monroe2006091

DeGrasse married Cordelia L. Howard on 5 August 1852 in Boston and, two years later, established a medical practice there. When he was elected to membership in the Massachusetts Medical Society on 24 August 1854, he became the first African American to belong to a medical association in that state. He was the first African-American medical officer in the U. S. Army. He was mustered in on 18 May 1863 and served as an Assistant Surgeon for the 35th Regiment of U. S. Colored Infantry (the First Regiment, North Carolina, Colored Volunteers). He and his wife had one daughter, Georgiana Cordelia DeGrasse, born 5 December 1855. He died in Boston on 25 November 1868. ...more

After he passed the required exams he received his Doctor in Medicine degree. In 1849, DeGrasse toured hospitals in France, England, Italy, and Switzerland.