USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 31
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The files of the Daily News have afforded the larger part of the material for this history of the county during the past quarter century. In the chronological record will be found several items concerning the history of
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the News, and only the main features of its career need be sketched here. The News became an S-page paper on December 1, 1891, and for the follow- ing ten years kept pace with the improvement of the city by additions of equipment and news facilities that marked it as a metropolitan daily. After Mr. Neely sold his interests, the Muncie News Co. was organized, the prin- cipal officers of the company being P. S. and C. R. Heath and F. J. Clay- pool. In July, 1901, the Ileaths sold their controlling interest in the com- . pany, and within a few weeks the News was in the hands of a receiver. The plant was eventually purchased by George F. McCulloch, and for a time the name of Muncie Daily News was carried on the Morning Star, though the latter was not successor to the News nor was there a consolidation of the two papers.
Muncie Morning Star.
The Muncie Morning Star was founded May 29, 1899, George F. Mc- Culloch having the principal financial interests in the enterprise. The paper is one of the three Star papers published in Indiana, all morning issues, the other two being at Terre Haute and Indianapolis. Mr. McCulloch continued in the active management of the Star until October 27, 1904, having in the meantime given the three papers a combined circulation of about 150,000, that of the Muncie Star being over 25,000. The Star still occupies the field as the leading morning daily of castern Indiana, and with Associated Press service, special correspondents, and first-class mechanical equipment, fur- nishes its readers all the important news of the world selected with reference to Muncie and this section of Indiana. The Muncie Star building at Mul- berry and Adams streets, is one of the modern business blocks of the city, and the presses, linotypes and other machinery are of the highest type of efficiency and power.
The Observer.
R. T. Winters, who has been connected with Muncie journalism a numm- ber of years, with the Times, Herald, News and Star, is proprietor of "The Observer (Always Republican)", published at ILI North Mulberry street. September 28, 1907, it closed its fifth volume, during which time it has occu- pied a useful place as a weekly newspaper, characterized with a certain indi- viduality and independence of opinion that recommended it to a considerable patronage.
Other Papers.
Besides the earlier papers already mentioned, there have been numerous cases of newspaper ventures where considerable ability and worth were indi- cated by the journal, but as permanent and successful enterprises, failed. The Muncie Telegraph was started in 1870 by S. W. Swiggett and Son, of Cincinnati, intended to become popular as the family and fireside paper, and devoted to Republican politics. In April, 1871, the original owners sold the
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aper to William Chandler and J. W. Perkins. Mr. Chandler retired in Au- 1. 1872, and Mr. Perkins, with A. J. Wells, continued the enterprise until 'anmary, 1873. when the end came.
The Muncie Mule had a breezy and jolly existence of about six months. :: would be difficult to describe its hybrid character ; the copies that still exist : : ve that it did not attempt to fill the place of the standard-gauge news- : ger. It was a small four-column folio, and ran from the latter part of 1875 : : : mnetime the following year. The original members of the firm were 5! Smith, Charles Alf Williams, D. J. Hathaway and Will H. Williams, all men of some note in Muncie, whose ability and success in life were not to be ta-ured by the career of the Mule-"a phenomenon in journalism," as one . [ them called it.
The Muncie Weekly Advertiser was an advertising medium, with peri- Heal issue and carrying enough news to make it read. A. C. Stouder was proprietor, and it was started about ISSo. Vol. 2, No. 18, is dated June 4, :St. and Vol. 4, No. 5, is March 11, 1882. The Saturday Pink, which was :.:.: issued December 5, 1885, was also an advertising sheet. Some time later A. C. Stouder started another publication, called The School and Home, "a strictly moral and educational journal. conducted on a plan that : calculated to lift the reader above the light trashy reading of the day." The first number was issued in December, 1888. Mr. Stouder was one of the carly editors of the News, and had a varied experience as printer and newspaper man.
During the nineties a Rev. Sly conducted the Bimetallist for about a year, and the publication continued under another proprietor a few months until F. D. Haimbaugh bought the plant and discontinued the publication. The Muncie Tribune lived about a year under the proprietorship of George Stoll.
In the towns outside of Muncie the newspaper history is naturally brief and disconnected. About May, 1888, the Eaton Gas Light was established 1. M. A. Fisher. Charles Jester, who is still proprietor of a job printing . fice at Eaton, and has issued the Eaton Advertiser as an advertising sheet, : abished the Gas Light for a time. In 1892, during the boom, it was re- :ofied that the Eaton Land and Improvement Co. purchased the plant. J. W. McCarty is now proprietor of the New Gas Light, which is issued every . rillay.
The Gazette, at Gaston, was established about 1897 by C. W. McIntosh ad son, well known citizens of the town, who still continue the publication w. a bright and newsy weekly, offering an advertising medium and the local nowe of the northwest corner of the county.
CHAPTER XXII. MEDICAL HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
By G. W. H. Kemper, M. D.
Dr. Dickinson Burt was the first physician to locate in Delaware county after its organization in 1827. The exact date of his location in Muncietown is not known, -- it was prior to 1829, for the official records show that in addition to his medical duties, he was our second postmaster,-his commission bearing date August 29, 1829. The postoffice was at his home on the west side of Mulberry street near Gilbert street.
The number of physicians multiplied as the population increased, so that the medical and surgical wants of the early pioneers were not neglected. These men were subjected to numerous hardships,-riding on horseback, over mud roads, or along by-paths long distances by day and by night. These rides were made in all kinds of weather,-beneath the piercing rays of a summer sun, or in frozen zero weather, or through drenching rains.
"This undecorated soldier, of a hard, unequal strife,
Fought in many stubborn battles with the foes that sought his life. In the night-time or the day time, he would rally brave and well, Though the summer lark was fifing, or the frozen lances fell ; Knowing if he won the battle they would praise their Maker's name, Knowing if he lost the battle then the doctor was to blame. 'Twas the brave old virtuous doctor,
'Twas the good old faulty doctor,
'Twas the faithful country doctor-fighting stoutly all the same.' * Carleton.
The author of this paper located in Muncie, August 18, 1865, and I esteem it an honor to have known personally a large number of the physi- cians who are named in this paper. The physicians whom I met at the time above indicated, were men of good attainments, and ripe experience, -- a majority of them were elderly men, not only those located in Muncie, but those residing at other points in the county.
All physicians at that time were maling country calls on horseback,- a few only were using buggies or carts in the summer season while the roads were in better condition. I made my country calls invariably on horseback during the first three years of my practice, and also a part of the time for several years later. As the roads were improved, vehicles became
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more common, until gradually the doctor with saddle-bags, merged into the physician riding in a phaeton, and still later, as at the present day, in an automobile,-a veritable evolution as I have witnessed from equestrianism to electricity !
The physicians who practice in Delaware county today and ride along its roads and streets in buggies, can little appreciate the hardships that these early practitioners endured before our gravel roads were made. Visits made on errands of mercy were often accompanied with peril, as it was no un- common thing for the horses to mire in creeks and swamps. A thrilling ex- perience in this line lingers in the memory of the writer. The hardships these men endured told upon their physical strength.
The various preparations of medicines have markedly improved during the past half century, or even a quarter of a century. Concentrated medi- cines as fluid extracts, specific tinctures, tablets, etc., enable us to carry a large list of remedies in a small space, which is a great improvement over the cumbersome saddle-bags required in former days to carry roots and leaves for the preparation of infusions and decoctions.
Many of our valuable instruments in common use at the present day were but little known or unused forty years ago. About the year 1866, I bought a hypodermic syringe, which I believe was the first one to be used in Delaware county. I think Dr. Robert Winton owned the first fever thermometer in this county. Two were then thought to be necessary,-one for the mouth, and a curved one for the axilla. Neither of these were self- registering, and it was necessary to read them while in situ. These useful but crude instruments soon gave way to the neater thermometer, so accu- rate and essential at the present day.
After sleeping in his grave for three and a half centuries, if Martin Luther could come forth, he would find the tenets of theology the same, and the doctrine that "The just shall live by faith," proclaimed as when he fell asleep. And if Sir William Blackstone, after more than a hundred years have passed, should enter a court room of his peers today, he would find them conducting trials by jury; the standard of law unchanged, and the principles of justice that he laid down, still in vogue.
If the physicians, whom I met in Delaware county forty-two years ago were to rise from the dead and appear in our midst today, they would be startled at our speeding automobiles, but no less surprised at our new advances in medicine and surgery, as well as our strange medical terms, for, if they were to hear medical men conversing about antiseptics, Lister- ism, antitoxins, serums, and germs, they would not comprehend their meaning. Should they attempt a surgical operation according to the rules of their day, they would be liable to answer to the charge of malpractice.
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Such have been the rapid advancements in the healing art in less than half a century !
County Medical Society.
The first practical steps toward organizing a medical society in Dela- ware county were taken on April 18, 1865, when some of the physicians of the county met in Walling's Hall (west side of public square), in the city of Muncie, to take preliminary steps for the formation of a permanent so- ciety. At that meeting, Dr. S. V. Jump occupied the chair, and Dr. N. WV. Black was chosen secretary. A committee was then appointed, com- posed of Drs. Morgan, Winton, and Craig, on permanent organization. The adjournment was until Monday, the first day of May, following, when the meeting convened in Dr. Winton's office,-112 West Adams street. The physicians present were Drs. Armitage, Black, Craig, Hoover, Lewellen, Morgan, Skiff, Wheeler, Willard, Winton, W. H. Williams, and J. A. Williams. At this meeting the committee on permanent organization made a report and the plan of organization was read by sections, discussed, and adopted. The committee was continued, and empowered to revise the constitution and by-laws, and have the same published. Under this organ- ization the following named officers were chosen: President, Dr. S. V. Jump, Vice President, Dr. W. J. Morgan; Secretary, Dr. N. W. Black; Treasurer, Dr. William Craig; Censors, Drs. Robert Winton, W. C. Wil- lard, and J. H. Powers.
At a meeting held June 5, 1865, Drs. L. J. Bonnels, J. C. Helm, S. E. Mitchell, and H. C. Winans were admitted to membership. At a meeting held July 3, 1865, Dr. Henry Kirby was admitted, and at a meeting held in September, 1865, Drs. W. J. Andrews and G. W. H. Kemper were ad- mitted to membership.
The Delaware County Medical Society has been reorganized several times since its first organization in order to conform to the requirements of the State Medical Association, but the Society has never failed to exist, and the present one is virtually a continuation of the original Society. So far as the author can ascertain, Dr. W. J. Andrews, of Newark, N. J., and Dr. G. W. H. Kemper, of Muncie, are the only persons living who became members in 1865.
The record of the physicians of Delaware county has been a creditable one; few moral delinquencies have existed. They have been industrious as shown by the numerous contributions to medical literature contributed by our citizen physicians. Our death rate has not been excessive; our health officers have been competent, and our surgeons have successfully performed nearly all the operations known to surgery.
After considerable research and correspondence, I am able to give a few personal facts of some of the carly physicians. My limited space re-
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coires that I must be brief. All that I shall mention in this list have "Gone on that unreturning visit which allows of no excuse, and admits of ro delay," save one,-Dr. Harvey Mitchell, who remains with us as "The Last Leaf."
Early Physicians.
Dr. Dickinson Burt ( 1829) was the first physician to locate in Mun- cetown or Delaware county. I have no information concerning his indi- siteal history or the exact date of location. Dr. Burt was the second post- master at Muncietown and filled that office from August 29, 1829, to May 6. 1835. It is supposed that he left soon after the expiration of the term of his office. Nothing farther is known of his history.
Dr. Levi Minshall ( 1829) was the second physician to locate in Mun- cietown. He was born in Virginia, March 4, 1804. He was licensed to practice at Dayton, Ohio, in 1829, and came to Muncietown in the same scar and at once began the practice of medicine. An old citizen who re- ::: embers Dr. Minshall's first appearance in Muncietown, says that he came here from Dayton, Ohio, riding a very large iron gray horse, and anre a suit of broadcloth, a circumstance that created almost a sensation wrong the primitive people living here at that time, as homespun jeans was the regulation apparel, and broadcloth was reserved for the rich and no- tility. He was a man of scholarly attainments and soon gained a prominent place in the community as a physician and a citizen. One of the interesting incidents of his early practice in the country when visiting the sick, was that he would ride up and down White river in the water to avoid bears and wolves that roamed about in their native freedom in the woods in the territory which now comprises Delaware county. He died at Muncietown, March 6, 1836, aged 32 years. His remains repose in Beech Grove cem- ctery.
Dr. Ezra Stiles Trask came to Muncietown at an carly period in its history. He removed from here to Marion in the year 1833. Dr. William Flynn, of Marion, under date of January 19, 1907, writes me as follows: "Dr. Ezra Stiles Trask was the third physician to locate in Grant county. le came to Marion in 1833, and lived here about six years. He did not practice medicine as a regular employment. His principal occupations Were the buying, gathering, preparing and selling ginseng, horse trading, and sports of various kinds. The doctor was a man of many accomplish- ments,-being a graduate of Dartmouth College,* and a favorite proies- sional pupil of Professor Mussey, of that school, and of Cincinnati. He
' Possibly this is an error. Mr. Ernest M. Hopkins, Secretary of Dartmouth College, writes me February 8, 1907, as follows: "He was not a graduate of the College, or any of the Associated Schools. We have no early records about men who were students here but who did not graduate. I am, therefore, unable to say whether or not Dr. Trask ever attended the College."-K.
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acquired. early in life, a fondness for alcoholic beverages, and his death can be traced to his pronounced habits of dissipation. He was something of a politician, having served a term in the State Senate. He died in 1839, -leaving a most amiable wife and two very promising sons. The doctor was buried here, but no stone remains to point out his last resting place."
Dr. Samuel P. Anthony ( 1792-1876) was born at Lynchburg, Virginia, December 2, 1792. He pursued the study of medicine at Cincinnati, and then located in Clinton county, Ohio, where for three years he engaged in the practice of medicine. Then he removed to Cedarville, in the same state, where he practiced three more years. He located in Muncietown in 1831. He practiced here for twenty-five years, retiring about fifteen years before his death, which occurred in 1876. Dr. Anthony was very successful in his financial career, and accumulated quite a fortune. He reached a more ad- vanced age than any of his colleagues,-dying at the age of 84. His last illness was short,-lasting only a few hours,-death being due, probably, to a cerebral hemorrhage.
John Allen Clark (- 1847) was, probably, the third physician to locate in Muncietown. He was born in Ireland, and was educated, it is said, at the Dublin University. "When he was studying medicine he shaved off the hair of one-half of his head, and lived in a cave not far from his father's home in Ireland, and his food was carried to him by his sister. He did this so he could not go any place, but just give all his time to study."
Alas, for this early genius! He is said to have had a fair practice until he became very intemperate, and while he maintained an office on the north side of the public square, his headquarters were at Gilbert's dis- tillery. He died in Muncie, May 12, 1847. (Diary of David Gharky). A friend tells me that he was buried in the old cemetery, and his bones are still lying under some one of the fine homes near the Friends' new church.
Dr. William C. Willard (1810-1869) was born at Charlestown, New Hampshire, May 10, ISIO. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Dartmouth College in 1827, and afterwards pursued his medical studies at that institution. He was eminently the scholar of the early physicians of Delaware county. He located in Muncietown in 1836, and continued to reside there until the date of his death, November 6, 1869. Dr. Willard was quite a sufferer from rheumatism, especially during the later years of his life.
Dr. George WV. Garst (18og-1874) was born in Botetourt county, Vir- ginia, February 12, 18cg. It is probable that he was not a graduate in medicine. He practiced medicine in Lynchburg, Virginia, and later in Wabash, Indiana, and removed from the latter place to Muncietown about 1837 or 1838. He died suddenly, probably of cerebral hemorrhage, at his home in Muncie, February 22, IS74.
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Dr. John C. Helm ( 1812-1872) was born in Jefferson county, Ten- Fre. October 10, IS12. He received his medical education at Lexington, batacky. After graduating he located near Charleston, South Carolina, ' : . wing to anti-slavery sentiments he soon removed to Ohio. On the :... ... April, 1839, he removed to Yorktown, and from that place to Mun- :: un in 1848, where he continued to reside until his death, April 8, 1872. was the first U. S. Examiner for Pensions in Delaware county. Dr. :Man possessed a fund of knowledge in collateral sciences, as well as medi- e. Hle was prominent in local medical societies, and enjoyed the esteem : his medical brethren.
Dr. Jeremiah Dynes ( 1815-1871) was born near Lebanon, Ohio, April .:. 1815. He came to Smithfield, in this county, in the summer of 1840, n'ere he located and practiced medicine for thirty-one years. A short ... e before his death, which occurred November 14, 1871, he removed to :: Jampolis.
Dr. Daniel H. Andrews ( ISI1-1856) was born in Washington county, New York, in June, ISHI. He studied medicine in Cincinnati, under Dr. R. D. Mussey, and graduated at one of the colleges in that city. He located .n Florida, where he practiced medicine until 1842, when he removed to Mancictown. He remained here, and practiced his profession,-ranking Sich as a surgeon,-until his death, which occurred March 12, 1856.
Dr. Stephen Hathaway ( 1819-1891) was born near Columbus, Ohio, isjust I, IS19. He was a graduate of one of the medical colleges of Co- !bus. He located at Granville in 1844, where he began the practice of ".vicine. In 1849 he went to California, where he remained but a short tane, and returned home, locating in Muncietown in 1850, where he re- samed his practice. Dr. Hathaway was a lover of nature, and gave much attention to horticulture, having retired from practice about 1870. He Bed April 20, 1891.
Dr. Robert Winton (1820-1885) was born in Rossville, Ohio, No- vember 20, 1820. He graduated at the Rush Medical College. He located in Wheeling in 1846, and removed to Muncie in 1856, where he continued : reside and practice medicine until his death, which occurred July 30, :35. Dr. Winton enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his neighbors, and his friends were numbered by the thousands. He was an ardent lover of nature, and was quick to discover the beautiful wherever it existed. He ved and died a consistent Christian.
Dr. Samuel V. Jump (1822-1887) was born June 27, 1822, in Kent county, Delaware. He was a graduate of the Ohio Medical College, and located at New Burlington, in the spring of 1848. He remained here in active practice until the time of his death, August 13, 1887. His work was
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arduous, as he lived in this county while it was emerging from a primeval forest. Ile was a skillful physician, and a Christian gentleman.
Dr. George W. Godwin ( 1799-1865) was born in Baltimore, Mary- land, December 1, 1799. He was educated in Baltimore, and graduated from one of its medical colleges. After practicing three or four years at some place in the cast, he removed to Chesterfield about 1834. Fifteen years later, he changed his residence to Daleville, where he remained three months, and then located in Yorktown in the year IS50. He practiced medicine in Yorktown from 1850, to 1862, when he returned to Chesterfield, where he continued to practice until 'his death, which occurred April 20, 1865.
Dr. James HI. Powers ( 1819-1882) was born in southern Indiana in IS19. but spent most of his early life in Greene county, Ohio. He grad- uated from the Starling Medical College in 1850, and located the same year at Albany. Here he continued to reside and practice medicine until the date of his death, which occurred March 9, 1882.
Dr. Harvey Mitchell ( 1825 -) was born in Greene county, Pennsyl- vania, July 21, 1825. He graduated at Columbus, Ohio, in 1850, and the same year located in Granville. He removed to Muncie in 1864, where he continued in active practice until ISgo, since which date he has led a retired life,-living in affluence at the present time.
Dr. Samuel E. Mitchell ( 1820-1871) was born in Miami county, Ohio, February 1, 1820. He practiced medicine in Virginia from 1845 until IS51, when he removed to Delaware county and located at Bethel, Harrison township. He arrived at his new home in May, 1851, where he began and continued an arduous practice until removed by death, January 26. 1871.
Dr. Benjamin F. Hittle ( 1808-1882) was born in the year 18OS. He came from Greensburg, Indiana, to Yorktown in 1852, where he practiced medicine until the year of his death, which occurred July 26, 1882.
Dr. George W. Slack ( 1825-1886) was born in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, February 13, 1825. He came with his father to Delaware county in 1837. He graduated in 1854, at the Rush Medical College, and began, the same year, the practice of medicine at Yorktown, where he remained until his death, January 14, 1886. Dr. Slack took a lively interest in agri- culture and horticulture. He was a Christian gentleman of the highest type.
Dr. William Craig ( 1818-1903) was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1818. When but two years of age his parents removed to Clark county, Ohio. In 1837 he came to Muncietown, where he taught school, and studied medicine. He graduated from the Starling Med- ical College in 1849. He practiced for a short time at Wapakoneta, Ohio, and then removed to Winchester, Indiana, where he became a druggist. He came back to Muncie about 1855, practiced for a time, and then went into
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