History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume I, Part 46

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1042

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

"The Homeopathic society of Northern New York, having formally dis- carded the doctrine of infinitesimal doses, the regular profession of that state have sanctioned the recognition of some who have thus advanced to more tenable grounds. When the homeopathists of Iowa shall take a like rational course and can establish the claim to a scientific medical education, we stand ready to wel- come them under our ethical code as it exists, as co-laborers for the good of man. But we see little prospect that even so much of a reform as that in New York is likely to become general, so long as the people of two great commonwealths like Iowa and Michigan continue to support in their state universities, side by side, departments for instruction in broad medical science and for the main- tenance of a special medical creed.

(Signed) J. W. H. BAKER, A. S. MAXWELL, C. H. PRESTON."

Sunday, October 22, 1905, was issued from the Democrat office an illus- trated souvenir number of that widely and most favorably known journal, and the many pages, beautifully designed and printed, were devoted to descrip- tion and reminiscent articles pertinent to the affairs of the county and its peo- ple and growth of the preceding fifty years. To be more exact, many of the contributors to this special edition, which took the title of the "Half Century Democrat," permitted their memories to take a wide range in the matter of time, and consequently a great part of the very early history of Scott county has been preserved in these well-turned pages of the Democrat. An article on the Scott County Medical society fell to the lot of Dr. C. H. Preston, of Dav- enport, and the author of this work has felt free to copy most of the salient features of the article as it appeared in the "Half Century Democrat." Dr. Preston goes on to say :

"One of the most interesting discussions of the society seems to have been had in October, 1881, at the residence of Dr. Peck, on a paper by Dr. Middle- ton summing up the President Garfield case. The remarks, while charitable in the main, were not all complimentary to Dr. Bliss; and it was considered that the daily bulletin would better have given simple facts without optimistic de- ductions, while the patient was losing weight at the rate of a pound a day.

"Another case of scarcely less interest locally was that of the protracted illness from cerebral rheumatism of Dr. W. W. Grant, now of Denver, Colorado, at that time a successful and highly esteemed physician and surgeon of this city. The case was reported by Dr. Preston, March, 1878.

"In December, 1894, the question of license for the control of the social evil being under discussion, it was recorded as the unanimous sense of the society 'that the licensing of prostitution does not prevent or limit the spread of vener- eal disease-that on the contrary a false sense of security is the result, and an increase of disease.'

"In February, 1898, the following resolutions expressing the convictions of the society on the subject of vivisection were unanimously adopted:

" 'Resolved, That we strongly protest against the enactment into law of the so-called "antivivisection bill" now pending, for these among other reasons: I. We believe that vivisection, by giving information as to the nature of dis-

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ease, information not otherwise to be obtained, is a means of preventing in- finitely more suffering than it can possibly cause; that both medical and agri- cultural science are incalculably indebted to it, and that instead of in any way hampering biological research, to which vivisection is an essential aid, an en- lightened government should rather give it every possible encouragement. II. The proposed bill puts arbitrary powers of control over matters vital to the health and happiness of the whole people in the hands of the commissioners of the District of Columbia, men who are not likely to be scientists, or possessed of expert knowledge on the subjects involved. It makes illegal much useful experimentation, confirmatory and other, and provides for untimely reports and vexatious inspections such as must often injuriously interrupt important studies, many of which would be by it wholly prevented. III. There is already in oper- ation in the District of Columbia a comprehensive and all sufficient law against cruelty to animals, which law prohibits vivisection except as properly conducted and in the interest of science. IV. A law similar to the one proposed has operated in England to restrict biological research, driving such men as the world-benefactor, Lister, to set up their laboratories abroad. V. The unani- mous protest of all the important scientific bodies of the country, including the American association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical as- sociation, the American Public Health association and the United States Veter- inary Medical association, is presumptive evidence that the legislation proposed is unwise and uncalled for.'

"On motion copies of the resolution were ordered sent to Senators Allison and Gear and Representatives Curtis and Henderson.

"The unanimous voice of the society on another matter of national impor- tance was expressed in the following resolution adopted at meeting of March, 1898, favoring the establishing of a national department of health :

"'Whereas, The conservation of the public health is a matter of primary importance, second neither to industrial, financial nor military considerations, and

"'Whereas, The United States, although severally provided, for the most part, with efficient state boards of health, are as yet without a co-ordinating sanitary head, save as inadequately represented by a branch of the treasury de- partment, and further

" 'Whereas, The so-called "Caffrey bill" would clothe the Marine Hospital service with extreme quarantine powers without enlarging its sphere as to other health matters, and without removing its dependent status, while the other, known as the "Spooner bill," formulated by the American Medical association and endorsed by the American Public Health association, aims to establish a national department, or commission of health, subservient to health interests only, with full control over all national sanitary matters and advisory with the several states, therefore

" 'Resolved, That while deprecating the former or "Caffrey bill," as a partial and ill-advised measure, we strongly endorse the association or "Spooner bill" and bespeak for it the active support of our senators and representatives in congress.'

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FIRST TELEPHONE.

"It may be recalled as of some interest, now that the telephone has become a necessity for the physician, as for all business men, that one of the first instru- ments, if not the first to be installed in this city, connected the office and resi- dence of Dr. W. F. Peck; it being recorded that, on the evening of May 2, 1878, there being no further business, 'The society adjourned in part to the residence and in part to the office of Dr. Peck and spent a pleasant hour in test- ing the wonders of the new invention.' This antedates Davenport's first exchange by about two years.

"The very interesting social life of the society, whether meeting in the council chamber, where some of the earlier sessions were held, in the Academy of Sciences, whose doors were open to it for a time, or in the offices or hospitable homes of its members, can be no more than alluded to in this hurried retrospect. Also the many valuable papers and reports discussed and the occasional cases of discipline which, happily, were less frequent as the years went on, must be left to the fading pages where they stand recorded. It may be well, however, to bring together at this time a few notes of the early members, chiefly those who are no longer with us, those who were prominent in the pioneer work of the association, which was and is one of the leading county societies of the state.

EARLY MEMBERS.

"Of the seventeen original signers of the constitution the two Drs. Car- penter and Dr. Pelton removed from the city within a few years; Drs. Keith, O'Reardon and Line drop out of the records before 1865, and Dr. Carter in 1867.

I. "Dr. James Thistle was born an even century ago (August 4, 1805) at Cumberland, Maryland, to which place his father, when a lad, had been brought by the doctor's grandfather from Ireland. James graduated from the University of Maryland, in 1829, and practiced briefly in his native state, at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and at Vincennes, Indiana (where he married) ; then settled at Natchez, Mississippi, where, officing with his distinguished brother- in-law, Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright, he acquired a competency. Having in- vested somewhat unfortunately in a cotton plantation, and wishing to find a more healthful locality for his family, he came north and to Davenport in 1850. Dr. Tomson, the writer of the memoir from which these notes are chiefly taken, found him here in 1856, enjoying perhaps the largest practice of any physician in the city. Erect and pleasing in figure, courteous, modest and unassuming, he was universally loved and respected. 'To him, more than to any other man,' says Dr. Tomson, 'are we indebted for our organization. It was through him that the first step was taken. He called the first meeting and acted as the first president of our organization as a medical society.' Dr. Thistle, while chairman of the preliminary meeting, and elected president later, was not, however, the first elected president of the society, that honor having fallen to Dr. E. S. Barrows. Dr. Thistle died of pneumonia in 1863; his grave in Oakdale is near that of Dr. Fountain.

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2. "Dr. Egbert S. Barrows, a Vermont graduate of 1824, came to Daven- port, or rather to Rockingham, in 1836, having been a surgeon in the Seminole Indian war. Rugged, decided and resolute, he was a typical pioneer physician, able and active. As illustrative of the man it is related of him that he once charged and collected a fee of one hundred dollars for one dose of Epsom salts, that being all that was needed to relieve the patient, an old patron, who had re- turned to him after vainly consulting an irregular practitioner! Retiring from active practice about 1860 he was made examining surgeon of recruits, and subsequently examiner for pensions, and died here March 8, 1892, at the ripe . age of ninety-three years. In obituary resolutions read before the society Dr. Saunders says of Dr. Barrows: 'He was a man of mark of whose memory the city of Davenport and the state of Iowa may well be proud.'

3. "Dr. John Mercer Adler, an able physician, graduate of the National Medical college, Washington, who later became 'prominent in medical and lit- erary circles,' came to Davenport in 1852 or 1853. With his partner, Dr. Foun- tain, he had been connected with the construction of the railroad across the isthmus of Panama. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was made chief physi- cian of the military hospital of Camp McClellan, Dr. J. W. H. Baker being as- sociated with him, and the brother-in-law of the latter, Dr. Richardson, suc- ceeding in charge of the hospital when, in March, 1865, Dr. Adler removed to Philadelphia. There he married the daughter of a prominent physician, and died as recently as February, 1904, at Devon, Chester county, Pennsylvania.

4. "Dr. Ezra James Fountain, one of the original members of the society, died here in March, 1861, from an overdose of chlorate of potassa, self-adminis- tered in a study of the drug. From a memorial sketch delivered before the so- ciety by his associate, Dr. Keith, we gather that Dr. Fountain, a successful and esteemed young physician, was a graduate of Nassau hall, Princeton, and of the College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York. He came from the Hudson to the Mississippi about 1853, with high anticipations and found a warm welcome here. 'An enthusiastic devotee of medical science, kind-hearted and sympathiz- ing among his patients, attractive in person, agreeable in manners, cultivated and refined in tastes-well and bravely did he wage battle in the cause of human suffering.'

5. "Dr. J. M. Witherwax was surgeon of an Iowa regiment of volunteers (Twenty-fourth or Twenty-sixth). Returning after the war he engaged again in practice here until about 1870, when he died from lead poisoning. He was at one time president of the Iowa State Medical society and was president of the county society in 1866 when the state society met in this city.

6. "Dr. Archibald Stevens Maxwell long enjoyed a large practice here. Of Scotch descent, a native of Ohio, graduated from Hudson college, Cleve- land, he came to Davenport in 1855, invested and lost considerable money, and then went actively to work in his profession. Sent to the front by Governor Kirkwood, who had been a boyhood friend, he served with credit at the siege of Vicksburg and elsewhere, returning here in 1864 for twenty years more of hard work. Then with broken health he went to California where, near Los Angeles, he died in 1884.

GREEN HOUSE, CENTRAL PARK

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7. "Dr. Joshua Johnson Tomson, the first secretary of the Scott County so- ciety, was born in Massachusetts in 1831. He graduated at Berkshire Medical college, came west and to Davenport in 1856, and spent an honored and successful life here until his death from grippe in 1901. He was president of the Mercy Hospital Medical board during the last ten years of his life, being deeply inter- ested in the unfortunate and dependent of all classes, but especially solicitous for the rights and welfare of the insane. As the writer knew him he was serious, careful and kind, commanding the affection as well as the confidence of his patrons.

8. "Dr. Charles Christopher Parry was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1823, came to America in 1832, graduated in medicine at Columbia college and came to Davenport in 1849. He practiced medicine only a few months be- fore drifting into the more congenial work of a botanical collector. He iden- tified himself, however, with the Scott County Medical society at its organiza- tion, being one of the original signers and its third president in 1859. He made extensive and repeated explorations of the Rocky mountains, Rio Grande, Mexi- can and Pacific coast regions during many years, returning to Washington and to his Davenport home occasionally, and died here in 1890. He was in- timately connected with the Davenport Academy of Sciences, was its second president, and contributed much by his valuable papers, to the flattering recog- nition of its proceedings abroad.

9. "Dr. Thomas J. Saunders, one of the seventeen original signers, while spending most of his life in governmental and journalistic pursuits, was always interested in the profession of his early choice, and retained his membership in the society until his death. He was born at Woodbury, New Jersey, in 1819, his parents being members of the Society of Friends. Graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1843, he practiced for a time in his native village, was made a member of the constitutional conven- tion of New Jersey in 1848, and later, having come to this city in 1855, was a member of the constitutional convention of Iowa during the revision of the code of 1860. He was commissioned paymaster and was with the army two years in the field, being with Sherman on his memorable march to the sea. Remaining in government employ until about 1889, he returned to Davenport much broken in health and remained here until his death in 1897.

10. "Dr. John Waterman Harris Baker, one of those who attended the called meeting preliminary to the organization of the Scott County Medical so- ciety, was born in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, August 21, 1821. He gradu- ated from Dartmouth Medical college, in 1842, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes being one of the professors whose lectures he attended. Practicing successfully in New England until 1853, he contracted the gold fever and migrated to Cali- fornia, opening an office at Moquelumne Hill, Calaveras county. Being burnt out in 1855, he returned to his eastern home; but soon turned west again, ex- ploring for a location. Pleased with Davenport he opened an office here in November, 1855, and from that time on to his death, on April 7th of the present year (1905), he was an active and successful physician here, one especially loved and trusted. Dr. Baker was commissioned assistant surgeon and served for a time in the military hospital at Camp McClellan. He was prominent in the

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state as well as in the county society, serving as president of the former in 1866. He was in actual practice for over sixty years, and was ever the friend of the upright and the foe of the fraudulent, to the extent of his ability.

II. "Dr. William A. Hosford was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, May 15, 1819, and died here September 8, 1874. He graduated at the Albany Medical college in 1846 and came to Davenport in 1857. Kindly and retiring, he had yet built up a large practice when, in 1870, his health failing, he engaged in the hardware trade, being associated with his son-in-law, James R. Nutting.

12. "Dr. Thomas John Iles was born at Covington, Kentucky, March 17, 18II. He was a graduate of Transylvania college, Louisville, and came to Daven- port in April, 1862, having practiced previously at Midway, Woodford county, Kentucky. Dr. Iles had owned slaves but, being a republican and opposed to secession, he freed them and came north. In the fall of 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln head surgeon on the island, with Dr. Farquharson as his assistant. His membership in the Scott County society dates from 1864. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and was universally esteemed and respected among his fellow citizens for more than a quarter of a century when he died here Oc- tober 27, 1888.

13. "Dr. James McCortney, a graduate of the Western Reserve Medical college in 1853, was admitted to membership in the Scott County Medical society early in 1857, having come to Davenport the preceding fall. Born in Pennsyl- vania, September 8, 1825, he died in Chicago on the anniversary of his birth, 1904. Dr. McCortney was for many years the principal Catholic physician of the city and enjoyed an extensive practice, which he relinquished, owing to failing health, only a few months before his death. He was one of the surgeons attending the prisoners on the island during the war and later held the office of coroner for an extended period.

14. "Dr. Delia S. Irish, a native of the state of New York, was the first lady member of the Scott County, as also of the Iowa State Medical Society. She was a graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia and joined the county so- ciety here in 1873, remaining an honored and active member until her death from consumption in 1878, at the age of thirty-six. Quiet, industrious and deter- mined. 'she was a woman of culture and refinement who commanded the admira- tion and esteem of all who knew her.'

15. "Dr. Robert James Farquharson was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and was a graduate both of the University of Nashville and of the University of Pennsylvania. After two years of practice in New Orleans he became assistant surgeon in the United States navy, thus being privileged to see much of the world, but acquiring also an unfortunate deafness while cruising on the coast of Africa. This greatly hampered his professional activity, but under President Johnson, who was an intimate friend, he held important hospital positions during the war. Coming to this city in 1868 he officed with his warm friend and fellow Scotchman by descent, Dr. W. D. Middleton, doing almost exclusively a consult- ing practice. He died in Des Moines in 1864. at the age of sixty, the last four years of his life, as has been stated, being given to the state board of health as its efficient secretary. Dr. Farquharson, as the writer knew him, was a man of the most kindly and lovable personality. Devoted to natural science and to pre-

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ventive medicine, he was brimful of accurate information on any topic that might come up. He had read and experienced much and his memory was won- derful. His little mannerism of a short, hacking cough, which always preceded speech, only helped the full gaze of his mild blue eye to capture one's heart ; he made friends of all who knew him.

16. "Dr. Washington Freeman Peck .- In July, 1864, Dr. Adler presented for membership in the Scott County Medical Society a name than which none shines brighter in the medical annals of the state-that of W. F. Peck. Born in Wayne county, New York, of Scotch descent on his father's side, he had gradu- ated at Bellevue, and served as house surgeon at Bellevue and Blackwell's island hospitals and as United States surgeon in the Lincoln general hospital, Washing- ton, before coming to this city in 1864, at the age of twenty-three. From that time until his death here in 1891 Dr. Peck was identified with the history and interests of Davenport and of Iowa. Brave, skillful and cool, he soon took front rank as a surgeon, his fame reaching even across the Atlantic and placing him in the estimation of his fellows as 'one of the six most successful surgeons of the United States.' With the cooperation of warm friends, such as Judge John F. Dillon and Colonel J. P. Irish, he founded, and with loyal helpers such as Dr. W. D. Middleton, D. N. Richardson and others, he built up the medical depart- ment of the Iowa State University, of which he was made dean, and which stands as his monument today. He was also a prime mover and the medical father, as it were, of Mercy hospital of this city, of the surgical department of the Rock Island road, and of the Iowa Orphans' Home in its extension to more general usefulness. Dr. Peck possessed, in a wonderful degree, the faculty of inspiring absolute confidence in his patients; they felt that he knew his ground. The writer who, soon after graduating, spent some months in Dr. Peck's office, was as much impressed by his conscientious care in determining the question of operating as by the fearless skill of his hand when the decision was reached for action.

17. "Dr. William Drummond Middleton .- In June, 1868. Dr. French pre- sented the name of Dr. W. D. Middleton for membership in the Scott County Medical Society, and he was unanimously elected at the July meeting. Probably no citizen of Davenport, before or since, has been so universally loved, honored and mourned, as the young physician then starting in practice at the age of twenty-four, came to be at the time of his death from blood poisoning in 1902. Coming with his parents from Scotland to America in 1856, and soon after to Davenport, he grew up here, studied medicine with Dr. Peck, graduated at Belle- vue, was one of the first faculty of the State University of Iowa medical depart- ment, and at Dr. Peck's death took his place as its dean, and also as surgeon-in- chief of the Rock Island road. The writer knew him as the embodiment of kindness and the most perfect honor, these with industry won deserved success.

18. "Dr. Alonzo W. Cantwell, born at Mansfield, Ohio, and a medical graduate of the University of Michigan, came to Davenport in. 1869 and died here in 1899, having been an active and greatly esteemed citizen for thirty years. Especially interested in sanitation, he was connected with the Davenport board of health continuously from its inception until his death. He was at the front during the epidemic of cholera in 1873 and the epidemics of smallpox in 1872 and

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1882, bravely withstanding the unreasoning opposition to needed restrictive measures. Dr. Cantwell was kindly and popular in the extreme. To be with him on the street it would seem that almost every citizen, high and low, knew him and was quick to return his cheery greeting in kind.

19. "Dr. Lucius French, the oldest surviving member at this writing (1905), was born near Binghamton, New York, 1832, graduated at Berkshire Medical college, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1853, and after a few years' practice in the east, located at Anamosa, Iowa, in 1862. Enlisting as a surgeon in the Thirty- first Iowa Infantry, he served through the war, located in Davenport in March, 1865, and was elected to membership in the county society the following month. From that time on Dr. French has been among our foremost physicians and most honored citizens.

20. "Dr. Jennie McCowen .- Though still living and still active in the so- ciety, as she has been ever since joining it in 1880, Dr. McCowen's work for Davenport has been such that it must not be passed wholly without mention. Eminently practical in her humanitarian views, she has found time, in the midst of a busy practice, to embody them in a strong organization of far-reaching be- neficence based on E. E. Hale's admonition to 'lend a hand.' Allusion has before been made to her active interest in the welfare of the insane, and she is prominent in various humanitarian societies.

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History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume I, Part 46

Author: Downer, Harry E Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1042

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1042