Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 72

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

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In private life, he was the light of the household ; his very presence there was an atmosphere of cheerfulness. Much of his time was devoted to the instruction and rational amuse- ment of his children, to whom his clear good sense and amiable temper eminently fitted him as a counsellor and friend. Even-tempered, calm in his utterances, averse to personal gossip, never speaking ill of any one, he always bore misapprehension on the part of others with patience and courtesy.

On the 10th of February, 1862, Mr. Nichols died, leaving to the city a rich heritage of good works, and to the young, for whom he labored, an example worthy of imitation.

St. Peter's Hospital, oceupying a large portion of the block bounded by Henry, Warren, Hieks and Congress streets, was projected by Rev. J. Fransioli, of St. Peter's church. In the execution of his design, he enlisted the serviees of a number of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, who devote themselves ex- elusively to the gratuitous care of the poor and sick .* In 1864, they opened the hospital in the double dwell-

* The order of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis was founded and organized by the late Rev. Mother Francisca Schervler, at Aix- la-Chapelle, in Rhine, Prussia, about the year 1845, and as the title in- dicates, for the sole object of caring for and relieving the poor, either at their homes or when sick in hospitals; according to the rule of the ancient order of St. Francis, the great lover of voluntary poverty, and faithful imitator of the Saviour who, when on earth, chose to be poor for our sakes.

They were first called to the United States in 1858, by the Most Rev. John Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati, from which place they spread; having now eleven hospitals under their charge in different States east and west-one of these, St. Peter's Hospital, Brooklyn.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

ing-house at the corner of Hicks and Congress streets, and in the first year, besides receiving a number of patients they gave a temporary home to more than two hundred children of soldiers who were away in the war.

In 1865, the building was entirely devoted to hos- pital purposes, and 91 patients received; in 1866, the hospital was incorporated; in 1869 and 1870, the ad- joining houses in Congress street were purchased and opened for the admission of patients, but the aecom- modations are not sufficient for the demand. The Sisters visit the homes of the siek poor, and, to the extent of the capacity of the hospital, receive the sick, or those suffering from injuries and accidents, regard- less of ereed or color; the only conditions of admnis- sion being sickness, poverty, and a vacant bed in the wards.

The recent purchase of property in Henry street accommodates thirty beds for the reception of chronic eases. The hospital now contains 150 beds, and has treated 15,000 charity patients up to July, 1883. The field of this hospital is the whole eity and surrounding country, and it is mainly dependent upon charitable contributions for support, which the Sisters solicit from door to door.

St. Catharine's Hospital .- This institution was originally intended only for the members of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity on Montrose avenne. Lots were bonght in 1867 on Bushwick avenue and Johnson street plank road, adjoining the present depot of L. I. R. R. This location proving unfit for the purpose, twenty-three city lots on the old "Thursby estate " on Bushwick avenne were seenred, and the hospital organized June 17, 1870.

The old Thursby homestead was arranged to receive patients, and thirty beds at first nsed, in charge of the Sisters of St. Dominic. The need of larger aceom- modations was soon felt, and a new building com- meneed in 1874; finished in 1876. It is of brick, with stone trimming, is 172 feet long, and about 40 feet wide. It contains all the modern improvements, with accommodation for 130 charity patients and eight private wards. A further enlargement is contemplated. Twelve hundred patients have been treated since the opening of the hospital. Its originators were the Very Rev. M. May, V. G., and the Ven. Superior Sister Saraphina Stainer, O. S. D. The institution is mainly supported by voluntary contribution.

Consulting Physicians : Heinrich Loweustein, M. D .; Heinrich Riedel, M. D. Directing Physicians: Jakob Fuhs, M. D .; Karl Zellhöffer, M. D .; William Moitrier, M. D .; J. G. Winklemann, M. D. Directing Surgeons: Samuel J. Brady, M. D .; Heinrich J. Hesse, M. D .; Jas. Feeley, M. D .; Jno. F. Valentine, M. D. Dontist : Dr. August Grosch. Physicians : G. Schicker, M. D .; Chas. G. Köhler, M. D .; Hein- rich J. Hesse, M. D .; Jas. L. Kortright, M. D .; Aug.

F.F.ROCEATS.SC.N. Y.

ST. CATHARINE'S HOSPITAL.

T. Hardrich, M. D .; C. Fnlda, M. D .; R. C. Baker, M. D .; Geo. R. Cutter, M. D. E. H. Wilson, House Surgeon.

The Long Island College Hospital occupies the block bounded by Pacific, Henry and Amity streets, in the southern part of the city, with its main front on Henry street. It combines a Hospital, a Dis- pensary, a Medical School, and a Training School for Nurses.

The absence of an institution devoted to the treat- ment of diseases in a part of the eity which was making rapid strides of progress, induced, in the fall of 1857, a number of public-spirited citizens to meet, in order to disenss the proper steps to overcome the want of such an institution, which was felt every day more and more. An organization, under the name of the "St. John's Hospital," was decided on, and at once called into existence. On the 5th of November, 1857, this new organization took charge of what had been the German Dispensary, which then ocenpied rooms in No. 147 Court street, in this city. On the 23d December, 1857, a Hospital was opened, the name of which was changed shortly afterwards to that of the Long Island College Hospital. Under this name, a charter was ob- tained from the Legislature of 1858. As the rooms formerly occupied by the Dispensary were entirely in- adequate to the purposes of the new organization, steps were soon taken to obtain more suitable quarters, and negotiations entered into for the purchase of the " Perry Mansion," a handsome private residence, occu- pying the above block, and consisting, in addition to large grounds, of a brick building, two stories and basement high, with two wooden wings, used as cou-

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servatories, and a number of minor out-buildings. The negotiations led to a successful issue, and to the pur- chase of the property, in February, 1858. As soon as the necessary changes to adapt the buildings to their new purposes were made, the Long Island College Hos- pital moved into its new quarters, where it has continued its work ever since. The Medical College, however, was not fully organized until 1860, when the first full course of lectures was given, at the close of which 21 students graduated.

The Long Island College Hospital occupies to-day a very prominent position among similar institutions of this country ; it rests on a firm and substantial basis; and, so far as human foresight goes, there is every prospect of success for long years to come. The institution, how- ever, has not reached its present prominent position without great struggles; and its doors would be closed

The Long Island College Hospital could, therefore scarcely fail to attract public attention, and to receive from its friends the necessary assistance to carry on the good work. But when the war had been brought to a happy close, when public and private hospitals overflowed no longer with wounded soldiers, and when the great number of surgeons discharged from the army had to find their practice in civil life, and the prospects of young men devoting themselves to the medical profession became, in consequence, less bril- liant, the Long Island, with other institutions, felt sorely the great reaction through which the country passed. Its managers were soon involved in a severe struggle to obtain the necessary means for its support. It was then, when the crisis of its existence arrived, and the lay managers were ready to give up the fight as hopeless, that a few members of the Council, equally

LONG ISLAND COLLEGE HOSPITAL.

to-day, if it had not been for a few courageous, self- sacrificing men, who, when everybody else was ready to withdraw from the field, took up the struggle almost single-handed, and showed what faith in a good work can do, when assisted by great intelligence and a thor- ough knowledge of the aims to be attained. During the years of the Civil War, the great demand for surgeons and nurses on the part of the government increased enormously the call on all medical schools. The Lon gIsland College Hospital profited, with others, by this condition of affairs; it was also one of the first private hospitals on which the government called for assistance when its own hospitals were overflowing with sick and wounded soldiers. It commenced to receive them immediately after the seven days' fight, on the Peninsula, before Richmond; and, from that time till the close of the war, there was always a considerable number of government beneficiaries within its walls.

impelled by enthusiasm for their profession, and by love for their suffering fellow-beings, stepped forward and offered to continue the work at their own individual expense and risk. These men were Drs. THEODORE L. MASON, WM. H. DUDLEY, and CHAUNCEY L. MITCHELL. Dr. Mason's connection with the insti- tution was terminated only by his death, a few years ago, while Drs. Dudley and Mitchell are still members of the Council. Their offer was accepted ; they took charge of the entire management of both hospital and school; and, by the successful manner in which they carried through the task, provcd themselves the bene- factors of the human race. By inspiring others with at least a part of that enthusiasm by which they were animated, they succeeded in raising among themselves and their friends a sufficient amount of capital to pay off the entire debt ; they obtained from the city of Brooklyn assistance in the shape of an annual appro-

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

priation for the Hospital and Dispensary, and matters began soon to mend.

In 1868, it was found necessary to increase the means which the institution possessed to do its work. In that year, a new three-story wing, 32x65 feet, was erected on the grounds fronting on Pacific street, in- tended principally for female patients. The faith shown by its erection did not prove a false one ; pros- perity followed the hard struggles of previous years. In 1870, the wooden buildings fronting on Amity street were supplanted by the erection, in their place, of a

three-story building, 128 feet long, by 32 feet wide. The western part of this building contains three large, splendidly lighted and ventilated wards for the hos- pital, each 30x50 feet, with the necessary bath-rooms attached ; in the eastern part, there is an amphitheatre for the use of the school, with a seating capacity of 300; a dissecting room, a number of professors' rooms, etc. The demand which the ever-increasing popularity of the hospital, and the daily wider-spreading reputa- tion of the college created, obliged the addition, in 1874, of another story to the greater part of the Amity street wing, in order to make room for a new disseet- ing hall.

In 1875, the frame gate-building on Pacific street was replaced by a brick building, 32x40 feet, contain- ing a janitor's residence, a smoking room for the pa- tients, and a number of isolating wards. But the greatest improvement was reserved for the summer of 1881, when the two one-story wooden wings, which formed the connecting link between the eentre build- ing and the brick buildings, on Pacific and Amity streets, were removed; and, in their place, were erected two three-story briek buildings, with an additional story on the eentre building, and two four-story towers on the Henry street front. These towers contribute, in a large degree, to the convenience of the interior arrangements, and perhaps, to a still greater extent, to the appearance and the beauty of the whole line of buildings.

These different improvements cost more than $100,- 000; and the Long Island College Hospital is to-day, in proportion to its size, one of the best arranged hos- pitals and colleges in the land. The improvements supply an additional lecture-room, well lighted and ventilated, seating 300 students ; a chemical labora- tory, fitted up with the latest improvements, and another devoted to histological researches ; a number of recitation and operating rooms, and a suite of chambers intended for the private use of the mem- bers of the faculty. In the Hospital proper we find a new surgical ward, 42x30 feet, to be used principally for the treatment of the large number of accident cases brought daily to the hospital from the neighboring docks and factories ; a medical ward, 40x40 feet, accessible on all four sides to the direct action of the air; also a minber of small private rooms for the use

of patients who desire greater isolation and privacy than the general wards afford. The Long Island Hospital has thus supplied a place where a stranger, falling siek in this city, need have no fear that he will be on that account deprived of all the comforts which he would enjoy at home. We also find in the hospital new offices and reception rooms for the use of the Regent and the Warden; a reception room for patients, who apply merely to have wounds dressed, but are not so much injured as to make their stay in the hospital a necessity; a laundry and kitchen, with ample store-rooms and dining-rooms. On the ground floor of the wing north of the center building, on Pacific street, is the Dispensary, containing two large waiting rooms for patients; separate toilet rooms for men and women; a room for the dispensing of drugs, and twelve private consulting rooms, each one fronting on the outside of the building and enjoying a most ample supply of light and air. Gentlemen of promi- nenee in their profession attend daily in these roonis, and treat not only the ordinary medical and surgical complaints, but also all the special branches of medieal seienee.

The Hospital proper now contains 175 beds; diseases of all kinds are received, with the only exception of those of a contagious or infections character, and of diseases of the mind, when the same are not the direet result of a diseased condition of the body. If the Hospital excels on account of any one branch, it is for the great number of surgical cases, especially cases of a capital character, which it treats. That portion of Brooklyn in which it is situated contains, perhaps, a greater mnuber of warehouses, factories and docks, than any other part of Brooklyn or New York; the factories are filled with the most complicated machinery; at the docks vessels are always discharging or loading; and, as a necessary consequence of these industries, numerous and serions accidents to life and limb happen daily; it can not, therefore, excite wonder that the surgeons of the institution find in its immediate neighborhood an enormous field for their activity and skill. The number of cases treated in the hospital in 1883 was 2,557.

In the Dispensary, nearly 15,000 persons are treated in the course of the year, who pay between 25,000 and 30,000 single visits. There is no charge for medical attendance in any part of the Dispensary; the only con- dition of admittance to its benefit is, that the persons applying are in want of medical advice and can in no other way obtain it.

The Medical College connected with the Hospital was the first in this country to introduce clinical teaching at the bedside of the patient; this method of teaching has continued ever since one of its most distinguishing features; and the close connection between hospital and college has enabled the managers to mature and elabo- rate the original plan to an extent which is deemed un- equalled by any other school in this country. With

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this method of teaching, in later years, the graded system of instruction has been united; a great step in advance, as it enables the junior student to confine himself to the primary branches, whilst the senior classes can devote their time to the higher studies.

There are two terms each year; the "Preliminary Term," principally intended for less advanced students, commences at the end of September and closes with the beginning of the "Regular Term," which now opens on the 2d of January each year and continues for five months; the number of students at the regular term of the winter of 1882-83, was 154; the number of graduates, 54. Since the beginning of the school the number of graduates is 893, and they are now found not only in all parts of the United States, but also in the adjacent and even distant foreign countries. -

On account of the great number of accidents happen- ing in the neigliborhood, the Board of Health stationed an Ambulance Surgeon in the Long Island College Hospital, when the ambulance system was first intro- duced in Brooklyn. A number of physicians and surgeons are also permanently stationed at the hospital, who, in addition to their other duties, are ready at any time of the day or night to take charge of severe cases which are taken there, and prescribe for them, until the regular visiting staff can be summoned.

In order to derive the fullest benefit from the great improvements made two years ago, the managers intro- duccd, on their completion, the system of trained nurses, and opened a school where this class of nurses can receive a thorough education by practical instruc- tion at the bedside, and, also, by lectures delivered by the professors attached to the college. There is but one other training school in this country-in the city of Cincinnati-where a similar close connection between hospital and college places at the disposal of the man- agers so complete a corps of instructors and lec- turers, of thorough training and long experience in the profession of teaching. At the head of the Train- ing School of the Long Island College Hospital a graduate of one of the leading New York schools, of long experience in her profession, has been placed. The school furnishes at present a sufficient number of competent nurses for the requirements of the hospital; and also sends them out for employment in such private families as may have occasion to avail them- selves of their services.

The Long Island College Hospital received, formerly, a small annual appropriation from the state ; but this was cut off, when the new Constitution forbade the appropriation, by the Legislature, of moncys to pri- vate corporations. The Hospital receives, from the city of Brooklyn, $4,000 ; the Dispensary, $1,500 per annum; all other expenses beyond these two amounts, so far as they are not covered by the moderate income derived from pay patients, are borne by the managers and their friends.

The management of the institution is in the hands of a Board of Regents, consisting of 25 members, divided in five classes, each class serving for five ycars. In all professional matters, the "Council," consisting of not less than four, and not more than ten members, who hold their appointment during good behavior, act as an advisory board to the Regents. There is also a Faculty of the Hospital and a Faculty of the College, who form, with the Council in their respective departments, a "Joint Board," and submit to the Regents such plans for the improvement of the institution, as they may jointly mature, but no changes or additions can be made unless approved and ordered by the Regents. The Regents have also the power to grant and confer the degree of Doctor of Medicine, upon the recommendation of the Council and Faculty of the College.

The first BOARD OF OFFICERS consisted of Samuel Sloan, Pres .; Samuel W. Slocum, Vice-Pres .; Cornelius Dever, Treas .; C. N. Bovee, Sec. Samuel Sloan con- tinued President until March 28, 1864, when he re- signed ; and Theodore Polhemus, Jr., was elected in his stead. On the death of Mr. Polhemus, he was suc- ceeded, in May, 1865, by Joseph Ripley, who continued in the presidency until May, 1866, when he resigned, on his removal from Brooklyn; and was succeeded by John J. Van Nostrand. The latter acted till April, 1875, when he resigned; he was followed by Thomas H. Rodman, who still occupies the position.

The present OFFICERS are: Thos. H. Rodman, Pres .; Reuben W. Ropes, Vice-Pres. ; Francis E. Dodge, Treas .; Wm. J. Osborne, Sec .; Wm. H. Dudley, M. D. President of the Collegiate Department ; Professor Samuel G. Armor, M. D., LL. D., Dean of the Faculty ; Professor Jarvis S. Wight, M. D., Registrar.

Council: William H. Dudley, M. D., Pres .; Chaun- cey L. Mitchell, M. D .; George G. Hopkins, M. D .; John L. Zabriskie, M. D., Joel W. Hyde, M. D., Sec.

The Long Island College Hospital, and the Long Island College Hospital Dispensary, form but one cor- porate body, and have, therefore, but one sct of officers.

Dr. THEODORE LEWIS MASON, was born in Cooperstown, in this State, in 1803. After a thorough classical education, under the tuition of his grandfather, he began his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, studying under the preceptorship of Dr. David Hosack, and took his degree in 1825. For seven years he practiced at Wilton, Conn., then he removed to New York city, where he remained for two years, and in 1834 moved to Brooklyn, where he began the labor that will endear his name as long as charitable work shall be recorded. He entered into partner- ship with Dr. George Marvin, which lasted for thirteen years. When Dr. Mason first came to Brooklyn, no provision existed for the sick poor ; he prepared a memorial to the Common Council, urging some action on their part in the matter, in conformity with a clause in the city charter on the subject ; unsuccessful at that time, he again pressed the matter, when the Hon. Cyrus P. Smith became Mayor in 1839, and suc- ceeded in persuading the Common Council to donate a small

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

sum for the support of a city hospital. This institution was called, from its location, the Adams Street Hospital. Dr. Mason was made Senior Surgeon and President of a Board of Managers, who, by their enthusiasm in the matter, demon- strated the utility of the hospital. But a change in the city's administration put a stop to the work, and the institution was closed. The good accomplished by this attempt was not lost however, and Dr. Mason was consulted by charitable citizens, with a view to the organization of a new hospital ; the liber- ality of a private citizen rendered the plan feasible and the labor was begun. Dr. Mason was influential in the framing of the charter and selection of the Board of Directors and medical staff of the new institution. As Senior Surgeon he labored in this hospital work till failing health compelled his resignation. As time passed, and the growth of Brooklyn became an assured fact, several of the leading physicians of the city, among whom was Dr. Mason, conceived and carried out the idea of establishing a hospital and medical school, and in 1858 the Long Island College Hospital was organized. Dr. Mason was elected president of the collegiate department, and by successive re-election hell that office until within a year of his death ; in all, a period of one and twenty years. Early identitied with the movement to effect a change in the then defective sanitary regulations of New York city and Brooklyn, Dr. Mason was a member of a committee of the " Citizens' Association of New York," that visited the Legis- lature of 1864 to advise and aid in the effort to secure the Metropolitan Board of Health. But perhaps the greatest labor of his life was the vindication of his belief that inebri- ety is a disease. His attention was called to the subject early in his professional career, and he spoke and wrote ahnost constantly on the subject. Among his many monographs on the topic, one address-Inebriety a Disease-was published and cirenlated, not alone here, but in other States and countries, and in Great Britain was largely quoted in favor of the es- tablishing of inebriate asylums there. By his efforts the Ine- briate Home for Kings County was chartered in 1866, and umtil his death he was President and Consulting Physician of that institution. He was one of the founders of the American Association for the Cure of Inebriates, was elected President of that body in 1875, and held the office for several years. Dr. Mason was a member of the Kings County Medical Soci- ety from 1834 till his death, and was its president in 1842-'43; a permanent member of the State Medical Society ; of the American Medical Association : of the International Medical Association, held in Philadelphia in 1876, and a Resident Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He was one of the founders, a life member and director, of the L. I. His- torical Society, and in 1874 was elected Vice-President of the American Colonization Society. His long and useful life ended February 12, 1882, by an attack of pneumonia.

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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 72

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