Jacob Edwin Michael

James Edwin Michael

Historical sketch of Michael at the University of Maryland
Personal information
Born:	(1848-05-13)May 13, 1848 Michaelsville, Harford County, Maryland, U.S.
Died:	December 7, 1895(1895-12-07) (aged 47) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career history
College	Princeton
High school	Newark Academy

James Edwin Michael (May 13, 1848 – December 7, 1895), known as "Big Mike", was an American college football player for the Princeton football team, who was the best player in the first college football game.

Early life and education

He was born on May 13, 1848 in Michaelsville in Harford County, Maryland to Jacob J. Michael, a large landowner in Harford County. He was raised on his father's farm near the Chesapeake Bay.

He was educated at St. Timothy's Hall in Catonsville, Maryland and then at the Newark Academy, a Presbyterian secondary school in Newark, Delaware, which later became the University of Delaware.

Princeton

In 1869, he played for the Princeton Tigers in the first ever college football game against Rutgers College (later Rutgers University). He was regarded as the best player in the game. He was roommates with the team Captain, William Stryker Gummere.

His athletic prowess and strength were touted by many. Mark F. Bernstein wrote in, "Football: The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession," that "Big Mike and a Rutgers player made for the ball at the same time and crashed through the fence, toppling spectators," and historian, Parke Davis wrote that Michael "bowled over Rutgers men like so many ten pins and in every action his burly form loomed supreme."

In 1871, Michael won the Thomson Prize for heavyweight gymnastics. He was in the Sigma Chi Fraternity at Princeton.

Upon his graduation from Princeton, he was considered by many to be the best athlete ever to have attended the college.

Education after Princeton

He received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1871, and his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1873. He further studied for a year abroad at Wurzburg and Vienna in Austria in 1873 and 1874.

Medical career

From 1874 to 1880, he served as a Demonstrator of Anatomy, and then a Professor of Anatomy until 1890, and then a Professor of Obstetrics until 1895, at the University of Maryland. He became Chairman of Anatomy and Clinical Surgery and then Chairman of Obstetrics at the University of Maryland.

He was editor of the Maryland Medical Journal, the President of the Clinical Society, and the Baltimore Medical Society. In 1885, he became the Vice President of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty and in 1888-1889, he became its President, holding that position at the time of his death. In 1896, Michael became the President of the Alumni Association of the University of Maryland and a lecturer on Early Aid, and the President of the Princeton Alumni Association of Maryland ("PAAMD"). He was also a member of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Society, the American Surgical Association, and the American Medical Association.

Family

In December 1875, he was married to Susie Mitchell, and they had six children together.

Death

Michael died on December 7, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. His remains were buried in the family burial plot near Perryman, Maryland. A medical journal’s eulogy spoke of his “magnificent physique” as well as his great intellect.

Publications

• The American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Obstetric Antisepsis. , J. Edwin Michael. 1895.

External links

• American Journal of Obstetrics: In Memoriam