Dr. John Nelson Frissell was born in 1810 in Peru, Massachusetts. He graduated from Williams College and Berkshire Medical School before moving to Wheeling in 1836. In Wheeling, Dr. Frissell opened a medical practice and co-founded Wheeling Hospital in 1850, the oldest hospital in West Virginia. He served as chief surgeon at Wheeling Hospital for decades, pioneering surgical techniques in West Virginia. During the Civil War, Dr. Frissell cared for wounded soldiers at Wheeling Hospital and was appointed Medical Superintendent for military prisoners in Wheeling. He was married to Elizabeth Ann Thompson of Moundsville and they lived together in the Frissell House on 14th Street in downtown Wheeling. Dr. Frissell served as the first president of the West Virginia Medical Association. He died on November 16, 1893, at age 84 in Wheeling and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling. Dr. Frissell made lasting contributions to medicine in Wheeling throughout his long career as a surgeon in the city.
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Photo Credits: Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston; Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling WV