USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
370
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
with his brother-in-law, Enoch Hall, but he spent the last few months of his life in the home of his daughter, Mrs. W. H. Gray, where he died November 16, 1869, aged eighty-three years.
Dr. Darling was a small man, of rather dark, sallow complexion, with a pe- culiarly calm, peaceful expression of countenance, polished in manner, fastidi ous in taste, always smelling strongly of medicines, and, as a physician, sus- tained a very fair reputation.
On the 23d day of June, 1835, Rev. Gara Bishop, M.D., removed to Brookville from Clearfield, for the purpose of locating in the place as a physi- cian, and also to act as a supply to the Presbyterian congregations of Brookville and Beech Woods, occasionally, also, preaching at Corsica, or rather, where Corsica is now situated.
On the 3d of April, 1838, the congregation at Brookville requested one-half of his time and Beech Woods one-fourth, thus making it necessary to preach two sermons per Sabbath for three Sabbathis out of four. He continued to act as supply for these congregations until the spring of 1840, when he was re- lieved of the Brookville congregation by their calling Rev. David Polk as reg- ular pastor ; but Dr. Bishop continued to act as supply to the congregation in Beech Woods, for some time after, and, when released from his duties as sup- ply to the latter congregation, never again accepted a call as pastor, nor acted as supply, but turned his entire attention to the practice of medicine, only preaching when invited to fill the pulpit of another minister or to assist on communion seasons. Dr. Bishop continued to practice medicine until stricken with paralysis a few months before his death, and although he partially re- covered was never able to resume the duties of his profession, dying October 17, 1852.
Dr. Gara Bishop was a large man, six feet or over in height, weighing not less than two hundred pounds, of fair complexion and commanding presence, dignified in manner, as became a divine, and of a genial, social disposition, en- joying a very fair reputation as a physician among the people of his time. He is said to have read medicine while in Philadelphia during the time not occupied by his ministerial duties, as the science was always interesting to him, never in- tending to make it a profession until after his removal to Clearfield county. He married in Philadelphia, and from this union were born, William, who af- terwards read medicine with his father and practiced for many years in Emlen- ton, Venango county, now deceased ; Sarah, now wife of Edmund English ; Samuel B., for many years a member of the Brookville bar, now dead ; Jacob Janeway Jones, who also read medicine with his father, and afterwards prac- ticed in Millville, Clarion county, Plumville, Indiana county, and Punxsutaw ney, Jefferson county, now dead ; Emma, who married John Henderson ; Ezra Stiles Ely, a member of the Brookville bar, killed accidentally, and Louisa, now the wife of J. H. Gates.
371
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Sometime during the year 1836, Dr. Asaph M. Clark (eclectic), located in Brockwayville. He was the son of Philetus and Penelope Clark née Godard, born in the town of Granby, Hartford county, Conn., on the 22d day of March, ISO8, and in the fall of the same year his parents removed to Russell, St. Law- rence county, N. Y., where they remained until the year 1819, when they emi- grated to Pennsylvania, settling on the Little Toby, about four miles from Brockwayville, in Clearfield county then, but now in Elk. They were the first settlers in that section of the State, and Philetus was the first postmaster in all that region. Dr. Clark's early educational advantages were limited, but being of an active, inquiring mind, he eagerly embraced those thrown in his way. On this subject he himself wrote in 1878: " My earliest instructions I received from my mother, of course. I cannot remember when I learned to read, but I can remember the old books to which I had access,-Noah Webster's spell- ing book, the Bible, the English Reader, the Columbian Orator and the Ameri- can Preceptor. Afterwards I read Foster's Essays, Dodridge's Rise and l'rog- ress of Religion in the Soul, Adams's Arithmetic, and Locke on the Human Understanding. Still later, the New Edinburgh Encyclopedia, a voluminous and very scientific work, came into my hands. This opened up a new world of thought to me, and my hunger for learning was partly appeased, though not satisfied. It has always been a pursuit under difficulties ; matches had not been invented, the flint, steel and spunk were the only means of getting fire ; kerosene lamps were unknown ; candles were costly, and money to buy them out of the question, but the pitch pine which grew on the mountain sides, some of which had fallen and rotted on the ground, left a supply of pitchy knots which, being split in pieces, would burn better than candles, give a greater light and cost nothing."
He was married, March 6, 1831, to Miss R. M. Nichols, and commenced shortly afterwards to read medicine under his father-in-law, Dr. Jonathan Nichols, who was also a Baptist minister. Dr. Clark graduated from the Eclec- tic Institute, Cincinnati, O., February 25, 1851. About January 1, 1858, he removed to Brookville, where he acquired an extensive practice, but returned to Brockwayville in the fall of 1863, continuing the practice of medicine till within a few days of his death, which occurred in 1884.
Dr. Clark was a man of very fair ability, well versed in the literature of the eclectic system of medicine, which he practiced, as, also in general literature ; of great kindness of heart, so great, indeed, that his sympathies sometimes interfered with his duties as a physician, and almost precluded him entirely from the practice of surgery.
Dr. James Dowling was born in Mercer county, Pa., October 19, 1806, and read medicine under the tuition of Dr. Crosett, of Kinsman, Ohio; married Catherine Calvin, of Mercer county, October 10, 1831. He removed to Jef- ferson county in 1841, and located at New Prospect, afterwards known as
372
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Dowlingville, now Baxter, where he married Sarah Lucas, of Clover township, December 7, 1842, his first wife having died some years before his removal to Jefferson. In 1843 he removed to Brookville, and was elected to the Legis- lature in 1844, and was granted a diploma from the Pennsylvania Medical College March 4, 1845.
By the first marriage he had five children-Maggie, Mary, John C., Mathew, and James-and with the exception of Mathew, who is now living in Ken- tucky, all are dead. Captain John C., of Company B, One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, was killed at Fair Oaks, and Sergeant James, of the same company and regiment, at the battle of the Wilderness. Mary married Dr. J. G. Simons, and died in Mercer county. By the second marriage there were born four sons and .two daughters, all of whom are dead except William L., now residing in Corsica.
For many years Dr. James Dowling's practice was very extensive, and probably no physician who ever located in the county enjoyed so great a repu- tation as he, at one time. His manner was social and agreeable ; careful in his dress and personal appearance ; attentive to his patients, and kind to the poor. In the fall of 1860 he started on a tour through the counties of Elk, Clearfield, and several places in the eastern part of the State, and had arrived at Luthers- burg, Clearfield county, on his return, when he was taken seriously sick. A messenger was dispatched to Brookville for his brother, Dr. Hugh Dowling, but before his arrival Dr. Dowling had ceased to breath. His death occurred on December 24, 1860.
Dr. Hugh A. Calvin, son of John and Nancy Calvin, was born in Crawford county, Pa., September 24, 1814; read medicine with Dr. James Dowling, who was then practicing in Jamestown, Crawford county, and after finishing his course, located in Hartstown, same county. The date of his removal to Jef- ferson is not exactly known, but it was probably in 1841 or 1842, for he en- tered into a partnership with Dr. Dowling, whose brother-in-law he was, while Dowling was practicing in Dowlingville. Dr. Calvin remained in Dowling- ville but a short time, returning to Hartstown, where he resumed his practice, and continued in it for several years, when he again removed to Jefferson county, and located in Brookville. The date of this, his second location in the county, cannot be definitely determined, but it is supposed to have been in 1850 or 1851. He married Susan Lucas, who bore him five children, all of whom are dead. He died March II, 1853.
Dr. Calvin's reputation as a physician was fair. He was a man of medium height, delicate physique, and in manner quiet and unobtrusive.
Dr. Stewart H. Whitehill located in Summerville in 1845. He was the third son of Stewart H. Whitehill, of Fayette county, Pa., a farmer and stock- holder in the Monongahela Navigation Company. His mother was a daughter of Judge Boyd, of the same county. He was born in 1821, near Connellsville,
373
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Fayette county ; was educated in Uniontown, and read medicine with Dr. James Gaston, who gave him a certificate dated May 8, 1841, after which he practiced in Westmoreland county until 1845, when he came to Troy (Sum- merville). On December 30, he married Lavina J., eldest daughter of Darius Carrier, from which union were born W. W. Whitehill, now of Youngsville, Warren county, and Stewart H. Whitehill, esq., of Brookville, Pa. Dr. White- hill left the county in 1850, and is now dead, but the date of his decease, with after history, is not known. Nothing reliable can be gotten concerning his ability as a physician, personal appearance, etc.
Dr. Hugh Dowling was born in Jamestown, Mercer county, Pa., January 17, 1819 ; came to Brookville in 1844 to read medicine under the supervision of his brother, Dr. James, and after taking a course of lectures at Cleveland Medical College, commenced the practice of medicine with his brother in 1847. He married Sarah Kinsman, of Trumbull county, Ohio, August 12, 1848, but from this union no children were born. Dr. Hugh Dowling was engaged con- tinuously in the practice of medicine from the year 1847 until within a few months of his death, when his health became so seriously impaired as to pre- clude its further pursuit. He died from dropsy, dependent on a valvular lesion of the heart, on the 26th day of December, 1875.
Probably no physician ever practiced medicine within the confines of the county so much misunderstood and so little appreciated as was Dr. Hugh Dowling. He was a man of singularly clear judgment and unquestionable skill, yet frequently inattentive to his patients'; kind and gentle with persons he loved ; taciturn, or harsh and irritable with those he disliked ; cautious and conservative almost to a fault when in council, yet, once having expressed an opinion, he maintained it to the verge of obstinacy. In personal appearance he was about five feet ten inches in height, fair complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, with a rather pleasing expression of countenance, with a strong tendency to gravity.
Dr. Mark Rodgers came to Corsica in 1847, from Henry county, Mo., where he had been engaged in the practice of medicine from 1844. He at- tended a course of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania during the win- ter of 1856-7. Before this Dr. Rodgers had engaged extensively in other business, such as mercantile, droving, etc., but continued to practice until 1863, when he removed to Brookville. He did not resume the practice of medicine after his removal, but turned his entire attention to merchandising, in which he was very successful, until within a few weeks of his death, which occurred August 10, 1883.
Dr. Rodgers was born in Kittanning, Armstrong county, Pa., and was a hatter by trade, having worked several years with his father before reading medicine. He was a man of medium height, heavy in proportion, black hair, inclined to curl; hazel eyes; apparently very grave yet social in his manner,
44
374
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
and abounding in genuine humor ; kind, patient, and of remarkably even tem- per, but few persons ever having seen him show any manifestation of anger. For many years before his death he had been an elder of the Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Charles Wood (irregular) was born at Rattlesnake Tavern, in Centre county, Pa., in 1815 ; came to Punxsutawney about 1837 ; studied medicine awhile with Dr. Young, and commenced to practice in Punxsutawney about 1845. In 1850 he went to California ; returned the next year and continued to practice until his death, which occurred August 30, 1865.
Rev. Charles P. Cummins, M. D., was the son of John and Mary Cummins née Cooper, and was born near Strausburgh, Franklin county, Pa., in 1803. He was educated at Cannonsburgh; read medicine with Dr. Hunter, of Straus- burgh, and attended medical lectures at Jefferson College, Philadelphia. He located at Fayetteville, Franklin county, where he practiced several years. During his residence in Fayetteville he was converted, and felt it his duty to preach the gospel. After passing the usual theological course, he was or- dained and preached for eight or ten years to the congregation of Dickinson ·Church, near Carlisle, Pa. This was his first charge, and during the time, he .continued the practice of medicine. He was then called to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he remained as a pastor for two years; thence he returned to Pennsylvania to take charge of a congregation at Waynesboro, but remained only one year, as he received a call from the Presbyterian congregations of Brookville and Corsica, which he accepted February 26, 1847. In September, 1850, he, in connection with K. L. Blood, purchased the drug store of David Deering; but as business increased, the congregations became dissatisfied, thinking that secular affairs too much distracted his mind from his duties as pastor, and consequently the partnership was dissolved in 1854.
On Thanksgiving day, November, 1856, Dr. Cummins amputated Judge Joseph Henderson's leg above the knee, which operation was performed in presence of Drs. James Ross, of Clarion, James Dowling, Hugh Dowling, George Watt, A. P. Heichhold, J. G. Simons, and David Elliott, of Brookville, and A. M. Clark, of Brockwayville. Dr. Cummins severed his 'pastoral relations with the church in Brookville, September, 1861, and removed to Beaver, Beaver county, where he again engaged in the practice of medi- cine as a profession, in connection with the drug business. He did not remain long in Beaver, removing to Allegheny City, where he continued the practice of medicine and also his drug business. The active duties of a busy practi- tioner proved too arduous, his health failed, and he died March 23, 1865.
While residing in Brookville, although not making medicine a profession, he was considered a man of excellent judgment, and very frequently called as counsel by other physicians. He was a man of very fine social qualities, whose Christian character was not questioned, and who filled the position of pastor very acceptably for many years.
375
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Dr. Cummins was a man of medium size, light hair, blue eyes and rather sallow complexion, of pleasing expression, and when amused his face beamed with genuine good humor.
In the year 1848, Dr. Henry Wadsworth located in Brookville. He was born in county Meath, Ireland, but it is thought came here from Canada. In 1851 he married Rebecca MeGrew, and left Brookville to locate in Philadel- phia, on Master street, afterwards removing to 1753 Frankford avenue. He was connected with a hospital in the city during the War of the Rebellion, and went to Paris in 1885. It is not known if he yet lives. He sustained an ex- cellent reputation as a physician ; a small, slight man of dark complexion, very dark hair, large dark eyes, and quick in movement.
Dr. Andrew Jackson Johnson, was born in Bellefonte, Centre county, September 23, 1820. He studied medicine, for at least part of his course, with Dr. MeCoy, of Bellefonte, and was for a while assistant to Dr. Harris, in a drug store in the same place; probably finishing his course of reading with him. He then went to Lock Haven, where he entered a drug store as a partner of a Mr. Wagoner, and during the winter of 1847 and 1848 attended one of the medical colleges in Philadelphia. Some time after the close of the session, in the year 1848, he located in Punxsutawney, where he continued to practice medicine in connection with the sale of drugs until his death, July 17, 1863.
Dr. William Altman was born in Indiana, Indiana county, October 20, 1825 ; read medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. James M. Stewart, of Indi- ana. First located at Armagh, Indiana county, where he remained from Octo- ber, 1847, to July, 1848, when he removed to Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, and continued the practice there until July 1, 1857, when he removed to Os- kaloosa, Mahaska county, Iowa, and remained there till June 1, 1858, when he returned to Punxsutawney, and continued to practice until December, 1862. On December 17, 1862, he was commissioned assistant surgeon, and was in charge of the Twenty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, until May, 1863, when he received a commission as surgeon of same regiment, remaining as such until the close of the war in 1865. He was elected associate judge for Jefferson county and served in that position from 1870 till 1875. He was elected to serve in the State Legislature for the years 1885 and 1886, and re- elected for the years 1887 and 1888. He is medical examiner for several life insurance companies, and has also held a number of municipal offices in Punx- sutawney. Dr. Altman is a graduate from Jefferson Medical College, class of 1853.
About the same year, 1848, Dr. James Watt located in Brookville. He was born nearly opposite Tarentun, on the Allegheny River, in Westmore- land county. Nothing is now known of the date of his birth, parentage, nor where, when, nor with whom he studied. Neither is it known whether he had practiced before his location here or not. He was in Brookville only four
376
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
or five years, as his health failed him, and he returned to the place of his na- tivity, where he died sometime afterwards of consumption. He was a tall, spare man, of delicate physique and sallow complexion, a man of fine moral character, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and was considered a good physician.
About a year after the location of Dr. James Watt in Brookville, Dr. George, his brother came to the place. He had been lumbering on a tract of land the brothers owned in partnership, near Reynoldsville, but came to the county from Philadelphia, where he had previously been engaged in the prac- tice of medicine. He came to Brookville to assist his brother James in some emergency, and as he was a man of unquestionable skill, especially in surgery, and liked the place, he never returned to his lumber camp, but continued to practice ; the delicate condition of his brother's health rendering this course the more imperative. He read medicine in Pittsburgh, but with whom is not now known. He was never married, and the last few years of his life in Brookville, was deplorable. He contracted debts, judgments were entered against him, and to satisfy these his library, instruments, horse, and everything he possessed were sold. He became very dissipated; his health failed, and for the last few months he became an object of charity. His condition coming to the knowl- edge of his friends, he was taken to the place of his nativity, where he died in the fall or early winter of 1858. Dr. George Watt was a large man, fully six feet in height, and weighing two hundred pounds or more ; of ruddy complex- ion, large gray eyes which, when surprised, assumed a peculiar stare ; polite in his demeanor, affable and agreeable in manner, of fine literary attainments and great skill.
Dr. Thomas Jefferson Bennett (Thompsonian), was born in Livingston county, N. Y .; studied with his father, who had acquired considerable reputa- tion in the practice of the Thompsonian system, especially in the treatment of dysentery, and as that disease prevailed extensively in the county during the summer and early autumn of the year 1850, "Old Dr. Bennett," as he was called, came to Brookville to treat it. He came in August, and as the disease had proved very fatal, on the onset of the epidemic, he soon had more business than he could attend to, a considerable part of his time being taken up with the pulverization of his roots and herbs. To assist him, he sent for his son, T. Jeff- erson, who was then at Richardsville, and when he left in October, his son re- mained to take charge of some patients not fully recovered. Dr. T. J. Bennett has engaged continuously in the practice of medicine since 1850, and is, con- sequently, the oldest practitioner in Brookville. He has been twice married ; in 1854, to a daughter of William Richards, of Richardsville, and in 1862, to Mrs. James Moore, of Brookville.
Dr. H. R. Bryant located in Summerville in 1850 and continued to prac- tice until 1868 or 1869, when he returned to the State of New York. He was postmaster for several years at Summerville.
377
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
Dr. William C. Niver (eclectic), is the son of William and Caziah Niver, nie Utter, and was born in Friendship, Allegany county, N. Y., July 10, 1823. He read medicine with Dr. E. H. Williard. Finishing his course in 1849 he came to Ridgway, Elk county, where he taught school and practiced until May 23, 1852, when he came to Jefferson county, locating in Brockwayville. He was married August 10, 1854, to Semiramis M. Brown, who bore him six children. Dr. Niver has been engaged in the continuous practice from 1852 to the present time.
On the 8th day of April, 1852, Dr. Reed Bracken Brown located in Sum- merville. He was the son of John and Mary Brown, and born at Glade Mill, Butler county, November 26, 1828; read medicine with Drs. McQuaide and Donnell, at Etna, Pa., and practiced a year there prior to his removal to Jefferson county ; graduated from Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, March II, 1852 ; married Susan Lavely, May 25, 1854 ; was elected to Legislature to represent the county for the years 1875 and 1876; appointed surgeon of the Low Grade Division A. V. Railroad in May, 1873, which position he has held ever since ; appointed one of the board of pension examining surgeons August, 1884, and is now president of the board. Dr. R. B. Brown has engaged con- tinuously in the practice of medicine, the term in Legislature excepted, since the spring of 1852. He was elected treasurer of Jefferson County Medical So- ciety in October, 1877, and re-elected annually since ; was one of the first dele- gates to represent the County Medical Society in that of the State in 1878; was also delegate from the Medical Society of Pennsylvania to the American Med- ical Association, and has consequently been a member of the Medical Society of Pennsylvania since 1878, and of the American Medical Association since I880.
Dr. David McClay was born in Union county, and came to Brookville to locate as a physician in 1852 or '53. He remained only a year or two on account of failing health, and left Brookville with the intention of locating in one of the southern States-it is thought Texas. Of Dr. McClay nothing further can be learned.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin Miller was born at Stone Valley, Huntingdon county, April 16, 1830; received his literary education at Jefferson Col- lege, Cannonsburg ; read medicine with his brother, Dr Mathew Miller, at McAlavey's Fort; graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, March 9, 1853; located in Brookville in May, 1853; married Jane Clark December 19, 1854, and immediately after removed to Fairmount, Marion county, Va., to take the practice of Dr. Stewart, his cousin. A few weeks after his arrival in Fairmount he was attacked with typhoid fever, which was then prevalent there, and died January 29, 1855. Of Dr. Miller's ability as a phy- sician, nothing can be learned. He was not long enough in the county to establish much of a reputation, had he been even very skillful, but he is re- membered as a tall, handsome, quiet, well clad man of easy, graceful manner.
378
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Dr. Alexander Peter Heichhold was the son of John and Susan Heichhold, and born at Myerstown, Lebanon county, November 10, 1825. His an- cestors in either parent's family were among the earliest German settlers in the Tulpehocken Valley, their settlement there dating back long before the Revo- lutionary War. His educational advantages were limited, being confined to those of a " subscription school," which he attended between the ages of seven and twelve years, and nine months at the Myerstown Academy after he was seventeen years old. In 1841 he was apprenticed to a harness maker, but became dissatisfied and was released at the expiration of eighteen months' ser- vice.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.