USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana > Part 28
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The earliest physicians traveled about on horseback. There were no telephones by which medical assistance could be summoned to re- mote parts of the rural district, and hence. up to recent years, the siglit of a flying horseman hastening to town was a signal to the neighbors that some one was ill in the horseman's family. An hour or so later back would come the physician, muffled up beyond recognition during the severe winter season or bespattered with mud from hard riding over the miry thoroughfares which then prevailed throughout the county. There were no carriages, and if there had been they would have been useless, because of the rough and muddy roads, all of which were
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scarcely more than trails cut through the woods. The distances tray- eled in reaching the sufferers was long, because the roads wound about so much, and often the delay in getting the doctor was so great that the patient was dead before he could arrive. The roads had to be cut around ponds and marshes and other obstructions, and Dr. Jackson tells of having to go four miles around a swamp in order to pass from the home of one farmer to that of another, while straight across the distance was only half a mile. Sometimes after heavy rains the streams would be swollen and bridges floated away, which necessitated a long detour in order to arrive at the destination. But numberless and arduous as were the difficulties which beset the pioneer practitioner-and only a few of the hardships have been mentioned here, so that the picture is quite inadequate to reveal the hard life of our first doctors-it is to the lasting honor of the rugged character and faithful devotion to duty of those men that no call for help, matter not where it was or what its answering meant in the way of personal hardship, was refused.
The pioneer physician of Goshen was Dr. Johnson Latta, uncle of the late Dr. M. M. Latta, who died here in 1899. Dr. Johnson Latta is described as being a large, well built, finely proportioned and rather handsome man, with a wholesomeness of character and a physical vital- ity which made him a welcome visitor at every home in the county. After practicing a number of years and reaching an advanced age, he retired from practice and returned to his old home at Hawpatch, La- Grange county, where he died. His nephew, Dr. M. M. Latta, suc- ceeded him, about 1840, and continued uninterruptedly until 1897. He was not only a physician but a man of affairs and figured prominently in the history of his city and county.
Contemporaries of Dr. Johnson Latta were Dr. William Matchette and Dr. Joseph Grover, and these three comprised the " regular " phy- sicians of this vicinity for some years. . Also there were several quack doctors, among whom was a Dr. Parks, who came here from Hawpatch, and who afterward took a regular course of medicine.
The medical profession had no regulations at that time, neither imposed by the state nor, to any large degree, inherent in the fraternity. The strict code of professional ethics which now governs with greater power than any system of law had been scarcely formulated at that time. The state took no cognizance whatever of the profession as such. There were no requirements as to length and extent of preparation. Any one who had enough faith in his own knowledge and skill could set him-
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self up in practice, and after reading one or two medical books some individuals would offer their services to the healing of mankind. Herbs and roots supplied the materia medica which, according to various formulas, were decocted by certain persons for the healing of man and beast, and several of these so-called " herb doctors " have achieved dis- tinction in the county and were relied upon, in the treatment of certain cases, with as implicit confidence as ever imposed in the regular prac- titioners.
When traveling about the country on horseback the physicians carried their medicine, surgical instruments, etc., in a saddle-bag. which was an important part of their equipment. Dr. A. C. Jackson was one of these saddle-bag physicians, and, now at the age of eighty odd years and still practicing, he forms one of the interesting characters that bridge the past with the present. He began practicing in 1847, at Galveston, now Clunette, in Kosciusko county, but a year later returned to this, his native county. He formed a partnership with Dr. M. M. Latta, upon the dissolution of which. in 1861. Dr. Jackson practiced with his brother William until the death of the latter from blood pois- oning in July, 1862. Continuing his practice until 1870, Dr. Jackson was then interested in banking for about ten years, since which time he has continued his place in the profession. Dr. Jackson obtained his professional education at Indianapolis Medical College in the winters of 1843-44-45 while his father was a member of the legislature.
One of the early " farmer doctors," whose professional skill as well as his personal character are still well remembered about Goshen, was Dr. Jacob Cornell, who began practice about 1848. He lived five miles northeast of Goshen, and his familiar figure, mounted on a good horse, was seen almost daily in some part of the large territory covered by his practice, and he continued making his professional calls on horse- back even in later years. He died at Goshen in 1884.
The first physician at Elkhart was, of course, the revered Havilah Beardsley, the founder of the town. His prominence in industrial and civic affairs, and especially his absorbing duties connected with the pro- motion of the town at the Forks, gave him little opportunity for active practice, so that it is in other departments of this history where his name and career are most appropriately considered. The first doctor devoting particular attention to the profession was Dr. Kenyon, who settled in the village in 1834.
Another physician whose activity as a citizen and as a man of
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affairs has left a greater impress upon the history of his county than his professional career was Dr. E. W. Il. Ellis, the one-time county auditor, prominent in Elkhart county journalism and politics. Born in New York state in 1815, the son of a doctor, educated for the pro- fession under excellent preceptors and schools and receiving his diploma at the age of nineteen, he came to northern Indiana in 1836 and in 1838 arrived in Elkhart, where, according to his statement, at that time every house was a hospital. He had known as many as eleven persons to be sick in a single room fifteen feet square. Even before coming to this county he had served in public office and had been connected with various newspaper enterprises, and his activity in this county was mainly identi- fied with public affairs. He served as county auditor, later was elected auditor of the state, had an interest in one way or another with nearly every paper published at Goshen up to forty years ago, and, taken by and large, his is one of the most versatile and interesting careers that adorned the early medical, profession in this county.
Lack of space forbids anything like a complete account of the early physicians of this county and their eventful careers. Most of the old- time doctors are dead, or have retired and left the field to a younger generation, although their early work and beneficent influence will always form an important part of the story of development and progress of the county. \ contemplation of the lives of these noble pioneers recalls these lines from Carleton's " Country Doctor " :
"But perhaps it still is better that his busy life is done: He has seen old views and patients disappearing one by one."
One other character we must mention in this connection, as one who has survived the flight of years since pioneer times, and who, still living, represents in person an epoch of which the present generation can form only an inadequate conception. Dr. William W. Wickham. though no longer connected with the active work of his profession and spending only a part of his time in this county, began practicing at Goshen in 1847. He was born in New York state in 1820 and gained his medical education under private preceptors while following a me- chanical trade for a livelihood. He is one of the best known old citi- zens and doctors of Elkhart county. The names of many other early representatives of the medical profession will be found in the histories of the different towns of the county and in various connections, for, as has been indicated, the early physicians were oftentimes equally promi-
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nent or even more so as citizens and in other walks of life than in their own profession.
It will interest the present constituency of Elkhart county medical men to know that a flourishing medical society existed here in the forties. Of the Union Medical Society of Northern Indiana-for such was the name of this body-E. W. Il. Ellis was president and M. M. Latta secretary when the third semi-annual meeting was held at the vil- lage of Benton in November, 1847. The principal paper and discus- sion concerned the use and abuse of mercury. There was also an address on non-paying patrons. At the meeting of the society in June. 1848, at Goshen, Dr. Chamberlain read a paper on the nature and causes of congestion, Dr. Jackson spoke on the influence of cold in producing disease, and Dr. Parks read a paper on pneumonia. The officers chosen for the year were: E. W. H. Ellis, president; R. Willard, vice-presi- dlent: M. M. Latta, recording secretary; P. Henkel, corresponding sec- retary : S. B. Kyler, treasurer : and Chamberlain, Jackson, Willard, Fow- ler. Kyler, censors.
Nearly sixty years after the meetings just recorded we find the Elkhart County Medical Society with a splendid membership, embrac- ing practically all the physicians of the county and through their unity of action and counsel maintaining their professional work abreast of the phenomenal progress which the science is making during these latter years. During the regular season of 1904-05 the society held ten monthly meetings, at each of which some important subject was taken up by some member and treated in writing; this followed by the report of a case exemplifying the subject matter of the paper : and then a general discussion open to all members. The officers of the society during the past year were: I. W. Short, president; J. . \. Cook, vice-president ; A. C. Yoder, secretary-treasurer ; I. J. Becknell, C. M. Eisenbeiss and .A. C. Yoder, censors.
The present membership of the Elkhart County Medical Society, including practically a representation of the personnel of the profession in the county at this writing, contains the following names :
At Goshen : E. E. Ash, I. J. Becknell, J. A. Cook, S. A. Edmands, Frances M. Ihrig, A. J. Irwin, H. K. Lemon, D. L. Miller, B. F. Whit- mer, G. A. Whippy, W. B. and M. K. Kreider, A. C. Yoder. W. O. Vallette, dentist.
At Elkhart: B. F. Kuhn, J. W. Kistner, R. L. Lockwood, H. ... Mumaw, R. M. Murphy, W. A. Neal, I. W. Short, G. W. Spohn. G.
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F. Washburne, J. A. Work, F. N. Dewey, M. M. Eckleman, F. C. Eckleman. A. L. Fisher, J. C. Fleming, C. W. Frink, C. D. Goodrich, R. Q. Haggerty, G. B. Hoopingarner, G. W. Hauenstein, William Gabel, W. H. Thomas; and dentists, S. M. Cummings, Frank Adams, M. Pounder, J. F. Werner. G. E. Zinn.
Bristol: C. E. Dutrow and H. M. Hall. New Paris: C. M. Eisenbeiss, Samuel Eisenbeiss, James Mathews, S. W. Walters, G. M. Brothers. Nappanee: M. D. Price and W. A. Price. Millersburg: W. H. Rieman and J. A. Snapp. Wakarusa: A. S. Sensenich, N. C. Bauman, S. C. Wagner, LaMar Knepple. Middlebury: B. F. Teters. M. A. Farver.
THE ELKHART COUNTY BAR.
The Elkhart county bar has never lacked men of distinction by reason of sound ability, depth of learning, forensic skill, and active, virile character. Such men have honored the profession, have uphield the dignity of law and its institutions, and have been the strongest guar- antee of healthful progress in all the lines of human activity. So broad is the field of modern jurisprudence, so peculiar and vital its expres- sion and practice, that its ablest representatives are by no means con- fined to one locality, nor any one locality necessarily without several leaders in counsel and court practice. It is not to our purpose here to state the distinctive merits of the various representatives of the county bar both past and present, but rather to mention briefly those who have represented their profession, if not in an eminent degree, at least with that sliare of success and honor which has made their names worthy of record in the history of the county.
A new country demands administrative and executive ability rather than technical legal knowledge and skill, and for this reason regular practicing attorneys play a small part in the history of the county except in connection with such offices as required legal training for the proper discharge of their duties, and even there common sense and. impartial judgment were more important than a heart-to-heart acquaintance witli Blackstone. The circuit court which convened for the transaction of business arising in Elkhart county in November, 1830, was presided over by William Latta and Peter Diddy, associate judges. The former, who was born in 1801. and died in 1847, came to this county in 1828. He was one of the most successful business men in the county, but was not trained in the law. The same was no doubt true of many of the incumbents of judicial and administrative offices during that early period.
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One of the first acts of Judge Charles H. Test in assuming the office of president judge of the sixth judicial circuit in April, 1831, was to admit to practice in his court three members of the Michigan bar. A few months later the bar of the county was increased by the admission of the following: John Sevey, Elisha Egbert, D. H. Colerick, M. Ray, William J. Brown and J. S. Newman. Among the early lawyers who had their offices at Goshen were Henry Cooper and Joseph L. Jernegan. They are the only law firm mentioned in the old Goshen Express of 1837, a notice of dissolution of partnership appearing in one of the issues of that year.
In a paper entitled " Goshen Sixty Years Ago," read before the Historical Society by P. M. Henkel, the following paragraphs give us an interesting view of the courts and some members of the bar during the forties.
" The old court house, now a thing of the past," says Mr. Henkel, " stood in the middle of the public square, then unfenced. A short sketch of this venerable old building may not be uninteresting at this time. Jacob Studebaker had the contract for its building. For this pur- pose he wended his way to Dayton, Ohio, where he took exact meas- urement of the Dayton court house and duplicated the same for Elk- hart county.
" The first courts were held semi-annually, spring and fall, and were limited to two weeks each term. Samuel Sample of South Bend was the presiding officer, with two associates, Joseph Beane and Will- iam Latta. The legal fraternity of that day consisted of Eben Cham- berlain, Thomas G. Harris and Michael C. Daugherty, while Jonathan Liston and Joseph L. Jernegan of South Bend were among the regular attendants of the court. A separate court for the transaction of pro- bate business was held at regular intervals and presided over by Sam- uel P. Beebe of Elkhart. Dr. E. W. H. Ellis was auditor and hield his office in a small wooden building just north of the public square. El- bridge Chamberlain filled the office of recorder and kept his records in a small building on the west end of a lot owned by James II. Barnes. Thomas Thomas was clerk of the court, and his son William A. per- formed the duty of deputy and held the office in the upper part of the court house. Elias Carpenter was county treasurer and performed the duty of collecting taxes at his residence, as there was no other place provided to perform that duty."
Judge Beebe, mentioned by Mr. Henkel, was the character of Elk-
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hart during the early days ; he had been originally a merchant, but was then settled to the occupation of farmer, and had been elected to the office of probate judge. He was a man of more than ordinary intelli- gence, of great good sense and correct habits, and of honorable prin- ciples ; but withal a free thinker in religion, and a practical joker. He had a nickname for everybody, but a warm hand for his friends. He discharged the duties of his office with eminent ability and impartiality, but more men feared than loved him.
Ebenezer M. Chamberlain for many years held a commanding posi- tion at the bar of this county as well as in public life. Born in Maine in 1805, he taught school as a means of entrance into the law, was ad- mitted to the bar in 1833. and shortly afterward came to Elkhart county. A Democrat, he was elected to the legislature in 1835, to the state senate in 1839. in 1843 was chosen presiding judge of the ninth district, and re-elected in 1851, but resigned in the same year to go to congress as the representative of the tenth district.
Judge Chamberlain was a conspicuous example of the men who left their impress on the jurisprudence of the state, and were largely in- fluential for good in different phases of the early growth and develop- ment of Indiana. Those were the days when the lawyers used to ride on horseback from one county to another on the circuit, put up at the hotel, and attend the session of court. They used to tell stories and have jolly times. Under such circumstances the character of each man was very apt to crop out, and every lawyer came to be understood very well. None of the legal pioneers remain, for they were as a rule in the prime of life when they came to associate themselves with the legal affairs of the county. Even those who were regarded as the principal legal factors in the county twenty-five years ago have since suffered much in the changes incident to death or age. . \ quarter of a cen- tury ago the bar of the county was represented by such individuals and firms as Baker and Mitchell. M. F. Shuey, I. A. Simmons, Vanfleet and Bickel. J. W. Irwin. George W. Best, Osborn and Herr. Wilson and Davis, .A. W. Simmons, Delos N. Weaver, I. N. Hall, Col. Johnson, O. H. Main, O. T. Chamberlain, Lewis Wanner. W. L. Stonex. A. H. Johnson, H. V. Curtis. I. N. Everett. C. C. Gilmore, M. E. Meader. Otis D. Thompson, Livy Chamberlain. E. R. Kerstetter, Zook Broth- ers, D. N. Leib, C. F. Shuey. James H. State, M. I. Beck. A. F. Wil- len. Milo S. Hascall. H. C. Dodge. Bartholomew, G. T. Barney.
Reference to the present list of Elkhart county attorneys will show
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the changes that have occurred in the legal personnel of the county in these years. Many new names have come into prominence, of men fitted to maintain and advance yet higher the standard of the past, whose talents, whose industry, whose devotion to the best ideals of the pro- fession are not less worthy of admiration and honor than those same qualities in their predecessors. And, happy to say, there are still living some of the powerful characters whose careers attained the zenith of usefulness in the years before the present. There is George T. Barney, more than fourscore years of age, who has been identified with the.legal profession in Elkhart nearly forty years; Judge Baker, of the Federal court, now past seventy years, is one of the most eminent of the legal profession whether in county, state or nation; and, for so long a time connected with the Elkhart county bar, and at the time of his death its oldest living representative, was Judge Henry D. Wilson. Born in 1829. Judge Wilson came to Goshen in 1864, and was the first mayor of the city of Goshen in 1868. Legally trained under the tutelage of Judge E. M. Chamberlain, another man of wonderful talent and con- spicuous success as a member of the bar of this county, was John W. Irwin (see his sketch), who, locating in Goshen in 1849, occupied a premier position in legal circles throughout the latter half of the nine- teenth century. Other names might be mentioned, hundreds of pages might be devoted to the bar alone, but here we must be content to men- tion a few names rather than afford a complete portrait of each per- sonage who has conferred honor on the legal history of this county.
As affording a ground for comparison between the personnel of the bar of the present and that of the past century in our county, it would be interesting to note how far the careers of our legal fraternity in 1905 bear out the observations of Hon. James Bryce. M. P., con- cerning certain tendencies of the profession as differing from what he had observed thirty or thirty-five years ago. Says Mr. Bryce: "Law- yers now to a greater extent than formerly are business men, a part of the great organized system of industrial and financial enterprise. They are less than formerly the students of a particular kind of learn- ing. the practitioners of a particular art. And they do not seem to be quite so much of a distinct professional class. Some one seventy years ago called them the aristocracy of the United States, meaning that they led public opinion in the same way as the aristocracy of Eng- land led opinion there. They still comprise a large part of the finest intellect of the nation. But one is tokl they do not take so keen an
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interest in purely legal and constitutional questions as they did in the days of Story and Webster." It is certainly true that many of the best lawyers of this county take a foremost part in business; that is, commerce, industry and finance, but it is hardly possible to state in what degree that part is greater than a generation ago.
The active members of the bar of Elkhart county in 1905 are as follows: Ethan L. Arnold, L. L. Burris, Warren Berkey, David M. Best, L. H. Beyerle, George T. Barney, Clark Barney, Elisha A. Baker, Frank Brown, Livy Chamberlain, Orin M. Conley, William M. Charn- ley, Mitchell Charnley, Milo H. Cripe, Ira H. Church, James S. Drake, William J. Davis, Thomas A. Davis, William Dalton, Henry C. Dodge, James S. Dodge, James S. Dodge, Jr., Ethan A. Dausman, Anthony Dealıl, B. F. Deahl, Otto E. Deal, .A. E. Darling, L. A. Dennert, Perry A. Early, George W. Fleming, Charles E. Frank, J. B. Gattshall, M. M. Gallentine, William B. Hile, Schuyler C. Hubbell, William II. Hanen- stein, James L. Harman, Samuel C. Harrington, L. D. Hall, George R. Harper, F. E. Hughes, .A. J. Hoover, M. G. Hoover, Oscar Jay, Martin H. Kinney, H. W. Kantz, J. O. Kautz, George D. Lint, Charles W. Miller, Elmer E. Mummert, John W. Monschien, J. S. McEntaffer, J. D. Osborne, Robert E. Proctor, Clyde Raymer, Lonis M. Simpson, James HI. State, Benjamin G. Schaefer, Wilber L. Stonex, Earnest .1. Skinner, Charles G. Sims, H. A. Stauffer, Glen R. Sawyer, George E. Shaw, Perry L. Turner, D. J. Troyer, William Theis, Vernon W. Vanfleet, Lou W. Vail, Louis Vanderlip, William E. Wider, Delos N. Weaver, Charles A. Wehmeyer, L. Burr Whippy, Aaron S. Zook, Edw. B. Zigler. Edgar L. Zigler. Law firms: Church and Shaw; Davis and Schaefer; Deahl and Deahl; Hughes and Arnold; Harman and Zigler; Hile and Baker; Miller, Drake and Hubbell; Raymer and Proc- tor; Skinner and Wider; Vanfleet and Vanfleet ; Vail and Wehmeyer; Zook and Jay.
The Elkhart County Bar Association has the following officers for 1905: John M. Vanfleet, president; Aaron S. Zook, vice-presi- dent; Martin H. Kinney, secretary; William H. Charnley, treasurer. Executive Committee : E. A. Dausman, George T. Barney, P. L. Tur- ner, V. W. Vanfleet. Grievance Committee : William B. Hile, Charles .A. WVelimeyer. Charles E. Frank, Warren Berkey, Arthur E. Darling. Membership Committee: Lou W. Vail. . A. S. Zook. J. B. Gattshall, James L. Harman, J. S. Dodge, Jr. Examining Committee: E. A. Dausman, B. F. Deahl, Vernon W. Vanfleet.
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The Elkhart Circuit Court, as constituted during 1905. has the following officials : Judge. James S. Dodge ; prosecuting attorney, Will- iam B. Hile; court reporter. L. H. Beyerle: probate commissioner. Daniel J. Troyer ; deputy prosecuting attorney, L. L. Burris; clerk. Martin H. Kinney; deputy, George W. Fleming ; assistant deputy. Ilalı Davis: sheriff. A. Elmer Manning; deputy, Robert E. Chatten; court and jury bailiff, James M. Gowing.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
EDUCATION.
Culture's hand
Has scattered verdure o'er the land,
And smiles and fragrance rule serene
Where barren wilds usurped the scene.
And such is man; a soil which breeds
Or sweetest flowers or vilest weeds :
Flowers lovely as the morning's light,
Weeds deadly as the aconite,
Just as his heart is trained to bear
The poisonous weed or flow'ret fair. -BOWRING
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