ARCE: Albany Rural Cemetery Explorer

Dr. Alden March (1795 – 1869) [Section 52, Lot 1]

co-founder of Albany Medical College, 19th century surgeon, innovative professor of anatomy

Alden March was born in Sutton, Massachusetts on September 20, 1795. He was one of thirteen children to Jacob March and Eleanor Moore. He attend school locally and worked on his family’s farm until the age of 19 when his father passed away.

He eventually found his way to upstate New York and in 1817 he began to teach at a writing school in Hoosick, NY; during the summer he worked at a quarry nearby. One of his older brothers, an army surgeon, suggested he study medicine. March took his advice moving back to Massachusetts to study medicine, as well as Latin, and Greek under his brother. In 1818 he started to attend medical lectures on the topics of anatomy and surgery in Boston and enrolled into Boston University, graduating in 1820.

While visiting a brother in Cambridge, NY he performed his first surgery on a patient with hare-lip, today it is known as cleft lip or cleft palate, a congenital disability when an infant’s lip or mouth do not perform properly. His surgeries were known to be clever, successful, and quick. In 1821, he procured bodies in Boston and had them shipped to Albany for public dissection in front of a class of fourteen. As this was before the invention of the railroads, they came by horse or by boat. Though it is not known how many surgeries he was able to do given a lack of records, the one that are on file mention over 7120 procedures during his lifetime. It is believed that March gave the first class on anatomy in New York State.

In 1834 March established a Practical School for Anatomy and Surgery, the Albany Medical School; however, a fire destroyed the buildings as well as his work and research. This disaster led him to co-found Albany Medical College with Dr. James H. Armsby, brother of his wife. March was appointed a professor of surgery and remain one until his death. Though Albany Medical College was not the first location to have surgical clinics, it is believed that it is the first location to introduce communication methods and streamline them to the medical community.

Throughout his life he garnered a number of medical appointments: Professor of Anatomy, Vermont Academy of Medicine (1825); Professor of Anatomy, Albany Medical Seminar (1827); Professor of Anatomy and Operative Surgery, Albany Medical School (1833); Professor of Surgery, Albany Medical College (1834); President, Albany County Medical Society (1832 and 1833); President, New York State Medical Society (1857); and President of American Medical Association (1864). March also served as a founder of the American Medical Association. Additionally, he was an honorary member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, Connecticut State Medical Society, and Rhode Island State Medical Society.

He married Joanna Perry Armsby on February 22, 1824, and the couple had four children, two boys, and two girls. He died visiting his one of his daughters on June 17, 1869.

Throughout his life, March went on to write about a number of topics, including improved medical equipment for hare-lip. He invented instruments which helped for the removal of dead bone and employ better methods for removing urinary calculi. Another area of focus for him was morbus-cozarius, or hip disease. This is a disease of the hip-joint, which is common to children with scrofula, a Tuberculous like bacteria. March would further his research later in life by going abroad to help perfect his study and treatment of the disease.

His legacy lives on today at the college he helped to create: