Jesse Bennett

Jesse Bennett (July 10, 1769 – July 13, 1842) was the first American medical doctor to perform a successful Caesarean section, which he performed on his own wife at the birth of their only child on January 14, 1794.

Biography

Early life Bennett was born in Frankford, Philadelphia, on July 13, 1769. He earned a B.A. Degree at Philadelphia College before apprenticing with Benjamin Rush and attending medical school. In April 1791, he received the title Doctor of Medicine, at the same time he received his M. A. degree. Bennett married Elizabeth Hogg in 1793 and settled in Rockingham County, Virginia, establishing his practice in a log cabin. When Elizabeth became pregnant, Bennett engaged a Dr. Humphrey of Staunton, Virginia, to attend Elizabeth at the delivery. Elizabeth Bennett lived for thirty-six more years, dying on April 20, 1830. Maria Bennett lived until 1870, married twice, and bore six children. and one erected by West Virginia, in 1973, near the site of his original burial. He was initially interred in the Bennett-Knopp Cemetery in Point Pleasant, West Virginia; his remains, along with those of his wife and a friend, were moved, with their original marker, to that town's Pioneer Cemetery in 1985.