Biography

Mentioned in 18680526FWS_CAS1 - Letter from FWS to Clarence Armstrong Seward regarding the birth of Dr. Doremus's son Clarence Seward Doremus. 

Chemist, physician, musician, teacher, lecturer, inventor. Earned arts and medical degrees from New York University before becoming a professor there. He was a founder of the New York Medical College and the Bellevue Hospital Medical College. A cornetist, he was one of the founders of the New York Philharmonic Society and was, for 3 years, its president. As an inventor, he perfected an improved granulated, compressed gunpowder that was used in the Civil War, perfected the arc-light, and pioneered the use of chlorine as a disinfectant agent. He was a popular classroom and public lecturer, famous in his time for the electrical displays he used to accompany his lectures. He was also involved in several famous 19th century New York murder trials as an expert toxicologist.