USA > New York > Staten Island > History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York : from its discovery to the present time > Part 46
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The following brief personal notes of some members of the medical fraternity will be an appropriate sequel to the fore- going :
I. K. Ambrose, lately a resident of Townsend avenue, Clifton, but at present residing in New York city, still practices on the island. He is a member of the Richmond County Medical So- ciety, and was for a term county coroner. He was born in Ire- land, about forty-eight years ago, received his early education in colleges in Ireland and France, and graduated in medicine and surgery at the Long Island College hospital, in Brooklyn, in 1870. During his stay on Staten Island, he became a general favorite, especially among the Irish, and had a large practice. He was known as the "Irish Doctor," being the only one of that nationality in the county at the time.
Dr. Herman Beyer was born in Coblentz, Germany, in 1836. Having received a private Latin school education he studied phar- macy in Westphalia, as a preliminary step to the study of med- icine. In 1856 he served in the Prussian army as pharmaceutist. He sailed for this country in 1860. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Eighth regiment, N. Y. V. In 1862 he was trans-
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ferred to the medical department, where he served as pharma- centist until the end of the war. He then began the study of medicine at Bellevue hospital, where he graduated in 1869, and took an extra course in 1877 and 1878, besides a private course of Dr. F. Knapp's, in 1878 and 1879, in the Eye and Ear In- firmary. He commenced practice at Astoria, L. I., in 1869, and removed to Staten Island in 1880.
Alfred Ludlow Carroll was born in the city of New York on the 4th of August, 1833, educated at sundry private schools, and in the University of New York, studied medicine with the late Dr. Valentine Mott, and was graduated M. D. from the Uni- yersity of New York in 1855; removed to Staten Island in 1870; elected secretary of the state board of health in March, 1884 ; resigned February 1st, 1866.
Dr. Ephraim Clark, who for many years has been actively and intimately associated with most of the prominent move- ments and public enterprises of the island, was born in Rah- way, N. J., in 1797. He studied medicine with Dr. Valentine Mott, of New York, and afterward graduated in the college of the state medical society at New Brunswick. In 1820 he came with some friends on a gunning expedition to the island, and was so well pleased with the people and surroundings of Port Richmond that he decided to make that place his home. He accordingly located there, and soon found himself in the en- joyment of a lucrative practice. He grew into popular favor, and, being a remarkably active and ready man, he naturally fell into a prominent position in nearly every benevolent and progressive movement of the day.
On the arrival of General Lafayette, on his last visit to this country, Dr. Clark was a member of the committee that re- ceived the distinguished soldier at the residence of Governor Tompkins, who was then vice-president of the United States, at the old mansion at Tompkinsville. The general came to Staten Island before going to New York city, and remained at Gov- ernor Tompkins' residence during his sojourn. On the evening of his arrival a grand reception was given, and throngs of people gathered at the place to greet the gallant Frenchman. Among the guests were the leading men of the country. On his departure for New York city on the following morning business was suspended, shops and stores were closed, and the people thronged the landing and the shore of the bay to see
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him off, while the water was literally alive with all manner of craft which came to witness or escort his passage from the island to the city. Over the grand concourse of shipping, said to be the most magnificent ever witnessed in New York bay, floated the flags of all nations. On this occasion Governor Ogden, of New Jersey, came to greet Lafayette. They had been intimate friends during the revolution and as they met now they squarely embraced each other, and Doctor Clark says he never witnessed a more affectionate greeting than was mani- fested by them.
Kossuth, on his visit to America, was a guest of Doctor Doane, health officer at quarantine, and was entertained at his residence. The reception committee were Doctor Westervelt. Doctor Clark, Samuel French, Judge Clawson, and Richard Adam Locke. The latter delivered the welcoming address. General Garibaldi was present, and made a pleasing address. Kossuth made an affecting reply, and the words of the great patriot found a warm place in every heart. A large procession formed and escorted the distinguished visitor to the old Dutch Reformed church, now used as a carriage manufactory in Tompkinsville, in which the Tompkins Guards, a local infantry company, took the lead.
When General Jackson made his famous visit to New York, Doctor Clarke was also a member of the reception committee that met the old soldier at Port Richmond and escorted him to New York city, where they landed near the present site of Castle Garden. Other members of that committce were Colonel Barton, Doctor Van Pelt, Doctor Harrison and Colonel Barrett.
Doctor Clark was with Doctor Harrison, an attendant physi- cian to Aaron Burr, during his sojourn on the island. He was also the committee appointed by the officers of the Reformed church to secure the services of a pastor, and through his agency the Reverend Doctor Brownlee was brought to this church, which he has so acceptably served for more than half a century.
Doctor Clark was appointed surgeon of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth regiment of infantry by Governor Yates in 1823, and having resigned that position was in 1837 appointed sur- geon of the Sixty-fifth regiment, N. Y. militia, by Governor Marcy. He was afterward an aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, to the general commanding the second division of in-
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fantry, receiving his appointment from Governor Seward. During the rebellion he was appointed post surgeon at Camp Sprague, New Dorp, and while holding that position examined over 4,000 men. He was a delegate to the Charleston conven- tion of 1860 that nominated Breckenridge and Lane ; and lield at different times offices of trust among his fellow citi- zens, such as supervisor of the town, physician of the county jail, a charter member of the first Masonic lodge on the island, and others. His was a life of action, up to the very end. He died at a ripe old age, in November, 1885.
Dr. Alva D. Decker was born at Marksboro, N. J., July 8, 1848 ; educated in public schools, and in the collegiate institute of Newton, N. J .; studied medicine under Doctors Sayre, of Newton, and Miller, of Andover, N. J. ; attended lectures at, and received his diploma from the Long Island College Hos- pital, Brooklyn, in the class of 1876. He located at Pleasant Plains, S. I., in June, 1877, and is still practicing in the same town, and also has a drug store in connection with his prac- tice.
Henry E. Earl was born at Clapham, England, May 26, 1837. He is a graduate of Columbia Veterinary College, April 23. 1879 ; also of the United States Medical College, March 4, 1880. He is now president of the New York State Academy of Veter- inary Science and Comparative Pathology, and second vice- president of the National Veterinary Medical Association.
Older residents of Staten Island will recall, as they read this sketch, the studious features and scholarly bearing of Dr. Joseph Feeny, whose name was for many years conspicnous as a leader in the social, business and intellectual life of Richmond county. He was born at Sligo, in Ireland, March 19, 1813, and was the first of his family to settle in America. A person of more than average mental vigor, he gave liis early years to the acquirement of a thorough classical education (in Trinity Col- lege, Dublin) which he afterward used with effect in his profes- sion as a teacher. The obtaining of an education with him, as with the majority of young men of his day. was a combined struggle for knowledge and physical support. In 1836 he entered the " University of the State of New York, College of Physicians and Surgeons," from which he did not graduate till 1850, his course being divided between the years 1837 and 1839, and again between 1840 and 1849. During these intervals
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he was engaged in teaching, a capacity in which, perhaps, though his later years were mostly spent in mercantile pursuits, he will be best remembered on Staten Island. He was first engaged as Latin and Greek tutor in the academy of Doctor Fitch, but from 1841 to 1849 lie conducted a highly successful classical school of his own in which many of Staten Island's most prominent men were prepared for college and business.
In 1849, shortly before his graduation, Doctor Feeny opened a drug store at Stapleton, the first one in Richmond county. It stood on the same ground as that now occupied by his son, James Feeny, and is in fact the same store, with alterations necessary to the times. Previous to its establishment Rich- mond county physicians had been obliged to supply their own medicines, but the new enterprise revolutionized matters in this respect. Doctor Feeny continued to conduct this store till 1863, when he sold it to his son, James Feeny, who still conducts it, and who received his diploma from the " Board of Pharmacy of the City of New York," in September, 1872.
In 1863 Doctor Feeny began practicing regularly as a physi- cian, removing his office to Jersey City in 1864. In 1865 he was appointed health officer of that city, and on January 9, 1866, he died.
In Jersey City, as on Staten Island, Doctor Feeny won the esteem and approbation of his fellow citizens by his careful at- tention to his own and the public affairs. At his death the common council of the city passed resolutions of sympathy, and many influential gentlemen took occasion to express their sorrow at his loss. He was an unostentations man. His man- ners were quiet but impressive. A constant student, and one who, during his life, took advantage of every favorable circum- stance to increase his store of knowledge, he became and was recognized as a man of culture and great attainments. During his medical course he enjoyed the advantage of attending the lectures of Willard Parker, Robert Watts, Jr., Gurdon Buck and Professor Gillman. This, together with his extended ex- perience, made him an authority on medical subjects.
He had seven children, of whom four still survive. Of these, three reside on Staten Island : James, who succeeded his father in the drug business, John L., and Anna, who graduated from the state normal school at Albany, and who is the wife of Thomas Gordon of Stapleton. She was for some time principal
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of district school No. 2, town of Middletown, and many who studied under her have since achieved distinction.
John L. Feeny, M.D., present health officer of the village of Edgewater, and one of the foremost physicians on Staten Is- land, was born at Stapleton, May 29, 1845. His early educa- tion received the special attention of his father, and at the age of fifteen he entered the "Seaman's Retreat Hospital," where he remained for eight years. After a preparatory course un- der Dr. T. C. Moffat, he attended the "University of the City of New York, Medical Department," from which he graduated among the highest in his class, in 1866. During his college course he studied under the famous physicians, Valentine Mott, Alfred C. Post, William H. Van Buren, Alfred Loomis and John T. Metcalfe, also under Professors Budd, Paine and the three Drapers. After leaving the university he supplemented the instruction there received with a special and private course under Professor Ayelette.
Almost immediately upon the completion of his student life he received an appointment as house physician of the "Sea- man's Retreat," which he resigned in 1869 to enter on private practice in Stapleton. Here he still remains. In 1870 he was appointed physician to the " Metropolitan Police," and detailed to special duty. To obtain this position he was obliged to un- dergo an examination before the eighteen physicians who, at that time, constituted the board. For the last four years he has held the position of health officer of the town of Middle- town and the village of Edgewater, is at present examining physician of the "Mutual Reserve Fund," and has been since its organization vice-president of the "Staten Island Academy." He is also a member of the Richmond County Medical Society and of the Presbyterian church. As a republican he has taken a prominent part in the politics of the county.
Doctor Feeny has now been in active practice more than sixteen years, during which time many remarkable cases have come in- der his notice and have been treated by him. He adds to his large experience an intense love not only of his profession but of all scientific and artistic study. He is up in the classics, has travelled considerably, and has taken a deep interest in historic research. His cordial manners and general intelligence have long been noticed by those who enjoy his acquaintance, and have resulted in endearing him to them, This is shown in the
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fact that he has several times been tendered nominations to po- litical office, which, however, private interests have necessitated him to decline.
He was married June 9, 1870, to Miss Emma L. Bateman, of Portland, Me .* They have had five children, one of whom is dead. No physician has to any greater degree succeeded in winning the confidence or affection of those around him than has Doctor Feeny. The deep interest which he has taken in the health of the community in which he lives, and the county at large, and especially the freedom with which he responded to calls made on him for lectures on hygienic subjects during the recent cholera agitation will long be remembered with pleas- ure by the people of Staten Island.
Dr. R. Henry Golder has been president of the county medi- cal society since July, 1884. He was born in 1820, at Phila- delphia, Pa., moved to New York city in 1839, received a diploma of license from the New York Medical Society in 1846; received the degree of M. D. from the University Medi- cal College of New York city in 1851. He practised in the town of Westfield thirty-five years, and in New Jersey for five years previous. He has held the following offices in this county : superintendent of common schools, commissioner of highways, associate judge for four years of the courts of over and terminer and sessions, and is at present health officer of the town of Westfield.
Edwin A. Hervey was born Jannary 16, 1824, in South Dur- ham, Greene county, New York. He received his early educa- tion in the district schools of his native town, and from private tutors, At the age of 17 years he was invited to teach the school in his district which he accepted, and continued in that vocation for five years in the different schools of his county. He was then offered a situation near Ellenville, Ulster county, as clerk and bookkeeper in a store, tannery and saw- mill, where he remained two years. He then engaged as teacher in Westfield, Richmond county, New York, where he continued about ten years, during the last six of which he re- sided with Dr. E. W. Hubbard, and received his preparatory course of medical instruction. He then entered the University
*She was a daugliter of John F. Bateman, who distinguished himself, together with De Lesseps, in the Panama Construction Company, of which he was chief engineer,
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Medical College of the city of New York, whence he graduated in March, 1859, and has since practiced in Rossville.
George C. Hubbard, M. D., is a grandson of Fairchild Hub- bard, who resided in Jefferson county, N. Y. By his marriage to Miss Ward were born four sons and four daughters, the eldest, Heber W. Hubbard, also a native of the same county, having removed to Ohio, where he engaged in the practice of medicine. He was united in marriage to Honor Martha Kingsbury, of Massachusetts, and had children, George C., Delia D., wife of D. C. Clapp, Van Buren, William W., Edwin K., and Alice S., wife of David Pepper. The birth of George C., the eldest, occurred on the Sthi of June, 1831, in La Grange, Ohio, from whence he removed with his parents to Elyria in the same state. Here he pursued his academic studies, and subsequently entered Dela- ware College, located at Delaware, Ohio. Soon after he entered mercantile life and remained thus occupied until 1856, when the profession of medicine proving more attractive, he became a student in his father's office, and was graduated from the New York Medical University in 1859. Doctor Hubbard began his professional career at Tottenville, where his father had previously removed, and has since that time continued in active practice at this point. On the 16th of September, 1862, he entered the United States service as assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and Sixty-fifth Regiment New York Volunteers, was later commissioned surgeon, and continued with this regi- ment until his discharge September 16, 1865. The doctor on his return from the service resumed his practice at Tottenville, where he has since resided. His thorough medical training and wide experience have enabled him to take a leading rank in his profession, and brought a correspondingly extended field of labor. His skill in diagnosis and success in the treatment of disease in its various forms have cansed his presence to be much sought in consultation. In 1883 he was appointed physi- cian to the mission of the Immaculate Virgin at. Mount Loretto, Staten Island. The doctor is a member of the Richmond County Medical Society. He is also an active mason, and was master of Huguenot Lodge, No. 381, of Tottenville, and High Priest of Staten Island Chapter, No. 196, R. A. M. Doctor Hubbard was married February 26, 1866, to Miss Carrie L., daughter of Joseph Wesley Totten, of Tottenville. Their children are: Van Eber, Fannie, deceased, and George C., Jr.
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Dr. Robert M. Ames was born in Springfield, Mass., October 20, 1857, and was educated in the same place, taking a collegiate course, after graduating from Springfield high school in 1876. His diploma (medical) was received from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1880, after a three years' course. He is a past assistant surgeon in United States marine hospital service, and executive officer of the station which rents the Sea- man's Retreat building, and has from one hundred and twenty- five to one hundred and fifty patients in hand all the time.
Dr. F. E. Martindale is a native of Sandy Hill, Washington connty, N. Y., being the youngest of three sons of the late Hon. Henry C. Martindale, at the time of his death the oldest and most distinguished member of the bar in his section of the state. Dr. Martindale is an alumnus of Union College, where he graduated in 1849. He took his degree of M. D. at the Al- bany Medical College, as a pupil of the late Dr. Alden March, who then occupied the chair of surgery in that institution. Soon afterward he was appointed deputy health officer of the port of New York, during the administration of Gov. Myron H. Clark. Doctor Martindale is one of the oldest and most es- teemed of the medical profession in Richmond county, occupy . ing the responsible positions of president of the medical board of the " Nursery and Child's Hospital," and visiting surgeon to the S. R. Smith Infirmary. He was in the medical corps of both the army and navy, at different periods during the late war.
Dr. James J. O'Dea was born in Toronto, Canada, September 6, 1837. He received his classical education at Upper Canada College, and at the College of Saint Sulpice, Montreal, and his medical education at Trinity College, Toronto, and Mc- Gill University Medical College, Montreal. He received his diploma as doctor of medicine and surgery, from McGill Univer- sity in the spring of 1859. He began the practice of medicine in his native city where he soon attained prominence. After practicing six years in Canada he removed to New York, where he acquired position as a writer and practitioner. He contributed to the. " New York Psychological Journal," and to the " New York Medical Journal." He was also corresponding member of the Canadian Institute, and in 1871 was chairman of the committee on criminal abortion which drew up the law on that offense as it now exists in this state.
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After laboring for six years in New York he removed to Staten Island, where he acquired a large practice to which he has devoted himself. In 1882 he published, through Messrs. Putnam's Sons, a volume on suicide, the first of the kind by any American writer, which was received with favor both at home and abroad. Besides this, his Magnum Opus, he has written on a variety of scientific subjects, of which the following are chief: " Hereditary Influence in Mental Diseases," "Plea of In- sanity in Criminal Cases," "Sphere, Rights and Obligations of Medical Experts," "Principles of Criminal Law as applied to Insanity," and "The Physiology and Psychology of Dreams."
Samuel Adams Robinson, M. D., was born in Franklin, Pa. He is a son of Rev. John Robinson, D. D., a native of Freder- ick county, Va., who was a direct descendant of the Scotch- Irish family Robinson, settled in Ulster, Ireland, by James I. in 1603. The parents of Reverend Doctor Robinson, Jolin and Rosanna Robinson, were the first representatives of the family in America. They brought with them a strong faith in the Protestant doctrine, with which they had been early inculcated, and their son, on finishing his collegiate course at the age of 21, immediately entered the ministry of the Methodist Episco- pal church. In it he labored with great success for more than fifty years, being widely known in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York and Ohio, and filling every position in the gift of his church except that of bishop. He now resides with the doctor, and though over 80 years of age retains his mental and physical powers to a remarkable degree.
The doctor's mother, Hannah Walker Adams Plumer, was born at Pittsburgh, Pa., and died at the residence of her son in 1886, in the 76th year of her age. She was a noble example of Christian womanhood, admired and respected by all who saw her and beloved by all who knew her. Her mother, Patty Adams, was born near Boston, Mass., and was closely related to Samuel and John Adams, the well-known statesmen and orators of the American revolution. Patty Adams was the wife of Major Samuel Plumer, of Newburyport, Mass., a member of the old Plumer family of that state. Major Plumer was the son of Nathaniel Plumer, who settled at Pittsburgh, in Penn- sylvania, where he purchased a large estate, much of which his descendants still own. The granite mansion which he built,
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and in which Doctor Robinson's mother was born, has always been occupied by the family. The major settled in Venango county, Pa., when it was a wilderness. He became possessed of large tracts of land and established a family which is among the most prominent in that state.
Both of Doctor Robinson's grandfathers died in middle life, leaving their wives, neither of whom married again, to bring np large families, which they did admirably, training them to lives of nsefulness and honor. Both lived to old age, retaining their mental powers till the last and enjoying the satisfaction of knowing that every child was doing well. The Hon. James Robinson, of West Virginia, Judge Benjamin Adams Plumer and the Hon. Arnold Plumer, of Pennsylvania, were the most prominent of their children,
Doctor Robinson was chiefly educated by his father. He showed an early predilection for medicine and began study for his profession with Dr. Edward Lawrence Lakin when about 16 years of age, finishing a regular four years' course and re- ceiving the degree of M. D. at Cleveland, Ohio, before he was 20. Ile has since spent six years in professional study, princi- pally in New York, London, Paris, Vienna and Berlin. He is a highly esteemed member of Crescent Lodge, No. 402, F. & A. M., Palestine Commandery, No. 18, K. T., and of the four regular A, A, Scottish rite bodies of New York city; also of Tyrian Chapter, R. A. M., of Staten Island. He took an active part in founding Saint Austin's school, of which he is a trns- tee, also in the organization and establishment of the Kill von Kill Workingmen's Club and Institute of West New Brighton, of which the Hon. Erastus Brooks was the first president, and upon the death of whom Doctor Robinson was unanimously chosen to succeed him. He is also a director in one of the largest life insurance companies of New York city and chair- man of its investment committee.
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