USA > New York > Erie County > Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1) > Part 80
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Perry G. Parker was admitted to the bar in 1844; he was a native of Hamburg, Erie county, a graduate of Hamilton College and studied with Fillmore & Haven. Well read in his profession, an industrious and painstaking practitioner, Mr. Perry obtained a large clientage, and was especially sought for the settlement of estates in surrogate's court. He died in December, 1879.
Hiram Barton settled in Buffalo in 1835 and practiced law many years. He sel- dom appeared in court, but had a large office business. In 1849 he was elected mayor of Buffalo, and re-elected, discharging the duties of the office to the satisfaction of the community; he also held other minor positions of trust.
George W. Houghton was a native of Vermont and settled in Buffalo in 1837; he was admitted to the bar in the next year and continued in practice until he was elected recorder of the city in 1852. In 1854 he was placed on the bench of the Su- perior Court. Judge Houghton was distinguished for his painstaking accuracy and his familiarity with adjudged cases, and left an honorable record.
Albert L. Baker settled in Buffalo in 1835 and studied law with Stephen G. Austin; he was admitted to the bar in 1838 and returned to his former home in Washington county, N. Y., where he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Return- ing to Buffalo in 1848 he continued in active practice until his death in May, 1873. He was a man of high character, liberal public spirit and useful citizen; he was es- pecially prominent in the promotion of education.
John Hubbell was a native of Canandaigua, studied law in the office of Mark H. Sibley and was admitted to the bar about 1843; in that year he located in Buffalo, soon secured a large practice and for many years was eminently respected by his professional brethren and the community at large. He was elected city attorney for 1854, which was the enly political office he ever held. He possessed cultivated liter- ary tastes and was a social favorite. Well read in his profession, clear and logical in his arguments, and wholly impartial in his conclusions, he attained an enviable position.
Reuben Bryant was born at Templeton, Worcester county, Mass., July 13, 1792, and graduated from Brown University. He studied law in Caledonia, N. Y., and after his admission to the bar first settled in Holley, Orleans county, and began prac-
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tice. In 1849 he removed to Albion, and in 1855 to Buffalo to aid his only son, Will- iam C. Bryant, who is still in practice in the city. He was appointed master in chancery and held the office until the Court of Chancery was abolished in 1846. While thoroughly versed in his profession, and a fine classical scholar, Mr. Bryant's delicate health prevented him from taking that active part in litigation for which he was so well fitted. He died in Buffalo in January, 1863.
Oscar Folsom, whose untimely death took place from an accident, in July, 1875, was born in Wyoming county and graduated from Rochester University. He studied law in Buffalo and was admitted to the bar in 1861, enjoying a large prac- tice until his death. He stood in the front rank of his profession at the time of his death and evidently had a bright future.
Francis E. Cornwell occupied an honorable position at the bar of Wayne county before he settled in Buffalo in 1857. From that time until his death, November 2, 1869, he had a large practice. On the day of his death the electors of Western New York were casting their ballots for him for the high office of judge of the Supreme Court.
John L. Curtenius was a practicing lawyer of Lockport, but removed to Buffalo and formed a partnership with Horatio Shumway, the firm securing a lucrative busi- ness. He was a careful, painstaking lawyer of the old school and was much re- spected by his brethren; he never held public office.
Edwin Thayer practiced law in Buffalo with a fair degree of success from 1848 until his death in 1877. In 1858 he was elected city attorney and discharged the duties of the office with ability.
Chauncey Tucker practiced law in Buffalo after his removal from Fredonia, where he had attained a good position at the bar; he died in 1874.
Sylvanus O. Gould, who died in Buffalo in 1882, was for more than forty years a respected member of the bar of Erie county; he held various minor offices of trust.
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A CENTURY OF MEDICAL HISTORY.
CHAPTER XXXI.
A CENTURY OF MEDICAL HISTORY IN THE COUNTY OF ERIE. 1800-1900.
Early History-Medical Societies-Medical Colleges-Hospitals-Medical Journals -Medical Officers of the Civil War-Women Physicians-History of Homeopathy- Individual Members of the Profession.
EARLY HISTORY, 1800-1821.
The importance of preserving accurate history of all kinds in an accessible form constantly increases as years advance. This observa- tion has no more forcible application than to the medical men and to medical institutions of the county of Erie. As our county grows older and busier with its rapidly increasing population the early land- marks are getting swept away, and soon it would be difficult or impos- sible to trace medical events with accuracy unless they are recorded from time to time with precision and detail.
Several attempts heretofore have been made to preserve such a his- tory, fragments of which are to be found scattered here and there through volumes, magazines and library papers. In arranging this record these have all been carefully searched, many of which have aided materially in its preparation. The purpose of this work is to bring the record forward to meet the demands of the present period, giving data that have been verified, and material that would seem of sufficient importance to justify its publication. Moreover, as the cent- ury is drawing near its close the time would seem opportune to pre- sent in compact form convenient for reference a record of the principal events with which the medical profession in Erie county has been identi- fied during the last hundred years.
The medical history of Erie county proper really begins when its present territorial lines were erected, namely April 2, 1821, yet there is a valuable chapter that must be recorded relating to medical men of the period during which it was included within the boundaries of Niagara county.
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Cyrenius Chapin .- Though there is very little medical history in this region prior to 1800 that can be grouped or made available, yet with the birth of the nineteenth century, or while it was yet in its swaddling clothes, there came a man who has left the stamp of his forceful char- acter impressed so strongly upon the events of that period that neither time nor tide nor any other thing can efface it. It is with the advent of this man that the medical history proper of this region may be said to have commenced.
Cyrenius Chapin was born at Barnardstown, Mass., February 7, 1769. There is very little known of his early life, but he studied for his pro- fession with his eldest brother, Dr. Caleb Chapin, at his birthplace. He completed his studies in 1793, and soon afterward married Sylvia Burnham, also of Barnardstown. He practised medicine several years at Windhall, Vt., then removed to Sangerfield, Oneida county, N. Y., and came to Buffalo in 1801, a place which had then begun to attract immigration. It was called New Amsterdam when laid out in 1801 by the Holland Land Company, but the name was changed to Buffalo in 1808.
The Holland Land Company had lately established its agency at Buffalo, but the village had not yet been surveyed, and so a project that Dr. Chapin had partially negotiated with Joseph Ellicott, the com- pany's agent, for the purchase of a township of land including the site of Buffalo fell through, and he returned to Sangerfield. Finally, how- ever, in 1803, Dr. Chapin returned to Buffalo, bringing his family with him, but he was obliged to locate temporarily at Fort Erie in Canada, as he was unable to obtain a suitable home in Buffalo.
Dr. Chapin soon acquired a large practice on both sides of Niagara River. On the Canadian side there was wealth, but on this the people were poor; hence his income was principally derived from Canada. He rode hundreds of miles in all directions seeking his patients on horseback, guided through the forest by blazed trees and other meth- ods of convenience and safety then in vogue. He established the first drug store in Buffalo, often furnishing medicine as well as food gra- tuitously to his needy patients. In 1806 he secured the title to a tract of land at the corner of Main and Swan streets running through to Pearl street for the sum of $150, on which he established his home and re- moved his family hither from Fort Erie. Chapin block, which appro- priately bears the name of its original purchaser, now stands on a portion of this lot.
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Between 1806 and 1812 Dr. Chapin was busily engaged in the prac- tice of his profession and in helping to improve the now growing vil- lage of Buffalo. He was the foremost man of affairs in this region, and commanded the respect even of the Indians, who looked up to him as the great medicine man. It is related that when he lost an only son the Indian chiefs sent delegates to express their sympathy and who formally attended the funeral.
When in 1812 war was declared with Great Britain Dr. Chapin made haste to offer his services to the United States government. He raised a company of volunteers and served in the capacity of captain, major, lieutenant-colonel and surgeon. This is not the place to record Dr. Chapin's military career, but one or two incidents of importance may be noted with propriety. On June 24, 1813, having now been commissioned lieutenant-colonel, he was sent on a reconnaissance by Colonel Boestler, U. S. Army. At a point a few miles west of Queens- ton his entire command was captured and marched to Fort George, where they were retained under guard. On July 12, having been or- dered to Kingston, they embarked in two open boats strongly guarded. When within a few miles of their destination the boats approached each other, Colonel Chapin gave a preconcerted signal, his men rose and overpowered the guards, the boats were turned about, and after a night of toil at the oars his British captives were delivered to the command- ant at Fort Niagara as prisoners of war.
Another incident will serve to indicate the character of the man. On December 30, 1813, the village of Buffalo was burned by the British and Indians. Colonel Chapin defended a position he had taken at Black Rock until but five men of his command remained. He then retreated to Buffalo where everything was in confusion. Mustering a few men and boys he set about protecting the women and children who had been left to care for themselves while their husbands and fathers were on duty at Black Rock. Colonel Chapin found a six- pounder cannon that he mounted upon wagon wheels, and with it and his small force made a stand on Niagara street. He thus sought to delay the advance of the enemy until the women and children could escape, but after a few discharges of the gun its extemporized carriage broke down and the six-pounder was disabled.
Observing that further resistance was useless Colonel Chapin tied a white handkerchief to his sword and rode out to make terms with the exultant advancing foe. He agreed on his part to surrender all pub-
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lic property, arms and munitions of war. The enemy agreed to allow the women and children to remain unmolested and to protect as well as to respect private property. The British officer with whom the treaty was concluded violated the agreement almost immediately, per- mitting the Indians to burn the village. In the conflagration but two houses escaped destruction, which served as monuments to the perfidy of the British officer. Although Colonel Chapin failed to save the vil- lage, he gained for the inhabitants valuable time in which to escape; and, unmindful of self, he surrendered himself a prisoner to protect his people from the vengeance of the British and Indians. He was taken to Montreal where he was held a prisoner for nine months. Meanwhile, after the desolation of his home by fire his family went to Canandaigua where he visited them on his release. He then returned to Buffalo where he was appointed surgeon to the military hospital. When relieved of this duty he located at Geneva, N. Y., but in 1818 he returned to Buffalo to reside permanently. He engaged in active pro- fessional practice, took a prominent place in medical societies and in public affairs, and never lost interest in the welfare of the community. He died February 30, 1838, aged sixty nine years, and was buried in the village cemetery with military honors.
Daniel Chapin .- Daniel Chapin came to this vicinity from East Bloomfield, N. Y., in 1807. He established himself on a farm a few miles distant from the village of Buffalo, which property was afterward owned by Elam R. Jewett on North Main street. Dr. Daniel Chapin resided in a log house which was located in the rear of the present homestead. This later was built by his son, Col. William W. Chapin, and is now occupied by Mrs. Elam R. Jewett. Daniel Chapin, like his namesake, Cyrenius Chapin, was a man of strong character and left the stamp of his forcefulness on his environment. He was a graduate of Yale College, a man of cultivation and a physician of great skilfulness who commanded the respect of his neighbors and his colleagues. Be- tween Drs. Daniel and Cyrenius Chapin, however, there prevailed a wordy but harmless rivalry, amusing to others, but not of serious conse- quence. Both were strong men; strong in their preferences; strong in their hatreds; but both contributed materially to the establishment of medical practice on a sounder and more scientific basis, details of which will be recorded later.
Daniel Chapin was accustomed to visit his patients on foot, with dog and gun, even traveling as far as Niagara Falls in this way, going one
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day and returning the next. He died in 1821, aged about sixty years. His death was at least partly induced by exposure in the practice of his profession, the hardships of those days being often extreme and periloys.
Ebenezer Johnson .- In 1809 another physician of prominence appeared in Buffalo, who has left a name deeply interwoven with its early his- tory. Ebenezer Johnson came here from Cherry Valley, N. Y., estab- lished himself as a practising physician, and soon took a prominent place in the affairs of the little frontier village. To these three men -the two Drs. Chapin and Dr. Johnson-Buffalo will ever remain indebted for the parts they performed in those early days. These pio- neer physicans were more than ordinary men. They were not only able physicians who were beloved by their patients, but they were also men who contributed largely toward laying the foundation for suc- cessful business enterprises that now make the city so famous.
Dr. Johnson established a drug store in connection with his medical practice, as Cyrenius Chapin had done before him-a fashion not un- common in those days. Dr. Johnson was also for a time associated with Judge Wilkeson in business and afterward he established a bank. He accumulated a fine property and was elected the first mayor, when in 1832 Buffalo became a city, and three years later was again chosen to the same office. In 1815, and again in 1828, he was elected surro- gate of Erie county. He lived in a handsome house on Delaware ave- nue, now a part of the Female Academy. In the financial revolution ยท of 1837 he met reverses, losing a large part of his property. He went to Tennessee with his brother to look after their interests in an iron mine. He died at Tellico Plains, Tenn., February 8, 1849, aged sixty- three years.
Josiah Trowbridge .- In the spring of 1811 the medical contingent of this new region received a strong reinforcement in the person of Dr. Josiah Trowbridge, who came on horseback from Vermont with a lawyer friend by the name of Walker. Following the example of Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, and for similar reasons, namely, lack of suitable liv- ing accommodations, Dr. Trowbridge took up his abode at Fort Erie.
The declaration of war the following year caused him to return to the United States, but his heart was in the queen's dominions as he had formed an attachment for one of Her Majesty's subjects. On the 19th of September, 1814, he crossed the Niagara River, captured Margaret Wintermute, and was married in Buffalo on the 22d of the same month.
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Dr. Trowbridge gave the government hearty support during the war of 1812, though he was not a sympathizer with the war party. He be- came a member of a volunteer artillery company in the ranks of which he served. He was fond of his gun, and one day when shooting ducks on Strawberry Island in company with an officer, Lieutenant Dudley, of Perry's fleet, together with some other friends, he and his compan- ions were surprised and captured by the British. He was taken to Fort George where the Indians threatened him with bodily harm, but the officers and chiefs interfered, thus preventing a prospective massacre. After a few days' detention Dr. Trowbridge and his companions were released, whereupon they returned to Buffalo after a tedious jonrney on foot. Dr. Trowbridge continued in active practice until 1836 having accumulated a handsome property. This he lost in 1837 when financial reverses came to all. He was elected mayor of Buffalo this same year. He did a large consultation practice until 1856 when failing health compelled him to relinquish it. He died September 18, 1862, aged seventy-seven years.
John E. Marshall .- The next medical man of prominence to locate at Buffalo was Dr. John E. Marshall. He came in 1815; but he had practised previously at Mayville, N. Y., and was the first clerk of the county of Chautauqua (1811), having been appointed by Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins. Dr. Marshall was born at Norwich, Conn., March 18, 1785, and was licensed to practise medicine August 3, 1808, by the Connecticut State Medical Society. He practised for six years at May- ville, that is, from October, 1809, to March, 1815, and married, Sep- tember, 1810, Ruth, daughter of Orsamus Holmes, one of the early pioneers of Chautauqua county. Dr. Marshall was appointed surgeon of the Second Regiment New York State Militia by Colonel McMahon, April 15, 1812, and joined the regiment at Buffalo about December 30, 1813. He served for five months on the frontier, when his regiment was disbanded and he returned home. On August 1, 1814, he was again ordered to report for duty. There were many sick during Au- gust and September of that year, and in their care Dr. Marshall, who was senior medical officer on hospital duty, himself fell sick and was obliged to return to his home. It is believed that for many years he continued to suffer from his camp sickness. He resumed his duties late in the fall, soon after which his regiment was discharged. After his removal to Buffalo, in March, 1815, he began to acquire fame as a medical practitioner and he was equally respected as a citizen.
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He was appointed clerk of Niagara county (then embracing the pres- ent county of Erie) in 1818, and in 1832 he was health physician of Buffalo. He was treasurer of the County Medical Society in 1826, 1827 and 1828, and was president in 1830. He died December 27, 1838, of pneumonia after a brief illness.
These five stalwart physicians-the two Doctors Chapin, Johnson, Trowbridge and Marshall-constituted a phalanx that served as a basis for the later medical history of Buffaloand Erie county. The history of this epoch is not one of medical organizations, institutions, societies, hospitals, or colleges, but rather a history of the individuals who com- posed the medical profession of the period and the locality. It is for this reason that the history of medicine here until 1831 is necessarily a grouping of biographical sketches.
I. MEDICAL SOCIETIES.
THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE COUNTY OF ERIE.
In November, 1805, a movement was begun in Saratoga county look- ing toward the organization of the medical profession into a fixed and definite body, for the purpose of improving its status and to rescue it from the obscurity and ill-repute that ignorance was fast consigning it. A meeting was held during which committees were appointed and a resolution passed inviting the co-operation of the neighboring coun- ties of Montgomery and Washington. An adjournment was had until January, 1806, at Ballston, at which time a memorial to the Legisla- ture was adopted, and a committee consisting of Drs. Fitch, of Wash- ington, Stearns, of Saratoga, and Sheldon, of Montgomery, was ap- pointed to present it. Two of the committee, Dr. Stearns and Dr. Sheldon, attended the next session of the Legislature as members, when fortunately Dr. Sheldon was chosen speaker.
Though the committee referred to was charged with representing only the three counties named, it assumed the responsibility of extend- ing the privileges of the proposed medical practice act over the entire State so that all the counties might be included in its provisions. The memorial was presented to the Assembly in February, 1806, and re- ferred to a committee consisting of the following named: William Livingston and Isaac Sargeant, of Washington, Gordon Huntley, of Otsego, John Ely, of Greene, and Joel Frost, of Westchester. It so happened that the majority of the committee were physicians and after
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considering the bill, which now contemplated a general law applicable to the entire State, reported it favorably to the House. Here it was destined to encounter bitter opposition, for then, as now, there were plenty of men to array themselves against the advance of medical edu- cation. But supported by the speaker, the committee, and other mem- bers of powerful influence, the bill finally passed, though even at last it might have failed had not at a critical juncture William P. Van Ness, a forceful speaker and a skilful parliamentarian, lent the aid of his powerful influence in a speech noted for its eloquence and argument- ative weight. The bill became a law on April 4, 1806, and on the first Tuesday of July, three months afterward, about twenty county societies were organized. Within the next two years nearly every county in the State had its medical society.
Under the provisions of this law the Medical Society of the State of New York was organized on the first Tuesday of February, 1807, which consisted of one delegate from each county society. Among the pro- visions of the statute was a section giving the societies control of the licensing of physicians after due examination, which was among the first efforts in the country to give the medical profession an honorable and legal standing in community.
The control of examining and licensing was subsequently lost to the State, and we shall see presently how important a part the Medical Society of the County of Erie played in bringing about its restoration.
Although the State Medical Society was organized in 1807, as we have seen, it was not until 1817 that Niagara county, of which Erie then formed a part, was represented in it by accredited delegate. Dr. James H. Richardson was the first delegate from Niagara county. He attended, presented his certificate of delegation, and took his seat in 1817. It does not appear that Dr. Richardson attended more than one session of the State society.
Erie county, as we have previously remarked, was a part of Niagara county from 1808 to 1821 when the division was made. In Niagara county attempts were made to organize a medical society as early as 1808 or 1809, but owing to differences of opinion among physicians, the unsettled state of society in general, the approaching difficulties with Great Britain, and finally the war of 1812, no definite organization was effected until 1816. The first delegate from the Medical Society of the County of Niagara to the Medical Society of the State of New York was Dr. James H. Richardson, as we have seen, who was sent on that duty in 1817.
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After the county of Erie was set off in 1821 its medical society became entitled to a seat on its own account, and Dr. Lucius H. Allen was ap. pointed delegate. He appeared and took his seat in February, 1823. There is no record to show that he ever attended another meeting. Indeed, Erie county was not represented again in the State society until 1833, when Dr. Bryant Burwell was seated as delegate.
The Medical Society of the County of Erie was organized January 9, 1821, at the house of P. M. Pomeroy in the village of Buffalo. There were twenty-four charter members whose names were as follows:
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