History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 61

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 61

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" In 1847, Dr. Wellington said, he was present at the first operation performed upon a patient under the influence of ether at the Massachusetts General Hospital, which marked the new era in surgery.

" When Dr. Wellington began the work of the profession in Cambridgeport, it was a borough of only about 3000 inhabitants, with only one other physician. Dr. Wyman settled in Cambridge one year earlier than Dr. Wellington and has also seen the town grow into a city of 70,000 inhabitants, from small begin- nings.

" Dr. Morrill Wyman was next called upon to speak. He alluded pleasantly to their relations dur- ing so many eventful years, practicing side by side. They did not always think alike, to be sure, he said, but their differences have never affected their harmo- nions personal friendship and regard for one another.

"Dr. A. C. Webher spoke of his forty years of practice in Cambridge by the side of Dr. Wellington. He had always found him a firm friend and wise coun- selor, and a generous, courteous gentleman, who was never guilty of taking advantage of his professional brethren. Speaking retrospectively, Dr. Webber al- luded to the growth of the city and said that the time was once, when he had to take a lantern with him when going through the streets of our city to answer a call at night, because street-lamps were not then in vogue.

" Dr. H. O. Marcy followed in a happy manner, speaking in the highest terms of 'our guest,' to whom

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he said he had often turned for help, wisdom and counsel. Dr. Marcy said the younger physicians of Cambridge ought to be thankful that such men as the senior physicians of this city had been men of such noble character and splendid influence as well as skillful practitioners, and had been an example to their juniors iu every respect, worthy of emulation.

" Dr. Wellington is in good health and still actively at work, and has the promise of many years of useful- ness yet before him. Long may he remain with us is the wish of the entire community."

Charles H. Allen, M.D., joined the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1843. He resided for a number of years in Temple Street, Cambridgeport, and was a very successful practitioner. He was fond of litera- ture, a writer of considerable repute upon a variety of subjects; was proficient in music. He erected a handsome residence on Craigie Street, in Old Cam- bridge, about 1870, and retired from active practice. Some years later he removed to Chicago, where he devoted a considerable portion of his time to literary pursuits. He died in 1889.

Moses Clarke, M.D., was born January 18, 1818, and died in East Cambridge, March 29, 1864, aged forty-six years. He was the son of Greenleaf Clarke, Esq., of Atkinson, N. H. His mother was the daugh- ter of Dr. William Cogswell, a surgeon in the Revo- lutionary War, and successor of Governor Eustis in the charge of the Military Hospital, at West Point. Dr. Clarke received a thorough education at Atkinson and Pembroke Academies, and took his medical de- gree at Dartmouth College in 1843, having studied under the direction of Dr. Josiah Crosby. He first entered upon the practice of his profession at Derry. N. H., but he remained there only one year, when he removed to Cambridge, where he continued in suc- cessful practice almost up to the time of his death. He was a member of the School Committee ten or twelve years, and city physician about the same time. In both of these positions he won the respect and love of his associates. He acted also as superintendent of a Sabbath-school at the Almshouse. He was a man of character and independence, and when he knew his duty in a particular path he did not hesitate in its performance, however rough or thorny the way might be. He was a true man in the fullest sense of the word ; deceit formed no element in his character. A relative who knew him well says: "He was affec- tionate in all the relations of domestic life, patriotic and public-spirited as a citizen, highly respected as a physician, honest and independent in action, heroic in suffering and practical and consistent as a Chris- tian."

John Bunker Taylor, M.D., was born in Hinsdale, N. H., October 16, 1821. He died suddenly at Cam- bridge, February 15, 1889. His father was a farmer. Young Taylor was possessed of energy, natural talent and a determination to make the best of life. He went through the regular curriculum of the young

American country youth of the last generation, devel- oping a good physique on the farm, where he worked summers, attending the district school winters, until sufficiently advanced to enter the Brattle (Vt.) Acad- emy. From there he went to the Union Academy at Meriden, N. H., and completed his preparatory edu- cation at the famous seminary at Easthampton, Mass.

He taught school for a time at Chesterfield, and commenced the study of medicine at Northampton. He attended lectures at Pittsfield and entered the office of Dr. Anson Hooker, in Cambridge, as a stu- dent, in 1844. He was graduated in medicine from the Medical Department of Harvard University, and joined the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1848.

In 1855 he married Miss Helen M. Reed, of East Cambridge. Four children-two sons and two daugh- ters-have blessed the union. For a number of years Dr. Taylor was a partner in business relations with the late Dr. Anson Hooker. Soon after the com- mencement of his professional career he was appoint- ed physician to the House of Correction, which posi- tion he held until his death. For many years he was a member of the Cambridge School Board. He was one of the trustees of the Cambridge Hospital, and upon the consulting staff from its organization. He held various public and responsible positions and was active in the promotion of temperance and other pro- gressive and reformatory society movements.

Dr. Taylor was most loved by those who knew him best ; never demonstrative, yet looked upon as a leader in his section of the city. He possessed more than a fair share of physical vigor, which he gave unre- servedly to all who demanded his professional care. His best was freely offered and most fully appreciated at the bedside of the suffering, and his tender sympa- tbies and loving charities will be treasured in kindly remembrance by many hundreds whose only recom- pense could be given in gratitude and prayers.

In his self-sacrificing daily love he cheerfully prac- ticed the teaching of the Golden Rule, and fell at his post of duty in a touching, almost tragic way, dying on the very couch of the sufferer at whose bedside he was guarding over that most mysterious, almost mirac- ulous of nature's processes, the birth of another inde- pendent life.

Anson P. Hooker, M.D., was the son of Dr. Anson Hooker, and was born in Cambridge in 1832. He graduated at Harvard University in the class of 1851, and became a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1855. He was one of the first of the young surgeons to offer his services to Governor Andrew at the breaking out of the Rebellion. He was commissioned surgeon of the Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers Sept. 10, 1861, and served with honor and distinction in the Department of the Gulf, until he was com- pelled from disease to resign. He returned home June 18, 1862. The disease continued and hastened his death. He discharged all the trusts imposed upon him with rare ability and great fidelity. He

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won the love and respect of all who were associated with him by his amiability of disposition. With a generous heart and open hand, he succored his com- rades in distress. He was a wise and safe counselor and a faithful and true friend. His early death in 1873 caused great sorrow among his friends and neighbors, with whom he had spent his whole life, save the time he was absent in service.

Dr. John Kinsley Palmer became a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1856. He early became identified as a pioneer in the movement to secure better advantages for the higher education of woman, and after the establishment of the New Eng- land Female Medical College, of which Mrs. Palmer was one of the founders, he accepted the professor- ship of Materia Medica, in which branch of medicine he was especially an expert. He was an enthusiastic teacher and faithfully discharged the duties of this office for a number of years. He engaged with the late Dr. Henry Thayer, of Cambridge, in the prepa- ration of fluid extracts, a branch of business at that time comparatively new, and aided in founding the large commercial house now so widely known to the trade as Henry Thayer & Co. For a number of years previous to his death Dr. Palmer was a con- firmed invalid, suffering from gall-stone. He rightly diagnosticated his disease and often referred to his enemy that he said would take his life-conditions which were verified by autopsy. Dr. Palmer exer- cised a wide influence for good in the Cambridge community, was an active promoter of its public char- ities, greatly esteemed and beloved hy all who knew him. He came in the direct descent, through a long line of ancestry, from the first settlers of the Colony, and often pointed with pride to his choice collection of heirlooms, among which was a complete set of well-preserved table service of pewter, comprising a hundred and fifty pieces. He was very fond of nat- ural history, especially devoting himself to conchol- ogy, in which department he was an authority, and his private collection was one of the most complete in the United States, valued at five thousand dollars. He died November 29, 1878, after a long period of suffering, borne with patient Christian fortitude.

John I. G. Nichols, M.D., was born in Portland, Me., iu 1837. M. D. Harvard 1859. Settled in Cam- bridge soon after graduating and has remained a very busy worker in his profession to the present. He is an enthusiastic devotee to the science of medicine and is widely sought as a counselor hy the medical profession.

Dr. Nichols is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Boston Society of Medical Observa- tion, Cambridge Medical Improvement Society, of which he has been president and vice-president, Middlesex South District Medical Society, visiting physician to Cambridge Hospital, etc.

Henry Sylvanus Plympton, M.D., acting assistant surgeon U. S. Army, September 29, 1862; assistant

Surgeon U. S. Navy, April 28, 1863; died at Cam- bridge, Mass., September 25, 1863, of disease con- tracted in the service.

Henry Sylvanus Plymptom was born March 13, 1838, in Cambridge, Mass. His parents were Dr. Syl- vanus and Mary Bell (Warland) Plympton. His early boyhood was spent in Cambridge. After about two years in school at Concord, Mass., he returned and entered the Lawrence Scientific School with which he remained connected as a student for three years. He graduated from the Medical School, of Harvard University in 1860, and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City in 1861. He was then appointed one of the resident physicians in Bellevue Hospital, where he remained eighteen months as junior, senior and house physician.

September 29, 1862, he was appointed acting as- sistant surgeon, U. S. Army, and went to De Camp General Hospital, David's Island, New York Harbor, where he remained until April, 1863. Actuated by the feeling that he was not rendering his country as efficient service as he might in a more responsible po- sition, he presented himself for examination for the navy. Having passed the examination very success- fully, he was commissioned assistant surgeon in the U. S. Navy, April 28, 1863, and went on duty upon the receiving ship "North Carolina" (under Capt. R. W. W. Meade, commander), at Brooklyn Navy Yard. After a little more than a month he was attacked with pneumonia, caused by over-work and exposure while attending to his duties, and was soon transferred to the Naval Hospital at Brooklyn, where he remained as a patient about three weeks. His disease had now developed into consumption, and he was brought to his home in Cambridge, where he died September 28, 1863. His remains now lie at Mt. Auburn, in lot No. 3327.

Before his death he was united in marriage with Frances W. Young, of Bangor, Maine. He was from childhood of delicate physical constitution ; was amiable in disposition and attractive in personal ap- pearance, and was highly esteemed by the members of his profession and personal friends.

William Caldwell Flowers, M.D., was born at Hal- ifax, Nova Scotia, on October 15, 1832. Entered the Harvard Medical School in 1859; graduated in 1861. Returned to Halifax and practiced until July, 1863. Entered the United States service as acting assistant surgeon August 31, 1863, at Lincoln General Hospital, Washington, D. C. January 1, 1864, he was ordered to Lovell General Hospital, Portsmouth Grove, R. I. On duty in the Department of Texas with the Fourth Cavalry from August 20, 1866, to De- cember 7, 1866. On January 31, 1867, he was ordered to South Carolina, and served in the Freedmen's Bu- reau at Monk's Corner until October 29, 1867.

Reported for duty at Augusta Arsenal, Augusta, Ga., November 2, 1867, where he remained until Oc- tober 1, 1873. His resignation from the service was

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accepted October 9, 1873. Commenced practice in October, 1873, at Cambridgeport, Mass., where he has since resided. He became a member of the Massa- chusetts Medical Society in 1863, and is also a mem- ber of the Cambridge Medical Improvement Society.

Henry P. Walcott, A.M., M.D., was gradnated A.B. (Harvard) 1858, M D. (Bowdoin) 1861.

Dr. Walcott has devoted a large part of his profes- sional life to the study of Sanitary Science and has rendered his city and State most efficient and valuable services. Has been for years health officer of Cam- bridge and a member of the State Board of Health. Dr. Walcott has been an active worker in the Ameri- can Health Association, of which he was the president in 1888.

His contributions to Sanitary Science have been many and he is justly esteemed one of the most dis- tinguished authorities in America in this branch of medical knowledge. He is a member of many medi- cal societies, both American and Foreign.

Henry Orlando Marcy, A.M., M.D., LL.D., son of Smith and Fanny (Gibbs) Marcy, was born in Otis, Mass., June 23, 1837. His ancestry was of Puritan stock -- paternal (Marcy-Lawton); maternal Gibbs-Morton -dating back to the early settlers of New England. His grandfather, Thomas Marcy, was one of the first settlers in Northern Ohio. His maternal great-grand- father, Israel, and grandfather, Elijah Gibbs, served in the Revolutionary War and were with General Gates at the surrender of General Burgoyne. His father, who served in the War of 1812, was a teacher hy profession.

Dr. Marcy received his preliminary and classical education at Wilbraham Academy and Amherst Col- lege, and was graduated from the Medical Department of Harvard University 1863. He was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 43d Massachusetts Volun- unteers in April, 1863, and in the following Novem- ber surgeon of the first regiment of colored troops recruited in North Carolina. He was . appointed medical director of Florida in 1864, and served on the staffs of Generals Van Wyck, Potter and Hatch.

lo the autumn of 1863 Dr. Marcy was married to Miss Sarah E. Wendell, of Great Falls, N. H.

At the close of the war he returned to Cambridge, Mass., and entered upon the active practice of his profession.

In the spring of 1869 he went to Europe for the purpose of study and entered the University at Berlin, where he remained a year as a special student of Pro- fessors Virchow and Martin. He then visited the various capitals of Europe and studied the hospitals and their service, spending quite a period in London and Edinburgh. He became convinced of the truth of Prof. Lister's teachings and returned to America to adopt, among the first, the now famous, but then (in this country) unknown methods of aseptic and anti- septic surgery.

For the purpose of devoting himself more especially

to the surgical diseases of women, Dr. Marcy re- moved to Boston in 1880 and opened in Cambridge a private hospital for women, which is still in successful operation.

He participated actively in the Seventh Interna- tional Medical Congress, held in London in 1881, and was president of the Gynæcological Section of the Ninth Congress, held in Washington in 1887.

He has contributed largely to surgical literature, and is an active worker in the American Medical As- sociation, to the .vice-presidency of which he was elected in 1879. In 1882 he was president of the Sec- tion of Obstetrics and Gynæcology, and for some years a member of the Judicial Council of this association. He is a member of various medical and scientific or- ganizations in both Europe and America, and was president of the American Academy of Medicine in 1884.

The Wesleyan University conferred in 1887 the honorary degree of LL.D. upon Dr. Marcy in recogni- tion of his skill and literary merit.

In 1884 Dr. Marcy published in two volumes the translation of the works of Prof. G. B. Ercolani, of Bologna, Italy, upon the "Reproductive Processes," besides which he has published his own special studies of the uterine mucosa during pregnancy. His best known publications are, " Plastic Splints in Sur- gery," Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, June 28, 1877 (reprint) ; "Aspiration of the Knee Joint," Transac- tions of American Med. Asso., 1879 (reprint) ; " Frac- ture of the Patella," Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., 1876 (reprint); " Histological Studies of the Develop- ment of the Osseous Callous in Man and Animals," Annals of Anatomy and Surgery, 1881 (reprint) ; Cure of Hernia by the Antiseptic Use of the Animal Su- ture," Transactions of the American Med. Asso., 1878 (reprint 1879) ; "The Best Methods of Operative Wound Treatment," The Medical Gazette, N. Y., 1882 (reprint) ; " The Comparative Value of Germicides," 1880; "The Relations of Micro-Organisms to Sanitary Science," 1883; " Medical Legislation," American Med. Asso. Journal, 1885 (reprint) ; "The Climatic Treat- ment of Disease," American Med. Asso. Journal, 1885 (reprint) ; "The Surgical Advantages of the Buried Animal Suture," The American Med. Asso. Jour., 1888 (reprint); "The Histological and Surgical Treatment of Uterine Myoma," 1882 (reprint 1887); "Explora- tory Laparotomy," American Med. Asso. Jour., 1889 ; " General Treatise on Hernia," 1889; "The Pe- rineum : its Anatomy, Physiology and Methods of Restoration after Injury," Trans. American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 1888; "The Animal Suture : its Place in Surgery," Trans. American Asso. of Obstetricians and Gynurologists, 1889 (reprint) ; "The Cure of Hemorrhoids by Excision and Closure with the Buried Animal Suture," reprint from Annals of Surgery, November, 1889.

Albert Lane Norris, M.D., was born on the 4th of March, 1839, at Epping, N. H.

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Besides the education received in his native town he was a student at the Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., and later for some time at the Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass. Because of ill health he was obliged to relinquish study, and for about four years he engaged in business.

He graduated in medicine at Harvard in 1865, and at once entered the service of the United States as an assistant surgeon under contract. He was commis- sioned assistant surgeon One Hundred and Fourteenth Infantry, United States Colored Troops, October, 1866, and mustered out April 2, 1867.

Dr. Norris settled in Cambridge in 1867, and early entered upon an extensive practice.

He visited Europe in 1869 for the purposes of study, spending some months in Berlin, Vienna and Edinburgh. He has devoted especial attention to ob- stetrical studies.

Among his published articles are: 1, "Diaphrag- matic Hernia ;" 2, " Ectopia Cordis ;" 3, " Trans- fusio Sanguinis;" 4, " Dystocia with Craniotomy ;"' 5, " Puerperal Metritis." Dr. Norris is a member of the American Medical Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, Boston Society of Medical Observa- tion, Gynæcological Society, Cambridge Medical Im- provement Society, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, etc.

Alfred Fairbanks, Holt, M.D., was born in Lynde- boro', Hillsboro' County, New Hampshire, December 16, 1838. His early life was spent on the home farm, attending the schools of his native town a part of each year. In 1855 and for the three following years he attended the academy at Mt. Vernon, N. H., during the fall and spring, teaching school in the winter.

In the summer of 1857 he commenced the study of medicine with the physician of his native town.

In the winter of 1858-59 he attended a full course of lectures at the Harvard Medical School and a part of a course in 1859-60.

In the spring of 1860 he entered Medical School of the University of Vermont, where he graduated in June of that year. Coming to Cambridge a few weeks later, he established himself as a physician, occupying an office on Main St. near Norfolk. Here he remained until April 16, 1861. On the evening of that date he enlisted in a company of volunteers for the war, and on the morning of the 17th started with his comrades for the seat of war. This company was raised by Capt. J. P. Richardson, and was beyond question the first company organized especially for the war of the great Rebellion of 1861.

Dr. Holt served with this company for the three months for which they were mustered. A part of the time, however, he was detailed as hospital steward of the Third Regiment Massachusetts Militia, to which his company was attached.

Returned to Cambridge late in July on the expira- tion of his term of service, and at once sought admis- sion to the medical corps of the great volunteer army

then being organized. Passed his examination before the medical board, and early in November, 1861, he joined what became the Thirtieth Massachusetts Vol- unteers, then being recruited at Lowell. December 6, 1861, he was mustered as assistant surgeon of that regiment. January 2, 1862, he embarked with his regiment for Ship Island, Miss.

Dr. Holt entered New Orleans with his regiment August 2, 1862, after witnessing the great bombard- ment, assault and capture of the forts below the city by the United States Navy.

Dr. Holt remained in this department during his service. He participated in nearly all the battles and campaigns in this extreme part of the South. He was complimented in general orders by the depart- ment commander for humane bravery in caring for the wounded on the field at the battle of Baton Rouge, La., August 5, 1862.

In December, 1862, Dr. Holt was promoted to sur- geon of the First Texas Cavalry, made up of Union men who had been driven from their native State on account of their Union sentiments. Among these men were those who had, before and since the war, held high and important positions, both in their State and the nation.

In December, 1863, Dr. Holt left the medical department and was made the senior major of his regiment. In December, 1864, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. For the last two years of the war, or after he left the medical department, he was almost constantly in command of his regiment. He was mustered out of service with his command at San Antonio, Texas, November 1, 1865, having served almost continuously in the field from April 17, 1861. He never lost more than a day or two at a time from sickness and had only one furlough of a month, and that during the winter of 1865, when no active opera- tions were going on. He was slightly wounded in a cavalry fight near Muryazie, La., in the fall of 1864.

In the winter of 1866, Dr. Holt resumed the practice of medicine in Cambridge, where he has since resided ; joined the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1867; appointed medical examiner in 1879, an office he still holds; appointed surgeon-general of Massachu- setts in January, 1884 (since reappointed by Gover- nors Ames and Brackett) ; appointed pension ex- amining surgeon on the Boston Board April, 1889, and on the organization of said board was made its president; health officer of Cambridge from 1880 to June, 1889, when he resigned; degree of M.A. conferred by University of Vermont in 1886; member Massachusetts Medical Society, Cam- bridge Medical Improvement Society (ex-president), American Public Health Association, American Med- ical Association, Medico-Legal Society (vice-presi- dent) and Boston Society Medical Observation.

Edward R. Cogswell, M.D., was born in Maine in 1841. Graduated at Harvard University in class of 1864; received his medical degree at Harvard 1867 ;

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was appointed health officer of Cambridge 1878-79. Author of sanitary condition of Cambridge in report of Massachusetts State Board of Health, 1878.

Few citizens have taken a deeper interest in the welfare of Cambridge. Dr. Cogswell has served the city in various capacities ; at present is a member of the Board of Aldermen.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 61

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034