Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 130

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192

USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania > Part 130

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Andrew Fleming, M. D. The ordinary life of a physician of extended prac- tice in a large city, while not usually marked by startling events attracting the attention of the public, is nevertheless one taking a most important place in the lives of most men, for there are often times when the happiness, the means of live- lihood, indeed, the entire future of the families, depend upon the ability and de- votion of the physician. It is not surprising that the faithful physician justly claims, and ordinarily receives from those patients who have any true appreciation of the great responsibility devolving upon him, their respect, confidence and affec- tion. While the main events of the life of Dr. Andrew Fleming can be stated in a few lines, it would be very difficult to record and give any correct idea of the great number of homes he brightened and cheered, or of the many valuable lives lengthened by his assiduous care during a laborious practice of over forty years. There are but few families in this vicinity that he attended, the members of which, do not gratefully recall instances where the lives of dear ones were saved by his ministrations. Andrew Fleming was born in Pittsburg, July 3, 1830. After reading medicine with Dr. Joseph P. Gazzam, he continued his medical studies at the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia in 1853, and was graduated there with honor in 1855. Immediately on receiving his degree, he was elected resi- dent physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, where he served a term of eighteen months. Very soon after his entrance on the duties, he was ap- pointed to the responsible position of druggist in place of one who had served in that capacity for twenty-five years. In the spring of 1857 he began to practice in Pittsburg, associating himself with Dr. Joseph P. Gazzam, his old preceptor, on Sixth Avenue, a partnership which was very soon terminated by the retirement and death of Dr. Gazzam. Dr. Fleming remained in the same location until 1888, when he built a beautiful, convenient residence on Western Avenue in Allegheny.

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He was married November 24, 1874, to Eliza Thaw Lyon, who survives him. He died at Magnolia, Massachusetts, on August 18, 1896, of a sudden severe at- tack of intestinal obstruction. His body was brought home and interred in the Allegheny Cemetery, August 22, 1896. It was sad that his death should have occurred just at the beginning of the summer vacation, when he hoped for the rest . and recreation that would the better prepare him for his arduous duties. Few nien have passed into the other life with a fuller record of daily good deeds done than Dr. Andrew Fleming. Starting in his profession well prepared for the duties involved, he was unusually successful in gaining rapidly an extensive and lucrative practice, and in taking a place among the first physicians of the State. His practice soon reached a point where he was obliged to restrict it territorially, and to refuse to go beyond certain limits. Always exceedingly regular in his . habits of life, and paying the strictest attention to his own health, the continued labor and constant strain resulted in a dangerous illness of some months' dura- tion in 1881. Absolute rest and a sojourn in Europe restored perfect health, and he learned, before it was too late, that there is a limit to human exertion, even in a good cause. As a student he was remarkable for two traits that characterized him during his entire life-thoroughness and accuracy. His systematic habits of study and his patient persistence, not only enabled him to grasp the main principles of medical science, but to so make himself master of all the details that he could apply them practically. Heartily and enthusiastically devoted to his profession, he was above all things a physician. Naturally endowed with a power of quick observation, accuracy of eye and dexterity of hand, he diagnosed . correctly and operated rapidly and neatly. Until the day of his death he was an earnest and laborious student of medicine. Keeping himself fully informed of all that was being discovered anywhere in the great medical world, carefully investi- gating for himself any newly suggested remedies and improved modes of sur- gery; reading and speaking the modern continental languages almost as readily as his own, nothing that transpired in the medical centers of Europe escaped his attention. Holding steadfastly to the fundamental principles of medical science, intolerant only of ignorance and quackery, he heartily greeted, and after most searching examination, adopted, any discovery that would relieve pain or cure disease. He was always prepared for emergencies and fertile in resources. If the most perfect appliance for any special purpose was not to be had at the moment, his mechanical dexterity and ready hands immediately provided a useful substitute from materials at hand. None but his patients can tell how suffering was relieved and comfort increased by his attention to the little things, so essen- tial to the rest of the nervous, wearied invalid. He was anxious not only to make his patient well, but to make him as comfortable as possible. His bright, cheery face, was like sunlight in the sick-room. His personal presence, his gentle touch and musical voice were as efficacious as medicine. Regarding him intel- . lectually, Dr. Fleming was strong and broad. He not only knew what he knew, but he knew for a definite purpose, for a practical end. Outside of the domain of social gossip, for which he had no taste, he seemed to follow the injunction of the Son of Sirach: "Be not ignorant of anything in a great matter or a small." His love of his profession and the enthusiasm with which he pursued it, were apparent to everyone who enjoyed his acquaintance; and whatever books or experience could teach him, he was always eager to learn and to store up for use. As his mind was of a notably scientific cast, he was highly interested in all scientific subjects, and no discovery in the range of science, 110 novel, or in- genious speculation of a scientific character, escaped his notice.

In referring to Dr. Fleming's literary work, the cause for regret is, that his professional duties allowed him but little leisure for what he did so well. Among

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his published papers may be mentioned the monograph "Blood Stains," prepared at the request of, and dedicated to Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stan- ton-a clear exposition of a most difficult and intensely practical subject-a paper which is still regarded as authoritative. Another most exhaustive paper on "Antero-lateral Sclerosis," read before the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and extensively published, was valuable to the profession not only as the result of his own observation and practice, but as a complete summary of all that had been discovered by the most eminent physicians in France and Germany, whose original notes and papers, Dr. Fleming, by great personal exertion and at con- siderable pecuniary cost, had secured. In his brochure on "Emotional Fever" (1879) the clinical description was so clear and precise that it could be readily recognized although the manifestation of the fever was in the narrow border- land separating purely physical disease from mental alienation. To the Bedford Club-composed of the best physicians of Pittsburg and Allegheny-he contrib- uted about forty papers highly esteemed by his associates. They were prepared with the utmost care, always conveyed original information with a precision of statement and an accuracy of detail that indicated a complete knowledge and mastery of his subject. His fellow members of that club say that his remarks and criticisms on the papers of others were characterized by a gentle, courteous spirit of generous commendation where deserved but marked by a correctness of statement and a clearing away of the difficulties of the question under discus- sion, while at the same time avoiding any disputation or any remarks having the slightest tinge of acrimony or personal feeling. One of the oldest members thus writes: "I think every member was indebted to Dr. Fleming, not a little, for the light and wider field that his predelictions secured for us, by their accurate survey and observation." A marked trait in his conduct, not only with his con- frères, but patients, and everyone with whom he came in contact, was his unfail- ing and uniform courtesy. In his intercourse with the members of the medical profession he manifested a delicate sense of the relations existing between those whose sole aim was the good of humanity. His quick perception and cordial recognition of ability and merit in those, younger in years and not so skillful or experienced as himself, was prompt and genuine. Such expressions of approval were the more valued, because he was naturally reserved and reticent, never speaking a word of praise unless he felt that it was deserved.

Early in the war, in 1861, a soldiers' home was opened near the Union Sta- tion in Pittsburg, by the Subsistence Committee, to care especially for the multi- tudes of sick and wounded soldiers on their homeward journey. Dr. Fleming was at this home, on the arrival of the trains, every noon and every midnight, dressing the wounds of the sufferers and prescribing medicine for the sick. As the number of soldiers needing attention was from twenty-five to one hundred each noon and midnight, these merciful ministrations took from one to three hours of his valuable time, but during the four years of the war, he rarely failed to make the two daily visits. Aside and apart from all that made Dr. Fleming an ideal physician, there was the other phase of life and character more difficult to portray, because it was so personal and distinctive in all its traits. Indeed his own conception of what was required for the profession was so high, broad and all-embracing, that he was constantly striving to attain a complete knowledge of all related science. In every department of scientific research-be it archæol- ogy, astronomy, biology, botany, zoology, any branch of physics, the main prin- ciples, the latest discoveries and the present status of each were so accurately stored in his wonderful memory, that they were immediately available. Eminently practical as he was, he cultivated a love of the beautiful in art, and had a thorough acquaintance with the best pictures and statues in the European collections. A

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perfect rendition of the masterpieces of music, was to him a source of the keenest pleasure. Few, even of his intimate friends, had any true idea of the lavish generosity that marked his daily life. Not only did he give freely of his rich stores of medical skill, but his open purse provided for the wants of those in need. Often his benefactions were so secretly and delicately conveyed, that the recipients knew not the source of the gifts. His reticence and reserve regarding anything relating to himself were so great-his repugnance to the mere mention of his name in the public prints was so strong-his hatred of anything that he considered an intrusion upon the privacy of his personal life was so marked- that the rich, rare and varied qualities so constantly manifested in his daily life, are matters too sacred for public record. So suddenly came his death, that the many who knew and loved him could not realize that the kind friend, and "the beloved physician" had passed from his labors and entered upon that blessed rest which follows a life of beneficence and love.

Cyrus B. King, M. D., of Allegheny, one of the most prominent among the physicians and surgeons of "Greater Pittsburg," was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1839, the youngest but one in a family of twelve children born to Dr. Samuel M. and Maria (Black) King. The parents were both natives of Western Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather, Samuel, was a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent, and the advent of the family in the State antedates the Revolutionary War. Samuel King was a merchant of Carlisle. He moved to Uniontown, Fayette County, near the close of the last century, becoming one of the first merchants of that place. Samuel Black, his maternal grandfather, came from Ireland to America, shortly after the Colonies had declared their independence from the mother country, and was engaged in farming and glass manufacturing. He became a large holder of realty in Pittsburg, was very active in public matters, was prosperous, estab- lished the first ferry fromn Pittsburg to Birmingham, and died in 1845. Dr. Samuel M. King was educated at Jefferson College, and graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. He immediately there- after began the practice of his profession at Monongahela City, and continued the same there and elsewhere in Washington County for about fifty years. He won eminence in his profession by his intelligence, industry and high char- acter. He and wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. Cyrus Black King was educated at Columbia College, Washington, D. C., and at the age of about twenty years began reading medicine with an older brother at Monon- gahela City. In 1861 he entered Jefferson Medical College, and two years later graduated with distinction. On the 9th of March, 1863, the day succeeding his graduation, he entered the Union Army as assistant surgeon, and was at once assigned to duty in the army hospital at Philadelphia, where he continued to serve until the close of the war. He was then appointed superintendent of the West Penn Hospital and the Pittsburg Soldiers' Home, Pittsburg, and served . in that capacity for four years, when he removed to Allegheny and began private practice, still continuing in charge of the medical department of the hospital for two years longer. Since that date he has held a position on the medical staff of the hospital as attending physician. He now has a large practice among the better families. In 1863 he married Miss E. G. Kerr, daughter of Rev. John Kerr. She died in 1881, leaving three children: Anna, wife of Thomas W. Blackwell, Nina D. and Samuel V. April 30, 1897, he married Mrs. Frances K. Brown, daughter of Josiah King. Dr. King is a member of the following medical associations: American, Centennial, State and Allegheny County, and has been president of the latter. He is on the staff of the Allegheny General Hospital, the Children's Memorial Hospital of Allegheny, Pittsburg Hospital for Children, and is consulting surgeon for the Mckeesport Hospital.

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Dr. James Aubrey Lippincott, who has been actively engaged in the prac- tice of his profession in Pittsburg during the past twenty years, was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, May 31, 1847. He is descended from the eldest son of Richard Lippincott, who settled in New Jersey towards the middle of the seventeenth century. His father, William Lippincott, a native of the State of Maine, was a highly respected business man of vigorous and cultivated mind, deep religious convictions and natural nobility of character; and was an influen- tial advocate, on the platform, in the press and in his daily life of movements for the elevation of the community. His mother, Jessie Mackenzie Lippincott, was the daughter of a highland Scotchman who retained the full use of his faculties, mental and physical, until the very hour of his death at the age of ninety- seven. In 1863, some months after the death of his father, the subject of this sketch, then 16 years of age, having been prepared for college in the public . schools of his native town, entered Dalhousie University, Halifax, and four years later received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his collegiate course he stood first in his class in a considerable number of branches, and in his final year took the prize for an essay open for competition to all the students of the uni- versity. After graduation he was invited to take charge of the Pictou Academy (one of the most noted institutions of the kind in the province) where he was mainly occupied in preparing young men for college. In 1869 he began his medical studies in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he grad- uated in 1873. He was at once elected resident surgeon in the Will's Eye Hospital and after a service of twelve months received the honor -- unusual for a non- resident of the Quaker City-of election as resident physician in the Pennsyl- vania Hospital. At the expiration of his term of eighteen months he began pri- vate practice, but continued his hospital work, having been appointed dispensary surgeon to the Presbyterian Hospital and assistant surgeon in the eye and ear department of the Children's Hospital. In 1877 he removed to Pittsburg where he has confined his attention to diseases of the eye and ear. Soon after coming here the department for these affections at the free dispensary was placed in his charge, and later he was elected ophthalmic and aural surgeon to the Mercy Hospital and still later to the Allegheny General Hospital. He has also devoted much time to professional work in a number of our public institutions for children, such as the Home for the Friendless, the Protestant Orphan Asylum, St. Paul's Orphan Asylum and the Reform School at Morganza.

In addition to the work incident to these positions and the care of an ex- ceptionally large private practice Dr. Lippincott has given a good deal of atten- tion to the management of several of our charitable institutions. His contributions to medical literature have been quite numerous and have made him well known as an original thinker both in this country and in Europe. Among the articles from his pen may be mentioned the following: "On the traumatic elongation of bone" (American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 1875); "A gaseous tumor on the anterior surface of the chest and communicating with a pulmonary vomi- ca" (Philadelphia Medical Times, 1876); "Atrophy of the optic nerve" (Medical and Surgical Reporter, 1878); "Two cases of orbital abscess" (Transactions Ameri- can Ophthalmological Society, 1883); "Trephining in sclerosis mastoiditis" (Transactions American Otological Society, 1884); "A new syringe for effecting intraocular irrigation" (Transactions American Ophthalmological Society, 1889); "On the binocular metamorphosia produced by correcting glasses" (Archives of Ophthalmology, 1889); "New test for binocular vision" (New York Medical Journal, 1890); "Intraocular syringing in cataract extraction, illustrated by 100. cases" (Transactions American Ophthalmological Society, 1891); "Our public institutions as sources of impaired vision" (Address delivered before the Penn-

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sylvania State Medical Society, 1891); "On the direct application of very hot water to corneal ulcers" (London Ophthalmic Review, 1892). He has recently been invited to contribute a chapter on an important subject for an encyclopedic work on diseases of the eye and ear, shortly to be published in Philadelphia. In 1892 he married Miss Mary S. T. Bush, second daughter of the late John T. Bush and Mary Ford Bush of Clifton Place, Niagara Falls, Ont. He has one brother living, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lippincott, United States Army.

Dr. Herman W. Hechelman. One of the most worthy exponents of the medical profession in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is Dr. Herman W. Hechelman, who owes his nativity to Lindau, Kingdom of Bavaria, where he was born August 10, 1848. His parents, Martin Hechelman, was born in Lindau, Bavaria, and Katharine (Kachel), in Wurtemburg, continuing their home at the former place until the German revolution of 1848, when the father, for political reasons, was compelled to leave his native land, and chose America as his refuge. He arrived in the United States in 1853 and joined a brother-in-law at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, who, like himself, was a political refugee. Upon his arrival they formed a partnership and embarked in the brewing business, to which occupa- tion his attention was devoted for many years with financial success. He died in 1887, but his widow survives him and makes her home in Germany. When a lad of twelve years, or in 1860, Herman W. Hechelman left his native land and joined his father in this country, and for five years thereafter attended the public schools of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. He was then sent back to Germany to complete his literary education at Stuttgart, but returned to this country late in 1866 and the following year was spent as a general clerk in a drug store. While there he acquired a taste for and no inconsiderable knowledge of medicine, and he soon after entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1869. Immediately after this he returned to Europe for the purpose of still further increasing his knowledge of the healing art and a post graduate course was taken in the famous medical schools of Munich and Vienna, from the former of which he was graduated in 1870. While in Vienna the Franco- Prussian war broke out and Dr. Hechelman tendered his services to Bavaria, although he was a naturalized citizen of the United States, and being accepted was assigned to the position of surgeon and served as such until the war termi- nated. For services rendered during this struggle, he received the decoration of the Iron Cross. The following six months were spent in attending clinics at Berlin, after which he once more returned to the land of his adoption, and has ever since been one of the active medical practitioners of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Upon the establishment of the Allegheny General Hospital he was elected surgeon and in 1886 was elected professor of anatomy in West Pennsylvania Medical College, which he later resigned to accept the professorship of the chair of dis- eases of the eye and ear, a position he has ever since retained. In 1887 he re- signed from his position in the Allegheny General Hospital and was made assistant surgeon of the West Penn Hospital, which position he held until 1896. He was elected ophthalmic and aural surgeon for West Pennsylvania Hospital. Aside from this he is ophthalmic and aural surgeon in the Home of the Friendless, consulting surgeon to the Guskey Home and United States examining surgeon. He is a member of the board of trustees of the West Pennsylvania Medical Col- lege, of which he is also the present treasurer. Dr. Hechelman was married May 1, 1873, to Miss Emma E., daughter of Adam Reineman, of Allegheny, and to their union a family of four children have been given, only the following two of whom are living: Lucy O. and Esta H. Mrs. Hechelman is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church.

Dr. James C. Dunn, one of the faculty of the West Penn Medical College,

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was born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, December 9, 1847. William and Cath- arine Crerar (McIntosh) Dunn, his parents, were of Scottish ancestry and had born to them a family of eight children, all yet living but one. Dr. Dunn was educated in the grammar schools of his native locality and at Pictou Academy. Both before and after his academical course he had taught school, his pedagogical career ending while he was principal of the graded schools of Stellarton. In Sep- tember, 1869, he entered Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1871. During this time he spent one year in the Northern Dispensary doing practical work there as well as outside. In 1871 he came to Pittsburg and at once entered into an active practice at which he has ever since. continued .. In the early organization of the Pittsburg Free Dispensary he became a member of the general staff of that institution. In 1886 he organized and was placed in charge of the department of diseases of the skin, continuing in charge until 1896 when he severed active connection with the dispensary and was made consulting dermatologist. For ten years he was one of the staff of physicians and surgeons to St. Francis Hospital; was assistant on the staff of the West Penn Hospital for about eight years, and for the past two years has been dermatologist of that institution. In 1886 he organized the department for diseases of the skin in the dispensary of the West Penn Medical College and has ever since con- tinuously conducted that department. From the establishment of the West Penn Medical College in 1886 to the present time, Dr. Dunn has been professor of clinical dermatology. In 1893 he was elected to the chair of materia medica and therapeutics and has since filled these positions. From the organization of the college to the present, Dr. Dunn has been a member of the board of trus- tees. In 1893 he was elected to represent the Medical Department on the board of trustees of the Western University of Pennsylvania. For the part twelve years Dr. Dunn has largely devoted his practice to diseases of the skin. He is a member of the County, State and National medical associations, and was, for six years, a member of the local board of health. In 1877 Miss Juliette Thalia DuBarry became his wife, and by her he is the father of six children, only two, John Sidney and George DuBarry, now living. The doctor and wife belong to the Fourth Presbyterian Church.

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Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 130

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co. Number of Pages: 1192

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192