History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 58

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 58
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 58

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HENRY B. POOLE, born at Enfield, England, April 24, 1791, came to America in 1801 ; studied with Dr. Augustus R. Taylor, of Middlesex, N. J .; was li- censed in 1818, and at once began the practice of medicine at Flemington. He was one of the founders of the County Medical Society, and its first secretary ; afterwards (1826) its vice-president, and a member of the board of censors. He was also a member and officer of the State Medical Society. In 1827-28 he practiced in New York, then moved to South River, Middlesex Co., N. J., where he practiced until 1855, when he was disabled by paralysis. He died Dec. 2, 1861, in his seventy-first year.

JAMES H. STUDDIFORD was born in Lambertville, N. J., September 12, 1832. He was the son of Rev. Dr. P. O. Studdiford, of the same place .* He was graduated from the College of New Jersey with high honors in 1852. He at once entered the office of Dr. Josiah Simpson, his uncle, and began the study of medicine. To this instruction he added three courses of medical lectures, 1852-54, and in the spring of the latter year received the degree of M.D. In 1856 he was licensed to practice, and located as a physician at Quakertown, this county, as successor to Dr. A. J. Clark ; in 1857 he settled in Lambertville, where he died in 1870,-March 23d. He was a prominent member of the County Medical Society, and an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

JOHN WALL was born in Bucks Co., Pa., in 1787 ; received his professional education under Dr. John Wilson, of Solebury, Pa., Dr. Wall's native town. " About 1807 he succeeded Dr. MeKissack at Pitts- town, Hunterdon Co .; acquired a considerable prac- tice, and became in that locality extremely popular. . . . His charges for professional services were very small, and he rarely took the trouble to collect even these. If the recovered patient left a jug of apple- brandy at the doctor's door, it was considered in the light of full payment of a long bill; and while, in

* See sketch of this venerable clergyman with history of Lambert- ville, in this work.

223

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

the end, his too free use of his liquid fees tended to throw his practice into other and steadier hands, it is none the less true that his professional ability was quite exceptional. He was very fond of out-door sports,-hunting, fishing, and riding,-and in such passed much of his time. A marked characteristic of the man was his use of the words ' that is,' and ' that is to say,' on most all occasions. He never married. Hle died Sept. 12, 1826,"* aged thirty-nine years, seven months, and twenty-two days.

WILLIAM P. CLARK, son of Rev. Joseph Clark, and brother of Col. Peter I. Clark, of Flemington, was born in New Brunswick, N. J .; was graduated in 1819, subsequently studied medicine, was licensed, and practiced in Wilkesbarre, Pa. He afterwards re- moved to Clinton, this county, and in 1821 was one of the founders of the County Medieal Society. Ilis essay, " A Cursory Analysis of the Theory of Health, Predisposition, and Disease," read at the first seni- annual meeting of the society, Oet. 23, 1821, was the only paper read at that meeting, and the first read before that society. In 1836-37 he was third vice- president of the New Jersey State Medical Society. He removed to Belvidere, Warren Co., N. J., in 1825, and was there engaged in active practice until his death, Sept. 4, 1857. He never married.

WILLIAM JOHNSON, son of Thos. P. and Mary (Stockton) Johnson, was born at Princeton, N. J., Feb. 18, 1789. He read medicine with Dr. John Van Cleve of that place, and received his degree of M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1811. The same year he was licensed, and commenced practice at White House. For more than fifty years he was one of the leading practitioners of the county, and among his office students were a number of subse- quently eminent physicians. He died Jan. 13, 1867, at White House, where he was buried. He was one of the founders of the County Medical Society, and a member (and vice-president in 1823) of the State Medical Society. He had two sons, who became physicians,-Thomas and John V. C. He was for more than fifty years a member, and most of the time ruling eller, in the Reformed Church ( Rockaway) at White House,

EDMUND PORTER, late of Frenchtown, N. J., was born in Connecticut (1791); received his medical education in New England, and shortly after being licensed settled in Easton, Pa., from whence he pere- grinated to Union Co., l'a., to the West Indies, and finally back to the United States, locating at French- town, this county, where he remained until his death, July 12, 1826. He was one of the founders of the Hunterdon County Medical Society, and one of its first delegates to the State Medical Society. He was twice a candidate for the State Assembly, and the last time was elected. He was a successful and popular physician, methodical to an extreme, but possessed of

a cheerful, sanguine temperament. He was for the times a voluminous writer upon medical, political, and miscellaneous topics, contributing largely to the periodical press of the day. He cherished a desire to write for posterity, and to this end deposited in the cellar-wall of a house built for his use in Frenchtown, in 1823, a curious document which a party of investi- gating antiquarians unearthed some twenty-five years later, and from which are extracted the following paragraphs :

" To futurity I address myself, In the year of our Lord 1823. Perhaps this memento may be of service or curiosity to future generations, if found among the rubbish of this mansion, erected by order of Edmund Porter, M.D., physician ond surgeon ; member of and principal founder of the Medical Society of Hunterdon County, N. J .; licentiato of the Connecticut Medical Society, also of the Medical Society of St. Bar- tholomew's ( West Indies), and Union Medical Society of Pennsylvania, and author of a number of medical essays, political pieces, to be found In the New York Medical Repository and American Medical Recorder, the New England Journal of Medicine, and in the newspapers,-viz., The Tren- ton True American, The Spirit of Pennsylvania, the Eastern Sentinel, etc., etc. . . .

"Edmund Porter was born in Hladdam, Conn., June 18, 1791 ; emi- grated to Ponurylynnla in 1815; married Mary Moro, Sept. 28, 1816 ; have three children [names and dates of birth]; commenced the practice of medicine in this town June 10, 1820. Intermitting fever makes its ap- pearance after an absouco of twenty years; has boon common along the banks of the Delaware River, and dysenterin Interiorly ; charcoal pulv. proved a useful adjunct in the latter complaint. .. .

" Finder of this document, know that I wrote it to aniuso ; if it should afford you any, remember the end of all things, and prepare yourself to die, as all of us have done whose names you see enrolled on this Ine- morial. . . . We look to future generations to preserve unimpaired the liberty and Independence which thus far we have resisted to perpetuate at the risk of our lives and fortunes. This voice from the tombs admon- Ixlies you to do the same as we have done for you !!! Farewell."

Of his children, it is believed, none now survive, nor has he any living descendants. His portrait is in the possession of the Hunterdon County Medieal Society.t

NICHOLAS JACQUES EMANUEL DE BELLEVILLE, the first president of the Hunterdon County Medical Society, of which he was one of the founders, was born in Metz, France, in 1752; was educated in that country, and practiced in the hospitals of Paris. He came to America in 1777, with Count Pulaski,+ at- tending him in the capacity of surgeon until the fall of 1778, when he settled at Trenton, Hunterdon Co., and there resided until his death, Dec. 17, 1831, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. On several occa- sions he was called to attend the exiled King of Spain, at Bordentown. Dr. Nicholas Belville (as he was generally called) acquired a large practice, and he- came one of the medical pillars of the State, being constantly sought in consultation, and the favor of studying under his supervision being eagerly solieited by young men desirous of adopting medicine as a profession. Ilis manner was quick and peremptory, but his deportment in the sick-room was kind and soothing. He was buried in the Presbyterian church- yard, Trenton, of which church he was a pew-holder and an occasional attendant. Gen. Philemon Dick-

* Biog. Ency, of New Jersey, pp. 400, 461.

+ Ibid., pp. 486, 157.

Į Notes of Philemon Diekluson.

224

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

inson, with whom he was on intimate terms, held him in high consideration, and to him, more than to any other, he confided the details of his private life and social relations. One of his pupils, Dr. F. A. Ewing, prepared for the press, at the time of his decease, his obituary notice, and furnished the inscription for his tomb. He married Ann Brittain, and had two daugh- ters, one of whom became the wife of Dr. James Clark,* and the other, of Lieut. Hunter of the United States navy.

JOHN BLANE, son of Thomas Blane and Elizabeth (Toombs) Blane, was born in North Brunswick, Mid- dlesex Co., N. J., July 7, 1802. After receiving as good an education as the neighborhood and private

John Blanc 4

teachers afforded, he taught school in Hillsborough, Somerset Co., a year, and then went to a select school at that time taught by Abraham G. Voorhees, a grad- uate of the College of New Jersey, boarding in the family of the principal ; stayed a year, and then taught a short time again, and then, in the spring of 1822, he entered the office of Dr. William McKissack, of Millstone, Somerset Co., N. J., under whose instruc- tions he remained five years, with the exception of attending medical lectures in the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons the winter of 1825-26, and the lectures of the Rutgers Medical College, 1826-27.

The Chancellor of the State of New York having

decided that the diploma of Rutgers College did not confer the right to practice in that State, he passed an examination before the board of censors of Somerset Co., N. J., and received his diploma from the Medical Society of New Jersey, April 26, 1827 (the society afterwards-Jan. 22, 1856-conferred the degree of M.D.), and commenced practice, in connection with the apothecary business, at 526 Pearl Street, New York City. At the end of the year he gave up this and went to Clarksville, Hunterdon Co., N. J., in partnership with Dr. W. A. A. Hunt, and then, in April, 1831, removed into Bethlehem (now Union) township, where he has resided ever since. He is a member of the District Medical Society of Hunterdon, - served as its president in 1848 and 1855,-and is (1881) its treasurer and historian ; of the Medical So- ciety of New Jersey (he was for sixteen years one of its censors, and its president in 1861). Was delegated" to the American Medical Association in 1855, and has been since 1867, and is now, one of its necrological committee.

In May, 1840, he married Miss Cornelia Hunt, daughter of Isaac Smith, of Hunterdon County. By her he has had two daughters,-Nancy, the eldest, married Dr. N. B. Boileau, of Hunterdon, and Mary married Dr. Nathan Case, of Warren County.

His traveling over an extensive field of practice was performed for thirty years on horseback, and, he believes, with advantage to his general health.

HENRY S. HARRIS, one of the founders of the Hunterdon County Medical Society, and an honorary member, read, studied, and practiced medicine under the supervision of Dr. Henry Vanderveer, of Bed- minster, for four years ; afterwards in the office of Dr. Charles Smith, of New Brunswick. After receiving his certificate from the medical society of Middlesex County he commenced practicing medicine in Hun- terdon County in 1819, and continued until 1831 at Milford and Mount Pleasant, frequently riding several miles into Pennsylvania. He subsequently removed to Allamuchy, Warren Co., N. J., where he practiced thirty-five years, and then removed to Belvidere, N. J., where he now resides. Hon. Henry S. Harris, member of Congress, is a grandson of Dr. Harris.

GERSHOM CRAVEN was born in 1744, graduated at Princeton in 1765, and attended medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania ; was surgeon of the Second Regiment Hunterdon troops during the Revo- Intion. He was the first regular-bred physician to locate at Ringos, which he did in 1771. He was popular, persistent, and successful. HIe reared an interesting family, to wliose interests he was greatly devoted. He continued his practice up to the year 1812, when he was disabled by paralysis. He died in 1819, leaving a widow and several children to in- herit little or no earthly estate, but the heritage of a good name. His remains were buried in the Episco- pal churchyard, near Ringos, where a stone bears this inscription :

* History of New Jersey Medicine.

225

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

"In Memory of DR. G. CRAVEN, REBECCA his wife, and three of their children.

Dort, Gansnost CRAVEN Died May 3d, A.D. 1819, In the 75th year of his ngo.

REBECCA died March 3d, A.D. 1836, In the 80th year of her ago.

JOHN died June Int, A.D. 1790, Aged 15 years.

ELIZABETI died Ang. 16, A.D. 1805, In the 27th year of hor age.

TITUS died Sopt. 5th, A.D. 1794, uged 6 years.

On the right hand may they stand, saying- ' Here, Lord, aro we and those thou hast given us.""#

GEORGE CREED, a native of Jamaica, L. I., was born Oct. 1, 1735. Upon commencing practice, in 1765, he settled in Flemington, from whence he re- moved to Trenton, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died suddenly, of apoplexy, about 1775.+ lle was undoubtedly the pioneer practitioner of Flem- ington. llis wife died in Trenton in 1835, in her ninety-fourth year, and his daughter (Mrs. Ryall) died in 1859, aged ninety-one.

AARON FORMAN was a prominent physician and surgeon of this county. Although an Episcopalian, he married, in 1769, Ann, the daughter of John Emley, a Quaker. He was a man of strong convic- tions and firm of purpose. He joined the State Medi- cal Society in 1767.

Dr. Forman was of Welsh parentage, and born Feb. 4, 1745 ; he moved from Freehold, N. J., to a farm near Quakertown, and practiced in that vicinity from 1766 to 1794, when he removed to Pittstown. He left live sons and one daughter, all since deceased. The latest survivor was the venerable John E., of Alexan- dria, who died Aug. 10, 1867, aged ninety-five years. Dr. Forman's wife, Ann, died Dec. 13, 1794, aged fifty-two years. She and her husband were buried in the Friends' burying-ground at Quakertown. He erected over her grave the first grave-stone with an inscription in that burial-ground. He died Jan. 11, 1805, and was buried by the side of his wife.

Dr. Forman was proud of his profession and careful of his medical reputation. He carly introduced in- oculation for the smallpox, and treated many hun- dred patients of that kind successfully. He was a venerable-looking man, but possessed of fine social qualities and a loving heart, combined with great firmness of will and decision of character.

WILLIAM McGina, resided between Frenchtown and Milford, on the farm now or recently owned by Mr. Hawk. The house in which he lived is still standing. He commenced practicing medicine in the closing years of the last century. He married a daughter of Thomas Lowrey, one of the pioneers of

Flemington, later the founder of Frenchtown, and afterward of Milford. He had a large family of chil- dren, none of whom are believed to be living. One of them, Joseph, read medicine with his father. His wife survived him, and for many years boarded a physician, Dr. MIershon, who kept up the practice. Dr. McGill is represented as a very popular and good practitioner, a large, portly man, dignified in deport- ment, and unsuspicious of any one. He died much regretted. His remains were buried in the grounds of the Kingwood Presbyterian Church, with the Lowrey family. His headstone reads :

Memory of DOCT. WILLIAM MCGILL, who departed this life June 23rd, 1815, In the 47th year of his age.

I pass the gloomy valo of death, From fear and dangor free; For there llis alding rod and staff Defend and comfort me.

Let friends no more my suffering mourn,

Nor view my relics with concern. Oh, coaso to drop the pitying tenr : I've passed beyond the reach of fear."

WILLIAM PRALL was a native of Amwell, this county, and son of Abraham Prall; born in 1771, read medicine with Dr. Moses Scott, of New Bruns- wick, and entered the profession in 1793, near Rea- ville, where he continued until his death, He was a popular physician, and had a large practice. His first wife, Mercy Reeder, died Sept. 18, 1798; his second wife was Miss Mary, daughter of Lewis Chamberlin .; Dr. Prall's remains were interred in the graveyard formerly attached to the Presbyterian church (since torn down and removed), between Larison's Corner and Reaville, where a stone contains this record :

"In Memory of DOCT. WILLIAM PRALL, who died Feb. 9, 1825, In the 51th year of his age."

Both his wives were buried in the same cemetery .¿

AACCUR PRALL, son of Isaac, and cousin of Abra- ham, the father of Dr. William Prall, of Amwell, read with his uncle, Abraham P. Hagaman, of Somerset County. He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in 1816. Hle practiced in Amwell for a while, and then removed to near Willow Grove, Pa., where he died without leaving any family. He is said to have adopted and practiced homeopathy during the latter part of his life. ||

JOHN A. HENDRY, one of the founders of the Ilun- terdon County Medical Society, in 1821, was the eldest son of Capt. Samuel Hendry and Elizabeth Anderson, and was born at Burlington, N. J., in 1786." He commenced practice at Ringos in 18DS,

* Blano's Med. Ilist., pp. 80, 87.

+ Ilall's Presbyterian Church, Trenton.

I See sketch of the Prall family in history of East Amwell township.

¿ Hlane's Medical History of Hunterdon Cotinty, pp. 21, 95.

' Communicated by Dr. Hondry's daughter. Dr. Blane.

226

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

and continued there until 1827, when he sold out to Dr. M. W. Williams and removed to New York City ; he became a member of the "Medical Society of the City and County of New York" in 1831. He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati of New Jer- sey after the death of his father, who was an officer in the Revolutionary war and stood by Washington's side when Andre was executed. While at Ringos, Dr. Hendry lived in the house later occupied by Dr. Cicero Hunt. He died Jnne 23, 1834, by the breaking of a blood-vessel, and was buried at Stuyvesant church. He married Abby Chambers, of Trenton, April 18, 1810, and had nine children. Drs. M. Chambers and H. Holcombe were his pupils at Rin- gos, and Drs. Pyatt and Geary were his associates. He was commissioned by Governor Ogden as surgeon of the militia of Hunterdon County.

H. A. TERRENCE was born in Cork, Ireland, Aug. 28, 1848. He is descended from a brother of Brian Boru, one of the most celebrated of the native Irish kings. Exiled from Ireland on account of the revolu- tionary movement of 1864-65, he came to America, finished his medical studies, and in 1873 went back to Ireland. After graduating at the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, he returned, in 1875, to America, and settled at New Hampton Junction, this county. He is accredited with being a successful practitioner.

OLIVER WAYNE OGDEN, about the year 1811, was engaged in a very extensive practice in New German- town and its vicinity. He studied medicine under the superintendence of his uncle, the late Dr. Isaac Ogden. He attended lectures in Philadelphia, and was a licentiate of his native State. He was a more energetic practitioner than his uncle. His address was prepossessing, his manners easy, and he had an exuberance of animal spirits. He did not continue many years in practice : having received the appoint- ment of United States marshal for the district of New Jersey, he let the practice go and devoted himself to the duties of the new office. He married a niece of Dr. O. Barnet,-a Miss Wisner. He attained quite a fortune, but lost it in unfortunate speculations. He dicd about 1840, of pulmonary consumption, aged about sixty-two years. He was one of the original members of the District Medical Society of this county in 1821. Hon. J. C. Rafferty, Flemington, is his son-in-law.

WILLIAM BARNET, a nephew of Dr. Oliver Barnet, read medicine with his uncle, Dr. O. W. Ogden, at- tended lectures in Philadelphia, and commenced practicing in New Germantown a little before the war of 1812, in which he enlisted as an officer. He died early in life. He was talented, courteous, and very highly esteemed, and was one of the first members of the District Medical Society of Hunterdon County, was present at its semi-annual session, Oct. 23, 1821, and it is presumed he died shortly after .*

ISRAEL L. CORIELL was living in Milltown, King- wood township, and practicing there, in 1824, or earlier. He was an active member of the county society during its early years. Dr. Coriell was killed, not far from the year 1828, by being thrown from his sulky in the neighborhood of Locktown. He was a native of Somerset County, and his remains were taken there for interment. He never married.

MERRILL W. WILLIAMS, a native of Dorchester, Conn., practiced in Ringos from 1827 until 1829, when he removed to Somerville, and later to New York City. He read medicine with Dr. Lawrence Van- derveer. He married Miss Eliza B. Duryea, of Mill- stone. She died in 1847 ; he about the year 1877.

JACOB E. HEDGES was born in Somerset County, son of William J. Hedges, a merchant of that place. Dr. Hedges became a member of the County Medical Society in 1836, at which time he was practicing at Milford. During the first of his practice Dr. John McGloughen was living, who recommended him highly, so that Dr. Hedges soon acquired a good prac- tice, which was cut short by his early death. He married a daughter of Daniel Disborough, of Mil- ford. They had no children. He was buried in the Presbyterian churchyard in Mount Pleasant, Alex- andria, where a monument bears the following le- gend :

" Sacred To the memory of DR. JACOB E. HEDGES, who died July 22d, 184I, aged 29 years, and 3 months.

Noble, generous, free-hearted, he Was early called away from friends Who deeply mourn hie untimely death.

Art is Iong, and time is fleeting, And our hearts, though strong and brave, Still like muffled drums are beating Funeral marches to the grave."

WILLIAM DURYEA, son of Col. H. B. Duryea, of Blawenburg, Somerset Co., was a graduate of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1833; was admitted as a member of the District Medical Society of Hunter- don County, May 3, 1836, at which time he was prac- ticing at Flemington. Soon afterwards he removed to the West, where it is said he died .;

HENRY SOUTHARD, a native of Somerset County, was a practitioner at Flemington and Reaville, in this county, and a member of its district medical so- ciety until Oct. 26, 1847, when he returned to his native county and became connected with its medical society. (See a further sketch, under head of “Med- ical Profession of Somerset County," elsewhere in this volume.)

JOSIAH QUINBY, the son of Josiah Quimby, of Hanover township, Morris Co., N. J., was born Feb. 2, 1783. He read with Dr. John S. Darcy, attended lectures in New York in 1815 and 1816, and shortly

* Dr. Blane's Medical History, pp. 39, 40.

+ Dr. Blane.

227

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

after located at Readington, this county, where he continued to practice until he died. He married, in March, 1818, Margaret, daughter of William Dalley, of Readington township, whom he left a widow with five children,-William D., Plebe, Ann, Josiah, and Margaret. He lived on the road leading from Read- ington to Centreville, about equidistant between them ; he afterwards lived on a farm on the road lead- ing to Pleasant Run, known as the Aray farm, where he died. He was a man of easy and kind disposition, very moderate in his charges, and very diffident in his collecting ; of which fact, no doubt, some took advan- tage, to his and his family's injury. In the new ceme- tery attached to the Readington church, on a large headstone, is the following :

Memory of JOSIAH QUINNY, M.D., who dled February 11th, 1854, Aged 61 years, and 12 days.

Let friends forbear to mourn and weep, Whilst sweetly in the dust I sleep; The toilsome world I left behind, A glorious crown I hope to find."

ALBERT S. CLARKE, who practiced at Quakertown from 1848 to 1856, became a member of the County Medical Society in 1849, from which he was honor- ably discharged in 1856, at which time he removed to Bushnell, 111., where he was recently living and prae- ticing his profession.

JAMES PYATT was a native of Middlesex County, read medicine with Dr. Freeman, of Woodbridge, at- tended lectures in New York, and located at the Boar's Head in Delaware (then Amwell) township, where he resided until his death, continuing to prac- tice until near the time of his decease. He married Sarah King, daughter of Jeremiah King, a wealthy landholder in that neighborhood ; she and three chil- dren survived him,-John (since deceased, leaving no children), J. King Pyatt, living near Croton, and Rachel (since deceased), who became the wife of Dan- iel Rittenhouse, of the same place. Dr. Pyatt was active and energetic, and had a large practice. He also kept the Boar's flead Hotel for several years. He was buried in the cemetery attached to the Old School church at Baptisttown, and over his grave appears the following legend :

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 58

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170