USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 27
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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-
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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
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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 snrperintendent 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.
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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.
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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.
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 sunsbine 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
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himself for his chosen calling. Ilis 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
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little after Drs. Walker and Fussell came Drs. John II. 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.
The first physician to locate in Anderson was a Doctor Burt. Little can be learned concerning him, but it is supposed that he was Dr. Dickin- son Burt, who was the first physician in Delaware county, locating there about the time that county was organized. He came to Anderson about 1826 or 1827 and is said to have been also a school teacher.
In 1828 a Doctor Pegg located in Anderson and practiced there for about two years, when he was succeeded by Doctor Ruddell, who remained there for about seven years, when he removed to Marion county. Neither of these physicians have left much of their records in the county, and little is known of them except what is here stated.
Dr. Henry Wyman, a native of New York state, began practice in Anderson in 1831 and soon came to be recognized as a leader in his pro- fession. His practice extended to all parts of the county and even to adjoining counties. In connection with his professional work he was also editor of a local newspaper. In 1864 he removed to Blissfield, Michi- gan, where he died in 1892. In 1837 and 1838 he was elected to the legis- lature from Madison county.
Other early physicians in Anderson were Dr. E. R. Roe, Dr. Andrew Robb and a Dr. Carmean, but little can be learned concerning them or their work.
Dr. Townsend Ryan was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1813. Upon arriving at his majority he went to Hamilton, Ohio, and embarked in mercantile pursuit and was also interested in canal transportation between that city and Cincinnati. The panic of 1837 left him practically stranded. He then entered Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and upon receiving his degree from that institution he located at Lewis- ville, Henry county, Indiana. In 1842 he came to Anderson, where he continued in practice for a quarter of a century. He represented Madi- son county in the legislature in 1848, was one of the first vice-presidents of the Indiana State Medical Society when it was organized in 1849, and was lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry in the Civil war. After the war he engaged in railroad build-
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ing, in which he lost a second fortune, and then returned to the practice of medicine.
Dr. John Hunt, a native of Wayne county, Indiana, began the prac- tice of medicine in Huntsville in 1839. Some years later he removed to Anderson and still later to a farm in Lafayette township. He had a large practice in each of these localities and became a power in politics. It has been said that he could dictate the nominations made by the Demo= cratic party for all the offices in Madison county. He served as state senator for Madison and Ilancock counties in 1851-53 and in 1860 was elected county treasurer. He died at Springdale, Arkansas, July 23, 1895.
His brother, William A. Hunt, was also a physician of prominence. in the county in his day. He was a small boy when the family settled at IIuntsville. He attended Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, and began practice on a farm about four miles north of Anderson. In 1868 he removed to Anderson, where he first engaged in the drug busi- ness, hut soon resumed practice, in which he continued until within a few days of his death. He was president of the old county medical society during the entire period of its existence and was a writer on mis- cellaneous subjects of more than ordinary ability.
Dr. John W. Westerfield was born in Preble county, Ohio, June 1, 1816, and came with his parents to Fayette county, Indiana, in 1828. He studied medicine in Rushville and in 1839 settled in Madison county. He owned the first drug store ever established in Anderson and practiced his profession there for many years. His death occurred on September 29, 1895. In early life he was a Methodist, but later espoused the cause of the Spiritualists, and at the time of his death was president of the state association, a position he had held from the time the association was first organized.
Dr. W. P. Brickley was one of the early physicians of the county. He first settled in Fall Creek township, where he practiced for several years. Then attracted by the inducements offered in the West, he went to Iowa. A few years later he returned to Madison county and opened an office in Anderson, where his son, Eugene T. Brickley, is now engaged in the drug business. Doctor Brickley is remembered by old-timers as a popular and successful physician.
Dr. Thomas N. Jones located in Anderson a few years before the beginning of the Civil war, having previously practiced in Hancock county and at Pendleton. IIe served as assistant surgeon of the Second Indiana Cavalry and later as surgeon of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Infantry in the Civil war. He was a successful physician, always man- aged to secure the confidence of his patients, and stood high in the esteem of his brother practitioners. He was twice elected to the state legislature-in 1872 and 1874. He died in 1875.
Contemporary with Dr. Jones was Dr. George F. Chittenden, who began practice in Anderson in 1858, as a partner of Dr. John Hunt. In the spring of 1861 he entered the army as assistant surgeon of the Sixteenth Indiana Infantry and upon the reorganization of the regi- ment a year later was made surgeon. Subsequently he served as brigade surgeon, medical director of the Fourth Division, Thirteenth Army
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Corps, and at the siege of Vicksburg was inspector and director of that corps. In 1868 he was elected to the legislature for the district composed of the counties of Madison and Henry, and in 1873 was appointed one of the directors of the Central Insane Asylum, a position he held for eight years.
Other Anderson physicians of prominence in days gone by were Noah L. Wickersham, Benjamin F. Spann, Chauncey S. Burr, D. M. Carter, Oscar Ardery, Zimri Hockett, William J. Fairfield, Jesse P. Crampton, Dewitt Jordan, Luther B. Terrill, E. H. Menefee, L. P. Ballenger, William Suman, Thomas J. MeClenahan and Joseph F. Bran- don. The last named practiced for several years at Perkinsville and after removing to Anderson engaged in the drug business. Dr. Wick- ersham practiced for thirty-five years in Anderson and was a poet of considerable ability. Dr. Spann was a native of Jefferson county, Indiana, located at Anderson in the fall of 1860 and continued in prac- tice there for thirty-four years. He was a member of the state, county and American medical associations. Dr. Burr was born in Middletown, Indiana, in 1840, graduated in medicine in 1865 and practiced for fif- teen years in Anderson, ten years in Mitchell, South Dakota, and four- teen years in Chicago, where he died in 1905. Dr. Carter was a mem- ber of the first Madison County Medical Society and was for a time its treasurer. After several years successful practice in Anderson he went to Randolph county and died there. Little is known of Drs. Ardery, Ballenger and Jordan. Dr. Hockett was one of the most emi- nent and successful physicians in the county in his day and enjoyed a large practice. His son is now a practicing physician of Anderson. Dr. McClenahan, a promising young physician, died at an early age, before he had an opportunity to establish his reputation. Dr. Fairfield practiced twenty years in Anderson. He was a finely educated man, a graduate of Bellevue Medical College of New York, and was a "chalk talk" lecturer-a talent he often employed in addressing medical socie- ties. In 1907 he removed to Delta, Colorado. Dr. Crampton was a native of Ohio. He located at Anderson in 1852 and practiced there for fourteen years, being part of the time engaged in the drug business. Dr. Terrill was born in Missouri, graduated at the Medical College of Ohio, practiced for a while in Cincinnati, located in Anderson in 1895 and died in 1910. He was a skilful surgeon and while in Anderson was surgeon for the American Steel and Wire Company. Dr. Menefee came to Anderson about 1860 and was secretary of the old medical society from 1862 to 1867. He was a native of Virginia. Dr. Suman was a native of Madison county and practiced there for thirty-eight years, twenty-two of which he was located in Anderson and the other sixteen in Frankton.
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