Thomas Cadwalader

Thomas Cadwalader (1708–1779) was an American physician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After studying medicine with his uncle Dr. Evan Jones, he traveled to London to study medicine. He lived for a while near Trenton, New Jersey, where he became the chief burgess in 1746. After returning to Philadelphia, he was elected in 1751 to the city's Common Council. He served on Pennsylvania's Provincial Council from 1755 until the Revolution. He was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Hospital in 1751. Dr. Cadwalader was one of the first to inoculate patients against smallpox. He was a founder and director of the Library Company of Philadelphia and a member of the American Philosophical Society.

His sons, John and Lambert were active in the American Revolutionary War.

The city of Trenton decided to name a park after him. Trenton's "central park" was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and named Cadwalader park. "Though perhaps best known for his design of Central Park in New York, Olmsted applied same approach to" the nearly 100 acres (0.40 km²) resulting in what is now Cadwalader Park.

Family tree

Further reading

• Sandra L. Cadwalader (1996). The Cadwaladers, 1677-1879: five generations of a Philadelphia family. 

External links

• Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania
• The Cadwalader Family Papers, documenting the Cadwalader family through four generations in America, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.