USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th > Part 50
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FRED A. MCALESTER is the son of Coridon and Jennie ( Adams) Me. Alester. He was born in Thompson Township, Delaware County, Ohio. October 17, 1878. He re- ceived his early education in the public schools of his native township. He then entered the high school at Richwood, Union County, Ohio, from which he graduated in the year 1898. He attended Kenyon College for one year and the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he com- pleted the classical course and was graduated in June, 1902. Ile immediately entered the office of the probate judge of Delaware County as deputy clerk, where he remained for three years. During the time he was in that office he began the study of law under the direction of Judge N. F. Overturf. He com-
pleted the course in December, 1905, and took the State examination and was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Soon after his admission he formed a part- nership for the practice of law with E. Lee Porterfield. the style of the firm being Porter- field and MICAlester. In the summer of the year 1906 he was nominated by the Republican party for prosecuting attorney and at the No- vember election of that year was duly elected to the office. He took the office on the seventh day of January, 1907, and is the present in- cumbent.
DAVID M. CUPP was born at Pleasant ville. Fairfield County, Ohio, in the year 1874. He is the son of Marvin and Elizabeth ( Freeman) Cupp. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of that vil- lage. and attended the Northwestern Univer- sity at Ada, Ohio, where he began the study of law. He later entered a law office at Lan- caster, Ohio, where he completed his course and was admitted to the Bar. He located in Sunbury, Delaware County, Ohio, in Sep- tember, 1907, where he opened an office and is now actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession.
J. P. MALONEY is the son of John C. and Nary Maloney. He was born in the State of Kentucky, where his parents lived at the time of his birth. The family came to Ohio and lo- cated on a farm near Ashley, in Oxford Town- ship, Delaware County. The subject of this sketch received his early education in the pub- lie schools of Ashley. He then came to Dela- ware where he attended the Ohio Busines, College for a time, and then went to the Cin- cinnati Law School, where he graduated and was soon after admitted to the Bar. He opened an office in Delaware. Ohio, about the year 1882. and began the practice of his pro- fession. He only remained here for five or six years and about the year 1888 he went West, locating in the State of Kansas.
J. COLEMAN MARRIOTT was born in Lick- ing County. Ohio, September 4. 1877. His parents' names were Greenburg O. and Amy
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(Willey) Marriott. He received his early education in the public schools of his native county and completed a course at Hiram Col- lege. Portage County, Ohio, from which insti- tution he received his degree in the year 1903. He taught for some time both before and since his graduation, having had charge of the high school at Bellepoint last year. He studied law with Messrs. Marriott. Freshwater and Wick- ham, and was admitted to the Bar in Decem- ber. 1906. He opened an office during the last year in Newark. Licking County. Ohio. and began the practice of his chosen profes- sion with flattering prospects for future suc- cess. He is at this time a prominent candidate for prosecuting attorney of Licking County. Mr. Marriott, though not having practiced in this county, has been so long identified with it while teaching here and having been ad- mitted to the Bar as a student from this county. we are glad to recognize him as one of our number.
C. H. MAXWELL is the son of Henderson Maxwell. a former justice of the peace of Kingston Township. Delaware County, Ohio. The older members of the Bar will all re- member "Squire Maxwell." as he was gener- ally known. twenty-five years ago. The sub- ject of this sketch was educated in the public
schools of his native township, and at the Ohio Wesleyan University. He studied law with the firm of Marriott and Wickham, in the early part of the nineties and was ad- mitted to the Bar. He soon after went to Toledo, Ohio, where he opened an office, but owing to the failing health of his father he returned to his father's home in Delaware County to look after his farm. He remained in Delaware County until after the death of his father, and until about two years ago, when he went to the State of California, where he now resides.
GEORGE W. BARRY is the last acquisition to the Delaware County Bar. He came to Delaware in June, 1907. as a practicing lawyer from Morgan County. Ohio, and while he has bought property and moved to Delaware with his family, he still retains his office and busi- ness in McConnellsville, the county seat of Morgan County, where he is in active practice. He has not procured an office in this city as yet, but he expects to become an active menti- ber of this Bar and make Delaware his per- manent home. Mr. Barry has been in the practice for about twenty-five years, and has been one of the leading lawyers at the Mc- Connellsvile Bar, and will be a worthy acqui - sition to the Delaware County Bar.
CHAPTER XV.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Delaware County Medical Men of the Past and of the Present.
When the Queen of Sheba, from South- ern Arabia, came to visit King Solomon, she brought with her a physician, and the great medicinal agent, the Balm of Gilead. The piety, wisdom, glory and courtesy of Solomon greatly impressed her. Upon her return to her own country she sent, contrary to the laws of her land, the great medicinal tree so long known to her kingdom, eight hundred miles away, to this admired ruler, to be planted along the river Jordan. The tree grew, in- creased, and furnished medicine to Palestine. Jeremiah, six hundred years after, and six hundred years before the Christian era. said, "Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physi- cian there?"
In the pioneer days in this country, the Doctor held a very conspicuous and import- ant position with the settlers. In many parts of the Far West, the physician, like the pio- neers of our county, are compelled to ride long distances to administer to the sick and af- flicted. In those early days the only question was, "Is he a doctor ?" "Isms" and "pathies" were unknown. This peculiar state of opinion did not last always. The surgeon, the physi- cian, the obstetrician, the dentest or tooth - puller, and finally the druggist, established a new order of things. The large and increasing population, continuously flowing into the new world, made inroads on this important func- tionary, the Doctor. He was compelled to share honors with the new members coming to the land of promise. The newcomers as well as the old timers, became divided in their opinions, and the innovations soon had theit
adherents. The herb and root doctor, like the physician of over three thousand years ago with his Balm of Gilead, began laying the foundation of a new school with his roots and herbs, his mortar and kettle, in his crude la- boratory.
This empiric school gave impetus to the more careful study of gathering, selecting and preparing from nature's laboratory. Īt is needless to tell how the mighty original think- ers and investigators of bygone days, reduced to exact knowledge the uses of many remedial agents now scientifically manufactured and furnished to the students of medicine of to- day. Our forefathers were imperfectly ac- quainted with the mineral medicinal agents, as well as the deadly poisonous principals in the vegetable kingdom. Their limited em- pirical knowledge gave them but few physio- logical ideas of the action of the herbs and vegetables they used as remedial agents: but their discoveries stimulated the desire for ex- act knowledge in our day, until today we have a greater knowledge as to the action on the normal and the pathological body. Today these drugs are reduced to standardization. Hence you will understand that the root and herb doctor indirectly contributed much to our profession. The old Indian doctor made his contribution-his knowledge of remedial agents.
The old school of Eclectics gathered herbs and prepared the medicine under its own supervision. The Eclectics established a Medi- cal College at Worthington in 1830; Dr. J. J. Steel, president, Dr. J. G. Jones, dean. The
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latter was a partner of Dr. Case, the husband of Mrs. Jane Case, who donated so liberally to the Delaware Hospital; and Dr. John A. Little, a resident of our county was associated with them for a while. . This school had much influence in this and Franklin Counties. One of the most learned and highly cultured physicians, Dr. J. A. Little, was a student ; and a teacher, but afterward became a mem- ber of the Regular profession. This school was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became the Eclectic Medical College.
The Homeopathic doctrine made its ap- pearance in about 1850. Since then it has had a representative in the county, particularly in Delaware. It was perhaps through its influ- ence that greater study was given to the et- fect of blood letting, since abandoned. Its remedial agents were studied more scientific- ally and reduced to a standardization and made more palatable.
It was in 1824 the Thompsonian system was given to the world, of which the present generation knows but little. Thompson ad- vocated that "heat was life, and cold was death." He had formulas numbering from 1 to 6. He steamed the patient outside; and stimulated him inside with his No. 6. His books were sold to families, as well as to physicians. In a few years the system passed away, or nearly so. Yet the steaming and the bathing had made an impression, which culminated in the erection of many large sanitariums in this and all lands.
One of the citizens of Delaware at that time. Mr. Horton Howard, bought the rights to Ohio and several western states for the promulgation of the Thompsonian system. Howard became a great power, and soon moved to Columbus, where he. in 1832. in- duced the Legislature to change the medical laws, and thus disorganize all of the Regular medical societies of the State. Soon after this innovation, in 1838, came the Uroscopists, who thought the kidneys the source of all of our ills. They soon passed away, yet they stimulated thought. The original thinkers of the Regular profession, by means of chemis- try, studied the secretions of the kidneys, and
the diseases that affected them, and benefitted mankind thereby.
Following these came the Specialists. The Cancer doctors, as we have them today, made no discoveries, and added nothing to the treatment of the disease. Are we discovering anything new for the treatment of cancer ? The same way may be said of the Consump- tive doctor, for of the disease he knew nothing and the remedial agents were largely detri- mental to the patient ; yet they stimulated pro- fessional thought. Then came the ear and eye specialists, who had very limited ideas of the disease of these organs; yet they caused investigation, until today mankind is blessed beyond comprehension with nearly an exact science. Then appeared the Clairvoyant, the Wizard, and the Spiritualist, to delude. To- day they are known as Christian Scientists.
Next appeared the Masseurs, and the sys- tem of massaging. Today it is called Osten- pathy. They have a school at Kirksville, Mc. This system was known and taught long be- fore the Christian era by the Chinese and Hindoos; their books described and taught the treatment. This system fell into the hands of the Brahmin fakirs and sorcerers, and was filled with mysteries and delusions.
About 1840, the profession extended the hand of fellowship to a new and highly im- portant newcomer, the lady physician. This welcomed practitioner soon found the roads impassable and the work too laborious for her, and her stay was of short duration: but in about 1890 the marvelously changed environ- ments brought her back into the field of labor to stay.
Just when the first Medical Society was formed is uncertain; we think in about 1848. It would be uninteresting and superfluous to record the ups and downs of the many or- ganized and re-organized medical societies of the county. We might do so; but it would be pernicious ; so we shall let the subject sleep. AAfter some fifteen or twenty years of desue- tude, the present Delaware County Medical Society was formed upon the broad plan of charity to all, when in 1904 all schools of medicine were admitted to equal membership.
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and now for three years and over, the society has been working in perfect harmony. all working to advance the healing art, regardless of "isms" and "pathies."
An article in the Delaware County history of 1880 brought down the biographical sketches of the members of the profession of the county from the earliest period to 1880. Now at the earnest request of the historian, Hon. J. R. Lytle, for his new history of the county, I continue the biographical sketches of the profession in the country. and bring it down to 1907. The work would have been arduous without the earnest co-operation of nearly every member of the profession in the country. To these we extend our sincere thanks.
Those who have been in active work for the last thirty years will, like Rip Van Winkle, awake and rub their eyes and exclaim, "Is it true that so many changes have taken place, and so many have passed to their reward?" While so many original thinkers, and earnest workers have passed away, the communities are blessed with many new members equally qualified to fill the vacant places.
There is very little authentic memorial evi- dence of the lives and doings of the pioneer physicians of this county, and very little writ- ten evidence, with the exception of a few dates of their arrival and a letter or two written to anxious friends back in the far east. It was the good fortune of the writer in the begin- ning of his practice, to be intimately associated with the scholarly and renowned Dr. Ralph Hills (a son of Dr. James Hills, one of the first physicians to locate in the county, and of whom we shall speak later). Drs. T. B. Williams, W. T. Constant, John A. Little and the writer often met in the studio of Dr. Ralph Hills to listen to the stories of the pio- neer, so graphically related by him, as well as to hear the history of those who came later. The pathfinders and axe wielders have long since passed away. There are no more out- posts for the daring physician. no more ad- vanced guard to administer to the various forms of disease which afflicted the early set- tlers. All is changed. Few of our profession
have any recollection of our pioneer forefa- thers. traditional or otherwise. The history of old.
DR. REUBEN LAMB, the first doctor to lo- cate in the county, is most interesting and en- tertaining, and we would be only too glad to tell of some of the many heroic deeds and dangers he passed through while visiting the sick, as related by Dr. Ralph Hills, who knew him intimately. Dr. Lamb was born and raised in the East (New York). As to just where he secured his medical education, little is known. But that he read under a careful student of medicine was proven by his thor- ough preparedness. He left home, relatives and friends in 1805 for the far southwest- New Orleans as his destination. When he reached Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, he chanced to meet Colonel Moses Byxbe, who persuaded the young physician to go with him to Dela- ware County, Ohio, and locate in Berkshire, the new and only town in the county. The trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was abandoned, and in a few weeks they landed at Worthington, Franklin County, where they were entertained over night by some settlers who had located there a year before. The next day they arrived at Berkshire, where the young physician found work at once among those who had preceded him. Dr. Lamb had brought some well selected text books, and a fine set of surgical instruments with him. After a short time he was called to Worthington to see a sick lady. Soon the attraction to this village became stronger, and the following year he moved there and married a belle of the village. The following year he returned to Berkshire to join his old friend Colonel Byxbe. The next year he and the colonel and other friends laid out Delaware on the Olentangy River in 1808, Dr. Lamb acting as the first physician and first recorder for the county. His practice increased rapidly and extended from Delaware to Portland on the north, now Sandusky City on Lake Erie; and from Dela- ware to Chillicothe on the south. Through the woods and along the bypaths, through bridgeless streams, midst dangers from the
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wild beast and Indian, he traveled with and without escort to administer to the afflicted. His surgical skill and education was sought for far and near. They said he disliked sur- gery and was only too glad to loan his set of fine instruments to his professional brothers who needed and would use them.
Dr. Lamb was born in about 1775. and chied in 1850. He was married three times. First to Miss Campbell of Worthington ; after her death to a Miss Sloper of Delaware, Ohio. in 1815. They then moved to Galesburg. Illi- nois. The following year he lost his wife and at once returned to Delaware, and soon after married a Mrs. Platt, a sister of his last wife. His first home was on the site of the present "Home for the Aged Women" the new home for the first settlers fittingly succeeded by the last home for the aged. The deed for the land where the Lamb block is standing is the same today, having never been changed, except from the Doctor to his son Reuben Lamb, who was known to many living today. Dr. Ralph Hills stated that Dr. Lamb was a man of few words. very sympathetic, generous and kind- hearted. Professionally and socially very re- ticent, he was often believed to be cold and clistant.
DR. NOAH SPAULDING located in Berk- shire in the latter part of 1809, but in a short time removed to Delaware, where he practiced until 1832, the year of his death. He came from the mountains of New Hampshire. He graduated from Dartmouth College in medi- cine and literature. He was a man of great knowledge, but slow in expression. His ami- ability, social and temperate habits gained him many warm friends. He was a fine story teller, and often entertained his many friends. with his feet supported on some convenient ob- ject higher than his body. He was an active member in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was one of the first organizers of a Sunday school in the county. He served also on the first Board of School Examiners for the county. The pleasant impression made upon Dr. Ralph Hills when a youth, and while un- dergoing an examination, was never effaced.
Dr. Spaulding in a few moments dispelled all the trepidation of the youth by telling anec- dotes of other teachers, and the degree of qualification of those presenting themselves for examination. Suddenly he turned to young Hills and asked, "Ralph, what is the difference between six dozen dozen and a half dozen dozen?" A prompt answer brought forth a certificate. Dr. Spaulding remarked, "This is one of Dr. Hills' sons, and we know what he is." Dr. Hills met Dr. Spaulding on the street one day and said, "Doctor, I have given my wife some blue pills and they have not acted as they should, see what you think of them." Dr. Spaulding examined one given him, and quickly remarked. "You see they are buck shot and made of lead."
DR. N. HAWLEY followed Drs. Lamb and Spaulding. He came to the well advertised field of attraction, Berkshire, in 1812, from which time traditional history fails to tell any- thing. His remarkable energy, shrewdness and great skill gave him his share of the work in the new land. He, like Dr. Spaulding, was armed with pleasing anecdotes and attrac- tive stories which entertained his numerous friends. He died in 1822. He was advanced in years when he came to Berkshire, and was known from the beginning as "old Dr. Haw- ley."
SILAS C. MCCLARY. In 1813 another ad- dition to the profession was made by Dr. Silas C. McClary coming to Berkshire. After twenty years of labor there. he removed to Delaware and in a short time went to Radnor where he died.
DR. SAMUEL MOULTON. Six years passed when Dr. Samuel Moulton located in what was supposed would be the capital of the county. Berkshire. He came from Vermont and was a student from Rutland, and a grad- uate of medicine. His erudite habits and no- ble character gave him a very prominent place in the town. He was well read and possessed great skill, and had the reputation of making but few mistakes. The great White Plague
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cut short a useful career. He died at the age of twenty-nine years, in the year 1821. His counsel was sought by his fellow practitioners, and for years they kept his memory green among the community by using the "Moulton Cathartic Pills."
*
DR. ELEAZER COPELAND SOON followed Dr. Moulton from Vermont, but he located in Galena, or Zoar, as it was called then. He was a shoemaker by trade and, like many oth- ers, obtained his education while working on the bench. It is said that while pounding the last, he committed to memory the whole of Murray's English Grammar, and accomplished the task in two weeks. He prepared himself for a teacher while working at his trade, and while teaching school, he studied Greek and Latin, which he mastered without an instruc- tor, and became a good translator of both lan- guages. He studied medicine in the same manner, and became one of the best practition- ers in the county. Ile was held in high esteem by all of his confreres, and for many years was the censor for the First and Sixth and Elev- enth Medical Districts of Ohio. The Eleventh District was composed of Franklin, Delaware. Marion and Crawford Counties. He died in 1834 from drowning in the Big Walnut, near Galena. This sudden ending was a great loss to the county.
DR. ROYAL N. POWERS located in Dela- ware in 1820. He was given "a ride on a rail" after being here a short time. Where he went was never known.
DR. ALPHUS BIGELOW located in Galena in 1821. He was a brother of the noted evan- gelist. Rev. Russell Bigelow of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. These two brothers were self-educated and self-made men. They both possessed great energy and strong minds. The doctor was not a regular graduate, but was an excellent physician. He died in 1850. % *
DR. JAMES H. HILLS. One of the most widely known physicians in the county was Dr. James Ilarvey Hills, who was born at Farm- ington, Hartford County, Connecticut, in
1782, and died in Delaware in 1830. After a course at Yale College he read medicine with his brother-in-law, the celebrated Dr. Eli Tod. After his medical course he began the prac- tice at Farmington. He soon grew restless and sought the western field. His first place was Worthington, Franklin County, Ohio. He arrived there in 1808, and began his work. After ten years he moved to Darby Plains, and in 1822 came to Delaware, a more rapidly growing town, where he remained until his death at the age of forty-nine years. He was one of the most highly educated physicians in the county. He was an original thinker, and possessed strong perceptive faculties and sound judgment. He was a successtul surgeon and physician, yet though he never liked the for- mer work, he never refused to operate, and
when he did it was always in a commendable manner. Those who knew him well and in- timately said to the writer "Dr. Hills was a grand physician, and was highly serviceable to suffering humanity. His early taking off was a great loss to the community. In 1801 he married Miss Beulah Andrews, who died in 1866. It was in 1812 that the doctor was taken very sick at Defiance, Ohio, while he was with the army at Fort Defiance. The courier brought the news of the danger to the faithful wife. She soon had the family mare ready for the long and dangerous trip. Through the trackless forest, crossing swol- len streams, braving the threatening of the wild beasts, and the treacherous Indians, she traveled, until she reached the bedside of the loving husband. llere she remained nursing him until they could return to Delaware with an escort of soldiers for protection. Dr. Hills was the father of eleven children, some of whom became the foremost professional and business men in the county and State. All of the children have joined the great majority. and it is left to the grand-children to take up the burdens with the same energy. integrity and power. The impress made upon the com- munity by Dr. James H. Hills and his children and grandchildren will last for ages. * *
DR. JONATIIAN N. BURR. It was the good fortune of the writer to know intimately one
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of those old and highly appreciated pioneer physicians, Dr. Jonathan N. Burr. He grad- uated in medicine and came to Delaware in 1823. He at once formed a partnership with Dr. James H. Hills. This partnership lasted until 1825, when Dr. Burr moved to Mt. Ver- non, Ohio. He entered upon a large practice in Mt. Vernon. and when we knew him, iu 1870, he had accumulated a large fortune and practically retired from active work. He was an intimate friend of Dr. J. W. Russel, and both were strong supports to the Episcopal Church. He was about ninety years old at the time of his death.
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