USA > West Virginia > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of West Virginia. Including reference articles on the industrial resources of the state, etc., etc. > Part 12
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Speaking further in regard to the practical study of anatomy and physiology he said :
" Theory never could have discovered that the stomach was the receptacle into which crude material was cast for the purpose of manufac- turing blood to nourish the system, and that it performed a great and important part in the process of changing food into blood; that the heart was a double organ, made of muscles, containing four cavities, two for black blood and two for red; that the lungs were made of air tubes and blood-vessels tied together by cellular tissue, and that the blood was changed from black to a red color while passing through their substance on its way from the black to the red blood heart; that the skin and mucous mem- branes were great depurating surfaces, from which vast quantities of fluid are passed off, that had served its purpose in the economy and was no longer needed; that the liver was the drug-store of the human body, and manufac-
tured the physic necessary to keep it in order while in health; that the kidneys were sewers, and drained from the blood the worn-out ma- terial remaining in it, after it had traversed the system and given out its supply of nourishment to every part of the body."
He further dwelt on the subject of cancer and various operations of a difficult nature, and paid his compliments to quackery in all its forms.
"But great men are different. They do not shine by the same light, nor in the same way. Cooper and Cline, of London, were graceful and accomplished operators; while Abernethy and Hunter, less showy in their operations, greatly excelled them in their pathology and knowledge of disease. Abernethy was a disciple of Hunter, who taught that operations should be performed when necessary, but that the great merit of surgery was to avoid their necessity. Aber- nethy showed the great importance of the prin- ciples of surgery, while Cooper and Cline showed how much elegance there was in a nice opera- tion. There was, perhaps, about the same dif- ference between Mott and Stephens of New York. Dr. Mott excelled in the nicety of his operation, while Stephens excelled in the pathol- ogy and practical knowledge. It was a common remark thirty years ago that a patient should consult Stephens in regard to the propriety of an operation, and, if he advised it, have Dr. Mott perform it. They were both great surgeons, but Mott excelled in his coolness, self-possession, mechanical dexterity, and niceness of his opera- tions, while Stephens excelled in his knowledge of disease and profound judgment. . . . Those who think the favorable results of disease or injury depend solely upon the skill of the physician and the curative effects of medicine forget, or perhaps they never understood, that this " Vis medicatrix .natura," this curative power of nature-this "Old Doctor Time," is working steadily on by night and by day, curing patients, while the physician stands by to direct the regimen, give necessary remedies, and regu- late the movements of the system. I have en- deavored to inculcate correct principles and sound doctrines that will elevate the profession ; that will aid in advancing medicine toward a perfect science ; that will increase the means for the relief of the sick and afflicted, and create harmony and brotherly love among all true members of the profession."
Dr. Frissell concluded his address with this significant paragraph :
"I hope we shall all feel a pride in so con- ducting the affairs of this society that after a half-century has passed by, and the profession of a new generation occupy our places, as they look over the books and musty pamphlets of
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olden time, and read the records and early his- tory of this society, they will be constrained to say that the founders of the Medical Society of West Virginia were wise and good men; that they inculcated sound doctrines in medicine and morals, and deserve to be remembered among the benefactors of the human family."
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Of Dr. Frissell's many papers and surgical operations extending over fifty-three years of practice, a few are selected, viz. : "Report on Stone in the Bladder and Urinary Passages,""a lengthy paper citing many cases; “ Plastic Sur- gery-Case of Distressing Deformity occasioned by a Burn; Chin and Sternum held nearly in Contact. Successfully Treated by Autoplastic Operations" (the patient, a young lady, is still living in excellent health and with scarcely a scar visible). Paper on "Cephalic Version;" " Vesico-Vaginal Fistula" (several cases). The following are among the strictly operative cases successfully performed: urinary calculi, staphylorraphy, osteo-sarcoma, various cases of encephaloid cancer, ruptured uterus, cancer of the rectum, numerous cases of cancers in differ- ent parts, multilocular encephaloid tumor of the abdomen with cancerous disease of the left kid- ney. Dr. Frissell had contributed to the Medical Society of West Virginia, as published in the Transactions, 241 pages of solid printing, or about 120,000 words, from April 10, 1867, to May 25, 1882. These multifarious and most in- teresting reports and lectures cover a vast field of pathology and operative surgery. Although not in active practice, Dr. Frissell occasionally acts in consultation with his son, Dr. Charles M. Frissell, who sustains his father's reputation in a highly creditable manner, and is one of the most popular and gentlemanly physicians in Wheeling.
RICHARD VINCENT WHELAN.
RICHARD VINCENT WHELAN, Roman Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Richmond, Va., and afterward of the diocese of Wheeling, W. Va., was one of the pioneers of Catholic as well as American civilization in the United States. He was an original and gifted with original powers. It is usually considered that an ecclesiastic should be eminently gifted with learning, and above all things be a non-com-
batant. Occasional examples have occurred, and one in American history holds a place for brave acts of which any soldier might be proud. Bishop Whelan was born in Baltimore, Md., June 29, 1809. At the age of ten or eleven years he entered Mount St. Mary's College, at Emmetsburg, and after some eight years of pre- paratory study, during which he attained the honor of "Prefect of Studies," he was sent to the Seminary of St. Sulpice, in Paris, where he was graduated with high honors in 1831. So great was his proficiency in theological and philo- sophical studies that he was ordained to the priesthood within a year, at Versailles, and on his return to the United States in the year fol- lowing, was made professor in St. Mary's College, a position which he held for three years. During the time he was filling a profes- sor's chair in that seminary, he also, by assign- ment of the Archbishop of Baltimore, attended to the missions at Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, and neighboring towns in Virginia and Mary- land. His labors were so zealous and successful that in 1840, while yet in his thirty-first year, at the time of the assembling of the Provincial Council in Baltimore in 1840, he was elevated to the Bishopric and appointed by the Holy See the second Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond. The Diocese of Richmond at that time embraced the whole of the large State of Virginia, includ- ing what was afterward set off and made into the State of West Virginia. The Catholic pop- ulation was very sparse, and the difficulty in reaching the churches extremely great. In 1843 he entered upon diocesan work, and two years later wrote to the Archbishop that he had in the Richmond Seminary four students in theology, one in philosophy, and five others pursuing their preparatory studies. The school was, however, afterward suspended, and the students sent to Baltimore. The condition of affairs at Wheeling required his presence on the western frontier of his diocese, and in 1846 an extended journey was made over the mountains. Con- vinced that the western part of the State, differ- ing in its natural features from the eastern, showed greater inducements for Catholics to settle, slave labor being comparatively rare, and the country rapidly developing, Bishop Whelan, on proceeding to the Seventh Provin- cial Council of Baltimore, held in 1849,. found
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the Archbishop and his suffragans inclined to urge the erection of a new see at Wheeling. The new see was accordingly created on the 23d of July, 1850. Bishop Whelan was an at- tendant on the Council and during its sitting was, by appointment from Rome, transferred from the diocese of Richmond to the new dio- cese of Wheeling. During his nine years as Bishop of Richmond, the number of faithful, of priests, and of churches had doubled, and many schools and academies had been established. The new diocese of Wheeling as erected com- prised that part of the State of Virginia lying
west of Maryland and the Alleghany Mountains, and while it embraced an area of twenty thou-
sand square miles, it contained but two priests, four churches, and two chapels. Bishop Whelan opened a seminary in his own house, and soon had six theological students. A boys' school
was also established. Although the whole Catholic population in the diocese was esti- mated at only about five thousand, the earnest Bishop built and planned for the future. Priests and schools were planted in young and growing
ran too high. The region was gradually filling towns, and eligible sites secured before prices
with settlers of various nationalities, and every effort was made on his part to provide for their
varied wants. His revenues were scarcely suffi-
population, averaging but about one Catholic cient for his own support, and the scattered
inhabitant to every four square miles of diocesan territory, made his life a veritable missionary one. The prelate's plain dwelling corresponded
with the other institutions of the diocese. Yet
soon after his arrival he ordained three priests
to aid in his arduous work, and the growing
settlements were visited as often as possible.
Bishop Whelan, with his few priests, entered promptly into the work of securing eligible sites and erecting chapels and churches. He laid off
growing place, and stationed a priest there the district, selected a central position in some
whenever possible, to attend to the outlying stations. In 1853, a colony of the Sisters of St. Joseph, from Carondelet, Mo., established in
indication of the determined courage which with a view to future work in schools. As an Wheeling an infirmary, and opened a novitiate
Bishop Whelan could show when occasion de- manded, is narrated an incident which happened
during the visit of Archbishop Cajetan Bedini to the United States in the troublous Know- Nothing times of 1853. The Archbishop was on his way from Rome as Nuncio to the Court of Brazil, and was charged by the Pope to pro- ceed to Washington and pay a visit to the Pres- ident of the United States. He was not grace- fully received. Mr. Marcy, Secretary of State, at once raised difficulties, and said in no uncer- tain tone: "If the Pope were to appoint a layman, there would be no difficulty in receiving him." The letter from the American Minister at Rome, explaining the nature of the mission of Archbishop Bedini, was, by some strange pro- ceeding, carefully mislaid, and when called for by the Senate could not be found. Franklin Pierce was at the time President, and the ad- ministration determined not to recognize Mon- seignor Badini as a member of the diplomatic body. The Archbishop remained seven months in the United States, and during his stay made a visit to the diocese of Wheeling. The infidel refugees from the continent of Europe, resident in Wheeling, being inspired by the example set them by the heads of the nation at Washington, determined to attack the cathedral on his ar- rival, and mob the envoy of the Pope. The Mayor of the city, when appealed to for protec- tion, deplored his inability to render any aid. Bishop Whelan then told the chief magistrate in plain language that he would take the pro- tection of his guest into his own hands, and notified the Mayor to make known to the rioters that the first man who dared to pass within the Cathedral railings would be unhesitatingly shot down. At the time appointed the rioters rushed for the Cathedral, cursing and howling, but found the Bishop armed and ready to meet them as he had pledged the cowardly Mayor he would meet them. The mob paused. Not one of their number had the courage to face the Bishop's bold front. One of the crowd hurled a stone through a window and was promptly felled to the ground by a strong arm. The work prom- ised to prove more serious than the rioters had anticipated, and they sullenly withdrew and finally disbanded. The courage of the Bishop had cowed the wild element and won the day. His diocese steadily increased. In 1857-58 he made a visit to Europe in the interests of his work, and on his return extended his visitations
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and had the satisfaction of laying corner-stones for several churches and chapels in different parts of his broad diocese. When the Civil War broke out he did not for an instant cease his apostolic work. Though hostile forces were actually facing each other in his diocese, he bought ground in 1861 in Parkersburg for a convent and an academy, drew his plans, and laid the foundations. Some of his clergy were arrested and compelled to leave their parishes. He himself was for some time under guard as a prisoner in his own house. He was continually menaced and deprived of all freedom of action, but in spite of these annoyances devoted him- self assiduously to planning new institutions to be established when the war should end. While the war was yet in progress, Congress divided the State of Virginia, and his diocese afterward embraced the greater part of the new State of West Virginia. In 1866, after a period of six- teen years of unremitting labor, embracing the troublous days of Know-Nothingism as well as the terrible days of the Civil War, he made a visitation of his diocese, and found twenty-three churches; sixteen priests, eight students pre- paring for holy orders; St. Vincent's College erected and holding eighty pupils; three acad- emies under the care of the Visitation Nuns and Sisters of St. Joseph, and an orphan asylum. Bishop Whelan was a lithe, active man, pos- sessed of great energy, and one of the most self- sacrificing, zealous, and hard-working prelates in the country. Such confidence had he in his physical powers that on one occasion, it being necessary on the completion of the Cathedral in Wheeling, the final act, that of placing the cross in its socket on the top of the lofty steeple, was to be performed, there was no volunteer for the perilous climbing act, and the committee had determined to send to Baltimore for a sailor. This would involve an immense loss of time and also incur expense. Bishop Whelan, al- though beyond the middle point of life, deter- mined on having the cross promptly and duly put in place. He prepared his apparatus; climbed the towering steeple himself, proving that he was the best athlete in the parish, and placed the cross. It was a daring deed, but most successfully accomplished, and from that time forward the people of West Virginia looked in awe upon the man who would dare perform such
acts as holding a mob at bay on the steps of his own Cathedral, or do that other prodigy of valor, plant the cross on the top of its lofty steeple. On the occasion of the promulgation of the dogma of Papal Infallibility, Bishop Whelan was of the number of those in the great Vatican Council who opposed the definition, declaring that his opposition did not arise from disbelief in its truth but from the fact that he believed its definition at the time to be inopportune, but gave in his adhesion to it promptly when the decree was promulgated. The latter part of his life was spent in his native city, Baltimore, where on the 7th of July, 1874, in his sixty-fifth year, he finished his labors as man, priest, and bishop. For earnestness and integrity of pur- pose, for daring and bravery in the presence of danger, for readiness to act in any case of emergency, he had few equals and no superior.
THAYER MELVIN.
HON. THAYER MELVIN, ex-Attorney General of West Virginia and ex-Judge of the First Judicial Circuit, is a native of Hancock County and was admitted to the practice of the law in that county in 1853, some years before reaching his majority. He soon came into pop- ular favor, and was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1855 to fill a vacancy. He was re-elected in 1856 for the full term, and again in 1860. In 1857, he removed to Wheeling and became the junior member of the firm of Pendleton & Melvin, attending regularly, however, the courts of his native county. In 1861, he resigned his office and practice to join the Union volunteer army, enlisting in the First Regiment West Virginia Infantry. In December of that year he was made First Lieutenant of his company, and in July of 1862 was commissioned Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers, in which capac- ity he served with different general officers commanding the Department of West Virginia, viz., Kelley, Sigel, Hunter, and Emory, receiv- ing two brevet commissions for meritorious services. He was also on General Sheridan's staff in the Shenandoah campaign of 1864. He was retained in the military service until No- vember, 1865, when he was honorably mustered
Henry Stacker.
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
out. In 1866 he resumed the practice of his profession, locating at Wellsburg, Brooke County. In the same year he was elected At- torney-General of the State, having received the nomination of the Republican party, and was re-elected in 1868, removing to Wheeling in 1867. During this period he again served as Prosecuting Attorney of Hancock County. Be- fore the expiration of his second term as Attorney-General, he resigned that position to accept the office, under appointment of Governor Stevenson, of Judge of the First Judicial Circuit of West Virginia, a vacancy having been caused by the death of Judge Elbert H. Caldwell. The circuit comprised, as it still comprises, Han- cock, Brooke, Ohio, and Marshall Counties. In August, 1872, he was elected by the 'people for eight years from January 1, 1873. In October, 1880, he was again elected for a similar term from January 1, 1881, but resigned in the fol- lowing November, when Governor Jackson ap- pointed ex-Governor John J. Jacob his successor. Judge Melvin was on the circuit bench twelve years, and won an enviable reputation for learn- ing and probity. Since his retirement from the judiciary, he has been actively engaged in prac- tice in the different courts, as a member of the firm of Ewing, Melvin & Riley. He is regarded as an able lawyer, and has many friends, in and out of the profession.
HENRY S. WALKER.
HON. HENRY STREIT WALKER, a Sec- retary of State of West Virginia and distin- guished as editor, orator, and scholar, was born at Winchester, Va., May 31, 1840, and died in Philadelphia on September 19, 1891. The re- mains were brought to Charleston, where a large concourse of citizens attended the funeral at his late residence. The Rev. J. C. Barr, D.D., of the First Presbyterian Church, conducted the services. Mr. Walker was the son of Sainuel and Elizabeth Walker, of Clarksburg, W. Va., and great-grandson of Christian Streit, of Fred- erick County, Va .* Henry S. Walker's early
schooling was received at Winchester, Va., and Morgantown, W. Va. In 1861 he entered Wash- ington College, Pa., and graduated in 1863 with first honors and was the valedictorian of his class. Early in life Mr. Walker evinced a talent for writing, and in his school days was as much distinguished for his skill in composition as for grace in declamation. He had a natural bent for journalism, and although he read law he drifted into newspaper work not long after leav- ing college. From the writing of occasional contributions which were always welcomed by the editors to whom they were sent, he soon came to have editorial charge of a weekly news- paper in Clarksburg, and in 1866 began regular work in the office of the Wheeling Daily Regis- ter. His editorial labors were severe and ex- acting, but they met with immediate recogni- tion and growing influence and success. In those days the editor of the Register had much more to do than the writing of a daily leader. He did the full work that upon other news- papers is usually accomplished by three or four men. The editor was on duty for twelve or fifteen hours every day, and his supervision con- tinued until the last telegraphic dispatch of that night was in type and the last form was upon the press. The period of Mr. Walker's editorial work was the era of "Test Oaths" and political proscription, and he engaged in the struggle for enfranchisement with all the ardor of his soul. The columns of the Register teemed with argu- ment, illustration, satire, and invective until success was won. In 1870, the State Capital having been transferred to Charleston, Mr. Walker removed to that city and established the Daily Courier, erecting a handsome building and expending a large sum of money in the enter- prise. He displayed in the conduct of the Courier the same vigor and enterprise that had marked his work upon the Register, and the newspaper exerted a wide influence. The shrinkage of values consequent upon the busi- ness panic of 1873, and the return of the seat of
* Christian Streit was born in New Jersey, January 7, 1749. He was graduated in 1768 by the College of Philadel- phia, now University of Pennsylvania. During the Revolu-
tionary War he was a chaplain in the Continental Army and connected with the Third Virginia Regiment. At the sacking of Charleston he was taken prisoner by the British and held until released by exchange. In 1782 he returned to the min- istry and assumed charge of the pastorate of Winchester, Va., where he labored with great acceptance and success, until March 1, 1812, when he was called to his reward in the sixty-third year of his age.
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
government to Wheeling in 1875, rendered the publication of the Courier no longer profitable, and Mr. Walker's connection with it ceased in 1874, and no regular editorial work was done by him thereafter, though he still wrote occasional articles for the press. His literary style was distinguished for vigor and pungency, combined with grace in expression. He especially excelled in short paragraphs, every one of which carried a winged point and produced a permanent effect upon the mind of the reader. While editing the Register and promulgating true Jeffersonian De- mocracy, of which he was a zealous exponent, he received the nomination for Congress in 1868 for the Wheeling District, but was defeated by the Republican candidate, Gen. I. H. Duval, who had a large following of the soldier vote. As already stated, he located in Kanawha County in 1870, and founded the Weekly, then the Tri- Weekly, and afterward the Daily Courier, which he published for several years, making it one of the leading Democratic papers of the State. In 1871-72 he was Public Printer of the State. In 1875 he was the principal candidate before the Legislature for United States Senator, but after a protracted struggle was defeated in caucus by the small majority of one vote. In 1878, and again in 1880, he was the independent Green- back candidate for Congress in the Third Dis- trict against John E. Kenna, the Democratic nominee, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1885 he was appointed Secretary of State by his lifelong friend and admirer, Gov. E. W. Wilson, which position he held during an ad- ministration of nearly five years. Here, as in every position in which he was placed, his keen, methodical mind wrought order and simplicity in the transaction of official business. For ten ye rs Mr. Walker was a Regent of the West Virginia University, having been first appointed by Gov. Henry Mason Mathews and reappointed by Gov. Jacob B. Jackson, who recognized his eminent qualification for the position. For sev- eral years prior to his death he had taken an interest in stock-raising upon an extensive and valuable farm which he had acquired in the valley of Virginia. He was also largely inter- ested in the Kanawha City enterprise, being President of the Kanawha City Company. In June, 1868, Mr. Walker married Miss Emma E. Bier, daughter of Hon. George W. Bier, of Mar-
shall County. They had two children, Emma and Philip. Mr. Walker spent the greater part of 1890 in European travel, partly in connection with business enterprises. In the Clarksburg News of September 26, 1891, is an article from the pen of John Bassell, Esq., a lawyer of that city, in which he sketches Mr. Walker's career particularly as a student. He says:
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