History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 101

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

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LEGAL ASSOCIATION .- In 1867 a " Legal Association of Berks County, Pa.," was formed

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by the attorneys at Reading for the purpose of promoting and perpetuating " good feeling and respect among the members of the har, to main- tain an elevated sense of professional propriety and decorum, and in every proper way to pro- tect the rights and interests of the profession." It has continued till date, though latterly not active, nothing of importance having transpired to require its action as a body. It has been in- strumental in introducing many matters of general utility to the bench and bar.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF BERKS COUNTY.

EARLY MEDICAL HISTORY .- The represen- tatives of no other of the learned professions are brought into more intimate relations with all mankind than those who practice the healing art. There is a sacredness in the trust confided in thiem, and such has been the case since the dawn of medical science. The Jews are the first peo- ple on record who practiced this art, which they probably learned from the Egyptians. The Greeks worshipped Ascnlapins as the god of medicine, and they first reduced the art of heal- ing to a regular system. The most ancient writer on medical subjects, whose works are preserved, was Hippocrates, and he is therefore considered the father of physic. The most celebrated physicians who succeeded him were Asclepiades, Celsus and Galen. These men were almost worshipped by the ancients. The arts and sciences were nearly eclipsed after the downfall of the Roman Empire, in 476 A.D., by the barbarous manners of the Europeans, and all that was left of medicine was translocated to the peaceful regions of Arabia. Before the Crusades, several Hebrew, Latin and Arabian professors of physic settled at Salerno, in Italy, where Charles the Great, in 802, founded a col- lege for their reception and for the education of students of medicine. Institutions of a similar character were soon afterward originated in Cen- tral Europe, and upon the developments of the great nations of Germany, France and England, those countries became the centres for the ad-

vancement of medical science. It is true that in all ages, and even to-day in Berks County, empirics and charlatans, the excrescences of the medical profession, existed and do exist. Un- fortunately, witchcraft, charms, amnlets, astrol- ogy, necromancy, alchemy and magic have been allied with medical practice and medical his- tory, and even yet have devotees. Though the progress of Materia Medica is now less in- peded by superstition than at any former time in the world's history, yet still much remains to be achieved before our pharmacopœias will be found to exhibit the certain processes or specifics of ascertained value, by the adoption of those substances only whose effects upon the tissues of the human body are thoroughly understood.

Medical science has wonderfully progressed, but not until within the past hundred years. The introduction of chemistry into medicine during the early part of the sixteenth century, was a memorable event. Medical lore might have made far greater strides had its early ad- vocates but husbanded in collective form the experience of the past, as was the case in the art of navigation. The great Greek physician Galeu reprobated such prescriptions as were composed of any portions of the human body, and he severely condemned Xenocrates for having introduced them ; yet these abominable ingredients continued in use until what may be styled the reformation of medicine, in the seven- teenth century. Less than three centuries ago human bones were administered internally for the cure of ulcers, and it is within that period that a preparation called aqua divina was made by cutting in pieces and distilling the body of a healthy man who had died a violent death. Thus the mummery of early medicine, with all its unintelligible mysticisms and inhuman treat- ment, formed but part of an age in the world's history that sanctioned such buffoonery.

Magic was the offspring of medicine; it then fortified itself with astrology and borrowed its splendor and authority from religion. In the reign of Henry VIII. of England many of the medical practitioners were horse-farriers. From the time of the infancy of the art of healing in Egypt to one-half century after the thrifty Quakers and Germans settled in Berks County,

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medical treatment was largely administered by the clergy who attended to the wants of the sick as well as the duties of a clerical profes- sion. This plan fettered the progress of the profession, but was infinitely better than the curse of quackery, as the ecclesiastics in general were intelligent men.

Many interesting allusions are made to the art of healing hy famous personages. We have a Scriptural reference of David in his youth, with his harp, striving by the aid of music to cure the mental derangement of Saul. The medicinal virtues of music were manifold and marvelous, according to mauy classic writers. Says the book of Ecclesiastieus: "The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth and he that is wise will not abhor them." Pliny speaks of one Chrysappas, who became famous by advo- cating cabbages as the panacea for all com- plaints. A quack with the distinguished name of Graham, in 1782, created a sensation in London by building a mansion called the "Temple of Health." Among other whimsicalities, he claimed to have discovered the " elixir of life," by taking a portion of which, at the small cost of one thousand pounds sterling, the patient might live as long as he wished. Dryden con- fessed his indebtedness to cathartics for propi- tiating his muse ; his imaginative faculty being thus dependent, as he thought, upon the elas: ticity of his viscera. Pope, a few days before his death, said, " My medical associates are the most amiable companions, the best friends and the most learned men I know." Solomon tells us, " A merry heart doeth good like medicine," and a great writer once said " Hope and success are finer tonics than any to be found in an apothecary's shop, aud even fear may boast its cures." Sir Philip Sydney defines health thus,-

" Great temperance, open air, Easy labor, little care."

A great Frenchman once said: "When I die I will leave behind me three great physi- cians-Water, Exercise, Diet."

Hippocrates may be regarded as the father of medicine; but it was to the collected wisdom and experience of his successors, many ages after his death, that the science of medicine owes its present glory and renown.

The following medical men of half a century or more ago lived to bless mankind : Harvey, Garth, Radcliffe, Meade, Askew, Pitcairn, Baillie, Cullen, Friend, Linacre, Cains, Hun- ter, Denman, Velpeau, Listea and Brocklesby.

Among the representative physicians of America who won renown during the past hundred years are Morgan, Rush, Kuhn, Bond, Chapman, G. B. Wood, Null and Flint, in Medicine; Barton, Physick, Mott, Gibson, Gross, Pancoast and Hamilton, in Surgery ; Shippen, Wistar and Horner, in Anatomy and. Surgery ; Hodge, Drurro and Meigs, in Obste- trics. All of those named are dead. Among the living American physicians who have a distinguished reputation are Agnew and Bige- low, in Surgery ; Stille, Da Costa and Alonzo Clarke, in Medicine ; Leidy, in Anatomy ; Barker, in Obstetrics ; Dalton, in Physiology ; Thomas and Goodall, in Diseases of Women.

Berks County produced representative medi- cal men of ability and skill, some of whom at- tained more than a local reputation. Of such were the Ottos and the Hiesters, Gries, Gerasch, Marshall, Wood, Plank, Tryon, Pounder, Wily, Herbst, Schoener, Moore, Bratt, Ulrich, Eckert, Tyson, Hunter, Baum, Wallace, etc., and a number of living practitioners now in the ranks of the profession.

INTRODUCTION OF MEDICAL PRACTICE INTO BERKS COUNTY .- At the time of the first set- tlement of Berks County, scarcely a century had passed since Harvey had expounded his complete discovery of the circulation of the blood. Books were then rare, newspapers almost unknown, the medical almanac was not dreamed of, institutions in which the science of medicine was taught were few, and there were few persons in Pennsylvania at that period whose knowledge of medicine exceeded that of the intelligent housewife of the present day. Our Materia Medica did not yet contain the names quinine, morphine, strychnine, iodine and the iodides, the bromides, hydrocyanic acid, cod-liver oil and chloroform. The practical application of the stethoscope, the pleximeter, the speculum, the ophthalmoscope and the laryngoscope in the physical diagnosis of disease had never yet been made. Nor had chemistry,

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the microscope and electricity been successfully applied to such a purpose. Lady Montagne had not yet brought from Constantinople the praetiee of inoculation, nor Jenner developed his system of vaccination.

As in Egypt, where the healing art was first. cultivated, and as among the Jews under Moses, so among the early settlers of Berks County, the offices of clergyman and physician were often combined in the same person. The knowl- edge of medieine of those individuals was not extensive. The various ailments incident to human kind in those days were supposed to be cured by the virtues of herbs found within the horders of nearly every settlement. The custom of repairing periodically to the physician to be "cupped" or " blooded " was almost universally prevalent. The doctor did not enjoy the ex- clusive privilege of this practice, as the barber was a competitor and did a large amount of it. The red and white striped pole, now used to designate a barber-shop, is but a relic of the olden-time advertisement, painted to represent the blood trickling down the arm of a patient. The minister, the barber, the midwife and the housewife seemed to possess all the qualifications necessary to act as adjunet doetors. It was only when life was supposed to be in imminent dan- ger that the educated physician was summoned to the bedside. Midwives attended to a large amount of the practice without entertaining the remotest idea that they were performing duties which should require the attention of a skilled practitioner. The practice of these people is not yet discontinued in Berks County. A large part of the treatment of the siek, especially in the rural districts, a century ago, was performed by self-made physicians or irregular praetition- ers. Nearly every township had one or two of these. Domestie remedies were much used and are still in vogue, as well as the magic art of "powwowing," a relie of barbarism. Some- times a patient was bled or purged, and if no improvement followed, a physician was sent for, who examined the patient and diagnosed the ease. He then required some one of the family to call at his office every few days to report the condition of the patient. In that way a good practitioner attended to the siek of a great many

families over a large scope of country. He almost invariably traveled on horseback, with his "schwerick sock " (saddle bags) to store his medicines. Many of the practitioners of a later date attended one term of lectures and then began practicing without receiving a di- ploma.

During the early history of medical practice in this county the principal diseases were malarial, intermittent and remittent fevers, or ague and fever, popularly termed " the shakes." The universal remedy was Peruvian bark in the form of powder, and was known to the com- mon people as " barricks."

There were a few cases of yellow fever in Berks County during its prevalence at Phil- adelphia in 1803. The Asiatic cholera pre- vailed in Reading to a limited degree in 1832, and a few persons died from its effects.

Scarlatina and dysentery were frequently epi- demic a half century ago, and carried off many children at times. Diphtheria made its appear- ance in this county about 1850, and sinee that date has often been epidemic. It is a disease that was much dreaded at first; medical skill seems to have it now under better control.

In the foregoing paragraphs it was attempted to give a few facts of the history of medicine, the profession of which, though arduous in the extreme, is noble and honorable,-equal in com- parison to any other of the learned professions. Few, we believe, who have entered it would exchange for any other profession. The variety of learning required, the constant accession of new truths, the earnest, anxious, though inter- esting, occupation it affords to the mind, renders it absolutely absorbing and exciting; but it de- velops, cultivates and refines the intellect and ennobles the soul. Some of the finest speci- mens of true manhood to-day are found within the medieal fraternity. The intelligent and conscientious physician acquires an extensive knowledge of human nature, observes the beau- tiful traits of domestic affection, receives the gratitude of many people, the cordial friendship of others, and the universal respeet of all. There is but one drawback to the profession, and that is the innate desire of so many people to be humbugged by quaeks and charlatans,

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whom every enlightened individual should shun.

DECEASED PHYSICIANS OF BERKS COUNTY.

All the facts that could be obtained of the medical practitioners now deceased, who re- sided in Berks County, are here given in the form of biographical sketches, carefully pre- pared with data obtained from the best sources of information.

JACOB PLANK so far as is known, was the pioneer physician of Berks County. He was a Huguenot, and located in Oley township soon after the first settlement of that region. His medical education was acquired between the years 1696 and 1700, when he was a student at the University of Basel, Switzerland, under the instruction of Theodorus Zuingerus, pro- fessor of the practice of medicine in that insti- tution, and author of works on "Materia Medica," " Botany " and " Pharmacy." Soon after his medical studies were completed he emigrated to America, and while on his way to a settlement in Berks County, he was detained at Oley through the importunities of a settler whose wife lay sick at the time. His skill in the suc- cessful treatment of this case won the confi- dence of the settlers, and they therefore in- duced him to remain in their midst. It is not known when or whom he married or when he died. He located in this county at a very early date, and in 1720 signed a petition, to- gether with other early settlers, asking for the erection of a new township to be called " Oley." Dr. D. Heber Plank, of Morgantown, this county, is a great-great grandson of Dr. Jacob Plank, and has in his possession some of his ancestor's medical books.

GEORGE DE BENNEVILLE, one of the pioneer physicians of the county, was born in London July 26, 1703. He was a descendant of George De Benneville, a Frenchman of Normandy, born in the city of Rouen. Dr. De Benneville came to America in 1745, and settled in Oley township, Berks County, with a colony of Huguenots. Among theni were the De Bertolets, who located there as early as 1726. On the year of his arrival at the Oley settlement, Dr. De Benneville was married to Esthier De Ber-

tolet, daughter of Jean De Bertolet, and built a house on the farm at one time owned by Daniel Knabb. While in Oley, he taught school, practiced medicine and preached the gospel. In 1755 he moved to Philadelphia, where he acquired an extensive practice in medicine. He died in that city, in 1793, aged ninety years. His wife died in 1795, aged seventy- five years. Their eldest son, Daniel De Ben- neville, was born in Oley township, November 12, 1753, and grew to manhood at Branchtown, York road, now a part of the consolidated city of Philadelphia. Here his father lived most of his life, and here also died, leaving his property to his son Daniel. He studied medi- cine, joined the American army during the Revolution as a junior surgeon of the flying hospitals, and on July 3, 1781, was chosen sur- geon of the Thirteenth Virginia Infantry. As a surgeon, he was distinguished for his sympa- thy for the wounded. In appearance and dis- position, he was a perfect counterpart of Andrew Jackson. After the war, he followed his pro- fession in Burlington, N. J., and later moved to Branchtown, Pa., where he died in 1828, aged seventy-five years.

JONATHAN POTTS was born in Berks County, April 11, 1745. After obtaining a good education at Ephrata and Philadelphia, he went to Edinburgh, 1766. He was ac- companied by Benjamin Rush. They car- ried letters of introduction from Benjamin Franklin. Potts returned in 1767, and grad- uated at the Medical Institute of Philadelphia, at its first commencement in 1768. He deliv- ered the valedictory oration, and was highly com- plimented. He began the practice of medicine at Reading, and became a noted practitioner. He wrote an article on "Utility of Vaccination,". in 1771, which was published in Pennsylvanien Staatsbote. He mentioned the time small-pox visited Reading, and that one hundred and six children died,-one in three who had the disease. He exhibited great patriotism during the Revo- lution, and represented Berks County at Phila- delphia on several important occasione during 1775 and 1776. In June, 1776, he was appointed surgeon in the army for Canada and Lake George. In December, 1776, he

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was stationed at Philadelphia, and in April, 1777, he was at Albany. While there, he was director-general of the hospitals of the North Department. Through his zeal in public ser- vice, he was prostrated by illness, and he died at Reading, October, 1781.

BODO OTTO, one of the first skilled physi- cians and surgeons of Reading, was a de- scendant of distinguished ancestry. His father, Christopher Otto, was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, about 1685. While in the service of Baron Bodo von Obergs, one of the King's noblemen, he was married, in 1708, to Maria Magdalena Nei- neken in the Neu- stadten Church, Hanover, by the court chaplain, Rev. Wahren- dorff. Christo- pher Otto was appointed con- troller, by the Elector of Bruns- wick-Lueneberg, for the county of Schwartzfels, and died at Laude- berg, October 21, 1752. Dr. Bodo Otto was born of this marriage in 1709, and obtain- ed his Christian name in honor of Baron Bodo, who was his sponsor in bap- tism, shortly after his birth. He acquired an excellent scholastic education, and having attained manhood, desired to study medicine and surgery. Application was accordingly made to Augustus Daniel Meier, in the town of Hartzberg, near the Hartz, and, according to the custom of his native land, in order to give special privileges, two witnesses who were present at the marriage of his parents,

DR. BODO OTTO.

testified as to the legitimacy of his birth. He was then accorded the best advantages the country afforded, and was regularly educated as a surgeon under the authority of the govern- ment in the university of Göttingen, where he also received spceial instruction in anatomy, physiology, botany and physics. He then was received as a member of the College of Surgeons at Lueneberg and had charge of the prisoners in the Fortress Kaleberg, and the Invalides quartered in the town. He thus became very proficient in the practice of his profession and his talent and ability were appreciated, acknowledged and approved in letters of com- mendation from the royal sur- geons, by officers in command, and. by people of dis- tinction in his na- tive land. In 1736 he married Elizabeth Sau- chen, who died in Germany in 1738 leaving one child, Mary Elizabeth. On May 21, 1742 he was again mar-, ried, to Doratha Doehmchen, by whom he had four children, Freder- ick Christopher, who was born August 22, 1743, and died November 18, 1795; Doratha Sophia, born February 28, 1745, and died November 16, 1774; Bodo, born September 14, 1748, and died January 20, 1782 ; John Augustus, born July 20, 1751, died December 16, 1834.

Three years after the death of his father, Dr. Bodo Otto and his family, together with a, number of other families of the better class of Germans, owing to the political dissensions and.

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revolution in their native land, determined to seek new homes in America, in which thousands of thrifty German emigrants were already pros- pering. The vessel in which they sailed left Amsterdam May 1, 1755, and landed Novem- ber 10th of the same year. He located in Philadelphia, where he was soon highly esteem- ed for his literary, medical and surgical ability, and rapidly acquired a practice. As the tide of German emigration was moving up the Schuylkill Valley, whose fertile lands were fast becoming occupied by a thrifty class of settlers, Dr. Otto followed the footsteps of many of his worthy countrymen, and moved to Reading, locating here in 1773.

About this time the Revolutionary sentiment in the colonies was gathering force. The Ger- mans were not behind in condemning the British oppression, and the German settlers in this grand old connty of Berks, in common with other counties in the province of Pennsylvania, settled by the same people, soon became devoted advocates of a new and independent form of government. As an evidence of the influence of Bodo Otto among his fellow-countrymen, with whom he had resided but three years, he was in 1776 chosen one of the delegates to represent Berks County in the Provincial Conference which met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, June 18, 1776. As a further evidence of the patriotic devotion of Bodo Otto to the interests of his adopted country, early in the progress of the Revolution he offered his services as a surgeon in the American army, and they were gratefully accepted.

During the gloomiest period of that prolonged war for liberty and independence, while the army of General Washington was encamped at Valley Forge, Dr. Bodo Otto, assisted by his two sons, Drs. John A. and Bodo Otto, Jr., were surgeons in charge of the camp hospital. He endured the same privations during the memorable winter of 1777-78, while devoting himself to the welfare of the sick and wounded.

At the close of the Revolutionary War Dr. Otto returned to Reading, resumed the practice of his profession and in the meantime took a prominent part in the administration of local affairs.

He died June 13, 1787, aged seventy-eight years. His remains were interred and now rest in the old Trinity church yard of Read- ing, he being a member of the Trinity congre- gation.

His second wife died at Philadelphia in 1765, and he was married a third time, on December 18, 1768, to Margaret Parish, an English lady of Philadelphia. She died in 1801. They had no children. (All of the above statements relative to Dr. Otto are sub- stantiated by documentary evidence perused by the writer and now in the possession of John A. Otto, of Williamsport, Pa.)

The following certificate is of special interest :

"This is to certify that Dr. Bodo Otto served in the capacity of a senior surgeon in the Hospitals of the United States in the year 1776, and when the new arrangement, in April, 1777, took place, he was continned in thatstation until the subsequent arrange- ment of September, 1780, when he was appointed hos- pital physician and surgeon, in which capacity he officiated until a reduction of a number of the officers of said department, in Jannary, 1782, was made. During the whole of the time he acted in the above stations he discharged his duty with great faithful- ness, care and attention. The humanity, for which he was distinguished, towards the brave American soldiery, claims the thanks of every lover of his country, and the success attending his practice will be a sufficient recommendation of his abilities in his profession.

"Given under my hand, the 26th day of Jannary, 1782.

" JOHN COCHRAN,

" Director of the Military Hospitals."

BODO OTTO, JR., son of Dr. Bodo Otto by his second marriage, was born in Hanover, Germany, September 14, 1748, and died June 20, 1782. As above mentioned, he was a sur- geon of the Revolution. He lived at Wood- bury, N. J., and during his absence from home, attending to hospital duty, his political anta- gonists, the Tories, burned his house, and his wife and children, during inclement weather, were driven from home, and all the products of his farm were consumed. The incendiaries were apprehended and convicted. Notwith- standing the calamity in which their acts had plunged him, Dr. Otto actually took a long ride on horseback to obtain their pardon. Be- ing overtaken by a violent storm on his return,

John to. Otto

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he contracted a severe catarrh, which was soon followed by pulmonary consumption, and he died at the early age of thirty years, leaving three children, one of whom, Dr. John C. Otto, a graduate of Princeton College in 1792, a medi- cal student under the renowned Dr. Benjamin Rush, who recognized his amiable deportment and promising talents, and awarded him many tokens of esteem and affection. He was gradu- ated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1796, and soon took rank in Philadelphia among such eminent physicians of that day as Rush, James, Parke, Dewees, Physick, Hewson, Chapman and others. In 1798 he was chosen one of the physicians of the Philadelphia Dispensary, and upon the death of Dr. Rush, he succeeded his eminent preceptor as one of the physicians of the Penn- sylvania Hospital, and held the position for twenty-two years, when he resigned. He died June 26, 1844, recognized by the profession as an eminent practitioner, a fine scholar and a cultured gentleman.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 101

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418