Civil War Era Forceps
date: label: date made
content: c. 1850s-1860s
label: date made
content: 1850s-1860s
name: label: maker
content: Gemrig, Jacob H.
notes: label: Description
content: This instrument was part of an amputation surgical set which belonged to Lt. Col. William Irvin Wolfley, Surgeon in Chief of the 62nd Ohio Infantry. Dr. Wolfley was attached to DeRussey's Division of the Army of the Potomac, and was in charge of the convalescent camps along the Potomac from Chain Bridge to Alexandria, Virginia. This overall set has sixty instruments, the majority of which were manufactured by Jacob H. Gemrig of Philadelphia, twelve instruments made by Otto & Reynders whose shop was at 64 Chatham Street in New York City, and one by Codman and Shurtleff of Boston, Massachusetts. Surgical sets cost between $20 and $50 during this period, with more expensive sets containing more instruments.
label: Description
content: Sets containing instruments from different manufacturers were common. If an instrument broke or was lost it was simply replaced.
label: Description
content: Jacob Gemrig whose company made this instrument was a German immigrant who had experience as a cutler, an individual who made knives and scissors. After immigrating to the United States, Gemrig began making medical instruments in the 1840s. In the 1860s, he won a major contract to supply medical instruments to the Union Army.
label: Description
content: Forceps hold tissues in place and may be used to manipulate delicate structures during surgery. During the nineteenth century, the use of forceps during surgery became increasingly common. These instruments became especially varied in shape.
label: Description
content: During the Civil War, Lt. Col. William Irvin Wolfley, Surgeon in Chief of the 62nd Ohio Infantry, would have used these instruments in a variety of different types of surgery.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
label: used
content: United States: Virginia
topic: label: associated subject; web subjec
content: Surgery
label: associated subject; web subjec
content: Surgical instruments
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Civil War Surgical Sets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Elizabeth F. Wolfley, Eleanor Wolfley Bisell, Caroline Wolfley Shannon and Elizabeth Wolfley Harman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.112986.01.33
label: accession number
content: 112986
label: catalog number
content: 112986.01.33
label: catalog number
content: M-02999
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Forceps
label: Object Name
content: forceps
label: Object Name
content: surgical set
label: Other Terms
content: Forceps; Grasping and Fixating Instruments
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/4 in x 10 in x 1 7/8 in; .635 cm x 25.4 cm x 4.7625 cm