USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume II > Part 37
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Dr. F. A. McConoughy began his medical practice at Olney, Ill., in 1854. There he re- mained three years. Then he removed to Tren- ton, Clinton County, later returning to Olney. When the war broke out, he was appointed Regimental Surgeon of the Seventeenth Mis-
souri Volunteers, and was afterward Medical Director for the Department of Louisiana. When the war closed he came to Belleville and was in general practice there until August, 1880, when he removed to St. Louis.
Dr. Charles H. Christoffe won success in his profession at French Village.
Dr. Louis C. Starkel was born at Prague, Bo- hemia, Austria, September 11, 1839. He came to the United States in 1850 and to St. Clair County in 1861. Failing health compelled him to relinquish medical practice in December, 1869, and he became a deputy in the office of the County Clerk. He was County Clerk from 1873 to 1880.
Dr. T. C. Jennings was born in Bloomfield, Chautauqua County, N. Y., May 8, 1836, a son of the Rev. Thomas J. Jennings of the Metho- dist church. At the age of six he was taken by his father to Ohio, and, four years later, went to Wisconsin, where he was prepared to enter Rush Medical College at Chicago. He studied at that institution in 1856-58, and was graduated with the degree of M. D. He prac- ticed at Mayville, Wis., until 1860, when he came to St. Louis. Unsettled conditions due to the approach of war prevented him from continuing his practice in Missouri. He taught school two years at French Village and became Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and Sev- enteenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, Novem- ber 15, 1862. As such he served during the war, often doing gallant duty as a soldier while in nowise neglecting his duty as a surgeon. He began the practice of his profession at East St. Louis immediately after the close of the war. He married Miss Clementine Illinski, daughter of Dr. A. X. Illinski, June 24, 1867. He had official experience which is referred to elsewhere in these pages.
Dr. John Saltenberger, son of John William and Elizabeth (Miller) Saltenberger, was born April 1, 1838, at Naunstadt am Unsingen, Nas- sau, Germany. He came to America with his father's family in 1847, and they located on a farm south of Millstadt, St. Clair County, where the elder Saltenberger died in 1877. In 1858 John Saltenberger began to study medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Peter Brower, at Millstadt. He took a special course in Latin with Dr. Gander, of Waterloo, Monroe County, His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil War. He served three months as
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a soldier in a Missouri regiment, after which he resumed his studies, and was graduated from the St. Louis Medical College, March, 1864. He practiced his profession three months in Madison County and after that at Ogle's Station, St. Clair County, until February, 1865, when he again enlisted for service in the Civil War. As hospital steward he had much val- uable professional experience. After the war he was in practice for a time in Indiana, but returned to St. Clair County in the summer of 1866. He practiced at and near Fayetteville until 1872, when he went to Washington County, Ill. In the fall of 1875 he returned to the Saltenberger farm, near Millstadt, contin- uing his professional work among his old neighbors. November 11, 1872, he married Anna Louisa Sumnicht, a native of Pottsdam, Prussia.
Dr. Washington West .- The forefathers of the West family of St. Clair County were among the earliest American settlers and among the earliest pioneers of Illinois. They were of English ancestry and came with Leon- ard Calvert, brother of Lord Baltimore, in 1632, and made their first settlement in Maryland. John West, the great-great-grandfather of Dr. West, lived and died in Maryland. His son Benjamin went to Virginia before the Revolu- tion, in which he served on General Washing- ton's staff. In 1818, the family settled in St. Clair County. Washington West, grandfather of Dr. West, was born in Maryland and in his infancy was taken to Virginia. There he mar- ried Frances Mitchell, who bore him two sons and a daughter. Benjamin Hillerary West, Dr. West's father, was born in Virginia in 1817, and was brought to Illinois a babe in arms. He married Maria Catherine Hiel, who was born in King and Queen's County, Va., in 1824. They had eleven children, all of whom at- tained maturity. Washington West, third son and fourth in the family, was born near Belle- ville, February 9, 1847. He received his pri- mary education in the public schools of that city, and was for two years a student in the City University at St. Louis, Mo. At nine- teen, he began studying medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. James Lafayette Perry- man, of Belleville. After two full courses he was graduated from St. Louis Medical College in 1868. He began practice in Belleville, but soon afterward accepted an appointment as
Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army and was assigned to duty on the staff of Gen- eral William E. Harney, at the Cheyenne River Agency, in Dakota Territory. He resigned two years later and resumed the practice of his profession at Belleville. In 1876 he attended clinics in the medical department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. He became a mem- ber of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Association, the South- ern Illinois Medical Society and the St. Clair County Medical Society. He has represented the Illinois State Medical Association as a del- egate to the American Medical Association. He married Mary Agnes Wolfe, a native of Beaver County, Pa., June 30, 1870. He has had seven children, of whom four are living. Dr. West is a man of fine medical attainments, is thor- oughly in love with his profession and has won great success in its practice.
Dr. George Loelkes was born in Todtenhau- sen, Hesse Nassau, Germany, February 3, 1845, and was educated in gymnasiums, the Univer- sity of Marburg, and the University of Gottin- gen. With the idea of studying medicine in view, he gave especial attention to chemistry and kindred sciences. He came to America in 1867, was graduated from Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, with the degree of M. D., March 4, 1868, and, in April following, entered upon the practice of his profession at Belleville. He took an interest in educational affairs and was for some years a member of the Board of Education. He married Emma Helff, of Phil- adelphia, Pa., September 7, 1868. .
Dr. O. C. Bates was born in Belleville, April, 1844. Henry Bates, his father, a native of Pennsylvania, went to Ohio in his boyhood, later removing to Mobile, Ala., whence he came, about 1835, to Belleville. Buying land, he set- tled east of the town. He laid out an addition to Belleville which bears his name. By trade he was a carpenter, and as such he helped to erect many buildings in Belleville, among them the First Presbyterian Church. He married about 1840, Catherine Heckber, and died of cholera in 1849, after having nursed other cholera victims. He started the first fruit tree nursery in Belleville, the cuttings for which he secured in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. From that nursery many of the orchards of the county obtained their origi- nal trees and shrubs. Dr. Bates, who was five
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years old when his father died, began his edu- cation in the public schools of Belleville. When he was twelve years old, his mother removed to Dayton, Ohio, where she died in 1862. He attended school in Dayton and, later, was a stu- dent at Antioch College, Ohio. He began the study of medicine at Dayton and after some medical and surgical experience in the army during the war, he entered St. Louis Medical College, where he was graduated in 1864. In 1865 he began the practice of his profession at O'Fallon. He achieved much success as a physi- cian, helped to organize the St. Clair County Medical Society and became a member of the Southern Illinois Medical Association and an associate member of the St. Louis Academy of Science. He opened the first prescription drug store in O'Fallon. A quarter of a century ago it was written of him: "He is a physician of liberal ideas, and has been among the first to take advantage of the latest developments in medical science. Although his time has been closely taken up by professional labors, he has given attention to scientific research and outside study, and has collected a fine archæo- logical cabinet from the mounds of St. Clair and Madison Counties.
Lloyd T. Miller, M. D., was born near Bur- kittsville, Frederick County, Md., May 15, 1841, and is descended from a family of German origin. His parents were Peter and Huldah (Arnold) Miller. His father died in Wash- ington County, Md., and his mother in Franklin County, Pa. After having attended subscrip- tion schools in Maryland, the future physician, then sixteen years of age, came west, in May, 1857, and for a time made his home at Pal- myra, Mo., where some of his brothers and sisters had settled. He completed his literary education in the high school at Palmyra, and in the fall of 1861 entered the McDowell Med- ical College, at St. Louis, and pursued his med- ical studies there through the winter of 1861-62. The McDowell institution having closed because of Dr. McDowell's departure from St. Louis to cast his lot with the Southern Confederacy, young Miller attended lectures at the St. Louis Medical College in 1862-63 and was graduated in March, 1863. Soon afterward he was com- missioned Assistant Surgeon of the Third Mis- souri Regiment, to which he was attched only a short time. In the spring of 1864 he received a diploma from the Jefferson Medical College
at Philadelphia. In the summer of that year he began the practice of his profession in St. Louis, whence, in June, 1866, he removed to Caseyville. In 1878-79 he attended lectures at the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, and when he was graduated from that institution he held diplo- mas from three leading medical colleges. He established a drug store, grocery and hardware store at Caseyville, was Postmaster there for several years, and gave some attention to farm- ing. He married in April, 1868, Margaret Blake, daughter of Ezra and Mary A. Blake. Mrs. Miller was born a mile north of Casey- ville. Her father was a native of New Jer- sey; her mother was a daughter of George Mof- fett, an early resident of the Caseyville neigh- borhood.
Dr. August J. Fuchs was born in St. Louis, Mo., and came of an old-time respectable fam- ily. He had rare educational advantages and possessed many of the requisites for a suc- cessful physician. His natural disposition was lively and amiable. His marriage to Mary Eisenmeyer, a lovely young lady, was one of the fortunate events of his life. Of their union were born two daughters and one son. One of the daughters is married and is a practicing physician in St. Louis. The other daughter is the wife of a well-known citizen of Mascou- tah. Some time after the death of his first wife, Dr. Fuchs married Mollie Mattice, who, with her one child, lives in Mascoutah. She was only fifty-four years old at the time of his death. He will long be lamented by a large circle of grateful patients.
Dr. Lyman P. Stookey .- Daniel Stookey, the grandfather of Dr. Stookey, was born in Vir- ginia, and, in 1805, settled near Belleville, where he lived out the remainder of his days. He married Barbara Whetstone, also a native of Virginia. Their son, Moses Stookey, Dr. Stookey's father, was born in Virginia in 1789, grew to manhood in St. Clair County and died there in 1857. He married Elizabeth Anderson, who was born at Wilkesbarre, Pa., in 1807, and came to St. Clair County with her parents in 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Stookey were married in 1824 and the latter died March 9, 1869. Lyman P. Stookey, the youngest of their eleven children, was born in St. Clair County, Feb- ruary 13, 1845. His literary education was obtained in district schools and at Shurtleff College, Upper Alton. He completed his med-
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ical course at St. Louis Medical College in 1869-70, and immediatley thereafter began the practice of his profession in Belleville, where, in 1879, he opened a drug store. He married a Miss A. M. L. Brumbaugh, of Bedford County, Pa., October 25, 1867. Early in his professional career he identified himself with the State Med- ical Southern Illinois and St. Clair County Medical Societies.
Dr. R. I. Watts was born near Nashville, Washington County, Ill., October 30, 1843. His father was a farmer, and like other farmers' sons, the future doctor labored on a farm and attended school by turns. His common school training was supplemented by a course of study at Nashville College, a school near his home, conducted under Presbyterian auspices. In March, 1868, he was graduated from the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. He studied medicine four years with the Drs. Pierce, of Okawville. After his graduation, not yet wil- ling to fully depend upon himself in the prac- tical work of his profession, he continued his studies under Drs. Means and Carter at Nash- ville, but soon located in Marissa, where he practiced two years quite successfully. Thence he moved to New Athens. He identified him- self with the medical societies of the county and State. In 1864, he married Eliza Ellen Boggess. His parents, Benjamin and Lucinda Watts, came from Georgia and located at Tur- key Hill, whence in course of time they removed to Washington County.
Dr. C. R. Dake was born in Pittsburg, Pa., December 22, 1849. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and all his uncles and their sons became physicians, some of them allopaths, some homeopaths, and others eclectics. He was prepared by private instruction at home to en- ter the Western University of Pennsylvania. In 1868, after his return from college, he began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. D. M. Dake, his father. He was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, with honors, in 1872, and en- tered upon the practice of his profession at Rockaway Beach, L. I. In 1873 he came West, intending to go South, but was induced to stop at Belleville and at length concluded to re- main there. In 1874 he was elected to the William Laeuffert, M. D., was born in Belle- chair of chemistry in the Homeopathic Col- . ville, January 13, 1855. Jacob Laeuffert, his fa- lege at St. Louis, but for business reasons was ther, was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 12, 1811; came to the United States in 1833, reach- unable to accept that honorable position. Sep-
tember 12, 1874, he married Eugenia C. Swyer, a native of St. Clair County.
Dr. J. C. Wiggins, who entered upon the practice of medicine at Caseyville in March, 1877, was born in St. Louis, Mo., October 16, 1855. Louis Wiggins, his father, was born at Cape May, was reared there and married Anna R. Edwards, a native of that vicinity. After passing his earlier years in trade, at Bal- timore, Md., he came west in 1839 and lived in St. Louis, Mo., till 1858, and after that on a fruit farm near O'Fallon until his death, which oc- curred July 19, 1878. His wife died near O'Fal- lon in 1863. Dr. Wiggins's education was be- gun in the district school near his father's farm and continued at the Natchez Institute, Natchez, Miss. He studied medicine with Dr. Charles Russell Oatman, and was graduated from the St. Louis Medical College in the spring of 1877. Immediately thereafter, he began the practice of his profession at Caseyville. He married October 21, 1880, Louisa Moeller, daughter of Charles Moeller, of Cape Girardeau, Mo. Dr. Wiggins soon made a successful rec- ord as a physician. He received his ad eundem degree in 1879.
Dr. Charles H. E. E. Rembe was born at. Freis, Germany, February 9, 1856. Christoph Rembe, his father, was a government overseer of timber tracts for more than half a century. His mother was Eliza Plitd, a native of Hesse- Darmstadt. He completed his course of studies at the Gymnasium, in Hersfeldt, in 1871. In 1872 he came to America. From New York he came to St. Louis, Mo., whence he went to Mar- thasville, where he studied medicine under the tutelage of Dr. L. Standinger. He was grad- uated from the Missouri Medical College in 1878, with the degree of M. D. In May, that year, he located at Fayetteville, where his ability, his conscientiousness and his affability soon won for him a large patronage. When the pontoon bridge over the Kaskaskia was washed away, he kept relays of horses on the opposite side of the river, across which he was carried by canoe. In 1880, he visited his old home in Germany. Eventually, he removed to Mascoutah, where a broader field lay before him. From Mascoutan, he went to Lincoln, Ill.
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ing St. Louis via New Orleans; lived in Belle- ville till 1838, and then returned to his native land; in 1839, came again to Belleville, where he died March, 1875. His wife, who was Su- sanna Hemmighoefer, a native of Bavaria, Ger- many, lived until September, 1876, when she was fifty-three years old. Dr. Laeuffert was ed- ucated in the public schools of Belleville, receiv- ing private instruction in Latin. He was nine- teen when he took up the reading of medicine in Dr. Berchelmann's office. In 1876, he was graduated from the St. Louis Medical College. He took post-graduate courses at
the University of Heidelberg, at Strassburg and at Freiburg. Returning to Belleville, he assisted Dr. Rubach in his practice and, for nearly two years, did most of the surgical work at the St. Clair County Hospital. Then, taking up his residence at Georgetown, he engaged in inde- pendent practice. He became an active mem- ber of the St. Clair County Medical Society and was, for a time, Surgeon of the Eleventh Regiment, Illinois National Guard.
Dr. Boyd Cornick was born in Lincoln County, Mo., June 1, 1856. Tully R. Cornick, his father, was a popular and successful law- yer of Knoxville, Tenn., and there Dr. Cornick was principally educated. He received his aca- demical and collegiate instruction at the Uni- versity of Tennessee and was, for a year and a half, assistant in the office of the Superin- tendent of Public Schools of that State. Al- though successful in that connection, his tastes led him to prepare himself for a new field of usefulness as a practitioner of medicine. After reading for a while under the preceptorship of Dr. Hutt, of Troy, Mo., he attended lectures at the Hospital Medical College, Louisville, Ky., and was graduated with honor in 1877, being awarded a medal for the best standing in his class by the curators of the Central University, of which the Hospital Medical College is a branch. After his graduation, he was, upon competitive examination, appointed a city hos- pital physician for one year, triumphing over thirteen contestants. In 1878 he attended the International Congress of Hygiene, at Paris, France, as a delegate from the State Medical Society of Kentucky. Still eager in the pursuit of knowledge of his profession, he visited the great hospitals of Paris and London, where he could witness exhibitions of the best medical and surgical skill. He was in practice at St. Louis, Mo., until May 1, 1879, when he removed
to Mascoutah. His success there was note- worthy, but failing health necessitated his seek- ing a more favorable climate, and he has made a home and a competence at Knickerbocker, Tex. He is known to the medical profession of America as an expert in tuberculosis. His contributions to medical literature have been characterized as "rare and exhaustive classics.' Mrs. Cornick was a Miss Postel, of Mascoutah.
David Steinrock Booth, M. D., was born at Philadelphia, Pa., June 30, 1828, and died at Belleville, September 10, 1892. Dr. John J. Booth, his father, was born and educated in Philadelphia, and practiced medicine there until 1845, when he removed to Fredericktown, Mo., where he followed his profession until his death. He rendered valuable service during the cholera epidemic of 1849, in which he was called to Chester, Ill., to assist local physicians. David Steinrock Booth was in high school when his father left Philadelphia, and remained there to finish his course. After leaving school, he was bound by his father as an apprentice to the drug business, for three years, his grandmother Booth and Dr. Hill, an uncle, be- ing his guardians. During the last year of his apprenticeship, he attended a partial course of lectures on anatomy, chemistry and materia medica, in place of those in the college phar- macy. He came West in 1849 and studied medicine in his father's office, and, in 1849-50, attended lectures at the St. Louis Medical Col- lege. During a portion of the next two years, he taught school, and in the intervals of school- teaching pursued his medical education under his father's preceptorship. In 1851, he married Cynthia Grounds. In 1852, he moved to Jas- per County, Mo., taught school one term and entered upon the practice of his profession. From there, he moved to Newton County, but at the request of citizens of McDonald County soon located at Enterprise, Mo., where he re- mained until the beginning of the Civil War.
Dr. Booth attended the St. Louis Medical College in 1858-59, and was graduated with the M. D. degree in the spring of the latter year. In 1861, he possessed considerable prop- erty. The Confederate Army then occupying Southwest Missouri, he was told that the South needed his services and was asked to accom- pany a division of Confederates as a surgeon, which he did, knowing full well what would be the result of a refusal. He helped to attend to the wounded during and after the battle of
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Wilson's Creek. When he had done what he could, he returned home, leaving the camp on horseback, at night, for he knew the by-roads and was successful in keeping clear of the Confederates. He came to St. Louis, in Sep- tember, leaving his family behind, and received such a cold reception from a number of his acquaintances, on account of his loyalty to the old flag, that he went on to Philadelphia. There he attended lectures at the University of Penn- sylvania until December, when, having passed an examination, he was commissioned as Act- ing Assistant Surgeon of the Mississippi Marine Brigade. He served on the boats "Monarch" and "Switzerland," and for some months had charge of a floating smallpox hospital. He was assigned to duty as medical officer on the "Queen of the West" when she was ordered to run past Vicks- burg on the morning of February 2, 1863. She was captured on Red River, opposite Fort Tay- lor, on the evening of the 14th, having been disabled by the guns of the fort. All her offi- cers except Dr. Booth made their escape. A boat was sent to Surgeon Booth's relief, but he would not leave his post, as part of the crew was scalded and needed professional at- tention. In a short time, he was exchanged and sent to New Orleans, thence to New York, thence to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. In Au- gust, he was sent to New York to take charge of a train-load of exchanged prisoners to be sent to St. Louis. At St. Louis, he resigned his commission. In December, 1863, he ac- cepted a position in the hospital at Spring- field, Mo.
Being re-established amid old environments, Dr. Booth lost no time in having his family join him at Springfield, having been absent from them more than two years. In July, 1864, he resigned his position at Springfield and lo- cated at Sparta, Ill., and there remained in active practice until September, 1889, when he took up his residence at Belleville. An indus- trious student, an enthusiast in his profession, he was an innovator, and, in many things, a leader. His students ranged high in college, some of them became professors in medical schools and some of them won renown as special- ists. As an orator of conspicuous genius, he commanded attention in all the debates of the various learned societies with which he was identified. He was a member and an ex-Presi- dent of the Southern Illinois Medical Society, a member and an ex-President of the Illinois
State Medical Society, a member of the Ameri- can Medical Association, of the Mississippi Val- ley Medical Association, of the St. Louis Acad- emy of Medicine, and other local professional societies, and a member of the Honorary Board of Trustees of the Beaumont Hospital Medical College. He left a widow and three daughters and one son, Dr. David S. Booth, of St. Louis.
Dr. F. X. Fischer was born in Basle, Swit- zerland, March 29, 1829, a son of Franz Joseph and Elizabeth Fischer. His father was a suc- cessful lawyer at Basle. The Doctor received his medical education in the universities of Basle and Zurich, graduating with his M. D. degree in March, 1857. He practiced his pro- fession in his native village until 1866, when he came to the United States. He resumed his practice at DuQuoin, Ill., and was successful in it there and at Lincoln, Ill., but eventually came to St. Libory, whence, in 1880, he moved to Darmstadt. At St. Libory he established and conducted a drug-store in connection with his practice.
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