JOHN VAN SURLY
DEGRASSE (1825-1868)
Doctor
Dr. John Van Surly DeGrasse was a prominent member
of the African American community in Boston. In 1854,
Dr. DeGrasse became the first African American member
of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He practiced
medicine in Boston from 1854 until his 1863 appointment
in the Union Army. As the first African American surgeon
in the Union Army, Dr. DeGrasse served first with
the celebrated Massachusetts 54th Regiment and then
with the 35th Colored Troops of the Southern Command.
DeGrasse returned to Boston in November 1864 and resumed
his medical practice until his death from tuberculosis
in 1868.
Born in New York city, Dr. DeGrasse was the son of
George DeGrasse and Marie Van Surly DeGrasse. His
paternal grandfather, Count Francois Joseph Paul DeGrasse, commanded a fleet of French ships in the Caribbean
during the American Revolution. Dr. DeGrasse was educated
at public and private schools in New York until he
entered Oneida Institute in 1840. His pursuit of education
then took him to Clinton Seminary, to France to study
medicine, to New York to study with a noted physician,
and to Bowdoin College where he received his medical
degree in 1849. He then went to Europe for study and
travel before coming to Boston in 1852 to marry Cordelia
Howard and to establish his medical practice.
DeGrasse's success as a clinician enabled him
to invest in real estate and in the arts. In 1865,
his real estate holdings were valued at $6,000. He
commissioned and purchased several paintings from
Edward M. Bannister, including The Ship Outward Bound
which hung in DeGrasse's study. As a highly
respected and successful physician, DeGrasse played
a leading role in the quest for equal rights in the
city and in the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge of which
he served as Grand Master in 1862.
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