Well, if you
weren’t in Philadelphia for AOA’s Optometry’s Meeting, you missed at least
three great reunions: on a personal level, a reunion with your friends; on an
academic level, a probable reunion with your alma mater (Pennsylvania College
of Optometry); and on a historic level, two old (very old) friends named Ben and
John (Franklin and McAllister, that is.)
Indeed it only
seemed appropriate – what with our national meeting taking place in
Philadelphia – to have Ben’s old friend, John McAllister, the true father of
eye care in America, stop by the POA reception.
John
McAllister, born in 1753, immigrated to New York from Scotland in 1775. In
becoming a newfound Patriot, he was taken prisoner by the British a few weeks
after the colonists declared their independence in 1776. Upon his release, he
headed to Philadelphia in 1781 and started a whip and cane business on Second
and Market Street. He expanded his wares by purchasing the stock of a hardware
merchant, within which he discovered a bushel basket of ready-to-wear
eyeglasses. His business prospered as customers sampled what seemed to best suit
their needs.
The British
naval blockade provided John his revenge because no longer would eyeglasses be
coming from Europe; his challenge, though, was to develop techniques for making
lenses and frames. He was the first to accomplish this in America. His friend,
Benjamin Franklin encouraged him to pursue an even greater pursuit; vision
care, which is now known as Optometry. In those days, quackery was common and often
resulted in blindness. In 1796, he moved his business to 48 Chestnut Street
where he not only provided glasses but also sight testing. Additionally, he
made scientific instruments. His knowledge of optics continued to increase and
he applied this knowledge towards eye care.
His son, John
Jr. was born in 1786 to the former widow Frances Wardale (a cousin of the famed
navigator Captain Cook). Since Philadelphia was still the capital of the United
States, John, Jr. grew up attending the Congressional debates and knew George
Washington and John Adams. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in
1803 with honors and joined his father’s work in 1811. Between them, they served
the ophthalmic needs of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Chief Justice
Tilghman, Count Joseph Bonoparte, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, et al.
John, Sr.
died in 1830. John, Jr. continued to advance eye care and was the first to diagnose
and correct astigmatism. He also provided eye examinations and glasses at Wills
Eye Hospital. He served as the manager of Wills Eye Hospital from 1848 to 1859.
Civically, he devised a system for numbering the houses according to street
layout and was a lifelong member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, which
still houses his collection. He died in 1877 at the age of 91.
John, Jr.’s
sons William Young, John and Thomas continued the family’s legacy in eye care.
Thomas Hamilton McAllister established the first optometric practice in New York
City where it flourished until his death in 1899. Like his father, William was
also associated with the Wills Eye Hospital and served on the Philadelphia City
Council. He was the first to teach physicians in the country the practice of
optometry. He retired in 1882 and his sons (John, Sr.’s great grandsons) continued
his practice well into the first third of the twentieth century. One of his
sons Frank W. McAllister settled in Baltimore in 1879 and was one of the
founders of the AOA. His son, John McAllister’s great-great-great grandson, was
Dr. John Warden McAllister who (at the time of this reference’s publication
[1968]) was practicing on Franklin Street in Baltimore. Five generations of
ophthalmic care, birthed in the City of Brotherly Love.
This historic
account was gleaned from a pamphlet published in conjunction with an optometric
exhibit at the William Penn Memorial Museum in Harrisburg. The exhibit was the
result of a grant from the POA and the Vision Conservation Institute
Respectfully
shared,
Robert Owens, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Diplomate,
ABO
