History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I, Part 33

Author:
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1162

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"Thy lips are sealed, thy silent tongue is eloquent no more ; I plead in vain for tidings from that far, far-gleaming shore ; No mortal eye hath ever scanned that radiant realm so fair- No mortal ear hath ever heard that hallowed harping there; Faith's eye alone hath scaled the mount on whose bright top appears Heaven's citadel, high lifted up above this vale of tears. Amid life's wreck a childlike faith, in inspiration given,

Will light the tomb and open wide the jewelled gates of Heaven."

Dr. Leander Firestone, who long adorned the medical fraternity of Wayne county, was possessed of rare genius. In a world where all men can- not be inventors and discoverers, it is pleasing to note the virtues and strength of the few who do thus appear from time to time. In medicine there are but few men who combine all the traits indispensable to a true physician. Doctor Firestone not only vindicated his claim to an exalted rank in surgery, but in every department of the occult mysteries of medicine he wielded a strong pen, talked with the freedom of the gushing brook, and presided over the studies of others with eminent success, and to the fame thus achieved with scalpel he added the luster of instructor.

The Doctor was born in Saltcreek township, Wayne county, Ohio, in 1819. After he attained his fourteenth year his time was spent at routine farm labor in the summer months, while in winter he attended the common country school. He then went to Columbiana county. near Salem, where he worked and attended country schools again. We next trace him to Portage

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county, Ohio, where he chopped cord word for three shillings per cord and hard beech wood at that. We next find him located two miles north of New Pittsburg, Wayne county, with his uncle, John Firestone, with whom he re- mained until eighteen years old. He finally became a country school teacher, teaching his first term in Perry township, Ashland county, Ohio, receiving twelve dollars a month for his services and boarded himself.

In August, 1838, Leander Firestone was married to Susan Firestone, and the next year-when he was twenty years old-he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. S. F. Day, with whom he remained three years, during which time he took a course of lectures at the Medical College of Philadelphia. In March, 1841, he located in practice at the village of Congress, this county, where he at once met with success. After thirteen years of practice at that hamlet, he graduated from the Western Reserve College, located at Cleveland. During these eventful years he had won a fame and far-reaching reputation as a skillful physician. The college from which he had recently graduated was in need of someone to occupy a chair, and in its survey for a suitable man to fill it, the abilities of Doctor Firestone were duly recognized, and in 1847 he was made demonstrator of anatomy in that institution. This position he held until 1853, after which honorable distinction was awaiting him. He was appointed superintendent of the North Ohio Lunatic Asylum, at Newburg, which position he filled until August 6, 1856, when he removed to Wooster, in which city he ever afterwards practiced. In 1858 he was elected president of the State Medical Society and in 1864 was made professor of obstetrics and the diseases of women in Charity Hospital College, at Cleveland, and held the same for many years. In 1870 this institution was constituted the medical department of the Wooster University, and he still held the same position as at Cleveland. June 24, 1874, he was made Doctor of Laws by the University of Ohio, at Athens. As a public lecturer the Doctor was eloquent and always popular, no matter what his theme. His descriptive powers were fine and interesting. He was an advanced thinker and a highly practical worker in the medical ranks. He held the position of superintendent of the Columbus (Ohio) Insane Asylum a number of years.

Dr. W. W. Firestone, son of the celebrated Dr. Leander Firestone and his intelligent wife, adds another to the list of good medical practitioners of Wayne county. He was born in Congress, Wayne county, February 25, 1842. His parents, both highly educated, had their son also well schooled, he having the advantages of the Wooster city schools and select and gradu- ated teachers, under whose tutelage he completed his desired course of study.

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For three years he attended Mount Union College, and in 1861 began reading medicine with his father. A term of four years was spent in study, in pro- fessional assistance to his father, and in attendance on lectures, at the expira- tion of which period he graduated from Charity Hospital College, Cleveland, Ohio, now the medical department of the University of Wooster. In 1865 he devoted himself entirely to his profession, and soon found himself a partner in the office of Leander Firestone, M. D. He made rapid strides. in his call- ing. Constant and ever watchful and of good judgment, he could scarcely be expected to fail at any point and he never did.

Dr. James D. Robison was born April 23, 1820, at the corner of Buck- eye and North streets, Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio. His early years were spent with his father, Thomas Robison, Esq., during which time he spent much of his time attending the village schools, procuring such education as the lim- ited opportunities of that day afforded. At the age of seventeen years he hired as a clerk to Robison & McCune, where he remained until he was twenty, at which time, and in accordance with an intention previously resolved upon, he commenced the study of medicine. He entered the office of Dr. Samuel Norton Bissell, in February, 1840, continuing with him until 1841, when, during the fall, he proceeded to Philadelphia, availing himself of a course of lectures at the Jefferson Medical College of that city, soon thereafter taking advantage of the clinical course of instruction at the Brooklyn Hospital. The summer of 1842 he spent in Cincinnati, in pursuit of his professional work in the office of Dr. William Wood, simultaneously attending lectures at the Medical College of Ohio and a clinical course at the Commercial Hospital of Cincinnati. In the autumn of 1842 he returned to Philadelphia, where he graduated and received his diploma in March, 1843. He then returned to Wooster, remained during the summer months, the following fall removing to Queen City, locating there and actively engaging in the practice of his chosen profession. Here he met with signal success, and continued until July 3. 1846, and until the breaking out of the war with Mexico. He was made surgeon of the Third Regiment Ohio Volunteers, leaving Cincinnati the same day for Old Mexico. Arriving at New Orleans on the 9th of July. he spent a few days in that city and proceeded to Brazos de Santiago, arriving August 6th at Camp Curtis, opposite the old city of Matamoras. December 9th he was assigned to the Third Illinois Regiment as surgeon and was ordered by Gen. Zac Taylor to Victoria and later joined Gen. Winfield Scott's com- mand at Tampico, and in March they were sent to Vera Cruz, where seventeen days afterwards the Mexican forces surrendered, the United States taking

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possession of the city. On April 10, 1847, on account of illness, Doctor Rob- ison resigned his commission and returning to Wooster, Ohio, and in October of that year formed a partnership with J. P. Coulter, M. D., for the practice of medicine, which relation continued to the fall of 1853. The next year he spent in and about the New York hospitals and medical institutions, keeping abreast with the progress and discoveries of the profession. He again re- turned to Wooster in the autumn of 1854, opened an office and engaging in the practice until 1861, when the Civil war broke out. He immediately tend- ered his services to his government, which were promptly accepted, he being assigned to the Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he was identified throughout the three-months service. He was engaged in the battle of Phillippi, one of the first engagements of that long-drawn-out war. He it was who had the honor of amputating the first leg during the war, that of a Confederate soldier. He was promoted to the rank of brigade surgeon in July, 1861, and assigned to the command of General Rosecrans. Later he organized hospitals along the Kenawha and assumed charge of the one situ- ated at Gallipolis. After being with Generals Shields and Banks and with McClellan, and being inspecting surgeon, which position he retained until the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, he was ordered to Washington to take charge of the Patent Office Hospital, where he remained until he was compelled to resign on account of his wife's illness. On his return home, he was appointed surgeon of the board of enrollment for this district, which place he held during the remainder of the Rebellion. From the very outset, in 1840, his was a well fought battle. Hence it will be seen by the foregoing that he acted well his part in two great wars. Had he ventured on the polit- ical field it is almost certain that he would have been elected to a seat in Congress.

Dr. A. M. McMillen was a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, born at Steubenville, in 1816, the son of a millwright and farmer, with whom he re- mained during all of his earlier years. After educating himself, he taught school for eight years. He then read medicine in Canal Fulton with Doctor Howard, and graduated at the old Medical College of Cleveland. He began practice at West Lebanon in 1849, continuing there until his death, which occurred May 4, 1874. He was married in the spring of 1849 to Rebecca . Neeper, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and as a result became the father of eight children. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian church at Mount Eaton.

Dr. D. H. McMillen, a nephew of Dr. A. M. McMillen, was born in Stark county, Ohio, October 13, 1848. He read medicine with his uncle and

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graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medical Surgery in June, 1874. He began practice with his uncle in July, 1874, and was for years a well known physician and surgeon of West Lebanon.

Dr. William B. Blachley was born in New Jersey, from which state he removed to Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he remained twenty years, when he emigrated to Plain township, Wayne county, in 1816. He was twice married, and was the father of nineteen children. He practiced medicine in Blachleyville nineteen years, when he removed to Valparaiso, Indiana, where he died at the age of seventy-four years. He was a graduate of Princeton College (now University ) and a member of the Baptist church. The village of Blachleyville is named in honor of him. His son, William, also a doctor, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, November 27, 1799, and came to Plain township, this county, with his father, with whom he read medicine and commenced to practice. His eldest daughter married Doctor Hunt, of Shreve, Ohio, and the youngest became the wife of Capt. Benjamin, son of Constant Lake, of Wooster.

Dr. D. L. Moncrief was a grandson of a Scotchman and the son of the Moncrief who settled at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from where he removed to Canonsburg. Washington county. There the subject of this notice was born September 23, 1823, and resided on a farm until fifteen years of age. He attended Jefferson College, and at the age of twenty-two years commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Israel Moore, of Canonsburg, with whom he remained three years as a student, and then removed to western Ohio. In 1853 he concluded his medical course at Cincinnati. From Mercer county, Ohio, he came to Wayne county, settling at Orrville in March, 1857, at once entering upon a successful practice and residing there many years. He was postmaster at Orrville in 1861, appointed by President Lincoln, and served eight years. In church relations he was a devout member of the United Presbyterian church. He carved out his own earthly destiny, acquired com- petence and wealth, and by his manly methods won the deserved confidence and respect of all worthy citizens of Wayne county.

Dr. J. H. Stoll was born in Chippewa township. Wayne county. Ohio, May 2, 1849, his father being Christian Stoll, a wealthy and progressive farmer. He remained at home until he was sixteen years of age, when he attended the Smithville Academy, and from thence to Savannah, Ashland county, Ohio, where he remained two years. At the age of twenty he began reading medicine with L. Firestone, M. D., LL. D., of Wooster. After tak- ing thorough courses in the best medical colleges in the land, he graduated in 1871, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Marshall-

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ville, this county, where he continued for eighteen months, when he went to London, England, and there received lectures at Kings College, but on ac- count of sickness was compelled to return home, when he located at Orrville. He was made surgeon of the C. Mt. & C. railroad company and also of the Ninth Ohio National Guards, all previous to 1878.

Dr. W. B. Hyatt was born March 29, 1829. He studied medicine and practiced at Marshallville. He was in the Union army two and a half years, was wounded by a rebel shell and received other bodily injuries which pro- duced atrophy of the muscles and anchylosis of the left shoulder joint.

Dr. W. T. Barnes was born November 10, 1843, and worked on the farm until seventeen years of age, when he entered the Union army, enlisting as a private in the Fifty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After his return from the army he attended school at Lexington, Ohio, and in 1866 began the study of medicine with John Russell, M. D., of Mt. Vernon, gradu- ating from Charity Hospital College, Cleveland, in the spring of 1869. and the next year began the practice of medicine in Fredericksburg, where he was a successful doctor and surgeon many years.

Dr. James Martin was born October 20,' 1824, at the old Martin home- stead, on Martin creek, Wayne county, and descended from an old and highly respectable Ohio family. He remained at home until twenty-two years of age. attending the public schools about three months each winter after he was of school-going age. Later he attended a select school at Fredericksburg for a number of years, after which he began teaching school. He read medicine with Dr. T. B. Abbott, of Massillon, Ohio, and during the time availed him- self of a course of medical lectures then being given by William Bowen, of Akron, Ohio, subsequently graduating at the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia. He commenced his practice in East Rochester, Columbiana county, in August, 1850, remained three years, then removed to Fredericks- burg in 1854. He married, in 1851, Elizabeth Craig, by whom seven children were born. The Doctor was a thorough gentleman and had a large country practice for many years.

Dr. William S. Battles, who for a long period was pronounced one of Wayne county's eminent and highly successful physicians, was born at White Hall Station, then a suburb of Philadelphia, May 12, 1827. On his paternal side he was half Scotch, his father being a descendant of an old Pittsfield family, of Berkshire county, Massachusetts. On the maternal side old Eng- lish blood coursed through his veins. His mother's maiden name was Susan Snowden, a native of Philadelphia, all of whose ancestors were Quakers for

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more than two hundred years. Thomas S., father of Doctor Battles, removed from Philadelphia to Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, remained there less than three years and then went farther west, locating in September, 1833, a mile and a half north of the present village of Shreve, Wayne county, Ohio. His father was a farmer and young Battles was used to and liked the work usually practiced upon a farm. At the age of nineteen a change came over the spirit of his dreams. He then abandoned the farm and entered Haysville (Ashland county ) Academy, where he put forth every effort in gaining use- ful knowledge from books and teachers. He taught his first school when he was twenty years old. In August, 1847, he entered the office of Dr. T. H. Baker, of Millbrook, with whom he remained a period of four years, teaching during the meantime, with the exception of six months, both summer and winter. He attended his first course of lectures at Starling Medical College during the winter of 1850-51 and then began to practice medicine with his preceptor, completing his course at Columbus, graduating February 22, 1852. On his return home he resumed practice with Doctor Baker, continuing with him until the winter of 1853, which he spent in Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York, in attendance upon the hospitals of those cities, at the termination of which time he once more renewed his professional labors with his old pre- ceptor. In the spring of 1855 he went to Edinburg, in East Union township, where he stayed seven months, during which time he became a member of the American Medical Association. He was married, in November. 1855, to Mahala Keister, of Millbrook, daughter of J. A. Keister, Esq. In December of that year he proceeded to the village of Shreve, where he practiced until the spring of 1865, when, owing to lung trouble, with which he had suffered for a number of years, he abandoned medical practice and indulged in travel for one year. In 1866 he was one of the four men who organized the Ash- land Citizens Bank, and he resided there a year. But becoming dissatisfied with commercial life, he sold his banking interest and, his health having been restored, he returned to Shreve, recommencing his practice there and ever after continued in the same. The Doctor was solely devoted to his chosen profession and loved it with the fondness seldom seen in physicians of today. While a student, he joined the Wayne County Medical Society, in 1851, and was also a member of the Ohio State Medical Society. He represented his home society at Chicago in 1863 and at St. Louis in 1873. He was vice- president of the Northern Ohio Medical Association. He was devoted to the church of his choice, the Methodist Episcopal; loved poetry and good litera- ture, wrote both prose and poetry ; contributed to the University of Wooster;

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aided the Shreve public schools, and, like Tennyson, always looked forwar.1 to the Golden Year. One of his gems of poetry of song has this for its first verse :

"We love thee. Lord, we've long professed. But do we love our brother ? We love ourselves we fear too much, Oh; help us love each other."

Dr. Charles J. Warner was born in Wayne township, Wayne county, Ohio. January 1, 1836, a son of Peter Warner, a fariner and a native of Sun- bury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and the son lived at home until eighteen years of age. The farm life, we are quite ready to believe, harmo- nized with the developing manhood of Doctor Warner, and enabled him to be- come a splendid type of robust manhood. After availing himself of the com- mon schools, he followed teaching school after nineteen years of age, first teaching in the Rumbaugh district, for which he was paid eighteen dollars a month and boarded himself. He attended school in the summer months and taught school in the winter time. He kept 'this up for five years in succession. During this time he became a proficient English scholar and acquired a valu- able knowledge of the Latin language. From an early age, young Warner had conceived the idea of becoming a physician and, in furtherance of this purpose, in March, 1857, he entered the office of Dr. W. C. Moore, then prac- ticing in the village of Congress, with whom he remained four years, three as a student and one in partnership with him. He then went to Homerville, Medina county. Ohio, where he spent two years, during the time attended a course of study at the Cleveland Medical College, from which he graduated in 1862. In the spring of the last named year he returned to Congress and there set up a medical practice which he held for many years. He married, September 15, 1859, Mary E. Pancoast, of Congress village. In stature it was written of him in the late seventies that he was "solid, stands six feet high, weighs two hundred and seventeen pounds, is built of substantial ma- terial, has a bright, intellectual face, is a man of pleasing manner and affable disposition, of fair complexion, firm and erect in carriage. He is a self-made, self-taught man. He was of a wide range and was forceful as an educator and writer on educational topics. He delivered more than a score of excellent lectures and public addresses on schools and education in Wayne county, alone."

Dr. Justin Georget, a native of France, born June 23, 1830, in Mountu- saine, and with his father, in 1840, emigrated to America, removing to Can-

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ton, Ohio, where he died. He entered the United States army, remaining one year at Governor's Island, when he was transferred to West Point Military Academy and remained there four years. He read medicine with J. P. Bairick, of Massillon, Ohio, graduated and, after a series of removals, came to Congress village, Wayne county, and thence on to West Salem, in the winter of 1866 and there practiced medicine in a most successful manner.

Dr. J. S. Cole was a native of Allegheny City (now Greater Pittsburg), Pennsylvania, where he was born February 19, 1836, and attended Vermillion Institute at Haysville, Ashland county, Ohio. He afterward read medicine with Doctor Glass, and graduated from Cleveland Medical College. He be- gan practice in Reedsburg, Ashland county, Ohio, and moved to West Salem in 1873. He married Ruth A. Smith, daughter of James B. Smith, of Ash- land.

Dr. L. G. Harley was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1811. His father was a farmer who moved to Ohio in 1830. In 1833 the son com- menced reading medicine with Doctor Haddock ; attended the course in Phila- delphia, and graduated there in the spring of 1837. He then located in Dal- ton, where he soon built up a large and paying medical practice. In the autumn of 1839 he was married to Mary M. Fluke, of Dalton. His daughter, Virginia, became a member of the medical fraternity, graduating in the med- ical department of the University of Michigan. For a short time she prac- ticed in Wooster with her father; she later married and moved to New York city. Doctor Harley continued at Dalton thirty-one years and was the well- known physician in many a score of homes in that section of Wayne county. 1

He removed to Wooster in 1868 and here continued his practice.

Dr. T. M. Taggart, son of Samuel Taggart, was born in Baughman town- ship, Wayne county, Ohio, September 22, 1822. He began the study of medicine with Doctor Bowen, of Massillon, afterwards graduating at the Cleveland Medical College. In 1848 he began the practice of medicine at Dalton. He was married in 1849 to Henrietta Slusser, of York county, Pennsylvania, by whom he had seven children. One was Dr. Hiram D. Tag- gart, of Akron, Ohio. The father died May 23, 1867, having been a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church for seventeen years before his decease.

Dr. Moses Shaffer was the son of Jacob Shaffer and Matilda, his wife, who lived for many years in Chippewa township, Wayne county, Ohio. The Doctor was born July 15, 1806, and when about the age of eighteen years commenced the study of medicine, and at twenty-one was admitted to prac-

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tice as a physician by a board of which Dr. James S. Irvine, of Millersburg, Ohio, was a member. Mt. Eaton, Wayne county, Ohio, was the first loca- tion of Doctor Shaffer's practice, and he was a successful physician. He removed to Wooster from there, and established a practice, continuing until he was twenty-seven years of age, when he was married to Margaret McClure, of a family of high standing at Wooster, and had a family of three sons and three daughters. The eldest daughter, Adelaide, was married to Hon. L. R. Critchfield, Sr., and Lyman R. Critchfield. Jr., now a resident lawyer of Wooster, is one of their sons. The family of the Doctor was one of high standing in Wooster, and he became one of the leading physicians of Wayne county. He was of medium size, compact of muscle and nerve, powerfully active, and was known as a man without fear. He was unusually reticent, sober, and attended to business; courteous, but an unconquerable antagonist in a controversy. He was a hunter, and cultivated fine-bred dogs and horses, and many an anecdote of his nerve in controlling his blooded colts is related.

Doctor Shaffer established his home and his offices on South Market street, in Wooster, and practiced his profession there for over fifty years. He died when eighty-three years of age. He was skillful in diagnosing diseases and prescribing remedies. He never failed to attend a call; and his courageous temper defied storms, high waters, cold or any form of danger. He was modest in his uniform success, and was never known to boast of his skill or remarkable cures. His remedies were simple, and he deprived himself of many occasions for practice by generous advice as to homely methods. His fee was always reasonable, moderate, and he never would connect himself with medical societies or scale of prices. He was very conscientious in resorting to surgery, or what is known as "heroic treatment." He was a genuine man, a nobleman, without fear or reproach, and his long life of benevolence, self-sacrifice and professional honesty endeared him to the people. The mention of his name in most parts of Wayne county, where he was known, is greeted with expressions of esteem and eulogies upon his character.

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History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I, Part 33

Author: Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1162

Author:
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1162