USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 27
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
Captain William R. Myers was an honored member of the Madison county bar. He joined the ranks of this profession rather late in life. And his popularity among the people was such that, after doing so, he was spared but little time for the close work required at the lawyer's . desk and in the courts. Still he was there long enough to definitely and meritoriously identify himself with the practitioners of the county, and to make it clear that he belonged to the large school of attorneys who believed in the law as a science and in its employment for the help and good of individuals and communities.
Captain Myers was born in Ohio in 1836 and was brought by his parents to this county the same year. He had the advantages of a good education for those times. And after he had grown up and passed from the academy, he taught several terms of school. He served as the county surveyor for several years beginning with 1858. But he could not stay at home while the integrity of the Union was in the balance. In September, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry, and fought through the whole bitter struggle among the "bravest of the brave."
Returning from the field of war, Captain Myers again became a teacher and for several years was at the head of the Anderson schools. After this he took up the study of law and served as prosecuting attor-
Digitized by Google
212
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
ney in 1872 and 1873. He was elected to congress in 1878. After his term of service there and a brief interval of two years he was elected to the office of secretary of state and reelected two years afterward. In 1892 he was called by the people to fill that office again, being the only person who has ever had three terms in the office of the secretary of state in Indiana.
One of the remarks of pride which the partisans of Captain Myers make of him is that he would have been governor of his state had he not declined to stand for the nomination in 1892. And this is in all probability true, for it was generally understood that his party would give him the nomination without opposition should he desire it, and he had run ahead of his ticket in every race he had made for popular suffrage. But he was suffering from the severe injuries which he had sustained in a wreck of the Big Four train, on which he was a passenger, and he was afraid to hazard the strain and anxiety of a campaign and of public duties. Putting himself out of the race, Claude Matthews was placed at the head of the Democratic ticket, which was elected.
Captain Myers was a forceful figure in politics. In his best days, it was difficult to find his equal on the stump. He was in demand in every locality of the state when a campaign was on, and his refreshing magical utterances hung and swayed his audience on every syllable. Daniel F. Mustard, his life long friend and an advocate of his merits as an orator insists that he did not exaggerate in once writing him up as the "Cicero of the West." And the Hon. Charles E. Henry, in a happily worded tribute to him at the meeting of the bar on the occasion of his death, which occurred on April 10, 1907, among other things, said, "that William R. Myers had done more to make Anderson and Madison county known throughout the state of Indiana than any other man."
Looking to the personal qualities of Captain Myers, one finds no lack of the desirable. Big of mien and big of heart, open-minded, candid, fair. Artless as a child and generous to a fault. But the mod- ern vocabulary is insufficient, except it borrows from the old, to fitly describe him, and his character may be best set forth in the words of the immortal poet of whom he was so fond and whose lines he so well inter- preted,
"His life was gentle, and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, 'This was a man!' "
Several others of the present generation of lawyers have gone out forever, among whom may be mentioned David W. Wood, who came to the bar in 1878, served as prosecuting attorney by election in 1884, and by appointment at the instance of the governor in 1889. He and William R. Myers were associated as partners at law for several years. In 1893 he formed a similar relation with Willis S. Ellis, which con- tinued to the death of Mr. Wood, on the 26th day of June, 1901. He enjoyed a good practice. He went about his work in a quiet way, and a superficial notice might have given the impression that he did not do much in his profession. But a thorough examination found him asso- ciated from term to term with some of the heaviest and best paying litigations.
Digitized by Google
213
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Mr. Wood was one of the most companionable of men. Sunny by nature, he took time and occasion to cultivate the jovial and joyous side of life. Neat in dress and fine in person, he carried an easy pass- port to every social function, and they were many, which he graced. His death, sudden and tragic, was a shock and a sorrow to the whole community, and to the bar a loss of that agreeable nature the touch of which indeed, "makes the whole world kin."
The rise of Gilbert R. Call in his profession was rapid and remark- able. He was born near Elwood in 1866. But when sixteen years of age his father with his family sought a home in the hills of Arkansas. Gil- bert , however, not being satisfied to remain long in that region returned after two years to his boyhood haunts. He was without money, except such as he earned through his own exertions. He taught five terms of school in Tipton and Madison counties. Then he took up the study of law with Judge Cassius M. Greenlee in Elwood, where he made such progress that he was soon admitted to the bar and began the practice in 1888. It was but two years after he began that the Sheet and Tin Plate Company of his native city retained him to look after its legal interests in this and other counties. In 1906 he was engaged in active legal work for the United States Steel Corporation and for which service in the last year of his life, his salary was advanced to the sum of $700 per month. The employment of Mr. Call by both the above corporations had con- tinued from the time of his engagement until the date of his death, and with every probability, as those closely associated with him know, of still higher promotion in the service of his wealthy clients, had not the dread summons of the universal foe come to him at the early age of forty-two. He passed away on December 4, 1908, of abdominal inflam- mation following an operation for appendicitis.
Edmond F. Daily is still remembered. He was another of the self- made disciples of the law. He was born in the "back woods" of Bar- tholomew county. During his boyhood days, he worked hard at the usual routine tasks on his father's farm and attended the country school in the winter. In this way he gathered some insight of the com- mon branches, then he found his way to the Hartsville Academy, in attendance at which he made good use of his time and added to his store of knowledge. Following this he read law and was admitted to the bar at Shelbyville, Indiana, in 1883. He came to Anderson in 1885, from which time his progress in the practice was steady, until failing health checked his energies two or three years before his death, which occurred on September 17, 1910.
Mr. Daily has sometimes been referred to as a case lawyer. And certainly to the cases in which he became deeply interested, he made a great effort and showed no little skill in his examination of law and evidence for the support of his side of the controversy.
But the most pleasant, perhaps the most impressive gift of Mr. Daily was his droll and unique humor. This he possessed in abundance, and by him was frequently given expression orally and with the pen in veins of such piquancy and surprise as to engulf his hearers into laughter and applause. His description of the forty-story building on the site of the courthouse in the boom days was a fetching bit of ridic-
Digitized by Google
214
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
ulous imagination. And his picture of the slowness and hesitation by which the few country folks approached the place where once upon a time he was billed for a speech fell nothing short of that fine power which is able to turn a situation extremely embarassing into one genu- inely funny.
Among the brothers of the bar called by the "grim reaper" to final account in recent years, none presented a character more odd, per- haps, than that of John T. Ellis.
He stood six feet three and one-half inches in his socks, and he often stood in them. He was slender in build, and this only rendered more curious his habit while yet unmarried of leaving his hotel and visiting his office and business places on the way, before breakfast and before making his toilet. Often without donning a top shirt he would throw a coat over his undershirt and with this loosely buttoned would walk the streets undaunted. Yet he possessed a certain fastidiousness as to his dress, and indulged in some very good clothes. In this indeed he exhibited another trait somewhat out of the ordinary, for he purchased most of his wearing apparel in England and Canada. He visited these countries frequently, and maintained that he was always able to get his "duds" through minus any custom duties. How he was able to do this and to make such voyages never ceased to puzzle the other members of the bar, but he went, that is certain.
Mr. Ellis was born in 1856, came to Anderson about 1891, and died March 23, 1909. He was not overly industrious in the consultation of authority in the preparation of a cause which he might have in hand. But his agreeable social qualities put him on good terms with many of his fellow attorneys. He did not hesitate to utilize their knowledge, and when a legal question of difficulty confronted him, he would call upon one or more of his good lawyer friends and draw them out on his knotty points until he had gathered such information as he deemed sufficient.
In general and current literature, he was well posted, and his con-, versation, ready and enriched with its southern flavor, never failed to earn for him a hearty hearing. The loss of his genial, kindly presence has been keenly felt, while he is remembered with that warmth that is never lost to those who are kindly and genial.
Yet another name belongs to this necrology-the name of one for whom there was such regard that it seemed he might have been living in our midst a lifetime when the hour had come for him to say "Farewell." His residence, however, had been here since 1893 only, at which time he arrived, cheerfully took up and so pursued his work till the 3d day of July, 1910, when without a murmur he laid it down, though still in the meridian of his intellectual strength and usefulness.
The bar and public appreciated the worth and service of Thomas Bagot from the start. And it is doubtful whether any one ever came into this community a stranger, as he did, who was more quickly or more fully received into its confidence than was he. Whether this was due more to the modest bearing which marked his manner, to the just and logical processes of his mind or to the deep sincerity of his faith in man and respect for his fellows, we do not know. But all are aware
Digitized by Google
215
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
to a certainty that the trust reposed in him was not misplaced. The early impressions of him but strengthened with the length of time. Each new acquaintance, each word with an old one, enlarged the treas- ury of his friendships. And in the light and warmth of these affections and of his whole career, its close could have come as it plainly did, only as a shock to every heart that held kinship with his.
The life of Thomas Bagot was an active one, full of the hard strug- gles that bring self-reliance and usually accompany success. He was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, August 19, 1851, but while yet a tender youth was taken by his parents to Ripley county, Indiana, whither they then moved for residence on a farm. Thomas then attended the public schools of his neighborhood. He easily mastered the branches there taught and some that were not found in the limited cur- riculum of the common schools in his day. Thus while yet a young man he was himself well qualified to teach, and he began to do so in the country schools. But a promotion was soon waiting for him. He was selected as principal of the school at the town of Canaan, Jefferson county at which he remained for several years. Then he was connected for a time with the Moore's Hill College where he became an instructor in mathematics and conducted a Normal course. He served one term as county school surperintendent of Ripley county. And a glimpse at the breadth of his acquirements may be had also in the fact that he filled the office of surveyor during a term in his old county. But the measure of his learning in this particular may be better judged from the book entitled "Plane Surveying" of which he is the author. This work, first published in 1883, has passed through several editions, is consulted by students and is in wide use by civil engineers in active service. It is a model of directness and plain statement. Brushing aside the needless verbiage and involved propositions that had burdened the pages of former treaties on the subject, he fused in the light of an intelligent generalization a crisp brevity, and brought forth a much needed and practical text book.
And besides the volume which he produced, other evidences abound of his literary taste. For he possessed a fine collection of books, includ- ing some rare ones and many by standard authors. With these through years of careful reading, he had cultivated a fond familiarity. And few were the important topics of learning with which he had not some his- torical acquaintance.
From 1886 to 1893 Mr. Bagot engaged in the insurance business at Newcastle, Indiana. It was during this period that he met Miss Georgia Byers, a most gracious and estimable lady, who in 1896 became his wife. In addition to his duties as an insurance agent at Newcastle he gave some attention, as he had even prior to that time, to the study of law. And when he settled in Anderson, he was ready to commence practice. His success was certain from the first, and his law business grew steadily on during all of his seventeen years at the bar, and which was, at the time he was obliged from failing health to give it up, in amount and character a splendid monument to his honorable and faithful devotion to his profession.
Digitized by Google
.
216
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
LIST OF ATTORNEYS WHO HAVE PRACTICED AT THE MADISON COUNTY BAR
Thomas C. Anthony, Clarence H. Austil, L. D. Addison, O. A. Arm- field, Lot. Bloomfield, Hiram Brown, Joseph S. Buckles, Ovid Butler, Lucian Barbour, Nathan Brag, George M. Ballard, Guy Ballard, Perry Behymer, Andrew J. Behymer, David L. Bishop, Richard Broadbent, John Beeler, Thomas Bagot, Charles Bagot, E. S. Boyer, Blaine H. Ball, William S. Beeson, Sparks L. Brooks, Arthur Beckman, Joseph Cox, William Carpenter, Franklin Corwin, Hervey Craven, T. C. S. Cooper, De Witt C. Chipman, Marcellus A. Chipman, E. B. Chamness, Albert C. Carver, Albert E. Carver, Bartlett H. Campbell, Gilbert R. Call, Edward R. Call, Arthur C. Call, Kenneth L. Call, Jacob L. Crouse, Charles Clevenger, Patrick J. Casey, John Davis, Byron H. Dyson, William S. Diven, Albert Diven, Edmund F. Daily, Morey M. Dunlap, A. L. Doss, Samuel Deadman, Miles C. Eggleston, Joseph E. Elliott, Floyd S. Ellison, Alfred Ellison, William F. Edwards, James H. Edwards, Willis S. Ellis, John T. Ellis, William Eldridge, Calvin Fletcher, Cyrus Finch, James Forsee, Frank P. Foster, D. H. Fernandes, Sam C. Forkner, James M. Farlow, Morris E. Fitzgerald, Joe G. Field, Wade H. Free, James Gilmore, Harvey Grigg, William Garver, Lemuel Gooding, Eli B. Goodykoontz, Cassius M. Greenlee, Elbert S. Griffin, William Herod, C. D. Henderson, Abram A. Hammond, Mason Hughes, John A. Harrison, S. W. Hill, Charles L. Henry, J. W. Hardman, James M. Hundley, Edgar H. Hendee, Nicholas Harper, Edward J. Hall, George E. Haynes, Paul Haynes, Blanchard J. Horne, Lewelyan B. Jackson, William H. Jones, Dee R. Jones, Ancel Jones, William H. Johns, Samuel Johnson, David Kilgore, Alfred Kilgore, Obed Kilgore, William A. Kittinger, Sanford M. Keltner, Lewis E. Kimberlin, Frank Kimball, Elbert E. Kidwell, Richard Lake, John W. Lovett, Frank A. Littleton, Isaac A. Loeb, Earnest B. Lane, William O. Lee, Addison Mayo, William R. Morris, Bethnel F. Morris, James Morrison, W. H. Mershon, David Moss, Allen Makepeace, Simeon C. Martindale, William R. Myers, Linfield Myers, Eli P. Myers, Samuel B. Moore, Frank Mathews, James A. May, Lawrence V. Mays, Carl Marrow, Loring Mellette, Providence McCorry, Augustus S. McCallister, J. H. McCon- nell, John F. McClure, E. B. McMahan, J. B. McIntire, Robert McLean, James Noble, David Nation, Charles Nation, William O'Brien, Thomas V. Orr, William R. O'Neil, Philip B. O'Neil, William J. Peaslee, Joseph F. Polk, Winburn R. Pierse, J. W. Perkins, Luther F. Pence, Myron H. Post, William Quarles, James B. Ray, Martin M. Ray, Reuben A. Riley, James Rariden, Humphrey Robinson, Jacob Robbins, Milton S. Robinson, Ward L. Roach, Henry C. Ryan, Marc Ryan, Edward D. Rear- don, Christian Y. Rook, Austin Retherford, L. A. Rizer, John H. Scott, James Scott, Jeremiah Smith, Oliver H. Smith, D. Lord Smith, Seth Smith, Philip Sweetzer, Isaac Scearce, Earl S. Stone, Oliver P. Stone, James W. Sansberry, Edwin P. Schlater, Albert A. Small, Jesse C. Shu- man, William A. Swindell, William A. Spring, W. S. Shelton, John Shan- non, Daniel W. Scanlon, Charles T. Sansberry, Glenda B. Slaymaker, Hor- ace C. Stilwell, Carmon N. Sells, Charles H. Test, Howell D. Thompson, Calvin D. Thompson, Amzi W. Thomas, John R. Thornburg, Mark P.
Digitized by Google
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
217
Turner, John C. Teegarden, James A. Van Osdol, Albert H. Vestal, James W. Vermillion, Frederick Van Nuys, Daniel B. Wick, William W. Wick, James Whitcomb, John M. Wallace, David Wallace, Edgar C. Wilson, Thomas D. Walpole, Robert N. Williams, Addison D. Wil- liams, William R. West, Francis A. Walker, David W. Wood, John E. Wiley, Herman F. Wilkie, Robert F. Wilkie, Wendell Wilkie, E. M. Welker, Simon Yandes, William G. Zerface.
.
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER XIII THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
THE PIONEER DOCTOR-HIS GENERAL CHARACTER AND METHOD OF TREATING DISEASE-HIS STANDING IN THE COMMUNITY-BALZAC'S TRIBUTE TO THE COUNTRY DOCTOR-SKETCHES OF EARLY MADISON COUNTY PHYSICIANS-MEDICAL SOCIETIES-THEIR HISTORY-PHYSI- CIANS IN THE ARMY-PENSION EXAMINERS-LIST OF REGISTERED PHYSICIANS.
One of the most useful individuals in a new settlement is the physi- cian, though the life of the pioneer doctor is not all sunshine and roses. About the only inducement to a young physician to locate in a frontier community, was the hope that he might "grow up with the country." When the first physicians came to Madison county the region was sparsely settled, no roads were opened and calls had to be made on horseback, through the woods, the doctor frequently riding long distances to visit his patients, who were scattered over a wide expanse of territory. Money was rare in the frontier settlements and the doctor often received his fee in fresh pork or cordwood. Some- times he received no fee at all, but this condition of affairs did not deter him from doing his duty and ministering to the sick. Viewed in the light of modern medical progress, the old-time doctor might be consid- ered a "back number." There were no drug stores to fill prescriptions, so he carried his stock of medicines about with him in a pair of pill- bags-a contrivance composed of two leather boxes, with compartments for a number of vials; these boxes were connected with a broad strap that was thrown over the rear of the saddle. Many times the early doc- tor was not a graduate of a medical college, having acquired his pro- fessional training by "reading" with some other physician. No X-ray machine, or other costly or elaborate apparatus, graced his office. His principal surgical instruments were the lancet, for letting blood, and the turnkey, for extracting teeth, for the doctor was dentist as well as physician. In his stock of drugs calomel, quinine and Dover's powders were standard remedies, and every doctor knew the formula for making "Cook's pills." He had a wholesome contempt for germs and microbes and frequently went about his business without considering whether he was in an antiseptic condition or not. There was generally one redeem- ing feature about the early physician. He did not assume to know it all and as his business prospered he attempted to keep pace with the times by attending a medical college somewhere, the better to qualify
218
Digitized by Google
219
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
himself for his chosen calling. His patrons looked upon him as a friend, as well as a professional adviser, and on the occasion of his visits to their homes the best piece of fried chicken or the largest piece of pie found its way to his plate.
In his travels about the settlement he heard all the latest gossip, knew what was passing in the minds of the citizens, and this gave him an opportunity to serve his neighbors in some public capacity. A list of county officers shows that the doctor has often been called upon to dis- charge the duties of some local official, to represent his constituents in the state legislature, or even in the halls of congress. It is quite prob- able that as many male children in the United States have been named for the family physician as for the country's great warriors or states- men. The great French novelist, Honore de Balzac, pays a tribute to the country doctor when he says: "It 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."
The first physician to locate in Madison county, of whom any definite information can be obtained, was Dr. Lewis Bordwell, who established himself at Pendleton about the time the county was organized. He remained there but two or three years, when he removed to Iowa, where he practiced his profession until his death. Dr. Bordwell has been described as a genial gentleman of pleasing personality. He had the failing of "looking upon the wine when it was red," and sometimes, when under the "influence," was wont to boast of his success as a physician, declaring that he had never lost a patient.
He was succeeded by Drs. John L. and Corydon Richmond. Dr. John L. Richmond was born in Massachusetts in 1785, studied medicine and began practice at Newton, Ohio, where he performed what was probably the first recorded Cesarean operation in the United States. About 1832 he located at Pendleton, where he was also pastor of a Baptist church. A few years later he removed to Indianapolis and prac- ticed there until 1842. In that year he received a paralytic stroke, when he retired from practice and removed to Covington, Indiana, where he died.
Corydon Richmond was a son of the above and was born in New York state in 1808. At the age of twenty-four he graduated at the Ohio Medical College and began practice in Pendleton. Later he practiced in Indianapolis for a few years and in 1844 located in Howard county, Indiana. In 1863 he became assistant surgeon in a military hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, but at the close of the war returned to Howard county, where he passed the remainder of his life.
In 1833 Dr. Madison G. Walker located in Pendleton, where he prac- ticed for nearly thirty years. He was a native of what is now West Virginia. In 1862 he retired from practice and about twelve years later removed to Missouri. When Frederick Douglass was assailed by a mob in 1843, Dr. Walker rescued him, in which he was assisted by Dr. Edwin B. Fussell, who had settled in Pendleton a few years before. A
Digitized by Google
220
HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
little after Drs. Walker and Fussell came Drs. John H. and Ward Cook, natives of Tennessee.
Dr. John H. Cook was a graduate of the medical department of the University of Louisville and was one of the early specialists in diseases of the eye and ear. In the treatment of cases of this character he was frequently called to some of the larger cities. He loved debate, was a fluent speaker, and in 1836 was elected to represent Madison county in the legislature.
Dr. Ward Cook made the journey from Tennessee on horseback. He had previously studied medicine in his native state and soon after com- ing to Pendleton was examined and licensed to practice in Indiana, his license bearing date of October 20, 1832. Three years later he went to Red Sulphur Springs, Virginia, where he practiced until 1849. In the meantime he attended the Cincinnati College of Medicine where he was graduated in 1839. In the spring of 1849 he returned to Pendleton, and there resided until his death. He was actively engaged in the practice of his profession for over sixty years and was a contributor to some of the leading medical journals.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.