James W. Lugenbeel
{{Short description|American physician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James W. Lugenbeel
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth-date|1819}}
| birth_place = Virginia, US
| death_date = September 22, {{Death year and age|1857|1819}}
| death_place = Alexandria, Virginia, US
| other_names =
| party =
| spouse = Martha Alice Davy
| known_for =
| occupation = physician, diplomat
| signature =
|alma_mater =
}}
James Washington Lugenbeel (1819{{snds}}September 22, 1857) was an American physician, who worked for the American Colonization Society. He served as colonial physician in Liberia as well as an agent for the United States government. Lugenbeel's account of the 1847 Liberian constitutional convention in his journal became the only known record of the convention's proceedings.
Biography
Lugenbeel was born in 1819 in Virginia. He married Martha Alice Davy in Alexandria, Virginia.{{cite news|last=|first=|title=Death of a Former Alexandria Lady|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108938139/death-of-a-former-alexandria-lady/|newspaper=Alexandria Gazette|date=June 27, 1887|page=3|via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=September 5, 2022}} On July 27, 1843, Lugenbeel was appointed colonial physician by the American Colonization Society (ACS). He was also appointed United States Government Agent for Recaptured Africans the same year. James Skivring Smith, future president of Liberia, received medical education under Lugenbeel before attending an American medical college.{{cite web |last=|first=|url=https://npg.si.edu/exh/awash/skirvsmth.htm|title=A Durable Memento James Skivring Smith (born circa 1825) |publisher=Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery|accessdate=September 5, 2022}} Lugenbeel set sail for Liberia on September 25, 1843, arriving in the colony on November 16. In December 1845, Lugenbeel succeeded in taking care of 756 recaptives, saved from a slave ship, after the duty was unexpectedly given to him. In April 1846, Lugenbeel returned to the United States due to ill health. He soon returned to Liberia.{{cite book |last=Huberich|first=Charles Henry|author-link= |date=1947|title=The Political and Legislative History of Liberia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OPk6AAAAIAAJ|location=|publisher= Central Book Company|isbn=|page=848}} In 1847, when the Liberian constitution was being drafted, records of the proceedings were kept; however, they were later lost.{{cite book |last1=Dunn|first1= Elwood D.|last2=Beyan|first2=Amos J.|last3=Burrowes|first3=Carl Patrick|date=2000|title=Historical Dictionary of Liberia |trans-title=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qt0_RrW8ghkC|language=English |location= |isbn=9781461659310|page=85|publisher= Scarecrow Press}} The account of the proceedings kept by Lugenbeel in his personal journal are now the only known surviving record of the convention's proceedings.Dunn; Beyan; Burrowes; Historical Dictionary of Liberia, p. 218.
On April 8, 1848, Lugenbeel was appointed a United States Commercial Agent. The same year, he was appointed the first United States consular agent in Monrovia.{{cite book |last1=South|first1= Aloha|last2=Sims|first2=Michael|date=1977|title=Guide to Federal Archives Relating to Africa|trans-title=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R_VCAAAAIAAJ|language=English |location= |isbn=|page=215|publisher= Crossroads Press}} Lugenbeel once again returned to the U.S. in May 1849. In 1850, Lugenbeel published an account of his stay in Liberia entitled Sketches of Liberia, Comprising a Brief Account of the Geography, Climate, Productions, and Diseases of the Republic of Liberia. It was one of the earliest accounts of the country.{{cite web |last=Leopold|first=Robert S.|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/21930/early_african_collections.pdf|title=A Guide to Early African Collections in the Smithsonian Institution |publisher=Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=September 9, 2022|page=56}} The book was revised in 1853. Lugenbeel also had some of his writing published in the African Repository.
Upon his return to the U.S., Lugenbeel became recording secretary for the ACS. He served in this position until his death on September 22, 1857, in Alexandria.{{cite news|last=|first=|title=Death of Doctor Lugenbeel|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108896388/death-of-doctor-lugenbeel/|newspaper=Alexandria Gazette|date=September 24, 1857|page=3|via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=September 5, 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Shavit|first1= David|date=1989|title=The United States in Africa|trans-title=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fT1yAAAAMAAJ|language=English |location= |isbn=9780313258879|page=139|publisher= Greenwood Press}} After his death, Thomas Sully painted a portrait of Lugenbeel. Sully began the portrait on April 13, 1864, and it was completed on April 26. It was presented to the ACS, and later given to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.{{cite book |last1=Biddle|first1= Edward|last2=Fielding|first2=Mantle|date=1921|title=The Life and Works of Thomas Sully 1783–1872|trans-title=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dylAAAAAYAAJ|language=English |location= |isbn=|page=216|publisher= Wickersham Press (Lancaster)}}
References
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Category:Date of birth missing
Category:People of the American colonization movement
Category:Physicians from Virginia
Category:Writers from Alexandria, Virginia
Category:American expatriates in Liberia
Category:19th-century American diplomats
Category:19th-century American physicians