Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 55

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations > Part 55

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Dr. Jephtha R. Boulware served as Assistant Surgeon of the same regiment with which Dr. Craig was connected, the 177th, as did also Dr. Oscar Young, who resided here for several years. Dr. Boulware has been a prominent practitioner in Albany since his war service, and for a time was Surgeon of St. Peter's Hospital.

Dr. Henry R. Haskins was commissioned Sur- geon of the 192d N. Y. V., which was partly raised in this county, in February, '65, and was mustered out in the August following. He practiced in Albany till his death in 1884; was for several years Professor of Anatomy at the Medical College, and was prominent especially as a surgeon.

Dr. Thomas Beckett was made Assistant Surgeon, 25th N. Y. Nat. Guard, April, '61, and served with it for five months in Virginia. October, '62, was again mustered as First Assistant Surgeon 4th Regiment (Corcoran's Brigade), consolidated with the 175th N. Y. V., and sent to Louisiana. For a time he was detached and placed in charge of the sick of General Emory's Division. He accompa- nied his regiment on the expedition to Plaquemine and the Teche raid, and at the battle of Brisland was three days and nights on the field; at Port Hudson he had become so reduced in health that he was discharged, June, '63, with the rank of Brevet Major, N. Y. V. In '65 he was placed on duty as Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Ira Harris Hospital here, and served to the end of the war.

Dr. Charles P. Staats was made Assistant Surgeon, 67th New York Infantry, in 1863, seeing service for a year and a half with the Army of the Potomac. After being mustered out with his regiment he returned to Albany, where he died in 1884.

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MEDICINE IN ALBANY COUNTY.

Dr. John H. Wilbur, now a practitioner of Cohoes, enlisted in the 44th New York Volunteers in 1861, and after two years' service was discharged on account of physical disabilities. In September, 1866, he was commissioned by Gov. Fenton Surgeon of the 108th Infantry, and served till the regiment disbanded.

Dr. R. H. Sabin, of West Troy, received a com- mission as Assistant Surgeon, Seventh New York Artillery, but was prevented by domestic affairs from serving.

Besides these there were a number of Albany phy- sicians who, while having no regular regimental attachment, saw considerable service in army hos- pitals and at the front after severe battles. Dr. Mason F. Coggswell, a practitioner here since 1833, and having held various offices of responsibility, was at the outbreak of the war appointed Examining Sur- geon. He was surgeon of a post hospital in 1862, and served as volunteer surgeon after the battles of the Wilderness. In 1863 he visited hospitals in the West with Dr. Thomas Hun, for the Christian Com- mission. His death in 1865 was attributed partly to his hard work in Virginia. Dr. J. V. Lansing was examiner of recruits here, where a large number of regiments were organized. He also served as con- tract surgeon, or acting assistant. For many years he was connected with the college and hospital here ; he died in 1880, while surgeon to Danne- mora prison. Dr. Henry March was assistant volun- teer surgeon, sent by the State in 1861-2 ; he was on hospital service at Fortress Monroe and at Fred- ericksburg. Dr. Wm. H. Bailey, for many years a leading physician of Albany, was sent to Wash- ington and the army to look after the welfare of New York troops, several times by the Governor and the Christian Commission. He is now connected with the Albany Hospital ; is one of the pension exam- ining surgeons, and a late president of the State Medi- cal Society. Similar special service was rendered by Dr. John Swinburne, a sketch of whose life may be found on another page, Dr. Levi Moore, Dr. J. L. Babcock, and probably others. Dr. Alden March gave his valuable services to the inmates of the Soldiers' Home located here. Dr. James. H. Armsby rendered the same patriotic service. Dr. Ira M. Delamater, Dr. S. H. Freeman and Dr. A. P. Ten Eyck were likewise con- nected with the work in this home for disabled soldiers.

Besides those who have served in a professional capacity, there are a few among the physicians here who may be mentioned for other service during the war.

Dr. O. D. Ball enlisted, November, 1861, in the Third New York Light Artillery as Quartermaster- Sergeant ; in 1864 he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, and a few months later was promoted to First Lieutenant and assigned to duty as regi- mental quartermaster, and for a time was acting Assistant Adjutant-General. He went up the James River with the army under General Butler as ordnance officer, and was engaged in the pre- liminary battles and siege of Petersburg, the battles of James River and Wilson's Landing. He served through the war and came to Albany in 1874, after several years' practice in Otsego County.

Dr. Edward E. Brown entered the service in September, 1862, as First Lieutenant Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, and was promoted Captain, serving through the war. He saw service principally in the defenses of Washington ; was engaged in the taking of Harper's Ferry. Since graduating at the Albany Medical College he has practiced in Bethle- hem, and now is settled in Albany.

Dr. E. A. Bartlett, a descendant of the Dr. Josiah Bartlett, signer of the Declaration of In- dependence, enlisted as private in the Fourth United States Artillery in 1863, for five years, and participated in twelve engagements of the Department of the Cumberland and Tennessee. He was wounded at Pulaski in January, 1865. In 1866, the war having ended, he was, through Senator Harris, discharged, in order to complete his collegiate-education. His professional life he has spent in Albany. He is a contributor to literature, general and medical, his latest work being a popu- lar brochure on cholera.

Dr. F. C. Curtis enlisted in the spring of 1864, with a large part of his college class, as private in the 40th Wisconsin hundred days' regiment, and saw service during the summer chiefly in the de- fenses of Memphis.

Dr. Lewis Balch, although not in the army dur- ing the war, may be mentioned as a prominent medical officer of the National Guard, in which he is a senior surgeon, 10th battalion, with rank of major. He is connected with the college and the hospitals here, and is now health officer of the city.

As completely as possible the military history of medical men in this county has been presented in recognition of the important relation that exists be- tween war and the science of medicine.

During this century the city and county have maintained the early repute for healthfulness, the cholera epidemics already referred to being the most notable inroad upon it. The topography, soil and

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

drainage are favorable to salubrity. The city espe- cially is admirably situated, with its succession of slopes and valleys draining rapidly into the all-ab- sorbing river, and it needs but a decent attention to artificial aids for removing waste and moisture, with an abundance of pure water, to keep it the healthiest city in the world.

The various medical institutions which have been brought into existence during the century are important features of our medical history. The Albany Medical College was organized in 1838, and is one of the oldest schools of medicine in this country. As early as 1821 Dr. Alden March be- gan to give a course of instruction in anatomy by lectures and dissections, and continued it until the organization of the College ; for ten years of the time also holding the chair of anatomy and physi- ology in the Vermont Academy of Medicine. He began in 1830 to agitate the propriety of establish- ing a college and hospital here. Soon after this Dr. James H. Armsby became associated with Dr. March in his private school, at the same time also lecturing at the Vermont institution. He delivered several courses of public lectures on anatomy, and did much thereby to awaken the interest of promi- nent citizens in the subject. This resulted in a meeting of citizens in 1838, at which the prelimi- nary steps were taken toward its organization, some of the best men in the city co-operating for the purpose. Funds were subscribed, a faculty and board of trustees selected, and the Lancaster school building leased, rent free, of the Common Council. The first course of lectures began in January, 1839, to a class of fifty-seven students, and an extensive museum, chiefly contributed by Drs. March and Armsby, was displayed to the public. This museum has received further contri- butions from Drs. March, Armsby, McNaughton, Van Der Veer and others, until now it is one of the largest in the country, and is still, on stated days, open to the public. During the first few years Dr. Armsby and Mr. Amos Dean, who was professor of medical jurisprudence, delivered public lectures in the evening, which added much to the interest in the institution. In 1841 the Legislature made an appropriation of $15,000 to it, and subsequently $6,000, and the citizens of Albany contributed $ 10,000 for its establishment. The first class that graduated numbered thirteen. Since then the col- lege has contributed 2,000 men to the medical force of the country, all over which they are scat- tered, and many of them the leading men of their localities. The college has had on its board of

trustees the first citizens of Albany, and the leading physicians have been on its faculty or board of curators. Within a few years the demand for higher education has been met by the requirement of a preliminary examination of all applicants for admission, by the establishment of a three years' graded course of study, and by monthly written examinations. But very few medical schools in this country are thus exacting ; this one, conse- quently, stands high. The final examination by the faculty is a written one, and after it the gradu- ate has still to pass another by the board of curators. The course is not only scientific but practical, by the exhibition of cases, operations and laboratory work, and a number of prizes stimulate the students to their best efforts.

The following is a historical list of the college faculty from its beginning until now, in the order of their appointment: Drs. Ebenezer Emmons, James H. Armsby, David M. Reese, Alden March, Henry Greene, David M. McLach- lan, Amos Dean, Esq .; Drs. Thomas Hun, Gunning S. Bedford, James McNaughton, Lewis C. Beck, T. Romeyn Beck, Howard Townsend, Ezra S. Carr, J. V. P. Quackenbush, Charles H. Porter, G. F. Barker, Jacob S. Mosher, S. O. Vanderpoel, James E. Pomfret, John V. Lansing, H. R. Haskins, Albert Van Der Veer, E. R. Peas- > lee, Meredyth Clymer, W. P. Seymour, George T. Stevens, John M. Bigelow, Maurice Perkins, Ira Harris, Esq., LL.D .; Drs. Willis G. Tucker, William Hailes, H. E. Webster, M. A., Drs. John Swinburne, Lewis Balch, Samuel B. Ward, John P. Gray, Edward R. Hun, James P. Boyd, Jr., C. S. Merrill, S. O. Vanderpoel, Jr., Franklin Town- send, Jr., Frederic C. Curtis and Henry Hun. Of these a few had but a short connection with the institution, and a few were non-residents of this city.

On the present faculty are : Dr. Thomas Hun, LL. D., Dean, and Dr. S. O. Vanderpoel, LL. D., both Emeritus Professors; Dr. Albert Van Der Veer, Surgery ; Dr. Maurice Perkins, Chemistry ; Dr. John M. Bigelow, Materia Medica; Dr. Lewis Balch, Anatomy ; Dr. Samuel B. Ward, Practice of Medi- cine; Dr. John P. Gray, Psychological Medicine ; Dr. James P. Boyd, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Dr. Willis G. Tucker, Chemistry ; Dr. William Hailes, Histology ; Dr. C. S. Merrill, Diseases of the Eye and Ear; Dr. Franklin Townsend, Physi- ology ; Dr. Frederic C. Curtis, Diseases of the Skin, and Dr. Henry Hun, Nervous Diseases. Dr. Henry March is Curator of the Museum, Dr. E. Van Slyke, Demonstrator of Anatomy, and Dr.

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S. R. Morrow, Lecturer on Surgery. Dr. A. L. Carroll, Secretary of the State Board of Health, has also delivered a course of lectures on Hygiene. Most of the faculty are connected with one or more of the hospitals of the city. In years past summer courses of lectures have been given, at which many of the physicians of the city have assisted the regu- lar faculty. These are now suspended, and the regular course of six months lasts from early in September till March. The Curators of the Col- lege are : Drs. Samuel H. Freeman, William H. Craig and Norman L. Snow, of Albany, Dr. James D. Featherstonhaugh, of Cohoes, and Dr. Barent A. Mynderse, of Schenectady.

The college owns a valuable library, particularly rich in rare old works, much of which was selected by Dr. T. Romeyn Beck. It has laboratories that are extensive and complete, having been recently rebuilt. Alumni Hall, a wing of the college, is a gathering place for all medical organizations, its walls being covered with portraits of members of the County Medical Society. There is a large Alumni Association, holding annual meetings on commencement days, through whose members the college gets much of its patronage.

The Albany College of Pharmacy is another medical institution that deserves mention. Like the Medical College, it is a department of Union University by the Board of Governors of which it was created in 1881. Its course extends over two years, lectures being given in the evening. It is required of the students to spend four years with a reputable pharmacist. The faculty consists of Dr. Willis G. Tucker, Dr. A. B. Huested and Mr. G. Michaelis. The late Dr. Mosher was connected with it up to the time of his death.

Albany is fortunate in the possession of sev- eral hospitals, a fact which speaks well for its benevolent spirit. Reference has already been made to the military hospitals. The Albany Hospi- tal was founded in 1849. For the first few years it occupied buildings on the corner of Madison avenue and Dove street. In 1854 the present fine building on Eagle street near the Medical College was secured for it, having been used as a county jail till then, and remodeled at a cost of over twenty thousand dollars. This was largely due to the unremitting efforts of Dr. James H. Armsby, to whom more than any other citizen Albany is in- debted for its educational and benevolent institu- tions. He gave his professional services to the hospital during his life, and raised over one hun- dred thousand dollars for it by personal applica-

tion. In 1872 a large addition was built, and with numerous and costly improvements since it has been made one of the most perfect hospitals pos- sible, with accommodation for about 150 patients. It has as an especial feature a large number of private rooms, respectively fitted up by and named after the various Protestant churches in the city, and no hospital in the country is so homelike to those so unfortunate as to need its care. Patients taking private rooms may be attended there by their own physicians. It is under the care of a board of fifteen governors, who are elected annually by the members of the corporation, a gift of fifty dollars entitling the donor to a vote for life. It is supported by private contributions, by the income of an endowment fund and from the rent of private rooms, and by the payment from the city and county towns for the care of the sick. The present staff of the hospital consists of Dr. Thomas Hun, consult- ing physician ; Drs. Samuel H. Freenian, Joseph Lewi, John M. Bigelow and Samuel B. Ward, at- tending physicians ; Drs. Albert Van Der Veer, William Hailes and Normon L. Snow, attending surgeons ; Drs. Cyrus S. Merrill and Herman Ben- dell, eye and ear surgeons; Dr. William H. Bailey, obstretrician ; Dr. James P. Boyd, gynecologist, and Dr. Frederic C. Curtis, diseases of the skin. The hospital has a dispensary for the care of out- patients, to whom advice and medicines are fur- nished gratuitously. It is open daily. Several thousands are thus treated yearly.

St. Peter's Hospital was opened in 1869, in the building on the corner of Broadway and North Ferry street, which was for many years occupied by Stephen Van Rensselaer, son of the late Patroon This building has been much enlarged by more re- cent additions. It is in charge of the Sisters of Mercy, with the co-operation of an advisory board of forty gentlemen. Being near the railroads, it re- ceives a great many cases of accident. It has also a dispensary for out patients to which many, not only from the city but from neighboring counties, come for treatment, not less than twenty-five thou- sand persons having been treated gratuitously there since it was opened. The staff of physicians con- sists of Dr. Thomas Hun, Samuel B. Ward and Daniel V. O'Leary, consulting physicians ; Drs. A. Van Der Veer and Lewis Balch, consulting sur- geons ; Drs. Henry Hun, Selwyn A. Russell and T. Kirk Perry, attending physicians ; Drs. S. R. Morrow, P. J. Keegan and William Hailes, at- tending surgeons ; Dr. J. M. Bigelow, laryngo- scopy and throat diseases ; Drs. C. S. Merrill, G. A. Munson and T. F. C. Van Allen, ophthalmic

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

and aural surgeons ; Drs. James P. Boyd and Franklin Townsend, obstetric surgeons; and Dr. F. C. Curtis, physician for diseases of the skin.

The Child's Hospital, one of the most effective institutions in the city, was organized in 1875. It is under the charge of the Sisters of the Order of the Holy Child Jesus. A board of lady managers has the care of its financial management. The total number of beds is 75, three of which are en- dowed. It is mainly supported by voluntary con- tributions. On its medical staff are Drs. Thomas Hun and John Swinburne, consulting, and Dr. Lewis Balch, Henry Hun and T. M. Trego, at- tending physicians, Dr. C. S. Merrill having charge of diseases of the eye and ear, and Dr. J. W. Cox of the homoeopathic ward.

The Albany City Homoeopathic Hospital was chartered in 1872, and in 1875 was consolidated with the dispensary, which was incorporated in 1868. It is under the charge of a board of managers, and its staff includes most of the homœopathic physicians of the city. The institu- tion furnishes accommodation for 30 patients, a large part of whom are charity cases, although it has several private rooms for paying patients. Its support comes from voluntary contributions and a yearly appropriation from the city. The part that homeopathic physicians have had in our medical history will form a separate chapter.

The Alms House Hospital and Insane Asylum has capacity for the sick poor and insane of the county. It is situated at the outskirts of the city, on the grounds and under the management of the Alms House officials, Dr. R. H. Starkweather having its professional charge as city physician.

The work of the hospitals is very well supple- mented by the Open Door Mission and the Hospi- tal for Incurables, the youngest of the benevolent institutions. Their purpose is to care for the indigent sick and crippled who, being incurable, cannot be provided for by the hospitals. Besides these there are a considerable number of asylums and homes in the city which need and receive medi- cal care.

During the century Albany has grown nearly twenty times in population, Cohoes has become a considerable city, and West Troy a large village of thirteen thousand inhabitants. Instead of a dozen physicians, mostly dwelling near the site of Old Fort Orange, there are now not less than one hun- dred and seventy-five throughout the county. There is hardly a specialty in medicine which is not ably and abundantly represented here. These, with the hospitals, the medical school, the medical

journal, the exceptionally central and accessible location of the city, and a body of general practi- tioners of as high character and capability as any in the country, have made Albany the metropolis and center for an extensive territory. No locality is more free from empyrics than is this city and county of Albany; there is none in which the esprit du corps of the profession is better, and none in whose history and development more able and forceful medical men have borne an active part. It is an honor to be the chronicler of so good representatives of a profession which is one of the most useful in the elements of human weal and advancement. Lack of space has prevented the mention of many who should be spoken of and of the high offices that have been held ; but enough has been detailed to show the very considerable part the profession has taken in bringing this old place to its good position in history. However rapidly Albany may grow in the future, its past and present gives evidence that the medical profession will keep pace with it in strength, energy and capacity.

HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION AND PROGRESS OF HOMŒOPATHY IN ALBANY COUNTY.

BY H. M. PAINE, M. D., OF ALBANY, N. Y.

This historical sketch embraces :

I. History prior to the organization of the County Homoeopathic Medical Society.

II. History subsequent to the organization of the Albany County Homoeopathic Medical Society.

III. Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Society, showing titles of papers and contributions to med- ical science; also the position of the society regard- ing the polemics of homeopathy.

IV. History of the Albany City Homoeopathic Hospital and Dispensary.

I .- HISTORY PRIOR TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ALBANY COUNTY HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICAL SOCI- ETY.

The homoeopathic system of medical practice was first introduced into the City of Albany by Dr. Augustus P. Biegler, in the autumn of 1837.

At that early period only a few persons had heard of the new system, and a still smaller num- ber of its adherents were willing to trust it in severe forms of disease. There were a few, how-

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ever, who were thorough converts to the new method. Their confidence in the efficacy of ho- mœopathic treatment was such that they adhered to it alone, even in the most rapid and dangerous diseases.

Among this class of firm believers in the new system, the name of Rev. Dr. Myers, pastor of the First Lutheran Church, deserves special mention. The reverend doctor, at that early day, had pro- cured from Leipsig a number of homeopathic rem- edies and a small book, printed in the German language, giving directions for the proper adminis- tration of the medicines.

By these firm believers in homoeopathy Dr. Biegler was cordially welcomed and zealously supported, and the system he represented, by turn earnestly advocated and fearlessly defended.

Dr. Biegler was born in Prussia; he resided, at the time of graduation from the University of Berlin, at St. Wendel; his diploma is dated March 29, 1832, and bears the signature, among others, of Christian G. Hufeland. He received letters of recommendation from Dr. Hufeland and others to professors in another German university, in which also he pursued medical studies subsequent to his graduation at Berlin.

He began the practice of homeopathy at Albany in November, 1837. In the next year (1838) he passed the requisite examination, and was ad- mitted to membership in the Medical Society of the City and County of New York.

Dr. Biegler remained in Albany until the spring of 1840, when he removed to Schenectady, and in the autumn of that year became a permanent resi- dent of Rochester, Monroe County, N. Y.

During this journey westward, which occupied several months, Dr. Biegler delivered lectures on homœopathy in the principal cities along the route. These lectures awakened great interest in the new system, and resulted in the addition of many converts to the homoeopathic method of med- ical treatment.

Late in the autumn of 1840 Dr. Biegler left Rochester for the purpose of visiting Hahnemann, at Paris. He remained at that city about one year. As a testimonial of esteem, Hahnemann presented him with a beautiful carnelian stone ring, on which a profile of the head of Hahnemann was engraved; also a lock of his own hair, with a note from Madame Hahnemann.

After his return to this country Dr. Biegler re- sumed practice at Rochester, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1849, at the age of 59 years. Dr. Biegler enjoyed the rare oppor-

tunity of a long personal acquaintance with Hahnemann.

Soon after Dr. Biegler's advent Dr. Rosenstein established himself at Albany. The two physicians formed a partnership in business, which was termi- nated in a few months by the removal of Dr. Rosenstein from the city.

Dr. Biegler was succeeded; in the spring of 1840, by Dr. Charles Frederic Hoffendahl. Dr. Hoffen- dahl was born, June 28, 1799, at New Branden- burgh, in Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He began med- ical studies at the age of seventeen years, at the St. Joseph's Academy of Vienna, a training school for military surgeons.

In 1820, having passed his examination, he was attached to an Austrian infantry regiment (entitled Wurtemberg) and accompanied it during a cam- paign in Italy. He then, in 1828, finished his studies and obtained his degree at the Medical University of Berlin.

It is probable that he became a homoeopathic practitioner soon after graduation, having previously acquired a knowledge of homoeopathy while in the Austrian army, through the kindness of Regi- mental Surgeon Schmidt.

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Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 55

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Howell, George Rogers, 1833-1899; Tenney, Jonathan, 1817-1888
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452