USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York, and its people, Volume I > Part 92
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117
The taxpayers of the city of Jamestown by a large majority vote decided at an election held August 21. 1920, to establish a municipal milk plant and sanitary distribution system in the city of Jamestown, and a proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $150,000 was authorized, and the creation of a commission to be appointed by the mayor, consisting of four members, to carry out the scheme of municipalization of the milk supply. This proposition was submitted to the tax- payers a year ago, and was defeated by an overwhelm- ing vote. The favorable decision at the recent elec- tion showed a complete reversal of public sentiment and a pronounced vote in its favor. The plan contemplates
the erection of a central station to which all milk from the producer will be bought and tested in a scientific manner, each can from each producer being sub- jected to an individual test so as to safeguard against bacteria and impure milk. The producer will be paid on the basis of the quality of milk supplied ; those having the lowest bacteria count and highest percentage of butter-fat will receive the highest price for milk. The milk will be clarified and all milk, except Grade "A" raw milk, which comes from tuberculine tested cows, will be pasteurized, and all milk will be placed in bottles under the improved method of bottling, under which the milk is free from the touch of human hands or any contamination. The milk will be delivered at an early hour to each hou: e- holder. The city will be divided into thirty districts, one delivery man for each district ; these will take the place of the seventy milk peddlers who are now sup- plying the city with milk, and who are crossing each other's tracks continually and thereby entailing a du- plicate expense and waste of effort, which is now borne by the community. The municipal system will elin- inate the added cost of the present middleman's profit.
The price of milk at the present time in the city of Jamestown is 15 cents per quart for Grade "B" milk. Under municipal operation, it is believed that the milk can be sold at a considerable lower price, and that the consumer will get an improved quality of milk with a full cream content, which is not now the case, and that the farmer will receive a higher price for his product than he now receives. The 40.000 people of the city of Jamestown pay out annually, under prevailing prices, more than one million dollars for milk. This is 60 per cent. more than the entire municipal tax budget for all city purposes.
But the innovation by which it is proposed to elim- inate the element of exploitation of the milk supply in the city of Jamestown and make the supply a matter of public service, is favored more as a health measure, because under the present system a germ-laden bottle of milk delivered to the back door of a home often means a crape on the front door.
By-products which are often of considerable amount in a central plant, will be utilized by the city for the manufacture of cheese, butter and buttermilk.
The proposition to municipalize the milk supply is not a socialistic measure, but a common-sense business- like method by which the citizens unite in the employ- ment of the agency of the city government to do in an economical and sanitary manner that which a superflu- ous number of peddlers are unable to do under competi- tive conditions for private gain. The foremost sani- tarians and health authorities of America have endorsed . the Jamestown plan of handling the milk supply as the only solution of the milk problem.
The secret of Jamestown's success in its many munici- pal activities lies in the fact that the various public utilities are under the control of Boards of Commis- sioners composed of public-spirited men, trained in business affairs or expert in mechanical lines, reappoint- ed continuously hy the Mayor, who is himself a mem- ber of each Board of Commissioners, and who has been reelected Mayor for seven successive two-year terms. This continuity of service gives the people the benefit of extended experience in public affairs, which is just as imperative in the management of a city as it is in the management of a large business corporation. In select- ing men to administer the different utilities, the Mayor has followed the principle of proportional representa- tion by giving to each leading group of citizens a rep- resentative on each of the Water, Light, Hospital,
MICH
cor ubb: · has
ed al t the hase n the Not : r the Pource
ater Hicy
its ed.
to
384
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
Health and Improvement Boards, with the result that the labor, business and professional elements, have equal voice in controlling the important administrative branches of the municipality.
Viscount Bryce in "The American Commonwealth" pointed out that the frequent changes in the personnel of municipal administration produced inefficiency and undemocratic results in many of our American cities. To be governed properly, a city must have experienced men. Such men cannot be had unless there is adequate compensation and a tenure of office long enough to permit proper training in dealing with the business and human problems which enter into public service.
This has been the plan which has made Jamestown one of the best-governed cities on the American con- tinent, with a total per capita annual expense of less than $17 for all purposes, including schools. The city
administration has aimed not so much at a low tax rate -because a low tax rate often means neglect of public health and a laxity in needed improvements-but to se- cure for its citizenship the greatest value in public ser- vice and in elevating the civic life of the community.
The combined receipts from the Water and Light De- partments and the Public Market and Hospital last year were $295,009.05. The combined expenditures, in- cluding interest on bonds, were $206,415.76, leaving a net total annual gain to the municipality of $88,593.29, and this, it must be remembered, is in addition to the gain to the citizens in reduced rates for public service.
Jamestown has long since passed the experimental stage in public ownership, and it is prepared to enter upon an extension along other lines in the field of mu- nicipal activities as soon as the charter and consti- tutional restraints and limitations can be removed.
DENTAL SURGERY AND DENTISTS. By William E. Goucher, D.D.S.
The history of dentistry is one of the most important sections in the annals of modern civilization. No other profession possesses a paragraph so rich in progression, so rapid in rise or so sure of prophecy as the science of dental surgery. The following of its practice har- vests such apparent and wonderful material results that the gratefulness of the relieved sufferer cannot but add prodigious strength and activity to the inspiration of the man who is always trying to find a better way.
To say that dentistry is truly an American inven- tion, should be corrected by writing that modern dent- istry is truly American, for abundance of data is easily at hand that proves that the care or ornamentation of the teeth was practiced by the inhabitants of the races so remote that their history is little more than a chron- ologization of partly lost or forgotten legends.
The Egyptians were undoubtedly the most skilled of any of the early civilizations in the art of healing, for Herodotus, the great historian, wrote, 300 B. C., "The art of medicine is so practised in Egypt that there is found an individual healer for each individual disor- der," and laid great emphasis on a peculiar disease that affected the teeth, gums and jaws, and named a number of remedies used at that time, said to prevent or relieve this malady, many of which, such as myrrh, are still in use. This is probably the first and most accurate record we have of the early existence of pyorrhœa and the uses of prophylactics.
Some of the Persian writers of about the same time describe the use of gold in the mouths of certain digni- taries. Whether this was used as a means to arrest dental cares or for pure ornamentation the authors gave no opinions. While it is now a recognized fact that no gold fillings have been found in the teeth of the Egyptian mummies, it cannot be doubted that the Egyptians knew how to apply artificial teeth. That the Romans were quite adept in the making of false teeth is a certainty, for a number of the early Roman writers refer to them. Martial, one of the first of the great Roman poets, speaks clearly of artificial dentures. That they were made by persons not belonging to the medical profession is very probable, as neither Pliny, Celsus or any other Roman writer on medicine makes any allusion to the art of dentistry. In fact I have not been able to find any word in Latin that is synonymous with dentistry. And thus down through all the ages, writers are constantly referring to either the ugliness or beauty of the teeth. Even Solomon in his beautiful
song to his beloved, likened her teeth to "a flock of sheep that are even shorn which came up from the washing."
It is probable that not until the Eighteenth Century we find individuals who had dedicated themselves ex- clusively to the cure of dental maladies or to repairing the losses of the oral cavity. That no more progression was made for the next hundred years or so is not to be wondered at, for there were no schools or recognized preceptors. It was to the honor of America that she gave to the world the first school that taught the science of dental surgery. From this school came the men who have made modern dentistry. And at this time I wish to mention the great invention, or rather the per- fection of artificial teeth, by Dr. Samuel S. White, who in 1844 was able to so combine platinum and porcelain by a process of baking which furnished the world with an artificial tooth that was practically indestructible, and so natural in appearance that it was almost in- discernible. About this same time came the discovery of the greatest boon to the human race,-anaesthesia, for it was Horace Wells, a dentist, who practiced his profession in Hartford, Connecticut, where he first opened an office in 1838, that discovered anaesthesia. His sign bore the words, "Horace Wells, Dentist, will faithfully perform all operations on the teeth." These carefully selected words finely portray the man who never promised more than he could fulfill and faith- fully discharge. No other heritage has been bequeathed by man to his descendants that has borne more fruit in mitigating the agonies of suffering humanity than that left by this modest man. But, like many others who had preceded him and followed him, who did things for the sake of their doing, he reaped no financial gain. And it was not until the year he died, at the age of thirty-three, that he was honored by the acknowledg- ment of his discovery by the Medical Society of Paris, who in 1848 voted that "To Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist of Hartford, Connecticut. is due all the honor of hav- ing first discovered anæsthesia.
But, like all other trades and professions, all the men who followed the dental profession were not of the stamp of Horace Wells. For the first dentist that we have any record of in Chautauqua county appeared in Jamestown about the year 1835, when there came to Jamestown a travelling gentleman who instantly let it be known he came here to remove or fix broken teeth, or to replace the same with artificial substitutes.
Ra
Bri
don ter : Lat bette man time D . 30
wald
1 25 watc
rer le ma
's p Kony n. Massachu
aire ts in "ed luci
- the p Tens are : BET
Chap
FEELS.
385
DENTAL SURGERY AND DENTISTS
And, according to Mrs. Katherine Griffiths Cheney, who was then a girl about ten years of age, the community was not much better by his coming. He disappeared about as mysteriously as he had appeared. We have several stories about the appearance of a number of these travelling dentists, but they seemed to be men of about the same worth. And so to begin the history of the profession in Chautauqua county we will have to begin with those men who were recognized prac- titioners.
On August 23. 1864, there gathered in Jamestown those who seemed to have been the leading men of the profession in the county, together with some dentists practicing in the neighboring towns across the line in Pennsylvania. No records of this meeting remain oth- er than the names of the men present, and their agree- ment upon certain fees. Those present from Chautau- qua county were: Drs. J. Danforth, C. B. Price, J. R. Rawson, E. H. Danforth and James Harrison, of Jamestown; Drs. C. A. Thompson, J. C. Gifford, of Westfield; Dr. Byron Rathbun, of Dunkirk; Dr. F. M. Briggs, of Delanti; Dr. Anson A. Stone, of Sinclair- ville; and Drs. A. J. Wright and V. A. Lord, of Fre- donia. There are no records to show that these men in- tended to form a society at this time, but it seems quite obvious that they did, for they elected Dr. James Har- rison, of Jamestown, as president. It was but natural that Dr. Harrison was chosen to lead these men to a better understanding of each other. He was the first man to open an office in Jamestown and give his entire time and attention to the practice of dentistry.
Dr. James Harrison came of a family whose genea- logical record extends back many generations. He was of English and Welsh descent; of strong religious inclinations, being a member of the Methodist church. In politics he was a real old Thomas Jefferson Demo- crat. He was one of a large family of children, and having given evidence of great mechanical ingenuity he was apprenticed to a near relative to learn the trade of watchmaker. His active ingenious mind, however, could not content itself with this occupation, for we soon find him busy about the silver forge, and it was not long until he was looked upon as the most skilled silver and goldsmith in his vicinity. Very early in life he married Rebecca Brown at Weedsport, New York, and soon moved to Jamestown, where he intended to follow his trade. It was not long after he had opened his jewelry shop in Jamestown that he turned his at- tention to dentistry as a vocation. His inventive spirit was constantly urging him to the trial of various modes of improvement and experiment, and it was not long before he was looked upon as one of the leading dent- ists in Western New York. That he possessed a large and lucrative practice is very evident, for at the time of his death he was one of Jamestown's largest land owners. To James and Rebecca Harrison were born sixteen children. His daughter Ellen became the wife of his pupil, and afterwards his partner, Dr. John B. Rawson. Dr. James Harrison was horn in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1801, and died in Jamestown. 1873.
Two others of these men have left an indelible trace in the progress of dentistry in Chautauqua county. They are Drs. Byron Rathbun and Anson A. Stone.
Dr. Byron Rathbun was the son of a Baptist clergy- man. He spent his boyhood days in North East, Pennsylvania. After completing his common school education in that town he went to Fredonia and became a student under Dr. C. A. Thompson, who was one of the earliest, if not the first dentist to establish himself in Westfield. With this preceptor Dr. Rathbun fol- lowed his profession for a number of years. In about
1860 he left Westfield and settled in Louisiana, where he was engaged in the practice of dentistry until just before the Civil War. Being a staunch Republican and a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, he realized that Louisiana was no place for him. Upon his return North he opened an office in Dunkirk. He was a very superior operator, and such was his enthusiasm in his profession that he kept abreast with all modes of im- proved methods. Byron Rathbun was of the old type of Christian gentleman. He was for many years ves- tryman and treasurer of St. John's Episcopal Church in Dunkirk. He united very early in life with the Ma- sonic order, and freely contributed his time, energies and talents to advancing the principles and interests of this fraternity. That he held many of the highest of- fices of the local lodge is proof of the love and esteem in which he was held by his Masonic brothers. He died in October, 1902.
Dr. Anson Augustus Stone was born in Mansfield, Cattaraugus county, New York, February 13, 1841. Having graduated from the Springville Institute, he began the study of dentistry with Dr. Alonza Vangh of that place, and after completing his course he came to Westfield and became associated with Dr. C. A. Thompson, after which he moved to Delanti (now named Stockton) and there began a practice of his own. His stay in Delanti was not of long duration, for he soon went to Sinclairville, where he married Sarah E. Furman. Here he resided until 1886, when he moved to Dunkirk and practiced his profession until the time of his death, April 13, 1904. Dr. Stone was a man of a most lovable disposition. In dentistry he exhibited great interest and was held in high esteem by his professional associates.
At this time it seems most proper to make mention of Dr. Edson West, the oldest dentist in the county in number of years of public service. Dr. West began the practice of dentistry in 1873, when he became associ- ated with Dr. A. A. Stone, of Sinclairville. He re- mained with Dr. Stone for a year and a half, after which he went to New York and took a course in the New York School of Dental Surgery. Upon complet- tion of this course in 1877 he came to Jamestown, and was associated with Dr. J. H. Thurston. This part- nership lasted for two and a half years, when he bought out Dr. Thurston. He is still practicing in the same location he began his professional career more than forty-six years ago. Dr. West is one of the few re- maining of the old school who knew and understood the art of filling teeth with gold foil. With the passing of the few remaining of these men will go a knowledge that the younger generation of dentists has not ac- quired,-the restoration and saving of the teeth by gold foil.
To Dr. C. L. Titus, of Portland, New York, belongs the distinction of being the first man to register under the law with the county clerk, July 22, 1879. Just prior to this a law was passed by the State requiring all the dentists to register who could be recognized as legal practitioners. Thirty-four men in the county took ad- vantage of this law. Up to the present time there have been one hundred and forty-nine men registered as dentists.
While as individuals the dentists of this county have generally been progressive and ranked high in the adoption of the latest methods and the employment of the most modern apparatus, there seems to have been a lack of unity of effort. There was no dental society or association for an interchange of ideas or bringing to- gether of a closer social relation until 1895, when the dentists of Jamestown met in the office of Dr. A. W.
Chau-25
386
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
Weible, and the writer, to form a dental society. That these men recognized the worth and high ideals of Dr. Edson West at that time is quite apparent, for they elected him their president. The time for organizing a dental society was not quite at hand, however, for after one of two feeble attempts to meet again, the organization passed into a state of coma and it was not until 1917 that the present organization, the Jamestown Dental Society, was formed. That it was to be a suc- cess was assured at the first meeting. The men began to talk about and tell what they were doing; there were no more professional secrets ; every man seemed to be imbued with but the one idea,-to help his pro- fessional brother and instill in the minds of one another the higher ideals due a profession so worthy as the practice of dental surgery.
Dr. Frank A. Monroe was elected the society's first president. The wisdom of this first choice instantly began to assert itself. Dr. Monroe's genial disposition, unassuming ways and invincible courage, gave him the elements of character that made him the friend of every man. The influence of this society soon spread beyond its members, and it is impossible to embrace the names of all those who have done earnest work and been active in thought and energy in aiding its progress. As to the worth of this organization, had it accomplished no more than the establishment of the Dental Clinic in the public schools of Jamestown, it might truly be said these men have, in this act alone, received sufficient harvest to pay them well for their effort. The idea of a free dental clinic in the public schools was not looked upon with much favor by the school board. There had been no money allotted for any such purpose, and although the different members
of the society volunteered to give a certain portion of their time to this work gratuitously there remained to be furnished material, instruments and equipment. This problem was soon solved, and it is to the credit of Cy- rus E. Jones, Esq., who gave the money which pur- chased the equipment assuring Jamestown of its first Public School Free Dental Clinic. This subsequently was installed as a memorial to his son Emory, who died in his senior year in the high school, 1914.
During the school year of 1919-1920, according to the yearly report of Dr. Frederick W. Nisson, who was the school dentist at that time, there were 865 patients at- tended by him; the number of teeth extracted was 539; the total of operations performed-all of more or less consequence, such as fillings, treatments, et cetera- numbered 3,088. Had it not been for the careful ex- amination by the school dentist, it is quite likely that but a small percentage of these defective teeth would have been called to the attention of a dentist until it was too late to have them taken care of in the most beneficial manner for their preservation.
We have seen the trade progress to a profession, the profession divided into various branches of specialized art. The terrible dread of the dental chair has given way to modern dentistry, and the time is not very distant when the public will be looking for preventive dentistry instead of depending upon the skill of the doc- tor to repair defective teeth, sometimes so far gone that the only alternative is to replace them by artificial dentures. And when the little folks of today, who have had their teeth properly attended to early in life, grow to manhood and womanhood, the stories of dental tor- ture will seem but myths.
PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES.
WESTFIELD CHAPTER, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERI- CAN REVOLUTION, was organized in Westfield, February 21, 1898. The charter members were: Mrs. George W. Patterson, Mrs. Catherine Patterson Crandall, Mrs. Frances Patterson Faust, Miss Elizabeth Jolinston, Miss Hannah D. Johnston, Mrs. Helen Sutton Moore, Mrs. Martha Hendy Swezey, Mrs. Saralı E. Fosdick, Miss Sara R. Munson, Miss Lydia N. Patchen, Mrs. Estelle Wood Rood, Mrs. Mary E. Whitney, Mrs. Mary Carl Minton, Mrs. Anna Dickson Sackett, Mrs. Clara Dick- son Nicholls, Mrs. Rachel York Paddock, Miss Har- riet Hall.
Mrs. George W. Patterson was appointed regent of the Chapter which was named in honor of the Patter- son family by a unanimous vote. Mrs. Patterson serv- ed her first term under appointment by the State Regent, then was elected by vote of the Chapter each year until her death, her service extending over a pe- riod of eleven years. A memorial tablet to her mem- ory was placed by the Chapter in the vestibule of Pat- terson Public Library, which was unveiled July 5, 1912. The other officers of the Chapter during its first year were: Mrs. Whitney, vice-regent; Mrs. Swezey, sec- retary ; Mrs. Faust, register; Miss Patchen, treasurer.
The Chapter has been active along the patriotic lines which inspired its being, and has done a great deal toward the preservation of historic sites and land marks -and in fostering a spirit of remembrance and loyal devotion. It has marked the graves of Revolutionary soldiers with the stone which the government furnishes, their records showing among the graves so decorated that of Luther Barney at Bemis Point. He was born in Connecticut in 1758, came to Ellery, Chautauqua
county, in 1830, and died in 1845. His daughter, Mrs. Ruth Barney Maples, was a member of Patterson Chap- ter, D. A. R., the only "real daughter" belonging to the Chapter. Patterson Chapter has also decorated graves in Westfield Cemetery, East Ripley Cemetery, Union Cemetery, and in Volusia.
Benjamin Prescott Chapter was organized in Fre- donia, January 2, 1899, and named in honor of Col. Benjamin Prescott, who fought at Bunker Hill. The first regent was Miss Martha Jane Prescott, a great- granddaughter of Col. Prescott, and a granddaughter, Miss Elizabeth Prescott Haywood, was also among the early members. Four "real" daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution have been members of Prescott Chap- ter-Mrs. Charlotte (Root) Godfrey and Mrs. Harriet (Root) Young, daughters of Ebenezer Root, of Massa- chusetts, a Revolutionary soldier; Mrs. Virtue E. Cole, born in Sinclairville, Chautauqua county, daugh- ter of Samuel Sinclair ; Mrs. Elizabeth (Hood) Perkins, daughter of William Hood, died in 1856, aged 90, and is buried in the old cemetery at Fredonia.
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.