USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 16
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1873
James Douglas
1894
John S. Stiger
1874
B. D. Evans
1895
P. C. Barker
1875
H. V. Day
1896
J. G. Ryerson
1876
C. N. Miller
1897
A. A. McWithey
1877
T. P. Prout
1898
I. W. Condict
1878
John Walter
1899
T. B. Flagler
1879
H. W. Kice
1900
H. Hulshizer
1880
N. H. Adsit
1901
Levi Farrow
188I
W. S. Foster
1902
Calvin Anderson
1882
J. W. Farrow
1903
E. P. Cooper
1883
H. M. O. Reilley
1904
William Pennington
1884
H. A. Cossit
1905
A. A. Lewis
1885
Wm. J. Wolfe
1906
A. E. Carpenter
1886
Geo. H. Foster
1907
S. E. Hedges
1887
Chris. C. Beling
1908
E. C. Booth
1888
A. W. Condict
1909
S. H. Reed
1889
P. S. Mallon
1910
S. Pierson
1890
Theo. W. Bebout
19II
F. W. Flagge
189I
G. A. Becker
1912
F. W. Owen
1892
G. A. Becker
1913
Cuthbert Wigg
1893
J. B. Griswold
1913 to 1914
109
MORRIS COUNTY
SECRETARIES.
John B. Johnes
1816 to 1829
S. L. Condict
1839 to 1846
Lewis Condict
1829 to 1836
N. W. Condict
1846 to 1850
N. W. Condict
1836 to 1837
John B. Johnes
1850 to 1853
I. W. Canfield
1837 to 1839 I. W. Canfield
1853 to 1857
Reorganization.
Stephen Pierson
1873 to 1876
Levi Farrow
1886 to 1902
E. P. Cooper
1876 to 1882
H. W. Kice
1902 to 1914
F. W. Owen
1882 to 1886
TREASURERS.
Charles E. Pierson
1816 to 1818
Richard W. Stevenson
1850 to 1857
William A. Whelpley
1818 to 1828
F. W. Owen
1873 to 1875
Isaac W. Canfield
1828 to 1835 F. W. Miller
1875 to 1883
Lewis Condict
1835 to 1841
John S. Stiger
1883 to 1902
Isaac W. Canfield
1841 to 1850 James Douglas
1902 to 1913
REPORTERS.
J. B. Mattison
1874 to 1877
F. W. Owen
1904 to 1905
P. A. Harris
1877 to 1878
H. S. Wheeler
1905 to 1908
S. Pierson
1878 to 1884
J. W. Farrow
1908 to 1911
E. P. Cooper
1884 to 1902
E. M. Fisher
19II to 1912
S. Pierson
1902 to 1904
Permanent Delegates to the Medical Society of New Jersey.
1892, I. W. Condict and J. S. Stiger ;
1901, F. W. Flagge and Calvin Ander- son ;
1899, Cuthbert Wigg;
1902, B. D. Evans ;
1901, James Douglas and Stephen Pier-
1903, A. A. Lewis;
son ;
HONORARY MEMBERS.
P. A. Harris, Paterson
H. A. Cossitt, New York
*I. W. Condict, Dover
*A. A. McWithey, Pompton Linn Emerson, Orange
*Deceased.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.
Louis F. Bishop, New York City C. C. Beling, Newark, N. J.
Thomas C. Prout, New York City
Roll of Members of the Morris County Medical Society, September 1, 1913. Noble H. Adsit,
J. W. Farrow, Wm. A. McMurtrie,
G. A. Becker, Geo. H. Foster, W. G. McCormick,
C. C. Beling,
E. Moore Fisher, Katharine McGrath,
Theo. W. Bebout,
J. B. Griswold, Frank M. Mikels,
Jas. R. Birckhead,
Eliot Gorton,
Frederick Wooster Owen,
Aug. L. L. Baker,
Wm. M. Glazebrook,
Thomas C. Prout,
Guy O. Brewster,
Chas. D. Gordon,
Bert A. Prager, W. M. Barnes,
later
A. W. Condict,
Geo. R. Hampton,
A. B. Coultas,
James Fred'k Horn,
Emma C. Clark,
Geo. L. Johnson,
Marcus A. Curry,
Wm. James, H. W. Kice,
Wm. J. Summers,
James Douglas,
F. J. Krauss,
E. Blair Sutphen, Mark E. Scott,
G. S. Degroot,
A. A. Lewis,
Harry Vaughan,
B. D. Evans, Linn Emerson,
Geo. H. Lathrope,
Clifford Mills,
John Walters, Wm. J. Wolfe, Cuthbert Wigg.
F. W. Flagge,
L. L. Mial,
L. B. Phillips, John G. Ryerson,
Mathias Schmitz,
W. F. Costello, Harris Day, Fred'k Knowles,
H. A. Henriques,
E. P. Cooper, A. E. Carpenter, P. A. Harris, R. L. Cook, L. K. Henschel,
Jennie A. Dean,
Ellery N. Peck, Clarence Plume,
Officers-President, G. A. Becker, Morristown; vice-president, J. B. Griswold, Morristown; treasurer, James Douglas, Morristown; secretary, Henry W. Kice, Wharton; reporter, E. Moore Fisher, Greystone Park.
1895, Levi Farrow; .
19II, A. E. Carpenter.
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NEW JERSEY
Seventy-five (or nearly a hundred) years ago, Dr. John B. Johnes was the leading surgeon in Morris county. Anaesthesia was unknown in those days. The surgeon's operating table was made of stout plank, and filled with holes all over its surface, through which straps were passed, by which the victim was securely and immovably fastened down, that the surgeon might do his work unembarrassed by the struggles of the sufferer. No ether, no chloroform-apple whiskey and laudanum were the only agents to mitigate the horrible pain as the knife and the saw did their bloody work. To submit to an operation in those days required not only fortitude in the patient, but dexterity and nerve on the part of the surgeon. Such a man was Dr. Johnes.
Dr. Johnes was an elder in the South Street Church. He served in the State Legislature. His death occurred July 4, 1863, in his 78th year, after he had been in the harness for more than half a century, and was the result of the self-administration, by mistake, of a dose of strong aqua ammonia.
Dr. Johnes was the son of Dr. Timothy Johnes. His only son, Theo- dore, was also a physician, but lost his life early by an accidental post mortem wound. For a long time his tombstone stood in the First Church burying ground, and over the name was chiseled a wounded finger and a curved surgeon's needle. Dr. Johnes lived and died in the old homestead on Morris street, now occupied by Philip Welsh.
On the day Dr. Johnes died, July 4, 1863, two public celebrations were held in Morristown. One on the Court House green, where the Rev. Lewis R. Dunn made a ringing speech in favor of the further prosecution of the war then raging. The other was held in the Park, and was called by those who believed the war had already proven a failure and that time for mak- ing peace had come. While these meetings were in full blast, over the wires came the news that Lee's army was in full retreat from Gettysburg. The different effect produced by this despatch upon the two meetings can readily be imagined. As a matter of history this may not be out of place here.
Contemporary with Dr. Johnes were Dr. Lewis Condict and his sons, Silas S. and Nathan W .; Dr. Isaac W. Canfield, who succeeded Dr. Whelp- ley, the father of Chief Justice Whelpley; Dr. Silas C. Cutler, Dr. W. Deh, Quinby, Dr. R. W. Stevenson, and Dr. Absalom Woodruff.
Dr. Lewis Condict was born in 1773 and died in 1862, in his 90th year, in the house on South street, now occupied by the Rev. Dr. Twining. Dr. Condict was much interested in politics and other matters outside of his profession. His two sons, Silas S. and Nathan W., were physicians, and to them he relinquished the most of his practice about the time that our inquiry commences. He served a number of terms in the State Legisla- ture, was elected to Congress for three successive terms, was one of the founders of the Colonization Society, and a trustee of Princeton College.
His son, Silas S., practiced in Morristown for a few years before removing to Jersey City, living in the Mills house on South street, after- wards occupied by Dr. Absolem Woodruff, later by Dr. DeH. Quinby, and still later by Dr. Stephen Pierson. It was burned some years ago, and the site is now occupied by the Farrelly Building.
Nathan W., another son of Dr. Lewis Condict, was in active practice in Morristown for a number of years, living in what is now known as the Trimmer House, on South street, opposite Dr. Hart. Later this house has been occupied by P. C. Barker, Dr. F. W. Owen, and Dr. A. A. Lewis.
III
MORRIS COUNTY
Dr. Nathan continued to enjoy popularity and success until failing health compelled his retirement.
Dr. Isaac W. Canfield was one of the leading physicians seventy-five years ago, and his face and figure are still fondly retained in the memories of many of our older people. He died about fifty-five years ago, between 60 and 70 years of age, in the white house on South street, which he pur- chased for $2,000 from old Dr. Whelpley's estate. It was afterwards oc- cupied by Dr. Aug. Quinby, Dr. Lewis Fisher, and for a short time by Dr. Macomber. It has now been removed, and in its stead are the Young Men's Catholic Association Building and H. G. Emmell's store. The Doc- tor was a graduate of Princeton College. He studied medicine with Dr. Ebenezer H. Pierson, who had married his aunt. Dr. Pierson was a Morristown boy, who graduated from Princeton in 1791. He lived in the house on South street sold by Dr. Swan to Mr. Chas. Seidler, until 1816, when he removed to Cincinnati.
Dr. Canfield began practice in Morristown more than eighty-five years ago. He was gentle, refined and dignified in appearance and manner, a true gentleman and physician of the old school. His rounds were long and weary, the most lucrative portion of his practice being in the vicinity of what was then known as "Bottle Hill," now Madison, including the old French families of that neighborhood and the Gibbons. It is said that he was regularly engaged to make daily visits and dine at the Gibbons man- sion, where he was heartily welcomed for his social qualities as well as pro- fessional skill. But few of the doctors of those days amassed heavy fortunes. from their practice. Why, it is quite apparent, when it is known that the ordinary fee in town was two shillings, out of town four shillings, and pay- ment then generally made in produce. Were those the fees in these days, concentrated though our patients are as compared with them, I fear many of us would end our days at the almshouse or Morris Plains.
Dr. Jonathan D. Marvin was born in 1789, at Lyme, Connecticut, and died in 1872 at Morris Plains. He was always fond of agricultural pur- suits, and inherited a farm from his father. At his mother's request, how- ever, he studied medicine and the farm went to pay for his education. He had a large practice at Tappan on the Hudson, but his nature was so syin- pathetic that by night as well as day he was thinking over his bad cases. The consequent loss of sleep wore upon him so much that the profession in time gave way and went to pay for the farm he purchased at Morris Plains. Here for a few years, he yielded to the importunities of neighbors and practiced, but as soon as he could, he gave himself entirely to his farm. He was among the first in this section to go into peach growing extensively. His selected fruit at one time sold for three and four dollars per basket. A portion of his farm is now included in the Asylum grounds.
Dr. R. W. Stevenson is another very familiar name. He was born in Morristown in 1804. His father was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church. He was an elder in the same church, as was also his son James Duryea, now in San Antonio, Texas. The Doctor was a favorite pupil of the late Dr. Hossack, of New York, and was chosen by him as an assistant, but with characteristic generosity gave way to a fellow student. He began his medical career in Hackensack, but after the departure of Dr. Silas S. Condict, was urged by some friends, prominent among whom was the late Judge Whitehead, to come to Morristown, and did so, first opening an office in the Miller buildings, nearly opposite to where Dr. Absalom Wood- ruff was then living in the Mills house, with his daughter and son-in-law,
NEW JERSEY
then plain Edward W. Whelpley, but afterwards Chief Justice Whelpley. About this time, electricity as a medical agent was coming into prominence, and for a time it swept over the country as a cure-all very much as the blue glass craze did a few year ago or the cundurango cure for cancer or the sulphuretted hydrogen for consumption in these later years. Dr. Woodruff was a firm believer in its efficacy, having been himself cured of a mose obstinate and painful neuralgia by its use. He built a large room in the rear of the house to accommodate the patients who flocked to him in great numbers from all parts of the county. Sometimes, I am told, a long string of vehicles of all descriptions would be stretched from his office toward the Green, the occupants waiting their turn at the wonderful machine that was curing all chronic invalids.
It must not be inferred from what is already written that Dr. Absalom Woodruff was simply or mainly an electrician. On the contrary he was a well known man in his profession. He belonged to a family of doctors, his father, grandfather, and three brothers being physicians. He was bort July 1, 1791, at Pennington, New Jersey, and began the practice of his profession with his father, Dr. Hezekiah Stites Woodruff, in Mendham. When about 23 years old he became a partner with his three brothers, Dr. Eben, William and Stites Woodruff, of Succasunna Plains. Their field of practice extended nearly fifty miles.
The illness already alluded to compelled him to relinquish work and go to New York for treatment, where he was cured by electricity. Influ- enced by his faith in it and a desire to impart its benefits to others, he pui- chased a "machine," and coming to Morristown about 1843, resumed his profession there, devoting much of his time to those who were unable to pay him for it, as many of his successors in this field have likewise done. He died March 2, 1850, in the 59th year of his age. His death was oc- casioned by exposure at the funeral of the Rev. Dr. Duryea, father of Mrs. R. W. Stevenson. On his return from that funeral he passed into the parlor where his daughter was sitting and said: "Daughter, I feel that I have taken my death cold. If I die, don't have two funeral processions." In forty-eight hours he was dead, with "neuralgia of the spinal marrow." He was an elder in the Second Presbyterian Church, a member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, and his advice was frequently sought by brother physicians. His widow, who was a sister of Dr. John B. Johnes, survived him many years and died at the residence of her step-daughter, Mrs. Whelpley Dodge. In appearance the Doctor was not unlike his son, the late Dr. E. B. Woodruff-not quite so stout, but as tall, and very straight. He is yet well remembered by many of his old patients, just as he appeared making his round upon horseback, with saddlebags and medicine case.
Dr. Eben. B. Woodruff studied medicine with his father, and for a short time practiced in Mendham. Soon after his marriage with Miss Coursen, he went into business in New York. Afterwards he purchased the house on South street, opposite the Lyceum, living there until he died in 1885, in his 71st year.
Dr. Silas C. Cutler was a brother of Hon. Aug. W. Cutler. He mar- ried a daughter of Stephen Vail, of Speedwell, and was the father of Mrs. John H. Lidgerwood. He died in 1843, in his 42nd year, in the brick house on the corner of Speedwell avenue and Flagler street, lately occupied by Mr. F. J. Richters. He and Dr. Silas Condict were bosom friends
I13
MORRIS COUNTY
until death separated them. Dr. Cutler was probably the first physician in Morristown who embraced the tenets and practice of homeopathy.
He was succeeded Dr. Wm. DeH. Quinby. He at first boarded with Mrs. Cutler in the brick house, afterwards with Davis Vail in the Silas D. Cory house on Early street. After his marriage, he purchased the Mills house on South street. Here he lived until 1874, when he removed to the house on Maple avenue, where he died October 29, 1877, at the compara- tively early age of 60 years.
Dr. Quinby and Van Wyck Fairchild were students together in the office of Dr. Stephen Fairchild, at Parsippany. They pursued the regular course of medical education in those days, and were licensed by the State Medical Society. Homeopathy was then, so far as New Jersey was con- cerned, just attracting the attention of the people and the profession. The debates upon its merits were warm and even bitter. Dr. Fairchild took it up, and so did his student Dr. Quinby. When he came to Morristown and succeeded to Dr. Cutler's office and practiced as a homeopath, he met with fierce and determined opposition. Even his manners and appearance as well as his practice were ridiculed. But Dr. Quinby was a man of brains, who could neither be laughed down nor fought down. With patient per- severance he kept on his way, living to see the day when as a physician he occupied the same relative position which Dr. John B. Johnes had as a surgeon. For a few years before his death, no physician in the county had so large a practice, and not one was more respected or more beloved than the "old doctor" as he was known in that region. The day of his funeral was one of the stormiest in November. The rain poured in tor- rents, but the old First Church was crowded with weeping friends, assembled there to pay the last testimony of respect to his mortal remains. There are but few now living who remember Dr. Quinby as a diffident, retiring young man, with auburn hair and reddish whiskers, but to all of us is familiar the portly form slightly bent, the magnificent head and forehead, the beautiful white hair and curly beard, the blue eyes and the kindly face. And perhaps there are not a few of us who, even yet, look out upon the Madison road half expecting to meet the familiar face in the dingy phaeton drawn by old "Bab" and driven by "Jack," or who, walking the streets in the silent hours of the night, find our eyes moistening as we look in vain for the swinging lantern and the well remembered form of the old doctor, going his rounds "upon errands of mercy bent." He was for some time associated with his brother, Dr. Augustus Quinby, who came to Morristown about 1856, and upon whom fell the surgeon's mantle of Dr. John B. Johnes. After a time the brothers separated, Dr. Augustus taking rooms with Auntie Canfield. He soon acquired a large practice and became especially prominent as a surgeon. He removed to New York in 1860.
He was succeeded in 1862 or 1863 by Lewis Fisher. In many respects Dr. Fisher was an ideal practitioner. His very presence seemed to inspire his patients with confidence in his ability to cure them. He was well trained in his profession and seemed to arrive at a diagnosis almost intuitively. It may be truly said of him that he was born for his work and that he loved it with a whole souled devotion. He was very popular and very much beloved by all his patients. He removed to New York City in 1868 and continued in practice there, though with failing health, until he died, March, 1887, in his 49th year.
Dr. T. B. Flagler was the oldest physician in Morristown. The Doc- tor had a large practice and many warm friends and advocates.
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NEW JERSEY
Dr. Elliot was one of the later physicians. After building up a very fair practice, he removed to Japan and thence to London, England, where he made a fortune practicing dentistry.
Dr. Sanborne was the first homoeopathic physician in later years to secure a lodgement in Morristown. Tall, stout, rather florid in complexion, of pleasing manner, he rapidly made a position for himself, but died all too soon after a short illness with capillary bronchitis, in 1874.
Dr. E. S. Hoffman is well worthy of mention. He served with credit as a surgeon in the army of the Union from 1861 to the close of the war. During his residence in Morristown, although possessed of ample means, he preferred to practice in his chosen profession, and in addition to his pay- ing patients devoted much time to gratuitous work among the poor. He died in 1877, having lived in Morristown about eleven years.
German Valley-In German Valley many years ago, Dr. Sherwood had a private asylum for insane patients. Dr. Samuel Willet began practice under Dr. E. Copp, in 1815 and remained at his post until he died, in 1864. Dr. E. C. Willet began practice in 1841, and was probably longer in the ranks than any other physician in the county, dying at a very old age.
In Chester the name of Hedges is familiar. Dr. Wm. Hedges prac- ticed there all his life, and Dr. Smith E. Hedges practiced there, dying some few years ago. Mattison and Raub left, seeking larger fields in Plainfield, New Jersey.
Madison and Chatham-The old doctors of Madison and Chathamn were Green, Budd and Munn. The following notice of Dr. Green has been furnished :
Dr. Henry Prentice Green practiced in Madison from September, 1828, to October, 1858. He was born in Vermont, but was of Massachusetts stock, a descendant of Thomas Green, who settled near Boston in 1636. He was born December 1, 1798; died in Madison, New Jersey, October 15, 1858. He succeeded Dr. Reuben Bishop in the Madison practice, with whom he was a partner the last year or two of Dr. Bishop's life. From 1842 to 1846, Dr. N. W. Condict, a son of Dr. Lewis Condict, of Morris- town, was his partner ; from '46 to '48, Dr. James Lawrence Day, a son of (Squire ) James Day, of Morristown, and from '48 to '51, Dr. George Cole, who came to Madison from New York, and died there in 1857. The last seven years of his life he had no partner.
Dr. Green was a man of fine abilities, great strength of character, and endowed with an unusual degree of moral courage, an excellent talker with keen wit and a great fund of anecdote. As a physician, he was skillful, faithful, and very self-sacrificing and possessed the kind of magnetism that inspired his patients with confidence in him to a remarkable degree. Physi- cians say they never knew his equal in diagnosis, and he was equally quick in selecting and applying remedies. He was a member of the Presbyterian church for many years and also one of its trustees; was greatly interested in the cause of education, believing that girls should have equal chances with boys in being fitted for the duties and responsibilities of life, and that years before there were any colleges for women in this country; a great worker in the cause of temperance, and a believer and doer in all good words and works.
Dr. Cole was an elder in the Presbyterian church at the time of his death.
Dr. Wm. K. Gray came to Madison a short time before Dr.
115
MORRIS COUNTY
Green's death, and remained there in practice a number of years before removing to Summit and then to Orange.
The two VanWagners deserve more than a passing notice. James E. came to Madison in 1858, and remained there enjoying a large practice until his death from pneumonia, June 9th, 1884, aged 53 years. His brother, Fred. J., was long associated with him in practice, and died also from pulmonary trouble, May 30th, 1881, aged 43 years. These brothers were both popular and successful, and died lamented and regretted by a very large circle of friends.
Of Drs. Budd and Munn, I have been able to learn but little, because of the short time allotted me, but they were well known men in their pro- fession. Dr. Munn died in 1863, a few days before Dr. John B. Johnes.
Rockaway-On a corner in Rockaway stands the well known Jackson homestead. It has been a physician's residence for nearly if not quite a hundred years. I do not believe there is another similar instance in the county. Dr. John W. Jackson occupied it until his death; his father John D. lived there before him. Dr. John Darby Jackson was born in 1794, studied medicine with Budd of Chatham, and Darcy of Hanover and New- ark, in the office of Dr. Ebenezer Pierson in Morristown; graduated in Philadelphia in 1811, and began practice at once in Rockaway, where he died in 1859, at the age of 65.
Drs. Darcy and Jackson were great friends. Dr. D. studied up homoe- opathy and practiced it to some extent, as did also Dr. Jackson. The Doc- tor's practice in the mining regions was a hard one; for some time he did it on horseback, but afterwards had a narrow one-seated rockaway built, just room enough for one. Under the seat, he shoved his medicine case, a stout wooden box, upon the lid of which were his initials made by brass nails. This box is now among the treasures of an irreverent grand-daugh- ter who remembers styling the establishment "grandpa's pill cart." In those good old times the doctor was also apothecary and dentist. The back office steps seem to have been the favorite dental chairs of those days, and the "turnkey," the most approved instrument for extraction. There was no laughing gas. If the tooth did not stop aching, as it was apt to do when you sat down upon those steps, the doctor took your head between his knees or called his wife to hold you, applied the above mentioned diabolically ingenious combination of lever and claw to the offending molar, gave the scientific turn and twist, and if the claw didn't slip, out came the tooth and the yell at the same time. Dr. Jackson was lefthanded, but he was an ex- pert at this business. Sunday was the field day among the miners of that section. Nursing their pains and saving their wages through the week, on Sundays they came down six or eight in procession, and waited for their turn. The Doctor estimated he pulled a cartload of teeth. Dr. Jackson was succeeded by his son John W., who lived in the old homestead until the time of his death.
Prominent at the same time was Dr. Crittenden, at Dover, the father of Dr. Thomas Crittenden and Dr. Wm. Crittenden, both of whom are dead.
Grimes, Gaines, Fairchild, Kitchell, Farrand-the mere mention of these names will serve to awaken recollections in Boonton, Montville, Parsippany and Whippany.
Dr. John Grimes was a character, a notable character, in Boonton. It is utterly impossible to sketch his life. He was one of the quietest of men, yet most fearless in defending and maintaining his opinions, un-
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