USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : from 1700 to the present time, Volume I > Part 48
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EXHIBITIONS-An art gallery on the second floor has made possible the holding of free exhibitions of pictures. Many have thus been enabled to see originals of Corot, Dupre, Diaz, Ridgeway Knight, Millet, H. D. Murphy, Pen- nell, Whistler, as well as many other modern artists. Since 1904 there have been held twenty-seven exhibitions with a total attendance of 43,606 persons.
UTICA ART ASSOCIATION FUND-The Utica Art Association was formed in 1865 "to promote and encourage the culture of the fine arts, and to elevate and refine a proper taste therefor by the public exhibition of paintings, statuary, and other works of art." After many years of such work it was suggested that
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the library should take up the work of the association and receive its funds. Legal steps towards that object were entered upon in 1906, and in July, 1910, the sum of $6,576.68 was paid to the library as a permanent fund to continue the work of the Utica Art Association.
GIFTS-Besides many gifts of magazines, books and pictures from generous friends, all of which add constantly to the working strength of the library, there have been others deserving notice. At the opening of the new building Mr. Thomas R. Proctor sent a complete and valuable set of autograph letters of the presidents of the United States. These are handsomely mounted, to- gether with a steel engraving and brief sketch of each president, in a substan- tial oak standard. The collection, one of the best in existence, is one of the library's most important possessions, and a source of constant interest to our visitors. In 1905 the late Mrs. Robert S. Williams presented to the library some rare and valuable manuscripts. First to be mentioned, because it is the oldest, is a copy of the four gospels written in 1223 in ancient Armenian. It is a small 16mo and was written with a pen on vellum in a very neat and regular hand. The covers are leather over wood. In spite of its great age, it is in a remarkably good state of preservation. The second manuscript is what is known among book lovers as the "Williams Manuscript," or the Syriac Antilegomema. This was obtained in 1870 by the late Rev. William Frederic Williams, then a mis- sionary at Mardin, by whom it was sent to his brother, the late Robert S. Wil- liams. It contains (1) tables to find Easter and other movable feasts, (2) tables of ecclesiastical lessons, (3) the Acts and Catholic epistles, (4) the Pauline epistles, ending with Hebrews, and (5) a poem of 128 lines. The date of the completion of the manuscript is given in the colophon as July 4, 1471. Careful examination of the manuscript was made by Dr. Isaac H. Hall of the Metro- politan Museum of New York City, who pronounced it genuine. A bronze tab- let made by the Gorham Company for the Lincoln Centennary is a much-valued gift. On this tablet is a bas-relief of Lincoln by Victor D. Brenner, and a copy of Lincoln's famous Gettysburg speech.
In 1893 the staff consisted of the librarian and four assistants, while in 1911 the number has increased to twenty-three.
WATERVILLE-The Waterville Public Library was incorporated by the regents of the state university February 15, 1895, and a charter was issued to W. G. Mayer, H. J. Coggeshall and H. P. Bigelow, its trustees. W. G. Mayer was elected the first president. The board of education granted the use of a room on the third floor of the school building, and transferred to the trustees the school library of about 500 volumes as a nucleus, also an endowment of $1,000 known as the Palmer Memorial Fund, which has been devised by Col. W. Palmer as a memorial to his deceased daughter. The board of education also included in its annual estimate the sum of $75 for the purposes of the new library, so that it began its work under fairly favorable auspices. Miss Mary Smith was appointed first librarian at a salary of $30 per year, the library to be open but one after- noon each week. The board of education having been authorized, by a vote of the taxpayers, to purchase a residence adjoining the school buildings, the use of
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the first floor of this house was granted the library trustees, and, after fitting them up for the purpose, possession was taken in November, 1899. This was a decided improvement, not only because of the additional room, made imperative by the growth of the library, but because of its accessibility. The wisdom of obtaining this location was fully shown by the rapid increase in the number of its patrons. Books were added from time to time, until in 1908 the need for still larger quarters became a matter of grave concern to the trustees. Mrs. I. D. Brainard had given a building on Main street, in the very heart of the village, to the Y. M. C. A., and when it ceased to be used by this association the title, under the conditions of the deed of gift, reverted to the donor. It was suggested to Mrs. Brainard that the building would be an ideal one for the public library, and she, with characteristic generosity, at once decided to convey it to the trus- tees as a memorial to her two deceased sons. The building was fitted for its new use by the board of trustees and was occupied on May 22, 1908. It is exception- ally well adapted for this purpose, the former gymnasium making an ideal stack room. There are also two reading rooms, an issuing room and a librarian's room, while the second story contains meeting rooms for the village board of trustees, the board of education, the health board and the water board, thus making it the seat of the village government. The library now contains 4,000 volumes, and has steadily increased in its usefulness to the community. The trustees are Lieut. W. G. Mayer, who has been president of the board since its incorporation, L. P. Fuess and C. G. Brainard. Miss L. J. West is the efficient librarian, with Miss Cornelia Parker as assistant.
ONEIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Utica)-was incorporated in 1876. The per- sons who effected the organization were Horatio Seymour, CharlesW. Hutchin- son, Alexander Seward, Edwin Huntington, S. N. D. North, Morven M. Jones, Robert S. Williams, William J. Bacon, John F. Seymour, Daniel Batchelor, Richard U. Sherman, Simon G. Visscher, Roscoe Conkling, Pomroy Jones, Luther Guiteau, Philo White, Daniel B. Goodwin, Charlemange Tower, John Stryker, Ward Hunt, Ellis H. Roberts, De Witt C. Grove, Francis Kernan, John H. Edmonds, Michael Moore, Alexander S. Johnson, Edward North, Othniel S. Williams, William D. Walcott, Daniel E. Wager, John P. Gray, John G. Crocker and Theodore S. Faxton, and to them are due great credit for an organization which, all things considered, may be counted one of the best in Oneida county. It was through its instrumentality that the splendid monument was erected on the Oriskany battle field, and to Mr. John F. Seymour was due the principal credit of that enterprise. Mrs. James Watson Williams, by her will, left $50,000 for the erection of a memorial building, to be known as the Munson-Williams Memorial Building. It is unfortunate that the building was located at the junc- tion of John and Elizabeth streets and Park avenue. The location was not well selected, and it cannot be said that the expensive building is well arranged for the purposes intended. The accumulation of valuable treasures has been so rapid, that the time will soon arrive when a much more commodious building must be provided. It is hoped that a better location will be selected, and that the future will demonstrate the wisdom of the enterprising citizens of 1876, who
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organized this splendid association. The officers of the association from the time of its incorporation to this date are as follows:
Presidents- Horatio Seymour, 1876-86; Ellis H. Roberts, 1887-90; Charles W. Hutchinson, 1891-96; George D. Dimon, 1897; Thomas R. Proctor, 1898-99; Alfred C. Coxe, 1900-01; Charles S. Symonds, 1902-03; E. Prentiss Bailey, 1904- 05; Milton H. Merwin, 1906-07; Wm. Carey Sanger, 1908-09; Charles Tyler Olmsted, 1910 to date.
First Vice Presidents-Alexander Seward, 1876-77; Charles W. Hutchinson, 1878-83; Ellis H. Roberts, 1884-86; Isaac S. Hartley, 1887-89; Charles W. Hutchinson, 1890; Henry Hurlburt, 1891-93; William M. White, 1894-95; George D. Dimon, 1896; Thomas R. Proctor, 1897; Alfred C. Coxe, 1898-99; . Frederick T. Proctor, 1900; Edward Comstock, 1901-03; Milton H. Merwin, 1904-05; John L. Earll, 1906-07; Charles T. Olmsted, 1908-09; Herbert J. Pease, 1910; E. Huntington Coley, 1911.
Second Vice Presidents-Charles W. Hutchinson, 1876-77; Alexander Se- ward, 1878-81; William J. Bacon, 1882-83; Isaac S. Hartley, 1884-86; Daniel E. Wager, 1887-89; Henry Hurlburt, 1890; George D. Dimon, 1891-95; Thomas R. Proctor, 1896; Cyrus D. Prescott, 1897-1900; George M. Weaver, 1901-02; Milton H. Merwin, 1903; John L. Earll, 1904-05; Ralph W. Brokaw, 1906-07; Herbert J. Pease, 1908-09; Thomas R. Proctor, 1910-11.
Third Vice Presidents-Edward Huntington, 1876-81; Daniel E. Wager, 1882-86; John F. Seymour, 1887-89; Daniel E. Wager, 1890-96; Alfred C. Coxe, 1897; N. Curtis White, 1898-99; Warren C. Rowley, 1900; Joseph V. Haberer, 1901-02; John L. Earll, 1903; Ralph W. Brokaw, 1904-05; Willis E. Ford, 1906- 07; Thomas R. Proctor, 1908-09; E. Huntington Coley, 1910; Herbert J. Pease, 1911.
Recording Secretaries-Moses M. Bagg, 1876-77; S. N. Dexter North, 1878-82; Moses M. Bagg, 1883-88; Rees G. Williams, 1889-92; Wm. Pierrepont White, 1893-97; Donald McIntyre, 1898-1911.
Corresponding Secretaries-Morven M. Jones, 1876-83; Charles W. Darling, 1884-1905; Horatio Seymour, Jr., 1906-07; Wm. M. Storrs, 1908-11.
Librarians Morven M. Jones, 1876-86; Fred C. Ingalls, 1887-88; Moses M. Bagg, 1889-1900; Dana W. Bigelow, 1901-11.
Treasurers-Robert S. Williams, 1876-86; Warren C. Rowley, 1887-98; Syl- vester Dering, 1899-1900; Frank R. Winant, 1910-11.
Dr. Matthew Brown, Jr., of Rome
Dr. Luther Guiteau, Sr .. of Oldenbarnaveld
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF ONEIDA COUNTY
CHAPTER XXVII.
MEDICAL PROFESSION AND INSTITUTIONS.
As far as can be ascertained from the old records it would seem that prior to the year 1790 the portion of the western wilderness now known as Oneida county could boast of no physician in residence, and what the few earliest set- tlers at Fort Stanwix, at Whitestown and at Deerfield did when in need of medical aid is largely a matter of conjecture. The native Indian had his medi- cine man, who, though more of a religious leader than a physician had, never- theless, some knowledge of herbs. Then, too, many years before any white settlers penetrated to the head waters of the Mohawk, the Jesuit missionaries from Canada had made friends with the members of the Six Nations, and were hospitably received in their "castles." As every member of that wonderful order was a man of wide learning and no small medical training, and as one reads in Parkman's histories of these advance agents of civilization caring for the sick Indian in his tepee, tending the wounded in battle, and teaching the elemental principles of hygiene, these religious enthusiasts may properly be considered as probably the first to have introduced European medical knowledge into Oneida county.
With the building and garrisoning of Fort Stanwix at what is now Rome, it is probable that at least from time to time military surgeons were quartered there with the troops, and may on occasion have given help to the friendly In- dian and the few settlers and travelers in the neighborhood. But if so, no proof thereof remains, and our first definite records of physicians in Oneida county appear in the accounts of the battle of Oriskany when we read that Dr. Petrie, himself wounded, dressed General Herkimer's leg on the field; and that Dr. Younglove was captured by the enemy, robbed, stripped of his clothing, and barely escaped the tomahawk, but survived many hardships to immortalize his experiences in a poem. Dr. Petrie was a resident of German Flats-the region extending from east of Little Falls to Frankfort-and as that neighborhood had been inhabited by the family of General Herkimer and other pioneers since 1725, it is possible that the local doctor's professional duties carried him far enough up the river so that he may have been considered as practicing also in Oneida county.
Though little further than these poor facts is known of physicians actually practicing in this county in Revolutionary days, the remains of two surgeons, eminent in that war, found their final resting places within the borders of our county. The first of these, Dr. John Cochran, of Albany, was appointed on the recommendation of General Washington, surgeon general of the middle depart- ment of the army of the United States April 11, 1777, chief physician and sur-
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geon of the army October 6, 1780, and director general of the army hospitals January 17, 1781. He was mustered out at the close of the war, and died at Palatine in 1807. A few years later his remains were brought to Utica by his son, Major James Cochran, and were buried in the old Water street cemetery. On the centennial of the battle of Bunker Hill they were again removed, with military pomp, to Forest Hill cemetery.
The other Revolutionary veteran was Dr. Augustus Burgoyne, surgeon gen- eral to the army under his uncle, General Sir John Burgoyne. After the bat- tle of Saratoga Dr. Burgoyne was taken prisoner and carried into Vermont, where he afterwards married, settled down and practiced medicine. In his old age he lived at the home of his daughter, the wife of Zenas Bird of Augusta, where he died in 1824 at the age of 87 years, and is buried near Knoxboro.
During the barren paralyzed years following the close of hostilities, Oneida county was practically untenanted by the white man, and was, therefore, without a physician. The tremendous wave of immigration westward, however, which marked the reaction from the war, and steadily increased during the last dec- ade of the eighteenth century, causing hamlets and villages to crop up like mushrooms in every corner of the county, swept with it probably as many as a score of physicians. Coming up the Mohawk by bateau, canoe, or on horseback, these sturdy, strong, venturesome young medical men, as a rule, landed at Old Fort Schuyler, and then struck off in search of hamlet or settlement which seemed to give promise of supporting a physician.
The earliest of these medical pioneers to settle in our county and to achieve sufficient prominence to leave their names behind them were Dr. Norton Porter of Westmoreland, who settled in that town in 1791; Dr. Francis Guiteau, Jr., of Deerfield; Dr. Sewal Hopkins of Clinton, of whom mention is found in 1792; Dr. Matthew Brown, Jr., of Rome, 1793; and Dr. Samuel Carrington of Utica, 1794.
DR. NORTON PORTER was probably the first, and was certainly one of the first two physicians to settle in Oneida county. Born in Abington, Mass., in 1771, he emigrated in 1791 to the town of Westmoreland, just five years after the first settler, James Deane, located in that neighborhool. During those five years, however, Westmoreland had become a flourishing village, with many sur- rounding hamlets, and the services of a physician were much in demand. For forty years Dr. Porter practiced all over the countryside, and after a long and honored life finally passed away in New York Mills, November 18, 1852, at the home of his son, Dr. H. N. Porter.
DR. FRANCIS GUITEAU, JR., a descendant of Huguenot refugees and a son of Dr. Francis Guiteau of Pittsfield, Mass., settled in Deerfield in 1792, and began the practice of medicine. The prestige which Dr. Guiteau attained as the first physician in the neighborhood of the newly settled hamlet of Fort Schuyler he maintained for many years by his natural ability, and was long accepted as the leading surgeon of this part of the state. After practicing for nine years in Deerfield he moved to Utica, and in 1803 formed a partnership with Dr. Solo- mon Wolcott, as physician and druggist. In 1814 he moved to Whitesboro,
DR. ALEXANDER COVENTRY President, 1823-1825
DR. JOHN McCALL President, 1846
DR. CHARLES B. COVENTRY President, 1854
DR. DANIEL P. BISSELL Vice President, 1862 ; President, 1863
DR. JOHN P. GRAY President, 1867
DR. GEORGE SEYMOUR Vice President, 1900
OFFICERS OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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where he died in 1824. In 1809 Dr. Guiteau was elected vice president of the Oneida County Medical Society, and in 1813-14 was made president.
DR. SEWAL HOPKINS was born in Great Barrington, Mass., and studied medi- cine at Stockbridge. The exact date of his coming to Clinton is not known, but that it was at least as early as 1792 is shown by the fact that his name appears in that year as one of the founders of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, the par- ent of Hamilton College. Dr. Hopkins was the first vice president and the sec- ond president of the county society. He died in 1846 at the age of 76 years.
DR. MATTHEW BROWN, JR., was born in Brookfield, Mass., in 1766. He had a good liberal education, and studied medicine in the private hospital and school of Dr. Willard of Worcester. Coming west to Rome on horseback in 1793, he settled near the ruins of the old fort. Though Dr. Brown was for many years the leading physician of Rome and had a large, strenuous and active practice, carrying him even to the northern boundaries of the county to the bedside of Baron Steuben, he had many other interests. He was quickly joined by his brothers, with whom he opened a store, in which not only drugs but general merchandise were offered for sale. In 1798 Dr. Brown was made the first post- master, and held that position for ten years. In 1803 his cousin, Dr. Arba Blair, came from Worcester and went into partnership with him. The older man, from that time, devoted less and less time to medicine and more and more to business, becoming one of the leading manufacturers in the town. In 1818 he moved to Rochester, where he was again prominent in business affairs, but did not again practice. He died in Rochester in 1851. The picture of Dr. Brown, which is reproduced in this volume is a photograph of a portrait by Daniel Huntington belonging to Dr. Brown's great-grandson, Mr. Ralph W. Howell of Washington. One of Dr. Brown's last medical acts was to preside at the organization meeting of the Oneida County Medical Society in 1806.
DR. SAMUEL CARRINGTON appears to have been the first physician to settle in what is now Utica. He is known to have been in the town as early as 1794; was postmaster in 1799, and had a store for the sale of drugs, paints, dye stuffs, books, etc., in 1800. After a few years of practice Dr. Carrington returned to the east, married, and the next morning left his bride and never was heard of again.
These first arrivals having picked out the choicest sites, many of those coming up the river during the second half of the decade were obliged to go farther afield to find room for their talents. Thus, we find that in 1795 Dr. Stephen Preston settled in Sangerfield; in 1796 Dr. Amos G. Hull came to Augusta; Dr. Samuel Snow to Boonville; Dr. Caleb Sampson to Paris Hill, and Dr. Alexander Coventry to Utica. In 1797 Dr. Zenas Hutchinson began practice at Elmer Hill; Dr. Seth Hastings, Sr., at Paris Hill; Dr. Johnson at Augusta, and Dr. Stephen White at Rome. Somewhere about this time Dr. Elizur Moseley came to Whitesboro, and Dr. Sherman Bartholomew to Water- ville.
DR. STEPHEN PRESTON journeyed up the Mohawk valley on horseback, bring- ing with him his wife and a four-year old son. He settled in Sangerfield, where
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he practiced for thirty years, covering a territory extending from Oneida Castle to Vernon. He died in 1835. The four year old son, on attaining manhood, followed in his father's footsteps, succeeded to his practice, and in 1844 we find that Dr. Medina Preston was president of the county society. He was in turn followed by his son, Dr. Medina Preston, Jr., who is still living. Thus for one hundred and fifteen years a member of the Preston family has practiced medi- cine in Sangerfield or Waterville.
DR. AMOS GOULD HULL deserves special mention, as he was the first president of the Oneida County Medical Society. Dr. Hull came to this county in about 1796, and settled in Augusta. In 1804 he moved to New Hartford, where he practiced until 1811, at one period of this time having as a partner Dr. Charles Babcock, who was president of the county society in 1834. In 1811 Dr. Hull moved to Utica, where he practiced until his death in 1833. During his later years he devoted much time to the manufacture and sale of a hernial truss of his own invention. This appliance received the approval of his professional breth- ren so completely that in 1818 he was awarded certificates of commendation from the Fairfield Medical College and the Oneida County Medical Society. That his advertising and selling of these patented trusses did not interfere with his pro- fessional standing is proven by his re-election to the presidency of the county society in 1817, 1818 and 1820.
DR. ALEXANDER COVENTRY-There is no name associated with the early his- tory of medicine in Oneida county more deserving of respect than that of the sturdy Scotch pioneer, Dr. Alexander Coventry. Born in Hamilton, Scotland, in 1766, the son of an army officer, he received his education in the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, institutions which stood then, as now, in the very first rank of the world's medical schools. In 1785 he sailed for America, settled in Hudson, then in Romulus, on Seneca Lake, and in 1796 came to Old Fort Schuyler. Dr. Coventry's superior education, studious tastes, strong character and natural ability soon placed him at the head of the medical profession of Central New York. His reputation as a consultant and as an obstetrician grew and spread until his labors extended over several counties, and his reputation far wider still. He was elected president of the county society in 1822, and re- elected in 1823, 1824 and 1827; and of the Medical Society of the State of New York in 1823 and 1824. He was also a trustee of the Fairfield Medical College, a member of the Albany Lyceum and the Linnean Society of Paris. In about 1804 Dr. Coventry moved to Deerfield, though retaining his office in Utica, bought a farm, and for the remainder of his life divided his time between medi- cine, agriculture, especially fruit growing, and literature. His journal, which, fortunately, is preserved by his descendants, is a veritable mine of information concerning the early days of Utica. In 1804 he took as partner Dr. David Has- brouck; in 1817 Dr. John McCall, and in 1828 was succeeded by his son, Dr. Charles B. Coventry. The prominence which these three junior partners at- tained in their profession speaks well for the stimulus and training given to them by this truly remarkable man. The instruments shown in the accompany- ing picture belonged to Dr. Coventry, and were probably used to cure the ail-
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ments of many of the ancestors of our county's citizens. They are the property of Dr. A. L. Holden, of Utica, who kindly loaned them for photographing.
DR. SETH HASTINGS, SR., came to Paris Hill from Litchfield, Conn., in 1797, and practiced his profession in that prosperous village until his death in 1830. A stiff, stern, strict Puritan, he served his neighbors faithfully for years, but is per- haps most worthy of fame as the father of Dr. Seth Hastings, Jr., who began practice in Clinton in 1802, was the first treasurer of the county society in 1806; its secretary from 1810 to 1814; its vice president in 1817, and its president in 1828 and 1829. He practiced his profession in Clinton until 1851, when a stroke of paralysis caused his retirement, and ten years later his death.
DR. SHERMAN BARTHOLOMEW, who moved to what was then known as Sanger- field Huddle during the last year of the century, is especially remembered be- cause he probably first suggested the name of "Waterville" for that village and because he lost his life in the service of his country. His tombstone at Water- ville reads in part : "To the memory of Dr. Sherman Bartholomew, who died at Brownsville the 29th of November, 1814, in the zealous discharge of his duties as surgeon in the Army of the U. S., in the 34th year of his age."
The beginning of the new century brought with it a rapid development of the newly founded towns, and hamlets, which five years before had no physician, or at best one medical advisor, rapidly found themselves the possessors of sev- eral. Six physicians, at least, settled in Utica during the first five years of the nineteenth century, of whom three deserve passing mention :
DR. DAVID HASBROUCK, because he was a partner of Dr. Coventry and the first secretary of the county society.
DR. SOLOMON WOLCOTT, for his association with Dr. Francis Guiteau; and
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