History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 41

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700

USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 41

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Deerfield .- Pliny Arms, about 1805; Rodolphus Dickinson, about 1808; Jonathan A. Saxton, about 1817; Aaron Arms, about 1817; Elijah Williams, about 1825.

Northfield .- Samuel C. Allen, about 1800; John Nevers, about 1808; John Barrett, about 1808; Benjamin R. Curtis, in 1832; William G. Woodard, about 1833; Solomon Vose, about -.

Charlemont .- Sylvester Maxwell, about 1804; Joseph P. Allen, about 1817; Emory Washburn, in 1821; Edwin H. Parker, in 1842.

Ashfield .- Elijah Paine, about 1793.

Conway .- William Billings, abont 1812; Charles Baker, about 1825; Albert C. Clark, about 1847; John Newton, about 1853.

Sunderland .- Horace W. Taft, about 1810; Henry Bar- nard, -.

Montague .- Jonathan Hartwell, about 1812; Timothy M. Dewey, in 1855; William S. Dana, in -.

Orange .- Stephen Emory, about 1811; Rufus D. Chase, in 1849; Edgar V. Wilson, in 1876.

Gill .- Benjamin Brainard, about 1815.

Whately .- Justin W. Clark, about 1825.

Coleraine .- Isaac B. Barber, about 1808; John Drury, Jr., in 1811; William Lanfair, in 1845.

Shelburne .- Arthur Maxwell, 1849; Samuel T. Field, 1852; Henry M. Puffer, 1867. Shutesbury .- William Ward,-

CHAPTER XXVIII.

HOMEOPATHY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS .*

HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.

THE young man with no past to look back upon presses forward to grasp and control the future, stimulated and in- 'spired by hope rather than by memory. Homeopathy, in the vigor of a lusty youth, heir of all the ages behind it, has a short but magnificent past to recall. Suggested, more or less distinctly, from the days of the father of medicine, its guiding principle, condensed into the terse aphorism "Similia simil-

ibus eurantur," was never distinctly formulated as a law, or developed into an art of healing, until the last decade of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries. It was introduced into this country by Dr. Gram, who came to New York in 1825; into Philadelphia, seven years later, by George Butt, aided in 1833 by Dr. Hering ; into Boston by Dr. Gregg in 1838, although physicians and laymen had been testing the remedies about five years previous to this date. Attention was first called to homeopathy in the Connecticut Valley by a newspaper war, carried on in the papers of Northampton, between Gen. B. E. Cook and his brother, Dr. G. W. Cook, of Hudson, N. Y., in behalf of homeopathy, and representa- tives of the old school of medicine. The facts and arguments in favor of homeopathy, vigorously presented by Gen. Cook and his brother, roused attention in Northampton to the claims of the new school, and led to experiments with the reme- dies by at least one allopathie physician and by several laymen, and to the purchase, by a few, of domestic books and cases.

To Gen. Cook belongs the honor of introducing into the Connecticut Valley the first trial of homeopathic remedies, both lay and professional, and of bringing about the first conversion to the new school from the ranks of allopathy. No one now living is able to state the precise time at which Dr. Charles Walker, whose life is sketehed below, began his experiments with homeopathie remedies and his study of its principles. We know that he was the first physician to adopt the new practice in Western Massachusetts, and one of the very earliest in the State. When Dr. Cate succeeded Dr. Walker, after the latter's death, in 1855, Dr. Cate was the only homeopathie physician in Hampshire County; in Franklin County there were only two; in Hampden, none outside of Springfield. Now there are twenty-five in the three river- counties, not counting those who employ both methods of prac- tice, while there are few allopathie physicians who do not, to a greater or less extent, employ bomœopathie remedies,-none whose practice is not largely modified by its influence. Here, as elsewhere, the clientèle of homeopathie physicians is made up of families of the highest culture and intelligence ; here, as elsewhere, the proportion of believers in bomœopathy is a safe gauge of the intelligence -and education of a community.

As has been noted elsewhere, in the biographical sketch of Dr. Swazey, he came to Springfield in 1844, and thenceforth became a force in the ranks of homeopathy in Western Massa- chusetts. In Franklin County, Dr. Collins, of Conway, and Dr. Chisholm, at Greenfield, were the earliest physicians to adopt the new mode of practice. Dr. Chisholm remained at Greenfield but a short time, and was succeeded by Dr. Stone, a sketch of whose life is given below, and in whose hands homeopathy at once assumed a strong and respected position. A portion of the physicians through the valley are members of the large and vigorous State organization ; but in 1877 " The Homeopathic Medical Society of Western Massachusetts" was formed, for the convenience of those living in the western half of the State. The society holds quarterly meetings at some accessible place, at which practical papers are read and discussed and cases and patients presented for advice and treatment. It now has thirty-six members, of which the fol- lowing is a list, with their places of practice : E. R. Morgan, Shelburne Falls; D. T. Viping, Conway ; A. Harvey, North Adams; L. Macfarland, Springfield ; H. Tucker, Brattleboro', Vt .; J. U. Woods, Holyoke; E. W. Higbee, Northampton ; C. F. Sterling, Amherst; J. K. Warren, Palmer; W. F. Harding, Westfield; Geo. H. Smith, Holyoke; II. J. Cate, 0. 0. Roberts, Northampton ; L. W. Cole, Springfield; Geo. F. Forbes, West Brookfield ; J. M. Barton, W. B. Chamberlain, J. JI. Carmichael, F. R. Sibley, Worcester ; D. B. Whittier, Fitchburg ; D. Warren, Winsted, Conn. ; G. G. Hitchcock, South Hadley Falls; W. R. Bartlett, Chicopee; W. S. Sever- ance, Greenfield ; J. H. Darling, Thompsonville, Conn. ; W. 1I. Wentworth, Pittsfield.

* By Hamilton J. Cate, M.D.

Photo. by Wm. B. Miles.

GEORGE W. SWAZEY, M.D., was born at Exeter, N. H., Aug. 10, 1812. He was seventh son of Thomas Swazey, a carpenter by trade, honest and industrious in character.

Having passed the first ten years of his life at Exeter, he went, in 1822, to Maine, Pennsylvania, and later to New Jersey, where in various ways he earned a living, embracing every opportunity to further his ambition for the attainment of knowledge. His first tuition of any importance was received in the Manual Labor School, Germantown, and afterward at Elizabethtown. In 1832 he entered Bowdoin College, where he pursued his education with close attention, and finally graduated from the medical department of the college at Brunswick, in 1837, and removed to Harwich, Mass., where he acquired a good practice, and later settled in Bucksport, Me., where a large field was open.

In this eventful decade of life he married Sarah E. Allen, of Bath, Me., who had at one time been his pupil. Having embraced the Swedenborgian faith, he was excommunicated from the communion of the Calvinist church, which he had joined in early life.

Becoming a partial convert to the theory of medicine introduced by Hahnemann, Dr. Swazey devoted a period of four years to anxious and earnest study, while still pursuing the practice of the old school. Being firmly persuaded as to the true course, and determined to adopt homeopathy, he announced his intention and removed to Newburyport, where he introduced the practice, bitterly opposed by the practitioners of the allopathie school. From Newburyport he removed to Springfield, and remained the sole practitioner

of homeopathy until 1854, and became the pioneer of howœopathy in Western Massachusetts, where for more than thirty years he pursued an eventful career, rejoicing in the steady progress of the truths developed by the new theory of practice, as well as in the success of his life's ambition.

Dr. Swazey was, in the full acceptation of the term, a self-made man, having from the age of eleven educated and maintained himself by his own unaided efforts, demonstra- ting in his life the fact that perseverance and industry ean accomplish wonderful results. He occupied honorable posi- tions in the State and national societies of his school, and contributed to its literature.

The Homoeopathic Medical Society of Massachusetts speaks as follows of him :

" He stood high in our school of medicine, and the many honors conferred upon him by his professional brethren were merited by his devotion to the cause of homeopathy. He was nerved and disciplined for his career by his early conditions in life. He had genius and capacity for great endurance. . His fortitude did not fail him even in a few minutes of consciousness that remained after his fatal fall, a distance of nearly thirty feet, from a bridge in Deerfield, near nine o'clock of Saturday night, Sept. 8, 1877. Among the most striking characteristics of his nature were versatility of talent, and undannted courage to attack error and defend truth, patience to wait, and wis- dom to act."

His wife died in the year 1857, and he was married to Sarah A., daughter of Harvey Clark, of Mansfield, Conn., who survives him, and resides in Springfield.

Q. Q. Roberts MQ.

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HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

DR. CHARLES WALKER, of Northampton, has a right to the first place, in point of time, among those of whom we give biographical sketches as identified with the early history of homeopathy in the Connecticut Valley.

Dr. Walker was born July 28, 1802. Graduating at Dart- mouth College, he took his medical degree at Philadelphia. He married Miss Sarah Storrs, of Northampton, whose death preceded his by but a few months.

Ilis attention was early called to homeopathy, and there is positive knowledge of at least one homeopathie prescription made by him which could not have been later than 1834, and may have been as early as the preceding year,-certainly the earliest in Western Massachusetts, and perhaps in the State. It is impossible to state when he first announced himself as a homœopathist. There was no point of time on one side of which he was an allopathist, on the other a homeopathist.

Dr. Walker embraced the faith and practice of the new school when it required courage to do so,-when the change involved not only professional but, to a great extent, social ostracism. It has been said that the history of every great discovery has its three stages,-of ridicule, of persecution, of general acceptance. Dr. Walker tested the first two of these stages.

He early became a Christian, identifying himself first with the old church, but withdrawing to aid in forming the Ed- wards Church in 1833. He was naturally genial in manner and character, and loved well to hear and to tell a good story. His health and strength gradually waned in the last years of his life, and his death took place Jan. 17, 1855.

HAMILTON J. CATE, M. D.,* was born in Sanbornton, N. II., March II, 1824. His father was Capt. Jonathan Cate, an officer of the war of 1812; his mother was Elizabeth Sanborn. Both were of Sanbornton, and grandchildren of two of the early and large proprietors of the township. In Dr. Cate's native town was an excellent academy, somewhat noted in those days, and in this Dr. Cate was titted for college. A born lover of learning he was, and to this day has remained ; a hard- working student in all directions where knowledge is to be found,-knowledge of the sciences, the languages, general literature, and of the profession to which he gave himself. And apropos of his profession, it was natural that he shoukl choose medicine, since he found himself in a family of physi- cians on the maternal side. There are in the family of Dr. Cate's own generation four physicians, all of them homeo- pathie, including himself. In 1845, Dr. Cate began his studies with his uncle, Dr. Benaiah Sanborn, of Lyndon, Vt., whose partner was Dr. Charles B. Darling. They were then allo- pathists, but within the next few years the preceptors and many of their pupils, including Dr. Cate, became homeopath- ists, being among the earliest converts to the new school in that part of New England. As an allopath Dr. Cate at- tended one course of lectures in 1846 at Castleton, Vt., and two courses at Woodstock, where he graduated in 1849. In the same year he married Miss S. E. Roberts, of Lyndon, Vt. After the change in his convictions he studied homoeopathy with Dr. Alpheus Morrill, of Concord, N. H., with whom, in 1851, he went into partnership, in 1849-50 and. in 1852-58 attending lectures at the Philadelphia Homeopathie College. Upon Dr. Walker's death, in 1855, he came to Northampton, where he remained until 1857. In this year he was married to Miss Mary D. Plant, of Northampton.

Dr. Cate has at no time in his life been strong, and has many times been the subject of breakdowns, more or less pro- tracted. One came in 1857, and from that time until 1865 he was unable to practice, with the exception of one year in Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1865 he returned to Western Massachu- setts, settling at Amherst, where he still has an office in con-

nection with his practice at Northampton, where he now resides. Dr. Cate is a member of the Boston Society of Natu- ral History and of the Homeopathie Medical Society of Western Massachusetts. He was succeeded at Northamp- ton by Dr. O. O. Roberts.

OSMON OSBORNE ROBERTS, M.D., was born Oct. 27, 1828, in Lyndon, Vt. His father, Charles Roberts, was a farmer, living near the village which was called " the depot of the lawyers of Caledonia County." There were churches, their pastors and their families; physicians, and their students and families; there were good common schools and an academy ; so that Dr. Roberts had good educational and social advantages. In 1850 he began the study of medicine with his brother-in-law, Dr. Hamilton J. Cate, remaining with him through the whole course. In 1851-52 he attended lectures in Woodstock, Vt., and in 1852-53 at the Philadelphia Ilomce- opathie College, where he graduated. Beginning practice in a few months at Milford, N. H., he remained there until 1857, when he removed to Northampton, where he still re- mains in the full practice to which his faithfulness, physical energy, and his " hail-fellow-well-met" qualities have fully entitled him.

In May, 1857, he married Miss Emilie E. Eastman, of Lit- tleton, N. H. They have had no chidren, but their handsome house is made attractive by its many vines and flowers, by fine collections of coins and minerals, and by rich old furniture.

JOSHUA STONE, M.D., was born in Westfield, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1825. After the usual course of medical study, he attended lectures at the Homeopathic College of Philadelphia in the winter of 1851-52, and graduated in the spring of 1852. The first years of his professional life were spent in St. Johnsbury, Vt., in partnership with Dr. Benaiah Sanborn, of whom we have elsewhere spoken as a prominent physician and one of the earliest converts to homeopathy in Vermont. In Novem- ber, 1855, he married Miss E. L. Ingersoll, of Greenfield, Mass., and in July, 1856, removed to Greenfield, where he remained in practice until his death, Sept. 1, 1859. Dr. Stone was still a young physician when he died, and to his many friends his early death seemed a sad one for homeopathy and for the community in which he lived. Ile was really the pioneer of homeopathy in Greenfield, as Dr. Chisholm was there but a short time and homeopathy had gained no sub- stantial foothold. In one of the most conservative communi- ties in conservative New England, he at onee won a high position for himself and for homoeopathy. A man of unusual intellectual calibre, energetic, alert, and studious in every- thing pertaining to the profession which he had chosen and loved, he at once gained and retained the respect and confi- dence of those with whom he came in contact. He gave one the impression of a refined gentleman,-a gentleman by habit and instinet. He won love as well as respect. Genial, kindly, and sympathetic in manner and heart, loving a good story and telling one well, he was able to reinforce his medical pre- scriptions by imparting to his patients the hopeful and cheer- ful mood often quite as important as medicine. For many years before his death Dr. Stone was an earnest Christian, carrying into all his life-domestic and public-the divine principles of the Master whom he faithfully served. The friends who knew him best loved him best, and the friends of homeopathy in Western Massachusetts must join with his many personal friends in regretting his early death. He was a physician " to the manor horn," and united in himself to a rare degree the qualities that would have secured for the new school, as for himself, a strong and secure position in public respect and confidence.

WILLIAM BAKER CHAMBERLAIN, M.D., of Worcester, Mass., was born in London, N. H., Sept. 15, 1827. Educated in Sanbornton, in 1849 he began the study of medicine with Dr. Alpheus Morrill, of Concord, N. H., spending the latter

* Written by a friend.

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part of his pupilage with Dr. S. M. Cate, of Augusta, Me., with whom he was also associated in practice. In 1852 he became partner of one of the pioneers of homeopathy in Maine,-Dr. J. Roberts, of North Vassalboro',-and the next year was settled at China, Me., still in partnership with Dr. Roberts.

Dr. Chamberlain attended allopathic lectures at Hanover, and in the winter of 1853-54 took his final course at the Cleve- land Homoeopathic College, where he graduated in March, 1854. After graduating he succeeded Dr. J. C. Baker, at Keene, N. H., rapidly building up a large and widely-extended practice. Here, also, in 1859, he married Miss Louisa Brainard, of Boston. On account of the failing health of his brother- in-law, Dr. J. C. Freeland, of Fitchburg, he went to that city in 1863. In January, 1866, he established himself in Wor- cester, Mass., where he still remains in large and successful practice,-successful in the highest and worthiest sense. Ile is a member of the Worcester County society and of the State society, having been president of both these societies ; he is also member of the society of Western Massachusetts and of the American Homeopathic Institute.

Observant and watchful by nature and habit, always a student, liberal and progressive in all directions, Dr. Chamber- lain has in himself the elements that deserve and win success. Genial in face, character, and manner, kind and sympathetic in his intercourse with the sick and suffering, with a hearty and infectious laugh to which his somewhat aldermanic pro- portions are ever ready to respond, thoughtful and courteous in his intercourse with others, especially helpful to students and younger physicians,-he is eminently and deservedly suc- cessful.

DANIEL BRAINARD WHITTIER, M.D., was born in Goff's- town, N. 11., Oct. 21, 1834, inheriting English blood from his father and Scotch-Irish from his mother. After finishing his academical education, he spent two years or more at the West in agricultural pursuits, thence returning to New Hamp- shire, where he married Miss Mary Chamberlain in October, 1858. Soon after this he began the study of medicine with his brother-in-law, Dr. W. B. Chamberlain, then of Keene, N. Il. In the winter of 1859-60 he attended lectures at Har- vard University, during that of 1862-63 at the New York Homeopathic College, where he graduated in March, 1863. In the mean time he had begun practice, at first for a short time, in Gardner, Mass., from which place he went, in 1862, to Fitchburg, where he still remains.

Dr. Whittier has made a specialty of the diseases of women and children, in which he has acquired a creditable degree of skill and reputation. He is a member and has been president of the State society, member and president of the Worcester County society, and member of the society of Western Mas- sachusetts. Inheriting from his parents a large degree of physical and intellectual vigor, kind and sympathetic by na- ture, thoroughly informed in everything pertaining to the profession he has chosen, he has gained the respect and confi- denec of a wide circle of friends and patrons and built up a large and prosperous business. A Christian gentleman and a good citizen as well as physician, he is interested in all the moral and political questions of the day, and contributes by his influence and efforts to the success of every worthy cause.

CHAPTER XXIX.

MILITARY-HISTORY OF ORGANIZATIONS WHICH SERVED DURING THE REBELLION, 1861-65-10TH REGIMENT.

THE history of the various organizations which went out during the war of the Rebellion from the three river-counties of Massachusetts, and including portions from Berkshire, is largely compiled from the volumes of the adjutant-general of

the State and P. C. Headley's " Massachusetts in the Rebel- lion, "

The 10th and 27th Regiments are exceptions, the former being condensed from Capt. Joseph K. Newell's very com- plete and interesting history of that organization, and the latter partly from Headley's work and partly from information furnished by Gen. Horace C. Lee, of Springfield, who com- manded it until his capture at Drury's Bluff (Fort Darling). To these gentlemen we are under special obligations .*

It has been deemed advisable, in view of the fact that no entire regiment was recruited in either of the counties, to in- clude the history of the various organizations in general chap- ters covering the whole valley. It is not as full and elaborate as we could wish, but the immense number of topics treated in this work compels the adoption of an abbreviated form for the military portion.

MILITARY STATISTICS.

The total number of men furnished by the State of Massa- chusetts to all arms of the service during the Rebellion was, in round numbers, 160,000. This covered a surphis, over and above all calls, of 13,492 men. The proportional quota for the three river-counties, according to population, would have been about 15,000, divided about as follows among the coun- ties : Hampden, 7000; Hampshire, 4500; Franklin, 3500.

It is probable that the 13,000 surplus men were mostly from the seaboard-counties, where large numbers entered the naval service, but were not credited to the State for some time after their enlistment, the counties being called upon to furnish their regular quotas for the army without deducting seamen.

The total expenditure by the State during the war was $27,705,109, exclusive of amounts raised by cities and towns, and also of all sums contributed by sanitary and aid societies, etc., which amounted to very large figures.

THE TENTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.

This fine regiment was made up largely of members of the IOth Massachusetts Regiment of militia, which at the out- break of the Rebellion consisted of the following eight com- panies: A, of Shutesbury; B, of Leverett; C, of Northamp- ton ; D, of Belchertown ; E, of Coleraine; F, of Springfield ; G, of Greenfield ; 11, of Shelburne ; five companies being from Franklin County, two from Hampshire, and one from Ilamp- den. Col. J. M. Decker, of Greenfield, was in command of the regiment.

The companies consisted of about 40 men cach. Under the provisions of a bill passed by the House of Representatives Feb. 6, 1861, infantry and riffe companies were required to contain 64 privates. Cos. A, B, and D, not being able to ful- fill the requirements of this law, were disbanded, and their places supplied by companies from Great Barrington, North Adams, and Pittsfield. Co. E, of Coleraine, was divided among other companies, and its place supplied by a company from Springfield recruited by Capt. Barton. A new company, 1, was formed by uniting the volunteers of Holyoke and West Springfield, and a full company, K, was recruited at West- field.

The State of Massachusetts was tolerably well prepared for hostilities when the rebellion burst forth. ller statesmen had anticipated the secession movement, and the militia had been pretty thoroughly strengthened and made ready for any emer- gency during the three or four months preceding the first hostile steps taken by the South.

When the electric thrill passed over the Northern States following the capture of Fort Sumter, and the proclamation of the President of the United States was sent to every part of the land calling for 75,000 men for three months, there was

* We are also under obligations to Rev. Dr. Moors, of Greenfield, and Adjt. Holmes, of the 27th Regiment, for special favors, The history of the 520 Regi- ment is mainly from Rev. James K. Hosmer's most interesting volume entitled " The Color-Gnard."

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a sudden rush to the recruiting-stations in every State which remained loyal to the government; but Massachusetts, with her organized militia, was at once prepared to dispatch her quota to the " seat of war." The quota being only two regi- ments, the 6th and 8th, from the eastern part of the State, were immediately sent forward, and were the first, or among the first, to succor the national capital, in immediate danger of attack from the hosts of armed rebels which had been pre- paring for months to overthrow the republic and erect upon its ruins a quasi-republic, with slavery as its " chief corner-stone."

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History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 41

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 700

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700