Mitchill, Samuel (Latham) (1764-1831)

US representative, senator, and physician. The editor of the Medical Repository (1797-1820), he also wrote many books including the Explanation of the Synopsis of Chemical Nomenclature and Arrangement (1801), and made contributions to the study of sanitary and industrial chemistry.

Born in North Hempstead, New York, he earned his MD in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1786, then returned to New York to study law. In 1792 he was named to a chair at Columbia University, first in natural history, chemistry, and agriculture, then in botany. He was elected to the US House of Representatives (Republican, New York; 1801-04), leaving midterm for the US Senate (1804-09), then returning to the House (1809-13). He taught at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York (1807-26) and in 1826 helped found Rutgers Medical College.