USA > New York > Cayuga County > History of Cayuga County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 16
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"I- do solemnly declare that I will hon- estly, virtuously and chastely conduct myself in the practice of physic and surgery, with the privileges of exercising which profession I am now to be invested ; and that I will with fidelity and honor, do everything in my power for the benefit of the sick committed to my charge."
As the law required societies to enforce its provisions in their respective counties, Enos T. Throop was appointed law-counselor in August, 1807 ; thereafter the records show that prosecu- tions were numerous against irregular practi- tioners. The by-laws required then, as now, that the place of meeting should be determined from year to year. In November, 1806, the office of Doctor Barnabas Smith, of Scipio, was selected as the place of meeting for the succeeding year. The library also was directed to be kept there, and Doctor Smith was appointed librarian. The selection of the place of meeting occasioned much
strife between Auburn and Aurora, (Scipio being accepted as a compromise,) from this time until 1818, when the southern towns relinquished their claims, and the meetings have since been held at Auburn by a tacit consent, and until 1848, at Coe's or Hudson's tavern or the Western Exchange. The library ceased its peregrinations and settled there also.
The membership of the society was large, and included most of the leading physicians in the County ; many of whose names recall recollec- tions of active, useful and honorable lives. That they maintained a creditable professional stand- ing is evidenced by the following citations from the society records entered in the words of Doc- tor Silas Holbrook, of Scipio:
"August 3, 1816, Doctors B. King, Silas Hol- brook, August Miller, Andrew Groom, and Fred- erick Delano met at the house of Mr. Roger Kinney, of Scipio, where Doctor Delano per- formed lithotomy on the daughter of William Kinney, aged 7 years; the stone weighed 13 pennyweights, 14 grains. They then proceeded to Jonathan Winslow's, where Doctor Delano performed the same operation on a daughter of Mr. Winslow, about the same age; the stone weighing 5 pennyweights, 5 grains. The stone in the last mentioned case appeared to be a light porous substance and composed of different laminæ, with an intermediate diploe, and nearly the size of the former."
In 1834, Doctor Frank H. Hamilton was ap- pointed to report on the botanical and agricul- tural products of the County ; Doctor Hum- phries, on its mineralogy and geology ; Doctor Ira H. Smith, on its diseases, and Doctor Lan- singh Briggs, on its statistics, &c. In 1836, the society offered a $25 prize for the best essay on the endemic fevers of the Western country. Doc- tor Frank H. Hamilton obtained the prize, and the essay was published in the medical periodi- cals of that day.
At the annual meeting in November, 1811, a committee of three was appointed to act in con- cert with the trustees of Cayuga Academy, at Aurora, to devise the best means to obtain from the Legislature a grant to the academy for the purpose of erecting and continuing an anatomic- al, surgical and chemical school in said acade- my, and the committee were empowered to use the authority and influence of the society for that purpose. The project failed at that time, but was not given up. At the annual meeting
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CAYUGA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETIES.
in 1817, Doctors Pitney, I. H. Smith, and Cole were appointed a committee to consider the pro- priety of a medical school, at Auburn, and in 1819, the society petitioned the Inspectors of the State Prison, at Auburn, to give the bodies of deceased convicts for dissection. The Legisla- ture subsequently by law appropriated all such bodies unclaimed by friends for that purpose. A special meeting of the society was held in Jan- uary, 1820, to further the project of a medical school in Auburn, a committee was appointed to circulate a petition to the Legislature in its be- half, and Doctor Erastus D. Tuttle, then physi- cian to the prison, was delegated to go to Albany at the expense of the society to promote this ob- ject. These efforts were put forth more es- pecially with a view to utilizing the prison hospital for clinical instruction, and the unclaimed bodies of deceased convicts for instruction in anatomy. At the society meetings of 1825 to 1831, the un- dertaking was continuously prosecuted, but with- out avail. Hobart College, of Geneva, founded in 1825, finally succeeded in diverting the pro- jected institution to that place. But meanwhile, aided by the grant of unclaimed deceased con- victs for dissection, and the prison hospital for clinical instruction, Doctor E. D. Tuttle, the prison physician, assisted by Doctor James Douglass, of Philadelphia, and Doctors Jedediah and Ira H. Smith, as lecturers and teachers, and Doctor Thomas N. Calkins as anatomical dem- onstrator, opened and conducted a medical school, in a building erected by Doctor Tuttle for that purpose, next above the Bank of Auburn, on Genesee street, and from 1825 to 1829 classes of students were yearly instructed there, while the Legislature was annually besieged for a charter. At the death of Doctor Tuttle, June 22d, 1829, at the age of 39 years, Doctor John G. Morgan was appointed physician to the pris- on, and, associating with himself Doctor Thomas Spencer, Frank H. Hamilton and others, con- tinued the school in a building on North street, on the west side, between Genesee and Water streets. The lectures and course of instruction at these schools were of a creditable character, and Doctors Spencer and Hamilton here com- menced careers, which were so signally distin- guished elsewhere, as professional instructors and practitioners.
The North Street School was at one time the
subject of a popular outburst on account of the dissections carried on there, which, however, subsided without much harm. When Geneva secured the charter for which Auburn had striven, the voluntarily maintained Auburn School received its death blow, and Doctors Spencer and Hamilton became professors at Geneva. But Geneva, not possessing the advan- tages of a hospital for clinical instruction, was obliged at length to yield the coveted prize to Syracuse.
The spirit and standing of the society is fur- ther illustrated by the adoption at the January meeting in 1842, of a resolution appointing a committee of five, of which Doctor S. Gilmore, now of Fleming, was chairman, to publish at the expense of the society, a journal of medical news and papers prepared by members of the.society. One number of this paper was published in pamphlet form, at a cost to the society of $80, and proved too expensive to be continued. This number contained a paper on Asiatic cholera, and several others, among which was one by Doctor Consider King, of Venice, on Acute Peritonitis, in which he advocated the use of efficient doses of calomel and opium in its treat- ment, an early recommendation of what is now considered a standard practice. In 1841, Doctor Joseph T. Pitney, who died in Auburn, April 20th, 1853, performed successfully on a woman in Scipio, the capital operation of tying the sub- clavian artery on the left side above the clavicle, in the second part of its course, for aneurism. To American surgery very much is due for es- tablishing the propriety of successful operations upon the large arteries, and to American surgery is exclusively due the credit of originating the operation of ovariotomy. Doctor Lansingh Briggs was the first to perform the latter opera- tion in this County-October 3d, 1867-and was successful in the result. He has performed the operation thirteen times, in eight of which he was successful. These evidences of a high standing of professional intelligence and skill might be largely added to. Previous to 1806, when the evidence of qualification to practice was certified by the courts, the following inter- esting incidents are recorded : October 6th, 1797, Judge Wm. Stevens, of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, certified that Doctor John H. Fris- bee had exhibited to him a certificate from the
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CAYUGA COUNTY HOMEOPATHIC SOCIETY.
Chevalier St. George, Surgeon-in-Chief of Kings Hospital, at Port Au Prince, of Doctor Frisbee's service under him at said hospital and of his qualification to practice medicine and surgery in any part of the world. A certificate of license for another member of the society was based upon the diploma granted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of London, England ; and one, decidedly Hibernian, was upon the cer- tificate of two gentlemen, who each stated that the other was a physician in Galway, county Galway, without stating from what source their own right to be deemed physicians was derived.
The number of members who have joined the society, is about 230, who have held diplomas granted by the Medical Colleges of this State, of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and by the State and County Societies.
The society library was commenced in 1806, from the support derived from a yearly tax on the membership of an amount equal to $20. It grew to a respectable size and was valuable in its composition. Its books and journals were cir- culated throughout the County and it continued to flourish till 1848, when the society virtually disbanded and sold the library at auction. The explanation of this action is to be found in the act of the Legislature, passed in 1845, affecting the practice of medicine in this State, and which it was thought would prove detrimental to the interests of the profession. It has, however, worked beneficially, in resting the prestige of the profession upon its real rather than its assumed merits ; but it was not until 1864 that the society aroused from the torpor which followed this action and renewed its career of usefulness. It now numbers thirty-six members, who are drawn from all parts of the County.
The following are the members who resided in Auburn at the time of joining the society, with the date of joining : .
David H. Armstrong, June 6, 1866; Chester Bradford, May 1, 1828; Asahel M. Bennett, May 5, 1814; Leander Bigelow, August 7, 1828 ; Lansingh Briggs, May 5, 1831 ; J. D. Button, February 3, 1831 ; Truman S. Brinckerhoff, August 31, 1864; C. C. Bates, September 10, 1873; Joseph Cole, August 7, 1806 ; A. H. Cogswell, May 6, 1824 ; A. L. Cooper, August 1, 1833 ; T. N. Calkins, August 7, 1834; J. Ambrose
Crane, June 1, 1837; Edward C. Cadwell, Jan- uary 4, 1838; Walter Channing, May 10, 1876; R. H. Chase, June, 1871 ; J. P. Creveling, June, 1871 ; Theodore Dimon, June 3, 1841 ; David Dimon, June 2, 1842 ; --- Dirker, September 12, 1871; Iddo Ellis, November 6, 1806; Charles E. Ford, January 6, 1820; Walter Fosgate, Au- gust 7, 1828; Blanchard Fosgate. June 2, 1843; C. L. George, October 3, 1866 ; Cornelius Groot, June 6, 1866; John Gerin, October 7, 1872; Erastus Humphreys, August 6, 1824 ; Frank H. Hamilton, August 1, 1833: Charles A. Hyde, January 7, 1841; Edward Hall, August 31, 1864; C. M. Hobbie, June 2, 1871 ; Burton B. Hoxie, June 2, 1871 ; William O. Luce, November 10, 1875 ; Stephen Mosher, May 1, 1817; John G. Morgan, February 3, 1825; O. Munson, June 8, 1838; Daniel Monroe, June 3, 1869; Francis O'Brien, October 12, 1864; Joseph T. Pitney, November 5, 1812; Aaron Pitney, February 6, 1824: Ira H. Smith, November 5, 1812; A. R. Shank, January, 1868; C. J. Spratt, June 2, 1869; Charles P. Sanford, June 2, 1869; Erastus D. Tuttle, August 6, 1818; Anna H. Searing, January 14, 1874; Amanda Sanford, June, 1871; Charles Van Eps, August 7, 1828; Charles E. Van Anden, January 18, 1861 ; Joseph M. Wood, August 7, 1827; Sylvester Willard, May 6, 1824: Andrew D. Wood, February 2, 1832 ; Noel Weaver, June 4, 1838 ; J. W. Wilkie, June 1, 1865 ; H. L. Wood, June 2, 1875, John I. Brinckerhoff, Jr., June 2, 1869.
Only two women have been members of this society. Their names are included in the above list.
CAYUGA COUNTY HOMEOPATHIC SOCIETY .- The therapeutics of the Homeopathic school of medicine is founded on the theory of similia similibus curantur. The principle was discovered and applied by Samuel Hahnemann, an accom- plished and skillful German practitioner of the old school of medicine, who abandoned a lucrative practice under Government patronage, at Gom- meon, near Magdeburg, on account of conscien- tious scruples against administering drugs ac- cording to the vague formulas then in use. Hav- ing proved certain remedies upon himself and others, he commenced the practice of his new theory at Leipsic, whence he was soon driven by the bitter opposition he encountered to Paris, where he met with success and secured converts,
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CAYUGA COUNTY HOMEOPATHIC SOCIETY.
among whom was Doctor Gram of Copenhagen, who, having won the highest grade of merit in the Royal Academy of Surgery in that city, came to New York in 1825, and introduced the new practice into America. It spread rapidly, not- withstanding the prejudice and bitter opposition against it, and was first introduced into Cayuga County, in May, 1841, by Doctor Horatio Robin- son, sr. Dr. Robinson commenced the practice of allopathy in 1826 in the towns of Stonington, Conn., and Westerly, R. I., which he continued there 12 years, in company with his father-in-law. In 1838, he removed to the town of Potter, Yates county, N. Y., and in the fall of 1840, having been called in consultation with Doctors Wil- liams, Heath and Childs, residing at Seneca Falls, he became acquainted with Doctor Biegler, who removed that fall to Rochester, from Albany, having settled there some five years previously from Germany. Doctor Biegler was a disciple of Hahnemann, and after a consultation with Doc- tor Robinson, furnished him with books and medicines and gave him directions to guide him in his experiments with the latter. Doctor Rob- inson became a convert to the new system of ther- apeutics and removed to Auburn in May, 1841, where he commenced practice. He formed a copartnership with Dr. E. Humphrey, then physician to the prison, whom he accompanied . by invitation the next day after his arrival, to see a patient, a son of Sherman Beardsley, then one of the wealthy and influential mer- chants of the place. The patient was a boy about 10 years old, who had been sick seven weeks with fever, supervening measles and whose case Doctors Pitney and Bigelow, who had been in consultation with Doctor Humphrey, had considered a doubtful one. "The patient," says Doctor Robinson, "had no pain, but a dry, hot skin, dry, tickling cough, no expectoration, no soreness about the chest, constipation, constant thirst, no appetite, and extreme emaciation. The second day from this visit Doctor Humphrey left for New York, and I took charge of the pa- tient. On visiting him in the morning, there be- ing no change in his condition, I dissolved a few globules of aconite in a half tumblerful of wa- ter and directed a teaspoonful every four hours. In thirty-six hours the fever was entirely sub- dued. Hepor. sulph. soon removed the cough, and pulsatilla and chammomilla completed the
cure, and in eight days he was dismissed cured." This was the first case in Cayuga County treated homeopathically. Doctor Robinson's first con- vert to homeopathy was Doctor McCarthy, of Throopsville, the determining cause being a suc- cessful treatment by Doctor Robinson of a pa- tient who had been treated by himself and Doctor Clary, and consigned to Doctor Robinson's care because considered incurable. Doctor McCarthy's duties were excessive as his ride extended over the northern part of the County. In 1858 or 1859 he was thrown from his carriage and re- ceived a severe contusion upon the right side of the head and face, which resulted in a corcinom- atous tumor, involving the parotid gland, the submaxillary, and a portion of the thyroid gland. This injury so much impaired his naturally strong constitution that he sank into a premature grave in 1863. The second convert to homeopathy in this County was Doctor Cator, of Moravia, who was led to make inquiries concerning it from the effect of Doctor Robinson's treatment of a patient of his-a daughter of Judge Smith, sister of the late Doctor Smith, of Auburn-who, though suffering from tubercular phthisis in an incurable form, was so much improved as to be able to visit around the village, and inspired her friends with the hope of her recovery ; and upon his, Cator's wife, who was suffering from a se- vere case of gastritis, which yielded to the remedies successfully. This was in the fall of 1841. Doctor Hiram Bennett, a partner of Doc- tor Cator's, ventured an investigation with like result. Doctor Cator removed about this time to Syracuse, and introduced homeopathy into Onondaga county, and Doctor Bennett, to Rochester, where he died. The late Doctor Smith, of Auburn, who was then pursuing his studies with Doctors Bennett and Cator, being thus left without a preceptor, took up the home- opathic practice, and continued in Moravia till 1862, when he removed to Auburn. During the first four years' practice in Auburn, Doctor E. C. Witheral, a brilliant student, graduated and settled in Cincinnati, where he worked up a splendid practice, and continued until he died, much lamented by both schools of medicine. Doctor C. E. Swift, now of Auburn, and Doctor George Allen went from Doctor Robinson's office and pursued a successful practice, although Doc- tor Allen's life was a short one. He was cut off
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by consumption after about two years' practice. Doctor Peterson, of Union Springs, a lawyer by profession, turned his attention to the study and practice of homeopathy, but having no diploma, suit was brought against him before Squire Bost- wick, of Auburn, and after a full trial the jury brought in a verdict of three-fourths of a cent to the plaintiff and donated their fees to the defend- ant. Doctor C. W. Boyce came to Auburn and commenced the practice of his profession in the winter of 1847. In the spring of 1851, Doctor Horatio Robinson, Jr., graduated from the West- ern Homeopathic College, in Cleveland, Ohio, and commenced practice in Auburn. A little later, Doctor Hewitt located in Genoa, where he still resides ; Doctor Gwynn, at Throopsville ; Doctor Parsels, at Weedsport ; Doctors Frye, Sprague and T. K. Smith, at Auburn ; and others in vari- ous parts of the County. Doctor Strong, a con- vert from allopathy, was located at Sennett. He subsequently removed to Owasco, where he re- sided several years, then left for the west.
Thus the new system of therapeutics con- tinued to spread ; the literature of the school, to increase ; and new remedies, to multiply. In 1862 the Legislature of this State granted a char- ter to the State Homeopathic Society and in the following May, the Cayuga County Homeo- pathic Society was formed according to the re- quirements of the statue. In 1825, when Doc- tor Gram introduced homeopathy into New York, he stood alone in this country. In 1841, when Doctor Robinson introduced it into this County, there were not more than thirty to thirty- five practitioners in the country. But now the State numbers them by the thousands, the coun- try, by tens of thousands. Within the last twenty years the system has made rapid progress. Its literature has been largely increased by the addi- tion of new works on pathology, therapeutics, and a new materia medica ; eight or ten colleges, one State insane asylum and numerous hospitals have been established under its auspices ; and the intensely bitter opposition which heralded its inception and marked its early growth, has measurably diminished, although a strong pro- fessional prejudice against it still exists.
Following is a list of the physicians of all schools now practicing in Auburn ; Loyal W. Allen, David H. Armstrong, C. C. Bates, C. W. Boyce, Lansingh Briggs, J. S. Brinkerhoff, James
D. Button, Thomas N. Calkins, Joseph P. Creveling, David Dimon, Theodore Dimon, Geo. S. Everts, Blanchard Fosgate, Charles A. Fos- ter, Moses M. Frye, C. A George, Edward Hart- man, B. K. Hoxie, James N. Jenkins, W. O. Luce, David Munroe, Horatio Robinson, Horatio Robinson, Jr., Amanda Sanford, Charles P. San- ford, Alexander R. Shank, Truman K. Smith, William M. Sprague, Charles E. Swift, Daniel M. Tournier, Henry D. Whitbeck, T. J. Wilson, and A. A. White.
CHAPTER XV.
EARLY COURTS, COUNSELORS AND CASES.
FIRST COURTS IN ONONDAGA-IN CAYUGA- PROCEEDINGS - COURT RULES - JAIL AT CAYUGA-GRAND JURORS-JAIL AT AURORA- TRIAL, CONVICTION AND EXECUTION OF INDIAN JOHN-TRIAL OF DAVID WILLIAMS-COUNTY SEAT AT AUBURN-COURT HOUSES-FIRST COURT AT AUBURN -- CAYUGA COUNTY CIVIL LIST.
I N 1794 Onondaga County included also Cayuga, Seneca and a part of Tompkins. The first court was held in a corn-house owned by Asa Danforth ; Seth Phelps of Scipio presided, assisted by John Richardson, Silas Halsey and William Stevens, Judges. Two lawyers only attended this court, Thomas R. Gould and Ar- thur Breese. There were then no lawyers resident in the county.
The first session of the court of Oyer and Ter- miner, for the County, was held at the house of Asa Danforth, on the 21st day of July 1794, at which the presiding Judge was the Hon. Egbert Benson, a Justice of the Supreme Court, assisted by Seth Phelps and Andrew Englis. Attorneys were present from Herkimer and Whitestown. James Fitzgerald was the only criminal tried, and was found guilty of assault and battery and at- tempted robbery. The petit jurors on this trial were John Brown, William Linsley, Thomas Morgan, Henry Watkins, Benjamin Depuy, Nehe- miah Smith, Isaac Strong, John A. Thompson, Noah Olmstead, Jr., Isaac Bailey, William Stev-
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FIRST COURTS IN CAYUGA COUNTY.
ens and Thomas Osman. Several of these jurors were from this section of the County, two from Aurelius, whose attendance upon the court must have required a very tedious journey through the wilderness. That John Stoyell of Moravia, a justice of the peace, should have been fined thirty shillings for non-attendance, was no wonder, for it was a cheap means of relief.
Seth Phelps, County Judge, held a Court of Common Pleas, at Aurora, on the 4th Tuesday in December, 1795, at which the Assistant Jus- tices were John L. Hardenbergh and Benajah Clark.
The attorneys and counselors present at this court, were Thomas Mumford and Daniel Shep- ard, Thaddeus M. Wood and Benjamin Hall were admitted as attorneys and counselors.
In 1796 the courts were held at Manlius, in Onondaga County ; in 1797, at Ovid, in the County of Seneca; in 1798, at the house of Com- fort Tyler, in Manlius, and also at Ovid.
In the latter year James Kent, a justice of the Supreme Court held a court of Oyer and Termi- ner at the house of Seth Phelps, at Aurora, as- sisted by Seth Phelps and William Stevens, Judges. At this court the following persons were admitted to practice in the Supreme Court as attorneys and counselors : Hermanus H. Bo- gart, Daniel Shepard, Vincent Mathews, Thad- deus M. Wood, Glen Cuyler, Thomas Mumford, Elijah Miller, George Hall, Robert W. Stoddard, Nathaniel W. Howell, Eben F. Norton and Silas Marsh.
On the 3d Tuesday in May, 1799, Seth Phelps, County Judge, held the first court in Cayuga Co., at Cayuga Ferry. At this court it was " ordered that John Harris have the liberty faithfully to keep and attend a ferry at Cayuga Village across the Cayuga Lake." The following rates of toll were permitted :
One wagon or cart, with four horses or
oxen $ .88
One wagon or cart, with two horses or oxen,. .66
Each person, .09
Man and horse, .25
Horses and horned cattle, each, .123 Sheep and hogs, .02
At this court it was also ordered, "that the following rules be observed by all and every of the officers, counselors, attorneys and ministers hereof and by all other persons in any wise con- 16
nected therewith." Here follows thirty-five spe- cific rules, which many years since were copied verbatim from the originals by the late Hon. Christopher Morgan. This copy has been depos- ited in the collection of the Cayuga County His- torical Society, by Michael S. Myers, Esq. Those rules furnish a clear compend of the practice o. our courts three-fourths of a century ago.
At this court it was also ordered, that the " liberties of the gaol" in and for the County of Cayuga, be established at Cayuga Village. This was done in conformity to an act which gave to the County Courts authority to fix the " gaol lib- erties " in the several counties of the State and determine the places at which the courts were to be held.
The County courts were mostly held at Cayuga until 1804, when the "gaol liberties " were form- ally transferred to Aurora. Seth Phelps held County courts at Cayuga in 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804, at which, at different times, the Associate Judges were: Seth Sherwood, John Tillottson, William Brewster, and Joseph Annin; and the Justices were : Elisha Fitch, Ezekiel Crane, John L. Hardenbergh, and John Beards- ley. At Cayuga was the easiest passage over the lake, and it was nearly central to the then territory of the County, which included parts of what are now Wayne and Tompkins counties, and all of Seneca county.
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