History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 115

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 115

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Of Dr. Bernard Gibkins, the fourth physician, we know but little, except that he was in St. Louis in the years 1779 and 1780, as we find him the possessor of a house and lot at that period. But of what nation- ality, where from, or whether he died here or removed from the place, is not found in the archives of the day.

Dr. Claudio Mercier came up to St. Louis from New Orleans early in 1786. His native place was Lavisière, Dauphiny, France, where he was born in the year 1726. He had resided for a time in New Orleans, where he liad acquired some property, and left a will therc when he came up to St. Louis, which he had executed in 1784. He added a codicil to this will at St. Louis, dated May 17, 1786, in which he reaffirms his first will, emancipates his negro woman Françoise, gives one hundred dollars to the poor of St. Louis, and appoints John B. Sarpy his executor. He died unmarried at St. Louis, on Jan. 20, 1787, aged sixty-one years. It does not appear that he practiced here.

Dr. Philip Joachim Gingembre (Ginger) came early in the year 1792 to St. Louis, and purchased a small stone house at the northwest corner of the present Olive and Second Streets, where he lived for some years. He then went to France, leaving his house unoccupied and closed. Not returning after some years' absence, the house, which was going to ruin, was publicly sold by order of the then Governor, Tru- deau, to pay his creditors.

Dr. Antoine François Saugrain, born at Versailles, France, Feb. 17, 1763, came to St. Louis to reside with his wife and two children, from Gallipolis,

Ohio, in the year 1800. Here he continued in the practice of his profession until his death, May 20, 1820, at the age of fifty-seven years. Dr. Saugrain when but a youth had made the acquaintance of Dr. Benjamin Franklin in Paris, through whose repre- sentations of the country he came to the United States, after the recognition of our independence. After remaining a time in Philadelphia, he, in the winter of 1787-88, being then twenty-four years of age, proceeded with two other young Frenchmen, Messrs. Pique and Raguet, to Pittsburgh. Early in the spring of 1788, having been joined there by an American, a Mr. Pierce, the four left Pittsburglı in a flat-boat or broad-horn, then so called, with their horses and baggage, to descend to the Falls of Ohio, now Louisville. Dr. Saugrain subsequently joined those Frenchman who, about 1790-91, emigrated from France to establish the new settlement of Gallip- olis, in Ohio, in what is now Gallia County, then a wilderness. He remained some nine or ten years in this locality, during which period he was married on March 20, 1793, in Kanawha County,' Va., just opposite the place, to Miss Genevieve Rosalie Michaud, the eldest of the two daughters of John Michaud, Sr., one of the settlers of Gallipolis, from Paris ; and here two of their children were born, viz., Rosalie and Eliza. The first became in after-years Mrs. Henry Von Phul, and the second Mrs. James Kennerly, both of St. Louis. The Michaud and Saugrain families removed together from this place, Gallipolis, to St. Louis in the year 1800. Dr. Sau- grain immediately entered upon the practice of his profession, and at the date of the transfer to the United States, 1804, was the sole practitioner in the village, and the last of the old French stock. In addition to the two daughters they brought with them from Ohio, Mr. and Mrs. Saugrain raised to maturity several other children born in St. Louis,- two sons, Alfred, now deceased, and Frederick, yet living ; Harrict, who married Maj. Thomas Noel, United States cavalry, both deceased for some years, and Eugenie, still living, the widow of John W. Rcel, a former merchant of St. Louis. The family of old John Michaud, who died June 29, 1819, aged eighty-one, comprised several sons, all now deceased, and two daughters, Mrs. Dr. Saugrain, and a second who became the wife of Dr. Robinson, formerly of the medical corps of the United States army. The lineal descendants of Dr. A. F. Saugrain are quite numerous, comprising the Von Phuls, Kennerlys, Noels, Reels, Saugrains, and others. Henry Von Phul, a sketch of whose life appcars elsewhere, and who marricd the eldest of the daughters of Dr.

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

A. F. Saugrain, was one of the earliest of the Ameri- can merchants of St. Louis, honored for his upright- ness, and universally esteemed by the community among whom he lived for the largest portion of his prolonged life. James Kennerly was a Virginian by birth, and a merchant in the early days of the Terri- tory. The widows of these two gentlemen still sur- vive at an advanced age.

During the early period of Dr. Saugrain's residence in St. Louis there was also located here a Dr. Wat- kins, with reference to whom we have been able to learn nothing save only the name. There was also a Jesuit priest named Didier, who used to prepare teas and other simple remedies for any who were ailing,1 but who was not an educated physician. Dr. Saugrain had had a thorough scientific and medical education in Paris, and was fully qualified in all the professional learning of the day. He relied almost exclusively upon ptisanes and vegetable remedies, regarding calo- mel as a virulent poison that never should be taken into the human system. He left behind him the repu- tation of a good physician and a thorough gentleman.

Dr. Saugrain was one of the early advocates of vac- cination. In the Missouri Gazette of June 7, 1809, we find a card in which he calls attention to the value of vaccination as a preventive of smallpox, and announces his readiness to vaccinate any who should apply.2

1 Dr. Saugrain's oldest daughter, Mrs. Von Phul, states that there was very little sickness here in those days, and little ocea- sion for calling upon a physician or taking any medicine. Every one was strong and healthy.

2 " The undersigned having been politely favored by a friend with the genuine vaccine infection, has sneeessfully eommuni- cated that inestimable preventive of the smallpox to a number of the inhabitants of St. Louis and its vicinity, and from a sineere wish which he entertains more widely to disseminate this bless- ing, he has taken the present occasion to inform such physi- eians and other intelligent persons as reside beyond the limits of his aceustomed practice that he will with much pleasure, on application, furnish them with the vaeeine infection. The following comparative view and certificate will sufficiently show the high estimation in which vaccination is holden by a number of the most learned and respectable physicians in our country. Persons in indigent circumstances, paupers, and Indians will be vaccinated and attended gratis on application to " A. SAUGRAIN.

"ST. LOUIS, May 26, 1809."

" A comparative view of the natural smallpox, inoculated smallpox, and vaccination in their effects on individuals and society :

"1. It is attempting to cross a large and rapid stream by swimming, where one in six perish.

"2. It is passing the river in a boat subjeet to accidents, where one in three hundred perish, and one in forty suffer par- tially.

"3. It is passing over a safe bridge."

This was accompanied with a certificate of the value of vae- eination from a large number of prominent physicians of Phila- delphia and elsewhere.

A similar announcement by Drs. Masop and Gebert is found some years later (in March, 1823), viz. :

" Drs. Mason and Gebert will be prepared on the 1st of April to vaeeinate those persons who wish to avoid that dreadful dis- ease, smallpox. The ntmost punctuality may be relied on."

The next name of a physician which appears in these early papers is that of Dr. Farrar, whose card first appeared in the Gazette May 24, 1809, as follows :

" Dr. Farrar will praetiee medicine and surgery in St. Louis and its vicinity. He keeps his shop in Mr. Robidoux's house, Second Street."

Dr. Farrar was a man of considerable note, and the most conspicuous among the early practitioners of the city.

Dr. Bernard Gaines Farrar,3 son of Joseph Royal Farrar, was born in Goochiland County, Va., July 4, 1785, but his parents removed to Kentucky in the autumn of that year. He commenced the study of medicine at the age of fifteen in the office of Dr. Selmon, of Cincinnati, studying afterwards with Dr. Samuel Brown, of Lexington. He attended lectures in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania in 1804, and subsequently graduated from the Medical Department of Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky. He located first at Frankfort, Ky., but in the fall of 1806, at the suggestion of Judge Coburn, one of the Territorial judges of Missouri, who was his brother-in-law, he moved to St. Louis, and was the first American physician who permanently established himself west of the Mississippi. From this fact and the high character which he sustained he was in later days spoken of as the "father of the profession in St. Louis." He rapidly acquired a large practice and extended reputation, not unfrequently being called upon to take long journeys to see critical cases. Not more by his skill as a physician and surgeon than by his great kindness of manner and devoted atten- tion to his patients did he win friends and secure patrons. He was tender-hearted, and suffered greatly in the suffering of his patients, and yet. when there was duty to discharge, when he had aught to do to relieve such suffering, none could be firmer than he. He excelled particularly in tact, and seldom erred in prognosis. He was bold and decided in character and prompt in execution. He was specially dextrous in the various manipulations that are demanded in obstetric practice, which was a department of profes- sional work and study in which he took special pride

8 For the faets in regard to Dr. Farrar's life we are indebted to a paper by Dr. C. A. Pope, published in the St. Louis Medi- cal and Surgical Journal, September, 1850.

1519

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

and interest. He attained some distinction also as a surgeon.

One of his first operations was an amputation of the thigh, performed on a man by the name of Shan- non, who, when a youth, accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean. In 1807 Shannon undertook a second expedition, under the auspices of the general government, to ascertain the sources of the Missouri. At a point eighteen hun- dred miles up that river he was attacked by the Black- feet Indians, and wounded by a ball in the knee. He was brought down to St. Louis, and successfully operated on by Dr. Farrar. In those times the case was considered as an evi- dence of great skill, in view of the distance which the patient had traveled, and the low state to which his constitution had been re- duced by the accident. This same Mr. Shannon afterwards received an cdu- cation in Kentucky, and became one of her best jurists. He was subse- quently elevated to the bench. Judge Shannon often said, and even de- clared on his death-bed, that he owed both his life and his honors to the skill of Dr. Farrar.

Dr. Farrar made the recto-vesical section for the removal of a calculus which had become attached to the fundus of the bladder sev- eral years earlier than San- som, who is recognized as having the prior claim by virtue of having been the first to publish such a case. In the war of 1812, Dr. Farrar served as a surgeon, and also as a soldier in defending the State against the depredations of the Indians. His reputation became widely extended, and he was offered a professorship in his Alma Mater, the Medical Department of Transylva- nia University, which was then the only medical school west of the Allegheny Mountains, but declined the position. He was a member of the first Legislature under the Territorial form of government, and very active and influential in the affairs of the community. He died of cholera July 1, 1849, being within three days of sixty-four years of age.

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In the discharge of his professional duties, Dr. Farrar was both physician and friend. No company or amusement could make him neglect his engage- ments, and he was ever ready at the call of the poor. Indeed, with respect to remuneration for his services, it was in most cases virtually optional whether pay- inent was made at all. The convenience of all was the rule that governed him. He was always generous and disinterested, and history can produce few in- stances in which a life of such intense devotion in relieving the diseases incident to his fellow-men was less rewarded by pecuniary emolument. This utter want of selfishness and extreme pecuniary careless- ness formed perhaps one of the most distinctive traits of his character. Among his professional brethren he was universally beloved and esteemed. He was a gentleman in the highest sense of the term, and well deserved their respect and consideration. His acknowledged professional skill, his goodness of heart, his polished urbanity, his high sense of honor and his noble generosity of na- ture endeared him to all.

With reference to a num- ber of other physicians whose names appear in professional cards in the early numbers of the Mis- souri Gazette there is little to say. Some of them were men of sterling merit and great ability, but records are wanting as to details of their lives. Yet it may be a matter of interest to note the names of some of these pioneers and the wording of their cards.

A few of them are given in the order in which they appear in the newspaper files :

April 26, 1810 .- " Dr. William Reynolds has removed from Kaskaskia to Cahokia, and has commenced the practice of medicine in conjunction with Dr. Truman Tuttle."

March 14, 1811 .- " Dr. Wilkinson has just opened a hand- some assortment of medicine at the house of Mr. Manuel Lisa, lately occupied by Fergus Moorhead, Esq."

March 21, 1811 .- " Dr. William Reynolds has opened a shop of fresh and genuine medicines in the house of Maj. N. Jarrot, Cahokia, where he will be found."

Jan. 4, 1812 .- " Dr. J. M. Read, from Baltimore, offers his professional services to the citizens of this place and its vicinity.

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

His residence is in the north end of Madame Dubreuil's house, and next to Maj. Penrose's, where he can be found by those who may wish to consult him."

July 25, 1812 .- " Dr. Simpson will practice medicine and surgery in the town and vicinity of St. Louis. He keeps his shop in the house adjoining Mr. Manuel Lisa, and formerly oc- cupied by Fergus Moorhead, Esq."

Oct. 1, 1812 .- "Drs. Farrar and Walker associated in the practice of medicine."

Sept. 30, 1815 .- " Dr. Quarles will practice medicine and surgery in the town of St. Louis and its vicinity. He may be found at his shop opposite Mr. Patrick Lee's, on Main Street."

Jan. 13, 1816 .- " Drs. Simpson and Quarles having formed a connection, the business will in future be conducted under the firm of Simpson & Quarles."

Dr. Simpson was prominent in various ways, and the following additional facts in his life will be read with interest :

Dr. Robert Simpson was born in Charles County, Md., in 1785, of a family which had been long in this country. At an early age he studied medicine in Philadelphia, and graduated from a college the name of which is now forgotten. In 1809 he entered the United States army as assistant surgeon, and was or- dered to duty at St. Louis. In his official capacity as assistant surgeon he accompanied the troops that established Fort Madison, on the upper Mississippi, remaining there about a year, when he returned to St. Louis. In connection with the late Dr. Quarles he established the first drug store in St. Louis, and about the same time was appointed postmaster. He held also, at various times, several other offices of honor and public trust. In 1823 he was appointed collector of St. Louis County, which position he held three years. In 1826 he was elected sheriff of St. Louis County, and served two terms. . Subsequently he engaged in merchandise, transacting business on Main Strect, between Market and Chestnut Streets, in the same building with the Missouri Republican. Still later he was elected city comptroller, and was also cashier of the Boatmen's Savings Institution and member of the State Legislature. He had not prac- ticed medicine for a long time prior to his retire- ment from active business. Throughout life he was remarkably robust and strong. He died at his resi- dence, No. 2911 Washington Avenue, in the eighty- eighth year of his age. In all the relations of life none were more favorably known than himself in St. Louis through more than a half-century. The geniality of his temper won him hosts of friends, and his high sense of honor and incorruptible integrity gained him the admiration of all who knew him. It is but a few years since that he knew and was known by almost every inhabitant of the city and the surrounding coun- try ; but the immense increase of population, together

with the retirement demanded by his great age, in his late years made him less known to the citizens at large.

In connection with the statement that Drs. Simp- son and Quarles established the first drug store in St. Louis, it may be noted that in August, 1808, there appeared in the Missouri Gazette an advertisement that Aaron Elliot & Son had received from New York a large supply of drugs and medicines, which they offered to the inhabitants of Ste. Genevieve on as good terms, they claimed, as could be obtained anywhere in the country. This was several years before the estab- lishment of the drug store in St. Louis by Drs. Simp- son and Quarles. From the same advertisement it would appear that the supply of patent medicines for "all the ills that flesh is heir to" was as liberal in the early years of the century as at the present time. The fol- lowing list of these articles is taken from the adver- tisement mentioned : " Church's Cough Drops, Tur- lington's Balsam of Life, Bateman's Drops, British Oil, Steer's Opodeldoc, Hill's Balsam of Honey, God- frey's Cordial, essence of peppermint, Lee's New London Bilious Pills, by the gross or less quantity, Anderson's do., Hooper's Female do., Liquid True Blue, Maccaboy and Cephalick snuff, chemical fire- boxes, 'one of the best inventions in the known world for travelers.' "

Dr. Samuel Merry was also one of the early prac- titioners in St. Louis. He graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1833 was ap- pointed receiver of public moneys at St. Louis, which office he held for twelve years. His time was taken up chiefly with his practice, which was large and burdensome, while the duties of the receiver devolved, in great part, upon his deputy.

The following are some additional cards that are found among these early papers :

Nov. 2, 1816 .- " Dr. Edward S. Gantt offers his professional services to the citizens of St. Louis and its vicinity."

Aug. 23, 1817 .- " Dr. G. P. Todson has the honor of ac- quainting the inhabitants of St. Louis and its vicinity that he has taken possession of the shop formerly occupied by Mr. Alcx. Laforce Papin, opposite Landreville's stone building, on Main Street, and determined on a permanent residence in St. Louis to practice physic, surgery, and midwifery."

April 24, 1818 .- " Dr. Arthur Nelson tenders his professional services to the citizens of St. Louis and its vicinity."

Jan. 1, 1819 .- " Doctor Gebert (lately from France), having received a regular diploma from the faculty of medicine in Paris, has the honor to offer his services to the inhabitants of St. Louis and its vicinity as a physician and surgeon. He lives at the house of Mr. Benoit, opposite Mr. Paddock's boarding- house."

Jan. 15, 1819 .- " Dr. William Carr Lane's office on Third Street, late Reed's."

June 9, 1819 .- " Dr. G. P. Todson's office in Perras' house, on Second Street, Block 57.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Feb. 2, 1820 .- " Dr. Mason, from Philadelphia, offers his services to the inhabitants of St. Louis and its vicinity."

March 19, 1823 .- " Drs. Mason & Gebert having formed a copartnership, respectfully offer their professional services to the public."

Sept. 13, 1824 .- “ Medical Notice .- Elisha Embree, M.D. Medicinc and surgery in the city and vicinity of St. Louis."

Jan. 18, 1827 .- " Stammering .- Mrs. Leigh's St. Louis insti- tution for correcting impediments of speech. Mr. A. Yates, of New York, assistant in conducting Mrs. Leigh's agency for correcting impediments of speech in the Western States, in- forms the public that he has established an institution for cor- recting impediments of speech at St. Louis, Mo."

Nov. 29, 1827 .- "Dr. Auguste Masure, lately arrived from Europe, offers his professional services in the different branches of physic, surgery, and midwifery to the public."

Aug. 12, 1828 .- " Dr. Harding, late of Kentucky, tenders his professional services to the citizens of the city and county of St. Louis."

March 17, 1829 .- " Dr. H. Gaither respectfully tenders his services to the citizens of St. Louis and its vicinity."

July 28, 1833 .- " Dr. Charles Geiger respectfully announces to the citizens of St. Louis and its vicinity that he has estab- lished himself in this city with the intention of devoting him- self to the practice of inedicine, surgery, and midwifery." -

As the years went on the number and influence of the physicians increased. We give here sketches of the lives of some who were eminent in the profession, of others who became prominent in other ways, and again of others whose lives are noteworthy by reason of their associations.

Dr. Clayton Tiffin was among the most prominent of the early practitioners. He was raised and edu- cated in and near Chillicothe, Ohio, mostly with his uncle, Dr. Edward Tiffin, who was Governor of Ohio at an early day and also a physician. Dr. Clayton Tiffin left Chillicothe as an assistant surgeon in the war of 1812, and served as surgeon until the war closed, when he settled in St. Louis. He had great energy, and was an eminently practical man. During his residence in St. Louis he carried on a morc exten- sive practice than any other man who ever lived here, becoming quite wealthy through his profession. He was of a restless disposition, and after some years of pros- perous practice went over the plains to Utah and then to California, finally moving in 1846 to New Orleans, where hc again entered practice. Here he soon built up a large business, especially among the river men, many of whom had been his friends and patrons while he was practicing in St. Louis. He was a skillful surgeon, and is believed to have made the first suc- cessful Cæsarian operation in the Mississippi valley. He died in New Orleans about 1856, and his remains were brought to St. Louis for interment.

Dr. Herman Laidley Hoffman, another pioneer physician, was born Oct. 17, 1796, in Winchester County, N. Y. Having had the advantages of a

superior literary and medical education, Dr. Hoffman left New York in the fall of 1819, and, as he said, "with his doctor's degree in his pocket and his worldly goods in a valise," started for St. Louis, then a place of about four thousand inhabitants. In those days it was necessary for a physician to keep his own drugs and medicines. Dr. Hoffman opened a drug store on the west side of Main Street, about sixty feet north of Market Street. His practice increased rap- idly, and by the time he had been settled in St. Louis four or five years he looked upon himself as a pros- perous man. In 1826 he was one of sixty-five citi- zens comprising the old Phoenix Fire Company. While in Illinois in 1835 the stage in which he was riding upset, and his right hand was so badly injured as to necessitate its amputation at the wrist. By that accident he was deprived of one of the greatest enjoy- ments of his life,-that of hunting, as he could no longer handle a gun. He soon learned to write with his left hand, his first essay in that line being the signing of the coupons to the city bonds, which, as treasurer, he was required to do. The doctor, it appears, con- tinued in practice but a few years, abandoning it some fifty years ago. He subsequently resided principally in Cincinnati and Cleveland, where he carried on an extensive vineyard, but returned to St. Louis in 1874. He died Nov. 5, 1878. He was a man of fine literary ability, and an unpretending, upright citizen.

It was from the ranks of the medical profession that the first mayor was selected when the city was incorporated in 1823, and such an efficient and pop- ular officer did Dr. William Carr Lane prove himself that he was nine times elected to that office. A sketch of his life will be found in the municipal chapter of this work.1

1 The following fee bill, found among the papers of Dr. William Carr Lane, was kindly loaned the author by Dr. Lane's grand- son, Dr. William C. Glasgow, of St. Louis :

" At a meeting of the medical faculty of the city of St. Louis, held at the City Hall, on the twenty-third day of November, 1829, the following regulations for fees were unanimously en- tered into :

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 115

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358