Bi-centennial history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609 to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, Part 56

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 56

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Dr. Hoffendahl came to this country in 1837, and settled at Philadelphia, where he remained until 1840, when he became a resident of Albany. He remained at Albany two years, and then, in 1842, removed to Boston, Mass., where he died, April 24, 1862, at the age of sixty-three years.

In 1841 Dr. Isaac M. Ward, of Newark, N. J., came to Albany. After a very successful and re- munerative practice of seven years, he retired to New York in the autumn of 1847. Dr. Ward has long since retired from active practice. He resides (1885) at Elizabeth, N. J.

Dr. Charles H. Skiff came to Albany in 1842. Dr. Skiff was born at Spencertown, Columbia County, N. Y., May 12, 1808. The greater part of his boyhood was spent with his grandfather, Nathan Skiff, on Skiff Mountain, in the town of Kent, Litchfield County, Conn. He was graduated from the Berkshire Medical College, at Pittsfield, . Mass., September 5, 1832.

After the death of a dearly beloved daughter and a severe illness of his own, during which he obtained evidences of the practical superiority of the new over the old method, he fully adopted the homeopathic system.

He remained at Albany less than one year, and thence, in the fall of 1843, removed to New Haven, Conn., where he resided, with the ex- ception of two years spent at Brooklyn, N. Y., to

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the time of his death, in 1875, at the age of sixty- seven years.

He was the first physician to practice homœo- pathically at New Haven ; he was one of the founders of the Connecticut State Homoeopathic Medical Society, and also one of the original mem- bers of the American Institute of Homoeopathy.

Dr. Henry D. Paine came from Newburgh, Orange County, to Albany in 1845. He formed a partnership in business with Dr. I. M. Ward. The partnership continued two years, and was ter- minated by the removal of Dr. Ward to New York. Dr. Paine removed from Albany to New York in the spring of 1865, where he is still (1885) partici- pating in professional duties.

Dr. E. Darwin Jones began the practice of ho- mœopathy at Albany in the spring of 1846. He had been an old-school practitioner several years. On a careful and thorough investigation of the homœo- pathic system, he became convinced of its superior- ity, and immediately adopted it in practice. At the present time (1885) Dr. Jones is still engaged in active practice at Albany.

Dr. David Springsteed had also been an old- school physician several years. He was induced to read homoeopathic publications, and to test the utility of homeopathic remedies in certain diseases. After a prolonged examination, involving many practical experiments, in the spring of 1846, he openly announced himself a convert to the new system. Dr. Springsteed then resided in the town of Bethlehem, Albany County. He removed to the city of Albany in 1861.

By reason of advanced age, in 1880, he retired from active practice and removed to Saugerties, Ulster County, and subsequently, in 1882, to Brook- lyn, N. Y., where at the present time (1885), although feeble in bodily strength, he is enjoying the evening of life in the possession of all his men- tal faculties.

Dr. John Alsop Paine began practice at Albany in January, 1847. Dr. Paine was born at Whites- town, Oneida County, N. Y., July 10, 1795. He · received an academical education at Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y., and was graduated from the Medical Department of Yale College in the spring of 1825.

In the course of his long and eventful career he engaged successfully in practice in Volney, Oswego County; Paris, New Hartford and Utica, in Oneida County, N. Y., and Newark, N. J., from which place he removed to Albany. He remained six years in Albany, and died at Lake Forest, Ill., June 16, 1871, in the 76th year of his age.

He practiced the old-school system prior to the year 1844, at which time, being detained several weeks at Albany for the purpose of giving evidence in a suit to recover damages for injuries received in this city by a patient who had been a long time under his care, he availed himself of the oppor- tunity thus afforded for witnessing the application of the new system, as illustrated by the practice of Dr. I. M. Ward, at that time a resident of Albany.

On returning to his home at New Hartford, he at once instituted a series of trials, at first in cases in which the usual old-school remedies had failed. These tests resulted in demonstrating to his entire satisfaction the availability of a method having a far wider range of application-one opening up a greater wealth of resources in its applicability in the treatment of even the most dangerous and rapidly fatal diseases-than any he had hitherto witnessed. These advantages he quickly perceived and speedily availed himself of in daily practice, and held to them during the remaining years of his pro- fessional life with singular tenacity, seldom, ex- cept under the most urgent necessity, ever resorting to old school palliative or alterative treatment.

Dr. Paine was elected to a number of official po- sitions in connection with the medical associations, old-school and new, in which he held membership.

He was a skillful and successful physician; he was genial in disposition, judicious and exemplary in his daily life. His influence over his patients was marked by characteristic cheerfulness, hopeful- ness and unusual urbanity of manners. His presence in the sick room was often an inspiration, prompting a faithful co-operation in the use of the remedial measures suggested.

He manifested decided originality in determin- ing the active as well as the predisposing causes of disease; hence his opinion regarding the diagnosis of difficult and obscure cases was frequently de- sired by his professional associates.

Dr. Henry Adams, son of Dr. Peter C. Adams, was born at Coxsackie, N. Y., July 6, 1787. He pursued the study of medicine under the super- vision of his father, and was admitted to practice in the twenty-first year of his age.

During the war of 1812 he was appointed sur- geon in the American army, and was stationed at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. At the close of the war he returned to Coxsackie and resumed practice. .

About the year 1846 he was persuaded to inves- tigate the claims of homeopathy, and was not slow to accept its principles as an improvement upon the old method. His confidence in the new system never wavered.

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He came to Albany in 1848, remaining two years. He removed to Cohoes in 1850, where he resided to the time of his death, which occurred July 6, 1857, on his seventieth birthday.

He possessed great individuality and originality of method. He was firm and positive in his con- victions, and pursued a course, once decided on after mature deliberation, with untiring persever- ance. He was a man of few words. His thoughts and opinions were expressed in strong, terse lan- guage and laconic sentences.

Dr. Horace M. Paine, son of Dr. John A. Paine, was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, in March, 1849. He at once began practice in Albany, re- maining until 1855, when he removed to Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y., where he resided until 1865, returning that year to Albany.

Prior to the year 1849 the accessions to the ranks of homeopathic practitioners were from among those who had been previously engaged for several years in old-school practice. Dr. Paine was the first young physician who began the practice of homœopathy immediately after graduation.

Dr. Paine at the present time (1885) is a resi- dent of Albany, and is engaged in active practice.

In 1851 a physician by the name of Brooks came to Albany. He had been an old-school practitioner fifteen or sixteen years, and had re- cently become a convert to the new system. He remained at Albany two or three years, and then removed elsewhere.

Dr. William H. Randel was graduated, in the spring of 1851, from the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, and im- mediately thereafter began the practice of homœo- pathy in Albany.

Dr. Randel visited Europe in 1867, and spent a greater part of a year in observing the results of treatment adopted in the principal hospitals in England and on the Continent. He is still (1885) a resident of Albany, and is engaged in active pro- fessional duties.

Dr. James W. Cox was graduated, in the spring of 1852, from the Albany Medical College, and at once began the practice of homoeopathy in Albany. He entered into partnership in business with his former preceptor, Dr. Henry D. Paine. The partnership continued seven years, and was then dissolved by mutual consent. Dr. Cox subse- quently formed a partnership with Dr. John S. Delavan. Dr. Cox is, at the present time (1885), engaged in practice in Albany.

Dr. C. G. Bryant was graduated, in the spring of 1852, from the Albany Medical College. He as- sociated himself in business with his former precep- tor, Dr. D. Springsteed. He remained one year in Albany, and then removed to San Francisco, where he died in 1866.

Dr. Lester M. Pratt, of Fulton, Oswego County, N. Y., came to Albany in August, 1854. He was graduated in the spring of that year from the Homeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia. He formed a partnership in business with Dr. H. M. Paine, which continued one year, and was termi- nated by the removal of Dr. Paine to Clinton, Oneida County, N. Y. Dr. Pratt has, on two occasions, entered into partnership with Dr. John S. Delavan. Dr. Pratt, at the present time (1885), is engaged in active practice at Albany.

Dr. George H. Billings was graduated from Castleton Medical College in 1857, and the same year began the practice of homoeopathy at Cohoes. He remained at Cohoes seven years, and then re- moved to Brooklyn. He returned to Cohoes in 1870, where he is now, in 1885, engaged in active professional duties.

These seventeen physicians, the pioneers of our school in Albany County, espoused the homœo- pathic system when its very name was, in the esti- mation of the dominant school, a synonym of reproach, and, as indicative on the part of the homœopathist, of a deficiency of sound judgment. Homoeopathists were regarded as visionary in their conceptions and superficial in their attainments. Many of the pioneers of homoeopathy, however, were men of profound learning; they were ripe scholars, and were in full possession of all those mental qualities required for originality of thought and independence of action.

At that early day the opposition to homeopathy was intense. The intimation of the slightest predilec- tion toward the new system was sure to cover the of- fender with obloquy, and ultimately result in al- most complete professional ostracism. The homœopathist was speedily expelled from the medical organizations to which he belonged, and was henceforth debarred all professional fellowship with his former medical associates. Hence, to break away from esteemed friends, and to exclude one's self from the fellowship of those whose aid would be frequently extremely desirable, was a test of courage and self-reliance to which few were willing to subject themselves.

It has been repeatedly asserted that the early homœopathists renounced the old-school system of practice on account of the probable pecuniary ad-

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

vantages to be gained thereby. The pioneers themselves, however, are conscious of being un- influenced by mercenary motives. They adopted the homoeopathic system only after repeated trials had proved its superior curative advantages, and they adhered to it in the confident expectation that these points of intrinsic excellence would ultimately establish its claims for public recognition and general adoption.

They broke away from-nay, rather were driven out of-the old-school because they believed that they could more effectively serve the public; they were confident of accomplishing better results in practice; of saving a larger proportion of human life, and of contributing to the diminution of the du- ration and intensity of diseases which afflict man- kind. Whether their reward would come during their life time they could not foretell; but of its coming at some future day they had no reason to doubt.

And when they relinquished the old method it was a radical and entire separation. Indeed, the completeness of the renunciation of old-school methods is a marked characteristic of many of the earlier converts to homoeopathy. They appeared to have a morbid dread of even an occasional resort to the milder cathartics and narcotics, which the younger homoeopathists-those who have had a shorter practical knowledge of the old methods -have never experienced.

When they gave up the old system, they re- nounced it wholly; when they adopted the new, there was no reservation at any point in favor of the old. There was no blending of the two op- posite systems. The new method, to them, seemed to act more in harmony with natural con- servative forces, hence was considered preferable in all curable diseases.

A review of the work accomplished by these pioneers of our school in Albany County, even at this early period, shows that their confidence in the new system was well founded, and that we are, at the present day, measurably enjoying the fruition of their self-sacrificing labor.

Nine of the seventeen are still living, and with one or two exceptions all are engaged in the active duties of professional life.

II. - HISTORY SUBSEQUENT TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ALBANY COUNTY HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL SOCIETY.

The development and progress of the homœo- pathic school is indicated, approximately at least, by the growth and influence of the number and

standing of its public and private institutions. The history of the society and cognate organiza- tions, therefore, marks the advances and resources of the school and measures the degree of public approval and adoption of its system of therapeutics.

The Albany County Homoeopathic Medical Society was organized at Albany, January 24, 1861, twenty-four years ago. It was organized under the provisions of a general law authorizing the for- mation of county homoeopathic medical societies, passed in 1857.

The names of the members of the society are as follows:

1861. Dr. David Springsteed, Albany, 1861, 1862.

1861. Dr. Henry D. Paine, Albany,

1861. Dr. E. Darwin Jones, Albany, 1863.

1861. Dr. Lester M. Pratt, Albany, 1864, 1878, 1884.

1861. Dr. James W. Cox, Albany, 1867, 1882, 1883.

1861. Dr. William H. Randel, Albany, 1865.

1862. Dr. J. Savage Delavan, Albany, 1866.

1864. Dr. William S. Baker, Cohoes, 1868.

1866. Dr. Horace M. Paine, Albany, 1874.

1867. Dr.' Harman Swits, Schenectady, 1870. 1867. Dr. Joseph C. Butler, Albany. 1867. Dr. J. H. A. Graham, Berne.

1867. Dr. Heman B. Horton, Albany.

1867. Dr. Joseph N. White, Amsterdam, 1869.

1868. Dr. James F. Mckown, Albany, 1877.

1869. Dr. George A. Cox, Albany.

1869. Dr. P. L. F. Reynolds, Albany, 1873.

1869. Dr. Nelson Hunting, Albany, 1876.

1870. Dr. Edward A. Carpenter, Albany.

1870. Dr. John Smithwick, Albany. 1870. Dr. Stephen H. Carroll, Albany, 1871. 1871. Dr. Henry G. Preston, Albany, 1872.

1871. Dr. Phillip I. Cromwell, Albany.

1871. Dr. Edward C. Howe, New Baltimore.

1871. Dr. John H. Fitch, Gallupville.

1871. Dr. Frederick W. Thomas, Albany.

1871. Dr. George H. Billings, Cohoes, 1879, 1880, 1881.

1872. Dr. D. A. Cookingham, West Troy.

1873. Dr. Charles E. Jones, Albany, 1875.

1873. Dr. Townsend Bowne, Albany.

1873. Dr. William E. Milbank, Albany.

1874. Dr. Rufus Reed, Cohoes.

1874. Dr. Catharine E. Goewey, Albany.

1876. Dr. Howard L. Waldo, West Troy. 1876. Dr. R. B. Sullivan, Albany.

1876. Dr. James J. Wallace, Albany.

1876. Dr. John J. Peckham, Albany.

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1876. Dr. William H. Van Derzee, Albany. 1877. Dr. Edwin B. Graham, Albany. 1877. Dr. George H. Benjamin, Albany. 1877. Dr. John N. Bradley, Adamsville. 1877. Dr. G. P. H. Taylor, Stillwater. 1878. Dr. William H. Griffith, Albany. 1878. Dr. Gertrude A. Goewey, Albany. 1879. Dr. Mary G. Pomeroy, Albany. 1879. Dr. George E. Gorham, Albany. 1882. Dr. Edward L. Crandall, Albany. 1882. Dr. Robert Kennedy, Green Island. 1884. Dr. Walter F. Robinson, Albany.

The first seven names are those of the original members and founders of the society, those who were present at its first meeting or united with it during the first year of its existence ; the figures at the right indicate the date of election to the presi- dency ; those at the left, the date of election to membership in the society.

Of the founders of the society, all are still living, and, with one exception, all are engaged in practice. Of the remaining forty-three, all, except four or five, are living, and are at the present time (1885) par- ticipating in the duties and bearing the responsi- bilities of professional life. Of the whole number, nineteen are residents of and active practitioners in Albany County.

III. - ABSTRACT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, SHOWING TITLES OF PAPERS AND CONTRIBU- TIONS TO MEDICAL SCIENCE; ALSO THE POSITION OF THE SOCIETY REGARDING THE POLEMICS OF HOMOEOPATHY.

Abstract of Titles of Papers Presented at Meetings of the Society. - A large proportion of the reports of scientific work accomplished by resident homœo- pathists has been published in books or widely separated medical journals, hence no list showing, even approximately, the number and quality of these papers is obtainable. Neither do the records of the society furnish evidence of a tithe of the con- tributions to current medical literature. Refer- ence to the more prominent, however, of the papers and reports presented from time to time and read at its meetings show a wide range of investigation, and results extracted from rich mines of practical clinical experience. They are as follows :

Diseases of the Throat and Air Passages .- Car- bolic acid in the treatment of chronic laryngitis, April, 1867; nasal catarrh treated by inhalations, August, 1870; hay fever, September, 1871; chronic catarrh of the air passages, January, 1872; pneu- monia, October, 1874; croup and diphtheria differ- entially considered, December, 1876; malignant

diphtheria, July, 1883; chronic tonsilitis, April, 1884.

Diseases of the Pelvic Organs .- Improved form of speculum, January, 1867; carbolic acid in the treatment of ulceration of the os uteri; for the re- lief of leucorrhœal discharges, and for chronic cystitis, April, 1867; fissure of the rectum, January, 1870; intra-uterine treatment by means of medi- cated suppositories, August, 1871; spermatorrhœa, three papers, September, 1871; difficult, tedious and instrumental labors, September, 1871; puer- peral convulsions, September, 1871; enuresis noc- turna, December, 1871; methods of intra-uterine treatment, May, 1872; infiltration of urine into cellular tissue, May, 1873; degeneration of the placenta, July, 1882; congenital phimosis in an adult, July, 1882; hygiene and therapeutics of uterine and ovarian diseases, January, 1883; cases of spasmodic dysmenorrhoea, January, 1883; ap- paratus for conveniently applying the hot water douche, April, 1884.

Cerebral and Nervous Diseases .- Causes of in- sanity, September, 1871; paralysis following diph- theria, August, 1877; apoplexy, August, 1877; tinnitus aurium, July, 1882; cerebral congestion, simulating yellow atrophy of the liver, April, 1884; nervous and lung diseases, utility of erythroxylon cocoa in the treatment of, October, 1868.

Diseases of the Skin .- Carbolic acid applied ex- ternally for the cure of scabies, April, 1867; tænia capitis, April, 1869; varicella, April, 1878.

General Diseases .- Sporadic cholera, July, 1866; dropsy, cases of, July, 1867; intermittent fever, August, 1871; spinal meningitis, August, 1871; lead colic, August, 1871; osteo-sarcoma of the su- perior maxillary, September, 1871; local cellulitis, September, 1871; fungoid tumor, September, 1871; records of two post mortems, September, 1871; biliary calculi, September, 1871; typhoid fever, Decemher, 1871; tumor in the region of the sub- clavian triangle, December, 1871; abdominal tu- mor, January, 1872; cerebro-spinal meningitis, April, 1872; constitutional predisposition to cer- tain diseases, April, 1874; dysentery, April, 1874; spinal meningitis, April, 1874; record of prevailing diseases for six months, in connection with mete- orological observations for the same period, Janu- ary, 1877; iris versicola, for the relief of sick head- ache, November, 1876; iodia in the treatment of syphilis and scrofula, June, 1877; cancer of the stomach, July, 1878; traumatic peritonitis, April, 1879; the utility of lycopus in the treatment of di- abetes, April, 1879; the importance of having all plumbing work done under competent supervision,

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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY.

July, 1879; the applicability of massage in the treatment of certain diseases, April, 1879; record of a post mortem, July, 1882; the use and abuse of tonics, July, 1882; the deleterious effects of feeding swine slaughter-house offal, October, 1882; typhoid fever, October, 1882; urinary analysis and Bright's disease, January, 1883; diabetes insipidus, July, 1883; typhoid fever, April, 1884; therapeuti- cal indications for the administration of pilocar- pine, June, 1877.

The Polemics of Homeopathy .- The contest be- tween the old school and the homeopathic has been a long and bitter one. Homœopathists jus- tify themselves in maintaining adherence to the tenets of their system on the ground of its superior qualities when subjected to practical tests in the treatment of disease. The old school, on the other hand, justify their hostility to homœopathy on the ground of the alleged absurdities of its principles.

Homœopathists admit that the theoretical for- mulas promulgated by Hahnemann, regarding the smallness of the dose and the methods by which the medicines are prepared, are strangely absurd and unreasonable; at the same time they hold that these absurdities do not in any manner represent the principles on which the homoeopathic system of therapeuties is constructed. They also hold that the essential elements of homoeopathy are reason- able, sound, and an exemplification of a natural law of cure.

Hence they further hold, that the measure of liberality within the old school ought to have been sufficiently broad to have afforded all the freedom required by homœopathists in the exercise of a right which every educated physician should be permitted to enjoy, to the unrestricted employment of any and all therapeutic methods extant. In short, they hold that educational qualifications alone should regulate membership and standing in medical as in other scientific associations.

Happily time has softened the asperities of the old school. Indeed, many of the objectionable features of old-school practice, which mainly, on account of their repulsiveness, forced the homœo- pathic system into existence, have long since been discarded, and many of the essential elements of the new system have been substituted. All are now willing to admit that the harshness of the old- school method has been greatly modified since the introduction of the homoeopathic.

The history of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of Albany County embraces the second quarter centennial covered by the great medico-ethical controversy of this century. Its records show that

the members of the society have been active parti- cipants in the work of securing for themselves and their system a legal status equal in every respect to that of their old-school rivals. The following extracts, selected from many of similar import, set forth the animus and purposes which have success- fully controlled the active participants in the polemics of homeopathy.

The first extract is taken from a report of the proceedings of a meeting held December 9, 1873. It has reference to the refusal of the American Public Health Association to admit to its mem- bership Dr. T. S. Verdi, a homeopathic physician, residing at Washington, D. C.

Resolutions Protesting Against the Illiberality of the American Public Health Association .- How- ever undesirable it may be, we are very frequently reminded of the dissensions among medical men. The origin and progress of the contest between the two principal rival schools demonstrate the fact that all overt acts of intolerance have been per- petrated by our opponents. Homœopathists, in every instance, have acted on the defensive.

It would appear that our old school oppo- nents intend to continue this internecine strife until compelled, by force of public sentiment, to recog- nize homeopathic physicians as equals, and en- titled to all the amenities of professional inter- course.

The only question at issue between the repre- sentatives of the two rival schools is simply one in- volving a difference of opinion regarding the ap- plication of remedies in the treatment of disease. The old-school, according to the recent testimony of professors in the medical department of the University of Michigan, has "no general law " on which to base appropriate treatment. The homœo- pathic school, on the other hand, founds its system of practice on a well-defined and philosophical principle, which is applicable in a large per cent- age of curable cases; hence its superior suc- cess. * *

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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 56

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