Cotton Township near Bennington in Switzerland County, Indiana — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Dr. John Shaw Billings
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 30, 2023
1. Dr. John Shaw Billings Marker (post)
Billings experience treating and transporting wounded Civil War soldiers made him an innovator in hospital design. He planned Johns Hopkins Hospital, reflecting his novel ideas about medical education, hygiene, and sanitation. First director of New York Public Library, 1896-1913. He devised more efficient systems to tabulate vital statistics for the U.S. Census.
Erected 2018 by Indiana Historical Bureau Switzerland County Junior Historical Society. (Marker Number 78.2018.1.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Science & Medicine • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Indiana Historical Bureau Markers series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1838.
Location. Marker is missing. It was located near 38° 52.392′ N,
this page online
Regionally, this marker was in Southern Indiana. It was also in the American Midwest, in the Ohio River Valley, and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it was in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it found itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this location, measured as the crow flies: Patriot Burials (approx. 8½ miles away); Edgar Lamkin House (approx. 8.8 miles away in Kentucky); First Christian Church (approx. 8.8 miles away in Kentucky); Craig House (approx. 8.8 miles away in Kentucky); Warsaw Deposit Bank (approx. 8.8 miles away in Kentucky); Henry Yates House
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 30, 2023
2. Dr. John Shaw Billings Marker (post)
Another marker is no longer nearby. Birthplace John Shaw Billings, M.D. (was here, next to this marker but has been reported to have been replaced with another marker now near it).
More about this marker. Inscription obtained from Indiana Historical Bureau.
Also see . . .
1. About John Billings. This multitalented and vastly accomplished man, almost single-handedly, designed almost all of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and figured out how a medical school could operate within it. (The John Hopkins Hospital) (Submitted on May 9, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
2. John Shaw Billings: I Could Lie Down and Sleep for Sixteen Hours without Stopping. As a Civil War surgeon at several prominent battles including the Battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg Billings was tasked with establishing field hospitals, operating and treating wounded soldiers for hours while under fire, and transporting
Library Journal via Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (Public Domain), 1896
3. Dr. John Shaw Billings (1838-1913)
3. John Shaw Billings: The Many Lives he Has Led. We have, in large part, Billings (of Allensville, Indiana) to thank for many of the basic preventive measures in hospitals, particularly with the establishment of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. (Nicole Poletika, Indiana Historical Bureau "Indiana History Blog," posted May 23,2016) (Submitted on May 9, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 9, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 9, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 207 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 9, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Closeup and wide-view photographs of reinstalled marker. (Still missing in July, 2025) • Can you help?
