John Van Surly De Grasse Muster Roll

First African American to become a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society. John Van Surly DeGrasse (1825-1868) was a medical doctor. He was born in New York in June 1825, the youngest son of Count George DeGrasse and Marie Van Surly DeGrasse, and the grandson of the French Count [Francois Joseph Paul] DeGrasse. He took some academic courses at a college in France, studied medicine with Dr. Samuel R. Childs in New York City in 1845, and finished his studies at Bowdoin College in May 1849.