USA > Maine > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland Co., Maine > Part 32
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Their only daughter, Helen Williams Gilman, is the wife of John Taylor Gilman Nichols, M.D., of Cambridge, Mass.
SAMUEL HENRY TEWKSBURY, M.D., physician and surgeon of Portland, Me., was born in Oxford, Oxford Co., Me., March 22, 1819. His father, Jacob Tewksbury, born at West Newbury, Mass., May 27, 1782, studied medicine with Drs. Brickett and Chase. of Newburyport, and received his diploma from the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1802. He commenced practice as a physician and surgeon in Oxford,-then a part of Ilebron, Me.,-where he was continuously engaged in the duties of his pro- fession until near the time of his death, which occurred Keb. 27, 1848. He married Nov. 25, 1809, Charlotte Nelson, who died March 29, 1869. She was a lady of rare intellectual and Christian excellence. Dr. Jacob Tewksbury was one of the founders of the Maine Medi- cal Society in 1821. He commenced practicing medicine at a time when difficulties met the physician on every hand. For fifteen years he traveled on horseback, and afterwards made his journeys in a two-wheeled chaise,- the first brought into that vicinity. He was known as a very skillful practitioner in medicine and surgery, gifted in the diagnosis of disease, and made some rare operations in sur- gery. Ile was well read in the medical literature of his time, and had constantly with him and educated many students for the profession.
Ilis eldest son, George F., graduated at Bowdoin Col- lege, in the class of '33, at. Massachusetts Theological Seminary, at Andover, in 1837, and is now a Congrega- tional clergyman at Lyman, Me. His second son, Jacob M., graduated in the medical department of Bowdoin C'ol- lege, in the class of "36, practiced medicine in Oxford and Wiscasset, Me., for two years, in Buenos Ayres, South America, until 1849, when he went to San Francisco, Cal., where be acquired eminence and wealth. He died in Feb-
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.
ruary, 1877. Samuel 11., youngest son, prepared for col- lege at Hebron Academy, studied medicine with his father, and graduated in the medical department of Bowdoin College in the year 18-11. The following winter he attended lectures at Harvard College, and in the year 1843 began practice at Frankfort, Me. During the winter of 1843-44, he further prosecuted his medical studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. After remaining a short time in Frankfort he returned to Oxford, where, in 1844, he married Diana Eaton, daughter of Cyrus Shaw of that place, and entered into practice at Oxford with his father.
Two years after the death of his father he removed to Portland, where he has remained in the continuous prae- tice of medicine and surgery, and in the latter ranks among the first in the State. He was appointed aeting assistant surgeon under Gen. Anderson. Dr. Tewksbury is known to the citizens of Portland as kind-hearted, outspoken, and frank in his ways, persistent to carry forward to a success- ful completion whatever he conceives to be right, and un- commonly encouraging to the younger members of the profession, whom he is ever ready to counsel and assist. He has a warm attachment for his many friends.
Among the first rare surgical operations performed by Dr. Tewksbury was Symes' amputation at the ankle-joint, in 1856, upon a lady thirty-three years of age. This operation was attended with marked success, so that when an artificial foot was adjusted the patient had power of locomotion to an alinost perfect degree. Then followed an amputation at the knee-joint upon a boy eleven years of age. In this ease, when the artificial limb was applied, there was no difficulty experienced in bearing the whole weight of the body on the stump.
This was the second operation of the kind ever performed in the State; the first being made by Dr. Nathan Smith, in 1824. Iu 1862 he made an excision of the knee-joint for anchylosis of four years' standing, the patient being a boy of nineteen years of age. In this case recovery took place with only two inches of shortening. Iu all he has made eleven excisions of this joint, nine of which have proved successful. In the same year he made an excision of the hip-joint in a boy six years of age, removing over three inches of the head of the femur. Recovery took place with only one and a half inches of shortening, and all the lower u10- tions of the joint preserved. Ile has made many operations for excisions of joints, among them that of the wrist-joint, which was reported at length in the " Transactions of the American Medical Association," and has devoted most of his professional life to conservative surgery ; also paying special attention to the relief of deformities, in treating which he has met with a most marked degree of success.
For many years he stood in the front rank of the profes- sion, in Maine. in gynæcological practice, and many of the operations for diseases of females were first performed in the State by his hands. 1le was the first to operate for vesico-vaginal fistula ; also vesico-vaginal lithotomy. Iu ovariotomy, too, he has won for himself a prominent place among the surgeons of the country.
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He early identified himself with the progress of the Maine Medical Association, and was chosen president of that body
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in 1866, delivering his inaugural in June of the year fol- lowing. This address deserves more than passing notice ; for then, for the first time, did the medical profession of the State have their attention called to matters of a public ehar- acter. The anatomy bill was brought to the notice of the profession, and Dr. Tewksbury labored zealously but unsue- cessfully before the State Legislature in its behalf. 1Ie first ealled attention to the matter of compulsory vaccination. In this address, too, the matter of establishing the Maine General Ilospital was first mentioned, and the initiatory steps towards forwarding this State charity were, upon the strength of his suggestion, adopted.
Acting upou these suggestions, a committee was at that time appointed who labored hard and earnestly, and the re- sult of their labors stands to-day as one of our noblest State charities,-the Maine General Hospital. No man worked harder, and no man more earnestly desired the success of this institution, than Dr. Tewksbury ; and he was not only the pioneer in founding the institution, but was closely as- sociated with it from its very foundation to its completion, and was the first surgeon appointed to enter on duty after it was opened for the reception of patients. He continued in service there until 1878, when differences of opinion arising in regard to the management of the institution, both financially aud otherwise, between him and the board of directors, his name was omitted in the election of visiting surgeons to the institution.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
The Cumberland County Medieal Society was organized in November, 1867, at a meeting held for that purpose in Mechanics' Hall, in the city of Portland. Dr. S. H. Tewks- bury, chairman of the special committee, called the meeting to order, and upon his nomination Dr. John T. Gilman was chosen chairman pro tem., and Dr. S. C. Gordon, sceretary.
A committee on credentials was appointed, consisting of Drs. Weeks, Chadwick, and Buzzell, who reported twenty- three physicians present. On motion of Dr. Tewksbury, Drs. Foster, of Portland, Bates, of Yarmouth, and True, of Freeport, were appointed a committee to prepare and report a code of by-laws for the government of the society, which were accordingly reported, diseussed, and adopted.
Drs. Tewksbury, Dana, and Buzzell were appointed a com- mittee ou nominations, and at the adjourned meeting held in the afternoon, reported the following list of officers, who were unanimously elected: A. W. Anderson, Gray, Presi- dent; James M. Bates, Yarmouth, Vice-President; George F. French, Portland, Secretary; T. A. Foster, Portland, Treasurer, Business Committee: George F. French, ex- officio; A. H. Burbank, Yarmouth; E. Stone, Deering ; W. II. True, Portland; E. N. Tewksbury, Falmouth.
CONSTITUTION.
" SECTION 1. The name of this society shall be ' The Cumberland County Medical Society," and its objeet shall be the improvement of its members in the knowledge and treatment of disease and accident. "Str. 2. The officers of the society shall consist of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and a Business Committee of five, the Chairman of which shall be the Secretary.
" SEC. 3. The officers of this society may be elected by hand vote at each annual meeting, which shall be holden in November, at such place and en such day of the month as the Business Committee may report.
Photo, by M. F. King.
H. A. Foster
THOMAS ALBERT FOSTER, M.D., son of Thomas D. and Joanna (Carter) Foster, was born in Montville, Waldo Co., Me., Feb. 20, 1827. Ile was fifteenth child in a family of twenty-one children. llis father died in 1834, leaving his widow with a large family and limited means for their support. The mother, with that devotion to her children that only a mother ean have, did her part well to continue the best interests of the family, and still lives to see the result of ber moral and religious training as devel- oped in the mature lives of her children.
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At the age of twelve years Thomas A. went into the busy world to care for himself, unaided pecuniarily, but with that resolution and force of character that overcomes all difficulties, and which has been more fully developed in his subsequent life. His beginning was upon a farm, where he labored summers, and during the winter season attended school. His progress was so rapid that at the age of seven- teen he became a teacher, and for ten successive years, dur- ing the winter and fall terms, he taught sehool. He began the study of medicine, in the year 1853, with Dr. N. R. Boutelle, a prominent physician of Waterville and Kennebec County ; attended lectures at the Albany Medical College, and at the Pennsylvania Medical College in Philadelphia, and graduated M.D. at the latter institution in the spring of 1856. lIe commenced practice with his preceptor at Waterville, where he remained nearly three years ; further prosecuted his studies in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, and at Philadelphia during the winter of 1858-59 ; and in March, 1859, came to l'ortland, where he has remained in the continuous practice of his profession.
Dr. Foster is recognized by the medieal profession as a skillful physician, conversant with the most modern and successful treatment of diseases, a careful counselor, and well read in medical literature. His large practice and experience during the past ten years in obstetries has given
him rank among the first physicians in the State, and he is said to have performed the second operation of Cæsarian seetion performed in the State of Maine. Interested in local matters pertaining to the profession, he is a member of the Medical Club of Portland. IIe is a member of the Cumberland County Medical Society, and has filled the various offices in connection with that organization ; and he is also a member of the Maine Medical Association, and for two years was secretary, and for fourteen years treasurer of that society. Ile was an instructor for ten years in the Portland Medical School.
Dr. Foster's ability as a writer upon medieal subjeets, his clear and concise exposition as found in his various published reports, have received favorable publie and merited recognition. Ilis first report was upon the sanitary eon- dition of Portland. Embodied in the transactions of the Maine Medical Association may be found his reports upon " Epidemics of the State," " The Effects of Psychological Influence upon Disease," and " A Review of Clarke's Sex in Education."
Dr. Foster has been married three times. Ile first mar- ried, in 1849, Eliza Jane, daughter of Daniel MeManus, of Unity, Me.
llis eldest son, Barzillai B. Foster, studied medicine with his father; graduated in the medical department at Bowdoin College, and is now a practicing physician in Port- land. Ilis second son, Charles W., is a graduate of Colby University, and also of the medical department of Bowdoin College, and practices medicine at Woodford's Corners. Ilis third son, Ilenry, died at the age of two years. Ilis wife died in March, 1853. Ilis second wife was Adelaide, daughter of Edmund Woodman, of Searsmont, Me., whom he married in 1857. Shedied in 1864, leaving two daughters, Marietta and Joanna C. For his third wife he married Mary, daughter of Col. Isaac Woodman, of Searsmont, Me. The result of this union is one daughter, Ellura.
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THIE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
"Sx. 4. Any person proposed by two members and recommended by the Business Committee, having received a two-thirds vote in bis favor at any regular meeting of the society, may become a member by paying the admission fee and signing the Constitution and By-Laws. "SEC. 5. Charges against any member must he made in writing and passed to the Business Committee, and if deemed of sufficient importance by them, a special meeting shall be called to act thereon. By a majority vote of such meeting a member may be censured, it- peached, or expelled.
" SEC. 6. Any member not having charges or dues standing against him may obtain an honorable discharge at any regular meeting by making application therefor through the Secretary.
"SEC. 7. No political or religious question or point of medical ethics, or alteratien or amendment of Constitution and By-Laws, shall be brought up for discussion at any regular meeting of this society.
"SEC. 8. Ten members shall constitute a quorum for the transac- tion of business at any regular meeting, but it shall require the action of twenty-five members to make the business of a special meeting constitutional.
"SEC. 9. This Constitution may be altered or amended by a two- thirds vote at any special meeting called for that purpose, in the notice for which the proposed cbauge shall be mentioned."
BY-LAWS.
" ARTICLE I. The President shall preside at all meetings of the society, and confine the members in their remarks to the subject under discussion.
"ART. II. The Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President in his absence, and in the absence of both President and Vice-President a President pro tem. must he chosen to perform the duties of that office.
"ART. III. The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the society, shall arrange them fer publication, shall notify officers and members of their elcetions and appointments, shall give at least three days' notice of all meetings of the society by circular to each member, and shall present all applicants for membership er honorable discharge.
" ART. IV. The Treasurer shall collect all dues and assessments, receive admission fees and donations, pay all bills properly approved, and report at each annual meeting the financial condition of the society.
"ART. V. The Business Committee shall attend to the publication of the transactions of the society, act upon all charges preferred against members, order special meetings to be called when they deem it neces- sary, report the time and place of regular meetings, appoint at each regular meeting, at least three members to write essays upon medical or surgical subjects, to be read at the next regular meeting, appoint delegates to other medical bodies, pass to the President, at or before the beginning of each meeting, an order of business, and see that no nonecessary interruption break in upon that order. They shall also make inquiry into the character and standing of all applicants fer membership, requiring in all cases positive evidence of a diploma from some regular medical college before a vote for such applicant can be taken.
" Anr. VI. The admission fee to this society shall be three dollars, and the annual tax two dollars. By a nnanimous vote at a regular meeting a member may be exempt from taxation, after which he shall be considered ao honorary member.
" ART. VII. The members of the society are invited to preserve and forward to the Curator of the Maine Medical Association all in- teresting pathological specimens obtained by them, with a brief his- tory of the same.
"ART. VIII. A written essay or report should not require more than thirty minutes in its reading, and no member shall speak more than twenty minutes upon the same subject without permission from the President and Business Committee.
" ART. IX. Officers of this society shall assume the duties of their offices at the close of the meeting at which they are elected.
" AnT. X. All written reports and essays passed to the Business Committee er read before the society shall be the property of the society."
Members .- A. W. Anderson, Gray ; J. M. Bates, Yar- mouth ; John Buzzell, G. H. Chadwick, Portland; W. H. Cobb, Standish ; I. T. Dana, James de Wolf, Simon Fitch,
B. F. Fogg, T. A. Foster, G. F. French, J. T. Gilman, S. C. Gordon, E. S. Hatch, Portland ; R. P. Jenness, Saccarappa ; G. L. Kilgore, Windham ; HI. P. Merrill, D. O. Perry, Portland : Nathaniel Shannon, Cape Eliza- beth ; H. N. Small, Portland; E. Stone, Deering; S. E. Sylvester, Portland; E. N. Tewksbury, Falmouth ; S. Il. Tewksbury, A. S. Thayer, Portland ; W. II. True, Free- port ; S. HI. Weeks, Portland.
LIST OF OFFICERS.
Presidents .- A. W. Anderson, 1868; James M. Bates, 1869; S. H. Tewksbury, 1870; John Buzzell, 1871; E. Stone, 1872; T. A. Foster, 1873 ; William Osgood, 1874 ; S. H. Weeks, 1875; Nathaniel Shannon, 1876; Frederic H. Gerrish, 1877; A. S. Thayer, 1878; H. N. Small, 1879.
Vice-Presidents .- James M. Bates, 1868 ; S. H. Tewks- bury, 1869; John Buzzell, 1870; E. Stone, 1871 ; T. A. Foster, 1872; William Osgood, 1873; S. H. Weeks, 1874; Nathaniel Shannon, 1875; Frederic H. Gerrish, 1876 ; William B. Cobb, 1877 ; H. W. Hall, 1878; E. T. An- drews, 1879.
Secretaries .- George F. French, 1868 ; S. II. Weeks, 1869; S. C. Gordon, 1870; H. H. Ilunt, 1871; C. E. Webster, 1872; C. O. Files, 1873-76 ; G. H. Cummings, 1876-78; C. E. Banks, 1879.
Treasurers .- T. A. Foster, 1868; H. N. Small, 1869-75 ; B. B. Foster, 1875-78; J. A. Spalding, 1879.
PORTLAND SCHOOL FOR MEDICAL INSTRUCTION.
At the time of the founding of this school, in 1856, the list of older and best established physicians in Portland em- braced such men as John T. Gilman, William Wood, Gilman Daveis, and Charles W. Thomas, men of whom any city might have been proud. Immersed in the cares and occupations of practice, they were not disposed to take up the laboring oars in a school. They were ready, however, to give their hearty encouragement to such an enterprise, and in many ways to aid its establishment. Prominent among the younger physicians was Dr. William C. Robinson, and carly in 1856 an agreement was entered into between Dr. Rob- inson and Dr. Israel T. Dana to take students together, dividing the work. They invited Dr. Simon Fitch, who had recently removed to Portland, to join them, and the first annual announcement of the school was issued March, 1856, under the name of the " Portland Medical School for Preparatory lustruction."
The instructors of the first year, 1856-57, were Wm. C. Robinson, M.D., Materia Medica, Midwifery, and Diseases of Women and Children ; Israel T. Dana, M.D., Physiology, Pathology, and Practice ; Simon Fitch, M.D., Anatomy, Surgery, and Chemistry.
By arrangement with the managers the rooms of the Portland Dispensary were used as school-rooms. They had two students, N. W. Leighton and Franklin Staples. The next year the students numbered about half a dozen, and two rooms in the third story of No. 17.4 Middle Street were used as school-rooms. It would be interesting to follow the progress of the school step by step to its present well-established and recognized position among institutions
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.
of a similar character, giving for each year the list of in- structors and students, but it would swell to too large a number for our limited space.
In January, 1858, an act of incorporation was obtained from the Legislature, Drs. J. T. Gilman, Wm. Wood, Gilman Daveis, C. W. Thomas, W. C. Robinson, and I. T. Dana being named corporators, and the corporation was authorized to hold property to the extent of twenty thousand dollars.
In addition to those mentioned as instructors the first year, the following were added from year to year in the order named : Drs. Theodore Ingalls, A. M. Paddock, W. R Richardson, Charles II. Burbank, Thomas .1. Foster, George L. Goodale, Samuel II. Tewksbury, S. H. Weeks, William W. Greene, Charles O. Hunt, Frederic Heury Ger- rish, B. B. Foster, George F. French, Seth C. Gordon, IToratio N. Small, Charles W. Bray.
In 1866-67 the number of instructors was eleven, and the number of students fifteen.
Messrs. Nathan Cummings, John B. Brown, Samuel E. Spring, A. W. IT. Clapp, S. H. Tewksbury, Thomas A. Foster, and George L. Goodale were elected associate cor- porators.
An "auxiliary board" was also elected, consisting of thirteen prominent physicians, located in the different see- tions of the State, whose names appeared in the annual an- nouncement, and whose influence in their respective neigh- borhoods was expected to be used in favor of the school.
In 1872-73 the number of students was twenty. in 1873-74 the exercises of the school were suspended. The report at the beginning of 1874-75 says, "We enter upon the eighteenth year with new facilities. Important improvements have been made. The number of instruc- tors has been increased, and the consequent greater division of labor among the teachers will enable them to offer the students the results of more special study in cach depart- ment. The course for the ensuing year will therefore be far more thorough and comprehensive than ever before. More commodins apparatuses have been secured, and the accommodations are now ample for all the purposes of the school." This year the school occupied its permanent rooms in the elegant Canal Bank building on Middle Street. Since then the school has maintained more than its usual degree of prosperity. The following appear in the last published catalogne as the faculty for the year 1878-79 :
Instructors,-Israel T. Dana, M. D., Theory and Practice of Medicine ( Diseases of the Chest ) ; Stephen II. Weeks, M.D., Surgery ; William Warren Greene, M.D., Ophthalmic and Clinical Surgery ; Charles O. Hunt, M.D., Materia Medica and Therapeutics ; Frederic II. Gerrish, M.D., Physiology and Microscopical Anatomy ; George F. French, M.D., Theory and Practice of Medicine; Seth C. Gordon, M.D., Diseases of Women; Horatio N. Small, M.D., Obstetrics ; Charles W. Bray, M.D., Anatomy ; Charles A. Ring, M.D., Chemistry and Latin ; Thos. Fillebrown, D. M.D., Dentistry.
The following remarks from a published report respecting the instructors and graduates of this school will be found interesting :
" Five of the instructors have occupied professorial chairs in various medical colleges. Dr. Robinson was Professor
of Materia Medica, and also of Obstetrics, in the Medical School of Maine, 1862-72. Dr. Dana was Professor of Materia Medica, and also of Theory and Practice, in the Medical School of Maine, 1860-69. Dr. Goodale was Professor of Materia Medica in the Medical School of Maine, and also of Natural Science and Applied Chemistry in Bowdoin College, and now fills the chair of Vegetable Physiology in Harvard University. Dr. Greene has filled the chair of Surgery in the Berkshire Medical College, the Medical School of Maine, the University of Michigan, and the Long Island College Hospital. Dr. Gerrish is Professor of Materia Medica in the Medical School of Maine, and of Physiology and Materia Medica in the University of Michi- gan. Dr. B. B. Foster has been Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Medical School of Maine.
" Two of the instructors have been Presidents of the Maine Medical Association, viz. : Dr. Tewksbury in 1866, and Dr. Dana in 1868. Dr. T. A. Foster has been Presi- dent of the Cumberland County Medical Society.
" Six instructors have held commissions in the army or navy. Drs. Burbank and Richardson were commissioned assistant surgeons, United States Navy, in 1861, the lat- ter dying in the service in 1864, and the former still filling his position with honor. Dr. Hunt served in the late war as 1st Lieutenant, 5th Battery, Maine Volunteers. Dr. French was surgeon-in-chief of ' Logan's Division' on Sher- man's ' March to the Sea,' and also personal staff surgeon to General Grant at Vicksburg. Dr. Small was ranking surgeon-in-chief of 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 24th Army Corps, and also, for three months, ranking surgeon of same corps. Dr. Gordon entered the army in 1861, as assistant surgeon of the 13th Maine Infantry ; promoted to surgeon of 1st Louisiana Infantry, and afterwards surgeon on staff of Gen. Cameron, commanding 13th Army Corps in Red River campaign ; subsequently surgeon in charge of General Hospital at Natchez. Miss.
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