Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 73

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

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y. > Part 73

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

remaining here, where he had made himself acquainted wit the much greater opportunities presented for the practice o his profession. In 1842 Dr. Dudley received a diploma fron the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York ; i 1843 he settled in Brooklyn, and made that city his permanen home.

In 1851 he was elected one of the Curators of the New York Medical College, and served in that capacity for several years he was also elected a permanent member of the Medica Society of the State of New York, and took an active part il the establishment of the Long Island College Hospital; and later in that of the St. John's Hospital, of which organization he has been from the beginning the professional adviser of the Executive Committee.

In 1859 his wife died; he married again (in 1861), Charlotte G. Duckwitz, of Brooklyn, by whom he has three chiklren. one daughter and two sons, the elder of whom has chosen the profession of his father, while the second is studying for the law.

Ever since coming to this country, Dr. Dudley lias steadfastly declined to be a candidate for any office for which medical men are generally chosen, or even to accept a nomination for a position strictly within the medical profession, when his doing so might interfere, in the least, with his private prac- tice. Hisaxiom was always, that he belonged to his patients. and that anything which tended to divert his attention from them to other matters or other pursuits, was an injustice to those who placed their health and their well-being in his care. When we consider this leading principle of his life, we are not astonished at the great and rare success which he has achieved as a practitioner; nor do we wonder at the love and veneration which is felt for him by those whose fami- lies he has visited in the dark hours of sickness, giving them not only the benefit of the great resources of his profession. but becoming to them a friend, such as is never more needed than in the hours of sickness and adversity. If Dr. Dudley has deviated, in one thing, from his great principle of liv- ing only for his patients, it is in his connection with the Long Island College Hospital. He took a leading part in its organi- zation at a time when his ordinary pursuits were perhaps not sufficient to divert his mind from a great loss he had sus- tained. He was one of the original members of the Council, and was also elected to the Board of Regents, when a change in the charter made medical men eligible thereto. In 1951, on the resignation of Dr. Theodore L. Mason, he was elected President of the Collegiate Department and he fills that posi- tion to this day. From the day when the institution was called into existence to the present moment, Dr. Dudley has not only largely contributed to its financial support, but he has also watched over it and its inmates with a fatherly, never- failing and never-tiring care. And, if the Long Island College Hospital is to-day in a flourishing condition, and a great future before it, it is principally owing to him. He never despaired in the darkest hour, and never lost his faith in the final suc- cess of a work which has almost become a part of himself.

W'M. HENRY DUDLEY, M. D., of Brooklyn, was born in Ire- land in October, 1811, of English parents; his father was Sheldon Dudley; his mother, Elizabeth Evans Dudley. His early education having been completed in his native country, he chose the medical profession for the pursuit of his hfe, and CHAUNCEY L. MITCHELL, A. M., M. D .- In the long list of Brooklyn's eminent physicians, no name stands higher than that of Chauncey 1 .. Mitchell. For nearly forty years, from a time when the city scarcely had outgrown its village stage, until it stands third in the Union in population, with corres- ponding accessions in wealth, intelligence and whatever goes to make up a great community, he has pursued here his chosen profession, with untiring industry, unflagging zeal, and rare success. entered the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin in 1831. Graduating from there in 1833, his desire to see the world in- duced him to accept a government appointment in the West Indies, and he left in the same year for Jamaica, where he was appointed Health Officer and Surgeon to the Marine Hospital at Port Maria. Whilst hokling that office he was elected a fellow of the Kings College of Physicians and Sur- geons of Jamaica. During his stay in the island he married Emily W Fitzgibbon ; in 1841 he came with his wife on a Dr. Mitchell was born in New Canaan, in the State of Con- visit to this country, and decided soon after on permanently | nectieut, on the 20th of November, 1813. He is of Puritan

Mr. Dudley

C = I mitchell.

933

HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES, ETC.

descent; his ancestors from Halifax, England, landed in Bos- ton, August 17th, 1635, and have been residents of this country nearly two centuries and a half. His father, Minott Mitchell, was an able and accomplished lawyer, and for many years a leader of the Bar of Westchester county, New York. His mother, Eliza Leeds Silliman, was a member of the Con- necticut family whose name appears so often and so honor- ably in the literary and scientific history of the country. It may have been due to hereditary tendencies in the direction of intellectual activity, acquired from both the paternal and the maternal side, that the subject of this sketch could read fluently at the age of three years, and that at the age of seven he was studying Latin. He was sent to the New Canaan (Connecticut) Academy, where he prosecuted the studies pre- paratory for entering college, until their near completion, at the age of twelve years. Two more years were passed at other like institutions, and the next four in studying law under his father's supervision. Having arrived at a suitable age, his academic studies were revised under a private tutor, such others as were necessary were completed, and he en- tered the junior class in Union College in 1831. His standing in all departments during his collegiate life was among the first, and at the end of the course he was appointed class orator. He was honorably graduated in 1833.

Of the learned professions, for one of which his father had designed him, he selected that of medicine; and the wisdom of the choice is fully proved by a conspicuous success, whichi could have been achieved only with the aids of a singular mental adaptiveness to the work, no less than the special training which he brought to it.

In order to secure this training, for which a liberal educa- tion had furnished a broad foundation, he began the study of medicine and surgery, and was matriculated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the city of New York. The thoroughness and zeal which have characterized his whole career, especially marked this period of it. He studied under Professor Joseph M. Smith, whose intelligent and stimulating instruction perhaps never met with heartier, more sympa- thetic, or more fruitful co-operation. An economist of time and a niggard of recreation, the student found his chief pleasure in books and demonstrations; and early morning and late night found him at his work. In this early experience, and these severe labors, such as few care to encounter, and fewer still are able to bear, the future practitioner, with patient painstaking, marked out the lines of his remarkable professional success.

When Dr. Mitchell was a student, the opportunities for sci- entific education in this country were far more limited than they now are. Therefore, after he had received his degree from the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1836, he resolved, in conformity with his purpose of equip- ping himself as completely as possible for his life work, to continue his studies abroad. Accordingly, in 1837, after a full term of service as walker and resident physician in the New York Hospital. he sailed for Europe. The next two years were spent in England and on the Continent, most of the time in Paris, where he improved, to the full, the teaching of the great professors gathered there, and of the then un- equalled school of the French hospitals.

Upon his return to the United States in 1839, he began practice in the city of New York. He also formed a connec- tion with the Northern Dispensary, then located in Fourth street, where he was associated with Dr. Cammann in the department of Diseases of the Heart and Lungs. Not long after he was invited to the Professorship of Obstetrics in the Castleton (Vermont) Medical College. The duties of this position were in the direct line of the specialty which had

engaged his attention in Europe. The chair which he filled successfully until 1845, enabled him not only to share his acquired knowledge with others, but to push his special sci- entific investigations still further.

In 1844, Dr. Mitchell transferred his practice from New York to Brooklyn, where he rapidly rose to eminence among his local contemporaries.

The more important part of the history of Brooklyn has been made during Dr. Mitchell's life and work in it. Almost all of its public institutions of significance and value have been born and have matured within his observation, and to the establishment and maintenance of some of them, he has contributed time, labor and money, unostentatiously but lib- erally. For many years he has been a member of the Kings County Medical Society, serving for three terms as its Presi- dent, and been always actively concerned in its advancement. He is a member also of the New York Academy of Medicine; of the Physicians' Mutual Aid Association, and of the Society for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans of Medical Men. He belonged to the first Board of Visiting Physicians of the Brooklyn City Hospital, and was one of the founders of the Brooklyn Dispensary and of the Long Island College Hos- pital. He is still a member of the Council of the latter and of its Board of Regents. He is a consulting physician of St. John's Hospital, and of the Home for Aged Men. He has represented the Kings County Medical Society in the State Medical Society; was a delegate to the National Convention, which formed the American Medical Association, and for several years represented in the latter the Kings County Medical Society. He is also a member of the American Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Mitchell was among the original members of the Long Island Historical Society, and is still, as he has been for years, one of its trustees.

While he has long been a conscientious and consistent pro- fessor of religion, he lays more stress upon a practical Chris- tian life, and is a severe and critical judge of his own conduct in that relation. He is a member of the Church of the Pil- grims (Dr. Storrs, Pastor), and was one of its founders.

As in professional, so in political affairs; Dr. Mitchell comes to his conclusions after mature deliberation, and his convic- tions, when formed, are strong and earnest. He is not a politician, but is an attentive observer of the affairs of the City, State and Nation, and has decided opinions, to which, upon occasion, he gives expression with intelligence and candor. He is, however, above all things a professional man, and the steadfastness with which he has put his chosen call- ing before other interests, largely explains his mastery of it. His methods are conservative and cautious, rather than radi- cal or innovating, but he is fully abreast of the learning of the time, and his patients never fail to get the benefit of later studies and discoveries.

Among his friends, Dr. Mitchell is a cultivated and com- panionable man; and, as a citizen, he is generous, public- spirited and influential.

He has been thrice married; in 1843, to Caroline L .; daugh- ter of B. F. Langdon, Esq., of Castleton, Vt .; in 1857, to Frances E., daughter of Benjamin Wright, Esq., of Rome, Oneida county, N. Y .; and, in 1875, to Kate M., daughter of J. M. Van Cott, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y.

St. Mary's General Hospital, under the charge of the Sisters of Charity, St. Mark's avenue, between Rochester and Buffalo avenues, is the outcome of a less pretentious institution, namely, St. Mary's Female Hospital, incorporated in 1868, and first located at 247

934

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

SULLIVAR S SCHAFFED . V

ST. MARY'S GENERAL HOSPITAL.

Clinton strect. The plot of ground on which the building stands-being an entire block, with a frontage on St. Mark's avenue of 700 feet, and running along Buffalo and Rochester avenues 225 feet to Prospeet place-was purchased by Right Rev. Bishop Loughlin, in 1878. The corner-stone was laid on October 18th, 1879; and the present structure, the western wing- (about one-third the entire building), extending 165 feet on St. Mark's avenue and 225 feet in the direction of Prospect plaee-was formally thrown open to the publie on December 17th, 1882; though owing to nu- merous applications, it was found necessary to admit many patients, principally surgical, during the three or four weeks preceding.

The hospital, as it now stands, ean accommodate from 250 to 300 patients. The arehiteet was P. C. Keely.

The incorporators, constituting the Board of Trustees, are: Right Rev. Bishop Loughlin, Rev. E. J. O'Reilly, Jno. D. Keiley, Jr., John J. Kiernan, Dr. John Byrne and James Clyne, together with three members of the order of St. Vineent de Paul, all of the city of Brooklyn.

In the fall of 1882, the present structure being near completion, the Trustees confided to Dr. John Byrne the responsible duty of effecting such a professional organization as he deemed most consistent with a thoroughly practical working of the institution, and one worthy the largest hospital in the city.

To this end Dr. Byrne summoned to his aid a num- ber of the leading physicians and surgeons of Brook- lyn, to whom he submitted his views, the main novelty of which consisted in his proposition to make this a hospital of specialties, and thus not only the better promote the interests of suffering humanity, but supply a long-felt want, and at the same time meet the cordial approval of the entire profession.

The result of repeated conferences was the nomina- tion of the following gentlemen, who constitute the present faculty, and whose appointments were duly ap- proved and confirmed by the Board of Trustees :

CONSULTING STAFF. - Surgeons : Jarvis S. Wight, M. D .; John S. Andrews, M. D. Physicians : Alex. Hutchins, M. D .; Avery Segur, M. D .; Edward Malone, M. D .; William Wallace, M. D.

FACULTY OF THE HOSPITAL .- John Byrne, M. D., M R. C. S. Edl., Dep. of Gynecology and President of the

Faculty. Frank E. Roekwell, M. D., Dep. of Genito Urinary Surgery; Samuel Santoire, M. D., Dep. o: Diseases of the Joints ; Charles Jewett, M. D., Dep. o Diseases of Children ; George R. Fowler, M. D., Dep of Fractures and Dislocations ; Benjamin F. West brook, M. D., Dep. of Diseases of the Thorax; George R. Kuhn, M. D., Dep. of Diseases of the Abdomina Viseera; Joel Wilbur Hyde, M. D., Dep. of Obstetrics Landon Carter Gray, M. D., Dep. of Mental and Ner vous Diseases and Electro-Therapy, and Secretary a) the Faculty : Arthur Matthewson, M. D., Dep. of Dis eases of Eye and Ear ; William E. Griffiths, M. D. Dep. of Diseases of the Skin.

ASSOCIATE VISITING STAFF .- J. C. Schapps, M. D. J. C. McEvitt, M. D .; Walter J. Coreoran, M. D .; Geo R. Westbrook, M. D .; G. V. P. Convery, M. D .; J. A Ray, M. D .; Herbert S. Williams, M. D .; Louis Kuhn M. D .; Glen D. Butler, M. D .; John D. Sullivan, M. D. Charles H. Terry, M. D .; A. J. Dower, M. D .; Johr Harrigan, M. D .; Joseph E. Smith, M. D .; Isaac H. Platt, M. D .; Charles H. Johnson, M. D .; J.Y. McGay. M. D .; Joseph A. Kene, M. D .; W. J. Brandt, M. D .: J. F. O'Connell, M. D .; Thomas A. Joye, M. D .; Job Corbin, M. D .; A. W. Ford, M. D.

Thomas R. French, M. D., Consulting Laryngologist; Alexander H. P. Leuf, M. D., Pathologist ; Joseph H. Hunt, M. D., Curator and Microscopist.

RESIDENT STAFF .- C. E. Dority, M. D .; F. G. Curtis, M. D .; F. E. Tieste, M. D .; B. J. Hammill, M. D.

St. Mary's Hospital is non-seetarian in the strictest sense of the term, neither ereed nor color being an obstacle to admission; and, while there are a large num- ber of well-furnished private rooms for both sexes, and wards for patients whose means permit of a mod- erate compensation for board and treatment, yet the average proportion of free patients is not less than 80 per eent. It is supported, thus far, wholly by voluntary contributions. A commodious ward has been set apart for children's diseases. There is also an efficient ambulanee serviee.

The elinieal work of the hospital, both medical and surgical, is open to the entire profession. It is in con- templation to organize an out-door department to meet the wants of this ont-lying distriet, so soon as the necessary means ean be provided.

JOHN BYRNE, M. D., M. R. C. S. E., Brooklyn, N. Y., was born at Kilkeel, in the county of Down, Ireland, October 13. 1825. His father, Stephen Byrne, who was an extensive and successful merchant, sent his son, at an early age, to a lead- ing classical seminary at Belfast. In his thirteenth year he became the pupil of a celebrated classical and mathematical preceptor, Rev. William Craig, a Moravian minister, in his native town. Having thus received a thorough preliminary education, he commenced the study of medicine as a pupil of Dr. Daniel Murray, a prominent general practitioner, in Belfast. He matriculated at the Royal institution of that city in 1842, where he completed his first "annus medien -. " comprising, in addition to practical pharmacy and chemistry,

935

HOSPITALS, DISPENSARIES, ETC.

lectures on anatomy and physiology, hospital attendance, and dissections; such course being recognized and required by the curricula of the various British colleges. During the succeeding five years, his professional studies were pursued in the Universities of Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the last session having been spent in Edinburgh, where he grad- uated in 1846. His professional career opened by an appoint- ment to the charge of a temporary fever hospital in his native country, during an epidemic of typhoid in 1846-'47. His se- lection for the discharge of the duties attached to this respon- sible position, was based mainly on his unusually large hos- pital experience, amounting to over four years' actual attendance. By the introduction of important sanitary mea" sures, and the systematic general management of this in- stitution, the mortality during his service was remarkably reduced, so much so as to call forth flattering commendations from British government officials, and a handsome testi- monial from the local public authorities. He emigrated to the United States, and settled in Brooklyn in 1848.

In 1853, with a view to enlarge his professional associations, he graduated at the New York Medical College, then located in East Thirteenth street. He was one of the originators and active founders of the Long Island College Hospital in 1856.

An extensive general practice of fifteen years found him in 1860 eminently qualified to adopt any one of various depart- ments of medicine or surgery as a specialty, and he selected diseases of women as the branch most congenial to his tastes.

In 1868, through the assistance of a few charitable and pub- lic-spirited citizens, and the co-operation of the Sisters of Charity, he organized St. Mary's Female Hospital in Dean street, to which he was appointed Surgeon-in-Chief, which position he still holds. Within a few years, however, the accommodations having been found entirely inadequate to the increasing demands of that class of sufferers for whose special benefit the institution was established, the construc- tion of St. Mary's General Hospital was decided on, and the building commenced in 1879.

On account of the widespread reputation obtained by the former institution, through his untiring efforts and the active co-operation of his professional associates, the incorporators and trustees of the new enterprise entrusted to him the or- ganization of its present medical and surgical staff.

He is the author of several able papers, and numerous peri- odical contributions on subjects connected with gynecology, besides monographs, prominent among which may be men- tioned, " Researches and observations on Pelvic Hæmatocele " (1862); "Clinical Notes on the Electric Cautery in Uterine Surgery" (1872); "Amputations and Excisions of the Cervix Uteri," etc. (1877).

He has given considerable attention to the science of elec- tro-physics, and to his experimental researches in this depart- ment the profession is indebted for the very complete galvano- cautery apparatus which bears his name.

He is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine; member and late president of the New York Obstetrical So- iety; fellow of the American Gynecological Society; late Clinical Professor of Uterine Surgery in the Long Island College Hospital; member of the American Medical Asso- ciation; member of the New York State and Kings County Medical Societies; Surgeon-in-Chief to St. Mary's Female Hospital, and Surgeon-in-Chief to department of Gynecology, ind President of the Faculty of St. Mary's General Hospital.

The Methodist Episcopal Hospital .- Upon the high land on the block between Sixth and Seventh treets and Seventh and Eighth avenues, stands this

new hospital, which Mr. George I. Seney presented to that denomination. The eentral building fronts on Sixth street, and is 92 by 156 feet, and four stories in height; the architecture is that of the Renaissance; the material is mainly briek, laid in blaek mortar, witlı trimmings of brown stone. It is entirely fire-proof. Its eost is $300,000. The hospital is intended to accommodate about 300 patients. There will be two 2-story pavilions, one on each of the main buildings, and 40 feet distant, to be used as wards. There will also be six smaller detached buildings, including a mortuary ehapel, dissecting-room, engine-house, etc., which are not yet (1884) built. The buildings are eon- strueted on the most approved plan, and in accordance with the latest discoveries in seience and medicine.

St. John's Hospital .- See our sketeh of The Church Charity Foundation.

The Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital was established April 15th, 1868, at the corner of Wash- ington and Johnson streets, by a number of benevolent citizens. Its suecess exceeded their most sanguine ex- pectations, more spacious accommodations were soon needed, and the fine briek building, No. 190 Washing- ton street, having been purchased and fitted up for the reception of patients, was opened on the 20th of April, 1869.

It was established as a purely benevolent institution. Year by year its work inereased, till, in 1881, larger accommodations were found indispensable, and the Juvenile High School building, 100 Livingston street, was purchased at a cost of $47,500 and converted into a hospital.

Sinee the establishment of this hospital more than 40,000 cases have been treated, and this work has been wholly gratuitous. Clinieal instruction has been given daily in this institution, to sueh medieal students as have chosen to avail themselves of it.

S. B. Chittenden was President of the hospital from its establishment until 1882. The present officers are: E. R. Squibb, President; C. D. Robbins, Vice-President; A. D. Wheeloek, Treasurer; F. H. Colton, M. D., Secretary; Chas. Meyer, Superintendent.

Brooklyn Home for Consumptives .- Early in the summer of 1881, half a dozen philanthropic ladies and gentlemen of Brooklyn sent out a call to the benevolent people of the city to meet in the parlors of Plymouth Church, to consider the great need of a home for consumptives. It had been found that the doors of all hospitals were closed against this elass of sufferers, and that the almns-house alone was accessible to them. Certain eases of peculiar need appealed to the hearts of the few who issued the call, and who were gladdened by the response of about fifty persons, mostly ladies, from various ehurehes in the eity. This meeting was followed by others of inereased numbers, resulting in a speedy and permanent organization. It was resolved not to limit this new enterprise by making an asylum

936

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

for one class only, but to found one home in the city whose doors should be broad enough to admit any one, irrespective of creed, color, sex or nationality; and further, not to restrict it to consumptives only, but to admit to its consolations such other sick as might be unable to find entrance elsewhere. Therefore, in due time, the society was incorporated, under the name of the Garfield Memorial Home, with a charter wherein the declared object was to provide a comfortable home for invalids, especially consumptives.

An ordinary dwelling house on Washington avenue was rented by the society in August, 1881. A matron was secured, one nurse and one steward. The house was soon filled; and, from the very first, need was felt of more room. In April, 1882, the trustees purchased the building now occupied, at No. 219 Raymond street, where there are beds for twenty-nine patients, each fitted with a wire woven mattress and hair mattress above. This seemed a real necessity, so emaciated is this class, and often long confined to their beds. To most of them such a luxury was beyond anything hoped for. Food of the most nutritious kind is furnished, the one item of milk amounting to thirty or forty quarts per day.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 73

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