USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 70
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Col. C. H. Gatch's death on the first day of July, removed from Des Moines one of her most public-spirited citizens, and one of her ablest lawyers. His seventy-two years were full of activities, many of them in the interest of the city, state and country he loved. His early life was on an Ohio farm. At 33 he was a member of the Ohio senate, a few years later, lieutenant-colonel of an Ohio regi- ment. He removed to Des Moines after the war closed and soon thereafter was elected district attorney of Polk county. He was Polk county's senator in the Twenty-first and Twenty-second General Assemblies. As a legislator he did much to bring to pass our liberal library laws. He conscientiously attempted to solve the saloon question by moderate legislation, and was greatly misjudged by many well-meaning prohibitionists. He was a Christian lawyer, soldier and statesman, and his record, scarcely mentioned here, will some day be the basis of a biography. He was buried in Des Moines where the best part of his life was passed. The memory he has left is that of public spirit, rugged honesty and ability of a substantial rather than a brilliant character.
At a banquet given in Mason City, in 1898, Judge G. S. Robinson, not wait- ing until his death, paid this graceful tribute to the venerable Judge, Chester C. Cole, then in his 74th year: "Judge Cole is a man of marked ability, of marked clearness in his work. He has perhaps no superior in his power to ex- press concisely just the facts he desires to state or the proposition of law he de- sires to present."
The retirement of Judge Josiah Given from the bench, on the 25th of No- vember, 1903, was an event which the judge's friends of the bar were not disposed to let pass without giving some evidence of their appreciation of the man who had so long and faithfully served the cause of justice and humanity. After serving long on the supreme bench of Iowa, he became a lecturer in Highland Park College of Law. Then came his appointment to fill a vacancy on the district bench. After serving for a time, the illness of his daughter led to his resignation that he might accompany her to the South. The judge was the subject of a set of strong resolu- tions, drawn by Attorneys George F. Henry, W. L. Reed and James P. Hewitt. Eloquent speeches were made by his associates, Judges McHenry, Howe and Mc- Vey, and by Attorneys Hume, Macomber, McCain, Sampson, Dunshee and Morri- son. With a happy compound of wit and sentiment, the venerable judge responded making the occasion one long to be remembered. Judge Given's reminiscences were especially interesting, as told in the quaintly humorous vein into which the eloquent orator of many a camp-fire delighted to drop whenever he recalled the golden age of youth. He landed in Des Moines in May, 1868, "with a covered wagon, two horses, a colt, and a milk cow that had to be led by a rope to make her follow the procession." At first he tried brick-making, but didn't make much headway ; so, "one day, he went home, put on a white shirt and returned to the legal profession" in which he was engaged before coming to Iowa. He formed a partnership with J. M. St. John, and was soon actively engaged in the practice. Then followed his election to the bench and his elevation to the supreme bench. The modesty and good humor with which the venerable judge recounted his ex- periences made his response extremely enjoyable. .
After forty-two years of public service as a teacher of the law, Judge C. C. Cole received notice, January 7, 1907, that he had been designated by the Carne- gie Foundation as one to receive pensions from the ten million dollar fund set apart for retired educators. The yearly allowance was $1,280. The judge re- tired at once from active service at the Drake University College of Law, and was given the title of dean emeritus.
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The years have gathered for eternity a number of the members of the bar who in the nineties were among the best known attorneys of Des Moines, among whom are these well-remembered names: C. H. Gatch, John Mitchell, Thomas G. Wright, George G. Wright, L. G. Kinne, Josiah Given, Charles A. Bishop, W. S. Baily, Charles Mackenzie, William Connor, Lemuel Kinkaid, J. K. Ma- comber, Judge Ryan, P. Gad Bryan, Judge Barcroft, John A. Kasson, B. F. Kauffman, Harvey and William Phillips.
The last decade has made many changes in the personnel of the local bar. Able lawyers from other Iowa cities have located in Des Moines, and have won deserved recognition in this larger field. Another generation of "home-grown" lawyers have ably filled the places of their fathers and advisers who were mak- ing history in the Capital city a few decades ago. And, treading upon the heels of those in middle life, are many young attorneys not a few of whom give abun- dant promise of ability to fill future vacant places. Rising from the study of history, general or local, we are wont to exclaim, "There were giants in those days !" But it is entirely safe to predict that the future historian of Des Moines, viewing the recent past with the perspective which intervening years alone can give, will freely accord to the present generation of lawyers and public men quite as much of honor as we of this generation freely accord to those of our immediate past.
COL. C. H. GATCH One of Des Moines' early settlers
II. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
CHAPTER I.
MEETINGS OF THE IOWA STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY IN DES MOINES.
The Iowa State Medical Society was organized in 1850, and, with the ex- ception of two years (1862-63), met annually thereafter at various times and places, attended by a few from the immediate neighborhood of the meeting-place. Not until the year 1869, were the means of communication by rail such as to encourage a general attendance. Even as late as 1870, the attendance from western and northern Iowa was small; but, soon thereafter, with fast improving railroad facilities, the state as a whole was fairly well represented. Not until the year 1869, was there a medical department in the State university. Not until the revival of interest in 1868 were the society's meetings held at the state Capital.
Des Moines appears to have been unrepresented in these meetings until 1858, when the name of the veteran physician and surgeon, A. G. Field, a pioneer physician and surgeon of Polk county, appears in the list of censors. In 1867, Dr. Field was made secretary, and in this position he served for three years in succession.
The first published volume of the transactions of the Iowa State Medical So- ciety, published in 1871, was prepared by a committee on publication of which A. G. Field was chairman and editor-in-chief. This initial volume commences with the transactions of the sixteenth annual meeting, held in the hall of the Good Templars, Des Moines, February 5-6, 1868. Dr. H. L. Whitman, president of the Polk County Medical Society, welcomed the visiting members. Dr. William Watson of Dubuque was president and Dr. A. G. Field, secretary. Of the twenty members present, three were residents of Des Moines, Drs. A. G. Field, J. O. Skinner and D. V. Cole. Drs. Whitman, W. H. Ward and C. H. Rawson were elected members. Of the six incorporators of the society, two were resident members, Drs. Field and Whitman. In the articles of incorporation it was settled that the business of the society should be conducted, and its annual meeting held, in Des Moines. Dr. Field was elected secretary and Dr. Whitman, a member of the board of censors. Dr. Field was chosen a delegate to the American Medical Association. Dr. Whitman was chosen as one of the five members delegated to draft a stringent law for the more effectual suppression of crimes.
The Polk County Medical Society provided an evening entertainment for the members of the society on this its first meeting in Des Moines. The State society was duly appreciative ; but, inasmuch as it had voted to meet at the state capital annually, "and as their tendency is to an unnecessary expenditure of money, and to consume time too valuable to be thus employed," it was voted that the local society be advised "to refrain from such preparations or entertainments in the future."
That the stage-coach was, even as late as 1869, slow to yield the field to the railroads, is evident from a resolution of thanks offered by the society "to the
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Western Stage company, and also to the various railroad companies," for reduced fares and other courtesies.
The annual address of the president refers to this meeting as "an epoch in its history, as the first ever held at the state capital," the realization of its long- cherished hopes that the influence of the society was extending, and that it would continue to extend until it should be felt over the entire state; and at each suc- ceeding annual meeting, all parts of the state should be fully represented,-hopes . since amply realized.
The society reconvened in Des Moines May 25, 1869. At this meeting, Drs. George P. Hanawalt, J. B. Buchtel, E. J. McGorrisk and David Beach, of Des Moines, were elected members. Dr. Field was re-elected secretary. Dr. Whitman, treasurer; Dr. Beach, a member of the board of censors and Dr. Rawson, a trustee. Drs. Whitman and Field were placed on the publishing committee. Dr. J. F. Kennedy, then of Tipton, afterwards, for many years, secretary of the state board of health, and a resident of Des Moines, read an interesting report, drawn from his own experience at the front, on a gunshot wound in the abdomen, also on a fracture of the skull with loss of brain substance.
The eighteenth annual meeting, convened in Des Moines in February, 1870, was strengthened by many new members, including these resident physicians : H. Cox, M. Hilbert and O. B. Thompson. A heated discussion followed the reading of resolutions severely condemning the action of the State University in organizing a medical department "without giving the profession of the state an opportunity for an expression of opinion in relation to the necessity of such action." The resolutions carried. Dr. Hanawalt was elected corresponding secretary. Dr. Beach continued on the board of censors and Dr. Whitman was placed on the board of trustees.
The nineteenth annual meeting was held in the court house, Des Moines, April 19, 1871.1 Among the many new members, the only resident physician was Dr. C. W. Ullrich. Dr. Field was elected president, and Dr. Hanawalt secre- tary. Dr. E. H. Hazen, then of Davenport, since, and for many years, a specialist in Des Moines, read a learned paper on the advances of Ophthalmology in the preceding fifteen years.
Among the obituary notices published in the volume from which most of the data above given is taken, is a feeling tribute to Dr. Henry Courtney, of Des Moines, who died in June, 1861, at the age of 48. Born in Kentucky, he removed to Des Moines in 1853. His last illness was of but a few days' duration. In 1859, he was elected president of the Polk County Medical Society, and up to his death was one of that society's most active members.
After meeting elsewhere for several years in succession, in 1878 the society returned to Des Moines, and from that time on for many years it continued to meet at the capital every two or four years. The meager reports of these meet- ings are chiefly interesting as showing who were the active members from time to time. The Polk county delegation in '78 were Drs. J. T. Priestley, J. Bowman, Jr., and J. W. McDowell, all of Des Moines. Dr. J. F. Kennedy was secretary and was re-elected several years in succession. The society then included 244 members. Besides the regular delegates, were present Drs. D. V. Cole, A. G. Field, G. P. Hanawalt, Charles H. Rawson, W. H. Ward, H. L. Whitman and Isaac Windle, all of Des Moines, and J. O. Skinner, of Polk City.
In 1880 Dr. Hanawalt was president and Dr. H. R. Page was the sole local delegate in attendance.
Polk county's representation in '84 was : Drs. Brubaker, Eschbaugh, Benson, King and Finlayson of Des Moines and Drs. Gwuer [Grover] of Grimes, Booth of Altoona and Kearby of Elkhart.
1 In 1872 a new Constitution and By-Laws, those now in force, were adopted, and the Society became "a delegate body." The result of this action was the organization of local medical societies-in the counties, districts, and cities -- throughout the State, and thus a greater degree of fraternization and professional improvement was secured.
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The Medical and Surgical Directory of 1886 prints twenty-seven names of Des Moines physicians and surgeons who in 1885 were members of the Iowa State Medical Society, as follows : J. W. Adams, joined in '83; J. S. Baker, in '82 ; O. D. Benson, '84; I. P. Brubaker, '84; C. M. Colvin, '82; F. E. Cruttenden, '80; H. C. Eschbaugh, '84; A. G. Field, '65; Edith M. Gould, '82; W. W. Hale, '82; G. P. Hanawalt, '69; W. Hutchinson, '85 ; Azuba D. King, '84; H. C. LeRoy, '84; E. T. Likes, '76; J. W. McDowell, '78; E. J. McGorrisk, '83; J. W. McKee, '82 ; H. R. Page, '80; R. A. Patchin, '81; J. T. Priestley, '78; H. Prichard, '81 ; L. Schooler, '80; A. C. Simonton, '70; J. I. Wakefield, '82; W. H. Ward, '68; A. L. Worden, '82.
In '86, the county delegation was Drs. Stuart, Nysewander, Moore, Clark, Currie, Anderson, Liebhardt, Coskery and Crawford, all of Des Moines.
In '88, the county was represented by Drs. Henderson, Mathews, Cleaves (Margaret A.), Twining, Latta, Pipino and Finlayson, all of Des Moines.
In '90 the local representation was : Drs. Kelleher, Adams, Carothers, Hoff, Bagley and Benson, of Des Moines, and Stoner, of Altoona.
In '92, Des Moines was honored with the first vice presidency, and two years later, by the presidency of the society, in the person of Dr. Lewis Schooler. Dr. Hatton of Des Moines was chosen one of three state delegates to a medical con- vention in Belgium.
In '94, the city, through Mayor Hillis, accorded the society a cordial welcome, and Dr. Priestley, on behalf of the medical profession of Des Moines, heartily greeted the city's guests.
Dr. D. S. Fairchild, of Clinton, now of Des Moines, succeeded to the presi- dency in '96. The city welcomed the society, with Sidney A. Foster as its spokesman. For several years in the Nineties, Dr. Cokenower, of Des Moines, served as the society's secretary. The Polk delegates in '96 were Drs. McCarthy, Monash, Minassian, Overholt, Priestley (Crayke), Patchin and Schiltz. At this meeting the Iowa Medical Journal was made the official organ of the society.
In '98, the society was welcomed to Des Moines by Mayor McVicar. The county delegation was Drs. Grimes, Hoff, McGorrisk, Pearson and Seegar. Dr. J. T. Priestley was elected first vice president, and Dr. Cokenower began a second course as secretary.
In 1900, Dr. E. E. Dorr delivered the address of welcome. The local delega- tion was: Drs. Anderson, Currie, Davis, King, Means (Lenna L.), Parriott, Payne, Rockafellow, Stoner, Smith, Shope and Wright (Rebekah).
Mayor Brenton gave the society an effusive welcome in 1902. The Polk delegation was : Drs. Ely, Tyrell, Hoffman, Conkling, Callahan, Shively and Flan- nery of Des Moines, and Drs. Fountain and Schener, of Valley Junction. Des Moines was again honored with the presidency, this time in the person of Dr. J. T. Priestley. Dr. Gershom H. Hill, then of Independence, now of Des Moines, was elected a state trustee.
Polk county's only delegations in 1904, were Drs. D. S. Fairchild and E. L. Stevens. At this session the society began to elect "councillors" who were to serve five years. Dr. W. S. Conkling was Des Moines' first representative for the full term, Dr. E. E. Dorr was elected a state delegate to the American Medical Association.
The society returned to Des Moines in 1905, and was again welcomed to the city by Sidney A. Foster. The Polk delegates were Dr. D. S. Fairchild and J. T. Priestley, with Drs. Conkling and Grimes as their alternates. Dr. Walter S. Bierring of Iowa City, now of Des Moines, was elected first vice president.
In 1906, Dr. E. E. Dorr was again elected a delegate to the American Medical Association ; and two years later Dr. Bierring was elected president. Dr. Dorr was made the seventh district delegate on the council and Dr. D. W. Smouse was made a trustee.
In 1908, Dr. N. C. Schiltz of Des Moines was elected second vice president. In 1910, Dr. M. N. Voldeng, of Cherokee, formerly of Des Moines, was elected
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president of the society, and Dr. H. A. Minassian of Des Moines, second vice president.
The society's meeting in 19II was held in the new Coliseum, and was called to order by President Voldeng. Dr. Granville N. Ryan was elected a trustee. At this meeting the society adopted a new policy -- that of owning and publishing its own journal. The report of the committee, which was adopted, was in sub- stance, that "the 'House of Delegates' establish an official monthly journal of the society to be called the Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society, in which shall be printed the proceedings and papers of the annual meeting, etc .; that its edi- tor be elected by the house of delegates, his salary to be fixed by the trustees ; that Dr. Dorr, publisher of the Iowa Medical Journal, be paid in full for all advertising contracts then held by him which they may desire to carry, "and that this be considered as full compensation to Dr. Dorr for any rights which he may have." Dr. D. S. Fairchild was elected editor of the Journal. The committee on necrology memorialized Dr. L. Drakely Rood, for nineteen years an active prac- titioner in Des Moines, who died August 8, 1910.
The total membership of the society had increased from about 600 to 2,000. The first number of the Journal of the State Medical Society issued from Des Moines, was dated July 15, 191I.
CHAPTER II.
DES MOINES AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
The personal history of the men who took the places of the pioneer physi- cians of Fort Des Moines is not as well preserved and as full as that of the earlier period. Putting fragments together we get glimpses of a few. promi- nent physicians who served their generation faithfully, and went down to death loved and respected by those to whom they had ministered and by their fellow- citizens with whom they had public spiritedly labored.
The original Polk County Medical Society was organized in Des Moines on the 26th of May, 1858. The first organization was effected with W. H. Ward, president ; J. Bowman, Jr., and H. R. Page, vice presidents ; F. E. Cruttenden, secretary and A. C. Simonton, treasurer. Drs. Blanchard, Kennedy and Raw- son were chosen as censors. There were twenty-three charter members. The annual meetings were placed on the first Tuesday in May. Evidently the min- utes of subsequent meetings have not been preserved, since none of the sur- viving members know aught of them. Dr. A. G. Field, a pioneer physician of Des Moines, recalls the temporary lapse of the society during the years of the war, and a reorganization in 1865, or later. He also recalls many interest- ing meetings and able discussions later in the Sixties and for years thereafter, but is of the opinion that the records were never placed in permanent form for preservation.
Among the arrivals in Des Moines in the late Fifties were W. H. Dickinson and James Lillie, homeopathic physicians. Perhaps no other pioneer physician has remained in continuous practice in Des Moines as long as Dr. Dickinson. A graduate of two eastern colleges of medicine, he came to Des Moines in '58 and continued in local practice, until his death in 1898. During this time, how- ever, he served as a professor in the State University. He was for years an influential member of the State Board of Health. From 1870, when he became president of the State Medical Society of his school until his death, he was the recognized leader of that school.
Dr. Lillie was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and afterwards took a theological as well as medical course. He practiced his profession in Des Moines for several years and then removed to Iowa City, where he became a professor of ancient languages in the State University.
Dr. Steele was a pioneer in Warren county and "moved over" in 1861. For more than a score of years he practiced in the Capital city. He took an active part in politics, but never as a candidate. He was a godsend to the poor, seem- ing to care very little about compensation for his services.
Drs. Isaac Windle and William Molesworth also came to Des Moines in the late Fifties.
The Register of June 12, '61, speaking of the late Dr. Courtney, says "he. was one of the most popular, successful and scientific physicians that ever located in Central Iowa."
The War of the Rebellion brought out in bold relief two well-known physi- cians and surgeons of Des Moines, whose services, frequently, referred to in the war dispatches and correspondence, entitle them to be better remembered than they are.
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Speaking of Dr. Charles H. Rawson's appointment as surgeon, the Register of June 26, '61, said "The doctor has had much experience and his coolness of nerve, resolution and professional judgment will render him an invaluable auxil- iary to the regiment." Reviewing Dr. Rawson's career we find that destiny led the doctor a long way round to Des Moines. After graduating with honor in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, and rising superior to the terrors of small-pox in Bellevue Hospital, in '49 he became surgeon on the steamship Lewis, bound for San Francisco, via Cape Horn. He survived the wreck of the steamer and for two years served as surgeon in the Marine Hospital, in San Francisco. He then paid a visit to his old home in Vermont, where he first learned of the new Capital city of Iowa. In 1856, at the age of 28, Dr. Rawson located in Des Moines, his home from that time until the day of his death. He became surgeon of the Fifth Iowa Infantry, and later became brigade surgeon of the Third Brigade, Seventh Division, Army of the Mississippi. His extreme devotion to duty finally compelled his resignation because of ill-health. He returned to Des Moines and formed a partnership with Dr. W. H. Ward, which continued until 1881. Mr. Andrews, in his "Pioneers," says he is con- fidant the doctor in the course of his twenty-five years' practice visited every family in the city, "so universal was public confidence in his skill." In 1865, when the pension office was located in Des Moines he was appointed president of the board. This position he held until the last. His last illness illustrates his devotion to duty. During the absence of several Des Moines physicians in at- tendance on the meeting of the American Medical Association, in '84, Dr. Raw- son undertook to attend their patients, but the burden, added to his own large practice, proved too heavy, and on June 27, 1884, he died-literally with his armor on.
Speaking of Dr. W. P. Davis, whose services had been mentioned in connec- tion with the Eighth Iowa, the Register of August 14, '61, says: "Not a surgeon in the state is better qualified." The after record of Dr. Rawson and of Dr. Davis amply substantiates Editor Palmer's words of praise. Of Surgeon Davis's services at the front, Rev. V. P. Fink, who had just returned from Bird's Point, wrote:1 "It was refreshing to see Dr. Davis and estimable lady, whom I found actively employed, the doctor in the medical, his lady in the culinary department, doing their utmost for the restoration and comfort of the sick. Very many spoke in the highest terms of the doctor as possessing a heart in the right place and of the right material. With much loss of rest at night, he is daily oc- cupied from early dawn to a late hour in giving every possible attention to the sick. Careworn, his clothes fit loosely now. He told me he had not rested one day in four months, and that he felt certain that rest would soon be indispensable. His lady is to the sick of the regiment an angel of mercy, devoting every spare moment in preparing nourishment with her own hands for all who need her aid. The poor sufferers look upon her as a mother."
Dr. Davis, in a letter from New Madrid, Mo., March 14, '62, published in the Register of March 23, tells an interesting story of experiences in field and hospital ---- a story of self-sacrifice modestly told.
Dr. D. Beach, of Des Moines, was in July, '63, appointed assistant surgeon of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, then with Sherman's Army in pursuit of Johnston.
Dr. S. V. Campbell. assistant surgeon of the 23d Iowa reached Des Moines August II, '63. having been forced to resign by continued ill health.
Dr. A. G. Field was in November, 1865, appointed examining surgeon for the Pension Bureau.
The Polk County Medical Society, at a meeting held October 12. 1867, passed resolutions of respect and regard for Dr. W. P. Davis, who died on the 10th, from the effects of his arduous labors in the field as surgeon of the Tenth Iowa Infantry. The doctor was one of the founders of the society.
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