Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 28

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 28

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In 1872 he was elected a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church of Montrose, and in the following year clerk of the session, which posi- tion he still holds.

He became a Fellow of the American Acad- emy of Medicine in 1880. His political faith has been Abolition, Free-Soil and Republican, his first Presidential vote being for J. G. Bir- ncy and his last for J. G. Blaine. During the war of 1861 he was active in the work of the Sanitary Commission. In December, 1862, he visited the Convalescent Camp, at Alexandria, Va., in behalf of soldiers of Susquehanna County, and in June of the following year went to Acquia Creek, Va., to get the body of a dead soldier for his parents. Soon after this General Lee invaded Pennsylvania, and the Governor called earnestly for volunteers. W. H. Jessup's company had just gone, and there seemed to be no more men ready to go. The citizens held meetings. The doctor was the first to volunteer and E. L. Weeks the next. They at once commenced recruiting, and in two days had the skeleton of a company, of which the doctor was elected captain, and Frederick Warner orderly. Proceeding the next day to Harrisburg with the volunteers, a company organization was soon effected, a squad of men from Wyoming County joining. This was Company D, Thirty-fifth Regiment Pennsylva- nia Militia. The doctor's commission was dated June 30th, to serve ninety days, unless sooner discharged. The heavy cannonading at Gettysburg was distinctly heard at Camp Cnr- tin, but the issue of the battle was an earnest to the men that they were not likely to be pushed to the front. The regiment went as far as Greencastle, adjoining the Maryland line, and was mustered out by reason of general orders at Camp Curtin August 8th, after a ser- vice of thirty-five days. On the return of the company to Montrose the citizens gave the men a licarty welcome and an ovation.

In the fall of 1863 the doctor had a severe

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illness, from the effects of which he has never rallied, and for the past decade of years, by rea- son of impaired health, has been unable to engage in active service as a physician.

September 27, 1866, he married Miss Mary Etheridge, daughter of Jeremiah and Clarissa H. Etheridge, early settlers of Montrose, and has since led a quiet, unobtrusive lifc.

GEORGE MILTON GAMBLE, M. D., son of George and Anna Keeney Gamble, was born in Bradford County, 1822. His father was a native of Ireland, of Scotch parentage, while his mother was born in Wyoming County, Pa., of parents who came from Connecticut. Dr. Gamble's education was obtained at Harford University. He read medicine with Dr. Geo. F. Horton, of Terrytown, in his native county ; attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1848. He practiced medicine for ten years at Grant, Pa. From 1861, to 1878 he practiced at Harford, this county, and at Nicholson, Pa. He served six months as assistant surgeon in the United States army during the war of 1861. He was physician and surgeon of the Soldiers' Orphan School at Harford for two years. In September, 1878, he removed to Larned, Kansas, where he still resides. He married Miss Catha- rine C. Guile, of Harford, 1848. Of six chil- dren, only three lived to adult age. Miss Gamble died at Larned, 1881. In 1883 he re-married to Mrs. Mary S. Blanden, of Bur- lingame, Kansas. Owing to impaired health, the doctor combined dentistry with his practice, and at present pursues that vocation almost exclu- sively. Dr. Gamble became a member of the Susquehanna County Medical Society in 1863.

GORDON ZEBINA DIMOCK, M. D., youngest son of Davis and Betsey Jenkins Dimock, was born in Montrose February 26, 1821. He attended school at Montrose and Mannington, Pa .; read medicine with Drs. E. Patrick and E. S. Park, of Montrose; attended lectures at Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Mass., in 1840-41; at Jefferson Medical College, Phila- delphia, in 1842-44, graduating in 1844. He was in partnership with Dr. Park, of Montrose, two years. In 1846 he married Elizabeth V. Post (daughter of Major Isaac Post), who died

in 1854. He went into partnership with Dr. E. Patrick one year in 1855. He removed to Dundee, N. Y. in 1856 for two years; came back to Montrose in 1858 and resumed practice, continuing until 1861, when he enlisted as captain of Company D, Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was discharged September 29, 1864, by reason of expiration of term of service. While in the service in 1863, he was brigade quartermaster of the First Division of the Ninth Army Corps. He was regarded as one of the finest military officers from Susquehanna County, and was very popu- lar with his men. He resumed his practice and continued in Montrose until 1869, when he again went to Dundee, N. Y., where he remained until 1876. Thence he removed to Williams- port, Pa., and in 1880 returned to Montrose, where he still resides. Physical infirmities and impaired vision, have for the past few years prevented his engaging in active practice. He receives a pension for disabilities incurred in the service. February 4, 1866, he married Mrs. Charlotte E. True, who died February 23, 1885. He has a son named Davis and a daughter named Alice.

Dr. Dimock joined the Susquehanna County Medical Society in 1848, and represented it as a delegate to the first mecting of the State Society in the following year, and was one of the first secretaries of that body at the time of its organization. He was secretary of the County Society in 1855-6 and 1860. In 1859 he delivered the annual address, which was published in the leading paper of the county, and furnishes some data for this chapter. While at Williamsport he became a member of the Lycoming County Medical Society.

CHARLES CHANDLER EDWARDS, M. D., son of Charles and Mary M. Chandler Edwards, was born in Harford, Pa., October 1, 1825. His father was born in Rhode Island in 1797, and his mother in Connecticut in 1802. He obtained his early education in the local schools ; read medicine with Dr. C. Dickerman, of Harford, commencing in the spring of 1845; attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 1848-9; commenced practice in company with Dr. C. Dickerman in the spring

of 80 th

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of 1849 at Harford; attended lectures at Jeffer- son Medical College in 1874-5, and received the degree of M. D. at the close of the session. He practiced medicine and surgery in Harford, from 1849, to 1873, when he removed to Bing- hamton, N. Y., where he now resides, and is in active practice. In March, 1850 he married Sarah M. Stanton, of Wayne County, Pa. He has two daughters, Celia J. and Agnes E., and one son, Frank M. Dr. Edwards joined the Susquehanna County Medical Society prior to 1855, and attended, as a delegate, the meetings of the State Society in 1866 and 1867. Hc served as president of the County Society, and since his removal to Binghamton, he has been an active member of the Broome Connty Medi- cal Society, N. Y., and is Medical Director of the Security Mutnal Life Association at Bing- hamton, N. Y. Dr. Edwards' reputation as a surgeon was that of one of the best in Susque- hanna County. He was highly popular with his numerons patrons for his professional skill and snavity of manner, and withont envy, his professional brethren shared in these sentinients. It has been his fortune to reap more substantial reward for his labor than falls to the lot of the average practitioner in this vicinity.

SAMUEL BIRDSALL, M. D., son of William H., and Harriet Gilbert Birdsall, was born in the town of Butternuts, near Gilbertsville, Otsego County, N. Y., September 19, 1842. His father was a regularly ordained Baptist clergyman, and served as pastor of several churches, as well as acting as "supply " for others. His parentage on both sides is of Eng- lish descent, and both the Birdsall and the Gil- bert families were represented in the Revoln- tionary army. Dr. Birdsall acquired his early education at the public schools and Gilbertsville Academy, and had some experience as a teacher, but having early decided to enter the medical profession, he became a pupil of Dr. C. D. Spencer, of Gilbertsville, and his elder brother, Dr. Gilbert Birdsall, of North Brookfield, N. Y., and subsequently of Prof. Stephen Smith, of New York City. He attended his first course of lectures at the University of Buffalo, in 1862- '63, and having fulfilled the requirements for an appointment as a Medical Cadet of the

United States Army, he reported at Washing- ton, D. C., for examination. In the absence of Dr. W. A. Hammond, Surgeon-General, this examination was under the supervision of Dr. E. S. Dunster, since Professor in the University of Michigan, and resulted in his receiving a let- ter of appointment dated, September 4th, 1863, signed, E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. The number of military cadets was limited to seventy ; they were surgeon's assistants with the same rank and pay as the West Point mili- tary cadets. They belonged to the staff of the regular army, and their appointment was for one year.

After a brief visit to his brother, Andrew J. Birdsall, Ordnance-Sergeant at Fort Ward, opposite Georgetown, D. C., in pursuance of orders, he reported to John T. Carpenter, Medi- cal Director of the Department of the Ohio, at Cincinnati, and was assigned to duty at the Licking Branch Hospital, near Covington, Ky. In a short time thereafter he was transferred to the large general hospital of over two thousand beds at Madison, Indiana, in charge of Dr. G. Grant, of New Jersey. Dr. S. S. Schultz, now Superintendent of the Insane Asylum, at Dan- ville, Pa., was there on duty as assistant sur- geon at this hospital, and his marked courtesy and kindness are recalled by Dr. Birdsall with great pleasure.

The year of his appointment having expired in September, 1864, he was mustered out with Surgeon Grant's endorsement, "Studious in his habits, character and habits excellent." He soon afterward entered Bellevue Hospital Medi- cal College, and joined the private class of Prof. Stephen Smith, to whose inflneuce and thorough- ness he attributes much of his success in after years. In February, 1865, he sustained a rigid examination for assistant surgeon of United States volunteers, with successful result. The corps of assistant surgeons was limited to one hundred and twenty, and they were commis- sioned by the President. They belonged to the general staff of the army, and were under the immediate supervision of the surgeon-general. Dr. Birdsall was at once assigned to duty at Fairfax Seminary Hospital, near Alexandria, Va. The return of the army from Richmond

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filled the hospital to overflowing. After several months the hospital was closed, and Dr. Bird- sall was transferred to the garrison of Washing- ton, D. C., where having been breveted major, he was mustered out November 27, 1865.

After spending a short time at home, he loca- ted at Susquehanna, Pa., in February, 1866, where he has continued in the practice of his profession nearly all the time since. He has held the office of United States examining sur- geon for pensions for many years, and when the Board of Examining Surgeons for Susque- hanna County was organized, in October, 1885, he was retained as a member. He is also exam- iner for several life insurance companies. In 1883, he was elected coroner of Susquehanna County, on the Republican ticket. When the surgical department of the Erie Railroad Com- pany was organized in 1874, he was appointed surgeon at Susquehanna.

Dr. Birdsall married Miss Addie E. Sweet, of Susquehanna, in 1868. She died in 1875, leaving one son, Willie S., now fifteen years of age. In 1881, he was re-married to Miss Car- rie F. Haven, of Susquehanna. They have two sons,-Charles F. and Eddie S.

Dr. Birdsall has ever been a Republican. He practices total abstinence and advocates prohibi- tion. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a Sabbath-school teacher.

He joined the Susquehanna County Medical Society in 1867, and became a permanent mem- ber of the State Medical Society in 1869, at which time he was a delegate from the County Society, as also in 1871 and 1884. He was president of the County Society in 1881, and has served several years as one of the censors of the Thirteenth District of the State Society.

The foregoing sketch shows that Dr. Birdsall has thoroughly equipped himself for his profes- sional duties, and his successful career as a phy- sician and surgeon, is evidence that he engages con amore, and not from sordid motives in his chosen vocation. In the profession he has been gentlemanly and courteous ; a strict observer of the code of ethics of the American Medical Association, and always intolerant of quackery in any form. The Medical Society has found in him one of the best of workers, and a faith-

ful ally in every effort in the line of improve- ment.

He has always been interested in the moral as well as temporal welfare of the place of his home, never hesitating to come to the front in educational, Sabbath-school or temperance movements. Among the best citizens of the county, in the full vigor of life, he gives pro- mise of filling a wide sphere of usefulness, while his successful practice well attests the high regard in which he is already held by those who know him best.

JOHN WESLEY COBB, M.D., son of Zipron and Sarah M. Crane Cobb, was born at Middle- town, N. Y., in 1838. In 1848 his father re- moved to Montrose for a short time, and thence to a farm in New Milford, where John attended district school in the winter, his teacher, for one term, being Hon. J. B. McCollum. He also afterward attended school at New Milford vil- lage and at Montrose. In 1856 he began to read medicine with Dr. E. Patrick, of Mont- rose ; attended lectures at Albany Medical Col- lege, and graduated there in 1859 and imme- diately commenced practice at Montrose. In July, 1862, responding to the call of the United States Government, he went to Philadelphia, and having passed a satisfactory examination, he was in August following appointed to exam- ine volunteers at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, and afterward was mustered into the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteers as first assistant surgeon, Honorable M. S. Quay being its colonel. He did duty at the second battle of Bull Run and at Antictam, was in charge of general hospital at Stoneman's Station, near Falmouth, Va., at the time of the Battle of Fredericksburg, and remained in charge until ordered to Washing- ton, D. C., with all the sick and wounded, when four hundred patients were transported by cars to Acquia Creek, Va., and thence by steamboat to the wharf and removed to the General Hospital in Washington, D. C. On his return to the camp he was ordered to take charge of the third division of the Fifth Army Corps Artillery until the Battle of Chancellors- ville, when he was put in charge of the Medical Department of the Fifth Army Corps Artil-

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lery. In Jnne, 1863, he was mustered out with the regiment and resumed practice in Montrose, remaining there until the winter of 1873, when he located in Scranton, Pa., and thence removed to Binghamton, N. Y., where he now resides in the spring of 1887. He joined the Susque- hanna County Medical Society in 1859, and was a delegate to the State Society in 1865 and 1866.

ALBRIGHT DUNHAM, M.D., youngest of twelve children of Elijah R. and Temperance Dunham, was born in Franklin, N. Y., in 1825, to which place luis parents removed from Hartford County, Conn., in the early years of their married life. At the age of twenty years he started out from home to make his own way through life. In 1836 he went to Illinois, where he earned enough, as a carpenter, to en- able him to spend two years in a school in Chieago, where he studied Latin, German and mathematies. He read medicine two years with Dr. Danforth, of Oswego, Ills., and attended leetures at the Iowa State University. He re- turned eastward, and continued his studies with Dr. Henry Clark, of Livingston County, N. Y., and attended a course of lectures at Berkshire Medical College, Massachusetts, and afterward attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1855. In July of the same year he located in Rush, this county. At the end of two years he attended another course of lectures in Philadelphia.

His first wife was Helen E., daughter of Hiram Dewers, Esq., of Rush, who died four years after marriage. After spending two years at Meshoppen in the drug business, he returned to Rush. In 1868 he remarried Mrs. Olive E. Dunham, sister of Dr. G. W. Durga, and they have one child, a son. In 1878 he removed to West Eaton, Madison County, N. Y., his present residence, where he has com- bined the practice of medicine with the drug business.

DAVID LELAND BAILEY, M.D., eldest child of Rev. Edward L. and Mary T. Bailey, was born in Liberty township, 1851. His father was pastor of Berean Baptist Church, Carbon- dale, fourteen years, and pastor of the First Baptist Church at Harrisburg. He was chap-

lain of the State Senate three years. From 1867 to 1872 Dr. Bailey was in the drug busi- ness as prescription clerk, and at the end of that time commenced the study of medicine with Dr. D. B. Hand, of Carbondale. He at- tended lectures at the University of New York, where he graduated in 1875. After a brief practice at Uniondale, Pa., lie entered into partnership with Dr. J. C. Olmstead, of Dun- daff, for four years, at the end of which time he removed to Carbondale, where he now resides. He joined the Susquehanna County Medical Society in 1877, and was vice-president of the Lackawanna County Medical Society in 1884.

SAMUEL WELLINGTON DAYTON, M.D., son of Jehiel and Lydia Harriet Dayton, was born at Athens, Pa., in 1840, and when a few weeks old his parents removed to Great Bend, which became his home for the remainder of liis life. He attended school at Elmira, N. Y., and a private school at Berkshire, N. Y. He read medicine with Dr. James Brooks, of Great Bend, attended lectures at Long Island Medical College and at Jefferson Medical College, whence he graduated in 1863. He practiced medicine at Great Bend (now Hallstead), from 1865 until his death in 1883. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. He joined the Sus- quehanna County Medical Society in 1870, and represented that body in the meetings of the State Society in 1872-'74-'75. As a practi- tioner he aimed to keep abreast of the progress of medical science and had the ability to take high rank in his profession. He was a gentle- man of culture and refinement, with pleasing manner and a generons disposition, making many friends to sincerely mourn his nntimely fate.

ALBERT TIBBALS BRUNDAGE, M.D., was born in Newark, N. J., in 1820, and was the son of Parmenas and Lillis Brundage. He was fitted for college by his uncle, Rev. Abner Brundage and was two years at Yale College. He rcad medicine with Dr. Williams and with Dr. Wheeler, of Dundaff. He was graduated in 1845 at Castleton Medical College, where he attended lectures. He practiced medicine at White Haven, Waverly and Fleetville, Pa., until 1855, was a public lecturer on anatomy

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and surgery for twenty years, and resided at Factoryville. He joined the Susquehanna County Medical Society in 1868, and was its president in 1883. Dr. Brundage settled at Harford in the spring of 1887.

DR. ISRAEL B. LATHROP is the son of Jamies Lathrop, and was the youngest of five children. He was born in Dimock July 21, 1821, in the log-house first erected by his grandfather, Asa Lathrop, when he came to this county in 1800. His early boyhood was uneventful, and similar to that of other farmers' boys of sixty years ago. He attended the district schools, and afterwards had the advantages of some of the best select schools of that day. Naturally of a studious disposition, he early decided, with the consent of his parents, to undertake a profes- sional career, and his tastes inclining to tlie practice of medicine, he at once commenced to prepare himself to become a disciple of Escula- pius. At the age of nineteen lie entered the office of that well-known and eminent physi- cian and surgeon, Dr. Ezra Patrick, of Mont- rose, and was his first student. Here he dili- gently applied himself to the study of medicine and surgery, and during the four years of stu- dent-life with Dr. Patrick, he gained not only a theoretical knowledge of medicine, but what was of equal or greater value, a practical knowledge of the same. While a student in Dr. Patrick's office he attended several courses of lectures at the Albany New York Medical College. Looking about him for a place to locate, he decided upon Springville, and in May, 1844, a modest shingle bearing the name " Dr. I. B. Lathrop" was nailed up, and he at once entered upon the practice of his pro- fession. Here he has remained in active practice for nearly half a century, and his ac- knowledged ability, and the reputation he has established as a skillful and successful physi- cian has extended his practice to many parts of this and adjoining counties. Of commanding stature, robust health and genial ways, his very presence often proves a tonic to the invalid and makes him or her forget that his visit is other- wise than a social one. In 1845 lie married Mary E., daughter of Andrew and Susan Bolles, who was born in Dimock November 8, 1824,

to which place her parents came from Connec- ticut. In 1853 he purchased the place where he now resides, which he has changed and re- modeled into his present pleasant home. He was commissioned postmaster in 1853, and held the office until 1861. In 1860 he was ap- pointed deputy marslıal for taking the census of that year, bnt his professional engagements claiming his whole time, lie declined the office. During the war he was active and instrumental in filling the quota of Springville, was treasurer of the bounty fund raised for that purpose, and often visited the board of "Enrollment " in Scranton, which he sometimes assisted in a professional way. During the war he was the only physician at Springville (Dr. Brush hav- ing entered the service), and putting a " substi- tute " in his place, he remained at home attend- ing to the duties of his profession. Dr. Lathrop has also been engaged in business enterprises outside of his profession. From 1859 to 1862 he was in partnership with Minot Riley, in the mercantile business, under the firm-name of " Riley & Lathrop." In 1864 he entered into partnership with Henry N. Sherman, in the mercantile business, at Lynn, continuing the business thus until 1868, when it was removed to Tunkhannock, and from there to Wilkes- Barre in 1875, where he still continues the partnership business under the firm-name of " Sherman & Lathrop." Dr. Lathrop has not allowed his business enterprise to interfere with his professional duties. He has earned and enjoys an extended and lucrative practice, and his genial social qualities have made him hosts of friends outside of his profession and his patients. Their children are Henry Andrew (1850-1853); Edgar James (1852), educated principally in select schools, is now residing at Sayre, Pa., where he is a superintendent in the shops of the Lehigh Valley Railroad ; William Arthur (1854) was educated at select schools, and after finishing a preparatory course, entered Lehigh University, at Betlilehem, Pa., where he graduated with honors in the class of '75. During his college course, besides the other scientific branches taught, he made civil and mine engineering, analytical chemistry and metallurgy a specialty, and shortly after he

2. B. Latterof

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graduated he entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and is now superin- tendent of the companies' mines and coke manu- factories at Snow Shoe, Centre County, Pa., where he has his home-being married ; Homer Beardsley (1856) educated at the home district and select schools, and also at the Montrose Academy, where he graduated in 1874. He commenced a post graduate course, but in 1875 he decided to adopt the profession of medicine, and returning to Springville, he immediately commenced its study with his father, and the following year he entered the Medical Depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated therefrom in 1878. Returning to Springville he immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in partnership with his father, and, with the exception of two years, when his health failed, has continued in suc- cessful practice. In January, 1886, he was ap- pointed postmaster at Springville.

The grandparents of Dr. I. B. Lathrop were Asa and Alice (Fox) Lathrop, who were natives of New London, Conn. Asa Lathrop came to this county in 1800, and located, under the Connecticut title, six or eight hundred acres of land, near Lathrop's (now Elk) lake in what was then Bridgewater township. He erected a log- house, cleared three or four acres, and returned to Connecticut for his family. The father of Dr. Lathrop was James, eldest son of Asa and Alice Lathrop, and was born in Bozrah, New Lon- don County, Conn., in 1785. He was sixteen years old when his parents came to this county. ' He had received in Connecticut superior educa- tional advantages, and was a fine mathematician and a good surveyor. Upon his attaining his majority his father turned over the home farm of two hundred acres to him. He shortly after- wards married Lydia Litheresa, daughter of Israel and Lydia Birchard, who was born in Massachusetts, but removed with her parents to this county, in 1803, and settled in what is now Jessup. James Lathrop took his bride to the log-house erected by his father in 1800, where they commenced housekeeping. A few years thereafter, at the solicitation of his father, he removed to the lake, built a home, and al- though he continued to carry on the home farm,

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 28

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318