USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine, Volume II, 1875-1900 > Part 16
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The early education of Mr. Otis was obtained in the public schools of Belfast and at Westbrook Seminary, near Portland. In 1859, he entered the freshman class of Tufts College, and four years later took the degree of Bachelor of Arts at that institution. His natural ability, fondness for study and close application won for him the highest
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honors. He received the Goddard Prize for English composition, and at the termination of his college course was chosen a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which, as is well known, admits only the first scholars in its several branches as members. After graduating he read law for a year with Hon. Nehemiah Abbott, of Belfast, then engaged in an extensive practice, and having passed another year at the Law School at Harvard College, was admitted to the Waldo County Bar at the October term of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine in 1865.
Desiring to obtain a still higher standard of legal equipment, he devoted an additional year to study at the Dane Law School, receiving in 1866 the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Harvard, and in the same year the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater.
Immediately commencing practice in Boston, he was for several years connected in legal business with the late ex-Governor John Albion Andrew (Bowdoin College, 1837), and after the death of the latter, with the Governor's son, Hon. John Forrester Andrew (Harvard University, 1872), recently deceased.
Mr. Otis did not aspire to distinction in the forensic department of his vocation. He preferred "the cool sequestered vale of life" to the strifes of the courtroom. His natural function was that of adviser and counsellor rather than that of barrister or advocate. In positions of confidence and trust his services were constantly employed. Public honors did not possess for him an attraction. "Quiet studies" and the companionship of chosen friends gave him an enjoyment rarely to be found amid the excitement of political life.
As a man, friend, and neighbor, Mr. Otis was greatly esteemed. His sincerity and candor commanded the respect of all who came within his influence. In conversation there were few subjects which he did not illustrate by fascinating and brilliant remarks. He was ever ready with a pertinent anecdote, and a certain felicity of expression which never failing to enlist attention made his presence welcome and entertaining wherever he went. But his bright shafts were free from acerbity, and left no wound. To malevolence or envy he was a stranger. If he could not speak well of one, he spoke not at all. He had gathered a large library of the books which he loved, and of which he was a constant reader, and his literary criticisms were just and sagacious. The memory of his endearing qualities will always be cherished by those who knew him. An old neighbor said, upon learning of his death, "he was a man made to be loved."
Mr. Otis was tall and erect of figure, of handsome features, of cour- teous and dignified bearing, and of a countenance which was full of light, especially when it reflected the sallies of quiet humor which he was ever ready to give and to receive.
During the last ten years of his life he passed a part of every season at Isle au Haut, off the coast of Maine, where, with other members of the "Point Lookout Club," he had landed interests. He was never married. An only sister, Martha Jane Otis, survives him. Soon after his mother's death, he purchased the Nickerson homestead, so called
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a beautiful spot at "The Narrows," just above the business centre of Belfast, and commanding a view of the wide expanse of Penobscot Bay, and the blue summits of Mount Desert. Here, during many summers, he engaged in horticulture. The adornment of his grounds, as well as of the rooms of the old-fashioned house in which he lived, showed in every detail his refined and cultivated taste.
The death of Mr. Otis, which resulted from heart disease, was sudden. Although his friends had been long aware that he was in declining health, his cheerful spirits suggested no immediate apprehension of danger. He was to be seen about the streets as usual only the day before he died.
In religious faith Mr. Otis was a Unitarian, and was much attached to the service of King's Chapel in Boston, which for many years was his place of worship. While in Belfast, he constantly attended services at the Church of the First Parish.
He became a resident member of the New England Historic Genea- logical Society in 1869, and for several years acted as one of the Com- mittee on Papers and Essays. Since 1885, he has been on the roll of corresponding members of the Maine Historical Society. In the objects of these organizations he ever manifested a deep interest, and con- stantly contributed to them not only with his pen, but by donations of books and ancient documents. Of the Belfast Free Library he was a liberal patron, and his valued counsel concerning its management is held in grateful recollection.
CHAPTER XXII
PHYSICIANS
Names of those in Practice in 1875 - Regular Allopathic and Homoeopathic Physicians since - Biographical Sketches - Physicians of Other Schools - Resident Dentists - Belfast Dentists practicing elsewhere - Veterinary Surgeons.
TN January, 1875, the following physicians were in practice in Belfast: John George Brooks, David Pollard Flanders, John Murray Fletcher, John Homer, Horatio Huntington Johnson, Jr., Richard Moody, Lewis Warrington Pendleton, Elmer Small, and Albert Thompson Wheelock. Biographical sketches of each, up to that date, are given in the earlier volume. Doctors Brooks, Flanders, and Small are all of the number who remain.
DR. JOHN GEORGE BROOKS gradually relinquished active practice, after 1872. He served as Mayor of Belfast, in 1874 and 1875, and as Representative to the Legislature in 1880. He has been a trustee of the Belfast Savings Bank from its establish- ment in 1868, and since 1879, has been president of the Belfast National Bank. Dr. Brooks died 24 March, 1904.
DR. DAVID POLLARD FLANDERS continues in the same active and successful practice which has characterized hin for over forty years, and still occupies the office in the Opera House Block, Belfast, where he has been since its erection in 1866.
DR. JOHN MURRAY FLETCHER, who had practiced in Belfast since 1874, died 7 August, 1899, of pleurisy, after a long illness. In addition to general practice, he made a specialty of diseases of the eye, for which he took a post-graduate course in New York. He was active in municipal affairs, being a member of the City Council in 1879 and 1880, an Alderman in 1881, City Physician, 1878-80, and Mayor in 1897 and 1898. During his administra- tion, the railroad debt was refunded with a reduced rate of inter- est. In 1885 and 1886, he held the office of County Treasurer, and for several years received the appointment of Pension Examining Surgeon. He belonged to four Masonic institutions. His widow, a daughter of the late Dr. George Holmes, of Bel- mont, and two children, Edward Holmes Fletcher and Sarah
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Holmes Fletcher who married George Austin Bailey, survived him. Mr. and Mrs. G. A. Bailey are both now deceased.
DR. JOHN HOMER, a graduate of Harvard University Medical School in 1863, came to Belfast at the close of 1874, and re- mained about four years. His office was at No. 58 Main Street. He was City Physician in 1877.
DR. HORATIO HUNTINGTON JOHNSON died of typhoid fever, 4 August, 1896, aged fifty-one. He took great interest in surgery, and achieved high success in many complicated cases. A close student of his profession, he kept up with the advance in medical science and practice. As a man, he was social, and had many friends. He married Martha, daughter of Captain William H. Brown, who survives him.
DR. RICHARD MOODY, who came to Belfast in 1829, died 2 October, 1884, aged eighty-one years. He was born in Saco. He graduated from the Medical School of Maine in 1828, and began the practice of his profession in Belfast two years later. During his long and active life, he took a lively interest in all matters pertaining to the social, moral, and intellectual improve- ment of the community. He was of decided opinions, and thor- oughly honest and conscientious. He was Mayor of Belfast in 1860. For many years he was a prominent Odd Fellow. For some years prior to his death he had been in failing health, and passed several winters in Virginia. His widow, Eliza J. Moody, a daughter of the late Frye Hall, and four children, William H., Richard Henry, Mrs. Augusta Jane Moody Howes, and Mrs. Elizabeth Moody Daughtrey, of Norfolk, Virginia, survived him.
DR. LEWIS WARRINGTON PENDLETON. In March, 1880, after fifteen years of professional life in Belfast, Dr. Pendleton re- moved to Portland, where he soon acquired a large practice, and became one of the best known and successful physicians in that city. His death took place at Palm Beach, Florida, 11 January, 1898, at the age of fifty-three. He was a man of integrity, a good citizen, and a warm friend. He was survived by his widow, a daughter of the late William Harrison Conner, of Belfast. Their son, Dana, a promising young man of eighteen, died in 1896.
DR. ELMER SMALL, whose professional life in Belfast began 1 January, 1872, continues in active and extensive practice. He was appointed to the United States Marine Hospital service in 1891.
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DR. ALBERT THOMPSON WHEELOCK, died 5 March, 1876, aged sixty-three years. He resided in Belfast thirty-four years. He was never married.
DANIEL SYLVESTER, although not the recipient of any diploma authorizing the title of Doctor, was called such for many years, and should be mentioned in this connection. He was born in Freedom, in 1808, and learned the trade of a wheelwright. When twenty-five years old, he was treated for illness by the noted Dr. Samuel Thompson, from whom he received instruction in the Thompsonian system. In 1835, after practicing in Freedom and other towns, he came to Belfast, where he remained until his death, which took place 17 July, 1895, at the age of eighty-seven years. In 1840, he married Jane, daughter of the late Robert Patterson, 2d, of Belfast. Of their five children, Mrs. Lizzie Hall, a well-known school-teacher, survives. A son, Eugene, died in Andersonville Prison during the Civil War. Dr. Sylves- ter was a man of strong prejudices, but of good judgment.
The following regularly educated allopathic and homopathic physicians came to Belfast after January, 1875. Their names are given alphabetically : -
DR. FRED A. DAVIS, a graduate of the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, came to Belfast in May, 1884. He had practiced at Ellsworth. His office was in Phoenix Row. His stay was brief.
DR. ARTHUR CHILDS ELLINGWOOD was born in Swanville, 4 December, 1846. He received the degree of M.D. at the Medical School of Maine, in 1873. He first practiced at the Head of the Tide, and removed to the city proper in 1890. He was City Physician in 1886, 1887, 1888, 1891, and 1892.
DR. EDWARD WILLIAM GOULD resided in Belfast from 1878 to 1884. He was born in Bucksport, 27 May, 1853; graduated at the Maine Medical School in 1887; practiced at Swanville and Searsport, afterwards removed to Thomaston; and now resides in Rockland. He was Commissioner of Seashore Fisheries, in 1890-93.
DR. JOHN CHELLIS HAM, from Morrill, came to Belfast in 1893. He was City Physician in 1893 and 1894.
DR. HENRY S. HUNTINGTON resided on Northport Avenue,
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Belfast, during portions of 1880 and 1881. He is supposed to have died suddenly in Augusta, 10 February, 1884, aged about sixty years.
DR. H. M. JEWETT, from Bangor, but formerly of Woodstock, New Brunswick, a graduate at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, Maryland, was in Belfast, in May, 1890, and had an office in the Johnson Block.
SAMUEL WORTH JOHNSON was born 15 October, 1842, in Albion. He graduated at the Medical School of Maine in 1864, and after practicing in Dixmont several years, came to Belfast in September, 1882. He was City Physician in 1883, 1884, 1885, 1889, and 1890. He continues in practice (1913).
DR. GUSTAVUS CLARK KILGORE, a native of Smithfield, was born in 1850. After teaching in several Maine seminaries, he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Ver- mont, in 1880, and commenced practice here in October, 1880, his first office being in the Johnson Block. He was City Physi- cian in 1881 and 1882.
DR. ARTHUR LINCOLN PARSONS, of Augusta, a graduate of the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1890, came to Belfast in June, 1891, and took an office in the Masonic Temple. In March, 1892, he moved to Bucksport, succeeding Dr. W. C. Stetson, of that town. He was born in Augusta, 8 October, 1869, and died there 31 July, 1895. He had married 17 March, 1892, Annie Haywood Treat, who survived him.
DR. EUGENE LESLIE STEVENS, son of Augustus and Sarah J. (Dyer) Stevens, of Troy, was born 20 September, 1865. He graduated at Bates College in 1889, was Principal of the High School at Absecom, New Jersey, 1889-90, and received the degree of M.D. at the Medical School of Maine, in 1892. He practiced first at Howard, Rhode Island, and came to Belfast in 1895. He was City Physician in 1895, 1897, and 1899. He is one of the Waldo County Board of Pension Examining Surgeons.
DR. JOHN STEVENS, JR., a native of Bangor, settled in Belfast in December, 1897. His degree of M.D. was from the University of Minnesota. He was chosen City Physician in 1898 and in 1900. Dr. Stevens married Miss Bessie Loucebe, daughter of Henry Clay Marden, 24 December, 1900.
DR. EVERARD ALLEN WILSON is a native of Searsmont. After being concerned in the business of an apothecary, and attending
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lectures at the University of Vermont, he graduated at that in- stitution in 1897. Hew as subsequently Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy there. He commenced practice in Belfast in 1899, being associated with Dr. Gustavus Clark Kilgore.
Among persons born in Belfast, who have taken degrees as regular doctors of medicine, and settled elsewhere, are the following: -
DR. JAMES CLARKE WHITE. (The following biographical sketch of Dr. White is taken from the publication entitled " Who's Who in America," Vol. VII, 1912-13, by permission:)
Born, Belfast, Me., July 7, 1833; s. James Patterson and Mary Ann (Clarke) White; A.B., Harvard, 1853, M.D., 1856; studied at Vienna, 1856-57; m. Martha Ann Ellis of Boston, Nov. 5, 1862. Began practice at Boston, 1857; lecturer, 1863-64, adj. prof. chemistry, 1866-71, instr. med. chemistry, 1871-72, prof. Dermatology, 1871-1902, prof. emeritus, 1902, Harvard Med. Sch. Fellow Am. Acad. Arts and Sciences; mem. Am. Dermatol. Soc. (1st pres. 1902-03), Internat. Dermatol. Assn. (ex-pres.); foreign hon. mem. dermatol. socs. of London, Berlin, Vienna, and Italy; corr. mem. French Dermatol. Soc., Royal Soc. Medicine of Great Britain, Argentine Dermatol. Soc .; hon. mem. New York Dermatol. Soc .; ex-pres. Mass. Med. Soc. Republican. Unitarian. Club: Somerset. Author: Dermatitis Venenata, 1887. Contbr. to med. periodicals. Address: 259 Marlboro St., Boston.
DR. WILLIAM HENRY WINSLOW, born in Belfast, 1840, son of William and Anna C. Winslow; graduate of Belfast High School; Cadet Midshipman at Naval Academy, 1858, and served through- out the Civil War; resigned as Acting Master (Junior Lieutenant), October, 1865; graduated at Jefferson Medical College, with degree of M.D. in 1871; graduated at University of Pennsylvania, with degree of M.D. in 1874, and Ph.D. in 1875; was Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy in University, 1874-78; studied in London and Paris hospitals; physician to Children's Hospital; surgeon to Bedford Street Hospital; surgeon Wills Opthalmic Hospital; Lecturer at Philadelphia Medical College, and mem- ber of city, state, and national medical societies. He practiced for many years in Pennsylvania, and now resides in Roxbury District, Boston, Massachusetts. He has written and published "The Ear and its Diseases," 1882; " Cruising and Blockading," 1885; "The Sea Letter," 1903; "Southern Buds and Sons of War," 1907; and "Navy Lads and Lassies," 1911.
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PHYSICIANS
DR. DUDLEY ALLEN SARGENT. (The following biographical sketch of Dr. Sargent is taken from the publication entitled, " Who's Who in America," Vol. VII, 1912-13, by permission:)
Director physical training; b. Belfast, Me., Sept. 28, 1849; s. Benja- min and Caroline (Rogers) Sargent; A.B. Bowdoin, 1875, A.M. 1887; M.D. Yale, 1878; (hon. Sc.D., Bowdoin, 1894); m. Ella Fraser Ledyard, of Brooklyn, April 7, 1881. Dir. Hemenway Gymnasium since 1879, asst. prof. physical training, 1879-89, Harvard; dir. Normal School of Physical Training, Cambridge, Mass., since 1881. Fellow of the American Assu. for Advancement of Science. Inventor of modern gym- nasium apparatus. Pres. Am. Assn. Promotion Physical Training, 1890-95, Health Education League, 1907. Author: Universal Test for Strength, Handbook of Developing Exercises, Speed and Endurance, 1902; Health, Strength and Power, 1904; Physical Education, 1906; also numerous articles and papers on physical training; Handbook of Measurements and Anthropometric measurements. Home: 27 Everett St., Cambridge, Mass. He has one son, Ledyard, a graduate of Harvard, and engaged in research work in chemistry and scientific agriculture.
From the "Biographical History of Massachusetts," we append a few paragraphs concerning Dr. Sargent, adapted as follows: -
While still a boy he lost his father, who was a ship-carpenter and sparmaker; and from the age of twelve he lived largely in the service of an uncle, who was a farmer, merchant, manufacturer, and general builder and contractor. By work with him, young Sargent acquired a knowledge of a variety of manual labors, on the farm, in the mills, in rough carpentry, in the handling of farm products, and in the care of horses. He lived by the water, and learned to row, skate, and swim as unconsciously as to walk, and he had a special fondness for athletic games. During the Civil War he shipped as a sailor on coasting vessels. The value of this early training on his future career can hardly be over- estimated. It gave him physical strength, agility, and resourcefulness, as well as a knowledge of men and things.
An adept in gymnastic feats, he accepted the position of director of the gymnasium at Bowdoin as the means of earning a college education. After graduating at Bowdoin College, he took a similar position at Yale, as giving him the opportunity for medical instruction. He re- mained at Yale until 1879, when he became director of the Hemenway Gymnasium at Harvard, where he continues.
In 1881, he established a normal school in Cambridge for the training of teachers in physical education, and started the Harvard Summer School of Physical Training in 1887. These two schools have had an attendance of some twenty-five hundred students of both sexes, many of whom have gone forth to teach the various branches of physical education in schools, colleges, and athletic associations throughout the United States and Canada. Military and naval schools have adopted
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his system of measurements and his apparatus; and distinguished mili- tary officers have been among his pupils.
He has invented many pieces of gymnastic apparatus and developing appliances, anthropometric charts, and systems of measurements, cards and handbooks. Together with the late Frederick Law Olmsted, he planned and established the first out-of-door gymnasium in America, at the Charlesbank in Boston.
Dr. Sargent is president of the Boston Health Education League, which has for its chief function the publication and dissemination of literature on personal hygiene and the general care of the health. Some two hundred thousand of these booklets have been distributed to boys and girls at school, to working-men and women, and to fathers' and mothers' Clubs.
In view of Dr. Sargent's prominent position as a physical director, and his lifelong success in educating youth, it may be of interest to re- pcat here his oft-quoted advice, as follows: "Young men should peruse the biographies of those who have succeeded in life, and should early engage in a variety of manual occupations and athletic exercises, thus training their active as well as their receptive faculties."
DR. HERBERT EUGENE KNOWLTON, born at Belfast, 28 February, 1866; son of Lewis Allen and Elizabeth Eaton (Pendleton) Knowlton. He graduated at the Harvard Medical School, with the degree of M.D. in 1891, and established himself in practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he still continues.
GEORGE FRANKLIN EAMES, M.D., D.D.S. He received the degree of D.D.S from the Philadelphia Dental College in 1877, and that of M.D. from the Jefferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, in 1882. He was Professor of Pathology and Thera- peutics in Boston Dental College from 1888 to 1899; president of the Massachusetts Dental Society, 1888-89, of the Dental Section, American Medical Association, 1904-05, and of the American Academy of Dental Science, 1900. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and an Active Fellow of the Boston Medical Library Association. He is author of "Practice of Dental Medicine," a work which was adopted as a textbook in dental colleges by the National Association of Dental Facul- ties; and was the originator of the individual communion cup in churches, etc. From 1900 to 1905 he was an American corre- spondent of the French journal "La Revue de Stomatologie."
FREDERICK CLIFFORD GAY, M.D., son of Edwin H. and Mary (Murch) Gay, was born in Belfast, 18 April, 1864. He graduated from the Belfast High School in 1883, and from the New York
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University Medical College in 1891. In 1892, he began the prac- tice of his profession in Bangor, where he was elected City Physician and Secretary of the Penobscot County Medical Society. He held these offices until 1894, when he removed to Windsor, Vermont. In 1902, he left Windsor and established himself in Brooklyn, New York, where he has since continued in practice, at No. 7 Hancock Street.
The following list comprises physicians of other schools, or claiming to be such, 1875 to 1900: -
J. A. BEECHER, M.D., electro-therapeutist, who had practiced at Bangor and Searsport, was in Belfast during a portion of 1886.
BENJAMIN COLSON, clairvoyant, came to Belfast from Pros- pect, in September, 1886.
JASON GORDON, a native of Thorndike, who obtained the degree of M.D. from the Magnetic and Electric School of Boston, commenced practice in Belfast in May, 1883. He died March 3, 1894.
LUTHER WILLIAM HAMMONS, M.D. (degree from Maine Med- ical Association), electric, who practiced in Islesboro for six years, moved to Belfast in 1891. He was City Physician in 1896.
PRINCE EDWARD LUCE, a native of Waldo, was a member of the medical classes of 1884 and 1887, in the University of Ver- mont, but is not credited with any degree there. He commenced practice in Belfast in 1887, afterwards resided in Rockland, Bangor, and other places, and returned to Belfast in 1899.
MRS. SARAH FRANCES MEADER, became a metaphysician in 1883, removed to Lynn, and acquired prominence in meta- physical circles, as a writer, lecturer, and practitioner.
B. MERRILL, electric, resided in Belfast during 1880 and 1881.
DR. D. P. ORDWAY, from Belmont, occupied the office in Belfast vacated by Dr. Sherman, in 1887.
DR. H. M. RACKLIFF, opened an office in the Hayford Block, Belfast, in April, 1881. He came from Brooklyn, New York.
DR. JAMES H. SHERMAN, resided in Belfast from 1884 to 1887. He removed to Malden, Massachusetts, and thence to North Middleboro, Massachusetts, where he now resides.
THOMAS HORATIO SIDELINGER. His name first appears in Belfast, as an electric physician in 1899. He received the degree of M.D. from the Medical College of Milwaukee in 1896.
W. A. STACEY, electric, practiced in Belfast during portions of 1878-79.
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DENTISTS
DR. GILMAN PINGREE LOMBARD is the oldest dentist in Bel- fast, having established himself there in 1871, succeeding Dr. Calvin Moore, who moved that year to California. The follow- ing is from the "Republican Journal" of March 24, 1890: -
Mr. H. J. Locke, of Belfast, has received a letter from his niece at San Francisco, stating that Dr. Calvin Moore died at his home in that city, March 5, in the 66th year of his age, of apoplexy. Dr. Moore was a dentist, a native of Limerick, in this state, and came to Belfast in 1851 or 1852. He was one of the most successful dentists in the country, and built up a large practice. His first wife died here in 1868. Then he married Mrs. Samuel W. Locke. In 1871 Dr. Moore sold out his practice to Dr. G. P. Lombard and removed to San Francisco, where he has since resided. As in the East, Dr. Moore soon became known at his new home as a skilful dentist, and obtained a large practice. He leaves a wife and six children, two being Mrs. Moore's by her former marriage. Dr. Charles Locke succeeds to the business of his stepfather.
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