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Brigadier General William Holland Wilmer MD, LLD, LdH


Hereditary Member, admitted 1900

Brigadier General William Holland Wilmer, MD, LLD, LdH
14th President of the New Jersey Society 1925-1935

14th President of the New Jersey Society of the Cincinnati
In office
1925 — 1935
Preceded by James Wall Schureman Campbell
Succeeded by Henry Dusenbery Maxwell

Great grandson of propositus Richard Cox. President of the Society of the Cincinnati in New Jersey 1925-1935. Born in Powhatan County, VA on 26 Aug 1863 and died in Washington, DC on 12 Mar 1936. Commissioned Lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps, USA, 26 Apr 1911; promoted to Major, 1917. Twenty days after the United States declared war on Germany he enlisted in the Army Medical Corps, with the Commission of Lieutenant. Lieutenant Colonel in the Medical Corps, National Army, 22 Mar 1918 and promoted to Colonel/USA, 12 Jun 1918. Until Aug 1918, was the officer in charge of the Medical Research Laboratory for the Air Service at Mineola, Long Island, NY until Aug 1918. Went to France, and remained there till May 1919 as Surgeon in Charge of the Allied Expeditionary Force Medical Research Laboratories with rank of Colonel in World War I. Honorable discharge, 15 May 1919. Awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Cross and the French Legion of Honor. Served as Brigadier General in the US Army Medical Corps. Presidential Physician to Theodore Roosevelt during his presidency. Had thousands of patients from Crowned Heads to humble workingmen. Performed several eye operations on King Prjadhipok of Siam. Physician to Presidents Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, Taft, Harding, and Coolidge. Physician to Charles Lindbergh. University of Virginia MD Degree 1885. Studied at New York Polyclinic Hospital. Received Honorary LLD Degrees from Princeton, Johns Hopkins University, New York University 1929, and Georgetown University 1919. ScD Degree from Princeton, 1926. Doctor of Ophthalmology in Washington, DC 1891-1925. Surgeon at the Episcopal Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital at Washington, DC 1895-1925. President of the American Ophthalmological Society in 1923. Professor of Ophthalmology at Georgetown University 1906-1925. Established the Wilmer Institute of Ophthalmology in Baltimore, MD at Johns Hopkins University in 1925 and served as Founding Director 1925-1934. A Founder of the American College of Surgeons. On his advice the government established the School of Aviation Medicine of the Army Air Corps. Author of Atlas Fundus Oculi. Trustee of the National Cathedral Foundation. Member: Army and Navy Air Service Association; President of the Military Surgeons of the United States; Society of American Wars; American Legion; and Military Order of the World War. Member of the Pilgrims; Alpha Omega Alpha; Delta Psi; and Phi Beta Kappa. Awarded the Decoration of Angelo Secchi. Married Re Lewis Smith in 1891. [Sources: PFAH; ; (C); Obit. “New York Times” newspaper 13 Mar 1936; Obit. PFAH; Pilgrom Society Membership List. Pics: “The Flag of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey, Rare Etchings”, by James Campbell, 1926; PFAH; Vertical Files at Anderson House.]

Mr. Wilmer was the great grandson of Richard Cox.

Succession

Propositus

Richard Cox
Original Member
( — )

Predecessors

William Russell Allen
Great grandson
(1828 — 1872)
Admitted 1862
The Reverend George Thornton Wilmer Professor, DD
Grandson
(1819 — 1899)
Admitted 1887
Brigadier General William Holland Wilmer MD, LLD, LdH
Great grandson
(1863 — 1936)
Admitted 1900

Successors

Colonel Richard Hooker Wilmer Esq., Ld'H
Great-great-grandson
(1892 — 1976)
Admitted 1936
Private
Admitted 1976
Private
Admitted 1983
Private
Admitted 2009