History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 46

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840

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Among the women who have achieved distinc- tion may be mentioned Mrs. Laura J. Ross Wol- cott, widow of the late Dr. E. B. Wolcott, who came to Milwaukee in 1857; although not a pio- neer in the city, she is a representative pioneer among women in the medical profession, being one of the first three women graduates of medi- cine in the United States. She had great difficulty in overcoming prejudices which hindered the ad- mission of women to practice, not only in study and collegiate course, but also in obtaining recog- nition as a physician, although duly qualified as such. At that time women physicians were de- nounced on general principles, and most frivolous arguments were advanced and urged as reasons why they could not and should not study or prac- tice medicine.

Being satisfied in her own mind of the justice and propriety of the course she had pursued, Dr. Ross applied for membership in the Milwaukee City Medical Society, and at once determined opposition was made, some of the members de- claring at the meetings of the society that the election to membership of Dr. Ross would be the death blow to the society, and that it could not survive with a " woman doctor " as a member. But the difficulty was how to prevent it. Dr. Ross was a duly qualified medical practitioner, posessing a diploma from a regularly incorporated medical college. She had made application for membership in the society as a physician, com- plying with the exact letter of the law.

There was only one objection-she was a woman. Her application for membership caused much discussion in and out of the society, and considerable ill-feeling was engendered in the debates, for she had some champions.

The ballot was deferred for a time, but the issne could not be evaded, and on January 21, 1869, a ballot was taken and Dr. Laura J. Ross was declared duly elected.

Dr. Ross was not met with cordiality by all the physicians of the city. The struggles of the pioneers who initiate great reforms or who at- tempt to broaden mental progress beyond pre- scribed limits, quite equal those who found new colonies or contend with the forces of nature, while the obloquy heaped upon them is anything but pleasant; and so Dr. Ross found it, but quiet attention to professional business, combined with undoubted skill and womanly tact, won friends for her and eventually brought success, not alone for herself, but for other women who were to follow here and elsewhere, and whose success has demonstrated so well their ability to properly discharge every duty required of a physician.

Among those who have followed Dr. Ross in this city are Drs. Harriet F. Sercombe, Sarah R. Munro, Julia P. Kelley and several others.

It is a matter no less of surprise than congratu- lation that the metropolis of the state should have had from its first settlement a class of physicians possessing such excellent qualifications and sturdy characteristics. With such represen- tatives to carry on the standard set up by the pio- neers the profession must continue to advance.

Joseph Handler

CHAPTER XXXV.

MEDICAL SOCIETIES AND MEDICAL EDUCATION.

BY WALTER KEMPSTER, M. D., AND SOLON MARKS, M. D.

T has ever been the tradition that where two or three doctors are gathered together there will be established a medical society. Such ap- pears to have been the case in Milwaukee, for it is said that in 1837, three years after the first physi- cian came, a medical society was organized, and Drs. Thomas J. Noyes, Sullivan Belknap, S. H. Green and W. P. Proudfit were members .* There is no record to be found of such an organization, and the only mention of it is contained in the sim- ple statement of its existence. A careful search of such records as are known fails to bring to light any other notice of such a society, although one of the physicians named by Buck (Dr. Proudfit), re- mained here for years and was an active member of later medical organizations, and a devout be- liever in maintaining the ethics of the profession.

The "Milwaukee City Medical Association"+ was organized in the summer of 1845, and ten physicians enrolled themselves as members. The officers were J. S. Hewitt, president; E. B. Wol- cott, vice-president; J. K. Bartlett, secretary, and J. B. Dousman, treasurer. The other members were J. P. Greves, F. Huebschman, James Johnson, E. S. Marsh, J. B. Selby, Jr., and T. M. Wilcox.

Sessions were held twice a month at the homes of the members, where, after reading medical papers and discussing such topics as would prop- erly come before such a body, social entertain- ment followed, and the old records clearly indi- cate that there was a happy blending of scientific, literary and social qualities.

In July, 1845, the "Milwaukee Medical Associa- tion" entered into an agreement with the city au- thorities to take charge of the "sick poor" for one year at a compensation of four hundred dollars, the work being assigned to the several members of the association. The next year there appears to have been some competition for this work, as in June, 1846, the City Council appointed Dr. Hub-

bell Loomis, city physician, at a salary less than the sum paid the previous year to the society, and that body ceased to attend the poor. It trans- pired that Dr. Loomis underbid the association and agreed to do the work for three hundred and fifty dollars; the actual drudgery he turned over to some one else, who, it seems, did not perform the duties satisfactorily and much complaint fol- lowed.

There was general dissatisfaction with this lat- ter arrangement, and in June, 1847, the Medical Association sent another proposition to the City Council, in which they agreed to attend the sick poor for one year for five hundred dollars, which included the medical over-sight of those who were sick at the alms-house. The proposition was promptly accepted by the City Council, and, as before, the work was divided among the members of the organization, two to attend at the alms- house, and two for each ward. It is noteworthy that in this year six members of the Medical Asso- ciation were selected who should constitute a "Board of Health," and the board was to serve without compensation. In December, 1847, a committee of the society was appointed to confer with the City Council and urge the passage of an ordinance requiring sextons, superintendents, or any other persons having charge of cemeteries or places set apart for burial of the dead, to furnish certificates of death to the proper authorities, and that such certificates should be furnished before permission was given for the interment. This measure was not then adopted, but the association kept up an agitation upon the subject, and the fol- lowing February the committee again urged the importance of the matter, and in March they suc- ceeded in overcoming the objections which had hitherto been urged, and an ordinance was passed . providing for this safeguard against concealment of crime.

Meantime the society increased its membership and exerted a salutary influence, as will be shown

* Buck's History of Milwaukee.

+ Unpublished Records Milwaukee Medical Association,

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later. In 1846 Drs. Azariah Blanchard, HI. M. Hard, J. F. Spalding, J. P. Whitney and F. A. Lnening were elected members of the Medical Association, and they adopted a code of ethics and a fee-bill. In 1847 the membership was increased by the election of Drs. Alfred Mercer, D. H. Shumway, H. Van Dusen and J. G. Wolcott, and the officers elected were E. S. Marsh, president; J. F. Spalding, vice-president, J. B. Selby, Jr., secretary, Alfred Mercer, corresponding sec- retary, and J. B. Dousman, treasurer; and a reso- lution was adopted, which subsequently became part of the constitution, that before any person could unite with the association he must satisfy the members that he was a graduate or a licenti- ate in medicine, and that satisfactory credentials must be produced. Furthermore, when any person came to Milwaukee who claimed to be a physician, and who did not within a certain time make vol- untary application for membership, he was first notified that there was a city medical association, and requested to join; failing to do so he was, after a proper time, considered as outside the pale of true fellowship and treated accordingly.

In January, 1848, the association adopted the "code of ethics" prescribed by the American Medical Association, and being thus fortified, if not authorized by this medical "bull," the hunt for heresy began.

The uprooting of heterodoxy has been the work of the "devout" since the acts of man were first recorded; and one of the old pamphleteers has pithily remarked, that all the orthodox have agreed upon one point, i. e., that a heretic should be burned; while burning doctors at the stake has not been much practiced since the day when Dr. Michael Servetus gave up the ghost in flame, still, heresy-hunting has been considered a sacred duty of the "fathers of medicine" no less than of the "fathers of the church."

Pierre Bayle, the skeptical philosopher, has said that theologians never bite but they take the piece out. Doctors may not have secured like triumphs, but the doctrine of homoeopathy has given up so many morsels that Hahnemann would hardly rec- ognize the remaining portion.

It appears from the records that Dr. H. M. Hard, one of the members of the society, had advertised his special fitness to cope with disease in one of the papers of the day; and he was requested to appear before the association and

render an account of his doings in this line. At the investigation which followed it was shown that not only was he not repentant, but he ac- tually attempted to justify himself, consequently he was expelled by a vote of the society ; later, Dr. H. Smith was expelled for consulting with Dr. Ilard after his expulsion, which was a trans- gression of the code of ethics and could not be tolerated.

During this year the Sisters of Mercy urged the association to appoint physicians to visit the sick in an infirmary they had built on what is now the southeast corner of Jackson and Oneida streets ; their request was immediately complied with and the following physicians, appointed March 16, 1848, to serve without compensation, one month each, during the year: Drs. J. B. Dousman, J. K. Bartlett, J. S. Hewitt, E. B. Wolcott, D. H. Shumway, James Johnson, J. P. Greves, J. B. Selby, Jr., J. F. Spalding, A. Blanch- ard, H. Smith, and J. C. Dowe, and they contin- ued to attend the infirmary for two or three years. Later, Dr. Johnson had charge of the in- firmary alone for a time, and he was succeeded by Dr. J. K. Bartlett. In March, 1848, Dr. J. S. Hewitt, who had previously been prominent in the councils of the association and who had at one time been its president, was cited to appear before that body to make answer to the charge of consulting with one Dr. Douglass, a homœopathist. In response the doctor declared that he had not consulted with the homœopath, but had conversed with him about the merits claimed by the follow- ers of Hahnemann for their method of practice. The explanation was satisfactory and Dr. Hewitt was exonerated. Later, however, it appears that the doctor was caught flagrante delicto, and at a meeting of the society held July 27, 1848, the feelings of the members were voiced by the adop- tion of a preamble and resolution of which the following is the first:

"WHEREAS, In the opinion of this association, homeopathy, whether viewed in theory or practice, in its sixth or sixth thousandth dilution, in its similia similibus curantur, or the 'howling' mania from a dose of ipecac, is but another evidence of the susceptibility of a portion of mankind to be 'pleased with a rattle and tickled with a straw,' embracing the shadow at the expense of truth and substance, entertaining and being entertained with the gilded glitter of mere moonshine while conscience, honor, dignity and delicacy are all sacrificed at the shrine of fraud and mammon."

The full resolution demanded the dismissal of Dr. Hewitt, and it was adopted with three dissenting

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votes; two of whom, Drs. Greves and Wilcox, soon after became homœopathists and were dismissed. Dr. J. K. Bartlett* in writing of those days in later years, after the excitement over the matter had long since subsided and the heresy hunters had lost zeal, states that much time of the society was "wasted" in the nnprofitable discussions about homœopathy, and speaks of some of the members who had been expelled as men "whose medical qualifications were quite limited, and who acted upon other qualities than professional merit to secure practice; who regarded their profession as a trade to be valued for its pecuniary results alone, and who were as destitute of any idea of profes- sional etiquette as they were of the honorable feelings of gentlemen." He speaks kindly of Dr. Hewitt who, "though an honest man, had but little medical education at the outset, and had received a license to practice from some county society in western New York; and what studies be pursued . afterward were rather theological than medical."+

In the records of the association for 1848, at a meeting held December 14th,¿ a curious bit of medical history is given. Dr. Spalding reported to the association the case of a man who had fis- tulous openings situated on either side of the epi- gastrium, and extending several inches beneath the skin and cellular tissues. The patient was a laboring man, and the case of six months' dura- tion. Various remedies, such as injections of a so- lution of nitrate of silver, dossils of lint saturated with the same, fomentations of bread and milk, " warm fresh beef and warm liver of a recently killed mutton, incisions with a knife, etc.," were resorted to, but in vain. The patient continued to grow worse, suffering at times excruciating pain. At length a daughter of the Emerald Isle, learned in the use of restoratives, heard of the sufferings of the man and visited him. Such was the persuasive power of her eloquence, that at last the doctor was induced to try her remedy, which is given as follows : " A young, fat puppy was killed, rapidly split through the spine, and ap- plied immediately to the wound. The application was followed by intense pain, and when removed it was found that forty worms, varying in length from half an inch to three inches, perfectly white

and round, were adhering to and greedily devour- ing the canine morsel. The second, third and fourth applications of this dog poultice were fol- lowed by similar results,so that eighty-three worms in all were removed. This treatment, alike novel and curious, was followed by immediate relief and the patient was quite restored to health."

At one of the meetings held this year, Dr. E. B. Wolcott read a paper advocating the use of the "starch bandage in the treatment of fractures." The doctor's interest in the society was marked by the recital of experiences met with from time to time, and in giving details of treatment, and discussing the changes noted in his cases, more than by the preparation of papers or essays. There was novelty and originality both in his operative procedure, and in departures from the routine methods. To this was largely due his success and reputation, and much has been lost to the profession because his impromptu re- marks were but briefly recorded.

In 1848 cholera appeared in this country, and was freely discussed at the sessions of the associa- tion. There is spread upon the minutes of the meeting held in January, 1849, a long letter writ- ten by Dr. James Johnson to Dr. Stone of New Orleans, where cholera had prevailed, requesting definite information concerning the disease and its treatment, based upon the experience of the physicians of that city. It does not appear that this polite request was replied to. After con- siderable discussion as to what should be done to check the growing apprehension of citizens, the as- sociation, with clear discrimination as to the exact meaning of terms, passed the following resolution : "Resolved, That no fact in medicine, in tlie opin- ion of this association, is more clearly determined than that the Asiatic cholera is not contagious, and any action on the part of the authorities which is based upon the supposition that it is so, and subjects the sick to any inconven- ience is, therefore, clearly unwarrantable and inhuman, and will not receive the sanction of any of its members." Upon this the ayes and nays were called, and the vote was unanimously aye. This resolution was passed for the purpose of set- ting forth their belief in the non-contagious char- acter of the disease, and that it was purely infec- tious, a fact which subsequent experience has so abundantly proven, but which in those days was doubted by many. Those who thus voted were

* Unpublished manuscript.

+ Unpublished manuscript of Dr. J. K. Bartlett.

# Unpublished Records of the Milwaukee Medical Associa- tion.

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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.

Drs. Dousman, Hard, Whitney, Dowe, Spalding, Marsh, Johnson, Garner, Blanchard, Barlowe, Bartlett, J. G. and E. B. Wolcott.

One of the features of the meetings of the Med- ical Association was the reading of an abstract showing the changes, advances, etc., in the medi- cal world as received in the new periodicals then printed, thus bringing to the attention of every member new facts. This association flourished from its organization until April, 1849, when for some reason interest in the meetings flagged and did not revive until March, 1855. In February, 1859, the name was changed to the " Milwaukee City Medical Society," and it had an active exist- ence until the breaking out of the war in 1861, but during the continuance of the rebellion it does not appear that meetings were held. In October, 1864, the association was re-animated and had a vigorous and useful life until 1870, when its sessions were again discontinued. In December, 1868, the records show that the name of Dr. Laura J. Ross (who was afterward married to Dr. E. B. Wolcott) was proposed for member- ship in the Milwaukee City Medical Society, but considerable opposition was made to her admis- sion. The following January a ballot was taken and Miss Ross was admitted, and at the meeting held February 4, 1869, the doctor was present; she was the first woman made a member of a med- ical society in Milwaukee. Dr. Odelia Blinn, who has since earned so creditable a reputation in Chicago, was an unsuccessful applicant for mem- bership; later, Mrs. Dr. S. E. Zandt was admitted.

Meantime the "Medico Chirurgical Club" was organized in July, 1851, at the home of Dr. J. K. Bartlett. The first officers were Drs. Thomas Spencer, president; T. II. Brown, vice-president; J. K. Bartlett, secretary, and J. B. Dousman, treasurer. A proposition was submitted at its first meeting for the club to take medical over- sight of the poor of the county, and the sum of six hundred dollars was offered by the county officials for the work. The proposition met with favor, and a contract was made, and those ap- pointed to look after the sick poor for the year were Drs. Spencer and Brown to attend at the alms-house; for the First ward, Dr. Donsman; Second ward, Dr. Selby; Third ward, Dr. John- son; Fourth ward, Dr. Garner, and Fifth ward, Dr. Bartlett. At a meeting of the club held February 11, 1851, the president, Dr. Spencer,

addressed the members upon the topic of "Vital Chemistry," on which subject he had published a book in 1845. The last meeting of this club appears to have been held February 1, 1853. In December, 1869, another medical society was formed, and named the "Milwaukee Medical and Surgical Club," and this association had an active existence until February, 1872, the name, how- ever, being changed in January, 1871, to the "Milwaukee Medical Society." From February, 1872, until April, 1876, the club rested from its labors, then after this period of hibernation it shook off its lethargy and remained active until February, 1879, when, by a vote of its members, it was discontinued. The "Milwaukee Free Dis- pensary Association" was opened July 16, 1879, by Drs. Darius Mason, Williamson, Marden, E. W. Bartlett, Bristol and Robbins, the object being to open a free dispensary for the treat- ment of the sick poor; rooms were obtained, work commenced, and it was successful for a time, but ceased to exist in January, 1880.

In January, 1886, "The Clinical Club" was organized with James Dorland, president. Each session of the club began with a regulation dinner -giving it thus a social character-at which all members were expected to be present, the mem- bership at first being limited to fifteen. At a session held November 9, 1886, the name of the society was changed to the "Bartlett Clinical Club," in honor of Dr. John K. Bartlett who had first suggested its formation and under this title it was incorporated. The records of the club show that much useful work was done by its members, and the interest in its meetings was sustained; but the spirit of change prevailed and in January, 1887, the "Milwaukee Medical Society" was insti- tuted pursuant to the laws of the state of Wiscon- sin, and the " Bartlett Clinical Club" came to an end. The "Milwaukee Medical Society " meets twice a month. It maintains a good library, a reading room in which a large number of Ameri- can and foreign journals are kept on file for the use of its members, and a laboratory for preparing and keeping pathological specimens.

In April, 1850, an effort was made by the physi- cians of the city to organize a medical college under the charter of the State University. Dr. E. B. Wolcott was elected president ; Hon. A. D. Smith, secretary and Eliphalet Cramer, Esq., treasurer; and the members of the faculty appointed were

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MEDICAL SOCIETIES AND MEDICAL EDUCATION.

Dr. E. B. Wolcott, professor of surgery ; Dr. J. P. Whitney, professor of the institutes of medicine, and A. D. Smith, professor of medical jurisprud- ence. A number of meetings and consultations were held, but the college was not then estab- lished. In June, 1868, a special meeting of the Milwaukee City Medical Society was called for the purpose of conferring with Hon. E. Salomon, one of the regents of the state university, to con- sider the practicability of founding a medical col- lege in Milwaukee; the degrees to be conferred by the university of which the college was to be a part. After consultation, a committee was appointed to consider the subject and report. Dr. James Johnson was chairman of the committee, and at a meeting of the association held January 7, 1869, Dr. Johnson reported that in view of the pecuniary assistance likely to be required, as well as many other considerations, the committee were led to decide that any present action would be premature.

In relating the history of the several medical organizations it may not be inappropriate to men- tion the fact that on May 5, 1846, a meeting of physicians was called, to be held at the court- house, for the purpose of establishing a county medical society. The membership was recruited largely from the city physicians and Dr. E. S. Marsh was elected president; A. L. Castleman, vice-president; J. K. Bartlett, recording and cor- responding secretary; J. B. Selby, Jr., treasurer; and Drs. J. B. Dousman, James Johnson, and J. Graham were elected censors. In May, 1847, the county society was incorporated under existing territorial laws. Article VI. of the Constitution then adopted provided that "the censors should carefully and impartially examine all medical students who shall present themselves for that purpose," and it further provides that the presi- dent "may grant a diploma with the seal of the society attached. All licentiates were to be at least twenty-one years old, to have "a good Eng- lish education, have studied medicine at least three years with some respectable practitioner, and can produce satisfactory evidence of good moral character." The county society held semi- annual sessions until 1853, when it quietly laid down to rest and was undisturbed for the period of twenty-six years, when it awoke from its Rip Van Winkle slumber in June, 1879. Nothing was done of moment, however, until November of that

year, when officers were elected and Drs. Solon Marks, Nicholas Senn, George E. Ladd, O. W. Wight and others became members, and the spirit of activity was aroused and meetings held twice a month. In December, 1880, Dr. Senn read a paper describing a surgical operation, and the record states that "the doctor is to be con- gratulated on being the first surgeon in the North- west to perform the operation." This society continued its activity and usefulness, many valua- ble papers being read and discussed until Decem- ber, 1885, when it once more passed into a state of repose and has not since been reanimated.

A careful perusal of the records left by some of the medical associations indicates that the lethal potion which has ended so many of them, has been the interminable discussions concerning the "Code of Ethics and Fee-Bill," or matters of an unscientific character; and the efforts made to discipline the members who failed to comply with the exact letter of the law. Indeed actual non- compliance does not appear to have been necessary. When one member felt aggrieved at another it was the custom for him to make a complaint to the association ; an inquiry was held, the member charged was hailed before the tribunal, and uncharitableness engendered by the disputes which followed. Some of the best known and most valuable members of the profession in Milwaukee have been at one time or another charged with "unprofessional conduct," or a breach of some article contained in the "Code of Ethics," and the time of the societies swallowed in unseemly wrangles over points which were generally with- drawn, or else received the Scotch verdict, " not proven." The results were almost always disas- trous, frequently causing a disruption which ended the usefulness, if not the life of the association.

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History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 46

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co Number of Pages: 840

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840