USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume I > Part 52
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Another physician who came to Milwaukee after the war, and who is still prominent in the medical circles of the city, is Dr. Walter Kempster. He was born in London, England, May 25, 1841, but came to this country in early childhood with his parents, who settled at Syracuse, N. Y., where he received an academic education and began the study of medicine. After serving in the New York volun- teers during the Civil war he graduated at the Long Island Medical College in 1864 and was appointed assistant surgeon in the United States army, where he served for one year. He was then connected with insane asylums in different parts of the country for about twenty years before locating in Milwaukee. From 1894 to 1898 he was city health commissioner ; has held the chair of mental diseases in the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons; is the author of several standard works, and has contributed articles on Insanity, Mental Hygiene, Jurisprudence, etc., to medical periodicals.
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WOMEN PHYSICIANS.
The first woman to practice medicine in the city of Milwaukee was Laura J. Ross, who later became the wife of Dr. E. B. Wolcott. She was born in a little New England town and was the youngest of a large family. With the determination to become a physician, she courageously faced the prejudice of the times and was one of the first three women in the United States to receive hospital instruction on the same basis and along the same lines as men, graduating with the degree of M. D. in 1856 and taking up her residence in Milwaukee the following year. A few of the resident physicians, among whom was the man she afterward married, gave her a cordial welcome, but the majority of them made her the object of much unfriendly and unmerited criticism. This opposition expressly manifested itself when she applied for membership in the Milwaukee City Medical Society. According to the rules of the society she was eligible-her moral char- acter was above suspicion, she was a duly qualified physician, possessed a diploma from a regularly established medical college, her applica- tion for admission had been made in conformity to the rules-but "she was a woman." In the discussion regarding her admission much bitterness was engendered, her champions insisting that she be. ad- mitted, but the majority were unalterably opposed to such a proceed- ing. Not caring to put themselves upon record by rejecting her merely upon the question of sex, this majority held the application off for some time, possibly hoping that she would become discouraged or offended and withdraw it, but such was not the case. Finally, a ballot was taken, the opposition weakened, and Dr. Laura J. Ross was elected a member of the society. Then she displayed her rare tact by not boasting of her victory. Even those who had most strenuously opposed her admission she treated with the utmost courtesy and con- sideration, went quietly along with her professional duties, making friends, not only for herself, but also for the other women who were to come after her as practitioners of the healing art.
Following Dr. Ross came Harriet F. Sercombe, Odelia Blinn, Mrs. S. E. Zandt, Sarah R. Munro, Julia Kelly and several others, all of whom have been received with more civility than was Miss Ross. Dr. Julia Ford, a graduate of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, was the first woman to practice medicine according to that system in Milwaukee. (See Homeopathy below.)
MEDICAL SOCIETIES.
In James S. Buck's History of Milwaukee (Vol. I, p. 180) occurs the following: "A medical society was also organized this year
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(1837), February 14th, at which Dr. Thomas J. Noyes was elected president ; Sullivan Belknap, vice-president; S. H. Green, secretary ; William P. Proudfit, treasurer." No records of such a society can be found, and the only statement concerning it is the quotation above given.
Early in the summer of 1845 ten physicians met and organized the "Milwaukee City Medical Association." Dr. J. S. Hewitt was elected president ; E. B. Wolcott, vice-president ; J. K. Bartlett, secre- tary; and J. B. Dousman, treasurer. The other members were J. P. Greves, James Johnson, E. S. Marsh, J. B. Selby, F. M. Wilcox and Francis Huebschmann. In July following the organization of the association it entered into an agreement with the city authorities to take charge of the sick poor and render them medical attention for a period of one year for $400, the members to divide the labor of attend- ance upon this class of patients. The next year Dr. Hubbell Loomis underbid the association, but in 1847 the contract was again awarded it, the consideration being fixed at $500. About the same time six members of the association were appointed as a "board of health," to serve without pay. Several new members were added in 1846 and 1847, and in January, 1848, the association adopted the code of ethics of the American Medical Association. This brought on a conflict between the "regular" physicians and the "liberals or heretics," home- opathy especially coming in for scathing criticism. Some members of the association suspected of entertaining favorable views regarding homeopathy were dismissed from the society, which may have been responsible in some degree for its decay, as its last meeting was held in April, 1849. However, in March, 1848, before its meetings were discontinued, the association, at the request of the Sisters of Mercy, appointed Drs. Dousman, Bartlett, Hewitt, Wolcott, Shumway, John- son, Greves, Selby, Blanchard, Smith and Dowe to attend the sick in the infirmary established by the sisters at the corner of Jackson and Oneida streets, and these doctors continued to visit this institution for about three years. In March, 1855, it was revived, the name was changed to the "Milwaukee City Medical Society" in February, 1859, but in 1861 it again lapsed into inactivity. In October, 1864, it was once more revived and meetings were held regularly until 1870 when it ceased to exist.
In March, 1864, a call was issued for a meeting of physicians for the purpose of organizing the "Milwaukee County Medical So- ciety." The organization was effected on May 5, 1846. when eighteen physicians-one-half of whom were residents of the city-met at the court house, adopted a constitution, and elected the following officers :
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E. S. Marsh, president ; A. L. Castleman, vice-president ; J. K. Bart- lett, secretary ; J. B. Selby, Jr., treasurer ; J. B. Dousman, James John- son and J. Graham, censors. The constitution provided that the cen- sors should "carefully and impartially examine all medical students who shall present themselves for that purpose," and that the president might grant a diploma, with the seal of the society attached, to all who successfully passed the examination, provided they were twenty- one years of age, had a good English education, and produced satisfac- tory evidence of good moral character. The sessions were held semi- annually until May 3, 1853, when it adjourned sine dic.
On June 4. 1879, a special meeting of the old members and other physicians was held to consider the advisability of reviving the society. Several new members were then admitted, but nothing more was done until Nov. II, the time for the annual meeting, when the re- organization was completed by the election of Dr. J. K. Bartlett, pres- ident ; Dr. Darius Mason, vice-president ; and Dr. E. W. Bartlett, sec- retary and treasurer. The revival of the County Society was doubtless due, to some extent at least, to the fact that another organization was about to occupy the field. The history of this rival organization-if it could properly be termed a rival-began in 1851, when seven physi- cians met at the home of Dr. J. K. Bartlett and organized the Medico- Chirurgical Club, of which Dr. Thomas Spencer was elected president ; Dr. T. H. Brown, vice-president ; J. K. Bartlett, secretary, and J. B. Dousman, treasurer. The following year it entered into a contract with the city to give medical attention to the poor for one year for $600. Under different names the club kept up an irregular existence until 1877, when, according to Flower's History of Milwaukee: "The name was changed to the 'Milwaukee Medical Society' and no further meetings were held until the winter of 1879-80, when it came together merely to disband upon the reorganization of the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the advantage gained by the change being that the society last named had and has a legal standing and recognition which entitle its members to sue and recover for services rendered, an im- portant regard in which the other associations were weighed in the balance and found wanting."
The Milwaukee County Medical Society took in several new mem- bers at the reorganization in November, 1879. and it held its meetings regularly until Dec. 8, 1885, when it again "passed into a state of re- pose." An attempt was made to resuscitate the society in January. 1887, but nothing was accomplished at that time. On Dec. 7. 1901, the secretary sent out notices for a meeting on Jan. 3. 1902, at which a complete reorganization took place and the society has since main-
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tained an active existence. The officers for 1908 were Dr. H. V. Ogden. president; Dr. W. H. Washburn, vice-president; Dr. A. W. Gray, secretary: Dr. Joseph Kahn, treasurer. The society is affiliated with the American and Wisconsin State Medical Associations and numbers about 300 members. It meets on the second Friday in each .month in the trustees' room of the Public Library building and at nearly every meeting a paper is read and discussed, touching some phase of professional work. Many of the papers thus read before the society have been published in the standard medical journals of the country. Among other important things in which the society has played a conspicuous part, was the establishment of the Blue Mound and South Side Tuberculosis Sanitariums, both of which originated with the tuberculosis commission of the society, which is appointed an- nually. Through this commission associations of laymen have been formed, an interest awakened, and the sanitariums have been the re- sult. Besides the general purpose of fostering good feeling and con- radeship among the members and promoting the interests of the pro- fession, the society is interested in securing legislation for the protec- tion of the public health and the introduction of better methods of pub- lic sanitation. In fact it and its members individually manifest a pro- gressive spirit along all lines that tend to make the environment of the citizen more elevating and life more enjoyable.
The Milwaukee Free Dispensary Association was opened on July 16. 1879, by Drs. Mason, Williamson, Marden, E. W. Bartlett, Bristol and Robbins. The aim of the association was to open and conduct a free dispensary for the benefit of the worthy poor people of the city. Suitable quarters were found and for a time the institution was suc- cessful, but the plan was abandoned in January, 1880.
In January, 1886, the "Clinical Club" was organized, with Dr. James Dorland as president. At first the membership was limited to fifteen, and at each session a dinner formed part of the program, thus giving the club a social as well as a professional side. On Nov. 9. 1886, the name was changed to the "Bartlett Clinical Club", in honor of Dr. J. K. Bartlett, who had first suggested its organization. The club lasted for about a year, but much interest in its meetings never flagged and much useful work was done by the members during its brief existence.
The "Milwaukee Medical Society" was organized on Jan. 10. 1887. and has maintained an unbroken existence from that day to the pres- ent time. Foremost among the founders of this society were Drs. Samuel W. French, A. B. Farnham. John A. McLeod. H. V. Ogden, F. E. Wałbridge, Leopold Schiller, W. H. Washburn, J. A. Bach and
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Louis Frank. The main objects of the society are to raise the standard of professional education; to promote interest in professional work, and to foster and encourage a fraternal spirit among physicians. With these ends in view it maintains a library of over 5,000 volumes of standard medical and scientific works and is a subscriber to all the lead- ing medical periodicals. This library is kept in the rooms of the so- ciety in the Goldsmith Building and is always open to members during business, visitors being welcome to visit it at any time. Physicians sometimes loan their private libraries to the collection and in a majority of such cases the books thus loaned become the property of the society. In this way two or more copies of the same author are often obtained and the duplicates are given to other libraries. An instance of this kind occurred just after the great earthquake and fire at San Francisco, Cal., in 1906, when a number of books were sent to the medical so- ciety of that city which lost all it possessed in the disaster. The Mil- waukee Medical Society also maintains a pathological museum, which contains several hundred interesting specimens representing operations performed by the members, etc. As an organized body it takes an ac- tive interest in all matters pertaining to public sanitation, especially in the inspection of the public schools. The officers in 1908 were : J. A. Bach, president ; George P. Barth, vice-president ; G. A. Carhart, sec- retary ; R. C. Brown, treasurer ; J. D. Madison, librarian ; Miss Kath- erine Farnham, assistant librarian. Miss Farnham is on duty every day during the regular hours and is always ready to assist any one in consulting the library. The regular meetings of the society are held in the rooms, 325 Goldsmith Building, on the second and fourth Tues- days of each month.
Closely related to the medical societies are the Odontological and Milwaukee Dental Societies, which were organized to further the in- terests of the dental profession. The former was organized on Aug. 25, 1878, with Dr. A. Holbrook, president; H. Enos, vice-president ; WV. A. Fricke, secretary ; B. G. Macrcklein, treasurer ; H. C. Faville. C. E. Babcock and J. C. Emmerling, executive committee. The mem- bership was small at first, but it has grown in numbers and importance until it now includes many of the leading dentists of the city. The officers in 1907 were C. W. Hall, president; J. J. Wright, vice-presi- dent ; Adolph Gropper, secretary and treasurer. The society meets on the second Tuesday in each month. The Milwaukee Dental Society, organized some time after the Odontological Society, meets on the first Tuesday in each month at the Plankinton House. The officers for 1907 were Adolph Gropper, president; W. A. Perkins, vice-pres- ident ; Zeno F. Meyer, secretary and treasurer.
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MEDICAL COLLEGES.
The first effort to establish a medical college in Milwaukee was in April, 1850, when a number of the physicians organized a college under the charter of the state university, Dr. E. B. Wolcott being elected president ; A. D. Smith, secretary ; Eliphalet Cramer, treasurer ; and the following members of the faculty were chosen : E. B. Wolcott, professor of surgery; J. P. Whitney, professor of the institutes of medicine: A. D. Smith, professor of medical jurisprudence. Several meetings were held, but the project was finally abandoned. Another attempt to organize a medical college in connection with the state uni- versity was made in June, 1868, when a special meeting of the Mil- waukee City Medical Association was called to confer with Edward Salomon, one of the regents of the university, on the question of estab- lishing a medical department, to be located in Milwaukee, the degrees to be conferred by the university. A committee was appointed, of which Dr. James Johnson was made chairman, to consider the subject and report to the association. On Jan. 7. 1869, Dr. Johnson, on behalf of the committee, reported that "in view of the pecuniary assistance likely to be required. as well as many other considerations, the com- mittee are led to decide that any present action would be premature." Thus ended the second endeavor to found a medical college which should be a part of the University of Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons was incorpo- rated in May, 1893, and opened the following October with forty-two students in attendance. In 1894 two of its students received the degree of M. D .- the first physicians to graduate at a Milwaukee medical college. At first the college was located at the corner of Walnut and Twenty-fifth streets, but in 1898 the building at the corner of Fourth street and Reservoir avenue was completed, and here the college has since had its home in a building especially designed and erected for the purpose, embracing the necessary lecture rooms, laboratories, etc., which go to form the equipment of a first class medical college. The institut- tion started with a capital stock of $1.500, which was increased from time to time until it amounted to $100,000. In 1906 the stockholders surrendered all their holdings to the trustees of the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons, so that the college enjoys the unique distinction of being an organization without capital stock. Formerly the college was owned by the members of the faculty-now each mem- ber of the faculty is engaged in teaching, and is more interested in the advancement of the students in his classes than in making his stock pay dividends. A dental department was opened in 1899, the year
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after the removal to the new building. This building is supplied with efficient chemical. pathology and bacteriology laboratories, the original equipment of which, to the cost of several thousand dollars was the gift of Dr. Solon Marks, in recognition of which they are called the Marks Laboratories. In the medical department there were in 1908 twenty-two professors, thirty associate professors, lecturers and dem- onstrators, and in the dental department there were thirty additional professors, associates and instructors. The principal sources of in- come are the tuition fees of the students and such voluntary contribu- tions as the friends of the institution choose to make. The institution became a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges soon after it opened. The requirements for matriculation are good moral character and a diploma from some advanced educational insti- tution of recognized standing or an equivalent examination. The cur- riculum covers four years of study and regular examinations are re- quired of the student before he passes from one year to the next.
The Milwaukee Medical College was incorporated in the fall of 1893. but the organization was not fully completed until in January, 1894. The leading spirits in its establishment were Drs. W. H. Earles. W. H. Neilson and B. G. Maercklein. M. Rosenheimer's name ap- pears as one of the incorporators, but he never became an active mem- ber of the corporation or faculty. Originally the departments of the institution were medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. Dr. W. H. Neil- son was the first president ; Dr. W. B. Hill the first secretary : Dr. W. H. Earles was the first dean of the medical department, and Dr. B. G. Maercklein the first dean of the dental department. The department of pharmacy was not opened at the time of the organization, though ample provision had been made by the incorporators for its establish- ment. The medical and dental departments opened on Sept. 26. 1894. with an enrollment of ninety-six students, in the four-story building on Wells street, just east of and connected with the old Trinity Hospital, which was founded in 1889 by Drs. W. H. Earles and W. H. Neilson. This has always been the location of the college, though an additional story soon became necessary in order to accommodate the growing attendance, and the hospital was also enlarged. Two years after these improvements were made the old hospital was removed and the pres- ent building, covering the entire lot, was erected as a college and hos- pital. In May, 1907, the college became a part of Marquette Univer- sity, and the former departments of medicine, denistry and pharmacy are now the medical, dental and pharmaceutical departments of that in- stitution. The total enrollment of the university in 1908 was upward of 1,000 students, of whom 350 were enrolled in the three departments
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formerly included in the Milwaukee Medical College. To this number may be added the 76 students in the training school for nurses, making a total enrollment of 426 in all departments. In 1908 there were forty- one professors and sixty associate professors and instructors in the three departments. The capital stock of the Milwaukee Medical Col- lege is $150,000. It owns and maintains Trinity Hospital, and for teaching purposes it has access to the Milwaukee County Hospital, the Milwaukee Hospital for the Insane, the Chronic Insane Asylum, and the Maternity Hospital of Misericorde. From the beginning the school has stood for higher medical education. It early adopted and often anticipated the requirements of the State Board and the Asso- ciation of American Medical Colleges, of which it is a member. Dur- ing the first few years of its career the course of study, in common with the majority of medical schools, embraced three years of seven months each. Soon, however, the course was lengthened to four years of eight months each. The requirements for admission have kept pace with the demands of the time, and beginning in 1910 the minimum require- ment will be two years in a university or college. The growth and success of the college have been all that its founders could desire, and its future prosperity is assured.
HOMEOPATHY.
The foregoing portion of this chapter appertains to the allopathic or "regular" school of medicine, the object of which is to produce in the human body suffering from disease a condition different from that in or from which the disease originated, the theory being that if this can be accomplished the disease will cease. Homeopatliy proceeds on an entirely different hypothesis. The founder of the homeopathic school was Samuel Hahnemann, a celebrated German physician, a na- tive of Saxony. It is related that in 1790, while engaged in translat- ing Cullen's Materia Medica from English to German, he was not satisfied with the author's explanations of the cure of ague by the use of Peruvian bark. By way of experiment, to ascertain the action of the bark on a healthy body, he took a large dose of it and soon after experienced symptons of ague. After further investigation he arrived at the conclusion that for every known disease there is a specific rem- edy, and that this remedy will produce in the healthy person symptons of the disease it is intended to cure. In 1810 he published at Dresden his "Organon of Rational Medicine", in which he set forth his theory. and also proclaimed the advantage of small doses. This work was followed by one on "Materia Medica", which consisted of a description
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of the effects of medicines upon persons in good health. From his theory came the school of homeopathy, the fundamental idea of which is expressed by the Latin dictum: Similia similibus curantur", or in plain English : "Like cures like."
About 1846 or 1847 three homeopthic physicians-H. H. Cator, William Pierce and Luther M. Tracy-came to Milwaukee. Cator and Pierce left after about two years, but Dr. Tracy remained in the city until his death, which occurred in the early 70's. In 1847 Dr. James S. Douglass arrived. He was a native of New York, where he was born in 1801; was educated at Medison University, Hamilton, N. Y., and graduated at Fairfield Medical College in 1824. In 1845 he became a convert to homeopathy and after coming to Milwaukee he published for about a year the Expositor, a monthly journal in support of that system of medicine. In 1855 he was called to the chair of materia medica and special pathology in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, though he retained his residence in Milwaukee and practiced there until his death on July 21, 1878. Dr. Douglass was also the author of two books, one of which was on the subject of "Intermittent Fever," and the other on "Practical Homeopathy." Both were written in Milwaukee and are recognized as authorities by home- opathic physicians.
In 1855 four more homeopaths came to Milwaukee, viz: Daniel T. Brown, John G. Guenther, George W. Perrine and H. F. C. Perle- witz. Dr. Brown had formerly been a dentist. He continued in the practice of medicine until his death in 1888. Dr. Guenther was a Ger- man, a physician of more than ordinary ability, but he returned to the Fatherland after a few years in Milwaukee. Dr. Perrine was asso- ciated with Dr. Tracy until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he became a volunteer army surgeon. After the war he practiced in Mil- waukee with unvarying success until he died in 1872. Dr. Perlewitz after two years in the city removed to Sturgeon Bay, Wis., where he practiced for many years.
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