[3] For this and other contributions to anesthesiology, which included innovations in administering anesthetics to war wounded and in obstetrics, Gwathmey was hailed at the time of his death as the "Father of Modern Anesthesia.

[3] The third year of his college education was marked by multiple citations for bad behavior, including exhibiting "culpable neglect of his duties and studies" and "an air of careless indifference", going to a billiards saloon without authorization, and of throwing a brick into a subprofessor's window.

[2] In 1890, Gwathmey moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he founded and led the Summer School for Higher Culture at Vanderbilt University.

[2] During his time at the school, Gwathmey became president of the Bicycle Club, was Director of the Gymnasium and Instructor in Physical Exercise, and was the faculty advisor to the Chi Chapter of the fraternity Kappa Alpha Order.

[2] Gwathmey, not wanting to accrue personal gain from the design or sale of his medical instruments, refused to receive money from or patent this and his later devices.

[2] His mastery of the design of anesthesia apparatuses and of the administration of the drugs, coupled with the dearth of trained anesthetists at the time, led him to quickly transition to practicing anesthesiology full-time.

His practice was not affiliated with any individual hospital or surgeon, instead he worked on a case-by-case basis and would send patients his own separate bill.

[2] His writings make clear this was a deliberate choice intended to guarantee his independence and income as an anesthetist:Handling another man’s money is both theoretically and practically wrong.

[2] Writing with New York chemist Dr. Charles Baskerville, Gwathmey detailed his contributions and research within the first complete compilation of the medical knowledge of anesthesiology in the 1914 textbook titled Anesthesia.

[1] He advised both the French and British armies on the use of anesthesia,[1] and his nitrous oxide-oxygen apparatus was frequently used to treat soldiers who were wounded in the conflict.

[2] His mother was part of an old and respected Virginia family which carried a history of military and community service, The Tayloe's of Mount Airy.