History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 61

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 61
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 61

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

she exressed it, "device and yarb drink." She was an excellent nurse, and even after there were regular surgeons of the army stationed at Fort Crawford, Mary Ann continued to practice among the inhabitants. Whether they em- ployed her because they had more faith in her skill, or because they could pay her with more ease, as she took her pay in the produce of the country, but was not very modest in her charges, I cannot with certainty state; and frequently after the army physician had attended a patient a long time, who perhaps for want of good nursing could not be enred, Mary Ann would take the patient home with her, and by the force of good nursing and "yarb drink" restore him to health, so that we frequently joked the physician about Mary Ann's superior skill in the healing art. There are at this time many of her descendents residing at Prairie du Chien, who are generally as industrious and orderly in- habitants as any others."

B. C. Miller was the first resident physician edneated in the science of medicine, who prac- tieed in Crawford county. He was a native of New York State, from near Poughkeepsie, and settled in Prairie du Chien in 1837. Dr. Miller was a man of exemplary habits, and pos- sessed superior medical skill for those early days. He continued in practice in this county until his death, which occurred in 1845. Here- sided in that portion of Prairie du Chien known as "Lower Town," and died there.

Dr. S. S. Beach came to Prairie du Chien and located in the practice of medicine in 1843, be- ing then a young man. He pursued his pro-

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

fession in Crawford county about five years, and then moved to New Orleans. From there he went to California when the gold fever was raging in 1849. Returning from the Pacific coast he re-commenced practice in New Orleans, but removed to Atlanta, Ga., some years later, where, with the exception of a few months in 1864 spent in Indiana, he devoted his energies to the healing art until his death, which occur- red in December, 1879. Dr. Beach was ap- pointed physician to the government barracks in Atlanta in 1864, and filled that position until the barracks was disbanded. He was a man of extraordinary skill and attained a high rank in his profession.

Jeremiah Day moved from Grant Co., Wis., about 1845 and located in Prairie du Chien. He was an able physician and conducted quite a large practice during the four or five years he remained there. He removed to St. Paul, where he died some years later.

E. P. Wood came to Prairie du Chien about 1850, and settled down to practice medicine, and also conducted a small drug store. He re- mained some six or seven years, then went off south.

Alonzo Benediet was a native of Troy, N. Y., and was born Oct. 6, 1814. He obtained his edneation there and commenced the study of medicine. In 1834 he went to Wheeling, Va., where he completed his medical course and began the practice of his profession in 1836. The same year he married Martha Taylor and continued there in practice six years. He then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he spent nine years in active professional life. From there he returned to Wheeling, Va., but after a brief stay went to Nashville, Tenn. Being an abolitionist at heart, the institution of slavery was very obnoxious to him, hence his residence in Nashville was limited to a few months, when he came north and settled in Prairie du Chien in 1851. Here he labored in his pro- fession until his death which occurred on Feb. 25, 1864. Dr. Benedict possessed fair ability

as a physician, and being a splendid nurse he was quite successful in the treatment of disease, and commanded a large practice. He was an upright, pious gentleman, and was highly respected and esteemed as a citizen.

Dr. Joel Dart Jones was born at Middletown, Conn., Sept 16, 1818. In his family record is much of historie interest. His father, Joel Jones, was born at Hebron, Conn., May 14, 1792, and was married Sept. 13, 1815, to Miria Dart. He removed to Conneant, Ohio, in 1819. He was the sixth son of Capt. Samuel Jones, of Hebron, Conn., who was an officer in the French and Indian wars. He held two commissions under King George II, of England. Return- ing from the war, he settled in Hebron, and married Lydia Tarbox,by whom he had six sons and four daughters. Nine of the ten lived to years of maturity. Samuel, the eldest son, was a lawyer, and practiced his profession for many years at Stockbridge, Mass. From another brother descended the late Hon. Joel Jones, first president of Girard College, the late Sam- uel Jones, of Philadelphia, and Matthew Hale Jones, of Easton, Pa. From a third brother de- seended lon. Anson Jones, second president of the republic of Texas. The family is in pos- session of a letter written by Capt. Samuel Jones to his wife at Fort Edward, dated Aug. 18, 1758. One hundred and ten years previous to the date of that letter, his ancestor, Capt. John Jones, sat at Westminister, as one of the judges of King Charles I. Col. John Jones married Henrietta (Catherine), the second sister of Oliver Cromwell, in 1623, and was put to death, Oct. 17, 1660, on the restoration of King Charles II. His son, Hon. Wm. Jones, survived him, and one year before his father's death, was married to HIannah Eaton, then of the parish of St. Andrews, Holden, Epinton. He subsequently came over to "these American Colonies," with his father-in-law, the Hon. Theophilus Eaton, first governor of the colony of New Haven and Connecticut, where he oe- cupied the office of deputy governor for some

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

years, and died Oct. 17, 1706. The mother of Dr. Jones was born at Chatham, Conn., March 27, 1797,- is still living with him, and has nearly attained to the ripe old age of eighty- seven years. Dr. Jones was married at Prairie du Chien, June 15, 1854, to Josephine S. Bris- bois, daughter of Col. B. W. Brisbois. They have four children-Josephine M., widow of Victor Bertholet, and a resident of Prairie du Chien, Bernard Walter, a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ills., and in the em- ploy of the Penn Mining company, at Vulcan, Mich. Joel D., is a student at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, and Joseph R., a telegraph operator in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company at North McGregor, Ia. Dr. Jones took a regular course at the medical department of the Uni- versity of St. Louis, and graduated in March, 1851. lle settled in Prairie du Chien the same year, and began the practice of his profession with flattering prospects, and exceptional snc- cess. Possessed of a most happy and genial disposition, and thoroughly skilled in his pro- fession, he has won many warm friends that place him in the front rank of the leading phy- sicians of the State.

R. E. Glover came to Crawford county in 1855, not having yet attained his majority. He stud- ied medicine, and located at Belle Center about 1866, and continued in practice some ten years, then moved away, and is now living at Gran- ger, Mo.

Harry Fairbanks settled in Prairie du Chien in 1855, and remained there in practice until 1860 or 1861, then removed to Harper's Ferry, Iowa, where he died a few years later.

in New Bedford, Mass. In 1850 he began the study of medicine in the medical department of Howard university, and subsequently prose- ented his studies in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, from which he

graduated in 1853. Ile filled the position of house physician and surgeon in Randall's Island Hospi- tal, N. Y., in 1853-54. Coming west, he located in Prairie du Chien in 1856, and soon built up a fine medical practice. In September, 1862, he entered the army with a commission as surgeon of the 31st Wisconsin Volunteers. Early in 1864 he left the regiment and became surgeon of the en- rolling board of the third distriet of Wisconsin, and filled the office till the elose of the war, when he returned to Prairie du Chien and resumed practice, continuing until he removed to Mil- waukee in June, 1878, where he still resides and is doing a very extensive professional busi- ness. Dr. Mason is constitutionally adapted for the surgical branch of the medical profession, by his cool nerve, rare good judgment and in- ate genius for mechanics; and, as is usnal where nature especially qualifies a person for a given work, his tastes coincides with, and is an index of those qualifications and determines the choice of avocation, so it is with him; and he has devoted his energies largely to the study and practice of surgery, and has at- tained an eminence in his profession, unsnr- passed by any in this State, and equaled by few in the west. Added to his professional skill, Dr. Mason is a thorough gentleman, and is high- ly esteemed by all who know him.

J. J. Whitney located in Prairie du Chien in 1856, and practiced medicine in Crawford county two or three years. When the mining excite- ment at Pike's Peak was at its height he caught the gold fever, and went out there, remaining about two years. On his return to Wisconsin he engaged in work for the North western Mutual life insurance company until 1862, when he was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 18th reg-

Darius Mason, physician and surgeon, was born in Bristol county, Mass., April 1, 1830, and was educated chiefly at the Friend's Academy ; iment Wisconsin Volunteers, and served to the close of the war. He then settled in Indianap- olis, Ind., from whenee he returned to Prairie du Chien in 1867. In 1869 or 1870 he removed to Emmettsburg, Iowa, where he remained some ten years, then went to Dakota.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Dr. G. Morgan came from Indiana and located in the town of Haney, Crawford county, about 1856. He practiced medicine there a number of years, then removed to Nebraska, and has since died. Hle was born in the State of New York in 1839, and was a skillful physician of the alopathic school.

Dr. H. Brunner was a German by birth, and was educated for the medical profession in his native country. He emigrated to this country and settled in Prairie du Chien in 1857 or 1858. He was an able physician and a fine man, and had a large practice, especially among his own countrymen. After residing in the "prairie"about ten years, he removed to Iowa, practicing a short time in Lansing and in McGregor, then went to Fremont Neb., where he soon secured an exten- sive practice, and continued to do a large busi- ness until his death from Bright's disease, in 1881.

Charles St. Johns came to Prairie du Chien in 1858, and after practicing medicine a little over a year, he removed to Ohio; and it was rumored that he abandoned the pill bags for the pulpit.

B. D. Eastman was an Ohio man by birth, but he moved from Pecatonica, Ill., where he had been engaged in the practice of medicine, to Prairie du Chien in the fall of 1862. The last years of the war he served as a ward sur- geon in the Swift United States Hospital, sit- nated at Prairie du Chien. He was also a part- ner with Dr. John Conant in practice for a time. Dr. Eastman was an able physician and a thorough gentleman. Ilis usefulness was curtailed by physical debility from weak lungs. He died in Prairie du Chien in 1865.

John Conant, physician and surgeon, proprie- tor and manager of the Prairie du Chien Re- medial Institute, was born in Illinois near Chi- cago, Feb. 9, 1839. Ile received his literary education at Antioch college, Yellow Springs, Ohio, under the direction of Horace Mann, president. He began his medical studies at Chicago, took one course of lectures at the Rush

Medical college, and subsequently a regular course at the Chicago Medical College, from which he graduated in 1860, when twenty-one years of age. He began the practice of his profession at Pecatonica, Ill., and in 1863 was appointed as- sistant surgeon of the 45th regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the capture of Vicks- burg, he was assigned to old Fort Crawford as hospital surgeon. The fort hospital was a branch of the Swift United States General Hospital of Prairie du Chien, under the management of Dr. F. W. Kelley, surgeon in charge. Dr. Conant continued at his post till after the close of the war. He then located at Prairie du Chien and built up a very extensive practice. On the completion of the celebrated Prairie du Chien artesian well he opened the Remedial Institute. This establishment is fitted up with a view to the treatment and cure of chronic diseases, and comprises the use of the Turkish, Russian, and electric baths, also hot and cold mineral water baths. Practiced attendants are in charge, and the institution which is commodious and complete in its appointments, is conducted on the most ap- proved modern plan. A free use of the baths and of the mineral water is to produce a certain cure of rheumatism and all other chronic complaints. The hot air treatment has proved very beneficial to consumptive patients. The Institute is pa- tronized by people from nearly every State in the Union. Some who have failed to get relief at the llot Springs of Arkansas, have been treated here with marked success. Dr. Conant was married at Elyria, Lorain Co., Ohio, in 1861, to Ellen Groat. One child, a daughter, Louisa, was born of this marriage. Mrs. Conant died, and several years after Dr. Conant was married again in Prairie dn Chien, in February, 1872, to Amy Edwards, a native of London, England. They have one son, John H. Conant. Dr. Conant has been honored by his fellow citi- zens with the election to the office of mayor two terms.

Emil Steiger, physician and surgeon, was born in Switzerland, July 7, 1838, was educated at

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Zurich, Munich and Basel, and graduated from the medical college of Basel in the class of 1860. He soon afterward came to America and entered the federal army as assistant surgeon of the 39th New York Volunteer Infantry (Garibaldi Guards), and continued in the service till 1864. In 1865 he came to Prairie du Chien and en- tered upon the practice of his profession. Hle was married in that city, March15, 1870 to Mary E., daughter of John B. Plummer. Mrs. Steiger was born in England. Dr. Steiger has built up an extensive practice, and is counted among the leading members of his profession in western Wisconsin.

Frederick Jaeger, a native of Wurtemburg, Germany, studied medicine before coming over, and upon arriving in this country he first settled in the practice of his profession in Al- bany, N. Y. He afterwards removed to Wood- ville, Ohio, where he practiced many years, and came from there to Prairie du Chien in 1867. He only remained about one year, then went back to Ohio, settling in the town of Elmore, where he died in 1877.

Alexander F. Samnels, M. D., B. D., son of S. H. Samuels, was born Sept. 11, 1842, in New Orleans, La. When four years of age he removed with his parents to Memphis, Tenn., where he was educated. He attended lectures in medicine in the old Memphis Medical Col- lege, and at the breaking out of the war en- tered the hospitals as contract physician and served in both armies as such from Ohio to the gulf of Mexico. Ile graduated as M. D. from the University of Nashville, Tenn., in 1867. He is also a graduate of Nashotah Theologieal Seminary, of Wisconsin, and officiated for some years as an Episcopal clergyman. Dr. Samuels has practiced medicine in Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., and has traveled in nearly every State in the Union. He has officiated as clergy- man in Maine, Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Mississippi. He settled at Prairie du Chien, Wis., in 1875, and is now practicing medicine. He was married in October, 1881, to

Margaret E. Dietz, of La Crosse, Wis. They are the parents of one child.

J. S. Barry was an Irishman by nativity. He graduated with the degree of M. D. from Rush Medical College, Chicago, and located in Prairie du Chien in 1877 in the practice of his profes- sion. He moved from here to Vulcan, Mich., where he died in the summer of 1883.

L. C. Halsted, of Wanzeka, is a native of Genesee Co., N. Y., where he was born April 19, 1819. He received a common school edu- cation; began teaching at the age of seventeen; was engaged in teaching and farming till twenty- three years of age, when he began the study of medicine; attended lectures at Geneva Medical College, Geneva, N. Y., graduating in the class of 1843; spent several years in traveling after gradu- ation, after which he established himself as a phy- sician at Colesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y .; thence to Clarence Hollow, where he remained two years. In 1848 he came to this State and located at Wauwatosa, where he practiced his profession till 1854, when, his health failing he retired for a time from professional duties. Ile en- listed as a private in April 1861, in the 1st Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, for a period of three months. At the expiration of his three months' service he was appointed surgeon of the 7th Wisconsin Battery, in which capacity he served till the spring of 1864, when he resigned and soon after located at Wanzeka, where he has since resided. Ile engaged in other occupa- tions than the practice of medicine till 1875, when he returned to medical practice. Ile was married in the State of New York to Harriet Sawin, who died at Wauwatosa in 1856.

During the existence of Fort Crawford, there were a number of surgeons in charge succes- sively; but the most of them never mingled much among the citizens outside, and very little was known of them by the early settlers.

A Dr. Moore was surgeon in the fort a num- ber of years prior to 1840, in which year he died. Ile practiced some among the early set- tlers, and was a very skillful physician for

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those times. He erected a brick dwelling on the east side of south Church street, which still stands nearly opposite to what is now (1884) L. Case's residence.

It is a notable fact that Dr. William Beau- mont, in the United States army service was at one time located at Fort Crawford, and there conducted some of his experiments upon Alexis St. Martin, who was wounded at Michillimacki- nac, Mich., in 1822, resulting in a fistulous open- ing into the stomach, whereby the process of digestion could be observed; and some of these experiments were made at Fort Crawford. The subject of these experiments (Alexis St. Mar- tin) is still (1884) living; he resides at Oakdale, Mass.

Dr. Elwees succeeded Dr. Moore as surgeon in Fort Crawford, taking charge about 1840. He remained surgeon of the post until the 5th regiment went into the Mexican war, then went off with it.

There was also a Dr. Wood, who had surgi- cal charge of the fort for a time. Dr. Wood was a son-in-law of Col. Zachary Taylor. He had some practice outside the fort among the citizens.

Charles MeDougal came as surgeon to the military post of Fort Crawford, in the fall of 1841, and retained that position until the war with Mexico commenced, when he accompanied a regiment into the field. He was also a sur- geon in the late war, and attained considerable celebrity in that capacity.

In the last years of the war of the rebellion, a military hospital was established at Prairie du Chien, and named the Swift United States Hospital. The hospital comprised several wards, and at times contained a number of sick and wounded soldiers.

Dr. F. W. Kelly was surgeon in charge, and Dr. Baxter, Dr. B. D. Eastman, Dr. J. B. Carey, Dr. John Conant and Dr. Charles True, were ward surgeons.

Dr. Kelly remained in charge till late in the year 1865, when he went to Chicago, where he

has resided and practiced medicine up to the present time.

Dr. Baxter is a brother to Dr. J. H. Baxter, of Washington, D. C., medical purveyor of the United States army. He left here soon after the close of the war, and is now (1884) in Washington city.

Dr. Casey came here from Patch Grove, Grant Co., Wis., and when he severed his con- nection with the hospital, he returned there; but having asthmatie trouble, he went in search of a more agreeable climate to Salina, Kan., and leaving there, he finally located in Denver, Col., and engaged in practice, combining the drug business with it. He was an able physi- cian and a successful practitioner.

Dr. True studied medieine with Drs. Conant and Eastman, and after graduating, took charge of a hospital ward in the spring of 1865. After the hospital was wound up, he moved down into central Illinois, where he is still practicing medicine.

James Dinsdale, M. D., of Soldiers' Grove, was born in Yorkshire, England, November 18, 1848. He came to this country and to Wis- consin the following year. Mr. Dinsdale at- tended the State University of Wisconsin dur- ing the winters of 1867, 1868 and 1869. In the fall of 1871, he entered Lawrence University, at Appleton, Wis. He graduated from this institution in 1875. He studied medicine the three following years, ending by a graduation at Rush Medical college in the spring of 1878. He then settled at Soldier's Grove, where he at once entered upon the practice of his profes- sion and where he still resides.

The first physician to locate in the practice of medicine in the town of Utica, Crawford coun- ty, was Dr. Fredrick Corfu. Soon after him came Dr. Isaiah Roberts, who moved from Mount Sterling to Richland Center, where he died some time after. Dr. Frederick Corfu went into the army in 1862, as assistant surgeon in the 1st regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. After the war he returned and continued the

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

practice of his profession in that portion of Crawford county until 1881, and then removed to the village of Union, Hardin Co., Iowa. Hle was born in England in 1823, and was there educated. Dr. Corfu was an able and successful physician.

There was also Dr. F. J. Briggs, who resided in Mt. Sterling and practiced medicine a short time.

Dr. C. V. Porter, the only resident practicing physician in Utica, located at Mt. Sterling in 1881. He is a native of the State of Maine,

and was born in 1849; came to DeSoto, Vernon county, Wis., in 1871, and deciding to enter the medical profession, he graduated from the med- ical department of Michigan State University in 1875. Since which time he has been in ac- tive practice.

A number of other physicians have practiced at various times in Crawford county :- Simeon F. Huntington, in Freeman; Dr. Fredett, in Eastman; Dr. Ross, in the town of Scott; and Drs. Oviatt, Brand, Hammond and Wood in Prairie du Chien.

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IIISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXI.

PIONEER REMINISCENCES.

The tales of the olden time carry with them a charm that is entrancing. We delight to listen to the recital of those, who, in their youth and while yet the savages were numer- ous, braved the dangers of pioneer life and settled upon the border. The reminisences of the-e heroic men and women are always inter- esting to those who followed in their footsteps. We bespeak for the following narratives, the careful reading which their importance demands:

BY JOHN SIAW.

In the fall of 1815, I went up the Mississippi with a boat properly manned, on a trading voy- age. The Indian traders on the upper Missis- sippi, purchasing goods at St. Louis, were de- sirous of making payment by remitting lead from the mines on Fevre river, which they had received in trade from the Indians, and which was of their own smelting and manufacture from the mineral. This promised to open up a new field of trade and commerce; but the pro- cess of boating up the Mississippi at this period, was at times quite tedious. The boats were propelled up stream by means of poles and sails, and with favorable wind, 110 miles have been accomplished in a single day. From twelve days to a month were requisite for the voyage from St. Louis to Prairie du Chien, while the descending trip was made in from six to ten days.

I had conversed with Indians at the treaty at Portage des Sioux, and at St. Louis, about trad- ing with them, and asking their permission to build a saw-mill in their country, if I could find a suitable locality, as it was a pine region, and

pine lumber was then worth seventy dollars a thousand in St. Louis. I now started to carry out these views. At the place now called Belle- vue, in Iowa, about fifteen miles below Galena, and about six below the mouth of Fevre river, I stopped, and found a water-power, which I judged would fully answer my purpose. Here a small stream flow ed into the Mississippi, and somne thirty or forty rods above its mouth was a fine locality for a mill; and logs could be rafted down the Wisconsin, and other streams upon which the pine grew abundantly, as I had learned from traders and Indians in that quar- ter. The Indians had previously informed me, that if I should go up for such a purpose, I must obtain written permission of the govern- ment. I now had a regular license from Gov. Clark, the superintendent of Indian affairs, to trade with the Indians.

There were a few Indians then encamped at this Bellevue locality, and others collected while I remained, so that in all, there were 300 or 400 warriors, and many more squaws and children, assembled there. I soon discov- ered but little feeling of friendship on the part of the Indians towards the Americans. I had a talk with them, reminding them of their promises to me, and my wish to trade at that point, and erect a mill there. After I had dis- tributed presents during several days to the amount of $300 in value, and concluding that they had obtained all they could, they said they had been consulting about the matter, and de- clined to grant my request; that doubtless many whites would be soliciting similar favors and

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 61

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298