USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Cass County, Volume II > Part 29
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The herb doctors, mentioned above, should not be classed with the regular physicians of a cer- tain school who styled themselves "botanic doc- tors," but they include the good old grand- mothers, and the thoughtful, elderly men to be found in every pioneer neighborhood, who had learned the medicinal values, and the stimu- lative and curative properties of a great many of the herbs, barks, plants and roots growing wild in the wooded country, and knew how to prepare them for use as household remedies, in cases of simple ailments. Ginseng, snakeroot, wild cherry bark, Indian turnip, calamus, bone- set, slippery elm and walnut bark, were all gathered and stored away in niches and cor- ners of the cabins for use when occasion de- manded.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
HARD LIFE AMONG PIONEERS.
When the regular physicians came, however, and located in or near a settlement. they were generally welcomed. Iu the main, they did not stand aloof and pose as a superior class, rely- ing upon the dignity of their professiou as suffi- cient evidence of their superiority, but those who succeeded best usually selected a tract of land. and either purchased it from the prior owner, or entered it from the government, then immediately set about as did the other settlers, to make a home for themselves aud family; to advance the interests of the uew community, and to add what they could to the general progress and prosperity. Many are remembered as noble, generous hearted and kiud, "animated by an indomitable spirit of progress aud enter- prise." Yet, of all the inhabitants of the uew country, the physicians, perhaps, endured the greatest hardships. At any and all hours of the night or day they were called upon to respond to the call for the relief of suffering; uo night beiug too dark or cold, no storm too severe to deter them. They swam their horses over swollen streams, and guided them through the timber and thickets of underbrush where not even a bridle path led to the widely separated dwellings of the pioneer. Often drenched with rain, and their clothing frozeu stiff upon theu), almost perishing, they plodded on, weary and
hungry, and for but little remuneration at the best. In a measure, however, they had their reward. No person in all the country round was so highly respected as the doctor. The very word "doctor" before his uame was the sesame that threw open to him every door far aud wide. The best bed in the house was at his disposal, if he could find but a few minutes to take a much ueeded repose, while the very choicest the table could afford was placed before him if he would but delay on his ride long enough to partake of it. He was honored and beloved as he deserved, and aside from his professional skill was often called on to act in other capaci- ties. It was he who was present at the birth of the first born, and ofteu at the birth of many following children, because in those days the family was large, and it was he who stood by when the last flicker of life went out from the wife and mother, his best skill could uot save, and closed her eyes and turned to console. as a friend and brother, the broken hearted and disconsolate husband left with a brood of
small children to rear alone. Thus the pioueer doctor went on his daily and uightly rounds, year in aud year out, aud only an iron constitu- tion, which so many of them seem to have had, withstood the wearyiug, grinding experience. High was the character of the doctors, in the .main, who were among the early settlers who came to Illinois and were such effective factors in advancing civilization, and they merit a spe- cial place in the history of every community.
FIRST PHYSICIAN IN CASS COUNTY.
The first physician to locate uear aud prac- tice in Cass County, was Dr. Andrew Elder, who was born at Lexington, Ky., July 6, 179S. He attended the public schools of that city, and also Lexington College, from which institutiou he was graduated in 1820. He later entered the medical department of Transylvania University, Lexington, aud ou March 9, 1823, was awarded the degree of. Doctor of Medicine. In the fol- lowiug spring he came with his father to Illi- uois, aud located on a farm south of Old Prince- ton, in what was then Morgan Couuty. Iu 1826, Princeton, which is now one of the van- ished and almost forgotten villages of the county, had reached such importance as to re- quire a postoffice, and Eli Redding was appointed postmaster. Ou January 15, 182S, Dr. Elder married Miss Hannah Redding, daughter of the aforesaid postmaster. This is said to have been the first wedding of white people in the terri- tory now comprising Cass Couuty. The doctor moved into the village of Princeton iu 1835, but later returned to the farm. Subsequently he sold the Morgan County farm and bought oue on section 1S, township 17, rauge 9, in Cass ' County. After residing ou it for a while, he sold his farm, and buying another in the edge of Morgan County, moved to it with his family, continuing his practice as a country physician. In 1859, he sold his farm aud came back to Princeton, but only remained in that village un- til the following spring, when he moved to Logan County, Ill. There, in the village of Wil- liamsville, near the southern line of that county, lie departed this life on March 6, 1872. His two sons. Charles and Ripley Elder, became preach- ers of the gospel, and were citizens of this county many years.
OTHER EARLY PHYSICIANS.
Another early physician, Dr. Ephriam Rew, came to Beardstown iu 1829. He was boru in
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
Massachusetts in 177S. After a trip of six weeks on horseback in 1829, he reached Meredosia, in Morgan County, but finding there were already two physicians in that place, decided to go fur- ther. Learning of the Mound village, on up the Illinois River, he made his plans to locate there, and returning to his home, settled up his af- fairs, and once more came west, bringing his family with him. This time he landed at St. Louis, and taking a flatboat, loaded it with what goods and chattels he possessed, and with his family made a laborious trip of six weeks to Beardstown, in the same year it had been laid out. Dr. Rew was the first physician to prac- tice his profession at Beardstown. He remained there for some time, and then purchased a farm on section 29, township 18, range 11, near the present site of Bluff Springs. Until his death, May 23, 1842, he continued to reside on this farm, managing his property while engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1846, his widow married (second) Benjamin Stribling, the father of Isaac Milton Stribling, now de- ceased, who was one of the largest landowners and wealthiest farmers of Cass County at the time of his demise. Dr. Rew was buried in the old cemetery which he had helped to establish, in the city of Beardstown. His daughter, Mrs. Cynthia A. McConnell, who was, for forty years, a resident of Virginia, is still living at the home of her son, Louis McConnell, in McCook, Neb.
FOUNDER OF CHANDLERVILLE.
Dr. Charles Chandler was the next physician of Cass County, and came as far as Beardstown in the spring of 1832, on a steamboat bound for Fort Clark on Lake Peoria, but the second Black Hawk war was then agitating the people and making it dangerous to travel very far to the north, so Dr. Chandler stopped off and after investigating the country, located near the mouth of Panther Creek, the present site of Chandlerville. He was born July 2, 1806, at Woodstock, Conn. He founded and laid out the present village of Chandlerville, where he lived and practiced his profession until his sud- den death in 1879.
LAID OUT TOWN OF VIRGINIA.
Dr. Henry Hall was the first physician to locate at Virginia. He came to Illinois in 1833, and entered land, returning later, and in 1836
he laid out the town of Virginia, settling down there, where he remained until his death, in 1847.
Dr. Samuel McClure came to Cass County from Kentucky in 1834, and settled on land which he later made into an excellent farm. He laid claim to the southwest quarter of section 19, township 17, range 10, which he entered November 5, 1835. Dr. McClure belonged to that school of practice known as "botanic doc- tors," or "Tomsonians," but they were styled by physicians who regarded themselves as the "regular" profession, as "root and yerb" ped- dlers, therefore the right hand of good fellow- ship was not extended to Dr. McClure by the exclusive circle of "regulars," but nevertheless he was highly regarded as a man and citizen, even by the old school doctors. He was born in Woodford County, Ky., October 5, 1800. His father was a slave holder, in affluent circum- stances, and gave his son a very liberal educa- tion. Before entering upon the practice of med- icine, Dr. McClure taught school for several years. Then, having devoted his spare time to the study of medical books written by Dr. Thompson, the botanical theorist, he left the schoolroom, and began to put to a practical test the ideas he had been studying. On March 13, 1833, he married Miss Louisa Graff, a daugh- ter of another well-to-do farmer of Woodford County, Ky., and the next spring they came to Illinois, making the trip in a wagon. The main reason for Dr. McClure leaving the south was his antipathy to slavery. Although he had been reared in the midst of slavery, his father own- ing a large number of slaves, the system was very obnoxious to him, and as it seemed impos- sible to remove slavery from the southern states, rather than live under its blight, he concluded to move to the free state of Illinois. During the winter of 1834-5, he taught school, and so continued during several following winters. The public school system had not then been intro- duced, and school teachers, competent or other- wise, were extremely scarce. Therefore Dr. Mc- Clure's advent and the opening of his winter school, were highly appreciated by the neigh- boring settlers. By patient toil and industry, and living a frugal, temperate life, Dr. McClure gained something more than a competence, and left to his children a splendid farm in a high state of cultivation, well improved and well stocked. He had abandoned practice .several years prior to his death. Three children, two
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
daughters and one son, were born to Dr. and Mrs. McClure. The younger daughter, Ann Du- puy McClure, was married November 10, 1859, to Robert Hall, a son of Dr. Henry Hall, the founder of the town of Virginia. Mrs. Hall died at her home in Virginia, July 24, 1892. Dr. McClure was one of the substantial, reliable men of Cass County, a good neighbor, and a sup- porter of churches, schools and all other agen- cies of modern civilization. His influence was always given to such movements as tended to better the conditions of society. On the farm where he devoted the best years of his life to hard toil, Dr. McClure died on August 27, 1865, aged sixty-four years, ten months and eight days.
DR. THOMAS POTHICARY.
The next physician to follow Dr. Henry Hall, in the new town on the prairie, was Dr. Thomas Pothicary, who, together with his wife and two small children, entered the village from the west, having landed from a steamboat at Beards- town, on the Illinois River, and from that thriving city, drove with an ox-team over the state road to the future capital of Cass County. Dr. Pothicary was born in Wilkeshire, England, April 21, 1797. His advent in the village was on July 4, 1836, but two months after Dr. Hall had platted a portion of the lands recently acquired from the government, into squares, streets, lots and alleys. There were but three houses in Vir- ginia, when Dr. Pothicary and his family sought shelter from the broiling sun that hot July day. Where they stopped or where they lived dur- ing the succeeding year is unknown. The only record of the physician's early attempts to es- tablish a home is found in the office of the re- corder of deeds. There it appears that on Sep- tember 11, 1837, Reddick Horn conveyed to him for a consideration of $GS, lot 102 in the orig- inal town. That lot is the site of the King fur- niture store on the south side of the courthouse square. On that lot Dr. Pothicary began at once to erect a two-story frame building, which, when completed, he called a tavern. For many years Pothicary's Tavern was known far and wide. The stage coaches from Beardstown and from Springfield made it a stopping place. It is not known where he obtained the sawed lumber that went into the construction of the building, but presumably at Beardstown, thirteen miles dis- tant, as this town at that time had a sawmill.
Dr. Pothicary also kept a few standard drugs and medicines, and thus in embryo, was the first druggist of Virginia. The results from his sale of these medicaments together with the profits of tavern keeping and the remuneration received from a necessarily limited practice as a physician, brought him some little wealth. The records show that he bought and sold several lots in Virginia. It is said that Dr. Pothicary in religious affiliation, in early days of his life, was a Quaker. When he came to Virginia he was thirty-nine years old, and there being no church building of any sort, nor any religious society in existence there, nor for some time thereafter, he gave little expression to his views on any religious subject. He was, however, al- most puritanical in his intolerance and abhor- rence of vice and immorality in any form. He never used profanity, or vulgar language, and detested those who did, nor would he permit the use of such language in his tavern or in any place where he exercised control. He had the honor of entertaining the governor of the state for one night at his tavern. In 1845, the Mor- mon troubles were still agitating the people` at Nauvoo, in Hancock County, and when they as- sumed larger proportions than the local authori- ties could handle, the state militia was called out. Governor Thomas Ford being advised of the difficulty, promptly called the militia to sup- press the belligerents. Emulating the example of one of his predecessors, Governor John Reyn- olds in the Black Hawk war, he placed himself at the head of a company of soldiers and marched westward from Springfield, the capital, until the sun was out of sight behind the Pothi- cary tavern, when he and his command halted in the town of Virginia, and the infantry went to camp on the Public Square, and the artillery on the brow of the hill about on the present site of the Christian church. The Governor, however, did not camp with the private soldiers, but established his headquarters at the Pothicary tavern, where, after a satisfying hearty sup- per, such as the hospitable doctor-landlord would naturally prepare and set before his distin- guished guest, the Governor began talking. Then occurred an incident which well illustrates the characteristics of the doctor. The Governor, it is said, was, under certain conditions, addicted to the use of language which did not meet with the approval of the landlord, who requested the Governor to refrain from the use of some ex- pressions which offended him. Two versions are
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JAMES CUNNINGHAM
MRS. JAMES CUNNINGHAM
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
given of the incident. One is that the Governor resented the reproof, and asked Dr. Pothicary if he knew to whom he was speaking, reminding him that he was the Governor of Illinois, to which, according to the tradition, Dr. Pothicary replied that he would not permit him to use such language in his house, governor or no governor. The other version, as told to the writer by Hon. W. H. Weaver, of Petersburg, Ill., who says he was present and heard the conversation, was that when Dr. Pothicary requested the Governor to refrain from the use of such language, the offi- cial looked up in astonishment, but apparently realizing the error of his conduct, apologized to the doctor, and was about to retire, when an- other person, the Rev. W. H. Collins, who had stepped into the hotel to take a look at the dis- tinguished visitor, began to lecture the chief executive, and the latter, smarting under his humiliation at the just rebuke from the land- lord, looked squarely at the little preacher who was just about the size of the Governor, and, with withering scorn, intimated with emphatic language that it was none of his concern what he, the Governor, said, and turning on his heel went up to his room.
After the county seat had been removed to Beardstown, in 1845, and so many merchants of Virginia had gone to the new county seat or else- where, Dr. Pothicary remained at Virginia, for two years, when he, too, capitulated, and moved to Beardstown, where, down on Main street, near the river in that town, he conducted a tavern for about a year. He then returned to Virginia, and bought a farm near Sugar Grove, in town- ship 17, range 9, containing 160 acres. There he and his family lived until 1849, when, on gold being discovered in California in such quantities as to excite the interest of the whole country, Dr. Pothicary, with a number of others from Virginia and its vicinity, went to Califor- nia. He was not successful as a miner, and soon came back richer in experience only, and continued to live on his farm for thirty-two years. During the Civil war he was appointed provost marshal when it was deemed expedient to draft men into the service. He served his country faithfully and well during that trying period in that exacting position. No man, not even a Palestinian tax gatherer in the days of Herod, was so cordially hated as the provost marshal. However, Dr. Pothicary was not per- forming his duties along that line to receive the approbation of his fellow citizens, or to avoid
their hatred. He was intensely patriotic towards his adopted land, and was doing all in his power, in his advanced age, to assist the federal government in its hour of sore distress. In 1870 Dr. Pothicary and his wife moved to Virginia, his family having in the meanwhile grown to maturity and married. There he pur- chased a lot in Stowe's Addition, built on it a comfortable house, and there they lived until July 23, 1878, when he died from the loss of blood from a wound inflicted by his own hand. He had reached the ripe age of eighty-one years, two months and twelve days, and was buried in the Robinson graveyard near his farm home. Thus passed away one of Cass County's unique characters, one who had been a peculiar and familiar figure in and about the central portion of Cass County for forty-two years.
Dr. Mahlon H. L. Schooley was born in Lees- burg, Loudoun County, Va., December 12, 1812. There he received a common school education, and advanced sufficiently in learning to qualify for teaching school, in which work he engaged for several years. In 1837 he cast his fortune with the great wave of emigration that set towards Illinois, and with a number of others landed at Beardstown, in the spring of that year. He learned of the settlement on Panther Creek, up the Sangamon bottom, and of the generous, kindly Dr. Chandler, who had started that settlement, and so trudged on foot up to that point in Cass County. The young man found a place with Dr. Chandler, with whom he studied medicine for three years, and then, upon the advice of the good doctor, went to Virginia, Ill., in 1840. He soon acquired an excellent practice, and in the summer of 1841 was married to Catherine J. Gatton, a daughter of Thomas Gatton, one of the pioneers of Cass County, locating in it when it was still a por- tion of Morgan County. Dr. Schooley, after his marriage, bought two lots in the first addition to Virginia, which had a small frame house on them, and there he lived until he was attacked by the gold fever of 1849. In the meanwhile he had been presented as a candidate to the people by the Whig party for the office of county recorder, he being a hearty supporter of that party. Dr. Schooley was elected at the regular election in August, 1843, but a vote being taken in September of that same year on the county seat question, resulting in its removal to Beards- town, the doctor resigned his office when the records were removed two years later, as he
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
did not care to give up his practice as a physi- cian, as he would have been obliged to do if he had followed them to Beardstown. He was an enterprising citizen, and engaged in a milling business with N. B. Beers, as has already been mentioned. In 1849 he closed out his business and in company with Dr. Pothicary. Joseph Cosner, John Buckley and others. went to Cali- fornia by way of New Orleans and the Isthmus of Panama. After spending a year in California, he returned to Cass County, but if he bronght any great amount of gold back with him. he very carefully concealed the fact. He soon regained his practice, and his leadership in his community. When the company for the building of the Illinois River Railroad, afterwards called the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad, was formed, he was elected its secretary. Prosper- ing. he soon built a very large and substantial residence on the lots he had formerly purchased. It is the property now known as the Samuel Petefish residence on west State street. and is yet regarded as one of the best in Virginia. The doctor, however, found his health failing, and so sold all his belongings in Cass County. and moved to Bath, in Mason County. There he remained for two years without any appre- ciable improvement in his health, so again sell- ing. he went to Cass County, Mo., where. in 1877. he died at the age of sixty-five years and two days. having expired just two days after the anniversary of his birthday, December 12.
A PROMINENT PHYSICIAN AND CHEMIST.
Dr. Theodore A. Hoffman was born in Saxe- Altenburg. a district of Saxony. Germany, on November 9. 1SOS. He was thoroughly educated in the better schools of his native land during his youth, later being apprenticed to a promi- nent chemist of Neustadt, where, during his four years indenture. he became remarkably profi- cient and skillful. He attended for three years the University of Jena. an institution of wide reputation. his principal studies there being chemistry, botany, physiology and pharmacy. In 1829 he removed to Hamburg, and from that place. in May. 1831, he set sail for the United States, landing at New York in August of the same year. Settling at Brooklyn, N. Y., he there established a laboratory where the first artificial borax was manufactured in the coun- try. the process being at that time known only in Germany ; one year later went to Northamp-
ton, Pa., and associated himself with Dr. Wesse- hott, bnt moved from there to Philadelphia. In 1835 he visited St. Lonis, and after a summer in that city, came to Beardstown, where he at once engaged in the practice of medicine, and also opened and conducted a small drug store. In 1847 he sold his drug, store to Menke & Bro., and revisited Germany with his family, consist- ing of his wife and three children. On his return to America. he resided a year at St. Louis, but then came back to Beardstown, where he repurchased his drug store, and resnmed his practice. Once more he sold the drug store to Menke & Bro., and opened an office at his resi- dence, where, for a number of years. he devoted his attention to perfecting scientific methods. He received from the national government in 185S a patent for the improved manufacture of dextrine. sngar, alcohol. etc. In 1866 he received a patent for a respirator. and in 1870, one for an aspirator, designed to prevent the overheat- ing of bulk grain, etc .. for which he received a diploma at the St. Louis Fair of 1871. Again, in 1872. he received a patent for the improvement in the generation of ozone, as a remedy for diseases of the respiratory organs. Dr. Hoffman was married in September, 1839, to Lucia E. Menke, and he died at Beardstown. June 30, 1890. at the age of eighty-one years. seven months and twenty-one days.
Dr. Frederick Ehrhardt, another highly edu- cated German, who came to Cass County in an early day, was born at Grund. in the Hartz Mountains, in southern Hanover, Germany, on March 15. 1817. He received an excellent early school training in his home schools, and when twenty-one years of age. in 183S. he entered Gottingen University in the Kingdom of Han- over, from which he was graduated in 1842, and then passed a state or government examination, in which he received the highest honors of his class. Two years later he determined to cast his fortunes with the American republic. and after an interesting trip in a sailing vessel. he arrived at Baltimore. Md., where he remained practicing his profession, thinking for a time that he would make that city his permanent home. Many Germans coming to this country. however, had gone to more western states. especially to Mis- souri. St. Louis attracting them, as it then had prospects of becoming the great metropolis of the West. and after two years at Baltimore, Dr. Ehrhardt took a stage trip over the Alleghenies to the Ohio River, and went by boat to St. Louis.
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