USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
The presidents of the association since its organization, with the years in which they served, are as follows: Andrew J. Poppleton, 1889-90; James M. Woolworth, 1891 to 1895, inclusive; Henry D. Estabrook, 1896-97-98; Isaac E. Congdon, 1899; James H. McIntosh, 1900; Timothy J. Mahoney, 1901 ; William F. Gurley, 1902; John L. Kennedy, 1903; Warren Switzler, 1904; Har- rison C. Brome, 1905; Howard H. Baldrige, 1906; Francis A. Brogan, 1907; Charles A. Goss, 1908; Arthur C. Wakeley, 1909; Frank L. Weaver, 1910-II ; Matthew A. Hall, 1912; Thomas W. Blackburn, 1913-14; Charles G. McDonald, 1915; William A. DeBord and Raymond G. Young, 1916.
A FEW NOTED TRIALS
Civil cases involving thousands of dollars, or affecting the rights of an entire community, are often tried with only a "baker's dozen" of spectators in the court room. But a criminal case, especially one where one person is to be tried for taking the life of another, rarely fails to attract a large number of people. Scarcely had the Territory of Nebraska been organized when a murder case came up in the court for hearing. On April 20, 1855, a messenger came to Omaha to notify Governor Izard that Charles A. Henry had shot and killed George Hollister, a young man in the employ of Peter A. Sarpy at the trading post at Bellevue, and requesting him to send down Experience Estabrook, the United States attorney, to investigate, and Sheriff P. G. Peterson to take Henry into custody. The two officials arrived at Bellevue about midnight and found Henry imprisoned in the old Indian blacksmith shop, where he was well guarded from a crowd that threatened to lynch him.
An inquest was held the next morning under the laws of Iowa, there being no laws in Nebraska at that time covering such cases, and Henry was held for a preliminary hearing before Judge Ferguson. At that hearing it developed that the defendant, who was a speculator in town lots, had become involved in a dis- pute with Hollister over certain boundary lines and the altercation ended in the shooting. Judge Ferguson ordered the sheriff to take Henry to Omaha and imprison him with handcuffs on his wrists and shackles on his ankles and chained to the floor. At the next term of the United States District Court for the ter- ritory, a grand jury was impaneled especially to investigate the case. The jury failed to find an indictment, but Judge Ferguson stated that he had examined into the case and was satisfied that murder had been committed. He therefore ordered a new grand jury, but refused to remove the shackles from the prisoner.
333
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
A. J. Poppleton and O. P. Mason appeared as attorneys for the defense. Mason had known the defendant in Ohio and felt that the manner of imprison- ment was more severe than the occasion warranted. This was his first appear- ance in a Nebraska court and, as an old time lawyer afterward expressed it, he "ripped things wide open," denouncing the court for ordering the prisoner to be shackled. The spectators expected to see Mr. Mason fined for contempt, if not sent to prison. But the result of his speech was a modification of the order to the extent that the shackles were removed and the sheriff made respon- sible for the safekeeping of the prisoner.
While thus held for trial an epidemic of cholera broke out among some soldiers ascending the Missouri River on a steamboat. Dr. George L. Miller, the only physician in Omaha, was requested to accompany the troops and Henry, who had studied medicine, visited a number of sick people in charge of the sheriff or one of his deputies, as told in the chapter on the Medical Profession. As he received no fees for his services, asking none, he made many friends, and when the second grand jury believed his plea of self defense and failed to indict he was released. He afterward built a portion of the Pioneer Block in Omaha and during the war he went inside the Confederate lines equipped as a surgeon, where he remained for a month and returned with valuable information. He died on June 8, 1880.
In June, 1863, Cyrus H. Tator and Isaac H. Neff were encamped north of Omaha, near Sulphur Springs, having come from Denver with several teams and empty wagons belonging to Neff, who intended taking back to Denver a quantity of goods. Tator started for Denver with one of the teams, which he claimed he had bought of Neff. It was not long until it was discovered that the latter was missing and a search disclosed his body in the Missouri River, weighted down with heavy chains. An officer was sent after Tator, who was arrested and brought back to Omaha, where he was lodged in jail charged with the murder of his employer. He was tried before Judge Kellogg, the prosecution being conducted by George B. Lake and Charles H. Brown, A. J. Poppleton and William A. Little appearing for the defense. The accused was about thirty years of age and had served as probate judge and a member of the Legislature in Kansas. He relied chiefly upon his past record to secure an acquittal, but in vain. The jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree, fixing the penalty of death. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, where the decision of the District Court was sustained and Tator was executed on August 28, 1863. This was the first legal execution in Nebraska. Tator protested his innocence to the last and on the scaffold he read a carefully prepared statement of his case. His execution was witnessed by several thousand people.
On February 14, 1868, Ottway G. Baker was hanged for the murder of Wool- sey D. Higgins in November, 1866. It seems that Baker was employed as porter in the store of W. R. King, where Higgins was the bookkeeper. On November 21, 1866, Mr. King received $1,500 after banking hours and placed it in the safe in the store, of which Higgins carried the key. Higgins and Baker both slept in the store and during the night, the latter knowing that the bookkeeper had the key to the safe-an old-fashioned affair-procured an ax, despatched his companion, opened the safe, concealed the money in an empty tin can and concealed it under the board sidewalk on the west side of Eleventh Street, not
334
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
far from Harney. He then set the store on fire and shot himself slightly through the arm to give color to his story that burglars had broken into the building. For a time his story was believed, but his peculiar conduct excited suspicion and he was finally arrested.
His trial, which came up before Judge Lake, was the first jury case in the district after the admission of Nebraska into the Union as a state. George W. Doane, the district attorney, was assisted in the prosecution by John I. Redick. Baker was defended by James W. Savage, Benjamin Sheeks, George C. Hopkins, and a lawyer named Parks. The jury that tried the case was composed of James Slightman, William T. Clark, Charles Powell, Edward Whitehorn. T. A. Megeath, William Neighly, Dorland L. Clapp, Milton C. Outhwaite, Enos Scherbe, Wil- liam H. Lawton, James L. Hawkins and James M. Parker. The verdict was "guilty of murder in the first degree." As in the Tator case, an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the verdiet. A scaffold was then erected in a valley about half a mile west of the high school building, where, on St. Val- entine's Day, 1868. Baker paid the penalty of his crime, to which he confessed a short time before his execution.
Just twenty-two years from the day Baker was hanged, the bodies of Allen Jones and his wife were found in the rubbish about the stable on a farm about six miles west of Omaha, where they were tenants of Dr. C. H. Pinney. Jones was about seventy years of age and his wife was some ten years younger. None of the cattle or horses known to be on the farm could be found on the premises by the persons discovering the bodies of the old couple. An investigation started by the authorities resulted in the discovery that eight of the cattle and six horses had found their way to the market in South Omaha, where they were sold by a man answering the description of Edward D. Neal.
Edward O'Brien, then city editor of the Omaha Bee, took up the clues and followed them with such persistence that Neal was arrested in Kansas City, Mo., six days after the discovery of the crime. Neal was tried before Judge Clarkson, the trial beginning on May 14, 1890. T. J. Mahoney, prosecuting attorney, was assisted by J. C. Shea, and the defense was conducted by Leroy S. Estelle and William F. Gurley. On the 22d, the jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree against "E. D. Neal, alias C. E. Neal, alias Livingstone, alias Katon," all those names having been brought out during the trial. Again the Supreme Court refused to interfere, and on October 9, 1891, Neal was hanged in an inelosure erected for the purpose on the southwest side of the county jail. On the scaffold the prisoner made a full confession of his guilt.
LAW SCHOOLS
Ample opportunity for the study of law is offered to young men by the law schools of Omaha. The Law Department of the University of Omaha started in the late 'Sos as a night school, when a number of clerks in the various law offices made an arrangement by which they could meet evenings and study together. A little later they procured the assistance of some of the old lawyers, who would conduct a class or deliver a lecture, and the result was the Omaha School of Law. \hout 1910 it was made the Law Department of the University of Omaha, and in 1913 it underwent a complete reorganization. During the college year of
335
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
1915-16 the president of the university, Daniel E. Jenkins, was also the executive head of the College of Law; Alexander C. Troup, one of the district judges of the Fourth District, was dean of the law faculty, which numbered about forty of the leading lawyers of Omaha. Arthur C. Thomsen was then secretary. Nearly one hundred young men have graduated in this school and most of them have established themselves in practice.
The Creighton College of Law was opened in the fall of 1904 in temporary quarters connected with the College of Medicine. In the fall of 1906 it moved into a new building, called the Edward Creighton Institute, on the west side of Eighteenth Street between Farnam and Douglas streets. It is the Law Depart- ment of Creighton University. During the school year of 1915-16, this school enrolled 181 students. It offers the usual course of law schools, the aim being to fit young attorneys for practice.
.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
MEDICINE AN OLD PROFESSION-DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEALING ART-HOME REME- DIES OF EARLY DAYS- THE PIONEER DOCTOR-IIIS CHARACTER AND METHODS OF TREATING DISEASE- IIIS STANDING AS A CITIZEN- HARDSHIPS ENCOUNTERED IN FRONTIER PRACTICE-BRIEF SKETCHIES OF EARLY PHYSICIANS IN DOUGLAS COUNTY-MEDICAL SOCIETIES-MEDICAL COLLEGES-HOMEOPATHY.
The practice of medicine, in an elementary form, is probably as old as the human race. When the first man was afflicted by some malady, he sought among the plants for something that would relieve his suffering. If a remedy was found the plant was remembered, and perhaps garnered for future use. Thus, by the slow process of evolution, medicine gradually developed into a science. A Chinese tradition says the practice of medicine in that empire was introduced by the Emperor Hwangti, in the year 2687 B. C. In India the practice of medicine is quite ancient, the physicians coming from the highest caste, and demonology played a conspicuous part in their theory and practice. Among the ancient Egyptians there were specialists as early as 1600 B. C. The Hebrews originally looked upon disease as a punishment for sin, but after the two captivities they had regular practicing physicians and surgeons. In the history of medicine the names of the Greek physicians Aesculapius and Hippocrates stand preeminent, the latter having been called the "Father of Medicine," and Galen, who practiced in the latter part of the Second Century, A. D., was the first to lay special stress upon the study of anatomy as essential to the practicing physician.
Throughout this gradual development of the science of medicine the doctor has often had to meet the sneers and ridicule of people who mistrusted his methods and questioned his ability. Even as late as the early years of the Nineteenth Century Voltaire defined a physician as "A man who crams drugs of which he knows little into a body of which he knows less." That may have been true of a certain class of French empirics at the time it was written, but since Voltaire's day the medical profession has made almost marvelous progress, with the result that the physician of the present day is usually a man who is entitled to honor and respect, both for his professional standing and his place in the community as a citizen.
In the settlement of the Middle West, when regular physicians were "few and far between," nearly every family kept on hand a stock of roots, barks and herbs, and common ailments were treated by the administration of "home-made" medicines without the aid of a doctor. Old settlers of Douglas County can no doubt recall the days when decoctions of wild cherry bark or sarsaparilla root,
336
a
337
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
boneset tea and burdock bitters were in common use; or they may recall how deftly "Grandma" or "Aunt Jane" would make a poultice or plaster for some external injury and apply it with more solemnity than is now shown by the skillful surgeon when he cuts into a man and robs him of his appendix. After all, these "home-made" remedies were not entirely without merit and often brought relief when the nearest regular physician was perhaps miles away.
Such was the condition upon the frontier when the pioneer doctor made his appearance in the new settlement, and probably no addition to the population was ever given a warmer welcome. The life of the physician in the new country was no sinecure. Money was scarce and his fees, if he collected any at all, were often paid in such produce as the doctor could use and the pioneer farmer could spare. No doubt the principal inducement for a doctor to locate in a new settlement was "to get in on the ground floor" and build up a practice before a competitor arrived in the field. The old-time doctor was not always a graduate of a medical school. Most of them obtained their professional education by "reading" for a few months with some older physician and assisting their precep- tors in their practice. When the young man thought he knew enough to begin business upon his own responsibility, he began to look about for a suitable loca- tion, which he often found in some young and growing community, where the oldest resident had been established but a few months. Here he could sometimes hear the howl of the wolf from his office door, or upon his long night ride to visit some patient. The frontier physician was not always a young and inexperienced man. Occasionally some doctor with an established practice would be caught by the "wanderlust" and locate in a pioneer settlement.
The stock of drugs and medicines of the old-time doctor was as limited as his professional or technical knowledge. Duncan, in his "Early Reminiscences of the Medical Profession," says the first thing necessary was "a liberal supply of English calomel." Next, especially in malarial districts, was a generous stock of Peruvian bark (sulphate of quinine was too rare and expensive for general use), and to these standard remedies were added some jalap, aloes, ipecac, Dover's powder, castor oil, and a few other well known drugs. In cases of fever it was considered the proper thing to relieve the patient of a quantity of blood, conse- quently every physician carried one or more lancets. And every doctor knew the formula for making "Cook's pills." If a drastic cathartic supplemented by the letting of blood and perhaps a "fly blister" over the seat of the pain did not improve the condition of the patient the doctor would "look wise and trust to a rugged constitution to pull him through."
However greatly to the credit of these pioneer physicians it can be truthfully said that they were just as sincere in their work and placed as much confidence in the treatment they administered as the most celebrated specialist of the present generation. Moreover a majority of them, as the population grew and the demands for their professional services proportionately increased, were not satisfied to remain in the mediocre class. Numerous instances are on record where a physician, after having been engaged in practice for years, would attend some established medical school and receive the coveted degree of M. D., thus show- ing his conscientiousness and his desire to be thoroughly prepared for his work.
When the first physicians began practice in Douglas County they did not visit their patients in automobiles. Even if the automobile had been invented at that Vol. 1-22
338
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
time the condition of the roads-where there were any roads-was usually such that the vehicle would have been practically useless. His round of visits was therefore made on horseback. As his practice extended over a large expanse of country, he often carried a lantern with him at night to enable him to find the "trail" in case he lost his way. On such occasions, if he did not remain with the patient until the next morning, he would drop the reins upon the horse's neck on the return trip and trust to the animal's instinct to find the way home. There were then no registered pharmacists to fill prescriptions, so the doctor carried his medicines with him in a pair of "pill-bags"-a contrivance composed of two leathern boxes, each divided into compartments for vials of different sizes and connected by a broad strap that could be thrown across the rear of the saddle.
And yet these old-time doctors, crude as many of their methods may seem today, were the forerunners of and paved the way for the specialists of this Twentieth Century. They were not selfish, and if one of them discovered a new remedy, or developed a new way of administering an old one, he was always ready to impart his information to his brother practitioners. If one of these old physicians, of half a century or more ago, could come back to the scene of his earthly labors and casually walk into the office of some modern doctor, he would no doubt stand aghast at the array of scientific apparatus, such as X-ray machines, microscopes, antiseptic arrangements, etc., but he would hardly realize that he had played his humble part in bringing about these improvements in the science of medicine; yet it is even so.
EARLY PHYSICIANS
To Dr. George L. Miller belongs the distinction of having been the first doctor to locate in Omaha. He was born in Oneida County, N. Y., August 18, 1830, and at the age of seventeen years began the study of medicine in Syracuse. In 1852 he received the degree of M. D. from the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in New York City. After practicing in Syracuse for about two years, he anticipated Horace Greeley's advice to "go west," and in October, 1854, he arrived in Omaha, when the population of the village was hardly more than a score. He was elected a member of the lower branch of the Territorial Legisla- ture which met in December, 1855, and from 1857 to 1859 was a member of the upper house. In 1859 he was the health officer for the City of Omaha. The same year he was sent to Washington, D. C., as a special agent "to use the best efforts to procure the passage of acts of Congress to reimburse the City of Omaha for money expended on the capitol building; to locate the surveyor-gen- eral's office in the City of Omaha; to locate the Pacific Railroad north of the Platte River and in the Platte Valley; to make Omaha the military depot for the Utah war; to make an appropriation for the removal of snags from the Missouri River; to make Omaha a port of entry; to make the Omaha postoffice a distributing office, and to aid and assist in the enactment of such other acts as may be to the advantage of the City of Omaha." -
Owing to the sparse population and the general healthfulness of the hardy pioneers, Doctor Miller saw it was going to be some time before his professional practice would yield him an income, so he turned his attention to other lines of
DR. GEORGE L. MILLER
339
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
endeavor. Having a liking for literary work, in which he had already had some experience, he went to St. Joseph, Mo., in 1860 and wrote several editorials for the St. Joseph Gazette. His pronounced Union views, at a time when the country was upon the eve of civil war, especially in a state like Missouri, did not meet the approbation of the slave holders and in 1861 he returned to Omaha. A little later he was appointed sutler at Fort Kearney, where he remained until 1864. Then, at the urgent request of his democratic friends, he again returned to Omaha and made the race for delegate to Congress. He was defeated at the election and soon afterward associated himself with D. W. Carpenter in establishing the Omaha Herald and remained with the paper until March, 1887.
Upon retiring from active journalism in 1887, Doctor Miller removed to his country seat, about five miles southwest of Omaha, which he named "Seymour Park," in honor of Horatio Seymour, of New York, whom he held in the venera- tion of a foster parent. Here he owned 460 acres, where he built a fine stone residence and planted a great many trees. His residence was afterward destroyed by fire and the stone was used in building St. Martin's Episcopal Church in South Omaha. In 1888 Doctor Miller was appointed the Nebraska manager for the New York Life Insurance Company and for several years he was president of the Omaha Board of Park Commissioners. He is still living in the City of Omaha and is cared for in his old age by his niece, Miss Nellie Johnson.
Charles A. Henry was probably the, second. man, to practice medicine in Douglas County. He was not a regular physician, but had a knowledge of medi- cine he had picked up while working in a drug store and by reading medical books. In the spring of 1855 he shot and killed a young man named Hollister, who was in the employ of Peter A. Sarpy: at Bellevue, and while he was con- fined in jail awaiting trial a steamboat came up the Missouri with some troops on board, among whom cholera had broken out. Doctor Miller, the only physi- cian at Omaha, was requested to accompany the boat up the river, which he did, the surgeon belonging to the command being on another boat some distance behind. This left the infant City of Omaha without a physician. Henry made calls on the sick under the guard of a deputy sheriff and made many friends, whichi no doubt had some influence in securing his acquittal. A full account of the shooting of Hollister and the trial of Henry may be found in the chapter 011 bench and bar.
Four physicians-James H. Seymour, B. T. Shelley. W. R. Thrall and A. McElwee-came to Omaha in the summer or fall of 1855. Some authorities give Doctor McElwee's name as "William," but upon the roll of original men- bers of the State Medical Society it appears as "A. McElwee." He remained but a short time in Omaha and but little can be learned regarding his history.
Dr. James H. Seymour was a well educated man and a successful physician. In 1858 and again in 1861 he was elected as one of the representatives from Douglas County in the Territorial Legislature. After the promotion of Dr. Enos Lowe to brigade surgeon, Doctor Seymour was made surgeon of the First Nebraska Infantry. He died at Helena, Ark., September 5, 1862.
Dr. B. T. Shelley was one of the organizers of the first State Medical Society soon after coming to Omaha. He remained only a few months in the city, when
340
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
he founded the Town of Niobrara and removed there, where he practiced ] profession for many years.
Dr. W. R. Thrall was elected to the lower house of the Territorial Legisla which met on December 8, 1857, and was one of the witnesses who testi before the joint committee of investigation, "appointed to examine into the cau and consequences of the difficulty in the Legislature of Nebraska, which occurr 1 on January 7th and 8th, 1858." In the act of 1857 Doctor Thrall's name appears as one of the incorporators of the Nebraska Medical Society. Not long after the passage of that act he left the territory.
Dr. A. Chappell came to Omaha in 1856 and succeeded to the practice of Dr. George L. Miller in the fall of that year. Like his predecessor, he was a graduate of the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons and a physician of fine ability. He was one of the incorporators of the Nebraska Medical Society in 1857 and was the first city health officer of Omaha.
About the time Doctor Chappell came to Omaha, Dr. A. B. Malcolm also located in the city. Later in the year Dr. James P. Peck came and formed a partnership with Malcolm. Doctor Peck was born in Summit County, Ohio, October 18, 1821. When only ten years of age he began learning the printer's trade, but while still in his 'teens decided to become a physician. In 1842 he entered the office of Doctor Wills, at Chillicothe, Ohio, and began his studies. A split in one of the political parties resulted in the starting of another newspaper in Chillicothe, and young Peck, being a practical printer, was persuaded to go to Cincinnati to purchase the press, type, etc. This caused him to postpone his medical studies for several years, but in 1848 he became a student under Dr. D. D. Evans, of Akron, Ohio, and in 1850 received his degree from the Cleveland Medical College. Returning to Akron as soon as he graduated, he married Miss Elizabeth H. Ames in June, 1850, and practiced there until 1856, when he came to Omaha. The office used by him and Doctor Malcolm was an adobe house of one large room. The partnership between the two men lasted but a short time, Doctor Malcolm removing to Florence. Doctor Peck then had some partitions placed in the adobe house and made it his residence as well as his office. His practice extended over a large range and he rode far and wide in answering the calls of his patients. In the Pawnee war of 1859 he was one of the surgeons who went out with the expedition. He continued to practice his profession in Omaha for many years; was one of the first board of trustees of the Omaha Medical College in 1869; was one of the company that organized the Omaha Driving Park Association in 1875; was city health officer in 1858; and was recognized as one of the public spirited citizens of the city. His son, Edward P. Peck, was for some time secretary of the Omaha Elevator Company. Doctor Peck died in 1889.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.