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Creator
Frothingham, William Walter, 1830-1885
Call number
MssCol 1092
Physical description
.25 linear feet (1 box)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

William Frothingham papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
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Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

William Walter Frothingham (1830-1885) was a surgeon serving with the 44th Regiment of the New York Volunteers during the U.S. Civil War. He practiced medicine in the Washington Heights section of New York City before and after the war. Collection consists of family correspondence during Frothingham's Civil War service with George B. McClellan's and John Pope's armies in Virginia during the Peninsular Campaign and at the second Battle of Bull Run, describing battles, hardships of camp life, and medical aid on the battlefields and in hospitals; commissions, sick reports, and other military papers; and miscellaneous notes relating to the Frothingham family. Also, a 1935 typewritten volume entitled "Genealogy of the Frothingham Family and Its Connections" by John P. Frothingham.

Biographical/historical information

William Walter Frothingham was born on 12 May 1830, the sixth child (of ten) of John Frost Frothingham and Jane Ann Dodge, in Johnstown, New York. After working at several jobs, including as a pharmacist, he began the study of medicine with a local physician in April 1850. In October of the following year, he came to New York City to study surgery. Completing his studies in 1854, he joined the staff of Bellevue Hospital, taking a brief leave to study in Europe (April 1856-February 1857). In September 1858, he married Margaret Hunter Phinney, and went into private practice, first in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and later (at his wife's urging) in New York City.

The period of Frothingham's life that is best reported in the papers begins in October 1861, when Frothingham was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon in the 44th New York Volunteer Regiment. Serving with the Army of the Potomac during McClellan's Peninsular Campaign, Frothingham saw considerable active service, and was present at the Battle of Malvern Hill (1 July 1862), where he was mentioned in dispatches. He later served under General John Pope at Second Bull Run (28-29 August 1862). Frothingham left the army in mid to late 1862 under circumstances that remain obscure, but were certainly contentious. After the war, he returned to private practice in the Washington Heights section of New York City, where he remained until his death on 19 November 1885. His death was the result of an accident involving his old Army pistol.

The Frothingham Papers also contain several items concerning William's brother Edward, the youngest of the Frothingham children. Edward also studied medicine, and served in the Civil War as a surgeon, but no further details of his Civil War career are recorded. At the end of the war, Edward transferred to the Navy, and served as assistant surgeon on the USS Oneida in the Pacific. He drowned on 24 January 1870, when the Oneida was rammed and sunk by a British steamer off Yokohama.

Much of the interest of the papers stems from the Frothingham family's connection with the Dodge, Frost, and Irving families (Washington Irving was William's and Edward's great-uncle). A great deal of other biographical material is contained in a detailed genealogical note by a nephew, John Pierre Frothingham, which is included in the collection.

Scope and arrangement

The William Frothingham Papers contain materials on two related but distinct topics: the military/medical career of William Frothingham, and the genealogy of the entire Frothingham family. The Frothingham papers are particularly informative on the medical organization of the Union Army during the early part of the Civil War since they document in considerable detail the responsibilities and actions of an Army surgeon at a time of unprecedented expansion in the US military. John Pierre Frothingham's notes and research demonstrate the social milieu and status of American literary figures in the nineteenth century; for example, Washington Irving was instrumental in having an elder Frothingham brother accepted for admission to West Point.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Sheldon Potter III (grandson), 1946, 1947

Processing information

Stephen Greenberg, February 1990

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328