USA > Ohio > Clark County > Springfield > The centennial celebration of Springfield, Ohio, held August 4th to 10th, 1901 > Part 12
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It is no fault of John L. Zimmerman's that he has not occu-
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pied public positions. He expects to be Governor some day, and all join in wishing him success.
There are other members of our bar who, by their merit, are entitled to distinct mention in this paper, and some of whom no doubt have occupied positions of trust and honor. But these matters are common to the knowledge of all, and the limits of my paper will not permit them to be individualized. .
On several occasions in the past the bar has organized for the purpose of advancing the interests of its members and main- taining the dignity of the profession. But for various reasons about all that would be accomplished, would be a meeting, some strong speeches about maintaining the dignity of the profession, possibly an assessment for dues, an election, and then-a quiet, unobtrusive death. However, probably by reason of the in- terest that the bar has in maintaining an excellent law library, the present Bar Association has had a longer existence than any of its predecessors and bids fair to remain with us for some time to come. The present Clark County Bar Association was organized July 6, 1888, with Hon. J. K. Mower as President; A. N. Sum- mers, Vice President; W. M. Rockel, Secretary, and George S. Dial, Treasurer. In March, 1892, for the purpose of raising money to buy books for the library, it became incorporated. An enjoyable feature of the meetings of this Bar Association is the custom that has come into vogue, of the new President, on his induction into office, annually, giving a spread to which all mem- bers of the bar are invited.
"There St. John mingles with the friendly bowl, The flow of reason and feast of soul."
The Bar Association formerly met monthly, and should do so now in compliance with its by-laws, but usually the meetings are only held annually, or at the call of the President. There is an annual fee of five dollars attached to the membership, which is applied to the fund for the purchase of books to keep up the library. The present officers of the association are: James Johnson, Jr., President ; F. W. Geiger, Vice President ; Jacob N. Harner, Secretary, and Clement Collins, Treasurer. This sketch of our bench and bar would be incomplete did it not contain a
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word in reference to our present excellent library. From the be- ginning of a few volumes, it has grown until it now numbers nearly three thousand volumes at a total cost of about $10,000. For a considerable time the matter of a library had been a subject of speculation and discussion among the members of our bar, and when the new Court House was completed, a room was pro- vided for that purpose. But, like many other things, it needed something to make the start in that direction. In 1886 or 1887, in a casual conversation, Judge Charles R. White remarked that he had a fund in his hands as treasurer of a defunct Bar Associa- tion, and that he would like to be relieved of his responsibility, but there was no knowledge of the persons who had contributed the fund, or to whom it should be returned. The writer sug- gested to him to invest it in books, for the nucleus of a library in the Court House. He responded that if the consent of certain members of the bar, whom he presumed had contributed the fund, would be secured, he would gladly turn it over for that purpose. The consent of such members of the bar having been obtained, and the fund turned over to the writer, it was by him invested in the West System of Reporters. The bound volumes were placed in the library and the advanced sheets were kept at the writer's office until a librarian was appointed. The fund amounted to $306. Afterward. upon the organization of a Bar Association, a Board of Trustees was appointed for the library. This first board was composed of Judge C. R. White, Oscar T. Martin and W. M. Rockel. Afterward A. S. Rogers, Albert H. Kunkle, F. M. Hagan, with Rockel and White, constituted the board. By this time it was ascertained that the library of George Spence could be purchased for a very reasonable sum. A contri- bution was taken up among the members of the bar, and the library purchased. This was the first substantial addition to the previous purchase of the West Reporters. Judge Mower has been an active member of the Board of Trustees for the Library for the past ten years. The Legislature having in the meantime passed a law permitting the court to appoint a librarian, Mr. Oliver H. Miller, a member of the bar, accepted the position for a number of years and turned the salary over to be applied in the purchase of books. Funds were also received from certain
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GENERAL SAMSON MASON,
General Samson Mason was born in New Jersey, 1793 ; died in Springfield, Ohio, 1869. He was a noted lawyer in Southwest- ern Ohio. He served in both branches of the Ohio State Legisla- ture. He reached the rank of major-general in the militia of the State. He was elected to Congress in 1834 and served four suc- cessive terms in that body. During the administration of Millard Fillmore he was United States District Attorney for Ohio. He was a member of the convention that formed the present Consti- tution of the State, in 1850-1. and was an influential personage in that body. In all movements for the improvement of Springfield materially and morally, General Mason was always interested, and helped in every good cause to the extent of his ability.
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GENERAL CHARLES ANTHONY.
General Charles Anthony was born at Richmond, Virginia. He came to Ohio near the beginning of this century, He was a member of the Springfield Bar from 1824 to 1862. He was elected three times to the State Legislature, and served in the position of Speaker of that body, an office that he administered with much ability and dignity. He also served in the Senate. He was widely known as a campaign speaker, and had many invita- tions to address the people on the questions of the day. He held the office of United States Attorney for Ohio from 1841 to 1845. General Anthony was a noted Mason, and was elected Grand Master of the State. He was a man of integrity and force of character, and was popular with all classes. He died in 1862.
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Police Court fines. In order to increase the usefulness of the library and secure the purchase of more books, in 1892 the Clark County Bar Association was incorporated and shares of stock of fifty dollars each were issued. In these various ways, and from time to time, funds were secured, with which the excellent library now in the Court House was procured. A complete set of the reports of all the important States of the Union are now on its shelves, together with modern digests and encyclopedias. A subscription has just been made for the English Reports. W. F. Bevitt and Charlotte Cross have been the accommodating libra- rian and assistant librarian for some time. The present trustees are: Judge J. K. Mower, Judge A. N. Summers, Judge F. M. Hagan, Oscar T. Martin, J. E. Bowman, J. F. McGrew and IV. W. Keifer.
The following is given by our Court Docket as a list of the present practicing members of our bar: Edwin L. Arthur. George Arthur, John C. Bassett, Jr., George A. Beard, Carey Boggess, Border Bowman, E. O. Bowman, J. E. Bowman, Charles E. Ballard, M. T. Burnham, A. P. Linn Cochran, A. P. Linn Cochran, Jr., Clement V. Collins, George S. Dial, D. Z .. Gardner, Frank W. Geiger, Alden H. Gillett, William H. Grif- fith, Edward O. Hagan, 'Francis M. Hagan, Dallas V. Halver- stadt, Jacob M. Harner, Patrick J. Higgins, William R. Horner, Edwin S. Houck, James Johnson, Jr., Horace C. Keifer, J. War- ren Keifer, William W. Keifer, J. Forest Kitchen, Frank M. Krapp, Albert H. Kunkle, Julius F. W. Lorenz, Thomas J. Mc- Cormick, J. F. McGrew, John B. McGrew, William Y. Mahar, Oscar T. Martin, Paul C. Martin, Harvey L. Miller. J. J. Miller. Oliver H. Miller, Carl K. Mower, J. K. Mower, C. S. Olinger. Charles R. Osborn. John L. Plummer, Thomas J. Pringle. B. H. Rannels, George C. Rawlins, D. F. Reinoehl, Walter E. Robin- son, William M. Rockel, Robert C. Rodgers, William A. Scott. V. Y. Smith, Horace W. Stafford, C. W. Strawther, Paul A. Staley, Chase . Stewart. E. Earle Stewart, Harry F. Summers, Stewart L. Tatum. H. A. Toulmin, O. B. Trout, Walter L. Weaver, J. Jerome Welty, W. W. Witmeyer, Amos Wolf, L. F. Young and John L. Zimmerman.
There have been few "Uriah Heeps" and "Oily Gammons"
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at our bar. It can be truthfully said that there is no class of per- sons in the community that stand higher than the members of the bar. In the last one hundred years but one member was dis- barred from practice. Generally, in all matters that pertain to the welfare of our city and county, they are found ever contend- ing for that which will bring prosperity and honor to our city and its people. If the next hundred years can show as bright a history as the past one hundred. the Bar of the City of Springfield can indeed well be proud of its record.
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Old Court House. Erected 1819-22."
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New Court House. Erected 1875-81.
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HENRY H. SEYS, M. D.
HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF CLARK COUNTY.
BY HENRY H. SEYS, M. D.
The fact that there is little in the profession of medicine that becomes matter of record, so far as its members are con- cerned, has made it no easy task to get the names and still more difficult to learn any facts of the history of the early doctors of our county.
They came and settled in this field of labor ; led lives of hardship, exposure and toil, anxiety and responsibility, had their friends and enemies, sought other scenes or died, and were soon forgotten.
Their names are but traditions that linger in the memories of those who are soon to leave us forever. Only. now and then can be found a descendant who can tell us some little of those good men, who so well filled their places in the community. No records have been left of them, save the most meager, and in many cases their names can only be found on some moss-covered stone on which scant proof beside "some letters tell that they have lived and died."
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It is not the object of this paper to deal with the living or those who, though dead, are not to be classed as pioneers. To Dr. Isaac Kay and Dr. John H. Rodgers I am indebted for very much of the material at my disposal. In April, 1816, a Medical Society existed in Dayton. How far its jurisdiction extended, I do not know, but the records show that on that date, by virtue of authority derived from the State, they licensed four men -who, for many years, were well-known physicians, and two of whom became citizens of Springfield, Drs. Isaac Hendershott and W. A. Needham. The others were Dr. Joshua Martin, of Xenia, and Dr. Carter, of Urbana.
It might be well to state here that in those days not many of the practitioners of medicine were graduates of medical colleges. The lack of means, the .distance and difficulty of travel, com- pelled many to forego the advantages thus to be obtained, and perforce they were content to learn what they might from their preceptors and obtain a license from the Board of Censors of some Medical Society. This was the course ordained by the laws of this State at that time, and consequently, the "Board of Censors" of each Medical Society became an important factor in the medical history of each district.
It is impossible to separate the medical history of Clark County or Springfield from that of the surrounding counties, from the fact that in 1824 the Ohio General Assembly divided the State into twenty districts for Medical Societies, Montgom- ery and Clark Counties being joined together, forming the Sev- enth District.
Drs. Jolin Steel, Job Haines, William Blodget, W. A. Need- ham, Richard W. Hunt. Elijah Laurence and Ambrose Blount organized the Medical Society for this district. Drs. Richard Hunt and Ambrose Blount were chosen members of the Board of Censors ..
The society met semi-annually in Dayton, Fairfield and Springfield .. At a meeting held in Dayton, May, 1828. the fol- lowing officers were elected: President, William Blodget; Lot Cooper. Vice President : William Mount, Secretary and Treas- urer ; A. Blount, E. Laurence, H. Alexander, W. A .; Needham and R. E. Stevens, Censors. The membership was twenty-eight.
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Of them, only Dr. Blount, Dr. Hunt, Dr. Needham, Dr. Towler and Dr. Job Haines were, so far as I can learn, citizens of Springfield, and Dr. E. Laurence and Robert Houston of the county.
Others came, some to find here a home for a shorter or longer period, among them a Dr. Nourse. Of him I can get no record, save that he lived here about a year, then entered the navy and died in the service.
Of those whose names have been mentioned but little can be said. Dr. Richard H. Hunt was born in Greenwich, Cumberland County, New Jersey, in 1780. Came west while young, settled in Cincinnati, and moved to Springfield in 1809. He married Miss Frances Reeder. then living near the McClure farm on the Old Yellow Springs road, some three miles south of Springfield. The date of his death I have not learned. One daughter, Miss Sophia Hunt. is still living in our city.
Dr. Job Haines, also from New Jersey, was born in 1791. graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1815. Stopped for a short time in Cincinnati, moved to Spring- field, formed a partnership with Dr. Hunt, moved to Dayton in 1817, and died there in 1860, aged 69 years.
Dr. W. A. Needham, who, though dead this many a year, still lives in the memory of some of our oldest ctizens. He was born in Shoreham, Vermont, 1776. There is no knowledge of when or where he studied medicine. He served as surgeon in the Ver- mont militia, his commission being still in the family. Came to Springfield in the fall of 1813, first living near Lagonda, which. because of him. was called "Pillville." He afterward lived in a cabin in the southwest corner of Columbia and Factory streets until 1817, when he moved into his own new frame house on the southwest corner of Main street and the first alley east of Lime- stone street. This building was recently torn down by Elder & Tuttle, when they built the addition to their store room. In this house he died, August 13. 1834, of some epidemic disease, after an illness of only four days. He had three daughters. The old- est. Amelia, married Jonah Baldwin; the next, Alice, married Cyrus Ward and lived in Urbana ; the youngest, Minerva, mar- ried Samson Mason. Dr. Needham was buried in the old Column- bia Street Cemetery.
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Of Dr. Hendershott no record can be obtained. He was a member of the Clark County Medical Society when Dr. Kay and the speaker joined it in 1853. I find no record of his death, which I believe occurred not far from 1856. One daughter died in the frame house on East Main street, east of Spring street. about 1855. One son was in the army. Of him I have no history.
Dr. Towler. I believe, was at one time a citizen of Spring- field. No other information of him can be obtained.
This ends the history of those older men of medicine, and another generation fills the stage.
Dr. Robert Rodgers, whom to know was to love and re- spect, was a man whose influence on the community was wholly for good, and whose memory will ever be held in honor by those who knew him, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1807, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He studied medicine at Ship- penburg, Pennsylvania, graduated at Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1828; came to Springfield, July 4, 1833, and practiced here until his death in 188t. His descendants are still with us-they need no introduction to this audience.
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Contemporaneous with Dr. Rodgers was Dr. Benjamin Winwood. Born in England, he came to this country in 1804. graduated in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1821 ; came to Springfield in 1832. He died in the Government service in Nashville, Tenn., in 1866.
The Gillett Brothers also were noted men in the profession of those days. The younger brother, Harvey, did not devote himself entirely to medicine, living on his farm, east and south of the city. Berkley, the older brother, was born in Vermont, November 10. 1791 ; moved to Springfield, Ohio, from New York State in 1834. He was a man of strong personality and large, progressive ideas, and was well and favorably known by a large constituency throughout the county. He was identified with many of Springfield's early and best interests, being among the first projectors of the school afterward known as the "Meth- odist High School." He ranked with the first of his profession. and died October 9. 1855. Dr. Berkley Gillett was an import- ant member of the profession in those days.
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With Dr. Rodgers begins the history and records of his profession in this county. On the eve of March 1, 1838, a meet- ing was held in his office and the initial steps taken to form the Clark County Medical Society. On the 4th of April the organ- ization was effected. The meeting was held in the Buckeye Hotel, on East Main street. Dr. Isaac Hendershott, President : Dr. Smith, Vice President ; Robert Rodgers, Secretary ; M. Mur- dock, Treasurer ; Censors, Berkley Gillett, E. W. Steel, Robert Rodgers. There is no record of those present. The names of Towler, Happersett, Steel, Winwood, Garst and Houston are found on the minutes. To the constitution are signed the names . of Isaac Hendershott, Benjamin Winwood, Berkley. Gillett, Elias Garst, Robert Houston, William Murdock, Robert Rodgers, Michael Garst and James Robbins.
I shall not weary you with a longer history of this organ- ization. It had its seasons of prosperity and of decadence. New names are found on its roll and others disappear. In 1839 the society died of malnutrition, to be reborn May 31, 1850.
The officers elected were: President, Robert Rodgers ; First Vice President, Berkley Gillett; Second Vice President, Isaac Hendershott ; Secretary, E. M. Buckingham ; Treasurer, George Bunyan; Censors, Gillett. Cook, Stockstill, Bunyan and Robert Rodgers.
The Society is still in active operation, and of no little ben- efit to its members and perhaps to the community.
Of other branches of the profession I find nothing of cer- tainty. Dr. Starr and Dr. Saul were the first Homeopaths. I be- lieve, to settle in Springfield, Ohio. I can learn nothing of the date. They were followed by others, who are modern and cannot be classed as pioneers.
Of the Botanic, Thompsonian. and Eclectic Schools I can obtain no record.
Of all the men who have settled in our county, none obtained so great celebrity as Dr. Alexander Dunlap. He settled here, I believe. about 1856. At that time abdominal surgery was prac- tically unknown-ascepsis unthought of : a few bold spirits be- lieved that ovarian tumors might be successfully removed. By many of the profession in these earlier days the operation was
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considered little less criminal than murder. Dr. Dunlap was one of the first to endorse the procedure and become known world- wide by reason of a fair share of success, in this, then, almost unknown and little practiced attempt, to relieve suffering human- ity and prolong life.
The advance that has been made in operative surgery by reason of Lister's Great Discovery has rendered possible and eminently successful that which, in the day of Dr. Dunlap, was most hazardous and hardly considered justifiable. His name should be honored for his courage.
No other name among the physicians of our county or city stand out so boldly in the history of surgery.
One other name I must not fail to do honor to-that of Dr. E. M. Buckingham, who, for more than thirty years held a most prominent position in our city as a physician and gentleman. All who knew him deplored his death. Dr. Buckingham was a son of Milton and Belinda Cooley Buckingham. He was born in Athens County, Ohio, in 1824. Graduated from Kenyon College in 1845 ; read medicine in this city with Dr. Robert Rodgers, and began the practice of medicine here in 1849. during the cholera epidemic of that year. In 1849, and 1850 he attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College. Philadelphia, where he graduated. His whole professional life was spent here.
Valuable aid was rendered by him as volunteer surgeon dur- ing the War of the Rebellion.
Dr. Buckingham was of the finest type as physician and Christian gentleman. and his death was sorely felt by those to whom he was endeared by long years of association both in and out of the profession.
Andrew C. McLaughlin should not be forgotten. Born, i he- lieve, in Clark County. An old doctor of the William McClure type. The soul of honor, richly endowed by nature, with limited opportunity to obtain an education, yet he became a power in his day and generation. So pure was his diction, and because of his ponderous weight, among his intimate professional brethren he was known as "Webster Unabridged." A gentleman beloved and appreciated by those who knew him.
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Andrew Bruce, George Bunyan and others were men of those early years, during the forties, I think.
There were many, I doubt not. among those who, in the long ago, practiced medicine in our community, whose names should be mentioned with honor. But of them I find no record. They are remembered by few living.
Well am I aware of the imperfections of this sketch of the medical profession of our county, yet with the material at hand and the time that could be devoted to this history of the men of the past, no better could be done.
It had been my purpose to end my paper at this point, but the suggestion of General Keifer, our chairman for the day, leads me to add a few words upon the changes that have taken place in the profession of medicine since the days of long ago. It would be, I fear, tedious to my audience to mention the advance in knowledge made during the last hundred years. Let it suffice to call your attention to some of the progress that has been made in the latter half of that period :
In 1850 we had practically no instruments of precision. The microscope, with its wonderful disclosures, was incomplete and possessed by few. Ausculation and percussion were just begin- ning to be appreciated.
The theory and practice of ascepis had not yet entered the mind of man. Bacteriology was only known to be sneered at, and although we talked learnedly about infectious diseases and of a contagium vivum, our words but covered our ignorance. The cause of not one contagious disease was known, perhaps not sus- pected. Pathology as now understood was not taught. Disease was largely considered an entity, and its treatment wholly em- pirical. Abdominal surgery was still in the womb of time. Ova- riotomy was believed by many of the wisest in the profession to be only a little less criminal than murder. The terrors of an inflamed appendix were not recognized or known as a potent factor in the death rate. Sanitary science was practically unknown, and plagues and pestilence were deemed visitations of the wrath of an offended Deity, to be combatted by prayer and fasting.
The clinical thermometer. with all it tells us, was unthought of. and the invaluable hypodermic syringe yet unknown. The
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priceless boon of anesthetics was just fairly becoming of general use. The X-ray was undreamed of. Crude ideas and cruder med- icines were all we possessed, and I can remember but two alka- loids in use, quinine and morphine.
Did I not fear to weary you, many-very many-more items of progress might be mentioned. No longer are we under the domain of any man or school. No man's dictum is taken, unless the evidence is at hand with which to prove the truth of his asser- tions, and facts are considered of far more importance than theory. To quote the ideas of Dr. Charles Reid, late President of the American Medical Association a new school of medicine is soon to be born. Not Allopathy, nor Homeopathy, nor Eclecticism, nor Osteopathy, nor Christian Science, nor any other pathy or ism, but a school founded on the researches of the laboratory and dis- secting room. on the discoveries made by the microscopist and chemist-the prevention, not the attempted cure of disease; a school that shall secure to every man pure air, pure soil, and pure water. When that day comes, the doctors will vanish from the face of the earth, and the millennium will begin.
In the afternoon the pioneers held their meeting. Mr. W. M. Harris, Secretary of the Clark County Historical Society, presided and read the following paper :
W. M. HARRIS.
This has been advertised as Pioneer Day, but as there is a difference of opinion about there being any pioneers living, yet. since some of us are early settlers and some of us are native born here, we will just call ourselves pioneers. If there is any honor
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