USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume Five > Part 14
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but because of indomitable energy and will power which placed him there, and others followed because they could not lead. Two other members having been added to the faculty, it now consisted of Drake, Smith, Goodman, Bohrer and Slack. Goodman and Bohrer, finding conditions intolerable, had at the end of the second course already severed their connection with the school, and the faculty was now reduced to three. Smith and Slack, were proteges of Drake, having received their appointments through him. Immediately, succeeding the second commencement, Drake being in the chair, Dr. Smith moved that Drake be dismissed as a member of the faculty. The motion was seconded by Slack and it devolved on Drake as Dean to put the motion. This Drake did unhesitatingly, and the motion carried unanimously. Drake vacated his seat and was escorted to the door. From now on it was war to the knife and the knife to the hilt. Under pressure of public opinion, Smith and Slack were driven to rescind their action and Drake was reinstated. He resigned immediately and sought new fields. Gradually the faculty was re- cruited to full strength, a board of trustees created and in 1826 a handsome and commodious building erected on Sixth Street, near Vine. Things were mov- ing smoothly, and prosperity had apparently come to stay. Among the new professors were two deserving of special mention. One was Dr. Jedediah Cobb and the other John Moorhead. Cobb (1800-61) was from Maine and a graduate of Bowdoin College, a genius in his line of work, great as an anatomist, greater as a wielder of the scalpel, but greatest of all
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and perhaps unsurpassed as an eloquent and fascinating lecturer on anatomy (Juettner). "He was the very personification of a neat, gentlemanly and finished lecturer, " says S. D. Gross. "His students worshipped him, his colleagues in the faculty loved and respected him." Cobb was the one man who could affiliate the incongruous elements of an ill-mated faculty, and in this he found exercise for one of the highest attributes.
John Moorhead (1784-1873) was the son of an Irish baronet, was born in Ireland on his father's estate, graduated in Edinburgh, and came to Cin- cinnati in 1820. Moorhead was a large, deliberate, impressive man, of liberal education, dignified manners and a courtly air which won for him respect and esteem. He had square features, distinctly Hibernian, and spoke with a brogue not easily understood. He was method- ical and precise, and did all things by rote and by rule. He and Drake hated each other cordially. It was a case of hatred at first sight. He had more influence over men than Drake had, and in this way managed to make himself a thorn in Drake's side for years in succession. When Drake resigned after being re- instated he went his way. Vengeful and implacable, he had no thought of abandoning the field to his detested enemy, Moorhead, nor to those who had attempted to humiliate him by expulsion from the college. He must vindicate himself openly and in the most public manner. He must humiliate and utterly confound his enemies. The time was not ripe. He could wait. In the spring of 1831, Drake, who had been lecturing in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, turned up suddenly in Cincinnati with
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a complete teaching staff of strong men, gleaned from the colleges of the East. His avowed purpose was to establish a medical department of the Miami Univer- sity. Consternation was in the camp of the enemy. The trustees of the Ohio Medical hastened to make overtures. Drake, with one important exception, made his own terms, which were to the effect that desirable positions be given the men with him and that Smith and Slack be dismissed. This was nectar to Drake, but there were bitter dregs at the bottom, for despite of all Moorhead was retained and further- more held the position originally occupied by Drake. The war went merrily on. Not content with lampoon- ing each other through the public press and traducing each other at all times and on all occasions, these arch enemies must needs stoop to the methods of the common ruffian by engaging publicly and in the presence of witnesses in fistic encounter. A casual meeting on the river front, whither Moorhead had gone to await an incoming boat, was the occasion.
Moorhead, in undertone, but intended for Drake's ears, congratulated the Medical College of Ohio on having at its helm so distinguished a personage as Daniel Drake. It is hardly necessary to state that with a man of Drake's temperament resentment. followed this insult, and that with the dogged nature of Moor- head there would be no retraction or abatement in the import of the sarcasm. The expected happened. They were soon at it, hammer and tongs, and these two distinguished gentlemen were making an exhibition of street pugilism for the entertainment of the vulgar crowd. But this logy son of a titled sire was no
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match for the agile and wiry Drake, and was taken away and into seclusion with battered features and an ugly scalp wound. From his retreat he issued a challenge to mortal combat, which challenge was delivered to Drake in due form. Drake, however, being quite satisfied with the weapons with which nature had provided him, and not being inclined to trust to others of which he knew less, declined. Where- upon Moorhead branded Drake no gentleman and proceeded to ignore him.
The coup de maitre which again placed the reins in Drake's hands proved as in other instances a short- lived triumph. Drake's imperiousness, coupled with the heavy diplomacy of his arch enemy, soon began to draw and to drive Drake's adherents to Moorhead. The result was that Drake soon found himself tied hand and foot. Again Drake left, only to return in 1833, bringing with him one of the strongest faculties ever assembled in the west. He now organized and set in motion the medical department of the Cin- cinnati College, whose brief but phenomenal career of four years finds few equals in the annals of medical history.
In 1839 John Moorhead succeeded to the title and estates of his deceased father, and thereafter became known as Sir John Moorhead, Gentleman.
Again and again Drake wandered away only to be called back, for despite his truculent disposition he was a tower of strength, and finally, in 1852, full of hope and enthusiasm, at the opening of the session of the Medical College of Ohio, that first and dearest child of his enterprise, this man of genius and vagaries
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yielded to the inevitable and slept with his fathers. As the founder of medical colleges, as a prolific writer, as the author of that stupendous original work, "Dis- eases of the Interior Valley of North America," as a lecturer and public speaker, as a promoter of chari- table enterprises, and in a thousand and one other ways his phenomenal versatility and prodigious capac- ity for work proclaimed him a genius.
The Miami Medical College, which was destined to play a conspicuous part in the history of the Ohio Medical in the double role of rival and ally, was organ- ized in 1852. In 1857 it suspended operations, and part of the faculty went over to the Medical College of Ohio. Others of the Miami faculty joined later. The coalition was not a happy one, as George C. Blackman, the professor of surgery and acknowledged leader of the old Ohio Medical, set himself to the task of subordinating the Miami contingent and incidentally every other member of the faculty as it then existed.
George C. Blackman (1819-71) was one of the famous surgeons of the time. As an operator he was unexcelled. His knowledge of the literature of surgery was encyclopedic and he possessed the rare fac- ulty of communicating this knowledge in clear, forceful language, which, coupled with his masterful presence and pleasing address, made him immensely popular with his classes. The students listened with rapt attention to his talks, which were always interesting, often thrilling, though so loosely connected and discursive as to scarcely be considered as lectures. These talks were not systematized and followed no regular plan. He was capricious and whimsical,
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often failing to appear before the class for days at a time. Toward his colleagues he could be gracious on occasion, but on the other hand he was intolerant of opposition and usually found himself pitted against one or several of them, or, gladiator-like, standing off the whole set. In these contests more frequently than otherwise he carried his point, either by sheer domination or by the aid of the trustees, over whom he held a strangely powerful influence. Blackman probably had in him more of the elements of greatness than any other man ever connected with the faculty, but was woefully wanting in the crowning essentials of systematization. Had he applied himself syste- matically to his work, had he left in categorical and permanent form the results of that work, embodying his vast knowledge and experience, there would have been none to contest his title to being one of America's greatest surgeons. In 1860, Blackman, who had been battling single-handed, gave utterance to some very uncomplimentary remarks about the faculty. This was all the more inexcusable in that the remarks were addressed to the class. A thoroughly aroused and infuriated faculty demanded of him a retraction and open apology. His reply was a repetition of the aspersions with, if anything, more point and venom than before. The faculty called for the expulsion of Blackman. The trustees declined to accede to the demand, whereupon the faculty resigned as a body. Blackman had torn down the temple about his ears. As he stood there in the midst of the ruins he had created, a lonely, imposing figure, men were moved to admiration, for they felt that if he could tear down
ROBERTS BARTHOLOW
Born in New Windsor, Maryland, November 18, 1831; received his diploma as a physician from the medical department of the University of Maryland; from 1857 to 1864 was in the service of the Government as a surgeon; later was a leading practitioner and teacher in Cincinnati, finally removing to Philadelphia; eminent as a medical writer; died in Philadelphia, May 10, 1904.
GEORGE CURTIS BLACKMAN
Born in Newtown, Connecticut, April 21, 1819; grad- uated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, 1840; located in Cincinnati in 1855; an instruc- tor in the Medical College of Ohio and prominent physician; writer on medicine; died July 17, 1871.
THE RISE AND PROG
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in the face of such opposition he could build up again. Undismayed by the wreck and ruin about him, the sudden and complete collapse of one of the oldest and most renowned institutions of medical learning in the land, this indomitable man gathered about him another coterie of active energetic men, which, after some weeding out, gave to the Medical College of Ohio the strongest faculty in its existence. This faculty was at the acme of usefulness in the decade between the years of 1865 and 1875. Between Black- man and Bartholow, the two strong men of the faculty, there soon arose differences, and as neither would give in and both had adherents to sustain them, it came to the point of coffee and pistols for two, but this denouement was happily averted by intervening friends.
To record in detail the fortunes of the Medical College of Ohio would be to disclose a moving picture of internal strife and dissension scarcely paralleled in any like institution and extending over a period of ninety years. The changes in the personnel of the faculty were no less remarkable than the wrangling which led to them. It is recorded that in one short year no less than twenty-five changes were effected in the faculty, and these things became so notorious the country over as to make it difficult to fill the depleted ranks with talented and self-respecting men. But notwithstanding and despite it all, the old Ohio lived to see its rivals disappear one by one, until, in the losing game against the great modern universities, it made a virtue of necessity and itself took refuge under the wing of the University of Cincinnati. In
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1865, at the close of the Civil War, the Miami Medica College was resuscitated, and with an enrollment o: 156 entered upon its second career auspiciously In 1866 it occupied its new building on the corner o Plum and Sixth streets. In 1909, after a fairly success. ful career marked by congenialty and cordia cooperation of the faculty, it surrendered its autonomy and, linked to its old rival, became the medical depart ment of the University of Cincinnati under the title of the Ohio Miami Medical College.
In Juettner's "Daniel Drake and His Followers," the reader will find elaborate treatment of the subject: touched upon in the above sketch.
PERSONNEL OF THE FACULTY OF THE MEDICAL COLLEGI; OF OHIO, FROM BEGINNING TO END
Anatomy-Jesse Smith, Jedediah Cobb, John T Shotwell, G. W. Bayless, H. W. Baxley, Thoma Wood, J. P. Judkins, W. W. Dawson, Wm. H. Go brecht, P. S. Conner, L. R. Longworth, Joseph Ran sohoff, J. L. Cilley, A. V. Phelps.
Physiology-Daniel Drake, Jesse Smith, Jededial Cobb, John T. Shotwell, L. M. Lawson, S. G. Armor J. H. Tate, C. G. Comegys, J. F. Hibberd, W. W Dawson, E. Rives, J. T. Whittaker, F. Forchheimer B. K. Rachford, A. C. Poole, Wm. Muehlberg, E M. Baehr.
Chemistry-Elijah Slack, Thomas D. Mitchell, John Locke, Charles W. Wright, John A. Warder, H. E Foote, Charles O'Leary, Nelson Saylor, Roberts Bartho low, P. S. Conner, Samuel Nickles, H. A. Clark F. Forchheimer, Jas. G. Hindman, A. C. Poole, Wm H. Crane, A. B. Reemelin.
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Materia Medica-B. S. Bohrer, E. Slack, Josiah Whitman, C. E. Pierson, John Eberle, J. C. Cross, M. B. Wright, Daniel Oliver, J. P. Harrison, L. M. Lawson, Thos. O. Edwards, James Graham, J. C. Reeve, Theo. Parvin, Roberts Bartholow, Samuel Nickles, B. K. Rachford, A. C. Poole.
Practice-Daniel Drake, Jedediah Cobb, John Moor- head, John Eberle, J. P. Kirtland, J. P. Harrison, John Bell, L. M. Lawson, C. G. Comegys, Jas. Graham, Roberts Bartholow, Jas. T. Whittaker, F. Forchheimer.
Surgery-Jesse Smith, John D. Goodman, Jedediah Cobb, Jas. M. Strangleton, Alban Goldsmith, R. D. Mussey, H. W. Baxley, Asbury Evans, G. C. Blackman, W. W. Dawson, P. S. Conner, Jos. Ransohoff.
Obstetrics-Daniel Drake, John Moorhead, Josiah Whitman, John F. Henry, M. B. Wright, L. C. Rives, N. T. Marshall, Geo. Mendenhall, Theo. Parvin, C. D. Palmer, T. A. Reamy, E. G. Zinke.
Gynecology-Daniel Drake, John Moorhead, Josiah Whitman, John F. Henry, M. B. Wright, L. C. Rives, N. T. Marshall, Geo. Mendenhall, B. F. Richardson, Theo. Parvin, C. D. Palmer, C. L. Bonifield.
STARLING MEDICAL COLLEGE
In the year 1846 the medical department of the Willoughby University, located at Willoughby, O., moved to Columbus and was incorporated under the name of Willoughby Medical College of Columbus. In the autumn of the same year, it opened its doors to one hundred and fifty students. A college building was extemporized from an old frame shell known as the Clay Club Room, which had been erected and used by the followers of Henry Clay during the presi- dential campaign preceding. The Willoughby school
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being handicapped for means, Lyne Starling, a wealthy resident of Columbus, was prevailed upon to come forward with a munificent donation for the erection of a suitable building for college and hospital purposes. To save embarrassment, the faculty of the old school re- signed and received appointments in the new. The newly created school was duly organized and chartered under the name of Starling Medical College, much to the pleasure of the generous donor. A lot was purchased on the corner of State and Sixth streets and plans for building advertised for. The plans adopted were those of Mr. Sheldon, of New York. The work was commenced in March, 1849, and prose- cuted with great vigor, but before the walls were ready for the roof the entire bequest, amounting to $35,000, had been consumed. The Starling heirs came forward with additional donations, and, by dint of great effort on the part of Drs. Francis Carter and Samuel M. Smith, funds were raised from time to time to carry on the work. The building was occupied in 1851, though still unfinished. In 1852 Drs. Howard, Carter and Smith, the building committee, furnished and equipped the hospital. It now carried a debt of $40,000. Much, however, remained unfinished until the last decade of the last century. An era of prosper- ity enabled the trustees to gradually retire its obli- gations, and in 1875 the college was practically out of debt. As it stands, the college building is one of the finest specimens of medieval architecture in the country, and is much admired.
The original board of trustees of Starling Medical College was made up of the very best talent that could
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be secured in and about Columbus. William S. Sullivant (1803-73), first president of the board, was a botanist of international fame. In company with Dr. Asa Gray, of Harvard University, he system- atized the flora of Ohio and the Southwest. He wrote a number of botanical works, one of which, on mosses, written in Latin, gave him world-wide celebrity. The "Annual of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences" refers to him as "the most ac- complished biologist which this country has ever produced." Dr. Francis Carter (1814-81), the sec- ond son of Major General Carter, of the British Army, was born in Ireland and graduated at Kings College, Dublin. He came to America in 1831. He was a quiet, scholarly man, of excellent judgment and esthetic temperament, and the very soul of honor. Dr. Samuel M. Smith (1816-74), for many years the leading practician of Columbus, was a man of high professional and business attainment and great activities. His monument stands at the corner of High and Broad streets.
The early faculties of the school were gathered mostly from the East and were made up of men of wide reputation. Among them were Dr. H. H. Childs, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, and others of equal standing. Between the periods of 1850 and 1857 the school, as the result of the resig- nation of so many tried and good men, and the sub- stitution of new and untried men, experienced a great setback. The classes dropped from 155 in 1850 to 47 in 1857. Confidence had been shaken in the effi- ciency and stability of the school, and the outlook was
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gloomy. This was one of the crises which most schools experience at some time in their career, and from which only the strong emerge. From this ebb tide a gradual improvement in the condition of the school is notice- able. In 1874, by reason of a vacancy in the chair of Materia Medica, a crisis developed most unex- pectedly. The two strong men of the faculty now were Dr. John W. Hamilton, Professor of Surgery, and Dr. Starling Loving, Professor of Practice of Medicine. Each of these had selected a man for the vacancy, and each insisted on his man or none. The faculty took sides according to their own predilections, and a deadlock ensued. Not that the faculty was equally divided on the question, but because of a provision in the bylaws that a candidate to be eligible for appointment by the trustees must have the unan- imous vote of the faculty. After long and fruitless effort to reconcile the difference, the Hamilton faction held a meeting and elected their man, and, as it would seem, without consulting the trustees issued announce- ments with the same man booked for Materia Medica. The trustees, not relishing this, declined to acquiesce in the arrangement, and, taking the reins in their own hands, reversed the order of things and appointed the Loving man. Inasmuch as Drs. Loving and Carter, two of the members of the faculty, were pulling together and both were members of the board of trustees, it would seem that the moral advantage was on their side. This action on the part of the board of trustees was followed immediately by the resig- nation of Drs. Hamilton, Kinsman, Pierce and Halder- man. Dr. Wormley did not resign, but became
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practically dead timber by holding himself aloof from faculty meetings and neglecting his duties as a lecturer.
Dr. John W. Hamilton (1823-91) was born in Muskingum County, O., educated at Granville, studied under Willard Parker, New York, received his degree from Willoughby Medical College and occupied the chair of Surgery in Starling 1853-74. He was a man of ponderous proportions, commanding figure and natural dignity, which dignity, with a corresponding decorum, never deserted him under any circumstances. Usually courteous, and in a manner suave, he could be sharp and critical on occasion without in any degree abating his dignity or decorum. He never allowed himself to be familiar with others, and it was tacitly understood that he expected like consideration in return. He was a man of positive convictions, which he never surrendered. He was, however, politic, and could, if need be, hold his opinions in abeyance until the psychological moment, when, as a fitting climax to well-laid schemes, his views would be ac- cepted without protest, or enforced in spite of protest. He was a ready and cogent speaker, had a deliberate and impressive delivery, and, as a lecturer, was very pop- ular with his classes. His knowledge of the literature of surgery was extensive, but his broad experience and common sense deductions stood him better in hand and he was wont to place more store on the latter than the former. He was in much demand for expert testimony before the courts, and it is doubtful if he was ever cornered, though at times opposed by the shrewdest lawyers and most learned physicians attain- able. It is said of him that on one occasion he gave
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testimony at variance with some of the best authorities. "The books do not say so," said the opposing lawyer. "Then so much the worse for the books," was the unhesitating reply. John W. Hamilton was among the master surgeons of his time and enjoyed a reputa- tion that extended beyond the borders of his State. He was honored and respected, but, like all men of active, aggressive spirit, he had envious rivals and enemies. He amassed a large fortune, and at his death had made such excellent disposition of his accumulations as to ensure much larger returns in the future.
Dr. Starling Loving (1827-1911) was born in Russel- ville, Ky., educated in French's Academy, graduated at Starling Medical College (1849), took a post-graduate course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, and was house physician to Bellevue, Ward's Island and Charity Hospitals (1849-53). He became associated with the faculty of Starling Medical College as early as 1855 and continued in that relation to the time of his death. He was surgeon of the 6th Ohio Infantry in the Civil War, was president of the Ohio Medical Society (1881), and also vice- president of the American Medical Association (1894).
Dr. Starling Loving was tall, well built, square- shouldered, but without an ounce of superfluous flesh. He had a lofty dignity and knightly bearing that made him a conspicuous figure anywhere. When in the humor he was the most affable of men and had the rare faculty of making the recipient feel that he or she was the special object of his most intimate regard and solicitude. He was a man of moods and
STARLING LOVING
Born in Russellville, Kentucky, November 13, 1827; graduated as doctor of medicine from Starling Medical College (Columbus, Ohio), 1849; surgeon in the Civil War; notable practitioner of Columbus, and long connected with the Starling Medical College; died in Columbus, September 2, 1911.
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