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Correspondence, documents, printed material, and photographs documenting the life of Medwin Leale, especially his service in the Spanish-American War.
History and Biography
Physician. Medwin Leale was born in New York City on Aug. 26, 1873, to Charles A. and Rebecca Medwin Copcutt Leale. His father was the first physician to reach Abraham Lincoln after he was shot at Ford’s Theater; Leale remained with Lincoln until the president’s death the next morning.
Medwin Leale was educated at Columbia University (A.B., 1894, M.D., 1896) and served an internship at Roosevelt Hospital. He joined Squadron A of the New York National Guard in 1892 and eventually attained the rank of captain. During the Spanish-American War he served as surgeon to the New York Volunteer Cavalry, a unit that took part in the invasion of Puerto Rico. He was also physician to the headquarters of General Nelson A. Miles, the operation’s commander.
After the war Leale maintained a private practice while also serving a number of hospitals in New York City and Nassau County, N.Y. In January, 1900 he married Matilda Howard Marvin of a socially prominent Brooklyn family. They had two daughters. He died June 30, 1934 in New York City.
Organization
The papers consist of correspondence, documents, printed material, and photographs documenting the life of Medwin Leale. The bulk of the correspondence is letters to and from his wife, Matilda Howard Marvin Leale, and with other family members. There are no letters of his father, Dr. Charles A. Leale. Of particular interest are letters written to his family during the Spanish-American War. He writes of his unit’s training in northern Virginia, the voyage to Puerto Rico, and his work among the troops in Ponce, P.R. He usually notes the sanitary and medical conditions he had to cope with and provides incisive portraits of his fellow officers.
There are also letters relating to Leale’s service with the New York National Guard; his association with Roosevelt Hospital; and his membership in the Society of the Porto Rican Expedition, a group of those who had participated in the American invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898. In addition, the papers include a small number of letters to Matilda Howard Marvin Leale, largely from her sister, Florence Bianca Marvin.
Subject Headings and Related Records
Administrative Information
Purchase from Carmen D. Valentino American Historical Manuscripts, 2015 (accession #2015.014)