John Allan Wyeth

Statue of John Wyeth on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. John Allan Wyeth (May 26, 1845 – May 22, 1922) was an American Confederate veteran and surgeon. Born and raised on a Southern plantation in Alabama, he served in the Confederate States Army and completed his medical studies in New York City and Europe. He became a surgeon in New York City, where he founded the New York Polyclinic Graduate Medical School and Hospital, a medical school. He served as the president of the American Medical Association in 1902. He was the author of a biography of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was a proponent of the annexation of Mexico by the United States.

Early life John Allan Wyeth was born on May 26, 1845, in Guntersville, Alabama. His father, Louis Wyeth, was a lawyer who founded the city of Guntersville in 1848 and later served in the Alabama state legislature.

Wyeth attended La Grange Military Academy, a defunct military academy in Colbert County, Alabama, from the age of 15 to 17. He participated in Morgan's Raid under Brigadier-General John Hunt Morgan, from 1862 to 1863. Additionally, Wyeth wrote an article published in the Confederate Veteran.

In a 1915 article published in the North American Review, Wyeth suggested Mexico was "a disgrace to civilization," partly due to widespread addiction to pulque and to a "disregard" for the institution of marriage.

Personal life Wyeth married Florence Nightingale Sims, the daughter of surgeon J. Marion Sims, on August 10, 1886. After his first wife died, Wyeth married Marguerite Chalifoux.

Death and legacy Wyeth died of a heart attack on May 22, 1922. He was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Wyeth was inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame in 1954. His statue was added to the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. Meanwhile, the New York Polyclinic Graduate Medical School and Hospital closed down in 1975.