USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 44
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Dr. Samuel McCartney Bleakney was born in Armstrong county ; at- tended a course of lectures at the Buffalo University during the winter of 1865-66; located in Worthville, Jefferson county, in the year 1866 or 1867, where he has continued to practice since.
About 1868 Dr. Charles Calvin Baker located at Sigel, Jefferson county. He was born in Smethport, Mckean county, and attended a course of lec- tures at the Cleveland Medical College. He had practiced many years at Clarington, Forest county, prior to his removal to Sigel.
August 20, 1870, Dr. James Albert Miller located in Perrysville, Jefferson county. He is the son of Samuel G. and Mary Ann Miller nec Keener, and was born near Saltsburgh, Indiana county, August 23, 1844; read medi- cine with Dr. William Jack, of Jacksonville, Indiana county, and graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, Cincinnati, O., July 13, 1870; married Laura A. Hamilton, daughter of Robert Hamilton, of Perrys- ville, November 26, 1872, and has continued in the practice of his profession from 1870 to the present time.
Sometime during the month of October, 1870, Dr. Robert Morse Boyles removed from Rimersburg, Clarion county, and located in Reynoldsville, Jef-
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ferson county. He is the son of H. and Eleanor Boyles, and was born April 26, 1840, near Curllsville, Clarion county ; received his education at Glade Run Academy, Armstrong county, and read medicine with Dr. James N. Beck at Rockdale Mills, Jefferson county ; attended a course of medical lec- tures at Ann Arbor, Mich., during the winter of 1860 and '61, and entered the practice of medicine at Goheenville, Armstrong county, in May, 1862, and removed to Rimersburg, Clarion county, in February, 1865. He graduated at the Cleveland Medical College in February, 1867 ; admitted to membership in the Clarion County Medical Society in June, 1868, and continued in the prac- tice of medicine at Rimersburg until his removal to Reynoldsville. He mar- ried Margaret A. Bollman, of Goheenville, July 4, 1864, who died Angust 7, 1876, at Reynoldsville ; was a private in Company E, Fifty-sixth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was in service while that regiment was on duty ; was appointed hospital steward and temporarily assistant post surgeon at New Creek, Va., while the regiment was on duty there. He became a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, at its organization ; is also a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Associa- tion. He removed to Du Bois, Clearfield county, July 28, 1884, where he continues the practice of his profession.
It is thought that Dr. James William Hoey located in Brockwayville some- time in 1871. He was born in Delaware county, in or near Media. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College March 8, 1856. Names of places, with length of time in each, prior to his location in Brockwayville, is not known.
Dr. George Hines Hilliard located in Richardsville in 1872 or '73. He was born in Clarion county, and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College March 9, 1872. He remained in Richardsville until 1885 or '86, when he returned to Clarion county, where he is now engaged in the practice of medicine.
Dr. John Wesley Foust came to Reynoldsville from Port Matilda, Centre county, in April, 1873. He was born in Shirleysburg, Huntingdon county, August 25, 1844 ; read medicine with Dr G. W. Thompson at Mill Creek, Huntingdon county ; attended a full course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College during the winter of 1866 and '67, and commenced the practice of medicine at Port Matilda, Centre county, in April, 1868 ; was elected associate judge for Jefferson county, in 1885 ; has practiced medicine continuously since 1868.
Dr. Daniel G. Allinder is the son of William and Mary Allinder, and was born and educated in Pittsburgh. He graduated from one of the regular colleges in Philadelphia, and practiced medicine a short time in Pittsburgh, prior to May, 1873, when he located in Brookville and remained the greater part of a year, when he returned to Pittsburgh, locating on Butler street, near Forty-Fifth, where he is yet engaged in the practice of medicine.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Dr. Marcus Alexis Masson located in Brookville in January, 1873. He was the son of Joseph Masson, a native of the province of Tours, France. His mother, whose maiden name was Rebecca Pheugh, was born in Mercer, Mer- cer county, where also was born her son Marcus A., May 17, 1848. He read medicine with Dr. E. R. Palmer of the University of Louisville, Ky., and graduated from that university March 6, 1872, located in Foxburg, Clarion county, in March of same year, and remained until January, 1874, when he removed to Brookville. He married Charlotte Cowling, sister of the late Prof. Cowling of the University of Louisville, Ky., December 17, 1872. He remained in Brookville only one year, as he removed to Reynoldsville and lo- cated there January 11, 1875. In November, 1876, he removed to Petrolia, Butler county. He practiced medicine in Petrolia until February 14, 1878, when he was taken sick, from which sickness he died at his mother's residence, Foxburg, Clarion county, November 14, of same year. Dr. Masson was a man of very fine personal appearance, agreeable and social in manner, pos- sessed of a strong personal magnetism, and withal a man of much more than ordinary ability in the practice of his profession, which lost, by his early death, one, who in after years, would have been considered one of its most brilliant members.
Dr. Jeremiah Hare Wick removed from Armstrong county, to Brook- ville, in 1873, where he remained eighteen months ; thence he went to Corsica, where he remained a year, when he removed from the county, and his present residence is not known.
About 1874 Dr. William Abram Baker located at Sigel, Jefferson county, and remained some time, afterwards removing, it is said, to Ohio. He is the son of Dr. C. C. Baker, and was born in Clarington, Forest county, and attended lectures at the Cleveland Medical College. It is thought that it was sometime during this year that Dr. William Burchfield Alexander located in Reynoldsville. He was born in Clearfield, and graduated from Jefferson Med- ical College, Philadelphia, March 7, 1868. Dr. Alexender is also engaged in banking at Reynoldsville.
Dr. Michael M. Rankin is the son of Hugh R. and Margaret Rankin nec Cooper ; was born in Indiana county, May 11, 1851 ; read medicine with Dr. H. B. Pittman, of Gettysburg, Indiana county, and graduated from the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, March 2, 1876. He located at Rock- dale Mills, March 22, 1875 ; removed to Brockwayville in the spring of 1881, where he has been in continuous practice since. He is a member of Jefferson County Medical Society and also the Medical Society of Pennsylvania. He was married to Miss N. J. Getty in September, 1871.
Dr. Abraham Fisher Balmer is the son of Daniel and Harriet Balmer, née Fisher, and was born at Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, September 15, 1 849 ; read medicine under the supervision of Dr. A. C. Treichler, of Elizabeth-
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town; graduated from Jefferson Medical College March 11, 1875, and com- menced to practice medicine in Brookville February 7, 1876, where he prac- tices medicine at present. Dr. Balmer is a member of the County, State, and National Medical Societies.
Dr. William Ferguson Matson is the son James C. and Harriet Matson, nde Potter; was born September 19, 1855, near Brookville; read medicine with Dr. C. M. Matson ; graduated from the Cleveland Medical College February 21, 1887 ; received adeundem degree of M. D. from Adelbert University, Cleveland, O., March 15, 1882 ; has been for several years a surgeon on Low Grade Division A. V. Railroad, and is a member of the County, State, and American Medical Socities. He married Fannie Z. Shields, daughter of Dr. Joseph Shields, of Punxsutawney, in August, 1886.
Dr. William Wilson Woods is the son of John and Mariah Woods, and was born at Potter's Mills, Centre county, July 21, 1842; read medicine with Dr. F. H. Van Valzah, who was then located at Potter's Mills, now Spring Mills, Centre county, married Henrietta Cadwalader, of Potter's Mills, March 27, 1866; graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, March 10, 1877, and located at Belleview (Stanton p. o.), Jefferson county, in Octo- ber, 1877. During the year 1876, and until June, 1877, he was connected with Charity Hospital, Philadelphia. He is a member of the County, State, and National Medical Associations.
Pursuant to a previous call the following physicians met September 11, 1877, at the office of Drs. C. M. and W. F. Matson, for the purpose of organ - izing the Jefferson County Medical Society, viz .: Drs. John Thompson, J. W. Foust, J. C. King, W. M. B. Gibson, W. F. Matson, A. F. Balmer, and C. M. Matson.
Dr. C. M. Matson was elected president, and Dr. A. F. Balmer secretary. Drs. R. B. Brown, John Thompson, W. F. Matson, and A. F. Balmer were ap pointed a committee on constitution and by-laws, and the meeting adjourned to meet in the same place September 25, 1877.
At the meeting of September 25, the report of the committee on constitu- tion and by-laws was adopted, and officers nominated to be elected at the next meeting, to be held on the 9th of October, 1877, at which Dr. C. M. Matson was elected president, Dr. John Thompson, vice-president; Dr. A. F. Balmer, recording secretary ; Dr. W. F. Matson, corresponding secretary ; Dr. R. B. Brown, treasurer, and Dr. J. W. Foust, censor for three years, Dr. M. M. Ran- kin, censor for two years, and Dr. J. C. King, censor for one year.
The meetings of the society from its organization have, for the most part, been very interesting. Every meeting of the society was made a general clinic day, and all cases brought before the society that day received the benefit of a general consultation free. Papers on various subjects were read and dis- cussed ; cases of importance were related by members and freely commented 46
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upon, and everything done to attain the object of its organization. The so- ciety was chartered in May, 1887.
The officers of the society have been as follows : Presidents, Drs. C. M. Mat- son, John Thompson, W. M. B. Gibson, G. H. Hilliard, W. W. Woods, M. M. Rankin, and T. C. Lawson. With the exception of Dr. C. M. Matson these gentlemen have been the vice-presidents. Dr. S. S. Hamilton fills that office at present. Dr. A. F. Balmer has been re-elected annually as recording sec- retary, also Dr. WV. F. Matson, as corresponding secretary, and Dr. R. B. Brown, as treasurer. After the first election one censor is elected annually to serve for the period of three years. The members, with the exception of three or four who have removed from the county, are as follows : Drs. R. B. Brown, John Thompson, A. F. Balmer, T. C. Lawson, W. M. B. Gibson, J. W. Foust, C. M. Matson, W. F. Matson, M. M. Rankin, J. C. King, R. M. Boyles, W. F. Beyer, S. C. Johnson, W. W. Woods, S. S. Hamilton, J. A. Mckibbon, D. L. Paine, G. H. Hilliard, J. A. Henry. W. B. Alexander, A. P. Cox.
No laws were enacted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania relating to, and controlling the practice of medicine in the State prior to the act of March 24, 1877, which was supplemented by that of June 8, 1881, the provisions of which are as follows :
Sec. I. The standard qualifications of a practitioner of medicine, surgery or obstetrics, shall be and consist of the following, namely : A good moral char- acter, a thorough elementary education, a comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy, human physiology, pathology, chemestry, materia medica, obstetrics, and practice of medicine and surgery and public hygiene.
Sec. 2. It shall be unlawful, after the passage of this act, for any person to announce himself or herself as a practitioner of medicine, surgery or obstetrics, or to practice the same, who has not received, in a regular manner, a diploma from a chartered medical school, duly authorized to confer upon its alumni the degree of doctor of medicine : Provided, That this act shall not apply to any resident practitioner of medicine, surgery or obstetrics who has been in such continuous practice in this Commonwealth for a period of not less than five years previous to the passage of this act.
Sec. 3. Before any person shall engage in the practice of medicine, sur- gery or obstetrics, in this Commonwealth, or who has not a diploma as pro- vided for in section second of this act, such persons shall make affidavit, under oath or affirmation, before the prothonotary of the county where such person intends practicing, setting forth the time of continuous practice, and the place or places where such practice was pursued in this Commonwealth; thereupon, the prothonotary shall enter the same of record in a book specially provided therefor, to be kept in his office, and open to the inspection of the public; and for such services he shall receive the sum of two dollars, to be paid by affiant, one-half for the use of the prothonotary, the other for the use of the county.
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Sec. 4. Any person who shall attempt to practice medicine or surgery for a valuable consideration, by opening a transient office within the Common- wealth, or who shall, by handbill or other form of written or printed advertise- ment, assign such transient office, or other place, to persons secking medical or surgical advice or preseription, or who shall itinerate from place to place, or from house to house, and shall propose to cure any person, siek or afflicted, by the use of any medicine, means or ageney whatsoever, for a valuable conside- ration, shall before being allowed to practice in this manner, appear before the clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions of the county wherein such person de- sires to practice, and shall furnish satisfactory evidence to such clerk that the provisions of this act have been complied with ; and shall, in addition, take out a license for one year, and pay into the county treasury, for the use of the county, the sum of fifty dollars therefor ; whereupon, it shall be the duty of such elerk, to issue to such applicant a proper certificate of license, on payment of the fee of five dollars for his services.
See. 5. Any person who shall violate or fail to comply with any of the pro- visions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor ; and on convic- tion before any court, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than two hun- dred dollars, nor more than four hundred dollars, for each and every offense, for the use of the county wherein such misdemeanor was committed.
Sec. 6. The prothonotary of each county shall purchase a book of suitable size, to be known as the medical register of the county (if such book has not been purchased already), and shall set apart one full page for the registration of each practitioner, and when any practitioner shall depart this life, or remove from the county, he shall make a note of the same at the bottom of the page, and shall perform such other duties as are required by this aet.
See. 7. Every person who shall practice medicine or surgery, or any of the branches of medicine or surgery, for gain, or shall receive or accept for his or her services, as a practitioner of medicine or surgery, any fee or rewards, di- rectly or indirectly, shall be a graduate of a legally chartered medical college or university, having authority to confer the degree of Doctor of Medicine (ex- cept as provided for in section five of this act), and such person shall present to the prothonotary of the county in which he or she resides or sojourns, his or her medical diploma, as well as a true copy of the same, including any en- dorsements thereon, and shall make affidavit before him, that the diploma and endorsement are genuine; thereupon the prothonotary shall enter the follow- ing in the register, to-wit : the name in full of the practitioner, his or her place of nativity, his or her place of residenec, the name of the college or university that has conferred the degree of doctor of medicine, the year when such degree was conferred, and in like manner any other degree or degrees that the practi- tioner may desire to place on record, to all of which the practitioner shall make affidavit before the prothonotary ; and the prothonotary shall place the copy of
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
such diploma, including the endorsements on file in his office, for inspection by the public.
Sec. 8. Any person whose medical diploma has been destroyed or lost, shall present to the prothonotary of the county in which he or she resides or sojourns, a duly certified copy of his or her diploma, but if the same is not obtainable, a statement of this fact, together with the names of the professors whose lectures he or she attended, and the branches of study upon which each professor lectured, to all of which the practitioner shall make affidavit before the prothonotary ; after which the practitioner shall be allowed to register, in manner and form as indicated in section two of this act ; and the prothonotary shall place such certified statement on file in his office, for inspection by the public.
Sec. 9. Any person who may desire to commence the practice of medicine or surgery in this State, after the passage of this act, having a medical diploma issued or purporting to have been issued by any college, university, society or association in another State or foreign country, shall lay the same before the faculty of one of the medical colleges or universities of this Commonwealth for inspection, and the faculty, being satisfied as to the qualifications of the appli- cant, and the genuineness of the diploma, shall direct the dean of the faculty to endorse the same, after which such person shall be allowed to register, as re- quired by section two of this act.
Sec. 10. Any person who has been in the continuous practice of medicine or surgery in this Commonwealth since 1871, without the degree of doctor of medicine, shall be allowed to continue such practice ; but such person shall nevertheless appear before the prothonotary of the county in which he or she resides, and shall present to him a written statement of facts, to which the practitioner shall make affidavit. Thereupon the prothonotary shall enter the following in the register, to wit : The name in full of the practitioner, his or her place of nativity, his or her place of residence, the time of continuous practice in this Commonwealth, and the place or places where such practice was pursued, to all of which the practioner shall likewise make affidavit; and the prothonotary shall place the certificd statement on file in his office for in- spection by the public.
Sec. II. Every practitioner who shall be admitted to registration shall pay to the prothonotary one dollar, which shall be in compensation in full for reg- istration, and the prothonotary shall give a receipt for the same.
Sec. 12. Any practitioner who shall present to the faculty of an institution for indorsement, or to any prothonotary, a diploma which has been obtained fradulently, or is in whole or in part a forgery, or shall make affidavit to any false statement to be filed or registered, or shall practice medicine or surgery without conforming to the requirements of this act, or otherwise violate or neglect to comply with any of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty
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of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be punished for each and every offence by a fine of one hundred dollars, one half to be paid to the prosecutor, and the other half to be paid to the county, or be imprisoned in the county jail of the proper county for a term not exceeding one year, or both or either, at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 13. Nothing in this act 'shall be so construed as to prevent any physician or surgeon, legally qualified, to practice medicine or surgery in the State in which he or she resides, from practicing in this Commonwealth ; but any person or persons opening an office or appointing any place where he or she may meet patients or receive calls, shall be deemed a sojourner, and shall . conform to the requirements of this act.
The act approved March 24, 1877, is included in the first five sections ; the supplemental act approved June 8, 1881, concerning registration, etc., commencing with section 6 and concluding with section 13.
The enforcement of this law in Jefferson county, with one or two excep- tions, has never been attempted. Physicians legally entitled to practice medi- cine, have, it is believed, all registered, so, also, have many who are clearly attempting to practice in violation of the provisions of the act of March 24, 1877. Some names, therefore, which are on the prothonotary's register, for this reason, have been omitted in this list, with date of registration :
In 1881, Dr. S. C. Allison registered July 21 ; Dr. C. C. Hindman, July 25; Dr. C. C. Baker, July 27; Dr. W. A. Baker, July 27 ; Dr. W. F. Mat- son, July 28 ; Dr. T. C. Lawson, August 2; Dr. J. W. Foust, August 2; Dr. WV. M. B. Gibson, August 2 ; Dr. A. F. Balmer, August 3 ; Dr. S. Mc. Bleak- ney, August 4 ; Dr. T. J. Bennett, August 6; Dr. John Thompson, August 8 ; Dr. G. H. Hilliard, August 12; Dr. A. P. Cox, August 19; Dr. A. M. Clark, August 23 ; Dr. J. C. King, August 24; Dr. J. W. Ilocy, August 25 ; Dr. C. M. Matson, August 26; Dr. Joseph Shields, September 13; Dr. A. D. McComb, September 13; Dr. S. S. Hamilton, September 13; Dr. W. F. Beyer, September 13; Dr. M. M. Rankin, September 13 ; Dr. William Alt- man, September 13; Dr. W. W. Woods, September 13; Dr. J. A. Miller, September 20 ; Dr. W. C. Niver, September 21 ; Dr. Samuel Reynolds, Sep- tember 22; Dr. R. B. Brown, September 26; Dr. W. B. Alexander, September 28; Dr. R. S. Hunt, October 10; Dr. W. J. McKnight, October 13 ; Dr. J. S. McCoy, October 24 ; Dr. R. M. Boyles, November 8; Dr. J. H. Wick, No- vember 8; Dr. W. H. Reynolds, November 15. In 1882, Dr. C. A. Wilson registered January 31 ; Dr. Stephen Fugate, April 27; Dr. T. R. Williams, December 12. In 1883, Dr. E. Q. McHenry registered January 12; Dr. G. A. Blose, April 17 ; Dr. J. H. Hoffman, May 26; Dr. F. P. Segworth, June 15; Dr. Julius Scheffer, July 24; Dr. H. S. Barrett, August 13; Dr. D. G. Hub- bard, December 11. In 1884, Dr. C. G. Ernst registered April 7 ; Dr. J. M. Fisher, April 15; Dr. S. W. McDowell, June 5; Dr. J. K. Brown, June 16;
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HISTORY OF JEFEERSON COUNTY.
Dr. J. C. Wilson, June 23 ; Dr. D. D. Fisher, June 28 ; Dr. J. E. Hall, No- vember 19; Dr. D. L. Paine, December 31. In 1885, Dr. O. S. Sharp regis- tered April 7; Dr. A. P. Heichhold, April 8 ; Dr. J. B. Neale, April 27. In 1886, Dr. R. J. Hillis registered May 8; Dr. H. P. Holt, June 30. In 1887, Dr. J. C. Stahlman registered April 9.
The law governing the practice of medicine, surgery, etc., the short notice of the County Medical Society, and the registration of the physicians have been given here, because they belong to the decade ending with the year 1880. It is true that the act of Assembly, making it obligatory on physicians to register, was approved in June, 1881, but it was merely supplementary to the act of 1877, and therefore a part of it.
Dr. Andrew Pierce Cox located at Big Run, sometime during the sum- mer of 1877. He was born in Allegheny county, and graduated from Cin- cinnati Medical College June 21, 1877.
Dr. Sylvester Sutton Hamilton located in Punxsutawney, in the spring of 1878. He was born in Indiana county, and graduated from the Columbus Medical College, Columbus, O., February 17, 1878.
Dr. Glenn Alvin Emery, son of Jacob and Mary Emery, was born in Phil- adelphia, and read medicine with Dr. C. M. Matson ; married Olive Nich- olson, daughter of the late Hon. R. J. Nicholson, in 1868; graduated from Columbus Medical College in the spring of 1879, and soon afterwards located in Crestline, O., where he remained about a year when he removed to Rend- ville, O, where he at present is engaged in the practice of his profession.
Dr. William Feltwell Beyer is the son of Samuel and Caroline Beyer née Feltwell. He was born near Smicksburg, Indiana county, May 5, 1851 ; read medicine with Dr. Christopher McEwen, of Plumville, Indiana county ; grad- uated from Jefferson Medical College, March 12, 1879, and located in l'unx- sutawney in the spring of the same year, where he has been in continuous practice since. In 1880 he married Maggie A. Mitchell.
Dr. Samuel Reynolds removed from St. Mary's, Elk county, to Rey- noldsville, in May, 1879. He is the son of J. B. and Jane Reynolds nce Harr, and was born October 29, 1843, at Lockport, Westmoreland county. His preceptor was Dr. R. Armstrong, of Lock Haven, and he graduated from the Jefferson Medical College March 10, 1865. He located at Renova, May I, 1865, where he remained until his removal to Reynoldsville. On November 24, 1869, he married Imogen Hyatt.
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