History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878, Part 94

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 932

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Dr. Watson's mother was the daughter of Hon. Caleb Earle, a former Governor of Rhode Island.

Dr. Watson was graduated at Brown University with dis- tinction in 1852. During his collegiate course he was par- ticularly noted for his fondness of and proficiency in the classic languages of antiquity. His original dissertations in the Latin and Greek obtained for him the highest prizes in those departments of collegiate study, and at the exhibition in the Junior year he was awarded the high distinction of delivering the oratio Latina. While in college he became a member of the Phi-Beta-Kappa and Psi-Upsilon Societies.

From his earliest youth he had shown a love of and an aptitude for the medical profession. Immediately after his graduation he entered upon its study in the office of the eminent physician, Dr. A. H. Okie, of Providence.

After attending lectures at the Homoeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, he received his medical degrec, and immediately located in Utica, N. Y., where he now has an extensive and influential practice.

He was elected a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1854. He was one of the founders of the Homopathic Medical Society of Oneida County, and was elected its president, Oct. 16, 1860. He delivered the address at the reorganization of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York, in the city of Albany, Feb. 28, 1861. He was elected permanent member of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York in 1866. On the 12th of January, 1868, he was elected president of the last-named society, and delivered the annual address before it Feb. 9, 1869.

Dr. Watson has been particularly distinguished as the advocate of a higher standard of medical education, and as the uncompromising opponent of sectarianism in medicine.

He took a leading and very active part in the contro- versy of 1870 and 1871, by which that unjust and bigoted official, Dr. H. Van Aernam, Commissioner of Pensions, who had removed Dr. Stillman Spooner and other homoeopathic physicians from the office of pension-surgeon, for the avowed reason that " they did not belong to the school of medicine recognized by the bureau," and had thus sought to cstab- lish a sectarian test for admission to office, was himself dis- placed, and the ejected homœopathists reinstated.

On the 13th of February, 1872, he delivered an address before the State Medical Society at Albany, on " The Homo- opathic School, the Modern School of Rational and Liberal Medicinc," which, while it aroused the hostile criticism of the bigoted by its liberal and catholic spirit, gained for him the approval of the liberal-minded members of both the allopathic and homoeopathic schools.

At the sesssion of the American Institute of Homœo- pathy, held at Cleveland, June 6, 1873, he introduced and in an elaborate speech supported the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted, as indicating the policy of the profession :

" Resolved, That homoeopathists everywhere should strenuously in- sist upon the non-violation of the great fundamental American prin- ciple of 'no taxation without representation,' hy seetarian monopoly, either of national, State, county, or city institutions supported hy legal assessments, or of those private cleemosynary institutions which derive their support from individual contributions.

" Resolved, That the recognition of this principle by the Legislature of Michigan, by its action at its recent session, in creating two pro- fessorships of homeopathy in the University of that State, meets the most hearty approval of this body."

Dr. Watson is the " Examiner in Diagnosis and Pathol- ogy" of the " First State Board of Medical Examiners," ap- pointed by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, under the "act relating to the examination of candidates for the degree of Doctor of Medicine," passed May 16, 1872.

Dr. Watson was married to Miss Sarah T. Carlile, of Providence, R. I., May 1, 1854.

Dr. Watson was instrumental in establishing the "New York State Asylum for the Insane at Middletown." In his inaugural address as president of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York, in February, 1869, he recommended "the appointment of a committee to urge upon the Legislature the necessity of taking appropriate action in reference to the erection of a Lunatic Asylum, to be located in one of the southern tier of counties of the State, and to be placed under the control of a physician of good standing in the homeopathic school."

He was appointed trustee of the above-named asylum, May 28, 1873, by Governor John A. Dix, "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," and served until April 20, 1876, when he resigned from the fact that his residence at a distance from the asylum, in connection with his professional duties, prevented him from regularly attend- ing the meetings of the Board of Trustees.

He was appointed United States Examining Pension- Surgeon, March 19, 1875.

The honorary degree of " Doctor of Medicine" was con- ferred upon Dr. Watson by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, July 11, 1878.

It politics, Dr. Watson is an ardent Republican, and, as far as his professional duties will permit, upholds the tenets of that party by his voice and pen.

Among the published papers of Dr. Watson may be enu- merated the following: "The Past and Present Position of Homoeopathy and the Duties of its Practitioners," delivered before the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York, Feb. 28, 1861, published in vol. i. p. 39 of "Transactions" of the society ; " Cerebro-Spinal Menin- gitis," read before the Homoeopathic Medical Society of Oneida County, June, 1863, published in vol. ii. p. 126 of " Transactions" of the State Society ; " Nosological Classifi- cation of Disease," by Drs. W. H. Watson and H. M. Paine, read before the Oneida County Homeopathic Medical Soci- ety, June, 1863, published in vol. ii. p. 151 of "Transac- tions" of the State Society ; " Inaugural Address" as piesi-

. Watrow.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

dent of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York, Feb. 9, 1869, published in vol. vii. p. 1 of "Transactions" of the State Society ; " Annual Address" as president of the Homeopathie Medical Society of the State of New York, on " The Medical Profession, its Duties and Responsibilities, and the Relation of the Homeopathic to its Allopathie Branch," February, 1869, published in vol. vii. p. 40 of "Transactions" of the State Society ; " Allo- pathic Bigotry," published in vol. vii. p. 709 of "Trans- actions" of Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York ; " Homoeopathy," originally published in " Zell's Popular Encyclopædia," also in vol. viii. p. 745 of " Transactions" of Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York ; " Illustrations of Allopathie Intoler- ance, and Statements showing Public Opinion in Reference thereto," by Drs. Win. H. Watson and H. M. Paine, pub- lished in vol. x., art. cxxvii., of " Transactions" of Homo- opathic Medical Society of the State of New York ; " The Advanced Medical Act," a letter to the Medical Committee of the Senate and Assembly of the Legislature of the State of New York, setting forth the objeets and provisions of the " Law Authorizing the Appointment of State Boards of Medical Examiners," and the reasons for supporting it, published at p. 425, vol. x., of " Transactions" of Home- opathic Medical Society of the State of New York ; " No Sectarian Tests as a Qualification for Office, and no Sectarian Monopoly of National Institutions," "Transactions" of Homeopathie Medical Society of the State of New York, vol. x., article cxxvii.

DR. EBENEZER LEACH

was born in Plymouth, Mass., March 18, 1797, and was a descendant in the maternal line of Miles Standish, his grandmother being a great-granddaughter of the distin- guished pilgrim.

His father, Caleb Leach, was a native of Halifax, Plymouth Co., Mass., and was noted in his day for general ability and great mechanical talents. In 1796 he con- structed, under contract with the town of Plymouth, what for that time was a remarkable undertaking, namely, a system of general water-supply, by means of underground pipes. It was called the Plymouth Aqueduct. Wooden logs were used for the pipes, and the difficulty he experi- enced in boring the necessary holes through these led Mr. Leach to invent the screw auger; and the first one he made and used at that time is still to be scen among the articles preserved in Pilgrim Hall, at Plymouth, Mass.

The success of these water-works gave Mr. Leach a wide reputation, and Boston, Philadelphia, and New York each sought and obtained the aid of his talents and services in similar undertakings ; and in New York, at the urgent so- licitation of De Witt Clinton, Aaron Burr, and others, he took the superintendence of the construction of the Man- hattan Water-Works (which preceded the Croton), and brought them into successful operation.

He also built one of the first long bridges over the Sus- quehanna River.

He was a man of original mind, a great reader, and one of the earliest receivers in the country of the doctrines of Swedenborg, of whose writings he was a close student,

possessing for years copies of the original foreign editions of his works, including the voluminous " Arcana." He dicd at Utica, where he lived the latter part of his life, March 18, 1837.

Doctor Leach was with his father during his residence in New York City, and was subsequently engaged with him for some eight years in woolen manufacturing, and flouring business at Owego, Tioga Co., N. Y. At the age of twenty- one he was married to Olive, danghter of James S. Foster and Betsey Miles, of Paris, N. Y. She was born at Cats- kill, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1799.

Photo. by Williams.

E. Leacht

In the year 1826 the doctor removed with his family to Utica and soon after engaged in the jewelry business, which he was obliged to relinquish in 1838 on account of the loss of his sight. This affliction was prolonged for several years, and led him, after a partial recovery, to make a thorough study of the eye, its various diseases, and methods of treat- ment. For this, his habit of close application, power of patient investigation, thoroughness of research, which no superficial attainment would satisfy, combined with unusual mental ability, peculiarly fitted him. The result was re- markable. After a time he opened an office in Utica, as an oculist, and so successful did he become in the treatment of the various diseases of the eye, that he soon not only acquired the respect and confidence of the physicians and citizens of his city and county, but gained a wide reputa- tion throughout the State and the Union.

Great energy, perseverance, and elose application charac- terized him, and for years he treated on the average over one hundred cases daily, so great were the calls upon his acknowledged skill.

Could he have lived, as was hoped, to embody, as was often urged upon him by physicians and others, the results of his knowledge, skill, and experience, in an illustrated and exhaustive work on the diseases and treatment of the

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

eye, it would have been one of the most valuable contribu- tions to medical science ever published. But the tax upon his endurance and great resolution to do was too great for his physical powers, impaired as they had been by his pre- vious sufferings with his eyes, and several years prior to his decease he suffered from a slight paralytic stroke ; but only partially recovering, he was obliged thereafter to con- fine his practice to only a limited number of patients each day, and on the day of his death, July 2, 1861, he treated thirty cases.

Dr. Leach was passionately fond of, and possessed a thorough knowledge of, music ; was a master of several instruments, and was for some years organist in Trinity and the Dutch Reformed Churches in Utica.

Although always greatly interested in the affairs of the country, and a man of sincere and earnest opinions, he never took an active part in the political questions of the day, but identified himself first with the Whig and subse- quently with the Republican party.

His children are Eliza Emily, Charles Brayton (who died in San Francisco, Cal., in 1850), and Julia Catherine, wife of Wallace Warren, of Chicago, Ill.

Mrs. Dr. Leach still survives in 1878, although for many years an invalid, and retains her strength of mind to a re- markable degree.

JACOB HUNT

was born in Hillsdale, Columbia Co., N. Y., Jan. 25, 1811. He was the eighth child and fourth son of Captain William Hunt and Betsey Calkins,-the former a native of Vermont, the latter a native of Sharon, Litchfield Co., Conn. His father came with his family and settled in the town of West- moreland, this county, in the year 1814, purchased a farm, and, to some extent, in connection with his farming, carried on the tan and currying business. He was captain in the war of 1812-14, raised a family of six sons and four daughters to manhood and womanhood, and died in the town where he settled, aged seventy-three years. His wife survived him some seven years, and died at the age of seventy-three years. All of the sons have held honorable,' and some of them prominent, places in society.

Dr. Hunt spent his early life at home on the farm, and received his education at the common school, at Clinton Academy, and Cazenovia Seminary, and during his minority was a teacher for four terms. At the age of twenty-one he began the study of medicine with Dr. Parker Sedgwick, of Lowell, Oneida Co., and subsequently studied with Dr. Josiah Nolton, of Cazenovia, N. Y., and, after three courses of lectures at Fairfield Medical College, graduated from that institution, receiving the degree of M.D. from the Regents of the University of the State of New York, Feb. 2, 1836.

He at once commenced the practice of his profession in Lowell with Dr. Sedgwick, and after three years settled in practice by himself at that place, where he remained until the spring of 1853, when he settled in the city of Utica, and has since remained continuously in practice. Dr. Hunt began practice where he had been raised from boyhood, and during his career there as a physician had the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. His specialty has been in the treatment of fevers, in which cases he has been

remarkably successful, and his skill and ability in that direc- tion is worthy of note in writing this sketch. Dr. Hunt has never taken an active part in political circles, but in early life identified himself with the Democratic party ; but upon the formation of the Republican party became a strong supporter of its principles. During his time of practice in Lowell he held for several terms the office of school super- intendent.

Dr. Hunt is a member both of the Oneida County Medi- cal Society and the State Medical Society, and has been elected at two different times as delegate to the American Medical Association.

At the age of twenty he united with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and has since that time been connected not only as a member, but closely identified with the councils of that body, in the various offices of trust and responsibility ; has been an independent delegate to the General Conference at five different times. Dr. Hunt has been twice married : first to Harriet Nurse, of Utica, Sept. 29, 1852. She was born June 10, 1815 ; was an exceedingly modest, unassuming woman ; had a high sense of propriety ; was always judicious and remarkably independent in her opinions and convic- tions. She was ever true and loyal to the church, of which she became a member in 1842. She died April 20, 1870. For his second wife, Jan. 17, 1872, he married Elizabeth A., daughter of Captain Henry W. Snyder, formerly of Albany, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Utica. Dr. Hunt is kind and affable, generous and sympathizing, has a high sense of honor, and abhors the vulgar. He is a man of acknowledged piety, but holds the broadest views of catholicity, and, as a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been instrumental in introducing the lay dele- gation into the Conference of that Church.

CORDEN HACKETT

was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, May 29, 1819. His father, William Hackett, having met with severe financial reverses, came to this country with his family, consisting of his wife, daughter Eliza (now Mrs. John T. Stevens), and son Corden, in the year 1821; for many years was in business with his son after settling in Utica ; was a deacon of the Reformed Church, a plain, unas- suming man, and died at the age of fifty-six, in the year 1851. His mother was a delicate, yet highly-cultivated woman, the daughter of Rev. John Thompson, an Episcopal clergyman. She lived in great retirement until her death, which occurred in 1832, she being thirty-three years of age.

Mr. Hackett at an early age apprenticed himself to Al- fred Burnet, a confectioner and baker. His close attention to business, his integrity of purpose, soon won for him the confidence of his employer, and he was raised to a higher position, and subsequently went into the same business with his father, which he successfully carried on for a number of years, when, on retiring from the business for other pur- suits, soon found that he was better adapted to the business in which his early life was spent, and returned to it with fresh courage and that resolution characteristic of his career in all his business relations, and so extended it as to meet the requirements of a large class of customers in Utica and vicinity, which he has always retained.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Mr. Hackett is ranked among the most active and enter- prising of the business men of Utica, and among others has erected one of the finest blocks on Genesee Street to be found in the city, a view of which may be found on another page of this work.

In politics he has been identified with the Republican party since its formation, casting his first vote with the old Whig party. Although not solicitous of any political preferment himself, he has been active in advocating the principles of his party, and securing men suitable for the various offices within the gift of the people. And notwith- standing his reluctance in official relations, he has been chosen alderman and supervisor for one term each.

Mr. Hackett in early life became a member of the Re- formed Church, and has been prominently identified with its councils and for many years a deacon of that church.

In the year 1858 he married Miss Sarah Lalouette, only child of Daniel S. Hauxhurst, of New York, belonging to a prominent Quaker family of that name, who had settled in Queen's Co., L. I., in the beginning of the eighteenth century, the emigrant being her great-grandfather, Daniel Hauxhurst. Mrs. Hackett was born Oct. 22, 1832, and is a lady of more than ordinary culture.

Their children are Lansing Hall, a graduate of Lawrence- ville, N. J., and also of the law class of "78 at Hamilton College, N. Y., and now a practicing attorney in Utica, N. Y .; Frank Mills (deceased) ; William Corden ; and Clarence Lalouette.

ALFRED CHURCHILL

was born at Chatham, Conn., Aug. 29, 1790. He was son of Danicl Churchill and Eunice Saxton. His father removed to Richfield, N. Y., with his family in the year 1795, made farming his principal business, and died at the latter place, December, 1812.

In the year 1824, December 23, Alfred married Miss Emma, daughter of Matthew Derbyshire, of Hartwick, Otsego Co., N. Y., and in the year 1826 came to Utica, N. Y., where he settled and spent the balance of his life. Soon after his arrival here he entered into partnership with Moses Bagg in the hotel then and since known by his name, and remained in that connection until the year 1836 (excepting one year spent as proprietor of the " North American," located on Genesee Street nearly opposite Broad Street), when the hotel was purchased of Mr. Bagg by a joint stock company, consisting of Horatio Seymour, E. T. T. Martin, E. A. Wetmore, Josiah Rathbun, and himself. Mr. Churchill continued to carry it on until his death, Jan. 10, 1865, having at intervals bought up the interests of his associates, as well as the Bleecker House adjoining on the north, which he united with his own.

Among his fellow-citizens Mr. Churchill was known as a man of high moral worth and unsullied integrity, strictly honest in his dealings with his fellows, kind and considerate to those in his employ, and tender and affectionate in his family relations. He was likewise eminently liberal in the discharge of the claims of society. He had marked char- acteristics, and among the most prominent were great self- reliance, independence of thought, and determination of purpose ; but while acting under the convictions of his own

judgment, he was always upright, honorable, and just. His enterprise and business capacity gave weight to his counsel and success to his individual undertakings.

Mr. Churchill was identified in politics with the Demo- cratic party, yet was not in any sense of the word a pro-

Photo, by Williams.

Alfredbhuschile

fessional politician, looking as well to the men as to prin- ciples involved in casting his vote, and through the suf- frages of his townsmen was elected to the office of alderman in the city for several terms. By his marriage he had three children : Alfred Derbyshire, died Dec. 27, 1853. George Clarence, who received his early education in Utica, and graduated at Rutgers College, N. J., in the year 1851, following which he spent three years as a civil engineer on the Pottsville and Sanbury Railroad, Pa .; Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, Ill .; and on the Utica and Black River Railroad, N. Y. He then entered the law-office of Mann & Edmonds, of Utica, and in the year 1857 was ad- mitted to the courts of the State as an attorney and coun- selor. The youngest child, Charlotte Derbyshire, died Feb. 26, 1834. Mrs. Churchill died Aug. 28, 1866, having survived her husband only a little more than one year.

ALONZO CHURCHILL, M.D.,

of Utica, was born in Richfield, January 20, 1811. His father was Selden Churchill, of Connecticut. The early progenitors of the family were three brothers of the name, who came hither from England prior to the Revolutionary war, two of them settling in New Hampshire, and one, from whom Dr. Churchill reckons his descent, locating in Connecticut. About 1796, Daniel Churchill, with his son Selden, removed to Richfield, Otsego Co., and purchased a tract of land, where, after a residence of seventy years, the father died, in 1866, having reached the venerable age of eighty-three. His wife was Mary (Duel) Churchill, daugh-

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

ter of Daniel Duel, of New York State. Her mother was a descendant of Ethan Allen, of historic fame. After being instrueted in the private schools of the vicinity, Dr. Churchill graduated at the Hartwick Academy, and com- menced the study of medicine with Dr. D. V. Thomas, of Richfield, and afterwards studied with Dr. Menzo White, of Cherry Valley. He attended the requisite course of medical training in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Western New York, at Fairfield, during the years 1832- 33, and in the latter year received a diploma from the Otsego Medical Society. In 1856 he was accorded the degree of M.D. by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, and a similar honor was conferred by the Albany Medical College in 1872. In 1855, Dr. Churchill was chosen to represent his fellow-citizens in the Legislature, and rendered excellent service to the profession while on the committee having in charge the interests of medical societies. Entering the army, in 1861, as surgeon of the 14th New York Volunteers, with rank as major, he continued with his regiment during the entire period of service. This regiment participated in some of the most notable battles of the war,-the seven days' fight on the Peninsula, and also the engagement at Chancellorsville. On the second day of the former battle Dr. Churchill was taken prisoner at Gaines' Mills, or Cold Harbor, as it is sometimes ealled, with about five hundred wounded men. They were sent to Richmond, ostensibly for hospital pur- poses. Arrived there he was ordered to disembark his wounded soldiers, and was himself placed in Libby prison. In a few days, however, the rebel authorities permitted him to remove those who were severely wounded (in number about two hundred) to Savage Station, where our troops, in their retreat, had left the hospital tents standing. During their captivity and transportation the regiment suffered greatly from want of both medical and commissary stores, Dr. Churchill performing operations, the only dressings for which were strips of shelter-tents found on the field.

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History of Oneida County, New York, 1667-1878, Part 94

Author: Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 932

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 932