Dr. Reuben Saunders
Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Dr. Reuben Saunders. On this site stood the office of Reuben Saunders, M.D., credited with discovering that hypodermic use of morphine-atropine halted cholera during epidemic here in 1873. Telegraphed prescription to other plague-stricken areas. Accepted by Materia Medica, world over. Honored by American Medical Association and in Europe. See other side. Marker presented by the McCracken County Medical Society. (Reverse) Dr. Reuben Saunders - Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, September 6, 1808. Outstanding pioneer physician in Western Kentucky for fifty years. Discovered treatment for cholera. First to advocate fresh air for pneumonia and tuberculosis. First President, West Ky. Medical Association. Grandfather of Irvin S. Cobb. Died in Paducah, Dec. 13, 1891. See other side. Marker presented by McCracken County Medical Society.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
On this site stood the office of Dr. Reuben Saunders, credited with discovering that hypodermic doses of morphine and atropine could halt cholera during the deadly 1873 epidemic. He telegraphed his prescription to other stricken regions, and his method won recognition from the American Medical Association and physicians across Europe. A pioneering physician for fifty years in western Kentucky, he was also grandfather of writer Irvin S. Cobb.
Why it matters
Saunders's work reflects the improvisational, life-and-death medicine of nineteenth-century epidemics, when a single practitioner's discovery could ripple by telegraph across a frightened nation.
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Related people
- · Reuben Saunders
- · Irvin S. Cobb
Themes & tags
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