USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 44
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
CHAPTER XXIV
History of the Medical Profession.
It is extremely difficult at this late day to write a satisfactory history of the Westmoreland medical profession. For more than a century physicians prac- ticed here without any record whatever of their work among us, except such as been handed down by tradition. After the passage of the act of 1881, all physicians in the state were compelled to register in the county in which they practiced. Since then their history is better preserved, but it is not yet by any means as complete as one could wish. From the very nature of the profession there is little publicity in their work. They came among us, they labored hard and earnestly, passed away and are almost forgotten, and, if remembered, it is usually for something which they did outside of the work to which they de- voted their lives and talents. We have undoubtedly had many very bright men in the profession in the century last past, and to write of a few of these particularly is the best we can do.
Dr. James Postlethwaite was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, January 12, 1776. His father, Colonei Samuel Postlethwaite, was, we think, a colonel in the Revolution. He was a man of distinction, and was of English descent. His affluence afforded his son a good education for that day. Carlisle was the seat of Dickinson College, which was then one of the leading institutions of the country, though it has since been far surpassed by other schools which were then unknown and unthought of. When he was sixteen years old he left college and began to read medicine with Dr. Samuel A. McCaskey, then one of the leading physicians of Carlisle. At that age he had far surpassed young men of his years in the acquisition of general information, for from his youth he had displayed a taste for books, and a mastery of them that was marvelous. In 1795 and 1796 he attended medical lectures in the University of Philadel- phia. The leading instructors then were such men as Shippen, Wistor and Benjamin Rush, who have not been surpassed, all things being considered, since their day.
377
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
While a student at medicine he enlisted in the army, sent west in the fall of 1794, by President Washington to put down the Whisky Insurrection, and was appointed assistant surgeon to his regiment. This brought him to West- moreland, and he was so pleased with the country, its mountains and its pros- pects for the future, that hne determined to locate here when he had sufficiently finished his professional studies. Accordingly, in 1795 he left behind him the intelligent and cultured center in which he had been reared, and came on horse- back to Greensburg, then in the backwoods of civilization, to start in profes- sional life. For many years the English government, and later our own, had supported a military barracks at Carlisle and this had brought about a refine- ment and culture that was unknown in the western part of the state. Still the young practitioner liked our people, and soon built up for himself a growing and lucrative practice. In 1799 he returned to Carlisle, and was married to a Miss Smith. Together they journeyed here on horseback, and together they lived most happily till death separated them nearly fifty years afterwards.
The practice of medicine was very burdensome in this community then. The town was little else than a collection of log houses, with here and there a brick or stone structure owned by the wealthiest families. The country around was but thinly populated compared with what it is now. There were, more- rover, no pikes, no regularly built roads, no regular mails, and no newspapers. Over these hills he rode on horseback, much of the time at night, and through paths in the woods. There was, of course, no drug store in the county, and every physician was compelled to keep and carry with him a complete stock of remedies. This was carried in a pair of saddle bags which hung across the horse on the back of the saddle. He was expected to draw teeth, to set broken bones, to amputate and bleed when necessary, and, in fact, to practice all branches of physics and surgery. Dr. Postlethwaite often rode as far as twenty miles to see patients, and the distance then meant more than twenty miles do now. It was a hard and laborious life. The celebrated traveler Mungo Park was a country physician in Scotland, and afterwards spent several years in exploring and surveying the wilds of Africa. He was decidedly of the opinion that of the two the latter was preferable.
Whilst he obtained a large practice here, that is, as large as it well could be, yet his reputation was confined to the narrow limits of the county. This was almost of necessity, for the country physician has even now but few oppor- tunities of becoming known outside of his own locality, and his limitations were much more pronounced then than now. This was unfortunate for he had intellectual force enough to lead his profession in any city. His mind was larger than the fields in which his lot was cast, and he found relief in new ave- nues of thought not in any way connected with his profession, and which did not contribute to his success in curing the afflicted.
When he was a young man the Democrat and Federalist parties were just forming, and he united himself with the latter. This meant more with him
378
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
than with most men, for he must understand the principles of his party and be able at any time to uphold them or give reasons for his faith. He was a close reader of American political history and in that line of thought had no superior here, if, indeed, he had an equal. And this was in an age, too, when there were unusually bright men at the bar. Dr. Postlethwaite was contem- poraneous with John B. Alexander, the elder Foster and Richard Coulter, men who stood so high in professional life that we still boast of their brilliant achievements, and who have since their day had no rivals to their fame. Postlethwaite had studied thoroughly the federal constitution, had read and digested the writings of Hamilton, Adams and Jefferson so that he was as much at home in this field of thought as he was among the writings of the eminent expounders of the science of medicine. He was the author of many contributions on political subjects which, if collected, would fill a volume, and would be of real value to the political history and literature of the country. These were nearly all published in the Greensburg papers and in the old Pittsburgh Gasette. In a series of articles he defended the administration of John Quincy Adams when he was a second time a candidate for the presidency. The other side was taken by Richard Coulter, whose ability whether as a writer, as an orator, either at the bar or in congress, or on the supreme bench of the state, shone with equal splendor, and is yet a heritage of which all Westmore- landers are justly proud. Coulter's articles were published in the Westmore- land Republican, while Postlethwaite's appeared in the Greensburg Gazette. The controversy excited much interest, for each was at the very head of his profession. Two plumed knights in the days of chivalry, as portrayed by Sir Walter Scott, could not have excited more interest in a public encounter. Each contestant bent his bow with his fullest strength, for each realized the strength of his opponent. The friends of each claimed the victory, but the contestants themselves regarded it as a drawn battle. They confessed that they had put forth their best efforts, and each admitted that in the other he had found a foeman worthy of his steel.
Dr. Postlethwaite was a great admirer of Daniel Webster, and on the other hand he had an apparent contempt and hatred for Andrew Jackson. When told by a friend what the eccentric John Randolph had said of Webster, he pronounced Randolph " an accursed caitiff, incapable of any great and good action." Of Jackson he said, "His flatterers call him the Old Roman, the noblest Roman of them all," etc. "Of all the Romans," said the doctor, "he most closely resembles Caius Marius, who imbued his hands in the blood of his fellow-citizens and trampled upon the liberties of his own country." When the Federalist party ceased to exist he became an anti-Mason, because the Democratic party was closely allied with the Masons. He used his caustic pen with its usual force against secret societies in politics. Later he became a Whig, but in all the changes of parties and men so common then he never be- came a Democrat.
379
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Dr. Postlethwaite was equally well versed in ecclesiastic and polemic litera- ture. Few clergymen know more of the Bible, the books pertaining to it and of church history generally, than he.
Shortly and for many years after Webster's reply to Hayne, in 1830, the world rang with the praise of the victor. New England papers called him the "God-like Daniel." While in London, Webster was admired a great deal, and not without reason, even by those who did not know him, because of his ma- jestic appearance. Thackeray relates that it was said of Webster as he walked the streets of London, that he must be deceitful, for no man could be as great as Webster looked. Yet when Webster and Postlethwaite were walking and talking on Main street, in Greensburg, there were many who thought Postle- thwaite superior to him in personal appearance, and in the dignity and perfec- tion of his movements. Postlethwaite was taller than Webster, and was straight and well proportioned. His nose and face were of a Roman cast, as much so, says one writer, as that of Cato, the Roman censor.
He had four daughters and three sons. The oldest daughter married the distinguished lawyer, politician and orator, Charles Ogle, of Somerset. Another daughter, Sidney, married Dr. Alfred L. King, of Greensburg. His. sons removed from Westmoreland, and the name Postlethwaite is now entirely gone. He died in Greensburg, November 17, 1842, and there is not even a stone to mark his last resting place.
Dr. Alfred L. King was born in Galway, New York, October 22, 1813. His people were Covenanters, and had but little of this world's goods. By close application the boy learned to read and write, and perhaps a little about arith- metic and grammar. His father secured a place for him in the family of a physician in Galway as a boy of general work around the house and office. This work turned his attention to the medical profession, for he was employed more or less in the delivery of medicines to patients, and perhaps somewhat in their preparation. After being there a short time he quarreled with the doctor's wife, and was probably discharged from this position. After that his father managed that he attend school in Philadelphia. The school was kept by Dr. Wiley, who not only taught, but preached regularly to a congregation. Sometimes too, he became intoxicated, but he was nevertheless an able teacher and the boy made the best of his time there.
Still there clung to him the love for the medical profession, and he began to study medicine and attend lectures, and was particularly interested in hospital work, though it existed then in its infancy in the city. For a time he sup- ported himself in a way by lecturing on medicine and by doing odd jobs for the city hospitals. Later he opened an office in the city, but had poor success in securing patients. Finally he was ejected from his office for the non-payment of rent, and was greatly discouraged. All this time he had been living at the house of Mr. Wiley, his old teacher. At this place he met a merchant from Westmoreland county, named William Brown, who had, after the custom of
380
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
that day, gone to the city to purchase goods. Being a Covenanter, he had drifted to Mr. Wiley's place. The country merchant had with him a West- moreland paper which stated that the village of Pleasant Unity was greatly in need of a physician. Dr. King took the opportunity and came at once, ar- riving in Pleasant Unity with seventy-five cents. For a time he walked, or borrowed a horse, when he was called to see a patient, but he was soon able to equip himself more thoroughly. This was in 1838. His practice often called him into consultation with Dr. Postlethwaite, and, becoming acquainted with his family, he was afterwards married to the doctor's daughter, Sidney Postlethwaite. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership with his father-in- law, and moved to Greensburg.
Nature had given him a scientific mind, and he paid more attention to geology, botany and chemistry than any thing else save his own profession, to which he was devotedly attached. He contributed nine articles on geology to the Greensburg Republican, which attracted great attention. He also began to write and lecture on scientific subjects, among others on Bronchitis, Scrof- ula, Cancer, Meteors, Tornadoes, Education, the Hessian Fly, Cholera, etc. At that time his writings and lectures were not purely orthodox, though if de- livered now, when the Bible is literally no longer regarded as a good text-book on geology, they would not be supposed to conflict with the views of the average church member:
A discovery he made in geology gave him a name among all the scientific men of the world. Before 1844 all geologists, both in Europe and America, taught that in the carboniferous age no air-breathing animal existed or could have existed. This they believed was true, because the necessary presence of carbonic acid gas in sufficient quantities to produce the wondrous growths as shown in the formation of coal precluded the possibility of air-breathing ani- mals existing in it. Sir Charles Lyell, who was then the most eminent geologist in England, says that no vertebrated animal of a higher organiza- tion than fish, were discovered in rocks older than the permian age, until 1844. The permian age follows the carboniferous age which closes the older division geological time called the paleozoic age or era. But Dr. King made a dis- vovery of fossil remains which he dug from the earth in Unity township, which showed the foot-prints of seven distinct animals on sandstone belonging to the coal measures. For some time he pondered over these fossils, trying to harmonize them with the accepted theory of geology. His discovery was the first indication in the world of the existence of a higher grade of animals in any formation older than red sandstone. It proved that these animals lived before the carboniferous age, and conflicted with the whole system of geology. Professor Silliman, in the American Journal of Science, in January, 1845, gave Dr. King the credit of a discovery which must of necessity upturn and revo- lutionize the whole science of geology.
Dr. King arranged all the tracks he had discovered, and invented a nomen-
38 L
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
clature by which to designate the species of the animals which made them. This he published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, in 1844. Early in 1845 the American Journal of Science, edited by Professor Silliman, published a full description of the discovery, and illus- trated it with drawings and pictures of the fossil marks, etc. Its publication created a great stir in the scientific world. Sir Charles Lyell, president of the Royal Geological Society of London, took the matter up and, like all great men,. was open to conviction. He arranged to come to America in the interest of his science and to make personal examinations of the strata in which the foot- prints were found. He came to Greensburg, and Dr. King took him to the quarries in Unity township where the discovery was made. He made a special. inspection of the geological formation of this county. The wise (?) men in our town who could not appreciate Dr. King predicted that when the great English scientist came he would make short work of King's discovery. It is probable that he came here without much faith in the statement as published. But so accustomed was he to reading the testimony of the rocks that it re- quired but a short time to satisfy himself that they were indeed of an older period than the carboniferous age. Turning to Dr. King he threw up his hands saying "It is true, it is true." He was here in April, 1846. When he first came he was unknown to most of our people, but when they learned that because of his learning he had been knighted by Queen Victoria, and that he was the head of the most learned scientific body in England, they arose to the occasion and treated him with the deference due so distinguished a man. Be- fore he left Greensburg he gave the following letter to the Argus :
"GREENSBURG, PA., 18th April, 1846.
"As many persons have inquired at Greensburg since my return from a visit to the quarries in Unity township, what opinion I have come to respecting the curious markings discovered in 1844 by Dr. King, I shall be obliged if you will state in your journal that I entirely agree in the views which he has expressed respecting these fossil foot marks. They are observed to stand out in relief from the lower surface of a slab of sandstone, which lay some feet below the soil. They closely resemble the tracks of an animal to which, from the hand-like form of the foot, the name of Cheirotherium has been given in Europe, where they occur both in Germany and England. It is now universally ad- mitted that such tracks must have been made by a large reptilian quadruped.
"Their position in the middle of the carboniferous formation has been correctly pointed out by Dr. King, for this layer of sandstone in Westmoreland county is decidedly lower than the main Pittsburgh seam of coal, but there are other smaller seams of coal which occur still lower in the series. These are the first, and as yet, the only indications that have been brought to light in any part of the world of the existence of reptiles in rocks of such high antiquity. We cannot, therefore estimate too highly the scientific interest and. importance of this discovery. I am gentlemen, your obedient servant,
"CHARLES LYELL."
382
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
The importance of this discovery and the real standing it gave Dr. King in geology has long since been settled. From that time on his reputation was established. In all extensive or comprehensive works on geology throughout the world his discovery is recognized and he.given the credit for it.
Dr. King's articles and lectures are uniformly characterized by a simplic- ity of language that one does not expect from so learned a man. He succeeded in conveying information on scientific subjects in popular language that the unlearned even could readily understand. He gave great attention to the flora and fauna of Western Pennsylvania. In the study of botany he tried to discover and teach the medical properties of plants. He tried to teach that a knowledge of organic chemistry was an essential in the true education of a physician. He was also a thorough microscopist, and the testimony he gave in criminal cases on the blood-corpuscles found on the clothing of the pris- oner, aided greatly in the administration of justice.
In 1850 he was appointed a professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine in the Medical College of Philadelphia, but by reason of ill health he was compelled to abandon it. Though able to cure others he could not cure him- self. The disease was inflammation of the stomach and intestines, from which he suffered severely for years. He was a tall man and well built, but had never had a robust constitution. On January 2nd, 1852, he sank gently into a peaceful sleep from which he never awoke. His remains were buried in St. Clair Cemetery.
When he died he was only thirty-nine years old. What he might have accomplished had he lived to mature years, no one can tell. As it was, in his youth almost, by his genius and industry, he connected the name of Westmore- land with his own, and perpetuated them in the chief libraries, philosophical societies and universities of Europe, Asia and America. Yet he sleeps in an unmarked grave, and but a few steps from the grave of another whose services in military and civil life brought freedom, peace, wealth and glory to his country, but whose dust is covered by a mossy headstone now crumbling in neglect, which was erected by the hand of charity.
Among the eminent physicians of Westmoreland county few stand higher than Dr. James I. McCormick, of Irwin. As a complete sketch of the McCormick family appears in the genealogical vol- umes of this work it is unnecessary to speak particularly of his ancestors. He was born near Irwin, March 24, 1828, and attended the schools of North Huntingdon township. In those days it was not an easy matter to secure an education, for the three-fold reason that teachers were mostly worthless, the schools were in session but a small part of each year, and most of the settlers were too poor to provide chothing and spare the time of their children from work. The fact is that the schools were held in summer and fall for the simple reason that in the hard winters it was impossible to provide clothing of sufficient warmth to protect the children while going to and from school.
383
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
If any boy or girl wore more than fifty cents worth of clothing at one time in those days it was a luxury altogether out of harmony with the general custom. Young McCormick, however, acquired knowledge with great ease and man- aged to get enough to enable him to begin teaching in North Huntingdon township schools at the early age of seventeen years. At thirteen years of age he clerked over in Rostraver township, in the store of Matthew McClanahan. In 1845 he began teaching in the township, and later taught in Greensburg until 1851. In the meantime he was reciting Latin, Greek, and mathematics to Rev. William D. Moore, who was at the time one of the ablest teachers and one of the most scholarly men in Westmoreland county. In later days he was scarcely less famous as a lawyer in Pittsburgh than he was in the early days as a preacher and scholar. The training young McCormick got from Mr. Moore enabled him to enter the sophomore class half advanced at Washington College. He continued to attend college until the end of the junior year, at which time he made arrangements with the faculty to remain out the first half of the senior year to engage in teaching that he might re- habilitate his finances. Presenting himself at the beginning of the second half he was told that a rule, made after his arrangement with the faculty, would prevent his entering. By examination he later received his diploma from Franklin College. He thus stands as one who took his entire course at Wash- ington, and yet is recognized an alumnus of Franklin. The class in which he would have graduated at Washington was that of 1855.
His course at college was marked by unusual thoroughness and compre- hensiveness. His love for the classics was such as some times to obscure the fact that his greatest natural ability was in the line of logic and mathematics. Rev. Samuel J. Wilson, then senior professor of the Western Theological Seminary, and a college mate of Dr. McCormick's, has said that when young McCormick was in college his proficiency in mathematics was so great that he assisted students in the classes ahead of his own, as well as those behind him. When he began with his own son the work of preparing young men for college, it was a frequent experience that he had no opportunity to note before- hand the proposition in geometry which was to be demonstrated. This in nowise disconcerted him, as the solution of geometrical problems seemed with him an intuitive process.
His public school teaching after he became a student at Washington was in Johnstown and Greensburg. In 1855 he was appointed by Governor James Pollock as superintendent of schools in Westmoreland county. He entered upon this work with his usual energy, and brought to bear upon his duties such learning and experience as enabled him to raise the standard very materially during his term of office. He never lost interest in the public school system until the day of his death. He arranged for the first County Institute at Greensburg in the year 1855, which was a most successful gathering. It was while he was county superintendent that he was married to Miss Rachel Long
384
HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
Black, a daughter of Samuel and Jane Mansberger Black, of Irwin. At the conclusion of his term of office as county superintendent he entered the West- ern Reserve Medical College at Cleveland, taking the winter sessions until he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 1860. Immediately after receiving his degree as a Doctor of Medicine he located in New Florence, but inasmuch as Dr. James Taylor, of West Fairfield, was just then elected to the legislature, a partnership was formed which resulted in Dr. McCormick's removal to West Fairfield, the center of a large inland population. The partnership continued only for a brief time, but Dr. McCormick remained in West Fairfield until April 1, 1871. His practice was a most extensive one, extending throughout the whole Ligonier Valley, and while the superior attainments of Dr. McCor- mick fitted him to engage in practice in a larger community, yet here he ob- tained valuable experience for his later practice. To this day the name of Dr. McCormick is well known in the Ligonier Valley. No community in the state, perhaps, has sent out a larger body of young men and women to take the places of usefulness, and much of this was the result of the encouragement and in- spiration afforded them by this scholarly physician.
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.