USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > History of Concord, New Hampshire, from the original grant in seventeen hundred and twenty-five to the opening of the twentieth century, Volume II > Part 26
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2.00 to 3.00
Smallpox (per visit) 5.00
Visit to East and West Concord and Millville . 2.00
Travel for every mile beyond the first
. .50
Letter of advice
.
3.00
A discount of ten per cent. will be made for cash at expiration of service, but no discount will be made under any other circumstances except obvious poverty, when it shall be left to the discretion of the physician.
It is due to the truth of history that it should be said that little regard was paid to the table of fees then adopted, and it was not long before it was entirely disregarded, each physician becoming a law unto himself in the matter of charges for professional service.
The State Board of Health had its origin largely in the sanitary work of Dr. Granville P. Conn, who was city physician of Concord from 1872 to 1879. Soon after beginning the practice of medicine he became satisfied that a great many deaths occurred from prevent- able causes, due largely to ignorance of the laws of health, and that physicians were often disappointed in obtaining satisfactory results by reason of inefficient nursing and lack of attention to the hygiene of the sick-room and the sanitary condition of the home. As early as 1866 he began an agitation for cleaning the city. There being an epidemic of cholera in Europe at that time, he brought the sub- ject to the attention of the city government, and that body passed an ordinance, drafted by him, which secured a house-to-house inspec- tion,-the first in the United States, and probably the first in any country. This was conducted under his direction ; and a full record of the sanitary condition of every building in the compact part of the city was made early in the season, which resulted in a general cleaning of courts, alleys, strects, and yards. The city at once took an advanced position in sanitation, which it has ever since main- tained; for with the introduction of a water-supply in 1873 came a necessity for sewers that was promptly met by the installation of a system in 1876.
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926
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
Dr. Conn's intimate connection with the hygiene of the city con- vinced him that the state should have and maintain an effective supervision over the health of its citizens, and that a state board of health was as necessary an adjunct of the executive department of New Hampshire as a bank, railroad, insurance, or fish commission. At the annual meeting of the New Hampshire Medical society in 1872, Dr. Logan of California read a paper on the formation of state and national boards of health. This was so well received that on the motion of Dr. Crosby of Concord, Dr. Conn was made a member of a committee to draft a bill and secure its passage by the legisla- ture for a state board of health. For almost a decade thereafter Dr. Conn labored to this end, reading papers before medical societies on sanitation, addressing legislative bodies, and contributing articles to magazines and newspapers on hygienic reform. In 1881 his efforts were crowned with success, for the legislature of that year created a state board of health, to which he was immediately ap- pointed. Ilis election as president at once followed,-a position he has since held. Its first and only secretary has been Dr. Irving A. Watson of Northumberland, who became a citizen of Concord and from that time forward identified with its interests.
The agitation for a law to secure registration of births, marriages, and deaths was begun in the New Hampshire Medical society as early as 1848, and Drs. Gage and Chadbourne of Concord were appointed on a committee to bring the question before the legislature. The subject was discussed at subsequent meetings of the society, and in 1868 Dr. Conn was made a member of this committee to memorialize the legislature. A few years later, while city physician, an incident occurred which enabled Dr. Conn to show to the city government the necessity for a local ordinance upon the subject of burials. His prior appeals had been fruitless ; but one day, a neiglibor's dog having unearthed the body of an infant and brought it into the dining-room of one of the aldermen, Dr. Conn used this incident most successfully in securing the needed ordinance. The city gov- ermment met that afternoon, and the ordinance prepared by Dr. Conn was passed, which required a burial permit to be issued before a body could be interred. Since then, substantially the same ordi- nance has become the law of the state, and New Hampshire undoubt- edly secures quite as accurate a statement of vital statistics as any . state in the Union.
The author of this article opened a medical office in Masonic Tem- ple, Concord, on the 14th day of April, 1862, having previously practised his profession in the city of Keene. The physicians then in active practice in the city proper were: Ezra Carter, Charles
927
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
P. Gage, Timothy Haynes, Ebenezer G. Moore, James M. Moore, Alpheus Morrill, Albert A. Moulton, F. Gustav Oehme, Abraham H. Robinson, James F. Sargent, Samuel L. F. Simpson, William H. Smart, Benjamin S. Warren, and Jesse P. Bancroft,-the last named being superintendent of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane. Dr. Charles A. Lockerby was also doing an office practice, and Dr. Isaac Colby, who had retired from practice, lived in the house on Pleasant street now occupied by Dr. Stillings. Shortly after, Dr. Granville P. Conn came to Concord, and a few years later Drs. Moses W. Russell, Shadrach C. Morrill, Albert H. Crosby, Ferdinand A. Stillings, George Cook, Alfred E. Emery, and Ezekiel Morrill engaged in practice here, adding great strength to the medical forces of the city. Of all those named as being in practice in 1862, Dr. Oehme is the only one now surviving. Ile left Concord many years ago, transferring liis field of labor to Staten Island, New York, where he still resides. Of those who came shortly after, Drs. Crosby, Rus- sell, and Emery have also finished their life-work.
The physicians of Concord, forty years ago, were strong men in the profession. They knew little of many things that are now deemed essential to a medical education, but they were men of energy and common sense, studious in their habits and resourceful in emergencies. Bacteriology and kindred specialties had not come into vogue in those days, but it is a delight to revert to the skill and wisdom with which disease was combated, and to recall the auxiliary treatment, now too often neglected, that was called into requisition in desperate cases.
It would be invidious to call special attention to any one of these men. Without exception, they were physicians of character and ability who are remembered gratefully and affectionately even now by many families in Concord and neighboring towns. There were Ezra Carter, Charles P. Gage, and Timothy Haynes, three physicians who left a deep impress on this community. Ebenezer G. and James M. Moore, father and son, had the confidence of the people to a remarkable degrec, while Drs. Moulton, Robinson, Sargent, Simpson, and Smart were busy men, cach with his circle of devoted friends. Dr. Alpheus Morrill was literally worshiped by a very large clientele, while Dr. Oehme was respected for his learning and culture. Dr. Warren was a disciple of the eclectic school, and Dr. Bancroft stood in the front rank of alienists in his day and generation, his life-work being done in connection with the State Asylum for the Insane, which is now being successfully carried on by his son, Dr. Charles I'. Bancroft. These men of a former generation have passed away, but they left behind them enduring proof of their abilities and worth.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DENTISTRY.
JAMES O. LYFORD.
Dentistry was a " side line " of the early physicians of Concord, though very few of them attempted anything more than the extrac- tion of aching teeth. Occasionally they may have been consulted by patients as to the adjustment of a set of artificial teeth purchased at the grocery store. As late as 1837 artificial teeth were advertised with groceries and medicines. In the New Hampshire Patriot of October 28, that year, is an advertisement of John McDaniel, who sold groceries and medicines, which reads as follows:
Incorruptible enamel teeth, pivot and plate, with various shapes: gold foil, white bronze, copper bronze, silver bronze for sale cheap.
At this date there were dentists in town, and very likely they assisted in adjusting the plates to the mouths of the purchasers. That there were traveling dentists early in the nineteenth century who visited Concord is apparent from advertisements that appear in 1826, when a Dr. Parsons, surgeon dentist from Boston, announces that he will visit Concord for six days, and a little later another sur- geon dentist makes a similar announcement. The first dentist to settle in Concord was Dr. Elijah Colby, who was a graduate of the medical college at Hanover in 1823, and the same year began prac- tice as a physician in the East village of Concord. His first patient was Mrs. Ruth Bradley (Eastman) Staniels, mother of Charles E. Staniels, still living at East Concord at an advanced age. Dr. Colby appears to have taken up dentistry as a "side line " to the medical profession. The earliest advertisement of him as a surgeon dentist is in the New Hampshire Patriot of October, 1826, where he " informs the public that he continues to set teeth and to perform all necessary operations usually connected with this line of business at his room at Mr. Lang's in the East Village of Concord." It would seem from this that he had practised dentistry for a time, and it may be that he gave particular attention to this profession from the time of his set- tlement in East Concord in 1823. In June, 1828, an advertisement in the Statesman gives notice that Dr. Colby, surgeon dentist, has a room at the Eagle Coffee House during the session of the legislature;
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929
DENTISTRY.
and in October of that year he advertises that he will call on patients. Dr. Colby practised medicine and dentistry in Concord until 1838, when he removed to New Bedford.
Dr. Colby had no rival in the profession except the traveling den- tists until the coming of Moses T. Willard about 1834. Dr. Willard had an extensive practice and was without competition for several years. He was afterwards mayor and postmaster of Concord. Who was the next arrival is not clear. In 1845 Dr. D. P. Wilson adver- tised as a dentist, and the next year Dr. William W. Hurd put his advertisement in the Concord papers. Dr. Hurd was one of the " Mystic Five," a local association formed about this time, which had an annual meeting and dinner for fifty consecutive years without a break and with no death in its membership. In 1847 Dr. William W. Fletcher settled here and remained in active practice until his appointment as fish commissioner in 1874. After this his practice was inactive, and in later years he removed to Philadelphia. The same year that Dr. Fletcher settled in Concord Dr. Henry D. White opened an office in Fisherville, where he remained until into the eighties, when he removed to Concord. In 1849 Dr. Willard took a partner in the person of Dr. F. A. Noyes, who remained in the part- nership for about two years, and then went to Boston. In 1850 John W. Little, M. D., has an advertisement as a dentist in the Con- cord newspapers, in which he gives as his references "those in this city and vicinity for whom I have worked since March, 1843." Except this advertisement there is no record that Dr. Little was in Concord before 1850.
In 1855 Dr. Ezra E. Worthen advertised as a dentist and gave as his reference Dr. Willard, with whom he undoubtedly studied, for in the earliest notice that is found of him as a dentist he gives his resi- dence with Dr. Willard. Three years later Dr. George S. Fife and Dr. Justus Blaisdell advertised as dentists. Dr. Fife announced that he extracted teeth by electricity, and Dr. Blaisdell the next year advertised that he extracted teeth with the aid of electricity or ether, and gave testimonials from the parties who had been operated upon at his hands. Another addition to the profession in 1858 was Dr. David D. Smith of Penacook, who, after practising a few years in that village, removed to Philadelphia, where he became a lecturer and member of the faculty of the Philadelphia Dental college. The latter part of 1859 Dr. Eben G. Cummings opened an office in Phenix block. He graduated from a dental college in 1855, and was. the first graduate to practice in New Hampshire. Before this time the dentists of the state studied in some dentist's office, observing his practice. Dr. Cummings came from Lancaster to Concord. As
930
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
showing the great expense of dental work when he was in Lancaster, contrasted with the present time, Dr. Cummings says that it then took forty cords of wood to pay for an upper set of teeth, when now two cords would pay for the same thing better done. He was the first dentist in Concord, if not in the state, to use adhesive gold in filling teeth.
In 1861 George A. Young came to Concord and formed a partner- ship with Dr. Cummings, which lasted for nearly twenty years, when a dissolution took place, and the two have since continued practice separately. Dr. Cummings was active in assisting to organize the first dental association in northern New England,-the Merrimack Valley Dental association,-and Dr. Young was one of the first mem- bers admitted after organization. This association afterwards became the New England Dental society, and is now known as the North- eastern Dental association. The Merrimack County Dental society was the outgrowth of this larger organization, and was formed sonie- time in the sixties after a meeting in the office of Cummings & Young, at which Professor William H. Atkinson, of the New York Dental college, lectured.
In the next twenty years the additions to the profession in this city were Dr. John E. Murphy and Dr. Charles N. Towle, who were in partnership for a brief time in 1867, or until the death of Dr. Murphy ; Dr. James H. French, who settled in Penacook in 1876 and died there in 1895; Dr. Oker E. Nettleton, whose stay was brief ; Dr. John M. Fletcher and Dr. Edward B. Davis, who opened offices in Concord in 1879. Dr. Davis was the first native of Concord who practised dentistry in this city. Dr. Fletcher began the study of dentistry as early as 1849, but abandoned it because of lack of oppor- tunity, and resumed it a decade later. He practised in Franklin and Bradford before coming to Concord, and has been granted letters patent on several appliances now in use by the profession.
.
During the last two decades the additions have been Dr. George N. Johnson, Dr. James M. Rowe and four sons,-Eugene A., Edward W., Frank H., and Forrest C.,-Martin E. Young, who died in 1894, Edmund H. Albee, Charles R. Morton, Louis I. Moulton, Arthur L. Parker, John H. Worthen, Charles W. Coolidge, Henry E. Johnson, George E. Rowell, Paul R. Duckworth, Edward S. Cummings, and William A. Young. Some of the foregoing were here but a brief time, while others have become identified with the city's interests. In the nearly eighty years since the first dentist settled in Concord great advance has been made in the work of the profession. For- merly dentistry was a luxury of only the well-to-do. Now the dentist is a necessity in almost every household, and consulted as commonly
,
931
DENTISTRY.
as the family physician. The dean of the profession here is Dr. Eben G. Cummings, who has been in practice in this city forty-three years, while closely following him in point of time are Dr. George A. Young, who has been here forty years, and Dr. Charles N. Towle, who has thirty-four years to his credit. For a period of nearly ten years these three were the only dentists in Concord.
CHAPTER XXIV.
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE HOSPITAL.
(ASYLUM FOR INSANE.)
JOSEPH B. WALKER.
About the year 1830 the condition of the insane of New Hamp- shire began to awaken a deep interest in the hearts of philanthropic persons in all sections of the state. Among those who manifested an earnest and particular interest in the subject were Dr. Amos Twitchell of Keene, Dr. William Perry of Exeter, Rev. Dr. Charles Burroughs and Samuel E. Coues of Portsmouth, Isaac Hill, Nathaniel G. Upham, and Charles H. Peaslee of Concord, Daniel Abbott and Charles J. Fox of Nashua, John P. Hale of Dover, Ira St. Clair of Deerfield, John Conant of Jaffrey, William Plumer of Epping, Miss Catherine Fisk of Keene, together with many others living in different localities in all sections of the state.
There were, at this time, not very far from four hundred insane persons in New Hampshire. Their condition was deplorable, and no effort was being made for its alleviation. Some were confined in private chambers and chained to the walls ; some were kept in out- houses, destitute of all means of warming in cold weather; some were shut up in county jails, and some were wandering around at large, oftentimes a menace to themselves and to those they chanced to meet.
The popular feeling rapidly increased that something should be done for their benefit and upon a scale commensurate with the mag- nitude of their numbers.
But what, by whom, and in what way? These were questions of difficult solution. As the public interest in the subject deepened, a settled conviction was formed in leading minds that the state should take the initiative in whatever measures might be adopted. Influ- enced in part, perhaps, by this general sentiment, but feeling deeply the importance of the enterprise, Governor Dinsmore, in his message to the legislature, June, 1832, thus called attention to the condition ' of the insane :
" I feel no apology need be made, in an age so distinguished for its public and private charities, for calling your attention to a subject which has so much reason and humanity on its side as a measure for the security and recovery of the lunatic or insane. The legislature
933
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE HOSPITAL.
of the state has never yet recognized these unfortunate beings as entitled to any special favor from government."
After alluding to the belief once entertained of the incurableness of insanity, he contrasted the enlightened and humane treatment afforded by well-regulated hospitals with that in use throughout the state, and asserted the curableness of the malady in a large per- centage of cases, under proper and timely treatment, citing in proof thereof statistics gathered from the reports of some of the best man- aged institutions in England and the United States, and thereby showing the importance " of having, in some convenient part of the state, a place where patients of this description can be received with as little delay as possible after the commencement of the disease and before improper management shall have aggravated its character and lessened the chances of cure."
Front View N. H. State Hospital.
He also recommended, as a preparatory step, the institution of an inquiry "to ascertain, with as much exactness as practicable, the whole number of insane within the state, distinguishing paupers from others : the number which have been committed to jail within a given time by authority of court, or by their friends or others, without the order or sanction of judicial proceedings; and the length of their respective terms of confinement; and to ascertain, in like manner, the actual or probable amount of costs of court and jailer's fees, and expenses of their support and maintenance in cases of con- finement."
In accordance with this recommendation, the governor was re- quested, by a resolution introduced by Hugh Miller of Peterborough, and passed on the 22d day of June of that year, "to take proper means to ascertain the number of insane persons in the state."
In his message at the opening of the winter session, in November following, Governor Dinsmore, in allusion to this resolution, said :
934
HISTORY OF CONCORD.
" I addressed letters of inquiry, containing copies of the resolu- tion, to the seleetmen of the several towns in the state, requesting them to furnish me seasonably with the information desired. In one hundred and forty-one towns, being all from which returns have been received, the whole number of insane is one hundred and eighty-nine,-ninety males and ninety-nine females,-one hundred and three of whom are paupers. The whole of those now in confine- ment is seventy-six, of whom twenty-five are in private houses, thirty-four in poorhouses, seven in cells and cages, six in chains and irons, and four in jail. Of those not now in confinement, many were stated to have been at times secured in private houses, some have been handcuffed, others have been confined in cells, and some in chains and jails."
These plain words of Governor Dinsmore initiated a contest in the legislature between the philanthropists and the conservatives, which was maintained with great earnestness and lasted for as many years as did the American Revolution. The senate and house journals of the period record repeated instances of parliamentary prowess of much interest to persons familiar with legislative contests. It began in 1832. It was not until 1841 that the erection of the first asylum structure was commenced.
In pursuance of the governor's recommendation, a bill was intro- duced into the house of representatives by Samuel C. Webster of Plymouth, on the 26th day of December of this year, providing " for the establishment of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane." This was read twice and laid upon the table. On the 28th, on mo- tion of Samuel E. Coues of Portsmouth, it was indefinitely post- poned by a vote of one hundred and thirty-nine to seventy-eight.
Upon the assembling of the next legislature, in June, 1833, Governor Dinsmore again alluded to the subject in his message, and said, in relation to the establishment of an asylum for the insane :
"Although your predecessors did not feel prepared to sanction the measures recommended, I have never lost the hope of seeing at an early period a zealous co-operation of the several branches of the government, with the friends of suffering humanity, in promoting a charity so plainly recommended by the principles of our religion and by every consideration of justice and philanthropy."
On the 20th day of June of this year, a resolution was introduced in the house of representatives by Arthur Livermore, of Camp- ton, authorizing the appointment of an agent to examine and inspect sundry asylums for the insane and " report a plan for an asylum in this State."
The resolution passed to its third reading, on the 25th day of
935
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE HOSPITAL.
June, whereupon, its indefinite postponement being moved by John L. Hadley, of Weare, by a yea and nay vote, its postponement was lost by a vote of fifty-four yeas to one hundred and five nays. The resolution was then passed and sent to the senate, where, a few days afterwards, July 1, 1833, on motion of Cyrus Barton, its further consideration was postponed to the next session of the legis- lature. A resolution was also passed by the house "that each mem- ber of this legislature instruet their respective towns to report by their members at the next session the number of insane, and their wishes in relation to the state building an hospital for the use of the insane "; but on the 4th day of July, this resolution, on motion of Warren Lovell, of Meredith, was also indefinitely postponed by the senate.
On the 26th of June still another resolution was introduced to the house by Charles H. Peaslee, of Concord, appropriating ten thousand dollars " for the ereetion of an insane hospital," the further consid- eration of which was, on the 3d day of July, on motion of Zenas Clement of Claremont, postponed to the next session of the legisla- ture by a vote of one hundred and eight yeas to eighty-seven nays.
The use of the representatives' hall was granted to Dr. William Perry, of Exeter, for the delivery of a leeture upon the subject of the insane, on the evening of the 2d day of June.
Upon the opening of the session of 1834, Governor Badger warmly urged in his message the importance of taking some measures for alleviating the existing condition of the insane; and on the 11th of June so much of his message as related to the deaf, dumb, and insane was referred to a special committee of the house, consisting of Messrs. Charles H. Peaslee, of Concord; John L. Perley, of Mere- dith ; Hugh Bartley, of Londonderry; John Sullivan, of Exeter ; William Gordon, of Charlestown; Otis Amidon, of Chesterfield ; and Gideon L. Tirrell, of Shelburne.
On the 24th, Mr. Peaslee, for the committee, presented to the house an able report, accompanied by a resolution for an appropria- tion by the state of the sum of twelve thousand five hundred dol- lars, for the ereetion of an asylum for the insane, which, on the 30th of the same month, on motion of John Rogers, of Exeter, was postponed to the next session of the legislature. The resolution " authorizing the appointment of an agent for the inspection of eer- tain asylums for the insane," which was postponed in 1833 to the next session of the legislature, was reported on the 18th to the senate, from the committee on unfinished business; and the same day, on motion of Austin Corbin, of Newport, was indefinitely post- poned. Twelve days afterward, however, a resolution introduced
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