History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 36

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 36

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

There are also camps of Woodmen at Cicero, Fishers, Carmel and Eagle- town.

BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS.

The only lodge of the fraternity known as the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in Hamilton county is the one at Noblesville, known as No. 576, organized May 29, 1900, with forty members. It now has a member- ship of one hundred and forty. Don B. Jenkins is the exalted ruler and Omar G. Patterson is the secretary. This lodge meets in Opera House block. It has been successful and is doing much good in the community ; among its numbers being some of the best men in the city of Noblesville and surrounding country.

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IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN.

Cherokee Tribe of Improved Order of Red Men was organized at Noblesville February 7, 1890, with charter members as follows: Thomas J. Gray, David Supple, John B. Horton, Henry P. Wheeler, Julius Joseph, Isaac P. Keiser, George W. Heiny, C. L. Wheeler, George Applegate, Frank Bar- nett, W. H. Priddy, T. T. Butler, Anthony Kelly, P. P. Parnell, W. S. Kin- sey, H. Wyant, Charles Michels, M. H. Wolfgang, Mell Harrison, Jacob Brehm, H. W. Carr, Henry Roberts, W. T. Wheeler, Jr., George W. Haver- stock, D. W. Patty, William Kelley, A. S. Wilson, W. A. Hawkins, J. W. Golden, J. T. Prior, C. D. Granger, P. H. Lennen, D. S. Applegate, A. J. Allison, George Griffin, F. A. Wheeler, S. A. D. Kelley, Charles Kinsey, Fred Deck, C. C. Kepner, T. J. Sullivan and J. B. Haverstick. The tribe now has a total membership of seven hundred and forty-two. The mem- bers meet in Castor block, of which they own the upper floor, costing $3,500. The officers in February, 1915, were: Harrold Cottingham, sachem; R. L. Huntsinger, senior sagamore; Earl Dreher, junior sagamore; Grant Caca, prophet ; Earl G. Decker, chief of records; E. A. Hutchins, collector of wampum: E. L. Sturdevant, keeper of wampum; Ed. Trissell, guard of wigwam; Isaac F. Ward. guard of forest, and George H. Fenner, degree captain.

There are also tribes of this order located at Sheridan, No. 117; Man- dan tribe No. 295, Ekin ; Wattee tribe No. 192, Cicero; Songa tribe No. 381, Atlanta; Sac tribe No. 280, Arcadia, and Neversink tribe No. 388, Carmel.

Wattee Tribe No. 192, Improved Order of Red Men, at Cicero, was or- ganized several years since, with officers as follows: H. Briggs, sachem; E. D. Fisher, Jr., senior sagamore; W. S. Jacobs, junior sagamore; C. B. Scherer, prophet; J. M. Archibald, chief of records, and R. H. Clifford, keeper of wampum. There were twenty-five charter members, and the lodge now has a membership of two hundred and ten. They erected a hall in 1895 costing over $2,500. The 1915 officers are: Omer Jacobs, sachem; Robert Timmons, senior sagamore: Burlin Bougher, junior sagamore; Charles Fonstick, prophet : L. A. Penticost, chief of records; V. E. Buzan, collector of wampum, and Elias Noble, keeper of wampum.

Sac Tribe No. 280, Improved Order of Red Men, was organized at Ar- cadia March 3, 1900, by a large charter membership, and officers as fol- lows: Harry Robbins, sachem; Joseph Pfister, senior sagamore; J. H. Mc- Kenny, junior sagamore; F. W. Alton, prophet; Roscoe Barnette, chief of

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records; Henry Teaser, keeper of wampum; N. E. Norton, guard of the wigwam, and C. George, guard of the forest.

The lodge is in a flourishing condition, and has for its present elective officers: Charles Bishop, sachem; Oakly Repp, senior sagamore; Thomas . Pickey, junior sagamore; Olive Kinder, prophet; L. E. Groves, chief of records; Emery Hall, collector of wampum; George Marshall, keeper of wampum; Parid Brockburn, guard of the wigwam, and Elmer Bishop, guard of the forest.

In connection with this tribe is the ladies' auxiliary known as the Poco- hontas lodge.

BEN-HUR.

This fraternal organization with headquarters at Crawfordsville, Indi- ana, organized many years since, is doing a good work in fraternal life in- surance business as well as socially. In Noblesville, Corps No. 35, formed several years ago, now has a membership of sixty-eight, but does not hold regular meetings. The present scribe is John M. Hayes and the chief is W. E. Longley.

PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES.

Other societies than those already mentioned are the Daughters of the Revolution and Daughters of America, both having a small membership. Of the last named the present officers are: Counsellor, Mrs. Retta Scott; associate counsellor, Mrs. Julia Lewis ; vice-counsellor, Mrs. Gus Gearhart; associate vice-counsellor, Mrs. Laura Hutchins: junior associate counsellor, Mrs. Pearl Neff; associate junior past counsellor; Mrs. Daisy Ber- ger ; outside sentinel, Mrs. Alma Partlow; inside sentinel, Mrs. Emma Carey ; conductress, Mrs. Alice Ogle; warden, Mrs. Della Swank; trustees, Cora Olvey ; recording secretary, Will Street; assistant recording secretary, Mrs. Lilly Rambo, treasurer, Mrs. Mona Hiatt; financial secretary, Mrs. Will Street; captain of guards, Alma Partlow; captain of the teams, Zella Zook, and pianiste, Mrs. Kennedy.

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CHAPTER XXII.

MEDICAL HISTORY-PROGRESS OF REMEDIAL ARTS IN HAMILTON COUNTY.

The pioneers of Indiana attempted and accomplished such stupendous undertakings when they first came to this country that we naturally think of them as having been strong, sturdy men and women with splendid physiques and superb health. Undoubtedly those who lived through many of those trying years were men and women possessed of strong healthy bodies. Those first years were indeed a trial, a test of endurance that marked the survival of the fittest. The weak and sickly ones went to an early grave. The strong fought, and sometimes went down before the invisible enemy that lurked in the great forest filled with swamps and mosquitoes. These pesti- lences were more dangerous, deadly enemies of the early settlers than the Indians and all the hardships of clearing land and building homes com- bined. Malarial diseases were rife in all sections. No family was safe from attack at any time, and oftentimes whole families were stricken at once, and even whole settlements were afflicted till there was no one well enough to care for the sick. In 1819 the settlement at Horseshoe Prairie had such an experience. From the latter part of August till after the frosts came the entire settlement shook with ague, followed by burning fever. No doctor was to be had nearer than Connersville, and there was no medicine save the native herbs which the settlers brewed into bitter teas. But the settlement came through the experience in much better condition than many others did, for it is recorded that no one died from the effects of the protracted ·siege, the hardy settlers living to pass through many other similar sieges in years to come.

The years from 1819 to 1830 were the worst ever known in the State and county. There were few physicians, and these were so over worked they could not attend to all their patients. The roads were often almost impassa- ble and the streams ofttimes so high as to be too dangerous to ford, so that such diseases as croup got in their fatal work before the doctor could reach the patient. Occasionally one would find an unbroken family circle, but usually half the children died in infancy, and oftentimes one or both par- ents died in early life. Such diseases as smallpox, cholera, milksickness and typhoid fever usually were beyond the medical skill of that early day, and

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ran their mysterious courses unchecked. Occasionally the patient recovered. but generally death was the result.

PRACTICES OF THE OLD SCHOOL.

In many sections of the State the ague was more fatal than in Hamil- ton county, but even in our county, from mid-summer till cold weather came the physicians counted on a "regular harvest" of chills and fever. Peruvian bark in the early times and later quinine with generous doses of calomel were the standard remedies. The physicians were busy night and day, and during the worst sieges of the disease each physician use:l an ounce or more of quinine each day. The doctor had to carry a "small drug store" in his saddle bags. Sometimes these remedies checked the disease, but usually it was not entirely driven out till cold weather came. (The relation of the mosquito to the prevalence of the disease was unthought of in these days, neither was the fly considered in regard to typhoid, cholera, etc.) In those days a patient sick with any kind of fever must be bled freely. Bleeding and calomel were twin brothers in the medical profession.

Dr. W. H. Graham, one of our oldest and most respected physicians, told the writer the following incident: "When I was a small boy my mother had a very serious attack of pleurisy and pneumonia. When the doctor was called she was suffering intense pain, and it was very difficult for her to get her breath. Upon the doctor's arrival h: examined her and then said, 'We will have to take some blood.' He opened a vein in her arm and cirew out quite a quantity of blood. By that time the pain was all gone and she was breathing easily. The next day the inflammation had all disappeared and she was up and around in a few days. She would undoubtedly have had a serious illness if she had not been bled." Dr. Graham began the practice of medicine about 1860, and the lancet was still used at that time. but to the question "why isn't it still used?" he replied: "It is not taught in the books or the schools any more. It has gone out of style." In the first half of the century. however. no matter what form of illness the patient had or with what accident he had met, the first remedy before the medicine was given internally was to bled the patient. The physician relied more on the effects thus produced upon the patient than on the quantity of blood taken. Ofttimes in a case of fever and delirium, in ten minutes after the vein was opened the fever would be entirely gone and the patient free of delirium. In extreme cases of any sort the free use of calomel was always commended. It was thought not to salivate a patient was to allow him or her to die without a last saving effort. Even as late as 1860 calomel was given till

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the mouth began to be sore. That was the indication that the patient "had enough."

There was one disease peculiar to the new country which to this day re- mains a mystery. Men of science have tried but failed to find out the cause of it. "Milksick" was the common name for it. Both people and cattle were subject to it, and often with deadly effects. It was prevalent in Hamilton county, in many sections, when the country was new. It was thought people contracted the disease from drinking milk or eating butter which had been poisoned by something in the food of the cows. Entire families would become deathly sick and several of them die within a few days, or those who lived lingered through a slow convalescence. Usually, however. the patient either died or began to mend within ten days. Many people contended that the sickness was not caused from milk or butter, and some even denied the-existence of such a disease. But it is quite certain there was a peculiar malady called milksickness during the early part of the century, and it is equally certain that the disease, whatever it was called, entirely disappeared when the country became thickly settled and cultivated grains and pastures offered substitutes for the natural graz- ing of the cattle, which was the only food of the pioneer cattle much of the time. . It was generally accepted at the time that the cows ate some weed or shrub which caused the disease. Probably the plant was small, and since the fields are cultivated it has disappeared. Some people thought certain springs or boggy places were the sources of infection, either in the water or some plant growing near it. Such places were enclosed by a fence. Cattle ·are said to have dropped dead at such places, and when a small area in the immediate vicinity was enclosed the sickness ceased. For years such an en- closure on a farm made it absolutely unsalable. For that reason the disease was hard to grapple with, for no settler or neighborhood would ever ac- knowledge. if possible to circumvent the fact, that milksickness was ever known in that locality. It was always "over in the other settlement or township," till the saying "as hard to locate as the milksickness" became a byword. In Hamilton county the milksickness has not been known for many years, not since before the Civil War. While it was a very real and very dreaded malady early in the century, a man would be laughed at now if he were to inquire about such a disease in our county.

In 1850 Noblesville was visited by the dread cholera. L. N. Emmons contracted the disease on his way from Washington, D. C., to Noblesville. He died shortly after his arrival at home. When the nature of his sickness became known there was general consternation and fear among the people.

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Many fled to the country or other parts of the State. But in spite of all the precautions known at that time the disease became quite an epidemic, and many persons died and few recovered. Among the persons who con- tracted the malady and recovered was Mr. Loehr, the father of Mayor E. C. Loehr. It is said after one night's illness from the terrible scourge Mr. Loehr was so weak as to be unable to lift a hand. But having a strong constitu- tion he recovered. A second attack of cholera came to Noblesville in 1853, but was not attended with such fatal results as the former attack. Since that time it has been unknown in Hamilton county.

FIRST PHYSICIAN IN COUNTY.

The first physician in the county was Dr. John Finch, who came here about the time the county was organized, 1823-24. But he did not live long ; a few years of a pioneer doctor's strenuous life carrying him to his grave. Dr. H. W. Clark was probably the second resident physician in the county. In 1819 he and his wife made the long dangerous journey on horseback from West Virginia to Connersville, where he studied medicine with an older doctor. In 1827 he received his license to practice medicine from the cen- sors of the Fifth Medical District of Indiana. In the same year he removed to Noblesville and began the practice of medicine in the county. He erected a log cabin on the west side of the square in Noblesville and lived there many years. Later, the Doctor being eccentric in many respects, moved outside the corporation limit on the corner of the present site of Conner and Twelfth streets. Then again, as the corporation limits overtook him, he removed farther east on what is now Conner street, and there spent the remainder of his life. Dr. Clark, like all early physicians, was self educated. There were no medical schools then as at the present time and a physician received his medical knowledge by working under an older practicing physician. Later he applied what he had thus learned to his own patients, and thus, with common sense and practice, a man was soon considered a "good doctor." Doctor Clark was a well-read man, being conversant with several foreign languages, and owning one of the largest private libraries in the state of In- diana. The Doctor became quite wealthy, but it is certain he didn't acquire his riches by exorbitant fees. He was said to have been "very reasonable in his charges, doctoring a whole family for a year for $5.00." He rode miles in all directions over the county on horseback, attending rich and poor alike, furnishing his own medicine from his saddle bags, which he always carried with him. If people were so poor they were unable to pay even a

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small charge, it was all right with the kind old doctor, and he never refused a call because there were no prospects of pay. All physician's charges in those days were much lower than at the present time, but all expenses were correspondingly lower, and many of his fees were not paid in the coin of the realm. Most doctors counted on getting their winter's supply of meat, lard, etc., as recompense for services rendered, often asking for a hog or a quarter of beef instead of money from their debtors. A story is told of one debtor going to settle with Doctor Clark for medical services. When handed the bill the man said, "Surely I owe you more than that amount." "No," an- swered Doctor Clark, "that is all I have against you, and if I am satisfied, you ought to be." So the debt was paid to the satisfaction of all concerned. The Doctor was eccentric in more ways than one. He always wore jeans breeches and homespun shirts, except on two occasions each year. Twice a year he made a ·trip to Cincinnati to collect his interest from government bonds which he owned. On these occasions he attired himself in a long Prince Albert coat and tall silk hat. These were his only dress occasions. He always rode horseback, even after the roads were good and buggies came into vogue.

Those early doctors went through many hardships that we know noth- ing of. When a physician was needed there was no telephone to call for him. A relative or neighbor must travel all the distance to the doctor's home or office and leave word for him to come in all haste, if the case was urgent, as it usually was before a physician would be sent for. Usually the storm- iest, coldest nights were the ones upon which the doctor was called on the longest rides. Then, through the wind, snow, cold and storm, he must travel many weary miles over almost impassable roads to save the life that hung in the balance until his arrival, or had in some instances passed out before the doctor could arrive. Doctor Graham told the writer of one experience in his early practice : "It was in early spring, when there had been a thaw and the roads were cut up very badly. Then we had a freeze and the roads were frozen solid. They were so rough that I finally got off my horse and led him. I feared he would fall and break my leg, and a person might freeze to death under such conditions on a lonely country road at night. By walk- ing I finally reached my patient in safety." Contrast that way of reaching the sick with our modern doctor's mode of travel. If a person is taken suddenly ill, day or night, instead of sending a human messenger for the physician, the message goes over the wires "almost as quick as thought." The answer comes, "I'll be there in a few minutes." Cranking his auto, the doc- tor jumps in; if the weather is severe, the machine is closed and curtained;

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away speeds the auto at twenty or thirty, even forty, miles an hour over fine level roads, and the physician is at the patient's side in a less number of minutes than it used to require hours to make the same journey. Again we can truly say, "What hath God wrought!" Medical ways also have im- proved. Where once the lancet, calomel and quinine in shotgun doses held sway, the patient now is given very little, if any, drugs, the least amount possible being used, and, instead, we are taught by our medical men to eat less, drink more water, breathe more fresh air, bathe oftener-in short, to obey the laws of health to the best of our ability. The mosquitoes have been banished with the swamps, and no more do chills and fever hold the inhabi- tants in constant terror. The fly has been branded a murderer, and is fast disappearing. Time was when the housefly was considered a necessary, and even a healthful, evil, and his multitudinous presence accepted as such. Ev- very good housewife kept a long brush of some description, a branch of a tree or a bunch of long peacock feathers, to "brush the flies" while the other members of the family ate their meals. It was sometimes as much as a bar- gain to eat a meal without eating a fly, too. To keep the house and eatables screened was unthought of until within the last thirty or thirty-five years. But even careful screening is not now sufficient. The "swat the fly" move- ment is here to stay, and the pest is not only conscientiously "swatted," but his breeding places are being removed, and the time is certainly near at hand when a housewife will consider it as much of a disgrace to have a fly in the house as a bed bug. In fact, the bed bug is a much cleaner and more sani- tary customer than the fly.

FIRST MEDICAL SOCIETY.

On Saturday, June 7, 1873, a number of the prominent physicians of the county met at the office of Dr. J. M. Gray for the purpose of organizing a county medical society. Dr. A. L. Pettijohn was made temporary chair- man and Dr. W. B. Graham secretary, while a committee, consisting of Drs. J. M. Gray, W. H. Cyrus and F. M. Warford, met and reported on a perma- nent organization. The committee thus appointed made the following re- port, which was immediately accepted by those present: H. W. Clark, president ; W. H. Cyrus, vice-president; W. B. Graham, secretary ; Amos Pettijohn, treasurer; J. M. Gray, P. P. Whitsell and F. M. Warford, cen-

sors. On the same day by-laws and regulations were drawn up, conforming to those of the state medical society, of which this was to be an auxiliary. The charter members of the county medical society were as follows: Amos Pettijohn, A. L. Pettijohn, William Judd, J. I. Rooker, P. P. Whitesell. F.

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M. Warford, J. M. Gray, H. E. Clark, E. C. Loehr, W. B. Graham, T. J. Smith, A. R. Tucker, J. M. Barber, H. H. Stout, Sylvanus Jay, W. W. Wil- liams, Harry Pontious, W. H. Cyrus and H. E. Davenport. The present officers of the medical society are : President, Dr. A. A. Bond, of Westfield, secretary and treasurer, Dr. George Haworth, Noblesville, the original num- ber of officers having been reduced to the two last named. Following is a list of the active members at present, besides the officers above mentioned : Drs. M. C. Haworth, George Haworth, J. D. Sturdevant, J. E. Hanna, F. A. Tucker, H. H. Thompson, O. B. Pettijohn and W. B. Graham, all of Nobles- ville, the latter being the only member belonging at the present time who was a charter member, with a continuous membership to the present time; from Westfield are Drs. J. L. Baldwin and C. H. Fodrea; from Jolietville, Drs. T. O. Ridden and E. A .. Rainey; from Sheridan, Dr. E. M. Young and B. F. Johnson; from Carmel, Drs. J. C. Herschey, F. M. Herschey and R. A. Cooper : from Arcadia, Dr. J. L. Hicks; from Atlanta, Dr. B. Roy Bills; from Cicero, Drs. C. H. Tomlinson and B. A. King.

The earliest physicians in the county included the following: Drs. John Finch, H. W. Clark, T .T. Butler, Israel Haines, J. M. Gray, W. H. Cyrus and F. M. Warford. The present physicians of Noblesville, besides those mentioned as belonging to the medical society, are Drs. A. D. Booth, M. H. Harrell, Samuel Harrell, E. C. Loehr, O. B. Pettijohn, T. J. Smith, Joseph Sturdevant, A. Michael, Guy Michael, W. E. Catterson and P. B. Wright, osteopath. Dentists include Dr. C. C. Curtis, Earl Brooks, William Graham, Harry McGrath and Charles A. Cooper. The veterinary doctors include Drs. J. W. Klotz and R. W. Woods.

The Hamilton County Medical Society held its first meeting of 1915 in the sun parlor of the county hospital, Tuesday afternoon, January 12. The new officers presiding were: Dr. Frank Hershey, of Carmel, president, and Dr. George Haworth, of Noblesville, secretary-treasurer. Among the out- of-town members present were Dr. F. Hershey, of Carmel; Doctor Rainey. of Jolietville; Doctor Bond, of Westfield, and Doctors King and Tomlinson. of Cicero. The special guests were Doctor Brayton, of Indianapolis, and Doctors Williams and Cook, of Lebanon. Dr. Charles Ferguson, of In- dianapolis, a member of the faculty of the Indiana Medical college, deliv- ered the principal address of the afternoon, speaking on the subject, "Toxe- mia of Pregnancy." Most of the physicians discussed the theme in a gen- eral way.

The society has arranged the following program for the remainder of the year : February 9, Dr. A. A. Bond, "Influenza and Sequella," the article

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to be discussed by Dr. F. C. Hershey ; March 9, Samuel Weldy, "Native Drugs"; April 13, Dr. H. H. Thompson, "Vaccine Therapy"; May 1I, ban- quet ; June 8, Dr. A. B. Graham, Indianapolis, "Disease of the Rectum"; July 13, Dr. W. T. S. Dodd, Indianapolis, "Heart Clinic"; August 10, open date; September 14 (at Carmel), Dr. K. C. Hershey, "Dysentery," the ar- ticle to be discussed by Dr. A. C. Newby ; October 12 (at Cicero), Dr. B. A. King, "Farm Accidents"; November 9, case reports, Drs. Fred A. Tucker . and Joseph Sturdevant, of Noblesville, and Dr. Frederick Charlton, of In- dianapolis.

SOME WELL-KNOWN PHYSICIANS AT SHERIDAN.

In Sheridan, formerly called Millwood, before the Monon railroad was put through, lived Dr. Henry G. Moore, who had served as a surgeon in the army, where he obtained his training. Being the only doctor for a time at that place, he had many miles to ride through the woods on his old gray horse to see his patients. He was one of the main promoters of the railroad, which was put through the town in 1872, and was one of the founders of the Rockville sanitarium. He died at his office about two years ago.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 36

Author: John F. Haines Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051