USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Our county and its people : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Volume 1 > Part 30
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In Holland the profession was early represented by Thomas Wallis (1786), Seth Smith, Ichabod Hyde (1812), David B. Dean, Joshua Richardson, Chileab B. Merrick, Josiah Converse, Abiel Bottom, Josiah G. Wallis, the latter now in practice.
The Longmeadow succession includes, among others, the names of Charles Pynchon, Joshua Frost, Oliver Bliss, Edwin McCray, Rial Strickland, George Hooker, Thomas L. Chapman, R. P. Markham, Eleazer S. Beebe, John A. Mckinstry.
In Monson the list includes the names of Joseph Grout and Dr. Anderson, about 1785; Ede Whittaker, 1790-1840, and Eph- raim Allen as his cotemporary; Oliver Mckinstry, 1820-45; Reuben Gardner, about 1840: and also Drs. Ware, Cullen and Haywood, Isaac Carpenter, Alvin Smith, Homer A. Smith, Henry Cady, Marshall and David Calkins, George E. Fuller, F. W. Ellis, Charles W. Jackson and Harry A. Merchant.
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The Chicopee list of old-time physicians is somewhat imper- fect, yet among them may be recalled the names of Amos Skeele (1804-43), David Bemis (1832-52), J. R. Wilbur, William Jack- son Sawin, Alvord Norfolk, George Washington Denison (1846- 73), William George Smith.
In the Ludlow general list we find the names of Aaron John Miller (born 1750, served during the revolution, and died 1838), Francis Percival, Benjamin Trask (1777), Dr. Wood, Simpson Ellis, David Lyon, Sylvester Nash, Philip Lyon, Drs. Tainton, Sutton, Munger and Hamilton, Estes Howe, Elijah Campbell, W. B. Alden, Dr. Bassett, R. G. English, William B. Miller; Henry M. T. Smith, Robert Wood, Dr. King, Benj. K. Johnson, T. W. Lyman.
In Palmer the list is somewhat imperfect yet from extant records we glean the names of Jonathan Shearer, Marcus Shearer, Aaron King, Alanson Moody, Dr. White, Dr. Barron, Dr. Cum- mings, W. H. Stowe, J. K. Warren, A. C. Downing, Amasa Davis, Jason B. Thomas, F. W. Caulkins, Dr. Blair, William Walradt, and Silas Ruggles.
In the histories of the several towns further allusion is made to early and present physicians. Had early legislation regarding the profession been mandatory instead of optional in respect to membership in the state and district societies, our record could be more complete; and notwithstanding the fact that the names of hundreds of former physicians are noted in these pages, doubtless many more are omitted owing to the absence of reliable data con- cerning them.
In 1850 the profession in Springfield was well represented, there being in practice at that time twenty-seven physicians, representing three schools. According to the village directory of that year, the physicians then here were Nathan Adams, Edmund C. Allen (homoeopath), Alfred Booth, William G. Breck, Will- iam Bridgman, C. C. Chaffee, Jefferson Church, William H. Cleaveland, R. G. W. English, W. L. Fitch, Henry F. Gardner (botanic physician), James H. Gray, Ira Hatch, J. G. Holland, John Hooker, Charles P. Kibbe (botanic physician), Alfred Lambert, Warren McCray, Alexander S. McClean, Amos N.
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Pierce, Joseph C. Pynchon, George F. Ramsdell, Edwin Seeger, James M. Smith, Ebenezer Snell (Springfield water cure), George W. Swazey (homoeopath), Henry R. Vaille.
In the same year, by an act of the legislature passed April 15, the Springfield Medical school was incorporated by William B. Calhoun, Reuben A. Chapman and James A. Smith, who with their associates were authorized to establish and maintain a school of medicine in the city, and also were authorized to hold real and personal estate to the amount of $100,000, the same to be devoted exclusively to the purposes of a medical school. This commend- able enterprise certainly fell into proper hands, and while at the time there was a demand for an institution of such character in the town, certain events, in part political in their nature, made the project undesirable, hence the subject soon afterward was dismissed from the public mind.
HAMPDEN DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY
In explanation of the absence of much that is interesting in the early history of this organization, it may be said at the outset that all records of its transactions previous to May 30, 1875, were destroyed in a fire which took place on that date. The society itself was brought into existence May 30, 1840, at a time when the famous "log cabin" presidential campaign was at its height in New England, and indeed throughout the land, and the journal- istic as well as the public mind was so fully occupied with affairs political that a minor event, such as the organization of a district medical society, was permitted to pass without mention.
According to the regularly printed pamphlets of the organ- ization, the Hampden District Medical society was instituted May 30, 1840, under a charter granted by the councilors of the Massa- chusetts Medical society to Joseph H. Flint, William Bridgman, George Hooker, Aaron King, Bela B. Jones, Reuben Champion, John Appleton and L. W. Humphreys, each of whom is men- tioned in an earlier part of this chapter. They were the incorpo- rators and original members of the society, and appear to have been its only members during the first year. Dr. Champion was the first president, Dr. Bridgman the first vice-president, and Dr. Appleton the first secretary and treasurer.
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From the time of its incorporation to the present day the district medical society has maintained a healthful and progres- sive existence. The act of the legislature authorizing such organ- izations at the hands of the state society was passed in 1803, but the profession in this county was slow to avail itself of the privi- lege offered, and when that step was in fact taken the affairs of the new society were placed on a permanent basis and its con- tinued existence was fully assured. Neither the laws of the com- monwealth nor the authority of the state society compel member- ship on the part of physicians of any school, yet the representa- tives of the "regular" school have availed themselves of its bene- fits. Between 1840 and 1850 twenty-seven names, in addition to the incorporators, were placed on the rolls, and between 1850 and 1860 fourteen other names were enrolled. During the first sixty years of its history, the aggregate membership in the society was more than 250 physicians, making no account of practitioners under any other school than those usually termed "regulars."
As provided in the by-laws the district medical society con- sists of all the fellows of the state medical society residing in Hampden county, and none other. It is the duty of each member to attend all the meetings of the society, "and to communicate any instructive case that may occur in his practice, any useful discovery that he may make in medicine or surgery or the allied sciences, and any invention that may have practical application in the same." In their relations with each other, with their patients, the profession at large, and the public, members are guided by the code of ethics of the Massachusetts Medical society. By general and proper compliance with these requirements the real purposes of the state and district societies are carried out for the welfare of the profession.
Since its organization in 1840 the officers (presidents, vice- presidents, secretaries and treasurers) of the Hampden District Medical society have been as follows :
Presidents-Reuben Champion, 1840-41; Aaron King, 1841- 42; Joseph H. Flint, 1842-43 ; David Bemis, 1843-45 ; John Smith, 1845-46; William Bridgman, 1846-48; Silas P. Wright, 1848-49; Jesse W. Rice, 1849-51 ; James M. Smith, 1851-54 ; William Bridg-
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man, 1854-57 ; Nathan Adams, 1857-59 ; Alfred Lambert, 1859-60; P. LeB. Stickney, 1860-62; E. G. Pierce, 1862; Cyrus Bell, 1863- 66; David P. Smith, 1866-67; William G. Breck, 1867-69; A. S. McClean, 1869-71; V. L. Owen, 1871-72; Thomas L. Chapman, 1872-74; W. J. Swain, 1874-76; David Clark, 1876-77; H. G. Stickney, 1877-78; Sanford Lawton, 1878-80; Harlow Gamwell, 1880-82; S. W. Bowles, 1882-84; George S. Stebbins, 1884-85; A. F. Reed, 1885-86; L. F. Humeston, 1886-87; Theodore F. Breck, 1887-89; S. D. Brooks, 1889-90; Frederick W. Chapin, 1890-92; G. W. Davis, 1892-93; George C. McClean, 1893-94; Wallace H. Deane, 1894-95; E. E. Maryott, 1895-96; George E. Fuller, 1896-97 ; J. C. Hubbard, 1897-98; Daniel E. Keefe, 1898- 99; William Holbrook, 1899-1900; Lorenzo Gibbs, 1900-1901; Lawton S. Brooks, 1901 --.
Vice-Presidents-William Bridgman, 1840-41; T. B. Bridg- man, 1848-49 ; Thaddeus K. De Wolf, 1857-58; Thomas L. Chap- man, 1858-59 ; P. LeB. Stickney, 1859-60; D. P. Smith, 1860-61; Cyrus Bell, 1862-63; Alfred Lambert, 1864-66 ; George G. Tucker, 1866-67 ; A. S. McLean, 1867-69; William J. Swain, 1869-70; V. L. Owen, 1870-71; Thomas L. Chapman, 1871-72; A. R. Rice, 1872-74; H. G. Stickney, 1874-76; George S. Stebbins, 1876-77 ; G. W. Davis, 1877-78 ; Harlow Gamwell, 1878-80; S. W. Bowles, 1880-82 ; George S. Stebbins, 1882-84 ; A. F. Reed, 1884-85 ; Theo- dore F. Breck, 1885-86 ; G. C. McClean, 1886-87 ; J. J. O'Connor, 1887-89 ; Frederick W. Chapin, 1889-90; G. W. Davis, 1890-92; George E. Fuller, 1892-93; W. H. Deane, 1893-94 ; E. E. Maryott, 1894-95 ; George E. Fuller, 1895-96; William Holbrook, 1896-97; Daniel E. Keefe, 1897-98; L. J. Gibbs, 1898-1900; Lawton S. Brooks, 1900-01 ; Stephen Andrew Mahoney, 1901 --.
Secretaries and Treasurers-John Appleton, 1840-42; Will- iam A. Davis, 1842-45; J. G. Holland, 1845-47; Thomas L. Chap- man, 1847-49 ; Alfred Lambert, 1849-54; William G. Breck, 1854- 56 ; George A. Otis, 1856-61; A. S. McClean, 1861-63; William G. Breck, 1863-64; H. G. Stickney, 1864-66; A. R. Rice, 1866-69; George F. Jelly, 1869 ; Charles P. Kemp, 1869-71 ; George S. Steb- bins, 1872-76; Frederick W. Chapin, 1876-80: George C. Me- Clean, 1880-85; G. L. Woods, 1885-89; J. T. Herrick, 1889-93;
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Everett A. Bates, 1893-94; A. J. Dunne, 1894-95; C. H. Calkins, 1895-96; Walter R. Weiser, 1896-97; H. W. VanAllen, 1897-99; Frederick B. Sweet, 1899-1901 ; Harry C. Martin, 1901 --.
The following chronological list shows the names of members of the society with the year of admission and place of residence :
1840-Joseph Henshaw Flint, William Bridgman, George Hooker, Aaron King, Bela B. Jones, Reuben Champion, John Appleton, Levi W. Humphreys, charter members.
1841-James H. Gray, Springfield; Thaddeus K. De Wolf, Chester ; W. B. Alden, Ludlow; Jehiel Abbot, Westfield; Silas Wright, Blandford; John Smith, Wales; Marcus Shearer, Palmer; Aaron Shaw, Wales; George Seymour, Springfield; Jesse W. Rice, Wilbraham; Asa Lincoln, Brimfield; Ebenezer Knight, Brimfield ; James M. Smith, Springfield.
1842-Amasa Davis, Palmer; Artemus Bell, Feeding Hills ; Alvin Smith, Monson.
1843-Samuel Doolittle Brooks, Springfield.
1844-Benjamin H. Ellis, Springfield ; Cyrus Bell, Feeding- Hills; T. H. Stewart, Springfield.
1845-John R. Wilbur, Chicopee Falls; Henry Robert Vaille, Springfield.
1846-G. W. Denison, Chicopee; Thomas Luce Chapman, Longmeadow; H. Champlin, West Springfield; William W. Bill- ings, Springfield.
1847-Nathan Adams, Springfield; Pierre LeBreton Stick- ney, Springfield.
1852-W. O. Bell, Westfield.
1854-William Gilman Breck, C. C. Chaffee, David Paige Smith, all of Springfield ; William George Smith, Chicopee ; E. G. Pierce, Holyoke; William Holbrook, Palmer.
1855-R. G. English, Springfield; A. S. McClean, Spring- field ; George Grenville Tucker, Westfield ; G. A. Otis, U. S. navy ..
1857-James Milton Foster, Springfield.
1858-J. T. Skinner, Springfield ; L. E. Marsh, Wales.
1860-L. E. White, Springfield.
1862-Marshall Calkins, Varillas Linus Owen, H. H. War- ner, all of Springfield.
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1863-Stephen Wallace Bowles, Springfield.
1864-Horatio Gates Stickney, Springfield.
1866-G. T. Ballard, Hampden; Theodore Frelinghuysen Breck, Springfield ; C. F. Coleman, Springfield ; Harlow Gamwell, Westfield; William Wallace Gardner, Springfield; Charles P. Kemp, Springfield; Albert Raymond Rice, Springfield; Joseph William Rockwell, Southwick; W. J. Sawin, Chicopee Falls ; James Henry Waterman, Westfield.
1867-E. C. Clark, Westfield; Edgar Leroy Draper, Hol- yoke ; James John O'Connor, Holyoke ; Charles F. Starkweather, Westfield ; George Stanford Stebbins, Springfield.
1869-William Ahern, David Clark, both of Springfield.
1870-John Hooker, Springfield; James Raymond Brown, Springfield ; George Washington Davis, Holyoke.
1874-Lawton Stickney Brooks, Sanford Lawton, jr., Stephen Franklin Pomeroy, all of Springfield; Andrew Fair- field Reed, Holyoke.
1875-Frederick Wilcox Chapin, George Chester McLean, of Springfield ; Francis Fullam Parker, Chicopee.
1876-Walter Jenks Norfolk, Westfield.
1877-Charles Wesley Bowen, Westfield; Wallace Harlow Deane, Springfield.
1878-H. U. Flagg, Mitteneague.
1879-James Wilson Hannum, Ludlow; Charles Parker Hooker, Springfield; Angelo Orin Squier, Springfield; Edwin Darius Hutchinson, Westfield.
1880-George Dresser, Chicopee; Frederick Warren Ellis, Monson ; George Ephraim Fuller, Monson; William Holbrook, Palmer ; William Michael Edward Mellen, Chicopee; M. M. Met- vier, Holyoke.
1881-Josiah Clark Hubbard, Holyoke.
1882-Judson Worthington Hastings, Feeding Hills.
1883-John S. Bagg, Springfield; Edgar Clarence Collins, Springfield ; Frank Holyoke, Holyoke; Alfred C. Downing, Palmer; Locero Jackson Gibbs, Chicopee Falls; Alexander Spear McLean, Springfield.
1884-Daniel Francis Donaghue, Holyoke; Walter Anson Smith, Springfield.
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1885-Erastus Edgar Maryott, John Morgan, James E. Marsh, Seraph Frissell, Walter Henry Chapin, Joseph Thomas Herrick, all of Springfield.
1886-William Henry Andrews, Ira Clark Hill, Daniel Ed- ward Keefe, William Henry Pomeroy, all of Springfield ; Payson Jonathan Flagg, Mitteneague.
1887-Edwin Boardman Adams, Phebe Ann Sprague, Sarah Mann Wilbur, Edward Hunt Guild, all of Springfield; Joseph H. Palardy, Holyoke ; Julia Maria Patten, Holyoke ; W. H. Dean, Blandford; Thomas Henry Tracy, Westfield.
1888-Alexander John Dunne, Catherine Maloney Kennedy, of Springfield; Stephen Andrew Mahoney, Ella Maxfield Davis, both of Holyoke; Owen Copp, Monson.
1889-Luther Halsey Gulick, Ralph Holland Seelye, Everett Alanson Bates, all of Springfield.
1890-Willard Crafts Crocker, Philip Kilroy, of Springfield ; Lauriston M. Berry, Chicopee Falls.
1891-Delia Lucretia Chapin, Edward Olin Robinson, Springfield.
1892-Carl Addison Allen, Holyoke; Robert Parker Marr Ames, Springfield; Charles William Jackson, Monson; Otis Hiland Kelsey, Springfield; Joseph Thomas Pero, Indian Orchard; Robert Valentine Sawin, Brimfield; Edward Howran Tierney, Holyoke; Harvey Ward VanAllen, Springfield; Fred- erick A. Ward, Willimansett.
1893-Warren Perkins Blake, Springfield; William Howard Bliss, Three Rivers ; William Wallace Broga, Springfield ; George Henry Clark, Holyoke; Herbert Clark Emerson, Springfield ; Erskine Erasmus Hamilton, Springfield; Robert Joseph Mans- field, Springfield; Howard Eugene Wilson, Chester; William Norwood Suter, Springfield ; George Lyman Taylor, Holyoke.
1894-William Chester Billings, Charles Henry Bowen, Dan- iel Joseph Brown, Cheney Hosmer Calkins, William James Chis- holm, Charles Francis Joseph Kennedy, Belle Joanne Platt White, Walter Rupert Weiser, George Dake Weston, all of Springfield.
1895-George Washington Chamberlain, Springfield ; Joseph M. Collin, Chicopee Falls ; Arthur Llewellyn Damon, Wilbraham ;
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Charles John Downey, Mitteneague; Ernest A. Gates, Spring- field ; Frederick Eugene Hopkins, Springfield ; Angenette Fowler Noble, Westfield; Frederick Benoni Sweet, Springfield; Horace Green Webber, Wilbraham.
1896-Dudley Carleton, Springfield ; Edward B. Hodskins, Springfield ; James William Holland, Westfield; James S. Mc- Laughlin, Westfield; James Van Wagner Boyd, Springfield.
1897-Orlando R. Blair, Springfield ; Jesse L. Bliss, Hol- yoke; Ralph Carleton, Springfield ; George Healy Davis, Spring- field; Stephen Joseph Dunn, Springfield; Richard G. Eaton, Holyoke; Clarence E. Hewitt, Springfield; Vincent Joseph Irwin, Springfield; William Chase Leary, Springfield, John Joseph McCabe, Holyoke; Henry Alvin Merchant, Monson; Louis A. Prefontaine, Springfield; Abram Case Williams, Springfield ; George L. Woods, Springfield.
1898-Jeremiah C. Anthony, Springfield; Edward W. Brown, Springfield ; William H. Davis, Holyoke; George Herbert Jones, Westfield; Edward Joseph Mahoney, Holyoke; Homer T. Porter, Blandford; Sidney R. Marvin, Springfield; John James O'Connor, Holyoke ; Joseph Henry Potts, Holyoke ; Ellsworth F. Ross, Wales ; Jacob Philip Schneider, Palmer ; Arthur .B. Weth- erell, Holyoke ; John Nicholas Coghlan, Holyoke ; Flora E. Frost, Springfield.
1899-Frank Henry Haskins, Charles Francis Lynch, An- thony Leopold Brown, Harry C. Martin, Simeon James Russell, Robert Hamilton McNair, Mortimer Joseph Stoddard, Charles R. Chapman, George Hardy Finch, all of Springfield.
1900-Frank Rufus Searles, Springfield.
1901-Samuel D. Miller, Three Rivers; Joseph N. Boyer, Springfield; Frederick S. Ward, Springfield.
Having in a preceding part of this chapter devoted some attention to reminiscences of the older members of the profession in the county, who were and others who were not united with the state society, it is proposed in closing this article to make some special allusion to the more prominent members of the district society whose life work is closed.
Thaddeus K. DeWolf, of Chester, was for many years re- garded as one of the leading medical practitioners in the county,
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Dr. Thaddeus K. De Wolf
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
and although a country doctor he nevertheless was frequently called into counsel with the more widely known physicians of the municipalities, and by them was held in high esteen. Dr. De Wolf was born May 18, 1801, studied medicine in Northern New York and received his degree at the Castleton Medical col- lege. He began his career in Connecticut, and in 1832 located at Chester Centre, where he soon built up an extensive practice. He was identified with several medical organizations and socie- ties, and in his own town served as member of the school commit- tee, justice of the peace, and also was elected to the lower house of the general court. He died in 1890, aged 89 years, then being the senior member of the district society. His son, Oscar C. . De Wolf, also entered the profession and now is in practice in London, England. His daughter, Sarah, married the late Dr. Harlow Gamwell, of Westfield.
James Morven Smith, for twelve years the acknowledged head of the medical profession in Hampden county and one of the most distinguished physicians of his time in New England, was born in Hanover, N. H., in 1806, the son of Dr. Nathan Smith, who was an eminent physician and a medical lecturer and author of wide repute. James M. Smith graduated at Yale, located in Westfield in 1830, practiced in that town until 1838, when he removed to Baltimore, Md. In 1841 he came to Spring- field and engaged in professional work until the time of his death in a railway disaster at Norwalk, Conn., in 1853. He is well remembered by many of our older citizens, and recollections of his professional life are treasured memories with them. He, in association with Reuben A. Chapman and William B. Calhoun, conceived the idea of establishing a medical school in Springfield, to which reference is made in a preceding paragraph.
Henry R. Vaille was a native of Vermont, born in Marlboro in 1809. He was graduated at Williams college in 1835, and soon afterward became the first (and the last) principal of the town school in School street in Springfield, which institution was in operation only a short time. He then turned his attention to medicine and pursued a course of reading with Dr. Joshua Frost, later attended the Pittsfield Medical institute, and finally fin-
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Henry R. Vaille, M. D.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
ished his medical education in Paris. He began practice in Longmeadow, but upon the death of his old preceptor he suc- ceeded to the practice of the latter in Springfield. His profes- sional life was abundantly successful and in his prime his prac- tice was far greater than that of any other physician in the city. At one time during the war of 1861-5 he was in the service of the Christian commission, and in the fall of 1863 he spent some time in the hospitals at Middletown, Md., after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Dr. Vaille died July 15, 1885. He is remembered as a popular and skillful physician, thorough in every professional work, and having an especial regard for the interests and comfort of all with whom he was brought into asso- ciation.
Pierre LeBreton Stickney, whose professional life in this county was spent in the towns of West Springfield, Chicopee and Springfield, was born in Newburyport, May 19, 1814, the son of Capt. David and Elizabeth LeBreton Stickney. He prepared for college in Bradford and Phillips Andover academies and graduated at Dartmouth in 1839. His medical education was acquired in Jefferson Medical college (Phila.), where he received his degree in 1842. He settled in West Springfield in 1845 and removed thence to Indiana in 1851. Three years later he re- turned east and located in Chicopee, where he practiced with unvarying success until 1870, when he came to Springfield, his subsequent home. He died November 5, 1887, having spent nearly forty years of his active professional life in this vicinity. He was held in especial regard by the profession, to whom his worth was fully known. On the occasion of his death the dis- trict medical society expressed its estimate of him as "one who ever maintained the honor and worked for the interests of legiti- mate medicine in opposition to every form of empiricism."
John Hooker, during his active life a prominent figure in professional, political and social circles in Springfield, was a native of Charlton, Mass., born January 30, 1817. His father was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and his mother, Polly Wins- low, was a direct descendant of Kenelmn Winslow, a Puritan who came to America in the Mayflower in 1620. At the age of
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sixteen years John began to learn the trade of his father, but having soon afterward determined to fit himself for the practice of medicine, he became a student under Dr. Lamb, of Charlton. He took his degree from the Berkshire Medical school in Pitts- field. At the time of the "gold fever" in California he went from Worcester to New York with the intention to sail for the Pacific slope, and to that end procured a passage ticket. How- ever, he suddenly changed his mind and having disposed of his ticket at a good premium he came to Springfield and opened an office where now stands the city hall; and when that property was sold to the city he removed to Elm street where he practiced for ten years, until he secured the Lawton property on Maple street, where he lived for several years. Later on he lived at No. 183 State street and remained there until his death, July 11, 1892, aged 75 years. In every sense Dr. Hooker was a self-made man, having educated himself and worked out his own career without other aid than his own determination and perseverance. As a physician he was held in high esteem throughout the city, and as a public-spirited citizen he frequently was nominated for office. In 1870 he was a member of the board of aldermen and in 1875 was a city physician. Previous to 1870 he was a democrat, but afterward he was allied to the republican party. During the later years of his life he relinquished much of his practice to his son, Charles P. Hooker, and gave himself to the rest and social enjoyment of the associations of the Winthrop club.
William Gilman Breck, whose splendid, striking personality for so many years made him an attractive figure in Springfield social circles, and who also enjoyed the reputation of being one of the leading physicians and surgeons in the entire Connecticut valley region, was born in Franklin county, Vermont, in Novem- ber, 1818, and died in Chicopee while on a professional visit to Vicar-General Healy, on January 22, 1889. When quite young he removed with his parents to Ohio, and acquired his elementary education in the famous school at Oberlin, and also in Harvard university, where he was graduated. He attended medical lec- tures in New York city and in 1844 began his professional career in New Orleans. Two years later he came to Springfield, and
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for the next forty-three years was an active factor in medical and business circles. For a time he practiced as senior partner in the firm of Breck & Gray. During the war of 1861-65 he was sent to the front by Governor Andrew as consulting surgeon, and was present at several memorable battles. His knowledge of medicine was thorough and as a surgeon his skill was known fat beyond the limits of his county. For thirty years he was surgeon for the Boston & Albany and the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford railroad companies. But outside of his professional life Dr. Breck was deeply interested in the growth and prosperity of Springfield and was thoroughly loyal to its institutions, taking an especial interest in the work of the city hospital. He also was one of the pioneers in the development of Round Hill, and built the first residence in that now desirable locality. An idea of the high estimate in which Dr. Breck was held by the people of Springfield is furnished by the following extract from the resolu- tions adopted by the district medical society at the next meeting after his death: "Whereas, his good counsel and especially his leading surgical ability entitle him to a large and a lasting place in our memory, be it resolved by the members of the Hampden district medical society, that we will endeavor to fill this vacancy in our ranks by the perseverance and devotion to the profession manifested by our deceased brother."
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