USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : from 1700 to the present time, Volume I > Part 52
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
UTICA HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL-At the time of the withdrawal of the homeo- pathic staff of visiting physicians from Faxton Hospital in 1895, the members of that school of medicine in Utica, requiring a hospital in which to carry on their work, raised a sum of money and the residence at 684 Genesee street was purchased for that purpose from the estate of the late Theodore F. Butter- field. The building was renovated and altered to make it suitable for the care of the sick, and on September 23, 1895, the Utica Homeopathic Hospital was opened to the public. Dr. William H. Watson was the first president of the board of trustees, and the original visiting staff consisted of Dr. F. F. Laird, medical director; Dr. M. O. Terry, surgeon in charge; Dr. W. H. Watson,
419
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
resident consulting surgeon ; Drs. C. G. Capron, E. B. Guile, J. DeV. Moore, Sue A. White, C. E. Chase and M. E. Hennessey.
Though handicapped by a heavy debt, the hospital has maintained a useful existence since its foundation, and many patients have been cared for within its walls, not only by homeopathic physicians, but by various members of the "old school," who are always cordially welcomed when they bring patients to the hospital. The staff remained practically unchanged until Dr. Laird's fail- ing health in 1900 necessitated his removal to California, when Dr. Terry, already surgeon in charge, assumed the duties of medical director as well, thus obtaining complete control of the hospital. Dr. Terry remained in charge until his sudden resignation from the staff and removal from the city in December, 1905, left the institution temporarily without a head. In January, 1906, how- ever, the old order of dual authority was again adopted, Dr. C. G. Capron was appointed medical director, and Dr. A. R. Grant surgeon in charge. The success of the hospital under the present administration may be judged from the fact that in 1910, 275 patients were admitted, and in 1911 the hospital paid off its entire indebtedness. The visiting staff in 1911 consists of Dr. C. G. Capron, medical director; Dr. A. R. Grant, surgeon in charge; Drs. C. E. Alliaume, E. C. Babcock, C. E. Chase, L. W. Dean, L. J. Fairbanks, E. A. Gaydé; C. B. Guile, C. T. Haines, H. A. Harrison, M. W. Johns and Abbie H Lewis.
DR. THOMAS MACOMB FLANDRAU was born in New York in 1826, of Huguenot stock. After graduating from the National Medical College in Washington in 1848, and practicing a short time in Georgetown, he came to Whitesboro. In 1853 he moved to Rome and became a partner of Dr. Arba Blair. In 1862 he was commissioned a surgeon in the Union army, being assigned to the 146th N. Y. Infantry. He served with distinction through the war, finally being made surgeon in chief of the 2d Division Fifth Army Corps. After returning to Rome Dr. Flandrau rapidly became prominent in medical circles. He was attending physician to the Central New York Institute for Deaf Mutes, a mem- ber of the Board of Health and Board of Education, the organizer and first medical director of the Rome Hospital, and in 1869 was elected president of the Oneida County Medical Society. For many years Dr. Flandrau was the leading surgeon in Rome. He died August 8, 1898.
DR. M. CALVIN WEST was born in Rome in 1843. In 1857 he entered the office of an uncle in Hagarstown, Indiana, and in 1860 received his degree from the University of Michigan. In 1863, after practicing for a brief period in Indiana and at Floyd, Dr. West opened an office in Rome, and for many years had probably the largest practice of any physician in that city. He was an attending physician to the Rome Hospital, and in 1865 and again in 1868 was elected vice president of the Oneida County Medical Society.
DR. SAMUEL G. WOLCOTT, a graduate of Trinity College in 1847 and of the Harvard Medical School in 1850, came to Utica in the fall of that year. Quickly devoting his attention largely to surgery he soon specialized in that branch of his profession, and was thus the first man in the county to become a true surgical
420
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
specialist. He was elected president of the Oneida County Medical Society in 1854. He died in 1883.
DR. ISAAC H. DOUGLAS, after graduating from the Fairfield Medical College, practiced in the West for many years, but returned to his boyhood home-New Hartford-in 1857, and shortly afterwards moved to Utica, where he practiced for nearly thirty years, until his death March 13, 1884, and was one of the organizers of Faxton Hospital. A man of deep sympathy and marked artistic appreciation, he was held in high esteem by all who knew him. His grandson,
DR. STANLEY DOUGLAS CURRAN, was a graduate of the Bellevue Hospital Med- ical College in New York in the class of 1896. Instead of returning to his home Dr. Curran remained in New York City, where at the time of his death on Feb- ruary 4, 1911, he had attained an enviable reputation among the younger physi- cians of the metropolis, where he had held positions of honor and trust in the clinics of Dr. Theodore Janeway and Dr. Beverly Robinson. The following resolution, published after his death, does but scant justice to the esteem in which Dr. Curran was held by his associates and seniors :
"At a meeting of the faculty of the University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College, the following minute was adopted: The faculty desire to express their appreciation of the services of Dr. Stanley Douglas Curran. Dr. Curran became connected with the college as assistant attending physician to the class of internal medicine in the college clinic in 1902. In 1903 he was made full attending physi- cian and continued in this position until his death. He was a most faithful and conscientious attendant. His sympathy with and careful examination of the poor who came to the clinic soon won their confidence, and his class became one of the largest in the clinic. In 1904, he was made instructor in physical diagnosis and continued as such until his death. He was a teacher of marked ability and was always enthusiastic in his work. In the death of Dr. Curran the college has lost a loyal member of its teaching staff, and the poor of the city one who devoted the best part of his strength and life to their welfare."
DR. WALTER BOOTH was a graduate of Fairfield in 1831. For over twenty years he practiced in Russia, Herkimer County, and was twice elected president of the Herkimer County Medical Society. In 1857 he moved to Boonville, where the remainder of his life was spent. In 1865 he was elected president of the Oneida County Medical Society.
DR. ALONZO CHURCHILL was born in Richfield in 1810. After studying med- icine at the Fairfield Medical College he was licensed by the Otsego County Med- ical Society, later, however, being awarded the degree of M. D. by the regents of the University of the State of New York and by the Albany Medical College. During the Civil War Dr. Churchill served with distinction, and before being mustered out had risen to the rank of colonel. During many months of imprison- ment in Andersonville prison he worked heroically to relieve the terrible suffer- ings of his fellow prisoners. Returning to Utica after the war he rapidly rose to a prominent position in his profession. He was active in the organization of Fax-
DR. HARRY SUTTON, ROME
DR. M. C. WEST, ROME
iN
ROME CITY HOSPITAL
421
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
ton Hospital, and was appointed the first senior surgeon. For thirteen years Dr. Churchill was librarian of the Oneida County Medical Society, and in 1868 was elected president of that organization. He died December 28, 1896, in the eighty- seventh year of his life, having been in active practice to a short time before his death, when failing sight forced him to retire. His grandson,
DR. CHARLES CHURCHILL CARMALT, who, though never a resident of Oneida county spent much of his youth in Utica, graduated from Harvard University in 1887, the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1890. Devoting himself to surgery and anatomy, he served for many years as a member of the anatomical department in "P. & S." and at the time of his sudden death was considering an offer of the chair of anatomy at Harvard University, for many years held by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. In Dr. Carmalt's premature death the medical profession lost one of its most promising young scientists.
DR. JOSEPH E. WEST was born in Shepton Mallet, Somersetshire, England, in 1827. He spent his boyhood in Oriskany, and attended the Whitestown Seminary. After graduating from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York he spent a year in Europe. On his return he opened an office in Oriskany, but soon moved to Utica. At the outbreak of the war Dr. West joined the 14th Regiment as assistant surgeon, and was promoted to surgeon of the 28th Regiment in 1862. He was health officer of Utica from 1864 to 1872, alderman in 1870, and police and fire commissioner in 1875. Dr. West was closely associated with Dr. Hutch- inson in the organization of St. Elizabeth's Hospital. In 1867 and 1879 he served as vice president, and in 1880 as president of the Oneida County Medical So- ciety. Dr. West was passionately fond of music, and was a prominent member of many musical organizations. He died March 6, 1897.
DR. EDWIN HUTCHINSON was born in Utica in 1840. After receiving the de- gree of Ph. B., from Yale College he began the study of medicine at the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. The war having broken out be- fore he had completed his studies, he enlisted as a medical cadet. He showed such ability, however, that though not yet a doctor of medicine he was promoted rapidly, and at the close of the war held the commission of surgeon. After being mustered out he returned to the medical school, and in 1866 was given the degree of M. D. He immediately began practice in Utica. During the war Dr. Hutch- inson had obtained a reputation for his knowledge of hospital construction and sanitation, as a result of which, on the organization of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, he was at once given complete medical charge. Quickly specializing in surgery, and later turning his attention especially to diseases of the eye, he was one of the earliest specialists in Central New York, and attracted patients from a wide area. In 1869 he was made secretary, in 1875 vice president, and in 1878 president of the Oneida County Medical Society. His death, at the age of 47, which occurred in 1887, was a great loss to the medical profession of Oneida county.
DR. GEORGE SEYMOUR was born in DeRuyter, Madison county, in 1839. Against heavy odds, of which not the least was ill health, he obtained a medical
422
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
education, receiving his degree from New York University in 1865. Promptly enlisting in the Union Army, he served as assistant surgeon during the last few months of the war. After three years practice at Pulaski and six more at Manns- ville, Jefferson county, and a year and a half of post graduate study in New York, Dr. Seymour came to Utica in 1877. During his thirty-four years of practice in Utica he has been on the visiting staff of St. Elizabeth's, Faxton and St. Luke's Hospitals, and of the last named he was secretary for a quarter of a century. He was elected vice president of the County Society in 1887, and president in 1893, and in 1900 became vice president of the Medical Society of the State of New York. For many years Dr. Seymour was a member of the board of health. He died in October, 1909, one of the most beloved citizens of his city.
DR. WILLIAM LEVERETT BALDWIN was born in Jacksonville, Florida, March 18, 1840. In the early sixties, on graduating from the Polytechnic Institute at Troy, he was offered a position in Russia as a civil engineer, but refused the offer and entered the Albany Medical College. On graduation Dr. Baldwin was taken into partnership by Dr. Dix of Geneva, with whom he remained until 1866. In 1867, after six months spent at Jacksonville, Dr. Baldwin entered into part- nership with his father-in-law, Dr. Charles B. Coventry of Utica. While in Utica Dr. Baldwin was on the staff of St. Luke's Hospital and the Utica Orphan Asylum, and was much interested in the organization of the Utica Dispensary. In 1880, after a severe attack of pneumonia, he returned to Jacksonville at the request of his father, Dr. A. S. Baldwin of that city, the elder man being desirous of retiring from practice. In 1888 Dr. William Baldwin took charge of St. Luke's Hospital in Jacksonville during an epidemic of yellow fever, and, after heroic work for the sick, contracted the disease himself, and on September 3, 1888, died, a martyr to his profession. During Dr. Baldwin's residence in Utica he was an active worker for the Medical Society of the County of Oneida, and was its treasurer from 1870 to 1873.
DR. RICHARD ESKRIDGE SUTTON, the son of Dr. James D. Sutton of Great Mills, Md., was born in that town September 15, 1831. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1851, and practicing for a few years at Great Mills, Md., Russia, Herkimer county, N. Y., and St. Johnsville, he became sur- geon of the 115th N. Y. Infantry. After being taken prisoner and contracting typhoid fever he resigned from the army, but later in the war again volunteered as a contract surgeon. In 1866 he moved to Rome, N. Y., where he remained until his death, November 10, 1897. During his thirty-one years of practice in Rome Dr. Sutton became a man of prominence, not only in his profession, but in the civil and political life as well. He was one of the first staff of physicians to the Rome Hospital, a position which he retained until his death. For many years he was a school trustee, and for twenty years, from 1870 to 1891, he held the position of city chamberlain and city physician. For ten years he was health officer of Rome and for five years was a manager of the Utica State Hos- pital. In 1880 he was the democratic nominee for Congress, and in 1888 for
DR. AMARIAH BRIGHAM First superintendent of New York State Lunatic Asylum
DR. THOMAS M. FLANDRAN Founder of Rome Hospital
DR. JAMES H. GLASS First surgeon in charge Faxton Hospital
DR. WILLIS E. FORD First medical director St. Luke's Hospital
DR. EDWIN HUTCHINSON Founder of St. Elizabeth's Hospital
DR. FRANK F. LAIRD First medical director Utica Homeopathic Hospital
ORGANIZERS OF ONEIDA COUNTY HOSPITALS
423
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
sheriff. During his later years Dr. Sutton had associated with him in practice his son, Dr. H. C. Sutton.
DR. HENRY CARROLL SUTTON, son of Dr. R. E. Sutton, was born in Fairfield, Md., August 6, 1856, and came to Rome with his father when ten years of age. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1880, the third in descent to receive the M. D. degree from that institution, "Dr. Harry" returned to Rome and became associated with his father in the practice of medicine. In 1881 he was appointed health officer of Rome, proving himself a worthy suc- cessor of his father in that office. For three years he was coroner of Oneida county. Dr. Sutton, like his father, was one of the organizers of the Rome Hos- pital, and on the death of his father-in-law, Dr. T. M. Flandrau, succeeded the latter as chief of staff, a position which he held until failing health forced him to resign in January, 1907. He died in Jacksonville, Florida, March 5, 1907.
SAMUEL O. SCUDDER, M. D., was born in Roxbury, Delaware county, N. Y., March 31, 1818, and died at Rome, N. Y., March 2, 1895. He was educated at the district school, and learned first the trade of tinsmith, then hatter and fur- rier. During all of this time he was giving attention to study. After this he was a clerk in a general store at Hudson, N. Y., for four years. He then went to Palmyra, N. Y., where he entered the office of Dr. Durfee Chase, and in 1846-7 was a student in the medical department of the University of New York. He graduated from the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania in March, 1849. After practicing medicine for a short time in Waterloo, N. Y., he re- moved to Rome, where he remained until his death. He joined the Oneida County Homeopathic Medical Society in 1859, and became its president October 17, 1865. He was one of the founders of the New York State Homeopathic Society. He was an excellent business man, as well as physician, and accumu- lated a large fortune for his day. He left one son by his first wife, Dr. Nelson C. Scudder, of Rome, and a daughter, the wife of the late Dr. A. B. Southwick, also of Rome.
DR. WILBUR H. BOOTH was born in Huntington, Fairfield county, Conn., December 11, 1852. He received the degree of M. D., from Yale in 1874, being the valedictorian of his class. After a service as house surgeon in Charity Hos- pital, New York, he came to Utica in 1876. Dr. Booth rapidly attained a prominent position in the city, being on the staff of St. Elizabeth's and St. Luke's Hospitals, and consulting surgeon to Faxton Hospital. After devoting his attention to general surgery for some years, Dr. Booth became especially in- terested in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and for several years was the leading specialist in these subjects in central New York .. He died September 28, 1897.
DR. FRANK FOSTER LAIRD was born near Floyd, N. Y., in 1856. After study- ing at the Whitestown Seminary he entered Hamilton College, from which he graduated with honors in 1877, having received many prizes, and having won the Intercollegiate Oratorical Contest in New York in 1876. After graduating
424
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1880, he began prac- ticing in Ogdensburg, N. Y., then went to Augusta, Maine, but in 1881 finally settled in Utica, where he practiced until failing health necessitated his retire- ment. He was president of the Oneida County Homeopathic Medical Society; vice president of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of New York in 1889; medical director of the Commercial Travelers' Mutual Accident Associa- tion of America, and the first medical director of the Utica Homeopathic Hospital.
DR. CLAUDE WILSON was born in Palmer, Mass., January 6, 1850. He grad- uated from Amherst College in the class of 1871, and from the College of Phy- sicians and Surgeons in New York in 1876. Soon after graduation he settled in Waterville, where he rapidly attained a position of prominence in the social and professional life of the town. He was a director of the National Bank of Waterville, a member of the board of education, and in 1888 was elected presi- dent of the Medical Society of the County of Oneida. He died April 22, 1896.
CIVIC HYGIENE- The last few years of the nineteenth century and the first five years of the twentieth century were remarkable the world over for the sud- den, rapid and numerous advances made in civic hygiene, as the result of new medical discoveries and their practical application by sanitarians. In this ad- vance Oneida county took its part, and in certain important reforms this county led the world by the rapid strides taken in sanitation measures in Utica. In 1896 a steam disinfectant plant was installed in Utica. The next year the newly appointed health officer of Utica, Dr. Wallace Clarke, not being satisfied with the method for city disinfection, visited certain of the sanitarians of the large cities who were doing experimental work with the new drug, formaldehyde. This work, though purely experimental and still confined to the laboratory, so impressed the Utica sanitarian that he immediately procured a generator and began the use of formaldehyde in the disinfection of houses and public buildings in his city. Since then practically every large city in the civilized world has adopted the new disinfectant, but to Utica belongs the credit of being the first city in the world to use formaldehyde as a civic disinfectant.
The other great step in advance taken at that time was the inauguration of the crusade against the house fly as a cause of disease. Here, again, Utica de- serves the credit of being the pioneer city of the world in a sanitary advance. In an editorial in the Medical Record dated July 3, 1909, entitled "The Cam- paign against the House Fly," appears the following: "In 1897, in Utica, Wallace Clarke, the newly appointed health officer, began what was probably the first systematic sanitary crusade against the fly. Noting that sixty per cent of the cases of contagious diseases in this city occurred in one ward, a ward es- pecially open and sparsely populated, and investigating the reason for this, he found that the refuse of the city was dumped on a farm in the outskirts of this ward. That there the ground was covered not only with garbage, but with the output of the privy vaults; that it swarmed with flies, and that with the pre- vailing summer winds these were driven in hordes into the city and settled in this particular ward. Against severe political opposition a garbage and night
425
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
soil reduction plant was obtained, the dumping ground was abandoned, and the number of contagious disease cases in the infected ward dropped to the normal ratio."
In the abandoning of the Hatfield farm and the sanitary improvement of the eighth ward, Utica took the first important step in the crusade against the house fly as a cause of disease, and deserves the credit of being the pioneer of a movement which has since become recognized as one of the greatest sanitary advances of the generation. With the abolition of the middens, the cleaning of the streets, and latterly the removal of manure piles due to the replacing of stables by garages, the number of flies in the city have decreased markedly, and the prevalence of contagious diseases has fallen proportionately. A brilliant illustration of the effect of this sanitary crusade is the short life of the summer hospital for cholera infantum, opened in the New Hartford Road. For two or three years this hospital was filled with sick infants. Following this sanitary reform, however, which included careful milk inspection, as well as city clean- ing, the number of cases of cholera infantum in the city decreased so rapidly that the special hospital for this disease, which had been a crying necessity in 1895, became a superfluous luxury in 1900, and the building was converted into a kindergarten. A more striking example of the benefits which followed the sanitary reform of 1897-1900 could not be desired.
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR-During the Spanish-American war at least three physicians and six nurses from Oneida county served their country. The phy- scians were Dr. W. A. Burgess, of Utica, who served in the 203d Regiment; Dr. James M. Sweeney, also of Utica, who was surgeon to the military hospital at Santiago; Dr. George Torney, who was acting assistant surgeon U. S. army, serv- ing on the hospital ship "Relief." The nurses who saw service were: Mrs. Emma Keith Booth, who served in the hospitals at Atlanta and Montauk Point; Miss Florence Wright and Miss Justina Clemensson, Leiter Hospital, Chicka- mauga; Miss Josephine Shue, Chattanooga, Tenn .; Mrs. A. Hannahs and Miss Mary E. Hannahs, Camp Goodrich, New Jersey.
CENTENNIAL ONEIDA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY-On July 10, 1906, the cen- tennial of the Medical Society of the County of Oneida was held at the Audi- torium in Utica, the list of speakers at the banquet including Drs. W. E. Ford, George Seymour and Frank D. Crim, and Messrs. James S. Sherman and P. C. J. DeAngelis. A history of the society was read by Dr. Smith Baker.
TUBERCULOSIS-During the past five years the energies of the medical pro- fession of Oneida county have been directed largely towards the crusade against tuberculosis. The movement was inaugurated by an anti-tuberculosis exhibi- tion and lectures held in Utica beginning November 25, 1907. The exhibition was in charge of Drs. Charles Crispell, John H. Vogt and Herbert Pease, who were assisted by several Utica physicians. At that time a sub-committee on tuberculosis of the State Charities Aid Association was organized, of which Dr. William Gibson was the first president, and Dr. Florence I. Staunton the secretary. Dr. Gibson was very soon succeeded by Dr. W. S. Nelson. In June
426
HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY
of that year the tuberculosis clinic of the Utica Dispensary was opened. In 1909 a visiting nurse was engaged, a movement was started to raise money for a tuberculosis summer camp, and a committee consisting of Dr. Staunton, Mr. Applegate and several philanthropic ladies organized the sale of Red Cross Seals in the stores at Christmas time. By this and other means the sum of $4,000 was raised. The need for an appropriate site for the camp was met by the generosity of Mr. Marklove Lowery, who loaned to the committee the Plan- tadendron property on Higby Lane, adjoining Roscoe Conkling Park. Ten shacks were donated by private individuals, and these, together with the nu- merous barns and sheds already on the property, were soon prepared for the care of the sick, and in the month of June, 1910, "Camp Healthmore" was opened, in charge of a special committee. In the summer of 1911 three new shacks were built and an open air school held. During the season of 1910 the camp cared for 27 patients, and during 1911, 41. The officers at present are Dr. Florence I. Staunton, president; Mr. Thomas R. Proctor, vice president; Miss Natalie Gilbert, secretary; Miss Attossa Whittemore, treasurer. The medical staff at Camp Healthmore consists of Drs. William M. Gibson and James H. Glass, consultants; Drs. Gifford, Crim, Staunton and Amsbry, executive board; and Drs. H. C. Baldwin, J. W. W. Dimon, F. R. Ford, Owens, Amsbry and Beattie, visiting physicians.
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.