Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 75

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

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PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATIONS, ETC.

The Kings County Pharmaceutical Society was organized in 1877. Its object is the elevation of the standard of qualification among pharmacists, and the protection alike of the profession and the public.

The first President was George Close, followed in succession by L. E. Nicot, William De Forest, Edward A. Sayre, and the present President, Robt. Blacke; the other OFFICERS for 1883-'4 are: L. D. Sheets and John MacDonald, Vice-Presidents, Charles R. Paddock, Sec. and Treus.

The Brooklyn Board of Pharmacy, was or- ganized July 19, 1879, and incorporated under chapter 502, N. Y. laws of that year. Its object is to restrict the sale of medicine and poisons to competent pharma- cists, and to examine and register the same. It is com- posed of five members, two of whom are physicians, and three pharmacists. The first OFFICERs were: G. M. Baker, M. D., Pres .; L. E. Nicot, Sre. Present OFFI- CEES: Win. P. De Forrest, Pres .; L. E. Nicot, S.c.

Among the prominent pharmacentists of Brooklyn, we may mention the following:

Albert Black.

. 264 Bridge street.

Established 1851; member of Common Council seven years, serving as president two terms.

Louis E. Nicot .. . 67 Union avenue.

Druggist; established 1871; member of Board of Edu- cation from 1882 to 1857; elected Examiner and Seere- tary of "Kings County Board of Pharmacy," 1879; re- elected 1882; was President Kings County Pharmaceuti- cal Society; now represents Fifth Congressional District in New York Republican State Committee.

Richard Laner . 365 Pacific street.

Importer of drugs; established 1864, in New York; Supervisor, 1880-81; Excise Commissioner, 1882-83.

Thomas M. Lahey. 146 Smith street.

AApothecary; established 1854, in New York; removed to Brooklyn 1857; graduate of Queens College, Galway, Ireland, 1851.

Hermann A. Miller .. . . 204 Columbia street.

Druggist; established 1859, Brooklyn.

George S. Phillips 39 Fleet place.

Pharmacist; established 1854; first colored man estab- lished as a druggist in Brooklyn.

J. C. Ubert. Division, corner Lee avenue.

Druggist; established 1883, in Brooklyn; born 1883, in Wisconsin.

Van Brunt Wyckoff. . 622 Third avenue.

Drugs, paints, oils, hardware, etc .; born May 25th, 1820, in Wyckoff Homestead: established 1853, at 122 Third avenue, removing from there to present address.

THE

PROFESSION OF · DENTISTRY IN

KINGS COUNTY AND BROOKLYN.

I T is our intention simply to place before our readers a purely local history of dentistry in Kings county from its birth, about fifty years ago, up to the present time. Its beginnings being entirely the aggregated results of the individual labors of its earlier practitioners, we are naturally led, at first, to the con- sideration of the lives of these

Pioneers of Dentistry in Kings County .-

HEZEKIAH N. STRATTON was born in Phillipston, Mass., in July, 1822; at the age of twenty-one came to Brooklyn, and under the careful tuition of Dr. George Wood, studied dent- istry for three years. He then opened an office at 139 Atlan- tic avenue, above a confectionery and bakery store, estab- lished by his brother a short time before. Here Dr. Stratton practiced for twelve years, at the end of which time, a fine and costly residence was finished at the corner of Clinton and Pacific streets, where he added another twelve years to his active professional life, and died " in the traces," Feb 15, 1869. Dr. Stratton's initiation into dentistry is worthy of mention, as being thoroughly characteristic of the man. Early in 1843, a conversation between himself and Dr. Geo. Wood was interrupted by the entrance of a patient. After a very short absence, Dr. Wood returned, saying quietly, " There's a dollar quickly earned." "So soon," cried young Stratton; then, after a moment's thought, "this is the busi- ness for me." The words were prophetic; it was the business for him. Men of his stamp are rarely met with. He combined a marked intellectual ability and energy with a noble heart and frank, genial temperament. His charities were number- less ; for many years he gave his services gratuitously to the six hundred orphans in St. Paul's Parish, on Court street ; to the Convent attached to St. James' Church on Jay street, and the Cloistered Nuns at the Villa de Sales, at Bath, L. I. Attending his funeral were the representatives of many char- ities in which he had been actively interested.

GEORGE A. COOPER was born in Lexington, Ky., in 1822, and commenced the practice of dentistry in Brooklyn in 1845, after several years of practical training : he died at his residence in Adelphi street, in 1870. His professional in- tegrity was unimpeachable, and the enviable reputation ac- corded him by his brothers in the profession, flattering though it was, fell far short of his deserts.

GEORGE WOOD was born at Groton, Mass., July 24, 1813. At the age of sixteen, after having learned the masons' trade

at Groton, he came with his parents, brothers and sisters, to Brooklyn, where the family settled in the Fifth Ward. Here he soon obtained employment as clerk in a grocery store. over which the Wood family lived. Two years passed in this laborious occupation, when an opportunity was offered to George by his elder brother Charles, who was practicing in New Hampshire, to study dentistry with him. The offer was accepted, and for a year the brothers traveled about the New England States together; when George returned to Brooklyn, and, thinking the grocery business more lucrative than dentistry, opened a store, to which he devoted himself for four years. In the meantime, the love for the profession which he had abandoned grew stronger, and ultimately forced him into the office of Martin K. Bridges, with whom he studied one year. Then, on Fulton street, near Concord, he opened a modest office and began a professional career of unprecedented success. Dr. George Wood has been so va- riously spoken of and criticized by the press and his profes- sional brethren, that a correct estimate of the man is perhaps impossible. Such names as charlatan, quack, etc., have fre- quently been applied to him, let us hope, unjustly. All, however, acknowledge him to have been a very remarkable man. His will was indomitable, and his self-reliance and assurance inspired him with a courage almost heroic. His practice for many years was purely experimental; his mode of treatment severe ; and in the mechanical branch his suc- cess was not phenomenal. "Hit or miss " seemed to be the motto of this reticent and unsocial man, who never spoke thoughtlessly, and had no intimacies.

JAMES E. MILLER was born January 7, 1820, in the town of Somers, Westchester county, N. Y., and his early years were passed on his father's farm, situated in the heart of the Quaker district. He received his education at the district academy of his native village; and, being of an ambitious and industrious temperament, came to Brooklyn in 1839, wlien quite a young man, and accepted an offer from Wil- liam Healy, a brother Quaker, to teach in the school under the Friends' meeting house, corner of Clarke and Henry streets. Here he remained six months, when he opened, on his own responsibility entirely, a school on Fulton street, op- posite Pierrepont. While engaged in this occupation, a little incident occurred which shaped the course of his future life. Happening to require the services of a dentist, he consulted Dr. Martin K. Bridges, who was one of the pioneers of the profession in this city. As young Miller was seated in the operating chair, the thought of studying dentistry found ex- pression in the words : " Why can't I do this ?" He made a

942

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

proposition, which was accepted, and early in the morning, and in the afternoon after his dutics as tutor, he would re- pair to his instructor, in whose office he spent the balance of his time, paying from his slender earnings for the privilege. He soon made rapid strides in his chosen work, and opened, in the spring of 1842, an office in Squire's Building, on Atlantic avenue, between Hicks and Henry streets. Here he remained for three years; thence moved to pleasanter quarters on the corner of Pacific and Henry streets, where, for ten years, a very successful practice rewarded his efforts. In 1855, the Doctor moved to the corner of Henry and State streets, and lived there, or in the immediate vicinity, until June 6, 1883, when he died of pneumonia, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He was associated in business, at different periods, with Dr. Charles Miller, Dr. D. H. Mumford, the late Dr. Carlton Jones, Dr. H. G. Mirick, Dr. C. D. Cook, Dr. Charles H. Haskins, Dr. E. H. Miller, and, at the time of his death, with Dr. Charles C. Allen. Probably no one man iu the city had a larger or wider circle of friends. People came to him front all parts of the country for advice and counsel, which was freely given, without money and without price. Dr. Miller was active in many public reforms, especially in reference to cruelty to auimals ; was a vegetarian in the very strictest sense ; a religions revolutionist of marked type ; a great reader and deep thinker; erratic at ttmes, and dogmatic generally, but always generous-hearted, high-principled, and of sterling character. Many years ago he severed his rela- tions with the Society of Friends, whose distinctive dress. however, he continued to wear. His funeral services were conducted in accordance with the rites of that sect.

MARTIN KINSLEY BRIDGES was born in Hardwick, Mass., August 1, 1800. The early years of his life were spent on a farm, in the northern part of Vermont, near the border line of Canada. Here, during the spring, summer, and autumn, he worked as a farmer, and, in the winter, attended the dis- trict school in Craftsbury, three miles away. At the age of eighteen, prompted by the nomadic spirit which never wholly left him, he moved to Moriah, a small town in the heart of the iron district of Essex county, N. Y., bordering Lake Champlain. Here young Bridges obtained employment in the country store of the place, which position he held for two years, when an opportunity was given him to take charge of one of the small lake steamers plying between Port Henry and St. Albans. One season on the water satisfied him that his time might be better employed, and he removed to Watertown, N. Y., accepting there a clerkship in a general store. This, however, did not long satisfy his ambitions na- ture ; and, when a better opportunity offered itself, he gave way to the impulse of his roving disposition and went to Rut- land, Vt. There he was employed by a certain Mr. Page, who, in addition to the country store of the place, owned a sinall factory, to which the hero of this sketch had access, and made nse of the opportunity offered to develop his taste for mechanics, which was recognized in him at an early age. Here, too, he was enabled to attend the Rutland Academy for three terms, securing to himself a sohd educational foundation, for which he never ceased to be grateful. Ile remained in this place eight years, was married, and buried his only son there. Here, too, the thought of dentistry as a profession was suggested to him, and he spent his hard- earned dollars in the purchase of books which treated of the subject, bought a few instruments, made many himself, and began studying in a quiet experimental way. He had always been an adept with tools, and was possessed of in- ventive genius of no mean order, which stood him in good stead in this new venture.

In 1836, he went to Saugerties, where he remained one year in the office of Iliram B. Lathrop, an experienced prac- titioner. In the fall of 1837 he came to Brooklyn, where, at the corner of Fulton and Hicks streets, he opened a modest oflice. Thus far, the practical results of his untiring labors and years of study were discouraging. Presently, however, all was changed ; the ability of the man was at last recog- nized and acknowledged ; his practice grew marvellously. At this time, Brooklyn could not claim 40,000 inhabitants; the Heights were scattered masses of barren rocks, rudely fenced in : and, about two hundred yards from the doctor's office, a pair of bars adorned the roadside, through which the cows from the Packer farm were driven to and from pasture. For many years Dr. Bridges occupied the unpre- teutious quarters in which he first settled ; then, moving with the tide of civilization, opened offices at (old number 109 IFenry street, where, in September, 1853, he died, young in years comparatively, but old in the experiences of a life that had been full of changes, both of place and fortune. The immediate cause of his death was brain-softening, superinduced by overwork. For many years The Dental Mirror, published for gratuitous circulation, was edited by him; an interesting sheet largely made up of quotations per- tinent to the subject of dentistry, and of advertisements. The benevolent disposition of the man is clearly set forth in this quotation, which appears conspicuously on The Mirror for 1843: "Two hours in each week-day, from seven to nine o'clock in the morning, are devoted to the service of the poor without charge."

In 1841, he became a member of the American Society of Dental Surgeons, and, for many years, was the only repre- sentative in the Society from Kings county. His charitable nature was largely developed ; he was actively interested in many prominent benevolent societies ; gave freely his thought, time or money, as the demaud might be : and died regretted alike by rich and poor ; his friends were legion : foes, he had none.

JOHN SCOTT was born in Wyoming county, N. Y., Septem- ber 4, 1813. As a boy, he was precocious, and evinced an earnest desire for knowledge. He began, at seventeen, the study of medicine and dentistry, iu New Haven, where he remained several years; and, at the age of twenty-two, har- ing given up the study of medicine, began the practice of dentistry in Seymour, Conn., where he remained until 1840. At about this time, the necessity for a collegiate course was largely felt by the profession. Young Scott, recognizing the desirability of such a course, went to the Philadelphia Dental College, where he graduated in 1843 ; and, an opportunity offering itself the following year, he came to Brooklyn and opened an office at 193 Atlantic avenue, near Court street. lere he took the practice of Dr. Hammond, who was in- fected with the gokl fever, and had gone to California, where. a few years later, he died, regretted by many on both sides of the continent. The house in which Dr. Scott had located was quite pretentions for those days; the parsonage of the Pacific Street Methodist Church was next door ; and a long row of high-stoop brick houses opposite, gave an air of un questioned elegance to the neighborhood. The year follow. ing the advent of Dr. Scott, the first line of street-cars in Brooklyn was introduced on Court street, or Fulton street : the clumsy stages still rattled along, and the tunnel under Atlantic avenue was still a thoroughfare. In 1849, Dr. Scott moved to 267 Fulton street, near Tillary; and, six years later, purchased a house at 257 Washington street, where the last twenty years of his busy life were spent, and where he died. January 21, 1883. Dr. Scott was one of the organizers of

943

THE PROFESSION OF DENTISTRY.

the Brooklyn Dental Society ; he was a man of considerable mental and physical power, social to a fault, and, like many others of similar temperament, earned and lost several com- petences. Up to the time of his death, he continued in the practice which circumstances would not allow him to relin- quish.

A history of dentistry cannot be written through biographical sketches of individual practitioners, how- ever conspicuous they may have been in the profession. It is only through a careful study of its socicties and associations that we can gain a satisfactory knowledge of the growth of the profession among us, and of its wonderful development, within the past twenty-five years, from a trade to a profession. To this cnd we must direct our attention to facts bearing on the ques- tion of organization. In the primary stages of Ameri- can dentistry, the profession (if such we may be per- mitted to call it) was peculiar, but not singular, in the fact of its strong conservatism. This state is common to all bodies numerically small and scientifically de- ficient, as were the pioneers in the profession. Under such conditions, it is almost invariably the case that processes and agencies are jealously guarded in secrecy ; and the approach of inquiry and investigation is viewed with a watchful and forbidding eye. Knowledge that is possessed under such conditions is naturally regarded as the property, and for the benefit of the individual alone. The dental horizon began to clear about the year 1837, when was instituted in New York city an association of dentists under the title of the New York Society of Dental Surgeons. This body was short-lived; we have no records of its doings, objects, or date of be- ginning or ending. It was, however, the father of all future organizations throughout the country. The seed sown by Dr. Horace H. Hayden in 1837, has borne an extraordinary return, not alone in the number of so- cieties scattered over the land (the total membership [ of which to-day is more than seventeen thousand); but in the standing of these bodies of representative men. The scientific ability, local prestige and reputation for probity and diplomacy, which was possessed by these men, was recognized, however, at Albany, in 1868, when the Dental Bill was framed, presented to the Legisla- ture, fought for, and passed.

In the fall of 1853, at the office of Dr. H. N. Strat- ton, was organized in Brooklyn

" The Long Island Association of Dental Sur- geons"-the first dental society organized in Kings county. The preamble is terse and epigrammatic, viz .: "This society is organized for the improvement and elevation of dental science, and the establishment of a proper sentiment of respect among dental practitioners." The Constitution provided that " the Examining Com- mittee shall have been practicing dentists in good stand- ing for at least five years;" that "the yearly subscrip- tion shall be three dollars, payable in advance;" that a member might be expelled, " providing always, the ac- |

cused shall, after an impartial hearing, have failed to exculpate himself;" that " the Treasurer should give se- curity for the trust reposed in him;" that "inembers of the association shall not take students for a less term than two years, &c." The first board of officers of this association was as follows, in the order named: D. H. Mirick, Recording Secretary; G. A. Cooper, Corres- ponding Secretary; James E. Miller, Treasurer; Martin K. Bridges, Librarian. Examining Committee: J. Branique, J. P. Fredericks, and James E. Miller. Execu- tive Committee, B. S. Lyman, A. H. Griswold and C. B. Hammond. The organization was of a purely social nature; a light repast was eaten, amid jocular repartee and good-natured merriment. Later on, however, the dinners grew more pretentious, more elaborate; notably those given by Dr. Stratton, who, at this time occupied rooms above the baking establishment conducted by his brother on Atlantic avenue. Disaffection among the simpler-minded or perhaps less fortunate members fol- lowed this innovation; and, as nothing was done to pro- mote the " Science of Dentistry," the society adjourned sine die after an existence of about two years.

Services of Brooklyn Dentists in the Civil War. -During an interval of several years, dentistry lan- guished throughout the country; organization, except for " the rank and file" was scarcely thought of; the shadow of a great war was upon us; local interests were forgotten; the nation's safety was the engrossing theme. Dr. F. W. DOLBEARE, inspired with feelings worthy the cause, devoted his time and energies to mustering troops for the 159th New York Volunteers, which regiment, under command of General E. L. Molineux, joined General Banks at New Orleans, and met with fatal dis- aster at Bayou Teche, Louisiana.

Dr. J. P. FREDERICKS served as Commissary at Washington, and later on at New Orleans; and, shortly after the war, died, regretted in social and military circles. Dr. GEO. W. BRUSH, in 1861, then eighteen years of age, joined the 48th New York; he was soon made Second Lieutenant and commissioned to the 2d South Carolina, afterwards known as the 34th United States Colored Troops; this regiment, together with many others, was organized by General Hunter, who commissioned white officers, by order of Secretary of War, to take charge of them, and educate the colored troops, not alone in the art or artfulness of war, but in reading, writing and spelling. The spelling-book kept company in the belt with the bayonet and pistol; and, so cager were these dusky pupils for knowledge, that the night was turned into day by huge camp fires, about which they clustered, anxiously scanning the mysterious ciphers of the alphabet by the uncertain light. Dr. Brush graduated from the ranks at the close of the war, at the age of twenty-two, a Captain.

In writing up the War Record of Kings county dentists, we are pleased to give space to Dr. E. H. DICKEY, who served with the First New Jersey Light

044

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Artillery, Battery " B," a Newark organization of no mean notoriety. During his eighteen months of active service, Dr. Dickey attended to the needs of the men professionally. Upon a stump, or any other conveni- ent substitute for a dental chair, the patient was seated, the instruments were scattered ready at hand upon the ground, and, surrounded by a hundred or more in- terested spectators, the work of torture began. The Doctor tells his army experiences with pardonable pride; he served his country actively; his professional know- ledge was very largely augmented, and into his purse fell day by day from ten to fifteen bright gold dol- lars.

Dr. CHAS. H. BIDDLE enlisted August, 1862, in Com- pany " D" of the 139th New York State Volunteers; with this regiment he served through the war, and was honorably discharged in July, 1865, unscathed and a Corporal.

Dr. C. L. BISBEE'S war experiences are, no doubt, similar to those of Dr. Biddle ; he having joined Com- pany "C" of the 139th New York State Volunteers at the outbreak of the rebellion. After three long years of varying fortune, a period crowded with incidents (never other than interesting when narrated by the doctor), upon his discharge, and return to Brooklyn, he began at once the study of dentistry with Dr. Mi- rick.

These few names, whose army service we have re- corded, are all among the profession in Kings county who participated actively in the late War of the Re- bellion.

In 1861, a desire for co-operative union among all the professions was felt. In dentistry, this found cx- pression and definite shape, in the spring of that year, at the residence of Dr. D. W. Allen in West Eleventh street, New York city, at which place was organized (by Dr. W. H. Atkinson, who had come but recently from Cleveland, Ohio)

The New York Dental Society .- This associa- tion, after it was instituted, met in the Cooper Union, and was not in any sense local. It stretched its gene- rons arms across both the North and East rivers to sister cities, gathering within its hospitable embrace all those who chose to accept the principles shadowed forth in its constitution. Among the members of this society were many Brooklyn practitioners, who, one year later with kindliest feelings, but because of greater con- venience, thought it advisable to withdraw to Brooklyn; where, at the office of Dr. O. E. Hill, then at 276 Ful- ton street, was organized, on the twelfth day of June, 1862,

The Brooklyn Dental Association, with the following BOARD OF OFFICERS: W. C. Parks, President; A. II. Hlawes, Vice- President; John Allen, Treasurer; WI. B. Hurd, Secretary. The original membership of this society was thirteen; composed chiefly, strange as it may seen, of New York dentists, This number

was not materially augmented during the short and un- eventful life of the association, covering as it did a period of perhaps four years, through the last half of which it languished, and ultimately died from sheer neglect. This, no doubt, arose from the fact that the time of the members of the society became too fully occupied, professionally, to allow them opportunity to attend properly the duties incumbent upon them.

The year following the dissolution of the above society marks a new epoch in dental good-fellowship in Kings county; for, at the house of Dr. Geo. A. Mills, 113 Henry street, was organized, on the fourteenth day of December, 1867,

The Brooklyn Society of Dental Science and Art-First OFFICERS: H. G. Mirick, President; Chas. D. Cook, Vice-President; E. L. Childs, Recording Secre- tary; Wmn. Jarvis, Jr., Corresponding Secretary; I. C. Monroe, Treasurer. Considerable dissatisfaction was felt among the members of this organization, because of the length and pretentiousness of the name, which was changed on January 4, 1869, to

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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 75

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