Dr. George Jackson Fisher (1825-1893)

Dr. George Jackson Fisher (1825-1893). Physician, Naturalist and Historian. Dr. George Fisher was a skilled surgeon, a prolific writer on the medical arts and local history, and an avid collector of books and natural artifacts. The modest home on Ellis Place that he shared with his wife and four children also housed his private museum that included a “cabinet of natural curiosities” (shells, bones, fossils, minerals) and his personal library, said to have 4,000 volumes. , Born in upstate New York, Fisher moved to Sing Sing (Ossining) in 1851 and became one of its most respected citizens. His vast medical knowledge was legendary, earning him leadership posts at the county and state medical societies and a delegate spot at the 1876 International Medical Congress in Philadelphia. His medical collection of instruments, medals and doctors' biographies was second to none. In 1886 he helped establish the Ossining Dispensary, which became the Ossining Hospital Association, with Fisher as the first president. As Sing Sing's leading physician, he served Holbrook Military Academy and Sing Sing Prison. , Scharf's History of Westchester County (1886) printed Fisher's history of Sing Sing, which today is still a valued source for Ossining's past. He was a trustee of Mount Pleasant Military Academy and took a turn as village president in 1856. As a physician, he served everyone. While helping the victim of a dynamite accident, he received a small cut on his finger that lead to infection and his demise. The Village ordered by proclamation that all businesses close on the day of his funeral so all could attend; the press reported the passing of a great man.