USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 84
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disbandment of the state troops. As long as the struggle lasted he was at his post of duty, and when the veterans returned to their homes he was among the most conspicuous of those who contin- ued to look after their welfare, and to care for the widows and orphans of those whose lives had gone out while engaged in the struggle to perpet- uate the Union. He was one of the originators of the idea of establishing a soldier's home in Mil- waukee, and aided the local movement which re- sulted in laying the foundation of the institution, with all the resources at his command. When the government was induced to take hold of it, and it became a national institution, he became one of the managers under government auspices, and up to the time of his death was recognized throughout the state as one of the ablest and most influential of the Home officials.
In caring for the insane of the state, that is to say in developing and building up the hospitals for insane, he was also exceedingly active, and was long identified with these institutions in an official capacity. The cause of higher education found in him a steadfast friend. For many years he was a regent of the State University, and as physician, surgeon, citizen and patriot, he will live in the memory of the people of Wisconsin.
A more impressive and interesting personality than that of Dr. Wolcott has never been known in Milwaukee or Wisconsin. A splendid specimen of physical manhood, his military bearing and courtly manners attracted attention in any com- pany, and his face and form were familiarly known in every part of the state. Among the men and women who have grown up in Milwau- kee it would be hard to find one who did not re- member Dr. Wolcott as he appeared upon the streets, or upon numerons public occasions. They were accustomed to seeing him ride much on horseback, and his striking appearance as he rode about the city is still a subject of remark. A thorough sportsman, he enjoyed frequent hunting trips through the Northwest, and up to the end of his life took an active interest in field sports. In all the affairs of life, his influence was as com- manding as his presence. He was one of those men to whom people turn naturally for counsel and advice in times of excitement or distress, and in calming the passions of a mob or suppressing a riotous uprising, few men in Wisconsin have shown the same remarkable power. He was
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courageous to the point of absolute fearlessness, spirited in his utterances and action, and withal, full of tenderness, kindness and generosity, a man to be admired by all and loved by those who be- came intimately associated with him. He died January 5, 1880, and the obsequies were memor- able for the splendid testimonials to his worth and character, which came from all classes of people.
Dr. Wolcott was married in 1836 to Elizabeth J. Dousman, who died in 1860, leaving a son and daughter. In 1869 he married Laura J. Ross, the first woman physician in Milwaukee, of whose life and work a full account will be found else- where in this volume.
JOSEPH STADLER, M. D .- Among all those who have been identified with the medical profes- sion in Milwaukee, no one has had so interesting and eventful a career, in many respects, as Dr. Joseph Stadler, who died a few years since, after practicing many years in this city. He was born in Bavaria, February 19, 1813, and came of a good old Bavarian family. His father was an extensive manufacturer of glassware, who was noted locally for his benevolence and philanthropy, no less than for his thrift and enterprise as a man of affairs.
The son received his higher education in the University of Erlangen, Bavaria, and then took up the study of medicine, which he completed at the famous university of Pavia, in Italy. Soon after leaving the university at Pavia, he entered the Hospital of Florence, where he received the thorough and practical training which always constitutes so important a feature of the equip- ment of well educated German physicians. After practicing successfully for a time in that capacity, he went to Greece, where King Otho I., a Bava- rian prince, was at that time and for many years thereafter, the reigning monarch. Invited by the Greeks to occupy the throne, King Otho had called about him as ministers of state and other public officials, many of his countrymen, and among those who found favor with him was Dr. Stadler. Appointed surgeon general of his majesty's army he basked in the sunshine of royal favor for nearly five years, remaining most of that time in the re- nowned city of Athens, enjoying rare opportuni- ties for study and observation and living in the midst of environments peculiarly interesting in their character. He had knowledge, from per- sonal observation, of many of the incidents of a
chapter of history which has been of interest to the entire civilized world, and shared with other favorites of King Otho, the misfortunes resulting from a popular uprising of the native Greeks against the "office holding foreigners," as they termed the Germans. Com-
pelled to accede to the demands of his subjects in the matter of bestowing upon them official patron- age, the king allowed many of the Bavarians to be driven into exile, and Dr. Stadler shared the fate of his countrymen who were thus expatriated. For a year or more he was confined within the narrow limits of an outlying island, and then made his escape to Smyrna, in Asia Minor, where he again became the physician and favorite of one high in authority. Hamed Bey, who was at that time the Turkish governor general of Smyrna, attached him to his official staff as sur- geon, and the appointment was one which gave him great influence, prestige and patronage in the ancient city which for more than two thousand years has been the principal trading center of Asia Minor. Situated at the head of the Gulf of Smyrna, which extends into a mountain girdled valley, the city nestles at the foot of a steep hill "crowned by the ruins of the ancient Greek Acropolis," which serves to remind modern visi- tors of its Greek origin. To have practiced his profession in a city founded seven hundred years before the beginning of the Christian era, the seat of one of the early apostlic churches mentioned in holy writ, and a center of trade and commerce in the days of the Roman Empire, is an unique experience for a modern physician and one long identified with the profession in Milwaukee, to have had. Such, however, was a chapter in the eventful career of Dr. Stadler. He was in. Smyrna in 1845 when an earthquake shock of unusual severity, destroyed a portion of the city, and in that catastrophe suffered the loss of nearly all his possessions. Immediately thereafter he left the city, and soon afterward sailed for the United States. Arriving in this country he came at once to Milwaukee and engaged in the practice of medicine, in which he continued to be active upto the date of his death.
In 1848 he had become fairly established as a practitioner in this city when the appeals for aid which came from New Orleans, at that time suffering from a visitation of yellow fever, aroused his sympathies and caused him to visit the
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stricken city, where he remained for a brief period to render medical assistance to the afflicted people and at the same time to make a study of the dread disease from which they were suffering. Continuing the practice of medicine in Milwaukee thereafter, he became widely known, and up to the time of his death, which occurred October 31, 1887, he had a large clientele, many of his pa- tients coming long distances to consult him.
A man of broad learning and fine professional attainments, he was remarkable also for his linguis- tic accomplishments and the general knowledge which he had obtained from extensive travel. He spoke fluently nine different languages, the Turk- ish and modern Greek being two of the languages with which he was thoroughly familiar. His travels had also extended to many countries, Egypt, Asia Minor, Cuba and South America being lands which he had visited, in addition to the countries of Europe.
A Catholic in his religious faith Dr. Stadler adhered always to the teachings of that church. His first visit to the Southern states, in 1848, im- pressed him with the view that slavery was a monstrous evil, and when a party was organized which proposed its abolition, he became a member of that party. When the Republican party came into existence he identified himself with that or- ganization and continued to the end of his life a firm believer in its principles and policies.
Ile was married, in 1846, to Miss Sarah Melissa Hudson, who was born in Whitesborough, New York, and came with her parents to Milwaukee in 1845. Mrs. Stadler survives her husband and still resides in the city.
ENOCHI CHASE, M. D., was one of the most interesting pioneers of 1835. Ile joined his brother Horace in Milwaukee in the spring of that year in accordance with an arrangement entered into the preceding fall. Born in Derby, Vermont, January 16, 1809, he may be said to have been a pioneer from childhood to mature manhood. As related in a preceding chapter in sketching the life of his brother, Horace, the stock of which he came was Puritan, and among its representatives in America have been such illustrious characters as Bishop Philander Chase, Salmon P. Chase and others.
Brought up on a farm, Enoch Chase attended the district school two summers before he was seven years of age, and after that during the win-
ter months only until he was fourteen years of age. At the age of eight years he began to work in the fields as steadily as a man, but when sixteen years of age he received an accidental injury for- ever disqualifying him for heavy physical labor, and the following year commenced the study of Latin and mathematics preparatory to a profes- sional life. Two years later he commenced the study of medicine, attending lectures at Bowdoin College in Maine, and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, graduating from the last named insti- tution in June of 1831, with high honors. Each winter while reading medicine, he taught school in Canada. Immediately after his graduation, receiving a letter giving flattering accounts of Chicago, from one of the soldiers composing the garrison at Fort Dearborn, he determined to mi- grate to the far off Western town. When he arrived in Coldwater, Michigan, he found his purse empty, and therefore from sheer necessity was compelled to locate there for the time being, and commence the practice of his profession. He had brought a stock of drugs and medicines with him, and soon had a large practice which was fairly remunerative. There was no other physician within a radius of forty miles, and Dr. Chase was obliged to ride sometimes as far as a hundred miles in twenty-four hours, fever and ague being the com- mon, "if not " the universal affliction. While at Coldwater he was commissioned adjutant of mili- tia, August 16, 1831, soon after his arrival, and the next year was ordered out to help suppress the Sauk War, but was only called upon to do guard duty. For this service he received the full pay of an adjutant and a warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land.
In 1834 he decided to leave Coldwater, and journeyed to Chicago to meet his brother, Horace. The result of their interview was that they con- cluded to locate in Milwaukee instead of Chicago. lIorace came here and made land claims for both in the fall of 1834, and on the 9th of the follow- ing April Dr. Chase became a resident of the town with which he continued to be identified to the end of his life. lle came with a team and lumber wagon, and the first night after his arrival here slept on the ground, and in White & Evans' store the second night. He at once selected what became known as "Chase's Point," at the mouth of the river, and erected a log cabin thereon, sleeping in the shanty of Horace Chase near by
Enoch Chase
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while building his domicile. After completing a log house Dr. Chase went to Coldwater for his wife, and the two returned to Milwaukee, May 27, 1835. Mrs. Chase, who died in 1837, was the first Anglo-Saxon woman on the "South side," and the third in the county. After a time he sold his original "land claim" and purchased, at five dol- lars per acre, the quarter section on the south side of Lincoln avenue, on which he resided until his death, having owned his homestead fifty-nine years.
In all matters of public moment Dr. Chase took an active interest, and he held many important and responsible positions, official and otherwise. He was a member of the "Judiciary Committee" of the famous "Claimants' Uuion," was elected to the assembly in 1849, re-elected in 1850, 1851 and 1853, and again in 1870. In 1880 he estab. lished the Chase Valley Glass Works, of which he was the sole owner, the establishment being the only one at that time in Wisconsin.
Among other industries which he brought into ex- istence was the extensive Chase Valley Brickyards in 1876 the largest in the city. Associated with him in this enterprise were his two sons, George W. and Clarence, and later it passed under the con- trol of Clifford Chase, the third son, who manu- factures twenty millions of brick annually and employs one hundred and fifty men. Dr. Chase also made the extensive improvement on the Kin- nickinnic river known as "Chase's slip," and the long line of docks which he constructed have con- tributed materially to the navigation and com- mercial interests of the city.
In 1882 he was called from his retirement, and again served the people of Milwaukee in an official capacity, being at that time elected to the state senate of which body he was an honored and influ- ential member. In politics he was a Democrat of the Jacksonian school, and in personal character- istics he was not unlike the " patron saint of Democracy." A man of indomitable will, tireless energy and great force of character, he had exec- utive ability of a high order and was one of the most useful as well as one of the most conspicu- ous citizens of Milwaukee. He was a Unitarian in his religious affiliations.
In his young manhood he was married to Miss Julia Ellsworth of Otsego county, New York, who died in 1837, leaving an only daughter, who now resides in Vermont. He was married again
to Miss Nancy M. Bromley of New York, and of this union ten children were born, four of whom are now (1894) living. Mrs. Chase, who survives her husband, still resides in the old homestead in which her husband died, August 23, 1892.
CHAUNCEY C. ROBINSON, M. D., came to Milwaukee in 1850, and for many years prior to his retirement was one of the most active and suc- cessful practitioners in the city.
Dr. Robinson was born in Bath, New York, January 14, 1821, and comes of New England ancestry. His father was Clark Robinson, a native of Vermont, who in his young manhood knew those famous characters Ethan Allen and Gen. Stark, and greatly admired the revolutionary heroes. He was a school teacher in early life and later a prosperous farmer in Steuben county, New York, a man of character, intelligence and local prominence. The mother of Dr. Robinson was Celinda (Sprague) Robinson, a woman noted for her tact, executive ability and womanly graces.
From this parentage he inherited an active and robust constitution, but an accident which hap- pened to him in his early boyhood impaired his health and had much to do with shaping the course of his life thereafter. Brought up on a farm his in- dustrial training was thorough and he acquired the rudiments of an education in the country schools. When it became apparent to him that the hard labor of the farm was not suited to his physical condition, he determined to fit himself for profes- sional life and reached the conclusion that in the practice of medicine he should find the work to which he was best adapted. He accordingly entered upon a course of self education, to which he devoted himself with enthusiastic zeal and never flagging energy.
Being dependent upon his own resources entirely for the means of acquiring an education, he taught school in winter and worked on the farm in the summer, which made his progress somewhat slow and difficult. He clung to his purpose tenaciously, however, and in 1840 began the study of medicine with Dr. Abijah B. Case, who having begun life himself as a " bound boy," was in hearty sympathy with the aims and purposes of his young student.
Dr. Robinson was the seventy-seventh student to graduate from Dr. Case's office, and after at- tending a course of lectures at Geneva Medical College and receiving a certificate entitling him to begin the practice, he went to Warren, Hunt-
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ington county, Indiana, where he opened an office in 1843. After practicing there one year he re- moved to Angola, Steuben county, Indiana, where he practiced four years very successfully.
Not yet satisfied with his educational acquire- ments he returned to New York state to attend another course of lectures at Geneva Medical College, and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1849, one of his classmates being Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, one of the first women to graduate from a medical college in this country.
As a student at Geneva Dr. Robinson had been held in high esteem by the faculty, and had es- pecially endeared himself to Dr. Thomas Spencer, founder of the college. Dr. Spencer having been elected to the professorship of theory and practice in Rush Medical College of Chicago, he and Dr. Robinson concluded to make a tour of the " West " together, and after visiting several Western cities, they decided to locate in Milwaukee. Forming a partnership, they began practicing here in 1850, and the age, experience and fame of the elder physician coupled with the skill and activity of the younger made this professional combination a strong one. In 1850 the cholera visited Milwau- kee, and having had experience with the dread disease in Indiana, Dr. Robinson rendered valua- ble services to the community at that time and gained a firm hold upon popular favor. A year later, his partner, Dr. Spencer, left Milwaukee on account of failing health, returning to Philadel- phia, where he shortly afterward died. Dr. Rob- inson continued to practice alone and soon became recognized both by his fellow practitioners and the general public as one of the leading physicians of the city.
During the war he rendered valuable services to the government as an examining surgeon, and also spent some time at the front as an extra sur- geon sent out under the auspices of the state gov- ernment. Always a loyal and patriotic citizen, he has affiliated with the Republican party since its organization, but has never been active in politics in the sense of seeking any sort of political prefer- ment.
Successful as a physician, he has been equally successful as a business man and financier, and the reward of his sagacious management of his affairs and judicious investments has been the acquisition of a comfortable fortune which enabled
him to retire from practice while still a compara- tively young man.
Married in 1842, in Howard, Steuben county, New York, to Miss Mary E. Alexander, daughter of John H. Alexander, of that place, he celebrated, in 1892, the fiftieth anniversary of his union with a woman who has made his home an ideal one, whose charitable and benevolent deeds have endeared her to all classes of people, and whose womanly graces have attracted to her a devoted circle of friends.
ALFRED W. GRAY, M. D., was born in Sher- burne, New York, April 15, 1802. His father was John Gray, a pioneer from Massachusetts, to New York state in 1793, where he became identified with business interests and later in life was selected by both political parties as an associate judge, a tribute to his integrity and worth. John Gray was the son of the John Gray who enlisted as a revolutionary soldier when only fourteen years of age, serving in the war for independence in Col. Willetts command on the Western frontier of Massachusetts until the cessation of hostilities. The Gray family was of Scotch descent and settled near Salen, Massa- chusetts, about 1622.
Alfred W. Gray spent his boyhood in Chenango county, New York, obtaining his education in the public schools. Manifesting a decided preference for study, he was taken into the office of a physi- cian and began reading for his profession, and he remained there four years. He subsequently passed the examination of the Board of Censors of the Chenango County Medical Society receiv- ing from them a license to practice and soon began his medical career in Sacketts Harbor, New York, where he subsequently married Miss Valeria Elizabeth Dodd in 1823.
At the time when the Erie canal was being built the state militia was employed for various purposes, and Dr. Gray received from Gov. De Witt Clinton, a commission as surgeon in the New York State Militia and he retained his posi- tion for some years during the construction of the canal, afterward resuming his profession in Jamestown, New York, where for some years he continued to practice. Dr. Gray had long consid- ered the propriety of removing to the West, when in 1856 a former student of his, Dr. D. T. Brown, returned to his home in the East for a visit, having for some time been a resident of Milwaukee. His
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enthusiasm for the new place and for Western life in general, thoroughly determined Dr. Gray and he decided to make the move at once, and arrived in Milwaukee in 1856. The change was not made without considerable sacrifice, for while in Jamestown Dr. Gray had devoted much time to surgery, acquiring a fine reputation throughout that region as a skilfull operator. His most important surgical operation was the re- moval of an ovarian tumor, the first of the kind ever performed in that section of the country. He had the assistance of one medical student, and it should be borne in mind that this operation was then attempted only by the boldest surgeons, and at a time when chloroform or ether were not in common use. The doctor, who was a devout Christian, in speaking afterward about the novel experience, said that he approached it with serious doubts about the issue, "but after prayer with the patient, I became as steady as a rock." The reputation thus acquired made him the foremost surgeon in that part of the state. Dr. Gray began his practice as a member of the regular or alopathic school of medicine, but was influenced to change by his brother the celebrated homoeopathic physician, Dr. John F. Gray of New York city; Dr. Gray visited his brother in Jamestown at a time when there was a fatal epidemic of scarlet fever. After much dis- cussion as to the merits of the prevailing schools, it was finally agreed that each should treat an equal number of cases of this disease and see which was most successful. The methods pursued by Dr. John F. Gray gave the best results, and this test induced Dr. Alfred Gray to follow the system of his distinguished brother, and shook his faith in the then prevalent practice of the "Old School." This incident prompted Dr. A. W. Gray to make more thorough investigations, which resulted in the adoption of homoeopathic treatment, especially for young children. Dur- ing the continuance of his life he used the treatment which experience taught him to be the most successful, and his efforts for bet- ter methods ceased only with his career. Dr. Gray never abandoned wholly the practice of the regular school of medicine, nor did he find oc- casion to decry or condemn his old associates, then so often done by those who saw fit to change their beliefs, and which often led to much bitter discussion and partisanship. He used those reme-
dies which he found to do the most good, or which were followed by the least inconvenience, and although his conclusions often led him to dif- fer from the opinions of others, he would, when asked, state frankly the results obtained by him, but declined courteously any discussion of the subject beyond a brief statement of the facts as he believed them to be.
Dr. Gray was deliberate and painstaking; he did not reach conclusions quickly, nor did he per- mit fancies to control him; but having formed an opinion he maintained it conscientiously and with a pertinacity peculiar to the race from which he sprang. He was always ready to give respectful attention and consideration to the statements of any physician concerning the treatment of disease, but it required more than argument, it required scientific demonstration of the practical value of the statements made, before he would yield his individual judgment for that of others. This being done to his satisfaction, he at once acknowledged the value of the method and was prompt to give the author the praise due.
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