(MEDICINE.) Expense account of Dr. Joseph Young for the Albany Hospital during and after the Revolution. Document Signed thrice as "Jo. Young." 2 sheets joined by seal at lower corner, the larger being 12 3/4 x 8 inches; moderate wear to the larger sheet, with receipt and docketing on verso. New York, 3 June 1784
The Albany Hospital was built in 1754 to treat soldiers in the French and Indian War. The large building was pressed back into service in 1776 to treat Continental troops in the wake of the failed Canada campaign. Local physician Joseph Young (1735-1814), who had been a regimental surgeon, took command of the hospital in 1778. His 1800 book "A New Physical System of Astronomy" is sometimes described as the first medical textbook written in America.
This account lists Young's expenses in running the hospital from 1782 to 1784, for which he was reimbursed in June 1784 by the young Continental government. The main sheet lists forage rations for his horses from 23 July 1782 to April 1784, as well as $35.62 in cash expended in early 1784, offset against $16 he received from the sale of an iron stove. Attached is a smaller sheet breaking down the 41 cash expenditures totaling $35.62, mostly for deliveries of wood, but also for beef, bread, sweeping chimneys, carting hay, and two patient transactions: "Jno. Bogart taking 2 patients to New York, Reubens & Wheeler" and "Joshua Colwill, passage of John Chase and wife." The main sheet is receipted on verso as paid by Quartermaster General Timothy Pickering.
