USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Past and present of Mercer County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 36
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It does not appear that a society of the medical men was formed at this time, because on January 19, 1865, they were called to meet
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at Keithsburg for the purpose of adopting a new fee bill. Doctor Willits was chairman and Doctor Stanway, secretary. At this meet- ing a new fee bill was adopted and the physicians passed a resolu- tion declining the offer of the county board to attend soldiers' fam- ilies for about half the usual charges. Present at this meeting were Drs. A. Clendenin, T. H. Bras, E. S. Benedict, T. S. Stanway, J. V. Frazier, J. F. Woods, Thomas Willits, E. L. Marshall, Samuel Kelley, J. P. Boyd, George Irvin and J. A. Walker. The Mercer County Medical Society was organized in 1870, but as the records are missing the details cannot be given. W. D. Craig was secretary in December, 1870.
Early in 1871 the Mercer County Medical Society met in annual session at the office of Doctor Craig in Aledo and called Doctor Frazier to the chair. Several amendments to the fee bill were made. The officers elected for the coming year were as follows: President, Doctor Frazier; vice presidents, Doctors Boyd and Suiter; record- ing secretary, Doctor Craig; corresponding secretary, Doctor Woods ; treasurer, Doctor Irvin. The following resolutions were offered and referred to Doctors Boyd, Suiter and Byrus to be reported at the next meeting :
"Resolved, That we, members of the Mercer County Medical Society, in justice to ourselves, demand that the board of supervisors be requested to pay the full amount of fees charged for paupers, provided always that said fees are in accordance with the fee bill adopted by said medical society.
"Resolved, That we, as members of the society sustain each other in compelling the said board in charge of paupers of said county to equitably pay for such services rendered by any member of this society."
One of the earliest surgical cases on record in this county was performed on Robert Shearer for strangulated hernia in 1858. Doc- tor Craig of Aledo performed the operation and was assisted by Doctors Willits and Stanway, of New Boston, and Boyd, of Millers- burg. The patient died soon after the operation.
In the fall of 1869 the physicians gave notice of cash service in a new fee bill. At this time the dentists of the county prepared and announced the following fee bill: Gold filling, $1.50; amalgams, $1 ; extracting, 50 cents ; cleaning, $1 to $3; artificial in rubber, $20; upper and lower, $40; plain temporary sets, $15; single tooth, $6.
At all times, even down to the present, the physicians of the county have encountered much opposition from the county board as to what should be charged for attendance upon the public charges.
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The board usually maintained that the charges should be reduced, but the physicians could not always see the subject in that light.
Among the physicians in the county in 1877-8 were the follow- ing: Josiah M. Ansley, W. B. Artz, J. S. Allen, J. S. Boice, T. H. Bras, J. P. Boyd, C. S. Bigelow, W. D. Craig, J. P. Chowning, Mathew Criswell, James Cozad, J. V. Frazier, W. H. Hall, W. B. Huffman, D. I. McMillan, E. L. Marshall, J. F. Mccutcheon, J. P. McClanahan, J. B. Rathbun, E. Rathbun, Thomas Shaver, O. B. Stafford, C. C. Smith, Eugene Smith, J. H. Sayler, W. F. Suiter, James D. Taylor, Thomas Willits, Samuel Kelley, A. Ashbaugh, N. H. Derr, A. H. DeWitt, C. S. Hollingsworth, George Irvin, E. E. Kendall, J. S. Roseberry, Charles Stewart and J. F. Woods.
The society organized in 1870 died out after a few years and was not reorganized until 1885. On April 26th, pursuant to call, a number of them assembled at Doctor Irvin's office to effect a reor- ganization. There were present J. F. Mccutcheon, J. V. Frazier, George Irvin, D. R. Johnson, A. L. Craig, Samuel Kelley, M. G. Reynolds, O. B. Stafford, N. H. Derr, E. Rathbun and E. L. Mc- Kinnie. N. H. Derr was made chairman and E. L. McKinnie, secretary. D: R. Johnson, A. L. Craig and George Irvin were ap- pointed committee on constitution and by-laws. The permanent officers elected were as follows: President, O. B. Stafford, of New Boston; vice president, J. F. Mccutcheon, of Norwood ; secretary, E. L. McKinnie, of Viola; treasurer, A. L. Craig, of Aledo; censors, N. H. Derr, D. R. Johnson and M. G. Reynolds. At the first meet- ing Doctors Craig and Irvin reported a case of labor where they were forced to decapitate the child and puncture and remove the hydro-cephalic head. After a few meetings the society again became defunct.
It was revived again in 1902, since which time it has maintained a continuous existence. On April 17th of that year, at a called meet- ing to reorganize, the following physicians were present: George Irvin, M. G. Reynolds, H. E. Morrison, C. W. Carter, A. N. Mackey, W. S. Ryan, V. A. McClanahan and A. P. Willits. George Irvin served as chairman and A. N. Mackey as secretary. V. A. McClanahan, C. W. Carter and W. S. Ryan were appointed committee on by-laws. M. G. Reynolds, H. H. Sherwood and A. P. Willits, on membership; and H. E. Morrison and M. G. Reynolds, on fee-bill.
A county physicians' convention was held at Aledo in January, 1903, on which occasion an interesting paper on "X-Ray" was read
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by C. W. Carter, one on "Non-Alcoholic Medication" by D. I. Mc- Millan, and one on "Action of Alcohol on the Tissues of the Body," by L. W. Wright. At the April, 1903, meeting of the society the following papers were read: "Accidental Wounds," by E. C. G. Franing; "Infantile Feeding and Care," by W. S. Ryan.
The officers elected in 1902 were as follows: President, George Irvin ; vice president, H. H. Fletcher; secretary and treasurer, A. N. Mackey ; censors, A. P. Willits, M. G. Reynolds and T. C. Hainline. Irvin declined and Reynolds was appointed in his stead. V. A. McClanahan was appointed censor. The society took an advanced stand on sanitation, health, medical education, good roads, examin- ing board, health organizations, etc.
At the October meeting, 1903, the following papers were read : "Puerperal Septicemia," by H. E. Morrison; "Tracoma," by E. J. Hay; "Records on Contagiousness of Typhoid Fever and the Vitality of Typhoid Germs," by F. D. Rathbun. In May, 1904, the following papers were read: "Objective and Subjective Mind," by Doctor Fletcher; "Appendicitis," by Doctor McMillan; "The Doctor and Pharmaceutical Specialties." In 1907 diphtheria, scarlet fever and food and care of infants were discussed.
In 1908 the following papers were presented: "Treatment of Children with Summer Diarrhoea," by J. A. Kleinsmid; "Gallstones and Their Treatment," by T. C. Hainline; "Treatment of Compound Fractures," by V. A. McClanahan; "A Peculiar Case of Puerperal Fever," by D. I. McMillan; "Inebriety," by A. N. Mackey. In 1909-"Technique of a Normal Obstetric Case," by J. W. Wallace; "The Operation of Choice in Appendicitis," by Clyde A. Findley; "Collodion Dressing as a Substitute for Stitches in Wounds," by Frank Eyre. J. H. Moore was president of the society this year: "Pylo-Nephritis," by B. R. Winbigler; "Iritis," by J. W. Ramsey; "Treatment of Compound Fractures," by V. A. McClanahan; "Treatment of Septic Peritonitis," by J. F. Percy.
Recent papers or addresses on the following subjects have been presented : "Lack of Interest in the County Medical Society," by G. H. Moore; "Some of the Necessary Things in a Physician's Life," by J. F. Percey; "Establishment of a National Department of Health," by Doctor Brown; "Social Evil vs. Social Welfare," by A. H. Woodworth; "Quinsy," by M. H. Smith; "Clinic on Nervous Diseases," by A. C. Sells; "Pediatrics," by J. W. Van Derstice; "Sur- gical Clinics," by D. N. Eisendrath; "Our Mistakes and How to Avoid Them," by Frank Eyre; "Some of the Present Day Problems
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in the Medical Profession," by J. F. Percey; "Quinine and Urea- Hydra-Chloride as a Local Anesthetic," by C. A. Findley.
On January 1, 1914, the society had twenty-five members and on September 1, 1914, it had twenty-eight members, as follows: Frank Eyre, L. W. Wright, E. L. Emerson, A. C. Sells, J. H. Sayler, Mathew Criswell, R. C. Johnson, G. F. Lytle, C. M. Murrell, E. E. Morgan, O. E. Grant, T. D. Coe, M. H. Smith, G. H. Moore, F. D. Rathbun, V. A. McClanahan, B. R. Winbigler, Walter Miles, R. H. Smith, H. L. Walker, A. N. Mackey, Mathew Ohaver, J. W. Wal- lace, A. B. Childs, T. C. Hainline, F. J. Rathbun, G. L. Rathbun and .T. F. Manning. The officers elected in May, 1914, were as follows: President, E. E. Morgan; vice president, M. H. Smith; secretary and treasurer, A. N. Mackey. On January 1, 1914, there were only four physicians in the county who did not belong to the county medical society. An important advance in recent years are the clinics conducted by the society. Usually a practitioner of great prominence is secured from abroad to address the society with fresh points and arguments.
In recent years a few of the able physicians at Keithsburg organ- ized, established and conducted a medical school in that city. A small body of students were instructed and perhaps graduated. The institution seems to have been a branch of the larger school or schools in the cities.
The rules and instructions to physicians and local boards of health from the county board were as follows :
Rule 1. The physician's fees in smallpox cases shall not exceed $5 a visit and mileage of 33 1-3 cents per mile for each additional mile, provided that all patients at the same house or location be included in the same visit.
Rule 2. That the county will be liable for medicines, medical assistance, nursing, provisions, etc., in cases only where smallpox actually exists and where that patient or patients are paupers.
Rule 3. The county will only be liable for such expenses (exclu- sive of physician's fees and charges as fixed in Rule I) in pauper cases as are a reasonable charge under the circumstances in that par- ticular case.
Rule 4. That the city, village or township shall bear the expense of quarantine, of disinfectants, of damages to articles destroyed in disinfection of the premises, of vaccination, and of examination of the persons exposed, or persons suspected of having smallpox, and all other expenses of maintaining the quarantine, the bill all being
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under the head of quarantine regulations, and for the prevention of spread of the disease.
Rule 5. That all expenses incurred in cases of smallpox shall be borne by the person, or persons, afflicted if they shall be of sufficient ability to pay, and it shall be the duty of the local boards of health to collect when possible from said persons, the county being in no case liable for claims in cases of smallpox where the patients afflicted with the same are financially able to pay for the service rendered to them.
Rule 6. That the relief committee of the grand army posts shall, before allowing such bills as requested, to consult with super- visor or local boards of health, when bills are presented to them in smallpox cases, in order to prevent duplicate charges for services.
CHAPTER XVIII MERCER TOWNSHIP
The first settlement made in this township was by Abraham and John Miller in August, 1837, on Section 4. The Miller family entered in all over eight hundred acres on Sections 3, 4 and 16. They secured the right to obtain land on Section 16 from the state authorities. This was the first settlement of the township and was in the neighborhood of Sugar Grove, which at that time and before the white settlement even, was famous for its products of maple sugar. The Indians made that a favorite resort, and the first settlers saw them draw the sap and make sugar. After the settlement by the whites it was famous for its sugar product and as a site for camp meetings, which began to be held there early in the '40s, continuing annually for many years. Many of the famous ministers of the western country preached there in early times. The Millers erected a sawmill and a schoolhouse in that neighborhood. It is not possible to give the date when each of the first settlers arrived. Such record seems to have been lost, although at one time it was preserved, but many of the names of the first settlers can be mentioned. Among the early ones were the Nesbitt family, of which there were Porter, Harvey, Henry and perhaps others. David and John Brown were there at an early day. John Artz came very soon after the Millers and settled at the Grove. He conducted a grist mill on Edwards River. There were several members of the Artz family who became prominent in early years, among them being Samuel, Israel, John and Isaac. John M. Ashbaugh, a Methodist, was there at an early day, also others of the same name. Samuel Taylor also came to the Grove at an early day. Henry Lee located in the northeast corner of the township; his brother Graham was likewise an early settler. Richard Winger came in at an early day. A Mr. Jones located between Aledo and the river. Thomas Cannum and his brother Mark settled a short distance east of Aledo. The Robinson family located about two miles east of Aledo also. John McKee settled on a farm two miles east of Aledo. Hezekiah Boone came in early and had quite a large family. David Braucht was quite early in this township, as was also his brother George. The latter located on a
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portion of what is now Aledo. He became active in the affairs of Aledo, an account of which will be found elsewhere. Benjamin Brown took a farm on Section 16. Edwin Bartlit, L. F. Jobusch and William Baxter were also prominent among the first settlers here. Chris Baemler and his brother Peter came in quite early. John Holmes arrived about 1860 and Alexander Marquis about 1866. J. E. Harroun arrived in the '50s and the Croson family came at a little later date. William McCandless was among the early settlers, as was also Paul Black and Joseph Lair. John W. Miles came in later and became prominent in the affairs of Aledo.
Mercer Township was not established until 1853 and the first election, so far as the records show of township officers, was held April 4, 1854. John McKee was chairman; Isaac Jones, moderator; and E. C. Bartlit, clerk. Twenty-seven votes were polled. David Braucht was elected supervisor ; E. C. Bartlit, clerk; John S. Moore, assessor; John Ashbaugh, collector; John Artz, overseer of the poor ; L. F. Jobusch, Jacob Sprecher and R. H. Winger, commissioners of highways; John McKee and J. L. Candor, justices of the peace; William McKee, Israel Artz, constables; and Edward Clifford and George Smith, overseers of highways. At the general election the same year there were polled in the township only sixteen votes. At this time the township voted in favor of taking stock in the Warsaw & Rockford Railroad. The next year the township voted heavily in favor of constructing the county poor house. At the election in 1857 for or against the removal of the county seat from Keithsburg to Aledo, the township voted heavily in favor of the removal. When the project came up again in 1868 this township voted heavily in favor of subscribing stock to the construction of the American Cen- tral Railway. It was many years before this debt was entirely paid by the township. Since these events very little has occurred in town- ship matters worthy of special note or space.
At an early day men living in the western part of the county saw that, in all probability, a new town near the center of the county would eventually become the county seat. No doubt numerous plans were laid to establish such a city, because persons successful would make themselves rich by the sale of lots in a comparatively short space of time. In pursuance of such a plan Benjamin Clark, John J. Charles, Timothy Condit and William Mackey laid out the Town of Mercer near the center of the county. Judge Ephraim Gilmore, then county surveyor, made the survey. They came there from New Boston one extremely cold day and were forced to return without having accomplished their object. Later they returned and laid out
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the village on the northeast quarter of Section 21. However, the town did not amount to anything. Only one house was built, in which no person ever lived, and in the end the building rotted down. In recent years the township is one of the most progressive and wealthy farming regions of the county. Its people are enterprising and indus- trious and are well governed by the township and county authorities.
Among the early settlers of Mercer County may be mentioned Edwin Cromwell Bartlit, oldest son of William and Catherine (Culver) Bartlit, who was born November 12, 1821, at Logan, Champaign County (now Schuyler County), New York. At the age of three years he moved with his parents to Bergen, Genesee County, New York, and resided there until eight years of age, when he moved to the Town of Preble, Cortland County, that state, where he resided until 1836, when the family came to Illinois, settling in Henry County.
On the unsettled prairies Edwin C. Bartlit grew to manhood and assisted in farm work, attending school in winter and knowing the privations and freedom of early pioneer life. The schools of Geneseo were of a high order from the first and he was well fitted to teach at an early age. Music was much appreciated by the people of Geneseo and a teacher of rare attainments taught there for years, a man named Bacon, revered by all who knew him in the early days. The Bartlit family learned music from him and were a full orchestra of themselves, playing the violin, bass viol and flute, or singing in quartette, making excellent music at home and in church, never for dances nor for any but social or religious services. Indians were not infrequent visitors at the homes of the Bartlits and others of the colony. Chief Shabbona often stopped at the home of Edwin Bartlit's father and was ever a welcome guest, the family having a high regard for the great genius and goodness of the powerful chief who chose to be a friend to the white people. Mr. Bartlit always spoke of him as one of the great men he had known, splendid in physique and of keen intellectual ability. Finishing his education, Mr. Bartlit taught for several years in Henry County. He next taught in Sangamon County, where he first met Abraham Lincoln as a commissioner of schools in that county. Through Mr. Lin- coln's influence he secured a school and learned to know Lincoln well. They became friends, both being strong abolitionists, and throughout life he admired Lincoln more than any other man he ever knew. In the fall of 1850 he came to Mercer County, finding work near Millersburg. Here he met Adriana Brady, youngest daughter of John Brady, Sr., living five miles west of Aledo, where she had Vol. 1-24
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grown up with her parents, who had located there from Ohio when she was nine years old, in 1842. On August 7, 1851, they were married and in the spring of 1852 bought and occupied a farm one mile east and three-fourths of a mile north of Aledo, being the first farmers to live near what is now Aledo. In 1855 Aledo was planned and people began to come to the new town. The first Mercer County election was held at the home of Mr. Bartlit. In 1857 the Methodist Church of Aledo was organized and Mr. and Mrs. Bartlit were charter members, continuing their membership with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Aledo through life. They were regular attendants at church and Mr. Bartlit served as steward, trustee, district steward and Sabbath-school teacher for nearly forty- five years. Mrs. Bartlit was a teacher of the Woman's Bible Class for many years. To Mr. and Mrs. Bartlit eight children were born, of whom four are living, namely: Mrs. Flora Winger and Mrs. Celia Prouty, who reside in Aledo; William J., of Denver, Colorado; and Miss May Bartlit, of San Diego, California. Arthur and Ella died when they had reached maturity but Mary and Alfred died in infancy. Culver N. Winger, the only surviving grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Bartlit, is a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota. Failing health compelled Mr. and Mrs. Bartlit to retire from farm work and they came to Aledo in 1895, residing there until their deaths. Mr. Bart- lit passed away on May 18, 1903, and was followed by his wife on March 3, 1912, their married life having covered a span of nearly fifty-two years.
For many years Mr. Bartlit was an abolitionist, then a stanch republican, and later a strong prohibitionist. He had a great love for truth and honesty, which he practiced continually, and by hard work acquired a comfortable home for his family, leaving to them a good name. His word was as good as his bond and his clearly defined principles of right and wrong were fearlessly expressed. Through all his life his love of music was his greatest recreation and he played well the flute, the violin and the organ, and was also possessed of a splendid bass voice.
Edwin Cromwell Bartlit was a descendant of the Bartlit family in England, whose ancestry is traced to the days of Cromwell. They were loyal followers of Cromwell and were in favor during his rule of England. When William Bartlett came to America before the' Revolution he was in high favor in English political life. Later, when he renounced England and pledged loyalty to American inde- pendence, the English branch of the house said cruel things of their "traitor brother," as they called him. This so wounded the Ameri-
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can brother that one of the first acts the Continental Congress was asked to do was to authorize the change in name to Bartlit, each brother renouncing the other. In later years the family are disposed to write the original name in the original spelling but Mr. Bartlit never did, nor his father before him. It was a matter of principle to them, as they saw it.
ALEDO
Immediately after the final location of the Western Air Line Railroad through Mercer County, Levi Willits and John S. Thomp- son conceived the idea of establishing a new town near the center of the county and on the line of this railroad, which should become the county seat. They recognized the fact that all the eastern half of the county would favor a change of location of the seat of justice. Further, it was certain that a considerable portion throughout the western part would likewise favor a change. The county seat at this time was at Keithsburg, in the southwestern corner of the county, and was difficult to reach. Accordingly, Messrs. Thompson and Wil- lits selected the present site of Aledo and purchased 400 acres for $2,200, two adjoining sections for $600 and paid Mr. McCandless $1,600 for eighty acres adjoining the proposed town site. The situa- tion then was bare prairie, but there were standing on the site two log houses, one in the southern part and the other in the eastern part near the present brickyard. In the haste to get the beginning made, they staked out hurriedly that part of the town now lying between First and Eleventh streets and Chestnut and Ash streets. They over- looked the fact that the statute of the state required the work to be done or at least approved by the county surveyor. They secured Simeon S. Sheldon, one of the railroad engineers, and at first planned to call the town De Soto. They advertised a public sale of lots for the 20th of March, 1856. When they attempted to file the plat for record their attention was called to the fact that the proceedings were illegal and also that there was also a town in the state called De Soto. The county surveyor, Cornelius S. Richey, was sought, an apology was offered and Mr. Sheldon was appointed deputy county surveyor and the two surveyors made a resurvey of what had been done, adding additional territory to the former lots. On the date of the sale of lots, according to John S. Thompson, about one thousand people were present. At first they intended to sell but fifty lots, but as the sale proceeded the crowd became clamorous and lots to the number of 112 were finally disposed of. The auctioneer stood up in a wagon,
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holding a map, and pointed out with a stick thereon the particular lot being sold. The sale terminated only when it was too dark for the crowd to see the map. Few men bought more than one or two lots. Among the purchasers were Judge Gilmore, William Gayle, M. L. Marsh, John W. Miles, who bought the first lot; John S. Moore, Martin A. Cook, Elisha Miles, W. E. Riley and Scott Brown- lee. The proprietors, Thompson & Willits, reserved blocks for a college and other purposes. The first fifty lots sold for $5,780. The price varied from $240, the highest price, to as low as $35.
De Soto was the name first selected, but was not liked by Mr. Thompson, whereupon a change was made. He stated that he took a Webster's dictionary and, turning to the geographical names in the back part, selected a few, among which was the name Aledo. He submitted those he had selected to Mr. Willits, who chose Aledo. In this way, according to Mr. Thompson, the city received its name. This statement may be seen in the Times-Record of December 26, 1901. W. B. Frew states that Mr. Richey told him not many years ago that the city came to be called Aledo in the following way: After much discussion and no satisfactory name being found, it was proposed to try by lot. Separate letters of the alphabet were de- posited in a hat, and after being shaken, were taken out at random and placed in lines, and when the first pronouncable and pleasing one was found that was selected. Such name proved to be Aledo. The question immediately arises who would know more concerning the name of the town, Mr. Thompson or Mr. Richey? Would Mr. Thompson have made the above statement if he had been present in case the name was chosen by lot? Of course, Thompson and Willits were the ones who named the city. Nobody else had any authority to do so. And it must be concluded that Mr. Thompson's statement concerning the dictionary is far more likely to be correct than the other.
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