Dr. John Amson was practicing medicine in Williamsburg, Va., by the early 1750s. In 1757 GW suffered with dysentery, and in 1758 GW thought, mistakenly, that he was also experiencing symptoms of "Decay," or tuberculosis. Between January and March 1758, GW consulted several physicians about his illness, and sometime around mid-March 1758, Dr. Amson assured GW that he was on the mend (see Blanton, Medicine in Virginia, 324).