Crawford Long
First to use inhaled ether as surgical anesthetic.
Crawford Williamson Long was born on November 1, 1815, in Danielsville, Georgia, to James and Elizabeth Long. His father, a state senator, merchant, and planter, named him after his friend and fellow politician William H. Crawford. By age fourteen, Long had finished the local academy and enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens, where he roomed with Alexander Stephens, later the Vice President of the Confederacy. After earning his A.M. degree in 1835, he began medical studies at Transylvania College in Kentucky in 1836, learning under surgeon Benjamin Dudley and witnessing surgeries performed without anesthesia. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania after a year, gaining exposure to advanced medical technology, and received his M.D. in 1839. Following an 18-month internship in New York, he returned to Georgia in 1841 to take over a rural practice in Jefferson.
Long experimented with ether on three enslaved people, noting its effects matched those Humphry Davy had described for nitrous oxide in 1800. On March 30, 1842, he used sulfuric ether on a towel to anesthetize patient James M. Venable before removing a tumor from his neck. Over the next few years, he performed more surgeries with this method, including a second tumor removal from Venable, amputations, and childbirths, and introduced it to his obstetrics work. Despite this, he did not publish his findings until 1849, in *The Southern Medical and Surgical Journal*; an original copy is held by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Long was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society at the University of Georgia and a cousin of western figure Doc Holliday, possibly operating on Holliday’s cleft lip. On October 16, 1846, unaware of Long’s work, William T. G. Morton publicly demonstrated ether anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital. Morton’s publication in December 1846 alerted Long to the competing claim, and further articles in January 1847 prompted Long to document his experiments, collect patient accounts, and notarize their letters. He reported his findings to the Medical College of Georgia in 1849, where he learned of two other claimants, Charles Jackson and Horace Wells. In his first publication, Long addressed the controversy, explaining he had delayed reporting but now felt compelled to assert his priority from March 1842. In 1854, he asked U.S. Senator William Crosby Dawson to present his case to Congress, but he never received full credit during his lifetime.
Long married Caroline Swain in 1842; they had twelve children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. The family moved to Atlanta in 1850 and then to Athens in 1851, where Long and his brother Robert opened a practice and pharmacy on Broad Street. During the Civil War, he joined a local militia unit but was never called to duty, instead serving as a surgeon to soldiers on both sides. He died of a stroke on June 16, 1878, shortly after delivering a baby, and is buried beside his wife in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens. Long considered his profession a “ministry from God” and said his highest ambition was “to do good and leave the world better by his labors.” He is recognized as the first obstetric anesthetist, having used ether on his wife during childbirth in 1845, and his inhalation anesthesia method dominated obstetrics for years.
- born
- November 1, 1815, Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia
- died
- June 16, 1878, Athens, Georgia
- field
- Surgery, pharmacy
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- First use of inhaled sulfuric ether as an anesthetic
Lore & Background
Long was born in Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia on November 1, 1815, to James and Elizabeth Long. His father was a state senator, a merchant and a planter. By age fourteen, Long graduated from the local academy and applied to the University of Georgia in Athens, where he roomed with Alexander Stephens, future Vice President of the Confederate States. He received his A.M. degree in 1835. He began study at Transylvania College in fall 1836 in Lexington, Kentucky, studying under surgeon Benjamin Dudley and observing surgeries without anesthesia. Long transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his M.D. in 1839. After an 18-month internship in New York, he returned to Georgia and took over a rural medical practice in Jefferson, Jackson County, in 1841. Long experimented with the use of ether on three enslaved people, observing it had the same physiological effects Humphry Davy described for nitrous oxide in 1800. On March 30, 1842, he removed a tumor from the neck of James M. Venable, administering sulfuric ether on a towel. He subsequently removed a second tumor from Venable and used ether in amputations and childbirth. In 1845, he had his wife inhale ether while giving birth. Long married Caroline Swain in 1842; they had twelve children, seven surviving to adulthood. During the Civil War, he joined a militia unit in Athens but was never called to duty, instead serving as a surgeon to soldiers on both sides. He died of a stroke on June 16, 1878, shortly after helping to deliver a baby, and is buried alongside his wife in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.
Reader's Guide
Long's significance lies in his priority of using inhaled ether anesthesia in surgery, predating William T. G. Morton's public demonstration on October 16, 1846, at Massachusetts General Hospital. However, Long did not publish his results until 1849, after learning of Morton's claim through the December 1846 issue of Medical Examiner. He then began documenting details, collecting patient accounts, and notarizing their letters. Long administered ether to seven patients, none of whom felt pain during their operations, several years before Morton's 1846 exposition. A controversy—the 'ether controversy'—ensued among Long, Morton, Horace Wells, and Charles Jackson, each vying for a $200,000 reward from the US Congress. Long petitioned Congress through Senator William Crosby Dawson in 1854 but never received full credit during his lifetime. In 1879, a year after his death, the National Eclectic Medical Association declared Long the official discoverer of anesthesia. Today the majority of scholars concur that Long performed the first successful surgery using anesthesia. Long was also the first obstetric anesthetist; his practice of using inhalation anesthesia dominated obstetrics until recently.
Did You Know?
- Long removed a tumor from the neck of patient James M. Venable on March 30, 1842, using sulfuric ether on a towel for inhalation.
- Long experimented with ether on three enslaved people, observing effects similar to those Humphry Davy described for nitrous oxide in 1800.
- Long did not publish his findings until 1849 in The Southern Medical and Surgical Journal, after learning of William T. G. Morton's public demonstration.
- In 1879, a year after Long's death, the National Eclectic Medical Association declared him the official discoverer of anesthesia.
- Long was a cousin of the western legend Doc Holliday and may have operated on Doc's cleft lip.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Crawford Long?
Crawford Williamson Long was an American surgeon and pharmacist who practiced in Georgia during the mid-1800s. He is best remembered as the physician who first used inhaled ether to numb a patient before performing an operation.
What is Crawford Long's most famous achievement?
On March 30, 1842, Long administered sulfuric ether by inhalation and then carried out surgery while the patient was unconscious and pain-free. This is recognized as the first documented surgical procedure performed under ether anesthesia.
When and where was Crawford Long born and where did he die?
He was born on November 1, 1815, in Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia. He passed away on June 16, 1878, in Athens, Georgia.
Why is Crawford Long important in medical history?
His 1842 ether-anesthesia surgery demonstrated that a patient could endure an operation without feeling pain, fundamentally shifting how surgeons approached procedures. That breakthrough became the foundation for modern anesthetic practice.
What were Crawford Long's professional fields?
He worked as both a surgeon and a pharmacist in the American South. His combined background in medicine and pharmacy likely informed his experimentation with inhaled compounds as a means of pain relief.
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