John Gould Stephenson

John Gould Stephenson ( born March 1, 1828 in Lancaster, New Hampshire, † November 12, 1882 in Washington, DC) was an American physician and the fifth head of the Library of Congress. He was in office from 1861 to 1864.

Life

After training at the New Hampshire Medical Institution and the Medical College of Castleton he lived in Terre Haute (Indiana). 1861 appointed him President Abraham Lincoln, the Office of the Head of the Library of Congress as the successor of John Silva Meehan. There is no historical evidence about why a physician was appointed to this office.

While almost his entire tenure Stephenson fought in the Civil War. He served as a colonel in the Union army, first in the 19th Indiana Regiment and later in the Potomac Army. He participated in the battles of Fitzhugh Crossing, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.

His greatest achievement was the appointment of Ainsworth Rand Spofford as Deputy Head. Spofford later took over the post of head of the Library of Congress by him and was instrumental in the transformation of the library of an auxiliary device of Congress into a national institution. After retiring from office in 1864, Stephenson became involved in various public offices.

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