Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 18

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374

USA > New York > Albany County > Landmarks of Albany County, New York > Part 18

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To accommodate the increasing enrollment of students, in 1854 the school was removed to the south wing of the Medical College on Eagle street (now Alumni Hall). At the same time the course was extended to two terms of twelve weeks each. The exercises consisted of lectures, moot courts, oral and written examinations.

In 1855 Thomas W. Olcott became president of the Board of Trus- tees and continued until his death in 1880.

In 1869 Professor Amos Dean died; Professor Amasa J. Parker re- signed in 1870; Professor Ira Harris died in 1875. Of these, Professors Parker and Harris were justices of the Supreme Court; Professor Harris was also United States senator.

In 1870 a larger Faculty was organized. Isaac Edwards, LL.D., succeeded to the chair of Professor Dean; Hon. Matthew Hale, LL.D., to the chair of Professor Parker; Charles C. T. F. Spoor, esq., as lec- turer on subjects assigned; Hon. William L. Learned, LL. D., justice of the Supreme Court, lecturer on equity jurisprudence, civil law, and

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the trial of causes; Hon. William F. Allen, LL. D., then judge of the Court of Appeals, to lecture on real property.

In 1873 the University of Albany united with Union College and by an act of the Legislature was constituted as Union University, the Al- bany Law School becoming the law department. In 1874 Hon. John T. Hoffman, LL. D., governor of the State of New York, was added to the Faculty, succeeding to the chair of Judge Allen as professor of the law of real property.

In 1875 Professor Harris died, and Prof. Charles T. F. Spoor was designated to succeed to his chair, lecturing on practice and pleading at common law, and under the Code.

In 1878 Eliphalet N. Potter, D. D., LL. D., entered the Faculty, and lectured on feudal system; also Henry Coppee, LL. D., lecturing on international law; also Hon. Hiram E. Sickles, lecturer on evidence.

In 1879 Professor Edwards, dean of the Faculty, died, and was suc- ceeded by Hon. Horace E. Smith, LL. D., of Johnstown, N. Y., dean of the Faculty, lecturing on personal property, contracts, commercial law, common law pleading, torts and medical jurisprudence. Henry S. McCall, esq., and Irving Browne, esq., were added to the Faculty at this time, Professor McCall lecturing on real estate and wills, Pro- fessor Browne, lecturer on domestic relations and criminal law.

On the accession of Dean Smith, it was evident to him that the building where the school had been held for a quarter of a century was no longer adequate to its requirements. The trustees purchased the Universalist church building on the north side of State street, near Swan street, and through the liberality of their president, Thomas W. Olcott, it was converted into the pleasant and convenient building now occupied by the school. This building was dedicated to its new use March 10, 1879. Addresses were made by Amasa J. Parker, LL. D., Hon. Samuel Hand, Charles E. Smith, then editor of the Albany Evening Journal, and Dean Smith. The Board of Trustees was largely increased in numbers, Hon. Amasa J. Parker, LL. D., as one of the original founders of the school, remaining as one of the honorary members. In 1880 President Thomas W. Olcott died, and Orlando Meads succeeded to the presidency, and Marcus T. Hun, esq., trustee, was appointed to succeed President Meads as secretary.

In 1883 President Meads died and Hon. William L. Learned, LL.D., justice of the Supreme Court, succeeded to the presidency ; Marcus T. Hun, esq., resigned the secretaryship, and Charles J. Buchanan, esq.,

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was appointed secretary; Nathaniel C. Moak, esq., entered the Faculty as lecturer on books and judicial systems. The Alumni Association was organized under favorable auspices, awakening new interest in the school among the numerous graduates scattered throughout the country. At the advent of Dean Smith the course was made three terms of twelve weeks each, preceded or supplemented by one year in a law office. The requirements for graduation as previously adopted were preserved, viz .: All candidates for the degree of LL. B. should read before the dean or Faculty six weeks before commencement, an original thesis pertaining to the history, science or practice of law. Moot courts for the argument and trial of causes were also continued ; two being held each week.

In 1889 after a successful administration of school affairs, Dean Smith resigned to resume the active practice of law. George W. Kerchwey, esq., of Albany, was appointed to succeed to the chair of dean.

In 1890 Hon. Hiram E. Sickles resigned from the Faculty, and James W. Eaton succeeded him as lecturer on evidence; Maurice J. Lewis M. D., was appointed lecturer on medical jurisprudence; and Harold L. Hooker, esq, was appointed instructor in elementary law.

In 1891 DeanKirchwey resigned to accept a chair in Columbia Law School, and Lewis B. Hall, A. M., was appointed to the position of dean and instructor in contracts and commercial law.

Charles T. F. Spoor died and was succeeded by J. Newton Fiero, esq., who was appointed instructor in common law and code practice and pleading; Eugene Burlingame, instructor in the law of real prop- erty; James F. Tracey, esq., instructor in the law of corporations.

In 1894 A. V. V. Raymond, D. D., LL.D., having succeeded to the presidency of Union University in place of Harrison E. Webster, LL.D., resigned, the trustees and Faculty of the school placed their resignation in his hands for the purpose of reorganization.

At the beginning of the course in 1895 the Board of Trustees was reorganized as follows :

Hon. Amasa J. Parker, A. M., president; James W. Eaton, esq., treasurer; Charles J. Buchanan, esq., secretary: Andrew V. V. Ray- mone, Matthew Hale, Marcus T. Hun, William L. Learned, J. Newton Fiero, Seymour Van Santvoord, Alton B. Parker, Charles C. Lester, Alonzo P. Strong, James Lansing, Judson S. Landon, and Edward P. White.

PHOTOGRAVURE & COLOR CO. N.Y.

Charlesf. Buchanan,

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The Faculty was also reorganized as follows: Andrew V. V. Ray- mond, D. D., LL.D., president; J. Newton Fiero, dean; James W. Eaton, Eugene Burlingame, James F. Tracey, Joseph A. Lawson, in- structors. Special lecturers; Judson S. Landon, LL. D., Hon. Alton B. Parker, Matthew Hale, LL. D., Hon. D. Cady Herrick, Hon. Dan- forth E. Ainsworth, Andrew McFarlane, M. D., Hon. Walter E. Ward, C. E. Franklin. The Board and Faculty for 1896 are the same with the addition of Lewis R. Parker, lecturer on bailments and suretyship. Of thisFaculty, three are justices of the Supreme Court, Appellate Di- vision. J. Newton Fiero, dean, author of "Special Actions," and "Special Proceedings," was for two successive years president of the State Bar Association, and was largely instrumental in securing the establishment of the Board of State Law Examiners, making the examination of applicants for admission to the bar uniform throughout the State. The Court of Appeals rules for admission of attorneys, etc., went into effect January 1, 1895, requiring three years of prepa- ration of all students at law before applying for admission to the bar, and requiring them to be examined before the new Board of Law Exam- iners.

The course of the school was changed to conform to the new law and methods to one year of eight months divided into two semesters; to be preceded by two years in a law office, or law school, retaining the former method of instruction, with moot courts once a week.

From the first class to the present time the school Register shows in- creased attendance, even during the years of the war between 1860 and 1865. Of some classes were graduated ninety, fifty-seven, fifty-nine, none less than fifty. At the close of the war the attendance was larger than at any time before. At one time every rank in the army from private up to brigadier-general was represented among the students.

After what has been said of the army representation among the students, it can be stated with equal correctness, that every rank from city and county attorney to the judges on the bench of the United States Court and president of the United States, has a representation among the students whose names are to be found upon the Register of the school. Without doing more than to mention a few as they occur to the mind of the present writer, himself a graduate in '64, may be noted: Class of '58, Hon. David J. Brewer, judge United States bench ; William McKinley, jr., class of '67, president-elect of the United States; Hon. Redfield Proctor, '60, ex-secretary of war, now United

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States senator; William F. Vilas, '60, ex-secretary of war, now United States senator; Irving G. Vann, '65, judge of the Court of Appeals of this State; James H. Eckles, '80, a member of President Cleveland's cabinet; Hon. Alton B. Parker; Hon. D. Cady Herrick, '67; Hon. William D. Dickey, '66; Hon. William W. Goodrich, '53, justices of the Supreme Court (Appellate Division).

In this county the present district attorney, county judge, surrogate, city recorder, and one of the justices of the City Court are graduates of the school, and with a very few exceptions the bar of Albany county are graduates of the school.

During the administration of Dean Hall very many improvements were made to the building, which has been largely supplemented by Dean Fiero, making it one of the best equipped school buildings of its kind in the country. Albany as a seat of a professional school cannot be overrated. Here are located the executive, legislative and judicial departments of the State

CHAPTER XIII.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN ALBANY COUNTY. BY HERMAN BENDELL, M. D.

The early history of Fort Orange and Albany seems to indicate that the first settlers were fortunate in receiving medical treatment and care of some description when they were sick. That it was not of the high- est character in a professional sense need not be asserted. The Dutch West India Company itself endeavored to protect its subjects from ill- ness, possibly from partially selfish reasons. One of their recorded regulations reads as follows:

The patroons and colonists shall, in particular and in the speediest manner, en- deavor to find ways and means whereby they may support a minister and a school- master, that the service of God and the zeal for religion may not grow cold and be neglected among them, and that they do for the first procure a comforter for the sick.

This office had a Dutch name of its own and its incumbent was the first person recognized in such a capacity in the colonies under the Dutch régime. This " comforter of the sick" frequently combined in

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Herman BEwill

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himself the offices of physician, preacher and possibily a civil position of some nature. His medical skill and knowledge could not, of course, have been of a high character. Among those who thus mingled medical practice with religious teaching was the noted Dominie Johannes Megapolensis, who bore the title of " Rev. Dr." He was probably the first Dutch dominie to settle at Albany. Another was Dominie G. W. Mancius, who educated his son, Wilhelmus, in the medical profession to such good purpose that he practiced successfully during the most of the remainder of his life in Albany. Both of these pioneers became members of the Albany County Medical Society upon its formation in

1806. But the first "comforter of the sick" at Fort Orange was Sebastian Jansel Crol. He had previously filled a similar office at Fort Amsterdam, coming to this colony in 1626 with the appointment of Vice-Director and Company's Commissary to Fort Orange. He was succeeded in his official position by Hermanus Myndertse Vander Bogart in 1646. It is believed that he was ship surgeon on the Eendraght, which came over in 1630, and therefore was a qualified practitioner. He served at Fort Orange only two years and was probably burned to death in an Indian wigwam on the Mohawk.

The first regular physician to settle in this locality came over in 1642 in the same vessel with Rev. Dr. Megapolensis, in the person of Sur- geon Abraham Staats. Very little is known of his qualifications, or whether he was employed, like the minister, to serve the inhabitants both spirtually and professionally. Albany consisted then of only twenty-five or thirty houses scattered along the river, and a population of about 100; hence Dr. Staats probably did not find himself over- pressed with professional labor. He was doubtless a man of good character and public spirit, for he was the first presiding officer of the village council of Rensselaerwyck. In 1642 his dwelling at Claverack was burned by the Indians, and his wife and others of his family per- ished. He became the owner of Fort Orange, it is said, and the land on which it stood came down to his descendants.

One of the first, perhaps the very first, enactment, to regulate medi- cal practice at new Amsterdam was the following :

Ordered, that ship barbers shall not be allowed to dress wounds, nor administer any potion on shore, without the consent of the petitioners [the local chirurgeons], or at least Dr. La Montagne.

The inference from this extract as to what had been practiced upon occasion, is clear. This Dr. Johannes de la Montagne was a Huguenot,

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and although a physician, was known in political affairs only. He ar- rived in New York in 1637 and was vice-director of Fort Orange from 1636 to 1664, and held other offices.

Surgeon De Hinse was a physician at the fort in 1666; there is little record of his practice. These surgeons who were on duty at Fort Orange at that period received for pay 2s. 6d. per day. In 1689 a Scotch physician named Lockhart was surgeon at the Fort and prac- practiced among the inhabitants. At a later date a son of Rev. Dr. Megapolensis was a surgeon of the colony. He and his brother Samuel were graduates of Leyden, and passed most of their lives in New York. These are about all the physicians of whom the records speak until along in the beginning of the next century. Less than forty physicians are known to have come to the province of New York during the seven - teenth century, though there may have been a few more whose names are lost in the past.

The old French war and the war of the Revolution brought hither and into prominence many physicians. The English army was accom- panied by a respectable medical staff and from that time onward the profession on this side of the ocean occupied a much higher plane than before. Dr. Samuel Stringer, a native of Maryland and educated in Virginia, where a medical school was early established, was the lead ing physician in Albany during the eighteenth century and shared in the labors connected with both these wars. In 1755 he received the appointment from Governor Shirley of officer in the medical depart- ment of the army, and accompanied Abercrombie in 1758 in his disas- trous campaign at Ticonderoga. Serving through the war he settled in Albany and remained in practice until the beginning of the Revolu- tion, when he was appointed by Congress Director General of Hospitals in the Northern Department. In this capacity he accompanied the army in the Canadian invasion. He was subsequently removed from this high position, possibly through sympathy with General Schuyler in the ill fortune and opposition which that gallant officer met. His removal called out a vigcrous remonstrance from the general to Con- gress. He returned to Albany in 1777 and here passed the remainder of his long life.

Dr. Nicholas Schuyler also served professionally in the armies in both wars, after which he settled in Albany and died in Troy in 1824. Dr. J. Cochoran, of Pennsylvania, served as surgeon in the Revolu- tionary army, occupying high position. He was made Surgeon General

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of the Middle Department, and in 1781 was appointed Director-General of the Hospitals of the United States. He settled in Albany at the conclusion of the war.

During an early period Moses and Elias Williams, brothers and na- tives of New England, practiced their profession in Albany. They with their father shared in the battle of Lexington. Elias had begun the study of medicine before the war broke out and after serving a short time as a private he entered a military hospital in Boston, which was then much used as a training school for needed surgeons. Two years later he was appointed surgeon in a Maine regiment and served to the close of the war. He settled in Albany in 1801 and practiced there twenty-five years. His brother was younger and entered the service later.

Hunloke Woodruff a graduate of Princeton, began the study of medicine a short time previous to the beginning of the Revolution and took up his residence in Albany. He was soon appointed surgeon of a New York regiment, accompanied Colonel Gansevoort at the siege of Fort Stanwix and General Sullivan in his famous expedition into the country of the Senecas. After the war he settled in Albany, where he passed most of the remainder of his life. He was the first president of the County Medical Society and bore the reputation of a skillful physician.

It is a historical incident of importance that during the French war a hospital was established in Albany, to care for the wounded brought down from the Ticonderoga battlefield. Mrs. Grant, in her " Memoirs of an American Lady," notes the occurrence, and states that the hos- pital was opened in the barn of Madame Schuyler, where a band of ladies attended on the sufferers. Another historical authority states that a hospital was established here during that war, and describes it as it appeared in 1788 as follows:

It is situated on an eminence overlooking the city. It is two stories high, having a wing at each end and a piazza in front, above and below. It contains forty wards, capable of accommodating 500 patients, besides the rooms appropriated to the use of the surgeons and other officers.

After the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga it is said that more than a thousand sick and wounded soldiers and officers were sent to Albany, filling the hospital, the Dutch church and many dwellings. Many of these victims of the war remained until the following June, when the military hospital was removed to the highlands of the Hudson. At a

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later date there was a military cantonment and hospital in Greenbush, which was maintained until 1822.

Besides the victims of war the early physicians had to encounter epidemics at times that were, perhaps, more to be dreaded than bullets. Small-pox found its victims in thousands and in the early days was difficult to manage. In 1613 it broke out and spread with frightful virulence among both Europeans and Indians. Twelve of the few in- habitants on the site of Albany died in one week, while a thousand Indians perished. During two months Connecticut maintained a quar- antine against the New Netherlands. Some years later the dreaded disease again broke out with all its former fatality; indeed, in early times this epidemic was more feared and its ravages were more exten- sive than those of any other disease. With the introduction of inocu- lation and its quite general adoption about 1730, the mortality from small-pox began to diminish.

In 1746 a disease which took the name of the Barbadoes distemper, and other appellations, was imported by foreign ships and made its ap- pearance in Albany. The disease was doubtless yellow fever. In 1793 the citizens of Albany, having been informed by Judge Lansing that yellow fever was on board of a vessel that had passed New York, a meeting of citizens and the Council was held and measures adopted to prevent any vessel from passing above the Overslaugh without exam- ination. The Council recommended a day of fasting and prayer as an- other means of averting the disease. Two days later Hon. Alexander Hamilton and his wife arrived at Greenbush, where they were visited by a committee from Albany, who reported that the distinguished couple were apparently well and recommended that they be permitted to cross the river. The committee consisted of the following physi- cians of this city: Drs. Samuel Stringer, W. Mancius, H. Woodruff, W. McClelland and Cornelius Roosa.

With the opening of the present century the character of the medi cal profession in this country began to improve. Albany had a popula- tion of about 5,000, but they were nearly all Dutch. There was a de- mand for better educated physicians and the demand was soon sup- plied. Quackery and charlatanry, which had been rampant, began to receive such merited condemnation from both reputable physicians and well-informed persons generally, that their hold upon the public could not long continue. Prior to 1750 the education of physicians, unless gained in Europe, was very imperfect and the facilities for gaining

JOSEPH LEWI, M. D.

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even that were limited. The first regular medical instruction attempted in this country began in that year with a course of lectures on anatomy delivered in New York by Samuel Clossy, a Dublin graduate. Before the close of that century four medical schools were established, one each at Philadelphia, New York, and in Harvard and Dartmouth Col- leges. But many who would gladly have availed themselves of the facilities of these institutions could not reach them, and were forced to content themselves with the personal instruction of some practicing physician, who was frequently ill-fitted for the task. The passage of the law in 1806, authorizing the formation of State and county medical societies worked almost a revolution-not at once, but by the gradual steps that are taken by most great reforms. The names of the mem- bers who formed the Albany County Medical Society, organized in July of the same year that witnessed the passage of the law, are given on a succeeding page, and are followed with a complete list of the offi- cers. Of some of the prominent members of that date it is proper to speak at a little more length.

The oldest physician in Albany was Dr. Wilhelmus Mancius, son of the Dutch dominie already alluded to. He was then (1806) more than sixty years of age and enjoyed great popularity. Dr. Hunloke Wood- ruff was his partner for a time. Doctor Mancius died in 1808, two years after the organization of the society.

Dr. William McClelland, a charter member of the County society, and its first vice-president, and the first president of the State society, was a graduate of Edinburgh. He was a leader in the profession here, and had for partner Dr. William Bay, long a successful physician. Dr. McClelland died in 1812.

Dr. John G. Knauff was an apothecary and probably gave more at- tention to that business than to practice. He was a native of Ger- many and died in 1810. Dr. Caleb Gauff, then an old man, had prac- ticed many years in Bethlehem, while Dr. Oliver Lathrop was practic- ing in Watervleit.

Dr. Jonathan Eights was an exact and methodical man who through the first half of this century was held in high esteem as a family physi- cian. He contributed more or less to medical literature.

Dr. John Stearns was a graduate of Yale, practiced a number of years here, and is honored as being the man whose efforts procured the law of 1806 under which State and county medical societies have been incorporated.

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The succeeding lists give such brief details of all the members of the society as are permissible for this work.

When the great cholera epidemic of 1832 swept over the country, a meeting of this society was called at the request of the mayor to con- sult upon measures for the arrest of the disease. A staff was organized consisting of Drs. Eights, Wing, Greene, Boyd, Townsend, Wendell, James, McNaughton, and March. The physicians of the city met every evening in the city hall where a record was kept of the deaths. Con- spicuous among the active and unselfish workers of that trying period was Dr. James P. Boyd, then a comparatively young man. His faith- ful labor in the epidemic gave him a commanding position in after years. Dr. James McNaughton, who had formerly been a teacher of medicine in a school, was made president of the Board of Health at that time, and with his brother Peter labored assiduously among the sufferers. Both of these men were for half a century among the lead- ing citizens of Albany. Dr. Barent P. Staats was not only a prominent physician, but took an active interest in politics, and was also a trus- tee of numerous mercantile concerns. He was health officer of the port during the period under consideration. Dr. Alden March was also a well established physician at that time, having settled here in 1820. He practiced about fifty years and gained a world-wide reputa- tion as a surgeon and a teacher.

The number of reported cases of cholera during the existence of the disease here was 1,147, of which 422 were fatal. There was an out- break of the disease two years later, in which there were 124 cases, with seventy-eight deaths.

Dr. T. Romeyn Beck was about at the height of his great fame at the time now under consideration. As the author of " Medical Juris- prudence " his reputation is world-wide. Both he and his brother gave much of their lives to teaching and literary labor. One of them was sent by the governor to the northern frontier, duing the cholera epidemic, to procure information concerning the disease. Dr. Thomas Hun was then just entering practice and passed the remainder of his long life in Albany, an honor to his profession and to good citizenship. Dr. Hun was prominently connected with and for many years was dean of the faculty of the Albany Medical College and president of the staff of the Albany Hospital. He died in 1896, having been active in his profession for more than half a century.

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Landmarks of Albany County, New York, Part 18

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Parker, Amasa Junius, 1843-1938, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1374