Civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y., Part 76

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

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The Brooklyn Dental Society, by which it is now known. During the first year of this society the State Dental Law went into effect, a fact due (not a little) to perfect organization and unanimity of purpose among the members. At this time all were workers ; the minds of the society were pregnant with new pro- jects; visionary formulas took shape; experimental ideas were advanced and developed; the leaven of the whole society was a keen desire to elevate the beneficent as well as social and scientific side of the profession. After many lengthy and exhaustive discussions at the regnlar and special meetings, an entirely novel and very praiseworthy enterprise was started, namely a Dental Infirmary, which was opened at 260 Washington street on the morning of January 10th, 1870. The time of the members was so apportioned that each devoted one- half a day a month to the charitable venture, thus in- suring the attendance of one or more experienced prac- titioners at all times. For two years, this infirmary was supported almost entirely by the Brooklyn Dental Society; after which time, the expenses having largely increased, the Legislature was asked to contribute $1,500 annually, from the funds set aside for State Infirmaries. This request was acceded to; and, for two years longer, the worthy poor were treated gratuitously ; clinics were held daily; much experimental work was done. But, through lukewarmness, lack of interest or some other inexplicable cause, the greatest momment that the Brooklyn Dental Society ever reared to its honor, succumbed to circumstances. Thus died the only Dental Infirmary ever founded in the United States.

The Society was duly incorporated under the Laws of the State of New York, February 17, 1869 ; the official documents filed at Albany, April 5th, 1569. Shortly after this, the Code of Ethics of the American

945

THE PROFESSION OF DENTISTRY.

Dental Association was adopted. Nothing of special moment occurred until March 13, 1882, when, in con- junction with the Kings County Medical Society, a Library and Reading Room was established at Ever- ett Hall, No 398 Fulton street. The original society numbered but twelve; the present membership is forty- five. OFFICERS : James H. Race, Pres .; J. B. Brown, Vice-Pres .; L. G. Wilder, Rec. Secy .; W. H. Johnston, Cor. Sec .; F. C. Walker, Treas .; W. M. Ramsdell, Librarian.

The Presidents of this organization, both as the Brook- lyn Society of Dental Science and the Brooklyn Dental Society, have been as follows : H. G. Mirick, 1867-'8 ; C. D. Cook, 1868-'9 ; O. E. Hill, 1869-'70 ; G. A. Mills, 1870-'1; A. H. Brockway, 1871-'2 ; William Jarvie, Jr., 1872-'3 ; W. T. Shannon, 1873-'4 ; William E. Elmendorf, 1874-'5 ; W. H. Atkinson, 1875-'6 ; H. G. Mirick, 1876-'7; O. E. Hill, 1877-'8 ; C. D. Cook, 1878- '80; J. E. Monroe, 1880-'1; A. H. Brockway, 1881-'2.

On December 17, 1867, in response to an informal call, a convention of delegates, representing the several den- tal societies of the State, mnet at Utica, N. Y., to confer as to the advisability of securing from the Legislature a law regulating the practice of dentistry. A law was finally drafted and presented to the Legislature April 7th, 1868, and passed. The passage of the bill was largely due to the efforts of the Brooklyn Dental So- ciety which was very actively represented at Albany.

This law secured the perfect organization of the den- tal profession, and its legal recognition; and gave " The Dental Society of the State of New York," authority to issue legal diplomas to all applicants who should be found worthy. On application made by the Dental So- ciety of the State of New York the ensuing winter, an amendment was passed, giving to the Society the authority to confer with its diploma the degree of " Master of Dental Surgery " (M. D.S.), in evidence that its possessor has not only passed the rigid and thorough examination of the Board of Censors in compliance with the law, but is qualified for and actually engaged in regular and successful practice.

In March, 1878, a Mr. Garvin, a resident politician of the famous Sixth Ward of New York, introduced into the Assembly an amendment to section 9 of the dental law passed April 7, 1868, necessitating all dentists to be college graduates, and to hold diplomas testifying to that fact. This was clearly a stroke at the dental pro- fession, the majority of whose older and more promi- nent practitioners had made themselves proficient through early apprenticeships and long years of active experience; these men were recognized masters of their profession, yet had never been subjected to qualifying examinations, or received diplomas from any society, board or college. Owing to the vigorous opposition of dentists from all parts of the state, the bill failed to pass. In May, 1878, at the annual meeting of the Dental Society of the State of New York, a bill was

unanimously endorsed, and, through Senator Lippit, in- troduced before the Legislature, where it became a law June 20, 1879. (Chap. 540 of the Laws of that Session), which provided that:

" It shall be unlawful for any person to practice Dentistry in the State of New York for fee or reward, unless he shall have received a proper diploma, or certificate of qualification from the State Dental Society, or from the faculty of a repu- table dental or medical college, recognized as such by said society; provided that nothing in this section shall apply to persons now engaged in the practice of Dentistry in the State of New York, and that

"Every person practicing Dentistry within this State shall, within sixty days after the passage of this act, register in the office of the clerk of the county where located.

In order, also to protect those already in practice, through neglect or ignorance of the above enactment, another law (Chap. 376,) was passed May 26, 1881, affording them a further opportunity for registration.

SECTION 1. Any person who was engaged in the regular practice of dentistry within this state on the twentieth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and who was entitled to registration as a dentist as provided by the third section of chapter five hundred and forty of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, entitled “ An act to reg- ulate the practice of dentistry in the state of New York," but who failed to cause his name to be registered as therein pro- vided, and who shall make and file with the clerk of the county in which he registers, his affidavit to the affect that he was so engaged in such practice of dentistry and so enti- tled to registration, may, within sixty days after the passage of this act, cause his name, office and post-office address to be registered in the county clerk's office in the manner pro- vided in said third section of said act, and such registration shall have like force and effect as if made within the time prescribed by said section of said act. Any person who shall wilfully make and file a false affidavit for the purpose of pro- curing such registration shall be subject to conviction and punishment for perjury.

§ 2. Every person hereafter authorized to practice den- tistry within this state shall, before commencing to practice, register in the clerk's office of the county where he intends to commence the practice of dentistry, in a book to be kept for that purpose, his name, office and post-office address, together with the name of the society, college or other authority from which he has received his diploma or certificate of qualifica- tion to practice dentistry.

§ 3. The clerk of any county shall be obliged, upon the payment to him of the sum of twenty-five cents, to make the registry of any person provided for in the second section of this act, which sum the clerk is entitled to collect and receive from the person registering.

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Kings County Dental Society .- The Dental Law provides that the State shall be divided into eight dis- tricts, in each of which shall be organized a society under the jurisdiction of The Dental Society of the State of New York." Under this provision Kings county is embraced in the Second District Society, which in- cludes the following counties, viz: Richmond, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Westchester, Orange, Rockland, Put- nam and Dutchess. The County Society was organized on the seventh day of April, 1868. The first OFFICERS

046

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

were: W. B. Hurd, President; G. A. Mills, Vice- Presi- dent; Wm. Jarvie, Jr., Recording Secretary; H. G. Miriek. Treasurer; L. S. Straw, Corresponding Secre- tary. Thirty-eight members were enrolled at this meet- ing, and the present membership is sixty-five. OFFICERS: E. H. Dickey, President; W. A. Campbell, Vice- Presi- dent; Jno. J. Pitts, Recording Secretary; L. G. Wilder, Treasurer; F. C. Walker, Corresponding Secretary; F. W. Dolbeare, Librarian. The society has practically demonstrated since the beginning of its existence the wisdom of organization, and the benefits that invaria- bly follow in the wake of eo operative union and har- mony.

DR .G. F. REESE, has discovered and patented a com- position for making artificial dentures ; many advan- tages are elaimed for this foundation by the inventor. DR. Thos. O. OLIVER is known to the profession through his plastic fillings of French alloy, amalgam, and gutta percha, all of which rank high in excellence. DR. A. N. CHAPMAN has recently invented an in- genious deviee for fastening artificial teeth to the plate. DR. W. K. NORTHALL, one of the pioneer den- tists of Brooklyn, discovered and introduced the use of arsenie for the devitalization of the pulp in the tooth, and generously advertised his discovery, the importance of which was immediately recognized, and the use of arsene for the purpose named became universal. The most valuable invention elaimed for Kings county is that made by DR. A. J. WATTS, who discovered and patented, in 1833, a method by which gold can be erys- tallized, and, in that state, used with far better results for all dental purposes than in the foil. Many and ex- tremely various were the tests applied to the new form of gold, all of which resulted favorably, thus demon- strating practically the merits of the discovery. Ob- jeetions were thus almost immediately overcome, and the profession generally endorsed and used crystal, or spone gold, as it was at times ealled. With its intro- troduction a new era was opened in dentistry, in the restoring with gold of broken and lost portions of (and occasionally even whole erowns of) teeth; the value of this invention eannot be over-estimated.

Something like an approximate idea of the vastness of the profession and its extraordinary growth may be had from the following facts : One hundred years ago the United States was possessed of but one dentist, an Englishman, John Woofendale by name, who remained in this country less than two years, when he returned home. In 1873, there were 12,000 dentists in America. Now there are 17,000. Brooklyn to-day claims 193 active practitioners. The consumption of gold for professional purposes is enormous. It is variously esti- mated that from one to three tons is used annually in packing the teeth of the American people. A certain Kings county statistician recently prophesied, after careful mathematical deduction, that, in the twenty-first century, all the gold in the country will be in the !

graveyards. We acknowledge our indebtedness to Drs. O. E. HILL, D. H. MIRICK and C. D. Cook for the very generous assistance they rendered the compiler of the above historical sketeh.

DR. GEORGE W. FRAIM .- The name Fraim was originally spelled Fraime. By different branches of the family in America it is now variously spelled Fraime, Fraim, and Frame. Three brothers of the name, all English Quakers, came to America in the latter part of the seventeenth cen- tury, one of them locating in what is now Chester county, Pa., another on Long Island, N. Y., and the third elsewhere in the then sparsely settled country, presumably in western Pennsylvania. The family of Hoffnagle was very early in Lancaster, Pa., where one of the name purchased property which was conveyed to him directly from William and Thomas Penn. A portion of the property mentioned was the plot known as the old Fraim homestead, in Lancaster, the families of Hoffnagle and Fraim having intermarried, and which was continuously in possession of ancestors and rela- tives of Dr. George W. Fraim until about fifteen years ago. Members of both families mentioned were participants in the wars of the Revolution and of 1812-'14, bearing arms in defence of American liberty; and it is not without a sense of just pride that Dr. Fraim points to the fact that he is de- scended from patriot stock.

Dr. George W. Fraim was born at the old homestead in Lancaster, Pa., above mentioned, April 14th, 1834, and i-, accordingly, about fifty years old at this time. He received the rudiments of his education in the common schools of Lan- caster, and, later, graduated from the old Franklin Academy of that place, since merged in the Franklin and Marshall Col- lege. While yet young, he entered, as a student, the office of Dr. John Waylan, of Lancaster, a dentist, who was in his day one of the most successful and celebrated in the United States. Graduating in dentistry in 1857, he at once began to look about for a suitable place in which to settle and practice his profession. He stopped a short time in Pittsburgh, Pa., and removed thence to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia, in 1859, he came to Brooklyn, where he has resided continuously since, having his office on Fulton street, between Concord and Johnson streets, and, since 1878, at No. 301 Fulton street.

In his profession, Dr. Fraim has ever been a leader and an innovator, never a passive imitator, and always abreast if not in advance of the times. All departments of dentistry have received his careful attention, and all of its details have, in his hands and under his conscientions study, been so improved as to combine to the advancement of the whole. To the hterature of his profession he has devoted much thought and care, and in all assemblages of dentists at which he has been present, he has been recognized as an authority upon all subjects relating to the profession. A man of gen- orous impulses, he has done more, probably, than any other one old practitioner in Brooklyn to aid young men of promise to acquire a thorough knowledge of dentistry, and establish them firmly in its practice. These young men have been successively his pupils, his partners, and later, when they were endeavoring to establish independent practices, the ob- jects of his most careful solicitnde, and often of a liberality without which some of them would have found it most diffi- cult to succeed. Among the many whom he has at different times so assisted, have been several of his nephews, from which fact is derived the familiar inscription on his signs of "Fraim & Nephews." It is probable that Dr. Fraim's dental library is one of the largest and most complete in the coun- try. He has traveled extensively in Europe, and states, with

Geo.W. Fraim

THE PROFESSION OF DENTISTRY.

947

ALITTLE.

Salman Hinner

evident pride, that in no country is dentistry on so high a plane as in the United States, especially as regards its litera- ture and mechanical appliances, and useful and important discoveries.

In 1863, Dr. Fraim married Miss Mary Leviness, who died within a year thereafter. He was again married, in 1861, to Miss Helen Spencer, who died in November, 1877, leaving one son, who is still living.

Kindly and generous in his impulses, Dr. Fraim is liberal and charitable in his estimate of his fellow-men, willing to recognize truth in whatever guise it may come, and hating hypocrisy and slams of all kinds with a hatred that amounts to an abomination. In politics, he is what may be aptly termed a conservative Democrat. There is no question worthy the notice of any thoughtful citizen, involving the welfare and prosperity of the Union and the world at large, that does not receive his studious consideration ; but he is not, as men are usually styled, a politician. He has never had any desire for public office, and the demands upon him of his profession have been so exacting as to leave him no time to mingle in other men's scrambles for place; and, even had his life been one of leisure, the inclination to so engage would still have been wanting. His career has been, and, so long as liis life is spared, will be, a busy one, profitable not alone to him, but to his fellows, and wholly devoted to the profession he has so long adorned.

The following from the Brooklyn Sunday Eagle, of Octo- ber 23, 1881, is a most fitting life sketch of Dr. SALMON SKINNER :

"An old resident of this city, and one who was entitled to be designated as a pioneer Brooklynite, though not born

here, died Wednesday, the 12th inst., in the house on the south-west corner of Henry and Montague streets. He was a man of strong character, remarkable natural ability, and fine literary attainments; and all who knew the late Dr. Salmon Skinner in his prime, were impressed with the con- viction that he possessed no small share of that indescribable and indefinable gift generally designated as genius. He was always an originator, never an imitator; and disregarding beaten tracks, old plans of action and well-worn lines of thought, would always strike out freshi trails, that, in practi- cal mechanics alone, resulted in many brilliant successes. He was born, March 6, 1818, in Coeymans, Albany county, this state, and, while young, received a thorough education in the common schools.

" When quite a young boy, his health not being robust, he was obliged to leave school, and, at the early age of 14, lie shipped on board a whaler, and went on a voyage round Cape Horn, to cruise in search of oil and bone in the Pacific Ocean. On his return, his health was so much improved that he decided to give up a sea-faring life; and, while wait- ing to find an opening in life, lie made the acquaintance of President Martin Van Buren, who ever afterward remained his warm and steadfast friend. Young Skinner's adoption of the profession of a dentist was the result of a casual sug- gestion made by a female relativc. He had saved up $250 from the pay he received on board the whaler, and with that money he proceeded to Philadelphia and paid it over to tlic then leading dentist of that city, in order to be instructed in the mysteries of the profession he liad decided to adopt. At that time, nearly half a century ago, the science of dent- istry was in its infancy. The merits of vulcanized rubber as material for plates, were unknown. The only substance

948

HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

DR. SALMON SKINNER'S RESIDENCE, CORNER HENRY AND MONTAGUE STREETS, Erected 1813, and occupied by him in 1846.

then used for that purpose was gold, and the instruments used were exceedingly clumsy contrivances, when compared with those of the present day. The pupil soon acquired all the knowledge his instruction was able to impart, and he had not been in Philadelphia many months before he was able to give, instead of receive, instruction; for the reason that his remarkable mechanical and inventive genius then developed itself. He returned to the city of Hudson, in this state, where he opened an office and commenced the practice of his profession. His success was so immediate and great that before he reached his twenty-first year, he had made enough money to pay for the building of two houses; and had also accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to remove to Brooklyn. He came to this city forty years ago, and located in a house on the corner of Hicks and Cranberry streets. Brooklyn at that time was merely a village. The lady who rented the house to Dr. Skinner said she desired to leave it because it was too much in the city, and she wanted to move out into the suburbs. She moved ont to the corner of John- son and Fulton streets, which was a portion of the suburbs of Brooklyn in those days. Dr. Skinner's Brooklyn friends and patrons at that time were such men as Rev. Dr. Broad- head, Rev. Dr. Bothime, Rev. Dr. Cox, James Freeland, Henry Sheldon, Peter Hoffman, and others whose names will always be remembered in connection with the rise and progress of the city. Dr. Skinner did not remain for any great length of time on the corner of Hicks and Cranberry streets ; but, like his landlady, moved out into the suburbs and commeneed to practice his profession in the house on the corner of Montagne and Henry streets, then called Montague place. That, and the two adjoining houses, were the only buildings then crocted there. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was just beginning his wonderfully successful career, and preached in a small, white frame building, supported on brick pillars, and located abont two hundred yards away from the honse where Dr. Skinner had hung his shingle out.

" The Wall Street Ferry had not then been established. Montagne, and other streets in that neighborhood, were little better than common dirt roads, and the majority of the people of Brooklyn lived almost within shouting distance of the Fulton Ferry.

" Dr. Skinner experienced no difficulty in building up a good practice, and his reputation as a skillful dentist spread so fast and far, that he had not been settled in Brooklyn many months before he had rendered professional services to almost every prominent man in the county. They ever afterward remained his warm friends, and, for the next twenty-five years, no man in the county had a wider or more influential cirele of friends. He was then a constant attendant at the church of his friend, Rev. Dr. Bethune : and when the project was first entertained of building the Reformed Church, on the Heights, Dr. Skinner was one of the first and most liberal supporters of the enterprise.

" His practice increased so rapidly, that he was obliged to employ a number of assistants, and had often as many as eight students under his care. Many of the most prominent and successful dentists in this and other cities graduated from his office. Dr. Skinner was often called upon to testify as an expert, and, on one such occasion, when asked, 'are you a graduate of any college ?' he replied, with considera- ble warmth: 'why, the colleges graduated from me.' After many years' close and hard work, the doctor's health became impaired, and he was ordered to the island of Cuba to re- cuperate. Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the founder of the New York Herald, who was a warm personal friend of Dr. Skinner, engaged him to aet as the special correspondent of that journal, and his letters from Cuba, over the nom de plume of 'Amigo,' attracted wide attention, not only on ac- count of the great literary ability displayed, but also by reason of the intelligent and comprehensive manner in which the affairs of that portion of the Spanish possession .- were treated. His friendly relations with Mr. Bennett were maintained up to the time of that gentleman's death, and his son, the present proprietor of the Herald, was one of the doetor's most steadfast adherents. In politics, the late Dr. Skinner was a Democrat of the most pronounced type, and year in and year out, for nearly a quarter of a century, he was always elected a delegate to the different National and State conventions. His last active participation in political affairs was at the Charleston Convention, in 1860. Dr. Skin- ner was the inventor of a fire-escape, which is now in use in many of the large cities in the eastern states ; and all who have been in the habit of visiting the American Institute Fair, will doubtless remember seeing a gas cooking-stove of his invention, the burners of which, unlike other stoves, are on the top instead of underneath. It was while engaged in exhibiting his stove, and explaining its merits, that he con- tracted the cold which resulted in his death.

"One of the enterprises with which the name of the de- ceased will always be connected, is the Cypress Hills Ceme- tery, of which he was one of the originators, and it is there that he was buried."

Dr. DAVID SALMON SKINNER .- It is a fallacious thought that the death of one of intrinsic worth is an irreparable loss. As in nature, annihilation is impossible, so it is of the mental onteome of a truly original man. His thought will find embodiment. Often years pass before this is proven; the good seems to have been extinguished with the death; but Dr. Salmon Skinner left one in whom the speedy realization of the aspirations of his better nature was obtained.

Dr. David Salmon Skinner, the subject of this biographi- cal sketch was born in Brooklyn, on the corner of Hicks and Cranberry streets, on the 20th of October, 1844, and has re- sided in Brooklyn almost continuously ever since. His educa tion was received from such well-known instructors as Lyinan Cobb, of spelling-book fame; James Monteith, the compiler of

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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 76

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