A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 51

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I > Part 51

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presented in 1853, with additional observations. (See AMedical and Surgical Reporter, of Philadelphia, for April 14, 1866.) In August, 1866, cholera was again intro- duced into the city of Aurora. The experience which the citizens had had with this disease caused the city council to give the board of health unlimited power to prevent its spread. Dr. Sutton, being a firm believer in the efficacy of sanitary measures, and the power in a great measure to "stamp out" the disease, superin- tended, as president of that board, the disinfection of all the houses and premises at which the disease had appeared; and a general system of disinfection over the whole city was adopted. The disease was confined to a small locality, and only twelve deaths occurred. In 1877 he presented a report to the Indiana State Medical Society on cholera, showing its introduction and the ex- tent to which it prevailed in Dearborn, Ohio, and Ripley Counties, Indiana, in 1866. (See Transactions of Indiana State Medical Society for 1867.) In 1868 he presented an- other report to the State Society, the object of which was to show that cholera was not a zymotic or blood disease, in which the poison germ is redeveloped within the blood, but that its development was from the mucous mem- brane of the alimentary canal; and that the presence of the poison germ within the mucous membrane poisons the nerves of the part; and this abnormal condition fa- vors its redevelopment by producing a local hyperæmia of the tissue from which it is reproduced. (Transactions of Indiana State Medical Society for 1868.) This year he also published a new method of reducing disloca- tion of the hip-joint, by using the femur as a lever over a fulcrum placed in the groin. The paper was delayed in its publication, but appeared in the number of the Western Journal of Medicine, published at Indianapolis, in September, 1868. In 1869 he was elected president of the Indiana State Medical Society, an honor he highly appreciated, as he was not even present that year at the meeting of the society over which he was chosen to preside. Doctor Sutton has full faith in the mission of the medical profession to prevent and cure disease ; and, as president in 1870 of the Indiana State Medical Society, he delivered an address in which he discussed the power which mind has over the laws of nature, and that medicines were means, when properly used, by which we could aid and control the laws of human life. (See Transactions of Indiana State Medical Society for 1870.) In 1871 he attended the meeting of the Ameri- can Medical Association at San Francisco, California, as a delegate from the Indiana State Medical Society, and was appointed chairman of the section on medical topography, meteorology, and epidemics. He wrote

letters describing his trip to California, which were pub-

lished in the Dearborn Independent. In 1872 he at-

tended the meeting of the American Medical Asso- ciation at Philadelphia, and presided over the section

on medical topography, meteorology, and epidemics. Valuable papers were read before the section, which are published in the Transactions. He was reappointed chairman of the same section for 1873. (See Transactions of the American Medical Association for 1871 and 1872.) In 1873 he attended the meeting of the American Medical Association at St. Louis, and presided over the section on psychology, medical jurisprudence, physiology, and hygiene. (See Transactions of the American Medical Association for 1873.) This year he presented to the Indiana State Medical Society a lengthy report on the medical topography and diseases of Indiana. He sent circulars to a large number of physicians, and procured valuable information relating to this subject in forty-two counties, and also the prevailing diseases. (See Trans- actions of the Indiana State Medical Society for 1873.) In August, 1873, cholera was again introduced into the city of Aurora. The board of health, of which he was president, adopted the same vigorous course of disinfec- tion that was pursued in 1866, and with the same excel- lent effects. There was the most conclusive evidence of the introduction of the disease this year into the city by infection, and its spread throughout the country by human agency. He read a paper before the Society of Natural History at Cincinnati, the object of which was to show that we occasionally have local thunder-storms which present evidence of a strong wind blowing out- wardly in all directions from the center. This paper was published in the American Journal of Science and Arts. (See July number for 1873.) In 1874 he made the discovery that hogs in the neighborhood of Aurora were infected with trichinæ. He was also called to at- tend a number of cases of trichinosis, produced from eating diseased pork. He published several articles on this subject in the Aurora Farmer and Mechanic. These contributions were republished in the Cincinnati Com- mercial, Gazette, and Enquirer, and other papers, in January and February, 1874. He continued his investi- gations, and in May, 1875, presented a report on trichi- nosis to the Indiana State Medical Society. In this report he directed attention to the fact, which he had discovered, that from three to ten per cent of the hogs in South-eastern Indiana were infected with trichinæ, the number of hogs diseased varying greatly in different localities ; and also that it was highly probable that trichinous pork was one of the causes of gastro-enteri- tis, diarrhea, and dysentery-diseases so prevalent in our country. (See Transactions of the Indiana Medical Society for 1875 ; also, extracts republished in the Lon- don Lancet and a large number of medical journals.) On the 21st of December, 1874, he read a paper before the Academy of Medicine at Cincinnati on " The Ful- crum as an Aid to Manipulation in the Reduction of Dislocations." He directed attention to its assistance in the reduction of dislocation of the hip-joint, as well as

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its aid to manipulation without force in the reduction | of dislocations of the shoulder-joint. (See Clinic for January 2 and January 9, 1875.) In the Medical and Surgical Reporter for January 23, 1875, he published his second case of successful reduction of dislocation of the hip-joint by manipulating the femur over a fulcrum. This case had resisted the usual methods recommended to effect the purpose, but was reduced by this plan in a few moments. In May, 1876, he read a paper before the Indiana State Medical Society on this manner of reducing dislocations of the hip-joint. In this paper he presents seven rules to guide in the reduction of the different forms of dislocation of the hip-joint by ma- nipulations over a fulcrum. He presented additional cases of success in the April and also in the September numbers of the American Practitioner for 1876. One of these cases was of twenty-eight days' standing, and had resisted all efforts to effect reduction. On the 18th of November, 1876, he reduced, at the Philadelphia Hos- pital, a dislocation of the hip-joint .of ninety-eight days' duration. From its long standing and the extensive ad- hesions which had formed, and from the fact that it had resisted all the scientific efforts made at this hospital to effect reduction, he regards this as a most conclusive test case, and as establishing beyond all doubt the efficacy of this mode of reducing dislocations of the hip-joint. His son, Doctor H. H. Sutton, assisted in the reduction and made this case the subject of his thesis, as he was at that time attending the Jefferson Medical College, and graduated in the spring of 1877. Doctor H. H. Sutton watched the case from the time of its reduction up to the Ioth of March, when the man was able to go about. The hospital record shows that he was dis- charged cured. In the summer of 1877 Doctor Sutton published additional evidence of the efficacy of this mode of reducing dislocation of the hip-joint. (See Cin- cinnati Lancet and Observer for September, 1879.) On the 23d of February, 1875, he read a paper before the Dearborn County Medical Society on the fulcrum as an aid in manipulating without resorting to force in the reduction of dislocation of the shoulder-joint. (See Rec- ords of the society for February 23, 1875.) Doctor Sutton had succeeded in reducing several cases of dislo- cation of the shoulder-joint by the method proposed, but did not regard them as test cases. On the 25th of June, 1878, Doctor H. C. Vincent, of Guilford, presi- dent of the Dearborn County Medical Society, brought before the society a patient in which the humerus was dislocated on the 10th of March, and had resisted all the usual efforts to effect reduction by extension and counter-extension, with a ball or fulcrum in the axilla. From its long standing, extensive adhesions, and the un- successful efforts that had already been made to effect reduction, it was thought by a number of the members that no further effort should be made to effect reduc-

tion. As Doctor Sutton was not present that day at the society, it was decided to take the patient to Aurora on Thursday, June 27, and if reduction should be attempted this at least would be a test case for the plan which he had presented to the society. The man lived about twelve miles from Aurora, and on the day appointed Doctor H. C. Vincent, accompanied by the patient and by Doctor T. M. Kyle, of Manchester, and also Doctor W. C. Henry, Doctor R. C. Bond, and Doctor H. H. Sutton, met at the office of Doctor Sutton. The dislo- cation was one of one hundred and ten days' duration, and difficulty was anticipated. The patient was brought under the influence of chloroform, and, assisted by these gentleman, Doctor Sutton reduced the dislocation, by his peculiar mode of manipulating, in less than five minutes. Three months later the patient was again brought to the society by Doctor Vincent, perfectly recovered, with perfect use of his arm, showing that this plan of reducing dislo- cation of the shoulder-joint is at least worthy of a trial. As a member of the committee on necrology in the American Medical Association he presented biographical sketches of Doctors Isaac Casselberry, Thos. Fry, James P. Debruler, and also G. W. Mears. (See Transactions of the American Medical Association for 1875 and 1880. ) He has also furnished for publication biographical sketches of Doctors H. J. Bowers, Nelson Torbet, D. Fisher, Mat- thias Haines, W. E. Sutton, H. T. Williams, M. H. Hard- ing, junior, and John Hughes. At the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Buffalo, August, 1876, he read a paper on the "Evidence in Boone County, Kentucky, of Glacial or Ice Deposits of Two Distinct and Widely Distant Periods." This paper was published in the Proceedings of the as- sociation for 1876, and reviewed in the American Journal of Science for September, 1877, page 239, and also repub- lished in full in the Geological Report of Indiana for 1878. In 1878 he read a paper before the Indiana State Medical Society on " Placenta Previa and Its Treatment," which was published in the Transactions of the society for 1878, and also in pamphlet form. In this paper he suggested the importance of collecting statistics on this subject, which has since been done. He kept a meteor- ological journal for over thirty years, and furnished to the Smithsonian Institute regular meteorological ob- servations for many years. (See Smithsonian Reports from 1859 to 1873.) Doctor Sutton is an independent thinker-has been remarkable for his indefatigable en- ergy, industry, and love of science. Although engaged in a large practice in the different branches of his pro- fession, he found time to direct a portion of his atten- tion to geology, meteorology, and archæology, and also to write for the newspapers on a great variety of subjects. Some of these articles were his best productions. He has written on sanitary science, scarlatina, cholera, geol- ogy, a series of articles on the graded school system,

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railroad obligations of Aurora, excursion to Niagara Falls, to Canada, to California, and other articles too numerous to mention. He has been selected as orator for a large number of public celebrations, and has de- livered addresses and orations, many of which were pub- lished in pamphlet form. As president of the board of trustees of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of In- diana, he delivered an address to the graduating class at Indianapolis in 1877, and also in 1878, which were published in the Indianapolis papers. (See Sentinel and Indianapolis Journal of February 22, 1878.) He has given much attention to the microscope, and has made valuable discoveries and suggestions on trichinæ and trichinosis, to which allusion has already been made. He has made surgery a specialty, is an expert operator, and has had a large surgical practice. The machine shops of the Ohio and Mississippi Railway are situated near Aurora, and, as might be expected, many accidents occur at them, requiring prompt surgical aid. Much of this has fallen to his care, and he has performed a large variety of surgical operations. His suggestions in rela- tion to the reduction of dislocations have been exten- sively republished, and Professor Pooley, in the Prac- titioner, of December, 1876, says:

"It seems to me, therefore, that we are indebted to Doctor Sutton for a valuable improvement; and I do not know a more beautiful and philosophical piece of practical surgery than the reduction of a dislocated hip by Doctor Reid's manipulation, performed over Sutton's fulcrum."

Doctor Sutton is remarkable for his independence in thought and action. He has had the confidence of the public for over forty years, and from an extensive con- sulting practice and lucrative business as surgeon and physician has, although a poor collector, been able to acquire ample means to live comfortably in his old age. He has always taken a deep interest in the subject of education; was connected with the board of school trustees of Aurora for over sixteen years, and was in- strumental in erecting at Aurora one of the finest school buildings in South-eastern Indiana. He directed his at- tention many years ago to the antiquities of his neigh- borhood-made notes and drew sketches of the fortifica- tions and earth-works then to be seen, as it was evident that from the progress of improvement all trace of these monuments would in time be lost. . He made collections of the antiquities, fossils, and geological specimens found in the neighborhood of Aurora, and has now a cabinet of many thousand specimens valuable for their local in- terest. He has a fine equatorial telescope-five feet long, object glass three and a half inches-finely mounted, for celestial observations, which he places at the disposal of the astronomical class in the high school of Aurora. Sketches of his life have already been published by the Rocky Mountain Medical Association, and also in the

" Biographical Sketches of Physicians of the United States." In the sketch of his life in the Transactions of the Rocky Mountain Medical Association, Doctor Toner says that "all of his papers have the rare merit of be- ing original and practical." He is an active member of the Dearborn County Medical Society, and also a member of the Indiana State Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association, and was a member of the International Medical Congress of 1876, as a dele- gate from the Indiana State Medical Society. He is a member of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, of the Archeological Association of Indiana, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is an honorary member of the Ohio State Medical Society, the California State Medical Society, and also of several other societies.

UTTON, WILLIS EDGAR, M. D., a son of Doc- tor George Sutton, a well-known physician of Southern Indiana, was born in Aurora, Indiana, June 2, 1848, and died at his father's residence, in Aurora, February 24, 1879. Doctor Sutton was never very robust, having suffered from a severe attack of cholera in the spring of 1849, when it was prevailing so fatally at Aurora, and his life was despaired of; con- trary to all expectations, however, he recovered from this disease, though it left his system in an enfeebled condition, from which he felt the effects in after life. As he grew older he seemed to become more vigorous, strengthening his constitution by all kinds of outdoor sports, of which he was extremely fond, and was able to receive a good education, attending first the excellent graded schools in his native town, then Moore's Hill College, and afterward Wabash College, at Crawfords- ville. Deciding to become a physician, in the year 1869 he commenced the study of medicine, under the tuition of his father, and attended lectures in Cincin- nati, graduating at the Ohio Medical College in 1872. The following winter he went to Philadelphia, to con- tinue his studies at the famous Jefferson Medical Col- lege, also visiting the hospitals of that city. On his return home he entered upon the practice of his profes- sion, and having the elements of success, ability and pleasing manners, soon became popular as a physician, and acquired a large practice. He had a great love for his chosen profession, and was conscientious in the dis- charge of its duties, attending the sick faithfully and with a kindly spirit. He was fond of surgery, and a good surgeon, and had performed delicate and diffi- cult operations with success. He was an excellent anat- omist. A good student, close observer, and familiar with the periodical literature of the day, he bade fair to rise to eminence in his profession. Being skillful as

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a microscopist, under the direction of his father he was the first to detect trichinæ in the pork raised in South- eastern Indiana, rendering valuable assistance in 1874 in investigating cases of trichinosis that occurred in Aurora. He connected himself with several medical societies-the Dearborn County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, and the American Med- ical Association. In the summer of 1877 he made a trip to Memphis for the benefit of his health. While at Evansville on his return home, he was caught in a storm of rain, his clothing becoming wet, and that night on the boat he was seized with a chill, followed by an attack of pneumonia. The disease assumed dan- gerous symptoms by the time he reached Aurora, the left lung becoming consolidated. During the summer he went to Minnesota, his health improving somewhat in that climate, and in the fall to Florida, arriving at Jacksonville just as the yellow fever had made its ap- pearance in that city and was creating a panic among the inhabitants. The letters which he wrote on this subject were exceedingly interesting, and some of them were published in the Dearborn Independent. While in Florida he kept a daily record of the weather, being interested in meteorology, and took notes on a variety of subjects, as it was his intention to write a paper on Florida as a health resort for invalids. He remained there until the following May, when he returned but little improved in health. The winter of 1878-79 he determined to go to Texas, but finding himself failing rapidly in that state he returned home, and died a few weeks after his return to Aurora, in the thirty-first year of his age. Thus passed away a young man who was high-minded, honorable in every respect, universally liked, and who commenced his professional career with the most brilliant prospects. Immediately after his death appropriate resolutions were passed by several societies of which he was a member. Those of the Dearborn County Medical Society were as follows :

" Whereas, In the dispensation of an inscrutable but all-wise Providence, we are called to mourn the loss, by death, of our friend and confrère, Willis E. Sutton, M. D .; and, whereas, Doctor W. E. Sutton was a young man of more than ordinary attainments, bidding fair to become a useful member of our society and an orna- ment to the profession, possessing, as he did, such excel- lent social qualities as well as a strictly moral and up- right character; therefore,

" Resolved, That we, as members of the Dearborn County Medical Society, do most deeply sympathize with Doctor George Sutton and his remaining son and daugh- ter in this their great bereavement.

" Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be for- warded to Doctor Sutton and family, as a token of our respect for our deceased brother, and also of our appre- ciation of the eminent ability in our profession, and high standing in our society, of the bereaved father.

" Resolved, That we attend the funeral of the de- ceased en masse."

A-16

ARKINGTON, REV. JOSEPH, of Greensburg, was born at Nashville, Tennessee, October 30, 1800. His parents, Jesse and Mary Tarkington, were natives of Tyrrel County, North Carolina, and of English descent. They went to Tennessee in 1796, and settled near Nashville, where they engaged in farming. In 1815 they removed to Harrison's Block- house-now Edwardsport, Knox County, Indiana-and the next year to Stanford, west of Bloomington. There they entered land and began its cultivation. They were obliged that year to bring their corn in sacks on horseback from Shakertown, on the Wabash, a distance of seventy-five miles, and then pound it in a mortar be- fore they could make bread. There were then only two school-houses within the territory, and very few books of any kind to be had; Joseph Tarkington's opportu- nities for an education were consequently very limited. He spent his early years in labor upon the farm with his father. In 1820 he attended a camp-meeting five miles west of Bloomington, and was there converted. Soon after he was licensed as an exhorter, and in 1824 was licensed to preach. Shortly afterward his father and mother, with a number of their neighbors, were converted under his preaching, and received into the Church. August 27, 1825, he joined the Illinois Con- ference, which met in an upper room in the house of James Sharp, in Charleston-Indiana and Illinois being at that time in one conference. He was sent that year to Patoka Circuit, in the Wabash District, which em- braced seven counties and twenty-eight appointments, with Rev. James Garner preacher in charge. Rev. Charles Holliday, afterward agent of the Western Methodist Book Concern, Walnut Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, was presiding elder. At the first quarterly meet- ing, held at the house of Jonathan Jaques, Rev. Charles Holliday received thirty-seven and one-half cents, Joseph Tarkington fifty cents, and James Garner one dollar. The pioneer preachers did not receive large salaries: James Garner, being a man of family, received that year twenty-eight dollars; and Joseph Tarkington, a single man, fourteen dollars; the amount being paid partly in money and the remainder in flax, leather, etc. They both traveled the whole year, visiting their homes but twice in that time. In 1826 Mr. Tarkington was sent to Sangamon Circuit, Illinois District, Rev. Peter Cartwright presiding elder. Springfield at that time had no church, school-house, or court-house, but had a jail built of logs, sheltered from the rain by a roof of prairie grass. This jail had one prisoner, who, while drunk, had killed his wife. He was tried, convicted, and condemned to be hanged; and the sentence was ex- ecuted in the presence of more than five thousand peo- ple. Rev. Joseph Tarkington and Rev. Richard Har- grave visited the criminal in jail, and attended him upon the scaffold. From 1825 to 1838 Mr. Tarkington

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was continuously engaged as a circuit preacher within the bounds of the Indiana and Illinois Conference, dur- ing which time several important revivals of religion took place, and many united with the Church. In 1838 he was at Lawrenceburg, being the first stationed preacher in the place. During that year there was a great revival, and two hundred and thirteen were added to the Church membership, one hundred and seven of whom were baptized by sprinkling, and twenty-seven by immersion in the Ohio River. In 1839 he was sent to Richmond, and went from one station to another until 1843, when he was appointed presiding elder for Centerville District. He remained there two years; spent two years at Brookville, four at Vincennes, and two years at Greensburg. Then he was appointed agent of the Asbury University, at Greencastle, in which serv- ice he labored two years. From that time he was constantly engaged in the ministry until 1862, when, on account of failing health, he was placed upon the list of superannuated ministers, and retired to his beau- tiful home on his farm near Greensburg, where he still resides. As has been already stated, Mr. Tarkington in early life had access to but few books, and had little time or opportunity for study; but, by a dil- igent and intelligent use of the means at his command, he has become in the strictest sense a self-educated man. He has never omitted an opportunity of acquir- ing knowledge or of storing his mind with history or phi- losophy. When admitted to orders in the Church, he passed, without making a single mistake, a rigid exami- nation before a committee of the following ministers (all since deceased): Allen Wiley, Calvin Ruter, James Scott, George Lock, Thomas Hitt, and Samuel HI. Thompson. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Roberts, and two years later elder by Bishop Soule. Mr. Tark- ington is a man of sound common sense, a safe coun- selor in Church or in state, and is a warm and devoted friend. He is one of the few who know how to grow old gracefully. His face is always full of sunshine, and years only add to his cheerfulness and good nature. If not in words, in all his conduct he says, "Say not the former days were better than these." Rev. Joseph Tarkington married, September 21, 1831, Miss Maria Slawson, of Switzerland County, Indiana, who still lives to enjoy the esteem of her family and large circle of friends. They had seven children, six of whom are still living, four sons and two daughters: Hon. John S. Tarkington, lawyer, Indianapolis; Dr. Joseph A. Tark- ington, Washington, District of Columbia; William S. Tarkington, United States revenue service, Indianapolis; M. S. Tarkington, in charge of the beautiful home farm of two hundred and fifty-two acres, adjoining the city of Greensburg; Martha, wife of Doctor Stewart, druggist, Indianapolis; and Mary, wife of Doctor Alex- ander, of Milford, Indiana.

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A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 51

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1038

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038