Named for statesman
Edward Livingston, Trudeau was born October 5, 1848, in New York City to a family of physicians, the son of Cephise (
née Berger) and James de Berty Trudeau, who was descended from
Illinois Country Governor
Zénon Trudeau. Trudeau’s parents divorced shortly after he was born, and he traveled with his mom and brother to Paris, where they lived for a time before returning to New York City in 1865. After returning to America, he began preparing for enlistment in the US Navy and attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Island. Shortly before his enlistment, his older brother James contracted tuberculosis and Edward nursed him until his death three months later. At twenty, he enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at
Columbia University (then Columbia College), completing his medical training in 1871. Trudeau married Lottie Beare in June 1871, and after traveling to Europe, the couple settled on Long Island, New York, where Trudeau began his medical practice. Shortly after settling in their home on Long Island, the couple's first child, Charlotte, whom they called "Chatte", was born. Trudeau was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1873, shortly before the birth of their second child, Edward Livingston Jr, whom they called Ned. Following conventional thinking of the times, his physicians and friends urged a change of climate. He went to live in the
Adirondack Mountains, initially at
Paul Smith's Hotel, spending as much time as possible in the open; he subsequently regained his health. In 1876 he moved his family to Saranac Lake and established a medical practice among the sportsmen, guides and lumber camps of the region. In 1877 Lottie gave birth to a third child, Henry, who died after a brief illness in the winter of 1878 or 1879. In 1882, Trudeau read about
Prussian Dr.
Hermann Brehmer's success treating tuberculosis with the "rest cure" in cold, clear mountain air. Following this example, Trudeau founded the Adirondack Cottage Sanitorium, with the support of several of the wealthy businessmen he had met at Paul Smiths. In 1894, after a fire destroyed his small laboratory, Trudeau organized the Saranac Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis with a gift from
Elizabeth Milbank Anderson; Trudeau became president of the National Association for the Study of Prevention of Tuberculosis in 1904. In addition to his work at the sanatorium, Trudeau enjoyed hunting in the woods around Saranac Lake. Although his illness often limited his activities, he enjoyed the outdoors. In later years he had a camp on
Upper Saint Regis Lake. Trudeau had many friends and was active in the community, helping to found
St. John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in
Paul Smiths, New York, where he is interred. Edward Livingston Trudeau died in Saranac Lake on November 15, 1915. ==Legacy==