USA > Maryland > Baltimore County > Baltimore City > History of Baltimore, Maryland, from its founding as a town to the current year, 1729-1898, including its early settlement and development; a description of its historic and interesting localities; political, military, civil, and religious statistcs; biographies of representative citizens, etc., etc > Part 111
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Dr. Robert S. Corse, Jr., was educated in the Friends' Elementary and High Schools, graduating in 1889. Entering the Balti- more College of Dental Surgery, he gradu- ated in 1894, since which time he has been in practice with his uncle, Doctor Norris.
Doctor Corse is a member of the Friends' Society of Baltimore. He holds member- ship in the college fraternity Psi Omega, and in the Maryland State Dental Associa- tion.
DR. WILLIAM S. NORRIS, D. D. S., 234 N. Eutaw street.
Dr. William S. Norris, one of the pro- gressive dental practitioners of Baltimore, inherits his mechanical skill and taste for his profession from his father. Dr. Caleb Norris was regarded by his early associates as one of the most ingenious men in Fred- erick county and was one of the early expert dentists of which Baltimore, in the infancy of the profession in America, was the center. He was an intimate friend of Dr. Chapin A. Harris and Doctor Chandler, two of the early lights in dentistry, and was their peer in his profession. Born near the city of Newmarket, Frederick county, Md., about 1816, his professional life was mostly spent in that section of the State, practicing his profession in Baltimore City and Frederick. Over half a century ago he designed bridge- work and constructed some of the work on practically the same plans that the work is now done. Dr. William S. Norris has in his possession one of the first pieces of work of this kind done by his father, also a tooth
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with a perfect gold filling placed there by him, which remained in the mouth of the subject for a period of forty-five years. He was in many things that length of time ahead of many of his colleagues. Part of his professional career was spent in Balti- more, but he returned to Newmarket, where he died in 1858, at the early age of forty- one. Doctor Norris was united in marriage to Miss Mary Penn, daughter of Charles Penn, whose wife was a Miss Davis. Mrs. Norris is a descendant of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
Joel Norris, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Virginia, and moved at a very early day to Frederick county, Md., where he became owner of a large farm near the town of Newmarket, where he died about 1856, at the age of seventy-five. Be- ing of the Society of Friends, none of the Norris family were participants in the War of the Revolution nor of the subsequent wars.
Dr. William S. Norris was born in Fred- erick county, Md., near Newmarket, July 4, 1849. After a course in the public schools, he attended Glenwood Institute in Howard county some two or three years. Having decided on the dental profession for a voca- tion, Doctor Norris came to Baltimore and entered the Maryland College, from which he graduated in 1894, and from the Balti- more College of Dental Surgery the follow- ing year, and during these years had been practicing under the tutelage of Doctor Etheridge, with whom he remained some five years after graduation, since which time he has practiced for and by himself. The Doctor is a member of the Maryland State Dental Association.
Doctor Norris was married to Miss
Avondale Milburn, daughter of Mr. Alex- ander Milburn, of St. Mary's county, Md., a member of one of the old colonial families of that region. Dr. and Mrs. Norris are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ONE of the leading experts of Balti- more in digestive and nutritional dis- eases, Dr. Charles Edmund Simon, is a native of the city, his birth having oc- curred September 23, 1866, and here the first six years of his life were spent. Owing to continued ill health of the mother, the family in 1872 removed to Germany, and for twelve years our subject was a student of the Gymnasium, where he secured a fine classical education. On his return to Balti- more, Doctor Simon entered Johns Hop- kins University, from which he graduated in 1888. The following winter he was a student in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and on his re- turn was an assistant in the dispensary of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Matriculating in the medical school of the University of Maryland, Doctor Simon graduated in 1890, and for a year after was assistant resi- dent physician of the Johns Hopkins Hos- pital. The season of 1891-92 he spent in Paris, studying in the hospitals in the line of his specialty. On his return Doctor Simon opened an office, making a specialty of digestive and nutritional diseases, and his skill and efforts have been appreciated.
On December 1, 1897, Doctor Simon opened at his residence a private clinical laboratory for post-graduate course in clinical chemistry and microscopy. It is the first of its kind in Baltimore. On the day of the opening he entertained at a social func-
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tion, the Faculty of the University, an auspicious beginning for a grand field of labor.
Doctor Simon takes a commendable in- terest in all societies for the promotion of a wider knowledge and the ethics of the pro- fession. Of the societies to which he be- longs the leading ones are: The Medical and the Historical Societies of Johns Hop- kins University, the Medical and Chirurgi- cal Faculty of Maryland, Fellow of the American Academy of Medicine and char- ter member of the American Society of Gas- troentrology. Doctor Simon is the author of "Clinical Diagnosis" and many articles on various topics in the journals devoted to medical and surgical interests.
Charles Simon, father of our subject, is a native of Baltimore. He was for many years connected with the large dry goods firm which bears his name. In 1895 he retired from active business, and is now enjoying a competency free from the turmoils of a business life. He married Miss Helen Kirchner, daughter of Mr. Henry Kirchner, a native of Minden, Germany. The grand- father, Charles Simon, Sr., came from Wal- deck, Germany, in 1816, to Baltimore, and built up a large business here. He was mar- ried in Baltimore to Miss Amelung, whom he had met on the vessel during a long and stormy passage from the fatherland. He was a great friend of Reverend Scheib, his revered pastor.
Doctor Simon was married in Basle, Switzerland, to Miss Lina Stumm, only daughter of Gustav Stumm.
In religious belief Doctor Simon is in ac- cord with the Unitarian doctrines.
DR. ABRAM B. ARNOLD, though not a native of Baltimore, is as thoroughly identi-
fied with all of its varied interests as if he were. His birth occurred in Goessingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, February 4, 1820. Here the first dozen years of his life were spent until 1832 or 1833, when his parents emigrated to America, sailing from Havre de Grace and landing in New York. Pro- ceeding to Berks county, Pa., the family settled at Meiersburg, where the father, Isaac Arnold, went into mercantile busi- ness, in which he continued there until re- moving to Baltimore. Mr. Arnold contin- ued business on removing to Baltimore un- til an advanced age, when he retired from active life and spent in ease his declining years. He died in Baltimore about 1883 at the age of eighty. His wife, who was Han- nah Blumenthal, also a native of Goess- ingen, attained the age of ninety-one.
Abram Arnold attended the parochial schools and gymnasium of his native city and the common schools of Pennsylvania, supplemented by a course in the Meiers- burg College, from which he graduated about 1842. Having a liking for the medi- cal profession, Doctor Arnold placed him- self under the instruction of his uncle, Doc- tor Levis, of London, Pa., with whom he studied for a time andthen entered the Penn- sylvania University at Philadelphia, where he was a student for a year. From the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania he entered the Washington University from which he graduated in 1848, and soon after was ap- pointed to the chair of materia medica. Af- ter this institution was merged into the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons Doctor Arnold occupied the chair of clinical pro- fessor on diseases of the nervous system. He afterwards occupied the chair of prac- tice of medicine which he held for nearly fifteen years. He published for the use of
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students a "Manual of Nervous Diseases;" also contributed a number of articles on medical subjects to medical journals. His paper on "Circumcision" is considered a val- uable contribution. In 1892, having more than attained his three score years and ten, and been in practice nearly half a century, Doctor Arnold retired from active practice to spend his declining years free from the anxieties of an active practitioner. His years sit lightly upon him and in appearance a score of years should be deducted from his age. A better preserved physician after the exposures and cares of half a century's prac- tice would be hard to find.
Doctor Arnold was married to Miss Ellen Dennis, daughter of Mr. Adam Dennis, of Easton, Pa. Her brother, Capt. John Den- nis, was in command of the gunboat "Hun- tress" on the famous Red river expedition during the Civil War and died during the operations on that stream.
Doctor Arnold worships in Bolton Street Temple. He was formerly a member of a number of the leading lodges, but has with- drawn from active affiliation. In the medi- cal societies he has always taken an active interest and more so than many practition- ers many years his junior. He is ex-presi- dent of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Baltimore, and of a number of other or- ganizations of the profession. Doctor Ar- nold was chairman of Section of General Practice at the Ninth International Medical Congress that met at Washington.
Chess has always been a diversion of Doc- tor Arnold, and as president of the Balti- more Chess Club, it has been his pleasure to entertain the world famed exponents of the king of games. As president of the Monumental Club it fell to his lot to play
against Paul Morphy on his visit to Balti- more, and although defeated he was not cast down; there were others who fared as he did. Steinmetz was a warm personal friend of the Doctor's, as were many of the leading players of his time.
Although for many years Doctor Arnold had charge of two large hospitals, gave daily lectures and attended to an unusually large practice, he has passed through a very busy life with but a light touch of Father Time, and a heart as young as when he started on the threshhold of his professional life.
DR. MARBURY BREWER, 1106 McCulloch street, Baltimore.
In Doctor Brewer we find a man with the courage of his convictions, strong enough to break away from old ideas and adopt new ones, although it may sever old friendships and break the fraternal ties of many years' standing.
Educated, and for many years, a practi- tioner of the regular school of medicine, Doctor Brewer a quarter of a century ago became a convert to homeopathic treatment and at the expense of old professional ties and society affiliations, took up the practice of the newer school regardless of conse- quences.
Born in Annapolis May 28, 1830, his early life was spent in that city and his education secured in its schools. Attending first the English and Latin grammar schools of St. John's College, he graduated from the col- legiate department in 1846. With Doctor Claude he began the study of medicine, and later entered the medical school of the Uni- versity of Maryland, from which he gradu- ated in 1850, while in his nineteenth year. For two years he practiced with his old pre-
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ceptor in Annapolis and in 1852 opened an office in Baltimore which has since been his field of labor and his home. After over twenty years' practice in the regular school of medicine, Doctor Brewer became a con- vert to homeopathy and gradually worked from one practice to the other, studying with Dr. Todd Helmuth, the well known homeopathist of New York. Doctor Brew- er is a member of the Maryland Homeo- pathic Society, and for twenty years was physician to St. Vincent's Infant Asylum and Maternity Hospital. Since 1862 he has been a member of the Catholic Church, hav- ing been prior to that time an Episcopalian. Doctor Brewer's wife was Miss Albuna D. Strandley, of Baltimore.
George G. Brewer, the father of our sub- ject, was born in Annapolis in 1801, and died in 1862. He was a prominent man of his day, serving in official capacities many years. Prior to 1851 he was registrar of the Land Office for Maryland, resigning at that time.
THE family of which Doctor Branham is a worthy representative is one of colonial antecedents. The earliest ancestor settled in Suffolk county at a very early period, and his descendants participated in all the wars of the country, including the late Civil War.
Mr. Branham, father of the Doc- tor, was for many years a prominent planter of Walker county, Ga., the place of his nativity. His death occurred here in 1897 at the age of seventy-one. He served dur- ing the Civil War three years in the 69th Georgia Volunteers, and although frequent- ly offered a commission preferred serving in the ranks.
His grandfather, Dr. Henry Branham, of Eatonton, Ga., was one of the most prominent men in this section of the State during the early decades of the century. He was not only prominent in professional cir- cles, but in religion and politics as well. He was a profoundly religious man, well versed in theology, and a licensed preacher of the Methodist faith, serving many times as local delegate to the Annual State Conference. He represented his district, Putnam county, in the halls of the State Senate with credit to himself and his con- stituency.
The mother of Doctor Branham was Miss Catharine C., daughter of Mr. Joseph P. Mccullough, of Scottish origin. His uncle came to America as an officer in the British Army, some time prior to the Revo- lutionary War. Sympathizing with the colonists he resigned his commission, and when the struggle actually began enlisted in the Colonial Army and served through the war. Doctor Branham's maternal grandfather married a Miss Daniel, of the well-known family of that name, and settled in Georgia.
Doctor Branham was born in Walker county, Ga., May 7, 1857, and enjoyed what educational privileges the country schools afforded, after the close of the war finishing at Chatata Academy in Bradley county, Tenn. On completing his educa- tion, Doctor Branham taught school for one year, during which time he read medicine under the tutelage of Dr. A. T. Fricks, of Rising Faun, Ga., as well as during vaca- tions between terms of the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, from which he graduated second in a class of sixty-nine. It was revealed some years
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afterward that but for unwarranted as- sumption on the part of one of the ex- aminers who was acting as proxy, Doctor Branham would have carried off first honors instead of second. A brother and cousin each secured first honors in subsequent years, showing a family penchant for study and hard work.
For two years succeeding his graduation, Doctor Branham officiated as resident phy- sician in the College Hospital. In 1881 he opened an office and has since been in ac- tive practice in the city. For a number of years he acted as demonstrator in anatomy in his Alma Mater, and is now filling the chair of Obstetrics and Clinical Gynecol- ogy of the Baltimore University. Of the many societies for professional advance- ment to which Doctor Branham belongs may be mentioned the Medical and Chirur- gical Faculty, the Clinical Society, the American Association of Gynecology and Obstetrics and the American Medical As- sociation. He holds membership in the University Club, Oriental Lodge, No. 158, of the Masonic fraternity, and several of the minor orders. Doctor Branham has written upwards of fifty monographs on various interesting topics, which have been read before the different medical societies and printed in the journals devoted to the interests of the profession.
The wife of Doctor Branham was Miss Grace M., daughter of Mr. John T. Gwinn, of Baltimore, formerly of Virginia.
DR. WILLIAM W. DUNBRACCO, Dentist, 1023 Edmondson avenue, Baltimore, Md. Prominent among the younger members of the dental profession of Baltimore is Dr. William W. Dunbracco, a native of
Queen Anne county, Md. His birth oc- curred at Centreville, July 14, 1861.
His father having been appointed by Governor Bradford a Grain Inspector of the port of Baltimore, in 1863, the family re- moved to the city, where the Doctor at- tended the public schools and the City Col- lege, from which he graduated July 1, 1881. He immediately entered the counting-room of the late firm of Adams, Buck & Co., wholesale hatters, as assistant book-keeper and entry clerk, but resigned in July fol- lowing to accept a position in Louisiana, where for three years he was principal of the Covington Academy. Returning to the city, he matriculated in the Baltimore Col- lege of Dental Surgery, from which he graduated as class orator in 1888. He at once joined the Odontological Society of Baltimore, and later the Maryland State Dental Association, of which for seven years he was the recording secretary, and in 1896 was elected president, and presided at the union meeting of this Association and the Washington City Dental Society held in Washington, D. C. He is at pres- ent the corresponding secretary. He has been an assistant demonstrator in the Bal- timore College of Dental Surgery for ten years, having been appointed immediately after graduation, and has taken an active interest in the College Alumni, of which he is recording secretary. He is an honor- ary member of the Xi Psi Phi dental fraternity. In social orders he has taken quite a prominent part. He is a Past Com- mander of the Order of the Golden Chain, and in the Royal Arcanum has filled all the chairs in his Council, is now serving as Orator of Calvert Council, and is a District Deputy Grand Regent of the State of Mary-
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land. In religious faith Doctor Dunbracco is a member of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, and takes an active interest in its welfare.
Doctor Dunbracco is the son of Mr. Wil- liam T. Dunbracco, a native of Queen Anne county, Md. His father, Nathan Dun- bracco, a prominent citizen of Beaver Dams, now Ingleside, died in 1849, when William was fourteen years of age, who then entered a mercantile store at Ingle- side. Several years later, in 1856, he went to Centreville, the county seat, and was appointed under the administration of Pres- ident Lincoln in 1861 postmaster, which office he held till May, 1863, when the Governor made him a Grain Inspector. Two years later he removed to Baltimore, where he remained after the expiration of the term of his office and entered the mer- cantile world in the carpet trade. Dispos- ing of his business later, he became asso- ciated with the largest carpet establishment of the city, where he is still engaged. Wil- liam T.'s father and mother both dying be- fore his fifteenth year, little is known of his ancestry in the agnate branch. The name is thought by some to be of Spanish origin, but others Scotch, which is most probably true.
Doctor Dunbracco's mother was Miss Margaret M. Vickers, a daughter of Mr. Samuel Vickers, an eminent citizen of Queen Anne county, which he served for a number of years as Clerk of the Court, and at his death was Register of Wills. He was a prominent member of the Order of Free Masons. The Vickers family is one of the oldest in Maryland, originating in George Vickers, who came from Hull, Eng- land, about 1620, settling in Maryland. The
name as originally spelled was Vicars or Vickery, and would indicate a connection with the clergy.
Doctor Dunbracco married Miss Ella N. Alford, daughter of Rev. James E. Alford, of Baltimore. Two children have been born to them: Estelle Edmondson and Ju- lia Vickers.
AMONG the prominent physicians of Bal- timore who have made an enviable success in a professional as well as a business way must be mentioned Dr. Edward E. Macken- zie. His family for several generations have been residents of Baltimore and of the State of Maryland. His great-grandfather, Thomas Mackenzie, was a native of Inver- ness, Scotland, and came to America in 1745, settling on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake in Calvert county, where he owned large landed estates. He had three sons, Colin, Cosmo and George. Cosmo Mackenzie, the grandfather of our subject, was a lawyer in his native county of Calvert, and it was his son, Thomas Mackenzie, the father of Dr. Edward E. Mackenzie, who, on attaining manhood, moved to Baltimore and entered upon a mercantile career in this city, successfully conducting the Saddlery Hardware business until his death in 1866. Thomas Mackenzie, the father, married Eleanora I. Brevitt, daughter of Dr. Joseph Brevitt, who during his life was one of the noted physicians of Baltimore. He was a native of England, and served in the Brit- ish Navy as surgeon in the Royal Fleet. Dr. Edward E. Mackenzie was born in Bal- timore August 19, 1858. His education was secured in private schools and the Univer- sity of Maryland School of Letters, con- ducted for many years under the presidency
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and direction of Rev. E. A. Dalrymple. Afterwards he attended the regular course in the School of Medicine in the same uni- versity and graduated with high honors March 4, 1884, since which time he has had a successful and increasing practice in this city. In 1890 Doctor Mackenzie was one of the organizers of the Immediate Benefit Life Insurance Company, and has ever since its incorporation occupied the position of its Medical Director, and his ability and judgment have been recognized as two of the main causes for that organization's rapid success and growth, until to-day it is one of the leading industrial insurance com- panies in the South. Doctor Mackenzie, like his ancestors, comes of Quaker stock, and he is a member of the Society of Friends. He takes an active interest in all work looking to the advancement of his profession, and is connected by member- ship with the Medical and Chirurgical Fac- ulty of Maryland, the Clinical Society of Maryland, and from 1887 to 1891 was one of the Corps of Lecturers in the Woman's Medical College, but owing to the other demands upon his time resigned the chair he held to devote himself to his large prac- tice.
THE family of which Dr. Frank West is a worthy descendant is one of the oldest in Maryland. The first American ancestor, great-great-grandfather of our subject, came from Horton, Buckinghamshire, Eng- land, where he was one of the nobility, hav- ing a coat of arms, which is still preserved by his descendants. His son, Stephen West, married a Miss Williams, who inher- ited from her father the old country seat "The Woodyard," the second brick house
built in Maryland, probably from imported bricks. The old weather-vane bore date 1712, and the oldest part of the house was used to make munitions for the Revolution- ary Army. Two of the sons of the original purchaser, Charles and William, served in the Continental ranks. The old house burned in 1866, carrying up in smoke many treasures of the colonial period in furniture, paintings and manuscripts.
The father of our subject, Edward Lord West, son of Richard Williams West, was born in Prince George's county. He served many years as an officer in the United States Navy, and died at sea in 1851. While on a cruise in New England waters he met and married Miss Lucy Cushing, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Dodge Cushing, a prominent physican of Hanover, Plymouth county, Mass. The venerable mother still survives at the age of seventy-seven, making her home with a brother of Doctor West on the old family estate in Prince George's county, Md.
Dr. Frank West was born in Prince. George's county, Md., March 20, 1851. His education was secured in the schools of Fau- quier county, Va. While still a youth he began farming with his brother and for seven years continued in that vocation. De- ciding on medicine as a profession he came to Baltimore, matriculating in the medical school of the University of Maryland, from which he graduated March 1, 1879. After a year's practice in the city he became resi- dent physician in the University Hospital, continuing in that institution from the last of February, 1880, to the Ist of April, 1885. At the close of his incumbency in the hos- pital he resumed private practice in the city until by reason of overwork his health failed
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in 1889. From March of that year until June of 1890 he resided in the Bahama Is- lands, practicing his profession and specu- lating in the products of the islands. His residence was most of the time on Green Turtle Key and Governor's Island, where the salubrious climate fully restored him to vigorous good health, as his present ap- pearance attests. Since his return Doctor West has resided and had his office at 59 Chase street. A general practitioner, Doc- tor West is a skillful surgeon as well, having successfully performed many dangerous and delicate operations during his profes- sional career in the city.
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