USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 21
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103
ORGANIZATION OF THE DUCHESS COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
independent temporary wooden bridge from shore to shore, at an estimated cost of $400,000. It is proposed to lay the railroad track on the top chord of the bridge .*
CHAPTER XII.
COUNTY SOCIETIES-EARLY LEGISLATION ON MEDI- CAL SUBJECTS-DUCHESS COUNTY MEDICAL SO- CIETY-ORGANIZATION, CONSTITUENT MEMBERS AND FIRST OFFICERS-DIGEST OF BY-LAWS- EARLY LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS BY THE SO- CIETY - NAMES OF SUCCESSIVE PRESIDENTS- NAMES OF MEMBERS FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIETY-RISE AND SPREAD OF HOME- OPATHY - ITS INTRODUCTION INTO DUCHESS COUNTY-HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL SOCIETY OF DUCHESS COUNTY-ORGANIZATION-SUCCESSIVE PRESIDENTS-NAMES OF MEMBERS FROM THE OR- GANIZATION OF THE SOCIETY-DUCHESS COUNTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY.
T THE practice of "physic and surgery" in the city of New York was first regulated by leg- islative enactment June 10, 1760, and afterwards by an act of March, 1792. March 23, 1797, the first general regulation was attempted, by author- izing the Chancellor, a Judge of the Supreme or Common Pleas Court, or Master in Chancery, to license physicians or surgeons, upon evidence of their having studied two years, etc., and the act of 1792 was repealed. The act of 1797 was amended in 1801, and again in 1803. The pen- alty for practicing without a license at this period was the prohibition to receive remuneration, and the imposition of a fine of twenty-five dollars each time pay was received. April 4, 1806, an act of the Legislature authorized the establishment of County Medical Societies and a general State Medical So- ciety, and repealed the former acts ; and this act was incorporated in that of April 10, 1813, which prohibited persons from practicing "physic and surgery" without having passed an examination and received a diploma from a medical society, which they were required to have recorded in the County Clerk's office, under penalty of being forever dis- qualified from collecting any debt incurred by such practice in any court in this State, and of forfeit- ing twenty-five dollars for each offence of which they might be convicted, provided they received pay or reward for their services. Any person, how-
ever, was permitted to use for the benefit of the sick, " any roots, bark or herbs, the growth or pro- duce of the United States." Every applicant for a license was required to produce "satisfactory tes- timony that he had regularly studied physic and surgery or both * *
* with one or more rep- utable practitioner or practitioners for the term of three years ;" but before being allowed to practice he must have attained the age of twenty-one years. The law authorized qualified physicians and sur- geons, not less than five in number, in counties where no medical society then existed, to organize such society, and empowered them not only to grant licenses but to recognize diplomas granted by other States and countries as well as those received from the Regents of the University and Geneva Medical College. They were endowed with the usual cor- porate powers, and permitted to hold real and per- sonal property not exceeding in value $1.000. They might require the payment by their members of a sum not exceeding three dollars, and by each prac- ticing physician and surgeon in the county a sum not exceeding one dollar a year, for procuring a medical library and apparatus, and encouraging useful discoveries in chemistry, botany, etc. The amended law of April 20, 1818, modified these provisions somewhat, and also required " every practitioner of medicine in this State to report him- self to and connect himself with the medical so- ciety in the county" in which he resided. If any failed to comply, his license was forfeited and he subjected to the provisions and penalties applicable to unlicensed physicians.
Sept. 20, 1806, the following named physicians of Duchess county, being a majority of the physi- cians in the county, met at Cunningham's Hotel agreeable to public notice, and formed the Duch- ess County Medical Society, viz : John W. Smith, Amenia ; Ebenezer Carey and Thomas Laffen, Beekman ; Cyrus Berry, George W. Cook, James Downs, William Ely and Thomas Quinlan, Clin- ton ; Abraham Halsey, John Pinckney, Joseph Rogers, James Thorn and Bartow White, Fishkill ; Uri Judd, North East ; David Delavan and James Scovel, Pawling ; John Chamberlain, Caleb Child, Daniel Dayton, John Thomas, Charles Waldo, Baltus L. Van Kleeck and J. Livingston Van- Kleeck, Poughkeepsie; David Tomlinson and Wm. W. Wheeler, Rhinebeck ; Richard Bartlett, Amasa Beeckman and Ezekiel H. Gurnsey, Stan- ford ; and Benjamin Delavergne and Wm. Lathrop, Washington. Benjamin Delavergne was chairman, and Abraham Halsey, secretary of the meeting.
* The Sunday Courier, Poughkeepsie, September 7, 1873 ; Hough's Gazetteer of the State of New York, 260 ; and other documents.
104
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
The following officers were elected : Samuel Bard, of Hyde Park, President ; Benjamin Delavergne, Vice-President ; Robert Noxon, Treasurer, and J. Livingston Van Kleeck, Secretary. After the election of the above officers, the Vice-President, Benjamin Delavergne, took the chair, and the fol- lowing were elected Censors : Ebenezer Carey, John Thomas, Wm. Lathrop, David Tomlinson and Abraham Halsey. Wm. Wheeler was appointed delegate to the State Society. John Thomas, Bartow White, Thomas Laffen, Wm. Ely and J. Livingston Van Kleeck were appointed to draft a code of by-laws.
Dr. Samuel Bard, who was elected President, had retired from active life. He lived and prac- ticed medicine in the city of New York, before, during and after the Revolution of 1776. He was a very successful practitioner, and, though not a great author, had published a treatise written in 1771, on Angina Suffocata, and another on the " Use of Cold" in hemorrhage. His greatest and best work was a treatise on obstetrics-a work the more valuable because it was written and published after he had retired, and not written to gain a reputa- tion, but to give the young practitioner good ideas particularly on the subject of the cautious use of instruments in obstetrics. Thatcher says, in his biography of medical men, that in 1813, Dr. Bard was appointed President of the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons in New York, which position he held during the remainder of his life .*
At the second meeting, held at the same place the second Tuesday in November, 1806, it was " voted that the annual contribution be two dol- lars." By-laws, which every member of the So- ciety was required to sign, were adopted. They provided, among other things, that the annual meetings of the Society should be held the second Tuesday in November in every year, and the semi- annual meetings the second Tuesday in May. The delegate, in addition to his other duties, was required "to support the honor and dignity of the Society." Provision was made for the punishment of all persons practicing "physic and surgery " contrary to the law of April 4, 1806. "The cen- sors, having been irregularly chosen at the last meeting," were re-appointed at this. The delegate seems to have performed satisfactorily the impor- tant duty assigned him, for at the meeting of May II, 1807, he was thanked for his services as such, "and for his generous refusal to be remunerated for
those services." At the latter date it was resolved "that every candidate for admission de jure into this Society shall produce to the Society a certifi- cate of his legal qualification to practice physic and surgery, according to the former laws of the State, or that at least four members of the Society shall vouch for his qualification."
Nov. 11, 1807, the President, or, in his absence, the Vice-President, was required to appoint three persons in the order in which their names were subscribed to the by-laws, to read dissertations on some medical subject before the Society at its next stated meeting.
Jan. 22, 1808, the by-laws were amended. The Society resolved to confer licenses to practice twice each year, at the annual and semi-annual meetings ; also to "give out twice in every six months before each period, a medical case, ques- tion or aphorism," on which each candidate was expected to write a short dissertation, to "be de- livered to the Secretary at least fourteen days before the next stated meeting, for the perusal of such members as may choose to examine it." The first examination was to be held on the morn- ing of each stated meeting ; " be private before the censors and such members only as the candidate might choose to invite," and "relate to anatomy, physiology, chemistry, pharmacy, pathology and therapeutics, on all of which, the candidate mani- festing competent knowledge, the censors shall give him a certificate thereof under their hands." The second examination was to be public, on the after- noon of the same day, and " consist of a defense by the candidate of such opinion as he may have advanced in his dissertation, against the objections which may be raised by the examiners," who were to be chosen at every meeting of the Society for that purpose. The candidate, having passed a satisfac- tory examination, was required to repeat aloud and subscribe to the following solemn declaration :-
"I, A. B., before God and this assembly, do solemnly promise and declare, that I will, at all times, practice the profession of physic and surgery to which I am now to be licensed, cautiously, dili- gently and conscientiously, and to the best of my abilities, for the good of my patients, the care of their diseases and the preservation of their health ; that I will, on no occasion, sacrifice them either to the hope of reward, the gratification of resentment, inexcusable negligence, or to any other motive whatsoever ; that I will never conspire against the life of the fetus, and that I will sacredly keep all such secrets as shall be confided to me in my pro- fessional capacity, which, as a citizen, I am not bound to reveal."
* From Dr. Per Lee Pine's Paper read before the Duchess County Medical Society at Wappingers Falls, June 8, 1881.
t May 11, 1819, this was repealed and the amount fixed at $1.
105
DUCHESS COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.
Nov. 12, 1811, the by-law relative to the exam- ination of applicants for licenses, passed Feb. 22, 1808, was amended so as to make the day of ex- amination the day preceding the meeting of the society, and May 9, 1815, was again amended so as to permit the censors, by order of the President, to convene on any day for that purpose, except the days of the annual and semi-annual meetings of the society. Nov. 14, 1815, it was "resolved that the examination of the students shall be in the presence of the Society in future, at their annual and semi-annual meetings, and the Society (with the Censors) shall decide on his or their qualifica- tion." Nov. 12, 1816, the by-law relating to examination of students passed Nov. 14, 1815, was repealed, and the law passed in 1806, "revived." At that meeting also the Society concurred in the efforts of the Albany County Medical Society to secure an amendment to the law regulating the practice of physic and surgery in this State, so as to make it unlawful for Censors of incorporated medical societies in this State to proceed to the examination of a student for license to practice physic and surgery unless he previously exhibit a certificate of having attended at least one session of some of the medical colleges in the United States or in Europe.
At a meeting held in January, 1809, the society emphatically dissented from the proposed action of the Medical Society of the City and County of New York, which contemplated recommending to the Regents of the University, the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, as a fit association to be clothed with powers appertaining to County Med- ical Societies. The society was apprehensive of this abridgment of the rights vested in County Medical Societies by the Legislature, and regarded the measure as one calculated to reduce them to mere automatons.
Nov. 14, 1809, the delegate to the State Medi- cal Society was instructed to endeavor to obtain in the Society a petition to the Legislature to repeal so much of a recent act to organize the militia of the State, as subjected "practitioners of physic and surgery to a fine for omitting or refusing to perform military duty."
Nov. 10, 1813, Censors were allowed two dol- lars per day while engaged in the business of their office ; and Nov. 14, 1815, the like amount was voted for attendance at annual and semi-annual meetings. At the latter date, also, it was resolved that a sum not exceeding $160 be appropriated from the moneys in the treasury of the Society,
for the purchase of surgical instruments for the use of the Society, and Drs. Halsey, Cooper and Sher- rill were appointed to make such purchases. May 13, 1817, it was resolved that students thereafter examined should pay to each censor present at his examination $2, and $5 for his diploma. Nov. II, 1817, Dr. Sherrill described the symptoms, treat- ment, termination and examination of a case of polypii of the heart, and the paper was ordered published with the proceedings of the Society. At this meeting it was resolved to be expedient to have a standard of prices fixed for ordinary prac- tice, and a schedule was adopted. A standard for medicine was also adopted, the prices varying from six pence to four shillings.
Aug. 28, 1821, the by-law respecting charges was suspended until the next semi-annual meeting, and the delegate was requested to use his influence with the State Society to repeal their law disap- proving a system of charges by County Societies.
May 12, 1818, the President was required to deliver an address, publicly, on going out of office, or in case of inability to attend, to forward to the Secretary such address in writing to be read before the Society. May 11, 1819, the Vice-President was required to deliver an address at each semi- annual meeting. Nov. 9, 1819, a committee was appointed to purchase "surgical instruments, books, etc," for the use of the Society, in amount not to exceed $75. May 8, 1821, an additional $25 was appropriated for the purchase of books, instruments, etc., for the use of the members of the Society. May 14, 1822, after various resolu- tions had been offered respecting the disposition of the surplus funds of the Society, and the sale of the surgical instruments and books belonging to it, it was resolved that the former be appropriated in future to the purchase of books. May 9, 1826, it was resolved to sell the surgical instruments of the Society, and Nov. 13, 1832, the books. The latter were sold Nov. 12, 1833.
Nov. 12, 1822, it was resolved to be "improper that any penalty other than the annual tax of one dollar should be exacted by law of such physicians and surgeons as are unwilling to become members of the County Medical Societies." The initiation fee, which had been two dollars, was reduced to one.
In January, 1823, the following were unani- inously adopted :-
"Resolved, That we deem it highly requisite both for the honor and dignity of the medical pro- fession as well as for the interest of the community,
106
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
that there should be some tribunal vested with the power of depriving unworthy practitioners of physic and surgery of their licenses to practice.
"Resolved, That we deem it just and consistent with the dignity and utility of the medical profes- sion, that the power to deprive of licenses should be vested with the same body which by law has a right to confer them.
"Resolved, That we concur with the medical societies in this State which have agreed to petition the Legislature so to amend the law relative to physic and surgery that any medical society in this State, on a vote of two-thirds of the members, may have the power to deprive any practitioner of their county guilty of malpractice or habitual intoxica- tion, or convicted of any crime, or who may have become so insane as to be incapable of attending to his ordinary concerns, of his right to practice physic and surgery, reserving always the right of appeal to the State Medical Society or some other tribunal established by law.
"Resolved, That a committee of three be ap- pointed to correspond with other medical societies, and to petition the Legislature on the foregoing subject."
Drs. Cooper, Sherrill and Schenck were appointed that committee, and were also instructed at the same meeting "to draft a memorial to the Legislature of this State, praying that a law may be passed prohib- iting the sale of medicines at retail by any others than those who have served a regular apprentice- ship to the druggist business, or are regular practi- tioners of physic.
In November, 1823, a new set of by-laws was adopted.
Nov. 12, 1833, Drs. Huntington, Sherrill, Stod- dard, Judd and Thomas T. Everitt were appointed "to draft a memorial to the Legislature, to be sub- mitted to the State Medical Society, praying for an amendment to the medical law, so as to require the botanic and other professed practitioners of med- icine to study the length of time and undergo the usual examinations required of regular medical students to entitle them to practice."
Two years later, in 1835, there were 69 physi- cians and surgeons practicing in the county, a larger number than any other county, except Albany, which had 77, Monroe, 84, New York, 530, Oneida, 95, and Onondaga, 80, the total number in the State then being 2,659 .*
Nov. 8, 1842, it was "resolved, that in the opin- ion of this society the privilege of licensing prac- titioners of medicine and surgery ought to be abolished from the county medical societies and from the medical schools ; that the privilege of licensing ought not to be connected with teaching."
This was a period when the physicians of this county in common with others throughout the country were deeply agitated-the period when homeopathy began to force its just claims on pub- lic attention and to legal recognition ; and this action was a precursor of the legislative action which followed in 1844, and was regarded by many with grave and honest apprehension ; for it was feared the action of the Legislature would prove detrimental to the interests of the profession, and many believed "that their efforts to advance a sound rational system of medical education and practice were neither appreciated by the people, nor their representatives in the Legislature." It has, however, worked beneficially, in resting the prestige of the profession upon its real, rather than its assumed, merits.
"So far as I know," says Dr. Pine, whom we have previously quoted, "harmony prevailed in the society up to 1839 or '40. About that time a cir- cumstance occurred which disturbed its harmony. A student by the name of I. Devine came before the censors to be examined for a license. He was examined by them and found qualified. How- ever, before the license was given him, the censors heard of things which made them think his practice would be too utopian; consequently they refused to give him the license. One or two law suits fol- lowed. The society was defeated ; Devine gained his point. His name stands on our roll. From some cause, after that the society became unpopu- lar, and was neglected by the great body of physi- cians for a long time."*
There is no record of a meeting from Nov. 11, 1845, to October, 1854. At the latter date a meeting of the physicians of Duchess county was held at Washington Hollow, and attended by Drs. Hillis, Hughson, Thorne, Dodge, Hasbrouck, Losee, Pine, Harvey, Bell, Campbell and Bockee. Dr. Thorne was chosen president, and Dr. Bockee, secretary pro tempore. After some discussion, and a motion made " to organize a new society uncon- nected with the Duchess County Medical Society" was lost, it was resolved to reorganize that society and Drs. Walter Hughson, Per Lee Pine and Jacob Bockee were appointed to review its by-laws and present them at a future meeting. Nov. 14, 1854, the by-laws were revised and the name "changed to the Medical Society of Duchess County." The following officers were then elected : C. Canfield, President ; A. B. Harvey, Vice-Presi- dent; J. G. Hillis, Secretary ; C. H. Andrus,
* Gordon's Gazetteer of the State of New York, 191.
* The Poughkeepsie Daily Press, June 10, 1881.
107
THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
Treasurer ; R. T. Gill, J. Cooper, J. H. Traver, Per Lee Pine and J. Bockee, Censors. Walter Hughson, Delegate, and A. Hasbrouck, Supernu- merary Delegate to the State Medical Society.
The Society adjourned to meet at Dr. Pine's office in Poughkeepsie, the second Tuesday in February, 1855; but there is no further record of a meeting till July 5, 1859, at which time an in- formal meeting was held at the Poughkeepsie Hotel, and attended by Drs. C. Canfield, President ; John Cooper, A. B. Harvey, R. T. Gill, Wm. Bell, -- Paine and J. G. Hillis. No meetings are re- corded between Nov. 12, 1861, and Nov. 13, 1866. At the latter date the Secretary was directed to apply to the Supervisors for a room in the Court House in which to hold the meetings of the Society. The by-laws were so amended that the annual meet- ings were to be held the second Tuesday in May, and the semi-annual meetings, the second Tuesday in November. A committee was appointed to re- vise the by-laws and schedule of charges. May 14, 1867, the name of Asahel Hall was stricken from the role as " an irregular practitioner." June 1 I, 1867, a modified form of the fee bill of the Cayuga County Medical Society was adopted, also revised by-laws. The time of annual meeting was changed to the second Tuesday in June, and semi-annual, to the second Tuesday in January, each year, and Washington Hollow was designated as the place of holding the former, and Poughkeepsie, the latter.
From this period the records of the Society are replete with reports of interesting cases, which re- flect in a high degree the talent and professional skill of its members.
Jan. 14, 1868, Dr. Barker complained of the action of the Supervisors in "unjustly" cutting down physicians' bills and moved that a committee be appointed to consider the subject and report at the next meeting. Drs. Cooper, Andrus and Webb, who were chosen as such committee, re- ported June 9, 1868, the following, which was adopted :-
"Resolved, by the members of the Duchess County Medical Society, that they will in no case accept a fee for making a post mortem examination at the request of the Coroner, for an amount less than the minimum specified in the schedule of the Society ; and that they will sustain each other in every honorable endeavor to obtain the payment of the same by the Board of Supervisors."
The minimum fee for making a post mortem examination by order of the Coroner was increased from $10 to $20 when made before, and from $20 to $40, when made after interment.
The Society has not confined its efforts to merely local matters, but has aimed to exert a national influence in the interests of the profession and of humanity. Jan. 12, 1870, consideration was given to the case of Passed Assistant Surgeon Charles L. Green, of the United States Navy, who was convicted by court martial for refusing to discharge from the sick list an ordinary seaman, who, in his opinion, was unfit for duty, and a committee was appointed to invite the attention of Hon. John H. Ketcham, Representative in Congress from this district, to the importance of appropriate legisla- tive action. Jan. 11, 1871, that committee re- ported the following resolutions, which were adopted and ordered forwarded to the Representa- tive in Congress, who was urged to use his influence towards procuring such legislation as would place the medical staff on a proper footing :-
"Resolved, That the position of the medical offi- cers of the navy is not that which ought to be given to them in view of the importance and es- sential dignity of their duties ; and that in oppos- ing the proper assimilation in rank, the officers of the line have not shown that courtesy and liber- ality which the members of one liberal profession have a right to expect from the members of another.
"Resolved, That, in our opinion, the medical staff of the United States Navy ought to be ranked so as to correspond in its position with the same service in other nations, and with the like service in our own army.
"Resolved, That, our Representative in Congress be requested to aid in giving the medical staff a more dignified position by urging such amendments to the law as may be necessary for that purpose."
At this meeting of Jan. 11, 1871, the subject of diphtheria, which for some time, and at a period of nine years previously, had been epidemic in his neighborhood, was introduced by Dr. Green, and Drs. Beadle, Mead, Doughty, Andrus, Under- hill, Webb and Young took part in the discussion which ensued on this disease, which Dr. Green defined as blood poisoning. At this meeting, also, a proposition was made to offer two premiums, one of $30 and one of $20, for essays on subjects related to medicine, to be awarded respectively to the first and second in order of merit. The project of more frequent meetings was also discussed.
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