Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick, Revolutionary War patriot, eminent physician, attending physician to President George Washington. Dr. Dick is best known as a close personal friend and confidant of President Washington; he was one of three attending physicians with Washington the night he died. Diagnosing Washington's condition, he recommended a tracheotomy to restore breathing, but this still-experimental procedure was vetoed by his two older, more experienced colleagues who continued "bleeding" and other primitive remedies. Modern medical specialists unanimously agree that a tracheotomy would have relieved the immediate medical crisis and would have prolonged the President's life. One of the founders of freemasonry in Alexandria, Dr. Dick was in charge of Washington's Masonic funeral, and led the Masonic procession at the cornerstone laying for the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Of six large stained-glass window portraits at the George Washington National Masonic Temple in Alexandria, one is of Dr. Elisha Dick; two of the others are Benjamin Franklin and the Marquis de LaFayette. Dr. Dick is also credited with convincing British Admiral Cockburn not to destroy the town of Alexandria in 1814 during the War of 1812, having led a delegation of Quakers who rowed out to the Admiral's flagship.
Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick, Revolutionary War patriot, eminent physician, attending physician to President George Washington. Dr. Dick is best known as a close personal friend and confidant of President Washington; he was one of three attending physicians with Washington the night he died. Diagnosing Washington's condition, he recommended a tracheotomy to restore breathing, but this still-experimental procedure was vetoed by his two older, more experienced colleagues who continued "bleeding" and other primitive remedies. Modern medical specialists unanimously agree that a tracheotomy would have relieved the immediate medical crisis and would have prolonged the President's life. One of the founders of freemasonry in Alexandria, Dr. Dick was in charge of Washington's Masonic funeral, and led the Masonic procession at the cornerstone laying for the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Of six large stained-glass window portraits at the George Washington National Masonic Temple in Alexandria, one is of Dr. Elisha Dick; two of the others are Benjamin Franklin and the Marquis de LaFayette. Dr. Dick is also credited with convincing British Admiral Cockburn not to destroy the town of Alexandria in 1814 during the War of 1812, having led a delegation of Quakers who rowed out to the Admiral's flagship.
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