USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 31
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Lake View Retreat .- This institution is located at Burlington, just north of the beautiful and historic Battery Park. The grounds comprise about ten acres, and lie between North avenue, a charming drive leading out of the city, and the shore of Lake Champlain. They are made up of lawns, groves, gardens and orchards, and are traversed by pleasant driveways and walks. The house, which was partially constructed by the late Sion E. Howard, and intended for his own elegant private residence, was purchased, completed and entirely re- modeled for its present use by Dr. John M. Clarke, its proprietor and manager.
It is situated upon the highest portion of the grounds, fronts upon North avenue, is set back from the street, and has in the foreground a large, hand- some lawn, dotted with ornamental shade trees and clumps of flowering shrubs. It is a substantial brick building, three stories in height and a basement. The rooms are large, high, well lighted and nearly all admit the sunlight directly.
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They all command beautiful and picturesque views of lake, river and mountain scenery ; those looking east, of Winooski River and its valley and the range of Green Mountains beyond ; those looking south and west, of the city of Bur- lington, Lake Champlain, with its lovely Burlington and Shelburne Bays, and the range of Adirondack Mountains across the lake ; and those looking north, of the lake again gemmed with many islands. In fact, the location cannot be surpassed for beauty and variety of landscape in all directions.
The institution was opened for the reception of patients October 1, 1882. It is intended for private patients, and is the only institution of the kind in Vermont. It is for the treatment of nervous and mental diseases, inebriety and the opium habit The family plan is carried out in the care and treatment of the patients to the greatest limit possible. They are made to feel at home all over the house and grounds, and considered as members of the family, eat- ing at the same tables and participating in their social enjoyments when health and strength permit, and are allowed a great amount of personal liberty. The house has capacity for the comfortable accommodation of twelve patients, and is provided with all modern conveniences, including the most approved sani- tary arrangements.
Dr. Clarke, previous to opening this institution, had many years' experience in a large establishment for the treatment of this class of cases, and employs only trained attendants. The small number of patients afford him abundant time for the study and treatment of each case. It is not to be inferred that the institution is designed for Vermont only, for the patients now under treat- ment are from widely separate parts of the country, and suitable cases will continue to be received from any section.
Health Department of the City of Burlington .- This is the only health de- partment in the State. A health officer is appointed annually by the City Council, whose powers are given by a clause in the city charter, as follows : "The health officer shall have all the powers by law invested in selectmen of towns for the preservation of health and the abatement of nuisances, and the removal of other causes injuriously affecting health ; and shall have power in times of epidemic or of threatened existence of general diseases of any kind, to adopt and enforce summarily such sanitary measures and regulations as he shall deem fit. And any person who shall disobey any lawful order of such health officer, shall be punished by fine, such as shall be provided by the City Council for such cases."
The following physicians of Burlington have been appointed health officers for the years named : Dr. S. W. Thayer, 1865-66; Dr. H. H. Atwater, 1867; Dr. W. B. Lund, 1869 ; Dr. H. A. Crandall, 1870-71 ; Dr. H. H. Langdon, 1872 ; Dr. A. P. Grinnell, 1873-74 ; Dr. C. P. Thayer, 1875-76; Dr. C. P. Burns, 1877 ; Dr. H. H. Atwater, 1878-79-80-81-82; Dr. J. B. Wheeler, 1883-84, and Dr. J. H. Linsley, 1885-86. The Board of Aldermen also ap- point annually a committee on health, consisting of three of their own number.
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There is connected with the health department a registration system, under which all births and deaths in the city of Burlington are reported and recorded in the city clerk's office, and contagious or infectious diseases are required to be reported to the health officer by physicians and others. This system is un- der the management of the health officer, who is empowered likewise to grant burial and removal permits.
The Burlington Medical and Surgical Club .- This club was organized De- cember 2, 1872. It is an association of the regular physicians of Burlington and its vicinity for professional and social improvement. The original members were : Drs. H. H. Langdon, H. Crandall, Matthew Cole, W. B. Lund, H. A. Crandall, E. S. Peck, Walter Carpenter, A. P. Grinnell and J. E. Montmarquet. The first officers were : Dr. H. H. Langdon, president; Dr. W. B. Lund, vice- president, and Dr. E. S. Peck, secretary and treasurer.
Regular monthly meetings are held at the Van Ness House the second Tuesday of each month, excepting during the months of July, August and September, when the members usually have an excursion on the lake or rail- road, with their wives and invited guests. The annual meeting is in November.
The officers for the year 1886 are : Dr. J. B. Wheeler, president ; Dr. A. P. Grinnell, vice-president ; Dr. H. C. Tinkham, secretary and treasurer ; and Drs. G. C. Briggs, W. B. Lund and D. C. Hawley, committee of reference. The whole number of members at present is twenty-five, of whom four reside in Winooski, two in Essex, one in Shelburne and one in Richmond.
Surgeons-General .- In 1864 the State Legislature created the office of sur- geon-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, and Dr. S. W. Thayer, of Burlington, appointed by Governor Smith, was the first to hold the office. He was commissioned November 22, 1864, and again October 24, 1866. Dr. B. W. Carpenter, of Burlington, was commissioned surgeon-general in the fall of 1867, and held the position until the fall of 1870. Dr. Leroy M. Bingham, of Burlington, was commissioned surgeon-general October 8, 1880. He was commissioned again October 6, 1882, and held the position four years. The above are the physicians of Chittenden county who have held the office since it was created up to the present time.
Commissioners and Boards of Supervisors of the Insane. - In 1845 an act was passed by the Legislature providing that there shall be annually appoint- ed by the Legislature a commissioner of the insane, whose duty it shall be monthly, or oftener if need be, to visit the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, with the trustees or alone, to examine into the condition of the institution, the receipts and expenditures, the management of the patients and the general welfare of the asylum, and to make report thereon to the Legislature. Under this act the following physicians of Chittenden county have been appointed : Dr. S. W. Thayer, of Burlington, for the year 1858; Dr. A. C. Welch, of Williston, for the years 1868, '69 and '70, and Dr. H. H. Atwater, of Burling-
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ton, for 1875 and '76. In 1878 this act was repealed, and instead one passed providing for the appointment of a board of supervisors of the insane, consist- ing of three persons, two of whom shall be physicians, with enlarged duties and powers. Dr. J. C. Cramton, of Winooski, was a member of this board for the years 1879 and '80, and Dr. L. C. Butler, of Essex, for 1883, '84, '85 and '86. All of the insane of the State are under the supervision of this board.
Boards of United States Examining Surgeons for Pensions. - By the pro- visions of " an act granting pensions," passed by Congress July 14, 1862, the commissioner of pensions is authorized to appoint examining surgeons for pen- sions, whose duties are to examine applicants for original pensions, for increase, restoration or renewel of pensions, and claimants as dependent relatives, when so ordered by the commissioner of pensions.
Under this act Dr. H. H. Atwater, of Burlington, was appointed October 28, 1862, the first examining surgeon in Chittenden county. In 1870 Dr. H. H. Langdon, of Burlington, who had been appointed single examining surgeon three or four years previously, and Dr. Atwater were constituted a board of examining surgeons. In 1872 Dr. E. S. Peck, of Burlington, was appointed an additional member of the board. In 1875, upon the removal of Dr. Peck from the State, Dr. W. B. Lund, of Burlington, was appointed to fill the vacancy. In 1881 Dr. S. W. Thayer, of Burlington, was appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Dr. Langdon. In 1882 Dr. L. M. Bing- ham, of Burlington, was appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Dr. Thayer. In 1885 Dr. A. P. Grinnell, of Burlington, and Dr. L. C. But- ler, of Essex, were appointed to fill the places of Drs. Lund and Bingham, and the present organization is : Dr. A. P. Grinnell, president ; Dr. L. C. Butler, secretary, and Dr. H. H. Atwater, treasurer. The board meets at the City Hall in Burlington every Wednesday at 10 A. M.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Dr. John Pomeroy was born in Middleboro, Mass., April 9, 1764. He was the eldest of three children, and from the limited means of his parents, and an affliction which deprived his father of the ordinary exercise of his rational powers, he was left almost wholly dependent upon his own resources for an edu- cation, and had no other advantages but such as the common schools of that day and the occasional assistance the clergyman of the parish afforded. At the age of sixteen he enlisted as a soldier in the army of the Revolution in the three months' service, and served as such principally at West Point. After his early campaign as a soldier he was variously employed in agricultural labor, devoting all his spare time to the acquisition of knowledge, until he be- came a student in the office of Dr. Bradish, in Cummington, Mass., where he pursued with ardor the study of the profession to which he had long directed his thoughts. The opportunities for acquiring a medical education at that
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place were of course quite limited, but with such a preceptor, were well cal- culated to train the student to independence of thought, practical views and fearless devotion to duty.
After accomplishing his professional education, Dr. Pomeroy fell in with the tide of emigration which at that time set to the Lamoille and Onion River valleys in Vermont, and established himself at Cambridge. On the 9th of January, 1789, he married Miss Mary Porter, of Cummington, late of Abing- ton, Mass. Although he had a very extensive practice, he soon found that he had not made the most advantageous location, and in the summer of 1792 he removed to Burlington, where with his wife and three children he resided until the winter in a log cabin, when he removed to a house on Water street, on the site of which, in 1797, he built the first brick house in the town. In this house he resided until his death, which occurred on the 19th of February, 1844, at the age of nearly eighty years.
He was a man of robust constitution and great energy of character, but a a long and laborious practice in a new country at length produced its effects in a nervous prostration, which, for five years previous to his decease, made him a patient and confined him to his house. In the death of his eldest son, Dr. Cassius F. Pomeroy, who died in the spring of 1813, full of hope and promise, just as he entered upon the practice of his profession after a winter spent at the medical school of Philadelphia, he experienced a shock, the trace of which years did not efface. He was for many years a member of the corporation of the University of Vermont, an institution which he was among the most active and liberal in fostering. He was also for several years professor of anatomy and surgery in the university, and as such delivered several courses of lectures. He was one of the founders and a member of the State and Chittenden County Medical Societies, and at various times held their highest offices. He was also an honorary member of the New York State Medical Society. He was always attached to his profession, and thought, conversed and wrote much about it. His manuscript lectures, dissertations, cases and theories would make volumes, probably well worth publishing if pruned and arranged by the hand of a dis- criminating and patient member of the profession. Although he wrote a fine hand and had the command of good language, his writings lack that logical arrangement so essential in interesting us in the presentation of thoughts, however original or important.
Few men have lived to accomplish a more laborious or successful course of practice as a physician and surgeon than Dr. Pomeroy. For upwards of fifty years, commencing in a new country, he was actively and extensively engaged in his professional duties, and for the greater portion of the time was the lead- ing physician and only surgeon in the northern part of the State. A history of his surgical cases alone would form a volume which, while it would surprise by its number and variety, would no less interest by its exhibition of decision,
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skill, ingenuity and simplicity in the mode of treatment. His practice was characterized by simplicity, boldness and originality. On visiting a patient who was represented to be dying, he found that the man had ceased to breathe and was apparently lifeless. Surmising the true state of the case, he at once, to the consternation of the attendants, with a lancet or scalpel opened the trachea and inserted a tube. In a few minutes, after a convulsive struggle, the patient breathed through the orifice, and so continued till the obstruction was removed, and lived to thank the surgeon for cutting his throat.
Dr. Pomeroy was exceedingly tender of his patients, deeming it his duty as a man and physician to relieve pain in all cases not inconsistent with the rem- edy. He was equally regardless of popular prejudice and the dogmas of the schools ; was a man of ardent temperament, a Christian of strong devotional feelings and liberal sentiments, a lover of nature, of truth and of peace. He had three children, Cassius Francis, Rosamond Porter and John Norton. It is upon traditionery evidence said that the great-grandfather of Dr. Pomeroy came from France.
Dr. Cassius Francis Pomeroy was the eldest of three children of Dr. John and Mary Pomeroy. He was born in Cambridge, Vt., September 17, 1789, and died in Burlington March 22, 1813. In the spring of 1792 the family re- moved from Cambridge to Burlington, and for the summer and fall occupied a log cabin on the north side of Pearl street.
There was nothing remarkable in the early life of Dr. Cassius Pomeroy. His education commenced by the teachings of his mother, and thence through the ordinary forms and appliances of the district school in a new country. He was fitted for college partly under the instruction of Rev. Asa Lyon, of Grand Isle, who had a high reputation as a classical scholar and teacher, and was ad- mitted to the University of Vermont in 1802, at the age of thirteen years. He was the first pupil who commenced a course of preparation for admission into this college. He was graduated with honor in 1806. His father was so at- tached and devoted to his profession that he early fixed upon his eldest son to take his place and carry out his views and theories. The son acceded as well from choice as a sense of duty, and soon after the termination of his college course began and prosecuted the study of medicine and surgery. The large practice of his father, and his association with the other students in the office in dissection and attendance upon his father's public lectures, greatly promoted his progress. He gave good promise of eminence in his first essays in prac- tice, and successfully performed several capital operations in surgery. Deeming his education incomplete, however, without further opportunities afforded by the best medical schools in the country, he spent the fall and winter of 1812-13 in Philadelphia in attendance on the lectures of Dr. Rush, Casper Wistar and others, with great profit to himself and with tokens of the respect of his teachers.
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He returned about March I to enter into practice with his father, who was then overwhelmed with calls from the citizens and soldiers stationed here, suf- fering from that terrible scourge peripneumonia notha. Being in rather deli- cate health, the change of climate, excessive fatigue and exposure, were too severe for him, and in about three weeks after his return he fell a victim to the disease, which for the greater part of that time he had so fearlessly combated in others. His death was esteemed a great public loss, and it cast its dark and long shade over his father's remaining years.
Dr. Truman Powell was born May 30, 1776, and died February 23, 1841. He practiced in Essex a few years and afterwards in Burlington, where he had a large practice for many years. He was one of the earliest physicians of this town, being a cotemporary with Dr. John Pomeroy. He was a man of large stature and powerful physique, with great energy of character.
Dr. William Atwater was born in Cheshire, Conn., May 9, 1789. He was the son of Ambrose and Sarah (Tryon) Atwater, and was the youngest of a family of eleven children. His father removed with his family from Connecti- cut, first to Shelburne, and then to Burlington, Vt., about the year 1797, where he resided until his death at the advanced age of nearly ninety-two years. He was one of the most active founders of St. Paul's Church in Burlington, and presented to the society a valuable set of silver plate for the communion ser- vice, which they still use. In 1805 the subject of the present sketch became a student in the University of Vermont, receiving the following certificate of admission :
" BURLINGTONIAE, Augusti die Vicesimo, Anno Domini 1805. "In universitatem viridis montis, classe recentium Guilielmus Atwater alumnus admittatur.
" DANIEL C. SANDERS, Praeses."
He was graduated August 16, 1809, and at once began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. John Pomeroy, who was then in the prime of life, and doing an extensive practice in this and the adjoining towns. Dr. Atwater continued as a student with him the required period of three years, and was then exam- ined before the third Medical Society of Vermont, and was granted a diploma by the officers of the society entitling him to practice medicine and surgery. After receiving his diploma he remained for a time in the office of Dr. Pomeroy, practicing with him, and enjoying in a high degree his confidence and the bene- fits of his large practice. In 1816 he was elected surgeon of the squadron of cavalry in the second brigade and third division of the militia of the State of Vermont, and commissioned by Governor Jonas Galusha, and held the office until 1820. Dr. Atwater remained in Burlington practicing medicine until about the year 1818, when he removed to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he was married to Delia Wetmore June 20, 1820. He practiced in that county until 1829, when he returned with his family to Burlington, and resided here until his death, July 27, 1853. During his long professional career of forty years he had the confidence of the people with whom he lived, and especially
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during his last residence in Burlington, a period of twenty-four years, he re- ceived the patronage of the people of this town and those adjoining to as great an extent as could be desired. The honorary degree of M.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Vermont in 1844. As a man Dr. Atwater was modest and unassuming in his manners, and scrupulously honest in all his dealings. As a physician he was uniformly courteous and honorable in his prefession; never striving to be a rival, and always on friendly terms with his professional brethren. He was a safe and judicious practitioner, beloved by his patients for his affectionate attention, and manifest sincere desire for their recovery, attentive equally to the poor and the rich, answering the calls of all, regardless of the pecuniary reward or his own convenience or comfort. He was eminently fitted by his Christian character and professional skill to be a family physician in the best sense of the term. Fathers and mothers freely gave him their confidence, and entrusted to him their most delicate family secrets, with- out fear of ridicule or exposure. At the time of his death he left one daughter and five sons, one only of whom, Dr. H. H. Atwater, still resides in Burling- ton. Two of his brothers, Phineas and Thomas, were long residents of this town. His eldest sister was the wife of Captain Thadeus Tuttle, also a resi- dent here for many years.
Dr. Thomas Chamberlain was born in Topsham, Vt., September 23, 1792, and began the practice of his profession in Fairfield, Vt., about 1820. In 1825 he removed to Burlington and resided here until his death, November 29, 1854. In 1822 he was married to Orissa Willmarth Barlow, who died March 24, 1825. They had one child, Orissa Barlow Chamberlain. In 1828 he was married again to Nancy Hyde Corning, who died September 4, 1854. They had one child, Cornelia Van Ness Chamberlain. Dr. Chamberlain had a good practice in Burlington until he retired about 1840.
Dr. Robert Moody was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1801. He was educated and graduated at the University of Edinburgh. In 1824 he came to this country, and practiced medicine sucessfully in Burlington until his death, October 17, 1841.
Dr. Benjamin Lincoln was born in Dennysville, Me., in 1802. He was the son of Hon. Theodore Lincoln, and grandson of Major-General Benjamin Lin- coln of the American Revolution. He was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1823. He studied medicine with Dr. Lemuel Shattuck, of Boston, and en- tered upon the practice of his profession in 1827. In 1828 he delivered a course of lectures on anatomy and physiology at the University of Vermont with such éclat that he was elected professor of anatomy and surgery the next year, which chair he held with increasing satisfaction until the last year of his life. Although in feeble health, he continued his medical practice in Burling- ton and vicinity with marked success, and rapidly advanced in professional reputation. On the retirement of Dr. John Dean Wells in 1830, he supplied
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his place as lecturer on anatomy and surgery at Bowdoin College for that sea- son, and the next year succeeded him as lecturer in the University of Mary- land. Dr. Lincoln returned to the paternal roof in Dennysville, Me., and there died February 26, 1835. Although the events of Dr. Lincoln's life were few, yet his talents, benevolence, activity, and professional attainments, joined with an unwavering devotion to science, gave him a hold upon the public mind where he lived, which was permanent and of an elevated character.
Dr. Joseph Marsh practiced in Burlington a few years and died in 1846, at the early age of about thirty years. He received his education and degree of M. D. at Dartmouth College in 1830. He was professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the medical department of the University of Vermont, from 1835 until 1841. He was a man of fine culture and brilliant talents, and would doubtless have taken high rank in his profession had he lived to mature age.
Dr. Bernard f. Heineberg was born November 24, 1809, at Breckel, in the province of Westphalia, Prussia. After sixteen years' training in the prepara- tory schools, and in the Universities of Bonn and Göttingen, he received the degree of M. D., from the latter university. He came to Burlington to reside July 4, 1834, and was in active practice here about twenty years. The hon- orary degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Vermont, in 1835. He died in Burlington, July 2, 1878. The medical and surgical practice of Dr. Heineberg was characterized by quick decision and boldness.
Dr. Horace Hatch was born in Tunbridge, Vt., May 13, 1788. He was graduated and received his degree of A. B. in 1814, and that of M. D. in 1817, at Dartmouth College. He practiced medicine at Norwich, Vt., twenty years, when he removed to Burlington and practiced here twenty-four years, retiring from active practice in 1854. In 1864 he went to New York city, where he lived with his son-in-law, Hon. L. E. Chittenden, until his death, October 17, 1872. He was a well-educated and skillful physician, a gentleman of culture and refinement, and a kind-hearted Christian man.
Dr. Leonard Marsh was born in Queeche, Vt., in 1800, and died in Bur- lington, in 1870. He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1827, studied medicine in New York city with Dr. Valentine Mott, and took his degree of M. D. at the same college in 1832. He practiced in Hartford, Vt., until 1840 when he came to Burlington to reside. He retired from active practice in 1855, when he was appointed professor of the Greek and Latin languages in the University of Vermont, and held this chair until 1857, when he was ap- pointed professor of vegetable and animal physiology in the same university, and occupied this position until his death.
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