Author Seeks Information about Dr. Marion Sims and the Maury Family

Author J.C. Hallman is researching Dr. J. Marion Sims (the “Father of Gynecology”) and Sims’s first patient, a slave named Anarcha Westcott (the “Mother of Gynecology”), for an article for Harper’s Magazine and for a book.  Hallman has found evidence that Anarcha later belonged to William L. Maury, so he is looking for any and all resources about the lives of William Lewis Maury (b. 1813 in Virginia – d. 1878 in New York) and his wife Anne (“Nan”) Fontaine Maury (1832-1890).

In an additional clue, he has found that Dr. Richard Brooke Maury, Jr. (b. 1834 in D.C. – d. 1919 in Memphis, Tennessee) was a doctor including a gynecologist at the same time as Sims and served on medical boards with him.  Richard donated to the campaign to commission a statue of Sims when he died.

William and Richard were 2nd cousins, as their grandfathers Fontaine Maury (1761-1824) and the Reverend Walker Maury (1762-1788), respectively, were brothers.  These facts suggest ties between Sims and the Maury family.

If you have any knowledge of materials that might not be widely known (i.e., not the collections at the University of Virginia, William & Mary College, or the Virginia Historical Society), please contact Mr. Hallman at JCHallman@gmail.com.

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