USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 38
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279
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
1846 with eight memebrs by Rev. G. K. Shuster, who presided as pastor of the church twenty-three years. The Church of God has also an organi- zation with a number of members. There are a number of Catholics here who own a church building, but do not hold regular services.
In Tippecanoe township, about 1850, a schoolhouse was built at Tippe- canoe town, which was also used as a place of worship and is being used as such at the present time. Here the first church was built in 1850 by the United Brethren denomination on the lot that is now occupied as a cemetery. It was afterwards torn down and the timber used in building the schoolhouse at that place. The Wesleyan Methodists now use the school- house as a place of worship. The next church building was erected on the farm of Daniel R. Wood, three miles south of Bourbon. It was a union church when built, but is now owned and controlled by the Wesleyan Methodists. The next church building was erected in 1886, at Tippecanoe, by the Methodist Protestant denomination, which owns and controls it at this time. The next church was built at Summit Chapel, and the next at Tippecanoe by the Dunkards in 1900, making in all four churches in the township.
Religious Discussion.
A religious discussion was indulged in between two writers of con- siderable force in the Pilot of August and September, 1851. One assumed : First-That the mind is not immaterial.
Second-That the mind becomes unconscious at what we call death- the death of the body.
Third-That immortality is conditional, and that the wicked are not immortal.
The other disputant propounded these questions :
First-Will both the righteous and the wicked be resurrected?
Second-Will the same identical body which was laid in the grave be raised up at the resurrection ?
Third-Will the same mind which ceased to exist when the body died be reunited again to this body at the resurrection ?
Fourth-What will become of the righteous?
Fifth-What will become of the wicked?
After the lapse of more than half a century the questions and assump- tions are still unanswered.
LII. OLD TIME DOCTORS.
The doctors who came with the pioneers about the time of the organiza- tion of the county, and for a few years thereafter, poorly equipped as they were with medical supplies, had all they could do to attend to the calls that were made upon them for assistance. In 1838 five persons were engaged in the practice of medicine in Plymouth. These were Drs. Peter Crum, Lyman Griffin, Alvord, Jones and Jeroloman. The latter, however, who had been sent out from Logansport as doctor to the Indians, remained but a short time, as the Indians were all driven away in the fall of 1838,
280
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
and, as he was in the employ of the government, when they left his occupa- tion was gone and he returned home. Dr. Griffin was a carpenter by trade, but had studied medicine and made himself useful in the early days both in building houses and curing the sick. Dr. Crum came in 1836, and had been practicing for some time prior to the date above named. During this time he had immortalized himself by the discovery of a "pill" that took his name and was warranted to kill or cure in twenty-four hours.
The summer and fall of 1838 will long be remembered by those still living as the first sickly season after the settlement of the county, and these doctors, poor and inexperienced as they were in the practice of medicine, had more than they could properly attend to. The spring of that year was very wet, cold and backward. About the first of June, when the marshes were filled with water, the weather became dry and oppressively hot. The swamps and marshes began to dry up, and the malaria that arose therefrom poisoned the air, and the whole population felt its effects more or less. Cases of sickness began to appear about the first of July, and the number of these increased as the season advanced. Entire families were prostrated. Not more than one person out of fifty was perfectly well, and many suffered for want of proper attention. The most common disease was fever and ague, but other and more violent forms of fever and malarial diseases were also prevalent. Almost everybody had the ague and they would chill and shake for an hour or two, then a burning fever would set in, and the patient would become so thirsty that he could hardly hold enough to quench it, and the water he got to drink at that time was surface water-from dug wells not more than twelve to twenty feet deep, and as the season progressed the seepings into the wells became less and less, and what little water there was to be had was full of malaria and only made matters worse.
The disease was a peculiar one. It was not considered fatal in any stage of it. It affected different people in different ways. Some would have it every day; some every other day; others every three days, every seven days, and so on. There was little quinine to be had at that time, and it was considered the only sure enough remedy then known that would kill it. This year the ague lasted until frost came and the weather became cool. There was typhoid fever mixed with the ague, and several deaths occurred from it, among whom were some of the prominent business men of Plymouth -Oliver Rose, Julius Hutchinson, E. B. Hobson, Hugh Galbraith, Simeon Taylor, Jacob Shoemaker and several others. This sickness seriously retarded the growth of the town and county for many years, people being fearful that it would be an annual occurrence. Many already here became discouraged and left for other parts as soon as their health and circum- stances would permit.
The Sickly Season of 1850.
The year 1850 takes its place in the history of the county as being "the sickly season." More deaths occurred within that year than during any year before or since that time on the basis of population. From the detailed census report made by George Pomeroy for that year we take a footnote made by him, as follows: "This year has been remarkable for the unusual number of deaths. A very fatal disease known here as the typhoid
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
fever has prevailed to an alarming extent in the center of the county, and spread from the county seat (Plymouth) in all directions, reaching some -- times to the extreme parts of the county, although the disease was mostly confined within a few miles of Plymouth. The flux and scarlet fever have been prevalent mostly in the northeast parts of the county." There were 133 deaths during that year, and taking into consideration that there were not over 600 population in Plymouth, and that most of the deaths were from that place, it will be seen that the death rate was the largest in the history of the county up to the present time.
At that time the whole country was covered over to a greater or less extent with swamps and marshes and standing ponds, and when the dry season came round and evaporation took place the air was filled with the germs of malarial diseases ; in addition to this, as the wells were filled with surface water and there was no pure water to drink or cook with, it is a wonder that the entire population was not swept away by death. The drainage of the wet lands and the discovery of driven wells, and thus the procuring of pure water, drove all malarial diseases out of the county, and for more than a quarter of a century only in very rare instances has there been known such a thing as typhoid, or scarlet fever, ague, flux or malarial diseases of any kind.
The Smallpox.
In the spring and summer of 1858 Plymouth was afflicted with a severe siege of the smallpox. It was brought here by a young doctor who had been taking lectures at a medical college. On his way home he stopped at a farmhouse where there was a case of smallpox. A red flag was hung outside to indicate danger, but he said he was a physician and wished to see a genuine case of smallpox, and so he was permitted to enter the house. He returned home and without changing his clothes took his young child in his arms, and in due time it was taken sick. A neighboring woman- Mrs. Elizabeth McDonald, wife of Thomas McDonald-called to see it, as she had had much experience with sick children, and held it in her arms for a considerable time. In the course of a short time she was taken sick. Several doctors were called and they could not agree as to what the cause of her sickness was, some saying it was smallpox and others saying it was not. Physicians from La Porte were sent for and they pronounced it small- pox, and later it became so general there was no doubt about it being the genuine smallpox. Mrs. McDonald died on the thirteenth of May, 1858. being the first victim to be stricken down with that dreadful disease. During the prevalence of the disease there were over forty cases and many deaths. The town was quarantined for over three months, and during that time business of all kinds was practically suspended.
The Principal Physicians
that came to Plymouth after the old doctors above named were Drs. Harlow Hard, J. W. Bennett, Nehemiah Sherman, Rufus Brown, Samuel Higginbotham, Theodore A. Lemon, Dr. White, T. A. Borton, J. E. Brooke, J. J. Vinall and Thomas Logan, the latter settling in the Wolf creek neigh- borhood in 1836, and many others whose names cannot now be recalled. Since their time many physicians have settled here who failed to secure
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
patronage sufficient to justify them in remaining, and they removed to other and more inviting localities.
Among all of the old doctors above named, but two are still living- T. A. Borton and Dr. J. E. Brooke. Dr. Brooke long since retired from active practice, and at the age of more than four score years lives a quiet life in his home in Plymouth. Dr. Borton still is in active practice in Plymouth at the age of more than three score and ten.
Thomas Logan was one among the first doctors to permanently settle in the county, having located here in the summer of 1836. Like most of the doctors of his time he had never had the opportunity of thorough med- ical training, and the knowledge he had on the subject of materia medica was mostly such as he had acquired through the medium of practical experi- ence. There was one fortunate thing for the doctors in the early settlement and that was, most of the sickness was occasioned by malarial troubles which were brought on by the clearing up of the new country and the evaporation of the swamps and marshes, and they early learned the rem- edies to apply to cure them. Very few of these early doctors knew anything about surgery, and when they had a case of this kind that was very difficult they sent a messenger for Dr. Fitch at Logansport, or Dr. Teegarden or some other surgeon of La Porte. Bleeding was a favorite remedy in those days for nearly all the diseases prevalent. Frequently half a pint of blood would be taken from a patient, and sometimes more, and it is a wonder that death did not result more often than it did. "Cupping" was also frequently resorted to, for what particular reason the laity never was informed. Certain it was that the good expected never materialized, and in the course of time the practice was abandoned. When these remedies failed then "calomel and jalap" were resorted to, and the patient was salivated, his gums became cankered, and often the teeth would get loose and frequently drop out, and in many such cases the remedy was worse than the disease. But after all "the old time doctor" filled his place and filled it well. The very presence of the doctor in the sickroom brought con- solation to the patient and family that was often as efficacious as the rem- edies he prescribed. He placed his soft hand on the forehead; examined the tongue, felt the pulse, made many inquiries in relation to the patient's previous physical condition, and with a smile on his face would say: "You are not in a dangerous condition : don't be alarmed ; I will give you some medicine that will bring you out all right in a short time." And frequently the patient would begin to get better as soon as the doctor had gone. As this tribute is written-
The old time doctor rises into view, A well read man he was; and much he knew, For he was college bred; and in the eyes Of simple folks no man could be more wise. He had a sheep-skin in his office hung, Which, like a banner to the breezes flung, Proclaimed to all the world his wondrous lore, Endorsed by learned men full half a score. His modest sign that hung above the gate, Failed not his many virtues to relate: "Physician, Surgeon, Accoucheur," in one; And yet with these the list is but begun. He knew and numbered all the human bones;
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
And well he knew all geologie stones ;
He knew how blood coursed swiftly through the veins,
He knew the cause of summer drought and rains;
He cured his patients of each threatening ill, And matched the parson in polemic skill; In polities, philosophy and art,
He never failed to take a ready part. The master of the village school, his power In argument acknowledged; and so, hour By hour, they sat in hot dispute; the crowd,
Meanwhile, each disputant applauded loud. But these were byplays in the doctor's life, With other conflicts he was daily rife; For fell disease and death rode on the air,
And found their ready victims everywhere.
Against these foes, there was no known defense Except the Doctor's wise omnipotence. And so, what'er his patients might befall, He ready stood to answer every call. On ambling horse he rode the country o'er, And carried hope and help from door to door. Wher'er he went, to gentle babe or sire, Pain fled away, and fever cooled its fire. Of modern healing art he little knew, His work was plain, and what he had to do His trusting patients quietly endured, Though oft uncertain if he killed or cured. His lancet was his faithful right-hand man; For, at its touch, the crimson current ran, Till blood, like water, flowed on every side, And every cabin was in crimson dyed.
His massive saddle-bags with drugs o'er ran; But calomel and jalap led the van. His dose the palate did not always please; His pills were large, and bitter were his teas; His drastie mixtures were no idle play, And his emeties brooked no long delay. In short, his victims, like some luckless craft, Were driven amain and swept afore and aft. And if at last they died, there was no one Dared say, "They died from having nothing done." He promptly, bravely, took his part and place; And every station did his genius grace. Heroic man! He did his duty well; He fought for others till at last he fell. Above his grave we need no column raise, He lives immortal in our love and praise!
LIII. THE MARSHALL COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
The exact date of the organization of the Marshall County Medical Society cannot be ascertained, as no records are in existence so far as is known. There was, however, a medical society in Marshall county as early as 1855, and probably earlier than that. In the Marshall County Democrat of April 3, 1856, appears the medical fee bill, which it was stated was adopted December 5, 1855. The rates of medical services were compared
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
with the fees charged by the La Porte Medical Society of 1852. The fol- lowing, so far as it relates to Marshall county, is given as a matter of local history :
The Fee Bill of the Marshall County Medical Society, Adopted December 5, 1855.
Mr. Editor :- As this society has adopted a uniform system of charges, and be- lieves it a duty to the public and themselves to acquaint the citizens of Marshall county with the fee bill, and lest an erroneous opinion should be entertained, we would state that the charges are about the same as they have been in this locality for the last three years, and about the same as the La Porte fee bill, adopted June 26, 1852, when every- thing was very cheap in comparison to the present prices.
We give a few of the leading items which cover most of the practice in this locality, referring the reader to the fee bill for specific diseases and surgery:
THE FEE BILL.
Advice and medicine at office $1 and $3.00
Extracting tooth
.50
Visit and medicine in town. 1.00
When more than one, by request, each. 1.00
1.50
Night visits after 9 p. m ..
Night visits in the country, one mile.
2.00
Night visits in country, per mile after first. .75
Visits, per mile, day time, from 6 a. m. to 9 p. m.
1.00
Every additional mile. .50
Consultation in town. $5 and
10.00
Midwifery-natural case in town.
5.00
Cases requiring forceps, turning or extracting with
crotchet
$10 to 30.00
Delivering placenta 5.00
Attending case of abortion. $5 to 10.00
Twin cases 7.50
Mileage in obstetric cases and consultation half that of ordinary visits. Published by order of the Society, SAMUEL HIGGINBOTHAM, Secretary.
Plymouth, April 7, 1856.
Only the name of Dr. Higginbotham appears to the advertisement, and it is not known who the members were. There were in Plymouth at that time the following practicing physicians: Theodore A. Lemon, Rufus Brown, Samuel Higginbotham, Joshua W. Bennett, Joshua D. Gray, John J. Vinall, Charles West, Nehemiah Sherman, Jared E. Brooke. Dr. Brooke is still a resident of Plymouth, but has long since retired from active practice. He is the only one of those named that is living. Dr. West was an "Eclectic" and not being recognized as "regular" was not eligible to mem- bership. Dr. Vinall, being a homeopathist and a new arrival, did not prob- ably belong to the society. All the others named were probably members. Dr. Vinall, who was a very prominent citizen and physician for more than a third of a century prior to his death, located in Plymouth about the first of April, 1856. The Democrat of April 3, 1856, announcing his arrival. said :
"Dr. J. J. Vinall, homeopathic physician, has located among us. Home- opathy has established itself as a very successful fact in the cure of 'ills that flesh is heir to,' and the merits of cold water treatment admit of no
.50
Detention after six hours, per hour
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
doubt. The two combined have shaken the faith of some of the most eminent old school physicians of the present day, and many of them are using the cold water freely in their practice. Dr. Vinall comes to us well recommended, and he looks and talks like a gentleman who makes no false pretensions. We hope that he will meet with the success that his school of practice and his own merits deserve."
Dr. Vinall was the first physician of the school of medicine which he practiced who had the courage to "hang out his shingle" at the county seat. He met with a good deal of ridicule from those who had no faith in a few little pills dissolved in two glass tumblers of water and two or three drops taken alternately as many times a day. The "little pills" were hooted at as having little or no medical merit. Dr. Lemon, the oldest practitioner here then, in order to test the statement that there was no merit in the system, proposed to swallow a whole vial full of the pills at one time, and if he felt any serious effects from it he would acknowledge he was wrong and go out of the practice. This of course was a "bluff," and the test was never tried. For a considerable time after the doctor located in Plymouth he was called "Dr. Little Pills," but without attempting retaliation he pursued the even tenor of his way, and finally built up a large and lucrative practice.
Dr. T. A. Borton located in Plymouth, Indiana, in the fall of 1858, and began at once the practice of medicine, which he has continued without intermission to the present time, now about fifty years. He is the oldest physician in continuous practice, and easily takes his place as the Nestor of the medical profession in Marshall county.
In a historical sketch of Argos, 1890, appears this item:
"The Marshall County Medical Society was organized at Argos, May 13, 1878, with the following charter members: Drs. Samuel W. Gould, Reason B. Eaton, J. H. Wilson, J. S. Leland, F. Stevens and J. T. Doke. The objects of the society were stated to be for the purpose of advancing medical knowledge, and to elevate professional character."
Whether this was the basis and foundation of the present Marshall County Medical Society the historian has been unable to find out.
The following are the officers and members of the Marshall County Medical Society at the close of 1907:
Officers-J. W. Eidson, president; H. P. Preston, vice-president ; Novetas B. Aspinall, secretary ; L. D. Ely, treasurer.
Censors-F. E. Radcliff, H. H. Tallman, O. A. Rea, Novetas B. Aspinall, delegate.
Members-Novetas B. Aspinall, Plymouth; T. Artemas Borton, Ply- mouth; Lorenzo D. Ely, Plymouth; A. C. Holtzendorff, Plymouth; C. F. Holtzendorff, Plymouth; D. C. Knott, Plymouth; S. C. Loring, Plymouth ; H. P. Preston, Plymouth; R. C. Stevens, Plymouth; J. W. Eidson, Bour- bon; Luther Johnson, Bourbon ; F. E. Radcliff, Bourbon ; Samuel W. Gould, Argos; C. E. Nusbaum, Bremen; G. F. Wahl, Bremen; E. E. Parker, Culver ; O. A. Rea, Culver ; B. W. S. Wiseman, Culver ; Samuel R. Ritchie, Donelson ; H. H. Tallman, La Paz; A. A. Thompson, Tyner.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
LIV. NEWSPAPERS OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Nothing has added so much to the building up of the county and the perpetuity of its history as the newspapers of the county. Without them it would have been impossible to have preserved the most important events in its history. It is, therefore, entirely proper that they should have a promi- nent place in this history.
The Plymouth Journal.
It has been stated that the first newspaper published in Marshall county was called The Plymouth Journal. Although diligent search and inquiry has been made, no reliable information has so far been obtained. A correspond- ent writing to the Plymouth Pilot, over the signature of "Allen," in Novem- ber, 1851, who after congratulating the editor on his success that far in the publication of the Pilot, incidentally refers to the Journal as follows:
"Many have doubted your success, but before me is the forty-first number of the first volume of the Pilot, and from the catalogue of adver- tisements, as well as the general appearance of the paper, I should think your prospects good. The Plymouth Journal survived but for a day, as it were; whig in politics, it died in time to be buried by the proper political party in 1845. I am informed since that day the county has been demo- cratic. I trust she will so remain, always selecting men for office who are honest, temperate in all things (teetotallers) and prompt in the discharge of their official duties."
Several years ago the writer made inquiry of all the pioneers of Ply- mouth in regard to the Journal, but no one could remember anything about it. If there was such a paper it must have been, what few numbers were issued, published about 1844-45, in which latter year the correspondent says it died.
The first paper the writer has any account of as having been pub- lished, or rather circulated here, in 1839 and 1840, was The La Porte Whig, and Porter, Lake and Marshall Counties Advertiser. It was published by A. P. Andrew, Jr., at $2.50 per year. The only advertiser in Plymouth whose business card appeared in the paper was the following :
"R. L. Farnsworth, attorney and counsellor at law, Plymouth, Marshall county, Indiana, November 3, 1838."
Another advertisement appeared in which Samuel Burson of La Porte, March 18, 1840, advertised "that large and commodious tavern, known as the Yellow River House,' in the town of Plymouth, Marshall county, Indiana." The hotel was stated to be one of the best stands in the state. Frank Daws was then the tavern keeper. The paper contained but little local news. Its pages were almost entirely filled with matter relating to the presidential campaign. It advocated the claims of Gen. Harrison, and kept standing at its masthead a cut of log cabin, which the editor stated had been engraved by Leonard Wilcox, the gunsmith. Mr. Wilcox shortly after that date moved to Plymouth, where he lived until his death many years ago.
287
HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
The Plymouth Pilot.
The first number of the Plymouth Pilot, the first paper regularly estab- lished in Marshall county, was issued April 16, 1851, by John Q. Howell, editor and proprietor, who brought the material to Plymouth from Roch- ester, where he had published a paper for three months called The Rochester Republican. The first issue of the Pilot was numbered 13, and the editor gave the following as the reason why it was made No. 13 instead of No. I, as it should have been :
"The reader will perceive that our paper is marked No. 13. This is done to preserve the connection regularly on with the numbers we published in Rochester, a great many continuing to take the Pilot who subscribed for our paper when it was called The Rochester Republican, the last num- ber of which was No. 12."
In giving his reasons for removing from Rochester he said:
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