A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 28

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198

USA > Michigan > Branch County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan > Part 28

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This gives the past history of the association, although it seems that the committee was in error as to the time the old association had existed, a quar- ter of a century being nearer the correct time than half a century. Only two elections have been held up to the time of this writing, and the same officers were chosen at both meetings, namely: Gen. J. G. Parkhurst, president ; H. H. Barlow, vice president ; Wallace E. Wright, secretary, the county clerk being by provision of the constitution secretary of the association, and the present secretary therefore being Henry E. Straight; F. B. Reynolds, treasurer ; E. E. Palmer, C. U. Champion and Mark S. Andrews, executive committee.

The association has been called together several times to pass resolutions on the death of prominent members. October 5th following the organiza- tion, they met on the occasion of the death of Caleb D. Randall; in January 1905. on the death of William H. Compton; in August, 1905, after the death of Simon B. Kitchel, and in May, 1906, when the president, Gen. Parkhurst, passed away.

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CHAPTER XXVII.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

A chapter on the medical profession of Branch county must of course be largely biographical. It is in the men who have practiced medicine in the county that the chief interest centers. Therefore this chapter may be confined to an orderly mention of the members of the profession past and present and a brief description of some of the contrasted conditions that distinguish med- ical practices of pioneer times from that of the present.

The pioneer doctor had a wide and varied sphere of activity. The set- tlers were comparatively few and were scattered here and there over a large area. The practice coming from half the county no more than justified one physician in devoting all his time to professional duties. Thus Dr. Alvah Randall, the pioneer physician of Bronson, who settled in that township in 1835. was the only doctor in a country covered by a radius of ten miles from his home. When the pioneers of Gilead needed a physician they sent for Dr. Randall, who came over the new-made and rough roads that led through the woods and across the marshes to the cabins of Gilead. And the same was true in the other surrounding townships.

On the other side of the county, in Quincy. Dr. Enos G. Berry filled a similar and contemporary position. He had come to the township in 1835. at the age of twenty-two. A former biography says of him, " He visited the poor and destitute without charge, and took no mortgages or other securities of those unable to pay, but gave them such time as their circumstances re- quired : and. with other duties, continued the practice of medicine for about thirty years." This character of generosity and sympathy is the crowning tribute to the pioneer doctors. Compared with present day standards, their skill and knowledge was small. But of largeness of heart and of the old qual- ity of loving-kindness they had an abundance that rendered their ministra- tions in sickness and trouble effectual where greater skill would not have availed.

In the north part of the county, at Union City, the pioneer work in med- icine was done by the Hurd brothers, of whom there were. during the thir- ties and forties, three whose practice covered a large territory in Branch and Calhoun counties. Theodore C. and William P. Hurd. the latter locating at Union City in 1840 and the former some time previous, were men of high professional standards and with natural inclination for their work. Shortly after the death of Theodore C. Hurd in 1845 another brother. Henry S .. located in Union City.

All these physicians lived in the " saddle-bag" period. They traveled

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about on horseback, with their saddle-bags filled with medicine-principally quinine and calomel-and a few surgical appliances then in use. There were no telephones to use in calling the doctor, and a horseback rider galloping to town became the accepted signal to all the neighbors along the route that some one was ill at the rider's home and the latter was "going for the doc- tor." In reaching his patient the physician often had a long ride, in the very early days over a way marked by blazed trees, with toilsome detours around swamps or in order to cross a stream swollen by recent rains. Add the many hardships imposed by darkness and storm and bitter cold, and it is easy to point the contrast between conditions of practice sixty years ago and now.

Another point alluded to by a well known member of the profession in Branch county is that there was very little " office practice " among the early doctors. The numerous " chronic " afflictions that are familiar by name if not by personal experience to people of this age were hardly apprehended at that time. Chills and fevers brought on by the miasmas of the swamps or new-plowed soil were regularly expected each year in the " sickly season." The remedies were quinine and calomel, given in such quantities as would appall our physicians in modern practice. Not one grain of these drugs is given now where forty were prescribed less than half a century ago. Though their duties of diagnosis and prescription were thus comparatively light, the doctors generally visited the patients in their homes, and few made any effort to maintain a regularly appointed office and definite office hours.

Turning now to the center of the county,, at Coldwater we find the field of medical practice covered at an early date, the representatives of the pro- fession being continuous from 1830. Dr. William Henry is said to have been the first, while contemporaneous with part of his career in Coldwater was Dr. Enoch Chase, a man of considerable prominence, though he re- mained in this county only until 1834.

One of the familiar streets in Coldwater that intersects Chicago street is Hanchett street, so named in honor of the pioneer doctor, William Han- chett, who came to Coldwater in 1832. For nearly twenty years he remained at the head of the profession in the county. In 1846 he associated with him- self in practice his nephew, Dr. S. S. Cutter, another well known physician. who died about 1882. These men were not alone active in their profession, but a perusal of these pages and of former historical works on Branch coun- ty will show their names mentioned in connection with numerous undertak- ings of importance. They erected the first high-grade hotel structure in Coldwater, the old Franklin House, which was afterward burned and which stood where the Arlington is now located, at the corner of Chicago and Han- chett streets. Dr. Hanchett practiced here until the middle of the century, when he moved out west and died in Oregon.

The careers of all these early physicians have been sketched in the His- tory of 1879, and it is only necessary to recall the names of some of them. These were: Dr. Darwin Littlefield, whose name will be mentioned later in connection with the first organized movement for the advancement of the medical profession in Branch county, as also the name of Dr. H. B. Stillman,

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whose signature as county clerk is to be found on many records in the court house. In the same connection will be found the name of Dr. Mathew Gill.

The shuttle of time is continually removing the old and replacing with the new, and so we find that the greater number of the physicians who were in active practice at the time of the publication of the former history of the county are now dead or retired, and a new generation has succeeded them. Dr. S. S. Cutter was one of the first to pass away after the appearance of the former history. His career was intimately identified with Coldwater. He was the first mayor after its incorporation as a city ; he was a member of the special commission appointed to investigate the state charitable insti- tution, and one of the results of the recommendations of that commission was the establishment of the State Public School in Coldwater; he took a prom- inent part in local education, and his activity belonged to the general history of the city rather than to any one particular chapter.

Another physician who has passed away was Chester S. Tucker, who left his extensive property interests, acquired in practice and business, to the Home Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. D. C. Powers, who died November 4. 1887, was also versatile in his interests. He came to Coldwater before the war, served in the army as a surgeon, was at one time mayor of the city, was a director of the Southern Michigan National Bank. and gave considerable time to matters of public welfare. On February 24. 1002, death claimed Dr. James M. Long, who had been in Coldwater since 1861, and was ranked along with the others just mentioned. Of the same group was Dr. George K. Smith, who had begun his practice in Coldwater in 1852, and after an absence of some years and activity in other lines. he re- sumed practice in 1869.

When in his prime the late Isaac P. Alger was one of the leading physi- cians of Branch county. Dying at his home in Coldwater, April 18, 1904. he was then in his eighty-fourth year, and was a Branch county pioneer by vir- tue of over sixty years' residence within the county. He studied medicine with Drs. Hanchett and Stillman at Coldwater, beginning his practice in the forties. He was one of the first students of Rush Medical College of Chica- go. Dr. Alger was noted for his public spirit, and his interest in pioneer af- fairs and the history of his county continued till his death.

Along with the names of Dr. S. S. Cutter and Dr. Alger as physicians of the pioneer period stands that of John H. Beach, who began practice in Coldwater in 1849 and continued until his death in 1878. As already indi- cated, the practice of the early physicians was of a general nature, and there were no specialists in the county until very recently. But Dr. Beach, while having a general practice, excelled as a surgeon, and that at a time when the science of surgery had hardly begun to develop. He served as a regimental surgeon during the war. and after his return to Coldwater his skill as a sur- geon was in constant demand both at home and in various parts of the state.

The decade of the eighties saw the passing of the pioneer doctor of Union City, William P. Hurd, who died October 10, 1881. Others were Dr. Thomas Cody, of Batavia, who died April 12, 1882; Dr. M. E. Chaun-

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cey, who was the first physician of Girard, beginning practice there in 1843, and died May 7, 1884: Israel Wheeler, of Gilead, who died October 4, 1887, aged seventy-four.

During the nineties there passed away Charles Reading, of Quincy, July 2, 1891, at the age of eighty-six ; Jesse L. Cady, at Coldwater, June 21, 1892: Edward Twiss, at Union City, May 12, 1895, aged seventy ; Thomas W. Watkins, at Quincy, June 28, 1896; Dennis W. Rogers, at Union City, January 24, 1898; Timothy Baker, at Union City, February 20, 1898, aged eighty-one years; Dorr Fitzgerald, who had been in Union City since the seventies, on August 27, 1898, aged seventy-eight ; and Jay Wright, at Union City, May 3, 1899.

October 24. 1897, ended the remarkable career of William B. Sprague, after living one hundred years, seven months and twenty-six days. Gradu- ating from the medical college at Fairfield, New York, in 1826. in the spring of 1835 he came to Coldwater in company with Bradley Crippen, Philo H. Crippen, L. D. Crippen, James Fiske and Rev. Francis Smith. He was in active practice only a few years, but he early became connected with public affairs, being an associate judge of the circuit court in 1836, was also judge of probate and a member of the legislature. He was in all respects a pioneer, and as author of articles on pioneer life, among others " The Origin of the City of Coldwater," he contributed much to the permanent historical knowl- edge of the county.

Lansing C. Marsh, who began practice in Coldwater in 1853, died in Coldwater October 14, 1900, at the mature 'age of seventy-nine. Dr. Cor- nelius H. Woodcox, who first practiced in Gilead and later resided in Cold- water, died April 21, 1903, and on January 4, 1904. Coldwater lost Dr. Daniel S. Cunningham. November 12, 1904, Quincy lost Francis E. Marsh, who had practiced there for over twenty-five years, and was seventy years old at the time of his death. Less than a year later, on March 28, 1905, oc- curred the death of Hawkins A. King at Quincy, at the age of seventy-six. He had also been connected with the medical profession of that village a number of years. The most recent loss by death to the medical profession of the county was Dr. Eva J. Outwater, who died at Bronson January 9, 1906.

The older physicians have nearly all gone, and there are only a few whose careers in the county go back twenty-five years. In Coldwater the group of older physicians would include Stephen H. Clizbe, who has been practicing in the county since 1870 and in Coldwater for twenty-seven years ; L. A. Warsabo, who hasi been in the city about the same length of time, and William Wilson and Newton Baldwin. In Quincy Dr. Edson Blackman has been in practice about thirty years. Dr. Henry P. Mowry has been regis- tered at Bronson since 1883.

In January, 1900, the new law went into effect requiring the registra- tion of all physicians practiciing in the county to be made with the county clerk. In the book kept for that purpose will be found the names of the . practitioners residing in the county at that time as well as subsequent regis-

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trations. From this record the names of those registered for practice in the different localities of the county have been compiled.

In the city of Coldwater the physicians in order of registry are as fol- lows :

Newton R. Baldwin, L. A. Warsabo, E. T. Gamble, Othello Waters, Thomas J. Turner, David H. Wood. Daniel D. Cunningham, James M. Long, George Ferguson, George D. Slocum, William Wilson. A. G. Hol- brook, Frank G. Legge, Samuel Schultz, Dana G. Cook, Isaac P. Alger, Cornelius H. Woodcox. Lansing C. Marsh ( who died in 1900), Howard A. Grube, F. W. Stewart, Dresser B. Vincent. George V. Voorhees. Stephen H. Clizbe ( who moved to Coldwater in 1902), James B. Reece. John D. Bus- kirk (since removed), Dwight C. Crawford, E. E. Schwartz (osteopath). William W. Swett, James M. Cushman ; recent certificates filed are those of I .. B. Hawes (osteopath), Eudora V. Hallam, Edward R. Williams, Sadie L. Olmsted, E. S. Samm, James C. Valentine.

Those registering from Union City were:

Arthur S. Cornell ( since removed), William C. Henderson, Silas B. Frankhanser (since removed), Edward H. Hurd (a nephew of the pioneer doctor. W. P. Hurd), Cora B. Cornell (since removed). A. Dorothea Payne (removed), J. P. Jones and Estelle Jones, who registered in 1904.

At Kinderhook those registered were Wilbur A. Griffith (now in Cold- water), Lafayette Scheidler, Fred H. Harris.

At Girard were G. S. Gillet (who removed to Union City), Frank B. Marshall (removed), Edwin M. Chauncey, Ernest E. Hancock.

Matteson was represented by Morgan Shafer, who died December 30, IQ01.

Batavia furnishes the name of George A. McMasters to the record.

At Bethel were William H. Baldwin (since removed to Quincy), and John W. Martin.

From the village of Sherwood were registered Robert Fraser. Charles E. Nelthrope, and, in 1904, Clyde A. Leonard, and, in 1905, F. W. Clements. South Butler is the registered address of J. D. Bennett.

The names from Bronson are Seymour M. Cornell, Levi Sanders. Pyrl Gunsaullus, John E. Outwater, Henry P. Mowry, Eva J. Outwater, and, in 1904. Samuel Turner, and, in 1906, W. P. Mowry.

At Quincy, Edson Blackman, J. M. Blackman, Henry W. Whitmore, Charles S. Sears, James J. Williams. Francis E. Marsh, and, in 1905. Carl S. Sears.

Fast Gilead was represented by Francis Rupright.

California town furnishes the name of Ezra J. Ayers.

Though the present century has been termed the age of conventions and associations, in which almost every pursuit or profession has become a nucleus of affiliation of those having that common interest, yet organization for professional advancement and social benefits was tried in Branch county by members of the medical profession as long as sixty-five years ago.

One of the few items of local interest in the first issue of the Cold-

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water Sentinel, dated April 16, 1841, records a meeting of the physicians and surgeons of Branch county held at the court house in the village of Branch to organize the "Branch County Medical Society." Those who took part in this organization were: Darwin Littlefield. Mathew Gill, Henry B. Stillman, Lofus Hyatt and William P. Hurd. Dr. Littlefield was elected president, Dr. Hyatt vice president, Dr. Gill secretary, Dr. Stillman treas- urer, leaving Dr. Hurd as the only unofficial member. The annual meeting of this society was set for May, and so far as known the meetings were held for a few years. But eventually the society became moribund, and for many years its activity was intermittent if there was any at all.

Some four or five years ago a complete reorganization of medical socie- ties took place. Each county in the state of Michigan now has an official county medical society, membership in which is open to all physicians of the county upon payment of the membership fee of two dollars a year. By virtue of his membership in the county society each physician is a member of the Michigan State Medical Society. By the system of representation each county society is entitled to send two delegates to the annual session of the state society. The election of these delegates to the state body is at present the only official activity of the Branch County Medical Society, and the or- ganization may be called active only so far as to comply with the regula- tions affecting a subordinate body of the state society. There is an annual election of officers. and those serving at the present writing, May, 1906, are Dr. S. H. Clizbe, president, and Dr. S. Schultz, secretary and treasurer. The highest representative organization in American medicine is the American Medical Association. Its membership is made up of members of the various state societies and, therefore, of the county societies. So it is seen that mem- bership in the county society is the first degree that must be taken before any higher organization may be reached.

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CHAPTER XXVIII.

FRATERNITIES AND CLUBS.

Tyre Lodge No. 18. F. & A. M., the oldest fraternal organization in Coldwater, was organized April 1, 1847. with the following as charter members : John T. Haynes. Amos Bacon, Henry Buell. Samuel P. Noyes, Ichabod Davis. James Shoecraft, Myall P. Comstock. Elisha Warren, Brad- ley Crippen. William Keyes. Samuel Etheridge. Ira Bronson, Levi Daggett. The lodge now has a membership of three hundred and thirty-five, and the present officers are: WV. M., George H. Phinney: S. W .. G. C. Kleindinst ; J. W .. H. A. Close: Treasurer. W. E. Hodgeman: Secretary, C. D. Sutton ; S. D .. C. J. Moore: J. D .. M. J. Van Aken; Stewards. F. C. Faulkerson. John Ball.

Jacobs Commandery No. 10, K. T .. Coldwater, was organized March 3. 1860, in response to a petition signed by Sir Knights F. T. Eddy, Wales Adams, N. L. Southworth. A. G. Rose. J. A. Rose. C. H. Putnam. R. H. Drake. Artemas Allen, S L. Dart, Lyman Sleeper, who were the charter members. Its present officers are: C. E. Wise. E. C .: A. E. Pearce. Gen. : F. J. Dart. C. G .: H. B. George. Prel. : E. A. Brown. S. W .: F. D. Atwater. T. W .: H. A. Close, Treas .: B. F. Rolph. Rec .: G. E. Kleindinst. St'd B .: L. E. Lockwood. Sw. B .: Charles G. Moore. War .: A. R. Grove. Sent. The commandery now has a membership of one hundred and forty-six. The membership in 1860 was 21, in 1870 was 70. in 1880 was 74. in 1890 was 96. in 1900 was IIO.

Temple Chapter No. 21. R. A. M., Coldwater, was chartered Novem- ber 10, 1858, with the following members: J. H. Beech, Artemas Allen. S. L. Dart. R. H. Drake, J. B. Stevenson, E. Mather. A. McCrea, E. Perry. I.evi Dygatt, L. N. Southworth, Wales Adams. Daniel Burns. The present officers are: C. D. Sutton. K. P .: H. A. Close. K .: C. E. Wise. S .; B. L. Van Aken. Treas .: B. M. Fellows, Secy .; W. H. Simons. C. H .; B. F. Rolph, P. S .; E. A. Brown. R. A. C .; O. Waters, M. 3 V .: L. E. Lockwood, M. 2 V .: F. R. Fiske, M. I V .; A. R. Groves, Sent.

Mount Moriah Council No. 31, Royal and Select Masons, was formed in November. 1859, under a dispensation granted by the T. I. P. G. of the state of Michigan, its first officers being as follows: T. I. G. M .. S. L. Dart ; D. I. G. M., M. Mansfield ; P. C. of W .. R. H. Drake; C. of G., J. B. Steven-

*The data concerning lodges and societies was sought by letters and in some cases personal requests. The precise information could not be obtained in every instance, and a number of excellent organizations are not noticed because no replies were made to the requests.

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son; G. S., D. Bovee ; Recorder, F. T. Eddy; Treasurer, A. Allen.

Coldwater has the honor of having the oldest Eastern Star Chapter in the state, it being Number I.

Sherwood Lodge No. 428, F. & A. M., was organized August 16, 1897, with these charter members: W. B. Chiesman, W. E. Hanna, H. J. Fonner, G. H. Seymour, C. B. Wilcox, Henry Runyan, C. E. Swain, A. R. Klose, H. J. Klose, Daniel McCarty, L. P. Wilcox, Frank Thoms, E. W. Watkins, J. F. McIntyre, Robert Fraser. The present officers are : W. M., R. Fraser ; S. W., F. W. Clement; J. W., E. H. Warner; Treas., Fred Hass ; Secretary, H. Runyan; S. D., Daniel McCarty; J. D., F. Tillotson; Stewards, Irving Evert. Wm. Wrigglesworth; Tyler, L. P. Lovejoy.

Centennial Rebekah Lodge No. 22, at Coldwater, was instituted March 30. 1876 (hence the name), with the following charter members: W. H. and Mary Allen, Alfred and Lucina Milnes ( Mr. Milnes being the first noble grand). R. D. and Eliza J. Jefferds, William and Sarah Sawyer, L. M. and M. J. Grey, L. B. and Laura A. Gibbs, Charles and Etta Johnson, Fred and Mrs. Chaffer, J. P. and R. A. Flynn, Robert and Louisa Willis, Leroy and Laura Butler, William and Hattie M. Hurst, R. C. Sawdey, Mary J. Barnes, Josie Henderson. The present officers are: Sarah Withington, N. G .; Charlotte Clement, V. G .; Ida Mix, Rec. Sec .; Hattie Sherwood, Fin. Sec .; Lizzie Smith, Treas. Starting with a membership of 27, the lodge now has 165 members in good standing.

The Odd Fellows are one of the oldest fraternities in Coldwater. the other three branches, from which no data were furnished, being Coldwater Lodge No. 31. I. O. O. F., Canton Milnes No. 2, P. M. of I. O. O. F., and Encampment No. 86.

Lodge No. 62, A. O. U. W., of Coldwater, was instituted March 3, 1879, with the following charter members: J. Clark Pierce, David B. Pur- inton, William B. Keller, Henry A. Wolcott, James R. Dickey, George B. Tompkins, Howard Broadhead, Lewis A. Peckham, Samuel R. Luxmore, Warren A. Blye, Frank A. Fisk, L. H. Edgerton, A. D. Snyder, A. W. Buck- ley, Albert Johnson, Lansing M. Gray, Cyrus H. Burghardt, Charles W. Fairbanks, George W. Lee, Alonzo J. Munyon, Isaac E. Ives, John J. Lewis, Allen Vanderhoof, George H. Turner, Mortimer L. Knowles, David B. Hurst, William H. Stevens, Isaac Vanderhoof, Oscar W. Lee, Robert Watson, Henry Gage, Frederick W. Flandermeyer, Jerome S. Wolcott, Jefferson S. Conover, Earnest D. Lenders, Levi M. Reynolds.

Excelsior Tent No. 104, K. O. T. M., Coldwater, was organized Novem- ber 23, 1903, with the following as charter members: William H. Allen, George Clegg, F. J. Dart, Henry W. Driskell, Perry W. Ellinger, Frank Finch, Arthur Fonda, George Faust, Dr. B. R. Ferguson, Fred W. Fish, Wil- ber French, Lewis H. Fellers, Dr. E. F. Gamble, George M. Howe, Seymour Kleindinst, Gerry Kleindinst, Clarence E. King, F. E. Lyon, G. A. Jewell, C. E. Jewell, John T. Pickhaver, A. A. Steller, James R. Stewart, Peter Sandt, C. L. Sawyer, Fred S. Sisco, John Soderquist, Samuel Stone, Dr. Samuel Schultz, E. H. Williams. The present officers are: Past Com-

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mander, G. E. Kleindinst; Commander. William T. Stansell; Lieutenant Commander. S. H. Kleindinst: Record Keeper. L. H. Fellers: Finance Keeper. George Clegg: Chaplain, Charles Knapp: Master-at-Arms. H. W. Driskell: First Master of Guards. Peter Parshall; Second Master of Guards, L. W. Burch: Sentinel. George M. Howe: Picket. George Faust. The tent has a membership of 31.

Coldwater Hive No. 138. L. O. T. M., was organized February 13. 1892, with the following as charter members: Myra Barron, Locelia Bingham. Cora E. Brown. Mary E. Bracket, Mary L. Broughton, Ida J. Close, Mary S. Chapman. Rose B. Carpenter. Mary E. Crippen. Minnie J. Cook, Anna L. Gowdy, Jennie E. Green, Vurbia M. Kleindinst, May Kleindinst. Mary A. Maynard. Caroline McCarty. Luella J. Robinson. Mary E. Smith. Celia Swaffield. Belle Schmedlen, Katie C. Turrill. Lutie M. Twist, Kittie F. War- sabo, Hattie A. Wells, Ella A. Yapp. The present officers are: Past Com- mander. Sophronia Huested: Commander, Mary E. Crippen: Lieutenant Commander, Lutie M. Twist: Record Keeper. Cora E. Brown; Finance Keeper. Mary A. Maynard; Chaplain, Dora Kinsman: Sergeant, Minnie Grundy: Mistress-at-Arms, Katie Jackson: Sentinel, Josephine Jepson : Picket. Nettie Quackenbush.

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A twentieth century history and biographical record of Branch County, Michigan, Part 28

Author: Collin, Henry P Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Collin, Henry P
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing
Number of Pages: 1198