USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Hanover > A history of the town of Hanover, N.H. > Part 14
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Dr. Daniel Oliver preferred the life of a student and lecturer to that of a practitioner. Born in Marblehead, Mass., September 9, 1787, the son of an Episcopal clergyman, he was graduated from Harvard College in 1806 and then took up the study of law with his brother-in-law, Joseph Story, afterward the famous
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judge, but soon left it for medicine, in which he took a degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1810, immediately thereafter forming a partnership with Dr. Mussey in Salem, Mass. Dr. Mussey became connected with the Medical School in Hanover in 1814, and Dr. Oliver, after a year's lecturing in 1815, followed him to the Medical School in 1820, having in the interval gained much reputation as a scholar by his collaboration with John Pickering in the preparation of a Greek lexicon, which was for many years the standard lexicon in use. As has been said, Dr. Oliver with- drew almost wholly from practice and devoted himself to the duties of his professorships, for to that in the Medical School he added one in the College, which he held until his removal from Hanover in 1838. "He was handsome, dignified, grave, going but little into society, though genial in his own home." He died at Cambridge, Mass., June 1, 1842, aet. fifty-five.
Dr. Mussey was followed by a young man who soon made good his loss. This was Dixi Crosby, who, born at Sanbornton, N. H., February 7, 1800, of a family that has since impressed itself very deeply upon the life of Hanover, began at the age of twenty the study of medicine with his father, Dr. Asa Crosby, an eminent surgeon, then of Gilmanton. His native gifts for the practice of medicine and his characteristic boldness of execution were evinced in striking ways during the very first year and he speedily gained a reputation and a large practice even before he had obtained his degree of M. D., which he received at Dartmouth in 1824. As illustrations of his acuteness, boldness and resourcefulness the following anecdotes are told, the second belonging to the later period of his life:
In the first year of his study he accompanied his father to a consultation in the case of a man whose leg had been frozen, and whose condition was most critical. It was agreed by the older physicians that amputation at an earlier stage might have saved the patient's life, but that it was now too late. Young Crosby urged that the operation be performed, but the elders shook their heads. He even proposed to attempt it himself, but this was received with a storm of disapproval, in which even his father joined, and the thing was pronounced impossible. During the night young Crosby succeeded in reviving the courage of the man to make a last effort for life. The limb was removed and the man recovered.1
In one case he was suddenly called upon to visit a man who was 1 Dr. J. W. Barstow, in New York Medical Journal, November, 1873.
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in imminent danger of dying from hemorrhage as the result of an accident to his leg. Having no instruments, and no time in which to secure them, he called for a carving knife, which he sharpened on a grindstone and a razor strop, and filed a handsaw, with which he amputated the leg, and the patient recovered.1
Dr. Crosby was ten years in practice with his father at Gilman- ton, three years at Meredith Bridge (now Laconia), and in 1838 succeeded Dr. Mussey in the Medical School as professor of surgery and surgical anatomy, and in two years added obstetrics and diseases of women and children to his chair. He at once removed to Hanover, where for more than thirty years he enjoyed a degree of prominence, not only as a physician but as a citizen in every important department, second to no other physician that ever lived in the place. His mind and body were equally active and robust ; his courage was unwavering and his public spirit unstinted. His practice was very extensive in all departments and he was especially noted as a surgeon. Until advancing years pre- vented, his sulky or his sleigh was constantly on the road. His robust and cheerful personality dispelled fear and begot confi- dence; his patients formed a host of ardent friends, while his personal students were his boys and shared his confidence, and his recommendation was always sufficient to open to them the best positions. In connection with his practice and his work in the Medi- cal School he established, in the house now occupied by Profes- sor Robert Fletcher, a small private hospital, which he continued with great success for many years. He resigned his professor- ship in 1870, having had for some years his son, Alpheus Benning Crosby, as an assistant, and died at Hanover, September 26, 1873. He married, July 2, 1827, Mary Jane Moody of Gilmanton, N. H. They had two sons, both of whom became physicians.
Contemporary with Dr. Crosby was another physician of equal eminence, a part only of whose career was spent in Hanover. This was Edmund Randolph Peaslee, the son of James and Abigail (Chase) Peaslee, who was born at Newton, N. H., Jan- uary 22, 1814, his father dying when he was seven years old. He was graduated from Dartmouth in 1836, and after being tutor there for one year, 1837-38, he secured his medical education at Yale, receiving the degree of M. D. in 1840. The next year he began practice in Hanover, where he met with immediate suc- cess. He was at once made lecturer in the Medical School to succeed Oliver Wendell Holmes, and two years later was appointed
1 Dr. J. W. Barstow, in New York Medical Journal, November, 1873.
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to a professor's chair, which, though with a change of subject, he held for thirty-six years, until his death. He was also con- nected with several other medical institutions. He removed to New York City in 1858, where he died January 21, 1878, of pneumonia.
He was tall and slender, of a delicate constitution and of marked pallor of face, which in later years was intensified by a white beard, but knowing how to conserve his strength he was a cease- less worker, and became a practitioner of extraordinary ability, learning and success. He enjoyed a bright, sunny disposition, and a social, hearty and sympathetic nature made him unusually beloved, and united with his great knowledge and acumen to inspire confidence among his patients. His judgment was sought and respected by his medical associates, and he reached great eminence both as a physician and a surgeon. He was of equal repute as a lecturer and his works on medical subjects were the authorities of the time. He married Martha Thankful, daughter of Stephen Kendrick of Lebanon, N. H.
Thomas Russell Crosby, though practising but little in Han- over, deserves notice as a physician of the place. A younger brother of Dr. Dixi Crosby, he was born in Gilmanton, N. H., October 22, 1816, but suffered from ill health from his boyhood, having seven fevers in as many years, and being frequently obliged to give up his school work. Yet he was able, after much doubt, to take a college course and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1841 to both degrees of A. B. and M. D., although he was not reckoned among the medical students of the year.
After experiments of practice in several small places he went to Manchester, N. H., where his taste for natural history led him to interest himself in agriculture, and on the establishment of the Granite Farmer by the State Agricultural Society he was secured to edit it. While in Manchester his health gave way under an acute case of lead poisoning, and he was obliged to give up work, and removed to Norwich, Vt. With health somewhat restored, at the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services to the government and was put in charge of the Columbian Col- lege hospital at Washington. After the war and on the opening of the Agricultural College at Hanover, he came to it in 1869 as professor of animal and vegetable physiology, and joined with his work such medical practice as his health allowed him to under- take. He never fully regained his health and lived quietly in Hanover until his death March 1, 1872. He married Louise
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Partridge Burton, daughter of Colonel Oliver Burton, of the United States Army.
A third member of the Crosby family was a prominent physi- cian in Hanover. This was Alpheus Benning Crosby, familiarly known in Hanover, his boyhood's home, at first to distinguish him from his father, as "Dr. Ben," and then, there and elsewhere, receiving the same appellation on account of his extraordinary bonhomie, which gave him welcome admission to all circles. The second son of Dr. Dixi Crosby, born in Gilmanton, N. H., Feb- ruary 22, 1832, but, owing to his father's removal, brought up in Hanover, he was graduated from Dartmouth in 1853 and took his medical degree there in 1856. He at once began practice in the town in connection with his father, but in 1861 he became surgeon of the First Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers. After fifteen months of service in the field he returned to Han- over as a colleague of his father in the Medical School with the title of adjunct professor of surgery, and succeeded to the full chair on his father's retirement in 1870.
Dr. Crosby possessed unusual gifts as a lecturer, combining with great fluency of expression a lively humor, richness of illustration, an extraordinary power of mimicry and an inex- haustible fund of anecdotes, which he effectively employed both in the lecture room and in after dinner speeches, and in public addresses, for which he was in constant demand. He was a lec- turer at five different medical schools, besides being a very skill- ful surgeon, and was held in great esteem as a practitioner. In 1872 he removed to New York City, where he acquired an exten- sive private and hospital practice. His cheery temper and frank, open manner, expressing a genuine kindness, endeared him to many friends. He died, as the result of an infected wound, at Hanover, August 9, 1877. His wife was Mildred Grassell Smith, daughter of Dr. William R. Smith of Galveston, Texas. Two of their sons became physicians, one of whom, mentioned farther on, practised for a time in Hanover.
As the Crosby family passed out of Hanover life, another family came into it whose association with the Medical School and prac- tice of medicine there has continued for more than fifty years.
Its first representative was Carlton Pennington Frost. The son of Benjamin and Mary Brant Frost, he was born in Sullivan, N. H., May 30, 1830. When he was seven years old his family removed to Thetford, Vt., that the children might have the bene- fit of the academy in that place. His medical education, after his
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graduation from Dartmouth in 1852, was gained at several schools, but he received his medical degree from Dartmouth in 1857. He began the practice of his profession at St. Johnsbury, Vt., in that year, but in 1862 he entered the service of his country as surgeon of the Fifteenth Regiment of Vermont Volunteers. After a few months' service in Virginia he was assigned to duty as inspector at Woodstock, and later in Windsor, Vt.
At the close of the war he resumed practice at St. Johnsbury, but soon removed to Brattleboro, Vt. Receiving in 1869 an appointment to lecture in the Medical School at Hanover, he became professor of the theory and practice of medicine in 1870, and the next year he removed to Hanover, where he lived until his death May 24, 1896.
Dr. Frost was closely identified with the growth of the Medical School, of which he became dean, but he also had an extensive practice and took an active and influential part in the affairs of the community. He was a member of the first board of precinct commissioners, and was influential in the introduction of water and of electric light into the village. He was one of the first group of Trustees of the College chosen by the alumni in 1891, and during the interim in the presidency of the College, in 1892- 93, he represented the Trustees at Hanover. On the giving up of Dr. Crosby's hospital Dr. Frost labored to secure another and more commodious one, and when Mr. Hiram Hitchcock became interested in the subject, Dr. Frost had much to do with the plan and the arrangement of the building.
Dr. Frost was rather a quiet man, but he begot confidence, and he was trusted by his patients and by men in general. He abhorred shams and had a certain brusqueness of manner that indicated his dislike of all pretence, and his directness sometimes disturbed those who preferred bread pills to plain truth, but under a reserved manner he covered a warm and sympathetic nature, that did not limit its service by the line of duty. At one time, one of his patients was a very sick child. He had paid his last visit about ten in the evening and had left for the night. Between one and two in the morning, as the child's mother was anxiously watch- ing, she saw the door open and Dr. Frost walked in, saying that he had not been able to sleep for his thought of the child and so had come to see if he could do anything more. The child recov- ered, and the grateful mother held the sympathy and the skill of the doctor in equal regard. This incident was characteristic of him, and in many a household he would "drop in" to give cheer
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and comfort when no medical skill could avail. Beloved by all the children, he was never too busy to stop and joke with them. In these days when many physicians, in spite of automobiles, avoid country practice, it is interesting to remember how ready he was, like many another devoted member of his profession, to respond to distant calls by night as well as day. On one such occasion, in his later years, the night was so dark that even his old gray horse floundered from the road in the deep snow and plunged with the doctor and sleigh into the deep gully beyond Mink Brook, happily without serious results.
Dr. Frost's death resulted from a weakness of the heart, which he long courageously faced in silence. He married Eliza A. DuBois, daughter of Earl C. DuBois of Randolph, Vt. Dr. Frost had the satisfaction before his death of associating with himself in the practice of medicine, as Dr. Crosby had done before him, a son, Gilman DuBois Frost, who is still in practice in Han- over and is professor of clinical medicine in the Medical School.
William Thayer Smith, the son of Rev. Dr. Asa D. and Sarah (Adams) Smith, was born in New York City, March 30, 1839. Graduated from Yale College in 1860 he soon lost his health, and for several years was able to do but little. Coming to Hanover when his father assumed the presidency of the College, he grad- ually improved in health and was able to undertake the study of medicine, so as to receive the degree of M. D. in 1879. His health continuing to improve, he entered upon the practice of medicine in Hanover and became very successful. He had a genuine sympathy for all in distress and a gracious manner that made him welcome in the sick room. His method of speech was direct and unaffected, and he was successful as a teacher. For two years, beginning with 1874, he was instructor in natural history in the College ; in 1882 he became a lecturer in the Medi- cal School, and in 1883 a professor there, becoming dean of the medical faculty on the death of Dr. Frost in 1896. He was suc- cessful both as a practitioner and as a surgeon, and had a promi- nent place in the conduct of the Hospital. He was earnestly Christian in life and character, greatly beloved by all and had a strong influence in the community. He died of pneumonia, Sep- tember 17, 1909. He married Susan W. Kellogg of Norwich, Vt.
John Martin Gile, born in Pembroke, N. H., March 8, 1864, the son of Brainerd Gile and Mary N. (Kimball) Gile, was grad- uated from Dartmouth in 1887 and from the Medical School in 1891. He came to Hanover in 1896 as a lecturer on the science
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and practice of medicine, and being advanced the next year to a professor's chair he remained in connection with the Medical School, as its dean from 1910, until his death July 15, 1925. He had an extensive practice, and turning to surgery he became the leading surgeon of the State. His connection with the Hitch- cock Hospital opened for him a great opportunity for surgical practice, which he improved to the utmost, and as his skill became known, patients came to the Hospital to be under his care, and he was called for surgical and medical service to all parts of the State. He was an indefatigable worker, not infrequently driving a hundred miles at night to perform an operation and returning after it was done to the lecture room or the Hospital in the morning. Though quiet in manner he had nerves of steel and it was not uncommon for him to perform several even capital operations in one day. It was his unceasing labor that broke him down, bringing on angina pectoris from which he died.
Dr. Gile had wide interests, having great influence in the com- munity where his advice was sought and heeded. His profes- sional obligations left no room for public activities that demanded uninterrupted service, but as far as possible he was active in matters in the village, town and State. In 1911 and 1912 he was a member of the Governor's Council and during the World War he was Medical Aide to the Governor, president of the local Red Cross organization, an active member of the State Commit- tee of Public Safety and chairman of the sub-committee on Hygiene, Medicine and Sanitation. It was his devotion to these interests, added to his increased professional work, that sowed the seeds of fatal disease. He was a Trustee of the College, chosen first by the alumni as their representative and later elected by his associates to life membership, a position in which his knowl- edge of affairs and sound business judgment were recognized and esteemed. His manner was pleasing, his speech deliberate, but not formal, and his thought clear and effective. He married Vesta Grace Fowler of Epsom, N. H., June 8, 1892.
Like Dr. Dixi Crosby and Dr. C. P. Frost he welcomed to the practice of medicine in Hanover a son, John F. Gile, who before his father's death had become established in Hanover and also had become associated in the Medical School with the depart- ment of anatomy.
There are several physicians now resident in the village, besides Dr. Gilman D. Frost and Dr. John F. Gile, mentioned above, and engaged in active practice as far as their relation to the College
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permits. Of these Dr. Percy Bartlett is professor of surgery, Dr. Howard N. Kingsford is professor of pathology and bac- teriology, Dr. John W. Bowler is professor of hygiene and phy- sical education and director of the gymnasium, and Dr. Harold A. DesBrisay is assistant professor of medicine. Drs. Harry T. French, John P. Bowler, and John F. Gile, graduates of the College in 1913, 1915 and 1916, respectively, are all connected with the Medical School and also practising physicians.
Two other physicians, not connected with the Medical School, are practising in Hanover : Dr. Elmer H. Carleton, a specialist in diseases of eye, ear and throat, who came to Hanover in 1893, and Dr. George H. Parker, who came from Wells River, Vt., in 1917.
Several physicians have had a temporary residence in Hanover. From 1840 to 1850 Charles H. Olcott, a son of Mills Olcott and a graduate of the Medical School in 1839, was resident as a phy- sician on the College Plain, but he does not appear to have had much practice. In 1842 Amasa F. Kinne, a graduate of the Col- lege in 1837 and in medicine in 1841, is given in the New Hamp- shire register as resident in Hanover, probably at or near the Center, but what practice he had I am unable to ascertain. He soon removed to Jaffrey, N. H., and later from there to Ypsilanti, Mich., where he died in 1874. Dr. William White came here in 1875 and remained until 1882, but he had little practice. Dr. William Pierce Crosby, already mentioned as the son of Dr. A. B. Crosby, was graduated from the Medical School in 1898 and practised here at two different times. He died May 8, 1914. Dr. George Sellers Graham, a graduate of the College in 1902 and from the Medical School in 1905, was an instructor in the School from 1906 to 1910 and during that time had an office for practice. Dr. Walter Griswold Bisbee, a medical graduate of 1901, also had an office here in 1901-1903.
There were three other physicians who had a long residence in the village, but two of them made little or no attempt to practise medicine here, and instead, kept the village drug store. Both of these were graduates of the Medical School and practised before coming to Hanover. The first was Dr. Thomas Prentiss Hill, born in Conway, N. H., a medical graduate in 1816, who after long practice in Sanbornton, N. H., came to Hanover in 1844 and bought the drug store, which he kept for twelve years, when he retired from business. He lived in the house on the northeast
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corner of Main and Elm Streets, and died there August 3, 1866, at the age of eighty-five.
His successor was Dr. James Austin Smith, a native of Hart- land, Vt., and a medical graduate of 1849. He came to Hanover in 1852 and four years later bought the drug store of Dr. Hill, which he kept until he in turn sold it, in 1868, to Lucien B. Down- ing, whom he had trained as a clerk and then taken as a partner He removed to Minneapolis, Minn., and later to California, where he died in 1901, aet. eighty. While in Hanover be lived in the house, since burned, that stood where the Musgrove block now stands.
The third resident physician was Dr. Edmund Smith, of whom I have been able to gain no information further than that he had little or no practice. He was a great taker of snuff, which he carried loose in his vest pocket, and from his habit of extracting the snuff with thumb and forefinger and, after applying it to his nose, of wiping the remnant on the front of his vest, he gained the sobriquet of "Snuffy Smith." He lived in Hanover from 1842 to 1872 in a small house just off College Street, near the heating plant.
All of the physicians, who have been thus far mentioned, have resided on the College Plain, but there have been three physicians resident in Hanover Center. The first of these was Dr. Joel Brown, who lived at the Center village in a house still standing on the left of the road, about half way up the hill, as one approaches Hanover Center from the south. He was somewhat prominent in town affairs, being town clerk for many years, while his name often appears in the town records in different capacities. He also was in the Revolutionary service as surgeon, and his name is in the list of 1780 of those who had been in service, "three tours, eleven months" (Vol. I, p. 409). He died April 3, 1831, aet. seventy-one. He married M. Tryphena Ordway October 29, 1797.
Dr. Edward Smith resided for some time at the Center, and in 1842 advertised his services as a physician in the local paper of Hanover. I do not find how long he remained in Hanover.
Dr. George Ezra Spencer, the son of James and Miriam Brown Spencer, was born in Hanover November 25, 1817, was graduated from the Medical School at Dartmouth in 1846, prac- tised medicine in Gilmanton, N. H., for some years and came to Hanover in 1856, on account of the ill health of his wife, whose early home was there. He occupied what is called the "yellow
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house," next the parsonage. His wife soon died and after remain- ing in Hanover for two years he returned to Gilmanton. His own health failing, he came again to Hanover in the spring of 1865, and after trying a useless trip to New Orleans he died at Hanover, January 6, 1866, of consumption. He married Fannie Hunt- ington of Hanover, and later Frances Susan Curry of Gilmanton. He seems to have anticipated the modern treatment of tuber- culosis, as he employed, though without success in his own case, the open air treatment.
For many years the program of the medical lectures brought noted physicians to Hanover to give courses in the months of the late summer and early fall. These physicians had an extensive practice here, as many patients came to them for advice and treat- ment and physicians of the neighboring section took the oppor- tunity to consult them about their own patients, but as they changed frequently, and as none of them acquired a permanent residence here, an account of them belongs more properly to the College than to the town.
This chapter would not be complete without mention of two physicians, Dr. Oliver P. Hubbard and Dr. Edwin J. Bartlett, who held professorships in the Medical School as well as in the College, the former for forty-seven years (1836-1883) and the latter for thirty-eight years (1878-1920). Though neither of these men had an office for practice in Hanover, their cordial rela- tions with the practising physicians and the stimulus they gave to the latter were of lasting service to the community.
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