USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 41
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Amor Archer McKnight, son of Alexander and Mary McKnight, nec Thompson, was born in Blairsville, Indiana county, April 19, 1832. In the ensuing autumn his parents removed to Brookville, where, June 15, 1837, his father died. Amor McKnight at an early age evinced a deep love for study, and proved an apt and diligent student in the common schools, and the Brookville Academy, where he obtained a good common education. He was a close, careful reader, and when quite young, gathered together, as his means would admit, a collection of books, which in after years proved the nucleus of an excellent and extensive library. The death of his father when he was very young, made him the main support of his mother and her little family, and the loving care for that mother as long as she lived was one of his
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noblest traits. To his younger brothers his care was almost parental. At an early age he returned to Blairsville, and learned the art of printing in the Appalachian office, that paper thien being edited by the late Alfred Mathias. On his return to Brookville he worked for some time in the office of the Jeffer- son Star. The late Mr. Samuel McElhose, who was editor of the Star, in his notice of Colonel McKnight's death said of him : " He was an excellent work- man ; what he found to do he did with all his might." The practical and general knowledge he gained in the printing office, he admitted in after years, had been of incalculable benefit to him. On leaving the Star office he entered the law office of W. P. Jenks, esq., where he applied himself to the study of the law one-half of each day, the balance of the time he had to work at the " case " in the printing office, as a means of support.
At the February term, 1855, he was admitted to practice, and soon afterwards entered into partner- ship with G. W. Andrews, esq., now of Denver, Col. Their firm was one of the most successful, and had as large a practice as any at the Brookville bar. When the first alarm of war sounded forth he was one of the first to enlist in defense of his country, but his military record is given elsewhere in the his- tory of his regiment. The court of Jefferson county appointed R. Arthurs, W. P. Jenks, G. W. Andrews, A. L. Gordon, and D. Barclay, esqs., to report resolutions upon the death of Colonel McKnight, when he fell at Chancellors- ville, one of which reads as follows :
" Resolved, That whether regarded as a soldier, patriot, citizen, friend, brother, or proctector of his aged parent, Colonel McKnight was true to duty. By his death our country has lost one of its brightest ornaments, the legal pro- fession a well informed, trustworthy and honorable member."
William K. McKee was born in Bellfonte, Centre county, on the 17th day of July, 1833. His parents came to Punxsutawney when he was five years of age ; his father, Thomas McKee, being the first sheriff elected in the county. He received as liberal an education as the county afforded. In 1853 he com- menced the study of law with J. K. Coxon, esq., and completed it with P. W. Jenks, esq. At the September term, 1855, he was admitted to practice in the several courts of the county. In October of the same year he was elected dis- trict attorney. He was a faithful and competent officer, and though suffering from the disease (consumption) which caused his death, was in his place in the court-room at the February term, but after this he sank rapidly, and died at his residence in Punxsutawney, March 8, 1858. Mr. McKee was married June 3, 1855, to Miss Martha Jane Campbell, of Punxsutawney, whom he left with two little children, to mourn his loss.
The latter have both since died, Martha dying only twenty days after her father, and Bertha, who died July 11, 1872. Mrs. McKee, now Mrs. Stumph, still resides in Punxsutawney. Mr. McKee was a worthy and devoted member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Punxsutawney. He was greatly esteemed by his fellow-associates of the
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bar, and at an adjourned court held March 15, 1858, the following resolutions were presented by Hon. David Barclay, and adopted :
" Whereas, It hath pleased God to remove from our midst a member of this bar, William K. McKee, by death : therefore, be it
" Resolved, That in this dispensation of Providence, afflictive though it be, we recognize and acknowledge the hand of Him that 'doeth all things well,' and while we bow with submission to His will, express our heartfelt regret that a courteous gentleman, a kind friend, a promising member of this bar, and a faithful public officer should be thus suddenly called away.
" Resolved, That to the family of our deceased brother we tender our warmest sympathies and invoke Him 'who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb' to support and sustain them in their sad bereavement."
Mr. Barclay, in his remarks to the court on this occasion, paid a high eulogy upon the life of the young member of the bar, whom he said had been " possessed of a good mind, sound judgment, and a legal acumen, and gave promise of great usefulness and a brilliant future."
Lewis A. Grunder was admitted to the bar of Jefferson county at the Feb- ruary term, 1864, and was elected that same year district attorney. He re- moved from Brookville to Warren, and subsequently to Mechanicsburg, Cumberland county, where he died May 25, 1878. He was engaged in the practice of his profession when he died. In 1865 or 1866 Mr. Grunder was married to Miss Emma Smith, of Brookville, who, with one son, Harry Matson Grunder, survives him. Mrs. Grunder resides in Mechanicsburg.
Benton Polk Arthurs, eldest son of Richard and Sarah J. Arthurs, was born in Brookville, November 14, 1845. After receiving all the education that the common schools afforded he attended some of the best schools in the country, and then read law with his father, Richard Arthurs, esq., and was admitted to the bar at the February term, 1871 ; but though his career as an attorney opened up very brightly, it was soon ended, as that dread disease, consumnp- tion, marked him for its victim ; and though all that the loving care of his family, aided by the best medical skill, could do, was done to arrest the dis- ease, he died November 25, 1872. In July, 1863, when only a boy in years, he enlisted in the Emergency Company, commanded by Captain Charles McLain, and which was attached to the Independent Battalion of Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Leisinger, and served with this company until it was discharged in January, 1864. Mr. Arthurs was married to Miss Jennie Mitchell, who as- sisted him while he was reading law, by hearing his recitations. In this way she acquired a general knowledge of the law and a taste for legal study, and after Mr. Arthusr's death, when she had returned to her parents home in Kan- sas, she prosecuted the study and was admitted to the bar at Emporia, Kan- sas, and soon after her admission was married to Judge Kellogg, an cminent jurist of . that State, and for some time was his partner in the legal business.
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The increasing cares of her household have, however, caused her to lay aside the duties of her profession. In the death of Benton Arthurs this bar lost one who gave promise of being an ornament and an honor to it ; and his parents and friends saw his sun go down when it gave promise of ushering in a day of brightness.
Andrew Jackson Monks was born in Eldred township (now Union), Janu- ary 5, 1833. His father, John Whiteman Monks, was born in Centre county, in 1803. His mother was Elizabeth McDonald, also born in Centre county, in the year 1809. Mr. Monks came to what is now Curllsville, in Clarion county, in 1806, and in 1827 he and Elizabeth McDonald were married, and removed to Jefferson county in 1828, and settled on the farm (now owned and occupied by his son, G. D. Monks), about one and a half miles from Corsica, where he died November 6, 1854. His widow, in 1866, removed to the resi- dence of her daughter, Mrs. Ardery, of Corsica, where she died August 20, 1882. Andrew Jackson Monks, or Jackson, as his friends called him, was of a very studious disposition, and, after obtaining all the education that the com- mon schools afforded, he attended Allegheny College, and lacked but one term of graduating when he left the college, but he kept up his studies and was one of the best read men in the county ; while as a classical scholar he was ex- celled by few, as he read Latin and Greek fluently and understandingly. Dur- ing his early manhood Mr. Monks was one of the most successful teachers in this county. In 1856 he removed to Punxsutawney, and was engaged in teaching his second term of school there when the tocsin of war called him from his books, and he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fifth Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and shared all the dangers and toils of his regi- ment until he was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, and again severely wounded before Petersburg, Va., June 16, 1864. Sergeant Monks was com- missioned first lieutenant of Company I, One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, January 1, 1865, but was not mustered. He was mustered out of the ser- vice July 23, 1865. He was ardently attached to the brave men of his regi- ment,-his comrades of almost four years' service. After the close of the war Mr. Monks returned to Punxsutawney, where he afterwards made his home. He was elected commissioner of Jefferson county in 1866, and made a careful and efficient officer. In 1869 or '70 he was appointed postmaster of the Sen- ate at Harrisburg, and was subsequently employed in the State historian's of- fice for three years, the last two volumes of the History of Pennsylvania Vol- unteers being mainly compiled under his supervision. At the May term of court, 1875, Mr. Monks was admitted to the bar of Jefferson county. He was well versed in the law and was ardently attached to his profession, but his fail- ing health was a great drawback to his advancement ; yet, up to a very short time before his death, liis place was always filled in the court room, as he was conscientiously faithful to all business entrusted to his care. Mr. Monks was
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very active in all that related to the good of the county, and was a prominent worker in the Republican party. At the age of twenty years, while teaching school at Clarington, Forest county, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a consistent member and earnest worker in the church of his choice until death opened the portals of heaven for him. He was ardently attached to the Sunday-school, and was the superintendent of the Methodist Sunday- school at Punxsutawney, for many years, until his failing health obliged him to resign. He died at his home in Punxsutawney, November 22, 1884, of consumption. The rebel ball, which had entered his side at Petersburg, and which he carried with him to the grave, was, by his physicians, attributed as the cause of his death. Mr. Monks was married to Mary Elizabeth St. Clair, daughter of Judge St. Clair, of Punxsutawney, January 13, 1859, and five children were born to them. Of these little Annie died July 30, 1870, in the second year of her age; Clara, the eldest daughter, was married to James J. Davis, of Punxsutawney, December 13, 1882, and died at the residence of her mother, of consumption, in the 26th year of her age, July 6, 1885, leaving a little daughter less than a year old ; Minnie E. Monks died, while quietly sit- ting in her invalid chair, on the morning of November 26, 1885, aged about twenty-one years. Minnie was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and, though a sufferer from consumption for over four years, was an active worker in the church. Mrs. Monks, who in less than a year was bereft of her husband and two elder children, resides in Punxsutawney with her two remaining children, John and Nellie.
RESIDENT MEMBERS OF THE BAR OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
The following list comprises the members of the bar, who were residents of the county in 1887, with their post-office address. They are given according to their seniority : Richard Arthurs, William P. Jenks, Brookville ; Phineas W. Jenks, John Hastings, Punxsutawney ; George A. Jenks, John Conrad, Brookville ; Reuben C. Winslow, Punxsutawney; Alexander C. White, Elijah H. Clark, William F. Stewart, H. Clay Campbell, Williamson D. J. Marlin, Brookville ; William M. Fairman, Charles M. Brewer, John St. Clair, Punxsu- tawney ; Marion M. Davis, Camden Mitchell, Reynoldsville; Charles Corbet, Henry W. Mundorff, Samuel A. Craig, C. C. Benscoter, Daniel E. Brenneman, George W. Means, J. Armat Scott, John W. Walker, John C. Whitehill, Brookville; John E. Calderwood, Punxsutawney ; Stewart H. Whitehill, Brookville ; William M. Gillespie, George D. Jenks, Punxsutawney ; Hiram H. Brocius, Cadmus Z. Gordon, John M. Van Vliet, Cyrus H. Blood, Brook- ville ; Alexander J. Truitt, Punxsutawney ; Edward A. Carmalt, Brookville ; G. Ament Blose, Hay; William L. McCracken, John W. Bell, Brookville.
The bar of Jefferson county, which we have thus briefly sketched, is by no means mediocre in legal attainments. The record given shows to what a
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degree of excellence and renown it has attained in the past, and to-day it ranks with any body of attorneys in the State. All the resident members of this bar, except three already mentioned, have read, passed their examination, and been admitted in this county.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.1
F ROM the date of the first settlement made at the confluence of Mill Creek and Sandy Lick, in territory afterwards a part of Jefferson county, until 1817, there is no record of the location of any physician within the boundaries of the county, as ordained by the act of Assembly, dated March 26, 1804. Many years before the Barnetts migrated to this section of the State a band of Moravians had passed through the southern portion of the county, and were de- tained, on account of sickness among them, from which some died. Andrew Barnett, one of the original pioneers, died in the autumn of 1795, from what his companion, Scott, supposed to be an attack of cholera morbus. Scott was the only white man who witnessed the event, and, with the assistance of some friendly Indians, he buried him on the north bank of the mouth of Mill Creek. Andrew Barnett was one of the three who first set foot on Jefferson county soil with the intention of making a permanent settlement, and the first to die. In 1810 Jefferson county only numbered 161 inhabitants. The atmos- phere, balsamic from the exhalations of the pines and hemlocks; the water, pure freestone, with all else conducing to health, it proved no tempting loca- tion for a physician, and, consequently, it was not until some time during the year 1817 that one is found permanently located for the practice of his profes- sion within its confines. In this year a Dr. Newton settled on land now em- bracing the present site of Summerville. Whence he came, or whither he went when he left the county some years after, is not known. It is supposed, however, that he came from the State of New York, or, possibly, from one of the New England States, as he was known among the early settlers as the " Yankee doctor." He distilled his own spirits of turpentine and essential oils, which, with ,spirits, now procurable at the distillery of Ludwig Long, were transformed into embrocations for bruises and sprains so incident to pioneer life. For other remedies he seems to have depended wholly on the indigenous materia medica, and through his skillful prescription and compounding of these, gained quite an enviable reputation as a physician.
1 Prepared by Dr. C. M. Matson, of Brookville.
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Dr. Newton performed the first capital surgical operation ever performed in the county, in the amputation of Moses Knapp's thigh, in 1819; and as this is the first operation of any kind that there is any record of, it demands a more extensive notice, even if this should somewhat detract from the reputation of Drs. Newton and Rankin, for the former was assisted by the latter, who then was located near the present site of Rimersburgh, Clarion county.
Knapp was Samuel Scott's adopted son, and came to Port Barnett with his foster-father and Joseph Barnett when they returned in 1796. He was a millwright, and in taking out the timber for a mill he intended to build near the present site of Baxter station, his foot, or leg, was crushed by a falling tree. Dr. Newton was called to dress it, but on discovering the serious nature of the injury had a messenger dispatched after Dr. Rankin. On Rankin's arrival, af- ter consultation, an amputation was decided upon, but as neither of them had instruments a neighbor of Knapp's was sent to Kittanning, to procure them. But as no instruments were to be had there, another messenger was sent to Indiana, on the same errand. This also proving a failure. the doctors pro- ceeded to business with such as they could improvise. With what instrument the soft tissues were separated, is not known, but it is presumed with a hunting- knife, as, according to the testimony of eye witnesses, there were no flaps or other provisions for covering the bone, but, in their own language, " cut square off." They divided the bone with a carpenter's saw, and, as it was ever after- wards exposed, Knapp always had a tender stump.
In 1819 Dr. John W. Jenks removed from Bucks county to the present site of Punxsutawney where, in company with others, he had built a cabin and commenced improvements the year before. Dr. Phineas Jenks was his pre- ceptor, and he graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1816. He had about completed arrangements to go to Eu- rope, for the purpose of prosecuting his medical studies in one of the universi- ties there, but was dissuaded by his brother-in-law, Rev. David Barclay, who induced him to become one of a little colony of pioneers who intended settling in the wilds of Jefferson county, of which number himself was one.
As the taxable inhabitants only numbered 161 in 1821, two years after the doctor's location in the county, and these, for the most part, widely separated, he could not depend on the practice of medicine for support, but was com- pelled to do as others, clear land, or turn his attention to other business, as the necessities of the settlers required. In 1824, in connection with Rev. David Barclay, he erected a grist-mill on Elk Run, a short distance above Punxsu- tawney, and in the fall of the same year was elected one of the first board of commissioners for the county ; and in 1830, when full rights, powers, and privi- leges were bestowed upon the citizens of the county, Dr. Jenks was appointed by Governor Wolf to fill the position of associate judge, an office he continued to fill for the most part of the balance of his life.
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Dr. Jenks married Mary Barclay, daughter of Rev. David Barclay ; and Phineas W., David Barclay, Hon. William P., Mrs. Mary Gordon, wife of Hon. I. G. Gordon, now chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Cap- tain James D., and Hon. George A., solicitor general of the United States, now residing at Washington City, D. C., were born of this marriage. He con- tinued to practice medicine until his health failed. He died in 1850.
Sometime prior to the year 1825 Dr. R. K. Scott settled on land located about three miles west of Brookville, on the S. and W. turnpike, but being of a migrating disposition it is impossible to follow him in his different locations with any degree of certainty. He resided for a time in Brookville, also in Summerville, in Corsica, in Armagh, Indiana county, and somewhere in Ohio. Nothing is now known of his skill as a physician ; but as he did not enjoy any considerable reputation, it is presumed not to have been great. Justice, how- ever, may not have been done him, from the fact that when his cases began to assume a very serious phase, Dr. James Stewart, of Indiana, who had an ex- tensive and well merited reputation, was sent for, and the consequence always seems to have been that Dr. Scott was discharged, his medicines pitched out of the house, followed by fierce denunciations and a torrent of expletives of such a character as to cause the very atmosphere to smell sulphurous for days afterwards. In 1847 or '48 Dr. Scott was living in Brookville, where his wife died, but where he died or at what age, is not known.
The site for the county seat was selected, by the commissioners appointed for that purpose, in the spring of 1830, at the confluence of the North Fork and Sandy Lick Creeks, and named Brookville ; and in the following June lots were sold at auction, but not for more than a year after this did any physician locate in the place.
About September 1, 1831, Dr. Alvah Evans came to the place and opened an office for the practice of his profession. He is described as having been a young, handsome, portly man, riding what was considered a fast horse, in those days, of which he was very proud. It was he who induced Major William Rodgers to purchase a small stock of drugs, and keep them for sale with his other merchandise; but it was a stock, the major says, he was compelled in time to close out, as he had no custom for drugs outside the doctors, and they bought on credit and never paid their bills.
On examination of the account of Dr. Evans, in the day book of Major Rodgers, kept at the time, are found some items of interest in regard to the price of medicines then, such as, for example : November 16, 1831, To I 1b. Dover's powder, $1.50; 3 boxes Hooper's pills, 564 cents ; 4 oz. mercurial ointment, 433 cents ; I pint of wine, 25 cents ; I pint of brandy, 50 cents. Whisky retailed at 122 cents per quart and was purchased at 16 cents per gallon, per bbl. He was also charged with a bottle of quinine (quantity not stated), 25 cents. It would be a matter of deeper interest to know how, and
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in what cases, he used it, as this alkaloid had only been discovered by Pelletier and Caventou, of France, in 1820, and in 1831 its physiological action was but little understood. It was probably administered as a simple tonic.
Dr. Evans only remained in Brookville four or five months, and from what State he came or whither he went on leaving Brookville, none seem to have known.
In the spring of 1832, about the Ist of May, Dr. C. G. M. Prime came to Brookville to practice law, but as no reciprocity existed between the State from which he came and Pennsylvania, he could not be admitted to the bar for a year ; therefore he resumed the practice of medicine. After a residence of one year he was admitted to the bar, but as long as he remained in the place he continued to practice medicine in connection with law; and, judging from the number of prosecutions instituted for Sabbath breaking, blaspheming, etc., in those days, his law practice was fully as remunerative as his medical.
Dr. Prime amputated the arm of Henry Vasbinder, whose hand had be- come gangrenous from the inflammation, caused by his thumb having been bitten by Isaac Mills, in a fight. In this operation he was assisted by another physician, but by whom can not now be ascertained. During his residence in Brookville he married a Miss Wagley. He left the place on the night of April 3, 1835, going, it is said, to Mississippi, where he became a plantation physi- cian, and was afterwards shot and killed at a card-table. He is described as a tall, spare man, of sandy complexion, and possessed of a reckless disposition.
Nearly two years before Dr. Prime left, viz. : in June, 1833, Dr. George Darling came from Smethport, Mckean county, and located in Brookville. He was born in the State of Vermont, and acquired his medical education there, but his first location as a physician was in some part of the State of New York; thence he removed to Smethport, and afterward to Brookville. How long he remained in any of these places is not known. His wife died in Smeth- port, and of his family he only brought his younger son, Paul, to Brookville ; his eldest child, a daughter, became the wife of Dr. McCoy, of Smethport, and the elder son, Jedediah, afterwards made medicine his profession and practiced it many years in the same place. Two other children were born of this mar- riage, both dying in childhood. On July 31, 1835, Dr. Darling married Julia Clark, by whom he had three children, two dying in infancy, and Mary, the youngest of the three, afterwards became the wife of Henry Gray, of Brookville.
In July or August, 1843, Dr. Darling left Brookville and located some- where in Beaver county, on the Ohio river, and afterwards in the State of Ohio; but how long he remained in either place is not known. After some years he returned to Smethport, where he continued to practice until the in- firmities of age prohibited his further attention to the duties of his profession. After his retirement he again removed to Jefferson county, and lived on a farm four miles east of Brookville. His home, for the last few years of his life, was
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