A BRIEF
ACCOUNT OF DR. JOHN MIDDLETON
LUCKETT( 1782-1804)
Morris Weiss, MD
Dr. John Middleton Luckett was a late century, newly minted 22-year-old physician born in Maryland who died in a fatal duel in Kentucky.
Few details of his life are known. Carolyn Brooks, Ph. D., found his will, listing his medical liability and other worldly professions. Dr. Brooks kindly provided me a copy of this document which I present to our membership.
The book list provides a window in the literary and medical reading of this late 18 th century physician.
I am assuming he apprenticed with a physician and did not attend one of America’ s four medical schools at this time( University of Pennsylvania 1765, Kings College, New York 1767, Harvard University 1782, Dartmouth College of Medical School 1798).
Seventeenth century physicians affected the understanding, the diagnosis and treatment of illness. These advances ran parallel to the genius of Shakespeare, Milton, Rembrandt, Bach and Newton. The greatest name in 17 th century medicine belongs to William Harvey( as a cardiologist, I am a bit prejudiced) but Willis, Sydenham, Descartes are names we still acknowledge 300 years later.
Eighteenth century medicine in America relied on European knowledge. There was no American medical literature to speak of until after the American Revolution. This was a century of sobriety leading up to the Great French and American Revolutions.
Kant, Rousseau, Hume and Voltaire, the intellectual giants of this period, did not contribute to clinical medicine. Linnaeus was a physician but his fame was the classification of plants and animals. Hunter in surgery and Jenner in vaccination were the two important medical figures.
The flowering of European medicines, especially Germany, in the 19 th century was just beginning to blossom when John Luckett died in a duel. Perhaps in the future, I will be able to fill in more details of his brief life.
WPA files: Information from diary of Gen. Jonathan Clark, Photostat copy at the Filson Historical Society, donated by R. C. Ballard Thruston.
Dr. Luckett was killed in a duel on December 14, 1804. The will of John M. Luckett was proven January 7, 1805.
• To his brother, William M. – horse and saddle
• Estate – Both real and personal to be sold to pay debts
• To his sister, Eliza N. Luckett – his watch, Mrs. Philip Samuel N, William M. and Craven and sister Polly( not sure what this all means.)
• Executors: Bros. Samuel N. and Wm. W. Luckett
• Witnesses: Charles Anderson
Ancestry. com indicates John Middleton Luckett, MD, born 1782 in Frederick Co., died December 14, 1804 in Louisville, KY. Killed in a duel with George Strather near Louisville at age 22.
Parents: John Luckett,( 1751-1793) and Molly Ann Nolan( 1755-?)
Siblings: Phillip Hussey( 1775-?); Samuel Nolan; William M.(?-1814)
What follows is the library and property inventory of Dr. John M. Luckett upon his death:
DECEMBER 2016 11