History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 93

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372

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BAR ASSOCIATION.

The York County Bar Association was organized October 14, 1898, the purpose of its establishment, according to the Consti- tution adopted December 23 of the same year, being "to aid in maintaining the honor and dignity of the profession' of law; in promoting legal science and the administra- tion of justice." Its affairs are adminis- tered by a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Secretary and a Treasurer, assisted by an Executive Committee, a Committee of Cen- sors, and a Committee on Admissions, while the requirements for membership are, that the applicant shall be a member of the bar, of one year's standing, residing or practic- ing in the County of York, that he shall be recommended by the Committee on Admis- sions, and that he shall be elected by the Association. The membership in 1907 is about seventy, comprising almost every practicing member of the local Bar, together with a few attorneys, who, although no longer in active practice, still retain their membership in the Association.

An annual meeting is held in December and a stated meeting in June of each year, while it has been the unvarying custom of the Association to hold an annual banquet at which one or more distinguished guests have been invited to address the members.

The following members have filled the office of President of the Association since its organization : H. C. Niles, 1898-1903; George S. Schmidt, 1903-1905, and Richard E. Cochran, 1905.

On June 22, 1906, at a special session of the Court of Common Pleas of York County held in Court room No. I, a portrait of Hon.

James W. Latimer, deceased, judge of the court from 1886 to 1896, was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies, under the auspices of the Association, while other portraits of distinguished jurists and former members of the York County Bar have been hung in the Law Library, from time to time, by the Association.

An Act of Assembly, approved

Law April 3, 1867, provided, "That

Library. hereafter all fines and penalties imposed by, and all forfeited recognizances in, the several courts of York county, which, under existing laws, are not payable to the commonwealth, for its use, are hereby directed to be paid into the treas- ury of said county, for the use of a law library, to be kept in the court house of said county, for the use of the courts and bar thereof." The Act further directed that the money thus arising should be expended un- der the direction of the president judge and a committee of at least three resident mem- bers of the bar to be appointed annually by the court, the court being given power to make such rules for the regulation of the library as it might deem expedient. This act was supplemented by an Act approved April II, 1868.

In accordance with these provisions, a library was established and has since been maintained. It contains an almost com- plete collection of volumes relating to the law of Pennsylvania, together with the vari- ous English and Federal Reports and those of some of the sister states, together with the various text books, encyclopedias and digests necessary for reference in practice at the local bar. The library committee has invested a sufficient fund, from the income of which the necessary continuations may be kept up, while new purchases are made from time to time from the current income of the committee. The library now con- tains approximately 4,000 volumes.

It occupies a large room on the third floor of the Court House. These apart- ments are admirable for the purposes used. The room is well lighted and heated and, together with the library, contains tables, desks and chairs for the use of attorneys who go there for information. Eventually, it is contemplated to add to this library not only the reports and digests relating to Pennsylvania but other states of the Union.

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

CHAPTER XXIX

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

Diseases and Their Remedies in Olden Times-Medical Societies-Biographies of Physicians - Homoeopathy - Regis- tered List of Physicians.

In colonial days, physicians in America acquired their medical education in the offices of practitioners or in the universities of Europe. The first institution in America to confer medical degrees was the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1765. University of Maryland was founded in 1807, Jefferson Medical College in 1826, Washington University, at Baltimore, in 1827, and in 1878 consolidated with the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons. It was from these four institutions that most of the early physicians of York County in regular practice obtained their medical education, prior to 1870. Al-

though there were medical colleges in Bos- ton and New York, the majority of the young men in the United States, except New England, obtained their medical de- grees in Philadelphia and Baltimore during the first two-thirds of last century. Within recent years, the different schools of medi- cine have established institutions of learn- ing in all the large cities of the United States.

In early days physicians met with many obstacles in the practice of medicine. In sickness the ministrations of friends and relatives, with their teas and potions, and the quack remedies of charlatans, who flourished then as well as now, were often deemed sufficient. If, after this medication, the patient died, it was attributed to a "wise dispensation of Providence." The mid- wives were believed to be adequate to man- age obstetrical cases.

There lingered among the people the tra- dition of their ancestors, that the red and white striped pole was the sign of the com- bined office of barber and surgeon.

There is but little information concerning the diseases that prevailed in York County during the first seventy years of its history. The limited number of physicians who prac- ticed within its limits between 1735 and the end of the Revolution had but little time to write any account of their observations and

experience, and few opportunities of pub- lishing them. It is from traditions that have been well preserved in this section, compared with the accounts of diseases and epidemics in other parts of Pennsylvania and adjacent colonies, that a knowledge of them can be obtained. There is a wide- spread belief that the climate of this section has changed, and that diseases'are now different from what they were in early times. A hundred years ago, the old were wont to lament the change and deteriora- ation of the seasons, since the days of their youth, in the same strain as their descend- ants now do. A careful examination of the weather notes shows that there has been no climatic variation since the early settlement of the county. There were then, as now, cycles of hot and dry summers, alternating with cool and moist ones; cold, bleak win- ters with warm and wet ones. There were the chilly spring and the mild autumn.

With the exception of a few maladies imported from countries with which, in former times, there was only infrequent and slow communication, there is no evidence that there are any diseases now that did not occur in early days. Their symptoms and courses have been greatly modified by a change in the habits and customs of the people, and by improved medication and sanitation.

In colonial times the houses were

Clothing nearly all built of wood or stone.

and Most of them were constructed Food. of logs, with board partitions, and without plaster. There were no carpets on the floors. The only mode of heating the houses was by means of a wood fire in an open fire place, near which the family sat in the cold of winter, one side of the body alternately chilled and warmed as it turned to or from the blazing logs. Clothing was of home spun wool or tow ; only on ceremonial displays did the well- to-do wear linen or silk shirts or stockings. Underclothing was not worn until the last century, after cotton cloth had been substi- tuted for woolen stuffs. Overcoats were a rare luxury. Only a few of the wealthy men possessed them. "Bangups" they were called; made of good imported cloth, and reserved for state occasions. They were expected to last a life time, and sometimes descended as an heirloom to the son. Rub-

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ber overshoes and clothing were never known as a distinct disease until it was in- dreamed of until within the present gener- ation.

Diet compared no more favorably with early part of the last century. There is no that of modern times than did their cloth- doubt but that cases of it occurred in Penn-

ing. Vegetables were plentiful in the sum- sylvania as soon as the excretions from filth were sufficient to form a nidus for its growth. The milder forms of it were classed with obstinate remittent fever, and helped to swell its mortality list. In the tradition that has come down to us of the mer, but there was no method of preserving the perishable ones through the other nine months of the year. Their bread was made from rye, wheat having come into general use only within the last eighty years. The staple meats were salt pork and ham. In dreaded and fatal "nervous fever," as it was the early period of the settlement game was called, may be found a description of a severe case of typhoid fever where the cere- plentiful and used as food. Mutton was but little eaten by our ancestors. Prior to the bral symptoms were prominent.

Revolution sheep were so valuable that in early wills bequests were made to daughters of a ewe-lamb and feather-bed in lieu of any real estate. After the embargo laid upon wool it became unpatriotic to eat mutton, and this sentiment continued to prohibit its use long after the reason for it had been forgotten. One superlative article of food, our ancestors possessed in abundance, whose value as a substitute for any de- ficiency in a diet is unsurpassed, but which has not been appreciated by either the medical profession or the laity until re- cently, is milk. It was not a salable com- modity and that is perhaps the reason why milk was considered a plebian drink. The dividing line between gentility and common people was milk.

Inflammatory diseases were Prevailing Diseases. frequent in colonial times, and their symptoms violent. Pleur- isy, bronchitis, pneumonia, and rheumatism prevailed extensively, espe- cially in years in which the thermometric changes favored their development. They were oftener fatal than they are now. Cholera-morbus, dysentery and diarrhoea,

vestigated and described by Louis and Bretonneau, noted French physicians, in the

Until the middle of last century, Remedies Used. physicians made their visits on horseback with saddle-bags, in which were carried their medi- cines and the few instruments they used. They prepared their own pills and potions. Among their preparations was that of mer- cury, a remedy which had been used for centuries. Calomel came into repute in 1736 as an application for the "throat dis- temper," but mercurials were not pushed to salivation until within the last century. This mode of medication continued up to 1850. Since then mercury has fallen into disuse by the medical profession, but when the great increase in the consumption of patent pills, most of which contain some compound of this metal, is taken into con- sideration, it is doubtful if a smaller quan- tity of it is taken by the people now than formerly ; only the manner of administration has changed. However, its purgative powers are now elicited rather than its sup- posed specific or alterative action.

Jalap, with calomel, was used extensively a half a century or more ago.

Venesection was introduced about 1750 which are rarely fatal now, then caused the and became so popular with physicians that it was employed in all cases, the whooping cough, which are the bane of lancet being their invariable accompani- death of many. Scarlet fever, measles and childhood, exhibited the same infantile ment. Boerhaave, elected Professor at Leyden in 1701, announced the doct- rine that all diseases were the result of by physicians everywhere, who, in accord- ance with it, prohibited the use of cold drinks in sickness, but made their patients drink hot teas, keep the windows closed to prevent the ingress of fresh air, and plied them with bed covers to induce perspiration. There are citizens in York County who well violence as the diseases of adult life. Sick- ness, especially epidemics, as far back as 1736, are noted as having been sthenic or asthenic, but there is no record of that pop- ular word typhoid, as applied to a depressed condition of illness. Intermittent and re- mittent fevers were common, while "bilious fever" attacked many along the Susque- hanna. Typhoid, or enteric, fever was not

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

remember the discomforts and misery of successful work of the two societies already such treatment.

The advancement of medical

Medical science brought forth the de-

Societies. mand for organization of phy-

sicians into societies. The American Medical Association was organ- ized in the year 1846, largely through the efforts of Dr. Nathan S. Davis, of Chicago, one of the most distinguished physicians Under the constitution of this society meetings have been held usually at York on the first Thursday of every month. These sessions are attended by representative physicians, who read papers and discuss questions relating to the treatment of dis- eases, the practice of surgery, the work of the specialist and the discussion of various topics relating to the medical profession, which has achieved so much success and has been remarkably progressive during the past twenty years. In 1906, the Society had eighty members. that America has produced. The annual meeting of this society is attended by a very large number of the leading physicians throughout the country. Philadelphia, during the first hundred years of our his- tory, was the city in which most of the young men of America obtained their medical education. It was a centre of in- terest to the medical profession. The early faculties of the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College ranked high in the science of medicine. In 1847, the State Medical Society of Pennsylvania was The Medico-Pathological Society of York County was organized in 1886 by about twenty-five members who had left the York organized in Lancaster. During the year 1906, it contained 4,000 members, who meet annually to discuss questions relating to the County Medical Society that year, owing to advancement of medical science. Dr. I. C. Gable, of York, was president of the State Society in 1907.

The York County Medical Society was organized May 11, 1873, at the office of Dr. James W. Kerr, on South George Street, secretary. This society had a successful

near King. The movement to organize this society was generally attributed to Dr. John F. Holahan, then one of the leading prac- titioners in York. At the time of organ- ization, Dr. Kerr was elected president, and Dr. Holahan secretary of the society.

formed caused an increased desire on the part of the medical faculty throughout the county to organize a permanent society for the diffusion of medical knowledge. This plan resulted in the organization of the York County Medical Society, which soon absorbed all the interests of the two socie- ties formed at Hanover and East Prospect.

dissensions within the ranks of that organization. Dr. J. H. Bittinger, of Han- over, was chosen the first president, and was succeeded by Dr. Jacob Hay, of York. Dr. S. K. Pfaltzgraff, of York, was the

existence for a period of eight years. Ow- ing to the fact that the State Medical So- ciety would not recognize delegates from two different county societies, the two organizations united under the former name of the York County Medical Society.

The Medical Library of York

In 1868, Doctors Smith, Plowman, Koch, Alleman, Wiest, Jones and Culbertson, had Medical County occupies a room on the Library. third floor of the court house. The plan to establish it was originated in 1900 by Dr. Wesley C. Stick, of Codorus Township, later a practicing organized a medical society at Hanover. It was composed of about fifteen members, who met at stated times for the discussion of subjects relating to the principles and practice of medicine and surgery. In 1870, physician at Hanover. Standard works in Dr. B. F. Porter, of Chanceford; Dr. Wil- liam Bigler, of Windsor: Dr. Luther L. Re- walt, of Wrightsville; Dr. John Wiest, of Spring Grove; Dr. James Y. Bryan, of Peach Bottom, and other physicians met at the borough of East Prospect and organized a county medical society. A constitution and by-laws were adopted and several meet- ings were held at Brogueville, Shrewsbury, Prospect, Wrightsville and York. The medical science were purchased with funds appropriated by the York County Medical Society. A large number of books were presented to the library by their authors and publishers, and others by members of the Society. The New York Academy of Medicine and the Library Exchange added others. The library has developed to be an important institution, and its volumes are frequently consulted by the leading prac-

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

titioners of the county. In 1906, it con- served as a captain commanding Fort tained 3,000 well selected volumes, which, Lyttleton, a defense built of logs at Sideling through the diligent and faithful efforts of Hill, near the boundary line of Franklin and the librarian, Dr. I. H. Betz, of York, have been carefully classified and catalogued so as to facilitate the efforts of members who visit the library in search of knowledge. The library has fine prospects of enlarge- ment, because its importance and value are appreciated by the medical fraternity of the city and county of York.

The following is a list of members of the York County Medical Society who have died since its organization, in 1873:

Charles Garver. C. S. Picking.

George B. Weiser.

E. H. Pentz.

W. H. Eisenhart.

E. L. Melsheimer.

Thomas L. Cathcart.

W. Albaugh.

A. R. Blair.

J. A. Galtfelter.

J. W. Kerr.

Levi D. Frey.

John F. Holahan.

Jacob Hart.

J. W. McClure.

John Wiest.

Horace Alleman.

A. P. T. Grove.

A. J. Snively.

J. F. Mccullough.

F. A. Koch.

W. S. Roland.

P. K. Yost.

Adeline Rea.

W. D. Bailey.

Jacob Hay.

L. M. Lochman.

Jonas Deisinger.

James M. Shearer.

James A. Armstrong.

George L. Shearer.

Jeremiah S. Hetrick.

Fulton Counties. This fort was surprised and attacked by the Indians and a large number of the soldiers were killed or cap- tured. He escaped falling into the hands of the red men, with a serious wound from which he suffered during most of his life. He went to Philadelphia for surgical treat- ment. After recuperating he returned to York, in 1757, organized a company of sixty mmen and marched with it to Fort Hunter, a defense a short distance above Harrisburg. Later he commanded a garrison at Fort Augusta, the present site of Sunbury. In 1758 he was a surgeon for Colonel John Armstrong's regiment, which marched front Carlisle against the Indians and defeated them at Fort Kittaning, about thirty miles north of Pittsburg, on the Allegheny River. Altliough he had served with distinction with the king's forces during the French and Indian War, when the Revolution opened, Dr. Jameson was one of the first persons in York County to advocate the cause of independence. As early as 1775, when he was sixty years old, he aided in the organization of militia companies and made provision for their equipment, drill and dis-

BIOGRAPHICAL.

The history of the men who practiced medicine in York County during the first century and a half will always be read with cipline. In 1776, at the time the British interest. The succeeding pages contain the . threatened New York, the entire militia biographies of a large number of physicians force of York County was called out, he marched with the First Battalion, and dur- ing the latter part of that year was surgeon of the First Regiment of the Flying Camp, who attained prominence in their profes- sion and were known beyond the limits of the county.

DR. DAVID JAMESON, who served largely organized out of the Pennsylvania with distinction from York County in the militia at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He served during the year 1776 in this position and then returned to his home to further aid in the enlistment of soldiers to serve in the army under Washington. After the Revolution, Colonel Jameson resided at York, where he filled numerous positions of trust and responsibility, and in the mean- time continued his profession as physician and surgeon until the end of his long and useful life. He died at his home in. York, highly esteemed and honored, 1795, at the age of eighty years. . Early in life he mar- ried Emily Davis, by whom he had eleven children: Thomas, James, Horatio Gates, David, Joseph, Nancy Cassandra, Henri- etta, Emily and Rachel. His son, Dr. French and Indian War and the Revolu- tion, was born in Scotland, 1715. He ob- tained his education at the University of Edinburgh, and received his medical degree from that institution. He came to America in 1740, in company with General Hugh Mercer. Dr. Jameson landed at South Carolina, but soon afterward removed to Pennsylvania and settled in the Cumber- land Valley, at Shippensburg, of which he was the first physician. About 1745, Dr. Jameson removed to York, where he be- came the first physician and surgeon. In 1755, at the opening of the French and In- dian War, he became an ensign in a com- pany of York County soldiers commanded by Captain Hance Hamilton. In 1756, he Horatio Gates Jameson, became one of the

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

noted physicians of his day. Hon. John are buried in the Presbyterian churchyard, Gibson, president judge of the courts of on East Market Street.

York County, was the great-grandson of Colonel David Jameson.

DR. GEORGE STEVENSON was born at York in 1759. His father, George Stevenson, who was clerk of the county courts and one of the earliest members of the York County bar from 1749 to 1764, removed to Carlisle in 1765, where the son attended a classical school. Dr. Stevenson studied medicine at Carlisle under Dr. Mc- Crosky, one of the pioneer physicians west of the Susquehanna. During the Revolu- tion, he was first lieutenant in Colonel Chambers' regiment and was present at the battle of Brandywine. Later in the war he entered the army as surgeon, and after his service had ended returned to his prac- tice at Carlisle. He served as a surgeon in the army during the Whiskey Insurrection in 1794. This experience induced him to locate in the practice of his profession at Pittsburg, which was then a pioneer settle- ment. He became one of the earliest physicians in that city. Dr. Stevenson was one of the leading men of his profession in Pittsburg. He served as president of the City Councils ; trustee of Dickinson College and president of the United States Bank at Pittsburg. In 1825, he removed to Wil- mington, Delaware, where he died in 1829.

DR. ROBERT KENNEDY came to Newberry Township before the Revolution with the migration of early Quakers from Chester County to the northern part of York County. He obtained his medical education in Philadelphia. For a period of thirty years he practiced medicine over the territory now embraced in Newberry and Fairview townships. He was a man of large physique, dignified and courteous in his bearing and exercised a commanding influence in the community where he suc- cessfully practiced. He was surgeon in Colonel David Kennedy's regiment of Pennsylvania militia, which was called into active service when the British approached Philadelphia before the battle of Brandy- wine. About 1790, Dr. Kennedy moved to York, where he became one of the leading physicians. He was physician to James Smith, signer of the Declaration of Inde- his marriage with the daughter of John pendence, during his last illness. He died Wright he inherited a large tract of land. part of which is now the site of Wrights- in York, December 1, 1804. His remains

DR. JOSEPH JOHNSON HAYWARD, who practiced medicine for a period of forty years in Warrington and adjoining town- ships, was born near Philadelphia in 1776. After completing his preparatory education he studied medicine and received a certifi- cate of qualification in 1812, signed by Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia. Dr. Hay- ward remained a short time in that city and then came to visit friends in the upper end of York County and settled in the practice of his profession at Rossville, where he con- tinued the remainder of his life. He had an extensive practice over a large area of country and, according to tradition, was successful in treating the most virulent dis- eases. He was married in 1819 to Sarah, daughter of Joseph Brearly, of Franklin County. His oldest son, Joseph, died in Kansas. His second son, Thomas B. Hay- ward, practiced medicine in Harford County, Maryland, for half a century. He died September 19, 1853, and his remains were buried in the graveyard adjoining Warrington Friends' Meeting House.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 93

Author: Prowell, George R. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1372

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372