History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 127

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140

USA > New Jersey > Sussex County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 127
USA > New Jersey > Warren County > History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 127

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RODERICK BYINGTON was born at Stockbridge, Mass., Oct. 27, 1799, and died at Belvidere, N. J., Aug. 18, 1872, in the seventy-third year of his age. He read medicine with the late Dr. David Green, of

+ Dr. J. H. Griffithi's notes.

# Dr. Geo. B. Wood, in his " Practice of Medicine," has recorded a case of desperate abdominal dropsy in a female in which Dr. Clark, after tapping, injected a decoction of Disopyrus Virginiana into the cavity of the abdomen and effected a permanent cure.

¿ Dr. J. C. Johnson's MSS.

* Dr. J. 11. Griffith.

Milliand Read

509

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF WARREN COUNTY.

Johnsonsburg, N. J., spent some time in the office of future home, where Alexander Rea died in March, 1771.

the late Professor George Mcclellan, of Philadelphia, and was graduated at Jefferson Medical College. Ile began to practice in March, 1825. After spending six months at Richmond, Pa., he returned to JJohn- sonsburg, and succeeded Dr. Green in the care of : large practice. In October, 1841, he removed to Belvidere, where he labored until within four years of his death. Dr. W. P. Vail, a contemporary, says of him,-

" lle led an active and laborious lifo. The field which he occupied olone was subsequently shared by five additional mien at different points. On his ' Okl Bolivar,' as his horse was called, with well-crammed saddle- bogs, he used to jog along early and late, without much regard to weather or ronda, worn nnd tired, sleeping by the way. With him a summons was imperativo. Ilo was what was termed at that time a hervir doctor; the fashion then was what would now be considered, and justly, exces- alvo medications. But he kept a sharp eye on all that was going on lu the science of medicine. Outside of his calling he was no neutral churnc. ter. On all questions that related to society he would study the aspects of right ond wrong, and, hoving settled which was right, there he would plant himself."

He was a firm supporter of the cause of common schools, and an earnest advocate of temperance and of every other measure affecting the cause of God and humanity. He was a ruling elder in the Second Presbyterian Church of Belvidere, and a most zealous member of the local and State medical societies ; his steady attendance and encouragement to the younger members were noticeable. Of such men as Dr. Byington we may truly say the world is the better for their having lived in it .*

EDWIN BYINGTON was born at Johnsonsburg, Warren Co., July 15, 1833. In October, 1841, he re- moved to Belvidere with his father's family, and after a careful course of preparatory study entered Williams College, where he was graduated in 1853. He then entered his father's office as a student of medicine, and after attending a course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College was graduated in medicine at the University of New York, in March, 1856. Ilis first tield of professional labor was at Oxford Furnace, but after a few months he removed to Belvidere and associated himself in business with his father. His success was beyond the anticipations of himself and his friends ; but, regardless of his prospects, he yielded in 1862 to the call of his country and entered the Eleventh New Jersey Volunteer Regiment, where he served with credit. The tributes to his memory upon his decease attest his moral worth, his intel- lectual ability, and his devotion to his profession.

WILLIAM REA .- His great-grandfather, Alexander Rea, a Scotch-Irishman, born near Colerain, in the North of Ireland, about 1695, landed in Philadelphia, l'a., about 1740, and his family followed soon after, and settled upon the property purchased by him in Hunterdon Co., N. J. To reach this they went up the river as far as Trenton in a boat, thence in a wagon drawn by n yoke of oxen until they reached their

Of their large family of children was George, born Sept. 12, 1736, married Ann Clover, who was born July 19, 1749, and died in 1828; George Rea died Nov. 13, 1813. Of their children, Samuel was father of our subject, born Nov. 16, 1776, married Sarah Mckinney, who was born Nov. 2, 1782, and died Aug. 4, 1842. He removed at an early day to Hackettstown, N. J., where he followed the trade of a silversmith. He was a prominent and influential citizen of that place, and there resided until his death, which oc- curred Feb. 12, 1849. His son George studied the profession of the law, and was a leading member of the bar of New York City.

Prominently identified with the growth and devel- opment of the village of Hackettstown for many years was Dr. William Rea, who was born at German- town, N. J., on June 13, 1804. Ile was the oldest of the two children of Samuel and Sarah (Mckinney) Rea. Ifis earlier years were passed at home, where he cujoyed the benefits of such an education as the common schools of his locality afforded. Subsequently he attended the academy at Basking Ridge, N. J., and still later commenced the study of medicine with Dr. John W. Craig, of that place.

In the season of 1828-29, Dr. Rea attended a full course of medical lectures at Geneva College, Rut- gers Medical Faculty, in New York City, and was licensed to practice by the State board of censors of New Jersey on July 18, 1829. In June, 1831, he located in practice at Hackettstown, where he contin- ued to reside until his death, on June 18, 1863.

As a physician, Dr. Rea was recognized as skillful and expert in the treatment of his cases, and his ser- vives were often in demand by his professional com- peers. Hle enjoyed for many years a large and ex- tensive practice. During the later years of his life his health failed him, and, feeling the need of assist- ance, he associated with him in practice the late Dr. Lewis C. Cook, who proved an able and valuable coadjutor.

Dr. Rea, still later, retired from practiec altogether, and devoted his energies to his general business pur- suits. As a man and a citizen he proved not less useful and valuable to the community in which he dwelt than as a physician. He was ever prompt to relieve the wants of the distressed, and was a liberal and willing contributor to the various benevolent enterprises of his day. A Democrat in politics, he was never a seeker after place, although he repre- sented Warren County in the State Senate for three years. He was active in procuring the charter of the Hackettstown Bank while in the Senate, and at the organization of that institution he became its presi- dent, and filled that position with great neceptance until his demise. He was an attendant upon and supporter of the Presbyterian Church, though not an actual member of any religious body. He was a man

* Obituary In State Med. Soc. Trans., 1873.

510

WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

of positive convictions, of unquestioned integrity, and one who was deservedly popular with all classes of people.

Dr. Rea was married, on June 16, 1842, to Mary, daughter of Judge Caleb H. Valentine, of Hacketts- town, and left a number of children. Samuel Rea is a druggist in Hackettstown, and a director in the bank at that place ; Robert M. is a practicing physician at Minneapolis, Kan .; Margaret is the wife of Casper B. Shafer, of Washington, D. C .; Mary resides in Hackettstown with her mother; William E. is in the drug business in the same place; George M. and Caleb V. S. are in the mercantile business,-the former in Brooklyn, and the latter in New York City.

SILAS C. COOK .- The Cook family, of which the late Dr. Silas C. Cook, of Hackettstown, was a mem- ber, was of English origin. The first of the family in this country was (1) Ellis Cook, who settled at Southampton, L. 1., about 1640. He had three sons : (2) John, Ellis (2d), and Abiel, following down in the line from which Dr. Cook descended. Abiel Cook had two sons: (3) Abiel (2d) and Josiah. Abiel (2d) had six sons: (4) Ellis (3d), Matthew, Abiel (3d), Zebulon, Samuel, and Elemuel. Ellis (3d) moved from Southampton to Hanover, in Morris Co., N. J., in 1747. He had five sons : (5) William, Ellis (4th), Jonathan, Epaphras, and John (2d). Ellis .(4th) had five sons : (6) Zebulon, James, Jabez, Ambrose, and George Whitfield. James Cook moved from Hanover to Succasunna, Morris Co., where he resided for many years. He had one son, (7) Silas C. Cook, the subject of the present artiele.

The family has grown to be a very large one. Many of the descendants of John Cook (2) still reside at Southampton, and the genealogy of it is pretty fully written out in Howell's work on "The Early History of Southampton," though some of that branch of the family came to New Jersey. Of the six sons of Abiel (3), there were five who came to New Jersey,-Ellis, who settled in Hanover; Matthew, probably in New Brunswick ; Abiel and Zebulon, in Upper Freehold ; and Samuel, in Shrewsbury. Of the sons of Ellis (4), there are descendants from all of them still resident in and about Hanover.

Most of the family have been farmers, though some members of it are to be found in the various branches of mechanical, manufacturing, and commercial in- dnstry, and a few have entered professional life. There are two in the ministry, two in the law, and as many as thirteen from the family of Ellis (5) have been practitioners of medicine.

The tracing out of the various branches of this Southampton "Cook family" involves a great deal of labor, and at present it is very incomplete.

Dr. Silas C. Cook, son of Col. James and Ruth (Pierson) Cook, of Succasunna, Morris Co., N. J., was born on Christmas Day in the year 1791. His

mother died when he was but four years of age, and, his father marrying again, young Silas was adopted by the estimable wife of Judge Condit, of Morristown, N. J., by whom he was reared. He enjoyed the ben- efits of a common-school and academic education, and upon attaining manhood commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Lewis Condit, a leading physi- cian of Morristown, and a man prominent in the counsels of the State and nation. He remained under the tuition of Dr. Condit for four years, during which time he attended a course of lectures (in the season of 1812-13) at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. On Sept. 13, 1813, he was licensed to practice the profession of a physician by the State board of censors of New Jersey, and soon after com- menced practice at Hughesville, Warren Co., N. J., in partnership with old Dr. Hughes, one of the early practitioners of Northern New Jersey.

After one year Dr. Cook removed to Stewartsville, Warren Co., where he remained until 1828. In that year he transferred his business to Hackettstown, N. J., where he engaged in successful practice until 1842, when he removed to Easton, Pa. He remained at Easton until the year 1857, when he again located at Hackettstown, where he closed a successful profes- sional career with his death, which occurred in 1873.

Dr. Cook was widely known as a safe, able, and conscientious physician. He diagnosed his cases carefully, and kept abreast with the advanced ideas and discoveries of his profession. His bluff and frank manners made him a welcome visitor to many homes, and he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. Characteristic of him were his attachment to friends, his unqualified disapproval of dishonesty, his strong opposition to those who differed with him in action or theory, his integrity in all his business relations, and his social and genial qualities at home. He had a large heart, and contributed liberally of his means to all worthy objects. His was an industrious and busy spirit, and when not occupied with the duties of his profession nothing pleased him better than to be build- ing something, and to hear the click of the hammer in the hands of industrious laborers around him. By his energy and taste he did much to develop and beau- tify the village of Hackettstown and to add to its architectural attractions.

Dr. Cook was a consistent, humble Christian, with a full belief in divine revelation, and was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Hack- ettstown. He ever denied to his fellows the right to prescribe a standard of etiquette imposing upon him the obligation to be less than a man or a Christian because he was a doctor. An expanded feeling of humanity and liberality characterized his course as a physician and a citizen. He never sought political honors, but was one of the few early Whigs of Hack- cttstown.

In the year 1816, Dr. Cook was united in marriage to Mary, daughter of James Hyndshaw, a prominent

DR. SILAS C. COOK.

511

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF WARREN COUNTY.

resident of Stewartsville, N. J., and formerly sheriff of Sussex County. A large family of children blessed the union, of whom several died young. Those who reached mature years were James H., who was a lead- ing merchant of Easton for many years, and who died in 1880; Lewis C., a practicing physician of Hack- ettstown for many years, who died in 1874; Silas ('., Jr., a prominent lawyer of Easton, who died in 1864 ; John S., a leading physician of Hackettstown at this writing; and Joseph S., a prominent physician at Washington, N. J. Mrs. Cook died in 1872.

Joseph S. Cook was born at Hackettstown, N. J., on March 26, 1830. His earlier educational training was obtained at the model school of Lafayette C'ol- lege, Easton, Pa., and in 1847 he entered the latter institution as a student, where he remained one year. He subsequently engaged in the study of law in the law- school at Easton for a period of eighteen months, and in January, 1852, entered Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., whence he was graduated in 1853. Soon after he commenced the study of medicine with his father, Dr. Silas C. Cook, at Easton, and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the U'niversity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in March, 1856. The first year after graduation was passed by the doctor in attendance upon the hospitals of Philadelphia, being resident surgeon of St. Joseph's Hospital for several months, and in assisting his father at Easton.

In the spring of 1857, Dr. Cook entered into part- nership with his brother, Dr. John S. Cook, at Hack- ettstown, in the practice of his profession, and after two years he located at Washington, N. J., where he has since remained in active and successful practice.

Dr. Cook, in September, 1862, was appointed and commissioned first assistant surgeon of the Thirty- first Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers, by the then Governor, Charles S. Olden. In 1865, upon the recommendation of the faculty, the corporation of Lafayette College conferred. upon him the second degree of the institution, that of Master of Arts. On Sept. 11, 1877, he was elected to a fellowship in the American Academy of Medicine, organized Sept. 6, 1876, in Philadelphia.

LEWIS C. Cook, son of Dr. Silas C. Cook, was born at Stewartsville, Sussex (now Warren) Co., N. J., in December, 1818. Shortly after, his father removed with his family to Hackettstown, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, and where his son Lewis was prepared to enter Princeton College. He was graduated in 1838. After reading medicine with his father he received the degree of M.D. from the Med- ical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1842. He succeeded his father in his practice, and soon after entered into partnership with Dr. William Rea, which was continued until the latter retired from the active duties of the profession, in 1850, when he was succeeded by John S. Cook, M.D. This part- nership continued until 1857, when Dr. Cook removed to Chicago, IH., where he pursued his professional

labors until 1861, when the declining health of his family compelled him to return to the East ; he then renewed the partnership with his brother at Hack- ettstown, and continned in this connection until pros- trated by his last illness. In March, 1852, Dr. Cook married Mrs. Janet Pierson, by whom he leaves an only son. His wife's death preceded his own by several years. He never remarried, but devoted his leisure hours to the education of his son, and to so- lacing the declining days of an aged and honored father. Jan. 11, 1874, he passed away. He was a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Cook was a man of fine personal appearance, graceful address, and lively and social temperament. He was an active member of the medical society of the county, and frequently represented it in the State body. He was modest and frugal, a man of genuine truth and incorruptible integrity, benevolent to the poor, inflexible in his friendships, and in every way a man of intrinsic worth, commanding the entire con- fidence of the community in which he lived .*

SAMUEL W. FELL was born in Wilkesbarre, Pa., in 1788. He married Lydia, daughter of Maj. Henry Dusenberry and Lydia, his wife, of Mansfield, War- ren Co. During the war of 1812 he commanded the " Washington Greens." He afterwards practiced medicine at New Hampton, N. J., and at Belvidere, this county, where he died, July 11, 1824, aged thirty- six years, three months, and fifteen days. His wife died March 18, 1839, aged forty-eight years, four months, and thirteen days. Their only son, Dr. Jesse W., studied medicine under Dr. MeClenahan, and after graduation went to England, where he was for a time conspicuous as a cancer doctor. The senior Fell lost his speech some time before his death, either by exposure to camp-life or by fox-hunting, of which he was very fond. He was buried in the Mansfield Cemetery.+ He had quite a reputation as a surgeon, and with success performed the operation for >trangu- lated hernia upon the late Dr. E. Everett, of Sussex County. In person he was short and handsome.

HARVEY HALLECK, son of Israel Halleck. of Mount Hope, was a native of Orange Co., N. Y., born in 1802. He studied medicine with Drs. Newkirk and Stephen Hedges. At the close of his preparation he located at Marksboro', but remained only a brief period, removing to Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1841 he purchased the real estate of the late Dr. R. Byington at Johnsonsburg, and there engaged in a good practice until 1847, when he returned to Newton, where he died, June 21, 1852, in his fifty-second year. He was buried at the Yellow Frame Cemetery. He was elected a member of the District Medical Society of Warren County, and in 1846 was made an honorary member of the District Medical Society of Sussex County. He married Eleanor MeCarter ( daughter of the celebrated " Old Man of the Mountain"", who is

· Obituary in State Med. Soc. Trans .. 18.1.

+ Dr. John Ilane.

512

WARREN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

still living in Newton. Dr. Halleck was a man of extensive acquirements, a physician of rare abilities.

DAVID GREEN, a member of the Green family of Greensville, Sussex Co., was a practitioner at John- sonsburg,-probably coming after Dr. Fell. He built the stone residence which was occupied by his suc- cessors until sold about 1876 by Dr. Vail. In 1826, when he was followed by Dr. R. Byington, he went to New York City, where he lived in Pearl Street, kept a drug-store, practiced medicine, and died there. He was a brother of Dr. George Green, one of the found- ers of the Warren County District Medical Society ; and, although his own name is in the warrant for the county society, it does not appear that he was present at its first or any subsequent meetings.

WILLIAM B. DEY was born in the village of Hope, of a family somewhat prominent at that time, about 1810. His literary education was received from Rev. C. Dnnn, of Newton ; he was graduated from Rutgers College, and attended medical lectures in New York. He was associated for a time with Dr. Leeds at Hope, but afterwards located at Columbia, opposite the pres- ent village of Portland, Pa. His reputation for native talent was good, and his promise of being a successful practitioner bright; but after a few years' practice he died May 23, 1849, in his thirty-ninth year. His wife was a Miss Ramsay .*

ALEXANDER H. THOMSON, a descendant of Hon. Mark Thomson, was born at Changewater, Warren Co .; received a classical education at Trenton ; was graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsyl- vania. He practiced but a short time, soon after en- gaging in farming and milling. He died at his residence, in Marksboro', Sept. 10, 1840, of gastric fever.t

DEWITT C. WILSON, a native of Wantage township, Sussex Co., came to Warren County about 1840, and tanght school in the village of Panlina. At that time he read medicine in the office of Dr. John Albright, and afterwards attended lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. His location in practice was in Knowlton township, at Polkville. He had a large field and was industriously occupied for about eleven years,-until the spring of 1855,- when he secured a position in the Patent Office, at Washington, where he remained until his death. He never married. In person he was tall and portly. He was a kind and sympathetic practitioner, but not very enthusiastic in his profession. Although the acquire- ment of wealth was a prominent trait in his character, his professional charges were extremely low. He was a member of the District Medical Society, joining in 1848.

WILLIAM J. JOHNSON, whose name is on the roll of the Warren County Medical Society, was born at Newton, Sussex Co., March 13, 1805. He was the son of Judge Jolin Johnson, of Sussex County. His

classical education was received at Basking Ridge, and his medical studies pursued with a maternal uncle in Philadelphia. He was graduated in medi- cine in 1828 at the University of Pennsylvania; subject of his thesis, "Lithotomy." He settled at Jamaica, L. I., in 1828; was located at Washington, in this county, from 1834 to 1845 ; removed to Nyack, N. Y., and in 1848 to New York City, where he died, Sept. 22, 1860, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.}

THOMAS BOND, a native of Pennsylvania, and a graduate of the Pennsylvania Medical College of Philadelphia, practiced for a time in Tennessee, later had charge of a dispensary in Philadelphia, and in 1854 came to Hainesburg, just after Dr. Wilson re- moved to Washington, D. C. Dr. Bond continued his residence there and at Polkville until his death, which occurred at the latter place, Oct. 25, 1879, at the age of fifty-seven years. He was very positive in his ideas, an excellent practitioner, and much relied upon for counsel by his medical neighbors. He took an active part in political affairs, and was steadfastly loyal to the Union when many of his political friends were distrusted. The excessive labor of his later years enfeebled him, but his energy kept him at work long after he was able to endure it. His death was caused by chronic phthisis. His only son, Dr. Rob- ert Bond, is the successor in the practice of his father.

THOMAS P. STEWART, one of the founders of the Warren County Medical Society, was a studeut of Dr. Rnel Hampton, and became his partner about 1820, and when Dr. Hampton left Hackettstown succeeded him. He acquired a large practice, and is remem- bered by not a few of the residents of the place with much respect. He was also a member of the Medical Society of the State of New Jersey, and was elected its president in 1840,-the first physician of this county to enjoy that honor. He was killed in 1846 by being thrown from his sulky.

HEZEKIAH STITES WOODRUFF was a descendant of a family of doctors. His father, whose name he bore, and who died at Drakesville in 1844, had four sons in the profession, of whom Hezekiah S. was the least successful. Although of good natural abilities, he was averse to the labors of a large practice, and died poor, at Marksboro', in 1858. He had been lo- cated there but a short time, and died quite suddenly. (See also a mention of the Drs. Woodruff in the chap- ter on the " Medical Profession of Sussex.")

It may be remarked here that, while there is now no resident physician in Marksboro', no less than seven have there closed their earthly careers,-viz., Abel Johnson, John Marvin, David P. Hunt, Gideon Leeds, Alexander H. Thomson, John N. Dee, and H. S. Woodruff .?

JOHN N. DEE was a native of Madison, Conn., and taught school at Andover, Sussex Co., N. J .; read medicine with Dr. John Miller, and was a graduate

* MSS. of Dr. J. C. Johnson. + Ibid.

# Ibid. ¿ Ibid.

513

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF WARREN COUNTY.

of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, N. Y. of Abraham Van Eyckel at Town-bury, with the ex- He settled at Marksboro' in November, 1856. The pectation that the county-seat would be located there, and moved upon it in 1822. He died shortly after, of typhus fever, aged about thirty-five .? Dr. Thomas Stewart studied with him, exposure of country practice was too severe for his physical frame; in the February following he con- tracted pneumonia, which developed into phthisis pulmonalis, of which he died. The Sussex County District Medical Society, of which he was a member, caused to be erected a tombstone, on which is in- scribed :

"John N. Dee, M. D., Died May 22d, 1x57."*

JOHN MARVIN was a school-teacher who essayed the practice of medicine from knowledge obtained from the perusal of the medical books of Dr. Abel Johnson. His location was also at Marksboro', and his professional reputation was not great, nor the period of his practice long. He died, and was buried at Marksboro', but no slab indicates the place of his burial.t

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History of Sussex and Warren counties, New Jersey, with Illustration and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 127

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1140

Author: Snell, James P; Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1140