USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 15
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Although not a regularly authorized member of the profession because of his laek of medical education, John Paschall, of Darby, acquired quite a repn- tation in the vicinity as a doctor. becoming especially famous as the compound- er of "The Golden Elixir," advertised throughout the region as "Paschall's Golden Drops," widely used by the country folk as a cure-all and defender against old age, in much the same manner as the early explorers of Florida expected to employ the waters from Ponce de Leon's "Fountain of Youth."
To Dr. Jonathan Morris was granted a remarkably long life, his death occurring in his ninetieth year, until which time he practiced the art he had learned under Dr. Bard, of Philadelphia, in Marple, where his venerable, well-borne. erect figure, was well known and as well loved by the people among whom he practiced.
Paul Jackson, buried in St. Paul's graveyard, in Chester, was graduated from the College of Philadelphia, and for many years practiced in Chester. There he became chief burgess, at that time an office of great honor, dignity and responsibility. His death occurred when he was thirty-six years of age, but even in that short span of life he had gained an enviable reputation as a scholar and linguist : eminence in his profession : renown as a soldier : and the love of his associates for the clean, honorable upright life he led. The Penn- sylvania Magazine of History states, in speaking of his scholarly ability, "His Latin compositions, which were published, secured for him a reputation for correct taste and accurate scholarship." Upon the marble slab marking his grave is this inscription : "Here lies PAUL JACKSON, A. M. Hle was the first who received a Degree in the College of Philadelphia. A man of virtue, worth, and knowledge. Died 1767, aged 36 years."
Ilis brother. David Jackson, was likewise a physician, being a member of the first medical class graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He held the office of surgeon general of the Pennsylvania troops during the Revolutionary war.
For a long time one of the most conspicuous figures in the locality was
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Dr. Bernhard Van Leer, the centenarian physician. He was born in Ger- many and came to this country with his father, later returning to his native land to engage in the study of medicine. He was a learned and efficient physician, having a reputation for the mildness of his remedies, which were for the most part compounded from vegetable formulae. Two of his sons, Branson and Benjamin, followed the profession of their father, the former filling the post of county physician. It is interesting to note from one of his reports that he evidently believed in the more powerful and stringent methods of the profession-plasters, bleeding, powders, juleps, and purging ingredients. being frequent items in his course of treatment. The comrade of Bernhard Van Leer's journey to Germany for the study of medicine was John Wor- rall, whose purpose in going abroad was the same as that of his companion. Upon his return from the continent he settled in Upper Providence, practic- ing there until his death, aged eighty-six years.
Drs. John Cochran, director general of the military hospitals during the Revolution, and Samuel Kennedy, surgeon of the Fourth Battalion of Pennsylvania troops and senior surgeon in the military hospital, were residents of what is now Delaware county, but their practice was confined to the mili- tary organizations of which they were a part.
William Currie, a native of Chester county, had been intended for the ministry, but his ambition and desire were diverted from his original inten- tion, and he began the study of medicine, graduating from the College of Phil- adelphia. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary war his father, rector of his- toric St. David's Episcopal Church at Radnor, a strong loyalist, opposed his desire to enter the Continental service, but despite the opposition, he enlisted, being attached as surgeon, first to the hospital at Long Island, later at Amboy. At the close of the conflict he settled in the borough of Chester, there estab- lishing his practice. In1 1792 he moved to Philadelphia, where he spent his remaining years in the compiling of three works, which at the time were of great value-"Historical Account of the Climate and Diseases of the United States," "Views of the Diseases most prevalent in the United States, with an account of the most improved methods of treating them." and a "General View of the Principal Theories or Doctrines which have prevailed at different periods to the present time."
John Morton, third son of John Morton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a surgeon in the Continental service during the Revolution. was captured, and died on the British prison-ship "Falmouth." in New York harbor.
A physician of Lower Chichester, during the Revolutionary period, was Dr. John Smith.
One of the most eventful careers ever led by a member of the medical profession, was that of Dr. Peter Yarnall, who practiced his profession with great success in Concord between 1780 and 1791. lle was a Friend by birth- right. but when eighteen years of age quarrelled with the master under whom he was serving his apprenticeship and ran away, enlisting in the army. He
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was released from the service through the influence of his family and was in- duced to engage in the study of medicine, a pursuit which was interrupted by his volunteering for service in the American army. The war over, he took his degree at the Philadelphia College of Medicine and returned to the service as surgeon's mate on the privateer "Delaware," later resigning and beginning practice in the Pennsylvania Hospital. From 1791 until his death in 1798, he practiced in Montgomery county.
Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick was a native of Delaware county, and practiced at Marcus Hook for a number of years. After his marriage he followed his profession with good success in Alexandria, Virginia. He and Dr. Brown were called upon by Dr. Craik as consulting physicians at the bedside of George Washington, during his fatal illness. Thomas Maxwell Potts, in his sketch of Dr. Dick in the "Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter," says that Dr. Dick, when all hopes of Washington's recovery with less extreme remedies had been abandoned, proposed an operation which he ever afterwards thought might have proved effective in saving the general's life, but it did not meet with the approval of the family physician.
In 1799. Jane Davis is credited with keeping an "apothecary shop" in Chester, the first establishment of its kind in the county, although at about the same time Dr. Sayres of Marcus Hook had a store for the sale of drugs at his home. In this year the following physicians were in active practice of their profession in Delaware county : William Pennell, Aston ; Nicholas Newlin and Caleb S. Sayres, Lower Chichester : Joseph Shallcross and William Gardiner, Darby ; Jonathan Morris and Bernhard Van Leer. Marple ; John Knight, Mid- dletown ; Jonas Preston, Newtown : John Cheyney, Thornbury.
Dr. William Martin, grandfather of John IIill Martin, author of the "His- tory of Chester and its Vicinity," was a physician who gained a great deal of prominence in the civil as well as the professional life of Delaware county. Ile was a lawyer, justice of the peace, and chief burgess of Chester, and in April of 1779. when General Washington passed through Chester on his way to Phil- adelphia, then the seat of government, Dr. Martin made the speech of congrat- ulation to the new President tendering him the hearty and enthusiastic sup- port of the people of the city. Dr. Martin, always filled with a dread of yel- low fever, was extremely cautious in such cases as came under his care during the death-dealing scourge of 1798, even refusing to enter homes in which it prevailed, prescribing from the outside, yet met his death through the agency of that terrible disease while attending the sailors of a British vessel lying in the harbor, all of whose crew had contracted the malady.
Another physician of the county who was a victim of the yellow fever plague, yet whose death was not directly due to the disease, was Dr. Caleb Smith Sayres, whose arduous labors in combating the epidemic undermined his health, so lowering his vitality that he died at the early age of thirty-one years. At the time of his death he was surgeon of the Eighth Battalion of Militia of the county of Delaware, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Vernon.
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Dr. Jonas Preston, of Delaware county, obtained his medical education in this country and abroad, first studying under Dr. Bond of Philadelphia, and attending lectures at the Pennsylvania Hospital, later being graduated from the University of Edinburgh and completing his studies in Paris. Returning to this country, for a while he practiced in Wilmington, Delaware, and Georgia, finally moving to Delaware county, acquiring an extensive practice in this and Ches- ter county, confining his attention almost entirely to obstetric cases, becoming one of the most famous and best reputed accoucheurs in this continent. Dur- ing the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 he volunteered for duty in the army de- tailed to put down the insurrection. This warlike move was contrary to the doctrines of the Society of Friends, of which he was a member, and caused him to be expelled, or "read out" of meeting. He became extremely prominent in the political affairs of the commonwealth, his well balanced judgment and discerning foresight making him the choice of Delaware county for the legis- lature eight consecutive terms, while in 1808 he was elected state senator. Be- sides his professional and political interests, Dr. Preston had numerous busi- ness associations, holding the office of president of the Bank of Delaware Coun- ty, and was also a supporter and contributor to many benevolent and philan- thropic organizations. At his death Mr. Preston made a clause in his will by which he left $400,000 "towards founding an institution for the relief of indigent married women of good character, distinct and unconnected with any hospital, where they may be received and provided with proper obstetric aid for their delivery, with suitable attendance and comforts during their period of weakness and susceptibility which ensues." By this provision was established the Preston Retreat in Philadelphia, one of the noblest and most happily con- ceived institutions within the state.
Dr. William Gardiner had a son, Dr. Richard Gardiner, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, who practiced for a time in Darby, later moving to Newtown, finally establishing in practice in Philadelphia, where he studied homeopathy, and was graduated in 1848 from the Homeopathic College.
Drs. Jacob Tobin. Brown and Tidmarsh are all recorded as having prac- ticed in Chester about the beginning of the nineteenth century, as well as Dr. George Bartram, who conducted a drug store and for a number of years was justice of the peace, chief burgess of the village, and customs officer at the Lazaretto. Previous to 1818 Dr. Edward Woodward practiced in Middle- town, where he resided, and in 1808 Dr. Nathan Hayes was a practicing physician in Edgemont.
Dr. Isaac Davis, son of General John Davis, studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Shallcross, of Darby, and in 1810 began practice in Edgemont, but at the outbreak of the war of 1812-14 was appointed surgeon of the Sixth Regi- ment United States Infantry, dying in the service at Fort Jackson, Mississippi, July 21, 1814.
Dr. Job H. Terrill was a noted physician of Chester, where he came in 1809, and was famed for his engaging and interesting conversational powers and his innate love of fine-bred horses, of which he was always the admiring
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owner. It does not seem fitting that the thing he loved so well should be the cause of his death, but one day, while entering his sulky, his horse started, suddenly throwing him against the wheel of the vehicle, injuring him so severely that he contracted a thigh disease which ultimately proved fatal.
Dr. Samuel AAnderson, although not a native of Delaware county, neverthe- less, gave so much of his labors to the county that he is closely identified there- with. He early entered the United States navy, as assistant surgeon, but resigned his commission and located in Chester, where he soon attained a position high in his profession. During the war of 1812-14 he raised a vol- unteer company, the Mifflin Guards, and in the fall of 1814 served for three months as its captain at Fort Du Pont. For three years he represented the county in the legislature, and in 1819 was elected sheriff. He was once more appointed to an assistant surgeonship in the United States navy and assigned to the West India Station, under command of Commodore Porter, but ill health compelled his resignation. After his return to Delaware county he was elected to the legislature in 1823-4-5, and the following year represented in congress the district comprising Delaware, Chester and Lancaster counties. He was a member of the legislature, 1829-33, in the last year being speaker of the house. In 1834-35 he was again returned to the legislature and made the report of the joint committee of the two houses relative to alleged abuses in the eastern penitentiary, at that time one of the most talked of scandals in the state. In 1841 he was appointed inspector of customs at the Lazaretto, and in 1846 was elected justice of the peace in Chester, an office he filled until his death, January 17, 1850.
A brief record of the physicians who practiced in Delaware county after 1800 follows: Ellis C. Harlan was in practice at Sneath's Corner, Chester township. in the early part of the century. His practice was taken over by Dr. Jesse Young, whose associate, Dr. James Serrell Hill, succeeded him. Dr. David Rose was Dr. Young's successor.
Drs. Benjamin Rush Erwin. Joseph Leedom, James Boyd, James Wilson and William L. Cowan are names which were familiar in Upper and Nether Providence from 1800 to 1850. Dr. Gideon Humphreys was a practicing phy- sician in Aston in 1820; Dr. George R. Morton, at Village Green, in 1827 ; Dr. Byington at Aston, in 1833: Dr. Samuel .A. Barton there previous to 1845: while Dr. Richard Gregg, then residing at Wrangletown, had quite a number of patients in that vicinity. Dr. Joseph Wilson, prominent in the political af- fairs of the day, practiced in Springfield in 1812; in 1837 Dr. James Jenkins and Dr. Joseph Blackfan were in Radnor : Dr. J. F. Huddleson, in Thornbury. In 1833, Dr. M. C. Shalleross was in practice in Darby, later associating him- self with Dr. J. P. Stakes, of Philadelphia, continuing his practice in Delaware county. In 1823, Dr. Joshma W. Ash began practice in Upper Darby, continu- ing until his death in March, 1874. He belonged to the Society of Friends, and was prominently connected with the Delaware County Institute of Science and the Training school for Feeble Minded Children. In 1848 he published the first map of Delaware county drawn from actual surveys. In 1833. Dr. Caleb
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Ash was in Darby, while prior to 1848 Dr. George Thomas had an office at the same place, although in 1845 he located in Newtown or Edgemont ; while in 1833 Dr. William Gray Knowles was in Darby. In 1852, Dr. J. P. Hoopes was in practice in Upland, and Dr. James Aikens in 1852, and Dr. H. Bent, a botanic Thomsonian physician in 1842, in Edgemont. Dr. Phineas Price was located in Bethel in 1840; in 1844, Dr. J. H. Marsh. in Concord, as was Dr. George Mar- tin in 1852.
Dr. William Gray, a member of the family from which Gray's Ferry takes its name, studied medicine with a relative, Dr. Warfield of Maryland, after graduation settling in Chester. Dr. John M. Allen practiced in Chester in 1844, later abandoning his practice and opening a drug store, a business he conducted very profitably. In 1861 he was appointed surgeon of the 54tl Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers, subsequently becoming medical director of the Department of West Virginia, and surgeon-in-chief of staff, in which capacity he served until 1864 when, his health failing, he received an honorable dis- charge from the service after being in the hospital for several months. Until 1855. Dr. James Porter practiced in Chester. Dr. P. K. Smith, a physician at Chichester Cross-roads, was succeeded by Dr. Manley Emanuel, whose son, Dr. Lewis M. Emanuel, began practice at Linwood immediately after gradua- tion, serving as assistant surgeon in the field during the war between the states.
Dr. Jesse Kersey Bonsall, a Delaware countian by birth, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and followed his profession during his earlier years at Manila, in the Philippines. In 1842 he returned to Delaware county and pursued his calling until his death in 1858.
Dr. Tracey E. Waller, of Marcus Hook, was a physician of the county. whose untimely death was deeply regretted by the members of the medical fra- ternity, as well as by his hosts of friends. Dr. Waller retired one night in ap- parently perfect health and was found dead in bed the following morning, from no apparent cause.
Dr. Joshua Owens, of Chester, was a graduate of Jefferson College, Philadelphia, and during the Civil War was senior surgeon of Pennsylvania, and the first volunteer surgeon to reach Washington after the first fire on Fort Sumter. He was one of the first medical directors of divisions, his assign- ment to duty being with the Army of the Potomac. In 1863 he was commissioned surgeon-general of New Mexico, a position he held for two years, at the end of that time resigning to make a tour of Europe on foot, on which journey he was accompanied by his two sons. Dr. Mordecai Laurence, a practitioner of Haverford. died there February 21, 1880, in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
One of the native Delaware countians whose labors have redounded greatly to the credit of the locality which produced him, was Dr. George Smith, born in Haverford. February 4. 1804. He received his degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1820, and practiced in Darby for five years, when, coming into the possession of a large estate, he laid aside the active duties of his profession, superintending his estate and devoted his leisure moments to literary
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and scientific pursuits. He was not however suffered to remain long in retirement, for in 1832 he was elected state senator from the district com- prising Delaware and Chester counties. While a member of that body he was appointed chairman of the senate committee on education, and it was in this capacity that he performed a service which has been of incalculable advantage to the people of the state. This was the drafting of the public school bill, which, ably and warmly supported by Thaddeus Stevens and George Wolf, was passed almost in its entirety as reported by Dr. Smith. Thus the first step in free public education was taken in Pennsylvania, and the magnitude of the vision seen by the authors of the bill is shown by the immensity of Pennsylvania's present public school system, employing thousands of teachers and operated at a cost of millions of dollars yearly. On December 8, 1836, Governor Kitner appointed Dr. Smith an associate judge of Delaware county, and in 1840 he was re-elected. Dr. Smith's interest in the public school system was so deep and genuine that he consented, at great personal sacrifice, to act as county superintendent for several years, until the workings of the organization should be planned a little more smoothly and the rough edges in the system rubbed off. Besides this work he was also pre- vailed upon to accept the presidency of the Upper Darby school board. He remained in both positions until a plan of procedure from year to year had been definitely decided upon and until the public schools had demonstrated what a vital and important institution they could become under careful and skillful management, and how essential to the proper education and development of the youth of the state.
In September, 1833, he was one of five men who founded the Delaware County Institute of Science, of which he was president for almost half a cen- tury. In 1844 the Institute appointed Dr. Smith, John P. Crozer and Min- shall Painter a committee to prepare and submit an account of the terrific rain- storm and flood of August 5 of that year in Delaware county. The greater part of the preparation of this work, an octavo pamphlet of fifty-two pages, printed in small pica type, was done by Mr. Smith, an achievement upon which he was publicly congratulated and thanked by the institute. In 1862 he pub- lished his "History of Delaware County," which for interest, accuracy and thoroughness of treatment, will long stand as a gem of historical composition. It is an unquestionable authority upon the district of which it treats, and pre- serves many of the most interesting facts and traditions of the county. Dr. George Smith died February 24, 1884, after a life of sixty-four years, lived for the elevation and enlightenment of the commonwealth of his birth.
Dr. Isaac Taylor Coates, born in Chester county, March 17. 1834, taught school in Delaware county in order to procure funds to complete his medical education. He was graduated M. D., University of Pennsylvania, in 1858, and began his professional career as surgeon on the packet ship "Great Wes- tern," and as such made several voyages to Liverpool. During the war be- tween the states he volunteered his professional service to the government, serving throughout the war. In 1867 he was surgeon of United States cavalry
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under General Custer. In 1872 he visited Peru and was there appointed medi- cal director of the Chimbota & Huazaz railroad, then being built over the Andes mountains by Henry Meigs, the American. In 1876 he returned to the United States and settled in Chester where he practiced until 1878. He then joined the Collins expedition to Brazil, as surgeon, sharing to the fullest de- gree the hardships and sufferings of the members of that illfated company of adventurers. Broken in health, as a result, he spent several years in the west dying at Socorro, New Mexico, June 23, 1883. He was an eloquent speaker and a writer of national reputation. He held membership and took active part in the workings of the American Geographical Society, the Pennsylvania His- torical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and other scientific bodies.
Dr. Alfred M. Owens, son of Dr. Joshua Owens, a surgeon in the United States navy and a native of Delaware county, died at the Pensacola Navy Yard, August 22, 1883, of yellow fever, his wife dying with the same disease five days later.
Dr. Jonathan Larkin Forwood, whose personal and family sketch appears elsewhere in this work, is yet an honored resident of Chester, rounding out a long and successful professional career, marked also by important public ser- vice.
Delaware County Medical Society .- To Dr. Ellwood Harvey, then of Birmingham, and to Dr. George Martin, of Concord, this society owed its first existence. They agreed upon the necessity of such an organization, and to that end a meeting of physicians was held in Chester, May 2, 1850. A temporary organization was effected, Dr. Joshua Owen being chairman; Dr. Martin, sec- retary. A committee appointed to draft a constitution, and at a meeting held in Chester, May 30, 1850, it was adopted and officers elected. Dr. Jesse Young was chosen president ; Dr. Joshua Owens, vice-president ; Dr. Robert Smith, secretary ; Dr. Ellwood Harvey, treasurer. For several years regular meetings were held at the homes of members and a great deal of good accomplished. In 1851 a geological survey of the county was made by Drs. Harvey and Martin, in association with Dr. Samuel Trimble, of Concord township. The chart and reports made by these capable men were published in the Transactions of the State Medical Society, and have been made the basis of all subsequent geo- graphical publications in reference to Delaware county.
In 1852 the Delaware County Medical Society, in connection with a simi- lar society in Chester county, entered into an arrangement for the publication of a quarterly journal, The Medical Reporter, the first issue appearing in July, 1853. Two of the editors were from Delaware county-Dr. J. F. Huddleson and Dr. George Martin. This journal was published for three years, then passed out of existence. The society languished until February 24, 1857, when a resolution "that it is expedient that the Delaware County Medical Society be and it is hereby dissolved" was adopted by a unanimous vote. On March 16, 1857, a meeting of the physicians of Delaware county was called at the Wash-
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ington House, Chester. to reorganize the society. On March 30th, an ad- journed meeting was held at the Charter House, Media, and an organization effected by the election of Dr. Hillborn Darlington, president ; Dr. Manley Emanuel, vice-president ; Dr. George B. Hotchkin, secretary ; and Dr. Charles H. Budd, treasurer. But life had not yet been restored, the society languishing until May 10, 1861, when the society was permanently re-established by the election of Dr. Manley Emanuel, president ; Dr. Joseph Parrish, vice-president ; Dr. George B. Hotchkin, secretary; and Dr. Joseph Rowland, treasurer. The Civil War made such demands upon the physicians of Delaware county that those remaining at home were kept too busy to attend the occasional meet- ings of the society. At the conclusion of the war, an adjourned annual meet- ing was held at the office of Dr. J. L. Forwood, and officers were elected, but nothing further seems to have been done until March 16, 1869, when a meeting was held at Dr. Parrish's Sanitarium at Media, which was addressed by Dr. Emanuel, who appealed to the medical practitioners of the county to awaken from their lethargy and co-operate for the common good, through the means of an energetic and well organized medical society. The following officers were then elected : Dr. Manley Emanuel, president : Dr. J. L. Forwood, vice-presi- dent ; Dr. Isaac N. Kerlin, secretary ; Dr. Theodore S. Christ, treasurer. This began a new era for the society, and the meetings have since been well attended with interchange of opinions and discussion of the various papers on the science and practice of medicine, resulting in great benefit to the profession. The membership of the society, past and present, follows :
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