USA > New York > Dutchess County > The history of Dutchess County, New York > Part 52
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TRAVER, ISAAC H. Born August 2d, 1814; graduated P. and S., 1836; Pleasant Valley and Society, 1837; died June 8th, 1892.
TREADWAY, ALFRED. Born Colchester, Conn., September 1st, 1781; educated at Plainfield Academy ; studied with Dr. Lathrop, settled at South Dover till 1810; in 1811 at Hart's Village, succeeding Dr. La-
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throp, and having Dr. Orton as assistant. He was an excellent busi- ness man, slender, tall, with a bright, pleasant face, and courteous manners, and interesting in conversation. Died April 26th, 1826.
TRIPP, CHARLES H. Born Town of Washington, December 25th, 1855; graduated Bellevue, 1881; Washington and Society, 1882; Clinton Corners, 1884.
TRIPP, DELMAR . C. Born Ithaca, N. Y., July 6th, 1848; gradu- ated Bellevue, 1875; Beekmanville, 1885; Society, 1886; succeeding Dr. Nicholson.
TRIVETT, ELIAS C. Born England, March 24th, 1790; licensed Society, 1814; State Society, 1836; Society, 1828. Had drug store 288 Main street. Died April 12th, 1866.
UNDERHILL, ANTHONY. Born Westchester County, November 12th, 1818; son of Dr. Joshua B. Underhill; graduated Bowdoin, 1845; New Hackensack, 1845; Society, 1869; died September 4th, 1889.
UPTON GEORGE. Born Valatia, Columbia County, April 26th, 1811; graduated Jefferson, 1833; LaGrange and Society, 1834-61; served in Civil War; died January 10th, 1878.
VAN DERBURGH, FEDERAL BEEKMAN. Born May 11th, 1788; Beek- man and Society, 1810; removed, 1812; died January 23d, 1868.
VANDERHOFF, THOMAS P. Born 1805; died Rhinebeck, December 3d, 1838.
VAN DUSER, AMOS EDWARD. Born 1835; graduated P. and S., 1859; Assistant Surgeon Civil War; Medical Staff of St. Barnabas Hospital; lost his business from neglect, and died July 19th, 1892.
VAN DUSER, NATHANIEL M. Born Cornwall, N. Y., 1820; gradu- ated P. and S., 1852; Hughsonville, 1854; Society, 1859; Wapping- ers Falls, 1873; retired, 1885.
VAN ETTEN, CORNELIUS S. Born Pike County, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 13th, 1846; graduated University Pennsylvania, 1873; Rhine- beck, 1876; Society, 1905.
19
GEORGE R. FINTON.
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VAN KLEECK, BALTUS LIVINGSTON. Born 1774. Son of Dr. Law- rence Van Kleeck, a physician of New York City, who moved to Pough- keepsie, where he died before 1783. Dr. Van Kleeck, after practic- ing in Poughkeepsie for some years, removed to Newburgh, where he was a busy and honored practitioner until his death, May 9th, 1843.
VAN KLEECK, JAMES LIVINGSTON. Brother of Baltus; and M. D .; died Poughkeepsie, 1816. The brothers joined the Society 1806.
VAN VLIET, ISAAC FISK. Born 1822; graduated P. and S., 1844; Rhinebeck and Society, 1866; died February 23d, 1876.
VAN WAGNER, GEORGE H. Born Lloyd, N. Y., July 1st, 1851; graduated Albany, 1881; Schoharie, 1881-6; Wappingers Falls and Society, 1887.
VAN WYCK, DAVID BARNES. Born LaGrange, April 24th, 1852; graduated Bellevue, 1889; LaGrangeville, Manchester Bridge; So- ciety, 1890.
VAN WYCK, EDMUND. Born New Hamburgh, 1850; student of Dr. N. M. Van Duser ; graduated P. and S., 1873; New Hamburgh and Society, 1875; Wappingers Falls, 1876; died February 23d, 1885.
VAN WYCK, RICHARD C. Born East Fishkill, December 30th, 1843; graduated P. and S., 1867; practiced in Denver, in Virginia and Hopewell Junction and joined the Society 1883. Thrown from his carriage in his door-yard and killed January 28th, 1896.
VERMILYEA, JOHN R. Born October 17th, 1796; Fishkill and So- ciety, 1830-61 ; died June 7th, 1871.
VERMILYEA, VALENTINE MOTT. Born LaGrange, 1818; graduated P. and S., 1844; Fishkill Landing, 1844-54 ; died Sandwich, Ill., May 7th, 1906.
VIGEANT, JOSEPH E. Born Lee, Mass., 1872; graduated Albany, 1896; Red Hook and Society, 1904.
VON TILING, JOHANNES H. M. A. Born Dillmarshaf, Russia, 1875; graduated Bonn, 1901; Poughkeepsie, 1904; Society, 1905.
WARD, DAVID BOYD. Born Pleasant Valley, N. Y., March 13th, 1853; A. B., Hamilton College, 1873; student of Dr. E. H. Parker;
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graduated P. and S., 1876; Wheeling, W. V., till 1879; Poughkeep- sie and Society, 1879; Medical Staff of Vassar Brothers' Hospital and St. Barnabas Hospital; died 1908.
WARD, JONATHAN. Born 1780; Poughkeepsie and Society, 1807; his office was at No. 266 Main street; died typhoid fever, September 13th, 1813.
WATT, JAMES. Graduated University Maryland, 1863; Pough- keepsie and Society, 1867; Union Bridge, Md., 1900.
WEAVER, FREDERICK B. Born Galatinville, N. Y., 1875; gradu- ated Albany, 1898; Hyde Park and Society, 1901.
WEBB, DEWITT. Born Clinton, N. Y., December 19th, 1838; graduated P. and S., 1863; Clinton and Society, 1866; Poughkeepsie in the drug business at 339 Main street; Member of Assembly, 1887- 8; St. Augustine, Fla., 1906.
WEBSTER, HELEN W. Born, 1837; graduated Woman's Medical College, Boston ; Vassar College and Society, 1875; died New Bed- ford, Mass., July 19th, 1904. A woman of unusual professional ability and good common sense.
WELLMAN, GEORGE MARVIN. Born Springfield, Mass., February 24, 1837; graduated Amherst A. B., 1861; M. D., Georgetown, N. C., 1868; Dover Plains, 1869; Society, 1871; died January 13th, 1902.
WHEELER, GAMELIAL. Born January 20th, 1786; Rhinebeck and Society, 1828; Upper Red Hook ; died March 20th, 1859.
WHEELER, WILLIAM. Born August 12th, 1753; Rhinebeck and So- ciety, 1806; Upper Red Hook ; died April 14th, 1810.
WHITE, BARTOW. Born Yorktown, Westchester County, N. Y., November 7th, 1776. A student of his father, Dr. Ebenezer White. He commenced the practice of his profession at Fishkill, succeeding Dr. Edward Hunting in 1800. Dr. White was not only an active, useful practitioner of medicine for forty-five years, but also a leader in all the useful activities of the community in which he lived so long. His success brought many students to his office, some of whom attained high rank in their profession. Among them were Dr. Cornelius De
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Pew and Stephen Rapalje, Surgeons in the Navy, and Dr. John Cooper and Isaac Van Voorhis, who served in the army. Others were scattered through various parts of the State. In 1824 Dr. White was chosen to represent this district in Congress, and in 1840 he was a Presidential Elector. He received the honorary degree of M. D. from the Regents of the University in 1845. He was a strictly tem- perate man, of mild manners, making and keeping many valuable friends, who cheered and brightened his last days, which were passed amid an unusually happy environment. He died December 12th, 1862.
WHITE, HENRY D. Born Brooklyn, N. Y., February 8th, 1866; great grandson of Dr. Ebenezer White, grandson of Dr. Bartow White; graduated P. and S., 1887; Hopewell Junction, 1896; Society, 1897.
WHITE, HOWELL. Born Fishkill, N. Y., 1856; student of Dr. Oli- ver White; graduated Bellevue, 1879; son of Dr. L. H. White; Fish- kill, 1879; Society, 1880.
WHITEWELL, WILLIAM SCOLLAY. Graduated Harvard, 1872; Fishkill-on-Hudson, 1901.
WILBER, BENJAMIN S. Born July 22d, 1795; student of Dr. Uri Judd; Pine Plains and Society, 1822; died June 26th, 1871.
WILBER, HENRY CLAY. Born Pine Plains, 1845; graduated Belle- vue, 1867; Society, 1871 ; son of Dr. B. S. Wilber.
WILCOX, JEREMIAH. Amenia, 1784.
WILLIAMS, GEORGE H. Born Johnstown, N. Y., May 30th, 1860; L. R. C. P. Edinburgh, 1883; M. R. C. S., London, 1884; M. D., Yale, 1890; Fishkill, 1894; Society, 1895.
WILLIAMS, PHEBE THORNE. Born Millbrook, N. Y .; daughter of Dr. J. S. Thorne; graduated Woman's Medical College, New York City, 1878; Millbrook and Society, 1878; Poughkeepsie.
WILSON, HENRY C. Born Derby, Vt., 1837; M. D., University Vermont, 1863; Acting Assistant Surgeon, Civil War; Matteawan, 1867.
WILSON, JOHN POWELL. Born Hobart, N. Y., January 27th, 1845; graduated P. and S., 1870; Stanford, 1871; Pleasant Valley to 1879; Society, 1872; Poughkeepsie, 1906.
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WILSON, JOHN S. Born Stuyvesant, N. Y., January 10th, 1865; graduated P. and S., 1887; Poughkeepsie and Society, 1888; Phy- sician to Orphans' Home.
WIMPELBERG, SAMUEL. Born Poughkeepsie, March 27th, 1861; graduated Jefferson, 1883; Poughkeepsie and Society, 1884; re- signed; died July 12, 1907.
Woon, LOUIS C. Born New York City, July 24th, 1856; gradu- ated Bellevue, 1881; Wappingers Falls and Society, 1886; Pough- keepsie, 1899.
WORTMAN, DENNIS. Born Brooklyn, February 21st, 1796; East Fishkill and Society, 1817; died May 3d, 1864.
YOUNG, JOHN. Born Port Glenone, Ireland, April 16th, 1822; America, 1826; graduated P. and S., 1844; New York City to 1867; Fishkill; died September 2d, 1893.
MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS.
HUDSON RIVER STATE HOSPITAL. The erection of a State Hospital for the Insane somewhere along the Hudson River was authorized by the Legislature in 1866, but its location was left to a Commission, with power to obtain the most advantageous terms from the rival counties. It was brought to Poughkeepsie only after a considerable struggle on the part of the enterprising men of the day. When the Dutchess County Supervisors met in November the contest had nar- rowed down to Poughkeepsie and Newburgh. The site most favorably considered comprised two hundred acres belonging to James Roosevelt, about a mile north of the city. The city and county were asked to pay $30,000 towards its purchase, and on November 18th a paper, signed by Mayor Innis, the aldermen and a committee of citizens who pledged themselves to raise this amount, was submitted to the Super- visors, who were asked to issue county bonds for two-fifths of the amount. The aldermen who signed this paper were S. B. Wheeler, Sidney Fowler, Daniel Clifford, Robert Slee, Oscar A. Fowler, William Shields, Joseph H. Marshall, E. P. Bogardus, P. G. Beneway and Samuel Tuthill, and the citizens Cornelius DuBois, B. J. Lossing, George Corlies, E. L. Beadle, J. P. H. Tallman and George Innis.
The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution December 4th, to
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issue $12,000 of county bonds, but Orange County raised its offer, and after overcoming considerable opposition from Fishkill and other towns whose Supervisors did not see how their sections could be bene- fitted, the board reconsidered its action and voted to issue bonds for two-fifths of the amount needed, "said two-fifths not to exceed $34,000." The expenses of the site were stated to be $80,000. By the time it had been definitely ascertained that the required amount would be raised it was too late on Saturday afternoon, December 29th, to catch a train for Newburgh, where the commission was in session, and about to decide the question of location. Nothing daunted, a telegram was sent asking the commission to wait for the arrival of a committee from Poughkeepsie. George Morgan brought out two of his "quick steppers," and a two-seated sleigh, and with John P. H. Tallman, Alderman Slee and George W. Davids, began at 6. P. M. a memorable drive to Newburgh. Mr. Davids, describing it a day or two later wrote: "The night was a terrible one, the wind blowing a perfect hurricane and the snow drifting heavily. Twice we got off the road, the snow blinding us in such a manner, and the track blown so full, that it was utterly impossible in some places to find the way."
Reaching Fishkill Landing after 9 o'clock they found that the ferry had ceased its regular trips and was only running occasionally to keep the ice from blocking it. The captain was at length found and in- formed the party that he would probably start in about an hour. "He was persuaded to go at once." Mr. Davids does not mention the persuasive force, but the story afterwards told placed it at $50. The commission had about given up the Poughkeepsie committee when they finally arrived, and after a conference lasting until 1 A. M. at the Orange Hotel, Poughkeepsie secured the prize.
Work began at the hospital site the following summer, and in 1871 sixty patients were admitted and a large amount of work was in progress. The State Hospital has been constantly increased in size until now it has a population of nearly 3,000 patients. The money disbursed to laboring men in its construction has been a factor of importance in local business, and its large force of physicians, nurses and attendants, numbering more than six hundred, add much to the life of the city. Dr. Joseph M. Cleaveland was made the superin- tendent at the opening and remained until May 1, 1893, when he was succeeded by Dr. Charles W. Pilgrim. The first board of managers,
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in 1867, was Dr. Charles P. Agnew and Dr. A. Cook Hull, of New York; State Treasurer William A. Howland, of Matteawan; Mayor George Clark, of Newburgh; Hon. A. W. Palmer, of Amenia; Dr. Beadle and Cornelius DuBois, of Poughkeepsie. The architects were Vaux, Withers & Co., of New York.
MATTEAWAN STATE HOSPITAL. In 1846 a law was enacted which permitted officers of the State prison to transfer to the Utica Asylum any convict who became insane while serving sentence. These lunatics were so vicious and troublesome to the Utica management that eight years later it succeeded in convincing the Legislature that it would be a good plan to build a separate institution for this class of patients. Funds were appropriated and is 1855 work was commenced. This building was located at Auburn Prison, but had an independent and distinct administration, wholly apart from the prison proper. It was opened for patients February 2, 1859, and was the first institution of its kind in the world, so far as is known. At the beginning it cared for the convict class only and was known as the State Asylum for Insane Convicts. Some ten years after its opening the name was changed to the State Asylum for Insane Criminals and the Courts were given power to commit to its care criminals brought before them whose insanity was evident at the time of the commission of the crimi- nal act. The institution increased in size until finally the Auburn buildings became too small for their population. In 1886, largely through the efforts of Dr. Carlos F. Macdonald, a commission was appointed to determine the best method of caring for the criminal insane. This step had a cordial public and press support. The com- mission, after much consideration of the subject, advocated the pur- chase of the Dutchess County site and the erection thereon of the buildings now known as the Matteawan State Hospital. In April, 1892, the first patients were received by transfer from the abandoned Auburn institution. The initial population was 261. In five years it had practically trebled. The convict part of the population were taken to Dannemora in 1900. So that the hospital now serves prin- cipally as an adjunct to the Courts, detaining patients under the following conditions: First-Those simply charged with crime. Sec- ond+ Those accused of crime and awaiting indictment. Third- Those under indictment and awaiting trial. Fourth-Those acquitted on ground of insanity.
MATTEAWAN STATE HOSPITAL, MATTEAWAN, N. Y.
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In addition to the foregoing, all committed by the Courts directly, the hospital receives from penal and reformatory institutions all female inmates evincing insanity, as well as male patients held on simple mis- demeanor charges. The present population is about seven hundred and fifty. To provide for this number, a new group of buildings is in course of erection. When these shall be complete the capacity of the hospital will be about a thousand beds. At the time of the open- ing of the Matteawan buildings, Dr. Henry E. Allison was the Medi- cal Superintendent. He died in November, 1904, and was succeeded by Dr. Robert B. Lamb, who directs the hospital management at the present time.
ST. BARNABAS HOSPITAL, incorporated March 16, 1871, was started by Dr. Edward H. Parker. The first trustees were Rev. P. K. Cady, rector of Christ's Church; Rev. R. F. Crary, of the Church of the Holy Comforter ; Rev. S. H. Synnott, of St. Paul's Church; William A. Davis, S. M. Buckingham, Robert Sanford, Dr. E. H. Parker, Benjamin Van Loon, and Winthrop Atwell. The Hospital was first opened in Garden street, then in 1873 was transferred to 108 North Clinton street, which was purchased for $5,200. Although St. Bar- nabas Hospital was abandoned when Vassar Hospital was opened, the St. Barnabas fund is still in existence, and there is now a prospect of using this money toward the erection of a new St. Barnabas Hos- pital.
VASSAR BROTHERS' HOSPITAL was founded in 1882 by Matthew Vas- sar, Jr., under the name of Vassar Hospital. Following the further endowment of the institution by his brother, John Guy Vassar, the name was changed to Vassar Brothers' Hospital.
The original board of trustees were John Guy Vassar, Irene B. Vas- sar, Oliver H. Booth, James H. Weeks, Stephen M. Buckingham, Henry L. Young and Joseph M. Cleaveland, M. D.
The hospital located above the banks of the Hudson, on the out- skirts of the city, surrounded by seventeen acres of open grounds, is admirably situated for the care of the sick.
Additions have been made from time to time to the original build- ing, these additions being required by the constantly increasing work of the hospital. A library building including modern laboratories was erected in 1898, and four years later additions were made to the main
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wards and new private rooms opened. At present there are fifty-two ward beds and eleven private rooms. Two years ago the re-equipment of the entire hospital was begun and has been continued to the present time. During these two years an isolated building for the care of contagious diseases arising in the hospital, has been erected.
Dr. Guy Carleton Bayley was surgeon-in-chief and superintendent of the hospital from its opening until 1906, when he was succeeded by Dr. Henry Greenwood Bugbee. The present officers and board of trustees is composed of Frank Van Kleeck, President; Guilford Dud- ley, Vice-president ; Henry Booth, Treasurer; Benjamin M. Fowler, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer ; Floy M. Johnston, William F. Booth, William T. Reynolds and James Hyde Young.
HIGHLAND HOSPITAL, Town of Fishkill. This institution was founded May 1, 1871, as the result of a meeting held at the house of Henry Slack, M. D., January 19, 1871, at which were present Gen. Joseph Howland, Judge J. J. Monell, Rev. Dr. Masters, Rev. H. E. Duncan and Dr. Slack. Gen Howland offered for use as a hospital for one year, a house owned by him in the village of Matteawan
The first trustees and the incorporators were Joseph Howland, Silas G. Smith, Francis R. Masters, John J. Monell, Rev. Henry E. Duncan, Walter Brett, Henry Slack, M. D., Lyman Robinson and Smith T. Van Buren, none of whom survive.
The house, the use of which was given by Gen. Howland, continued to be so occupied until May, 1874, when it was deeded to the Hospital Association by Gen. Howland and his wife, as a free gift. In 1876 an addition was erected which nearly doubled the capacity of the institu- tion. In 1887 the need of new and larger quarters became apparent, but it was not until August 15, 1901, that ground was broken for the present spacious building, which was ready for occupancy May 1, 1902.
The officers of this hospital are Winthrop Sargent, President ; William T. Blodgett, Vice-president; Mrs. Samuel Verplanck, Secre- tary; Samuel K. Phillips, Treasurer.
It was a source of great satisfaction to the editor of this history that Dr. Guy Carleton Bayley consented to write the foregoing chapter, for there is no one as thoroughly equipped with information and as well qualified for the task as he.
In 1906 he prepared "An Historical Address delivered before the Dutchess County Medical Society at its Centennial Meeting at Vassar Institute, Jannary
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10th, 1906, with a Record of the Medical Profession of Dutchess County from 1740 to 1906."
This address was privately printed by its author.
It is an exceedingly interesting record of the medical profession of our county and bears evidence of an immense amount of careful investigation. Not only the medical profession, but all students of local history, are under obligations to Dr. Bayley for his pains-taking work-wholly a labor of love for his honored pro- fession.
For the information concerning the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane and the Matteawan State Hospital acknowledgment is given to the Superintend- ents of said institutions, Dr. Charles W. Pilgrim and Dr. Robert B. Lamb .- EDITOR.
THE HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL SOCIETY OF DUTCHESS COUNTY. 1
I N 1860, the subject of the organization of a County Medical So- ciety was pressed upon the attention of the homeopathic physi- cians of Dutchess County by Horace M. Paine, M. D., secretary of the State Homeopathic Medical Society. The following year Dr. J. F. Merritt published in the two weekly papers in Poughkeepsie, a card to homeopathic physicians, naming a time and place of meeting of those favoring an immediate organization. Accordingly a meet- ing was held at the Gregory House in Poughkeepsie, November 27, 1861, at which the Homeopathic Medical Society of Dutchess County was formed and the following officers chosen: Federal Vanderburg, Rhinebeck, President ; Ephraim Case, Clinton Corners, Vice-president ; Ernst F. Hoffman, Poughkeepsie, Secretary and Treasurer. The Censors were: John Hornby, Poughkeepsie; Stephen G. Cook, Stan- fordville, and Jesse F. Merritt, Pleasant Plains. A constitution and bylaws were then adopted. Article 5 of the constitution makes "any regularly licensed physician who has complied with the requisitions of the laws of the State and who shall avow his belief in the homeo- pathic maxim, similia similibus curantur, eligible to membership on a majority vote of the members present at a regular meeting."
Under an act of the Legislature, passed April 17, 1862, a reorgani- zation of the State Society was effected whereby county societies then existing became auxiliary to the State Society, and the next year it was formally inaugurated.
At the second meeting of the Society of this county, February, 1862, Dr. Vanderburg read a paper on the "Problem of Life," which
1. We are indebted to John C. Otis, M. D., for the historical review of this society.
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was deposited in the archives for future discussion. Accounts of in- teresting cases in practice were given verbally by Doctors Cook, Mer- ritt and Hornby.
At the third meeting, held in May, 1862, Doctors G. Lorrillard, G. C. Lansing and Benjamin Lansing, all of Rhinebeck, were proposed for membership. The Society seal was received and attached to the by-laws, and the Secretary was ordered to deposit them with the County Clerk, in accordance with the laws of the State.
April 2, 1867, communications from Dr. Jones, of Albany, and the Secretary of the State Society were read, "and it was resolved that members of the Society be requested to use their personal influence with their patrons, and endeavor to procure homeopathic treatment to be adopted by the authorities in the new insane asylum to be erected near this city."
October 6, 1868, it was resolved: "That the code of medical ethics adopted by the American Institute of Homeopathy, at their 21st annual session, held in St. Louis in Junc, 1868, be the standard of professional behavior among the members of the Society."
At the meeting held October, 1871, the Society was reported to be in a flourishing condition, and the Homeopathic Dispensary which had been established in Poughkeepsie, to be achieving excellent re- sults. No succeeding reports of the annual meetings, however, were recorded until 1874, when the following officers were chosen: Ephraim Case, President ; John Hornby, Vice-president; John C. Otis, Secre- tary and Treasurer. In subsequent meetings there appears to have been a gradual decrease of interest-often no quorum-and in 1891, the organization is termed by the State Society, "Moribund."
In 1893 the Society was reorganized, and the following officers elected: John C. Otis, President; W. R. Case, Vice-president ; Anna C. Howland, Secretary and Treasurer. Doctors C. E. Lane, F. A. Faust, J. G. Dawson, J. F. Goodell, S. I. Jacobus and Milton Angell were elected members. A committee was appointed to write a new constitution and by-laws. Meetings were held regularly from Octo- ber, 1900, to October, 1906, and the following year the members united with the Dutchess County Medical Society.
A history of homeopathy in Dutchess County must necessarily be incomplete from the fact that all records were burned on February 19, 1900, necessitating recourse to memory alone.
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The first homeopathic physician of Dutchess County was, probably, Dr. Federal Vanderburg, a New York City practitioner, who had a country home at Rhinebeck about 1820. Dr. Vanderburg was a native of Beekman, Dutchess County, N. Y. He studied medicine with Dr. Stephen Smith, a leading physician of New Milford, Conn., and must have graduated about 1808. He commenced practice at Geneva, N. Y., remaining there for twenty years, and returned to New York about 1830. He obtained his knowledge of homeopathy from Dr. Gram, who was among the first homeopathic physicians in this coun- try. After giving up practice in New York City, Dr. Vanderburg did a great deal of work in the vicinity of Rhinebeck, mostly in con- sultation. During his residence in Rhinebeck he persuaded Dr. Mar- tin Freligh, who was then in practice at Saugerties, to remove to Rhinebeck, and for many years he was the local physician in that town.
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