Thomas Cadwalader

Thomas Cadwalader ( – November 14, 1779) was an American physician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Early life Cadwalader was born in Philadelphia in . He was the only son of four children born of Martha ( Jones) Cadwalader (1679–1747) and John Cadwalader (1677–1734), who was born in Bala, Wales before coming to the Province of Pennsylvania in British America in 1697, seeking a place to practice his Quaker faith.

Career After studying medicine with his uncle Dr. Evan Jones, he traveled to London, where he was an understudy of English surgeon William Cheselden. In France, he likely attended lectures at Rheims University.

In 1739, he moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where he served as commissioner of the pleas and peace from 1739 to 1744 and as chief burgess of Trenton from 1746 to 1750. In 1745, his medical essay on "dry-gripes," a condition similar to colic, was published. Before he moved back to Philadelphia, he donated five hundred pounds to Trenton to erect a public library.

After returning to Philadelphia in 1750, he was elected in 1751 to the city's Common Council. He served on Pennsylvania's Provincial Council from 1755 until the Revolution. He was a founder in 1751, and one of the first doctors, at the Pennsylvania Hospital, where he worked until his death. John Cadwalader (1742–1786), who married Elizabeth Lloyd, the daughter of Edward Lloyd and sister of Edward Lloyd IV, in 1768. After her death, he married Williamina Bond, a daughter of Dr. Phineas Bond, and niece of Thomas Bond, in 1779. Lambert Cadwalader (1742–1823), who married Mary McCall, the daughter of Archibald and Judith (née Kemble) McCall. Mary Cadwalader (1744–1791), who married her cousin Sen. Philemon Dickinson, a younger brother of Founding Father John Dickinson. Rebecca Cadwalader (1746–1821), who married Sen. Philemon Dickinson, after the death of her sister Mary. Margaret Cadwalader (1748–1820), who married Gen. Samuel Meredith in 1772; he later became the 2nd Treasurer of the United States.

Legacy Cadwalader Park, in Trenton, New Jersey, was named in his family's honor. The park has an area of nearly , and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and built starting in 1887.