USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Three > Part 12
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same time a celebrated "quack," who called himself "Dr. Green," and who had for a patient at one time no less a person than Jerome Bonaparte. Here, too, in 1822, Dr. G. H. Bute first planted the seeds of homoeopathy and here the first institution in this country for teaching that method of practice was established. Here, too, flourished Traill Green, well deserving the honors paid to him and the love which crowned his life. Born May 25, 1813, in Eas- ton and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1835, he became not only a practitioner of great usefulness, but also a teacher of great distinction, and for long was easily the leader of the profession in his section of the State-in person and in char- acter a truly great man. Equally great was John Light Atlee, born 1799 and living until 1885, during this whole time exercis- ing his profession in Lancaster county. He had no hospital ap- pointment, but without this had a very extensive practice in medi- cine and surgery. In the latter he was especially distinguished by the fact that he contributed more than any other man, except per- haps his brother, Washington Lemuel Atlee, to the establishment of the operation of ovariotomy on a firm and scientific basis, in spite of the bitterest opposition of men ranking high in the med- ical profession in this country and in Europe. Another man may be mentioned as the type of that very large host of modest, faith- ful men, who in country districts are the friends and helpers of their fellows from the cradle to the grave, of whom so beautiful a type has been presented by Ian Maclaren in describing old Dr. Maclure. Such an one was he whom a generation now past the half century mark knew as old Hiram Corson, of Plymouth Meeting, whose long life of ninety-two years ended March 4, 1896, during the professional part of which it is said that he paid 400,000 professional visits. He was a man of striking person- ality and of strong individuality ; in the discharge of his duty he was deterred by neither cold nor tempest, and his courage never failed him in the opposition he met from his fellows in the profes- sion, of which he was one of the first to advocate the education of
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women for the office of physician, or the appointment of women physicians to have charge of those of their own sex restrained in hospitals for the insane. Both these projects he lived to see suc- cessful. Such men, unheralded outside of their immediate neigh- borhood, and practically unknown to the great world, have always been found, and will always be found in every part of this great State exercising their noble calling with fidelity and earnestness and serving their fellowmen.
The earliest interest in the teaching of pharmacy was shown when, in the College of Philadelphia, this was mentioned as part of the regular course of instruction given by Dr. Morgan and Dr. Shippen at the beginning of the medical school. This was, how- ever, only such pharmacy as was likely to be useful to physicians ; it was not until 1821 that steps were taken to furnish druggists something beyond their apprenticeship in this art. At that time the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon sixteen men, who were themselves practical pharmacists, considered to be of such conspicuous ability as to deserve distinction-the first to receive any such degree in North America-the degree of "Master of Pharmacy." At the same time the trustees ordered that this de- gree should hereafter be given only to persons who had served an apprenticeship of three years and were certified as fit by the professors of chemistry and of materia medica and pharmacy of the university. This appears, however, to have been the end of the project ; for in the same year the druggists themselves came forward and undertook the work of educating those who were to pursue their craft. At a meeting in "Carpenter's Hall," March 30, 1822, the movement was organized, and soon afterwards the "Philadelphia College of Pharmacy"-now the largest institu- tion in the world devoted solely to the education of pharmacists --- was chartered. From this school the first class was graduated in 1826. Its present home is in a well appointed building on Tenth street, near Cherry, which contains every appliance needed by its large and able faculty. The reputation of this institution is
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world wide, and it has granted the degree of graduate in phar- macy and-since 1895-of doctor of pharmacy, to nearly five thousand persons. In addition to this special institution there is a department of pharmacy connected with the Medico-Chirurgical college, established in 1898, and one connected with the Temple college, in Philadelphia, opened in 1901.
Pennsylvania has secured great distinction by the part it has taken in elevating the practice of dentistry from a rather mechan- ical occupation to a specialty in medicine. In this the United States has done more than any other nation, and Pennsylvania has done more than any other State. A dental college in Balti- more was chartered in 1839, and another in Cincinnati in 1845, while the first such school in Pennsylvania was the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery, chartered in 1850 and opened in 1852. In 1856, after graduating sixty-three students, the institution was abandoned and its rooms were taken possession of by a new school, destined to survive and attain great success. This was the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, which, after occupy- ing different buildings, now has one of the most complete sort at the northeast corner of Eleventh and Clinton streets, in Philadel- phia. Up to the year 1900 it had graduated over two thousand men and nearly one hundred women as dentists. The third school for dentists established in Pennsylvania, was the Philadelphia Dental college, chartered in 1863, and now occupying a well- appointed building at Eighteenth and Buttonwood streets, where a special feature is made of instruction in what is called "oral surgery." More than two thousand graduates have left this col- lege to extend its usefulness and reputation.
The fourth school for dentists in Pennsylvania was that estab- lished as a department in the University of Pennsylvania in 1878, when a number of the professors in the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery left it to take chairs in the university. This de- partment is now the largest school for dentists in the State or country, and enjoys a reputation equal with the university.
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The fifth school of this sort was that organized in Pittsburg in 1895 and associated by articles of agreement with the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1896, as its "Dental Department."
The sixth school for dentists was that established as a depart- ment of the Medico-Chirurgical college in Philadelphia, in 1897, upon the termination of the association between it and the Phila- delphia Dental college.
HOMOEOPATHY
Homoeopathy sprang into life something more than a century ago, and thereby subjected the medical world to another of the convulsions which have characterized medical history since the earliest ages. The new school discarded the settled rules of prac- tice and asserted its claim to the world. Its distinguishing char- acteristics, then as now, consist in the scientific employment of medicaments according to the principles denoted by the name "similia similibus curantur," or "like is cured by like."
The principle first rendered into practical science by Hahne- mann, the founder of the homoeopathic school, dates far back of his time, and is said to have been glanced at by Hippocrates; but it remained for the great Hahnemann to propound the startling dogma in 1790, while engaged in translating Cullen's Materia Medica from English into German. The new school passed through many wonderful and prolonged tests, trials and opposi- tions, and eventually was legalized in Bohemia in 1821; America in 1825 ; Russia in 1833; Austria in 1837; Prussia in 1843; Eng- land in 1858, and to-day is a recognized medical power through- out the civilized world.
The doctrines of homoeopathy were first introduced into the United States in 1825 by Dr. Gram, who settled in New York city in that year and began practice. He soon gained an enviable standing with the people, and that he attracted the attention of medical men is evidenced in the fact that many of his earliest fol- lowers came from the ranks of the "regular" medical profession.
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Pennsylvania was the second State to accept the new school and the first in which was established an organization of homoeopathic physicians, formed in Philadelphia in 1833, and including both licensed practitioners and laymen.
The honor-it can be called nothing less-of having been the pioneer of homoeopathy in Pennsylvania, may fairly be accorded
Zion Lutheran Church, Harrisburg
Built 1839. In this building William Henry Harrison was nominated for president and John Tyler for vice-president of the United States. By courtesy of B. M. Nead.
to either of several once well-known practitioners of that school, as their work was practically contemporaneous and each enjoyed more than ordinary prominence during the period of his active life. In 1828 Drs. William Wesselhoeft and Henry Detwiller were old-school physicians, the former practicing at Bath, and the latter at Hellertown, both in this State. At the suggestion of Dr. Wesselhoeft, Dr. Detwiller and he began the study of the homoeopathic system of treatment as laid down in text-books with which they had been supplied, and accompanied their researches with the practical use of a box of homoeopathic medicines sent
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from Germany by Dr. Stapf and the father of Dr. Wesselhoeft. The results accomplished through their investigations proved en- tirely satisfactory, and on July 24 of that year Dr. Detwiller ad- ministered "the first homoeopathic dose in Pennsylvania."
This was the real beginning of homoeopathy in this State, and Dr. Henry Detwiller was its pioneer, while other reputable men, many of them old-school practitioners, were his cotemporaries and co-workers. In 1836 he visited Europe and still further pursued his investigations, but in the meantime the new school had gained a sure foothold in this country and particularly in New York and Pennsylvania. Many young students who had contemplated entering the profession and practicing as "allopaths" were led to change their course and enter the ranks of homoeopathy, while the acquisition of new champions from among the "regulars" were counted by scores ; and once begun the movement was so rapidly extended that within the next quarter century every settled local- ity in the State had its homoeopathic physician in active and suc- cessful practice.
As previously stated, the new school of medicine was planted in Pennsylvania soil in 1828, and there it has ever since grown and flourished and yielded an abundance of good fruit. It first took root in Northampton county, when Drs. Wesselhoeft and Detwil- ler began their studies of its principles and who were its earliest exponents. After them came Drs. Pulte, Bute and Jacobson, each of whom may be recalled among the early homoeopathicts of that region. In Philadelphia Dr. Carl Ihm began practice in 1829, and two years later Dr. George H. Bute succeeded him. The latter was for many years one of the leading physicians of his school in the State, and by his investigations contributed largely to the popularity of homoeopathy throughout the country, while his work in proving many plants for medicinal uses gave him wide fame in the literature of his profession. Dr. Charles F. Matlack is said to have employed homoeopathic methods of treatment in Philadelphia in the winter of 1832-33, and the claim is made for
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him that he was the first American representative of his school of practice.
The next accession to the homoeopathic school in Philadelphia was the arrival in the city of Dr. Constantin Hering, a native of Oschatz, Saxony, a scholar, naturalist and botanist, and who while engaged in the study of medicine under "regular" teachings, was asked to write and publish a work in condemnation of the princi- ples of homoeopathy. To this end he prepared himself, and while investigating the alleged fallacies of the Hahnemannian theory, he became convinced of its efficacy and value, a thorough convert to its principles, and in his graduation thesis-"De Medicina Fu- tura"-he warmly espoused and resolutely championed the new school both in its theory and practice. Having received his de- gree of M. D., he sailed for South America to make researches and collections in zoology (this under the patronage of the Saxon king) and while thus employed he completed his homoeopathic studies, and practiced under its principles in those parts for some time. ' This departure was soon brought to the attention of his sovereign, who admonished the young homoeopath that he should attend to his appointed duties and to "let outside matters alone."
Immediately upon receipt of the letter from his king Dr. Her- ing resigned his official position and began the practice of medi- cine in Paramaribo, but after a few years there he sailed for home, and on his way landed in Philadelphia in January, 1833, and with his arrival homoeopathy in Pennsylvania and in the United States acquired new life and strength, for Dr. Hering proved to be its ablest and foremost champion, its best exemplar, and one of its most worthy exponents and representatives both in active practice and in the establishment of its institutions. Indeed, for many years he was the acknowledged head of the profession under the Hahnemannian theory, its shield and buckler, its mainstay and support. A proper tribute to his life and his life work belongs to a volume rather than a brief page sketch ; but in later para- graphs the reader will discover how Dr. Hering was an important
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part of homoeopathy-indeed was almost homoeopathy itself- throughout the period of his long, useful career.
Among the other early homoeopathic physicians ( the list may be regarded complete) who lived and practiced in Philadelphia previous to 1840, were Drs. Jacob Jeanes, Jacob Lentz, Samuel Freedley, Caleb B. Matthews, G. S. F. Pfeiffer, Walter William- son, Richard Gardiner, Jonas Green, James Kitchen, Gideon Humphreys, Charles Neidhard, George Lingen, J. G. Rosenstein, William Schmæle, Henry Schmæle, H. F. H. Hoffendahl, Samuel R. Dubs, Alvin E. Small, Matthew Anderson, Frederick Schaef- fer, and Dr. Aromada.
The new school found its way into Armstrong and Tioga counties in 1832. In the first named county Dr. Edward Mansa was the pioneer, and in the latter Dr. Lewis Saynisch is accorded the same honor. In 1834 Lebanon county was first invaded with the new principles when J. C. Risner ministered homoeopathically to the physical wants of the people. After him came Drs. Becker, 1835 ; Reinhold and Haessler, 1836; Jacob Bower, 1838; and others of later date.
In Chester and Cumberland counties homoeopathy found a lodgment in 1835. In that year Dr. Caspari began practice in what is now West Grove, Chester county, while in Carlisle, Cum- berland county, Dr. Francis Ehrmann was pioneer of the new school.
In Delaware county Dr. Walter Williamson practiced homoe- opathy in 1836, and three years later Dr. M. B. Roche settled at Darby. Drs. Alvin E. Small, James E. Grass, Stacey Jones and Charles V. Dare (the first homoeopath in Chester ) also were early practitioners in the county.
In Alleghany county the seed was sown in 1837, and from the beginning a bountiful harvest in good results has rewarded the en- deavors of the professional toilers. Dr. Gustavus Richhelm, a graduate of the University of Halle, Germany, a protégé of Drs. Hering and Wesselhoeft, took up his abode in Pittsburg in 1837
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Joseph Ritner
Member Legislature 1820-1827; governor 1835- 1839; one of the originators of the school sys- tem; anti-Mason, anti-slavery and temperance advocate
The Medical Profession
and began the good work-sometimes in the nature of missionary work-of treating the sick according to strict homoeopathic teach- ings; and he continued his practice in that city and its vicinity until 1853, when he removed to Philadelphia. Dr. C. Bayer located in Alleghany City in 1841 or '42, and was one of the founders of the Homoeopathic Medical society of Alleghany county ; Dr. D. M. Dake settled in Pittsburg in 1846, having previously practiced elsewhere as an "old-school" physician. Dr. Marcellin Coté, also a convert, settled in the same city in 1847. In the subsequent long list of early homoeopaths in the county there is found the names of Drs. Charles Hoffman, 1848; H. H. Hoffman, 1849; William Penniman, 1849 or '50; J. P. Dake, 1851 ; J. F. Cooper, 1853; Frederick Taudte, 1853; F. R. Moore, 1853; J. A. Blan- chard, 1854; J. C. Burgher, 1854 ; James A. Herron, 1856; F. W. Skiles, 1857; William J. Church;, 1858; J. S. Rankin, 1858; F. B. Cooper, 1859; George S. Foster, 1859. If continued to the close of the nineteenth century the list of Alleghany county homoeo- pathic physicians would include the names of hundreds of men and women.
Into Berks, Juniata and Union counties homoeopathy made its onward march in 1838. In Berks Dr. Adolph Lippe was the pioneer, but after a year or two he left Reading and was succeeded by Dr. Moore, who remained about the same length of time. Then, in order, came Drs. Caspari, 1843, John H. Behne, 1845; G. R. Starkey, 1852, who established homoeopathy among the English- speaking people of that distinctively German city ; Dr. R. Sargent ; B. R. Pratt, 1858; E. H. Spooner, David L. Dreibelbis and still others. About 1838 or '40 Dr. Robert May took up homoeopathy and lectured and practiced through Chester and Berks counties. For many years he was the only physician of his school in the for- mer county, or between Reading and Philadelphia. In Juniata county Dr. C. G. Reinhold was the pioneer, and in Union county the same honor belongs to Dr. Ignatius Brugger, he having for- merly practiced under the old school, but was converted to the new
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under the teachings of Dr. Detwiller. Dr. Dornburg practiced in Mifflinburg from 1844 to 1848, and Dr. Joseph F. Harvey prac- ticed in Lewisburg, beginning in 1856.
Bucks and Dauphin counties were first visited by physicians of the homoeopathic school in 1839, Dr. S. R. Dubs being the pioneer in the former and Dr. Ehrmann in the latter. Rev. Christian J. Becker is credited with having administered homoeopathic medi- cine in Dauphin county as early as 1839. Dr. Whitehead also was early in the field in Dauphin, and has been regarded as one of its pioneers in practice.
Mifflin, Montgomery and Crawford counties were given the opportunities of homoeopathic treatment in 1840. Dr. C. G. Reinhold settled in Lewistown in that year, Dr. George H. Cox in 1867, and Dr. Speth in 1869. Dr. Wauke settled in the north part of Montgomery county in 1840, and Dr. Ezra Fell located in Norristown two years later. Dr. Thomas Pierce followed in 1848 or '49. Dr. Alexander H. Burrett introduced homoeopathy into Crawford county, and practiced at Guy's Mills and at Con- neautville for several years, being succeeded by Dr. W. F. Owen. Dr. H. M. Loger began practice at Linesville about 1863.
Schuylkill and Bradford counties received the ministrations of homoeopathic physicians in 1841, in the former Dr. Adolph Lippe having been the pioneer, and in the latter Dr. Ezekiel Lovejoy. Dr. Lippe located at Pottsville, and after him came Drs. C. Haeseler, Benjamin Becker, Francis Boyer, Henry Haeseler and still others of more recent date. In Bradford county, besides Dr. Lovejoy, the older homoeopaths were Drs. Leonard Pratt, David S. Pratt and L. G. Bradford.
Over in the West Branch valley in Lycoming county homoe- opathy was first introduced by Dr. John R. Coxe, who settled in Williamsport in 1845. Dr. Reinhold came in 1864, Dr. M. J. Koenig in 1865, and the afterward noted Dr. W. C. Doane in I868. In Lancaster county Dr. Ehrman began the good work about 1847, locating at the county seat, and was followed in 1851
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by Dr. J. Mairs McAllister. Erie and Lawrence counties were first visited in 1848, Dr. S. Marvin first representing the profes- sion in the former, and Dr. Samuel Searles and David C. Porter in the latter county. In Erie county the other old-time homoeopaths were Drs. P. Faulkner, R. Faulkner, both former old school physi-
The Cloister, Snow Hill
The last home of the Seventh Day Baptist Communists. Engraved especially for this work from a negative by W. II. Richardson
cians ; Dr. W. J. Blakely and Dr. Anson Parsons. Dr. Newell White was an old homoeopathic practitioner in New Castle, and a convert from the allopathic school.
The records of homoeopathy show that in 1849 the disciples of the Hahnemannian theory found their way into four other impor- tant localities of the State-Wayne, Adams, Centre and Franklin counties. In Wayne Dr. Edwin West was the pioneer. In Adams Dr. J. H. Marden, who also was a clergyman, began practice in that region. In Centre Dr. C. G. Reinhold located in Boalsburg,
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his practice during his long service having given him at least a temporary residence in the counties of Huntington, Perry, Mon- tour, Union, Northumberland and Centre. Dr. Ehrman, to whom frequent reference has been made, gave the first homoeo- pathic treatment in Franklin county several years earlier than 1849, but in that year Dr. P. R. Schucking located in Chambers- burg, remaining until 1851.
Dr. A. P. Gardiner located at Carbondale, in Luzerne county, in 1851, and removed to Scranton in 1855, hence was the pioneer of homoeopathy in two now important cities in the State. Dr. J. S. Pfouts began practice in Wilkes-Barre in 1861, and Dr. C. A. Stevens in Scranton in 1862. At that time Scranton was a part of Luzerne county.
Dr. Thomas Bryan introduced homoeopathy in Beaver county in 1853, having for more than twenty-five years practiced allo- pathy. Other old-time homoeopaths in this county were Drs. J. D. McCreary and T. A. Shane.
According to reliable authority, homoeopathy was introduced into Butler county about 1854, through the kind offices of a clergy- man of the Catholic church, who had studied its principles and learned its rational methods of treatment. About the same time Dr. Myers practiced in Butler a short time. Dr. I. Stewart, a converted eclectic, began practice about 1855, and was succeeded in 1865 by Dr. R. C. McClelland.
Montour, Blair, Carbon and Columbia counties were brought within the rapidly spreading teachings and influences of homoe- opathy in 1855. Four years later, 1859, Clinton county was pro- vided for, and in 1860 the pioneer homoeopath found a firm foot- hold in Perry county. In 1864 Northumberland county was laid under the beneficial siege, and in the following year Susquehanna and Mercer counties were brought under homoeopathic subjec- tion.
In the manner indicated in preceding paragraphs the beneficent work of introducing the theories of medicine evolved by the
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famous Hahnemann were subsequently carried into the remotest localities of the State, and now, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the entire people of the Commonwealth are daily and hourly receiving its benefits at the hands of skilled and schooled physicians and surgeons. During the first twenty-five years after Dr. Detwiller administered the first homoeopathic "dose" a large proportion of the practitioners under the new school were converts from the ranks of the "regular" medical profession, and by the latter the departure from "established principles" was re- garded as a species of fanaticism, and the exponents of homoe- opathy were ridiculed and often were sought to be socially ostra- cised; yet throughout all that period the work was steadily ad- vanced until the people of the great body politic of the State were themseves educated to an understanding of its aims and purposes. Then came a change of public sentiment, and with it the work of persecution ceased and even the more radical of the old-school champions began to yield some consideration in favor of the new. The old prejudices are not entirely wiped out even with the en- lightened ideas of the present day, yet in circles where honest, can- did opinion holds sway homoeopathy stands upon the same ele- vated plane with the most honored professions in the world. It is not the fault of homoeopathicts that they and their associations and institutions are known by a distinctive name, but rather the fault lies with those who have refused to allow the views denoted by that name to be advocated, tested and fully practiced within the bounds of ordinary professional fellowship. Grant to homoe- opathy the same liberty which is accorded to all other ways of thought, however novel and unlike those ordinarily received, and the raison d'être of homoeopathic institutions will have entirely disappeared.
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