's high school and was chairman of the town’s internal management committee from 1885 to 1889. He also worked as an administrator for the Dundas Mechanics' Institute.
The family moved to Oakville, Ontario in 1889 but returned to Toronto the following year. He was elected a member of the local post of the
Grand Army of the RepublicThe Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...
and one of 273 Civil War veterans in Toronto to wear the badge of that fraternity. He was then known as "Captain Abbott", a
rankMilitary rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
which might reflect his office within the Grand Army of the Republic rather than his actual rank during the American Civil War. In November 1892, Abbott was appointed
aide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
“on the Staff of the Commanding Officers Dept.” of New York. A source of great pride for Abbott and his family, this was the highest military honour ever bestowed on a black person in Canada or the United States.
In 1894, Abbott was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Provident Hospital in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, the first training hospital for black nurses in the United States. He became the hospital's medical superintendent In 1896 but resigned the following year. Returning to Toronto, Abbott resumed his private practice and became more involved with writing for various publications including the
Colored American Magazine of
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the
Anglo-American Magazine of
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(for which he wrote “Some recollections of Lincoln’s assassination"), and
New York AgeThe New York Age was a black newspaper from 1887 to 1953, and was one of the most influential black newspapers of its time.The paper had it origins as the weekly New York Globe , an African-American newspaper, that was published weekly from at least 1880 to November 8, 1884...
. Medicine, Black history, the Civil War,
DarwinismDarwinism is a set of movements and concepts related to ideas of transmutation of species or of evolution, including some ideas with no connection to the work of Charles Darwin....
,
biologyBiology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, and
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
were among his topics.
Later life
At the
turn of the centuryFin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
he became embroiled in the debate between W. E. B. Du Bois and
Booker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
over
social changeSocial change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
. Siding with Du Bois, Abbott believed that Black access to higher education was essential and should not be compromised. Believing that blacks would be
culturally assimilatedCultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
, Abbott wrote "It is just as natural for two races living together on the same soil to blend as it is for the waters of two river tributaries to mingle." With Canada’s black population on the decline, he thought this was especially true in his own country and wrote "by the process of absorption and expatriation the color line will eventually fade out in Canada."
At the age of 76, Abbott died in 1913 at the Toronto home of his son-in-law Frederick Langdon Hubbard, son of his black municipal reformer and long-time friend
William Peyton HubbardWilliam Peyton Hubbard , City of Toronto Alderman from 1894 to 1914, was a popular and influential politician, of particular historical note as the city's first politician of African descent.-Early years:...
. He is buried in the
Toronto NecropolisNecropolis Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Toronto, located on the west side of the Don Valley near Riverdale Farm. Opened in 1850 to replace "Strangers' Burying Ground" , the cemetery is the resting place for many dead Torontonians including:* Joseph Bloor* William Lyon Mackenzie - Toronto's...
.