USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana: containing a history of the townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies, etc., etc. > Part 16
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Caleb B. Smith commenced the practice of law at Connersville in the fall of 1828; and Samuel W. Parker at Connersville in 1831.
Samuel C. Sample began the study of law at Con-
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
nersville with Oliver H. Smith in 1820. "Mr. Sam- ple was no ordinary man, plain, practical in all his acts. He represented his district in Congress with decided ability; was always at his post, among the working men of the body. At the bar and as Presid- ing Judge of the Circuit Courts he stood high among the most efficient and able practitioners, and one of the purest Judges that has graced the bench." He died while serving as President of the State Bank at South Bend, Ind.
James C. McIntosh read law nnder Samuel W. Parker and was admitted to practice in 1851.
The resident lawyers of the county at Conners- ville in 1832 were Oliver H. Smith, Caleb B. Smith, Samuel W. Parker and Samuel C. Sample. William Daily was at this time practicing law, and resided five and a half miles southwest of the village.
For a period at this time and just prior thereto the following law firms existed: M. M. Ray, and C. B. Smith (in 1833 Ray was located at Centreville), James Rariden and S. W. Parker. The former's office was at Centreville.
From a published article in 1846 we give the names of the attorneys as therein set forth: Caleb B. Smith, S. W. Parker, Elisha Vance, James A. Fay, Joseph Justice, Lewis C. Fouts, William L. Spooner and William Daily.
The resident attorneys of the county for 1858-59 (as given in a State Directory) were B. F. Claypool, James C. McIntosh, Joseph Marshall, Samuel W. Parker, John S. Reid, Gilbert Trusler, Nelson Trusler and Elisha Vance.
Nelson Trusler was born in Franklin County,
Ind., in 1823, read law with John A. Matson, in Brookville, and began the practice in Fayette County. In an obituary notice it is stated that " he soon took a leading position in the Whitewater Valley bar, at that time the ranking bar of the State, and meeting such men as Parker and Caleb B. Smith with credit." He was elected to the State Legislature in 1855. From September, 1862, to October, 1863, Mr. Trusler served as Colonel of the Eighty-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteers: from 1865 to 1869 he served as Secretary of State. He was defeated for Attorney- General in 1870, and in 1872 succeeded Thomas M. Browne as United States District Attorney. On being elected Socretary of State he removed to Indianapo- lis, where his death occurred in 1880.
Gilbert Trusler, a brother of Nelson, was a native of this county, born in 1830. His name first appeared as an attorney at the bar of Fayette County in 1851. He entered the army in 1861 as Captain of Company H, Thirty-sixth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, and in June, 1863, was commissioned Major of the regiment. At the close of the war he was elected to the State Legislature. In his obituary notice it was stated that " he was a man of rare intellect, keen percep- tions and sound judgment."
B. F. Claypool, the oldest and most distinguished member of the bar of the county, now engaged in active practice, read law in the office of the late Hon. Oliver H. Smith, in Indianapolis, being admitted in 1847, and soon thereafter established himself in the practice at Connersville, his native city. His biog- raphy, with those of other living attorneys, is found elsewhere in this work.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
CONTRIBUTED BY S. K. HAMILTON, M. D.
THE FIRST PHYSICIANS-DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETIES-EARLY CHARGES FOR MEDICAL SERVICES-LATER PHY- SICIANS-FAYETTE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY AND THE PROFESSION.
WING to a variety of causes, we have found it a task of no small proportions to construct a his- tory of the medical profession and society of Fayette County, Ind., particularly that part relating to its first organization and incipient progress. Chief among these causes are the absence of authoritative data, the death or removal of the pioneers of the profession, and the imperfect state of organization in the practice among the settlements. We note, however, with a degree of professional pride, the comparative progress made by the plucky and per- sistent little handful of "regulars " who first came
to this valley, to mold themselves into a society, with the two-fold purpose of mutual improvement and of securing the "code" against imposture, the latter instinct resembling that of their fellow settlers, inasmuch as their first measure was one of prudence and mutual self-protection, in order that that which was to follow-progress and achievement-might be insured against a double peril, that of foes without and apathy within.
THE FIRST PHYSICIANS.
Among the earliest physicians of whom we have any knowledge, who settled within the present limits
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
of the county, were Drs. John Bradburn, James Thomas, Joseph Moffitt, Temple E. Gayle, and Joseph S. Burr.
Dr. Bradburn was a native of Lancaster County Penn., and as early as 1814 settled within the present limits of Fayette County in the vicinity of what is now known as Harrisburg. Hon. Oliver H. Smith in his "Early Indiana " refers to him as "an eminent surgeon, a man of great muscular powers, and of the most indomitable personal courage." The Doctor's experience as a practitioner in this county was marred by a fearful tragedy in which he became instrumental in the death of two young men, in the spring of 1825, an account of which is given elsewhere in this work. Shortly after the tragedy, Dr. Bradburn removed from this county to the southern part of the State, subsequently to the vicinity of Brookville, where he died in the early part of the decade between 1830 and 1840. He is said to have been a regular graduate and a man highly respected. At the time of the tragedy above referred to, he was about thirty years of age, "possessed," it is said, "of a stern counte- nance, an inflexible will, and great executive ability."
Dr. Thomas was a native of New York State, and was one of the colony of immigrants that settled in the vicinity of Harrisburg, this county, in 1819, and formed what was designated as the "Yankee Settle- ment." He was a regular graduate, and for years en- joyed a successful and lucrative practice at Harrisburg.
About the year 1820, Dr. Joseph Moffitt, a native of New Haven, Conn., and a well-trained student fresh from Yale College, settled in Connersville. He died in 1833.
About this time, Dr. Burr and Dr. Gayle came to Connersville and began the practice of medicine. Concerning Dr. Burr's advent into the village, Hon. Oliver H. Smith says: "One morning I was introduced by my landlord to a small, black-eyed man wearing plain clothing and speaking the plain language of ' thee and thou,' as 'Dr. Burr, from New Philadel- phia, Ohio, who was about to settle in Connersville as a root Doctor.' Some days after there was nailed to the weather-boarding of the hotel an enormous swamp- lily root almost as large as a man, with head, eyes, ears, nose and mouth nicely carved, arms and legs with feet stuck on. And just above the sign on a board marked with chalk: 'Joseph S. Burr, Root Doctor-No Calomel.' The Doctor was subsequently engaged in the drug business, and for a long time enjoyed a rather extensive practice. One well acquainted with him over half a century ago, says: ' He was a man of some medical knowledge which he used with moderate success in his practice, while to his patrons he utterly denounced all 'doctor larnin " and made it on the ' root' system. His chief
ability consisted of cunning aided by a knowledge of human nature." .
Dr. Gayle was a talented man but died young, his death occurring in October, 1827, at the age of thirty- two years, on which occasion the press said of him: "As a man of talent, the Doctor was excelled by few if any in the State; as a practicing physician he was eminently successful and popular."
Dr. Philip Mason was a native of Adams, Berk- shire Co., Mass., born December 10, 1793. He settled in what is now Fayette County in 1816. He served as one of the Franklin County Commissioners when Fayette County was a part of that county. In 1824 he finished his course of reading and clinical studies under Dr. Moffitt, of Connersville, and began the practice of medicine at his farm in Columbia Township, where he remained until the spring of 1827, theu removed to the village of Danville (now Fayettville), and there in connection with the now venerable Dr. Jefferson Helm, of Rushville, who had been one of his pupils, settled in the practice of his profession. On the death of Dr. Gayle, in the fol- lowing fall, Dr. Mason removed to Connersville. In 1829 he was elected the first Probate Judge of Fayette County, and served as such until 1834. The year following he was elected to the Legislature and was twice re-elected to that body. He served as Master of Warren Lodge, F. & A. M., of Connersville, for thirteen years, and as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State for eight years. Dr. Mason was a brilliant and educated man, who is still quite well'remembered in the profession as the author of an able, though some- what lengthy "Autobiography and Family History."
Dr. Jefferson Helm, a son of Judge Helm, is a native of Mason County, Ky., born in 1803. He studied medicine with Drs. Moffitt and Mason; was licensed to practice in 1827, and that year located at Danville (now Fayetteville), in partnership with Dr. Mason. After several years he removed to Vienna (now Glenwood), Rush County, where he remained until about 1845. Later he removed to Rushville. In 1850 he was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention, and two years later was elected to the State Senate. He still resides in Rushville, though not engaged in the practice of his profession.
Dr. Hayman W. Clark was licensed to practice medicine at the same time with Dr. Helm in 1827.
In 1828 Dr. Samuel Miller located in Connersville, having come from Dayton, Ohio.
Another practitioner who advertised in the press of 1830, was Dr. Charles Barnes.
DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETIES.
An effort to establish medical societies in the State by legislative enactment was made at an early
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
period. Section 1 of Act approved by Gov. Jennings December 24, 1816, reads: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that for the purpose of regulating the practice of physic and surgery in this State, each circuit as laid off for hold- ing Circuit Courts shall compose one medical district to be known as First, Second and Third Medical Dis- tricts in the State of Indiana, according to the name of the circuit." It was further provided in this act that in each district there should be a Board of Med- ical Censors, who were required to admit to mem- bership every physician or surgeon residing or wish- ing to practice in the district who should "on exam- ination before them, give proof of their qualification to practice either profession, and reasonable evidence of their moral character."
An act approved January 18,1820, organized four medical districts, and gave the State Medical Society authority to establish as many additional as it might deem expedient.
The State Medical Society was first organized in 1820, and held its meetings at Corydon, then capital of the State, until 1826, when it met at Indianapolis.
Agreeably to the statute law of the State passed in 1825, and a resolution of the State Medical Society passed at their meeting subsequently, a number of the physicians of the Fifth District met in Conners- ville, May 7, 1827, for the purpose specified in the act and resolutiou referred to. James Thomas was called to the chair, and T. E. Gayle appointed Sec- retary pro tem. The society was formed and officers appointed as follows: James Thomas, President; William B. Laughlin, Secretary and Treasurer; Joseph Moffitt, H. G. Sexton and T. E. Gayle, Cen- sors. The first applicants examined for license who were found qualified to receive the same were Philip Mason, H. W. Clark and Jefferson Helm.
EARLY CHARGES FOR MEDICAL SERVICES.
The act of the Legislature of 1816, above re- ferred to, provided against overcharges: "It shall not be lawful for any physician or surgeon to charge or receive more than 12} cents per mile for every mile he shall travel in going to, and returning home from, the place of residence (for the time being) of his pa- tient, with an addition of 100 per cent for traveling in the night.
The following is a list of charges recommended by the Indiana State Medical Society held at Cory- don December 11, 1822:
Visit. . .25 cents to $1.00 .25
Mileage.
Venesection 25 .50
Pulv. Febr. 63 .12+
Emetics
123 .25
Attendance through the day. $ 2.50 to 5.00
" night.
5.00
Obstetrics. 5.00
Extracting tooth. .25
Reducing luxation 5.00 to 10.00
Amputation. 20.00 to 50.00
LATER PHYSICIANS.
Dr. Ryland T. Brown is a native of Lewis County, Ky. His father came to Rush County, Ind., in 1821, and for several years the son acted as guide to land- seekers. His knowledge of medicine and other sub- jects was principally acquired without the aid of a master, and but few men who have attained to equal eminence in the profession have qualified themselves for it under greater difficulties. To aid him in the study of anatomy, he is said to have constructed a skeleton out of the bones of an Indian that had been exhumed near his father's farm. He graduated from the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio, in the spring of 1829. In August, 1832, he located in Con- nersville, and for several years was a partner of Dr. Mason's. He remained in Connersville until 1842. In 1854 Dr. R. T. Brown acted as State Geologist by the appointment of Gov. Wright, and in 1858 he was elected to the Chair of Natural Science in the N. W. C. University at Indianapolis, and has been for sev- eral years an honored resident of that city. He is known throughout the State as the author of "Brown's Physiology," a common school text-book of recog- nized merit. The Doctor has attained an honorable old age without the usual signs of mental decay.
The" regular practicing physicians of Fayette County in 1832 were Drs. Joseph Moffitt, Samuel Miller, R. T. Brown, of Connersville, and Dr. Mason on his farm below Null's Mill, now Null Town. Dr. D. D. Hall, a Virginian, located in Connersville, where he continued to practice nutil his death, which occurred June 20, 1871.
Among the early members of the Fifth District Medical Society, were men of merit and of high pro- fessional standing, and all labored to develop the truths of medical science, and all made an impress on their generation.
Drs. William B. Laughlin, H. G. Sexton and John Arnold played an important part in the history of Rush County. The first-mentioned, we believe, was the first physician to locate in that county. He did much of the early surveying, laid out the county seat and suggested the name Rushville in honor of his noble preceptor, Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia. He was a classical scholar, and in 1828 established a classi- cal school in that village.
In Fayette County can be recalled the names of Drs. P. Mason, S. Miller, R. T. Brown, D. D. Hall, J. Thomas, T. E. Gayle, J. Moffitt and J. Helm; in Union County, Drs. Everetts, Rose, Casterline and Cox; in Franklin County, Drs. Berry and Heymond.
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
After the Fifth District Medical Society had out- lived its usefulness, there was organized a society under a special charter from the Legislature, possess- ing power to examine and license candidates for the practice of medicine within the limits of the organi- zation. It was styled the Indiana Medical Institute, and embraced the counties included in the Fifth District Medical Society. This, however had but a brief existence.
The physicians of Fayette County as given in a published statement in 1846 were: Drs. Philip Mason, Samuel Miller, D. D. Hall, John Arnold, E. A. Bacon, and S. W. Hughes, of Connersville; Green- bury Steele, Columbia Township; Alfred Ruby, Alquina; George Winchel, Columbia; U. B. Tingley, Harrisburg; Amos Chapman, Waterloo; Presley Libray, West Union (now Everton), and Ed Daniels, Fayetteville.
Dr. George R. Chitwood was born in Gallia County, Ohio, May 10, 1805, and was licensed to practice medicine and surgery in 1830. He located as a physician in Franklin County, Ind., in 1831, and in 1835-36 he attended a course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College. He continued the practice in Franklin County until December, 1837, when he changed his location to Liberty, Union County. In 1846 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleve- land, Ohio. In December, 1849, he moved to Con- nersville, Ind., where he soon enjoyed a lucrative practice, and where he has remained ever since. In October, 1859, Dr. Chitwood was elected by the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati College of Medi- cine and Surgery to the chair of General Pathology and Physical Diagnosis, which position he filled for the session of 1859-60. He was then transferred to the chair of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women and Children, where he remained for six consecutive sessions, at which time he resigned in consequence of domestic afflictions. In 1868 he was tendered the same position, but declined it. He is now quite advanced in years, but enjoys an unusual immunity from the effects of age.
Dr. John Arnold has for many years been located at Rushville, where he has an extensive practice. He is a gentleman of considerable literary attain- ments, having written several highly interesting rem- iniscences of pioneer life in Rush County.
FAYETTE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY AND THE PROFESSION.
On the 24th of May, 1856, the physicians of Fay- ette County met and effected an organization, calling it the Whitewater Valley Medical Society. In the temporary organization Dr. G. R. Chitwood presided
and Dr. Samuel W. Vance acted as Secretary. Per- manent organization was forthwith effected by the election of the following officers: Dr. Amos Chap- man, of Alquina, President; W. W. Taylor, of Vienna (now Glenwood), Vice-President; S. W. Vance, Con- nersville, Recording Secretary; L. D. Sheets, Lib- erty, Corresponding Secretary; D. D. Hall, Conners- ville, Treasurer: Daniel Frembly, of Brownsville, George R. Chitwood and O. S. Ramsey, Censors. The following were charter members of this society: Drs. Samuel Miller, D. D. Hall, A. Chapman, P. S. Silvey (Everton), W. J. Pepper, D. Frembly, W. W. Taylor, S. W. Vance, H. W. Hazzard (Bentonville), A. H. Thompson (Everton), G. R. Chitwood, M. F. Miller (Everton), C. D. B. O'Ryan, V. H. Gregg, R. T. Gillum (Waterloo), U. B. Tingley (Harrisburg), and O. S. Ramsey. All the foregoing not located belonged in Connersville. About this time Dr.[W. J. Pepper finished his course of reading under Dr. G. R. Chitwood, and began practicing in Connersville, where he still resides.
At the next yearly meeting, April 13, 1857, the record shows the following election of officers: D. D. Hall, President; P. S. Silvey, Vice-President; W. W. Taylor, Recording Secretary; G. R. Chitwood, Cor- responding Secretary; H. W. Hazzard, Treasurer, and Drs. Vance, Gregg and Pepper, Censors.
On April 22, 1858, this society was dissolved by mutual consent of its officers and members, and on the 1st of May following, the physicians met at the court house and founded the Fayette County Medical Society with the following officers: U. B. Tingley, President; P. S. Silvey, Vice-President; S. W. Vance, Corresponding and Recording Secretary, and Drs. Gregg, Pepper and Chapman, Censors. The society retained its working organization until the breaking- out of the Civil war, in 1861, when its deliberations were quietly discontinued in the general suspense that followed the first clash of arms.
In the meantime Dr. W. W. Taylor, who had lo- cated in Connersville some years before, died in 1859. He was widely known for his skill as a practitioner, eminent as a scholar, beloved as a neighbor and hon- ored as a citizen.
Dr. V. H. Gregg entered the army as Surgeon in the First Brigade, First Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, and served in the Department of the Cumber- land, under Gen. Sherman, till the close of the war.
Dr. Joshua Chitwood graduated in medicine in 1858, and entered the army as Surgeon in the Seventh Indiana Cavalry, Department of the Cumberland.
Dr. George W. Garver located in Connersville in 1865, having served in the United States Navy as Assistant Surgeon on the Western Flotilla, Depart- i ment of the Mississippi.
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HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
Dr. S. W. Hughs died in 1865, and was buried in the new cemetery.
During the four years of national strife, no at- tempt was made to reorganize the Fayette County Medical Society, but after the establishment of peace, when the interrupted trades and professions began to wheel into the line of reconstruction and progress we find this organization keeping pace with the rest, and this time re-enforced by several recruits.
In 1866 the Fayette County Medical Society re- organized with the following membership: Drs. D. D. Hall, W. J. Pepper, S. W. Vance, G. R. Chit- wood, Josh Chitwood, V. H. Gregg, U. B. Tingley, G. W. Garver, A. Koogler, J. G. Larimore, W. H. Smith and R. W. Sipe. The latter three represented respectively Waterloo, Fairview and Fayetteville. The new members were Drs. J. A. Smith, Lyons; J. E. Jones, now of Cincinnati; A. H. Philips, Water- loo; Max Scheller, Connersville; B. Reeves, Fair- view.
Since the organization of 1866 the following phy- sicians have become members of the society: Drs. J. A. Zeigler, Brownsville; John E. Chitwood, Conners- ville; S. N. Hamilton, Everton; B. F. Day, Water- loo, all in the year 1877; and L. Alexander, now of Pendleton, in 1878.
Meanwhile, the members of these local or county. societies being under the dispensation of 1866, were precluded from attending the State Medical Society, except as they were sent to that body as delegates from their respective counties. In 1878 the State Society decreed that all members in good standing in all subordinate societies be thenceforth entitled to dele- gate rights. This decree made all the county societies auxiliary to the State society. These " delegate rights," however, were not absolute, though they were not limited save in matters pertaining to legis- lation, this right vesting in appointees designated by the respective county societies. The Fayette County Medical Society did not immediately accept the pro- visions of this new dispensation, but in 1879 fell into line with the rest, and applied for admission into the State organization. Under this code all the county societies were required to draft new constitutions and by-laws, or so remodel their old ones as to make them
consistent with the new order of things. The annual assessment per capita is $1.
Pursuant to reorganization the Fayette County Medical Society elected the following officers: S. W. Vance, President; W. J. Pepper, Vice-President; Joshua Chitwood, Secretary; V. H. Gregg, Treasurer, all located in Connersville. For Censors, S. N. Ham- ilton, Everton; George R. Chitwood, Connersville, and G. A. Sigler, Brownsville, Union County. This left a rather meager constituency as to members, only three, namely, J. E. Chitwood, B. F. Day, J. A. Smith. Subsequently, the following members have been added: Charles Wyman, Lyon's Station, in 1880; C. H. Von Klein, L. D. Dillman and D. M. La Moree, Connersville, in 1882; Garrett Pigman, O. P. Phares and F. A. Chitwood, Connersville, in 1884. Dr. Sigler removed from Brownsville to Liberty, Union County, in 1883. Dr. Hamilton located in Con- nersville in 1882, entering into partnership with Dr. Gregg. Dr. Von Klein removed to Hamilton, Ohio, in 1882, and thence to Dayton, where he still resides. The latter was Surgeon in the Russo-Turkish war, after which he came to this country, locating first in Batesville, Ind., then in Brookville, then in Conners- ville, where he remained but a few months. He is a man of considerable learning and wide experience, being the author of several medical works, and the possessor of a library consisting of 6,000 volumes, printed in French, German, Russian and English, all of which languages he speaks with fluency.
Dr. La Moree located in Alquina in 1883, and shortly afterward left for Pennsylvania, Dr. Phares taking his place at Alquina.
The following is the present membership of the society: Drs. G. R. Chitwood, Joshua Chitwood, John E. Chitwood, F. A. Chitwood, V. H. Gregg, S. N. Hamilton, W. J. Pepper, R. W. Sipe, L. D. Dill- man, Charles Wyman, Garrett Pigman and O. P. Phares. Dr. S. W. Vance withdrew from the society in 1882.
The following physicians of Connersville are not members of the society: Drs. Elias Webster, homœo- pathic, located in Fayette County in 1864; A. D. Ter- rell, eclectic, in 1863; D. W. Butler, in 1876, the present Health Officer, and John Wall, in 1879.
HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
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CHAPTER XV.
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