USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. I > Part 55
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Lack of space forbids detailed mention of all private and parochial schools in the county, but the foregoing are the principal ones. Ac- cording to the report of the State Superintendent of Education, in 1915, there were 4 private and 31 parochial schools in Kent county, employing 198 teachers and enrolling 7,720 pupils. In addition to these were the usual complement of commercial and business colleges. With these private institutions and the magnificent public school sys- tem, the citizens of the "Valley City" and Kent county are not lack- ing in educational facilities.
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CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
THE FIRST PHYSICIAN-SKETCHES OF MANY PRACTITIONERS-WOMEN PHYSICIANS-MEDICAL SOCIETIES-HOMEOPATHY-CITY HEALTH CONDITIONS.
Just who was the first physician to ply his vocation in Grand Rapids is not certain. Among the early settlers at Gull Prairie was a gentleman known as Dr. Jason Winslow, who at least had some knowledge of medicine and surgery. On Jan. 1, 1835, he was called by Richard Godfroy to reduce a dislocated hip on the person of Joel Guild. Grand Rapids was then a village of less than one hundred per- sons, and there was no physician nearer than Gull Prairie, in Kala- mazoo County.
In the early days of settlement simple diseases were treated with teas and decoctions, prepared by some woman whose training and ex- perience had rendered her skillful in such mattrs. But there came times when the homely remedies failed and professional skill had to be sought. The first physician to settle permanently within the limits of the present city was Dr. Stephen A. Wilson, who arrived in Au- gust, 1835. In the Spring of 1837 he formed a partnership with Dr. Charles Shepard, the association lasting until 1839, in the Fall of which year Dr. Wilson died. Dr. Charles Shepard was the second resident physician. He arrived Oct. 20, 1835, only two months after Dr. Wilson came. The third was Dr. Gravelle, a young French phy- sician, who came in the Spring of 1836, but remained only until the Fall of that year. Dr. Jason Winslow, the physician who rendered the first professional service in the community, was the fourth to set- tle here. He came from Gull Prairie in the Spring of 1837. He was of New England stock and had practiced in Stockholm, St. Law- rence County, New York, before coming to Michigan. After a resi- dence of six years in Grand Rapids he died March 15, 1843. Dr. F. J. Higginson was the fifth. He came in 1839. He also was a New England man, a graduate of the Medical Department of Harvard Col- lege, and had practiced at Cambridge, Mass. He remained in Grand Rapids only about two years and then removed in 1841 to Brattle- boro, Vt., where he practiced many years and died in that place. A few of the other pioneer physicians of this community, with date of arrival, are here named in the order of their coming: Alonzo Platt, in 1842; Philander H. Bowman, in 1846; Charles L. Henderson, in 1847 ; Wenzel Blumrich, in September, 1848; Alfred Garlock, in 1849; C. J. Fearing, in 1851; Oscar H. Chipman, Feb. 28, 1852; Sterling W. Allen, in 1852, and D. W. Bliss, in 1854.
Alonzo Platt, M. D., for years one of the leading physicians of the city, was born Jan. 10, 1806, in Stephentown, Rensselaer Coun- ty, New York, being a son of Judge Henry Platt of that place. After preparatory studies at Lenox, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, he was compelled, on account of trouble with his eyes, to give up his
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cherished hope of taking a four years' collegiate course in Arts; but in 1825, his eyesight becoming strong again, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Wright, of New Lebanon, N. Y., also receiving instruction, later on, at the hands of Dr. John De Lamar, of Sheffield, Mass. He was graduated in medicine, after full courses of lectures, by the Berkshire Medical College (Mass.) in December, 1829, and practiced for two years at Port Gibson, Ontario County, New York, removing in the Spring of 1832 to Ann Arbor, Mich. After practic- ing his profession in Ann Arbor for ten years he came to Grand Rap- ids, in 1842. During the Civil War Dr. Platt was surgeon of the En- rolling Board for this Congressional district, and was prominently connected for years with the Grand Rapids Medical and Surgical So- ciety, also with the State society. He took an active part in establish- ing St. Mark's Home and Hospital, and was for several years physi- cian in charge of that institution. He was very charitable, and at one time kept a free dispensary at his residence. For several years prior to his demise he had been in failing health, being obliged to relin- quish his practice to a great extent, and finally succumbed to the en- croachments of disease, Nov. 18, 1882, after having practiced medi- cine in this city for forty years. A daughter of Dr. Platt became the wife of Don M. Dickinson, who served as a member of the cabinet of President Cleveland.
Charles L. Henderson, M. D., was born at Troy, N. Y., June 14, 1817. From there the family removed to Cleveland, Ohio, and he ac- quired a good education in the schools of that city, after which he en- tered the Medical Department of the Western Reserve College, and was graduated in that institution March 4, 1846. He then spent a year or more at Sault Ste. Marie, and came to Grand Rapids in November, 1847. In 1850 he went to California, where he stayed but about a year, and then returned and made Grand Rapids his home during the remainder of his life. On Aug. 26, 1861, he entered the army as sur- geon of the Second Michigan cavalry. Ardent, impulsive and san- guine in temperament, this undertaking proved too much for his phys- ical powers, and in October, 1862, he resigned on account of ill health. His ailment became chronic, so that he was never after equal to the duties of a steady practice in his profession, and at length it resulted in hemiplegic paralysis, by which he was prostrated and confined to his home during the last three years of his life. He died Jan. 16, 1884.
Wenzel Blumrich was born in Friedland, Bohemia, May 26, 1812, and graduated in medicine at the Charles Ferdinand University, Prague, Bohemia, July 31, 1839. He received three Latin diplomas, one each for medicine, surgery and obstetrics. He practiced in Krat- zau, Bohemia, during nine years subsequent to his graduation, and then removed to the United States, settling in Grand Rapids Sept. 26, 1848. He died in Grand Rapids Dec. 20, 1862.
Alfred Garlock, M. D., was born at Newark, N. Y., Dec. 18, 1824. He studied medicine at Palmyra, and graduated for his profes- sion at Buffalo, in the Spring of 1849. In the same year he came to Grand Rapids and opened an office in the Irving Hall building, and very soon found himself busy in an extensive practice. From there a few years later he removed his office to the north side of Monroe ave-
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
nue, and then about 1860, or soon thereafter, to Luce's Block, where it remained until his death; his residence being situated on the east side of Barclay street, a little north of Fulton, the place now being occupied as a parsonage by the First Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Garlock died there of pneumonia, Feb. 17, 1884.
Oscar H. Chipman was born in Madrid, St. Lawrence County, New York, Nov. 16, 1807. In early manhood he attended the St. Lawrence Academy. He began the study of medicine under the tute- lage of Dr. John H. McChesny, a prominent physician at that time, of Potsdam, and graduated in the Spring of 1833 at the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons of Western New York, then in the town of Fair- field, Herkimer County. In June, 1833, he removed to Michigan and settled in Oakland County, where he practiced until 1852, at which time he came to Grand Rapids. Here he continued in the active prac- tice of his profession until a few years before his death, and in 1897, he removed to Kalamazoo, where he died at an advanced age.
Sterling W. Allen was born in Springfield, Otsego County, New York, July 27, 1801. He commenced the study of medicine at Roches- ter, N. Y., in 1822, graduating in 1825. After practicing twenty-seven years in Clarkson and Brockport, N. Y., and at Pontiac, Mich., he came to Grand Rapids in 1852. He practiced in this city until his death, which occurred May 16, 1883.
Doctor W. Bliss, M. D., was born in the town of Brutus, Cayuga County, New York, Aug. 18, 1825. In his youth the family moved to Ohio, where he afterward entered the Medical Department of the Western Reserve College and graduated therefrom in the early part of 1845. He began practice in his profession at Chagrin Falls, Ohio ; thence removed to Cleveland, and in 1851 to Ionia, Mich. From the latter place, in 1854, he came to Grand Rapids, where he quickly took position in the front rank in his profession and in the popular regard, and had an excellent and extensive practice until the breaking out of the Civil War. On May 13, 1861, he was commissioned surgeon of the Third Michigan infantry, went with that gallant body of troops to the front, and in September of the same year was promoted to ma- jor and surgeon of United States volunteers, the chief field of his la- bors being in hospitals at and near Washington. On March 13, 1865, he was breveted colonel United States volunteers, "for faithful and meritorious service," and was mustered out with honor Dec. 8, 1865. After the war he remained settled in Washington and practiced there until his death, some twenty-three years later, much of the time also holding a position in the Board of Health of the District of Columbia. When President Garfield was stricken down, Dr. Bliss was called by Secretary of War Robert T. Lincoln, and was the attending physician at the bedside at Washington and at Elberon until that soldier-states-
1 man breathed his last. Dr. Bliss died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 21, 1889.
Dr. Bowman was a classmate of Dr. O. H. Chipman, and had practiced in Canada. He practiced here for nine years, dying in 1859. Dr. Fearing was a Rhode Island man and lived here only two years. Another early Grand Rapids physician of note was Dr. John H. Hollister, who came to the city in June, 1849. He was born on a farm in Livingston County, New York, Aug. 6, 1824. He graduated at the
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Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., in 1848, and immediately removed to the West for the practice of medicine in Montcalm Coun- ty, Michigan. He remained there only one year, moving to Grand Rapids in June, 1849. He practiced in Grand Rapids six years, gain- ing a large business, and being an influential factor in local political circles. He went from Grand Rapids to Chicago in April, 1855, and afterward resided there. With others, he was a prime factor in the incorporation of the Chicago Medical College, and was afterward connected with that institution, chiefly as professor of the Principles of Medicine and Pathology. He was a member of the Chicago Med- ical Society, Illinois State Medical Society, American Medical Asso- ciation, and the International Medical Congress. He was appointed, during 1889, supervising editor of the Journal of the American Med- ical Association. He was treasurer of the Illinois State Medical So- ciety for more than twenty years.
Dr. Lyman A. Brewer, a graduate of the Western Reserve Col- lege, Medical Department, became a resident of Grand Rapids in 1854 and a year later formed a partnership with Dr. DeCamp, which lasted until 1857. He was born in Ontario County, New York, in 1817. After his graduation at Cleveland he took a post-graduate course at Ann Arbor, and soon thereafter settled in Jonesville, Mich., where he practiced until 1854, at which time he came to Grand Rapids. In 1858 he returned to Cleveland, and when the Civil War broke out served in the army four years. After the war he was connected profession- ally with an Indian commission in the Rocky Mountain region, re- maining in that country from 1865 to 1870, when he returned to Hills- dale County, but practiced only six years longer, his death occurring in 1876.
William H. DeCamp was born in Mt. Morris, Livingston Coun- ty, New York, Nov. 6, 1825. He studied medicine with Dr. Lewis G. Ferris, of Mt. Morris, and Dr. C. C. Chaffee, of Nunda, N. Y .; took one course of lectures in the Medical Department of the New York University, and two in the medical college at Geneva, N. Y., graduat- ing at the latter institution, in February, 1847, and entered into prac- tice at Grove Center, Allegheny County, New York, remaining four years, after which he practiced for the same number of years at Hunt's Hollow, Livingston County. His health failing, he decided to come west and establish himself in the drug business, and accordingly opened a drug store in Grand Rapids in May, 1855, continuing the business until burned out, in 1857. Reduced by this misfortune to a low financial status, he recommenced the practice of medicine, in which he was engaged the remainder of his active life. The Doctor took an active part in the Civil War, being appointed surgeon of the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics by Austin Blair, the "war Governor" of Michigan, Sept. 12, 1861, and serving three years as such, until discharged by expiration of time of enlistment, at Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 26, 1864. He was assigned to the position of Post Medical Director at Harrodsburg, Ky., from Oct. 20, 1862, to Jan. 24, 1863, where 1,500 Confederate wounded had been stationed by General Bragg in his retreat from Kentucky, after the battle of Perryville. Dr. DeCamp was elected president of the Michigan State Medical Society in 1868, and also president of the Grand Rapids Medical and Surgical Society for 1872-73. He died July 4, 1898.
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Drs. J. F. Grove and G. K. Johnson were the physicians who settled in Grand Rapids in 1856. The first named was a graduate of the Rush Medical College at Chicago. He settled in Grand Rapids in July, 1856, and here he practiced until the time of his death, except for the interval while he was in the army service during the Civil War. He entered service as assistant surgeon of the Third Michigan infan- try, Aug. 15, 1862, was commissioned surgeon of that regiment Sept. 11, 1862, and was mustered out June 20, 1864. He died in Grand Rapids, of congestion of the brain, July 7, 1885.
George K. Johnson, M. D., was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., Jan. 17, 1822. He moved to Michigan with his father in 1836, when 14 years of age, and settled on a new farm in the township of Brigh- ton, Livingston County. There and in that vicinity he spent three or four years, helping his father to make a farm and a home. He at- tended the McNiel Academy at Ann Arbor, two or three years, every month walking to and from his home. During that time, as well as while pursuing professional studies afterward, he eked out his scanty means by teaching school when the exigency demanded. At the age of twenty-one he entered the office of Dr. Ira Bingham, at Brighton, and began the study of medicine. In March, 1846, he received his de- gree in medicine from the Cleveland Medical College. In June fol- lowing he established himself in Pontiac, this State, and began his professional work. In 1852 or 1853 he removed to Detroit and un- dertook light practice; but his health would not permit. In 1856, be- ing unable to do the work of his profession, he came to this city in charge of the interests of the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad, then in course of construction, and in which some of his friends were largely interested. In 1857 he spent several months in England, partly in pursuit of health and partly in the interest of the road referred to above. In the Spring of 1859 he was elected mayor of Grand Rapids and served one term. In the Autumn of 1860, having regained suffi- cient health, he resumed his profession. In 1861 the great Civil War drew him into its vortex. He became surgeon of the First Michigan cavalry and went with that regiment to the field. He served with it during the exciting campaign of General Banks in the valley of the Shenandoah, in the early months of 1862. Later in the same season he served as medical director of a brigade of cavalry, commanded by Gen. John Buford, in the very stirring but unfortunate campaign of General Pope. He was at Second Bull Run, and had the grief to see his friend, Colonel Broadhead, the commander of the First Cav- alry, yield up his life. In February, 1863, Congress created a corps of medical inspectors of the army, with increased rank. It consisted of eight inspectors, four of whom were to be taken from the regular service and four from the volunteer service. Dr. Johnson was com- missioned as one of the four from the volunteer service, and was at once assigned to duty with the Army of the Potomac. He was in this service during the campaign of 1863. He was present at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, as well as some minor affairs. From the end of 1863 to the first of October, 1865, he was medical in- spector of the Middle Military Department. In November, 1865, after a military service of four years and four months, he returned to his home in this city and at once resumed his practice, which he con-
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tinued until his death, Sept. 3, 1908. Dr. Johnson was appointed pen- sion examining surgeon for Grand Rapids shortly after the close of the war, and was the only surgeon on that service in this city for sev- eral years, until the Grand Rapids board was organized, after which he served as president of the board a number of years.
A prominent physician-Samuel R. Wooster-settled in Grand Rapids in 1857. He was a native of Connecticut, where he began the study of medicine, and graduated as a physician at the Yale Medical College, in New Haven. After locating in Grand Rapids he built up a good practice, due in a great measure to his genial disposition as well as to his exceptional professional ability. He practiced here un- til the breaking out of the Civil War, in 1861, when he entered the United States service as assistant surgeon of the Eighth Michigan in- fantry. He remained with that regiment until February, 1863, when he was commissioned surgeon of the First Michigan cavalry, remain- ing with this regiment until October, 1864, but was acting brigade surgeon most of the time and on duty at General Custer's headquar- ters. He was mustered out of the service in the Fall of 1864, and appointed acting staff surgeon, his commission being signed by Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war. During this period he was engaged in field and hospital practice. After his discharge from the service in June, 1865, he settled at Muskegon, Mich., in July, and there he prac- ticed until 1871, when he returned to Grand Rapids and resided here until his death, Feb. 6, 1906. He was examining surgeon for pen- sions in Muskegon from 1865 to 1871; member of the Board of Ex- amining Surgeons for Pensions in Grand Rapids, from 1871 to 1887, and president of the Board from 1877 to 1887; county physician of Kent County from 1872 to 1889; city physician and health officer of Grand Rapids in 1880.
Dr. Henry G. Saunders became a resident of Grand Rapids in 1858, coming from the State of New York. He was an excellent phy- sician and had no time for anything except his professional work. He continued the practice of medicine in Grand Rapids until his death, which occurred Dec. 22, 1899.
One new physician was added to the population, in 1860, in the person of Dr. John Brady. He was born Aug. 18, 1837, in Ireland, and came to the United States in 1855, settling at Seneca Falls, N. Y. He obtained classical instruction in an academy at that place, and en- tered the medical department of Buffalo University, in the Fall of 1857, graduating there after three full courses of lectures, Feb. 19, 1860. He settled in Grand Rapids shortly after his graduation and practiced until October, 1862, when he entered the Union Army as assistant surgeon, serving in Jackson, Mich., and Memphis, Tenn., six months, in the military hospitals. In May, 1863, he was ordered to leave the hospital and join the Forty-fifth Illinois infantry in the field, at Milliken's Bend, La. He participated afterward with the regi- ment in the battles of Raymond, Jackson, and Champion's Hill, and the assaults upon Vicksburg. He resigned from the army and re- entered civil practice at Grand Rapids, in 1866, becoming a charter member of the Michigan State Medical Society the same year. In 1883-84 he spent a year abroad as attending physician to the late John Clancy, a good share of which time was occupied in the study
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of medicine in Paris. He served three terms as coroner of Kent Coun- ty, was a member of the International Medical Congress, and was consulting surgeon to St. Mark's and the U. B. A. Hospitals. He died May 20, 1914.
The year 1862 witnessed the advent of Dr. Linus De Puy, who was born near the city of Rochester, N. Y., April 28, 1820. Shortly after he came of age he began the study of medicine at Albion, Mich. He attended lectures two winters at the medical department of the Western Reserve College, at that time in Willoughby, Ohio. In 1860 he went to Ann Arbor, Mich., and graduated there in the medical de- partment of the University of Michigan in the Spring of 1862. He settled at Grand Rapids in the same year and practiced continuously eleven years. He then retired from the practice and removed to Chi- cago, where he engaged in the manufacture and sale of medicinal extracts. His health failing, he returned to Grand Rapids, in 1877, but he did not practice much. He was city physician during 1879. His death, from cancer of the stomach, occurred in this city Jan. 10, 1880, in the sixtieth year of his age.
By 1863, the population of Grand Rapids was about 10,000, and in that year two physicians were added to the list already in the field. They were Jacob Bentum and Gaylord B. Miller. Dr. Bentum was born Aug. 12, 1830, at Amsterdam, Holland; was graduated at the University of Leyden in 1853; practiced at Amsterdam six years, being connected with an Amsterdam hospital four years, and came to America in 1862-first to Muscatine, Iowa, then to Grand Rapids, Sept. 11, 1863. He died in this city, after practicing medicine twenty- five years, July 28, 1888, of typhoid fever.
Dr. G. B. Miller was born in Torrington, Litchfield County, Con- necticut, July 25, 1831; graduated at the Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., in 1852, and practiced in Litchfield County, Connecti- cut, from 1852 to 1863, at which time he removed to Grand Rapids, where he resided until his death, May 25, 1902. The Doctor was ap- pointed acting assistant surgeon, U. S. A., in January, 1864, and served in that capacity until July of the same year, stationed at Jack- son, Mich., and Resaca, Ga.
Dr. William Wood, a graduate of the Grammar School at St. Thomas, Canada, and the medical department of the University of Michigan, located in Grand Rapids in 1864, and continued in the prac- tice of his profession here until his death, which occurred Jan. 13, 1895.
Between 1860 and 1870 a number of physicians established them- selves in Grand Rapids. Some of them left after a short stay, but others remained and several became prominent in medical circles. Dr. Ezra A. Hebard, a native of Massachusetts, came in the year 1866 and settled on a farm in Walker township, where he lived the remainder of his life, with the exception of two years' residence within the city. He served nine years as supervisor of Walker township and was a member of the Grand Rapids Board of United States Examining Sur- geons.
Dr. David McWhorter became a resident of the city in 1866. He was a graduate of the Albany Medical College at Albany, N. Y. He retired from active practice shortly after coming to this city, but re-
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tained his interest in medical matters. He was in active practice fifty years, from 1816 to 1866, thirty-three years of which were spent in New York State and seventeen years at Grass Lake, Mich. Dr. Mc- Whorter was prominent as a public man, both in New York State and in Michigan, having represented his New York State district in Con- gress in 1847, and his district in the Michigan Legislature in 1853. He died Sept. 2, 1877.
Dr. Zenas E. Bliss was born at Eaton, Madison County, New York, July 4, 1832. He passed his childhood at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, removing, in 1851, to Ionia, Mich. He began the study of medicine at Chagrin Falls, in 1850, and at Ionia continued it in the office of his brother, Dr. D. W. Bliss. He graduated at the University of Michi- gan, taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine with the class of 1855, and practiced at Ionia until 1861, with the exception of four months in 1858-59 passed in the hospitals of Philadelphia and New York. He entered the army, 1861, as assistant surgeon of the Third Michigan infantry ; participated in such capacity in the battles of Blackburn's Ford and First Bull Run, and served until Oct. 15, 1861, when he was commissioned surgeon. He was with the regiment through the Peninsular campaign, and on Feb. 27, 1863, received from President Lincoln a commission as surgeon of United States volunteers, his rank to date from Sept. 12, 1862. He was appointed by the Secretary of War Medical Purveyor of the United States army, Dec. 31, 1864, and was stationed in Baltimore, Md., where he was mustered out of service Feb. 2, 1866. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel, May 22, 1866, for faithful service, to rank from Jan. 26, 1866. He spent the winter of 1866-67 in Europe, continuing his medical studies in the hospitals of London and Paris. He settled at Grand Rapids in the Spring of 1867 and practiced until 1874, when, his health failing, he was compelled to seek relief in travel abroad. He spent the winter of 1874-75 in Southern France, and returned in the summer of 1875, but his health continued poor and he withdrew from active participation in professional labor. He was commissioned a member of the Michi- gan State Board of Health for the term of six years, July 30, 1873, but served only one year on account of ill health. He served nearly eight years, from 1869 to 1877, on the Board of United States Exam- ining Surgeons for Pensions at Grand Rapids, and at the time of his death was president of the Board. He died of consumption, April 23, 1877, and was buried at Grand Rapids.
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