Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presley_Marion_Rixey

Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey (14 July 1852, Culpeper, Virginia – 17 June 1928) was a Surgeon General of the United States Navy (1902–10) and personal physician to Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.

Biography

The older brother of John Franklin Rixey, Rixey earned his medical degree at the University of Virginia in 1873. On 25 April 1877, he married Earlena J. English, daughter of Rear Admiral Earl English, United States Navy.

He was commissioned Assistant Surgeon in the Navy on 28 January 1874. He served on the Sabine, Congress, Tallapoosa (1879–82), Lancaster (1884–87), Dolphin (1893–96), and Solace,[2] receiving promotion to Passed Assistant Surgeon on 18 April 1877, to Surgeon on 27 November 1888, and was commissioned as a Medical Inspector on 24 August 1900.

He attended President McKinley after he was shot in Buffalo, New York, in 1901.

Rixey was appointed Surgeon General of the United States Navy on 15 February 1902 and served as Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, with the rank of rear admiral, until his retirement on 4 February 1910.

During his tenure as Surgeon General Rixey strongly supported the foundation of a women's nursing corps for the Navy. In his 1902 annual report he stated that, "There has been a growing conviction in the minds of many of the most experienced medical officers of the service, especially since the war with Spain, that the employment of women for the nursing of the sick in our large hospitals would result in greater efficiency than has been obtained heretofore by the use of male nurses alone, and that such employment would not conflict with the conditions arising from the military character of the institution." With his help the Navy Nurse Corps was finally established in 1908.

From 16 January 1913 to 16 April 1917, Rixey served as a member of the Naval Examining Board, presiding over it during the last four months of that period. He died at his home in Rosslyn, Virginia., on 17 June 1928. He is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

Awards

Rixey received the Spanish Order of Naval Merit from King Alphonso XIII of Spain for assistance he gave to the crew of the replica of the Santa Maria after that vessel suffered an explosion in New York Harbor on May 26, 1893, on its way to the World's Columbian Exposition.

Legacy

Rixey's estate in Arlington, Virginia, became the campus of Marymount University, and his home was renamed Main House.

The World War II casualty evacuation transport USS Rixey (APH-3) was named for him.

The Rixey station on the Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad was built for his estate.

US Navy Rear Admiral. Born in Culpepper, Virginia, he graduated from the University of Virginia, with a Medical Doctor degree in 1873 and then served on the staff of Jefferson Medical College, (1873-74). Receiving a commission as a US Navy Lieutenant, he was a Assistant Surgeon (1874-77) and Surgeon in 1888. He was awarded the Order of Naval Merit from King Alphonso XIII of Spain for assistance he gave to crew of Santa Maria, after that vessel suffered an explosion in New York Harbor, in 1893. Appionted Naval Medical Inspector in 1900, he was commissioned US Navy Surgeon General in 1902, Medical Director in 1907 and helped to establish the US Navy Nurse Corps in 1908. He retired as Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery with the rank of Rear Admiral, on February 4, 1910. In addition, he was the official physician at White House (1898-1909), plus was the personal physician for Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. In retirement, he served as a member of the Naval Examining Board, (1913-17). He died at the age of 75 in Rosslyn, Virginia.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 17 2022, 1:41:53 UTC