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CHAPTER IX
The Central Medical College, p. 69. Bobbs Free Dis- pensary, p. 71. Indianapolis City Hospital, p. 71. Medical Societies, p. 73.
CHAPTER X
Early Medical History of Rush County, p. 75. Dr. H. G. Sexton, p. 77. Dr. J. M. Howland, p. 80. Dr. William B. Frame, p. 82. Fifth Medical District Society, p. 84. Dr. W. H. Martin, P. 87.
xxiv
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI Early Medical History of Delaware County, p. 89. Reminiscences of Hancock County, p. 95. Early Medical History of Noble County, p. 97.
CHAPTER XII Pioneer Physicians of Bartholomew County, p. 100.
CHAPTER XIII Early Medical Men of Fayette County, p. 113. Early Medical History of Grant County, p. 119. Pioneer Physicians of Clay County, p. 124.
CHAPTER XIV
Early Physicians of Franklin County, p. 126. Medical Men of Ripley County, p. 129. Kosciusko County, p. 130. White County Medical Society, p. 131. Older Physicians of Steuben County, p. 132.
CHAPTER XV
Early Medical History of Fountain County, p. 133. Early Physicians of Jackson County, p. 138.
CHAPTER XVI
Formation and Growth of Our Present State Medical Association, p. 142. List of Membership from For- mation to the Year 1860, p. 152.
CHAPTER XVII
Epidemics, p. 161. Legal Enactments, p. 166. Recent Legislation, p. 168. Law of 1897, p. 171. Law of 1909, p. 172. The State Board of Health, p. 173. Sessions of the Indiana State Medical Society and Association, p. 174. Changes in the State Society, p. 175.
CHAPTER XVIII
List of Presidents of the Indiana State Medical Society and Association, p. 176. Vice-Presidents of the Indiana State Medical Society and Association, p 178. Corrected List of Physicians Present at the Medical Convention Held at Indianapolis, June 6. 1849, p. 181.
XXV
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX
War History. Indiana Physicians in the Mexican War, p. 185. Alphabetical List of Surgeons and Assis- tant Surgeons Who Served in Indiana Regiments During the Civil War, p. 187. Medical Officers from Indiana Commissioned by the President-Vol- unteers, p. 203. Regular Army. Volunteer Navy- Acting Assistant Surgeons (Civil War), p. 204. Spanish-American War, p. 204. List of Surgeons Appointed by the President in the Volunteer Army of the United States, p. 204. Hospital Stewards, p. 204.
CHAPTER XX
Medical History of Madison County, p. 207. Some of the Early Practitioners of Gibson County, p. 225. Supplemental to Physicians of Jackson County, p. 227.
CHAPTER XXI Alphabetical List of Deceased Physicians, p. 230.
CHAPTER XXII
Historical Notes and References, p. 257. Index, p. 367.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Bobbs, Johns S.
241
Boor, William F.
243
Boyd, Samuel S. 245
Bray, Madison J.
facing page 246
Brayton, Alembert W.
xi
Burnsworth, Mrs. Z.
365
Cook, Ward.
214
Eastman, Joseph.
facing page 271
Florer, Thomas W.
272
Gaston, John M.
275
Harvey, Thomas B.
280
Hibberd, James F.
285
Layman, Daniel W.
facing page 300
Marsee, Joseph W.
307
Miller, Abram O.
312
Moodey, John W.
facing page 313
Munford, Samuel E.
318
Myers, William H. 320
Parvin, Theophilus 325
Read, Ezra
331
Richmond, John L. facing page 334
Rosenthal, Isaac M.
337
Ryan, Townsend.
221
Sexton, Marshall
facing page 340
Sutton, George
346
Todd, Robert N.
350
Walker George B.
facing page 351
Wishard, William H.
facing page 184
Woodworth, Benjamin S.
358
Certificate Issued in 1832.
168
Diploma Granted Dr. John Rea
329
Wesley Chapel.
143
290
Jameson, Patrick H.
Kemper, General W. H.
Frontispiece
298
Mears, George W.
309
Lomax, William
265
Fletcher, William B.
PAGE
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CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY TO THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
It was with some misgiving that I consented to write a series of articles upon the above- named subject. So much time, research and care is required that I hesitated. However, I have made the attempt and will try to produce arti- cles that contain historical facts and reminis- cences of interest, and yet I am conscious that I may make some mistakes and many omissions. I make no claim to perfection.
I feel justified in reproducing extended ex- tracts from some of the earlier volumes of the Transactions of the Indiana State Medical So- ciety. I think this is advisable, for the reason that the papers were contributed more than one- third of a century ago, few copies of the Trans- actions are extant and these not easy of access, and, further, that the information there im- parted is valuable and should be reproduced for younger medical men of the present day. I have the only file of these papers in Delaware County, and I suspect that a search of the vari- ous counties in the state will show but few copies. This is my apology for reproducing in part these interesting and valuable contributions.
I shall only mention in detail the work of members of our profession who have passed away.
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MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Their work is completed, and yet I must necessa- rily be brief in all that I may say concerning in- dividuals and what they accomplished.
'The profession of this state, and indeed the entire country, owes a vast debt of gratitude to the men who have so efficiently conducted our Indiana medical journals, wherein is recorded so much of our medical history. Dr. Parvin was our pioneer in medical journalism-starting the Western Journal of Medicine in 1866. Four years later this journal was succeeded by the Indiana Journal of Medicine, and in 1882 it was named Indiana Medical Journal. It continued under that name to December, 1908. Dr. A. W. Brayton especially deserves praise for the labor and time he has given to the Indiana Medical Journal. I have consulted files of this journal from its beginning to the present time and have been impressed with the vast amount of histori- cal matter he has furnished the profession of this state. Dr. Frank C. Ferguson also was an effi- cient editor in the early days of medical journal- ism. Dr. S. E. Earp, in a shorter period of time, has rendered good service in The Monitor. Our venerable friend, W. H. Wishard, with his won- derful memory of nearly three-quarters of a cen- tury, and a pen that records so interestingly, has given us a vast fund of information in journals and State Transactions. Dr. R. French Stone, in his work, "Biography of Eminent American Physicians and Surgeons," has done justice to Indiana physicians. Good work in furnishing facts of medical history has been rendered by
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MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
numerous other physicians, but I can not men- tion all at this time.
Much of the very early medical history of Indiana is found in an article by Alfred Patton, M.D. (Transactions of the Indiana State Medi- cal Society, 1874), entitled "The Medical His- tory of Vincennes," which is worthy of reproduc- tion.
NOTE .- The first issue of The Medical and Surgical Monitor was in June, 1898, with Dr. S. E. Earp, editor. The Central States Medical Magazine, published at Anderson, with Dr. S. C. Norris, managing editor, merged with The Medical and Surgical Monitor, November, 1905; and the union of the journals took the name of the Central States Medical Monitor, with Dr. S. E. Earp, editor, and Drs. S. C. Norris and S. P. Scherer, associate editors. January, 1909, The Indiana Medical Journal, edited by Dr. A. W. Brayton, merged with The Central States Medical Monitor, and the name was changed to The Indianapolis Medical Jour- nal, with Dr. S. E. Earp, editor-in-chief, Dr. A. W. Brayton, editor, and Drs. S. P. Scherer and S. C. Nor- ris, associate editors.
On Feb. 15, 1909, the name was changed to Indian- apolis Medical Journal, continuing the order of num- ber-Vol. XII .- G. W. H. K.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY MEDICAL HISTORY OF VINCENEES.
"It is supposed that Vincennes was settled by the French, from Canada, in 1710 or 1711, and that a priest, Father Mermet, was stationed here soon after that time. The place was called 'Au Post du. Onabadee,' which has since been cor- rupted into the Old Post. In 1732 Francois Morgan de Vinsenne was made commandant of the post, and the place was then called St. Vin- cennes. I have carefully read everything in his- tory relating to this ancient city, and do not find the name of a single physician referred to, and only twice do I find any mention of diseases. An epidemic prevailed here soon after Father Mer- met came to the place, which took off more than half of the inhabitants. The medicine man of the Indian tribes, in vain, invoked the aid of the great Manitou for the relief of the sick, but, as might have been expected, superstition and ri- diculous incantation failed to arrest the progress of that terrible disease, smallpox. History in- forms us that the same disease prevailed here in 1793; about seventy-five deaths then occurred.
"The first physician who practiced medicine in this place, so far as we are informed, either from records or the old citizens, was Dr. Elijah Tis-
5
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
dale, who located here in the latter part of the year 1792, where he died. He was an assistant surgeon in the United States army. Hon. Charles B. Lusdle has in his possession the origi- nal commissions, signed by George Washington, President of the United States, and dated at Philadelphia, March 4, 1791. Mrs. R. H. Domo- non has a copy, which I have seen. By an ex- amination of the Army Register of the Medical Department, I find that he was assigned to duty with the Second Regiment, U. S. Infantry. From old papers and letters which belonged to Dr. Tisdale, some of which were written by him, I learn that he came to this place with the regi- ment in 1792, and resigned his office in 1796. I am unable to procure any information as to his medical education, but from his having received the appointment of army surgeon, and as there was then a board of four examiners, as now, it is to be supposed that he was a well-informed phy- sician. An additional evidence in favor of this supposition is the character of the medical books he relied on. Though I have not been able to find any of his books, I learn from one of his letters that he owned Cullen's Practice of Medi- cine, which he obtained in 1795, Bell's Surgery, and Hamilton's Obstetrics. These were standard works at that early day; indeed, but few Ameri- can physicians then owned Cullen's Practice, as it was published in London in 1789, and was not republished in this country until 1806. Then, guided by the books he read, and the manu- scripts he left, to which I have had access, I will
6
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
be enabled to commence the medical history of Vincennes, with his location here in 1792 .*
"The next physician who made Vincennes his home was Dr. Samuel McKee, Jr., who was also an army surgeon. His commission, the original of which is before me, is signed by Thomas Jef- ferson, President of the United States, and dated April 27, 1802; but I find from the Medical Register that he was assigned to duty here, as garrison assistant surgeon, in March, 1802, and from the same source I ascertain that he died here Nov. 5, 1809. His son, A. B. McKee, who lives on a farm near this city, has kindly fur- nished me with his father's old medical library, which is of great value in writing this history.
"Dr. McKee was educated at the Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., and was college librarian for a considerable time. It is said of him that he read every book in the library. He was a Greek and Latin scholar and well read in his profession. As the books he read were the same as those relied on by others of the early physicians, I will include all together in that branch of my subject.
"Dr. Jacob Key Kendall came here in 1805 from Virginia, and died in 1833, having prac- ticed here twenty-eight years. He was an able and popular physician. I now own his medical library.
"Dr. Elias McNamee came here in 1808 from Pennsylvania and died in 1834. His daughter,
* According to the "Historical Register and Dictionary of the U. S. Army," by Heitman, Dr. Elijah Tisdale was a native of North Carolina. He entered the service as surgeon's mate, 2nd U. S. Infantry, March 4, 1791. Re. signed Dec. 31, 1797 .- G. W. H. K.
7
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Mrs. Woolverton, resides here at present. Her husband was Dr. J. D. Woolverton, who located here in 1818 and died in 1834.
"Dr. Wm. Carr Lane located here in 1812; removed to St. Louis in 1815, where he attained wealth and distinction. I have quite a number of his old books.
"Dr. Alison came here in 1817 and died in 1820.
"Dr. L. S. Shuler came here in 1818 and died soon after.
"Dr. E. Skull came here in 1811 and left in 1813. He fought a duel with Mr. Rannenis Becker, which resulted in the death of Mr. Becker. Dr. Skull left suddenly. He was an acting surgeon in the army, but his name does not appear in the Register. I, therefore, sup- pose he was not regularly commissioned.
"Dr. Hiram Decker was born and raised in this county, and began the practice of medicine in this town in 1815; died in 1863, having been actively engaged in the practice forty-eight years. He enjoyed the confidence of a large circle of friends, and was a warm, personal friend of General Harrison, who appointed him land agent for this district when he became President of the United States. I have his en- tire medical library.
"Dr. Joseph Somes came here in 1828 from England; removed to Leavenworth, Kans., in 1872. He practiced here forty-four years; was a well-educated and courteous practitioner.
"Dr. W. W. Hitt came here from Baltimore in 1829; practiced until 1872, and retired from
8
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
practice the day he reached his fiftieth year in the medical service. From him I have derived much valuable information in regard to the early medical history of Vincennes. For many years of his early practice here he was called on to visit patients fifty and sixty miles distant . was often called to Mt. Carmel, Terre Haute and other distant points. He performed an impor- tant surgical operation, an account of which was given in the Western Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences, in 1832, article 2, page 350, 'History of a Sarcomatous Tumor-Its Extirpa- tion,' published by request of the Medical Bu- reau of the First Medical District of Indiana. By Washington W. Hitt, M.D., of Vincennes, Ind .: 'The tumor measured, in its'largest cir- cumference, thirty-two inches, and its base twen- ty-two inches. It involved the left mammary gland. The age of the patient was 24 years. She is still living, the tumor never having re- turned.'
"Dr. Hitt was a member of the constitutional convention in the winter of 1850 and 1851; was elected on the temperance ticket. He long en- joyed the confidence of the people as a physician and has ever been held in high esteem as a citi- zen. His age is now 73.
"Dr. Davidson came here in 1830; died in 1833.
"Dr. J. Browne, in 1834, and died in 1836.
"Dr. John Baty came here from France in 1836; left here in 1866; is now living at Terre Haute, and is physician and surgeon to the Sis- ters' Hospital at that city. He attained distinc-
9
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
tion here as a physician, and especially as a sur- geon. He graduated in Paris, France, taking the fourth honor, which entitles him to a posi- tion in the Medical School of Paris, but he pre- fers to practice his profession in free America to enjoying the high honor of a great medical school in the metropolis of France. He spent two or three years in the schools and hospitals of Paris during and since the Franco-Prussian war. On account of his superior attainments in medi- cine and surgery, his learning and high moral qualities, I think he deserves a special notice in this report. 'While here he performed many im- portant surgical operations and enjoyed the full confidence of a large circle of friends and ac- quaintances. His age is 62.
"Dr. John R. Mantle came here from the State of New York in 1844; is still engaged in the practice of medicine; is doing a remunera- tive practice and stands high professionally and socially. He spent some time in New York City, last year, prosecuting the study of his pro- fession in the hospitals, giving special attention to diseases of women and obstetrics. His age is 84.
"Dr. H. M. Smith located in this city in 1849; is a native of Kentucky; was postmaster in this place eight years; was appointed by President Lincoln; is still engaged in the prac- tice and enjoys the confidence of many of our best citizens. He is 53 years of age.
"Dr. R. B. Jessup came here from New York State in 1853; is still engaged in the practice; directs special attention to surgery, in which he
10
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
has attained a well-merited distinction. He was a surgeon in the civil war.
MEDICAL SOCIETIES OF VINCENNES.
"The first medical society organized in Vin- cennes was under a charter granted by the state legislature in the year 1835. This society had the authority to give diplomas to those who sub- mitted to a satisfactory examination by a board of medical censors, which, in that early day, was regarded with almost as much favor as a diploma from a medical college. The meetings of the society were held quarterly and were attended by physicians from this and adjoining counties. A copy of the constitution and by-laws accompany this report. Sections 19 and 20 are worthy of attention and are herewith transcribed :
"'Sec. 19. Physicians should never neglect an opportunity of fortifying and promoting the good resolutions of patients suffering under the bad effects of intemperance and vicious lives; and, in order that their counsel and remonstrations may have due weight, it will readily be seen that they should have full claim to be blameless in life and high moral character, which we have stated to be a necessary prerequisite to an honor- able stand in the profession.'
"'Sec. 20. Medical men should remember the 'Sabbath day and keep it holy,' and visits should. as far as consistent with professional engage- ments, be made before or after public worship, or during its intervals.'
11
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
"I am pleased to be able to state that out of the entire number of physicians who have lived in this place, or who are here now, there has not been an inebriate, and nearly all have been moral men, and many of them members of churches. The physicians here at present are all members of some church, with one or two excep- tions, and not one of them that does not dis- courage intemperance both by precept and exam- ple.
"The next medical society that was organized here dates in December, 1863, with Dr. W. W. Hitt, president, and Dr. A. Patton, secretary. Its meetings were held monthly, and for a year or two they were well attended and the interest fully maintained, but suddenly they were dis- continued and for several years there has been no meeting.
THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE VINCENNES UNIVERSITY.
"The legislature of the Territory of Indiana granted a charter for the Vincennes University in 1807, with the privilege of uniting a medical department with its course of instruction; also law and theological departments. The school of learning is still in existence, having received an endowment from Congress, but the medical de- partment has never been organized.
FEE BILLS.
"I have before me one of Dr. Tisdale's bills, which indicates that he charged for a visit in town, medicine and prescription, $2.00; 'bleed-
12
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
ing, 50 cents; 2 doses jalap, 50 cents; 6 pills, 25 cents; 4 pectoral powders, $1.00.' I regret that the bill does not include a greater variety of items.
"Dr. McKee's charges in 1805 were, for a visit in town, $1.50, medicines additional; ex- tracting teeth, 25 cents; for 30 cathartic pills he charged 50 cents; for one dose of calomel, 1 oz. paregoric and vial, 621/2 cents; for 1 dose calo- mel and 1 dose tartar emetic, 50 cents; for 20 mercurial pills, $1.50; accouchement cases, nat- ural, $5.00. I derive this information from a bill made out against one of his patients.
"Doctors Key Kendall and Decker, in 1820, charged one dollar a visit in town, and charged much less for medicines than did Drs. McKee and Tisdale, the price of drugs having greatly decreased.
"In 1835 I find the following charges as being agreed upon by the physicians, but, as they are the same as those of 1838-48, I will not trans- cribe them. I find one difference in 1835, the charge on prescription, with written advice, was from $5 to $15.
"In 1848 a fee bill was published from which I extract the following: Visit in town, $1.00; with unusual detention, $2.00; prescriptions, with letters of advice, $5.00 to $10.00; consulta- tions, $3.00 to $5.00; night visits double; vac- cination, 50 cents to $1.00; venesection, 50 cents ; simple medicines, per dose, 25 cents; mix- tures, 25 cents per fluid oz .; blisters, from 25 to 50 cents ; accouchement, $5.00 to $10.00.
13
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
. EMOLUMENTS.
"The physicians who have labored so faith- fully and so long for the people of Vincennes may have gained honors and the grateful re- membrance of friends, but not one has ever ac- cumulated wealth; none have made more than a living, with the exception of three, and their fortunes, amounting to only a few thousand dol- lars, were the result of careful economizing, for- tunate investments and small families. It seems that medicine, though an honorable profession, is not a lucrative one, especially in small towns or the country."
PROGRESS IN PRACTICAL MEDICINE.
"To determine the line of practice pursued by the physicians who lived here at an early period, the only means at my command are the medical books I find in their libraries and the few notes in manuscript which some of them have left be- hind. I can not ascertain that any of these men had a line published indicating their views of the pathology or treatment of disease. But we can always safely judge men by the kind of com- pany they keep, and so we may judge our old physicians by the books they read. If Dr. Tis- dale was guided by Sydenham, as he no doubt was, until 1795, when he came into possession of Cullen's First Series in Medicine, we may well conclude that his remedies were few and simple. That our old physicians employed the same for- mulas that were advised by Sydenham is not claimed, for we know that many of their reme- dies consisted of the plants and roots that were
14
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
indigenous in our forests or were grown in the gardens. Medicines that were manufactured only in England, France or Germany, at that time, were very scarce and expensive, and substi- tutes were employed when possible. As a tonic the Peruvian bark had become popular, much more so than when Sydenham expressed his doubts about its safety, and advised that it should never be used until the system was pre- pared to receive it by bleeding, purgatives and emetics. I find, however, that physicians and people relied upon such tonic medicines as they could easily obtain from the forest; one, espe- cially, which was considered a most wonderful remedy in many forms of disease, was Fontany root, which is a species of gentian. It is still used by a few old French families.
"Dr. McKee often prescribed the sumach ber- ries, to be infused in water, as a cooling drink in fevers, and as an aperient instead of cream of tartar.
"The next great work which came into the hands of our early physicians was Dr. Rush's Medical Inquiries and Observations, in which we find the dawnings of that great philosophy in American medicine which we see so strikingly illustrated in the practice of many of our physi- cians of the present day, but which unfortu- nately did not obtain with some of our great wri- ters in the early part of this century.
"Drs. Tisdale and McKee died in 1807-9, but Drs. Key Kendall and McNamee were here then, and in 1811-12 Drs. Skull and Lane came to Vincennes, but neither remained long. They all
15
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA.
followed Cullen and Rush, though Dr. Rush's works were not here until 1813. The next au- thor that I find is Dr. Thomas' work on Practi- cal Medicine, published in 1817 in London. He was never a popular author in America ; was con- sidered entirely too timid and temporizing in his practice. Up to this time the only treatment employed in pneumonia was bleeding, tartar emetic and calomel, and neither Drs. Tisdale, McKee, McNamee, Key Kendall, Lane or Decker had ever heard of auscultation as a means of diagnosis in lung and heart diseases. I find the work of Corvisart on the Heart in this old library, but he never dreamed of the ad- vances that were to be made in our knowledge of cardiac diseases. In pneumonia, however, the old treatment of bleeding, evacuants and such depressing agents as tartar emetic, has given place to one that is more rational and far more successful. There is not a physician in Vin- cennes, so far as I am informed, that pursues the old treatment in pneumonia.
"In that period, extending from 1815 to 1830, it is evident that our physicians here pursued the line of treatment that then prevailed in Philadelphia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Natchez, Miss. Among the old books are many works, monographs and articles in medical journals on fevers, bowel affections, lung dis- cases and others which were prevalent in this climate, written by such distinguished men as Eberle and Chapman, of Philadelphia; John Esten Cooke, then of Virginia, afterward Louis-
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