Samuel Bard was a man of great prestige who helped further medical education in the United States. A well known physician in his own right, he helped to found the second medical school in America. Interested in many areas of science, he wrote and taught a variety of subjects, contributing to the educations of most of the great physicians that would come after him.

Samuel Bard was born on April 1st, 1742 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was a prominent physician and a good friend of Benjamin Franklin. When Samuel was four, his family moved to New York City where his father set up another successful medical practice.

Little of Bard's life is known until he was fourteen. At that time he enrolled in King's College (later to be renamed Columbia University) to further his education. He was a student of the classics under the guidance of a professor...