USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 1 > Part 28
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1852-George M. Stearns, Martin J. Severance, James F. Dwight, William C. Greene, George L. Frost.
1853-Milton B. Whitney, William L. Smith, James G. Allen, John H. Thompson.
1854-John M. Emerson, Henry B. Lewis, George O. Ide, James K. Mills.
1855-Norman L. Johnson, James E. McIntyre, Samuel J. Ross, Alfred M. Copeland.
1856-Joel T. Rice, William S. Shurtleff, Irving Allen, George H. Knapp.
1857-Ambrose N. Merrick, S. B. Woolworth, E. A. Warri- ner, Edward D. Hayden.
1858-Liberty B. Dennett, Stephen E. Seymour, Frank E. Merriman.
1859-Moses W. Chapin, Henry E. Daniels, Porter Under- wood, William C. Ide, Benton W. Cole, William H. Haile, E. Howard Lathrop, Homer B. Stevens.
1860-Gideon Wells.
1861-James A. Rumrill, John W. Moore, Otis P. Abercrom- bie.
1862-Timothy M. Brown, Marcus P. Knowlton, Joseph H. Blair.
1863-Sidney Sanders, Reuben Chapman, Samuel G. Lor- ing.
1864-William S. Greene, Edward Morris.
1865-Charles A. Beach, James C. Greenough, J. P. Buck- land, Edward W. Chapin, Joseph Morgan.
1866-George Dexter Robinson.
1867-George B. Morris, jr., Hugh Donnelly, Charles A. Birnie, J. Porter, jr., Charles L. Gardner.
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1868-Charles C. Spellman, Elisha Burr Maynard, Luther White.
1869-William B. Rogers, John W. Burgess.
1870-Elbridge W. Merrell, Joseph W. Browne, James M. Cochran.
1871-Albert A. Tyler, Edward Bellamy.
1872-John P. Wall, Thomas F. Riley, Harris L. Sherman, John W. Converse, Charles L. Long, William Slattery, jr., S. S. · Taft.
1873-Robert O. Morris, Jonathan Allen, Luther Emerson Barnes, Frank E. Carpenter.
1874-James Robert Dunbar, Loranus E. Hitchcock, W. J. Quinn, H. K. Hawes, Austin P. Christy, Daniel E. Webster.
1875-Joseph M. Ross, George L. Pease, Elisha P. Bartholo- mew, Michael L. Moriarity, Harrison Hume, John L. King, Wil- liam G. White, Thomas B. Warren, C. A. Sherman, H. A. Bar- tholomew.
1876-Hubert M. Coney, Charles J. Bellamy, Neill Dumont, Edmund P. Kendrick, John B. Vincent, jr.
1877-Charles H. Hersey, George H. Graves, Fred H. Gil- lett, Michael T. Foley, A. L. Murray, Patrick H. Casey, Allen Webster, William H. Brooks.
1878-Jeremiah P. Whalen, George Kress, Willmore B. Stone, Henry M. Walradt, Charles R. Dudley, William W. Mc- Clench.
1879-Joseph Le Boeuf, Salem D. Charles, Charles H. Bar- rows, Alfred R. Barker, Homer C. Strong, Cornelius J. Driscoll, Willis S. Kellogg, Thomas W. Kenefick, L. Fred Whitman.
1880-Charles F. Ely, John H. Flower, Francis W. Fiske, Albert B. Clark, Langdon L. Ward, John J. Reardon, U. S. Dem- ming, James S. Boucks, Henry C. Bliss.
1881-Frederick G. Fisher, George D. Field, James E. Dun- leavy, Norman A. Fowler, Henry W. Ashley, Ralph W. Ellis.
1882-Thomas C. Johnson, Arthur Kilgore, Henry Knox, James H. Loomis, Frank A. Whitney, James Tierney, Edwin F. Lyford.
1883-William W. Leach, James Bliss.
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1884-Frederick H. Stebbins, Warren C. French, jr., Clay- ton D. Smith, Philip J. O'Hanlon.
1885-George S. Dexter.
1886-Emile Orphir Genest, Charles Henry Grout, John F. Coar, Harry W. Brigham, Walter Stevens Robinson, Patrick James Moore.
1887-Adelard Archambault, Charles Leonard Mahoney, Thomas Daniel O'Brien, Alfred Timothy Guyott, Addison Loomis Green.
1888-Alfred F. Lilley, Jonathan Barnes, Benjamin Brooks, Edward A. Barker, Samuel La Palme, Robert Mills Beach, Ar- thur Eugene Fitch.
1889-James Davis Murray, Christopher Theodore Callahan, William Hamilton, Richard John Morrissey, William Patrick Hayes, Patrick Kilroy.
1890-Wallace R. Heady, Matthew S. Herbert.
1891-Milton F. Druce, Frank Eaton Carpenter, Charles Merriam Kirkham, Andrew J. Todd, Thomas Alphonsus Fitz Gibbon.
1892-Arthur Howe Sherwin, Henry Hall Bosworth, Wal- lace Wilson, Daniel M. Key, Thomas Moore Roberts, Michael Joseph O'Connor, Arthur Adams Folsom, Joseph Menard.
1893-Jason W. Steele, Thomas Joseph O'Conner, John Hil- dreth, Henry H. Barker, jr., John Henry Farley, Henry Amasa King, Robert Charles Cooley.
1894-Charles Gilmore Gardner, Fred Allen Ballou, John Francis Stapleton, jr., Robert Arthur Allyn, Denis O'Neil, jr., Charles Wilder Bosworth, Henry Adelbert Booth, Wallace Mur- ray Burt, William Edwards Leonard, Patrick James Garvey, Daniel Fred Fowler.
1895-George Albert Bacon, James Louis Doherty, Herbert Nelson Cross, William Albert Leary, Dexter Edgar Tilley, Wen- dell Green Brownson, Charles Harris Beckwith, Leonard Farwell Hardy, Henry Burt Montague, Arthur Beebe Chapin, Franklin Arthur Morris, Fred Austin Wilson, Clarence Edward Spelman.
1896-John Thomas Moriarity. Daniel James Stapleton, William Arthur McCord, Edward A. Mcclintock, Daniel M. Sul-
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livan, Nathan Prentice Avery, James Watson Flannery, Robert Chapin Parker, James John Sullivan, Edward Joseph Tierney, Burt Harding Winn, William C. Haywood, John Henri Brown, Fred Porter Squier, James Arthur Robeson.
1897-Harold Phelps Moseley, William P. Buckley, Miles Casey, Samuel McWhorter, James O'Shea, Richard Francis Twiss, Stuart Mill Robson, James Fiske Hooker.
1897-James O'Donnell, Abraham Ebenezer Snow, Thomas J. Lynch, John McKean, James Hamilton, Scott Adams, Charles Flagg Spellman, Clinton Gowdy, James Weston Carney, Frank Sumner Rice, Michael John Griffin, Fred Fox Bennett.
1898-Elva Hubbard Young.
1899-Charles L. Young, David Francis Dillon, Richard James Talbot, Wayland Victor James, Harry Alonzo Buzzell.
1900-Harry Bancroft Putnam, Charles Spellman Bullard, Hartley Reed Walker, William Henry Hawkins, Edward William Beattie, jr., Robert Chester Goodale, Ernest Emery Hobson, Freelove Quincy Ball, Arthur Stewart Anderson.
1901-Joseph Francis Carmody, Clarence Mills Seymour, Simon H. Kugel.
The Hampden Bar Association, under its present form and constitution, was organized in 1864, although an association less formal in character and without a written record, dates back in its history to the early years of the nineteenth century. Of the purposes, history or traditions of the earlier organization we have little knowledge, yet it is mentioned as a worthy institution in the annals of the old bar.
On October 20, 1864, at a meeting of the bar held at the court house in Springfield, the Hampden Bar association was per- manently organized, a constitution was adopted and governing officers were elected. The object of the organization, as set forth in its declaration of principles, was "to establish a fair and uni- form rate of compensation for professional services ; to discoun- tenance and prevent the abuse of legal process by members of the bar or by unsuitable and unqualified persons ; to ensure conform- . ity to a high standard of professional duty ; and to promote a kindly and fraternal feeling among those who are engaged in professional conflict."
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The first officers chosen were : William G. Bates, president ; Henry Morris, vice-president; George B. Morris, secretary and treasurer ; Edward B. Gillett, George M. Stearns, Alexander L. Soule, executive committee.
Thus launched into existence, the association entered upon a career of usefulness under the fostering care of president Bates, the "father" and the historian of the bar; and, unlike the ma- jority of organizations of its kind, the association has continued in existence to the present time, although officers have been in- frequently chosen and at times it has appeared that dissolution was imminent, but upon the taking off of some old professional associate the surviving members always have assembled together to pay a last tribute of respect to the memory of him who has been called, and having laid their friend in the grave they return to the appointed walks of life and not infrequently say to one another : "Well, who shall be next to go?"
The second meeting at which officers were elected was held in March, 1877, when William G. Bates was re-elected president ; Henry Morris, vice-president; Robert O. Morris, secretary and treasurer ; and Gillett, Stearns and Soule constituting the execu- tive committee, as in 1864.
In October, 1893, another meeting for the election of officers was held, and it may readily be seen by the changes in the offi- ciary that the destroyer had not been idle. The new officers were : George D. Robinson, president; Timothy M. Brown, vice-president ; Robert O. Morris, secretary and treasurer; and Edward H. Lathrop, Charles L. Long and Loranus E. Hitch- cock, executive committee.
In November, 1896, Timothy M. Brown was chosen presi- dent ; Charles L. Gardner, vice-president; Robert O. Morris, sec- retary and treasurer; and Lathrop, Long and Hitchcock, execu- tive committee.
President Timothy M. Brown died in March, 1897, upon which vice-president Charles L. Gardner became ex-officio presi- dent.
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CHAPTER XIX
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
When we consider the importance and elevated character of the science of medicine-its object, the preservation of the health and lives, the healing of diseases, and the amelioration of the physical and mental sufferings of our fellow human beings-its extent embracing a knowledge of all science, it is evident that medical education should engage the earnest attention of the en- tire profession. The advances made in all branches of science and especially in the science of medicine during the past century have exceeded in extent and value those of all past ages, and it is no longer possible to compress its vast domain within the narrow limits of the "seven professorships." The present age owes its wonderful progress to experimental and scientific research.
The dawning of medical science which now sheds its light throughout the world began with Hippocrates nearly 2300 years ago. He wrote extensively, and much of his work was translated and served as the foundation for the succeeding literature of the profession. He relied chiefly on the healing powers of nature, his remedies being exceedingly simple. He taught that the peo- ple ought not to load themselves with excrements, or keep them in too long; and for this reason he prescribed "meats proper for loosening the belly," and if these failed he directed the use of the clysters.
Through all the centuries from the beginning of the Chris- tian era down to the time of the discovery of the circulation of the blood by Harvey, 1619, medicine shed but a glimmering light in the midst of the darkness then enshrouding the world, and the
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greatest strides in the advancement of the various branches of medical science have been made in the last one hundred years. and most of them may be placed to the credit of the last half century. Among the thousands of elements which comprise this century of advancement mention will be made of but one. and that among the first discoveries. the use of anaesthetics, which be- numb the nerves of sensation and produce a profound yet tran- quil state of insensibility. during which the most formidable operation may be performed while the patient sleeps, and the sur- geon is left to the pleasing reflection that he is causing neither pain nor suffering.
There are to-day known to botanists over 140.000 plants. a large proportion of which is being constantly added to our already appalling list of "new remedies." Many of these drugs possess little, if any, real virtue, except as their sale adds to the exchequer of some enterprising pharmacist. A drug house in Boston recently issued a circular in which was advertised 33 syrups. 42 elixirs. 93 solid extracts. 150 varieties of sugar-coated pills. 236 tinetures. 245 roots, barks. herbs. seeds and flowers. 322 fluid extracts. and 348 general drugs and chemicals. The an- cients were not so well supplied with drugs. It was a custom among the Babylonians to expose the siek to the view of passers- by. in order to learn of them if they had been afflicted with a like distemper. and by what remedies they had been cured. It was also a custom of those days for all persons who had been sick to put up a tablet in the temple of Esculapius. wherein they gave an account of the remedies that had restored them to health. Previous to the time of Hippocrates all medicine was in the hands of the priests. and was associated with numerous superstitions. such as sympathetic ointments applied to the weapon with which a wound had been made. incantations. charms. amulets. the royal touch for the cure of serofula. human or horse flesh for the cure of epilepsy. convulsions treated with human brains.
While all this credulous superstition of early ages. born of ignorance. existed to a vastly large extent. it has not been fully wiped out by the generally advanced education of the present day.
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There is, perhaps, no department of medicine at the present time more promising of good results than sanitary science. While physiology and pathology are making known to us the functions of the human body and the nature and cause of disease, sanitary science is steadily teaching how the causes of disease may be re- moved and health thereby secured. Progress during the com-
ing one hundred years, if only equal to that of the past, will more than have accomplished great works in the advancement of sani- tary science; but the accomplishment of this work calls not only for the labor of the physician, but for the intelligent co-operation of the people. If anything really great is to be done in the way of sanitary improvement, and of preventing disease and death, it must be done largely by the people themselves. This implies that they must be instructed in sanitary science, must be taught that unsanitary conditions most favor the origin of disease, how disease is spread, and the means of its prevention. If it is true that that knowledge is of the greatest value which teaches the means of self-preservation, then the importance of a widespread knowledge of how to prevent disease and premature death can- not be overestimated.
But what can be said in these pages of the medical profes- sion of Hampden county-a profession which has recorded so little of its own history ? True, there are meagre data concerning the various medical societies, the oldest dating to the year 1840, but what can be said of the profession previous to that time, for the city of Springfield dates its history from 1636, when William Pynchon and his associates planted their famous colony on the eastern bank of Connecticut river.
Previous to the act of 1781, creating the Massachusetts Med- ical society, there were no regulations regarding the practice of medicine, and no special standard of excellence or education was prerequisite to admission to the ranks of the profession. During the colonial period under the British dominion medical men were few and there were no safeguards to protect the practice ; and in- deed, there was little need of legal strictures of any kind, as the ·profession at that time was in no wise crowded and its represent- atives were men of the highest character and reputation, and quacks and charlatans were unknown.
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A century and more ago physicians began practice under many difficulties. There were few schools of medicine in the country, and then young students could not afford the expense necessary to qualify themselves for a profession which promised so little pecuniary reward; hence it was the custom of the period for the aspirant to enter the office of some practicing physician and read medicine two or three years, at the same time to accom- pany his tutor in his professional visits and learn his methods of treatment. At the end of his term the young doctor would seek some promising field and begin practice. However, this disci- pline served a useful purpose, giving individual strength, confi- dence and self-reliance to the physician, and a proper respect for his profession on the part of those with whom he was brought into association. Frequently the doctor was chosen to places of responsibility in public life, and, on equal footing with the parish minister, was one of the most frequently consulted men in his locality.
On November 18, 1781, the Massachusetts Medical society received its charter, with broad powers and with authority to grant licenses to practice medicine to the same extent as was con- ferred by the legislature upon any university ; and when Harvard college received its charter a controversy arose between that in- stitution and the society relative to the right to grant licenses and confer degrees. The matter was settled by compromise, yet we understand that the legal status of the society was on a plane with that of the university. A candidate who successfully passed the censors' examination, without other evidence of quali- fication, was a licentiate and held a position similar to that in our time obtained through the authority of the state board of medical examiners.
Tradition says that Dr. John Sherman was one of the earliest, if not the first, physician in what is now Hampden county, and that he was both school teacher and doctor in Spring- field in 1709. In 1728 Dr. John Leonard is mentioned in the records as having received a fee from the town in payment for medical attendance on an indigent patient. Between the years 1761 and 1783 the physicians practicing in Springfield were
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Charles Pynchon, Edward Chapin, John Vanhorn and Timothy Cooper. To this list there should be added the name of Dr. Chauncey Brewer, who lived in West Springfield and practiced in that town and in Springfield, across the river, and also of other prominent early physicians in the outlying towns, of whom some mention will be made in subsequent paragraphs.
During the period of fifty-nine years from 1781 to 1840, when the Hampden District Medical society was incorporated, there were thirty-two physicians in the county who were mem- bers of the State Medical society. They were Drs. Joseph Pyn- chon, Charles Pynchon, Joshua Frost, George Frost, M. B. Baker, L. W. Belden, David Bemis, Oliver Bliss, William Bridgman, Reuben Champion, Alonzo Chapin, W. L. Fitch, John Vanhorn, Chauncey Brewer, Gideon Kibbe, Aaron King, S. Kingsbury, Seth Lathrop, Jonathan Shearer, George Hooker, J. W. Brew- ster, Bela B. Jones, John Long, Leonard Williams, W. Sheldon, E. G. Ufford, J. G. DeChene, Lucius Wright, John Stone, J. H. Flint and Samuel Mather. Of these physicians there were sev- eral who were well known in public and professional life and who had splendid abilities for the time in which they lived. They received and imparted knowledge through office instruction and clinical observations made by medical preceptors on private patients. It was in this time that students are said to have studied and driven with their teachers in medicine. Since med- ical colleges then were in their infancy they were unable to fur- nish excellent opportunities for personal observations on the sick, and also were lacking in facilities for laboratory work.
Reminiscences .- Joseph Pynchon, son of Col. John Pynchon and a descendant in the fifth generation of the founder of Spring- field, was born in 1705, in the "old fort" or Pynchon residence which stood where now is the Springfield Fire and Marine build- ing. He was educated both for the ministry and the medical profession, and for a time devoted himself to clerical work, but later to the practice of medicine in Longmeadow. He is recalled as a man of high character and excellent ability, and at one time was a member of the general court.
Charles Pynchon, brother of Joseph, was born in Spring- field in 1819, in the Pynchon residence, and spent the greater part
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of his life in the town. All his biographers agree that Dr. Pyn- chon was a man of excellent understanding and a physician of good repute, having a large practice, and also that many medical students acquired their early professional training under his per- sonal instruction. His office was on Main street, the second house above Ferry street. In 1777 Dr. Pynchon was a surgeon in the American army. He died Aug. 19, 1783.
Joshua Frost, one of the earliest physicians of Springfield, was born in Maine in 1767, of English parentage. He was edu- cated for his profession in Dartmouth college and Harvard uni- versity, and in 1796 located in Longmeadow where he remained a few years and then removed to Springfield. He enjoyed an . excellent reputation as a physician, and as a citizen he was hon- ored with a seat in the state senate. Dr. Frost died in 1832.
George Frost, son of Joshua, was born in Longmeadow in 1800, and acquired his early medical education under the instruc- tion of Dr. Nathan Smith, whom he accompanied in lecturing tours. He studied medicine in Yale and also in Bowdoin, was graduated at the latter in 1822, and began practice in Spring- field in 1823. He lived in the town until his death, in 1846. Dr. Frost's wife was a daughter of Col. Roswell Lee, who for some time was commander at Fort Griswold (New London, Conn.) during the war of 1812-15.
Samuel W. Belden was born in 1801. He pursued scientific and medical studies in Yale, graduated in 1826, and began his professional career in Springfield in 1827. He became a mem- ber of the State Medical society in 1835, and died in 1839, aged 38 years.
M. B. Baker was a graduate of Harvard in 1830, and located in Springfield the next year. He became a member of the State Medical society in 1836, and died in 1839, at the age of 33 years.
David Bemis became a member of the state society in 1832, but of his early life and education we have little knowledge. He practiced about twenty-five years in Chicopee, and died in 1852, at the age of fifty-four years. At one time Dr. Bemis was presi- dent of the Hampden District Medical society, and is recalled as one of its most worthy members.
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Oliver Bliss was made a member of the state society in 1822. He practiced for several years in Longmeadow, and is understood as having descended from one of the first settlers in that vicinity. He died in 1840, aged sixty-eight years.
William Bridgman was born in 1784, and was one of the board of organization of the Hampden District Medical society. He is remembered as one of the leading physicians of his day in the vicinity of the county seat. He became a member of the state society in 1822, and died in 1864.
Reuben Champion was one of the foremost physicians of 'his time, and was descended from good old revolutionary stock, his grandfather having served as surgeon during the war, dying at Ticonderoga in 1777. Dr. Reuben Champion acquired his early education in the old Westfield academy, and his medical educa- tion at Dartmouth and also in a school for medical instruction in New York. He began practice in West Springfield in 1809, and joined the state society in 1812. His practice covered a period of half a century, and he died in 1865. In his practice he adopted the "tonic treatment" of fever cases, a theory then much opposed by the profession ; but he was a physician of excellent reputation, and an upright and honored citizen. The civil list shows that Dr. Champion served as state senator.
Alonzo Chapin appears on the roll of the state society in 1836, as a resident of Springfield, but few records of his life's work are now obtainable. He is believed, however, to have been descended from the ancestor of the Chapins-Deacon Samuel Chapin, the Puritan-whose statue adorns the library park.
W. L. Fitch, of whom recollections are meager, joined the state society in 1837. He practiced for a time in Chester Vil- lage, now Huntington, and then removed to Springfield, where he lived many years. He died in 1872, at the age of 69 years.
John Vanhorn was one of the old-time physicians of Spring- field ; was born in 1726, graduated at Yale in 1749, and joined the state society in 1785. For nearly sixty years he practiced in West Springfield, and is said to have been a man of more than ordinary professional prominence. He died in 1805.
Chauncey Brewer was another of the old-time physicians of Springfield, a native of the town, born in 1743. He received his
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professional education in Yale Medical college, and is remem- bered as a physician of exceptional strength for his time ; but he is held in especial remembrance by the profession on account of his faithful services in the American army during the revolution. He was a student with Dr. Charles Pynchon and began his profes- sional career in West Springfield, removing to the east side of the river on the death of his old preceptor and occupying an office about where now is Cypress street. Dr. Brewer died in 1837, at the age of 87 years. Daniel Chauncey Brewer, son of Chaun- cey, studied for the medical profession, but soon afterward be- came partner with Dr. Joshua Frost and carried on a drug busi- ness in the store now occupied by the firm of H. & J. Brewer, on Main street.
Gideon Kibbe was a highly respected physician of Wilbra- ham, where he practiced for thirty-seven years previous to his death, in 1859. He became a member of the state society in 1822.
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