The following article is the property of The Iowa Almanac and was posted with permission from the author, Professor Jeff Stein.
In the late 1800s, medical science was not nearly as advanced as today. What is considered a routine procedure today hadn't even been invented then.
Dr. William West Grant had a distinguished medical career. He was a U.S. Army Medical Corps major during World War I, served as Colorado's Surgeon General, and was elected president of seven different medical societies.
But perhaps his greatest claim to fame came before that, on January 4th, 1885.
Mary Gartside of Davenport was a 22-year-old school teacher. She had a sharp pain in her gut, and was near death. Dr. Grant's diagnosis was that Mary was suffering from acute appendicitis, which was almost always deadly since there was no known treatment.
Dr. Grant knew he had to try something, so he administered anesthesia and cut into Mary's side. He found the infected appendix and removed it. Mary made a full recovery.
It was the first successful appendectomy in medical history.
Some have quibbled about the exact nature of the procedure. Did Dr. Grant remove the organ, or merely tie it off from the rest of the body and prevent further harm?
That's for others to decide. All Mary Gartside's family knew is that the young woman was saved from a formerly fatal illness, thanks to Dr. William Grant performing the first appendectomy, in Davenport, on this date in 1885.
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