Peg leg

A pegleg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg. Its use dates to antiquity.^[1]

By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peglegs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.^[2] Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peglegs,^[2] according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a pegleg more comfortable for walking.^[3] According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a pegleg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day.^[4]

Nowadays, wooden peglegs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.^[5]

Notable pegleg wearers

Historical

François Leclerc (~1554), privateer
Cornelis Jol, (1597–1641), privateer and admiral of the Dutch West India Company
Peter Stuyvesant (1612–1672), Dutch director-general of New Amsterdam ^[6]
Blas de Lezo (1687–1741), Spanish admiral
Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), American politician
Józef Sowiński (1777–1831), Polish 19th century general
Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864), Serbian linguist
Albert Chmielowski (1845–1916), Polish artist, founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, saint of the Catholic Church
Daniel Sullivan (~1871), Chicagoan
Thomas L. "Pegleg" Smith (1801–1866), American prospector
Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804? – December 22, 1859), nicknamed "Three-legged Willie", Republic of Texas Supreme Court Justice, state lawmaker, and Texas Ranger
Clayton (Peg Leg) Bates (1907–1998), dancer
Peg Leg Sam (Arthur Jackson) (1911–1977) American blues musician
Dennis Collins, British sailor^[7]
Robert Solis, American sailor
Alex Clappsy, Dickslinger

Railroads

Bradford and Foster Brook Railway is also known as the "Peg Leg" from its wooden support piles.
Fulton Chain Railroad is also known as the "Peg Leg" from its wooden rails.

References

^ Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769, page 16
^ ^a ^b Marks, George Edwin (1888), A Treatise on Marks' patent artificial limbs with rubber hands and feet, A. A. Marks, p. 47
^ Tillmanns, Hermann (1895), Stimson, Lewis Atterbury (ed.), itle The principles of surgery and surgical pathology: general rules governing operations and the application of dressings, D. Appleton and company, p. 128
^ Teale, Thomas Pridgin (1858), On amputation by a long and a short rectangular flap, pp. 29, 31
^ Clarke, Carl D. (1965) Prosthetics Standard Arts Press, Butler, Maryland, OCLC 5083790, page 182
^ "...he lost his leg at Saint Martin.."
^ Mason, Christopher (21 September 2000) "At Home with Christopher Gibbs: A Parting Embrace For a Lifetimes Quirks" The New York Times, page 2 of electronic copy; for full details see Poole, Steve (2000) The politics of regicide in England, 1760-1850: troublesome subjects Manchester University Press, Manchester, England, pages 169-172, ISBN 0-7190-5035-9

Murdoch, George and Wilson, A. Bennett (1998) A primer on amputations and artificial limbs C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, ISBN 0-398-06800-3
Pitkin, Mark R. (2009) Biomechanics of Lower Limb Prosthetics Springer verlag, New York, ISBN 978-3-642-03015-4
Seymour, Ron (2002) Prosthetics and orthotics: lower limb and spinal Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ISBN 0-7817-2854-1
Warren, D. W. (2001) James Gillingham: surgical mechanist & manufacturer of artificial limbs Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society, Taunton, England, ISBN 0-9533539-5-8

Articles

Bliquez, L. J. (1996) "Prosthetics in classical antiquity: Greek, Etruscan and Roman prosthetics" In: Haase, W. and Temporini, H. (editors) (1996) Aufstieg und niedergang der Römischen welt II Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 2640–2676
Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769
Finch, J. (2011) "The ancient origins of prosthetic medicine" Lancet 377(9765): pp. 548–549
Padula, Patricia A. and Friedmann, Lawrence W. (1987) "Acquired Amputation and Prostheses Before the Sixteenth Century" The Journal of Vascular Disease 38(2 Pt. 1): pp. 133–141, doi:10.1177/000331978703800207
Reeves, Nicholas (1999) "New lights on ancient Egyptian prosthetic medicine" In: Davies, W. V. (editor) (1999) Studies in Egyptian Antiquities. A Tribute to T.G.H. James British Museum Press, London, pp. 73–77, ISBN 0-86159-123-2
Thurston, Alan J. (2007) "Paré and prosthetics: the early history of artificial limbs" ANZ Journal of Surgery 77(12): pp. 1114–1119, doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04330.x
Wilson, Philip D. (1922) "Early weight-bearing in the treatment of amputations of the lower limbs" The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 4: pp. 224–247

[1] Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769, page 16

[marks-2] Marks, George Edwin (1888), A Treatise on Marks' patent artificial limbs with rubber hands and feet, A. A. Marks, p. 47

[3] Tillmanns, Hermann (1895), Stimson, Lewis Atterbury (ed.), itle The principles of surgery and surgical pathology: general rules governing operations and the application of dressings, D. Appleton and company, p. 128

[4] Teale, Thomas Pridgin (1858), On amputation by a long and a short rectangular flap, pp. 29, 31

[5] Clarke, Carl D. (1965) Prosthetics Standard Arts Press, Butler, Maryland, OCLC 5083790, page 182

[6] "...he lost his leg at Saint Martin.."

[7] Mason, Christopher (21 September 2000) "At Home with Christopher Gibbs: A Parting Embrace For a Lifetimes Quirks" The New York Times, page 2 of electronic copy; for full details see Poole, Steve (2000) The politics of regicide in England, 1760-1850: troublesome subjects Manchester University Press, Manchester, England, pages 169-172, ISBN 0-7190-5035-9

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