Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 14

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084

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The anniversary meeting of 1875 was held publicly in the court house, the previous meetings having usually been held in the offices of members of the society. The attendance at the anniversary meeting was large, and the members of the society enjoyed a banquet after the exercises at what is now the Orleans House. At the meeting of July

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18, 1877, it was voted that subsequent meetings should be held on the first Thursday of May and November, the election of officers to take place at the latter.

The meetings of this society since its organization have been, as a rule, well attended and many of the members have taken an active in- terest in the proceedings, as shown in numerous papers and essays that have been prepared and read.

The present officers of the society are as follows: President, Dr. George J. Lund, of Medina ; vice-president, Dr. F. B. Storer, of Holley ; secretary and treasurer, Dr. Daniel H. Brennan, of Albion ; censors, Dr. Charles E. Fairman, Lyndonville; J. J. Simonds, Barre Center ; William Eman, Gaines; and F. L. June, Waterport. The annual meetings are now held in Albion ; the spring meetings in Medina ; the summer meetings in Holley. Following is a list of the members in 1894: Albion, Drs. Daniel H. Brennan, J. G. Dolley, Willard R. Fitch, Harriet Watson, S. R. Cochrane, J. E. Sutton, Elizabeth M. Squier, and M. L. Caverly. Barre, J. J. Simonds. Carlton, F. L. June, . Edward Wittier. Gaines, William Eman. Kendall, R. W. Bamber. Holley, F. B Storer, John H. Taylor, Edwin R. Armstrong. Ridgeway, George J. Lund, Edward Munson, James Chapman, John T. James, Edward M. Tompkins, James F. Stokes. Yates, Charles E. Fair- man. Shelby, Harvey L. James.

Orson Nichoson was one of the earliest physicians of Orleans county, and a man of character and prominence both in and out of his pro- fession. He was a native of Saratoga county, where he was born March 2, 1795. In August, 1819, he settled in the then town of Barre, and in 1822 removed to the village of Albion, where for many years he had a large practice, When his health became impaired by his arduous labors, he joined with Dr. L. C. Paine, another early doctor, and they carried on a drug business, books, etc., until a few years before his death. Dr. Nichoson was chosen clerk of the county in November, 1825. He was the first regular physician to settle in Albion. His death occurred May 7, 1870.

Jesse Beech was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., March 20, 1787. His son, Dr. John H. Beech, of Michigan, furnished Judge Thomas with some data regarding his father and early times in this county. He

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said, " In those days medical colleges were not accessible to students of ordinary means " (as we have explained on a preceding page.) "There was a public prejudice against dissections, and the students of the two doctors (with whom his father studied) occupied a room in the steeple of a church in Charleston, N. Y., where they dissected bodies. One of the class would stay in the steeple all day Sundays with their cadavers, to keep the hatch fastened down to exclude intruding boys." Dr Jesse Beech began practice at Esperance, N. Y., in 1813. In the fall of 1815 he located in Gaines, which it was then thought would ultimately be a county seat for a new county. In the years 1817, 1818 and 1819 it took him three or four days to make the circuit of his patients. Dr. Beech was a strong advocate of temperance. a fine horseman and often officiated as marshal on public occasions. It the later years of his life he kept a drug store in connection with his practice. He died March 4, 1829.

John H. Beech was born September 4, 1819, and in his youth served as clerk for Fanning & Orton, of Albion. He afterwards attended the Gaines Academy until he was eighteen years old, when he began studying medicine with Drs. Nichoson and Paine, in Albion. He graduated at the Albany Medical College in 1841. He practiced from his old homestead until 1850, when he removed to Coldwater, Mich. He was the only son of Dr. Jesse Beech.

William White, whose name we have already mentioned, was probably the first physician who settled in Orleans county, and came very early in the century. Little is now known of his nativity and early years. He first settled in the town of Ridgeway, but in a few years removed to Albion village and built a saw-mill on Sandy Creek a little south of the village. As the place became more thickly settled, Dr. White gave more of his time to medical practice, had a large business and about the time of the opening of the canal, opened a small drug store in connec- tion with other business, and for a time practiced in partnership with Dr. Green Nichoson. He was appointed the first surrogate of Orleans county. Later he managed boating operations on the canal, was on a farm in Carlton a while, and about 1842 returned to Albion and re- sumed practice, adopting the homeopathic system. He was not very successful, and removed to Holley. While there he served as justice of the peace several years, and died there.

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Christopher Whaley was born in Connecticut, June 16, 1798, and settled with his parents at Verona, N. Y., in 1803. He was educated as a physician at the medical school at Fairfield, N. Y., and graduated in June, 1819. In September of the same year he located at Shelby Center. In February, 1832, he removed to Medina. where he continued in practice and died October 26, 1867. Dr. Whaley was a very suc- cessful physician and devoted his entire energies to his profession. It was truly said of him that "he never refused his services to any one in need of them, whether they were rich or poor, and without taking into consideration the possibility of losing his fee," Dr. Whaley was suc- ceeded in Shelby in early years by Dr. George Norton.

Elisha Bowen was an early and successful physician of the town of Yates. He was born in Windsor county, Vermont, in 1791 and was educated at Dartmouth College. He married and settled first in Pal- myra, N. Y., where his wife died, and in 1820 he removed to Yates, locating between Yates Center and the lake. He was the first and for many years the only physician in the town. Dr. Bowen was the father of twelve children, having been married three times. He was one of the thirteen persons who formed the Baptist church in Yates in 1822, and continued a member through his life. He was a conscientious and kind hearted man and a good physician. He died April 6, 1863.

Willard R. Fitch, who since about 1867 has been a practicing phy- sician residing in the western part of Albion, but who came to the town to retire from professional work and engage in farming for a limited time, was born in Otsego, February 16, 1826. He received an academic education, and also attended the Albany State Normal School. After a course of medical study with Doctors Manley, Thayer and Cummings, he attended a medical college at Pittsfield, Mass., and still later was graduated from the New York City University Medical College. Dr. Fitch began practice at Oneida, N. Y., and with the exception of one year in the army, practiced in that town eighteen years. Dr. Fitch entered the service as assistant surgeon of the Second N. Y. Militia (82d Regiment) and served about thirteen months. After the war, being in poor health, he spent two years in Mobile, Ala., and in 1867 bought and came to the old Perkins farm in Albion, and although intending to remain there for a short time only, the doctor has been kept in constant

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practice during his residence in this locality. However, for two years he was in a drug store in Lockport. In 1852 Dr. Fitch married Maria, daughter of Rev. D. D. Ransom, and they have had five children. Evaline, who died aged seven ; Gurdon W., a lawyer of Albion ; Freddie, who died in infancy ; Edward H., who died at twenty ; and Luella. He is a strong Republican, and has been justice of the peace eight years. He is now one of the deacons in the Knowlesville Baptist church. He was one of the United States examining surgeons for pensions for Orleans county nearly two years.

Horace Phipany, son of Joel, was born in Hindsburgh, Vermont, February 9, 1806, and learned the shoemaker's trade of his father. He moved to Sheldon, Wyoming county, thence to Millville in this county, and in 1824 settled in Gaines, where he followed shoemaking for a short time. He soon took up the study of medicine with Dr. Elisha Whaley and later with his uncle, Dr. Richard Gates, both of Medina, teaching school occasionally to meet his pecuniary expenses. In 1827 he began the practice of his profession in Lyndonville as the second physician in town, where he continued until his death October 28, 1850. He was school inspector many years, held several minor town offices, and was supervisor of Yates in 1847 and 1848. He married Elizabeth Blanchard and their children were Arthur H., born November 13, 1834; A. Hal- ler, born September 4, 1836, who enlisted in Company C. 3d N. Y. Cavalry August 3, 1861, and served until August 3, 1864; Mary E. (Mrs. Walter E. Smith) ; Carroll, born July 9, 1842, who enlisted in Company A, 8th N. Y. H. A., promoted corporal May 19, 1894, wounded in front of Petersburg, and discharged May 6, 1865; and Catherine E. (Mrs. E. B. Brown). Arthur H. Phipany is a merchant in Lyndonville, the firm being Phipany & Gale, succeeding Hon. Henry M. Hard.

Hervey Blood, who for many years was well known to the older resi- dents of the northern part of Orleans county as a minister of the gospel, and later as practicing physician, was a native of Conway, Mass., born about 1804. Coming to this State he located at Broadalbin, where he taught school several years, then moved to Whitesboro and Hamilton, at the latter attending Colgate Academy. He afterward engaged in missionary work in Western New York under the direction of the Home 18

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Mission Board, and in connection with his labors he came to Carlton in 1825. Here he bought land and built a house, and although he was afterward stationed at various other places, Carlton was considered the home of Mr. Blood and family. As the result of hard and constant ministerial work, his voice failed, and he was compelled to change his avocation. He read medicine in Gaines, and was graduated from a medical institution at Willoughby, Ohio. Dr. Blood practiced in Carl- ton and Yates about ten years, until the time of his death, July 27, 1864. He married Eliza Cooley, and to them one child was born, Ad- oniram Judson, who settled in Missouri and died there in 1892. After the death of his wife, Mr. Blood married Gracilla, daughter of Anthony Miles, a pioneer of the town. The children of this marriage were : Francis Wayland, Cornelia Ann and Francis W. (all of whom died young), and Hervey, of Albion.

William Noble was a native of Weathersfield, Conn., born May 9, 1803, and was the son of Elnathan and Mary Noble. The family left Connecticut about 1805, and settled at Geneva. William Noble was educated at Albany and New York city, at the latter in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed his medical education at Cas- tleton, Vt. He studied medicine in New York city under the direc- tion of Dr. Valentine Mott and other well known and equally distin- guished physicians. He began practicing in Albany, and thence moved to Hudson, Ohio, from the latter place coming to Albion, in 1840. From this time until his death, Dr. Noble was in continuous practice in Orleans county, and was a physician of much prominence among the local practitioners, while as a surgeon was perhaps un- equaled in the county. Dr. Noble died in Albion, April 18, 1878. His wife, whom he married at Albany, June 2, 1829, was Amelia Stiles Denio.

Harriet Noble Watson, better known as Mrs. Dr. Watson, was educated at Phipps Seminary, and received her medical education at the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women, New York City, from which she was graduated. She practiced medicine parts of two years in New York and has visited the noted hospitals of Europe. She entered the medical profession in answer to her father's desire that she should continue practice in Albion as he had done. Dr. Harriet

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Watson is a member of the Orleans County Medical Society and has re- cently been appointed physician at the Western House of Refuge for Women in Albion.

John Jacob Simonds, M. D., was born in Shelby, January 14, 1857, and was the son of Egbert B. and Arvill (Zimmerman) Simonds, the eldest son of their five children. His father was a carpenter and joiner and wheelwright, later a farmer, in which pursuit John J. was brought up. He was educated in the common schools and had always a great de- sire to study drugs and medicines which he kept constantly before him, and attended the university in Buffalo together with his brother, another physician in Akron, N. Y., and graduated from that university in March, 1890. He practiced one year in Buffalo and a like time in Shelby and then located in Barre Centre, N. Y., where he has had a large clientage and is successful in his professional work ; is a member of the County and State Medical Societies ; was married April 12, 1882, to Abbie Moratty, of Shelby. He has had two children born to them, one of which is now living.

Joseph Bullock Brown, son of Rufus and Margaret (Bullock) Brown, was born in Albany July 26, 1822. His early education was acquired at the Albany Medical College, and he was a graduate from that insti- tution. In 1845 Dr. Brown was appointed physician at Clinton Prison, where he remained three years, and then practiced surgery at Detroit one year. In 1849 he received an appointment as surgeon in the regu- lar army, and previous to the war of 1861-65 was stationed in Oregon, Texas, and Washington Territory. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he was ordered east and assigned to the Army of the Potomac, then under General McClellan. Later on he was made chief officer in the sur- geon-general's office in the Army of the Cumberland, and served in that capacity until the close of the war, and for meritorious service at Fort Columbus Colonel Brown was promoted to brigadier-general, and thereafter he was commonly known as General Brown. The next three years following the war General Brown was stationed at Governor's Island, followed by six years in Nebraska, and the remaining thirteen years of his active service were spent in New York, where he was pres- ident of the Medical Examining Board. In 1886, then being sixty- four years of age, General Brown was retired from active duty and

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service. He lived a few years at Tarrytown and in 1887 came to Al- bion, and during the remainder of his life occupied the old Bullock homestead. Here he died October 21, 1891. When not engaged in his regular duties, General Brown devoted himself to the study of the classics or photography, in which he was proficient. As an artist he attained more than passing prominence, and with his other attainments was schooled in scientific work. April 20, 1848, he married Catharine R., daughter of Jotham and Selecta Crawford, then of Saratoga Spa, and they have had four children, the first of whom died in infancy : Alice and Warren C. and Louisa M. Brown.

Dr. William McKennan came to Albion in the fifties, while a young man, and during his professional career attained a high eminence in the practice of medicine. He was also considered a good surgeon, but was especially distinguished as a physician. He married, first, Miss Harriet P. Guild, a teacher in the old Albion Academy, by whom he had two children-one now deceased and a son living in the West. He married for his second wife Miss Helen Gale, of Albion, who resides in Roches- ter. Dr. McKennan died here in the prime of life.

Dr. Walter R. Sanford, son of Wait Sanford, was born in Pawlet, Vt., April 30, 1812. He was educated in the public schools he be- gan the study of medicine with Dr. J. V. C. Teller in Marion, Wayne county, was afterward with Dr. William W. Gardner, Walworth, attended Professors Delamater & Loomis's Medical School at Palmyra, took lectures at Fairfield Medical College, and received a diploma from the Herkimer County Medical Society. He came to Kendall in 1836 to commence the practice of his profession, which he continued for over fifty years, until recently, when old age compelled him to retire. For some time he was an inspector of common schools and was postmaster of Kendall from 1845 to 1853. In May, 1838, Dr. Sanford married Abigail S. Higby, of Chapinville, N. Y., who died in 1851. Their children were: Elizabeth B., of Canandaigua; William R., Amelia J. . (Mrs. W. F. McEuen), of Chicago ; Sherrill H., and Elbert A., deceased. His second wife was Mrs. Catherine V. S. Saunders, by whom he has one child, Annie L. (Mrs. R. Howard Wallace.) Sherrill H. Sanford, born October 12, 1846, married Margaret Ashmun, of Cosmopolis, Wash., and has four children. He began mercantile business in 1872

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in a store south of the hotel, but the next year moved to his present location. He has been town clerk four terms and was postmaster under Cleveland's first administration.

Thomas Cushing, M. D., the son of Enos Cushing and the grandson of Thomas Cushing, was born near Cazenovia, N. Y., in December, 1821. His father and grandfather came from Hingham, Mass., in 1790, his father being then ten years of age. They were of the family of Cushings who were quite numerous in Massachusetts, whence they have spread to all parts of the country. His father was a teacher, a civil en- gineer and surveyor, and a farmer. Dr. Cushing received his academic education at the Chittenango Polytechny, in his native county, and sub- sequently studied some of the higher branches and languages without a teacher. He studied medicine at Cazenovia, where he commenced practice in partnership with his preceptor. He attended a course of lectures at Albany and another at Buffalo, where he graduated. He removed to Brocton (then Salem Cross Roads), Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1848; thence to North East, Erie county, Pa., in 1853, and in 1860 came to Barre in this county, where he has since resided. In 1848 he was married to S. A. Crittenden, by whom he has three sons and a daughter. One of the sons is a dentist, one a farmer, and one is the ethnologist of the Smithsonian Institution. During the war of the Re- bellion he served first as assistant surgeon 28th N. Y. Volunteers in Virginia and Maryland, and afterwards as surgeon 29th U. S. C. In- fantry in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. He was at the battle of Second Bull Run, South Mountain and Antietam. At the close of the war he purchased a farm near Barre Center, where he has since resided. In addition to professional matters Dr. Cushing has always manifested a lively interest in the progress of science, and has written several monographs on scientific subjects. In 1878 he aban - doned the practice of his profession, and he has since been engaged in historical, literary, and scientific labor. He is somewhat noted for his eccentricities. Liberality of thought, loyalty to his convictions, and fearlessness in the expression of his opinions, are his distinguishing characteristics.

Charles E. Fairman .- The ancestors of the Fairman family came from Scotland and were among the early colonists of Connecticut.

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John Fairman married Emma Streeter, and died August 6, 1826. Their son Charles, born in Northfield, Mass., August 6, 1823, was edu- cated in Townshend (Vt.) Academy, Black River Academy, Hancock (N. H.) Literary and Scientific Institute, and Waterville (Me.) College (now Colby University), from which he was graduated in 1850. In 1852 he came to Yates as a teacher in Yates Academy, of which he became principal in 1853, which position he held ten years. From 1863 to 1867 he had charge of Medina Academy and then for one year of Nunda Academy. In 1868 he was elected to the chair of mathematics in Shurtleff College in Alton, Ill., which in 1873 conferred upon him the degree of LL. D., and with which institution he is still connected. In June, 1853, he married Mary Gambell, of Yates ; chil- dren-Dr. Charles Edward, Willis L., Grace E, Bertha J., Agnes L., and Alice M. Dr. Charles E. Fairman, born December 28, 1856, fol- lowed the fortunes of his father until 1873, when he entered the senior class of Rochester University at the age of sixteen, from which he graduated as A. B. in 1874, the youngest graduate that institution ever turned out. After studying medicine in the offices of Dr. B. T. Smel- zer, of Havana, N. Y., and Dr. John D. Warren, of Lyndonville, he en- tered the St. Louis Medical College, graduating therefrom as M. D. in 1877. He also received the degree of A. M. from the University of Rochester in 1877. He then located in practice in Lyndonville, where he has since resided. February 5, 1878, he married Lois C., daughter of Dr. J. D. Warren. Dr. Fairman is a member of the Orleans County Medical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and corresponding member of Rochester Academy of Science. He is a terse and scholarly writer and is the author of several valuable medical papers and pamphlets.

Hiram W. Lewis, son of Shubael, was born in Orleans county Feb- ruary 13, 1823. His preparatory studies were pursued at Brockport, Monroe county and at Millville Academy. He taught school, pursuing the study of medicine at the same time. His medical education was thorough and complete. He studied at Harvard Medical School, Rush Medical College and Buffalo Medical College. The first five years he practiced in his native town of Clarendon. In 1851 he removed to Albion and continued in practice till his death in 1887. He married

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Melissa P., daughter of Orson Tousley, of Clarendon, in 1847 who sur- vives him. His career as a physician was marked by peculiar fidelity, patience and an increasing interest. The confidence which he won from the public was very gratifying to him, even to the end of life. The poor always found in him a friend and confidential adviser. He said that the practice of medicine was of increasing moment to him as it afforded such opportunities to relieve human suffering.

Dr. Dana Shaw was born in Massachusetts in 1798. In his youth he received a common school education, and afterward studied medicine, attending lectures at Castleton, Vt. In 1827 he removed to Orleans county and settled at South Barre, where he practiced his profession some years. He removed to Barre Center, where he died in 1852. He was a skillful physician and a highly esteemed man. His wife, to whom he was married in 1827, was Elizabeth Whiting, of Massachu- setts. She died in 1883. Their children were two daughters; one, the wife of Hon. J. G. Sawyer, of Albion, died in 1850; the other, unmar- ried, died in 1852.

Dr. Abiel Bowen was born at Guilford, Vt., in 1798, and came to Western New York with his father's family early in the present century. He studied medicine at Middleport, N. Y., and graduated at Fairfield Medical College. He engaged in practice in Shelby, and in 1828 established himself at West Shelby, where he purchased a farm. He practiced medicine there till about 1840. He died in 1847. In 1826 he married Anna S. Cone, a native of Vermont, born in 1803. She died in 1852. They had seven children, of whom two died young. Anna S. Bowen was a teacher in the West during many years, and was literary teacher in the Institution for the Blind for nine years. Adna was an able lawyer, and practiced in Medina, N. Y., where he died in 1883. George is an eminent lawyer in Batavia. Abiel, a successful dentist, is a resident of Medina, where he has practiced his profession during many years. Marian J., who married H. C. Finch.

John Hale Taylor, M. D., was born at Rome, Oneida county, N. Y., August 18th, 1844 His father, Mortimer H., was a native of Glaston- bury, Conn., and came to Oneida county, where he married Mary Brainard. In 1850 he moved to Orleans county, and settled upon a farm in Clarendon. Dr. Taylor was educated at the Holley Academy

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and Brockport Collegiate Institute. He studied medicine with Drs. Horace Clark and William B. Mann, of Brockport, N. Y., and gradu- ated at the University of Buffalo February 24, 1869. He settled in Holley, where he has since remained, and secured a large practice. In 1889 he took a post-graduate course in medicine at the New York Polyclinic College and Hospital, and at the same time took a private course of instruction in gynecology under Dr. James R. Goffe, of New York ; also a course in operative surgery under Dr. Robert H. M. Daw - barn, of New York. He is a member of the Orleans County and Cen- tral New York Medical Societies and the New York State Medical As- sociation. Dr. Taylor was elected president of the Orleans County Medical Society in 1892, and was coroner for fifteen years. He is a member of Murray Lodge, No. 380, F. and A. M., and was master in 1883 and 1884 and secretary several years. He is also a member of Orleans Chapter, No. 175, Royal Arch Masons, and of Monroe Com- mandery, No. 12, Knights Templar. In 1870 Dr. Taylor married Har- riet A. Hartwell, of Medfield, Mass., and they have two sons, John M. and Forrest E.

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Landmarks of Orleans County, New York, Part 14

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Signor, Isaac S., ed
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Syracuse : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1084