Ephraim McDowell House Museum, Inc. - historic landmark in Danville, Kentucky

Ephraim McDowell House in Danville, Kentucky historical, descendent, and tourist information. On Christmas morning, 1809, Dr. McDowell began his historic operation. The ovarian tumor he removed from Mrs. Crawford weighed twenty-two and one-half pounds. The surgery was performed without benefit of anesthetic or antisepsis, neither of which was known to the medical profession at the time. Mrs. Crawford's surgery was successful.