USA > Ohio > Allen County > History of Allen County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part One > Part 31
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John W. Mowen, the junior member of the firm of Meade & Mowen, is a graduate of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in the class of 1888, and has practiced his profession in Lima since that time.
H. O. Bentley is a graduate of the Ohio Normal University. He was admitted to prac- tice in Ohio in June, 1896, and has practiced
in Lima since that time. Since July 1, 1902, he has been the junior member of the firm of Wheeler & Bentley.
W. L. Parmenter graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan and has practiced in Lima since his admission to the bar in 1888.
Charles L. Fess is a graduate of the Ohio Normal University at Ada. He has practiced his profession since his admission to the bar in 1899, and has practiced in Lima since the spring of 1900.
J. W. Halfhill, of Ridenour & Halfhill, is a graduate of the Cincinnati Law School. He has practiced his profession in Lima since his admission to the bar in 1887.
Walter J. Richie read law in the office of Richie & Richie and has practiced in Lima. since his admission to the bar in 1894.
Walter B. Richie studied law with Ballard. & Richie. He was admitted to the bar April 2, 1875. He practiced law in Bucyrus two- years and since 1877 has practiced continu- ously in Lima.
William Klinger graduated from the Ohio. Normal University at Ada and took a post- graduate course at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He has practiced in Lima since his admission to the bar in 1896.
John H. Secrest graduated from the Ohio. Normal University in 1895. He was admit- ted to the bar in 1902 and has been in active practice in Lima since 1904.
Charles F. Sprague( graduated from the Ohio State University Law School, at Colum- bus, in 1899, was admitted to the bar of Ohio in the same year, taking up the practice in. Lima at once.
Otis T. Lippincott is a graduate of the Ohio Normal University, at Ada, and the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. He was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1899 and has practiced in Lima since 1900.
D. C. Henderson attended Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri, and fin- ished a course of reading in the law office of M. A. Hoagland, of Lima. He has practiced his profession in Lima since his admission to- the bar of Ohio in 1889.
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W. L. Mackenzie studied law in the office of his father, Judge James Mackenzie, and has practiced in Lima for more than 25 years. He was admitted to the bar in 1881 and the firm of Motter & Mackenzie was formed October 20, 1881.
James J. Weadock graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1896. He was admitted to the bar in the same year and has practiced in Lima since that time. He is now the younger member of the firm of Motter, Mackenzie & Weadock.
Horace A. Reeve was admitted to the bar at Findlay on May 1, 1875, after a course in Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. He has practiced in Lima since 1904.
J. W. Roby is a graduate of the Ohio Wes- leyan University in the class of 1889 and was accorded a degree from Yale Law School in 1891, being immediately admitted to the prac- tice of the law in Ohio. Mr. Roby has prac- ticed in Lima since 1895.
W. J. McLaughlin graduated from Colum- bia University Law School, New York, in 1904. His preparatory training was received at Lima College, and at Hamilton College, New York. He has practiced in Lima since 1904. Mr. Mclaughlin has formed a law partnership with John W. Roby.
Clarence E. Kephart is a graduate of the Ohio Normal University at Ada, Ohio, in the class of 1903. Mr. Kephart has been in general law practice in Lima since that year.
Marshall J. Sanford graduated from the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. In 1886 he was admitted to the bar of Ohio and has been an active practitioner in Lima since that time.
Theodore D. Robb studied law under his father, Judge Thomas M. Robb. He was admitted to the bar and practiced his pro- fession in Lima until February, 1894, when he was elected probate judge of Allen County.
George H. Meily studied law in the office of Lamison & Ballard, was admitted to the bar in 1871 and has practiced in Lima since that time.
Jacob C. Ridenour graduated from the State University of Iowa at Iowa City, was
admitted to the bar of Iowa in 1885 and was afterward admitted to the bar in Ohio on June 2, 1886, since which date he has practiced in Lima.
E. W. Price graduated from the University of Michigan, was admitted to the bar of Michi- gan in 1881, and in 1888 was admitted to the bar of Ohio.
The following lawyers are also well known in Lima and Allen County: D. Armstrong, William Axline, Graham & Adgate, J. N. Hutchinson, J. G. Hersh, John H. Klatte, C. Brotherton, J. H. Hamilton, J. L. Price, G. H. Quail, T. R. Shaw, R. W. Thrift, K. Timmer- meister, Barr & Everett and H. P. Williamson, of Lima; B. J. Brotherton, John Linderman, George Leasure, W. S. Kimball, of Delphos; M. G. Bailey, of Beaver Dam; J. J. Ferrall, A. J. Owens and G. O. Farquharson, of Bluffton ; John N. Bailey and R. R. Kennedy, of Spen- cerville, and E. B. Milnor, of Harrod.
THE ALLEN COUNTY LAW LIBRARY
Was incorporated by the Allen County bar under the laws of Ohio on the 12th day of January, 1897, not for profit but for the pur- pose of acquiring and maintaining a library of law books and kindred matter for the en- couragement, culture, advantage, education and use of the members of the bar of Allen County, and for the use of all county officers and the judges of the several courts of said county, free of charge.
The first officers of said association were as follows: Frank E. Mead, president; Cloyd J. Brotherton, vice-president; Thomas R. Hamilton, secretary; William Klinger, treas- urer. The first board of trustees, as chosen in 1897, was composed of Frank E. Mead (chairman), Cloyd J. Brotherton, H. S. Prophet, H. L. Brice and M. A. Atmur, and with the exception of H. L. Brice, who died several years ago and whose place was filled by the election of William L. Mackenzie, the same board has been continued by the mem- bers of the association up to the present time (1906). The present officers of the associ- ation, aside from the board of trustees, are:
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Frank E. Mead, president; H. S. Prophet, vice-president; F. C. Becker, secretary ; W. L. Rogers, treasurer. The county furnished library rooms at the Court House. Funds for the purchase of books and to maintain the library are secured from the annual dues of the members, and also from an annual contri- bution authorized by law from Allen County. It has been the policy of the association to place in its library such law books as are not other- wise accessible to the members of the bar from the private libraries of its members.
The association began with the purchase of the complete publication of the "West Re- porter System," and the "West" series of re- ports have been kept up since its organization ; to which have been added the reports of differ- ent States, not otherwise owned in Lima, so that at the present time the library contains
the complete reports of every State in the Union as well as of the courts of the United States dating from the beginning of the "West Reporter System," and, by the purchase of original State reports up to the beginning of the "West" system, it contains the reports of Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and California. In addition to the above, the library is receiving the reprint of the "English Common Law and Equity Re- ports." The library also contains the entire reports from the beginning of the government of all United States courts; also the "Century Digest" .complete, besides a large number of text-books on the leading branches of the law. The total amount of money expended in books since the organization of the association amounts to between five and six thousand dol- lars.
CHAPTER XIII
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
A Brief History of Medicine-The Allen County Medical Society-Physicians of the Past -Dr. William Cunningham-Dr. William McHenry-Dr. W. H. Harper --- Dr. Sam- uel Sanford-Dr. Robert W. Thrift-Dr. Newton Sager-Dr. C. A. Evans-Dr. P. H. Brooks-Dr. Brice Blair-Dr. John Davis-Physicians of To-day-Dentists of Lima.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MEDICINE.
"The proper study of mankind is man; higher than this there is none." The above is a philosophical truth-expressed many centur- ies ago. It has the same force to-day, for the proper study of man leads to the study of the laws of God as applied to and as governing man. The study of medicine is the study of man in most vital relations. It is as old as civilization itself.
The history of medicine must necessarily begin with the written history of events. Its earliest period is enveloped in profound ob- scurity. It is largely myth and fable. We look to the Scriptures for our earliest account of medicine. In these writings may be gath- ered here and there a fair idea of Egyptian knowledge and practice. Egypt had a class of men who practiced the healing art, and they also embalmed the dead. The art of embalm- ing required a rather definite knowledge of anatomy. Prof. Roswell Park, in his great history of medicine, says that probably the mythical being whom the Egyptians called "Thoth," whom the Greeks named "Hermes," and the Latins "Mercury," passed among the Egyptians as the inventor of all sciences and arts. They attributed to Thoth a large num- ber of medical works, and great medical skill. A knowledge of medicine is not attained in a
day. It is a growth of centuries. Perhaps. no one of the professions is based more largely upon experience than medicine. Strabo says that the Egyptians exposed their sick and afflicted in the public squares; that any one who had been similarly afflicted might give his experience and advice for the benefit of the sufferers. Herodotus says the same custom prevailed in Babylon. Pliny assures us that the kings of Egypt. permitted the opening of corpses for the purpose of discovering the causes of disease. Thus originated the autopsy of modern days.
The Scriptures give ample proof of the medical knowledge of the Hebrews. The book of Leviticus is largely made up of rules con- cerning matters of public health. The meas- ures suggested by Moses for the prevention of the spread of leprosy could not now be sur- passed, says Professor Park. Solomon was skilled in medical lore next to Moses. To Solomon is attributed a very accurate knowl- edge of natural history. Josephus claimed Solomon had such perfect knowledge of the properties of all the productions of Nature, that he availed himself of it to make remedies extremely useful. A knowledge of medicine was widely extended among the Brahmins, a priest caste of India, who alone had the right to practice medicine.
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These ancient priests practiced much ab- surdity, yet they had some knowledge that we of to-day cannot equal. "They are believed to have had an ointment that caused the cica- trices of variola to disappear, and they cured the bites of venomous serpents with remedies whose composition has been lost."
In China medicine has been practiced for almost untold centuries. Its study was intro- duced by the third emperor of the first dynasty, Hwangti. It was based upon the pulse. Great stress was placed upon the study of the pulse, for from it could be divined the seat, duration and gravity of the disease.
As the historian must look to Greece for much of the world's art, so also must the writer of medical history, for it was AEsculapius who gave to the Greeks, and thus to modern times, the first principles of medicine. AEscu- lapius was supposed to be the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis, and, as was true of Homer, a number of Grecian cities claimed the honor of his birthplace. He was the leading character in medicine of all the ancients. Tem- ples were erected in his honor, and dis- tinguished priests were dedicated to these tem- ples, and schools of instruction founded. So noted did he become that, in later times, the imaginative Greeks related that when Pluto became alarmed at the daily diminishing num- ber of arrivals in his kingdom, he complained to Jupiter, and the latter destroyed the auda- cious healer of men. From this event, some wit said, "The modern children of Æscula- pius abstain from performing prodigies."
Pythagoras was the first to introduce the 'custom of visiting the sick in their own homes. He was a man of immense learning, and in many ways has left his mark upon the intel- lectual world.
But the central figure in the history of an- cient medicine is Hippocrates, a descendant of ÆEsculapius. To him at least 10 volumes on the general practice of medicine are attributed by Renouard, who has made an exhaustive study of the life and work of Hippocrates. These writings, joined to those of Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle, formed a definite part of the great libraries of Alexandria and Perga-
mos-"The most ancient authentic monument of medical science." Next in order comes the work of Alexander the Great, who collected the riches, intellectual and natural, of the uni- verse. The value of this collection-the great Alexandrian Library-will never be exhaust- ed.
The most noted of the early Roman writ- ers on medicine was Aulus Cornelius Celsus. Celsus was a man of very wide and accurate knowledge-in fact, he was a walking cyclo- pedia of the day.
But the most noted, as well as influential, of all the early physicians was the great Galen (131-201 A. D.). He was a native of Perga- mos. He traveled widely, and studied at Alex- andria. He practiced at Rome, where, by his brilliant logic, eloquence, profound erudition, great versatility and practical skill he easily took first rank. He was a voluminous writer, and he accomplished great things in anatomy and physiology. For many years after Galen the practice of dissection was discontinued. His influence was so great that many schools grew up under his instruction, and he had many fol- lowers.
Following Galen came a long period of transition covering the Greek period of Rome, then the Arabic period, the great School of Salemum and the School of Montpellier. This brings the history of medicine down to 1400 A. D., when the "New Age" begins, running on to the present. This "New Age"-or the "Age of Renovation," as Renouard calls it, had a sudden awakening, following the estab- lishment of hospitals and medical schools, the invention of the compass, the telescope and the microscope. Engraving on copper also added to this new age, but above all other in- fluences was the invention of printing. This was the erudite period, and we find the names of Linacre, Vesalius, Columbus, Eustachius, Fallopius and others, prominent. Then we read of the great work of the University of Paris with its thousands of students from all nations. The "cell" doctrine was introduced after more extended study of botany and zoology in the 16th century.
But the great discovery of the time was
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that of Dr. William Harvey-the circulation of the blood, which he announced through his lectures from 1613 to 1619. The results of his researches were not published until 1628, and, because of the intense jealousy in his native England, his work was unable to pass censorship there, but was published in Frank- fort, Germany.
The announcement of this discovery should have appealed at once to the intelligence of every doctor of the land. On the contrary it aroused bitter opposition, and, in fact, it caused a general stupefaction in the medical world. All classes of professional men took part in the discussion, especially naturalists and philosophers. Rene Descartes, one of the most brilliant men of any age, was the first to declare in favor of Harvey's argument, and Cambridge University accepted it in 1649. Harvey only answered his opponents by new proofs, and in other ways maintained a digni- fied silence. He lived long enough to see his theory universally adopted.
The discoveries made in surgery in the next century were many and valuable, and surgical instruments were much improved.
Perhaps the most noted of all medical dis- coveries was that of Dr. Edward Jenner, wide ly known as the "Father of Vaccination." This great discoverer was born in 1749, and, when a medical student, was told by a milkmaid that cow-pox had protective power against variola ; he reported the statement to his preceptor, Dr. John Hunter, in 1770. The young Jenner was told not to spend his time thinking about what had been told him, but "to investigate." The subject never afterward left his mind. Dr. Waterhouse, professor of medicine in Harvard College, made the first vaccinations in the United States, in 1800, upon four of his chil- dren.
The medical world is fully conversant with the wonderful work of Virchow, Langenbeck and his pupil, the great Billroth. "Billroth was for many years the surgical sun of Aus- tria-Hungary, and he it was who performed the first resection of the larnyx, and of the stomach." And widely known in America are Dr. Waterhouse, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Dr.
George B. Wood, and Dr. John C. Dalton, whose text-book is to-day studied in many colleges. None the less noted is Dr. Austin Flint, of New York, as a teacher and author. "His text-book on Practice is.the most popu- lar American work on the subject that has ever appeared, and is still in general use." Nor would we omit the name of the genial "Auto- crat of the Breakfast Table," Dr. Oliver Wen- dell Holmes, whose "Chambered Nautilus" will ever be a treasure of the human heart. For a third of a century he was professor of anatomy at Harvard.
Dr. Ephraim McDowell, of Danville, Ken- tucky, threw lustre upon the profession in America by having performed the first "ration- al and deliberate ovariotomy, in 1809." Names like those of S. D. Gross, J. Marion Sims, and D. Hays Agnew, will ever give a prominence to the medical profession in America equal to that of any other country.
The history of medicine in any country would be incomplete without a reference to the discovery of Dr. William T. G. Morton-viz. : the use of ether in surgery, first proved to the world in October, 1846. On his tomb in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Boston, is this self- explanatory inscription :
"Inventor and revealer of anaesthetic inhalation, before whom in all time surgery was agony, and by whom pain in surgery was averted and annulled; since whom science has controlled pain."
The discovery of anti-sepsis is equally im- portant with that of anaesthesia. To Lord Lister is due this great honor, though his work was based upon the researches of Tyndall, Pas- teur and Koch. Some antiseptic processes that would avail against putrefaction-in fact, an antiseptic system-had long been yearned for by the surgeons throughout the world. Lord Lister gave this system to the world, and upon its importance it is well here to quote Dr. Ros- well Park :
"The writer makes no apology here for having introduced two distinct chapters-one upon the history of antiseptic surgery, the other upon the history of anesthesia. First of all they are the two grandest medical discoveries
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of all time; and, secondly, they are of Anglo- Saxon origin-the one British, the other American. To the introduction of anæesthetics and antiseptics is due a complete revolution of earlier methods, complete reversal of mortu- ary statistics, and the complete relief of pain during surgical operations; in other words, to these two discoveries the human race owes more of the prolongation of life and relief of suffering than can ever be estimated or formu- lated in words. What an everlasting disgrace it is that, while to the great murderers of man- kind, men like Napoleon in modern times and his counterparts in all times, the world ever does honor, erects imposing monuments and writes volumes of encomiums and flattering histories, the men to whom the world is so vastly more indebted for all that pertains to life and comfort are scarcely ever mentioned, save in medical history, while the world at large is even ignorant of their names. For this reason, if for none other, these chapters find an appropriate place in a work of this character."
In the same class from the point of useful- ness to mankind may be placed the discovery in recent years of the great value of antitoxin by Prof. Von Behring, of Berlin, and the great work of Dr. Carl Schlatter, of Zurich, Switz- erland, who completed the earlier work of the great Billroth, by the successful removal, in 1896, of the entire stomach from his patient, Anna Landis, a silk weaver of Zurich.
The medical profession in Allen County has always held a high rank. Its personnel shows to-day some of the most noted surgeons in Ohio, and a large number of the most suc- cessful practitioners.
THE ALLEN COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
Was organized in Lima on the first Tuesday of May, 1867, with the following members : Drs. William McHenry, E. Ashton, S. B. Hiner, Samuel A. Baxter, C. I. Neff, W. H. Ward, W. H. Harper and R. W. Thrift, of Lima; William Sullivan, of Westminster, and Jesse G. Honnell, of Beaver Dam. Subse- quently in the same year were admitted Drs.
R. L. McClure, of Westminster; F. W. Fan- ning, of Beaver Dam; H. P. Wagner and R. Reul, of Delphos; W. F. Reed, of Kalida; S. S. Yoder and F. Hermann, of Bluffton; James LeRoi Booth, of West Cairo; H. D. Hill, of LaFayette; Brice Blair, of Jackson township; J. H. Williams, of Upper Sandusky, and R. E. Jones and John Davis, of Gomer.
Dr. William McHenry was the first presi- dent and Dr. S. B. Hiner the first secretary. On June 2, 1868, in accordance with a law passed by the Legislature regulating the prac- tice of medicine in Ohio, an amendment to their constitution was adopted and a board of cen- sors was elected to which "all applicants for membership, or certificate of qualifications, were to be referred for examination and re- port, and no person shall be eligible to mem- bership in this society who does not possess the qualifications required by law to practice medicine in the State." On balloting, Drs, Wagner, Jones, Thrift, Ashton and Hiner were elected as said board of censors.
During the first year of its existence the society held monthly meetings, at which med- ical papers and essays were read and methods and cases were discussed. The members took active part and the meetings were full of in- terest, and much profit and good were derived from the intermingling of ideas. Subsequent- ly, for a few years, the society became inact- ive until it was revived about 20 years ago. and took on its old-time zeal and interest. It is to-day in a prosperous condition with about 40 of the leading and best doctors of the city and county as its members. The amendment made in 1868 is still a part of its rules and regulations and only such physicians are eligi- ble as "possess the requirements by law to practice in the State." Its members, more- over, gain reputation by their works alone, the.
matter of advertising being forbidden to them. Meetings are held twice a month at which- as in the early days-essays are read and dis- cussions are held. For a long time the meet- ings were held in the assembly room of the Court House, but in recent years they have met in the Y. M. C. A. Building. The officers are as follows: Dr. Collins, president ; Dr. O. E ..
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Chenoweth, secretary; Dr. Oliver Steiner, treasurer; Dr. J. F. Mathews, vice-president ; Dr. F. G. Stueber, Dr. Shelby Mumaugh and Dr. A. S. Rudy constitute the board of censors.
PHYSICIANS OF THE PAST.
In 1832 Dr. William Cunningham came to Lima, where he resided 10 years, dying September 3, 1842. In 1833 Dr. William McHenry settled in Lima, remaining here until his death in 1890. An account of these phy- sicians has been given in the chapter on the early history of Lima. Dr. Samuel Black, who was also one of Lima's earliest teachers, practiced in Lima in the '30s, but later re- , moved to Putnam County. Dr. S. D. Anderson and Dr. William Finley were pioneer physi- cians who continued for some years in practice in Lima.
Dr. W. H. Harper came to Lima in 1845 and for many years was closely identified with the town and her citizens. His early years of medical practice were in the horseback and saddlebag period. He began the study of medicine in the spring of 1840 in Jamestown, Ohio, under the tuition of Prof. John Daw- son. He attended his first course of lectures at the medical college at Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Harper was married in the fall of 1840 to Clarissa Winans and to the union were born IO children, of whom four are living: Mrs. R. K. Syfers, of Indianapolis, Indiana; T. W. Harper, an attorney at Terre Haute, Indiana; Mrs. Annat, of Wooster, Ohio, and W. H. Harper, Jr., of Ottawa, Ohio.
Dr. Samuel Sanford began the study of medicine in 1842 in Madison County, Ohio, finishing in Lima. He came to Lima in 1846, opened a drug store and in 1849 began the practice of his profession. In the latter year he was married to Jane Scott, daughter of William and Jane Scott, old residents of Lima. Dr. Sanford served as city coroner for some years, also as county director of the poor ; was appointed postmaster under Pierce's adminis- tration; and also filled the office of township trustee. His children, six in number, were: Charles A., Harry, Anna M. ( Mrs. J. Y. Mar-
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