USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
It is only possible to give brief sketches of a few of the men prominent in the medical annals of the period under review. We are forced, for lack of space, to pass in silence Edwin Smith, the first president of the older medical society ; Ed- mund Smith, its first secretary ; the brothers Garst, Elias and Michael; Henry and D. B. Van Tryl; J. W. Shriver; J. B. Craighead; Joshua Clements, the first su- perintendent of the Insane Hospital; J. J. McIlhenny, the second superintendent of the same institution; A. Geiger ; Thomas Brennan; H. K. Steele; H. G. Carey ; J. D. Kemp; F. H. Patton ; Ellis Jennings and other whose life-work, with rare exception, bears the hall-mark and entitles them to honorable recognition.
HIBBARD JEWETT, (1799-1870).
Doctor Hibbard Jewett was born in Putney, Vermont, in the latter part of 1799, and graduated in medicine from Dartmouth College in 1820.
* Honorary. t Associate. ** Deceased. [[Moved from the city.
254
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Soon after taking up his residence here a partnership was formed with Doctor John Steele, which in two years expired by limitation. From 1842 to 1859 he was associated in practice with his brother, Adams.
Doctor Jewett was of frail build but full of energy and force. In mode of thought he was skeptical, almost cynical, and an agnostic in faith. He was an open and pronounced abolitionist in times when it took both moral and physical courage to champion anti-slavery principles. For years he was the recognized head of the local branch of the famous underground railway and saved many a runaway slave from the grasp of his pursuer.
The location of Dayton on the route to Canada so often chosen by fleeing ne- groes tended to keep at high tension the excitement over the slave issue. Race riots occurred in 1836 and 1841, in which negroes were driven away, their houses destroyed, and the sympathizing abolitionists mobbed. Doctor Jewett was a central figure in these unhappy occurrences. To give one instance, in January, 1841, ex- Senator Thomas Morris was invited to make an address in the old court-house under the auspices of the local anti-slavery society. He was entertained by Doctor Jewett who, at the appointed hour, accompanied him to the place of meet- ing. The disorderly crowd which greeted the speaker, hissing and emphasizing their muttered threats with an occasional rotten egg, broke up the meeting and the senator, with a few friends returned to the Jewett residence. The crowd followed, and continued their demonstrations. The driver of the Morris carriage was knocked off his seat and the horses stampeded. Doctor Jewett's house was elaborately, if not artistically, frescoed in egg tints. The outrage was brought to the notice of the grand jury in a strong charge by Judge Helfenstein but, as usual, no indictments were returned.
For years preceding his death which occurred October 26th, 1870 from ma- lignant disease in the region of the sigmoid, Doctor Jewett suffered from a se- vere chronic bronchitis which led to the erroneous belief that he had phthisis.
ADAMS JEWETT, ( 1807-1875).
Doctor Adams Jewett was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1807 and grad- uated in arts from Dartmouth College in 1827. After leaving college he tutored in the south, reading medicine as occasion offered, until 1833, when he went abroad to complete his studies. Five years were thus passed mostly in Paris under those masters, Louis and Velpeau, then at the zenith of their fame, and in Edinburg, where in 1838 he took his degree from the Royal College of Physicians.
He began practice in Mobile, Ala., where he had formerly lived, but in 1842 removed to Dayton to enter into the partnership already noted. For thirty years he was one of the popular physicians, and held a high position in the commun- ity not only for his professional attainments but for his interest in all public mat- ters.
Notwithstanding, perhaps because of his long residence in the South, he bore an implacable hatred to human slavery, and every fugitive black man who knocked at his door was sure of a cordial reception and of substantial aid. Doctor Jew- ett was a man of medium height, slender build, and in later life, his stooped form, furrowed brow, and snow-white hair gave him a venerable appearance which was
255
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
added to by his custom of always wearing a full-dress coat. A ripe scholar and a lover of the classics, he retained his studious habits to the end of life which came to pass in 1875 at the age of 68 years. His son, Doctor H. S. Jewett, is now practicing in the city.
OLIVER CROOK, (1818-1873).
Doctor Crook, one of the charter members of the Montgomery County Medi- cal Society and the eldest of three brothers who studied medicine, enjoyed the distinction of being the first native-born Montgomery county boy to enter the medical fold.
He was born in Wayne township in 1818, spent his boyhood on the farm and entered the office of the Doctors Garst as a student. In 1847, he received his diploma from the University of New York, and subsequently took a special course at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. He had partnerships with his brother- in-law, Doctor Koogler, and with his brother, Doctor James Crook, the latter being terminated by his brother's death in 1855.
Doctor James Crook was universally liked by his colleagues and was president of this society when death ended his far too short career.
Doctor Oliver Crook took a deep interest in the welfare of the society during its early life but soon began to fail in loyalty and after several arraignments by the Board of Censors, of which he was more than once a member, was expelled in 1858, for fracturing the code laws as to consultations.
Doctor Crook was an indefatigable worker and seemed to have almost un- limited endurance. With alertness and self-reliance, he combined that rarest of qualities, reticence. He talked but little at any time, and at the bedside never volunteered an opinion, and yet, like his brother, the Indian-fighting General, he possessed the faculty of commanding men to an exceptional degree.
Although a practitioner of undoubted ability and popularity, Doctor Crook was no admirer of codes or ethics and finally drifted into the manufacture of pro- prietary medicines of which the "Wine of Tar," still on sale, was the most popular. He died from empyema in April, 1873.
SAMUEL G. ARMOR, (1818-1885).
Doctor Armor was born January 29, 1818, in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, and soon after came to Ohio with his parents who were of Scotch-Irish descent.
He received his academic education at Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, which institution in 1872 honored him with the degree of LL. D.
He read medicine in the office of Doctor Irvine, Millersburg, Ohio, and graduated from the Missouri Medical College in 1844. Rockford, Illinois, was chosen for his life's work, but the turning point in his career came in 1847 when he accepted an invitation to deliver a short course of lectures on physi- ology in Rush Medical College. Later he was tendered the chair of physiology and pathology, but declined because of the previous acceptance of the same chair in the medical department, University of Iowa, at Keokuk. This
256
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
position was soon exchanged for the chair of natural sciences in the University of Cleveland (non-medical), in connection with which he also engaged in gen- eral practice.
In 1853 Doctor Armor was awarded a prize by the Ohio State Medical Society, which held its annual meeting in Dayton, for an essay "On the Zymotic Theory of the Essential Fevers." This paper focused the attention of the" college men of southern Ohio on the talented young author and led to his accepting in the fall of that year, the chair of physiology and pathology in the Medical College of Ohio, where he soon fell heir to the chair of practice, made vacant by the death of the lamented Lawson.
In May, 1856, he married Miss Holcomb, of this city, and located here.
Doctor Armor's tastes, however, better fitted him for the rostrum than for active practice. In 1861, having been tendered a professorship in the University of Michigan, he transferred his residence to Detroit, becoming a member of the firm of Doctors Gunn and Armor. After a service of five years, he accepted the chair of therapeutics, materia medica, and general pathology in the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, and in the following year succeeded to the pro- fessorship of practice and clinical medicine made vacant by the resignation of the elder Flint.
After years of wandering this peripatetic teacher found himself at last permanently anchored and retained this position until his death in 1885. He was one of the finest of medical lecturers in the country. His graceful delivery and modulated voice, the rounded sentences of pure English, and a wealth of illustration, enabled him to breathe life and beauty into the dryest of medi- cal themes and to enthuse the dullest of students. Doctor Armor died from cencer of the abdominal viscera and sleep by the side of his first wife in Wood- land cemetery.
CLARKE MC DERMONT (1823-1881).
Doctor McDermont was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and immigrated to this country in 1840. He supported himself by teaching and eventually became principal of a private school in Lexington, Kentucky. Here he began the study of medicine under the tutorship of Doctor Dudley, professor of surgery in Transylvania University and the most famous lithotomist in America. In 1849 he graduated from the University of New York and immediately went to Edin- burgh and Dublin for post-graduate work. In 1852 he came to Dayton and associated himself in practice with Doctor Green.
Promptly on the beginning of the War for the Union, Doctor McDermont was appointed surgeon to the Second Ohio Infantry. In 1862-63 he served as medical director of the right wing of the Army of the Cumberland and still later was detailed to hospital service in Nashville and Louisville. In the report of the battle of Murfreesboro, General Rosecrans commended him for gal- lantry on the battlefield and great humanity in the care of the wounded, and in recognition of his services he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel U. S. Vol- unteers.
257
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
At the close of the war Doctor McDermont was assigned as surgeon to Camp Denison, which position he held until appointed surgeon-general of the state under Governor Hayes. During this service an unfortunate episode oc- curred which embittered his life and led to his withdrawal from the state society. In his zeal for advancing the interests of the profession Doctor McDer- mont, in his official report for 1867, took occasion to sharply criticize the status of medicine in Ohio, basing his statements on the official reports of the state army examinations.
At the meeting of the State society in that year resolutions were unanimously passed strongly censuring the surgeon-general and denouncing the intemperate statements. Doctor McDermont keenly felt the humiliation and at the next meet- ing of the society made a strong but unsuccessful effort to have the resolutions of censure expunged from the minutes.
Like the eagle whose pangs were increased by the knowledge that the fatal arrow had been guided in its flight by a feather from its own wing, so McDer- mont's hurt was the greater because inflicted by the members of a profession over-zealousness in the interests of which was his only offense, if any were given.
On the establishment of the National Soldiers' Home in Dayton, he was ap- pointed surgeon-in-chief, and served from 1867 to 1874, excepting one year spent at the Southern Branch at Hampton Roads.
For years before his death Doctor McDermont was in bad health, which he attributed to poisoned food eaten at a rebel house after the battle of Carnifex Ferry. One of the party, Doctor Kyle, of Xenia, died with the symptoms of arsenical poisoning.
However this may have been, he certainly had a typical case of chronic gout. The doctor did not evidently agree with Sydenham "that more wise men than fools" have gout for he always indignantly resented the suggestion. In his presence gout was a tabooed word.
True to his lineage he was full of Irish wit and humor which bubbled to the surface at the most unexpected times and places.
He was a stanch churchman and died April 7, 1881, an officer in the First Presbyterian church.
RICHARD GUNDRY, (1829-1891).
Doctor Gundry was born in Hampstead, England, in 1829. His classical education was obtained at the famous private school of Doctor Shingleton in his birth town. He came to this country in 1845 and began the study of Medicine under the tutelage of Doctor Covernton, of Simcoe, Canada, graduating M. D. from Harvard Medical College in 1851. He opened an officer in Rochester, N. Y., but soon removed to Columbus, Ohio, and in 1855 accepted the position of assistant physician to the Ohio Lunatic Asylum.
Two years later he became assistant physician in the asylum here, and its medical superintendent in 1862, replacing Doctor McIlhenny. After ten years of service he went to Athens, Ohio, as superintendent of construction of the State Hospital for the Insane, opening the institution for patients in 1874.
258
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
His efficiency in this new field led to his transfer to Columbus to do a similar work for the Central Hospital then in process of construction (1877).
The building finished, Doctor Gundry acted as its chief medical officer until May, 1878, when he fell a victim to that pernicious political practice which prostitutes for party purposes the benevolent institutions of the State. Happily his reputation as an alienist was not measured by the metes and bounds of partisan Ohio, and Democratic Maryland promptly tendered him the superinten- dency of the asylum at Catonsville, at a largely increased salary. The regret of Doctor Gundry's friends at his banishment from Ohio took tangible shape in the presentation of an elaborate silver tea-service, a free-will offering to an officer who had fulfilled the many trusts committed to his care with fidelity and ability. Doctor Gundry's removal was disastrous only to the State which lost his skilled services. In his new home he speedily acquired prominence in the profession, became a popular consultant on nervous diseases and filled a pro- fessorship in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Baltimore.
As an alienist, Doctor Gundry had a national reputation and was the ex- ponent of the most advanced thought in asylum affairs. No man did more than he to inaugurate the present humane and rational treatment of the insane which has resulted in replacing the very name of lunatic asylum with the title of insane hospital.
As a physician he was broad-minded and cultured, and stood for what was perennial and best in medicine.
He was a lover of books, owned a splendid library, and was the most rapid reader I ever knew. Apparently he read down the page and not across it. Above ordinary men he was gifted with a memory which made a fact once acquired permanently his and ever ready for use. It was no unusual thing for him to spend the whole night over a new book and a lot of good cigars, seeking his bed only when the fragrance of both had been exhausted.
His immense fund of information on widely different subjects, his genial disposition and excellent conversational powers, always at the command of a friend, made him the most agreeable of companions.
He died in 1891.
EARLY HOSPITALS.
Dayton's exposed position on the frontier, its designation by Governor Meigs as a rendezvous for Ohio troops, the coming of General Hull's army on that dis- astrous march to Detroit, and the unrest of the Indians gave it prominence as a military post during the War of 1812 and led to the building of the first hospi- tal. It stood on the northwest corner of Third and Main streets on the present site of the new court house, and Doctor John Steele, a newcomer, was placed in charge.
The little hospital did not long remain empty. In the bloody fight on the banks of the Mississinewah, in December, between the Indians and a detachment of the 19th United States Infantry, the latter had eight men killed and forty- eight wounded. These were brought on litters to Dayton, from whence the ex- pedition had outfitted, and suffered severely during the ten days march from cold
FEL
-
ORIGINAL ST. ELIZABETH HOSPITAL
261
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
and exposure. The hospital was soon overfilled and those who were unable to gain admission were cared for in private homes.
The hospitals of earlier Dayton were born of emergencies such as existed in the epidemics of cholera in 1833 and 1849 and of smallpox in 1836 The first attempt to make permanent provision for the sick-poor appears in the min- utes of the common council in 1836, which record the purchase of a five acre lot with buildings. This lot was at the south end of Main street, opposite the present fairgrounds, and after its abandonment as a pesthouse, was used as a general hospital until 1843, when the strong protests of the neighbors led to its sale. The building is still standing
At the outbreak of the great epidemic of cholera in 1849, the city was with- out hospital provision and the house of Mary Hess on Brown street, near the street which now bears the family name, was fitted for temporary use.
In 1866, the city acquired property on Wyoming street, between Brown and Alberta streets and extending to Obell court, which, until replaced by the pres- ent system, served alternately as pesthouse, infirmary and hospital.
ST. ELIZABETH HOSPITAL.
This, the first hospital really worthy to bear the name, was organized by the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis and dedicated on the 15th of August, 1878. There are three noteworthy epochs in its development.
I. The founding. Under the efficient direction of Sisters Amelia and Co- lumba, a two-story brick dwelling on Franklin street, between Ludlow and Perry, was altered into a comfortable hospital of twelve beds.
The urgent need for some place of the kind is shown by the fact that before the formal opening, two amputations, one at the shoulder joint, were made and during the first year, 183 patients received treatment.
The medical staff, which remained unchanged as long as this building was occupied, consisted of : Chief, Doctor J. C. Reeve, Sr .; consultants, Doctors John Davis, Thomas L. Neal, E. Pilate ; visiting physicians and surgeons, Doctors H. S. Jewett, J. D. Daugherty, W. J. Conklin. Of this original staff, three are still living. Doctors Reeve and Conklin were transferred to the consulting staff and Doctor Jewett still continues in active service.
2. The opening of the building on Hopcland street in 1882. This building which, at the time, represented the best ideas in hospital construction, had a ca- pacity of over two hundred beds. The increase in ward work led to the enlarge- ment of the staff and its division into a medical and surgical service, which be- came effective January 1, 1883. Doctor J. M. Weaver was added to the consultant and Doctors J. S. Beck, P. N. Adams, and A. H. Iddings to the visiting staff and assigned to the medical service.
3. The completion of the large and elegant addition which was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies April 3, 1903. This addition, constructed under the supervision of the following committee: C. J. Ferneding, Allen E. Thomas, F. J. Ach, F. M. Turner. Timothy McEntec, Jacob Linxweiler, and T. Lienesch, is a thoroughly modern hospital, equipped with every means and appliance for doing its work
262
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
St. Elizabeth hospital, as seen in the accompanying illustration, is truly a mas- sive group of buildings, with a capacity of over five hundred beds. The record of the past year (1908), in which two thousand four hundred and two pa- tients were cared for, attests not only the magnitude of its beneficent work, but the thorough consecration of the sisters to the service of charity.
The names and service of the medical staff since the opening of St. Elizabeth hospital in 1878:
Doctors J. C. Reeve, Sr., 1878-1907 (thirty years chief of staff) ; H. S. Jewett, 1878-1909; W. J. Conklin, 1878-1909; J. D. Daugherty, 1878-1884; John Davis, 1878-1883; Thomas L. Neal, 1878-1885; E. Pilate, 1878-1883: J. M. Weaver, 1883-1908; J. S. Beck, 1883-1900; P. N. Adams, 1883-1890; A. H. Iddings, 1883-1888; Calvin Pollock, 1886-1888; G. B. Evans, 1886-1909; C. H. Humphreys, 1886-1909; D. C. Lichliter, 1888-1899; J. C. Reeve, Jr., 1888-1907; R. R. Petitt, 1891-1903 ; W. H. Negley, 1894-1898; D. W. Greene, 1885-1909; Horace Bonner, 1890-1909; F. C. Weaver, 1894-1907; F. R. Henry, 1898-1909; G. A. Hochwalt, 1899-1909; D. A. Scheibenzuber, 1891-1897 ; S. B. Ellis, 1897- 1899 ; D. B. Conklin, 1902-1909 ; C. C. McLean, 1900-1909 ; J. D. Kramer, 1907- 1909 ; H. H. Hatcher, 1907-1908; C. L. Patterson, 1907-1909; W. H. Delscamp, 1907-1909; L. G. Bowers, 1909; E. B. Markey, 1909; J. W. Millette, 1909; D. G. Reilly, 1909.
Medical Staff 1909: President of the Staff, H. S. Jewett, M. D .; Secretary of the Staff, C. L. Patterson, M. D .; Consultants: J. C. Reeve, Sr., M. D., F. R. Henry, M. D., W. J. Conklin, M. D., D. G. Reilly, M. D .; Visiting Surgeons : H. S. Jewett, M. D., C. H. Humphreys, M. D., L. G. Bowers, M. D .; Visiting Physicians : J. D. Kramer, M. D .; D. B. Conklin, M. D .; Gustav A. Hoch- walt, M. D .; Visiting Oculists and Aurists: D. W. Greene, M. D., Horace Bonner, M. D., J. W. Millette, M. D .; Visiting Rectal Surgeon, George B. Evans, M. D .; Visiting Pediatrist, C. L. Patterson, M. D .; Pathologist, E. B. Markey, M. D .; Anæsthetist, C. C. McLean, M. D .; Assistant Visiting Surgeons : H. H. Hatcher, M. D., A. L. Light, M. D., F. C. Gray, M. D .; Assistant Visiting Physi- cians, R. C. Pennywitt, M. D., J. K. Larkin, M. D., Wm. Ryan, M. D. : Radiogra- pher, W. H. Delscamp, M. D.
In calling the roll of those who have served the hospital, Doctors Davis, Neal,* Daugherty, Pilate, Negley, Ellis, Adams, and Petitt return no answer, and it is a sad but pleasing duty to pay short tribute to their memories.
JOHN DAVIS, (1818-1883).
Doctor Davis was born in 1818, near Leesburg, Virginia, moved with his par- ents first to Columbiana county, and later to Marion, Ohio, where his youth was spent and his preliminary education acquired. One course of lectures was taken at Willoughby College, now non est, and his M. D. degree obtained from Star- ling Medical in 1847. Later, he took a special course in surgery under Valentine
* See Health Board.
ST. ELIZABETH HOSPITAL
265
DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Mott, a noted surgeon of New York City. Doctor Davis's inclinations were at this time surgical, rather than medical, but in those days elective surgery was but little practiced. For years he had an official connection with some of the local railroads which gave him a full share of the emergency work.
He became a member of the trustees of the Dayton Hospital for the Insane in 1870 and served several years. He accepted a position on the consultant service of St. Elizabeth Hospital when it was opened and continued in service until his death.
As a physician he was conservative, sagacious, and resourceful, with a high appreciation of the dignity of his calling. Like most positive men he had strong likes and dislikes, was, at times, a sharp critic, and always an opponent whom no rival could afford to ignore or forget. Doctor Davis died in the harness. Taken sick while attending the meeting of the American Medical Association in Cleveland, in June, 1883, he died a few days after his return of cerebral men- ingitis.
E. PILATE, (1804-1890).
Doctor Eugene Pilate was born in Tourcoing, France, and acquired his literary and medical education in Lille and Paris. Becoming involved in the political intrigues which ended in the overthrow of Charles X., and the enthrone- ment of Louis Phillipe, he was forced to leave France to save his life. He fled to England, the home of his wife, and with her sailed for the United States in 1833. After spending two years in New York City he removed to Alabama. Here his wife opened a school for girls, and he, sympathizing with the Texans in their rebellion against Mexico, accepted the position of surgeon on General Houston's staff and served until the flag of a single star waved over the free republic of Texas. After the war he located in Galveston. This venture ended in disaster, and his health failing he forsook the paths of civilization and spent several years living, practicing, and trading with the Indians. Tiring of this roving life, he finally gathered his family about him in Opelousas, Louisiana, where he remained until his removal here in 1866. Doctor Pilate had a wide and varied information. His professional attainments are sufficiently attested by the fact that he twice performed Cæsarian section successfully on the same woman. He was a naturalist of exceptional ability. Before coming here, he had almost ready for publication a MS. illustrated in color, on the fauna and flora of Louisiana, which was unfortunately destroyed by fire. The larger part of the valuable collection of birds in the Dayton Public Museum came out of his private collection.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.