USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 32
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In the early days a newspaper was a luxury, but the doctor was nearly always one of the men in a neighborhood to become a subscriber to some weekly publication. By this means he kept in touch with what was going on in the world, and in his travels about the settlement he heard all the latest gossip. Through the knowledge thus acquired he knew what was passing in the minds of his neighbors, which placed him in a position to serve them in some public capacity. A list of public officials shows that the doctor was often called upon to fill some posi- tion of trust and responsibility, to serve his county in the state legis- lature, or his district in the halls of Congress. It is quite probable that as many male children in the United States have been named for the family physician as for the nation's great military men, philosophers or statesmen.
The celebrated French novelist, Honore de Balzac, pays a tribute to the country doctor, in his story of that name, when he says: "It .01901
is not without reason that people speak collectively of the priest, the lawyer and the doctor as 'men of the black robe' -- so the saying goes. The first heals the wounds of the soul, the second those of the purse, and the third those of the body. They represent the three principal elements necessary to the existence of society-conscience, property and health."
During the years that have passed since the first white men located in Huntington County, great changes have come to the Wabash Val- lev. " Clearing away the timber admitted the sunlight into hitherto dark places. Draining the marshes destroyed the breeding places of the pestilent, germ-nearing mosquito, and cultivation of the soil further improved the sanitary conditions of the country. Chills and fever are no longer the prevalent ailments, but in their train has come a multi- tude of new diseases that has changed the whole system of healing. The lancet, the turnkey and drastic remedies have given way to a better line of medicines and more approved surgical instruments and appli- ances. In this onward march of medical progress the physicians of Huntington County have kept step and occupy an honorable place in the profession. The pioneer doctors did the best they knew, accord- ing. to their opportunities, but were some of them permitted to come back at the present time, they would no doubt be at a loss to under-
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stand the treatment administered by a modern physician. Yet these old timers made possible the present era in the practice of medicine. Each contributed in his humble way to the advance of medical science', step by step to its present status. It is only fair, then, to condone the mistakes of the early doctor, as viewed from the standpoint of the present, and give him credit for sincerity of purpose and honest effort to alleviate the physical sufferings of his patients at a time when the highly educated physician was the exception rather than the rule.
Just who was the first physician to practice his profession in Hun- tington County is largely a matter of conjecture. Among the early phy- sicians were W. H. Williams, Daniel Palmer, Abel M. Lewis, Joseph Scott and Dr. F. W. Sawyer, all of whom had settled in the county by 1850.
Dr. W. H. Williams was a great grandson of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. He came to Indiana at an early date, studied medicine in Fayette County, and located at Warren in 1837, where he was the first physician. Subsequently he went back to Fayette County, but returned to Huntington County and practiced for a number of years at Lancaster. He was a typical old school doctor, reasonably successful in his practice and popular with the people. His son, Dr. Orlando B. Williams, is now a practicing physician in the Town of Andrews.
Dr. Daniel Palmer was born near Berkeley Springs, Virginia, Octo- ber 19, 1823. Twelve years later he went with his parents to Perry County, Ohio, where he attended school and studied medicine under Dr. Philip Harvey. In 1846 he located at Warren, Huntington County, but for a short time was employed as a school teacher, completing his preparatory medical education under Dr. J. R. Mills. He then attended the medical college at Laporte, Indiana, after which he formed a part- nership with Doctor Mills, and when the latter removed to Huntington, Doctor Palmer succeeded to the practice at Warren. Some of the older physicians in the county still remember Doctor Palmer as a popular and successful practitioner, one who commanded the respect of other physi- cians and the general public.
Dr. Abel M. Lewis was one of the best educated of Huntington County's pioneer doctors. He was a man of public spirit and was a firm believer in the efficacy of the hydropathic method of treatment so common in his day for certain diseases. As a public speaker he had few equals in the upper Wabash Valley and he was frequently called upon to deliver addresses on a variety of subjects. He was one of the active citizens in the movement to secure the incorporation of the Town of Huntington, in 1848, and his popularity is attested by the fact that he was elected the first mayor. When the first medical society
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was organized in the county, in 1852, he was elected vice president and one of the censors. After a successful practice of several years in Huntington, he removed to Indianapolis, where he continued his work as a physician for a number of years. As old age crept on, his hearing became impaired and he retired from active practice. He died at the home of his son, a prominent railroad man of Indianapolis.
Dr. Joseph Scott, who built the first house where the Town of Markle, Huntington County, now stands, was born in Cumberland County, Penn- sylvania, October 8, 1824, but went with his parents to Massillon, Ohio, in 1833. There he received an academic education and in 1844 began the study of medicine under Dr. Perkins Wallace. In the winter of 1846-47, he attended a course of lectures at Cleveland, Ohio, took his second course the following winter, and in the spring of 1848 located in the Town of Huntington. Two years later he removed to Rock Creek Township and, as above stated, built the first house in the present Town of Markle. After completing his house, his financial condition was such that he could not afford a horse and for some time he made his pro- fessional calls on foot, taking short cuts through the woods. His indus- try and skill as a physician brought their reward, however, and as the number of settlers increased Doctor Scott accumulated considerable property. His practice extended into Wells County. In 1857 he was appointed postmaster at Markle. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Odd Fellows and was one of the best known physi- cians in the county.
Dr. F. W. Sawyer, who was president of the first county medical society and a member of the first board of trustees of the Town of Hun- tington, is remembered by some of the older citizens as a well educated, progressive and popular citizen. He remained in Huntington but a few years, but in that time built a fine residence, for that day, and also established a drug store, probably the first in the town. Doctor Sawyer removed to Jeffersonville, Indiana, a few years before the beginning of the Civil war, and there continued to practice his profession for many years.
During the decade from 1850 to 1860 a number of physicians located in Huntington County. Among them were Frederick S. C. Grayston, L. C. Pomeroy, L. A. Castor, Daniel S. Leyman, Edward T. Young, N. S. Wickersham, A. Laramore, Calvin B. Richart, Abner H. Shaffer, Jonas Good and John G. Williams.
Dr. F. S. C. Grayston was one of the most eminent physicians that ever practiced in Huntington County. He was born in England, April 6, 1823. He received an academic education in his native land, after which he became associated with his father, who was an attorney. Not
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liking the law, he apprenticed himself to a druggist, where he learned pharmacy and chemistry and later acted as assistant to a physician. In 1850 he decided to seek his fortune in America and on October 12th of that year arrived in Huntington. The following spring he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, for the purpose of completing his professional edu- cation, but after one course of lectures there he went to Chicago and graduated at the Chicago Medical College in 1861, having practiced in Huntington for some time before receiving his degree. In 1876 he was elected to the chair of diseases of women and children in the Fort Wayne Medical College. Subsequently he occupied the chairs of pathology and theory and practice of medicine in the same institution for a number of years. In 1880 Butler University conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1882 he took a post-graduate course in the New York Polyclinic. President Lincoln appointed him exam- ining surgeon for invalid pensioners in 1864 and this position he held for twenty years. Three of his sons and a grandson are now practic- ing physicians in Huntington.
Dr. L. C. Pomeroy was the secretary of the first medical society ever organized in Huntington County. He was a well educated man and had served in the Mexican war as an assistant surgeon before locating in Huntington. His widow is still living in Huntington.
Daniel S. Leyman was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, December 30, 1825. After attending the public schools he began the study of medicine under Dr. Abel Carey, of Salem, Ohio, and began practice at Georgetown in that state. Subsequently he attended one course of lec- tures at the medical college in Cleveland, Ohio, and in May, 1851, located at Huntington. In 1875 he received the degree of M. D. from the College of Physicians at Indianapolis, and for some time was a partner of Dr. Abner Shaffer. Doctor Leyman was a member of the Presbyterian Church and also of the Masonic fraternity. He was a successful physi- cian and a public spirited citizen.
Dr. Edward T. Young, one of the early doctors of Jefferson Town- ship, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, December 14, 1827. He was reared on a farm, studying medicine as opportunity offered, but never attended a medical college. In 1854 he and his brother Enos came to Huntington County and bought 480 acres of timbered land in Jefferson Township. At that time there was a great deal of sickness among the settlers and the nearest physician was at Warren, several miles away. Under these conditions, Doctor Young began the practice of his profes- sion and followed it for more than forty years. Although not a gradu- ate, he was fairly successful and enjoyed a large patronage. He
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served as trustee of Jefferson Township and was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. He retired from practice in 1897.
Dr. N. S. Wickersham, who was vice president and one of the censors of the second medical society in the county, was a well educated and progressive physician. After a brief residence in Huntington County, he removed to Anderson, Indiana, where he rose to prominence in his profession.
Dr. Calvin B. Richart, one of the early physicians of Roanoke, was born in Montour County, Pennsylvania, in 1825. After acquiring an education he taught in the common schools, and in 1846 attended a course of lectures in Philadelphia. The next year he began practice at Canton, Ohio, but in 1850 removed to Roanoke, Indiana, where he opened a drug store in connection with his practice. In 1862 he sold his drug store and practice to W. C. Chafee and J. H. Jones, who formed a partnership for three years. At the end of that time Doctor Richart repurchased an interest in the business and resumed practice at Roanoke. He was a heavy set man, of the blonde type, and was highly respected both as a physician and a citizen. He was a past master of Roanoke Lodge, No. 195, Free and Accepted Masons. His death occurred on July 18, 1878.
Dr. Abner H. Shaffer, who is still practicing in Huntington, was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1829, attended the Western Reserve College, at Cleveland, Ohio, then taught school at Paris, Kentucky, and then began the study of medicine with Doctor Metz, of Massillon, Ohio. In 1855-56 he was a student in the medical department of the University of Michigan and in August, 1856, located at Huntington .. During the Civil war he served as assistant surgeon and surgeon of the Seventy-fifth Indiana infantry and was with General Sherman on the famous march to the sea. Since the war he has practiced in Huntington.
Dr. Jonas Good, for many years a practicing physician of Warren, was born in Perry County, Ohio, in 1832. At the age of fifteen years he came to Huntington County, where he resided until his death, with the exception of three years during the war, when he practiced at Hart- ford City, Indiana. He read medicine with Dr. Daniel Palmer and began practice in 1859. After the war he attended the Chicago Med- ical College, where he received the degree of M. D. in 1868. In 1883 he retired from active professional work and devoted his attention to his farming interests in Huntington County until his death, which occurred in June, 1913. Doctor Good was one of the best known physi- cians in the southern part of the county and was a successful practi- tioner. In 1859 he married Margaret A. Plummer, and of the children
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born to this union Charles H. is a practicing physician of Hunt- ington. J. F. Good operates a grain elevator at Warren, and Lena is the wife of Dr. John S. Sprowl, of Warren.
Dr. John G. Williams was born in Preble County, Ohio, in 1823. His early life was passed on a farm, but in 1854 he went to Eaton, Ohio, where he engaged in merchandising. There he studied medicine with Dr. W. H. H. Minor and in 1860 came to Huntington. The succeed- ing year he attended Bellevue Medical College, of New York, and in 1862 he formed a partnership with Dr. F. S. C. Grayston. This associ- ation was dissolved in 1866 and from that time until his death Doctor Williams practiced alone. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and a successful physician. His death occurred on March 16, 1872, of smallpox.
Little is known of Doctors Castor and Laramore, whose names appear above as physicians who came to the county between 1850 and 1860. Doctor Castor was one of the censors of the medical society organized in 1852, and Doctor Laramore was president of the reorganized society in 1854, which would indicate that they were physicians of honorable standing. Neither of them remained long in Huntington County.
Dr. H. S. Heath, who came from one of the eastern states to Roanoke about the beginning of the Civil war, was a well educated gentleman and a successful physician. After some years in Roanoke he went to Kansas and later went still further west, where he died.
Dr. Samuel Huff, a native of Wells County, was another doctor who left Indiana for Kansas. He practiced his profession for some time at Warren, then went to Wichita, Kansas, and from there to Denver, Colorado, where he died some years later.
Dr. William B. Lyons was born in the State of Delaware in 1818. Ilis grandfather, Patrick Lyons, was a soldier in the Continental army during the Revolution, and his father, Ira E. Lyons, served in the United States army in the War of 1812. Doctor Lyons graduated at the Rush Medical College in 1865 and was for many years a popular and successful physician of Huntington. Subsequently he received the degree of M. D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Indian- apolis. He was a thirty-second degree Mason and for a number of years was one of the most active members of the Huntington County Medical Society, of which he was at one time secretary. He also served on the county board of health in 1872, at the time of the smallpox epidemic.
Ira B. Lyons, brother of the above, also practiced medicine in Huntington County for some time. He was regarded as one of the best informed physicians of his time and excelled as a surgeon. His studious habits and sedate disposition kept him from becoming popular
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with the masses and he retired from practice in comparatively early life. Although he never became wealthy, he lived within his income and at the time of his death owed no man a cent. His motto was "Pay as you go," and he lived up to it to the last.
Dr. Henry C. Gemmill, who for several years was one of the leading physicians of Markle, was born in Frederic County, Virginia, in 1845. When he was about thirteen years of age his parents came to Indiana and settled in Cass county. In 1862 he enlisted in Company B, Fifty- fifth Indiana infantry, was wounded in the battle of Richmond, Ken- tucky, and discharged. Upon recovering from his wound he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Infantry and served till the close of the war. He then read medicine with Fitch & Coleman, of Logansport, and in 1868 graduated at Rush Medical College at Chicago. He began practice in Cass County, but in 1882 removed to Markle. In 1886 he was elected president of the county medical society. Dr. Gem- mill was a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Baptist Church.
Dr. Thomas Crandel, who is still living, but retired from practice, was born in Fayette County, Indiana, in June, 1838. He came to Hunt- ington County with his parents in 1850. After attending the common schools of Salamonie Township, he enlisted in Company C, Thirty- fourth Indiana infantry and served until the expiration of his term in the Union army. He then read medicine with Dr. Daniel Yingling, of Huntington, and in 1869 was graduated at the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute. He began practice at Kelso, where he continued until 1900, when he retired to his farm, though he still continued to practice for some years.
Dr. Lagrange Severance, another Eclectic physician, was a native of Maine, where he grew to manhood, and in the Civil war served in the Twelfth Maine Infantry, enlisting as a private and being mustered out as an adjutant of the regiment. In 1868 he graduated at the Cin- cinnati Eclectic Medical Institute and began practice at South Whitley. In October, 1869, he removed to Huntington, where he built up a successful practice.
Dr. S. P. Mitchell, a native of Huntington County, was born in Lancaster Township in 1847. His general education was acquired in the public schools and at Howard College, Kokomo, Indiana. In 1873 he entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, but after a course of lectures there went to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Keokuk, Iowa, where he was graduated in 1875. He began practice at Mount Etna, where he became a successful physician and enjoyed a large patronage for a number of years. He was a Meth- Vol. I-20
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odist, a Freemason and was for some time a member of the Mount Etna school board.
Another Mount Etna physician in early years was Doctor Bigelow, who removed to Indianapolis, where he was for some time superintendent of the city public hospital and was a member of the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. George P. Chenowith was born at Mount Etna on March 11, 1849, read medicine there with Dr. L. C. Beckford, who was one of the prominent physicians of the county in the late '60s and early '70s, and in 1877 was graduated at the Chicago Medical College. Doctor Chenowith then practiced his profession for many years in his native town. He was a popular doctor, a public spirited citizen and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His widow is now living in the City of Huntington.
Dr. L. S. Wallace, who practiced his profession for several years in the Village of Banquo, in Wayne Township, was born at Portland, Maine, in 1854. When he was about eleven years old his parents removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he read medicine, and after attending medical college located at Banquo in 1879. Although he built up a good prac- tice in the southwestern part of the county, he decided to seek another field and removed to Bunker Hill, Miami County.
Other physicians who have practiced in the county at some period of its history were John R. Mills, who was one of the pioneer doctors at Warren, and under whom several studied for college. He afterward removed to Huntington, where he practiced until his death. Dr. S. D. Ayres practiced for a short time in Warren. Dr. C. D. Thayer was one of the early physicians of the Town of Huntington and died while treating cholera patients in the summer of 1849. Dr. W. C. Chafee, now of Huntington, came to Roanoke in 1862 and practiced there for twenty years before removing to the county seat. Doctors Petty and Kersey were early practitioners at Mount Etna, and the name of Doctor Hammond appears as one of the censors of the medical society organized in 1854.
In July, 1849, a man named Martin came to Huntington on a canal boat from the West and found lodging in a cabin on East State Street. Soon after his arrival he was taken ill and died within a few hours. The doctors pronounced his malady Asiatic cholera and a panic ensued in the town, which then had a population of about four hundred. Many of the inhabitants fled precipitately to get away from the dread disease. There was no hospital to care for the afflicted, and though the local physi- cians worked faithfully, and with all the skill they could command, about fifty persons died within the next thirty days. Quarantines and
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improvement of sanitary conditions stamped out the disease before the first of September, but it was some time before Huntington fully recov- ered from the effects of the scourge.
A more violent epidemic of the cholera occurred in 1854. The disease first made its appearance among some Irish laborers on the Wabash Railroad, in a camp near the foot of the present William Street. The population of the town at this time was about eight hundred. Fortunately the local authorities isolated the camp from the citizens of the town and kept the ravages of the disease confined to the local- ity where it first broke out. The number of victims during this visita- tion cannot be learned. John Kenower, who is still living in Hunting- ton, was in the undertaking business at the time of both cholera epi- demics. When relating his experiences during those trying times, he said :
"I witnessed some desperate scenes. I have seen men drawn up almost in a knot, every muscle in the body twitching, and with a cry of pain the man was dead. They usually took sick in the morning and died the following evening, or took sick in the evening and died the next morning. They lay around, some of them on the ground, dying like flies. I hauled them by loads to the cemetery, but have no idea how many I buried altogether. I have no desire to go through the same experience again, but I shall never forget what I saw."
When asked how he kept from contracting the disease himself, he replied : "I simply behaved and took good care of myself."
The little Town of Roanoke was also stricken by the cholera in 1854 and several deaths occurred. S. H. Grim, who is still living in Roanoke, was then a cabinet maker and made coffins to order. A canal boat arrived at the village having on board the body of a man who had died of cholera. The boat was immediately deserted by all except the cook and a brother of the dead man, who employed Mr. Grim to inter the body. Before this was completed another case appeared among the passengers on the boat. Mr. Grim and a physician persuaded the Oliver boys to tow the boat to Toledo, but the second victim died soon after the boat left Roanoke and the body was buried at the Comstock basin. The people were panic-stricken and adopted every measure possible to avoid the disease, but in spite of all their precautions several of them con- tracted it and died. It fell to Mr. Grim's lot to bury the victims and he had to perform the work alone. He tells of how he managed to induce Louis Mellinger to dig a grave for $5, but when the corpse was brought to the cemetery for burial Mr. Mellinger departed with more haste than ceremony. The coffins furnished by Mr. Grim on these occasions were not highly finished, satin lined nor provided with silver
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handles, the object being to have the funeral over as quickly as possible. For many years after this events in Roanoke were dated from "the year of the cholera."
In March, 1872, an epidemic of smallpox broke out in the city and for a time consternation reigned among the people, many of them leav- ing Huntington until the worst was over. The board of health at that time was composed of wide awake, practical men, who adopted the most approved methods of dealing with such catastrophes, and the disease was stamped out at a cost to the county of about two thousand five hundred dollars, which included the professional services of physicians, nurses, medicines and the cost of hundreds of compulsory vaccinations.
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