In April, The Mütter Museum examines the Charles F. Guilloû papers, an example of sketchbooks and personal journals this physician created to document his life and explorations as a Naval surgeon. These papers allow the reader a unique opportunity to travel along with a Naval expedition as they explored and documented previously unknown parts of the globe. Even though Charles Guilloû was a physician by trade, his journals and sketchbooks largely focused on his experiences and the sights, as the ships he was stationed on moved around the globe. His name may not have the same legacy we associate with other notable physicians, but Charles F. Guilloû still lived a life worth examining.
Charles Fleury Bien aime Guilloû was born July 26, 1813, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended a military academy and then advanced to The University of Pennsylvania to study medicine, graduating in 1836. In February 1837, Guilloû received his first military appointment as Assistant Surgeon on the USS Porpoise, part of the United States Naval fleet.
This ship was part of a very important mission, something history refers to as the United States Exploring Expedition. This expedition was tasked with learning more about the Pacific, both scientifically and for commercial purposes. They sought to “… cover the Pacific Ocean from top to bottom and bring the United States international renown for its scientific endeavors as well as its bravado.” (Philbrick 2004) Six ships, several hundred men, and nine scientists set off, not only to better plot the Western coast of the United States to facilitate commerce, but also to make another attempt at determining what lay at the furthest southern reaches of the globe, exploring what was one of the last mysterious areas on the planet. When the USS Porpoise set off from Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 1838, Charles Guilloû was aboard ready to perform his appointed role. After the three years allotted for the exploration had passed, Guilloû, along with many of his shipmates requested to be allowed to leave the expedition as they docked in Hawaii to spend the winter.
The commander of the ships associated with the US Exploring Expedition, Charles Wilkes, was notoriously challenging to work with. He often punished the sailors under his command with frequent floggings, which Guilloû was then responsible for caring for. As many sailors requested to be allowed to leave the expedition, Wilkes reportadly required them to allow him to read any correspondences or journals the sailors had in their possession. When Guilloû tore out a few pages of his personal journal and refused to allow Wilkes to see them, the latter suspended Guilloû and prepared to file charges against him with the US Navy. Guilloû spent the last period of the expedition under arrest. When the expedition finally returned to the US in 1842, he was able to help organize the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, which is still in existence today. Guilloû was officially court-martialed in 1843 and dismissed from the Navy soon after. President John Tyler stepped in and reduced the sentence, only suspending Guilloû from the Navy for a year.
When Gulloû returned to the Navy, he was assigned to several diplomatic missions in both China and Europe, during which he earned the rank of full Navy Surgeon. Guilloû often found himself acting as an interpreter during various periods of the group’s travels through Europe. While in Italy, they met with King Ferdinand and made the acquaintance of Pope Pius IX, who they invited to visit the ship. During this visit Pius took ill, and when Guilloû diagnosed and treated him for seasickness, the Pope was noted as being very appreciative, gifting Guilloû with inscribed prayerbooks and a medallion, as well as a plenary indulgence.
Guilloû’s next post was at the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard from 1852-1854, and in 1852 he married Dinah Postlethwaite. In 1853, the couple welcomed their first daughter, and an additional daughter came soon after via adoption.
The next stage in Guilloû’s life saw him returning to Hawaii, where he attempted to start a hospital, but was unsuccessful. In 1856, he was recorded as being one of the founding members of the Hawaiian Medical Society. Guilloû returned to the mainland in 1866 or 1867, where he lived the rest of his life in Petersburg, Virginia, and then New York City where he died of pneumonia in 1899.
Guilloû kept detailed journals and reflections during his life, including many sketches, but none of them were published until 1961, when his drawings of California and Oregon were finally released. His grandson’s widow donated Charles F. Guilloû’s various papers to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1974, where they have offered an interesting view into the travels and life of a surgeon and unintentional explorer ever since.
Cited
- “Collection: Charles F. Guillou Papers | ArchivesSpace Public Interface,” n.d.
- Philbrick, Nathaniel. 2004. “The Scientific Legacy of the U. S. Exploring Expedition.” Smithsonian.
- Walker, James. 2024. “United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842).” Oregon Encyclopedia.
- Wiki, Contributors to Military. “Charles Guillou.” Military Wiki, n.d.