Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 63

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360

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Sammel Fleet, the grandfather of S. Fleet Spoir, was a lineal descendant. in the fifth generation, from Captain Thomas Fleet, who was the American ancestor of the Fleet family, and who came to this country about 1650, and settleel at Northport, near lInntington, Long Island. The English patronymie was Fleetwood, the latter part of the name lav- ing been dropped by Captain Thomas Fleet on his arrival mu this country. His father was Si William Fleetwood an ad- miral in the English navy, and a person of prominence in his day. A brother of Captain Thomas Fleet (or Fleet wood . net Charles Fleet wood, who died at Stoke-Newington, England in 1692. occupied a large share of public attention during his lifetime. In 1615, he was a member of Parliament, and was one of a body of commissioners, appointed to treat with the king. He subsequently became an adherent of Oliver Crom- well, and took an active and leading part during the days of the Protectorate, both in military and civil affairs. He mar. ried for a second wife the widow of Ireton, who was a daugh- tor of Cromwell. Captain Thomas Fleet, previous to coming to this country, was an officer in the British navy and pos. sessed of ample means. He became one of the origmal pat entees of Huntington, Long Island, and greatly increased hi fortune after locating at that place. His descendants mostly natives of Sntfolk and Queens counties, are a numerous body, and have during the past two centuries been extensive land holders in these localities.

Sammel Fleet Speir obtained his education at the Polsich nie Institute of Brooklyn, and also under the guidance of a private tutor.

Electing to follow the profession of medicine, he began studies pertaining thereto in 1557: and, at the same time. matriculated in the Medical Department of the University of

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"SEA BREEZE"-NEW UTRECHT, KINGS COUNTY, L. I .- SUMMER RESIDENCE OF DR. S. FLEET SPEIR, MONTAGUE STREET, BROOKLYN.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

New York, from which he was graduated. in 1860, with the highest honors, being the winner of the " Mott Gold Medal" and the " Van Buren Prize." He became also the recipient of the " Wood Prize," of Bellevue Hospital. Desiring to still further perfect himself in the knowledge of his profession. he repaired to Europe. where he spent some eighteen months at- tending the various hospitals and cliniques, thus acquiring much valuable information both in medicine and surgery, The use of Plaster of Paris splints was brought to his notice dur- ing this time: and Dr. Speir, recognizing the vast importance of their application to the thousands of the wounded in our War of the Rebellion, then at its height, hastened home, and in the latter part of 1862. at the request of the United States Sanitary Commission, he visited the Army of the Potomac, und for several months, and particularly at the Battle of Seven Pines, rendered valuable service in superintending the applying of Plaster of Paris splints to the wounded, by which their transportation or removal was accomplished with much less suffering and a greater degree of safety.

In 1863, he returned to Brooklyn and entered upon the practice of his profession. The year following he again vis- ited Europe for the purpose of perfecting himself in the de- partments of ophthalmology and otology. Upon his return. his abilities in these specialties were recognized by the trus- tees of the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Infirmary, and his services wore secured as surgeon to that institution.

-1 large and increasing practice, both in medicine and sur- gery, through nearly a quarter of a century, combined with an eager desire and a ready power to keep pace with the won- derfnl progress which has been made in his profession during this period, has placed Dr. Speir in the foremost rank of practitioners in Brooklyn.

Devoted to his calling, he has, from the period of his en- trance to the profession, notwithstanding the labors inciden- tal to a large family practice. found time to contribute to its literature, various papers of note and value. In 1863. his spo- cial experience in a number of cases of jaundice caused him to arrive at conclusions at variance with the then accepted theories, pertaining to this sickness. He promulgated these views in a monograph on the " Pathology of Jaundice," and was awarded a gokl medal for the same by the American Medical Association, in 1864. In 1871, he contributed, through the Medical Gazette of New York, a valuable series of papers on the " Use of the Microscope in the Differential Diagnosis of Morbid Growths," with a new method for determining the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancers and tumors. The subject was one of much interest, and the views ad- vanced by Dr. Speir in his writings evinced much study and careful research, as also the ability of the thorough adaptation of means to ends.

In this same year (1871) he introduced to the profession " a new method of arresting surgical hemorrhage by the artery constrictor." This appliance was designed for the instanta- neous and hermetic closure of arteries, without the use of ligature, or other foreign substance, being left in the wound. The plans in vogue at that time for the arrest of arterial hem- orrhage, were ligature, acupressure and torsion. The method employed and suggested by Dr. Speir, combined the advan- tages of each of the old methods of procedure, and has proven beneficial where neither of the previous applications could be used equally as well. His essay on this subject secured to him the "Merritt II. C'ash Prize " awarded by the New York State Medical Society. The plan of procedure has also been embod- ied in the works on surgery of Professors Gross and Hamilton, and also Bryant, of Guy's Hospital. London.

Dr. Spier's learning and skill in his profession has at various times been utilized by his associates, in the procuring of his

services for the several institutions connected with the pro- fession in Brooklyn. He has served as Physician. Curator, and Microscopist to the Brooklyn City Hospital, and is at present surgeon of that institution. He has also served as Surgcon to the Tumor and Cancer Department of the Brooklyn City Dis- pensary. The Long Island College Hospital has enjoyed his services as Demonstrator of Anatomy.

He has been identified with the various societies pertaining to his profession, and is a prominent member of the American Medical Association, also of the New York State Medical So- ciety; a member of the New York Pathological Society, Kings County Medical Society, and the New York Medical Journal Association: a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine: and he was, by invitation, a member of the " Inter- national Medical Congress " which was held in Philadelphia in 1876.

Thus, while on the professional side, full attainments, intel- ligence, a ready capacity for business and patient investiga- tion have placed Dr. Speir at the head of his profession, his prudential qualities, liberal, civic and social relations in do- mestic life; the cultivation, manners and bearing of a gentle- man by intuition, render him a favorite in the society of Brooklyn. It is no affectation to say that no member of his profession maintains a more enviable position in that society.

It has been said by a popular French writer, with much truth, "that professions are narrowing; that when too closely followed, they contract instead of expand the intellect ; so that outside of professional knowledge many lawyers, physicians and clergymen dwarf their minds by too close confinement to the subtleties and technicalities of their profession." Hence, distinguished professional men of all ages, have liberalized and enlarged their minds by seeking other fields of intellec- tual culture, and by directing their attention to matters of relaxation from the strain and confinement of their calling.

Dr. Speir seems to take this view of professional life, and relieves the tedium, labor and confinement of his large prac- tice by directing his attention to other studies and other sub- jects. As one of the outcomes of this, he is the proprietor of one of the most attractive country seats on Long Island. His tasteful cottage, surrounded by a shrubbery that the English naturalist Shenstone might have envied, stands on a gentle elevation overlooking the lower bay of New York. which is said to rival in beauty the Bay of Naples. Further down in the opening ocean is seen the fine beach of Coney Island, with its magnificent structures; while opposite, far over the waters, appears the fertile country of the Jerseys.

Dr. Speir has given his attention largely to the cultivation of domestic and exotic flowers and shrubs. The exotics, nourished and sustained in winter in commodious, well-ap- pointed conservatories, are transferred to his grounds in the latter days of spring, giving them a sort of oriental beauty. As one wanders through these grounds, thus embellished, he can easily imagine himself in some tropical clime almost as delightful as the Hesperides.

Dr. Speir has also devoted his attention to the raising of the rarest species of dogs. In his kennels can be found the finest and most valuable of the canine tribe, some of them being ahnost priceless. He has also a fine stud of horses, and a choice herd of Alderney cattle; and last, but not least, he cultivates a lux- urious vegetable and fruit garden.

In this delightful retreat, Dr. Speir, like Pliny the younger. in his villa on the banks of the Mediterranean, spends much of his time during the heated summer months: although it is distant six or seven miles from his town residence, a pleasant and easy route by rail renders his office readily accessible; his professional arrangements are such that none of his numerous patients are neglected, and his practice is uninterrupted.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Near his country seat is that of his father, quite as pleasant and attractive as that of the son.

In 1869, Dr. Speir was married to Frances S., daughter of Peter Hegeman of New York, with whom his marriage re- lations have been pleasant and happy.

As a friend, Dr. Speir is sincere and undeviating: his un- pretending manners and fine conversational powers render him an attractive and instructive companion. As a citizen. he is sedulons to advance the interests of the community in which he lives.

As he has not yet passed the limits of middle life, with the pleasing surroundings we have described, he has every reason to anticipate a long and prosperous future.

ALEXANDER HUTCHINS. A.M., M. D.

ALEXANDER HUTCHINS, A. M., M. D., was born in New York city, January 24. 1835, and is descended from New England ancestry. After a preliminary course at the Peekskill Academy, he entered Williams College, in 1853, took the Greek oration in the junior year, and gradnated with the valedictory honors, August 5, 1857. In 1862, he took the ad eundem degree of Master of Arts. He studied medicine in the Harvard Medical School, and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the New York Medical College, in 1860. At the same time were awarded to him the Van Arken prize aud a special degree in the department of Toxi- cological Chemistry. On the day after his graduation, Dr. Hutchins was appointed Surgeon of the Star of the West, one of the New York, New Orleans and Havana steamers, a position which he held four months. Later. he was appointed House Surgeon in the Blackwell's Island Hospital, and, in 1861, received the appointment of Interne of Bellevue Hos- pital. New York. In July, 1861, he was commissioned a Surgeon in the United States Navy, and served in the Brook- lyn Naval Hospital, on the United States steamship Wyan- dotte, on the Harriet Lane, flagship of the Potomac tlo- tilla. and afterward on the Massachusetts, supply ship to the Atlantic squadron, till July, 1863, when ill-health ren- dered his resignation necessary.

Angust 31, 1863, Dr. Hutchins began private practice at 796 DeKalb avenne, Brooklyn, and soon afterward became a member of the Medical Society of Kings County, and, since 1868, has been continuously connected with it officially. fill- ing the office of President during three successive terms (1876- 1878). Ile was instrumental in founding the Proceedings, the otlicial organ of the society, and in establishing the society's reading-room and library. He is Visiting Physician to the Brooklyn Hospital; Consulting Physician to St. Mary's Hos- pital and the East Brooklyn and Bushwick Dispensary. He became a prominent member of the Medical Society of the State of New York, in 1874. served some years on the committee on by-laws, was awarded the Merritt H. Cash prize for 1875, on " School Hygiene, with reference to the physiological rela- tions of age and sex to mental and physical education," and was elected President of that society in 1883. le is also a member of the American Academy of Medicine. Dr. Hutchins' principal contributions to medical literature have been papers on " Nitrate of Amyl." " Jaborandi." " Apocy- nın Cannabinum " "Forced Alimentation." " The Parturient Dose of Ergot." and " Calcium Salicylate in the Serons Diarr- horas of Infants.“

The doctor has been connected with St. Matthew's Protes- tant Episcopal Church since 1863, is Superintendent of its Sunday-School, and a member of its vestry, and for many years has been one of the managers of the Brooklyn Sunda (- School Union. He is one of the trustees and the Secretary of the Fast Brooklyn Savings Bank. He was married, in 1863,

to Mary F. Pelton, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and has three daughters and three sons.

DR. HOMER I. BARTLETT.

DR. HOMER L. BARTLETT was born in Jericho. Chittenden county, Vermont. His father's name was Elias, lle was a wealthy and highly intelligent New England farmer, and a descendant of Dr. Josiah Bartlett, of Revolutionary memory. Ilis mother's name was Eliza Wheelock, a descendant of the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, an early missionary to the Indians.

The subject of this sketch received his early education at an academy in his native village, and later at the Academy of Bakersfield, N. Y., then under the care of J. S. Spalding a most successful and painstaking educator. At school he was noted for his proficiency in mathematics and the natura! sciences, and especially for his facility in writing and speak- ing. In the weekly debates of the " Debating Society " con- nected with the institution, he was considered one of the fore- most champions. He had, in common with most New Eng. land youths, been accustomed from his childhood to the practice. His father, being the possessor of large la ided property, was anxious that his sons should be farmer like himself, but only the oldest yielded to his wish, Homer and his younger brother. Edwin, both determining to keep up the family name of a " race of doctors." Accordingly, after hav- ing acquired sufficient knowledge of the classics to master the technicalities of the profession, he commenced the study of medicine in the office of his early friend and family physi eian. Dr. J. Hamilton, in his native village. Shortly after this, Dr. Hamilton removing to Albany, N. Y., his student accompanied him, remaining one year; in the mentoon attending a course of lectures in the Albany Medical College He had previously attended a course of medical future in the College of Woodstock, Vermont. At the conclusen of his year in Albany, by the advice of his former preceptor. he went to New York and entered the office of Professor Willard Parker, then in the zenith of his splendid career. Here le found ample opportunity for acquiring both the theoretical and practical branches of his profession, and enthusiastically he embraced them. In the winter of 1854-55, he attended his third course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. N. Y., and graduated from this admirable institution in 155. in company with Drs. Henry D. Noyes, George F. SErady Edward W. Lambert, and other men now prominent in the profession, After his graduation, he received the appoint- ment of Assistant Physician to the Kings County Hospitad. m Flatbush, L. L., then under the care of Dr. Thomas Turner. one of the best read and most efficient superintendents that institution has ever possessed. During his teri of service. m addition to his usual duties in the Hospital, he, in connection with Dr. D. B. Simmonds-afterwards medical missionary to Japan-arranged a complete anatomical cabinet, besides pre- serving numerous pathological specimens. Just before the close of his service, he contracted erysipelas of the face and head, which nearly proved fatal, and obliged him to go Fome for the summer to recruit his strength. In the autumn of 1856, he returned to New York, and, by the advice of Prof Parker, opened an office in Eighty-sixth street. Here ben mained one week, when he was sent for to take the place of Drs. Dubois and Crane, who had just died in New Utrecht of yellow fever. This call coming to him like the vous of (und he did not feel at liberty to decline it. Consequently, with out delay or hesitation, he closed his office in Yorkvil and removed to New Utrecht, although the fever was still preva lent. There he remained until the following spring, when he removed to Flatbush, where he still resides, Ou los returnet Flatbush, in the spring of 1857, he was made Consulting Pl

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RESIDENCE OF H. L. BARTLETT, M. D., AT FLATBUSH, L. I.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

an to the Kings County Hospital, by the advice of Dr. Tur- r. which position he still holds. He is also Physician to the ings County Penitentiary. He originated the Health Board ' the town of Flatbush, of which he was Health Officer for velve years. He was also largely instrumental in securing Police Board, of which he was the first president. He is a ember of the Kings County Medical Society; a permanent ember of the American Medical Association, of which he as a delegate to the Medical Congress held in London, ugust, 1881: and member of the Physicians' Mutual Aid As- ciation. Like many professional men, Dr. Bartlett has car- xl his researches beyond the strict domain of his profession- pursuits. At one time he devoted much time and study to vemasoury. He was Master of his own Lodge for three ars, in the meantime contributing papers and giving lee- res on various subjects connected with Masonry.

In literary pursuits, Dr. Bartlett is no tyro. For many ars he has been a frequent contributor to the daily papers. well as to medical journals, and is the author of a series of sketches of Long Island," some of them strictly historical, tile others are romances from old legends, In 1859, Dr. rtlett was married to Margaret Strong Scott, daughter of ury Scott, Esq., of Cooperstown, N. Y., who died in 1876, wing four children.

Dr. Bartlett's residence in Flatbush, of which we give au graving. is named " Fenimore," after J. Fenimore Cooper, novelist, a neighbor and a life-long friend of the Scott nily.

DR. CORNELIUS OLCOTT.

JR. CORNELIUS OLCOTT, M. D., a prominent citizen and ysician of Brooklyn, N. Y., was born in Jersey City, New .rsey, on the 21st day of January, 1828. He comes of : old and honorable English family, members of which ancient times held high rank under the Crown, and is a eal descendant of Thomas Olcott, one of the first settlers · Hartford, Conn. It is well known to every one en- ¡ ged in genealogical research, that much confusion j'vailed in early Colonial times as to the orthography of pper names. This confusion, or rather irregularity. 's not peculiar to any class, but seems to have In more or less general, for even those two distinguished " w Englanders, Endicott and Winthrop, appear to have i tulged in more than one style. The present spelling of the i ne ot Olcott, is that which was adopted by the founder of t American family now bearing it; as is sufficiently proved l his autograph, appended to a legal document executed in Irtford, Conn., April 22d, 1650 (and preserved in the ( onial records) and by the initial T. O. on his seal, a wax i pression of which, affixed to the will of Timothy Hyde-a y ndson of the first Thomas Olcott-was discovered in 1845. - ording to the learned Col. Henry S. Olcott, the American 1 ne Olcott is a more modern form of the English name . ock, variously spelled by the New England settlers. In t United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland there are s Pral families of this name, all of whom bear, as a crest, a ck, in some cases represented as crowing, in others as s nt (with the motto Vigilate-be watching); probably in alsion to the name, which some say is of Saxon origin and dived from culd (German ald, alt) meaning old. and coc. mining a male bird. In a work entitled "Derivations of kaily Names," by the late Rev. Dr. Wm. Arthur (father of tl President of the United States) the name is said to come fn Hal or Al, a nickname for Henry; and Cock, a termin- n'a meaning little, or diminutive, the same as ot or kin; li e Hal or Al. The first member of the family of whom a dl nite account has come down to his descendants, was the

distinguished Dr. Alcock, Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VII .- a man who shed lustre on not only the name of his family, but on the entire country. Accord- ing to Rose's Biographical Dictionary, published in London in 1848, Lord Chancellor John Alcock was born at Bevelny, Yorkshire. He completed his education at Cambridge, and at this University took the degree of Doctor of Laws. In rapid succession he was Dean of Westminster, Bishop of Rochester, Worcester, and, in 1486, he succeeded Morton in the See of Ely. His secular advancement was eqnally rapid; in 1462 lie was made Master of the Rolls; in 1470, a Privy Councillor and Ambassador to the Conrt of Castile, a Com- missioner to treat with the Scotch Commissioners, Lord President of Wales; and in 1472 he was made Lord Chancellor by Henry VII. His skill in architecture was so eminent that the King appointed him Comptroller of the Royal works and buildings. His Episcopal palaces, especially that of Ely, were improved by his taste. He fonnded, in 1486, a school at Kingston-upon-HIull. In 1496, he founded Jesus Col- lege at Cambridge, and appropriated to its use a house for- merly occupied as a nnnnery (that of St. Rhodegund). He was as distinguished for his virtues as for his learning and abilities. IIe died at Wisbeach, October 1st, 1500, and was buried in a beautiful chapel in Ely Cathedral, built by him- self. He wrote various works in Latin, of a religious charac- ter, and a little treatise entitled, in allusion to his own name, " Galli Cantis ad Confrates Suos."

In 1707, another of the family, named Nathan Alcock, is mentioned as an eminent scholar. He was educated primar- ily in Lancashire: afterward studied at Edinburgh. and sub- sequently at Leyden. in Holland, under Boerhaave, Gaubins, Albinus Gravesand. He took the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine in 1737: and, in 1741, he was instituted Master of Arts of Jesus College, Cambridge. Thomas Olcott, the founder of the American family under consideration, an ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was a native of England, and was born in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is sup- posed by some authorities that he came to America with Rev. Thomas Hooker, in the ship Griffin, which left Holland in July, 1633, and, after a passage of eight weeks, reached New England September 4th following. Some two hundred pas- sengers came by this vessel. Governor Winthrop records the event in the following terms :

" Mr. Hooker arrived from England with John Cotton and Mr. Stone, also Ministers, September 4th, 1633, and many other men of good estates. They got out of England with great difficulty, all places being belaid to have taken Mr. Cot- ton and Mr. Hooker, who had long been sought for, to have been brought into the High Commission."

These emigrants settled at Newtown, now Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Hooker, being of an independent turn of mind, probably seeking to escape rivalry witlı Cotton, formed a com- pany of men, women and children from Newtown and other settlements on the seaboard of Massachusetts, and, in June, 1635, moved westward to plant a new colony on the banks of the Connecticut River. According to the belief of Nathaniel Goodwin, set forth in the preface to the first edition of his valuable genealogical work, entitled "The Descendants of Thomas Olcott, one of the first settlers of Hartford, Conn, " Thomas Olcott, from whom sprang the Connecticut branch of the Olcotts, was a member of this very company, and one of the original settlers at Hartford, then called by the In- dians Suckiaug, but named Newtown by the new-comers from the place of their residence in Massachusetts, and, in February, 1637, changed to Hartford. Col. Olcott, who edited a revised edition of Goodwin's work, says, in his pref- atory remarks, that there were two men in the Massachusetts

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Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 63

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : Munsell Number of Pages: 1360

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : Munsell
Number of Pages: 1360