Horace Henry Hayden

Although born in Windsor, Connecticut on October 13, 1769, Horace Henry Hayden became an integral part of Baltimore and Maryland’s history at the turn of the 19th century.

In 1800, Dr. Thomas Hamilton advertised he employed an assistant, Mr. Hayden, in his dental practice near the New Assembly Rooms (a space for social gatherings that also contained a library) and City Hall on Gay St. By 1803, Dr. Hamilton left Baltimore for New York, leaving Hayden with his own dental practice. Throughout the first decade of the 19th century, Hayden would travel between Baltimore, Annapolis, and Frederick City providing his services as a surgeon dentist.

By 1810, he had become an eminent figure in medicine and dentistry, being awarded the first license to practice dentistry in the United States by the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.

By the start of the War of 1812, Hayden had moved his home and office to Chatham Street, on the corner of Charles Street, which was at the northern limits of the city. He joined the war effort as part of Baltimore’s 39th Regiment and was quickly made an assistant surgeon in the regimental hospital.

In 1816, Hayden was a charter member of the Delphian Club of Baltimore, a literary social club whose members included Francis Scott Key and Rembrandt Peale, as well as influential physicians and leaders in education such as Tobias Watkins and William Sinclair, along with other luminaries of the city.

By 1819 he was asked by the University of Maryland to give lectures on dental surgery to its medical students and faculty.

By 1825 he was on the Board of Trustees for the Baltimore College and had become the president of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature, which he helped found 3 years prior.

Hayden became firmly rooted in the progress of the Monumental City, playing a prominent role in the direction of medicine, dentistry, science, and education in Baltimore prior to co-founding the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1839.

Almost as soon as Hayden began practicing dentistry in Baltimore, he also began teaching his newfound profession to others. In addition to offering preceptorships, he encouraged his students to attend medical lectures at the University of Maryland to gain a robust understanding of anatomy, pathology, and physiology.

Two of his first students were his brothers, Chester and Anson. Chester and Anson would move to Virginia by 1822, both using their brother’s name as a certification of their skills while also outlining Horace’s prescribed method for becoming a qualified dentist. He would go on to teach several dentists that would move to other states, and like his brother’s, they would utilize Horace H. Hayden’s recommendation as a measure for qualification and recognition in the field.

Use the slider below to view advertisements with transcriptions for both Chester and Anson, with recommendations from Horace Hayden, as well as Nathaniel Potter, a co-founder and professor of the College of Medicine, University of Maryland.

From 1819 until 1825, and once again in 1839, Hayden gave lectures to the University of Maryland’s medical students, faculty, and anyone from the public who wished to attend. These are believed to be the first lectures on dentistry given in a university setting in the United States.

These lectures would provide information about the history and current state of dentistry, the need for medically trained individuals to join the field and replace the charlatans and un-educated, and the physiology, pathology, and anatomy of the mouth and its ascribed illnesses.

Hayden understood the need for teaching both the theory and mechanical aspects of dentistry, something he could not effectively do in just his home for more than an individual or two or just in the lecture halls of the University of Maryland.

Also, during this time, Hayden was writing and publishing articles about dental diseases, their causes, and their remedies in reputable medical journals to share his gained knowledge throughout the United States. He wrote on ulcerated tonsils and acid, or an “otherwise morbid secretion,” as the cause for cavities, among other topics. Hayden understood that for the study and field of dentistry to have any standing among his medical peers, inclusion of widespread knowledge through these reputable journals was key to raising its standing.

Hayden was integral in forming several associations within Baltimore that promoted the sciences, education, and general enlightenment of the public at this time as well. He was also on various boards of different educational institutions and became a leading voice among Baltimore’s already established medical organizations. He was not, however, able to start an association specifically for dental professionals, which many of his contemporaries had shared that this was not for lack of trying.

Hayden traveled around the United States and Europe when he could, both proselytizing his view of what the dental profession should be, as well as learning what he could from the respected dentists at the time.