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JOURNALISM CLASS OF 1928 



STEWART S. HOWE FOUNDATION 



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cop. 2 



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OFFICERS 

LE ROY HENNESSEY, President and Treasurer 

CARTER LUCAS, Secretary 

R. B. ATTRIDGE, Vice-President 



EDITORIAL 

CARTER LUCAS 



MANUSCRIPT 

JAMES C. RUSSELL 



PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION 

R. B. ATTRIDGE M. J. BUCKLEY 

F. L. BURNS J. M. ELLIOTT 



HISTORY OF 
MEDICINE AND SURGERY 

and 

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS 
OF CHICAGO 



Endorsed by and Published Under 
the Supervision of the Council 
of the Chicago Medical Society 



THE BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING 
CORPORATION 

133 West Washington Street 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 

Copyright, 1922, by 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING CORPORATION, CHICAGO 



Printed by 

CRAFTSMEN PRINTERS 
701-703 South LaSalle Street 

CHICAGO 

Engravings by 

JAHN & OLI.IER ENGRAVING CO. 
554 West Adams Street 
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Table of Contents 



PAGE 

FOREWORD 7 

IN PRAISE OF THE PROFESSION 10 

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF THE PAST 11 to 186 

MEDICAL COLLEGES 187 to 232 

HOSPITALS 233 to 338 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT 339 to 348 

MEDICAL SOCIETIES 349 to 371 

OATH OF HIPPOCRATES 372 

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF TODAY. . . .373 to 912 



Foreword 

This work had its inception in 1918 in the mind of Frank D. DuSouchet, 
who for several years had 1 been engaged in gathering for the Society of 
Medical History of Chicago information concerning physicians and surgeons 
of the past who had made medical history in this city. It was the plan of 
Mr. DuSouchet to publish biographies of these men and women under the 
sponsorship of the Society of Medical History. His painstaking and con- 
scientious efforts, which were exhaustive, were nearing completion when ill- 
ness prevented further progress by him. 

The present publishers, learning that Mr. DuSouchet's plan awaited reali- 
zation, determined to carry it into effect. Enlarging the scope of the work 
considerably to include biographies of a greater number of deceased physi- 
cians and surgeons, and adding thereto the histories of medical colleges, 
hospitals and medical societies, and biographical data concerning present- 
day physicians and surgeons, the publishers obtained endorsements of the 
plan from representative members of the profession. 

Subsequently the stamp of approval of the council of the Chicago Medical 
Society was placed upon the plan with its official endorsement. At the re- 
quest of the publishers, a committee was appointed to supervise the publi- 
cation of the work. 

This committee comprised Dr. George H. Weaver, who for many years 
has taken a keen interest in local medical history, and Dr. Hugh N. Mac- 
Kechnie, then secretary and now president of the Chicago Medical Society. 
To these men the publishers wish to express lasting gratitude for their 
unfailing kindness, their helpful suggestions and constant encouragement. 

In the preparation of manuscript, no small thanks must be accorded several 
physicians who not only have aided by contribution of valuable suggestion 
and information obtainable only through personal channels, but who have 
given of their own time and effort in the writing of institutional history and 
personal annals. Among these contributors are Doctors Frank Billings, 
William E. Quine, Otto L. Schmidt, Arthur R. Elliott, David W. Graham, 
Arthur Dean Bevan, John Edwin Rhodes, William L. Noble, Frank T. An- 
drews, Lester E. Frankenthal and Jacques Holinger. 

To Dr. John S. Nagel, president, and Dr. John R. Harger, secretary of the 
Chicago Medical Society during the period of preparation of the work, the 
publishers are deeply indebted for their helpfulness in ways and on occasions 
too numerous to be related. To seven former presidents, Doctors Ludvig 
Hektoen, J. V. Fowler, William Allen Pusey, Charles E. Humiston, Charles 
J. Whalen, William A. Evans and Harold N. Moyer, and a former secretary, 
Dr. Charles H. Parkes, is due a vote of thanks for similar service rendered. 

Various sources of information have been used in the compilation of his- 
torical data. In some instances, where one or a few sources have been con- 
sulted, references are given in foot-notes. In the majority of cases, however, 
where references consulted have been too numerous to mention, the source of 
information is omitted. It should also be noted that in many instances ex- 
cerpts were made from other reference works without enclosing them in quo- 
tation marks. 

7 



Among the works chiefly consulted which are not mentioned elsewhere 
are "American Medical Biographies," edited by Doctors Howard A. Kelly 
and Walter L. Burrage ; Andreas' History of Chicago; "A Group of Dis- 
tinguished Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago," compiled by F. M. Sperry; 
"Physicians and Surgeons of the West," edited by H. G. Cutler; and "His- 
tory of Homeopathy," edited by Dr. William Harvey King. 

The biographies of a majority of deceased physicians and surgeons are 
substantially as prepared by Mr. DuSouchet and are founded on information 
obtained by him. 

It will be noted that the manner of presenting the biographies of physi- 
cians and surgeons of the past differs from the usual, or formal, style of 
biography, especially in the "leads" to the articles. Instead of always giving 
the place and date of birth in the initial paragraph, followed by a record of 
the life in chronological order, an attempt has been made to call to the 
reader's attention at the outset the outstanding features in each career and 
to limit the record of the life to actual facts. It is hoped that this change 
will not be unwelcome. 

The arrangement of the historical sections is in chronological order. The 
biographies of physicians and surgeons, following those of the surgeons of 
Fort Dearborn, which appear in the order of their service, are arranged ac- 
cording to the dates of birth. The histories of medical colleges, hospitals 
and medical societies are printed, in their respective sections, in the order 
of their organization. 

The photographic reproductions of pioneer physicians were made from 
negatives furnished by Mr. DuSouchet. It will be noted that, of 172 men 
and women whose biographies appear, only seven fail of photographic repre- 
sentation. Exhaustive search and inquiry failed to reveal any likenesses of 
these seven in existence. 

The burden of editorial responsibility in the production of this volume, 
as well as preparation of much of the manuscript, has been borne by Car- 
ter Lucas, known to the newspaper world of Chicago during the past sev- 
eral years both in an editorial and reportorial capacity. Authorship of the 
bulk of the material in narrative form is to be credited to James C. Russell, 
also known in the newspaper editorial world. 

This work would not have succeeded had not its plan, which provided 
hitherto lacking financial means of publication, been adequately presented 
to the membership of the Chicago Medical Society which has sponsored and 
supported it. In this endeavor generous assistance was rendered by the 
officers of the society and of the branches and members of the council, who, 
with few exceptions, realized the value of such an historical record and the 
uniqueness of its character, and did their utmost wholeheartedly to help. 
To them the publishers are deeply grateful. 

In conclusion, the publishers wish to express their appreciation to the 
individual members of the Chicago Medical Society herein represented who, 
when the project was presented to them, accepted it in the spirit in which it 
was offered and at its intended worth and gave needed material cooperation 
by their subscriptions, and who gave just as needful moral assistance by 
kindly commendation to their fellow members. To them is this work dedi- 
cated, and offered herewith to their judgment. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 
8 



History of 



Medicine and Surgery 



in Chicago 




1803-1922 



Including Historical Records of the Medical Colleges, 

Hospitals, Medical Societies, the Chicago Health 

Department, and Biographies of 172 Physicians and 

Surgeons of the Past 



IN PRAISE OF THE PROFESSION 
BY ROBERT Louis STEVENSON 

There are men and classes of men that stand 
above the common herd: the soldier, the sailor, 
and the shepherd not unfrequently ; the artist 
rarely; rarelier still, the clergyman; the phys- 
ician almost as a rule. He is the flower (such as 
it is ) of our civilisation; and when that stage of 
man is done with, and only remembered to be 
marvelled at in history, he will be thought to have 
shared as little as any in the defects of the 
period, and most notably exhibited the virtues of 
the race. Generosity he has, such as is possible 
to those whoi practise an art, never to those who 
drive a trade; discretion, tested by a hundred 
secrets; tact, tried in a thousand embarrassments; 
and what are more important, Heraclean cheer- 
fulness and courage. So it is that he brings air 
and cheer into the sick-room, and often enough, 
though not so often as he wishes, brings healing. 
From Dedication of "Underwoods" from "Poems and 
Ballads." 



Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Charles Scribner's Sons. 



Physicians and Surgeons 
of the Past 



An effort has been made to include in this 
historical group those who have performed some 
real service to medicine in a larger sense. 

Among these are found the organizers and 
supporters of medical societies; founders and 
friends of hospitals and other institutions for 
the care of the sick, unfortunate and aged; and 
leaders in public health activities. 

There are also those who have exerted their 
influence in a wide way as medical teachers and 
authors, and as advocates of improved methods 
and standards in medical education. Many of 
these by original investigation have advanced 
the borders of medical knowledge and practice. 
Among them are stars of the first magnitude 
whose light has reached the farthest corner of 
the earth, while others have only illuminated 
their local region. 

Available space has necessitated the omission 
of some who might have been included in a 
larger list, and who perhaps in some instances 
were more worthy of inclusion than some of 
these here selected. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 13 

WILLIAM C. SMITH 
First Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 

The pioneer among physicians and surgeons of Chicago was Dr. William 
C. Smith, the first surgeon of Fort Dearborn. Little is known of the life of 
this pioneer, there being no definite information as to his birth or death. 

United States army records show that Dr. Smith enlisted as surgeon's 
mate July 2, 1802, and served until June 27, 1810, when he was mustered out. 
It is believed that he accompanied the troops of Captain John Whistler, led 
by Lieutenant James S. Swearingen, on the overland march from Detroit to 
the Chicago River in the summer of 1803, and aided Captain Whistler in 
building and establishing Fort Dearborn, that outpost of civilization. Nine- 
teen days of actual marching were consumed in the journey through the 
wilderness of Michigan and along the sand dunes bordering Lake Michigan. 

At Fort Dearborn Dr. Smith, in common with the sixty-eight other mem- 
bers of the garrison, endured the hardships of frontier life, and, with 
meager equipment, fought the physical ills of Captain Whistler's command. 
Soon after their arrival the troops suffered greatly from "bilious fevers" and 
the young doctor was active in restoring them to health. 

In a letter of December 9, 1803, to a friend in Detroit, recounting his 
experiences and describing the condition of affairs at the new post, Dr. Smith 
wrote, "Although winter is at hand, the post is not much advanced. Captain 
Whistler and the garrison are housed in small temporary huts." 

The surgeon, however, was more fortunately situated. With John LaLime, 
the Indian interpreter of the garrison, "a very decent man and good com- 
panion," he rented for the winter a cabin belonging to John Kinzie, one of 
the earliest white settlers at Chicago. The cabin at that time was vacant, 
and Dr. Smith and LaLime fitted it up in a comfortable manner, occupying 
it until Mr. Kinzie came in the spring of 1804 and moved into it. 

Dr. Smith remained as surgeon of the garrison until 1808, when he was 
succeeded by Dr. John Cooper. With this, our knowledge of him ceases, but 
his name will long be cherished as that of the first member of his profession 
to minister to the physical comfort and well-being of his associates on the 
banks of the Chicago River, the site of a city destined to rank as the medical 
center of the world. 



JOHN COOPER 

Second Surgeon of Fort Dearborn, 

(1786-1863) 

Although some accounts of Fort Dearborn mention Dr. John Cooper as the 
first surgeon at that isolated station, research has shown that he was pre- 
ceded there by Dr. William C. Smith. 

Dr. Cooper's grandfather, a British soldier, fought under Wolfe at Quebec 
and was near his leader when he fell, mortally wounded, at fhe moment of 
victory. The grandson was born in Fishkill, N. Y., June 6, 1786, and was 
but 22 years old when he appeared at Fort Dearborn as surgeon for the 
garrison. He had enlisted as surgeon's mate June 13, 1808, shortly after his 
graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City. 

Dr. Cooper journeyed to Chicago by way of Albany and Buffalo, where 
he boarded the brig Adams. Seventeen days were spent in making the trip 
from Buffalo to his new post on Lake Michigan. 



14 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




JOHN COOPER 



CLEMENT ALEXANDER FINLEY 




ELIJAH DEWEY HARMON 



SAMUEL GRANDIN JOHNSTON DECAMP 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 15 

Acquaintance ripened into friendship between Dr. Cooper and Captain 
John Whistler, commander of the fort, and the latter obtained from the secre- 
tary of war permission for the surgeon to "suttle" for the garrison, that is, 
to supply the soldiers with articles not furnished them by the government. 
This resulted in a quarrel with John Kinzie and Matthew Irwin, the latter's 
position as government factor carrying with it the right to suttle at the post. 

As a result of this quarrel, Captain Whistler was transferred to Detroit and 
Dr. Cooper's privilege to suttle was withdrawn. The atmosphere at the 
fort becoming uncongenial to Dr. Cooper, he resigned his commission April 
1, 1811, and returned home. Instead of beginning practice at Fishkill, he 
settled at Poughkeepsie, where he remained in practice until his death in 
1863. 

From Dr. Cooper's letters from Fort Dearborn we have a picture of life 
at the garrison, where the dullness of the isolation was lightened by fishing, 
hunting and athletic contests with the Indians. The surgeon possessed two 
good saddle horses and a hunting dog and must have found the surrounding 
country a hunter's paradise. Upon his return home he went on horseback 
by way of Detroit, Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh and over the mountains to 
Fishkill and Poughkeepsie. 

ISAAC VANVOORHIS 
Third Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 
(1790-1812) 

The first of Fort Dearborn's surgeons to sacrifice his life for his country 
was Dr. Isaac VanVoorhis, who was killed in the Indian massacre of August 
15, 1812. He was one of the fifty-three persons slain by five hundred Potta- 
watomies in their attack upon the band of ninety-five men, women and chil- 
dren evacuating the fort. 

Dr. VanVoorhis was born in Fishkill, N. Y., February 22, 1790, being the 
eldest son of William Roe VanVoorhis and a descendant of Steven Corte of 
Voorheis, who emigrated to America from Holland in 1660. He received 
his early education in Newburgh, N. Y., and was graduated from the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, in 1808, being a classmate of 
Dr. John Cooper. 

After Dr. Cooper returned home from Fort Dearborn, Dr. VanVoorhis 
applied for and received the appointment to succeed him. He arrived at the 
fort in the spring of 1811 and thus had been there a little more than a year 
when he met his death at the hands of the Indians at the age of twenty-two 
years. 

Little is known of the surgeon's life at the fort, but he was respected as a 
young man of great promise and lofty ideals. A prophetic vision of the 
future greatness of Chicago and America is shown in a letter written from 
his lonely station in October, 1811. His words are especially significant when 
one considers that the doctor was then but twenty-one years old. 

"In my solitary walks," Dr. VanVoorhis wrote, "I contemplate what a 
great and powerful republic will yet arise in this new world. _Here, I say, 
will be the seat of millions yet unborn ; here the asylum of oppressed millions 
yet to come. 

"How composedly would I die could I be resuscitated at that bright era 
of American greatness an era which I hope will announce the tidings of 
death to fell superstition and dread tyranny." 



16 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

JOHN GALE 

Fourth Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 

(?-1830) 

Cited for praiseworthy conduct at the battle of Fort Erie. 

An officer of the gallant Twenty-third Infantry which, more than a century 
later, was to emerge from the World War one of the most distinguished 
regiments in the American Army. 

A member of General Leavenworth's punitive expedition against the Indian 
tribes on the upper Missouri. 

These were some of the highlights in the career of Dr. John Gale, fourth 
surgeon at Fort Dearborn. Dr. Gale came to the post in 1816 as the medical 
officer of a detachment of two companies of infantry under the command of 
Captain Hezekiah Bradley. These elements had been detailed to rebuild and 
regarrison Fort Dearborn. 

The soldiers removed the charred remains of the old fort which had been 
burned at the time of the massacre and reconstructed it on a different plan. 
They also gathered up the dead that had lain unburied where they fell in 
the massacre and gave them decent sepulchre. 

Dr. Gale was a member of the garrison of Fort Dearborn until 1818. 

A native of New Hampshire, Dr. Gale enlisted from that state in the 
War of 1812. He joined the Twenty-third Infantry as surgeon's mate July 
6, 1812, and served with that regiment throughout the war. The files of the 
Surgeon General of the Army contain the report of Brigadier General E. W. 
Ripley, Commanding General, Second Brigade, concerning the battle of Fort 
Erie, August 15, 1814. Therein that officer mentions in highest terms of 
appreciation the skillfulness of Dr. Gale and others who had come under his 
observation. At the close of the war Dr. Gale was mustered out June 15, 
1815. 

As surgeon's mate of the Third Infantry Dr. Gale re-enlisted on September 
13, 1815, and on April 18, 1818, he was promoted to the rank of surgeon. He 
was advanced to the grade of major surgeon on June 1, 1821. Dr. Gale was 
on station at Fort Atkinson, 111., from January 1, 1826, to April 1, 1827. He 
was next assigned to Jefferson Barracks, where he was on duty from June 3, 
1827, until June 25, 1828. Then the major surgeon proceeded to Fort Leaven- 
worth, where he was until May, 1829. 

Dr. Gale accompanied General Leavenworth's expeditionary force of 
twelve companies which had been sent from Fort Leavenworth to chastise 
refractory Indians on the upper Missouri. The records of the surgeon gen- 
eral's office show that in June, 1830, he was a member of a commission to 
treat with the Indians at Prairie du Chien. 

Surgeon Major Gale died at Fort Armstrong, 111., July 27, 1830. 

J. PONTE COULANT McMAHON 
Fifth Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 
(? -1837) 

Successor of Surgeon Major Gale at Fort Dearborn was Dr. J. Ponte 
Coulant McMahon, who became a member of the garrison in 1818. On ac- 
count of ill health, he ended his service there in 1820. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 17 

Dr. McMahon was born in the District of Columbia, where he enlisted 
November 21, 1817, as a surgeon's mate of the Third Infantry. He was 
promoted to the grade of post surgeon July 23, 1819, and passed through 
successive ranks to a surgeon's rating August 5, 1826. The records indicate 
that Dr. McMahon was on station in New Orleans in 1825. Two years later 
found him at Fort Snelling and in 1829 he had again returned to New Orleans. 
To Tampa Bay he went in June, 1830, reporting to the surgeon general that 
earlier arrival was prevented by sickness. 

Dr. McMahon resigned from the army October 30, 1834, and died in April, 
1837. 



WILLIAM S. MADISON 
Sixth Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 
(? -1821) 

Hero of Indian wars was Dr. William S. Madison, sixth surgeon of Fort 
Dearborn. Dr. Madison succeeded Dr. McMahon at Fort Dearborn in 1820 
and remained there until 1821. 

Born in Kentucky, he enlisted on "The Dark and Bloody Ground" as a 
surgeon's mate of the Seventeenth Infantry, December 2, 1812. He was 
transferred to the First Infantry, May 17, 1815. Dr. Madison resigned 
November 1, 1815, after the close of the war. 

Re-enlisting, he was promoted to the grade of surgeon major October 5, 
1816. He was assigned to the Third Infantry October 5, 1816. While with 
this regiment, during its operations against the hostile Chippewas, he was 
killed May 14, 1821. 



THOMAS P. HALL 
Seventh Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 
(?-1825) 

Authority on Indian tribes was Dr. Thomas P. Hall, seventh surgeon at 
Fort Dearborn. 

Dr. Hall was born in Maryland and was appointed from that state as major 
surgeon. He was assigned to the Thirty-sixth Infantry July 10, 1813. He 
was honorably discharged June 15, 1815. 

As post surgeon, Dr. Hall rejoined the army December 12, 1820. He was 
assigned to succeed Dr. Madison at Fort Dearborn in 1821, and remained 
there until the garrison was withdrawn in 1823. The next year he was on 
station in New York harbor. 

Dr. Hall was the author of a valuable monograph concerning the Indian 
tribes. 

He died at the United States Arsenal near Augusta, Ga., on September 21, 
1825. 

CLEMENT ALEXANDER FINLEY 

Eighth Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 

(1797-1879) 

In his later years Surgeon General of the United States Army, Dr. Clement 
Alexander Finley served a part of his novitiate in military medical training 
at Fort Dearborn, where he was the eighth surgeon. 



18 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

A son of Samuel Finley, a soldier of the Virginia Cavalry in the Revolu- 
tionary War and an intimate friend of George Washington, Dr. Finley was 
born in Newville, Cumberland County, Pa., May 11, 1797. After a classical 
education at Washington College, Pa., he studied medicine in Chillicothe, 
Ohio, and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1818. 

In that year he entered the United States army as surgeon's mate of the 
First Infantry, then stationed at Baton Rouge, La., and was promoted to 
assistant surgeon June 1, 1821. In 1828 Indian affairs became threatening 
in Illinois and in an order of August 19, 1828, two companies of the Fifth 
Infantry were sent to regarrison Fort Dearborn, which had lain unoccupied 
since 1823. They arrived at Fort Dearborn October 3, 1828, and from that 
time until December 14, 1830, Dr. Finley served as surgeon of the garrison. 

July 13, 1832, Dr. Finley was promoted to surgeon, with the rank of major. 
In the same year he married Miss Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Dr. Samuel 
Moore, then director of the United States mint. 

After extensive service in the Black Hawk, Seminole and Mexican wars, 
Dr. Finley in 1861 became Surgeon General of the army. In 1862 he was 
retired from active service at his own request, after having served his country 
forty-four years in the medical department of the army. 

The commission of Brevet Brigadier General was awarded Dr. Finley by 
President Lincoln March 13, 1865, for long and faithful service, and July 10, 
1876, Congress granted him the pay of a retired Brigadier General. He died 
in Philadelphia, September 8, 1879. 

ELIJAH DEWEY HARMON 
Ninth Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 
(1782-1869) 

Known to the profession as the Father of Medicine in Chicago, Dr. Elijah 
Dewey Harmon also was noted for having performed the first major opera- 
tion in the city's history. This outstanding event took place in the winter 
of 1832. 

A half-breed Canadian had frozen his feet in bringing mail on horseback 
from Green Bay, Wis., to Chicago. With a scant stock of instruments and 
without the use of an anaesthetic, Dr. Harmon unaided amputated one foot 
and a part of the other of the mail carrier. 

The respect in which Dr. Harmon was held in the community was shown 
when Harmon Court (now East Eleventh Street) was named in his honor. 
It was in a residence at the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Har- 
mon Court that the doctor spent the later years of his life. 

The ninth surgeon of Fort Dearborn was born in Bennington, Vt., August 
20. 1782, being the eldest son of Ezekiel Harmon and a descendant of John 
Harmon, who came to America in 1636. Dr. Harmon studied medicine with 
Dr. Benjamin Swift of Manchester, Vt., and began the practice of his pro- 
fession in Burlington, Vt, in 1806. There he remained until 1812, when he 
enlisted in the medical service of the government and served throughout the 
war. He was assistant surgeon on Commodore McDonough's flagship, Sara- 
toga, in the battle of Plattsburg in 1814. 

After the war Dr. Harmon resumed practice in Burlington until financial 
reverses in 1829 brought about his removal west. In May, 1830, he arrived in 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 19 

Chicago and Dr. Finley, the surgeon of the fort, being absent, Dr. Harmon 
was installed in his place. When his family came the next year they brought 
his medical library, unequaled for many years by that of any other physician 
in Chicago. 

For two years the life of the surgeon was fairly uneventful. Then, on the 
night of July 10, 1832, General Winfield Scott and the remnant of his com- 
mand arrived at Chicago en route to Fort Armstrong at Prairie DuChien. 
Two days previous to their arrival an attack of Asiatic cholera had broken 
out among the troops with great violence and mortality. The garrison of 
the fort was removed at once to an isolation camp in the medical charge of 
Dr. Harmon and the fort was turned into a hospital for the newly arrived 
cholera stricken troops. The cholera soon found its way into the isolation 
camp and also into the village of Chicago, resulting in a number of deaths. 

The mortality in comparison with the number of cases was so small that 
Dr. Harmon considered that he was very successful in his treatment of the 
disease. He ascribed his success to the fact that he did not employ calomel 
in the treatment, in contrast to another doctor, who in attending the soldiers 
inside the fort treated all cases with calomel and blood-letting. 

In 1833, with many others, Dr. Harmon was seized with the Texas land 
fever and went to that state, where he acquired five or six leagues of land. 
After five years in that sparsely settled region, he returned to Chicago. The 
Chicago city directory of 1848 lists him as in partnership with Dr. Brockholst 
McVickar. 

In person Dr. Harmon was a commanding figure. Dr. J. Nevins Hyde in 
his "Early Medical Chicago" writes that "his face proclaimed his parentage 
and his profession." 

His death occurred January 3, 1869, when he was 87 years old. He is buried 
in Graceland cemetery. 



SAMUEL GRANDIN JOHNSTON DE CAMP 

Tenth Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 

(1788-1871) 

The class of 1808 of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 
City, furnished three of its members to service at Fort Dearborn. They were 
Doctors John Cooper, the second surgeon; his successor, Isaac VanVoorhis, 
killed in the Indian massacre in 1812, and Samuel Grandin Johnston DeCamp, 
the tenth surgeon. 

Of the forty years spent by Dr. DeCamp in the medical service of the 
government, but five months were passed at the station on Lake Michigan. 
He arrived there June 17, 1832, and remained until November 23 following. 

On the night of July 10, 1832, came the cholera-stricken troops of General 
Winfield Scott. Fort Dearborn immediately was turned into a hospital in 
charge of Dr. DeCamp, who, after the scourge had subsided, made the official 
report to the government. 

This shows that two hundred cases were admitted to the hospital in the 
course of six or seven days, fifty-eight of which terminated fatally. The 
employment of calomel and blood-letting in the treatment of all cases proved 
so efficacious, according to the report, that Dr. DeCamp regarded the disease 
as "robbed of its terrors." 



20 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




PHILIP MAXWELL 



ALEXANDER WOLCOTT 




THOMAS SPENCER 



JOSIAH COSMORE GOODHUE 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 21 

Dr. DeCamp, a son of John DeCamp, was born in Upper Long-wood, N. J., 
in 1788. The progenitor of the DeCamp family in America was Lawrence 
DeCamp, a Huguenot, who emigrated from Normandy in 1664. 

Following his graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
New York City, in 1808, Dr. DeCamp began the practice of his profession in 
Petersburg, N. J., in 1809, in which year he married Miss Nancy Wood. He 
served as surgeon's mate in the War of 1812, after which he resumed practice 
in Petersburg until October 10, 1823, when he re-enlisted as surgeon's mate. 

There followed service at Governor's Island, N. Y., in the Seminole war, 
and at other stations before the doctor was ordered to report at Fort Dear- 
born. In December, 1833, came promotion to surgeon with the rank of 
major. 

Dr. DeCamp served throughout the Mexican war and at several stations 
prior to the beginning of the Civil war, when he was named medical director 
of St. Louis. Later he was stationed at Watervliet, N. Y., where he resigned 
his commission August 27, 1862. bringing to an end an active medical career 
of fifty-four years. 

His last years were spent at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where he died Sep- 
tember 8, 1871, at the age of 83 years. 

Thanks are due Mrs. Maurice Moore, of Lynchburg, Va., a granddaughter 
of Dr. DeCamp, for many facts concerning his career. 

PHILIP MAXWELL 
Eleventh Surgeon of Fort Dearborn 
(1799-1859) 

The eleventh and last surgeon of Fort Dearborn was Dr. Philip Maxwell, 
who participated in the final abandonment of the fort, December 29, 1836. 
Later he became identified with medical affairs in Chicago, where he was a 
civil practitioner and for a time served as city physician. 

Born in Guilford, Windham County, Vt., April 3, 1799, Dr. Maxwell 
studied medicine in New York City with a Dr. Knott, but 'was graduated 
from one of the medical universities of his native state. Beginning practice 
in Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., he relinquished it when elected a member of the 
state legislature. 

In 1832 he was commissioned surgeon's mate and was assigned to duty at 
Green Bay, Wis. There he remained but a short time before being ordered 
to report at Fort Dearborn. Arriving there April 15, 1833, he was a witness 
to the Indian treaty of September 26 following. 

After leaving Fort Dearborn, Dr. Maxwell was promoted to a surgeoncy, 
July 7, 1838, and later served with General Zachary Taylor at Baton Rouge, 
La., and in the Seminole war in Florida. While engaged in this service, Dr. 
Maxwell resigned his commission and returned to Chicago, where he engaged 
in practice until 1855. 

During this period he was city physician in 1845, served a term in the state 
legislature and was a partner of Dr. Brockholst McVickar. His name is men- 
tioned among the attendants at the meetings that resulted in the organization 
of the Chicago Medical Society in 1850. 

While on duty at Green Bay, Dr. Maxwell became so impressed with the 
beauty of the country surrounding Lake Geneva, Wis., that he subsequently 
bought land there and built a home, to which he retired in 1855. He died 
there November 5, 1859, aged 60 years. 



22 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

ALEXANDER WOLCOTT 
First Resident Physician of Chicago 
(1790-1830) 

Indian agent, man of affairs and the first resident physician of Chicago, Dr. 
Alexander Wolcott was a dominant figure in the city's early history. Mem- 
ber of a family, which throughout its history has maintained a steady prom- 
inence in political, commercial and professional life, occupying a position 
similar to that of the Adams family in American public life, the physician 
carried on the tradition of his race. 

He left his imprint upon the city in many ways, notably in the naming of 
the principal street in his honor. In later years this thoroughfare, Wolcott 
Street, became State Street. 

The ancestor of the family in America was Henry Wolcott, who fled from 
England about 1628 to escape the persecution of dissenters by Charles I. 
Alexander Wolcott, the father of the physician, was a distinguished attorney 
in Connecticut, who was nominated Justice of the United States Supreme 
Court by President Madison, but the Federalists in the Senate prevented his 
confirmation by seven votes. 

Alexander Wolcott, Jr., was born in East Windsor, Conn., February 14, 
1790, the third of four children of the attorney and Frances Burbank, his first 
wife. His education was begun in his native town and was completed at 
Yale in the class of 1809. 

A near relative, Dr. Christopher Wolcott, was then practicing medicine in 
Windsor, and it was doubtless with him that the young man studied for the 
next three years. By that time the clouds of war were gathering rapidly and, 
following the bent of his ancestors, he offered his services as surgeon's mate 
in the army. He received the appointment March 25, 1812, and was assigned 
to duty at Fort Columbus, Governor's Island, where he served throughout 
the war. 

Remaining in army service until April 1, 1817, Dr. Wolcott resigned his 
commission and went to Boston with the intention of practicing his profession. 
A year later came the tender by President Monroe of appointment as "Indian 
Agent to the Lakes," at Chicago. Possibly the slow process of building up 
a practice, but more likely the lure of the boundless west caused him to 
accept the appointment. 

His nomination was confirmed by the Senate April 18, 1818, and the records 
of the war department show that he departed at once for his post. Copies of 
records of the war department and the Indian bureau of the department of the 
interior at Washington, now in possession of the Society of Medical History 
of Chicago, show that the histories of Chicago are in error in giving the year 
of Dr. Wolcott's arrival as 1820. 

Upon his arrival, Dr. Wolcott finished a house left half completed by the 
former agent and occupied it for five years. This dwelling was on the north 
side of the river, opposite Fort Dearborn, and adjoining the house of John 
Kinzie, one of Chicago's earliest white settlers, and later the physician's 
father-in-law. 

In the year 1818, which marked the admission of Illinois into the Union, 
the mighty and seemingly boundless northwest remained largely unexplored. 
In 1819 Lewis Cass, territorial governor of Michigan, was directed to ex- 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 23 

plore the upper lakes region and find the source of the Mississippi River. 
Dr. Wolcott, brought into close personal relations with Governor Cass, was 
invited to accompany him as physician of the expedition. 

The expedition, with Henry Schoolcraft as mineralogist, set out from 
Detroit in May, 1820, but, owing to the large size of their boats and the 
shallow water of the upper Mississippi River, it was unable to proceed beyond 
a lake then known as Cedar Lake, but to which Mr. Schoolcraft gave the 
name of Cass, in honor of the governor. 

In 1832 Dr. Douglas Houghton of Detroit accompanied Mr. Schoolcraft on 
a second expedition, which was successful in locating the source of the river, 
which was found to be 180 miles north of Cass Lake. Doctors Wolcott and 
Houghton thus had the honor of connecting the medical profession with the 
discovery of the source of the Father of Waters. 

August 29, 1821, one of the last great Indian treaties was held at Chicago. 
Dr. Wolcott was one of the signers with Governor Cass and the United 
States Indian Commissioners. Mr. Schoolcraft, who acted as secretary, 
attributed to Dr. Wolcott's advice to Governor Cass the acquirement, for 
almost nothing, of millions of acres of Michigan land. 

On July 20, 1823, Dr. Wolcott married Miss Ellen Marion Kinzie, eldest 
daughter of John and Eleanor Kinzie. Born in December, 1804, she is cele- 
brated as the first white child born in Chicago. The same year the garrison 
was withdrawn from Fort Dearborn and the fort and property were left in 
charge of Dr. Wolcott. Leaving his quarters in the agency house, he and 
his young bride took up their residence in one of the buildings inside the 
fort, where they remained until the fort was regarrisoned in 182S. 

They then returned to the agency house, where they lived until the phy- 
sician's death, October 26, 1830. First buried near the fort, in later years 
his body was removed to the City Cemetery, now Lincoln Park. In 1865, 
following the death and burial of John H. Kinzie, brother-in-law of Dr. 
Wolcott, in Graceland Cemetery, the bodies of Dr. Wolcott and his two 
children and those of John and Eleanor Kinzie, were removed to the same 
plot. 

Standing beside the graves of Dr. Wolcott and John Kinzie, the first 
settlers of the future city, one wonders what prophecies may have come to 
them of the Chicago that was to be. No deeply chiselled shafts, but modest 
headstones, mark the spot where lie their dust. To generations yet unborn, 
so long as the story of Chicago will be told, their names will be a part. 

THOMAS SPENCER 
(1793-1857) 

To occupy the chair of the principles and practice of medicine, Dr. Thomas 
Spencer in 1849 came to Rush Medical College from the Geneva (New York) 
Medical College, which he and Dr. Morgan had organized in 1834 at the 
request of John C. Spencer, then Secretary of War. 

It had been the desire of Dr. Daniel Brainard to strengthen the personnel 
of the teaching staff of Rush Medical College and two distinguished acces- 
sions in 1849 were Dr. N. S. Davis and Dr. Spencer. 

By the smoky light of pine splinters Dr. Spencer had laid the foundation 
of an educational equipment that enabled him later to take high rank in 
research, teaching and practice^ 



24 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

He was born in Great Harrington, Massachusetts, October 22, 1793. His 
family moved to Lenox, Madison County, New York, in 1804. The hamlet 
contained only three houses and adjoined Canastota, a village of the Oneida 
tribe of Indians. It was in a log cabin by the blazing fagots that he obtained 
his early schooling. While engaged as a surveyor, he undertook the study 
of medicine and received a degree from the Medical College of Fairfield, 
New York, in 1820. 

Cholera having made its first appearance on the western continent in 1832, 
the epidemic excited intense interest. At that time Dr. Spencer wrote a mono- 
graph on the disease which attracted wide-spread notice. It contained many 
valuable contributions to knowledge of the plague and became a classic. 

Founder of Geneva Medical College in 1834, Dr. Spencer remained in its 
chair of principles and practice of medicine for fifteen years. 

It was at the Geneva School that he delivered his celebrated lectures on 
"The Atomic Theory of Light and Heat," which, commentators said, placed 
him in a class with Liebig. During his incumbency at Geneva, Dr. Spencer 
in an interim pursued a course of studies at Paris in 1836, adding to his store 
of knowledge, which made him the leading physician in Central New York. 
His prestige at one time won for him the presidency of the New York Medical 
Association. With the outbreak of the Mexican War, he was appointed 
surgeon of the Tenth New York and New Jersey volunteers. In the combat 
operations of the organizations he won the praise of the quartermaster gen- 
eral. Henry Whiting, for exceptional care of the sick and wounded. 

After practicing a short time in Syracuse, Dr. Spencer proceeded to Mil- 
waukee to be near Rush Medical College, to which Dr. Brainard had sum- 
moned him. During the winter of 1849-50 Dr. Spencer delivered a series of 
lectures from the chair of the principles and practice of medicine. When, 
on account of ill-health, he retired at the end of the term he was made pro- 
fessor emeritus. 

He returned to Syracuse, engaging in practice until 1852, when he accepted 
a professorship in the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He was identified 
with the school until his death, May 30, 1857. 

JOSIAH COSMORE GOODHUE 
(1794-1847) 

Physicians of the early day in Chicago were as devoted to civic activities as 
to their profession. 

Not only was Dr. Josiah Cosmore Goodhue a leading practitioner of the 
pioneer time, but he was a public spirited citizen of diverse interests. 

He is particularly remembered as the founder of the public school system 
of Chicago. 

Son of Dr. Josiah Goodhue, president of Berkshire Medical College, Dr. 
Josiah Cosmore Goodhue was born at Putney, Vt., in 1794. He was gradu- 
ated from the medical department of Yale University in 1829. He began 
practice at St. Thomas, Can., where he remained until his removal to Chi- 
cago in the fall of 1832. With Dr. William Bradshaw Egan he served on a 
sanitary vigilance committee in 1837. Shortly afterward he became a partner 
of Dr. Daniel Brainard, whom he assisted in procuring the charter for Rush 
Medical College, which was granted by the general assembly in 1837. In the 
act of incorporation Dr. Goodhue is named as trustee. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 25 

When Chicago was organized as a city in 1837, the municipality was divided 
into five wards. Dr. Goodhue was elected a member of the city council from 
the first ward. As such he was the first proponent of a public school system 
for the city and it was at his instigation that the enabling ordinance was 
drawn by J. Young Scammon. 

Dr. Goodhue designed the seal of the corporation of Chicago. 

In 1838 Dr. Goodhue assisted Dr. Brainard! in the second capital surgical 
operation in Chicago. In the same year Dr. Goodhue bought land and re- 
moved to the site of the present city of Rockford, 111. There he aided in 
founding the municipality which derived its name from the rocky ford near 
which it was located. 

In 1846 Dr. Goodhue organized the Rock River Medical Society, of which 
he became the first president. The formation of this society antedated that 
of the Chicago and Illinois State Medical societies by four years. Dr. Brainard 
attended the meeting and became a member of the society. 

While making a call one night in 1847 Dr. Goodhue fell into an uncovered 
well, and, while still living when rescued, died before the arrival of Dr. 
Brainard who had been summoned. 

DANIEL D. WAITE 
(1795-1869) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society in 1859, Dr. Daniel D. Waite was 
a mainstay of that organization during a precarious period in its history. 

He was born in 1795. He moved from Victory, Cayuga County, New York, 
to Illinois in 1840 and settled at Union Ridge, which later was known as the 
town of Jefferson. For his land he paid $1.25 an acre. Moving later to St. 
Charles, Kane County, Dr. Waite, besides engaging in the practice of medi- 
cine, published a newspaper called the St. Charles Patriot. At St. Charles his 
wife, Lucy Clapp Waite, died and he moved to Chicago. 

On his arrival he found the Chicago Medical Society struggling for exis- 
tence. Through his efforts the organization was placed upon a sound basis 
and it was Dr. N. S. Davis, who at the fiftieth anniversary of the Chicago 
Medical Society, said, "If it were not for Dr. Waite we would not now be 
celebrating this semi-centennial, as it was his enthusiasm and persistent 
effort that kept the society alive when it must otherwise have ceased to 
exist. When the members had no other place to meet they assembld in Dr. 
Waite's office." 

Dr. Waite was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1859. 
He died at Kenwood ten years later, August 13, 1869. 

IRA HATCH 
(1800-1879) 

Dr. Ira Hatch, president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1861-62, was 
1>orn on a farm near Alstead, N. H., November 4, 1800. He studied at Dart- 
mouth for two years and was graduated from Union College. For a year he 
had charge of the academy at Kingston, N. Y. Returning to Alstead, he 
began the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. Elisha Hatch. He engaged 
in general practice at Fort Ann, N. Y., where he remained for several years. 
From Fort Ann Dr. Hatch went to Union Village. N. Y., and to Springfield, 
Mass. He arrived in Chicago in 1856. He was elected president of the 
Chicago Medical Society for the 1861-62 term. 



26 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 





DANIEL D. WAITE 



IRA HATCH 




DAVID RUTTER 



EDMUND STOUGHTON KIMBERLY 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 27 

Dr. Hatch's first wife, Mrs. Mary Vllas Hatch, whom he married February 
8, 1828, died in 1866 and at the age of 70 he married Miss Mary Culver of 
Chicago and removed to Warrenville, 111. 

Dr. Hatch died October 1, 1879. 

DAVID RUTTER 
(1800-1865) 

One of the founders of the institution which subsequently became the 
Northwestern University Medical School, Dr. David Rutter had come to 
Chicago in 1849. 

He was born at Pine Forge, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1800. His father 
and grandfather were iron masters. He studied medicine at the University 
of Pennsylvania and received his degree in 1823. In 1824 he married Miss 
Isabella Crawford. After her death a decade later, he married Miss Esther 
Turner Ryerson. 

He practiced his profession in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, for nine 
years. Proceeding to Philadelphia, he engaged in practice for a brief period. 
He arrived in Chicago in 1849. Ten years later Dr. Rutter, with Doctors 
Hosmer A. Johnson, Ralph N. Isham, Edmund Andrews and others, 
organized the medical department of Lind University, later known as the 
Chicago Medical College and finally as Northwestern University Medical 
School. Dr. Rutter was a member of the faculty until his death. 

He was a devoted adherent of Abraham Lincoln and when the president 
was assassinated he was so deeply affected that he was stricken with apoplexy 
and died April 16, 1865. 

EDMUND STOUGHTON KIMBERLY 
(1803-1874) 

Dr. Edmund Stoughton Kimberly was one of Chicago's constructive 
pioneers. 

Born at Troy, New York, April 7, 1803, his earliest ancestor in America was 
Thomas Kimberly, a member of the first colony of New Haven, in 1638. His 
sturdy spirit survived in Edmund Kimberly, type of the New Englanders who 
helped representatives of other races to make Chicago great. 

Edmund Kimberly was graduated from the academy at Lenox, Massa- 
chussetts, in 1819, and from Union College, Schenectady, New York in 1822. 
He next received a degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New 
York City, and was commissioned surgeon's mate by Governor Dewitt 
Clinton. 

Dr. Kimberly married Miss Marie Theresa Ellis, May 16, 1829, and in 1832 
they proceeded to Chicago. A physician through all his years in this city, 
he was most active in civic affairs and as a useful public servant. In 1833, he 
was clerk of the election which decided that the village of Chicago should 
be incorporated. On August 10, of that year he was elected one of the board 
of trustees which gave Chicago its first civil government. In 1834, he was 
authorized to erect a Cholera Hospital. 

Members of Dr. Kimberly's business firm, Peter Pruyn and Co., were 
among the stockholders of the Chicago Democrat, the first number of which, 
November 26, 1833, contained the ordinance which he had introduced at the 
meeting of the board of trustees fixing the boundaries of Chicago. 



28 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




JOHN TAYLOR TEMPLE 



ALEXANDER FISHER 




ORREN SMITH 



WILLIAM GODFREY DYAS 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 29 

Dr. Kimberly in 1837 aided Dr. Daniel Brainard to secure the charter for 
Rush Medical College, in which the former was named as a trustee. The 
same year under the charter of the city, Dr. Kimberly was elected city health 
officer and re-elected until 1841. In 1844, he was a leader in the Peoria State 
Convention held to put the public school system of Illinois into effect. Three 
years later he championed the movement for township organization in the 
state. In 1847, he was elected recorder of deeds for Cook County and in 1849, 
clerk of the county. 

Dr. Kimberly was a school inspector and in 1850, president of the school 
board. In 1860, he removed to Lake County, where he died October 26, 1874. 

JOHN TAYLOR TEMPLE 
(1803-1877) 

A contract obtained through Martin Van Buren to carry mail from Chi- 
cago to Fort Howard on Green Bay brought Dr. John Taylor Temple to this 
city in 1833. He was a member of Chicago's first board of health and was 
a member of the first board of trustees of Rush Medical College, although 
later becoming a convert to homeopathy. 

Dr. Temple was born on a plantation in King William County, Virginia, 
May 5, 1803. It was near this estate that the surrender of Yorktown took 
place. He was graduated from Union College at Schenectady, New York, 
receiving the degree of A. M. Then for three years he studied medicine in 
the office of Dr. George McClellan of Philadelphia. 

He received his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1824 
and soon afterward he married the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Stoughton of 
Philadelphia. Practicing for a time in that city, he went to Washington, 
where he was employed in the patent office. Failing health compelled him 
to seek outdoor work and through the influence of Mr. Van Buren, who was 
then a member of Andrew Jackson's cabinet, he secured the contract to carry 
mail from Chicago to Fort Howard. Later he was also awarded the Chicago- 
Ottawa-Peoria route. He arrived in Chicago late in 1833 and on January 1, 
1834, he began the transportation of mail, using four-horse coaches in a daily 
service. 

When Chicago's first board of health was established in 1835, Dr. Temple 
became a member. Soon afterward he organized the first Bible society in 
the town. In 1836, with Dr. Levi D. Boone, he excavated two sections of 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In 1837 when the charter for Rush Medical 
College was obtained, Dr. Temple was one of the trustees. 

He became a convert to homeopathy and in 1842 he moved to Galena and 
later to St. Louis. In 1857 he founded the Homeopathic Medical College of 
St. Louis, which became the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Of this 
institution he was the dean. 

He was a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and of the 
Western Institute of Homeopathy, of which he was at one time president. 
He died in St. Louis, February 24, 1877. 

ALEXANDER FISHER 
(1804-1882) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society in 1858-59, Dr. Alexander Fisher 
was an active practitioner in Chicago for nearly a generation. 



30 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

He was born in Lancaster, Mass., August 12, 1804. He received his medical 
degree from the College of Physicans and Surgeons at Fairfield, N. Y., in 
1834. Beginning in 1835 he practiced medicine in Summit County, Ohio, for 
fourteen years. Dr. Fisher suspended professional work for a year on account 
of ill health. In 1855 he removed to Chicago, where he continued to practice 
until his death. He devoted especial attention to surgery and among his 
operations was a ligation of the external iliac artery, a report of which was 
published in the American Journal for Medical Science of April, 1856. 

After serving a term as president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1858-59, 
Dr. Fisher was elected president of the Society of Physicians and Surgeons of 
Chicago. 

Dr. Fisher was a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War. Step- 
daughters of Dr. Fisher married Bishop Cheney and Dr. James Nevins Hyde 
of Chicago. 

Dr Fisher died February 15, 1882. 

ORREN SMITH 
(1806-1867) 

Dr. Orren Smith, president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1860-61, was 
born at Marlow, Vermont, July 27, 1806. In 1830 he was graduated from the 
medical department of the University of Vermont. After practicing medi- 
cine in Montpelier for twenty years, he was appointed professor of obstetrics 
and diseases of children in the University of Vermont. He resigned this posi- 
tion in 1857 and moved to Chicago, becoming almost immediately a member 
of the Chicago Medical Society. Having contributed greatly to the restora- 
tion of harmony in that organization, he was elected to the presidency in 
1860. He died August 12, 1867. 

AVILLIAM GODFREY DYAS 
(1807-1895) 

Dr. William Godfrey Dyas was closely identified with the professional life 
of Chicago from his arrival in the city in 1859 until his tragic death. 

Of the fifth generation from Edward Dyas, who fought under Cromwell, 
Dr. Dyas was born in Dublin, Ireland, November 4, 1807. He entered Trinity 
College in his sixteenth year and from there was transferred to the Royal 
College of Surgeons, from which he was graduated in 1830. 

He then served in the Cholera Hospital, County Kildare, which was under 
the supervision of the government and, after a year's activity there, he was 
placed in charge of a fever hospital. In this field he labored for twenty-five 
years. On his return to Dublin he was appointed assistant demonstrator of 
anatomy in Trinity College. 

In 1856 he came to America and became connected with various medical 
journals. For a few months, beginning in July, 1859, he was associated with 
Dr. Daniel Brainard in editing the Chicago Medical Journal. 

Dr. Dyas aided Dr. William H. Byford in 1870 in organizing the Woman's 
Medical College, where for five years he occupied the chair of theory and 
practice of medicine. He was consultant to the Woman's and Children's, 
St. Joseph's and Cook County Hospitals. 

In 1873 Dr. Dyas was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society. 
He was also a member of the American Medical Association and the Illinois 
State Medical Society. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 31 

Dr. Henry M. Lyman, describing Dr. Dyas as "a tall, distinguished looking 
Irishman, an aristocratic gentleman with a lofty sense of honor," also said, 
"He was the most thorough classical scholar among the physicians of Chi- 
cago. To the day of his death he passed no evening without reading a few 
pages in the original of his favorite Greek and Latin author." 

In 1831 Dr. Dyas married Miss Georgiana Keating of Mostrim, County 
Longford, Ireland. A son of that marriage, Dr. George K. Dyas, practiced 
medicine in Chicago for many years, dying in August, 1895. His son, Dr. 
Frederick G. Dyas, in turn became a member of the medical profession in 
Chicago. In 1861 the elder Dyas married Miss Miranda Sherwood of Bridge- 
port, Conn. 

During his last years Dr. Dyas lived in Park Manor, a suburb of Chicago, 
where, on February 20, 1895, he was killed by a railroad train as he was 
returning to his home. 

CHARLES VOLNEY DYER 
(1808-1878) 

One of the promoters of the celebrated "Underground Railroad," whereby 
fugitive slaves were smuggled to freedom, a political power and a medical 
practitioner of high standing, Dr. Charles Volney Dyer was one of the most 
prominent figures in the early life of Chicago. 

He was born in Clarendon, Vt., June 12, 1808, and was graduated from 
Middlebury (Vt.) Medical College in 1830. In February, 1831, Dr. Dyer 
began practice at Newark, N. J., where he remained four years. 

He arrived in Chicago, August 23, 1835. In 1836 he was elected town clerk 
and became a member of the Chicago Lyceum, which had been organized in 
1834. He married Miss Louisa M. Gifford of Elgin in 1837. They took up 
their residence in Fort Dearborn, where their first children were born. The 
same year Dr. Dyer was elected Judge of the Probate Court and two years 
later he was chosen health officer. In the meantime Dr. Dyer had engaged in 
practice with Dr. L. D. Boone and had also become known as the strongest 
abolitionist in Chicago. 

Chicago's first militia organization, the City Guards, formed in 1840, had 
on its roster the name of Dr. Dyer as surgeon. He was elected trustee of 
the Garden City Institute in 1853 and in 1858 was an organizer of the Chicago 
Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Dyer was an incorporator of the 
North Chicago Street Railway Company in 1859 and in the same year he 
helped to organize the Rosehill Cemetery Corporation. 

President Lincoln in 1863, appointed Dr. Dyer as Judge of the Mixed Court 
for the suppression of the African slave trade. For years the physician had 
been active in the movement to aid in the escape of fugitive slaves. 

Dr. Dyer was president of the Cook County Drainage Commission in 1869. 
He died April 24, 1878. 

WILLIAM BRADSHAW EGAN 
(1808-1860) 

One of the most distinguished figures in the early history of Chicago was 
William Bradshaw Egan, physician, churchman, orator, political leader and 
financial magnate. 

Second cousin of the renowned patriot, Daniel O'Connell, Dr. Egan was 
born on the banks of Lake Killarney, September 28, 1808. 



32 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




CHARLES VOLNEY DYER 



WILLIAM BRADSHAW EGAN 




ROBERT C. HAMILL 



LEVI DAY BOONE 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 33 

At the age of fifteen he began his medical studies under Dr. McGuire, a 
surgeon in the Lancashire Collieries. He continued his course in London 
and in the Lying-in Hospital of Dublin. 

He arrived in Quebec in 1826 and there, in 1827, engaged in teaching. 
Later he taught in Montreal and at the grammar school of the University of 
Virginia, where he attended medical lectures for two terms. Dr. Egan 
pursued a course at Rutgers Medical School, New York City, and in 1830 he 
was licensed by the medical board of New Jersey, beginning practice in 
Newark and New York. 

Dr. Egan married Miss Emmaline W. Mabbatt of New York City in 1832 
and the following year the young couple came to Chicago, which had just 
been organized as a village. Immediately he and Dr. J. C. Goodhue were 
appointed a committee to enforce sanitary regulations, thereby constituting 
what might be regarded as Chicago's first board of health. 

In 1834 Dr. Egan was one of the organizers of St. James Episcopal Church 
and was one of the vestrymen. An annalist of the time describes him as "a 
fine specimen of the Irish gentleman, of noble presence, exuberant fancy, 
sparkling wit, keen perception and with a fine knowledge of the classics." 

It was Dr. Egan who delivered the address when ground was broken for 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal and it was he who shared the oratorical 
honors with James Lane, territorial governor of Kansas, when the latter 
came to Chicago to plead for help to place Kansas in the Union as a free 
state. In 1842 Dr. Egan was elected president of an organization of Irish- 
Americans that had been formed to liberate Ireland. 

He was elected recorder of deeds of Cook County in 1844. In 1853-4 
he was a member of the lower house of the general assembly. 

During the period of his residence in Chicago he operated successfully in 
real estate and it was said of him that in 1834 he bought a tract of land for 
$300 which in the boom of 1836 he sold for $60,000. 

For several years before the Civil War he dwelt upon a beautiful estate 
in the village of Hyde Park, which was known as "Egandale." It fronted 
on Cottage Grove Avenue and extended from Forty-seventh street to Fifty- 
fifth street. 

The gate-keeper's lodge still remained in 1890. Dr. Egan died October 
27, 1860. 

ROBERT C. HAMILL 
(1808-1886) 

Flatboatman on the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers in 1833. 

Recipient of an honorary degree from Rush Medical College in 1861. 

These two incidents indicate the character and ability of Dr. Robert C. 
Hamill, for thirty-four years a leading physician in Chicago. 

Dr. Hamill was born at Xenia, Ohio, November 26, 1808. His ancestors 
were among the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania. 

After completing a course at Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pa., young 
Hamill taught school near Vicksburg, Miss. In 1833 he ran a flat boat on the 
Yazoo and Mississippi rivers, carrying produce to New Orleans. Then he be- 
came purser and business manager of a Mississippi river steamer. Returning 
to Xenia, Dr. Hamill opened a drug store and began the study of medicine. He 
attended lectures in the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, of which he be- 



34 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

came licentiate in 1838. At this time he married Miss Elvira Davisson of 
Xenia and removed to Bloomington, Ind., where he practiced medicine until 
he came to Chicago in 1852. 

In 1861 Rush Medical College conferred upon Dr. Hamill the honorary de- 
gree of Doctor of Medicine. 

During the Civil War, Dr. Hamill, as a representative of the Sanitary Com- 
mission, visited the battle zone to care for sick and wounded soldiers. He 
aided in the establishment of the Soldiers' Rest at Chicago, which, after the 
war, became the Soldiers' Home, of which he was president for eighteen years. 

During his active career in Chicago Dr. Hamill was devoted to the interests 
of the various charitable institutions with which he was connected. He was 
one of the founders of the Home for Incurables and was visiting physician to 
that institution. Dr. Hamill spent several hours of the day he died in attend- 
ing charity patients. He was an active member of the staff of the Presby- 
terian Hospital. 

Dr. Hamill was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois 
State and Chicago Medical societies, trustee of Rush Medical College and 
consulting physician to the Presbyterian Hospital. 

Dr. Hamill died from heart failure July 21, 1886. His widow and three 
sons, one of whom is Ernest A. Hamill, a banker, survived him. 

LEVI DAY BOONE 
(1808-1882) 

Collateral descendant of Daniel Boone; captain in the Blackhawk War, 
first president of the Chicago Medical Society and an early mayor of Chicago, 
Dr. Levi Day Boone was born near Lexington, Ky., December 8, 1808. He 
was graduated from the medical department of Transylvania University, 
Louisville, Ky., in 1829. In the same year he removed to Edwardsville, 111., 
and in 1830 to Hillsboro, 111. He entered the Blackhawk War as a private in 
1832 and was discharged as a captain and surgeon. In 1833 Dr. Boone mar- 
ried Miss Louisa Smith, daughter of Theophilus Smith, Judge of the Supreme 
Court of Illinois. 

A year after his arrival in Chicago in 1835, Dr. Boone, in partnership with 
Dr. John T. Temple, excavated two sections of the Illinois and Michigan 
canal. 

In 1839 he became associated in medical practice with Dr. Charles V. Dyer 
and in 1845 he entered into a partnership with Dr. Brockholst McVickar. Dr. 
Boone was elected city physician in 1849 and held that position for three 
years. He was an organizer of the Chicago Medical Society in 1850 and was 
elected its first president. 

For six years alderman from the second ward, Dr. Boone was elected mayor 
of Chicago in 1855. 

He was one of the surgeons at Camp Douglas for a period during the Civil 
War. Although of southern birth, Dr. Boone was a supporter of the Union 
cause and his last professional work was performed on a voluntary trip to 
the front to relieve overworked field surgeons. Dr. Boone's youngest son, 
S. S. Boone, served throughout the war as lieutenant of a company of the 
Nineteenth Infantry. In 1862 failing health made a change of occupation 
necessary and Dr. Boone entered the life insurance business. 

Dr. Boone was a trustee of the Old University of Chicago and a member of 
the old Michigan Avenue Baptist Church. He died January 24, 1882. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 35 

ABRAHAM GROESBECK 
(1810-1884) 

Dr. Abraham Groesbeck, in 1866 president of the Chicago Medical Society, 
was born in Albany, N. Y., May 24, 1810. Upon leaving Albany Academy at 
the age of sixteen years, he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. 
Jonathan Eights of Albany, where he remained for five years. 

After attending Barclay Medical College in New York City, Dr. Groesbeck 
was licensed to practice medicine May 27, 1831. He pursued his profession 
in Albany for eighteen years and in 1840 the Albany Medical College con- 
ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 

From Albany Dr. Groesbeck removed to Kenosha, Wis., where he practiced 
medicine seven years. Coming to Chicago in 1856, he devoted his attention 
largely to obstetrics. 

In his last years Dr. Groesbeck suffered almost total blindness, which 
caused his retirement from practice four years before his death. 

While living in Albany in 1841 Dr. Groesbeck married Miss Mary L. Wil- 
liams, w r ho with their daughters, Mrs. Augustus Van Buren and Miss Fannie 
Groesbeck, survived him. He died November 25, 1884. 

BROCKHOL ST McVICKAR 
(1810-1883) 

Chicago's first Commissioner of Health, one of the founders of the Chicago 
Medical Society and of the first City Hospital, Dr. Brockholst McVickar was 
active in the professional and public life of this city for nearly a generation. 

Dr. McVickar was born in New York City, May 31, 1810. He received his 
early education under private tutors and later under his uncle, Professor John 
McVickar of Columbia College. He was graduated in medicine from Fair- 
field Medical College, New York, in 1831. His first practice was at Trenton, 
New Jersey. 

He came to Chicago in 1848. Like all other physicians of the city, he 
battled hard with the great cholera epidemic of 1849. In 1850 Dr. McVickar, 
his partner, Dr. Levi D. Boone, and Dr. N. S. Davis took a leading part in 
organizing the Chicago Medical Society. 

From 1853 to 1856 Dr. McVickar was city physician. In the cholera 
epidemic of 1854, as city physician, he constructed and had charge of the first 
City Hospital at Eighteenth and Arnold Streets, from which later was devel- 
oped Cook County Hospital. 

From June until November 1862, he was surgeon of the Twenty-third Illi- 
nois Volunteer Infantry, Colonel James A. Mulligan commanding. When, in 
1863, the government commandeered the City Hospital for military purposes, 
Dr. McVickar was placed in charge. Later he was also chief medical officer 
of the Marine Hospital and of Camp Douglas, a place of internment for Con- 
federate prisoners. 

In 1868 he was again physician in charge of the Marine Hospital. On July 
19, 1876, the City Council of Chicago passed an ordinance creating the office 
of Commissioner of Health and vesting authority of the department in that 
official. Dr. McVickar was the first commissioner and was appointed July 24, 
1876. A few months later he was compelled to resign on account of ill health. 
He died at Buffalo, N. Y., October 14, 1883. 



36 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




ABRAHAM GROESBECK 



BROCKHOLST McVICKAR 




ALVAN EDMOND SMALL 



DANIEL BRAINARD 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 37 

ALVAN EDMOND SMALL 
(1811-1886) 

Author, teacher and sometime president of Hahnemann Medical College, 
Dr. Alvan Edmond Small was born in Wales, Lincoln County, Maine, March 
4, 1811. His father, John Small, was for several terms a member of the 
legislature of Maine. 

The son attended the public schools until he was sixteen years old. He 
was then so advanced that he was chosen as principal of a district grammar 
schoool. After teaching for a time he took a four years' academic course in 
Monmouth, Maine. He thereupon became principal of one of the city schools 
in Bath, Maine, serving for two years. In 1831 he began the study of med- 
icine under Dr. B. C. Green of Saco, Maine. He studied with him for two 
years and completed his education at the medical department of the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania. 

He practiced medicine in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, until 1845, 
when, after embracing homeopathy, he moved to Philadelphia, where he re- 
mained for eleven years. In 1849 he was appointed to the chair of physiology 
in the Homeopathic College of Philadelphia. Later he was transferred to 
the chair of the homeopathic institute and practice of medicine. 

He came to Chicago in 1856 and when, in 1860, Hahnemann Medical Col- 
lege was established he was appointed to the chair of theory and practice 
of medicine, which he filled for ten years. When resigning this chair he was 
elected president of the college. He was general superintendent of Scam- 
mon Hospital, and served as president of the Illinois Homeopathic Medical 
Association and the American Institute of Homeopathy. 

His published works include "Manual of the Homeopathic Practice," "Dis- 
eases of the Nervous System" and monographs on various subjects. 

He died December 31, 1886. 

DANIEL BRAINARD 
(1812-1866) 

Founder and head of the first medical college in Chicago, an organizer 
of the first general hospital, the city's first health officer and for more than 
twenty years recognized as its leading surgeon such are the outstanding 
facts in the career of Daniel Brainard. 

The surgeon's interests were not limited to his profession ; for a few 
years after his arrival in Chicago he occupied the editorial chair of the 
city's first newspaper, the Chicago Democrat. He was known also as a 
botanist and geologist and a student of literature. 

Dr. Brainard's first prominence as a surgeon came in 1838, when he per- 
formed what is believed to have been the second major operation in the 
city and one of the first of its kind in the United States. This was the 
amputation of a leg of a laborer on the Illinois and Michigan canal, the 
amputation being made at the hip-joint. 

The laborer, having suffered a fracture of the femur and having had the 
leg dressed, walked several miles into the city before union had been com- 
pletely effected. The inflammation that followed was so severe that at a 
conference of Doctors Brainard, Josiah C. Goodhue, Philip Maxwell and 
William B. Egan, an amputation was declared necessary. 



38 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Dr. Brainard urged amputation at the hip-joint, but the other three fav- 
ored having it done below the trochanter. The young surgeon removed 
the leg at the place designated by his counsellors, but rinding the bone 
marrow diseased higher up, he at once amputated at the hip, Dr. Goodhue 
performing the important duty of compressing the femoral artery. 

The case progressed favorably for a few weeks and the wounds had 
nearly healed, when secondary hemorrhage developed and quickly proved 
fatal. 

Born in the town of Western, Oneida County, New York, May 15, 1812, 
the son of Jepthai Brainard, Jr., and Catherine Comstock Brainard, the 
future surgeon traced his ancestry in America back to Daniel Brainard, 
who was brought to this country when eight years old, and who in 1662 
settled at Haddam, Connecticut. Following a common school and academic 
education, Dr. Brainard began the study of medicine in 1829 with Dr. 
R. S. Sykes of Whitesboro, New York, later entering the office of Dr. 
Harold H. Pope, in Rome, New York. 

A course of lectures at Fairfield Medical College was followed by two 
courses at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where he received his 
medical degree in 1834. He then returned to Whitesboro and spent a year 
or more in partnership with Dr. Sykes and in the study of Latin and 
French. 

He arrived in Chicago in the autumn of 1835 and at once took up the 
practice of his profession. In 1837 he obtained a charter for Rush Medical 
College, named in honor of Benjamin Rush, a noted physician and a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence. In that year Chicago received its 
charter as a city and Dr. Brainard became city physician, or health officer. 

Dr. Brainard was prevented from opening the medical college by the 
financial panic of 1837 and the depression following, and in 1839 he went to 
Paris, France, then the center of medical culture, where he spent two years 
in study. The influence of the time thus spent is shown in his subsequent 
writings and activities. 

Rush Medical College was opened in 1843 in two small rooms in Clark 
street, where the first class was graduated with Dr. Brainard as professor 
of anatomy and surgery. He was professor of surgery and president of 
the college up to his death. 

A remarkable faculty of Dr. Brainard was his seeming prescience in the 
selection of his associates in the early days of Rush Medical College. Many 
of the men whom he chose as members of the faculty or whom he persuaded 
to lecture before the students were young men whose ability he recognized 
and who later achieved national and international reputations. Among 
these were Samuel G. Armor, the elder Austin Flint, Nathan S. Davis, 
Eclmund Andrews, and James Van Zandt Blaney. 

In association with several of his colleagues, Dr. Brainard aided in edit- 
ing the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal, the first medical jour- 
nal published in Chicago, which later became the Chicago Medical Journal. 

In 1847 the first general hospital in the city was established, chiefly 
through the efforts of Dr. Brainard and his associates. A large warehouse 
on the northeast corner of Kinzie and Wolcott (now State) streets, to which 
was given the name of Tippecanoe Hall, was used for the hospital. One 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 39 

hundred beds were installed and these were well equipped during the two 
succeeding years, when "ship-fever" prevailed, chiefly among the immi- 
grants. Doctors Brainard, J. V. Z. Blaney and William B. Herrick con- 
stituted the medical staff. 

The vice-presidency of the American Medical Association was bestowed 
upon Dr. Brainard in 1850. In that year he was an organizer of the Chi- 
cago Medical Society and the Illinois State Medical Society, becoming 
president of the latter organization in 1854. Visiting France again in 1853, 
he read two important papers before the Academy of Science and the Society 
of Surgery of Paris. At this time he was elected a corresponding member 
of the Societe de Chirurgie. 

Upon his return to Chicago, Dr. Brainard in 1854 was awarded a prize 
by the American Medical Association for his essay on the treatment of 
"ununited fractures and certain deformities of the osseous system." 

The motto of the essay, which is considered one of the classical medical 
articles of America, was in French of the Sixteenth Century from Ambroise 
Pare. Liberally translated, it reads : 

"And notwithstanding all the pains I have heretofore taken, I have reason 
to praise God, in that it hath pleased Him to call me to that branch of 
medical practice, commonly called surgery, which can neither be bought 
by gold nor by silver, but by industry alone and long experience." 

In the cholera epidemic of 1866, in which more than a thousand Chi- 
cagoans perished, Dr. Brainard was one of the early victims. In the after- 
noon of October 9, he digressed from the subject of his lecture to advise 
his class how to guard against cholera, and before he retired that evening 
he began an article on the disease, the first page of which is still preserved 
in the archives of the college. 

He went to bed apparently in perfect health, but towards morning noted 
choleric symptoms, which he checked with opiates. He arose as usual the 
next morning with no symptoms of sickness until 9 o'clock, when he suf- 
fered a second attack. Dr. Ephraim Ingals and another member of the 
faculty were called, but by 2 o'clock in the afternoon Dr. Brainard was in 
collapse and seven hours later he ceased to breathe. His funeral was from 
St. James' Church and his burial in Graceland cemetery. 

In 1891 Dr. Nicholas Senn spoke of Dr. Brainard as one of the greatest 
surgeons, and certainly the most original, that America had produced. 

AUSTIN FLINT 
(1812-1886) 

It was while serving as professor of the institutes and practice of medicine 
at Rush Medical College that Dr. Austin Flint formulated many of the doc- 
trines of ethics which, later, were incorporated into the code of the American 
Medical Association. He had been summoned to that institution by Dr. 
Daniel Brainard in 1844. For one year Dr. Flint was a teacher at Rush. 
Then he left for the east and years afterward he became a distinguished figure 
in American medical history. 

Dr. Flint was born in Petersham, Mass., October 20, 1812. His grand- 
father had been a surgeon in the Continental Army. 



40 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




AUSTIN FLINT 



ERIAL McARTHUR 




WILLIAM B. HERRICK 



VALENTINE A. BOYER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 41 

After having pursued his academic education at Amherst and Harvard, 
Dr. Flint was graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1833. For a time 
he practiced in Boston, but in 1836 removed to Buffalo. Eight years later, 
for a period of a year, he lectured at Rush Medical College, announcing some 
of the canons that subsequently entered into the code of the American 
Medical Association. 

For ten years, beginning in 1846, Dr. Flint conducted the Buffalo Medical 
Journal. In 1847 he was associated with Professors White and Hamilton in 
the founding of Buffalo Medical College. Until 1852 he was professor of 
the principles and practice of medicine in that institution. From 1852 to 
1856 Dr. Flint occupied the chair of the theory and practice of medicine in 
the University of Louisville. Then he returned to Buffalo as professor of 
pathology arrd clinical medicine. 

Moving from Buffalo to New York City in 1859, Dr. Flint entered upon 
the practice of his profession. After the lapse of two years he was appointed 
physician to Bellevue Hospital and professor of the principles and practice 
of medicine in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He was also pro- 
fessor of pathology and medical practice in the Long Island Hospital College. 
Dr. Flint was connected with Bellevue for twenty-five years and with the 
Long Island College seven years. 

President of the New York Academy of Medicine from 1872 until 1885, 
Dr. Flint was a member of the leading American medical, surgical and 
scientific societies. He was a delegate to the International Medical Congress 
at Philadelphia in 1876 and was president of the American Medical Associa- 
tion in 1884. 

Dr. Flint was elected to preside over the International Medical Congress 
at Washington in 1887. He died, however, March 13, 1886. 

ERIAL McARTHUR 
(1812-1857) 

Dr. Erial McArthur, president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1852, was 
an advertiser. An anomaly, BUT 

When smallpox ravaged Chicago in 1849, he and other public spirited phy- 
sicians battled day and night to stay the dread epidemic. In their efforts to 
extinguish the plague, among many other things, they advertised in the 
mediums of the day that they would vaccinate without charge any member 
of the community. Dr. McArthur made a special study of the disease and 
wrote a valuable monograph on it. 

Dr. McArthur was born in Bradford, Vt., December 16, 1812. From there 
the family moved to Youngstown, Niagara County, New York, where Dr. 
McArthur's younger brother, Dr. Alonzo L. McArthur, was born. 

The name of Erial McArthur, M. D., first appeared in the Chicago directory 
in 1846. W r ith Doctors Daniel Brainard, J. V. Z. Blaney, William B. Herrick 
and others, he journeyed to Springfield in April, 1850, to assist in the forma- 
tion of the Illinois State Medical Society. The next year he was elected vice- 
president of the organization. 

In 1852 he was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society. 

He died October 22, 1857. 



42 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

WILLIAM B. HERRICK 
(1813-1865) 

The first president of the Illinois State Medical Society and twice president 
of the Chicago Medical Society, Dr. William B. Herrick was closely identified 
with the early history of Rush Medical College. 

He was born at Durham, Maine, September 20, 1813. He attended medical 
lectures at Bowdoin and Dartmouth colleges and was graduated from the 
latter in 1836. The following year he went to Louisville, Ky., where he was 
appointed assistant demonstrator of anatomy in Louisville Medical College. 
Removing to Hillsboro, 111., in 1839, he entered practice and in 1840 married 
Miss Martha J. Seward, a kinswoman of William H. Seward. 

He joined the faculty of Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1844, and be- 
came lecturer on anatomy at that time. He was appointed professor of 
anatomy in 1845. 

On the opening of hostilities with Mexico, he was commissioned assistant 
surgeon in the First Illinois Infantry and, with General Wool's division, he 
was in the engagement at Buena Vista. Later he was placed in charge of 
the hospital at Saltillo. He became a victim of exposure and, resigning in 
1847, resumed his professional work in Chicago. He remained professor of 
anatomy at Rush until 1855, when he was made professor of physiology and 
histology. He continued to occupy the latter chair until 1857. 

Dr. Herrick, in "the summer of 1850, helped to organize the Illinois State 
Medical Society and was elected first president of that body. In the same 
year he assisted in the foundation of the Chicago Medical Society, whose 
president he was in 1851 and again in 1853. 

Disabilities which he contracted in the Mexican war compelled him to 
retire in 1857, and return to Maine, where he died December 31, 1865. 



VALENTINE A. BOYER 
(1814-1890) 

Physician, druggist, canal builder, justice of the peace and church trustee 
these occupations denote the activities in Chicago of Dr. Valentine A. Boyer, 
for nearly sixty years a resident of the city. 

Born in Reading, Pa., January 23, 1814, Dr. Boyer was graduated from the 
medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1836. He proceeded 
to Chicago where he became interested with his father in the construction of 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal. 

Dr. Boyer established one of the first drug stores in Chicago and continued 
that business in connection with his practice until his store was consumed, as 
was also his home, in the great Chicago fire of 1871. After the fire until his 
retirement in 1880, Dr. Boyer's time was devoted to his practice. 

Dr. Boyer was an early justice of the peace and held that office from 1844 
to 1852. He was first surveyor of the port of Chicago under President Pierce. 
He was also a member of the first board of trustees of the First German 
Lutheran Church. 

In 1847 Dr. Boyer married Miss Mary Catherine Specht, who survived him 
upon his death, May 11, 1890. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 43 

JOHN EVANS 
(1814-1897) 

One of the great citizens of the pioneer west was Dr. John Evans, one of 
the founders of: 

The City of Evanston, 
Northwestern University, 
The Methodist Book Concern, 
The Northwestern Christian Advocate, 
The Chicago Medical Society, 
The Illinois State Medical Society, 
Chicago's first High School and 
The University of Denver, and who was 
Territorial Governor of Colorado. 

Dr. Evans was born near Waynesville, Ohio, March 9, 1814. His father, 
David Evans, a Quaker, was an extensive farmer and prosperous merchant 
of Waynesville. 

Upon graduating from the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati in 1838, Dr. 
Evans began the practice of medicine at Attica, Ind. His constructive career 
was launched when, in 1844, he secured legislation for the establishment of 
a hospital for the insane at Indianapolis. He was appointed superintendent 
and designed and directed the erection of the buildings which later served 
as a model for the asylum built by the state of Illinois. 

Dr. Evans established contact with this community when President 
Brainard summoned him to the chair of obstetrics in Rush Medical College 
in 1845 and it was not long before he had gained high reputation as a teacher 
and medical practitioner. 

In eleven years his activities became so diverse as to compel him to resign 
from his practice and his profession. 

In 1850 he helped to organize both the Chicago and Illinois State Medical 
Societies. 

As a member of the city council Dr. Evans prepared an ordinance pro- 
viding for a superintendent of the city public schools and it was largely 
through his influence that Chicago's first high school was built. 

In 1850 Dr. Evans was one of the editors of the Northwestern Medical and 
Surgical Journal, the first medical publication issued in Chicago. 

From 1853 to 1855 Dr. Evans devoted his great energies to the foundation 
of Northwestern University. He secured for it valuable lands, endowed it 
to the extent of $100,000 and secured legislation perpetually relieving it from 
taxation. To commemorate his services to the institution the site upon 
which the university was erected was named Evanston. 

Dr. Evans successively aided in the establishment of Mercy Hospital, the 
Methodist Book Concern and the Northwestern Christian Advocate. 

Then he built the Chicago and Fort Wayne railroad, now part of the 
Pennsylvania system. 

Dr. Evans was a member of the convention that nominated Abraham 
Lincoln for the presidency and in 1862 the chief executive appointed him 
territorial governor of Colorado. During the next thirty-five years Dr. 
Evans took a leading part in building railroads and in developing the re- 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




JOHN EVANS 



LUCIEN PRENTISS CHENEY 




GERHARD CHRISTIAN PAOLI 



ALONZO BENJAMIN PALMER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 45 

sources of Colorado. The legislature of Colorado bestowed his name upon 
one of the loftiest peaks in the Rockies. 

Dr. Evans died at Denver July 3, 1897. A bust of him is in the library of 
Northwestern University at Evanston. 

LUCIEN PRENTISS CHENEY 
(1814-1864) 

In later days to be the mentor and friend of Dr. Joseph Presley Ross, some- 
time founder of the Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Lucien Prentiss Cheney came 
to Chicago in 1850. During the period of his early practice here he was city 
physician and, as such, had charge of the smallpox hospital which was located 
at North Avenue and the Lake. 

Dr. Cheney was born in Addison County, Vt., August 25, 1814. He was 
graduated from Castleton Medical College in 1837 and in the same year mar- 
ried Miss Mary Louisa Stone of Bridgeport, Vt. After thirteen years' prac- 
tice in Vermont and in New York he came to Chicago and located on the west 
side. He followed his profession there until his death. 

His practice grew to such an extent that he secured Dr. Joseph Presley 
Ross as his assistant. From him Dr. Ross derived counsel and help that was 
of great value in his subsequent career. 

Dr. Cheney was county physician for two years and in 1862 he was chosen 
city physician. Included in his activities was supervision of the smallpox 
hospital, remotely located on the sands at North Avenue. 

It was upon Dr. Cheney's advice that the city council passed an ordinance 
making vaccination compulsory. 

Dr. Cheney was one of the founders of the Episcopal Church of the Atone- 
ment which later became the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. 

Dr. Cheney died April 28, 1864. 

GERHARD CHRISTIAN PAOLI 
(1815-1898) 

Twice president of the Chicago Medical Society, Dr. Gerhard Christian 
Paoli was a pioneer in the medical education of women and a practitioner in 
this city for forty-five years. 

He was born in Drontheim, Norway, June 23, 1815. After spending six 
years in the study of medicine and in hospital practice in Christiania he went 
to Stockholm, where he practiced four years. 

Arriving in the United States in 1846, he spent six months in Milwaukee 
and Madison, Wisconsin. Then he engaged in practice in Springfield, Ohio, 
where he was active for several years. 

He came to Chicago in 1853. At that time he became a member of the 
Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies and the American Medical 
Association. 

Like Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney, Dr. Paoli was a chemist. For some time both 
experimented together in an effort to produce spirits chemically. In this they 
were successful. City physician under Mayors Wentworth and Haines, Dr. 
Paoli was, after the civil war, examining surgeon for pensions. 

He was one of the first to interest himself in the medical education of 
women and in 1870 he was appointed professor of materia medica and medical 



46 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




DAVID SHEPPARD SMITH 



JOSEPH WARREN FREER 




NATHAN SMITH DAVIS 



WILLIAM HEATH BYFORD 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 47 

jurisprudence in the Woman's Hospital Medical College. This chair he held 
for seven years. He was twice honored by election to the presidency of the 
Chicago Medical Society in 1863 and in 1872 and was twice vice-president of 
that organization. He was also president of the Linnean Hospital and a 
member of its medical staff. He was the recipient of an honorary degree 
from Rush Medical College. 

Dr. Paoli was first married in England in 1842. His wife having died 
there, he married Mrs. Sarah Magnusson in 1881. He died in Chicago 
January 29, 1898. 

ALONZO BENJAMIN PALMER 
(1815-1887) 

One of the organizers of the Chicago Medical Society, a professor at Rush 
Medical College and the University of Michigan, Dr. Alonzo Benjamin 
Palmer was for several decades a distinguished teacher in Chicago and at 
Ann Arbor. 

.He was born in Richfield, New York, October 6, 1815. Graduating, from 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Fairfield, New York, in 1839, he 
entered upon the practice of medicine at Tecumseh, Michigan, where he 
remained ten years. Early in 1850 he proceeded to Chicago, where he became 
one of the organizers of the Chicago Medical Society. He was appointed a 
member of the faculty of Rush Medical College and delivered private lectures 
to students. In 1852 he was city physician and medical adviser to the health 
officer. That year he was delegate from the Chicago Medical Society to the 
convention of the American Medical Association in Richmond, Virginia. 

In 1854 he moved to Ann Arbor, where he assumed the chairs of materia 
medica and therapeutics and diseases of women and children in the University 
of Michigan. He was later transferred to the chair of pathology and theory 
and practice of medicine, which he held until his death. He served through- 
out the civil war as surgeon of the Second Michigan Infantry. 

In 1875 he became dean of the faculty of the medical department of the 
University of Michigan, which position he occupied, with the exception of 
one year, until he died. After he had been associated with the University of 
Michigan for thirty years, he was made a Doctor of Laws by that institution. 
He died at Ann Arbor, December 23, 1887. 

In his memory, his widow, formerly Miss Love M. Root of Pittsfield, 
Massachussetts, whom he married in 1867, endowed the Palmer ward of the 
hospital of the University of Michigan. 

DAVID SHEPPARD SMITH 
(1816-1891) 

One of the organizers and president of the board of trustees of Hahnemann 
Medical College, Dr. David Sheppard Smith throughout his life in Chicago 
was a conspicuous advocate of homeopathy. 

He was born in Camden, New Jersey, April 28, 1816. After studying in 
the office of Dr. Isaac S. Mulford, he attended three courses at Jefferson 
Medical College in Philadelphia, graduating in 1836. 

He came to Chicago in 1838. In 1843 he became a convert to homeopathy 
and later assisted in the organization of Hahnemann Medical College. He 



48 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

was elected to the presidency of the board of trustees of that institution. 
In recognition of his services to homeopathy Dr. Smith in 1856 was granted 
an honorary degree by the Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland. 

In 1857 he was elected general secretary of the American Institute of 
Homeopathy and in 1858 was made president of that organization. 

In 1836 he married Miss Rebecca Ann Dennis of Salem, New Jersey. 
There were four children. He died April 29, 1891. 

JOSEPH WARREN FREER 
(1816-1877) 

The tragic demise of his wife, who died after repeated bleedings, re- 
awakened in Joseph Warren Freer a desire to be a physician. Leaving hi? 
farm in Illinois, he came to the village of Chicago on a load of wheat and 
repairing to Dr. Daniel Brainard he became his pupil. The day came when 
Dr. Freer was one of the great surgeons of the west and the president of 
the college he had entered as a zealous rustic. 

Dr. Freer was born at Fort Ann, New York, August 10, 1816. When he 
was seventeen he entered the office of his uncle, Dr. Lemuel C. Paine of 
Clyde, New York, and began the study of medicine. However, his family 
bought a claim on Fort Creek near Wilmington, Illinois, and he quit medicine 
to accompany the pioneers. For nine years he worked on the farm. 

In 1844 Joseph Freer married Miss Emmeline Holden, who died two years 
later. Convinced that she had been sacrificed to meager medical knowledge, 
he left his farm and, under the tutelage of Dr. Brainard, studied at Rush 
Medical College. He was graduated in 1848. In 1849 he married Miss 
Catherine Gatter of Wurtemberg, Germany. In that year also he was ap- 
pointed demonstrator of anatomy in Rush Medical College and in 1855 
professor of anatomy. He continued to occupy this chair until 1859. On 
the reorganization of the college in that year, he was transferred to the chair 
of physiology and microscopic anatomy, which position he held until his 
death. He succeeded Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney as president of the college in 1872. 

Dr. Freer was a member of the medical staff of Mercy Hospital and of 
Cook County Hospital, from the time of its organization until his death. He 
spent several summers in Europe, returning each winter to deliver his course 
of lectures. 

Dr. Freer died April 12, 1877. Two of his sons became physicians, Paul 
Caspar Freer, a noted chemist, who died in 1912, and Dr. Otto T. Freer, 
laryngologist, of Chicago. 

"Dr. Freer was a man of fine character and quick perception," says Dr. 
John Edwin Rhodes. "Dignified and undemonstrative, he was a superior 
teacher who left his impress upon students as one who knew and had the 
faculty of imparting knowledge to others." 

NATHAN SMITH DAVIS 
(1817-1904) 

"Untiring, irrepressible, uncompromising and incorruptible, Nathan Smith 
Davis occupied for half a century a shining place in the foremost rank of the 
medical profession of the United States." 

His pupil, Dr. Henry T. Byford, thus characterized the "Father of the 
American Medical Association," who was one of the city's great men. In 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 49 

the families of older Chicago his name is a household word and these are 
some of the many reasons why : 

He founded the institution now known as Mercy Hospital, being for nearly 
forty years the senior member of the attending staff. 

He helped to establish Northwestern University. 

He was one of the organizers of the Chicago Medical College and for more 
than forty years was connected with its faculty. 

He assisted in the founding of the Illinois State and Chicago Medical 
societies; he was president of the former one term and of the latter three 
terms. 

He led in the formation of the American Medical Association, which at once 
made for the advancement of educational and professional standards, and was 
president of the organization in 1864 and 1865. 

He was pre-eminently a family physician in the old and best sense of the 
term. 

Dr. Davis was born in Greene, Chenango County, N. Y., January 9, 1817. 
He was graduated from the College of Physicians of Western New York at 
Fairfield in 1837. His first practice was as partner of Dr. Daniel Chatfield of 
Vienna, N. Y. Here in 1838 he married Miss Anna Maria Parker. Moving to 
Binghamton, Dr. Davis soon became prominent in Broome County affairs. 

From 1843 to 1846 he represented the county medical society in the state 
medical organization. In the latter body, in 1843, Dr. Davis offered resolu- 
tions calling for a lengthening and grading of the medical course of instruc- 
tion. Discussion of the resolutions led to the calling of a national medical 
convention in New York in 1846 and this was the beginning of the American 
Medical Association. Dr. Davis' activities in behalf of the organization at 
this time earned for him the name of "Father of the Association." 

Dr. Davis moved to New York City in 1847. At that time he became 
teacher of anatomy in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. At Dr. Daniel 
Brainard's invitation, Dr. Davis came to Chicago in 1849 to assume the pro- 
fessorship of physiology and general pathology in Rush Medical College. 
Later Dr. Davis was transferred to the chair of principles and practice of 
medicine and clinical medicine. In 1850 he delivered a course of six lectures, 
charging a small fee. The proceeds he used to establish a hospital of twelve 
beds out of which grew Mercy Hospital. For nearly forty years Dr. Davis 
was senior member of the attending staff. 

During his career at Rush Medical College Dr. Davis vigorously persisted 
in his advocacy of the lengthening and grading of the medical course. In 
this he encountered strong opposition from Dr. Brainard. Their differences 
led to the secession of Dr. Davis and his friends and to establishment bj the 
latter in 1859 of the Chicago Medical College. For more than forty years Dr. 
Davis was a member of the faculty of this school and its successor, North- 
western University Medical School. In the closing years of his life he was 
dean and professor emeritus of the principles and practice of surgery. 

Dr. Davis was an organizer of both the Illinois State and Chicago Medical 
societies. He was president of the former in 1855 and of the latter for three 
terms, 1854-55, 1855-56 and 1857-58. 

He was one of the founders of Northwestern University, the Chicago 
Academy of. Sciences, the Chicago Historical Society, the Illinois State Mic- 
roscopical Society and the Washingtonian Home. 



50 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

In 1883, when the Journal of the American Medical Association was 
changed from a yearly to a weekly issue, Dr. Davis was selected as its editor. 
He held the position for six years. 

At other times he was editor of the Chicago Medical Journal (1855-59), the 
Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal, the Eclectic Journal of Educa- 
tion and Literary Review and the American Medical Temperance Quarterly. 
In 1860 he founded the Chicago Medical Examiner and edited it until it was 
merged with the Chicago Medical Journal in 1873. 

Among Dr. Davis' published writings were a text book entitled "Lectures 
on the Principles and Practice of Medicine," "A History of Medical Education 
and Institutions of the United States," and "Clinical Lectures on Various 
Important Diseases," edited by his son, Dr. Frank H. Davis. An ardent sup- 
porter of temperance, which was one of his favorite topics in writing and 
lecturing, he strongly opposed the use of alcoholic liquors in medical treat- 
ment. 

Dr. Davis was secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Inter- 
national Medical Congress held in Washington in 1887. Later he became its 
president. 

"Dr. Davis' capacity for effort was extraordinary," says his biographer, Dr. 
Byford. "His private practice and consultation work were enough to absorb 
the energies of an ordinary man ; his college, hospital and medical organiza- 
tion work were enough for another; while his editorial duties, his medical 
writings and scattered work on temperance and other public reforms would 
be considered sufficient to take up the time of still another. Every moment 
not utilized in sleep was utilized in work. Such was his devotion to his pro- 
fession and so ardent was his desire to accomplish his ideals he could not bear 
to think of amusements and vacations. 

"Different kinds of work constituted all the change he required. He was 
glad to get home at night from the cares of his practice to the peace of his 
editorial or other literary work and in the morning he was glad to see his 
patients again. The world is changing. This type of man is becoming a 
rarity. It is good for us to preserve the records of such lives that we may 
compare notes and have a standard for self criticism in these days that are so 
different." 

Both of Dr. Davis' sons became physicians. The elder, Dr. Frank H. Davis, 
showed promise, but died after about ten years of practice. The younger son, 
Dr. N. S. Davis, II, was associated with his father in practice and succeeded 
him in Northwestern University Medical School. 

Dr. Davis died June 16, 1904. 



WILLIAM HEATH BYFORD 
(1817-1890) 

Dr. William Heath Byford, pioneer in the medical education of women, was 
almost wholly self-educated. He never attended a school other than a medi- 
cal college more than a year altogether, yet he became, not only the foremost 
gynecologist of his day in the Middle West, but a remarkably well-informed 
man on a large number of subjects. Not only was he a prolific writer, but 
also a master of the literature of two foreign tongues. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 51 

He was born at Eaton, Ohio, March 20, 1817, the eldest of three children 
of Henry T. and Hannah Byford. His father dying- when he was nine years 
old, the future physician was obliged to employ himself at such work as he 
could find. AVhen fourteen years old, he was apprenticed to a tailor and spent 
the ensuing six years in mastering his trade and acquiring such knowledge of 
books as was possible. 

At the age of eighteen years he determined to become a physician and 
chose as his preceptor Dr. Joseph Maddox of Vincennes, Indiana. Not long 
after the termination of his apprenticeship he was examined by a commission 
and granted a license to practice medicine. 

Dr. Byford's professional career began in Owensville, Ind., in 1838. Two 
years later he moved to Mount Vernon in the same state, where in 1840 he 
married Miss Mary Ann Holland, the daughter of Dr. Hezekiah Holland. 
During his stay in this town he studied medicine in the Ohio Medical College, 
from which he was graduated in 1845. 

After teaching for several years in the Evansville (Ind.) Medical College, 
Dr. Byford in 1857 received a call to the chair of obstetrics and diseases of 
women in Rush Medical College. Two years later he joined with Dr. N. S. 
Davis and others in founding the Chicago Medical College, where for twenty 
years he occupied the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women. In 1879 he 
was recalled to Rush Medical College to fill the chair of gynecology, which 
had been created especially for him. 

Throughout his professional life Dr. Byford had been an ardent champion 
of medical education for women and he participated in founding the Woman's 
Hospital Medical College of Chicago in 1870, later to become the Woman's 
Medical College and still later Northwestern University Woman's Medical 
School. To this institution he made many liberal donations. He was presi- 
dent of the faculty from the time of its founding until his death. 

As a worker in medical societies he was also active, as early as 1857 being 
elected vice-president of the American Medical Association. In 1876 he was 
one of the organizers of the American Gynecological Society and two years 
later of the Chicago Gynecological Society. He was also a life member of 
the British Gynecological Society. Medical journalism also owes much to 
him, for he was editor of the Chicago Medical Journal and later of the 
Chicago Medical Journal and Examiner. 

Dr. Byford's first publication was a paper on "Caesarean Sections" in 1847. 
His later published works included "Chronic Inflammation and Displace- 
ments of the Unimpregnated Uterus," "Practice of Medicine and Surgery 
Applied to the Diseases and Accidents of Women" and "Treatise on the 
Theory and Practice of Obstetrics." 

He was one of the first to observe that the contents of pelvic abscesses often 
become encysted and undergo subsequent alterations without being dis- 
charged ; to advocate laparotomy for the relief of rupture of the uterus in 
cases of extra-uterine pregnancy ; to employ ergot for the expulsion of uterine 
fibroids, and, in the enucleation of cysts of the broad ligament, to advise the 
termination of the operation by stitching the amputated cyst walls to the 
edges of the abdominal wound. 

Dr. Byford's wife died in 1865. Eight years later he married Miss Lina W. 
Flersheim, who, with two sons and three daughters of the first marriage, 
survived him. The sons, Dr. William H. Byford, Jr., of Minneapolis, and 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




SAMUEL GLASGOW ARMOR 



DE LASKIE MILLER 




WILLIAM EDWARD CLARKE 



EZRA SLOCUM CARR 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 53 

Dr. Henry T. Byford of Chicago, followed in the footsteps of their father; 
the daughters were Mrs. Anna Byford Leonard, Mrs. Mary B. Schuyler and 
Mrs. Maud B. Van Schaack. 

Three days before his death Dr. Byford performed a laparotomy and even 
on the last day he went to work as usual. He succumbed to angina pectoris, 
May 21, 1890. 

SAMUEL GLASGOW ARMOR 
(1818-1885) 

Among the pioneer teachers of medicine in Chicago stands Dr. Samuel 
Glasgow Armor who, in 1846, was a lecturer at Rush Medical College. In 
later years he was to become, at Detroit, a partner of Moses Gunn and, in 
New York, the successor, as a teacher, to the famous Austin Flint. 

Dr. Armor was born in Washington County, Pa., January 20, 1818. He 
read medicine in Millersburg, Ohio, and was graduated from the Missouri 
Medical College in 1844. While practicing at Rockford, 111., Dr. Armor at- 
tracted the attention of Dr. Daniel Brainard and, at the latter's invitation, 
delivered a course of lectures on physiology at Rush Medical College. Later, 
having previously accepted the chair of physiology and pathology in the 
medical department of the University of Iowa, he declined the proffer by 
Dr. Brainard of the same position in Rush Medical College. 

After leaving the Iowa institution, where he taught for a brief period, Dr. 
Armor lectured successively at the University of Cleveland, the Ohio Medical 
College and the University of Michigan. In 1856 he married a Miss Holcomb 
of Dayton, Ohio. While living in Detroit he became the partner of Dr. Moses 
Gunn. 

In 1866, at the end of five years, he accepted the chair of therapeutics, 
materia medica and general pathology in the Medical College of Long Island 
Hospital. There Dr. Armor succeeded Professor Austin Flint as professor of 
practice and clinical medicine. He retained this position until his death in 
1885. 

DE LASKIE MILLER 
(1818-1903) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society, for thirty years professor of 
obstetrics and diseases of women and children at Rush Medical College and 
sometime president of the board of trustees of that institution were some of 
the positions held by Dr. De Laskie Miller. 

He was born in Niagara county, New York, May 29, 1818. He was grad- 
uated from Geneva Medical College in 1842 and his first practice was at 
Lockport, New York. Later he moved to Flint, Michigan, where he remained 
until the autumn of 1852. At that time he came to Chicago. 

In the cholera epidemic of 1854 he was instrumental in the erection of the 
first city hospital and was appointed physician and surgeon in charge. In 
1859 he accepted the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women and children 
in Rush Medical College. This he retained for thirty years. 

In 1881 he was a delegate to the seventh International Medical Congress at 
London and in 1887 he was president of the obstetrical section of that body 
when its convention was held in Washington, D. C. 



54 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Dr. Miller was elected president of the board of trustees of Rush Medical 
College in 1889. He was obstetrician to St. Luke's, Cook County, Presby- 
terian and Michael Reese hospitals and consulting physician to the Woman's 
Hospital, The Home for the Friendless and the Home for Incurables. 

He was a member of the national and local medical societies and in 1856 he 
was president of the Chicago Medical Society. He was president of the 
Chicago Gynecological Society in 1881. 

He obtained the highest honors in the Masonic fraternity, having received 
the Knight's Templar degree of the York rite and the thirty-third degree of 
the supreme council of the Scottish rite. 

He died July 9, 1903. 



WILLIAM EDWARD CLARKE 
(1819-1898) 

That he was the first to discover the value of ether as an anaesthetic is the 
claim made for Dr. William Edward Clarke, who was president of the 
Chicago Medical Society, 1875-76. It is said that Dr. Clarke administered 
ether for the extraction of a tooth in January, 1842. This was two months 
before Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia, and almost three years before Dr. 
Horace Wells of Hartford, Conn., made their first announcements as to the 
use of ether as an anaesthetic. 

Dr. Clarke was born at Lebanon, Conn., February 22, 1819. Until his 
fourteenth year his education was almost wholly under the supervision of 
his mother, who was a highly cultivated woman of decided Christian char- 
acter. She was a descendant of Jonathan Edwards, the noted preacher and 
president of Princeton College. He was graduated from the Medical College 
of the University of Vermont in 1845, having three years previously made 
his discovery as to the anaesthetic value of ether. 

Dr. Clarke practiced medicine at Rochester, N. Y., two years before his 
removal to Marshall, Michigan, in 1847. In the latter community he pur- 
sued his profession until the outbreak of the Civil War, when, as surgeon of 
the Fourth Michigan Infantry, he entered the conflict, participating in the 
Peninsular campaign under General McClellan. At the request of his cousin, 
Colonel N. C. Gilbert, of the Nineteenth Michigan Infantry, he was trans- 
ferred to that regiment. 

In 1863 he was placed in charge of Carver General Hospital in Washington, 
D. C., where he remained until the close of the war. Dr. Clarke then pro- 
ceeded to Chicago, where, for more than thirty years, he was engaged in prac- 
tice. He was for many years a member of the consulting staff of the Mary 
Thompson and Presbyterian hospitals. He was president of the Chicago 
Medical Society in 1875. Dr. Clarke was for twenty-seven years a deacon of 
the First Congregational Church. 

In 1849 Dr. Clarke married Miss Harriet Hale of Marshall, Mich., who died 
in 1864. In 1865 he married Miss Mary L. Reed of Lake Forest. There were 
two children of the latter marriage, William E. Clarke, Jr., and Miss Grace 
Clarke, who was married to Glenn E. Plumb. 

Dr. Clarke died at River Forest March 22, 1898. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 55 

EZRA SLOCUM CARR 
(1819-1894) 

For three years professor of chemistry at Rush Medical College, Dr. Ezra 
Slocum Carr left his impress upon medical life in Chicago. 

He was born in Stephenstown, N. Y., March 19, 1819, and was graduated 
from Castleton (Vt.) Medical College in 1842. For twelve years he was pro- 
fessor of chemistry and pharmacy in that institution. He held the same posi- 
tion in the Philadelphia Medical College, alternating between the two schools. 
He received honorary degrees from Williams and Middlebury colleges and 
was acting professor of natural sciences in the latter in 1853-54. 

In 1854 Dr. Carr was appointed professor of chemistry and pharmacy in 
the Albany Medical College. He was also chemist of the State Agricultural 
Society of New York. 

As professor of chemistry Dr. Carr went to the University of Wisconsin in 
1856. While at the university he was appointed commissioner of the state 
geological survey. He organized the survey and enriched the university by 
making a complete collection of the soil and minerals of the state. After nine 
years' service in Wisconsin Dr. Carr came to Rush Medical College in 1865 as 
professor of chemistry. He resigned in 1868 and removed to California. In 
1869 he was appointed professor of agriculture, chemistry and horticulture at 
the University of California and six years later he was elected superintendent 
of public instruction at the University of California. 

Dr. Carr was a member of the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science from the time of its organization and was a frequent contributor 
to medical and educational journals. He was a friend of John Muir, the 
famous naturalist of California. 

Dr. Carr died on his estate near Pasadena, November 27, 1894. 

GEORGE ELIAS SHIPMAN 
(1820-1893) 

In an obituary written by one of his brother physicians, Dr. George E. 
Shipman was designated as "one of the veteran, valiant knights of home- 
opathy and a defender of the faith when to be a follower of Hahnemann im- 
plied persecution and misrepresentation," and another confrere wrote that 
"he was, without doubt, the ablest defender and scholar the cause of home- 
opathy ever had in the West." This reputation followed him to the day of 
his death. 

George E. Shipman was born in New York City, March 4, 1820. His 
father was a prosperous Wall Street broker and his mother a sister of Dr. 
Edward Payson of Portland, Maine, a noted divine of that period. 

He first attended Middlebury College, but in 1839 was graduated from the 
University of New York, studying medicine under Prof. Alfred C. Post. The 
family physician of the Shipman household at that time was Dr. F. Vanden- 
burg, who captured the young student for the cause of homeopathy. There 
were few books treating of this new school of medicine and, as they were in 
the German language, he immediately applied himself to the mastery of that 
tongue. 

In 1845 he married Miss Fannie E. Boardman of Connecticut and brought 
his bride to Andover, Illinois. The doors, windows and blinds for their new 
home were sent from New York by way of New Orleans up the Mississippi 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




GEORGE ELIAS SHIPMAN 



JAMES VAN ZANDT BLANEY 




JOHN E. McGIRR 



CHARLES HARVEY QUINLAN 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 57 

and this frame cottage, with its coat of paint, was such a contrast to its log- 
house neighbors, that it was derisively called "Shipman Palace." 

After enduring the hardships of pioneer life for more than a year, he came, 
in the fall of 1846, to Chicago, living for a number of years on the north- 
west corner of Washington and La Salle streets. Here he devoted himself 
to his profession, serving the cause as editor and professor, as well as prac- 
ticing physician. 

When, in 1855, Dr. D. S. Smith, through the influence of friends, secured 
a charter for Hahnemann Medical College, Dr. Shipman was chosen one of 
the trustees and was also elected to fill the chair of materia medica and 
therapeutics. He was editor of the Northwestern Journal of Homeopathia 
in 1848-52, of the American Journal of Materia Medica in 1860 and of the 
United States Medical and Surgical Journal in 1865-69. 

His translations were Granvogl's "Text Book of Homeopathy" and the 
"Law of Similarity" from the German, Panelli's "Typhoid Fever" from the 
Italian, and Parrott's "Urine of the Newborn" from the French. 

But the greatest achievement of Dr. Shipman's life was the founding of 
a home for abandoned infants, known as the Chicago Foundlings' Home. 
For several years he was family physician to Detective Pinkerton of Civil 
War fame, and, one night, was called to attend a half-frozen baby that his 
men had found along the river. On inquiring where the baby could be cared 
for, he was told that there was no refuge for such in the city, and that the 
coroner held an inquest on one such outcast each day of the year, on an 
average. The crying need of a home for these waifs forced itself upon him 
and, failing to interest any of his wealthy patients in the project, he felt 
the task was his, and bravely set about it, notwithstanding his lack of capital 
for such an undertaking. With $177.38 in hand, he opened the home January 
30, 1871, in half of an old frame house on Green Street, near Madison, be- 
lieving that the Lord would provide for it. In this belief he was not dis- 
appointed, for the institution now occupies an eighty-room brick building, 
with no encumbrance, and shelters and cares for a large family each year. 

For the first nine years of the work, only infants were admitted, but Dr. 
Shipman, discovering his mistake, began to insist on the mother's coming 
in with the child. He also admitted the homeless, penniless, pregnant girls, 
and, in the fifty-one years of its existence, the home has cared for 7,928 
adults and 11,163 infants. Of this latter number 2,165 have been placed in 
homes of adoption. 

On December 12, 1892, Dr. Shipman was prostrated by an attack of hemi- 
plegia, from which he never recovered, passing away on January 19, 1893, 
leaving a wife and eight children. 

JAMES VAN ZANDT BLANEY 
(1820-1874) 

On behalf of Dr. James Van Zandt Blaney it is claimed that he discovered 
and demonstrated the value of chloroform independently of Sir James Y. 
Simpson of Edinburgh. 

The experiments, it is said, were conducted concurrently, each scientist 
being ignorant of the activities of the other. The findings of Dr. Blaney 
were announced shortly after those of Sir James Y. Simpson's were made 
public. 



58 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Dr. Blaney was born at Newcastle, Del., May 1, 1820. He was gradu- 
ated from Princeton College in 1836 and from the Medical Department of 
the University of Pennsylvania in 1842. In the fall of 1842 he came to 
Chicago and began the practice of medicine. 

Dr. Blaney joined Dr. Daniel Brainard when the latter founded Rush 
Medical College in 1843. He occupied three chairs in that institution, chem- 
istry, pharmacy and materia medica. He was the first man in Chicago to 
devote his attention to chemistry. He later acquired a reputation as an 
expert chemist and medico-legal expert in cases of poisoning. 

While affiliated with Rush Medical College in its early days, Dr. Blaney: 
Founded and edited the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal. 
Helped to organize the board of education of which, for years, he was 
a member. 

Formed an expedition for geological exploration in the Lake Superior 
region. 

Organized another expedition to explore the coal fields of Illinois. 
Aided in the organization of the Chicago Medical and Illinois State 
Medical societies, being president of the latter in 1870. 
Demonstrated the value of chloroform as an anaesthetic. 
Held, while at Rush Medical College, the chair of chemistry in North- 
western University. 

Invented synthetic fruit flavors which later came into general use at 
soda fountains. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed surgeon of volunteers 
with the rank of major. He was designated medical director and inspector of 
hospitals, continuing as such until the end of the war. Dr. Blaney was 
mustered out of service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. 

He resumed his activities at Rush Medical College and upon the death of 
Dr. Brainard in 1866 he was elected president of the school. Failing health 
compelled him to resign in 1871. He died December 11, 1874. 

Dr. Blaney married Miss -Clarissa Butler, niece of General Benjamin F. 
Butler, July 8, 1847. 

JOHN E. McGIRR 

(1820-1870) 

Dr. John E. McGirr was one of the most scholarly men in the medical 
profession of his time in Chicago. His experiments in the inoculation of 
measles, with the hope of producing an immunity through a mild attack as 
had been done in smallpox, were the first recorded efforts to study in Chicago 
one of the infectious diseases by experimental methods. 

He was a son of Dr. Patrick McGirr, who was born in Ireland in 1787 and 
educated in Dublin, London and Edinburgh, emigrated as a young man to 
America and settled at Youngstown, Pa., where he practiced medicine until 
1847, when he came to Chicago. Dr. Patrick McGirr was a splendid example 
of the cultured physician of the old school. 

Dr. John E. McGirr was born in Youngstown, Pa., in 1820. In 1840 he 
was graduated from St. Mary's College, Emmittsburgh, Pa. In 1846 he 
studied medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, and a year later was 
graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago. A few months after his 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 59 

graduation he published a very good article on the new use of ether in mid- 
wifery, and in the following year other creditable papers on obstetrical topics. 
In 1851 he reported the results of experiments in the inoculation of measles, 
which were probably the earliest efforts to apply experimental methods to 
the study of infectious diseases in Chicago. As early as 1849 he was professor 
of anatomy, physiology, hygiene, chemistry and botany in the University of 
St. Mary's of the Lake. He also delivered a series of lectures on physiology 
and hygiene for the students in the Mechanics' Institute. 

Besides his medical work, he also studied law, being admitted to the bar 
in 1852, and to the United States Circuit and District courts in 1854. He was 
a member of a committee whose favorable report in 1852 led to the formation 
of a high school in Chicago. He wrote a life of the Rt. Rev. William Quarter, 
the first Catholic Bishop of Chicago, who died in 1848. 

Dr. McGirr was one of the founders of Mercy Hospital. His sister, Sister 
Mary Vincent McGirr, was the first superior of Mercy Hospital. 

During the epidemic of cholera in 1854, he contracted the disease, and 
because of subsequent ill-health he returned to Pennsylvania and lived on a 
farm for five years. 

At the beginning of the civil war he entered the Union Army as surgeon. 
He served during the war, occupying important positions in the hospitals and 
was given the honor of brevet major. At the end of the war he returned to 
Pittsburgh, but the exactions of a large practice soon undermined his health 
and he died October 23, 1870. 



CHARLES HARVEY QUINLAN 
(1821-1897) 

The distinction of having been the first to administer an anaesthetic in 
Chicago in fact, west of the Alleghanies belongs to Dr. Charles Harvey 
Quinlan, one of the city's earliest dentists and later a medical practitioner. 

This momentous event in Chicago's medical history took place in 1846, 
shortly after the arrival of Dr. Quinlan in the city. The discovery of the 
formula of sulphuric ether (then known as letheon) by Dr. Wells in Boston, 
with full instructions as to its manufacture and use, had been sent to Dr. 
Charles W. Harvey, a practicing dentist in Buffalo, and an uncle of Dr. 
Quinlan. Dr. Harvey in turn transmitted the formula to his nephew. 

A practical test was given at Rush Medical College in an amputation of a 
finger performed by Dr. Daniel Brainard, head of and professor of surgery 
in the college, and Dr. Quinlan was invited by the faculty to administer the 
anaesthetic. This he did with most satisfactory results. The demonstration 
was given before a crowded clinic, and the press of Chicago was profuse in 
the number and quality of its notices. 

Shortly afterward chloroform was discovered and the formula for its 
distillation was procured by Dr. Quinlan. He and Dr. J. V. Z. Blaney 
(almost at the same time and independently of each other) were the first 
to distill this anaesthetic in Chicago. 

Dr. Quinlan, the second son of John D. and Elizabeth Harvey Quinlan, was 
born February 19, 1821, in Albany, N. Y. Following his education in the 
public schools of his native city and at Albany Academy, he entered the office 



60 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




MOSES GUNN 



JOHN REID 




HOSMER ALLEN JOHNSON 



EPHRAIM INGALS 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 61 

of his uncle, Dr. Harvey, in Buffalo, as a dental student in 1842. Four years 
were spent in acquiring a knowledge of dentistry. 

In September, 1846, Dr. Quinlan married Miss Ruth Efner of Buffalo and 
removed to Chicago, where he began the practice of dentistry. He continued 
in practice until 1865, when he received a medical degree from Rush Medical 
College. In 1848 he was joined by a brother, Dr. John D. Quinlan, who was 
associated with him until he changed from dentistry to medicine. 

In 1859 Dr. Charles H. Quinlan moved to Lake Forest, building the first 
residence in the north shore suburb, where he was active in the establish- 
ment of Lake Forest University. From 1865 Dr. Quinlan practiced medicine 
in Lake Forest until his removal to Evanston in 1875. He then virtually 
retired from practice, except for occasional consultations. 

Dr. Quinlan died at his Evanston home December 6, 1897. A son, William 
\V. Quinlan, succeeded him as a member of the medical profession. 



MOSES GUNN 
(1822-1887) 

Teacher at the University of Michigan, successor of Dr. Daniel Brainard 
as professor of surgery in Rush Medical College, surgeon in the Union army, 
Dr. Moses Gunn was a brilliant figure in the professional and social circles of 
Chicago. 

"He was thoroughly equipped as a surgeon, quick and accurate in diagnosis, 
rarely made a mistake and was a rapid and elegant operator," say the chron- 
iclers. "He was a fine lecturer, fluent and to the point and spoke in language 
always correct. He was tall and erect, a striking figure in the amphitheater, 
as he was everywhere. Throughout his career he was thought by some to be 
guilty of marked fastidiousness, if not a harmless vanity criticism he could 
hardly escape, as he was given to the most tasteful, if not striking costumes, 
especially on horseback. He always appeared with his long hair wrought 
into ample ringlets that hung immaculate about his neck. But to those near- 
est him he was a man of the most serious purposes and perfectly genuine. He 
had fixed for himself a high standard and his respect for himself and his work 
was too great to allow him ever to fall below it. He carried himself through 
his twenty years of work in Rush Medical College on the exalted plane on 
which he began. He was different from Professor Brainard and did not 
attempt to dominate the faculty ; but no one could say he was a less useful 
power in the influence and councils of the college." 

Dr. Gunn was born at East Bloomfield, N. Y., April 20, 1822. He was 
graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1846. The same year he began 
practice at Ann Arbor, Mich., and there instituted a course of lectures on 
anatomy, the first of their kind in the state. 

Upon the organization of the department of medicine of the University of 
Michigan, Dr. Gunn was elected professor of anatomy and surgery and later 
professor of surgery. In 1853 he removed to Detroit for practice, lecturing 
at the university twice a week, adding to his work in 1857 the co-editorship of 
the Medical Independent, a Detroit monthly medical journal, merging in 
1858 with the Peninsular Medical Journal under the name of the Peninsular 
and Independent Medical Journal. 



62 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

In the Civil war he served as a surgeon under General McClellan in the 
Peninsular campaign, resigning because of dissatisfaction with his superiors 
in the medical corps. He was a vigorous supporter, however, of "Little Mac." 

The last class to which Dr. Gunn lectured at Ann Arbor in 1866-67 numbered 
525, the largest medical class in the country. In the spring of 1867, at the 
invitation of the faculty and trustees of Rush Medical College, he accepted 
the chair of surgery made vacant by the death of Dr. Daniel Brainard. This 
professorship Dr. Gunn held until his death twenty years later. 

"Dr. Gunn was not only a great surgeon and a great teacher," writes Dr. 
Arthur Dean Bevan, "but he was also an original thinker and a man who con- 
tributed to the development of surgical knowledge. One of his greatest con- 
tributions was the result of his research work in dislocations. Before the dis- 
covery of anesthesia surgeons in general believed that the most important factor 
in preventing the reduction of dislocations was that of muscular contraction, 
the spasmodic contraction of the muscles holding the bone firmly in its mis- 
placed position. After the introduction of anesthesia Gunn found to his sur- 
prise that the relaxation of the muscles obtained in complete ether anesthesia 
did not eliminate to any great extent the difficulties of reducing dislocations. 
He, therefore, experimented on some cadavers, removed the muscles, leaving 
the bones and articulations, and then produced on these cadavers dislocations 
of the shoulder and hip and studied the cases carefully to determine the factors 
making reduction by manipulation difficult. He soon found that the factor 
preventing reduction was mainly the untorn portion of the capsular ligament 
which became tense as the bones assumed the dislocated position. 

"He worked out the following general principles in regard to dislocations 
which have stood the test of time and proven to be absolutely correct: First, 
that the main factor preventing reduction of dislocations was the untorn por- 
tion of the capsular ligament which became tense. Second, in order to reduce 
a dislocation one must relax the untorn portion of the capsular ligament. This 
was done by placing the limb in the position which it occupied at the moment 
of escape and reducing the dislocation by reversing the force which produced 
it. Gunn's publication of his researches were made in a local Western medical 
journal and were not widely read. His work preceded that of Bigelow of Bos- 
ton by fourteen years, and covers quite as fully and quite as accurately the 
work later done by Bigelow. Gunn's contemporaries recognize the fact that 
the credit for this work belonged to him. Hamilton, in his great work on 
'Fractures and Dislocations,' gives Gunn credit for this early work." 

Dr. Gunn was a great teacher, and he trained more surgeons than any surgi- 
cal teacher in all time in the Mississippi Valley. It is only necessary to give 
the names of a few of his pupils to make clear his right to the title of a great 
master in surgery. He trained such men as Charles T. Parkes, John B. Mur- 
phy, Lewis L. McArthur, Malcolm L. Harris, Arthur Dean Bevan, Albert J. 
Ochsner and a host of others, who have carried on the torch which Gunn 
placed in their hands. 

In 1856 Geneva Medical College conferred upon him her honorary A.M. and 
in 1877 the University of Chicago her LL. D. Dr. Gunn was a member of the 
American Medical Association, the Illinois State and Chicago Medical socie- 
ties, and surgeon to the Presbyterian, St. Joseph's and Cook County hospitals. 

In 1848 he married Miss Jane Augusta Terry, who, with three of their four 
children, survived him. Dr. Gunn died in Chicago, November 4, 1887, after a 
long illness. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 63 

JOHN REID 
(1822-1903) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society in 1871-1872, Dr. John Reid had 
been a war-time practitioner in Chicago and later a health officer. 

He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 16, 1822. He accompanied his 
family to Toronto in 1830. In 1838, Dr. Reid, with his family, moved to 
Rochester, New York. In 1848 he was graduated from Jefferson Medical 
College, Philadelphia. There he married Miss Elizabeth Fenner of Canter- 
bury, England, and engaged in practice in Rochester, where Mrs. Reid died 
in 1856. Three years later he married Miss Jane Brewster of Rochester and 
moved to Chicago in 1861. Here he became a general practitioner. During 
the year of the great fire he was appointed health officer and at the same time 
he was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society. 

Dr. Reid was connected with the health department until 1875, when the 
failing health of his wife compelled him to return with her to Rochester. 
After the death of his wife in that year, Dr. Reid retired from practice and 
finally died while on a visit to London, May 14, 1903. 

HOSMER ALLEN JOHNSON 
(1822-1891) 

Dr. Hosmer A. Johnson was the first interne at Mercy Hospital, and the 
first president of the Chicago Medical College. 

He was born at Wales, near Buffalo, N. Y., October 22, 1822. He prepared 
for college at the Academy of Romeo, Michigan, and was graduated from the 
University of Michigan in 1849. From this institution he received at various 
times the degrees of A. B., A. M., and LL. D. 

Moving to Chicago in 1849, he studied medicine with Dr. William B. Her- 
rick, with whom he later was associated in practice. In 1852, he was grad- 
uated from Rush Medical College and became the first interne at Mercy 
Hospital. From 1853 to 1858, he was a member of the faculty of Rush Medi- 
cal College, serving successively as lecturer on physiology, professor of 
materia medica, therapeutics and medical jurisprudence, and general pathol- 
ogy. In 1859 he was one of the founders of the Chicago Medical College and 
he became the first president of its faculty. He retained his connection with 
the institution until the time of his death. 

He held at different times the chairs of materia medica and therapeutics, 
physiology and histology, general pathology and pathological anatomy, clini- 
cal medicine and principles and practice of medicine and clinical medicine. 
During the last nine years he was not in active service, but retained his con- 
nection with the college. as professor emeritus. 

Commissioned major by Governor Richard Yates (the elder), he was as- 
signed during the civil war to the board of examining surgeons, of which he 
became president. After the great Chicago fire, Dr. Johnson was one of the 
managers of the Relief and Aid Society, which distributed millions of dollars 
among the sufferers. 

He was an early member of the American Medical Association and of the 
Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies. He was also a member of the 
Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Chicago Historical Society and the Astro- 
nomical and Microscopical societies. 



64 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

He married Miss Margaret Seward, a relative of William H. Seward of 
New York. A son, Dr. Frank S. Johnson, who died in April, 1922, was for 
many years closely identified with the Northwestern University Medical 
School. Dr. Johnson died February 26, 1891. 

Of Dr. Johnson, Dr. Frank T. Andrews has written: "Hosmer A. Johnson 
was a man of strong will and great brain power. These two factors were in 
evidence at every crisis in his life. 

"When, at the age of twenty-one, he was thrown upon his own resources, 
he determined not only to make a living but to acquire a higher education. 

"His success was so pronounced that within a few years he was one of the 
greatest teachers and lecturers among American physicians. Simplicity, 
precision and definiteness characterized his speech and writings. 

"The prompt recognition of his merit by the medical profession gave him 
opportunities to show his value as an organizer and executive, while the 
rapid growth of his private practice evidenced a just appreciation of his 
professional skill." 

EPHRAIM INGALS 
(1823-1900) 

Zeal for education was characteristic of Dr. Ephraim Ingals. 

When a boy, by the hardest toil, he earned money enough to go to a 
primary school. 

As a physician, his practice was sometimes so pressing that often he was 
forced to deliver his morning lecture at Rush Medical College without having 
slept the night before. Eager students could not be slighted. 

Ardent advocacy of better general education for intending medical students 
prompted him in his last years to give generously to the fund that made 
effective the affiliation of Rush Medical College w r ith the University of 
Chicago. 

Dr. Ingals was the youngest of nine children and was born in Abington, 
Conn., May 26, 1823. He was a descendant of Edmund Ingals who, coming 
from England with Governor Endicott's colony (landing at Salem, Mass., in 
1628), was the first settler of Lynn, Mass. Left an orphan at the age of 
eight, he had to work for his support and in 1837 he went to Lee County, 
Illinois. There a branch of the Ingals family had settled on a farm. For 
years he labored in the fields, gaining enough money to go to school at 
intervals. 

From 1845 to 1847 he attended Rush Medical College and was graduated 
in February, 18*47. He practiced in Lee Center, 111., for ten years and then 
moved to Chicago, where he became successful as a general practitioner. He 
was associated with Dr. Daniel Brainard and Dr. DeLaskie Miller in the 
conduct of the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal and succeeded 
Dr. John H. Ranch as professor of materia medica and therapeutics at Rush 
Medical College in 1859. Dr. Ingals remained at the college until 1871, 
when he resigned with the title of emeritus professor. 

Dr. Ingals strongly advocated the affiliation of Rush Medical College with 
the University of Chicago and gave $25,000 to the college when the coalition 
became effective. He also donated $10,000 for the construction of a labora- 
tory for the medical department of Northwestern University. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 65 

Dr. Ingals was active in the affairs of the Chicago Medical Society, of 
which he served four terms as president: 1876-77, 1877-78, 1878-79 and 
1881-82. He was also president of the Illinois State Medical Society. 

On April 30, 1851, he married Miss Melissa Church. There were four 
daughters, Mary, Alice, Elizabeth and Lucy. The last named became the 
wife of Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals. 

Dr. Ingals died December 18, 1900. 



EDMUND ANDREWS 
(1824-1904) 

One of the founders of Northwestern University Medical School, for nearly 
half a century chief surgeon at Mercy Hospital, sometime president of the 
Chicago Medical Society, profound student and writer, Dr. Edmund Andrews 
was for fifty years a towering figure in the professional activities of the west. 

He was born at Putney, Vt, April 22, 1824. His father, Rev. Jonathan 
Andrews, was the Congregational minister at Putney and his grandfather, 
Jonathan Andrews, was a minute man in the Revolutionary War. After 
having lived in New York state for several years, the family moved to 
Armada, Mich., where Edmund Andrews was prepared for college. 

Dr. Andrews matriculated in the college of arts at the University of Michi- 
gan and, while in his senior year, he, as a member of Alpha Delta Phi, led a 
successful fight for the retention of fraternities in colleges. Upon his gradua- 
tion from the academic department in 1849 Dr. Andrews was elected president 
of his class for life. 

After leaving the college of arts at Michigan, Dr. Andrews became a pupil 
of Dr. Zina Pitcher, a surgeon of the War of 1812, teaching school to pay his 
expenses. He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan 
in 1852, at the same time receiving the degree of Master of Arts upon the 
recommendation of the academic department. 

For three years Dr. Andrews was demonstrator of anatomy in the medical 
school of the university and while there he edited the Peninsular Journal of 
Medicine and Allied Sciences. He wielded a trenchant pen and was par- 
ticularly vigorous in his exposure of quackery in all its forms. His first 
editorial was entitled "The Physiology of Table Tipping." Dr. Moses Gunn 
was a co-worker of Dr. Andrews in the journalistic enterprise. 

Dr. Andrews left the University of Michigan in 1855 to become demonstra- 
tor of anatomy in Rush Medical College. A year later he resigned and de- 
voted himself to private practice. 

In 1859 Dr. Andrews joined Dr. Hosmer Johnson, N. S. Davis, W. H. 
Byford, Ralph N. Isham and David Rutter in establishing the medical de- 
partment of Lind University which eventually became the medical department 
of Northwestern University. For forty-six years Dr. Andrews was professor 
of surgery in this institution and for almost a like period he was chief surgeon 
at Mercy Hospital. 

At the beginning of the Civil War Dr. Andrews was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Yates surgeon at Camp Douglas and, on April 3, 1862, he was commis- 
sioned major and surgeon of the First Illinois Light Artillery. He served 
with this organization in campaigns in Tennessee and Mississippi. 

Dr. Andrews was the author of several books on medical subjects and dur- 
ing his long career he gave to the medical profession a number of valuable 
surgical instruments and devices. He is said to have been the first profes- 



66 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




EDMUND ANDREWS 



JOHN HAMILCAR HOLLISTER 




JONATHAN ADAMS ALLEN 



WILLIAM WAGNER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 67 

sional man to employ antiseptic surgery in Chicago. Among his accomplish- 
ments was the collation and publication of statistics on 98,815 cases of ether 
aiuesthesia and 117,078 cases of chloroform anaesthesia to show the relative 
risk in the use of these agents. He also collected and published extensive 
statistics tending to show the failure of licensed prostitution. 

Dr. Andrews was a geologist of repute. His work on "The Early Glacial 
History of North America" has been widely quoted. He was one of the 
founders of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and was its president for several 
terms. 

Dr. Andrews was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1879 
and served for one year. He was also prominent in several other professional 
and patriotic organizations. For fifty years he was a member of the Second 
Presbyterian church. 

In April, 1853, Dr. Andrews married Miss Sarah Eliza Taylor at Detroit. 
At her death in 1875 three sons survived her, Doctors E. Wyllys Andrews 
and Frank Taylor Andrews and Edmund Lathrop Andrews, an electrical en- 
gineer. In 1877 Dr. Andrews married Mrs. Frances M. Barrett of Detroit, 
who survived him upon his death, January 22, 1904. 

Of Dr. Andrews, Dr. Joseph L. Miller, who served under him as an interne 
at Mercy Hospital, says : "He was one of the most versatile men I have ever 
known. He had an intimate knowledge of all the natural sciences, and could 
discuss in a most instructive manner a number of subjects outside of this 
realm. His knowledge of a subject was always accurate and detailed whether 
it related to medicine or history. This was probably accounted for by his 
life-long habit of confining his reading for prolonged periods of time to one 
subject, his natural investigative mind, and his wonderfully retentive memory. 
A physician whose father had been a life long friend of Dr. Andrews asked 
him once in my presence in regard to a certain medical question. He answered 
in some detail and then stated : 'You will find it in a certain book of your 
father's, which, when I last consulted it ten years ago, stood on such and such 
a shelf in his library.' 

"One clinic day he was short of material, but finding a patient on his service 
who had a toothache, she was selected for the clinic. Without any immediate 
preparation he discussed before the students the history of dentistry, the 
structure of the teeth, causes of decay, etc., in a most interesting manner. 

"He was most punctilious in his attention to his patients, making his rounds 
each afternoon. He always had a word of cheer for each and was consequently 
revered by all. The only occasion where I ever heard him reprimand a patient 
severely was when one attempted to criticise a former physician. This always 
called forth a well merited rebuke." 

JOHN HAMILCAR HOLLISTER 
(1824-1911) 

Dr. John H. Hollister was a man of divided interests. One of the 
organizers of the Chicago Medical College and for forty years a member of 
the faculty, conducting a large practice and busily engaged in medical society 
affairs, he was equally active in religious matters. 

He was born at Riga, N. Y., in 1824, the son of John Bentley and Mary 
Chamberlain Hollister and the eighth lineal descendant of John Hollister, 
who came from England and settled in Glostenbury, Conn., in 1624. In 1826 
his parents moved to Romeo, Mich., where the father died in 1831. In his 
seventeenth year the future physician went to Rochester, N. Y., where he 



68 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERYMN CHICAGO 

took a course in the Rochester Collegiate Institute. He received his medical 
degree from the Berkshire Medical College in 1847. 

His first practice was at Otisco, Mich., where he remained for two years, 
when he moved to Grand Rapids. There, in 1849, he married Miss Jennette 
Windiate, to whom he gave credit for much of his success in after life. Their 
only child to reach maturity, Miss Isabelle Hollister, is the wife of Dr. 
Franklin H. Martin of Chicago. 

In 1855 Dr. Hollister came to Chicago and soon afterwards was appointed 
demonstrator of anatomy in Rush Medical College. Four years later he was 
one of the organizers of the Chicago Medical College, in which (since its 
organization) he held the chair of physiology, anatomy, pathological anatomy 
and general pathology. 

He was surgeon to Mercy Hospital and for twenty years was clinical 
professor. He was also attending physician to Cook County Hospital and 
once served as president of its staff. 

He was president of the Illinois State Medical Society in 1875 and its treas- 
urer for twenty years ; president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1882 and 
a charter member of the Chicago Academy of Sciences ; trustee of the Ameri- 
can Medical Association for eight years and editor of its journal for two 
years. 

Dr. Hollister was for more than fifty years a member of Plymouth Church 
and served as superintendent or teacher in its Sunday School. He was presi- 
dent of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Congregational Club and 
the Chicago Bible Society. He was a vice-president of the American Sunday 
School Mission, a member of the board of guardians of the Reform School 
and a director of the Illinois Home Missionary Society. 

He retired from practice in 1900 after an active service of fifty-three years 
in the medical profession. He died at Redlands, Cal., December 13, 1911. 



JONATHAN ADAMS ALLEN 
(1825-1890) 

"His lectures were so alive with wit and anecdote that to a beginner they 
were an entertainment of the rarest sort; but it was to the second year 
student and the practitioner that the wisdom of the man shone through the 
wit." 

So do the annalists describe Dr. Jonathan Adams Allen, for thirty-one 
years professor in and for thirteen years president of Rush Medical College. 
His father, of the same name, was a very prominent physician in New Eng- 
land, and a professor in Castleton Medical College. 

Dr. Allen was born at Middlebury, Vt., January 16, 1825. He was grad- 
uated from Middlebury College with the degree of A. B. in 1845 and the next 
year he received the degree of M. D. from Castleton Medical College. 

From the time of his graduation he practiced and taught in Michigan and 
Indiana. While in Michigan, in 1850, he was made professor of physiology 
and pathology in the medical department of the University of Michigan. In 
1858 he was elected president of the Michigan State Medical Society. While 
at the University of Michigan Dr. Allen published "Essays on the Mechanism 
of Nervous Action" and "Medical Examination for Life Insurance Com- 
panies." Both works had wide distribution. 

Accepting the chair of the theory and practice of medicine at Rush Medi- 
cal College in 1859, Dr. Allen held this position for thirty-one years until ill 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 69 

health compelled him to resign in 1890. He succeeded Dr. Joseph W. Freer 
as president of Rush in 1877, continuing in that office for thirteen years. 

He was surgeon for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad for 
twenty-four years. He was also a member of the staff of St. Joseph's 
Hospital. He was a member of the American Medical Association and the 
Chicago and Illinois State Medical societies. 

Dr. Allen was very highly regarded by the students at Rush Medical Col- 
lege, to whom he was familiarly known as "Uncle Allen." He was a man of 
wide reading and accumulated a very extensive library. After his death the 
medical portion was given to the Presbyterian Hospital and later transferred 
to Rush Medical College, forming the nucleus of the now fine library of that 
institution. 

On January 1, 1847, Dr. Allen married Miss Mary Marsh of Kalamazoo, 
Mich. He died in Chicago, August 15, 1890. 

WILLIAM WAGNER 
(1825-1872) 

Member of the group of German revolutionists to which Carl Schurz and 
Franz Sigel belonged, Dr. William Wagner fled to the United States in 1848. 

He was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1825. He attended medical lec- 
tures at Heidelberg, but was graduated in 1848 from the University of 
Wiirzburg. 

He joined the patriots, Schurz and Sigel, in the political uprising in the 
Grand Duchy of Baden and with them escaped to America. He remained for 
a brief period in Utica, New York, but in 1849 settled in Chicago. For a 
time he was in charge of the smallpox hospital and in 1857 he was a member 
of the first medical staff of the newly re-organized City Hospital. In that 
year he founded the German Medical Society of Chicago and became its 
first president. 

Mayor Haines appointed Dr. Wagner city physician in 1859 and in that 
capacity he managed the smallpox hospital in the epidemic of that year. 
Commissioned major and surgeon of the Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry in 1861, he served until 1863, when he resigned and returned to 
Chicago. 

In 1864 he was elected coroner of Cook County and was re-elected for four 
years in 1865. In 1866 he was among the organizers of Cook County Hospital 
and was a member of the medical staff for several years. In 1867 he was 
appointed a member of the board of health and took a leading part in the 
suppression of a smallpox epidemic prevalent at that time. 

He visited Berlin in 1868 to attend a notable series of lectures then being 
given in that city. He married Miss Matilda Brentano, daughter of Lawrence 
Brentano. He died in Chicago July 5, 1872, and was survived by Mrs. Wagner 
and three sons and a daughter. 

SAMUEL COLEMAN BLAKE 
(1826-1897) 

An associate with Doctors Daniel Brainard, De Laskie Miller and Joseph 
Presley Ross in establishing the nucleus from which was developed the 
Cook County Hospital, the largest institution of the kind in the United 
States, Dr. Samuel Coleman Blake was for many years a factor in the pro- 
fessional life of Chicago. 



70 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




SAMUEL COLEMAN BLAKE 



ABRAHAM REEVES JACKSON 





ROBERT LAUGHLIN REA 



CHARLES GILMAN SMITH 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 71 

Dr. Blake was born in Bath, Me., July 25, 1826. His grandfather, John 
Blake, was a cousin of General Henry Dearborn, in whose company he 
fought at Bunker Hill. Dr. Blake was graduated from the medical depart- 
ment of Harvard University in 1853, and, after practicing for three years in 
Boston, he came to Chicago. 

Two years after his arrival Dr. Blake, with Doctors Brainard, Miller and 
Ross, leased the City Hospital building and organized and operated the 
institution which at the close of the Civil War became the County Hospital. 

In 1861 he was commissioned as surgeon of the Nineteenth Illinois In- 
fantry, the first regiment to leave Chicago for the front, with which he went 
to Missouri. Later he was transferred to the Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, 
which he helped to organize and with which he served in Virginia. 

During his service Dr. Blake organized base hospitals at Quincy, 111., 
Hancock, Md., Mount Jackson and Strasburg, Va., and field hospitals in 
Virginia. In 1863, his health being impaired for active service, he resigned 
his commission and that year was elected physician of Cook County. From 
1865 to 1866 he was city physician. In 1866 he was a member of the board 
of supervisors of Cook County and instrumental in laying the foundation of 
Cook County Hospital that year. Dr. Blake was also one of the organizers 
of the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children. He occupied the chair 
of diseases of the mind and nervous system in the Women's Medical Col- 
lege for seven years. 

In 1877, for reasons of health, he left Chicago, returning in 1887. 

In 1858 Dr. Blake married Adaline, one of the daughters of Benjamin 
Jones, one of the early settlers and first merchants of the city. 

Dr. Blake was a fellow of the Massachusetts State Medical Society, and a 
member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State and Chicago 
Medical societies. He died February 8, 1897, and was survived by his 
widow and three sons, Charles C., Benjamin J. and Tiffany Blake, editorial 
writer for the Chicago Tribune. 

ABRAHAM REEVES JACKSON 
(1827-1892) 

"My friend, the doctor" of Mark Twain's "Innocents Abroad," was Dr. 
Abraham Reeves Jackson, sometime lecturer at Rush Medical College and 
one of the organizers of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago. 

Dr. Jackson was a son of Washington and Deborah Jackson and was born 
in Philadelphia, June 17, 1827. He was educated in the public schools and 
the Central High School of that city. 

He was graduated from the medical department of the University of 
Pennsylvania in 1848. After practicing for a brief time in Kresgeville, Pa., 
and Columbus, N. J., Dr. Jackson settled in Stroudsville, Pa. In 1850 he 
married Miss Harriet Hollingshead of Stroudsville. She died in 1865. 

Entering the Union Army in 1862 as assistant surgeon, in the latter part 
of the war he was advanced to the rank of assistant medical director of the 
Army of Virginia. 

When Dr. Jackson was surgeon of the S. S. "Quaker City," he met Mark 
Twain, who was a passenger. They became cronies and the great humorist 
commemorated the rencontre by referring to Dr. Jackson, as "My friend, the 
doctor" in "Innocents Abroad." 

Coming to Chicago in 1870, he specialized in gynecology. The following 
year he married Miss Julia Newell of Janesville, Wis. In 1872 he was 



72 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

appointed professor of gynecology in Rush Medical College and held this 
professorship until 1877, when he resigned. In appreciation of his ability, 
Rush conferred upon him an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 
1881 Dr. Jackson, with others, organized and incorporated the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, now the College of Medicine of the University of 
Illinois. 

The College of Physicians and Surgeons opened September 26, 1882, with 
Dr. Jackson as the president, which position he held until his death. He 
also assumed the professorship of surgical diseases of women and clinical 
gynecology. 

Dr. Jackson helped to organize the Chicago Gynecological Society in 
1883 and became its head. Eight years later he was chosen president of the 
American Gynecological Society. He was also a member of the British Gyne- 
cological Society, the American Academy of Medicine, the American Medical 
Association, the Illinois State and the Chicago Medical societies. 

While operating upon an infected patient Dr. Jackson inoculated a finger 
and never fully recovered from the effects of the disease. He died November 
12, 1892. A bust was placed in his memory in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons. 

ROBERT LAUGHLIN REA 
(1827-1899) 

Professor at Rush Medical College, the Chicago Medical College and the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, Dr. Robert L. Rea has been 
described as the greatest teacher of anatomy Chicago has ever known. 

He was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, July 1, 1827. In his seven- 
teenth year he went to live on the farm of Absalom Manlove in Fayette 
County, Indiana. He worked on the place in summer and taught school in 
winter. He then read medicine in the office of Dr. W. P. Kitchen, of Browns- 
ville, Indiana. In 1851 he began practice at Oxford, Ohio, but, realizing the 
need of better professional training, he matriculated at Ohio Medical College, 
from which he was graduated in 1855. After graduation he was appointed 
demonstrator of anatomy in the Ohio institution and resident physician in 
the Commercial Hospital of Cincinnati. In 1859, at Dr. Daniel Brainard's 
invitation, he came to Rush Medical College, where he became professor of 
anatomy. 

In 1862 he became a member of the medical staff of the old City Hospital, 
joining Doctors Brockholst McVickar, George K. Amerman, Joseph P. Ross 
and Joseph W. Freer. In 1863 the hospital was commandeered by the 
government for an eye and ear infirmary. 

Dr. Rea remained with Rush Medical College until 1875, when he accepted 
the professorship of anatomy in the Chicago Medical College. In 1882 he 
became a member of the first faculty of the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons, in which he was professor of surgery and clinical surgery. He retired 
in 1886 on account of ill health. His ability had been such as to elicit from 
Dr. N. S. Davis the declaration that Dr. Rea was Chicago's greatest teacher 
of anatomy. 

For thirty years Dr. Rea was surgeon-in-chief of the Pennsylvania railroad. 

On July 2, 1874, he married Miss Mollie Manlove, daughter of Absolom 
Manlove. He died July 10, 1899. In his will he endowed the Rea professor- 
ship of anatomy in the Medical Department of Northwestern University. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 73 

Cll A R L E S OILMAN SMI T 11 
(1828-1894) 

For forty years active in the professional and social life of Chicago, 
])r. Charles Oilman Smith had come to Chicago with a degree from the 
medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. 

He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, January 4, 1828, and received his 
preparatory education at Phillips Exeter Academy. While he was attending 
Harvard Medical School in 1949 the Webster-Parkman tragedy occurred. 
This resulted in the hanging of Professor Webster for killing Dr. Parkman. 
Dr. Smith thereupon transferred to the medical department of the University 
of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1851. 

Practicing in Boston for a year, he moved to Chicago in 1853 and opened an 
office at 122 Lake Street, which, at that time, was in the center of the business 
district. During the civil war Dr. Smith was one of six physicians assigned 
to the medical care of Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas. 

In 1868 he pursued a post-graduate course in leading hospitals in France, 
England and Germany. In 1870 he became professor of the diseases of chil- 
dren in the Woman's Medical College. He was also consulting physician to 
the Presbyterian Hospital and medical examiner for a number of life insur- 
ance companies. 

He was president of the Chicago Literary Club and a member of the 
Academy of Science. He married Miss Harriet Gaylord, October 10, 1873. 
He died January 10, 1894. 

JOSEPH PRESLEY ROSS 
(1828-1890) 

Dr. Joseph Presley Ross entered politics and became a member of the 
county board that he might carry through his cherished plan to provide a 
real county hospital for this community. 

He showed the same indomitable zeal when he, with others, undertook the 
building of the Presbyterian Hospital. 

Father, as contemporaries called him, of two of Chicago's noblest institu- 
tions, Dr. Ross was one of Chicago's most useful citizens. 

He was born in Clark County, Ohio, January 7, 1828. He was descended 
from Scotch ancestors who came to America before the revolution. Joseph 
Ross left his father's farm at the age of nineteen to become interested in a 
woolen mill in Piqua, Ohio. In two years he had made $2,000. This sum 
enabled him to attend the Piqua Academy and to read medicine under 
Dr. G. Volney Dorsey. He was graduated from the Ohio Medical College at 
Cincinnati in 1852. After practicing for a year at St. Mary's, Ohio, he came 
to Chicago in 1853. He soon formed a partnership with Dr. L. P. Cheney, 
which continued for several years. 

Dr. Ross was physician to the Orphan Asylum for several years and the 
first physician to the State Reform School. 

During the civil war the government had taken over the City Hospital, 
with the administration of which Dr. Ross had been identified. After the 
conflict the hospital passed under the control of the county commissioners. 
Dr. Ross foresaw the need for an adequate public hospital in a community 
that was growing by leaps and bounds and, that he might closely direct the 
development of the County Hospital, he became a candidate for membership 
in the county board and was elected. The hospital is now the largest and 
best of its kind in the United States. 



74 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




JOSEPH PRESLEY ROSS 



EDWARD LORENZO HOLMES 




MILLS OLCOTT HEYDOCK 



JOHN HENRY RAUCH 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 75 

In the spring course at Rush Medical College, Dr. Ross had begun to lec- 
ture on clinical medicine in 1860. In 1866-67 he was clinical lecturer at the 
County Hospital and in 1868 he became professor of clinical medicine and 
diseases of the chest at Rush. This position he occupied until 1890. 
Vigorous and aggressive, he took a leading part in the development of the 
college. \Yhen the institution was destroyed by fire in 1871 he contributed 
largely to its restoration. 

For a long time Dr. Ross had advocated in faculty meetings the erection 
of a hospital adjacent to Rush Medical College. Finally a lot was bought and 
on it the construction of the hospital was begun. For the building fund, 
])r. Ross obtained a subscription of $10,000 from his father-in-law, Tuthill 
King, whose daughter, Miss Elizabeth King, had become the wife of Dr. Ross 
in 1856. The trustees took this money and other funds raised among the 
faculty and proceeded in 1883 to develop the project on a scale much larger 
than originally intended. In the winter of 1883-84 the college and the 
Presbyterian Hospital Association, formed at Dr. Ross' instigation, made an 
agreement whereby the college deeded the lot and unfinished structure to the 
association on condition, among other things, that the latter should complete 
the building and open and maintain it perpetually as a hospital. 

The association immediately took charge, finished the building and opened 
it as a hospital in the autumn of 1884. A medical staff was appointed 
consisting of six consulting and fourteen attending members. Dr. Ross was 
one of the latter. 

After a life of exceptional beneficence, Dr. Ross died June 15, 1890. 

EDWARD LORENZO HOLMES 
(1828-1900) 

Youthful associate of John Lathrop Motley. 

Pupil of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

Member of the Brook Farm Colony. 

Graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. 

Student in Vienna, Paris and Berlin. 

Founder of the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. 

For forty years instructor and professor at Rush Medical College, and for 
eight years its president. 

One of the organizers of the Presbyterian Hospital. 

Philanthropist and public-spirited citizen. 

Thus is summarized the career of Dr. Edward Lorenzo Holmes, for forty- 
four years an exalted figure in the professional and civic life of Chicago. 

"May each of you grow old and wear out in the service of others." This 
was the wish of President Holmes, expressed in his farewell to a graduating 
class of Rush Medical College. It was an ideal that Dr. Holmes himself 
exemplified. 

Dr. Holmes was born in Dedham, Mass., January 28, 1828. A maternal 
ancestor was Major John Buttnck, who commanded Revolutionary troops 
at Concord. 

Interest in higher education was stimulated by association with John 
Lathrop Motley, a citizen of Dedham, in whose library young Holmes did 
odd tasks. In after years Dr. Holmes often spoke of the inspiration which 
he received from talks with the great historian and the desire that was awak- 
ened in him to know about the books over which he had been working. 

Entering Harvard College in the fall of 1845, he devoted himself to the 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



sciences and mathematics and to Latin, Greek, French and German. Henry 
Wadsworth Longfellow was his instructor in German. During the spring 
and summer vacations Dr. Holmes walked to West Roxbury, Mass., to 
become a member of the famous Brook Farm Colony. It was significant that 
an active boy of eighteen should spend his vacation amid the surroundings 
created by New England scholars in their effort to promote an undertaking 
dedicated to cultural ideals and to Christianity. 

Dr. Holmes received the degree of A. M. magna cum laude from Harvard 
College in 1849. After two years of teaching he entered Harvard Medical 
School, graduating from that institution in 1854. His reward for excellent 
scholarship was an appointment as interne in the Massachusetts General Hos- 
pital. Subsequently he studied in Vienna, Berlin and Paris. 

He finally established his residence in Chicago in 1856. Two years later he 
founded the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, which, through its 
first decade, was largely maintained from his private purse. It later became 
a state institution and he remained at its head almost to the close of his life. 

In 1859 he became lecturer on ophthalmology and otology in Rush Medi- 
cal College. During the war of the rebellion he served intermittently in 
the battle zone in an advisory capacity in matters pertaining to accidents to 
the eye and ear. He continued as lecturer at Rush Medical College until 
1869, when the chair of ophthalmology and otology was created for him by 
the faculty of that institution. In this professorship he continued for thirty 
years. From 1890 to 1898 he was president of the faculty. He resigned in 
the latter year on account of ill health after forty years of devoted service. 

The founding of Presbyterian Hospital must be credited principally to Dr. 
Joseph P. Ross, but the valuable and sagacious assistance given by Dr. 
Holmes did much for the early development of the institution. The per- 
fecting of details in the general plan for the establishment of the hospital 
and the assurance of its support by effecting an amalgamation with Rush 
Medical College, were chiefly the work of Dr. Holmes. For years he presided 
over the medical staff of the hospital. 

From 1857 to the close of his life, Dr. Holmes was an active member of the 
American Medical Association and the Illinois State and Chicago Medical 
societies. He was also a member of the American and Chicago Ophthal- 
mological societies. 

Almost the pioneer in ophthalmology in the west, Dr. Holmes was regarded 
for a third of a century as its leading practitioner. 

In 1862 Dr. Holmes married Miss Paula von Wieser of Vienna. 

He died February 12, 1900. He was survived by two sons, Dr. Rudolph W. 
Holmes and Edward L. Holmes, and three daughters, Mrs. Paula Holmes 
Gray and Mrs. Carol Holmes Dawborn, both the wives of physicians, and 
Miss Jeanette R. Holmes. 

Of Dr. Holmes, Dr. Cassius D. Wescott, associated with him during his 
later years, has written : 

"All who knew Dr. Holmes well were impressed with his gentleness, his 
simplicity and his humanity. To him a sufferer was a sacred thing and no 
one who asked for his service was denied as long as he had health and 
strength to work, no matter whether the patient could pay or not. 

"He had a large practice, but his fees were very modest and he left a small 
estate. He was never known to speak ill of anyone, and it \vas a rule of his 
household : 'If we cannot speak well of one, we will say nothing.' " 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 77 

MILLS OLCOTT HEYDOCK 
(1828-1881) 

One of the founders of St. Luke's Hospital, Dr. Mills Olcott Heydock 
was president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1864-65. 

Dr. Heydock was born in Hanover, N. H., February 4, 1828. After re- 
ceiving" his academic education at Dartmouth College, Dr. Heydock entered 
the medical department of Dartmouth College and obtained his medical 
degree in 1852. He practiced medicine at Farmington, Conn., from 1852 to 
1854. In 1854 he came to Chicago. 

When the Chicago Medical College was organized in 1859, he was made 
professor of materia medica, therapeutics and medical jurisprudence. 

In 1864 Dr. Heydock was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society, 
of which he had been a member since his arrival in Chicago. In the same 
year he helped to organize St. Luke's Hospital and was a member of its 
first board of trustees. Dr. Heydock and Doctors Walter Hay and John E. 
Owens were among the attending physicians at the hospital, Dr. Heydock 
serving as gynecologist and accoucher. 

He died in Chicago, April 17, 1881. 

JOHN HENRY RAUCH 
(1828-1894) 

"Creator of the public health conscience of Illinois." 

This was the characterization given Dr. John H. Rauch after he had closed 
a career of more than thirty years as the foremost sanitarian of the state. 

Born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1828, John H. Rauch was 
graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 
1849. He began practice in 1850 at Burlington, Iowa, where he at once 
became interested in sanitary science and preventive medicine. He was 
appointed professor of materia medica and medical botany at Rush Medical 
College in Chicago in 1857, establishing his residence here the following year. 

His service in the union army as a surgeon was such as to earn for him 
promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His experience afforded ample 
opportunity for the employment of his sanitary knowledge and confirmed him 
in his estimate of the practical value of sanitary science. 

Upon his return to Chicago from the war he plunged into the solution of 
the city's sanitary problems. As the result of leverage exerted by him, the 
old city cemetery was removed from part of the site of Lincoln Park, as a 
sanitary measure. He was also a leader in the agitation which resulted in 
Chicago's present park system. 

Dr. Rauch aided in reorganizing the public health service of Chicago in 
1867 and was appointed member of the board of health and sanitary 
superintendent. 

The population in 1867 was increased by more than 25,000 over 1866. The 
total mortality for 1866 was 6,524, that for 1867 was 4,773, a reduction of 1,751 
in the actual number of deaths, notwithstanding the increase in population. 
"These lives," says Dr. Arthur R. Reynolds, "must stand to the everlasting 
credit of Dr. Rauch and his associates in the sanitary regeneration of 
Chicago." 

Among the achievements in which he figured were: 

Organization and enforcement of sanitary measures for the welfare of 
112,000 men, women and children rendered homeless by the great fire of 1871. 



78 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




MARY HARRIS THOMPSON 



THOMAS DAVIS FITCH 




JOHN BARTLETT 



EDWIN M. HALE 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 79 

Participation in the formation of the American Public Health Association, 
of which he was president in 1876. 

Agitation for an Illinois State Board of Health, of which he became the 
head in 1877, after enactment of the law. 

Drastic reforms under the medical practice act whereby non-graduates in 
large numbers were eliminated as practitioners. 

A successful campaign against yellow fever in southern Illinois. 

Substitution of quarantine by inspection for the "shot gun" quarantine, 
thus effecting an immense saving to commerce. On the Illinois Central 
freight tonnage received at Cairo in 1878 was 87,300,600 and, as the result of 
quarantine by inspection, it was raised to 129,833,800 in 1879. 

Initiation of public school vaccinations throughout Illinois. 

Elevation of the requirements of the state board of health as to educational 
standards. Dr. Ranch was particularly insistent that colleges demand a high 
grade, preliminary training before admittance to the study of medicine. 

He gave up his connection with the state board of health in 1891. In 1892 
he assisted the late Dr. John B. Hamilton in the establishment and equipment 
of Camp Low quarantine station to care for an epidemic of Asiatic cholera 
then threatening. 

In 1893 he was active in connection with the Board of Awards of the 
World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. 

He died at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1894. 

Of Dr. Rauch, Dr. Arthur R. Reynolds says : "He thought of the welfare 
of his fellows and his far-seeing wisdom has made his state and his country 
a better place to live in." 

MARY HARRIS THOMPSON 
(1829-1895) 

Founder of the Hospital for Women and Children which now bears her 
name. 

For thirty years the head of its staff. 

First woman to receive a degree from the Chicago Medical College. 

First woman to do major surgery in Chicago. 

Such was Dr. Mary Harris Thompson whose "learning, personality, thor- 
oughness, perseverance and skill," says Dr. A. J. Ochsner, "convinced many 
of us that it was possible for a woman to be a real physician and surgeon." 

Dr. Thompson was born at Fort Ann, New York, April 15, 1829. She was 
educated there and devoted several years to teaching and to the independent 
study of astronomy, chemistry, physiology and anatomy. She first studied 
medicine at the New England Female Medical College in 1859 and, after 
graduation from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, served a 
year as interne with Dr. Emily Blackwell. In July, 1863, she settled in 
Chicago to practice her profession. Through her efforts the Hospital for 
Women and Children was established in 1865. From that time until her 
death thirty years later Dr. Thompson held uninterruptedly the position of 
head physician and surgeon in that institution. 

The Hospital for Women and Children was the forerunner of the Woman's 
Medical College organized by Doctors William H. Byford, William G. Dyas 
and others in 1870. Until her demise Dr. Thompson held the professorship 
of clinical gynecology in the Woman's Medical College. At the beginning of 
her incumbency in this position the Chicago Medical College bestowed upon 
her the first degree it ever gave to a woman. 



80 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Dr. Thompson was the first and for many years the only woman in Chicago 
to do major surgery. 

The training school for nurses was organized in connection with the hos- 
pital and an important part of Dr. Thompson's work was the training of 
graduate nurses. 

Dr. Thompson was the inventor of several surgical instruments of value 
and of an abdominal needle which has been widely adopted by surgeons. 

Three days prior to her death she w r as suddenly stricken by an attack of 
cerebral hemorrhage and died May 21, 1895. At the first meeting of the 
Chicago Medical Society following her death glowing eulogies were delivered 
by Doctors John Bartlett, Isaac N. Danforth and others. 

Soon after Dr. Thompson's death the name of the Women's and Children's 
Hospital was changed to honor her memory. 

THOMAS DAVIS FITCH 
(1829-1901) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society and of the Illinois State Medical 
Society, surgeon in the Union army, one of the founders of the Woman's 
Medical College these were some of the activities of Dr. Thomas Davis 
Fitch during a half century of professional life in Chicago and Illinois. 

Dr. Fitch was born at Troy, Pa., July 14, 1829. He was a student at Knox 
College, Galesburg, 111., and in 1850-51 attended Rush Medical College. 
Among his preceptors were Doctors N. S. Davis and A. B. Palmer. After 
practicing for two years at Wethersfield, 111., Dr. Fitch resumed his studies 
at Rush and was graduated in 1854. 

Removing to Kewanee in the autumn of 1854, Dr. Fitch became one of the 
organizers of the Henry County Medical Society, and its president. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Fitch was commissioned with the 
rank of major and assigned as surgeon of the Forty-second Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry. He remained in the service until 1863, when he resigned his com- 
mission on account of ill health. 

Coming to Chicago in 1864, he was elected county physician the following 
year. In 1870 he was placed in charge of the department of obstetrics and 
diseases of women and children of the Women's and Children's Hospital. He 
occupied the position for thirteen years. At the time Dr. Fitch became 
affiliated with the hospital he helped to organize the Woman's Medical Col- 
lege, filling the chair of gynecology. In 1870 Dr. Fitch was also president of 
the Chicago Medical Society. Later he was president of the Illinois State 
Medical Society for one term. A stroke of paralysis caused Dr. Fitch to retire 
from active work in 1883, when he was made professor emeritus of gyne- 
cology in the Woman's Medical College. 

Dr. Fitch died at the Soldiers' Home, Quincy, 111., September 2, 1901. 

NICHOLAS FRANCIS COOKE 
(1829-1885) 

Dr. Nicholas Francis Cooke was born August 25, 1829, at Providence, 
Rhode Island. He was the grandson of Nicholas Cooke, the first Continental 
governor of Rhode Island. 

Early in life he decided to enter the medical profession, receiving special 
instruction from Dr. Usher Parsons of Providence. In 1846 he entered Brown 
University and from 1849 to 1852 he traveled in foreign countries, acting as 
ship's surgeon on several of the vessels on which he sailed. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 81 

In 1852 he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, also attending lectures at Jefferson Medical College. His conversion 
to homeopathy was the result of an investigation upon which he entered with 
a view of taking intelligent ground against it. 

He entered upon the practice of his profession in his native city in company 
with Dr. A. H. Okie, said to have been the first homeopathic graduate in this 
country. He removed to Chicago in 1855, where he was elected to the chair 
of chemistry upon the organization of Hahnemann Medical College. Later 
he was professor of the theory and practice of medicine. He held this posi- 
tion until his resignation in 1870. 

He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from St. Ignatius College in 
1871. In 1879 he was elected vice-president of the American Institute of 
Homeopathy and in 1880 he was designated emeritus professor of special 
pathology and diagnosis in Hahnemann Medical College. 

He married Miss Laura Wheaton Abbot of Warren, Rhode Island, October 
15, 1856. His bride was a daughter of Commodore Joel Abbot of the United 
States Navy. There were four children, Nicholas Francis, Abbot Stanislaus, 
Joseph Walter and Mary Gertrude. 

Dr. Cooke was the author of a book called "Satan in Society," which had a 
large sale. 

He died February 1, 1885. 

JOHN BARTLETT 
(1829-1910) 

An organizer and member of the staff of the Women's and Children's Hos- 
pital, later the Mary Thompson Hospital for Women and Children, student 
and linguist, Dr. John Bartlett was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1829, the son of 
George F. and Mary M. (Rogers) Bartlett. 

Dr. Bartlett was graduated from the medical department of the University 
of Louisville in 1850. He came to Chicago in 1862, specializing in obstetrics. 
It was while engaged in this practice that he aided in establishing the 
Women's and Children's Hospital, becoming a member of the staff. He 
became professor of obstetrics in the Chicago Policlinic and obstetrician in 
the Augustana Hospital. 

He wrote largely on obstetrical subjects, and made improvements in the 
instruments employed in his specialty. He was a pioneer intubator of the 
larynx and devised an electro-magnetic extractor for intubation tubes. 

Dr. Bartlett was a fluent speaker of French and German and a student of 
Latin also. He accumulated an extensive library and donated his two hun- 
dred and fifty volumes on obstetrics to the John Crerar Library. 

He was a member of the American Medical Association and the Illinois 
State and Chicago Medical societies, and was president of the Chicago Society 
of Physicians and Surgeons, the Chicago Gynecological Society and the Chi- 
cago Medico-Historical Society. 

Dr. Bartlett died in Chicago July 19, 1910. 

EDWIN M. HALE 
(1829-1899) 

Dr. Edwin M. Hale, one of the organizers of the Chicago Homeopathic 
Medical College and a prolific writer on homeopathy, was born in Newport, 
New Hampshire, in 1829. His father, Syene Hale, himself studied medicine 
and took his degree from the medical department of Dartmouth College. 



82 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




EUGENE MARGUERAT 



THOMAS BEVAN 




WALTER HAY 



ERNST SCHMIDT 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 83 

Dr. Edwin M. Hale was for two years a student of homeopathy under 
Dr. A. O. Blair of Newark, Ohio, and in 1850 he entered the Cleveland Home- 
opathic Medical College. At the end of the term he located in the village of 
Tonesville, Michigan. At that time there were not more than a dozen home- 
opathic physicians in the state, but that did not deter them, including Doctor 
Hale, from making an effort to establish a homeopathic department in the 
University of Michigan. In this they were finally successful. Dr. Hale 
declined the proffered chair of materia medica and therapeutics in the new 
department, as he had been called to the same professorship in the Hahne- 
mann Medical College of Chicago. He lectured in this institution for eighteen 
years. 

After severing his connection with Hahnemann Medical College, he 
accepted the chair of materia medica and therapeutics in the newly organ- 
ized Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. This he held for five years 
and when he retired from the chair he was made professor emeritus. 

Dr. Hale was an honorary member of many home and foreign associations 
and a member of the Chicago Academy of Science and the American Insti- 
tute of Homeopathy. He was one of the founders of the Calumet and Chi- 
cago Literary clubs. 

During his professional career, Dr. Hale wrote nearly seventy books and 
pamphlets. Many of them were translated into French, German and Span- 
ish. His "Practice of Medicine" is accounted one of his best works. 

Dr. Hale married Miss Abba Ann George of Jonesville, Michigan, Octo- 
ber 13, 1852. There were two children, Dr. Albert B. Hale and Mrs. Frances 
G. Gardiner. 

Dr. Hale died January 15, 1899. 



EUGENE MARGUERAT 
(1829-1907) 

One of the founders of the Woman's Hospital and of the Woman's Medical 
College of Chicago, Dr. Eugene Marguerat was president of the Chicago 
Medical Society in 1868-69. 

He was born near Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1829. After his graduation 
from the College of Lausanne, he studied in Paris and began the reading of 
medicine in that city. Joining a number of French emigrants, he came to 
America in 1851. For three years he was professor of Latin, Greek and French 
at the Oswego (New York) academy. 

He entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1855, and, upon 
graduation, matriculated in the medical department of New York University, 
from which he .was graduated in 1859. After engaging in hospital work in 
New York and Philadelphia, he practiced for a time in central New York. 
He located in Chicago in 1862 and soon afterward joined the Sanitary Com- 
mission. In cooperation with the commission he visited Pittsburgh Landing, 
where he was assiduous in the care of sick and wounded. 

Dr. Marguerat assisted in founding the Woman's Hospital and five years 
later he helped to establish the Woman's Medical College, where he became 
professor of obstetrics. He was elected to the presidency of the Chicago 
Medical Society in 1868-69. 

He died March 7, 1907 after a professional career in Chicago of forty-five 
years. 



84 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

THOMAS BEVAN 
(1830-1880) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society in its early years, sanitarian and 
teacher, Dr. Thomas Bevan for more than a quarter of a century was one of 
the most distinguished physicians of Chicago. 

Dr. Bevan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 11, 1830. He was graduated 
from the Ohio Medical College in 1851, spending two years thereafter in the 
medical department of the University of Paris. 

In 1853 Dr. Bevan married Miss S. E. Ramsay of Clermont, Ohio, and a 
year later he began the practice of medicine in Chicago. During the Civil 
War he was one of the attending physicians at Camp Douglas, and in 1866 
he became a member of the attending surgical staff of Cook County Hospital, 
continuing in that relation until his death. 

From 1867 to 1873 Dr. Bevan was professor of hygiene and sanitation in 
the Chicago Medical College and from 1873 until his death, professor of 
clinical medicine and climatology. His more important works include reports 
on cholera from 1867 to 1873 and a series of monographs on sanitary science, 
which were published in book form in 1879. 

Dr. Bevan was one of the founders of the Chicago Medico-Historical So- 
ciety, under whose supervision the medical directories of those days were 
published, and was a member of the Society of Physicians and Surgeons. He 
was also a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State 
and Chicago Medical Societies, being president of the last-named in 1865-66. 

In 1898 his son, Dr. Arthur Dean Bevan, was elected president of the Chi- 
cago Medical Society, the only instance in the seventy-two years of the 
society where the son of an ex-president received like honor. 

Dr. Bevan was one of the best known physicians of Chicago and his sudden 
death was a great shock to the community. He was found dead in his office 
March 15, 1880, the victim of an apoplectic seizure. 

WALTER HAY 
(1830-1893) 

An organizer of St. Luke's Hospital, the American Neurological Associa- 
tion, the Chicago Department of Health and the department of mental and 
nervous diseases in Rush Medical College, Dr. Walter Hay was a teacher and 
practitioner in Chicago for thirty-six years. 

He was born in Georgetown, D. C., June 13, 1830. His father was Charles 
Eustace Hay, a Virginia lawyer, and his grandfather was George Hay, Fed- 
eral Judge of the eastern district of Virginia. 

After graduating from the Jesuit College of Georgetown, Dr. Hay joined 
the United States Coast Survey in 1847. While in this service he began the 
study of medicine and in 1853 he was graduated from Columbian Medical 
College, Georgetown, D. C. 

In 1857 Dr. Hay came to Chicago, where the remainder of his life was de- 
voted to practice and teaching. In 1864 he was an organizer of St. Luke's 
Hospital and in 1867 of the Chicago Department of Health. The same year 
he became associated with Dr. J. Adams Allen in editing the Chicago Medical 
Journal. In 1871 Dr. Hay was chosen secretary of the committee that dis- 
bursed the Chicago Medical Relief Fund for fire sufferers. 

At this time Dr. Hay organized the department of mental and nervous 
diseases in Rush Medical College. Two years later he established a similar 
department in St. Joseph's Hospital. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 85 

In 1875 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, on the staff of 
Lieutenant General Philip H. Sheridan and in the same year he aided in 
organizing- the American Neurological Association. In 1877 he was an or- 
ganizer of the Dubuque (Iowa) Charity Hospital. From 1882 to 1885 he was 
professor of materia medica and from the latter year to 1889 was professor of 
neurology in the Chicago Medical College. 

In 1856 Dr. Hay married Miss Rebecca Ringgold of Maryland, who died in 
1857. Seven years later he married Miss Angelica Rodney, who died in 1865. 
His third wife was Miss Maria Jones of Iowa, whom he married in 1872. 

In 1890 Dr. Hay retired to a farm near Annapolis, Md., where he died 
February 13, 1893. 

ERNST S C H M I D T 
(1830-1900) 

Participant in the German Revolution of 1848. 

Veteran of the civil war. 

Member of the first staff of the Alexian Brothers Hospital. 

One of the sponsors of the first Jewish Hospital in Chicago. 

Coroner of Cook County. 

Classical scholar. 

Such was Dr. Ernst Schmidt, who was born in Bavaria in 1830. His medi- 
cal education was obtained in the Universities of Zurich, Heidelberg, Munich 
and Wiirzburg. He was graduated from the last named in 1852. After a 
post-graduate course in Prague and Vienna, he was appointed assistant in the 
hospital of the University of Wiirzburg. There he served until 1857, when 
he came to Chicago. 

Having taken an active part in the German revolution of 1848, Dr. Schmidt 
.encountered many of his former comrades here and he immediately became 
active in German circles. Thus he became one of the organizers and a vice- 
president of the German Medical Society of Chicago. 

In 1860 he received an appointment in the Humboldt Medical College of St. 
Louis, which, founded in 1857, was the first medical college in this country 
with a graduated three years' system of education, and removed to that 
city. With the outbreak of the civil war, however, he entered the Union Army 
as surgeon of the Second Missouri Volunteers. Disability resulting from ex- 
posure compelled his retirement from the service and he returned to Chicago. 
He was elected coroner of Cook county in 1864. 

In 1867 the Alexian Brothers Hospital was chartered and Dr. Schmidt was 
appointed to membership on its staff. Throughout the remainder of his life 
he was identified with this institution. 

Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Ralph N. Isham were the first professional sponsors 
of a Jewish Hospital in Chicago and it was largely through their influence 
that such a hospital was started at the corner of Schiller Street and LaSalle 
Avenue in 1869. This was the nucleus of Michael Reese Hospital, whose staff 
Dr. Schmidt organized. He was also one of the organizers of the German 
American Dispensary in 1873, and was consultant to St. Joseph's Hospital for 
many years. 

In 1879 Dr. Schmidt received 11,829 votes as the Social Democratic candi- 
date for mayor of Chicago, out of a total vote of 66,910. His vote, far in ex- 
cess of that usually cast for candidates of the Social Democratic party, evi- 
dently was drawn from the Republican party, thereby electing to the mayor- 



86 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




NILES T. QUALES 



RALPH NELSON ISHAM 




REUBEN LUDLAM 



SWAYNE WICKERSHAM 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 87 

alty Carter H. Harrison, the Democratic candidate, whose votes exceeded that 
of the Republican candidate by a few thousand only. 

He was a classical scholar of distinction. He retained his fluency in Latin 
conversation to the last, and his knowledge of Greek enabled him to translate 
a hitherto untranslated drama by Aeschylus in the later years of his life. 

In 1856 he married Miss Therese Weickard, who survived him. 

Dr. Schmidt's sons are Doctor Otto L. Schmidt and Louis E. Schmidt and 
Richard E. Schmidt, an architect. Frederick M. Schmidt, another son, who 
was a pharmacist, died in 1918. 

Dr. Ernst Schmidt died August 26, 1900. 

NILES T. QUALES 
(1831-1914) 

Traditional devotion of the physician to his patients had heroic exempli- 
fication during the great Chicago fire when Dr. Niles T. Quales was in charge 
of the Marine Hospital. As the flames menaced the lives of sixty-seven sick 
men, Dr. and Mrs. Quales, deserted by all the hospital help except two 
nurses, rescued every inmate, including two men with broken legs. Dr. and 
Mrs. Quales were the last to remain on the scene and escaped with their lives 
in an express wagon which they commandeered. The keys of the old Marine 
Hospital are still preserved in the Quales family as a memento of the 
conflagration. 

Dr. Quales was born in Hardanger, Norway, January 17, 1831. He was 
graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in Copenhagen in 1856, and 
came to Chicago in 1859. 

He entered the Union Army in 1861 and by General Sherman was placed 
in charge of the Veterinary Hospital at Nashville, where he began the 
study of medicine and served until the expiration of his enlistment. 

Graduating from Rush Medical College in 1866, he became one of the first 
internes at Cook County Hospital. He was City Physician from 1868 to 1870 
and had charge of the smallpox hospital in the epidemic of that time. There- 
after he was made head of the United States Marine Hospital. 

In 1892 he helped to organize the Tabitha Hospital and in 1896 he aided 
in the establishment of the Lutheran Deaconess Home and Hospital. For 
many years he was attending physician at these institutions. 

He was one of the founders of the Norwegian Old People's Home at Nor- 
wood Park. In 1910 he was made a knight of the order of St. Olaf by King 
Haakon of Norway. 

He died May 23, 1914. 

RALPH NELSON ISHAM 
(1831-1904) 

By performing a tracheotomy for quinsy on a son of the leading Presby- 
terian minister, Dr. Ralph Nelson Isham made his professional start in 
Chicago. Though this locally unheard of proceeding was vehemently opposed 
by many of the pious parishioners as a direct interference with the ways of 
providence, Dr. Isham's successful handling of the case gave him immediate 
prestige. 

Dr. Isham was born at Mannheim, New York, March 16, 1831. He was 
educated at Herkimer Academy, Little Falls, N. Y., and was graduated from 
the Medical College of Bellevue Hospital, New York City, in 1854. After a 
trip abroad for post-graduate work he settled in Chicago in 1855. When the 



88 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

City Hospital building- was erected at Eighteenth and Arnold streets in 1856, 
Dr. Isham became a member of its medical staff. In 1859 he joined Doctors 
N. S. Davis, David Rutter, Hosmer A. Johnson, William H. Byford, John H. 
Hollister and Edmund Andrews in establishing the Chicago Medical College. 
For many years he held the chair of surgery and anatomy in that institution. 

In 1857 Dr. Isham married Miss Katherine Snow, daughter of George W. 
Snow; their children were Dr. George S. Isham, Ralph Isham, Mrs. A. L. 
Farwell and Mrs. George A. Carpenter. 

At the outbreak of the civil war Dr. Isham became a contract surgeon and 
was one of the organizers of the United States Sanitary Commission. He 
went twice to the battle zone in its interest. In 1862 he was appointed 
surgeon in chief of the Marine Hospital which had become, temporarily, a 
military hospital. Upon reversion to its original purpose, Dr. Isham con- 
tinued in charge of the institution until the late seventies. 

Dr. Isham was chief surgeon of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway 
Company, consulting surgeon of the Cook County, Presbyterian and Passa- 
vant hospitals, and surgeon; with the rank of major, of the First Regiment, 
Illinois National Guard. Dr. Isham was a delegate to the International 
Medical Congress which met at London in 1881. He was a member of the 
American Medical Association, the Illinois State and Chicago Medical so- 
cieties. He received an honorary degree from the University of the City of 
New York and from Northwestern University. 

Dr. Isham died May 28, 1904. 

REUBEN LUDLAM 
(1831-1899) 

Dean and later president of Hahnemann Medical College, senior professor 
of gynecology in that institution, head of the staff of Hahnemann Hospital, 
president of the American Institute of Homeopathy and for fifteen years 
member of the Illinois State Board of Health, Dr. Reuben Ludlam is an out- 
standing figure in the medical history of Chicago. 

With Dr. David S. Smith, Dr. Ludlam drafted the charter of Hahnemann 
Medical College in the office of Abraham Lincoln and for nearly half a cen- 
tury he was one of the strongest protagonists of homeopathy in the west. 

Dr. Ludlam was born in Camden, New r Jersey, October 7, 1831. His 
father, Dr. Jacob Ludlam, was a successful physician and all the traditions 
of the family were in a professional line. As a child, he accompanied his 
father in his daily round of visits and on his long drives and his only ambi- 
tion, as he expressed it, was to become as great and useful a man as his 
father. 

The son attended the academy at Bridgeton, New Jersey, from which he 
was graduated with the highest honors. On leaving school, he began a sys- 
tematic course of medical study under the supervision of his father and sub- 
sequently entered the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received 
his diploma in 1852. Soon after graduation he came to Chicago and entered 
upon the practice of his profession. 

Dr. Ludlam's father was an allopathic practitioner. Reuben Ludlam had 
been educated in an allopathic school and he practiced allopathy, but the 
success of homeopathic physicians in the treatment of cholera so impressed 
him that he was forced to investigate its teachings and, being convinced of 
the truth of the new theory, he cast aside his old beliefs and became a home- 
opathic practitioner. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 89 

In 1853 Dr. Ludlam associated himself with Dr. David S. Smith, and from 
that time on, Dr. Ludlam actively co-operated with every plan that was 
formed to advance the cause of homeopathy. In 1853, Dr. Shipman started 
the "Chicago Homeopath" and a year later Dr. Ludlam, at the age of 23, 
became its editor. 

In 1859, Hahnemann Medical College was organized and in the list of the 
first faculty appears the name of R. Ludlam, M. D., professor of physiology, 
pathology and clinical medicine. 

For twenty-five years, from 1866 to 1891, he was dean of Hahnemann Medi- 
cal College, presided at the meetings of its faculty and labored to his utmost 
for its success. Upon the death of Dr. Smith in 1891, Dr. Ludlam was elected 
president of the board of trustees, which position he occupied at the time 
of his death. 

At various times he held the presidency of the American Institute of 
Homeopathy, the Chicago Academy of Homeopathy, the Illinois Homeopathic 
Medical Society, the Western Institute of Homeopathy and the Clinical 
Society. He was an honorary member of neary every state homeopathic 
organization, as well as those of several foreign countries. When the Illinois 
State Board of Health was organized in 1877, Dr. Ludlam was called upon 
by Governor Cullom to serve his state and for fifteen years he was an active 
member of that body. 

Besides having been editor of the "Chicago Homeopath," Dr. Ludlam was 
associated editorially with the "North American Journal of Homeopathy," 
the "United States Medical and Surgical Journal" and the "Clinique." His 
work, "Clinical and Didactic Lectures on Diseases of Women," was published 
in 1871 and passed through seven editions. 

Dr. Ludlam was twice married. His first wife, who was Anna M. Porter, 
died three years after their marriage. Several years later he married Miss 
Harriet V. Parvin, who, with his son, Reuben Ludlam, survived him. 

"A bare recital of the positions held by Dr. Ludlam and the honors con- 
ferred upon him," says a commentator, "can give no adequate idea of the 
great influence exerted by him upon every one with whom he came in con- 
tact or of the value of his life and teachings to the cause of homeopathy. 
Tall of stature, of fine bearing, with irreproachable manners, courteous and 
affable in his intercourse with patients and brother practitioners, cultivated 
of speech, vigorous of thought, endowed with a fine literary sense, he could 
not but be a leader wherever he was placed. To a new sect struggling for 
a place, the possession of such a man was an unanswerable argument to the 
cry of 'knave or fool' so frequently applied to the homeopathic practitioner. 
His very presence at a mixed medical gathering gave a dignity to the school 
and prevented indulgence in vituperation and his liberality of statement 
disarmed antagonism and builded for harmony. He believed that home- 
opathy would build for itself a place not by town meetings and denunciations 
of an opposing system, but by the improvement of the medical schools, by 
a proper education of its practitioners, by exemplification in the daily life 
of the physicians of the beneficial influence of the system and by observing 
the amenities of life." 

On April 29, 1899, Dr. Ludlam was suddenly stricken while in the act of 
making a hysterectomy for the removal of a fibroid tumor. He died almost 
immediately. 



90 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




JOSEPH SULLIVAN HILDRETH 



ROSWELL GRISWOLD BOGUE 




GEORGE KERSHAW AMERMAN EDWARD OSCAR FITZALAN ROLER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 91 

SWAYNE WICKERSHAM 
(1831-1895) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society in civil war days, organizer of 
hospital forces sent to the front and commissioner of health of the city of 
Chicago were some of the conspicuous roles played by Dr. Swayne Wicker- 
sham during his residence of forty years in this city. 

Of Quaker antecedents, he was born near West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 
October, 1831. After a course at Ganses Academy, Unionville, Pennsylvania, 
he pursued the study of medicine under Dr. John Grove of Lancaster. He 
was graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1855, and proceeded at once 
to Chicago, where he began practice. 

He became president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1862 and, during 
the war of the rebellion, his religious convictions preventing active participa- 
tion, he was active in the formation of hospital detachments that were sent 
to the combat zone. He also collected commissary supplies for the soldiers 
in the field and was one of a committee to go south to distribute these supplies. 

A supporter of the elder Carter Harrison, he was elected alderman from the 
first ward and re-elected for a second term, during which he was chairman of 
the finance committee of the Council. 

Mayor Cregier appointed Dr. Wickersham commissioner of health in 1889. 

Dr. Wickersham died April 16, 1895. 



JOSEPH SULLIVAN HILDRETH 
(1832-1870) 

Pupil of Virchow and Des Marres and surgeon in charge of the military 
eye and ear hospital in Chicago during the Civil War days, Dr. Joseph 
Sullivan Hildreth was a pioneer ophthalmologist in this city. 

Dr. Hildreth was born in Cohasset, Norfolk County, Mass., May 1, 1832. 
He was graduated from the medical department of the University of Penn- 
sylvania in 1856 and went immediately to Europe to continue his studies. 
His preceptor in Berlin was the great Virchow and, in Paris, Dr. Des Marres, 
of whose eye and ear institute he was made superintendent. 

Returning to the United States, Dr. Hildreth proceeded to Detroit, where 
in June, 1862, he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Jacob 
M. Howard, then United States Senator from Michigan. Dr. Hildreth was 
soon summoned to Washington, where, under the direction of the Surgeon 
General, he established a hospital for the treatment of soldiers afflicted with 
diseases of the eye and ear. 

Later Dr. Hildreth \va& commissioned Surgeon of the United States 
Volunteers with station at Chicago. His mission was to put into operation 
an eye and ear hospital similar to the institution in Washington. The old 
City Hospital was commandeered for the purpose. He named the establish- 
ment Des Marres Hospital after his former preceptor. 

He was the first professor of ophthalmology and otology in the Chicago 
Medical College. He held that position at the time of his death. 

Dr. Hildreth, who had acquired a large income from his practice, resided 
in a dwelling in Michigan Avenue where the Pullman building stands. His 
death came suddenly July 22, 1870, as the result of an overdose of gelsemin. 



92 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

R O S W E L L G R I S W O L D B O G U E 
(1832-1893) 

Medical director in two divisions of the Union Army and one of the or- 
ganizers of the Cook County Hospital, Dr. Roswell Griswold Bogue was 
twice president of the Chicago Medical Society. 

Dr. Bogue was born in Louisville, St. Lawrence County, New York, May 2, 
1832. After attending the Academy in Castleton, Vt., he taught school. He 
read medicine in Columbus, Ohio, and then entered the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in New York City, where he was graduated in the winter of 
1856-57. 

In 1857 Dr. Bogue located in Chicago and was absorbed in his practice 
when the Civil War supervened. On August 5, 1861, Dr. Bogue was com- 
missioned as a major and assigned as surgeon of the Nineteenth Illinois Vol- 
unteer Infantry. He served with that organization until March, 1863, when 
he was appointed medical director of the Second Division of the Fourteenth 
Army Corps. When the Army of the Cumberland was reorganized in Octo- 
ber, 1863, he was transferred to the Third Division of the Fourteenth Army 
Corps as medical director. He was present with this command at the battles 
of Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge and Buzzard's Roost. 

Dr. Bogue's friends believed that eyestrain incurred during numerous 
operations performed in the field by the flickering light of torches and candles 
laid the foundation for the blindness that afflicted him years afterward. 

Upon being mustered out of the service Dr. Bogue returned to Chicago and 
resumed practice. He was one of the organizers of Cook County Hospital 
and for thirteen years was one of its attending surgeons. 

Dr. Bogue was the first professor of surgery of the Woman's Medical Col- 
lege and was also consulting surgeon for both Presbyterian and St. Joseph's 
hospitals. He was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1869 
and again in 1880. 

During the last years of his life Dr. Bogue was totally blind. He died 
December 8, 1893. 

GEORGE KERSHAW AMERMAN 
(1832-1867) 

Coadjutor of Dr. Joseph Presley Ross in the founding of Cook County Hos- 
pital, Dr. George Kershaw Amerman was active in Chicago as a teacher and 
practitioner. 

He was born near Marcellus, New York, July 12, 1832. After his gradua- 
tion from the medical department of the University of the City of New York 
in 1854, Dr. Amerman devoted two years to clinical study in Bellevue Hos- 
pital and in European hospitals. 

With an early preceptor, Dr. Joel R. Gore, Dr. Amerman came to Chicago 
in 1856. He was elected to membership in the Chicago Medical Society and 
in 1858 was a delegate to the convention of the Illinois State Medical Society. 

Dr. Amerman married Miss Sarah Matilda Lovelace October 19, 1858. He 
was a member of the clinical staff of Rush Medical College, delivering lectures 
at the City Hospital. Later he was quiz master on surgery at Rush Medical 
College. From the City Hospital was evolved the Cook County Hospital, in 
the foundation of which Dr. Amerman gave strong support to Dr. Ross. 

Dr. Amerman was a member of the staff of Cook County Hospital but a 
year when he died, June 2, 1867, a victim of tuberculosis. His wife had died 
of the same ailment but a short time before. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 93 

EDWARD OSCAR FITZALAN ROLER 
(1833-1907) 

Medical director of an army corps in the Civil War, student in the hospitals 
of Vienna and Berlin and associate of Dr. W. H. Byford, Dr. Edward Oscar 
Fitzalan Roler was a leading obstetrician in Chicago for more than forty 
years. 

He was born at Winchester, Va., March 6, 1833. His family having, moved 
to Indiana, he received his academic education at De Pauw University, where 
he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1859 he was graduated 
from Rush Medical College. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the Union Army as assistant 
surgeon of the Forty-second Illinois Volunteers and was soon advanced to 
the duties of surgeon of the Fifty-fifth Illinois Volunteers. Subsequently he 
served on the staff of General William T. Sherman when he was a corps 
commander and later on the staff of General John A. Logan, acting as medical 
director of the Fifteenth Army Corps. 

After the war Dr. Roler devoted a year to study in the hospitals of Vienna 
and Berlin. In the latter city he met Miss Doretta J. Doering, daughter of 
Rev. C. H. Doering, superintendent of the Methodist Missions of Germany. 
They were married at Berea, Ohio, in 1867. Dr. Roler then returned to 
Chicago and resumed practice. 

In 1868, jointly with Dr. W. H. Byford, his preceptor in medicine, Dr. Roler 
was appointed professor of obstetrics and diseases of women and children in 
the Chicago Medical College. He held this position for many years. Dr. 
Roler was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State 
and Chicago Medical societies and the Loyal Legion. He was for two years 
surgeon at the United States Marine Hospital. 

Dr. Roler retired from practice three years before his death, which oc- 
curred April 18, 1907. A son, Dr. Albert H. Roler of Evanston, followed his 
father in the practice of medicine. 

LEMUEL CONANT GROSVENOR 
(1833-1914) 

Once master of "the oldest free school in the United States," Dr. Lemuel 
Conant Grosvenor was in later years one of the leading homeopathic physi- 
cians in Chicago. 

He was born at Paxton, Mass., March 22, 1833, a son of Silas N. and 
Mary A. Grosvenor. He was a graduate of Williston Seminary at East Hamp- 
shire and the high school of Worcester, Mass. After teaching in a pioneer dis- 
trict school in Wisconsin, to which his parents had moved when he was seven- 
teen years old, he taught in several schools in Massachusetts, being for two 
years head master of the Mather School of Dorchester, said to be the oldest 
free school in the country. 

Dr. Grosvenor received his medical degree from the Cleveland (Ohio) 
Homeopathic Medical College in 1864. He practiced medicine in Peoria, 111., 
from 1864 to 1868 and at Galesburg, 111., from 1868 to 1870. He then moved 
to Chicago, where he practiced until his retirement in 1907. 

With the organization of the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College in 
1876, he was chosen lecturer on the theory and practice of medicine and the 
chair of sanitary science was created for him. He was connected with this 
institution until 1899, when he became professor emeritus of obstetrics and 
sanitary science at Hahnemann Medical College. 



94 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




LEMUEL CONANT GROSVENOR 



FRANCIS LIBBY WADSWORTH 




THEODORE A. EDWIN KLEBS 



GEORGE ALEXANDER HALL 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 95 

He was a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and for three 
terms was president of the Chicago Academy of Homeopathic Physicians and 
Surgeons. He was also president of the American Paidological Society, 
1864-67. 

On February 27, 1865, Dr. Grosvenor married Miss Ellen M. Prouty of 
Dorchester, Mass., who died in 1874. He married Miss Naomi Josephine 
Bassett of Taunton, Mass., June 25, 1877. A son of the first marriage, Dr. 
Wallace F. Grosvenor, is a practicing physician in Chicago. 

After his retirement in 1907, Dr. Grosvenor moved to Taunton, Mass., 
where he died July 17, 1914. 

FRANCIS LIBBY WADSWORTH 
(1833-1891) 

Pupil and associate of Doctors J. V. Z. Blaney and Joseph W. Freer, Dr. 
Francis Libby Wadsworth was active in the affairs of Rush Medical College 
and the Woman's Medical College. 

He was born in Hiram, Oxford County, Maine, June 18, 1833. Ancestors 
were General Peleg Wadsworth of the Revolutionary war and General 
William Wadsworth of the War of 1812. 

Dr. Wadsworth worked on a farm until he was seventeen. He then 
engaged in commercial and newspaper work until 1864. Entering upon the 
study of medicine, he was graduated from Rush Medical College in 1869. 
During his senior year he was assistant to Dr. Blaney in his chemical labora- 
tory and to Dr. Freer in his physiological laboratory. 

Upon graduation Dr. Wadsworth began his practice in the office of Dr. 
Freer and upon the death of the latter he was appointed lecturer on physiology 
and histology in the spring course at Rush Medical College. He occupied that 
position from 1870 to 1880. In 1880 and 1881 he was adjunct professor of phy- 
siology. From 1880 until 1888 he was professor of physiology and histology in 
the Woman's Medical College, where he was advanced to the chair of theory 
and practice of medicine, which position he held at the time of his death. 
For several years he had been physician in charge of St. Joseph's Hospital. 

Dr. Wadsworth was first married in 1868, but two years later his wife died. 
In 1872 he married Miss F. Robinson of Rhode Island, who, with their son 
Charles Freer Wadsworth, now a dental surgeon of Chicago, survived him. 
Dr. Wadsworth died August 26, 1891. 

THEODORE A. EDWIN KLEBS 
(1834-1913) 

"One of the most original spirits in modern medicine, a great pioneer of 
the bacterial theory of infection, a pupil of Virchow, a contemporary of 
Pasteur, and, in a very definite sense, the inspirer of Koch." 

This has been written concerning Dr. Edwin Klebs, as he was generally 
known, who spent several of his most active years in Chicago, where he 
exerted an influence in pathological study and practice. 

Born in Konigsberg, Germany, February 6, 1834, Dr. Klebs from 1855 to 
1857 pursued his studies in his native place and at Jena, Wiirzburg and 
Berlin. These led him to enter the scientific and medical province in which 
he became noted. 

The famous Virchow was professor of pathology at Wiirzburg when Dr. 
Klebs was a student there and from 1861 to 1866 he served as assistant to 



96 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




HENRY MERCKLE 



GUSTAV HESSERT 




GAYLORD D. BEEBE 



OSCAR COLEMAN DE WOLF 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 97 

the noted teacher. The following- six years were spent by Dr. -Klebs as 
professor of general pathology and pathological anatomy in the University 
of Bern. 

In 1872-73 he held the chair of his former teacher, Virchow, in the Uni- 
versity of Wiirzburg. There followed nine years as professor of pathologi- 
cal anatomy in the University of Prague, and from 1882 to 1891 he held 
the same chair in the University of Zurich. 

After twenty-five years of teaching service he resigned in 1891, intending 
to devote his time to scientific investigation. But in 1894 he accepted an 
invitation of Dr. Karl von Ruck, then director of the Winyah Sanitarium 
for diseases of the lungs and throat at Ashville, North Carolina, to visit the 
institution, where he remained for several months. 

In 1896 he was prevailed upon to occupy the chair of pathology in Rush 
Medical College in Chicago, where he remained until 1900. After his serv- 
ice at Rush he returned to Europe, living at Dortmund and Bern, where he 
died in 1913. 

In 1867 Dr. Klebs married Miss Rosa Brossenbacher. Three children lived 
to maturity, one of whom is Dr. Arnold C. Klebs. 

As a pioneer in the study of infectious diseases, Dr. Klebs preceded Pas- 
teur and Koch. He was first to see and describe the bacillus of typhoid 
fever and that of diphtheria. All through the early literature on bacteriology 
his name is frequently seen. While he was a master in pathological anat- 
omy, he realized that post-mortem findings were only end-results. 

GEORGE ALEXANDER HALL 
(1834-1893) 

Dr. George Alexander Hall was born in Sheridan, Chautauqua County, 
New York, June 5, 1834. He was educated at Fredonia and Westfield acade- 
mies, New York. In 1850 he began the study of medicine with Dr. L. M. 
Kenyon at Westfield. In 1852 he attended medical lectures at Berkshire 
Medical College, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Three years later he went to 
Philadelphia, where he took clinical courses at Jefferson Medical College 
and Blockley Hospital and didactic courses at the Pennsylvania Medical 
College, from which he was graduated in 1856. 

He then returned to Westfield and began the practice of medicine. In 
1857 he married Miss Frances S. Sherman. In 1872 he moved to Chicago 
and the following year he was elected to the faculty of the Hahnemann Medi- 
cal College. During a period of nearly twenty years, he was successively 
professor of surgical pathology and surgical anatomy, of obstetrics and of 
clinical and operative surgery. He was also surgeon-in-chief of Hahnemann 
Hospital and general surgeon of the Chicago Surgical Institute, which he 
founded March 1, 1881. 

He died April 4, 1893. 

HENRY MERCKLE 
(1835-1898) 

In 1854 the cholera plague made one of its frequently recurring visits to 
Chicago. Its ravages at this time were particularly severe. Ten persons 
died of the epidemic in one night in a house in the neighborhood of State 
Street and Hubbard Court. Henry Merckle lived there and his harrowing 
experience convinced him of the need for more physicians in Chicago. He 



98 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

decided to become one himself. He did so and for more than thirty years was 
a practitioner in the district where cholera had taken such heavy toll. . 

Dr. Merckle was born January 8, 1835 in Ebenkoben, Bavaria. He re- 
ceived his early education in his native town, after which he attended the 
Gymnasium in Speier, Germany, where he prepared himself for the drug 
trade. 

In 1853 he came to Chicago and entered the drug store of his brother-in-law, 
Dr. Mahla, at the corner of State Street and Hubbard Court, which was at 
that time on the outskirts of the town. The district had no public water 
supply and the residents had to carry water from the lake. The following 
year came the cholera epidemic which prompted Dr. Merckle to study 
medicine. 

He returned to Germany and entered the University of Wiirzburg. After 
graduating from the institution, he proceeded to the University of Vienna, 
where he pursued special branches. Having thus spent nearly six years in 
preparation for medical practice, he returned to Chicago, where he opened 
an office at what was then 377 State Street. Here he followed his profession 
for more than thirty years, devoting much of his time to charity work. 

In 1875 he married Miss Elsie Stein. 

Ill health compelled Dr. Merckle to retire in 1893. He died September 22, 
1898, survived by his widow and two daughters, Mrs. Marie Weber and Mrs. 
Meta M. Pfeiffer. A third daughter, Mrs. Frida Gail, had died previously in 
Konstanz, Germany. 

GUSTAV HESSERT 
(1835-1909) 

Student at the universities of Prague, Vienna and Wiirzburg, Dr. Gustav 
Hessert was a distinguished pathologist and practitioner in Chicago for 
forty years. 

Dr. Hessert was born in. Landau, Germany, March 12, 1835. When he 
completed his preliminary education in the gymnasium, he studied medicine 
in the Universities of Prague and Wiirzburg. He received his degree from 
the last named institution in 1858. After serving 5 as assistant at the Wiirz- 
burg Policlinic for several years, Dr. Hessert engaged in active practice. 

In 1862 Dr. Hessert married Miss Marie Geys of Wiirzburg. Six years 
later he proceeded to the United States, coming directly to Chicago. He 
first located in Archer Avenue near Twenty-second Street. In 1876 he 
moved to the north side. Dr. Hessert was an internist and, owing to his 
knowledge of pathology and diagnosis, his advice was much valued in con- 
sultation. 

During the late seventies Dr. Hessert was a member of the medical staff 
of Cook County Hospital and soon after the organization of the German 
Hospital he was made a member of its medical service. He continued in 
that capacity for twenty years. 

Dr. Hessert died April 9, 1909. He was survived by his widow and three 
sons, Frederick, Gustav and Dr. William Hessert. 

GAYLORD D. BEEBE 

(1835-1877) 

Zealot in the cause of homeopathy, surgeon under Generals Halleck, Grant 
and Thomas, teacher and originator of surgical methods, Dr. Gaylord D. 
Beebe was a leading practitioner in Chicago. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 99 

He was born at Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, May 28, 1835. His 
father, a farmer in indigent circumstances, opposed the son's desire for 
knowledge. Encouraged by his mother, he attended Genesee Wesleyan Semi- 
nary when 17 years of age. Later by performing manual labor, he maintained 
himself at Union College, where he pursued his courses to the junior year. 
This was followed by a course of medical study in the office of Dr. L. N. 
Pratt of Albany, New York. Here he also attended the full course required 
by the Albany Medical College, but, being under age as well as in straitened 
circumstances, he could not apply for the degree. He proceeded to Phila- 
delphia and after a full course was graduated at the Homeopathic Medical 
College of Pennsylvania in 1857. 

At this institution he was invited to become a beneficiary of the dean of 
the faculty, who had learned of his pecuniary circumstances. He declined 
this offer and struggled along, obtaining whatever hospital and clinical 
instruction was then available in Philadelphia. 

Dr. Beebe then came west and located in Chicago, May 1, 1857, and became 
associated with Dr. Alvan E. Small. In 1858 he was chosen to fill the chair 
of anatomy in Hahnemann Medical College. He accepted and held the posi- 
tion until the Civil War supervened. 

At the outbreak of the war, President Lincoln commissioned him as brigade 
surgeon, but when he presented himself before the members of the state 
medical board, they declined to examine him. Dr. Beebe then procured an 
order from President Lincoln directing the board to examine him. He 
passed the examination and received the appointment. 

At this time, Dr. Beebe encountered opposition in his effort to secure 
recognition of homeopathy by the United States government and its intro- 
duction generally into the military service. This opposition he was unable 
to overcome. 

Now a recognized army surgeon, he was ordered by the Surgeon General 
to duty with a brigade under General Hunter in Kansas. Subsequently 
he served under Generals Halleck, Grant and Thomas. He was medical 
director of the Fourteenth Army Corps under General Thomas, by whom he 
was cited for especially distinguished service at Murphreesboro. 

In April, 1863, Dr. Beebe was compelled to resign his commission on 
account of ill health. Returning to Chicago, he resumed practice until 1868, 
when his chronic cardiac affection recurred. This caused him to relinquish 
his practice until 1874. 

In the spring of 1877 dilatation of the heart, with which he had been long 
afflicted, prostrated him. He died April 11, 1877. 

In 1863 he married Miss Mary Brewster of Erie, Pennsylvania, who sur- 
vived him. 

Dr. Beebe was said to be the first to use sulpho-carbolate of sodium as a 
preventive in scarlet fever. He is also credited with being the first to intro- 
duce the method of torsion in ovarian diseases in place of the old clamps 
and ligatures. 

His most successful operation was one where strangulated hernia had 
produced mortification of the abdominal viscera. In the operation a large 
quantity of the viscera was excised. In commenting upon this case, the 
London Lancet said, "Since this operation, life is never to be despaired of in 
any circumstances." 



100 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

OSCAR COLEMAN DE WOLF 
(1835-1910) 

Victor in a prolonged and bitter campaign to drive the packing houses 
beyond what were then the city limits, first to require warning cards in cases 
of diphtheria and scarlet fever, first to establish in Chicago a public labora- 
tory for the analysis of water supply and food, Dr. Oscar Coleman DeWolf 
was Commissioner of Health in this city for twelve years. 

Of him his biographer, Dr. Arthur R. Reynolds, says : "His administration 
of his office was characterized by courage, vigor, progress, intelligence and 
dignity. It gained for him a national and international reputation. He was 
frequently consulted by other communities and was in his day the most 
conspicuous health officer in the country." 

Dr. DeWolf was born at Chester Center, Mass., August 8, 1835. He 
studied at the Berkshire Medical College of Pittsfield, Mass., and at the 
University of the City of New York, from both of which institutions he 
received degrees. In 1860 he completed a two years' course under famous 
doctors in Paris and returned to America to enter the Union Army. He was 
present at some of the most important engagements of the Civil War. 

From 1866 to 1874 Dr. DeWolf engaged in the practice of medicine at 
Northampton, Mass., where he married Miss Harriet Lyman in 1867. On 
January 29, 1877, he was appointed Health Commissioner by Mayor Monroe 
Heath on recommendation of Dr. Bowditch of Boston. 

Promptly upon his accession Dr. DeWolf attacked the scarlet fever and 
diphtheria problem by enforcing requirements as to warning cards. 

The packing houses scattered throughout the city had become a menace 
to public health. Offal was dumped into the river or the lake. Packing 
houses on the south branch gave off their odors unrestrained. Dr. DeWolf 
started to clean the Augean Stables. He met with determined opposition 
and continued reverses in the courts. Finally he prevailed and the packers 
were forced to remove beyond Thirty-ninth street, then the southern boun- 
dary of the city. 

Valuable work in investigation of the prevalence of trichinae in pork was 
begun in 1878 and it was pointed out with clearness that cooking destroyed 
the trichinae and that there was no trouble from trichinosis in human beings 
except among those who ate raw pork. 

The first laboratory in the department of health was established by Dr. 
DeWolf in 1880. In 1881 the laboratory efficiently supplemented the ordi- 
nance for suppression of the smoke nuisance. In the first report of the work 
of the chemist principles of combustion were laid down that are as sound 
today as they were then. 

Workshop and factory inspection were carried on vigorously. Annually 
a learned and instructive study was made as to the causes of death and their 
relation to unsanitary conditions as well as their relation to meteorological 
conditions. 

Dr. DeWolf lent his effort to the preliminary work leading up to enactment 
of the law establishing the Sanitary District of Chicago. 

Dr. DeWolf served as Health Commissioner until 1889. In 1892 he opened 
in London an establishment for the treatment of inebriates. From this he 
made a fortune. In 1903 he returned to his old home in Chester Center, 
Mass., where he died March 28, 1910. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 101 

ISAAC NEWTON DANFORTH 
(1835-1911) 

Distinguished pathologist and practitioner and the main factor in the or- 
ganization of Wesley Hospital, Dr. Isaac Newton Danforth was for forty-five 
years active in the professional and civic life of Chicago. 

He was born in Barnard, Vermont, November 5, 1835, and was graduated 
from Dartmouth Medical School in 1862. From this school he received 
the honorary degree of A. M. in 1881. After four years of practice in Green- 
field, New Hampshire, Dr. Danforth served for a short time as interne at the 
Hartford (Connecticut) Retreat for the Insane. 

He came to Chicago in 1866 and here on June 9, 1869, married Miss Eliza- 
beth Skelton, whom he met at the Centenary Methodist Church, of which he 
was a member for many years. 

He was appointed an instructor in chemistry in Rush Medical College in 
1868, lecturer on pathology in 1871 and president of the spring faculty in 
1873. In 1881 he became professor of pathology. During this period he was 
pathologist at St. Luke's Hospital, thereafter becoming attending physician, 
remaining upon the active staff for twenty-five years. He was then, made 
an honorary member of the staff, which position he held for fifteen years 
longer. He was one of the first in Chicago and the Northwest to use the 
microscope in pathology. 

As professor of pathology he went to the Chicago Medical College in 1882. 
He continued as a member of the faculty for nineteen years, during a large 
part of this time as professor of internal medicine. For many years also he 
was active in the work of the Woman's Medical College of Northwestern 
University, serving as dean of the faculty for four years. 

He was chief of the medical staff of Wesley Hospital for the first ten 
years of its existence. For many years he was pathologist to the Cook 
County Hospital and consulting physician to various other hospitals in Chi- 
cago. Besides holding membership in many societies, he was president of the 
Chicago Pathological Society and first president of the Society of Medical 
History of Chicago. 

Following the death of his wife in 1895 he married Mrs. Mary A. Barnes, 
June 7, 1898. 

He was a frequent contributor to medical literature. In later years his 
writings were devoted chiefly to medical history and biography. His life of 
Nathan S. Davis was published in 1907. 

In 1909 he founded a medical missionary hospital in Kiukiang, China, in 
honor of his first wife. 

Dr. Danforth died May 5, 1911. A son, Dr. William C. Danforth of Evans- 
ton, born of his first wife, had chosen medicine as his profession several years 
before the father's death. 

HENRY MUNSON LYMAN 

(1835-1904) 

"One of the most erudite men in the medical profession," is the way Dr. 
Harold N. Moyer has characterized Dr. Henry Munson Lyman, army sur- 
geon, professor at Rush Medical College and distinguished practitioner. 

He was born in Hawaii, November 26, 1835. He was graduated from Wil- 
liams College in 1858, receiving the degree of A. B. and in 1880, that of A. M. 
His first year of medical study was at Harvard, but he was graduated from 



102 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




ISAAC NEWTON DANFORTH 



HENRY MUNSON LYMAN 





FRANCIS WILLIAM REILLY 



SAMUEL J. JONES 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 103 

the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, in 1861. After a 
year as house surgeon at Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Lyman entered the medical 
service of the United States Army and was assigned to duty at Nashville. 
He resigned in 1863, and in October of that year he came to Chicago. 

In the winter session of 1865-66, Dr. Lyman was quiz master in Rush 
Medical College; lecturer on physiology in the spring course, 1866-69; pro- 
fessor of chemistry and pharmacy, 1871-77; professor of physiology and dis- 
eases of the nervous system, 1877-1900; and professor of the principles and 
practice of medicine, 1890-1900. He was also treasurer of the college. 

From 1880 to 1888, he held the chair of the principles and practice of medi- 
cine in the Woman's Medical College. He was attending physician at Cook 
County Hospital from 1867 to 1876. Beginning in 1884, he was a member of 
the medical staff of the Presbyterian Hospital and consulting physician to St. 
Joseph's Hospital and the Hospital for Women and Children. He was a 
member of the local and national medical societies and in 1876, president of 
the Chicago Pathological Society, president of the Association of American 
Physicians in 1891, and of the American Neurological Association in 1892. 

Dr. Lyman was the author of a number of medical works and as author 
and teacher was highly esteemed. 

Failing health compelled his retirement from all professional work in 1900. 
He died November 21, 1904. 

Of Dr. Lyman, Dr. Harold N. Moyer says : 

"Dr. Lyman was one of the most erudite men in the medical profession. 
To read a thing was to remember it, and, as he was an omnivorous reader, his 
mind was stored with copious knowledge of the literature of medicine. He 
had an accurate reading knowledge of the French, German and Italian lan- 
guages and could translate these into perfect English with the same rapidity 
that he would read English. His mind was essentially scholarly with a 
distinct classical bias. He wrote pure Addisonian English. As a research 
worker and clinician his contributions were not conspicuous, but his great 
attainments permitted him to bring a wealth of illustration and erudition to 
the adornment of every topic that he touched." 

FRANCIS WILLIAM REILLY 
(1836-1909) 

"The decreased death rate in Chicago is his living monument." 

This was said of Dr. Francis William Reilly when he died, leaving behind 
him a record of beneficence as a sanitarian and philanthropist. 

Apt tribute to his career came from Dr. William A. Evans, some time 
commissioner of health : "He led in all of the fights for better things in 
living, in his powerful health sermons. His work against sewage-laden water, 
smallpox, yellow fever and diphtheria all helped, but it was mainly as a 
preacher of health sermons that he won his proud position as Chicago's most 
useful citizen." 

Born in Bolton, England, January 11, 1836, Dr. Reilly, who signed his 
name Frank W. Reilly, was brought to America by his parents in early child- 
hood and was educated in Philadelphia and Charleston, South Carolina. In 
1855-56 he attended lectures at Rush Medical College and became assistant in 
the laboratory of Dr. James V. Z. Blaney. He was graduated from the 
Chicago Medical College in 1861. 

In the civil war Dr. Reilly gained his first distinction. As surgeon of the 
Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry he had been wounded at Shiloh, but on 



104 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

convalescence, returned to the front and, during the remainder of his service, 
established general hospitals under the direction of Generals Grant, Sherman 
and Logan. 

After the war he returned to Chicago. His sanitary work began in 1867 
with his appointment by Dr. John H. Ranch as sanitary inspector for Chicago. 
This was followed by newspaper work until 1873. From that time until 1875 
he was surgeon in the United States Marine Hospital Service. In 1874 the 
service published his work on "The Nomenclature of Diseases." In 1876 he 
was surgeon of the port of Cincinnati until July 1, when he resigned. During 
his service he made investigations and reports on immigrant travel and on 
the Asiatic cholera and the yellow fever epidemic. 

During the summer of 1878 the south was ravaged by an epidemic of yellow 
fever. A national relief boat was fitted out at St. Louis with medical and 
other supplies for stricken regions down the Mississippi. Grave risks were 
involved and volunteers were called for. Among the first to enlist was 
Dr. Reilly, who joined the expedition as a representative of the Chicago Com- 
mittee and as correspondent of the Chicago Times. In less than ten days 
after the boat had proceeded on its heroic mission the leader of the expedition 
died in the arms of Dr. Reilly, who carried on under the most desperate 
conditions. 

In 1879 he was appointed sanitary inspector of the Mississippi Valley with 
station at Island No. 1 and later at Memphis. So well was his work done at 
the former post that importations of yellow fever into Illinois were stopped 
completely. In Memphis he made a sanitary survey that resulted in the 
creation of a new water supply and a comprehensive drainage system. The 
sum of his effort has been referred to as the "sanitary regeneration" of 
Memphis. 

In November, 1881, he was appointed assistant secretary of the Illinois 
State Board of Health and the annual report, which he continued to write 
until his retirement from the service of the board in 1893, attracted nation 
wide attention. 

In July, 1885, Dr. Reilly became an editorial writer on the Chicago Morn- 
ing News, of which he was later managing editor. He was the first "Swat 
the Fly Advocate." 

In the Morning News he fought vigorously for drastic reform in drainage 
and water supply, and did much toward establishing the comprehensive 
system that Chicago now enjoys. He also founded the Daily News Sani- 
tarium for sick babies. This was a notable phase of Dr. Reilly's effort to 
reduce infant mortality in Chicago. From 1887, when the sanitarium was 
founded, to 1907 the deaths of children under five years were diminished 
thirty per cent. 

Through the help of Mayor John P. Hopkins, Health Commissioner 
Arthur R. Reynolds secured funds which made possible the appointment of 
Dr. Reilly as assistant health commissioner in 1895. In his new office Dr. 
Reilly developed the use of diphtheria anti-toxin. 

Dr. Reilly's health bulletins were world famous. In them he inspired popu- 
lar interest in sanitary measures and he made statistics serve the public to 
the last fraction. The London Lancet frequently reproduced the bulletins 
and gave them unstinted praise. Newspapers throughout the country copied 
them. No other single item of public health work was so far-reaching in its 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 105 

benefits. He was assistant health commissioner until his death, December 
16, 1909. 

Of him a commentator has said, "He has done more to promote Chicago's 
health, cleanliness, and consequently, happiness, than any other single 
citizen." 

On June 9, 1862, Dr. Reilly married Miss Alice Mary Kennicott, daughter 
of Dr. John A. Kennicott, who with three sons, survived him. They are 
Frank Kennicott Reilly, a Chicago publisher; Leigh Reilly, formerly manag- 
ing editor of the Chicago Evening Post and the Chicago Herald, and 
Rodolphe Ransom Reilly of New York City. A daughter, Cora Frances, wife 
of Edward S. Beck, now managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, and a son, 
Robert Kennicott Reilly, died in 1899. 

SAMUEL J. JONES 
(1836-1901) 

First to head the eye and ear departments of St. Luke's Hospital, the Chi- 
cago Medical College and Mercy Hospital, Dr. Samuel J. Jones was for a 
generation a conspicuous figure in Chicago. 

He was born in Bainbridge, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1836. He was a 
graduate of Dickinson College, which honored him successively with the 
degrees of A. B., A. M. and LL. D. He received his diploma from the medical 
department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1860. 

In 1861, he was commissioned assistant surgeon and later surgeon in the 
United States Navy and was present at several engagements. During 1863, a 
large number of Confederate prisoners, tiring of the confinement at Camp 
Douglas, Rock Island, Alton and Columbus barracks, applied for permission 
to enlist in the United States Navy and Surgeon Jones assisted at the induc- 
tion of more than 3,000 of them into the Federal service. 

Resigning his commission early in 1868, Dr. Jones visited Europe, where, 
in numerous hospitals, he studied otology and ophthalmology. He came to 
Chicago at the end of the year and in 1869 he established a department for 
diseases of the eye and ear in St. Luke's hospital. In 1870 the chair of 
ophthalmology and otology was created in the Chicago Medical College and 
Dr. Jones was chosen to occupy it. This professorship he held for twenty- 
seven years. He founded eye and ear clinics at Mercy Hospital and the 
South Side Free Dispensary, which he conducted for ten years. 

He was also a delegate from the American Academy of Medicine to the 
Seventh International Medical Congress held in London in 1881. He was 
president of the section of otology in the Ninth International Medical Con- 
gress held in Washington in 1887. He was president of the American 
Academy of Medicine in 1889, and had been vice-president the two years 
previous. He was editor of the Chicago Medical Journal and Examiner after 
its consolidation in 1875. 

Dr. Jones was never married. A year before his death he retired from pro- 
fessional work and devoted his time to an anti-noise crusade, which he was 
agitating when the end came. His death from pneumonia occurred October 
4, 1901. 

SIGISMUND DANIEL JACOBSEN 
(1837-1894) 

Thoroughly equipped by training in European schools, Dr. Sigismund 
Daniel Jacobsen was one of Chicago's leading ophthalmologists. A member 



106 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




SIGISMUND DANIEL JACOBSEN 



JAMES STEWART JEWELL 




EDWIN POWELL 



ADDISON HOWARD FOSTER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 107 

of several hospital staffs, he was also president of the Scandinavian Medical 
Society. 

Dr. Jacobsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, February 14, 1837. Being 
a member of an orthodox Jewish family, he was given an education that in- 
cluded the Hebrew language, the scriptures and theology. Later he was 
admitted to the University of Copenhagen, from which he was graduated with 
the degree of doctor of philosophy in 1856. He at once began the study of 
medicine in the medical department of the university. He served in the 
Royal Frederick Hospital from 1857 until 1862, when he was graduated. In 
the Schleswig-Holstein campaign, in 1863, Dr. Jacobson was surgeon of the 
Thirteenth Infantry and was also in charge of a field hospital. 

Dr. Jacobsen came to Chicago in 1866 and specialized in ophthalmology. 
In the spring of 1871 he established a private hospital and clinic at 303 
Wabash Avenue for the treatment of diseases of the eye. When this was 
consumed in the great fire of that year, he entered general practice, giving 
especial attention to diseases of the eye. He was a member of the staffs of 
Cook County, Michael Reese, German, Maternity and Alexian Brothers 
hospitals. 

Rush Medical College conferred upon Dr. Jacobsen an honorary degree in 
1881. He was an organizer of the Scandinavian Medical Society in 1887 and 
became its president in 1889. He died in Copenhagen, February 23, 1894. 

JAMES STEWART JEWELL 
(1837-1887) 

Born in a log cabin in Illinois where works on science were regarded 
askance because of the belief that they tended toward atheism, Dr. James 
Stewart Jewell became not only a distinguished scholar but an eminent 
scientist as well. He is especially remembered as a neurologist of high 
authority. 

Dr. Jewell was born at Jewell's Prairie, near Galena, September 8, 1837, 
the son of John and Margaret Stewart Jewell. At the age of two years he 
knew the alphabet and at four he could read. When he was old enough to 
wield a hoe his mother would go with him to the field and while she dropped 
the seed and he covered it with the hoe, she would read to him. 

Bred in this environment he became an avid student. He read diligently 
every volume that came within his grasp from the Bible and Fox's Book of 
Martyrs to works on geology and anthropology. The latter his pious mother 
regarded with apprehension as conducive to disbelief in the Deity. 

Dr. Jewell studied under the preceptorship of Dr. S. M. Mitchell of Galena 
in 1855 and in 1860 he was a member of the first class to graduate from the 
medical department of Lind University, later the Chicago Medical College. 

"Tall and angular, with a large head adorned with a shock of brindle hair, 
and with prominent gray eyes and spindling legs, his ungainly appearance 
was accentuated by a small trunk carried on his shoulder," writes Dr. 
Harold N. Moyer. "Within a few days, however, the faculty and student 
body realized that this unpromising exterior concealed a mind of rare bril- 
liancy and uncommon attainments." 

For two years he practiced medicine in Williamson County, 111., and return- 
ing to Chicago, he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy in his alma 
mater. This position he filled until 1869 when he resigned with the purpose 
of studying and teaching biblical history. As a part of his plan Dr. Jewell 



108 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

traveled in Egypt and Palestine, there laying the foundation of his knowledge 
of Egyptology and Hebrew. 

The lure of medicine overcame his desire to be a religious teacher and, 
when he returned to Chicago in 1871, he resumed his practice, devoting his 
attention to nervous and mental diseases. He was appointed professor in 
this branch in the Chicago Medical College. Two years later he founded the 
Quarterly Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases and was its editor. 

"All of the students of that early day are united in pronouncing Dr. Jewell 
one of the most interesting and fascinating lecturers of his time," says 
Dr. Moyer. "They are agreed that they derived more inspiration from his 
lectures than from any other member of the faculty and some of them state 
that they believe that he was the best teacher they ever had." 

Dr. Jewell helped to found the American Neurological Association and 
was for three successive years its president. 

During his active career Dr. Jewell had become not only a student of 
Hebrew and Egyptology but he had acquired a knowledge of botany, anthro- 
pology, zoology, botany, Greek, Latin, French, German and Italian. It was 
appropriate, therefore, that Northwestern University should confer upon him 
the degree of Master of Arts. 

Dr. Jewell died April 18, 1887. 

"With his passing went one of the most picturesque figures in our local 
profession, and a man who left his mark on American neurology," says 
Dr. Moyer. 

EDWIN POWELL 
(1837-1911) 

Distinguished surgeon in the union army, Dr. Edwin Powell, nephew of 
Dr. Daniel Brainard, was for a number of years a professor at Rush Medical 
College. 

He was born in Jefferson County, New York, October 12, 1837. His parents 
were John and Eveline (Brainard) Powell. He was graduated from Williams 
College in 1856 and in 1857 from Rush Medical College, his principal precep- 
tor being Dr. Brainard. From 1856 until 1861 he served as an interne in the 
United States Marine Hospital. During this time he became demonstrator of 
anatomy at Rush Medical College. 

Commissioned in 1861 as surgeon of the Forty-second Illinois Volunteers, 
he served in Missouri and in July of the next year was assigned to the 
Seventy-second Illinois Volunteers, which participated in the Vicksburg 
campaign. During the siege of Vicksburg, he conducted the McPherson 
General Hospital with such credit that he was promoted to a colonelcy and 
awarded a gold medal by his army corps. He was also present at the siege 
of Mobile. 

Returning to Chicago after the war, he resumed his connection with Rush 
Medical College. He was professor of military surgery in that institution 
until 1877. 

After the organization of Cook County Hospital, he was for a time a 
member of its staff. He was highly regarded as a teacher of clinical surgery. 
He died at Marysville, Missouri, February 13, 1911. 

ADDISON HOWARD FOSTER 
(1838-1906) 
First to occupy the chair of anatomy in the Woman's Medical College of 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 109 

Chicago, Dr. Addison Howard Foster was a graduate of the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons of New York City. 

Of pre-revolutionary ancestry, Dr. Foster was born at Wilton, N. H., 
November 13, 1838. He was educated in the public schools and at Ipswich- 
Appleton Academy and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1863. 
After some time spent with medical preceptors, he entered the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons of the City of New York, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1866. On September 18, 1866, he married Miss Susan M. Houghton 
of New Ipswich, N. H. 

Upon the completion of two years of practice at Lawrence, Mass., Dr. 
Foster came to Chicago and when the Woman's Medical College was organ- 
ized in 1870, he was not only made professor of anatomy but associate pro- 
fessor of surgery as well. He filled these positions until 1875. In 1869-70 
Dr. Foster was a visiting physician for the Brainard Free Dispensary and 
from 1872 to 1888 he was medical examiner for the New England Mutual 
Life Insurance Company. He was a member of the American Medical 
Association, the Academy of Medicine and the Chicago and Illinois State 
Medical societies. He was president of the Chicago Gynecological Society 
and president of the Chicago Pathological Society. He was the founder of 
the Therapeutic Club. 

Dr. Foster died March 3, 1906, at Oak Park, where he made his home. 
His widow and three sons, Fred Houghton, Winslow Howard and Charles 
Stedman Foster, survived him. 

SAMUEL ANDERSON Me WILLIAMS 
(1839-1917) 

The mental alertness and physical vigor of Dr. Samuel Anderson McWil- 
liams continued unimpaired almost to his seventy-ninth year, after fifty 
years of practice in Chicago. 

Born in Ireland, February 7, 1839, he came to the United States with his 
parents as a child. After obtaining the degrees of A. B. and A. M. at the 
University of Michigan, he attended the medical department of that institu- 
tion for two years. Two years of teaching in the Waupun, Wisconsin, High 
School (1863-65) were followed by a course at the Chicago Medical College, 
from which he was graduated in 1866. 

He lectured on physical diagnosis and anatomy in the Chicago Medical 
College in 1866 and 1867 and was professor of anatomy in the Woman's 
Hospital Medical College of Chicago from 1870 to 1875. For ten years, 
beginning in 1878, he was attending physician at Cook County Hospital. 

With Doctors Charles Warrington Earle, A. Reeves Jackson, D. A. K- 
Steele and Leonard St. John, Dr. McWilliams founded the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons of Chicago in 1882. There he held the chair of diseases 
of the chest and clinical medicine for ten years. He was also a director 
of the institution. 

After leaving- the College of Physicians and Surgeons he served as pro- 
fessor of eruptive fevers and physical diagnosis in Jenner Medical College, 
1901-03; professor of physical diagnosis and diseases of the chest in Dear- 
born Medical Colege, 1903-04; later occupying the same chair in Reliance 
Medical College. He was also associate professor of gfiiito-urinary dis- 
eases in Hennett Medical College. 



110 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




SAMUEL ANDERSON McWILLIAMS 



DANIEL ROBERTS BROWER 




JOSEPH SIDNEY MITCHELL 



TRUMAN W. MILLER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 111 

He was a member of various national, state and local societies, including 
the American Medical Association, the Chicago Medical and Illinois State 
Medical societies, the Chicago Medico-Legal Society, the Physicians' Club 
and the American Academy of Medicine. 

Dr. McWilliams was twice married. Following the death of his first 
wife he married Miss Bertha Schetbel, January 8, 1884. There were four 
children. 

He died January 14, 1917. Until two weeks before his death he was 
active in his work as attending physician at the Fort Dearborn Hospital. 

DANIEL ROBERTS BROWER 
(1839-1909) 

Dr. Daniel Roberts Brower, sometime president of the Chicago and Illi- 
nois State Medical societies, was a distinguished alienist. Born in Mana- 
yunk, a suburb of Philadelphia, October 13, 1839, he was graduated from 
the Polytechnic College of Philadelphia in 1858. In 1864 he received his 
degree from the medical department of Georgetown University, Washing- 
ton, D. C. Immediately after graduation he was commissioned Assistant 
Surgeon and assigned to the United States General Hospital at Portsmouth, 
Va., and later he was on station at Fortress Monroe. 

Dr. Brower continued in the hospital service until the close of the Civil 
War, when he was mustered out. From 1865 until 1868 he was surgeon in 
charge of the Howard's Grove Hospital of the Freedmen's Bureau. He 
then became superintendent of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia at 
Williamsburg, and served as such until 1875. In that year he resigned and 
came to Chicago, limiting his practice to mental and nervous diseases. In 
1877 he was appointed professor of nervous diseases in the Woman's Medi- 
cal College. 

In Rush Medical College he was a lecturer on the theory and practice of 
medicine in the spring course from 1883 to 1889. From 1889 to 1891 he 
lectured on mental diseases, materia medica and therapeutics. Thereupon 
he became professor of mental diseases, materia medica and therapeutics. 
This position he held until 1899. Dr. Brower was professor of nervous and 
mental diseases in the Post-Graduate Medical School and neurologist at 
St. Joseph's and Cook County hospitals. He was consulting physician to 
the Woman's, the Presbyterian and other hospitals. 

In 1891 Dr. Brower was president of the Chicago Medical Society and in 
1895 president of the Illinois State Medical Society. He was a voluminous 
writer on neurology. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from 
Wabash College, St. Ignatius College and Georgetown University. 

Dr. Brower died March 1, 1909, and was survived by his widow, a daugh- 
ter, Eunice M., and a son, Dr. Daniel R. Brower. 

JOSEPH' SIDNEY MITCHELL 
(1839-1898) 

One of the founders and president of the Chicago Homeopathic Medical 
College and originator of the "Mitchell Method" for the treatment of cancer, 
Dr. Joseph Sidney Mitchell was born December 9, 1839, in Nantucket, Mas- 
sachusetts. 

His early education was obtained in the schools of his native town and in 
the English High School of Boston. In 1859 he entered Williams College, 



112 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

from which lie was graduated in 1863. lie then began a course of medical 
study at Bellevue Hospital Medical College and was graduated in 1865. 
Shortly thereafter he came to Chicago. 

Before he had practiced here a year he was appointed to the lectureship 
of surgical and pathological anatomy at Hahnemann Medical College. In 
1867, he became professor of physiology in the same institution and in 1879 
he was assigned to the chair of theory and practice of medicine. He was also 
elected dean of the college. 

In 1876 he withdrew from Hahnemann College to engage in the organiza- 
tion of the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, of which he was president 
until his death. For seven years he was secretary of the Illinois State Home- 
opathic Medical Association, during which time the active membership was 
doubled. He was also president of this society. For a time he was attending 
physician at the Cook County Hospital. 

At the time of his death he was physician in charge of the medical depart- 
ment of the Chicago Homeopathic Hospital. He was an honorary member 
of the Massachusetts, Indiana and Kentucky State Medical associations. In 
1881, when the International Medical Congress met in London, he was chosen 
one of the American delegates. In 1893, he was chairman of the World's 
Fair Congress of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. Mitchell was widely known to the medical profession as the originator 
of what is now termed the "Mitchell Method" for the treatment of cancer. 

On February 28, 1867, he married Miss Helen S. Leeds of Philadelphia. 

Upon his death in Chicago, November 4, 1898, he was survived by his 
widow and three children, Mrs. James Todd, Sidney and Leeds Mitchell. 

TRUMAN W. MILLER 
(1840-1900) 

Organizer and first president of the Chicago Policlinic, Dr. Truman W. 
Miller was for more than thirty-five years a practitioner in Chicago. 

He was born at Lodi, New York, March 2, 1840. He attended the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City and later the Geneva (N. Y.) 
Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1863. He became an 
assistant surgeon in the Army of the Potomac and served in that organization 
until after the battle of the Wilderness, when he was assigned to the duty of 
post and examining surgeon at Chicago. 

At the close of the civil war he was appointed examining surgeon for the 
recruiting service of the regular army with station in this city. He performed 
this duty until 1869. After resignation from the army he was Cook County 
Physician for two years and an inspector for the board of health. 

In 1873 he was appointed assistant surgeon of the United States Marine 
Hospital at Chicago and in 1877 he was promoted to the rank of surgeon. 
In 1878 he was chosen medical director for the northwest of the Continental 
Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and consulting surgeon 
for the Chicago district of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. 

He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in 1880 and 
1881 he was surgeon general of the organization for the northwest encamp- 
ment. He was surgeon of the Western Indiana Railroad, the Chicago & 
Grand Trunk Railroad Company and was attached to the staff of Cook 
County Hospital. 

Dr. Miller was surgeon in chief of the Maurice Porter Memorial Hospital 
for Children and of the Augustana Hospital and was consulting surgeon at 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 113 

St. Joseph's, the German, Alexian Brothers, and St. Mary's Memorial hos- 
pitals. 

He was professor of surgery at the Chicago Policlinic, which he helped to 
organize and of which he was the first president. 

He was a member of the different professional societies. He married Miss 
Leonora Edson, of Lake View, October 15, 1864. 

He died May 13, 1900. 

JAMES NEVINS HYDE 
(1840-1910) 

Assistant surgeon in the United States Navy, thirty-one years professor 
of skin, venereal and genito-urinary diseases at Rush Medical College, twice 
president of the American Dermatological Association, author of a monu- 
mental treatise covering the entire field of dermatology, Dr. James Nevins 
Hyde was a practitioner whose influence extended from one end of the 
country to the other. 

"His great strength of character, charming personality and magnetism 
bound his legion of patients to him to a degree not commonly appreciated," 
says Dr. Oliver S. Ormsby. "The great good accomplished by him not only 
in relieving their physical ills but in directing their future lives is a matter 
of such magnitude that its far reaching consequences can only be partly 
told." 

Dr. Hyde was born at Norwich, Conn., June 21, 1840. He was graduated 
from the academic department of Yale University in 1861. 

He began the study of medicine with Dr. William H. Draper in the Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in the year in which he 
received his academic degree. After pursuing his studies for some time, 
however, he entered the United States Navy as an assistant surgeon and 
later was designated Passed Assistant Surgeon. He performed heroic duty 
toward the end of the Civil War in the battle waged against yellow fever 
off Key West. During this time his two superior medical officers succumbed 
to the disease and left him as medical officer in charge. Though only a 
young man, so well did he perform this duty that he was cited by the 
Secretary of the Navy. 

After the war President Lincoln assigned him to the Ticonderoga under 
Admiral Farragut. Every officer on the ship was a man who had won dis- 
tinction during the war. The Ticonderoga made a visit of ceremony to 
various European ports. 

Dr. Hyde resigned in 1869, receiving his medical degree from the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania in the same year. He then removed to Chicago. 
He began his teaching career in 1873 at Rush Medical College as a lecturer 
on dermatology, a position he held for three years. From 1876 to 1878 he 
was professor of dermatology in the Chicago Medical College and in 1879 
he was elected professor of skin, venereal and genito-urinary diseases at 
Rush Medical College, the chair of which he held continuously for thirty- 
one years. 

Dr. Hyde's name was prominently connected with American dermatology 
from the time of his entrance into the field in 1873. He was identified with 
the American Dermatological Association from its inception and was twice 
its president. He was a voluminous writer on scientific dermatology and 
his treatise on diseases of the skin, published first in 1883, underwent eight 



114 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 





JAMES NEVINS HYDE 



JAMES SUYDAM KNOX 




CHRISTIAN FENCER 



SARAH HACKETT STEVENSON 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 115 

complete revisions. It grew from a modest volume containing 560 pages 
of text and six illustrations to a work containing 1100 pages of text and 220 
illustrations, besides fifty-eight full page plates. It was an index to the 
advancement of the science of dermatology during a period of twenty-six 
years. 

Besides being a 'member of the faculty of Rush Medical College, Dr. Hyde 
was professor of skin, venereal and genito-urinary diseases in the Post 
Graduate Medical School. He was dermatologist to the Augustana, Michael 
Reese and Presbyterian hospitals and the Chicago Orphan Asylum and was 
consulting dermatologist to Mary Thompson Hospital, the Home for Desti- 
tute Crippled Children and the Central Free Dispensary. 

From 1902 he was professorial lecturer on dermatology at the University 
of Chicago. He was a member of the various professional societies, local 
and national, and an active or corresponding member of the leading derma- 
tological associations of Europe. 

He presented many papers before the Chicago Literary Club on topics 
outside of medicine and was once honored with the presidency of that 
organization. 

At a banquet given General Sheridan on the fiftieth anniversary of his 
birthday, Dr. Hyde read a classical article entitled "Asleep and Awake." 
Another classic he has left us is entitled "Historical Strawberries." Another 
volume of great value is his "Early Medical Chicago," an historical work of 
note. 

Dr. Hyde married Miss Alice Louise Griswold, July 31, 1872. He had 
one son, Charles Cheney Hyde, an attorney and professor of international 
law at Northwestern University. Dr. Hyde died September 6, 1910. 

JAMES SUYDAM KNOX 
(1840-1892) 

Collateral descendant of the preacher, John Knox, veteran of the civil war, 
an able teacher, Dr. James Suydam Knox was born at Nassau, New York, 
July 28, 1840. He was graduated from Princeton College in 1860, and while 
teaching in the preparatory school of that institution he enlisted as a private 
of New Jersey volunteers in the civil war. Returning from the war, Dr. 
Knox was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New 
York City, in 1866. 

He began practice in Somerville, New Jersey, where in 1869 he married 
Miss Elizabeth Hartwell. He came to Chicago in 1873 and engaged in prac- 
tice on the west side. From 1874 to 1882 Dr. Knox was lecturer on obstetrics 
in Rush Medical College. Thereafter until 1888 he was adjunct professor of 
obstetrics and diseases of children. In 1888 a full professorship was con- 
ferred upon him and he continued to hold the chair until his death. He was 
a member of the medical staff of Presbyterian Hospital and it was largely 
through his influence that the maternity section of that hospital was estab- 
lished in 1892. 

Dr. Knox was a member of the International Medical Congress, the Ameri- 
can Medical Association, the Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies, the 
Chicago Pathological, the Chicago Medico-Legal and the Chicago Gynecologi- 
cal societies. He was president of the last named organization at the time 
of his -death. 

He died June 28, 1892. 



116 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

CHRISTIAN FENCER 
(1840-1902j 

Honor student, surgeon in the Schleswig-Holstein and Franco-Prussian 
wars, physician under the Khedive of Egypt, first to introduce antiseptic 
surgery in Cook County Hospital, professor of surgery in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, Northwestern University Medical 
School and Rush Medical College, Dr. Christian Fenger for a quarter of a 
century was an inspiration to the medical youth of Chicago. 

"During that period of time," writes Dr. Frank Billings, "he exerted an 
influence in, scientific medicine unequalled by any other individual." That 
influence is manifested today in the work of the foremost surgeons, pathol- 
ogists and practitioners of internal medicine of the city. 

From an autobiography written by Dr. Fenger when King Christian IX 
of Denmark bestowed upon him the order of Knight of Dannebrog, we 
learn the main facts of his life. 

He was born at Breinningaard, Breinninge Sogn in Ringkjoping Amt, 
Denmark, November 3, 1840. Devotion to the natural sciences led him to 
matriculate at the Polyteknisk Lareanstalt with the object of becoming a 
civil engineer. After a year, however, he yielded to his father's wishes and 
undertook the study of medicine. He passed his first examination in 1863 
and the following year he served as assistant physician at Augustenborg 
Lazareth under Studsgaard. 

He was assistant surgeon for a battery of artillery in the Schleswig- 
Holstein campaign and after the war he continued the study of medicine, 
passing his examination in 1866-67 with the degree of "Laud." He was an 
interne in the Royal Frederik Hospital in 1869. Researches made by him 
earned a grant from the Danish government that enabled him to become 
a surgeon in the Franco-Prussian war. His experience in the war enabled 
him to write a report on the endoscopy of gunshot wounds. 

After the war he went to Vienna, where he studied pathologic anatomy 
and surgery. Returning to Denmark, he became prosector to the Commune- 
hospital, where he wrote his thesis on cancer of the stomach for the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine, which was granted in 1874 approximately thirteen 
years after beginning the study of medicine. He successfully defended this 
thesis in 1875. In the spring of that year he went to Egypt to assume for 
a time his brother's practice. In Cairo he became a district physician under 
the Egyptian government, serving as "Medicin du Quartier der Kalifa" 
under the chief of medical affairs in Cairo, Dr. Ahata Bey. In this capacity 
he investigated an epidemic of trachoma among the children of the public 
schools. 

In Cairo Dr. Fenger was physician for a part of the American colony 
and, among them, certain American officers whom Khedive Ismail Pasha 
had employed to reform the Egyptian army. A Major Irgens suggested 
that Dr. Fenger accompany him to Bloomington, Illinois. Dr. Fenger had 
proceeded as far as Chicago when a fellow countryman, Dr. S. D. Jacobsen, 
persuaded him to remain. 

"In the spring of 1878 I secured by means of borrowed money a place as 
physician to Cook County Hospital," writes Dr. Fenger in his autobiography. 
"Here I commenced to give lectures and demonstrations in pathologic 
anatomy, a science which was unknown to physicians there. At this hospi- 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 117 

tal I served first as pathologist, later as surgeon for twelve to fourteen 
years, and introduced Lister's antiseptic operative methods." 

Dr. Fenger's account of the manner in which he obtained a place on the 
staff of Cook County Hospital recalls the fact that that was the period of 
the most corrupt group of county commissioners Chicago has ever known. 
One thousand dollars was the price to be paid by the ambitious medical 
man, with no other reward than to see, study and heal disease, for a place 
on the staff of an institution for the care of the county's poor. 

"To one who served at one time as Fenger's House Surgeon and later 
grew up in his environment," writes Dr. Lewis L. McArthur, "the convic- 
tion is fixed, after the lapse of two score years, that Fenger was a great 
surgeon. The phrase, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, will still permit an ardent 
admirer and grateful student to remark : he was not an equally great oper- 
ator. His exact knowledge of surgical anatomy, his dead-house familiarity 
with every part of the human body seemed to influence the extent of his 
incisions. His thorough understanding of the existing pathological process, 
his scientific urge to be thorough, would ofttimes prolong an anesthesia to 
a dangerous length. With all his faults (and they were few), we loved him 
for himself and for what he taught us." 

In 1880 Dr. Fenger became curator of Rush Medical College museum. 
In 1884 he was appointed professor of surgery in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons of Chicago, and surgeon-in-chief to the Passavant Memorial 
and German hospitals, when these two institutions were founded. In 1893 
he assumed the professorship of surgery in Northwestern University Medi- 
cal School and later became surgeon to Mercy Hospital. He was also 
surgeon-in-chief of Lutheran Tabitha Hospital. In 1899 he became pro- 
fessor of surgery in Rush Medical College in affiliation with the University 
of Chicago and attending surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital, holding 
both of these positions until his death. 

In 1900, on his sixtieth birthday, Dr. Fenger w ? as given a testimonial 
banquet by 500 physicians which afforded striking evidence of the esteem 
in which he was held. The Fenger Memorial Association, organized soon 
after his death, perpetuates his memory through scientific research carried 
on through the income of an endowment fund. 

Dr. Fenger was a member of the Chicago Medical Society, being its 
president in 1901, the Chicago Surgical Society, the Illinois State Medical 
Society, the American Medical Association and the American Surgical 
Association, serving as its vice-president in 1895. 

He was a prolific writer upon subjects relating to surgery, special pathol- 
ogy and diagnosis. These papers were reprinted under the joint editor- 
ship of Doctors Ludvig Hektoen and Coleman G. Buford in "The Col- 
lected Works of Christian Fenger," in two volumes. 

In 1878 he married Miss Caroline Sophie Abildgaard. There were two 
children, Frederick A. Fenger and Augusta Maria Fenger. 

In a review of Dr. Fenger's life, Dr. Billings has written : 

"The outstanding features presented arc the evidences of the purposeful 
industry of the man. Undismayed by difficulties and obstructions to the 
attainment of objectives, he won success in practically every project under- 
taken. His knowledge of morbid anatomy and of pathology was phenomenal 
for that day and was attained by unremitting energy during his life in 



118 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Denmark and Egypt and his earlier experiences in the United States. This 
knowledge of pathology and of morbid anatomy made him one of the great 
surgeons of his time. He never became a brilliant operating surgeon, but 
what he lacked in operating skill was more than compensated for by 
thoroughness and knowledge of pathology. In diagnosis he was unsur- 
passed by any of his living contemporaries. 

"He spoke five or more modern languages, but did not possess a ready 
command of any language. Nevertheless, he was a great teacher and 
though his speech was usually marked by halting words, he was able to 
impart knowledge to others with greater clearness than most teachers of 
fluent speech. He was especially fond of young men who showed by their 
every day lives that they had a thirst for knowledge and expresed this by 
purposeful enduring work. It was through his influence that many of the 
young medical men of the period from 1880 to 1900 visited the clinics of 
Germany, Austria, France and England and later became leaders in their 
chosen fields of work in the United States." 

Dr. Fenger died March 7, 1902. "But though twenty years have elapsed," 
writes Dr. Billings, "he lives today in the hearts and minds of hundreds 
of physicians and surgeons who were proud to call him master ; and he 
will continue to live through other generations by the work of his students 
and his pupils' students." 

SARAH HACKETT STEVENSON 
(1841-1909) 

In the eighteen-seventies there were comparatively few women in the 
medical profession, and those who entered it were treated by most of their 
male rivals in a manner approaching hostility and distrust. It required a 
brave spirit for a woman not only to overcome the obstacles placed in her 
path by men in the profession, many of whom opposed medical instruction 
for women, but to place herself on an even plane with them. 

Such a spirit was possessed by Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, pioneer among 
women physicians. 

"Dr. Stevenson was one of the first women in the Middle West to study 
and practice medicine," writes Dr. Marie Olsen, "and as such she overcame 
all prejudices by proving her ability and fitness for her chosen profession. 
Indeed, her professional brothers entertained toward her the profoundest 
respect and admiration. 

"In those early days of Chicago, there was much constructive work to be 
done along all lines and Dr. Stevenson, with her vision of the great possi- 
bilities for women and her desire to be of service, threw herself with enthu- 
siasm and energy into these various activities. Through her wonderful 
mentality, magnetic personality and charm of manner, she was able to over- 
come difficulties and blaze the way for enterprises of philanthropical, pro- 
fessional and business nature. 

"Numerous are the individuals, institutions and organizations that have 
occasion to remember that great woman with gratitude and love." 

Dr. Stevenson, the daughter of Col. John and Sarah Hackett Stevenson, 
was born at Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Februarv 2, 1841. After attending Mt. 

- o 

Carroll Seminary, she was graduated from the Illinois State Normal School 
at Bloomington in 1863. Her first work was as a teacher in Sterling, Illinois, 
where she became principal of the public school. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 119 

In 1874, she was graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Chi- 
cago. Prior to and after her graduation she studied at the South Kensing- 
ton Science School, London, and in the hospitals of London and Dublin. 
While in London she resided for a time with Emily Faithful, the philan- 
thropist, made the acquaintance of Lord Tennyson, and was fortunate in 
having a biological training under Huxley and Darwin, fitting her to fill the 
chair of physiology in the Woman's Medical College, to which she was later 
appointed. 

She began practice in Chicago in 1876 and the same year was a delegate 
of the Illinois State Medical Society to the meeting of the American Medical 
Association in Philadelphia, where her name was presented for membership 
by Dr. William H. Byford and sustained by the president. Five years before 
the association had laid on the table the hotly discussed motion to admit 
women as members. 

Dr. Stevenson was the first woman appointed to the State Board of Health 
and the first woman member of the medical staff of Cook County Hospital. 
She organized and was head of the staff of the Woman's Hospital on the 
grounds of the World's Fair, where three thousand cases were treated. She 
also organized the Chicago Maternity Hospital and was among the founders 
of the Home for Incurables and the Illinois Training School for Nurses. 

She was professor of physiology in the Woman's Medical College from 
1876 to 1881 and professor of obstetrics from 1881 to 1894. She was obstetri- 
cian to Cook County Hospital, consulting physician to the Woman's and 
Provident hospitals, attending physician at the Mary Thompson Hospital 
and president of the National Temperance and Chicago Maternity hospitals. 
She was president of the Chicago Woman's Club and a member of the Twen- 
tieth Century and Fortnightly clubs. 

Dr. Stevenson was the author of a "Text-Book on Biology," for beginners, 
which had an extensive sale and was used in the schools. 

Prolonged overwork in college, hospital and practice resulted in shattered 
health and compelled her retirement from all professional work in 1903. She 
died August 14, 1909, in St. Elizabeth's Hospital, where she had been a 
patient for many years. 

EDWARD W. LEE 
(1841-1907) 

Mentor and friend of Dr. John B. Murphy, Dr. Edward W. Lee was one of 
the first surgeons in Chicago to operate for appendicitis and diseases of the 
gall bladder, and by reason of this fact he profoundly influenced the career 
of the former. 

"One of the best evidences of Dr. Lee's rare good judgment and knowledge 
of men as well as of medicine and surgery was his choice of associates," writes 
Dr. William A. Evans. 

"When Christian Fenger was a newly arrived foreigner, practicing pathol- 
ogy, Dr. Lee recognized his ability and, by associating Dr. Fenger with him, 
made it possible for that great man to lay the foundations of his surgical 
practice. 

"When John B. Murphy emerged as an interne from Cook County Hospital, 
Dr. Lee's pragmatic mind saw his possibilities at once and he took him on as 
an assistant. His professional association with Dr. Murphy in some relation 
or other continued until Dr. Lee's death." 



120 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 





EDWARD W. LEE 



JOHN WILLIAM STREETER 




TEMPLE STOUGHTON HAYNE 



CHARLES THEODORE PARKES 



HISTORY OF MKOICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 121 

Dr. Lee was born in Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland, June 19, 1841, the 
son of a physician. When seventeen years old he entered the Royal College 
of Surgeons in Dublin, being also under the preceptorship of a Dr. Nalty. 
Although completing the course in three years, he had to wait until he was 
twenty-one years old before obtaining his diploma. 

After serving as a physician's assistant for a year, a position as surgeon on 
an Atlantic liner was offered to Dr. Lee, who made a number of voyages. 
Learning of a favorable opening for a surgeon in Chicago, he came to this 
city in 1864 and located on the west side. His practice grew rapidly and in 
1880 he enlisted Dr. Murphy as his assistant. Dr. Murphy remained with him 
for ten years, being succeeded by Dr. Frederick S. Hartmann. 

Dr. Lee was for many years on the surgical staff of Cook County Hospital 
and the Alexian Brothers Hospital. For more than twenty years he was chief 
surgeon for the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburgh. He was a member of 
the American Medical Association and the Illinois State and Chicago Medical 
Societies. 

Dr. Lee died August 11, 1907, leaving a family which included three sons, 
two of whom were practicing physicians located in Chicago. 

JOHN WILLIAM STREETER 
(1841-1905) 

A soldier in the Army of the Cumberland who was promoted for bravery 
on the field of battle, graduate of Hahnemann Medical College and later 
professor of diseases of women in that institution, founder of Streeter Hos- 
pital, Dr. John William Streeter was born in Austinburg, Ashtabula County, 
Ohio, September 17, 1841. He was the son of Rev. Sereno W. Streeter, a 
clergyman of the Congregational church and of Mary Williams Streeter, a 
descendant of Roger Williams. Both of the parents were graduates of 
Oberlin College. 

For four years, from 1858 to 1861, inclusive, John Streeter taught school 
and worked on a farm in northern Indiana. In July, 1861, he joined the 
First Regiment of Michigan Light Artillery and for three years followed 
the fortunes of the Army of the Cumberland, never being off duty a day 
during the entire period. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant 
for bravery during the first day's battle at Chickamauga, the piece of artillery 
of which he had charge being the only one in the battery which did not fall 
into the hands of the enemy. He also participated in the engagements at 
Nashville and Franklin, being mustered out in the fall of 1865 with the rank 
of first lieutenant. 

At the conclusion of the war he began his professional studies at the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, continuing them in the office of Dr. D. C. Powers of 
Coldwater, Michigan. Subsequently he pursued a course of reading under 
Dr. Goodwin in Toledo, Ohio, but finally he came to Chicago, entered Hahne- 
mann Medical College and was graduated therefrom in 1868. For two years 
he worked in the dispensary of the college and later he became professor 
of diseases of women at Hahnemann. For twelve years he was attending 
gynecologist at Cook County Hospital. 

In 1888 he founded the hospital at 2646 Calumet Avenue which bears his 
name. He was a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and 
of the Illinois State and Chicago Homeopathic societies. He was also surgeon 
of the old First Regiment and of the First Infantry Brigade of the Illinois 



122 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

National Guard and was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. 

In 1869 he married Miss Mary Clark of Union City, Michigan. There were 
three children, Mrs. Alfred T. Martin, Dr. Edward Clark Streeter and Mrs. 
Philip Hamill. 

During his last years, Dr. Streeter, who took a great interest in agricul- 
ture, wrote a book entitled, "Fat of the Land," a story of an American farm. 

He died June 4, 1905. 

TEMPLE STOUGHTON HOYNE 
(1841-1899) 

Dr. Temple Stoughton Hoyne, son of Thomas Hoyne of the Chicago bar 
and grandson of Dr. John T. Temple, was born in Chicago, October 16, 1841. 
He first attended school in the old Dearborn school in Madison street oppo- 
site McVicker's theater. At ten years of age he was placed under a tutor 
and thereafter he attended private schools until he entered the old Chicago 
University in 1860. He was graduated in 1863, receiving the degrees of B. S., 
M. S. and A. M. 

He then matriculated in the medical department of Bellevue Hospital. 
While pursuing his studies he was called to active service with the medical 
corps of the army and had charge with another physician of a hospital in 
Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dr. Hoyne received his medical degree in 1865. 

In 1869 he was elected professor of materia medica in the Hahnemann 
Medical College of Chicago. He also assumed charge of the venereal patients 
in Scammon Hospital. He was also business manager and registrar of the 
college. Later he was a member of the faculties of Hering Medical College 
and Dunham Medical College. 

Dr. Hoyne frequently contributed to medical journals. His published 
works include "Clinical Therapeutics" and "A Monograph on Urinary and 
Venereal Diseases." He was also editor of the Medical Visitor. 

On October 17, 1866, he married Miss Fannie H. Vedder of Palatine Bridge, 
New York. There was one daughter, who became Mrs. Charles H. Buell. 
He died February 4, 1899. 

CHARLES THEODORE PARKES 
(1842-1891) 

Private soldier and officer in the Civil War, successor of Dr. Moses Gunn 
as professor of surgery in Rush Medical College, president of the Chicago 
Medical Society and of the Chicago Gynecological Society, Dr. Charles T. 
Parkes was one of the ablest and best beloved surgeons in the Mississippi 
Valley. 

During his last illness Dr. Gunn spoke frequently of his personal relations 
with Dr. Parkes, first as a student, afterwards as an assistant, and paid him 
this tribute : 

"I know of no one in whose hands I would sooner trust my life, my reputa- 
tion and my property." 

Dr. Parkes was born in Troy, N. Y., August 19, 1842. He was the youngest 
of ten children of Joseph Parkes, an Englishman by birth, who moved to 
Chicago in 1868. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Parkes was a student at the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, but he promptly abandoned his academic course to enlist 
as a private in Company A, 117th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Later he was 
promoted to a captaincy and placed in command of a company of the 69th 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 123 

United States Infantry. Captain Parkes had studied engineering and among 
his achievements during the war was the building of the fortifications at 
Island Number Ten in the Mississippi river. At the close of the conflict he 
declined a colonel's commission. 

The youthful veteran began the study of medicine with Dr. Robert L. Rea 
and was graduated from Rush Medical College in 1868. The same year he 
married Miss Isabella J. Gonterman. . 

A few weeks after receiving his degree Dr. Parkes was chosen demonstrator 
of anatomy at his alma mater and in 1875 was elected professor of anatomy. 

In 1887 Dr. Parkes was designated professor of surgery in Rush Medical 
College in succession to Dr. Moses Gunn, whom he also succeeded as treas- 
urer of the college. He held both of these positions until his death. 

Dr. Parkes was one of the attending surgeons of the Presbyterian Hospital, 
professor of surgery in the Chicago Policlinic, surgeon in charge of St. 
Joseph's Hospital, consulting surgeon of the Hospital for Women and Chil- 
dren and surgeon-in-chief of the Augustana Hospital. He was president of 
the Chicago Medical Society in 1885-86 and later was head of the Chicago 
Gynecological Society. In 1890 Dr. Parkes was chairman of the surgical 
section of the International Medical Congress, which was held in London. 

Dr. Parkes' specialty was abdominal surgery, in which he was a pioneer 
investigator, being one of the first to advocate unting severed intestines. For 
the purpose of gaining a better knowledge of both the consequences and treat- 
ment of gunshot wounds of the intestine, he made a series of experiments on 
forty dogs. The number of recoveries astounded the medical profession and 
led to further experiments in all parts of the world. 

In connection with Dr. Parkes' work in this field, Dr. Roswell Park wrote: 

"During the first half of the previous century, surgery had not included, so 
far as I know, complete removal of any organ of the body. Fifty years ago 
both the thorax and abdomen were sanctums, in a surgical sense, into which 
the surgeon rarely, if ever, ventured to intrude. Thus, no one ventured to 
operate for gunshot wounds of the abdominal viscera, especially of the in- 
testines, until the matter was taken up by Parkes of Chicago and Bull of New 
York. Their initiative has given rise to a line of work and teaching which, a 
few years ago, when it was new, startled the entire professional world." 

Jacobson's work in operative surgery, published about 1886 in England, 
gave Dr. Parkes full credit for priority and originality in the field of gunshot 
wounds of the abdomen. His work in the surgery of the gall-bladder, which 
was then in its infancy, also was conspicuous in influencing new lines of 
treatment. Preceding Dr. Parkes' operations, there were not twenty-five ideal 
cholecystotomies. 

In 1885, before anyone had operated for the removal of a stone from the 
common bile duct, Parkes had worked out and described the operation of 
choledochotomy. He had performed this operation in a public clinic at that 
time. This was published about 1885 in the Chicago Medical Recorder. Some 
years later Dr. Christian Fenger in his article on the ball valve action of a 
floating stone in the common duct gave Dr. Parkes credit for this work. 

For several years before his death Dr. Parkes had been accumulating ma- 
terial for works on general and abdominal surgery, but his sudden death 
stopped the writing. The works he left were published under "Clinical Lec- 
turers," but there were some fifty or more writings besides these that were 
published in the current medical journals. 



124 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




ALBERT GARY BEEBE 



FERDINAND CARL HOTZ 




(Photo by Koehne) 
HENRY HOOPER 



JAMES HENRY ETHERIDGE 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 125 

Dr. Parkes died March 28, 1891. He was survived by Mrs. Parkes, a son, 
Charles H. Parkes, who later became a Chicago surgeon, and a daughter, 
Miss Irene Edna Parkes, now Mrs. Philip F. Matzinger. 

Of Dr. Parkes, Dr. William T. Belfield has written : 

''To become one of the dozen leading surgeons of America at forty-eight 
years of age is a rare achievement ; in the case of Dr. Parkes this achievement 
was unique. For surgery, as we know it, was virtually born only ten years 
before his untimely death. Until he attained middle life surgery was a mere 
mechanical art ; for the underlying causes of surgical disease were until then 
only suspected. 

"Yet with the advance of the new surgery Dr. Parkes kept pace ; yes, he led 
the vanguard of surgical progress in at least one great field the operative 
treatment of penetrating wounds of the abdomen." 

"For years before he was elected professor of surgery he had been one of 
the leading surgeons of Chicago," wrote Dr. James H. Etheridge. "Each 
week throughout the year up to the time of his death he conducted three sur- 
gical clinics which were without parallel in the annals of medical college 
teaching. He was among the first to do laparotomies before large classes of 
students. It was no uncommon thing for him to open a clinic with a laparo- 
tomy and subsequently to perform from four to eight minor operations, be- 
sides disposing of as many more dispensary patients in one afternoon. 

"As a surgeon and as a teacher of surgery, Dr. Parkes had few equals. His 
diagnosis were positive and almost invariably correct. His comprehensive 
mind grasped all the conditions present and at once constructed a complete 
clinical picture. His extraordinary success with the most formidable surgical 
cases was due to his clear judgment, his great manual skill and dexterity and 
to his conscientious attention to the minutest details of after treatment. He 
never spared himself ; he always gave the best of his knowledge and of his 
strength. 

"He was a man of large heart, tender sympathy and was considerate and 
gentle with rich and poor alike. He was as generous as he was kind; many 
are the poor that he treated, not only free of charge, but also supported at the 
hospital." 

ALBERT GARY BEEBE 
(1843-1903) 

Dr. Albert Gary Beebe was born May 21, 1843, at Newark, New York. 

After attending private schools he entered Genesee College, New York, in 
1858, but because of his youth, he decided after the first year to work in his 
brother's pharmacy in Chicago for a year or two. 

\Yhen war was declared between the north and the south, Dr. Beebe 
enlisted in the Fifty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was present at the 
battles of Stone River, Corinth and Murphreesboro. He was taken seriously 
ill in 1863 and was invalided home. At this time he was told he could not 
live ten years and during the rest of his life it was never possible to count 
his pulse because of its irregularity. 

He returned to Genesee College and was graduated in 1866. He was gradu- 
ated from Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago in 1869 and from the 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1870. He thereupon entered into part- 
nership with his brother, Gaylord. but in 1872 he moved to the west side, 
where he resided the rest of his life. 

In 1871 and 1872 Dr. Beebe was professor of physiology and in 1873 pro- 



126 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

fessor of surgery in Hahnemann Medical College. During the following 
spring the trustees created for him the chair of dermic and orthopedic surgery, 
of which he was incumbent for two years. In 1876 he assisted in founding 
the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College and assumed the chair of senior 
professor of surgery in that institution. 

While a member of the staff of Hahnemann Medical College, he was attend- 
ing surgeon at the Hahnemann Hospital and, after the founding of the 
Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, he was identified with its affiliated 
hospital and dispensary. In the spring of 1897 he was appointed attending 
surgeon at Cook county hospital and was chief of staff of its homeopathic 
department. 

Dr. Beebe married Miss Frances Lucy Northway at Horseheads, New 
York, March 3, 1870. There were two children, Dr. Leslie Walter Beebe 
and Clara Margery Beebe Rickords. 

Dr. Beebe \vas an elder in the Third Presbyterian Church from 1880 to 1903. 

He died December 4, 1903, after an acute illness of five days. 

FERDINAND CARL HOTZ 
(1843-1909) 

Student at Jena and graduate of Heidelberg, surgeon in the Austrian Army, 
and pupil of Graefe, Gruber and Politzer, Dr. Ferdinand Carl Hotz came to 
Chicago in 1869 exceptionally equipped for practice. 

Dr. Hotz was born in Wertheim, Germany, July 12, 1843. For four years 
he studied at the University of Jena, thence proceeding to Heidelberg from 
which he was graduated in 1865. During the Austro-Prussian war in 1866 he 
was a surgeon in the field. At the conclusion of hostilities he went to Berlin, 
where he studied under Graefe, the most famous oculist of his time. Later 
his preceptors were the aurists Gruber and Politzer of Vienna. 

In 1868 he was appointed house surgeon at the hospital of the University of 
Heidelberg and in 1869 he attended clinics in Paris, London, Edinburgh and 
Glasgow. 

Late in 1869 Dr. Hotz came to Chicago. From 1870 to 1875 he was oculist 
and aurist at Cook County Hospital and from 1875 to 1892 he was attending 
surgeon at the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. During his teach- 
ing career he was also professor of ophthalmology and otology at the 
Woman's Medical College, professor of ophthalmology in the Chicago Poli- 
clinic, oculist and aurist at the Presbyterian Hospital and professor of oph- 
thalmology and otology at Rush Medical College. 

In 1888 he was chairman of the section of ophthalmology and otology of 
the American Medical Association. He founded in 1890 the Chicago Society 
of Ophthalmology and Otology, of which he was president for three years. 

He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State 
Medical Society, of which he was vice president in 1872, and the Chicago 
Medical Society, of which he was president in 1892-93. 

Beginning in 1875 he served on the public library board for three years. 
He married a daughter of F. W. Rosenmerkel, a veteran druggist of Chicago, 
in 1873. 

He died in Chicago, March 21, 1909. 

HENRY HOOPER 
(1844-1919) 
Dr. Henry Hooper, one of the organizers of the Chicago Policlinic and a 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 127 

leading gynecologist in Chicago, was born in Marblehead, Mass., February 
13, 1844. After a preliminary education in public schools and from tutors, 
he matriculated at Harvard College, from which he received the degree of 
A. B. in 1865. 

Four years later he was graduated from Harvard Medical School. After 
serving an interneship in the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he 
came to Chicago, arriving here shortly before the great fire of 1871. 

Professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the Chicago Policlinic, of which 
he was treasurer at the time of his death, Dr. Hooper was a member of the 
staffs of Alexian Brothers', Passavant Memorial and Henrotin Hospitals. 

He was married twice, his first wife being Miss Ethel Plato. A daughter 
of that marriage is the wife of Dr. Martin Edwards of Boston. In 1886 Dr. 
Hooper married Miss Alice Arnold, who, with a son, Henry Hooper, Jr., sur- 
vived him. 

He died September 17, 1919. 

JAMES HENRY ETHERIDGE 
(1844-1899) 

Two years' clinical experience in the hospitals of Europe that supplemented 
three full courses at Rush Medical College was the equipment that Dr. James 
Henry Etheridge took to the chair of therapeutics and medical jurisprudence 
when he was summoned to the west side institution in 1871. 

Dr. Etheridge was born in St. Johnsville, N. Y., March 20, 1844. He was 
the son of Francis B. Etheridge, M. D., whose active practice in New York 
State, throughout the Civil War and in Minnesota covered a period of forty- 
seven years. 

Dr. James H. Etheridge studied medicine at Hastings, Minn., for a short 
time preceding matriculation at Rush Medical College. After graduation 
from that institution in 1869, he devoted two years to study in the hospitals 
of Europe. He returned to Chicago in 1871 and for the following eighteen 
years he was professor of therapeutics and medical jurisprudence. At the 
close of this period he succeeded Dr. W. H. Byford as professor of obstetrics 
and gynecology. He was also a member of the medical staff of the Woman's 
Hospital and one of the attending gynecologists of the Central Free 
Dispensary. 

In 1892 he was appointed professor of obstetrics and gynecology in Chi- 
cago Policlinic Hospital and was attending gynecologist in the Policlinic 
Hospital and the Presbyterian Hospital. 

In 1888 he was elected president of the Chicago Medical Society and in 
1890 he was chosen head of the Chicago Gynecological Society. He was 
also a member of the American and Illinois State Medical Societies, the Pan- 
American Medical Association and a founder and life member of the Inter- 
national Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, whose first meeting was 
held at Brussels in September, 1892. 

Commissioned major surgeon of the First Brigade, Illinois National Guard, 
in 1893, Dr. Etheridge was advanced to the rank of lieutenant colonel and 
assistant surgeon general in 1897. From this position he resigned shortly 
before his death, February 9, 1899. 

Dr. Etheridge married Miss Harriet Elizabeth Powers in June, 1870. She, 
with their daughter, Emily, survived him. 



128 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




MICHAEL MANNHETMER 



RANDOLPH NATHANIEL HALL 




HENRY MARTYN BANNISTER 




NICHOLAS SENN 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 129 

MICHAEL MANNHEIMER 
(1844-1891) 

Heidelberg and Vienna were among the institutions that gave Dr. Michael 
Mannheimer the equipment which enabled him later to become chief attend- 
ing surgeon at large Chicago hospitals. 

He was born at Moenichsroth, Batavia, March 29, 1844. He was the son of 
a physician whose professional life was passed in Moenichsroth. Matriculat- 
ing at the University of Munich, Michael Mannheimer continued his studies 
at Erlanger under Professor Herz. He afterward spent a year in Vienna, 
receiving later a certificate from Heidelberg. 

He came to Chicago in 1865 and in 1869 was graduated in medicine from 
the University of Louisiana. Returning to Chicago, he received an appoint- 
ment as an inspector in the department of health. Here he made an exhaus- 
tive study of trichinosis, the results of which were published by Dr. John H. 
Ranch, then president of the Illinois State Board of Health. 

Dr. Mannheimer joined the staff of Michael Reese Hospital in 1876 and was 
its chief attending physician until the close of his life. He was also chief 
attending physician at Alexian Brothers Hospital. He was professor of medi- 
cine in the Chicago Policlinic and Hospital and a member of the medical staff 
of the German American dispensary. 

He died at Chicago, August 13, 1891. 



RANDOLPH NATHANIEL HALL 
(1844-1901) 

A drummer boy at Shiloh and Vicksburg and for years a well known phy- 
sician in Chicago, Dr. Randolph Nathaniel Hall was born at Eagleville, O., 
April 2, 1844. After the removal of his family to Clay, la., in 1855, he attended 
school until the outbreak of the civil war. 

In the summer of 1861 he enlisted as a drummer in Company C, Eighth 
Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was present at the battles of Shiloh, the siege 
and capture of Vicksburg and in the campaigns in Tennessee, Louisiana and 
Alabama. 

After being mustered out in 1866 Dr. Hall began the study of medicine in 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Keokuk, Iowa, and was licensed 
to practice in that state in 1869. After practicing in various towns in the west, 
Dr, Hall came to Chicago in 1881 and entered Rush Medical College, from 
which he was graduated in 1882. Subsequently he was appointed demon- 
strator of anatomy in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. Hall was one of the organizers of the American Medical College, which 
was later absorbed by the Harvey Medical College. In this institution he 
held the chair of surgery. In 1895 he organized the Illinois Medical College, 
of which he was the first president. Dr. Hall was attending surgeon at St. 
Elizabeth's Hospital, the Baptist Hospital and the Mary Thompson Hospital. 

Dr. Hall was a member of the Chicago Medical Society, the Illinois State 
Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Therapeutic Club 
and the Chicago Pathological Society, of which he was president in 1894. 

Dr. Hall died January 1, 1901. He was survived) by his widow, who was 
Miss Catherine L. Meacham of Clay, la., and a son, Glenn Hall, now of New 
York City. 



130 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

HENRY MARTYN BANNISTER 
(1844-1920) 

Known as a neurologist and a man well versed in medical science, Dr. 
Henry Martyn Bannister's first activity as a young man was in assisting 
in blazing trails in western states and territories as a member of government 
geological surveys. 

He was born in Cazenovia, New York, July 25, 1844, the son of Rev. 
Henry and Lucy Kimball Bannister. In 1863 he received the degree of 
Ph. B. from Northwestern University and six years later that of A. M. 
In 1867-68 he had assisted in a geological survey of Illinois. 

After he received his medical degree from the National Medical College, 
Washington, D. C., in 1871, he was a member of the party which made the 
United States Geological Survey of the territories, including Alaska. Fol- 
lowing this he located in Chicago, where he began the practice of medicine 
in 1874. 

With the late Dr. James S. Jewell he founded and jointly edited the 
Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases and he was co-author with the 
late Dr. Daniel R. Brower of a textbook on insanity. For several years he 
was assistant superintendent of the Kankakee State Hospital for the Insane. 
He was for many years a member of the editorial staff of the Journal of 
the American Medical Association. 

On June 14, 1887, he married Miss Delia C. Ladd of Chicago, who sur- 
vived him upon his death, May 1, 1920, at his home in Evanston. 

Of Dr. Bannister it was said : 

"He was a man wonderfully well read in medical science, and was 
learned, not only in his own specialty but in the broad fields of literature 
and science ; a man of delightful personality and beloved by all who knew 
him." 

NICHOLAS SENN 
(1844-1908) 

"Several years ago when the question of the auto-inoculability of cancer 
was under discussion in the medical press and the claim was made by east- 
ern surgeons of considerable prominence that they had succeeded in their 
engrafting experiments, Dr. Senn was visiting at my house. I observed when 
he was dressing for dinner a collodion crust on his left forearm and inquired 
the cause of such an unusual injury. His answers were evasive and unsatis- 
factory, but when I became insistent he confessed he had had two carcino- 
matous growths inserted into his arm to test the matter. Had the experi- 
ment succeeded, his would have been another life sacrificed to the cause of 
science and he would have accepted his martyrdom without a murmur." 
(S. M. Wylie, M. D.) 

That was Nicholas Senn, Master of Surgery. 

"And yet the world actually knows but little of the indebtedness of science 
to him and of his unselfish labors in its behalf," writes Dr. Wylie. "In his 
laboratory, constructed under the sidewalk and connected with his office 
building in Milwaukee, the existence of which was known only to a few 
friends, night after night, for years, he carried on his original investigations 
and dissections of guinea pigs, rabbits, sheep, calves and human cadavers, 
toiling alone, working frequently all night over these ghastly remnants of the 
dead or experimental vivisection of the living animal that it might yield 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 131 

some truth to benefit humanity. Here he conducted his experiments, the 
results of which he gave to the world in dicta of great value." 

Nicholas Senn was born in the Canton of St. Gaul, Switzerland, October 
31, 1844. In 1852, the family moved to Washington County, Wisconsin, and 
the future surgeon received his preliminary education in Fond du Lac. 

In 1868, he received his medical degree from the Chicago Medical College 
and then served as interne in Cook County Hospital for eighteen months. 
After this, he began practice in Ashford, Wisconsin. Six years later he 
moved to Milwaukee, where he was appointed attending physician at Mil- 
waukee Hospital. In 1877 he visited Europe and the following year was 
graduated "cum laude" from the University of Munich. While in Munich, 
he was the pupil of von Nussbaum, one of the great surgeons of his time. 

In 1882, after his return from Europe, he was appointed professor of sur- 
gery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, but for some 
time continued to reside in Milwaukee. It was at this time that he was 
appointed surgeon-general of the national guard of Wisconsin. He was 
elected to the chair of the principles of surgery and surgical pathology 
in Rush Medical College in 1888 and in 1891 he succeeded Dr. Charles T. 
Parkes in the chair of practice of surgery and clinical surgery in the same 
institution. 

From the beginning of his practice, Dr. Senn was a teacher. Speaking of 
his lectures in Chicago, Dr. A. J. Ochsner says, "There never were such lec- 
tures on this subject before." 

In 1892, Dr. Senn was the founder and first president of the Association 
of Military Surgeons of the National Guard of the United States. The fol- 
lowing year, soon after the inauguration of Governor Altgeld, he was 
appointed surgeon-general of the national guard of Illinois. In 1894, he was 
elected president of the Chicago Medical Society and in 1897 president of 
the American Medical Association. The latter year he was one of ten 
selected to address the Twelfth International Medical Congress, which met 
that year in Moscow. 

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he offered his services for 
active assignment at the front. He was present at the battle of El Caney 
and performed distinguished service in the Cuban campaign. 

In 1899 he was invited to deliver the "Lane Lecture," in Cooper Medical 
College in San Francisco. He was honored with numerous degrees, includ- 
ing that of Magister Chirurgiae, which he received from a British institution. 

In addition to his service in Rush Medical College, he was professor of 
surgery in the Chicago Policlinic. He also held appointments as surgeon- 
in-chief of St. Joseph's and the Presbyterian hospitals. He was also pro- 
fessor of surgery and military surgery in the University of Chicago. 

Dr. Senn's early experimental work in abdominal surgery made him fore- 
most in this field, and his researches in intestinal perforations, particularly 
in gunshot wounds, added greatly to the knowledge of the subject. He did 
much to develop modern ideas in surgical tuberculosis, and published a mono- 
graph on "Surgery of the Pancreas" in 1885, based on extensive experimen- 
tation. 

Among his other books were, "Experimental Surgery," "Intestinal Sur- 
gery," "Surgical Bacteriology," "Principles of Surgery" and "Pathology and 
Surgical Treatment of Tumors." He stands sponsor for twenty-three pub- 
lished books. 



132 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




JOHN w. TOPE 




ALBERT B. STRONG 



CHARLES H. VILAS 



133 



Dr. Senn was an enthusiastic traveler and explorer and wrote entertain- 
ingly of his travels. Books of this nature included, "Around the World via 
Siberia," "Around the World via India," "Our Recreation Parks," "Tahiti, the 
Island Paradise," "In the Heart of the Arctics," "Travels in Africa" and 
"Travels in South America." 

A lasting monument to his memory is known as the "Senn Collection," a 
medical library representing an outlay of $50,000, which Dr. Senn first pre- 
sented to the Newberry Library and which later was transferred to the 
John Crerar Library. The medical section of the John Crerar Library cen- 
ters around the Senn Room, which is a mecca for the medical profession of 
the northwest. 

Another gift of Dr. Senn's was a donation of $50,000 toward a clinical 
building for Rush Medical College, devoted to clinical and laboratory pur- 
poses and erected at a total cost of $127,500. It now bears the name of 
Senn Memorial Building. 

He endowed with $25,000 the Senn professorship of surgery in Rush Medi- 
cal College, and with $15,000 the Senn fellowship in surgery in the same 
institution. In St. Joseph's Hospital he endowed with $35,000 a room for 
the perpetual care of members of the medical profession. Dr. William E. 
Quine has said, "Nicholas Senn, as a man, has done more for the medical 
profession than all other physicians combined who have ever lived in this 
great city." 

While ascending the Andes, Dr. Senn was stricken with dilatation of the 
heart and died January 12, 1908. He was survived by his widow, formerly 
Miss Aurelia S. Millhouser of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and two sons, Dr. 
Emanuel J. and Dr. William N. Senn. 

CHARLES WARRINGTON EARLE 
(1845-1893) 

Co-founder of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago and the 
Woman's Medical College, Dr. Charles Warrington Earle had come to Chi- 
cago after an exceptional career in the Union army. 

He was born in Westford, Chittenden County, Vt., April 2, 1845, the son 
of Moses L. Earle. He was of English ancestry and a lineal descendant of 
Ralph Earle of Exeter, England, who came to Rhode Island about 1634. In 
1854 the father of Dr. Earle moved to Lake County, 111., where the boy's 
early years were passed in the country. 

Although he was only sixteen years old when the Civil war began, he 
enlisted in the Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but during the campaign 
in Missouri his health failed and he was discharged for disability. In August, 
1862, he again enlisted, this time as a private in the Ninety-sixth Illinois Vol- 
unteer Infantry, later being promoted to a lieutenancy and commanding his 
company at the battle of Chickamauga. Three times wounded on Missionary 
Ridge, he was captured and sent to Libby prison, from which he escaped and 
reached the Union lines after enduring intense privation. At the end of a 
thirty-day leave, Dr. Earle returned to his regiment and was brevetted cap- 
tain for gallant conduct in subsequent engagements. 

After the war Dr. Earle attended Beloit College and received the degree 
of A. M. in 1868. He then studied medicine in the office of Dr. William H. 
Byford and was graduated from the Chicago Medical College in 1870. The 
same year he aided in the organization of the Woman's Medical College and 



134 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

became professor of physiology. Upon the death of Dr. Byford in 1890, he 
became president of the institution. For many years he was professor of dis- 
ea,ses of children in this school. He was one of the strongest advocates of 
medical education for women and wrote and published several articles setting 
forth their claims. 

In 1876 Dr. Earle undertook the establishment of a new medical college. 
The project did not materialize, but in 1881, with Doctors A. Reeves Jackson, 
D. A. K. Steele, Samuel A. McWilliams and Leonard St. John, he incorporated 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which was opened the following 
year. He was professor of obstetrics in the institution until his death, and 
also served as president of the corporation for the year preceding his death. 
In 1892 he was elected professor of obstetrics and diseases of children in Rush 
Medical College, but resigned soon after beginning his duties. 

Aside from his teaching he conducted a large private and consultation 
practice, especially in obstetrics and diseases of children. He prepared 
numerous papers upon subjects related to these fields for medical societies, 
which were published in current journals. He also wrote for "Keatings' 
Cyclopedia of Diseases of Children" and for the "American Text-Book of 
Diseases of Children." 

Dr. Earle was an organizer and president of the Chicago Gynecological 
Society and at the time of his death was president of the Chicago Medical 
Society. He had also served as president of the Illinois State Medical 
Society. 

In 1871 he married Miss Fanny L. Bundy of Beloit, Wis., who died 
April 13, 1915. Their children were William Byford Earle, who died July 22, 
1914, and Miss Carrie Earle, who became the wife of Dr. George H. Weaver 
of Chicago. 

Dr. Earle died November 19, 1893, of cerebrospinal-meningitis. 

/ 

JOHN W . TOPE 
(1845-1910) 

When Oak Park was a small village of but a few souls, Dr. John W. Tope 
became an early settler. Beginning as a country practitioner, he was for 
thirty-four years a familiar figure in the village and the surrounding country. 

He was born on a farm near New Philadelphia, Ohio, November 10, 1845. 
At the age of sixteen years he enlisted in Company I of the Thirtieth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry and served four years. He came to Chicago in 1867 to 
attend Rush Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1870. 

After serving as an interne at Cook County Hospital, he was appointed 
superintendent of Cook County Hospital for the Insane at Dunning and held 
this position for four years. He then practiced in Mont Clare, Illinois, for a 
year and in 1876 settled in Oak Park. For fourteen years Dr. Tope was a 
member of the surgical staff of Cook County Hospital. He founded the 
Oak Park Hospital in 1905 and was elected president of its medical staff, 
holding this position until his death. 

He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State 
Medical Society and the Chicago Medical Society, serving as president of the 
Aux Plaines branch of the last-named organization. Shortly before his 
death he was elected president of the Rush Medical College Alumni Associa- 
tion. 

On January 31, 1880, he married Miss Delia Whaples, who, with two 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 135 

sons, Oliver E. Tope and Dr. John W. Tope, survived him. The latter suc- 
ceeded his father in practice in Oak Park. 

Dr. Tope died June 18, 1910, after an active practice of forty years. 

ALBERT B. STRONG 

(1845-1900) 

Dr. Albert B. Strong was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1845. He 
attended Rush Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1872, and 
during his senior year served as an interne at St. Luke's Hospital. This 
was followed by an interneship at Cook County Hospital from July, 1872, 
until February, 1874. 

From March, 1874, until October, 1875, he lectured on materia medica and 
therapeutics in Rush Medical College. At the latter date he was elected 
demonstrator of anatomy and lecturer on this subject in the spring course 
of that institution. He held these positions for ten years. 

He was an active member of the American Medical Association and the 
Chicago Medical and Illinois State Medical societies. He died March 16, 
1900. 

CHARLES H. VILAS 
(1846-1920) 

Dr. Charles H. Vilas, one of the most distinguished sons of Hahnemann 
Medical College, was of New England ancestry. He was born in Chelsea, 
Vermont, July 22, 1846. His father, Levi Vilas, was a citizen of renown in 
Madison, Wisconsin during and long after the days of the rebellion. 

Dr. Vilas was five years old when his family moved to Madison. Here 
he obtained his education, graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 
1865 at the age of nineteen. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa scholar- 
ship fraternity and in 1868 was accorded the degree of Master of Arts. 

One year after his graduation he began the study of medicine in the 
office of Dr. L. S. Ingram of Madison, continuing his studies at Hahnemann 
Medical College of Chicago. He received his degree from that institution 
in 1873, completing his education in Bellevue Hospital, New York. 

He accepted the first professorship in ophthalmology and otology in Hahne- 
mann Medical College in 1876 and continued in this work for a quarter of 
a century. 

Later he was elected dean of the faculty and after the death of Dr. Reuben 
Ludlam, was chosen president of the college. He continued in that capacity 
until his voluntary retirement. He was then made president emeritus and 
held that position until the time of his death. 

During the course of his active professional work, he made frequent trips 
to European centers in quest of scientific knowledge and attended the medi- 
cal congresses at Paris, London and Moscow between 1876 and 1895. 

After twenty-five years of practice, Dr. Vilas satisfied a long-cherished 
wish to visit foreign countries. He traveled in China, Japan. India and in 
Northern Africa. 

Upon his return, he made his home in Madison, where "he enacted the 
role of a benevolent, kindly, helpful, beloved member of society, bestowing 
time abundantly upon the university, the Unitarian church and giving of 
his means and his knowledge to hospitals and charities of all kinds." 

For many years he was deeply interested in the University of Wisconsin 
and in 1916 he was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin a member of the 



136 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




CHARLES WESLEY PURDY 



WILLIAM H. WOODYATT 




NICHOLAS B. DELAMATER 



(Photo by Walinger) 
ALFRED CLEVELAND COTTON 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 137 

board of regents, a position his father had held for fifteen years. He suc- 
ceeded to the presidency of the board and chairmanship of the executive 
committee, which positions he held until a few weeks before his death. 
He died at his home, November 22, 1920. 

CHARLES WESLEY PURDY 
(1846-1901) 

Distinguished urologist and author of what has been described as the most 
systematic and practical presentation of urinary diagnostic methods in the 
English language, Dr. Charles Wesley Purdy was for thirty years a teacher 
and practitioner in Chicago. 

Dr. Purdy was born at Collins Bay, Ontario, in 1846. He received his 
academic training at Victoria College, Coburg, Ontario, and graduated in 
medicine from Queen's University, Ontario, in 1869. Dr. Purdy came to 
Chicago in 1871, shortly after the great fire. He is said to have been the first 
physician to open an office in the burned district. 

Dr. Purdy was a keen observer and ardent student of medicine, his interest 
being mainly devoted to diseases of the kidneys and diabetes. He published 
three notable books on these subjects. Dr. Purdy was for several years 
professor of genito-urinary and renal diseases in the Chicago Policlinic and 
from 1895 to 1898 professor of medicine (urinary diseases) in the Chicago 
Postgraduate Medical School. In 1888 he was elected Fellow of the Royal 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Ontario, and in 1897 was honored with 
the degree of Doctor of Laws from Queen's University. 

From 1880 until his death Dr. Purdy was a member of the Chicago Medical 
Society. He was also a member of the American Medical Association, Asso- 
ciation of American Physicians, Chicago Academy of Sciences, Illinois Micro- 
scopical Society, British Medical Association, Illinois State Medical Society, 
and the Chicago Society of Internal Medicine. 

In 1887 he married Miss Florence Hoffman of Oak Park, 111. There was 
one son, Wesley Purdy. Dr. Purdy died of uremia, January 20, 1901. 

"Dr. Purdy," says Dr. Arthur R. Elliott, "was a notable member of the 
small coterie of men, the strong originality and authority of whose work first 
drew the attention of the medical world to Chicago as a medical center. He 
was a careful and original observer, contributing many interesting articles 
on urinary diseases to current medical literature. His book on 'Bright's 
Disease and Allied Affections of the Kidneys' appeared in 1886, being pub- 
lished by H. K. Lewis, London. It proved a notable contribution to the 
literature of that subject. In 1890 there followed his 'Diabetes: Its Causes, 
Symptoms and Treatment,' the book being inscribed to his former teacher in 
clinical medicine, Thomas Grainger Stewart, professor of physic and of 
clinical medicine, University of Edinburgh. 

"In 1894 appeared his last medical treatise, 'Practical Urinalysis and Uri- 
nary Diagnosis.' This proved to be the most systematic and practical presen- 
tation of urinary diagnostic methods in the English language and it remained 
for many years an approved authority and textbook on the subject. It\ran 
through several editions and at the time of Dr. Purdy 's death its popularity 
was still unimpaired. In recent years this excellent book and similar treatises 
on special branches of clinical diagnosis have been displaced by more com- 
prehensive and inclusive general textbooks on laboratory methods. 

"It stands to Dr. Purdy's credit that he devised many methods which 
greatly facilitated urinary diagnosis. It is due to him that volumetric 



138 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

centrifugal estimation of urinary solids was rendered available for clinical 
purposes, and Purdy's test for the detection and quantitation of sugar in the 
urine is still extensively employed. 

"Dr. Purdy was a man and physician of the type that maintains the tradi- 
tional dignity of the medical profession. Reserved, but sympathetic and 
gracious to his patients, he possessed a keen sense of humor and was a 
delightful companion to his intimates. His most salient characteristic was an 
honest uprightness of purpose and judgment." 

WILLIAM H. WOODYATT 
(1846-1880) 

Dr. William H. Woodyatt was born in 1846 at Brantford, Ontario. In his 
thirteenth year the state of his family's finances necessitated his leaving 
school and beginning to earn his own living. He did this continuously from 
that early time and never received financial aid. At sixteen years of age he 
entered the office of the Montreal Telegraph Company and at nineteen he 
became manager of the King Avenue office of the company. 

Being determined to study medicine, he prepared for entrance to the 
Cleveland Hospital College, studying with Dr. H. C. Allen in Brantford. In 
1869 he was graduated with honors, being class valedictorian. In order to 
continue the study of his chosen specialty of eye and ear, he then spent two 
years in New York attending the clinics of the New York Ophthalmic Hos- 
pital and assisting the elder Dr. Knapp at Manhattan Hospital. To support 
himself he worked at night in the office of the Associated Press, becoming 
known as one of the two most expert telegraphers in the United States. 

In 1871 he opened an office in Chicago and was appointed lecturer upon 
ophthalmology and otology in Hahnemann College, where he was elected 
professor the following year. 

In 1876, before the opening of the new Chicago Homeopathic College, he 
resigned from Hahnemann to accept the chair of ophthalmology and otology 
in this institution. He remained working in this college, holding large 
clinics and teaching, in addition to meeting the exacting demands of his 
private practice, until his death from malignant diphtheria in 1880. 

In 1873 he married Miss Clara Burnham of Chicago, who, with two sons, 
Ernest and Rollin Turner Woodyatt, survive him. The latter son is a Chi- 
cago physician. 

NICHOLAS B. DELAMATER 

(1847-1915) 

Of Revolutionary ancestry, Dr. Nicholas B. Delamater, neurologist and 
one of the founders of the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, was him- 
self an ardent patriot. 

Born in Albany County, New York, February 21, 1847, he was a student 
at Harvard University when he was impelled, in 1863, to join the Seventeenth 
United States Infantry. He continued in active service until the close of the 
war, participating in the battle of Gettysburg and the campaign of the Wilder- 
ness. He was wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks. 

At the conclusion of hostilities, having been promoted to the rank of Major, 
Dr. Delamater engaged for three years in the dry goods trade at Richmond, 
Indiana. 

After these years of army service and business life he engaged in farming 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 139 

and taught school. Then he entered Hahnemann Medical College, graduating 
from that institution in 1873. Subsequently he received the degree of A. M. 
from Harvard University. 

He first established himself in practice in Chicago, beginning his profes- 
sional career as a junior partner of the late Dr. E. M. Hale. In 1874 he was 
appointed lecturer on medical botany, pharmacology and provings at Hahne- 
mann. In 1876 he was appointed special lecturer on electro-therapeutics in 
the same college. In the same year Dr. Delamater was one of the organizers 
of the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. He was chosen its first lec- 
turer on mental and nervous diseases. In 1881 he was elected to the full 
professorship. For some years he was also manager of the college. Later 
he became secretary of the institution. 

After the amalgamation of Hahnemann Medical College and Chicago 
Homeopathic Medical College in 1905 he occupied the chair of mental and 
nervous diseases in Hahnemann until 1909, when health failed him and he 
moved to Sanford, Florida, where he remained until 1914. 

He was attending neurologist at the Chicago Homeopathic Hospital, con- 
sulting neurologist of the Chicago Baptist Hospital and attending neurologist 
at the Streeter Hospital. He was a member of the American Institute of 
Homeopathy, the Illinois State Homeopathic Association, the Chicago Acad- 
emy of Homeopathy and other professional, social and fraternal organiza- 
tions. 

He married Miss Ella J. Link of Woodstock, Illinois, November 3, 1870. 
Mrs. Delamater was a member of the board of managers of the Chicago 
Orphan Asylum. She survived him upon his death March 11, 1915. 

ALFRED CLEVELAND COTTON 
(1847-1916) 

Combat soldier in the civil war, graduate of Rush Medical College and 
professor in that institution, Dr. Alfred Cleveland Cotton was for nearly 
forty years prominent in the professional life of Chicago. In 1908-9 he was 
president of the Chicago Medical Society. 

Dr. Cotton was born at Griggsville, 111., May 18, 1847. When sixteen years 
old he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois Volunteers. 
Having been wounded, he was captured and sent to a southern prison, where 
he remained for several months. 

Dr. Cotton was graduated from the Illinois State Normal School in 1869. 
In 1873 he was deputy superintendent of schools of Iroquois County and a 
medical student under Dr. J. R. Stoner of Griggsville. Five years later Dr. 
Cotton was graduated from Rush Medical College. 

His first practice was at Turner, DuPage County, where he was coroner 
from 1878 to 1881. In 1882 Dr. Cotton began the practice of medicine in 
Chicago, where he specialized in the diseases of children. In 1886 he received 
the degree of Master of Arts from Illinois College and in 1888 he was made 
adjunct professor of materia medica and therapeutics in Rush Medical College. 

Upon the death of Dr. J. Suydam Knox, Dr. Cotton was appointed to 
succeed him in the chair of pediatrics. Later the chair of diseases of children 
was created for him and he held this position until his death. Dr. Cotton for 
many years was attending and consulting physician to the Central Free 
Dispensary and the Presbyterian Hospital. In the latter he was also obste- 
trician. He was lecturer to the Illinois Training School for Nurses 



140 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




(Photo by Koehne) 
FERNAND HENROTIN 



ALBERT EDWARD HOADLEY 




JOHN BROWN HAMILTON 



HENRY BANGA 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 141 

for several terms. He was attending physician at St. Mary's Home for 
Babies, superintendent of the Jackson Park Sanitarium and consultant to the 
Children's Memorial Hospital. 

He was a delegate to the International Medical Congress at Moscow 
in 1897, at Madrid in 1903 and at London in 1913. He was a frequent con- 
tributor to medical literature and author of several text books. Among his 
writings were "Diseases of Children," "Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene of 
the Developing Period," and "Care of the Infant." 

In addition to being elected to the presidency of the Chicago Medical 
Society, Dr. Cotton served as president of the Illinois State Medical Society, 
the American Pediatric Society, the Chicago Pediatric Society and the Chi- 
cago Medical Examiners' Association. 

Dr. Cotton married Miss Nettie U. McDonald, May 2, 1893. He died July 
12, 1916. Two children, John R. and Mildred C. Cotton, survived him. 

FERNAND HENROTIN 
(1847-1906) 

Henrotin Hospital perpetuates the memory of Dr. Fernand Henrotin, some- 
time president of the Chicago Medical Society and for thirty-eight years a 
conspicuous figure in the professional life of Chicago. 

Dr. Henrotin was born in Brussels, Belgium, September 28, 1847. His 
father, Joseph F. Henrotin, M. D., was a graduate of the University of Liege 
and surgeon in the Belgian Army until 1848, when he came to Chicago and 
began the practice of medicine. In 1857 he became Belgian Consul, a position 
which he held until his death in 1876. 

Dr. Fernand Henrotin was graduated from Rush Medical College in 1868 
and until 1870 he was an instructor in that institution. From 1877 to 1878 he 
was county physician. He was surgeon of the police department for fifteen 
years and of the fire department for twenty-one years. He was also surgeon 
of the First Brigade, Illinois N.ational Guard, attending surgeon at Alexian 
Brothers Hospital, and for many years a member of the staff of the Cook 
County Hospital, being president of the medical board at the time of his 
death. 

Dr. Henrotin was one of the founders of the Chicago Policlinic, where he 
served as professor of gynecology from the beginning until his death, con- 
sulting gynecologist at St. Joseph's Hospital, attending gynecologist at St. 
Luke's and the German hospitals and consulting surgeon at St. Mary's Ma- 
ternity Home. He was a member of the American Medical Association and 
the Illinois State and Chicago 'Medical societies, being vice-president of the 
last-named in 1896 and president in 1897. 

Another position held by him was that of Secretary General for America 
of the International Gynecological and Obstetrical Congress. He was also 
one of the founders of the Association of Military Surgeons of Illinois, and 
never lost sight of the interests of military medical affairs in this state. 

His special leaning was to operative gynecology, and all of his scientific 
literary productions pertain to this branch of surgery. He was a frequent 
contributor to medical journals and the author of several medical works. 
Among his writings were a chapter on ectopic gestation in "Practice of Ob- 
stetrics, by American Authors," and an article on gynecology in the "Interna- 
tional Text-Book of Surgery." On his deathbed he virtually completed the 
chapter on vaginal hysterectomy for Kelly and Noble's "Gynecology and 
Abdominal Surgery." 



142 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

On April 24, 1873, Dr. Henrotin married Miss Emile B. Trussing of Chi- 
cago. He died in Chicago December 9, 1906. The following year, to preserve 
his memory, his name was conferred upon the hospital he had helped to 
establish at 939 North LaSalle Street. 

ALBERT EDWARD HOADLEY 
(1847-1899) 

A member of the first staff of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 
Chicago and president of the Chicago Medical Society in 1889-90, Dr. Albert 
Edward Hoadley traversed a wide range of activities during his career in 
Chicago. 

Dr. Hoadley was born in Chenango County, N. Y., November 19, 1847. 
His parents removed to Illinois and settled near Elgin in 1860. They later 
proceeded to Amboy, 111., where he attended high school and began his 
medical studies under Dr. J. R. Corbus and Dr. Stewart C. Pitcher. He 
was graduated from the Chicago Medical College in 1872. During the next 
ten years he engaged in general practice. 

In 1882, when the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago was 
opened, Dr. Hoadley joined the faculty as professor of anatomy. In 1888 
he became professor of orthopedic surgery, the title being changed in 1891 
to professor of orthopedic surgery, surgical diseases of the joints and clinical 
surgery. In the latter year Dr. Hoadley was elected to the presidency of the 
West Side Free Dispensary. In 1893 he was elected vice-president of the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. Hoadley was also a director of the Policlinic Hospital and a director 
and surgeon of the Home for Crippled Children, surgeon to the Cook County 
Hospital and to the Railroad Brotherhood Hospital. 

He was a member of the Chicago Pathological Society, the Medico-Legal 
Society, the Practitioners' Club, the American Orthopedic Association, the 
American Public Health Association, the American Medical Association and 
the Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies. 

In 1862 he retired from general practice and devoted himself exclusively 
to surgery and orthopedics. He died January 16, 1899. 

JOHN BROWN HAMILTON 
(1847-1898) 

Sometime head of the Marine Hospital Service, Dr. John B. Hamilton was 
a sanitarian of international reputation. 

Of his devotion to the public health, United States Senator Spooner said in 
the upper house of Congress : "When Florida was stricken with yellow fever 
Dr. Hamilton did not choose to be a mere bureau officer. He was my neigh- 
bor at that time and, to my knowledge, he left his home and his family, went 
south and stayed there in daily contact with this epidemic, physicians dying 
around him, giving personal attention to the duties of his office." 

Dr. Hamilton was born in Jersey County, Illinois, December 1, 1847. He 
was graduated from Rush Medical College in 1869 and practiced medicine in 
Chicago until 1874. By competitive examination he entered the army that 
year as assistant surgeon, serving until 1876, when he resigned. Again by 
competitive examination he entered the Marine Hospital Service, in which he 
rose to the rank of Supervising Surgeon General. In this department he won 
renown as a sanitarian of the first rank. His activity in combating yellow 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 143 

fever, small pox and leprosy gained for him praise not only in this country, 
but in Europe. 

Dr. Hamilton drafted the inter-state quarantine law which was passed in 
1890. 

While head of the Marine Hospital Service with station in Washington, 
Dr. Hamilton was surgeon to Providence Hospital and was professor of sur- 
gery in Georgetown University, which institution conferred upon him the 
degree of Doctor of Laws. 

In 1887 Dr. Hamilton was secretary-general of the International Medical 
Congress in Washington, and in 1890 was a delegate to the International 
Medical Congress held in London. 

Dr. Hamilton resigned as Supervising Surgeon General of the Marine 
Service in 1891 over a question of salary. However, he re-entered the or- 
ganization as surgeon and was assigned to duty at Chicago. Here he was 
made professor of the principles and practice of surgery and clinical surgery 
in Rush Medical College. He was also surgeon to the Presbyterian Hospital, 
professor of surgery in the Chicago Policlinic, Consulting Surgeon to St. 
Joseph's Hospital and the Central Free Dispensary. 

In 1893 Dr. Hamilton became editor of the Journal of the American Medical 
Association, holding this position for four years. Shortly before his death he 
was appointed superintendent of the Illinois Northern Hospital for the Insane 
at Elgin. He died at Elgin, December 24, 1898. 

HENRY BANGA 
(1848-1913) 

Pioneer in asepsis and antisepsis, Dr. Henry Banga was for more than 
thirty years professor of gynecology in the Chicago Policlinic and for an 
equal period was gynecologist to Michael Reese Hospital and attending 
physician at the United Hebrew Dispensary. 

He was born at Leistal, Switzerland, February 14, 1848. His father occu- 
pied the highest executive office in the government of the canton of Baselland. 
The elder Banga was a distinguished scientist and was the author of the 
constitution of his canton, as well as the school laws of the district. 

After graduation from the college in Basel, the younger Banga entered the 
University of Basel as a student of medicine. There he came under the 
influence of Prof. His, who was then conducting his well-known investiga- 
tions in embryology. 

Dr. Banga's graduation from the University of Basel in 1871 was preceded 
by his service as a volunteer surgeon in the German Army during the war 
with France in 1870. After graduation he became an assistant of Prof. 
Bischoff in the gynecological clinic. His inclination toward surgery soon 
led him, however, to the surgical clinic of Prof. Socin. 

In 1875 he came to Chicago, where his success was due to three features: 
his experience in antisepsis, his exceptional training as a surgeon and gyne- 
cologist, and his character and appearance. True to the education he received 
in his youth, Dr. Banga was an accurate observer and, therefore, a fine 
diagnostician. He was a pioneer and far ahead of his time. For example, 
he recognized and operated upon extrauterine pregnancies as early as 1889. 

Dr. Banga was one of the organizers of the Chicago Policlinic and with 
Dr. Ernst Schmidt helped to organize the staff of Michael Reese Hospital. 
While serving at the hospital, his treatment of a case became of great impor- 
tance in the development of antisepsis. A man was brought in suffering from 



144 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




(Photo by Moffett) 
EPHRAIM FLETCHER INGALS 



MARCUS PATTEN HATFIELD 




DAVID JOSEPH DOHERTY 



FREDERICK CHRISTIAN SCHAEFER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 145 

an open fracture and luxation of the elbow, into which street dirt had been 
rubbed. Dr. Banga washed out the wound, filled it with carbolated oil and 
closed it, the patient later being discharged with a normal functioning elbow. 
At that time the indication would have been exarticulation in the shoulder. 
Dr.. Banga never married. A sister, Emilie, kept house for him in North 
LaSalle Street from 1875 until his death. This occurred suddenly, December 
24, 1913, while attending an obstetrical case. 

EPHRAIM FLETCHER INGALS 
(1848-1918) 

Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals' fervent devotion to the cause of medical education 
was exemplified during his own last illness. While lying in bed, a victim 
of angina pectoris, he made minute observations of the ailment, which 
formed the basis of a monograph read at a meeting of the Institute of 
Medicine of Chicago, March 28, 1918. He died in a paroxysm of angina a 
month later, having utilized his own suffering for the benefit of humanity. 

A leading laryngologist in the city, he will be especially remembered as 
an untiring and successful advocate of the affiliation of Rush Medical Col- 
lege with the University of Chicago. 

Dr. Ingals was born at Lee Center, Lee County, Illinois, September 29, 
1848. After receiving an academic education he came to Chicago to live 
with his uncle, Dr. Ephraim Ingals, professor of materia medica and thera- 
peutics at Rush Medical College. From this institution the younger Ingals 
was graduated in 1871. 

Assistant professor of materia medica in Rush Medical College from 
1871 to 1873, he became lecturer on diseases of the chest and physical diag- 
nosis in 1874. From 1883 to 1890 he was professor of laryngology and pro- 
fessor of the practice of medicine from 1890 to 1893. Under various but 
similar titles he continued his work at Rush until his death, being also 
comptroller after 1898. 

Dr. Ingals was professor of diseases of the throat and chest in the North- 
western University Woman's Medical School, 1879 to 1898, professor of 
laryngology and rhinology in the Chicago Policlinic after 1890, and from 
1901 lecturer on medicine in the University of Chicago. 

In connection with a large private and hospital practice, Dr. Ingals was 
also an active and influential member of many of the most important medical 
societies. He was a charter member of the American Laryngological Asso- 
ciation in 1878 and its president in 1887. He was also a charter member and 
president of the American Climatological Association, as well as a member 
of the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, and 
chairman of the section on laryngology of the Pan-American Congress in 
1883. In 1899 Dr. Ingals organized the Chicago Laryngological and Clima- 
tological Society, now the Chicago Laryngological and Otological Society, 
and was its first president. He was also active in the organization of the 
Institute of Medicine of Chicago. He was for many years a delegate to the 
International Medical Congress. 

Dr. Ingals' largest literary production was his work on "Diseases of the 
Chest, Throat and Nasal Cavities." This ran into several editions. His 
medical papers, about 150 in all, appeared in various journals. Many of the 
important articles on his special work are contained in the transactions of 
the American Laryngological Association. 



146 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Considerable clinical study was given by Dr. Ingals to bronchoscopy, for 
which he devised or modified many instruments. Even more attention was 
given to an operation for intranasal drainage of the frontal sinuses, on which 
he presented a number of papers to show the correctness of his point of 
view. 

It was Dr. Ingals who was most active in promoting the affiliation of 
Rush Medical College with the University of Chicago, and it was he who 
personally persuaded Dr. William Rainey Harper of the desirability of the 
move. 

In 1876 he married Lucy S., daughter of Dr. Ephraim Ingals, his uncle. 
There were seven children, four of whom, with their mother, survived him. 
They are Francis E., Melissa R., Mary G. and E. Fletcher Ingals, Jr. 

Dr. Ingals died April 30, 1918. 

MARCUS PATTEN HATFIELD 
(1849-1909) 

One of the founders of Wesley Hospital, Dr. Marcus Patten Hatfield was 
a graduate of the Chicago Medical College and a post-graduate student in the 
hospitals of Berlin, Vienna, Zurich and London. 

He was born in New York City, February 20, 1849. He matriculated at the 
old University of Chicago, but completed his academic course at Wesleyan 
University, from which he later received the degree of Master of Arts. 

Graduating from the Chicago Medical College in 1872, Dr. Hatfield became 
an interne at Mercy Hospital and during 1873 he did post-graduate work in 
German, Austrian, Swiss and English hospitals. 

From 1875 to 1881 Dr. Hatfield was professor of chemistry and, from 1881 
to 1896, professor of diseases of children in the Chicago Medical College. 
Later he was professor of pediatrics in the College of Physicans and Surgeons 
of Chicago. 

Dr. Hatfield helped to organize Wesley Hospital and, until the time of his 
death, he was a member of its executive committee. He was assistant editor 
of "Archives of Pediatrics," a member of the American Medical Association, 
the American Academy of Medicine and a member of the section on diseases 
of children at the Ninth International Medical Congress. 

Dr. Hatfield was the author of "Practical Urinalysis," "The Physiology and 
Hygiene of the House in Which We Live," "Compendium of the Diseases of 
Children" and other works. 

In 1876 Dr. Hatfield married Miss Harriet Harris, daughter of Bishop Wil- 
liam L. Harris of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in Chicago, 
November 11, 1909. 

DAVID JOSEPH DOHERTY 
(1850-1908) 

"Dr. Doherty, Deutscher Arzt." 

This was the sign that hung for years at North Avenue and Dayton Street, 
in the heart of the German-American district. It expressed the humor and 
cosmopolitanism of Dr. David Joseph Doherty, of Irish origin, who was an 
accomplished linguist and particularly adept in German. For many years 
he practiced among his Teuton neighbors, counselling them in their own 
tongue. 

Dr. Doherty was born in St. Louis, Mo., April 25, 1850. His parents 
destined him for the priesthood, but instead he studied medicine and was 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 147 

graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1887 and from the University 
of Freiburg, Germany, in 1888. 

Upon his return from Germany, he began his practice in North Avenue. 
He was also medical examiner for a large life insurance company. 

Becoming interested in the Philippine Islands, he visited the archipelago 
three times and, while there, learned Tagalog, the principal dialect of 
the islands, adding this to his knowledge of English, German, French, Italian 
and Spanish. His linguistic research was so thorough that he compiled an 
English-Tagalog grammar and a dictionary. 

Infant mortality in the city of Manila being between 60 and 70 per cent 
during one of his visits, he spent $10,000 of his own money and that of his 
friends in the establishment of a station where fresh milk was dispensed and 
where instructions in baby feeding were given. 

Dr. Doherty was associate professor of gynecology in the Chicago Poli- 
clinic and was associated with that institution for twenty years. He was an 
active member of the Chicago Medical Society, first as necrologist and later 
as secretary and treasurer. He compiled the first history of the society from 
its archives. During the time that the society held its meetings in the Chicago 
Public Library, he organized free weekly lectures on medical subjects and 
obtained many of the best speakers. He was also instrumental in effecting 
the transfer of the Senn medical library from the Newberry Library to the 
John Crerar Library. 

Besides being a member of many professional organizations, Dr. Doherty 
was interested in the American Oriental Society, the American Anthro- 
pological Association and the Modern Language Association. 

He died in Chicago, October 27, 1908. 

FREDERICK CHRISTIAN SCHAEFER 
(1850-1904) 

From typesetter to post graduate student in the hospitals of London, 
Berlin and Vienna, Dr. Frederick Christian Schaefer played a distinguished 
role as a teacher and practitioner in Chicago for many years. 

He was born in Galena, Illinois, May 26, 1850. He attended the public 
schools of Galena and for two years worked for the Galena Advertiser as a 
typesetter. At the age of eighteen he started a job printing business in 
Chicago, which he was compelled to abandon on account of ill health. 

Removing to California, he became a teacher in Alameda County, and 
began the study of medicine at the University of the Pacific. Returning to 
Chicago in 1874, he entered the office of Dr. Ralph N. Isham. and attended 
the Chicago Medical College, being graduated from that institution in 1876. 
In 1882 he became professor of anatomy in Northwestern University Medical 
School. In 1884 he was appointed gynecologist and advisory surgeon to 
Cook County Hospital. In 1885 he became senior surgeon of the Illinois 
Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. From 1890 to 1896 he was surgeon to 
\Yesley Hospital. In the Woman's Medical College he filled the chair of 
surgery for a number of years. He was also professor of surgery in the 
Post Graduate Medical School and surgeon of the Post Graduate and Charity 
Hospitals. 

Other positions held by Dr. Schaefer were surgeon to the Chicago Hospital, 
consulting surgeon to Mary Thompson Hospital, surgeon-in-chief of St. 
Hedwig's Hospital and gynecologist to St. Elizabeth's Hospital. 



148 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




(Photo by J. D. Toloff) 
BYRON C. STOLP 



MARIE JOSEPHA MERGLER 




WALTER F. KNOLL 



EDWARD HUTCHINS WEBSTER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 149 

Dr. Schaefer devoted much time to study in the hospitals of London, Berlin 
and Vienna. 

He died June 2, 1904. 

BYRON C. STOLP 
(1851-1917) 

Dr. Byron C. Stolp, well known physician and useful citizen, was born in 
Empire, Whiteside County, Illinois, January 27, 1851. His early years were 
spent in farming and in the woolen business, his father owning a water-power 
woolen mill on the Fox River. 

Dr. Stolp was graduated from Bennett Medical College and began the 
practice of medicine in Indiana, where he remained for fifteen months. On 
June 25, 1874, he moved from Indiana to Wilmette, Illinois, where he prac- 
ticed medicine until his death, November 2, 1917. 

He was a member of the Chicago Medical Society, the Illinois State Medi- 
cal Society, the American Medical Association and the Wilmette Physicians' 
Club, of which he was at one time the president. He served for many years 
as attending physician to the Evanston Hospital. He was active in many 
civic organizations of Wilmette and served on the Wilmette board of edu- 
cation for fourteen years. He was a member of the New Trier board of edu- 
cation when the New Trier High School was built. One of the largest pub- 
lic schools in Wilmette has been named in his honor. He was for many years 
a trustee of the Methodist church of Wilmette. 

He married Miss Cenie L. Graves, February 18, 1874. He was survived by 
his widow and two sons, Dr. Rufus B. Stolp and Harold E. Stolp, who has 
since died. 

MARIE JOSEPHA MERGLER 
(1851-1901) 

One of three leading women doctors of her time in Chicago, Dr. Marie 
Josepha Mergler was born in Mainstockheim, Bavaria, May 18, 1851. Her 
father, Dr. Francis R. Mergler, was a graduate of the University of Wiirz- 
burg and her mother was descended from an old German family of note, the 
Von Rittershausens. She was the youngest of three children. 

Her parents came to America when she was two years old and located in 
Palatine, Illinois, where her father practiced medicine until his death. At 
seventeen years of age she was graduated from Cook County Normal School 
and one year later she entered the State Normal School at Oswego, New 
York, being, graduated from the classical course in 1871. 

After teaching in the Englewood High School in Chicago for four years, 
she decided to study medicine and matriculated in the Woman's Medical 
College of Chicago in 1876. She was graduated in 1879 and was valedictorian 
of her class. 

After graduation she competed successfully with men graduates for 
appointment as interne at the Cook County Hospital at. Dunning, Illinois, 
standing second in the competitive examination. She received the appoint- 
ment, but was not allowed to fill the position because she was a woman. 
Determined to obtain hospital experience, she went to Europe and studied for 
one year in Zurich, Switzerland, paying particular attention to pathology 
and clinical medicine. 

Returning to Chicago, she began the practice of medicine in 1881. 
made adjunct professor of gynecology to Dr. William H. Byford in t 



150 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Woman's Medical College, and upon his death in 1890 she became his suc- 
cessor as professor of gynecology. She was secretary of the faculty until 
1899, when she became dean. The college previously having become the 
Northwestern University Woman's Medical School, she was appointed dean 
by the trustees of the university. 

In 1882 Dr. Mergler was appointed to the attending staff of Cook County 
Hospital, being one of the first two women to receive such an appointment. 
In 1886 she became one of the attending surgeons of the Woman's Hospital 
and four years later gynecologist at Wesley Memorial Hospital. She held 
both of these positions at the time of her death. In November, 1895, she was 
elected head physician and surgeon at the Mary Thompson Hospital for 
Women and Children. She was also professor of gynecology in the Post- 
Graduate Medical School of Chicago. 

She was a member of the American Medical Association and the Illinois 
State Medical and Chicago Medical societies. She contributed papers to the 
leading medical journals and also wrote a text-book on gynecology. 

"Dr. Mergler was a skillful surgeon, a fine diagnostician and a most excel- 
lent teacher," Dr. Annie White Sage writes. "Her influence among her 
colleagues and the students was great. The alumnae drew upon her superior 
skill and knowledge and she was most generous and helpful to the young 
physicians." 

Her life was strenuous and exhausting and brought on an untimely death, 
May 18, 1901, on the fiftieth anniversary of her birth, in Los Angeles, 
California. 

WALTER F. KNOLL 
(1851-1893) 

Dr. Walter F. Knoll, sometime professor at the Chicago Homeopathic 
Medical College, a surgeon and specialist in the treatment of diseases of 
women, was born in Stephenson County, Illinois, August 24, 1851. He was 
educated in the common schools, later receiving preparatory training at the 
Freeport Academy and the Illinois State Normal School. His normal course 
was equivalent to that which carries with it the degree of master of arts. 

He entered the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, class of 1877, grad- 
uating two years afterward as valedictorian of his class. Two years later he 
went to New York where he spent a year in the colleges and hospitals, giving 
special attention to physical diagnosis, surgery and the diseases of women. 

He first came to Chicago to make it his home and the field of his endeavor 
in June, 1882. He was then appointed to the chair of physiology and histology 
in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, which he occupied for five 
years. In 1888 he went to Europe and devoted a year to perfecting himself 
in surgery and in the treatment of diseases of women. Three years later he 
made another scholastic pilgrimage to Vienna, Berlin, Paris and London. 

From the chair of physiology and histology in the Chicago Homeopathic 
Medical College he passed to the chair of pathology and minor surgery and 
in 1890 he was promoted to the professorship of principles and practice of 
surgery and clinical surgery in the same college. 

He was at one time surgeon to Cook County Hospital and beginning in 
1891 he lectured at the Illinois Training School for Nurses. 

He was a member of the Academy of Medicine, the Illinois Homeopathic 
Medical Association, the American Institute of Homeopathy and several state 
and local societies. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 151 

On October 5, 1879 he married Miss Flora Frey, who after his death be 
came the wife of Dr. Samuel H. Aurand of Chicago. 
Dr. Knoll died November 23, 1893. 

EDWARD HUT CHINS WEBSTER 
(1851-1916) 

"Webster, the doctor, inherited Evanston from Dr. John Fvans! Evans 
ton is Webster; Webster is Evanston! Webster made Evanston; Evanston 
made Webster! Evanston is the synonym of culture; culture is a synonym 
of Webster! Town and man are one. They have lived together for thirty- 
five years. During that time Webster has passed upon the physical and 
mental status of Evanston. By example, service and physic, he has developed 
a people almost as good as himself. He is owner of Evanston, not by 'bossism' 
but by parental right. Evanston owes Webster everything; she knows it 
and loves him accordingly." 

So said Dr. Frank Billings when, on January 3, 1912, a medical science 
room at the Evanston Public Library was dedicated in honor of Dr. Edward 
H. Webster, beloved citizen of the north shore suburb. 

"He set broken bones," continued Dr. Billings, "healed broken hearts, 
assisted at the birth of all the children born in Evanston in those days', 
attended patients in epidemics of all sorts of fevers and inflammations, was 
the surgeon of the railroad, attended to diseases of the eye, ear, throat and 
skin and, in short, was a doctor worth while. Twenty-four years ago he 
invited me to see an Evanstonian with him. In that day the trains to and 
from Chicago were not frequent. A half day was occupied in the trip. 

"The doctor met me at the station and we drove in a one horse buggy 
to the home of the patient. He procured from his pocket a handful of keys, 
selected one and unlocked the door. Without meeting any member of the 
family he led the way up-stairs to the bedchamber where the patient, a man, 
lay in bed attended by the wife as a nurse. The introduction was as follows, 
'John, I don't know what is the matter with you and I have brought this 
young fellow in to see if he knows as much or more than I do. Mary, this 
is Dr. Billings.' After the examination, the opinion as to the nature of the 
disease and treatment was discussed. 

"Then Webster drove me about for an hour until train time as he made 
calls upon an obstetrical case, a broken leg, a case of scarlet fever, a scalp 
wound, a nervous patient, et cetera. In each instance he entered the house 
with a pass key. In answer to my question he said, 'I haven't time to wait for 
doors to be opened; with the keys I can save time and go in quickly night 
and day.' In the years which followed, I found that he did go in night and 
day, for, on many occasions, he was so busy that his household would not 
see him for twenty-four hours. His patient became his friend at once, and 
George, Helen, Kate and Henry from him and Ed or Dr. Ed from them made 
common salutations." 

That was Dr. Edward Hutchins Webster, prophet with honor in his own 
community. 

Dr. Webster was born at Wells River, Vt., November 17, 1851. The 
family came to Illinois from Pembroke, N. H., when he was fifteen years 
old and settled in Evanston. He was graduated from Northwestern Uni- 
versity in 1874, receiving from that institution later the degree of master 
of arts. In 1877 he was graduated from the Chicago Medical College. After 
serving for some time as surgeon of the Chicago and Northwestern Rail- 



152 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




ROSWELL PARK 



(Photo by Moffett) 
LEONARD ST. JOHN 




ELBERT WING 



HENRY B. STEHMAN 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 153 

road, he entered upon general practice in Evanston. In this he continued 
until his death. 

Dr. Webster took part in the establishment of Evanston Hospital and, 
from its organization, gave it hearty support. For a long time he was dean 
of the medical staff and during the last four years of his life he was dean 
emeritus. 

Dr. Webster's death, January 23, 1916, was universally mourned in the 
community where for nearly forty years he had been a zealous practitioner 
and public spirited citizen. 



ROSWELL PARK 
(1852-1914) 

Although better known as one of the leading surgeons and teachers of the 
east, Dr. Roswell Park in his early life was closely identified with Chicago. 
During his few years here he made a lasting impression upon his colleagues, 
and after his departure many efforts were made to have him return as a 
teacher. 

He was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, May 4, 1852, and was descended 
from an old English and New England family, Sir Robert Park having come 
to Massachusetts in 1630 from Preston, England, later moving to Connecticut. 
Roswell Park went to school in Connecticut and later to the Racine (Wis- 
consin) grammar school and Immanuel Hall in Chicago. He was graduated 
from Racine College, of which his father was president, receiving the degree 
of A. B. in 1872 and that of A. M. in 1875. 

After his graduation he taught for one year in Immanuel Hall and then 
entered the medical department of Northwestern University, from which he 
received his medical degree in 1876. He then served as interne in Cook 
County Hospital. 

His medical teaching was begun in 1879 as demonstrator of anatomy in the 
Woman's Medical College of Chicago. In 1880 he was appointed adjunct 
professor of anatomy in Northwestern University, resigning three years 
later to study in Europe. While abroad he was made lecturer on surgery 
in Rush Medical College and attending surgeon at Michael Reese Hospital. 
He did not fill these positions, however, accepting instead the positions of 
professor of surgery in the University of Buffalo and surgeon to the Buffalo 
General Hospital. He filled these positions until his death. 

He was president of the New York State Medical Society and of the 
American Surgical Association. In 1895 Harvard University gave him the 
degree of A. M. and in 1902 Yale University conferred on him the degree 
of LL.D. 

In 1892 he gave the Mutter Lectures on surgical pathology in Philadelphia. 
He wrote a monograph on surgery of the head and brain and a text-book on 
the history of medicine. He was editor of and principal contributor to the 
"Text-Book on Surgery by American Authors" in 1896 and was author of a 
text-book on general surgery. He published a number of articles related to 
the history of medicine, and in 1899 published a book entitled "An Epitome 
of the History of Medicine." 

In 1880 he married Miss Martha P. Durkee. There were two sons who 
survived him. He died February 15, 1914, after a very short illness. 



154 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

LEONARD ST. JOHN 
(1852-1920) 

Dr. Leonard St. John, one of the founders of the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons of Chicago, was born at St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada, 
September 28, 1852. He was the son of Samuel L. and Martha Seaman 
St. John. 

He was educated in the public schools of his native place and in 1872 
received his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal. Follow- 
ing this, he spejit eighteen months in London hospitals, and while there 
passed examinations for ^membership in the Royal College of Surgeons. 

Returning from London, he practiced for about two years in New York 
City, and came to Chicago in 1876. With the founding of the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in 1882, Dr. St. John became treasurer of the 
corporation and professor of minor surgery. He held these positions for 
several years. 

He was also surgeon to Cook County and St. Anthony de Padua hos- 
pitals. He was a member of the American Medical Association and the 
Chicago Medical and Illinois State Medical societies. 

In 1878 he married Miss Anna Balch of New York City, who died in 
1893. Dr. St. John died April 2, 1920. 

ELBERT WING 
(1852-1916) 

With post graduate experience in Berlin, Vienna and Paris, Dr. Elbert 
Wing began practice in Chicago in November, 1885. 

He was born in Collinsville, Illinois, October 3, 1852. A public school edu- 
cation was followed by graduation from Illinois College at Jacksonville in 
1875, when he received the degree of Master of Arts. His medical preceptors 
were Doctors H. K. and C. G. Jones of Jacksonville, Illinois, and Dr. Hosmer 
A. Johnson of Chicago. He was graduated from Northwestern University 
Medical School in 1882 and served a year and a half as interne at Cook 
County Hospital before going abroad, where he devoted a year to study in 
Berlin, Paris and Vienna. 

He then began practice in Chicago, where he rapidly assumed prominence 
as practitioner and teacher. He was professor of neurology in Northwestern 
University Medical School and pathologist on the medical staff of Cook 
County Hospital until 1890. The following two years he did special work at 
Johns Hopkins University. 

In the fall of 1892 he joined his younger brother, Dr. Horace B. Wing, in 
Los Angeles, where for fourteen years he was one of the consulting physicans 
of the Southern California Hospital Association. He was active in civic and 
welfare work and, at the time of his death, was president of the Los Angeles 
Municipal League, a member of the Municipal Housing Committee, a mem- 
ber of the Los Angeles Branch of the National Social Hygiene Society and 
president of the Morals Efficiency Committee of the City Club. 

Dr. Wing married Miss Charlotte J. Halliday of Cairo, Illinois, in 1898. He 
died in Los Angeles, May 8, 1916. 

HENRY B. STEHMAN 
(1852-1918) 

For fifteen years superintendent of the Presbyterian Hospital and, later, 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 155 

on the Pacific coast, a leader in philanthropic work, Dr. Henry B. Stehman 
died acclaimed as one of Pasadena's most useful citizens. 

Dr. Stehman was born in 1852. He was graduated from Lebanon Valley 
College in 1873. After attending the Universities of Leipzig and Brussels 
from 1873 to 1875, he matriculated at Jefferson Medical College and was 
graduated from that institution in 1877. He served his interneship at Block- 
ley Hospital. 

From 1884 to 1899 he was superintendent of the Presbyterian Hospital in 
Chicago. Through him the hospital received many endowments for beds, 
rooms and wards. For eleven years he was a teacher in Rush Medical Col- 
lege, ending the period as assistant professor of gynecology. 

On account of ill health, Dr. Stehman moved to Pasadena in 1900, and 
despite his physical suffering, became active in the affairs of that city. He 
had a genius for organization which found fruit in two hospitals, in a great 
church building and finally in a monument to his zeal for service, La Vina, a 
sanitarium for the tuberculous. He designed the interiors of the numerous 
buildings of the Pasadena Hospital and assisted in their construction. He 
secured large gifts for this institution. 

"La Vina Sanitarium was Dr. Stehman's greatest work," says Dr. Norman 
Bridge in one of his writings. "On a farm near Pasadena have arisen some 
eighteen buildings for 100 patients. The farm and buildings were the willing 
gifts of those who believed in the work and in him. It was his ambition to 
have a haven for at least a few of the many consumptives who walk the 
streets as long as they can and walk in loneliness. And this he nobly did. For 
ten years, amid an exacting practice, he gave himself to this service as a labor 
of love, refusing all material rewards even declining gifts for his personal 
comfort." 

On April 25, 1881, Dr. Stehman married Miss Elizabeth M. Miller. There 
were four children, Elizabeth M., John M., Genevieve and Henry M. Steh- 
man, the last named dying in 1917. 

Overwork by Dr. Stehman in the selective draft of 1917 caused a break- 
down, which brought a recurrence of tuberculosis. He died February 27, 
1918. 

ALEXANDER HUGH FERGUSON 
(1853-1911) 

Honor graduate of Trinity University of Toronto, founder of Manitoba 
Medical College, recipient from the King of Portugal of the Order of 
Christ. These were some of the distinctions that belonged to Dr. Alex- 
ander Hugh Ferguson, who was president of the Chicago Medical Society, 
1910-11. 

Dr. Ferguson was born in Ontario, Canada, February 27, 1853, and died 
in Chicago, October 20, 1911. 

After graduating from the medical department of Trinity University in 

1881, he did post-graduate work in American, British and German hospitals 
and in 1889 was a student under Professor Koch in Berlin. 

He married Miss Sarah Jane Thomas of Nassagaweya, Ontario, April 7, 

1882. Entering upon the practice of medicine in 1882, he founded during 
his residence there the Manitoba Medical College, in which for three years 
he occupied the chair of physiology and histology, and for eight years that 
of surgery. 



156 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 





ALEXANDER HUGH FERGUSON 



FRANK E. WAXHAM 




ARTHUR B. HOSMER 



JAMES HERBERT STOWELL 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 157 

Upon his removal to Chicago in 1894, Dr. Ferguson was chosen professor 
of surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and incumbent of the 
same position in the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital. 
He also became surgeon-in-chief to the Chicago Hospital and surgeon to 
the Cook County Hospital for the Insane. 

Dr. Ferguson was a member of the British Medical Association and was 
an organizer and first president of the Manitoba branch. He was a member 
also of the International Surgical Association, the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, the Illinois State and the Chicago Medical societies; the Chicago 
Gynecological Society, the Chicago Surgical Society, the American Surgical 
Association, the Chicago Academy of Medicine, the American Association 
of Obstetricians and the Gynecologists, the Southern Surgical and Gyne- 
cological Association, the Western Surgical and Gynecological Association 
and the Royal Geographical Society. He was an honorary member of the 
Michigan Medical Association. 

Dr. Ferguson had a large experience with hyatid cysts. An interesting 
paper on hyatids of the liver appeared in the Northwest Lancet, St. Paul, 
in 1893. He wrote more than one hundred articles, covering a wide range 
of surgical topics. He did many goitre operations, wrote on vesice-vaginal 
fistula, and was much interested in cleft palate. 

He received from the King of Portugal the decoration of Commander of 
the Order of Christ of Portugal. 

FRANK E. WAXHAM 
(1853-1911) 

Member of the first faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 
Chicago and twice delegate of the American Medical Association to the 
International Medical Congress, Dr. Frank E. Waxham was active for many 
years in Chicago as a teacher and practitioner. 

He was born near LaPorte, Indiana, in 1853. Later, after his family had 
moved to a farm near Rockford, Illinois, he was graduated from the Rockford 
High School. He studied medicine with Dr. Lucius Clark of Rockford and 
was graduated from the Chicago Medical College in 1878. After a term as 
house physician at Mercy Hospital, Dr. Waxham joined the first faculty of 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1882 as professor of diseases of 
children, a position which he occupied until 1888, when he was elected to the 
chair of otology, laryngology and rhinology. The latter subjects were covered 
by him also as a professor at the Chicago Ophthalmic College and the Post 
Graduate Medical School. 

In 1885 he introduced in Chicago and began the development of the opera- 
tion of intubation which he successfully performed many times. Papers on 
the theme were read by Dr. Waxham when he was a delegate of the American 
Medical Association to the International Medical College in Washington in 
1887 and in Glasgow in 1888. 

After his return from Europe he restricted his practice to the treatment of 
diseases of the throat and nose. 

He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State 
and Chicago Medical societies, and chief surgeon of the throat and nose 
department of the West Side Free Dispensary. Upon his removal to Denver 
in 1893, for the sake of his wife's health, Dr. Waxham was made a member of 
the faculty of Gross Medical College. In 1895 he was elected professor of 
laryngology, rhinology and clinical medicine in the University of Colorado, 



158 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




FRED BYRON ROBINSON 



HENRY CRADLE 




(Photo by Wallnger) 
FRANK SEWARD JOHNSON 



BOERNE BETTMAN 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 159 

in which position he continued until his death at Sugar City, Colorado, Sep- 
tember 4, 1911. 

ARTHUR B. HOSMER 
(1854-1906) 

Founder and president of the Chicago Orthopedic Society, Dr. Arthur B. 
Hosmer was one of the leading surgeons of the community. 

He was born in Chicago, February 25, 1854, and received his. academic 
education in Chicago and Europe. He devoted three years to study of lan- 
guages and literature in Wurttemburg and Dresden. He was graduated from 
the Chicago Medical College in 1875, and the following year he studied under 
Professor Alfred L. Loomis of New York. Engaging in practice in Chicago, 
Dr. Hosmer married Miss Adele Burwell in 1880. Accompanied by his wife, 
he proceeded to Vienna, w r here he spent seven months in the study of 
orthopedic surgery. 

He was one of the founders of the Chicago Orthopedic Society and was 
one of its presidents. For years he was chief orthopedic surgeon of St. Luke's 
Hospital, professor of orthopedic surgery at the Chicago Policlinic and 
Hospital and physician and surgeon at the Home for Destitute Crippled 
Children. 

Dr, Hosmer was surgeon of the First Cavalry, I. N. G., which, in the World 
war, became the 122nd Field Artillery. He was a frequent contributor to 
medical journals and, at the time of his death, was translating from the 
German a text book on surgery. He was of athletic physique, and was an 
ardent golf player, being a member of the Chicago Golf Club at Wheaton. 
He died May 5, 1906, of pneumonia. 

JAMES HERBERT STOWELL 
(1854-1919) 

President of the Chicago Medical Society in 1900, Dr. James Herbert 
Stowell was a practitioner in Chicago for nearly forty years. 

He was born at Delavan, Wisconsin, April 29, 1854. After being graduated 
from Beloit College he entered the Chicago Medical College and was gradu- 
ated from that institution in 1881. He then began practice in Chicago. He 
became medical examiner of the National Life Insurance Company of 
America and also of the United States Annuity and Life Insurance Company. 
He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State and 
Chicago Medical Societies. 

He was also a member of the Chicago Society of Internal Medicine, the 
Mississippi Valley Medical Society, the Chicago Society of Medical History, 
the Medical Examiner's Society, the Wisconsin Society and the -Chicago 
Congregational Club. 

On June 16, 1880, Dr. Stowell married Miss Frances Evelyn Beckett of 
Aurora, Illinois. She died in 1897, leaving five children. Dr. Stowell died 
May 31, 1919. 

FRED BYRON ROBINSON 
(1855-1910) 

From a log cabin school in Wisconsin to the universities and hospitals 
of Heidelberg, Vienna, Berlin and London, encompassed the preliminary 
training of Dr. Fred Byron Robinson, gynecologist and abdominal surgeon. 

Born on a farm near Hollendale in central Wisconsin, April 11, 1855, the 



160 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

future surgeon, familiarly known in later years as Byron Robinson, lived 
the life of a son of a small farmer and attended a log school house until he 
went to the Mineral Point Seminary, through which he worked his way. He 
next entered the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated 
with the degree of B. S. in 1878. 

In the fall of 1878, he began work as a teacher in the high school at Ash- 
land, Wisconsin, this being followed by teaching service at Black Earth, 
Wisconsin. During this period he took up the study of medicine under 
Dr. U. P. Stair, as preceptor. In 1882 he obtained his medical degree from 
Rush Medical College and immediately began practice at Grand Rapids, Wis- 
consin, his slender resources making impossible a hospital internship. 

For three years, beginning in 1884, he studied at Heidelberg, Berlin and 
London, this preparation being followed by a course in gynecology in Vienna 
in 1887. The following year he was professor of anatomy and clinical sur- 
gery in the Toledo (Ohio) Medical College. In 1890 he studied abdominal 
surgery under Professor Lawson Tait in Birmingham, England. 

Thus equipped, Dr. Robinson began the practice of gynecology and abdomi- 
nal surgery in Chicago in 1891. In that year he became professor of gyne- 
cology in the Post-Graduate Medical School of Chicago, later becoming asso- 
ciated with the Illinois Medical College as professor of gynecology and 
abdominal surgery. For many years he was on the staffs of the Woman's 
Hospital of Chicago and the Mary Thompson Hospital for Women and 
Children. He was also surgeon to the Frances E. Willard Hospital. 

Dr. Robinson was a voluminous writer on medical and surgical subjects, 
his best known and most important works perhaps being, "The Arteries of 
the Gastro-Intestinal Tract, with Inosculation Circle," "Landmarks of Gyne- 
cology" and "The Peritoneum." 

Of Dr. Robinson's work, Dr. Nicholas Senn said : "Dr. Robinson's addi- 
tions to .our knowledge of the structures of the biliary and pancreatic ducts, 
the ureto-ovarian circle (Robinson's circle), the ureters (Robinson's three 
uretral isthmuses), the great sympathetic nerve (the abdominal brain), and 
the peritoneum are of far-reaching and scientific value. In the last edition 
of Da Costa's 'Gray's Anatomy,' Dr. Robinson's name appears no less than 
forty times." 

"Dr. Robinson was one of the most diligent men that I have ever known," 
Dr. William A. Evans has written. "Up to the very end of his life he dis- 
sected, did operative work on the cadaver and attended and made autopsies. 
He never permitted his office and operative work to take all of his time and 
energy, but, having set aside a part of his time for dead-house and dissect- 
ing-room work, he adhered to his schedule." 

In 1894, Dr. Robinson married Dr. Lucy Waite, then head surgeon of the 
Mary Thompson Hospital. She survived him upon his death, March 23, 1910. 

HENRY GRADLE 

(1855-1911) 

First exponent in Chicago of the germ theory of disease and one of the 
earliest in America to propound this concept, Dr. Henry Gradle was a 
disciple of Koch. He was one of the leading ophthalmologists and otologists 
in the west. 

Dr. Gradle was born in Frankfort-on-Main, Germany, August 17, 1855. 
He came to this country when but ten years old. He received his grade and 
preparatory school education in Chicago. Entering the Chicago Medical 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 161 

College he was graduated in medicine in 1874 and then served one year's 
interneship at Mercy Hospital. He then went abroad, where he devoted three 
years to studying in Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Heidelberg, Paris and London. 
Part of this time was spent with Koch, part with Ludwig and the remainder 
in the ophthalmological clinics. 

Thoroughly imbued with the teachings of Koch, Dr. Cradle brought to 
Chicago the first concepts of the bacterial origin of human disease and one 
of the first addresses he delivered was on "The Germ Theory of Disease." 
This was later expanded into a series of lectures that were delivered at his 
old college and published in pamphlet form. 

From 1881 to 1885 Dr. Cradle taught physiology and hygiene at the Chi- 
cago Medical College and abandoned this favorite branch only upon limiting 
his practice exclusively to the eye, ear, nose and throat. From 1895 to 1906 
he was professor of ophthalmology and otology in the same institution. He 
was the author of numerous articles dealing with his specialty and one three 
volume text book on Diseases of the Nose, Pharynx and Ear. This attained 
universal recognition and was even translated into Japanese. 

Dr. Cradle was a member of the Chicago Medical Society, the American 
Medical Association, the Chicago Ophthalmological Society, the Illuminating 
Engineering Society and numerous other special societies. On August 31, 
1881, he married Miss Fanny Searls. They had two children, Harry S., who 
succeeded to his father's practice, and a younger son, Roy, a manufacturer 
now residing in Los Angeles. 

In stature Dr. Cradle was short, standing only five feet one inch, but that 
physical handicap was forgotten the moment he started to speak. One of 
his intimate friends, Dr. G. Frank Lydston, nicknamed him "The Little 
Giant" and this was practically the only reference to his height that did not 
cause him mental discomfort. 

Dr. Cradle's manner was always kindly and courteous although, at times, 
the press of patients made him somewhat gruff. He was an excellent linguist, 
speaking and writing faultless German and English. He also had a working 
knowledge of Latin, French and Italian. Anything partaking of scientific 
endeavor immediately caught his interest and he was not content until he 
had mastered the theories of it. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the 
literature of his specialty and a fairly intimate acquaintance with the litera- 
ture of medicine in general. An article once grasped was never forgotten. 
Dr. Cradle died at Santa Barbara, California, April 4, 1911. 

FRANK SEWARD JOHNSON 
(1856-1922) 

Dr. Frank Seward Johnson, practitioner and teacher of medicine, was one 
of Chicago's intellectually stalwart men. He was the son of Dr. Hosmer 
Allen Johnson, whom he resembled both physically and mentally. 

The son was born April 18, 1856, in Chicago. His preliminary education 
was acquired in a private school, with one year's study in Stuttgart, Ger- 
many. He prepared for college in Professor Henry H. Babcock's Chicago 
Academy and entered Northwestern University in 1874, receiving the degree 
of A. B. in 1878. Three years later he was awarded his master's degree by 
the university and in the same year he earned his medical degree from Chi- 
cago Medical College, the medical department of the university. 

A year in the University of Vienna and in the hospitals of that city and 



162 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

another as interne at Cook County Hospital preceded his entry upon the 
practice of his profession in Chicago. From boyhood he had been trained by 
his father in the use of instruments of precision, especially the microscope, 
and in chemical laboratory work, so that his skill with these means of diag- 
nosis soon brought him into prominence with physicians and laymen. 

In 1883 he was appointed demonstrator of histology in Chicago Medical 
College and the next year was made professor of that subject. Unfortunately 
his work was interrupted by repeated attacks of appendicitis, which forced 
him to desist from teaching for several years. Upon his recovery he accepted 
the appointment of professor of medicine in Chicago Medical College and 
later he was made dean of the faculty. About this time the Chicago Medical 
College completed the union with the university and became the Northwest- 
ern University Medical School. In 1910 he was elected emeritus dean and 
professor of medicine and clinical medicine in the Northwestern University 
Medical School, the highest honor in the power of the school to bestow. 

Dr. Johnson was consulting physician to Michael Reese, Mercy and the 
Woman's hospitals. He was a member of the American Medical Association, 
the Illinois State and Chicago Medical Societies, the Institute of Medicine of 
Chicago, the American Climatological Association, the American Association 
for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the Chicago Academy of Sci- 
ences, the Physicians' Club of Chicago, the Cliff Dwellers and the Chicago 
Literary and University Clubs. In February, 1911, he was appointed First 
Lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps. He was also a director of the John 
Crerar Library. 

On September 30, 1890, he married Miss Elizabeth Burbank Ayer, daugh- 
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Ayer of Chicago. There are two sons, 
Hosmer Allen Johnson, a California architect, and Edward Ayer Johnson. 

In 1917 Dr. and Mrs. Johnson removed to Pasadena, California, where 
among old friends they established a new home. He died there April 23, 
1922. 

Dr. Frank T. Andrews writes concerning him : 

"Dr. Johnson was a man of rare good judgment with the ability to marshal 
his facts and to express his ideas and opinions in perfect order and with 
telling effect. His mind was of the judicial type. He was alert to detect 
deceit and quick to resent any compromise with evil and error. He was a 
profound student, precise, painstaking and accurate." 

BOERNE BETTMAN 
(1856-1906) 

With exceptional equipment Dr. Boerne Bettman entered upon the practice 
of ophthalmology in Chicago. 

Born in Cincinnati September 6, 1856, Dr. Bettman was the son of a 
graduate of the medical department of the University of Munich. Under the 
preceptorship of his father, in the Miami Medical College, Dr. Bettman 
pursued a three-year course and received his degree in 1877. For a short time 
thereafter, he was assistant to Dr. Elkanah Williams, the first professor of 
ophthalmology in the United States. 

Proceeding to New York he studied for a time in the laboratory of Dr. 
Heitzman and then, for a year and a half, was assistant to Dr. Herman 
Knapp. For the next three years he studied in Europe. In Vienna his 
teachers were Arlt, Stelhveg, Yaeger, Mauthner, Fuchs. Politzer, Gruber, 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 163 

and Storch. At Heidelberg in 1879 he became the second assistant to Dr. 
Otto Becker. Later he was made Becker's first assistant. 

Dr. Bettman opened an office in Chicago in November, 1881, as specialist 
in diseases of the eye and ear. For a number of years he was surgeon-in- 
chief of the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was the founder 
of the organization which is now the Chicago Ophthalmological Society. 

On April 4, 1888, Dr. Bettman married Miss Clara Snydacker. There were 
two children, Ralph Boerne Bettman, who became a physician in Chicago, 
and a daughter, now Mrs. John Frank. 

Dr. Bettman was the first lecturer on ophthalmology and otology in the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons and was later professor of those branches 
in that institution. He was professor of ophthalmology and vice-president 
and treasurer of the Post Graduate Medical School ; oculist and aurist to 
Michael Reese, Cook County and the German hospitals. He was a member 
of the American, the Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies and the 
Tri-State and Microscopical societies. Dr. Bettman was president of the 
State Board of Public Charities and Assistant Surgeon, Second Regiment, 
Illinois National Guard. 

He died May 25, 1906. 

GEORGE FRANCIS SHEARS 
(1856-1909) 

For more than twenty-five years connected with Hahnemann Medical Col- 
lege of Chicago as lecturer, professor, secretary and president, Dr. George 
Francis Shears was perhaps second in importance to Dr. Reuben Ludlam 
among homeopathic teachers and practitioners of his time in Chicago. 

Dr. Shears was born in Aurora, Illinois, September 16, 1856, the son of 
Joseph and Mary A. Reynolds Shears. He attended the grammar and high 
schools of Aurora, was graduated from the Aurora Normal School in 1874, 
and a year later began the teaching career that was to last almost uninter- 
ruptedly until his death. 

When nineteen years old he was principal of the Young school in Aurora 
and had under his direction twelve teachers and six hundred pupils. He held 
this position for four years. 

Entering Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, he was graduated in 
1880 and obtained, through competitive examination, the position of house 
surgeon in Hahnemann Hospital. The following year he entered general 
practice and was appointed lecturer in his alma mater. In 1883 he became 
associated with the late Dr. George A. Hall and was appointed lecturer in 
surgery in Hahnemann. 

In 1883 he was elected superintendent of Hahnemann Hospital, becoming 
at once an important factor in its upbuilding. In 1885 he became adjunct 
professor of surgery in Hahnemann Medical College, in 1887 associate pro- 
fessor of surgery and in 1889 senior professor of surgery upon the retirement 
of Dr. George A. Hall. 

He was elected a member of the board of trustees of the college in 1893, 
serving as secretary, and in 1900 president of the college upon the retirement 
of Dr. Charles H. Vilas. He held this position until his death. It was said 
that during all his years of service to the college Dr. Shears never missed 
the opening exercises or failed to be present on commencement day. 

He was surgeon to the Chicago Baptist Hospital and the Silver Cross 



164 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




GEORGE FRANCIS SHEARS 



(Photo by Matzene) 
GEORGE FRANK BUTLER 





WILLIAM WRIGHT JAGGARD 



(Photo by Matzene) 
JOHN BENJAMIN MURPHY 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 165 

Hospital in Joliet, and was on the staff of Cook County Hospital. For many 
years he was associate editor of "Clinique." He contributed a chapter on 
malignant tumors to the "System of Medicine" and chapters on hernia and 
diseases of the breast to the "Homeopathic Text Book of Surgery." 

In 1884 he married Miss Jessie E. Hunter, who had already been graduated 
in medicine. 

He died August 22, 1909. 

"In Hahnemann Medical College and in its splendid work the world will 
always see the greatest monument to Doctor Shears, the medical educator," 
Dr. Burton Haseltine has written. "But to those who knew him intimately 
his finest monument is the inspiration of his personal life. 

"The greatest teacher is he who instructs by a noble example. He taught 
by his example that high ethical ideals are not inimical to material success. 
He taught that intense professional activity does not prohibit intellectual 
and artistic refinement. He taught the charm of constant communion with 
the world's master minds. He taught the lesson of sympathy with the poor 
and the unfortunate, and taught the lesson of calmness, courage and self- 
forgetfulness in the greatest trial that a man can face." 

GEORGE FRANK BUTLER 
(1857-1921) 

Practitioner and poet, Dr. George F. Butler held a philosophy articulated 
in the subjoined verse which is quoted at length because in large measure it 
formulates the creed of more than one unselfish and devoted physician : 

MY SUCCESS 

I've missed the wage for which the rich aspire, 

And the world's plaudits. But tho' I've missed 
What most men covet, I've reached a higher 

Goal than wealth and fame, for my lips are kissed 
By loved ones, and I've felt the poet's thirst 

And have drunk deeply from the Muse's spring, 
Which of all generous gifts of gods is first 

And best, the one most gracious offering. 
And I have, too, the love, and thanks, and prayers 

Of those I've helped in sickness and in stress. 
Then why repine and let a doubt prevail? 

Has not God's kind hand led me unawares 
Unto these lovely heights? I cannot fail, 

When loved and loving, of a rich success! 

George F. Butler was born at Moravia, N. Y., on March 15, 1857. He was 
of Quaker stock, the only child of Asenath Chase and Isaac Butler. In 
1874 he was graduated from Baldwins' Academy at Groton, N. Y., after which 
he went to Pittsfield, Mass., spending four years there as a pharmacist. 

Because of ill health he went in 1878 to southwestern Kansas where he 
spent eight years on a sheep ranch and in the drug business. Afterward he 
entered Rush Medical College, graduating in 1889 as valedictorian of his 
class. For twenty-eight years he was professor of materia medica, thera- 
peutics and clinical medicine, teaching in various Chicago medical colleges. 
In 1908 Valparaiso University, Indiana, conferred upon him the honorary 
degree of Master of Arts. 

Institutional work probably appealed to him largely because it gave him 



166 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

greater opportunity to cultivate his literary talents. For about twenty years 
he served as medical superintendent in institutions. These included Alma 
Sanitarium, Mudlavia Springs Sanitarium and, during the last three years 
of his life, the North Shore Health Resort at Winnetka, Illinois. 

His literary productions covered a wide range. He wrote several medical 
works, of which a text book on Materia Medica and Therapeutics is best 
known. Aside from medical productions, he wrote numerous poems which 
were collected in "Love and Its Affinities," "The Isle of Content," "Sonnets 
of the Heart" and "Echoes of Petrarch." "The Exploits of a Physician 
Detective" were clever detective stories. 

His last production was "How the Mind Cures," which he designed 
especially for the laity, hoping to diffuse scientific views at a time when 
"mind cures" were so popular among many people. 

Dr. Butler was a member of many medical societies and literary clubs, 
among which were the American Medical Association, the Chicago Academy 
of Medicine, Press Club, Cliff Dwellers, Society of Midland Authors and 
White Paper Club. 

In 1881 Dr. Butler married Miss Nancy Porter, daughter of Judge John 
Porter of Monmouth, Illinois. In June, 1921, he attended the convention of 
the American Medical Association in Boston. He died on a train while 
returning to Chicago, June 22, 1921. 

WILLIAM WRIGHT JAGGARD 
(1857-1896) 

Authority on obstetrics, Dr. William Wright Jaggard, was a distinguished 
teacher in the medical department of Northwestern University. 

Dr. Jaggard was born at Altoona, Pa., May 26, 1857. He was graduated 
with high honors from Dickinson College and, in 1880, from the medical de- 
partment of the University of Pennsylvania. After a term as resident phy- 
sician in the University Hospital, he devoted two years to professional study 
in Vienna, where he was resident physician in La Charite Hospital. 

Thereafter, he began practice in Chicago. He was elected professor of 
obstetrics in the medical department of Northwestern University, where 
he achieved success as a teacher. In 1891 he married Miss Elizabeth New- 
berry, daughter of Professor Newberry of Columbia University. She died 
in Chicago in 1894. Dr. Jaggard proceeded to Europe and undertook a course 
of study in Berlin. 

Shortly after his return he died at Philadelphia, January 30, 1896. 

He was a prolific writer on obstetrics. His last contribution to medical 
literature appeared in the American Text Book of Obstetrics. 

JOHN BENJAMIN MURPHY 
(1857-1916) 

"In reviewing Dr. Murphy's manifold activities and attempting to deter- 
mine the greatest of his many great qualities, I think we may place first his 
ability as a teacher of clinical surgery and sum up by saying that in this 
respect he was without a peer. In his talented and discriminating writing 
we find evidence of his teaching on every hand. Dr. Murphy was the sur- 
gical genius of our generation." (William J. Mayo, M. D.) 

This was written of the man whose formula was, "Competency is attained 
and maintained only by zeal, indefatigable labor and continued efforts in self- 
education." 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 167 

John Benjamin Murphy was born at Appleton, Wisconsin, December 21, 
1857, the son of Michael and Ann Grimes Murphy. He was graduated from 
the Appleton High School and studied medicine under the preceptorship of 
Dr. John R. Reilly of Appleton. 

In 1879 Dr. Murphy received his medical degree from Rush Medical 
College and, after serving a year as interne at Cook County Hospital, he de- 
voted nearly two years to post-graduate work in the hospitals of Vienna, 
Berlin, Heidelberg, Munich and London. Returning to Chicago, he became 
associated with Dr. Edward W. Lee, a distinguished practitioner on the 
west side. From 1889 to 1893 he was a lecturer on surgery at Rush Medical 
College. 

In 1892 Dr. Murphy became professor of clinical surgery in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago and thus served until 1901. From 1901 
to 1905 he was professor of surgery in the Northwestern University Medical 
School and from 1905 to 1908 he occupied the same chair in Rush Medical 
College. Again he was professor of surgery at Northwestern from 1908 to 
1916. For many years also he was professor of surgery in the Post-Graduate 
Medical School of Chicago and the Chicago Clinical School. 

From March 21, 1895, until his death he was chief surgeon at Mercy Hos- 
pital. He was also for many years attending surgeon at Cook County Hos- 
pital and the Alexian Brothers and West Side hospitals and consultant at 
St. Joseph's Hospital and the Home for Destitute Crippled Children. 

"Dr. Murphy was a man of extraordinary energy and great scientific 
imagination," writes Dr. Mayo. "Traditional medicine had little interest for 
him, but the newer knowledge that came from the bacterial origin of disease 
furnished a fruitful field for his talents. His earliest interest was in ab- 
dominal surgery, then in its infancy. The Murphy button, the greatest 
mechanical aid in surgery, is an evidence of his inventive ingenuity and laid 
the foundation for the gastro-intestinal surgery of today. 

"Murphy was among the first to investigate the cause and treatment of 
peritonitis following appendicitis, the causes and various forms of ileus, and 
the pathologic processes in the pelvis, gall-bladder, stomach, pancreas and 
kidneys. Each subject he investigated he left on a higher plane before enter- 
ing a new field. 

"His writings on the principles underlying surgery of the lung and nervous 
system have been among the most important contributions on the subject. 
In recent years he was deeply interested in the subject of deformities, espe- 
cially those due to infection of the bones and joints, and the results of his 
investigations were of high order. 

"He was a dramatic figure in the operating room. With instrument in 
hand he fairly thrilled his audience, as he reviewed the history of the case, 
exhibited a specimen and proved the minute accuracy of his diagnosis." 

In a recent address before the students of Northwestern University 
Medical School, Dr. F. Robert Zeit pointed to the following as Dr. Murphy's 
principal contributions to surgical science: 

1892 Cholecysto-intestinal, gastro-intestinal and entero-intestinal anasto- 
moses without sutures by means of the Murphy button. 
1897 Sutures of arteries and veins. 

1898 Surgery of lung, nitrogen gas artificial pneumo-thorax. 
1907- -Surgery of spinal cord. 



168 



1912 His most important work: arthro-plasty, surgery of bones, joints 
and tendons. 

1916 Murphy clinics published with operations and lectures. 

Of Dr. Murphy, Dr. George W. Crile has said: "The place of American 
surgery abroad is due more to the brilliant discoveries of Murphy and their 
forceful presentation than to the work of any other American ; and he taught 
the world what it knows about abdominal surgery and the surgery of tu- 
berculosis, the blood vessels, and bones and joints." 

To this is added the tribute of La Place, the noted French surgeon: 
"Murphy died at the pinnacle of American surgery and has found a niche 
among the great surgeons of all times." 

Among Dr. Murphy's published writings were "Actinomycosis Hominis" 
(he was the first surgeon in America to recognize the disease), "Gun- 
shot Wounds of the Abdomen," "Early Operation in Perityphlitis," "Early 
Operation in Appendicitis," "Original Experimental Researches in the Sur- 
gery of the Gall Bladder and Intestinal Tract" (illustrating the application 
of his anastomosis button), "Ileus, Its Diagnosis and Treatment," and "The 
Year-Book of Surgery." 

He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois 
State and Chicago Medical Societies, the American Association of Ob- 
stetricians and Gynecologists, a fellow of the American Surgical Asso- 
ciation, a member of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association, 
and the Western Surgical Association, a member of the Deutsche Gesell- 
schaft fur Chirurgie, an honorary member of the Societie de Chirurgie and 
a member of many other scientific bodies. 

He was president of the Chicago Medical Society, 1904-05 ; president 
of the American Medical Association, 1911-12; and president of the Clinical 
Congress of Surgeons of North America (now the Clinical Congress of the 
American College of Surgeons), 1914-15. He was one of the founders and 
most earnest supporters of the American College of Surgeons and was a 
member of the board of regents from its organization in 1913 until his 
death. 

In recognition of his work he was awarded the Laetare medal by Notre 
Dame University in 1902. He also received the following degrees and 
titles : 

A. M., St. Ignatius College; LL. D., University of Illinois; LL. D., 
Catholic University of America; D. Sc., University of Sheffield, England; 
and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1916 the 
Pope made him Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the 
Great. 

On November 25, 1885, Dr. Murphy married Miss Jeanette C. Plamondon 
of Chicago, who, with three daughters, survive him. They are Mrs. Cecile 
N. Benedict, Mrs. Mildred L. Hurley and Mrs. Celeste Murdock. Mrs. 
Murphy died July 12, 1921. 

For several months prior to his death at Mackinac Island, Michigan, 
August 11, 1916, Dr. Murphy had been in poor health. The cause of death, 
as disclosed by the autopsy, was aortitis with sclerosis of the coronary 
artery. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 169 

NATHAN SMITH DAVIS, II 
(1858-1920) 

Distinguished son of a distinguished father, Dr. Nathan Smith Davis, II, 
was born in Chicago, September 5, 1858. 

After a preliminary education in private schools, he was graduated with 
the degree of A. B. from Northwestern University in 1880, receiving an 
A. M. degree from the same institution in 1883. In the latter year he also 
received his physician's diploma from the Chicago Medical College, the 
medical department of the university. 

Dr. Davis pursued a post-graduate course at Heidelberg and Vienna and, 
upon his return, was appointed assistant professor of pathology in the Chi- 
cago Medical College. In 1886 he became professor of the principles and 
practice of medicine and the following year professor of clinical medicine. 
For many years he was secretary and subsequently dean of the faculty of 
the Northwestern University Medical School. 

He was physician to Mercy, Wesley and St. Luke's hospitals. He was 
for many years first vice-president of the United States Pharmacopoeia con- 
vention and was a member of the board until the time of his death. He was 
also a member of the section of medicine of the Pan-American Medical Con- 
gress and councilor of the section of pathology of the Ninth International 
Medical Congress. 

Dr. Davis was one of the organizers of the Society of Medical History of 
Chicago in 1909, and was active in the affairs of many other medical and 
scientific organizations. Among these were the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the 
American Therapeutic Society, the American Academy of Medicine, the 
Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies, the Chicago Pathological 
Society, the Chicago Neurological Society, the American Tuberculosis 
Society, the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute and the Intitute of Medicine of 
Chicago. 

For many years Dr. Davis was a trustee of Northwestern University, 
Wesley Hospital and the Young Men's Christian Association. 

As a writer Dr. Davis' name was familiar in the scientific and medical 
journals of America. He was also the author of several books, including 
"A Treatise of General Practice" (made up of his lectures), "Consumption 
How to Live With It," and "Diet in Health and Disease." 

Dr. Davis married Miss Jessie Hopkins at Madison, Wis., June 17, 1884. 
They had three children, Nathan Smith Davis, III, who became a Chicago 
physician, Ruth and William Deering Davis. Dr. Davis' death occurred in 
Pasadena, Cal., December 21, 1920. 

WILLIAM EVANS CASSELBERRY 
(1858-1915) 

Dr. William Evans Casselberry was a collateral descendant of Dr. Benja- 
min Rush, after whom Rush Medical College was named. He was the son of 
Jacob Rush Casselberry and Ellen Lane Evans and was born in Philadelphia, 
September 6, 1858. 

Graduating from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania 
in 1879, he did post-graduate work in Vienna and in London. 

Dr. Casselberry's practice in Chicago began in 1883. In that year he was 
elected professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the Northwestern 
University Medical School, holding that position until 1894. He was then 



170 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




(Photo by Dana Hull) 
NATHAN SMITH DAVIS, II 



(Photo by Walinger) 
WILLIAM EVANS CASSELBERRY 




(Photo by Walinger) 
MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH HERZOG 



(Photo by Walinger) 
JOSEPH ZEISLER 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 171 

made professor of laryngology and rhinology in the same school. For years 
he was attending laryngologist and rhinologist to St. Luke's and Wesley 
Memorial hospitals. 

He was a member of the American Medical Association, a member and 
president of the American Laryngological Society and president of the Chi- 
cago Laryngological Society. He was active in the affairs of the American 
Climatological Association, the Illinois State and Chicago medical societies, 
the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute, the 
National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis and the 
Physicians' Club of Chicago. 

On June 23, 1891, he married Miss Lillian Hibbard, who, with a daughter, 
Catharine, and two sons, Hibbard and William Evans Casselberry, Jr., sur- 
vived him. He died at his summer home at Lake Forest, 111., July 11, 1915. 

MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH HERZOG 
(1858-1918) 

Student and pathologist, Dr. Maximilian Joseph Herzog was indefatigable 
in research. 

Dr. Herzog was born at Frankfort-on-Main, September 17, 1858. An eager 
desire for a scientific career prompted him to leave the bank of Speyer & Co., 
where he was employed, to spend the next three years at the Universities of 
Giessen, Strassburg and Marburg as a student of biology, chemistry and 
physics. 

Coming to the United States in 1882, Dr. Herzog engaged in newspaper 
work in St. Louis and Cincinnati. While so employed he studied in the Medi- 
cal College of Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1890. Choosing otology, 
rhinology and laryngology as his specialty, he spent the following two years 
in post graduate study in the Universities of Wiirzburg, Munich, Leipzig, 
Berlin and Vienna. He returned to the United States in 1892 and practiced 
medicine in Cincinnati until 1894, when he came to Chicago. In the latter 
year he married Seraphina Ernau of Berlin, Germany. From 1896 until 1903 
he was pathologist at the Policlinic Hospital and while there made valuable 
contributions to scientific knowledge. 

In 1903 Dr. Herzog went to Manila as pathologist to the Bureau of Science. 
There he made an exhaustive study of tropical diseases and in 1906 he was 
sent from Manila to Japan to investigate beri-beri. His findings were widely 
published. 

Upon his return to Chicago he was appointed an expert to examine into 
the sanitation of the stock yards. At the same time he became professor 
and bacteriologist in the Chicago Veterinary College. He held this position 
until 1913. In these years Dr. Herzog prepared an elaborate text book on 
comparative pathology, which has not been published. For three years he 
was pathologist to Michael Reese Hospital and later he was on the staff of 
the German, Alexian Brothers and North Chicago hospitals. 

In 1912 he became professor of pathology in the medical department of 
Loyola University and in 1913 he was elected dean of the department, a 
position he held until his retirement in 1916. In 1914 he was appointed chief 
of the department of pathology of Cook County Hospital. 

He was a member of many societies, including the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, the Chicago and Illinois State Medical societies, the Society of Medi- 
cal History of Chicago, the Chicago Pathological Society, of which he was 
president in 1902-03; and the Chicago German Medical Society, of which he 



172 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

was twice president. He was also a Fellow of the American Association of 
Pathology, American Society of Bacteriologists, American Association for 
Cancer Research, American Association of Anatomists, American Micro- 
scopical Society, American Society of Internal Medicine and the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also first lieutenant in 
the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army. 

In 1916 he became a director of the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, 
where he died, August 9, 1918, from chronic interstitial nephritis. 

Among Dr. Herzog's published writings was a "Text Book on Disease- 
Producing Micro-Organisms." 



JOSEPH ZEISLER 
(1858-1919) 

Dr. Joseph Zeisler, dermatologist, was born in Bielitz, Austrian Silesia, Oc- 
tober 7, 1858, a son of Isaac and Anna (Kanner) Zeisler. He entered the 
medical department of the University of Vienna in October, 1876, and for five 
years studied under the guidance of Professors Billroth, Arlt and Braun, 
graduating July 3, 1882. As an interne he entered the General Hospital of 
Vienna, devoting his time especially to diseases of the skin under Professor 
Kaposi. 

He served one year as lieutenant surgeon in the Austrian army in 1883-4 
and was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant surgeon. In 1884 he came 
to Chicago, where, on June 25, 1885, he married Miss Theresa Feuchtmann. 

From 1888 to 1895 Dr. Zeisler was professor of skin and venereal diseases 
at the Post-Graduate Medical School. He was called to the chair of derma- 
tology in the Woman's Medical College in the spring of 1889 and in the fall 
of the same year he was chosen professor of skin and venereal diseases at 
Northwestern University Medical School. He was chief dermatologist to 
Mercy, Wesley and Michael Reese hospitals and the South Side Dispensary. 

He was president for one term of both the German Medical Society of Chi- 
cago and the American Dermatological Association. He was an active mem- 
ber of several other professional organizations, including the American Med- 
ical Association, the Chicago and Illinois State Medical societies, the Chicago 
Dermatological Society, the International Dermatological Congress and the 
Dermatological Society of Germany, and corresponding member of the Vi- 
enna Dermatological Society and the Dermatological Association of Italy. 
He was also a member of the Cliff Dwellers and the Chicago Literary and 
City clubs. 

Dr. Zeisler died August 31, 1919. He was survived by his widow and three 
children, Dr. Erwin Paul Zeisler, who succeeded his father in the practice of 
his specialty; Miss Anita Lucille Zeisler, who became Mrs. Edwin B. Mayer; 
and Miss Doris Josephine Zeisler. 

Following the death of Dr. Zeisler, the following tribute was paid to him 
by Dr. G. Frank Lydston: 

"By the death of Dr. Zeisler, the medical profession has lost one of its most 
notable figures. Brilliant, scholarly, always the high bred gentleman, he was 
a credit alike to the community and to his chosen profession. Few men are so 
broadly cultured, or so scientifically well grounded in medicine as was Dr. 
Zeisler. His charm of manner and his accomplishments won for him the 
admiration and esteem of all who knew him." 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 173 

FLORENCE W. HUNT 
(1858-1903) 

Dr. Florence W. Hunt was prominent in medical affairs in Chicago dur- 
ing her comparatively short career. Born in 1858, she was graduated from 
the Woman's Medical College of Chicago in 1884. 

She was resident physician at the Cook County Insane Hospital during 
its stormiest days. She was also a member of the attending staffs of St. 
Joseph's and Cook County Hospitals. 

She was one of the founders and most active members of the Medical 
Women's Club of Chicago, and also held membership in the American 
Medical Association and the Chicago Medical and Illinois State Medical 
societies. 

She died in St. Mary's Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 27, 1903. 
She numbered many staunch friends in and outside of the medical profes- 
sion, having the faculty of making intimates of men, as well as of her 
women associates. This was at a time when women generally were not 
welcomed into the profession. 

WALTER SHIELD CHRISTOPHER 
(1859-1905) 

Founder of the system of medical inspection in the Chicago public schools, 
Dr. Walter Shield Christopher was a pediatrician whose abilities were 
signalized by his election to the presidency of the American Pediatric Society 
in 1902. 

Dr. Christopher was born at Newport, Ky., March 14, 1859. He was 
graduated from the Medical College of Ohio in 1883. In this institution he 
was appointed demonstrator of chemistry. He was also consulting chemist 
to the Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati, perfecting there some of the glazes 
that have enhanced the fame of Rookwood ware. 

On Christmas Day, 1884, Dr. Christopher married Miss Henrietta Wen- 
deroth. In 1890 he was called to the chair of the theory and practice of 
medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. 

After serving a year at Ann Arbor, Dr. Christopher was appointed pro- 
fessor of diseases of children at the Chicago Policlinic. In 1892 he was 
appointed to a similar position in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 
Chicago. From this time he devoted himself to pediatrics. 

For fourteen years prior to his death, Dr. Christopher was an attending 
physician at the Children's Memorial Hospital and was active in its develop- 
ment A bed in the hospital with an endowment of $10,000 stands in his 
name. 

Dr. Christopher had become a member of the American Pediatric Society 
in 1889 and in 1902 was elected president of that organization. From 1898 
to 1900 he was a member of the board of education in Chicago and was 
instrumental in establishing a system of medical inspection in the public 
schools and also a child study department. 

Dr. Christopher died March 2, 1905. A son, Dr. Frederick Christopher, 
ten years later became a Chicago physician. 

Of Dr. Christopher, Dr. Frank Billings once wrote: 

"Dr. Christopher is not an ordinary man. He is not satisfied with look- 
ing into the ordinary every-day pathology of diseases of children, but he 
is constantly on the alert for things which the ordinary man does not see. 



174 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




FLORENCE W. HUNT 



WALTER SHIELD CHRISTOPHER 




HENRY BAIRD FAVILL 



FRIEDRICH CURT HARNISCH 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 175 

"For this reason he has sometimes been called a 'faddist,' but this cannot 
be applied to him, for he is sure to look with a common sense view at every- 
thing, and the unique things which he investigates he adds to and makes 
fit into his everyday practice. He has done much for the growing child, and 
especially has he worked in a sensible and epoch-making way for the school 
children of Chicago." 

HENRY BAIRD FAVILL 
(1860-1916) 

Known to Chicagoans both as an important figure in the medical profes- 
sion and for his active interest in civic affairs, Dr. Henry Baird Favill also 
achieved a reputation that was national in character. 

He was born in Madison, Wis., August 14, 1860, the son of Dr. John and 
Louise Sophia (Baird) Favill. His first paternal American ancestor was 
John Favill, who came from England before the Revolution and fought in 
the Continental Army. 

On the maternal side, Dr. Favill was descended from the Ottawa Chief 
Kewinoquot (Returning Cloud) and was proud of his Indian ancestry. In 
later years, when his wife was elected a Colonial Dame, Dr. Favill was 
asked whether he could not qualify for the Society of Mayflower Descend- 
ants. "No," was the retort. "My people were on the reception committee." 

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1880, he attended 
Rush Medical College where he received his degree in 1883. Following an 
interne service at Cook County Hospital, he returned to Madison to begin 
practice with his father. The latter died in a few months. 

In 1885 Dr. Favill married Miss Susan Cleveland Pratt of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
and continued general practice in Madison until 1894. During this period he 
lectured on medical jurisprudence at the University of Wisconsin. 

Leaving a large practice, he came to Chicago in 1894, accepting simulta- 
neous calls to the professorship of medicine in the Chicago Policlinic and to 
an adjunct professorship of medicine in Rush Medical College. From this 
latter post he was promoted in 1898 to the Ingals Professorship of Preventive 
Medicine and Therapeutics, and in 1906 became Professor of Clinical Medicine. 

His plan to do considerable research work in Chicago was never fulfilled. 
Within a year he had become immersed in an extensive practice in internal 
medicine which continued to grow as time passed. His hospital connec- 
tions were with the Augustana, Passavant Memorial and St. Luke's Hospi- 
tals. Most of his work was done at the latter institution. 

In addition to his regular medical work, Dr. Favill devoted great energy 
in later years to problems of public health, civic reform and agriculture. At 
various times he was president of the following bodies: Medical Board of 
St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago Medical Society, Chicago Tuberculosis Insti- 
tute, City Club, Municipal Voters' League, National Committee for Mental 
Hygiene, and National Dairy Council. He was an influential member of 
the American Association for Labor Legislation and the National Associa- 
tion for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis. For some years he was 
a Trustee of the Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency and a Director of the 
United Charities. 

His membership in medical organizations included the Chicago Medi- 
cal, Chicago Neurological and Chicago Pathological societies, Society of 
Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Society of Medical History, Phy- 
sicians' Club, Illinois State Medical and Wisconsin State Medical societies 



176 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

and American Medical Association. In the latter he was Chairman of the 
Council on Health and Public Instruction. 

Among his clubs were the University, City, Saddle and Sirloin, and Com- 
mercial. He was the first man without commercial connections in Chicago 
to be elected to the latter organization. He belonged to the Beta Theta Pi, 
Nu Sigma Nu, and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities. He held the rank of First 
Lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps. The University of Wisconsin 
in 1915 conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws. 

Dr. Favill's published articles and addresses covered a wide range of topics. 
Of these, the most important and influential was probably "The Public and 
the Medical Profession, a Square Deal," given before the Pennsylvania State 
Medical Society in 1915 and in which he surveyed conditions of practice and 
expressed his own ideals. 

Of striking appearance, due to his Indian type, splendid physique and 
erect carriage, he commanded confidence everywhere. Contact with his 
strength inspired strength and insincerity was shamed in his stalwart pres- 
ence. He loved life in the open and did a great deal of walking, seldom wear- 
ing an overcoat in winter. He never owned an automobile. His tastes were 
simple and he was a man of moderate habits in all but work. His mind was 
keenly analytical and his memory remarkable. His vigorous thinking, clear 
vision, sense of justice and force of personality made him a most valued 
executive, and his insight, sympathy and scientific acumen ensured his pro- 
fessional success. 

He hoped to retire and devote himself to his model dairy farm at Lake 
Mills, Wis., but during a visit to Springfield, Mass., where he had gone to 
attend an agricultural conference, he contracted pneumonia and died, Febru- 
ary 20, 1916, leaving his widow and one son, Dr. John Favill. 

FRIEDRICH CURT HARNISCH 
(1860-1918) 

A graduate of the University of Leipzig and first assistant to Prof. Coccius, 
Dr. Friedrich Curt Harnisch came to Chicago in 1891, to take up the practice 
of ophthalmology, in which he was to gain an unusual success. 

He was born at Teuchern, Germany, December 1, 1860. After his pre- 
liminary education under the direction of his father, who was a prominent 
schoolman, he followed his medical studies at the Universities of Halle, Frei- 
burg and Leipzig. After graduation, his teacher in ophthalmology, Prof. 
Coccius, offered him an assistantship on the University Eye Clinic of Leipzig. 
He accepted and finally advanced to a first assistantship, which he held for 
a number of years. 

Immediately after the publication of Prof. Roentgen's epochal invention of 
radiography in December, 1895, Dr. Harnisch became deeply interested in 
this new science and with Dr. Otto L. Schmidt started the first successful 
X-ray laboratory in America in January, 1896, having been fortunate in secur- 
ing an 8-inch spark coil that had been made for laboratory purposes and had 
stood on the manufacturer's shelves for years unsold. Through this coil 
successful pictures were soon made, but on account of Dr. Harnisch's devo- 
tion to ophthalmology and the rapid specialization of roentgenology, the 
laboratory was sold in June, 1896, to Mr. W. C. Fuchs, who became one of 
the earliest pioneers in high grade skiagraph work, but paid for his zeal and 
constant work with the X-ray apparatus by his death through an X-ray 
cancer. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 177 

Dr. Harnisch thereafter devoted all his time to eye work exclusively. He 
was attending occulist to Alexian Brothers, St. Elizabeth's and German hos- 
pitals and he was a member of the Chicago Medical Society, American Medi- 
cal Association, Illinois State Medical and German Medical societies. 

He was a man most punctual in the performance of even the smallest of 
his duties and he was revered by his patients to an unusual degree. 

Dr. Harnisch married Miss Anna Haferkorn, who with a son, Walter, and 
daughter, Martha, now Mrs. William Zellweger, survived him. 

He died May 25, 1918, of pneumonia. 

JULIA DYER MERRILL 
(1861-1914) 

A pediatrician of distinction, Dr. Julia Dyer Merrill was devoted to the 
welfare of the children of the poor. 

She was born at Saco, Maine, March 11, 1861 and was educated in the 
public schools of that town. For two years she taught school before entering 
a training school for nurses at New Haven, Connecticut, where she was 
graduated. 

She took a post graduate course at the New York Lying-in Hospital and 
for two years was superintendent of the North Adams (Mass.) Training 
School for Nurses. Thereupon she devoted three years to the study of medi- 
cine at Wooster (Ohio) University. She was graduated from the Woman's 
Medical School of Northwestern University in 1895. 

In practice she made pediatrics her specialty. She also taught in the depart- 
ment of pediatrics in Rush Medical College from 1897 to 1913. 

She was a member of the staffs of the Presbyterian, the Tabitha, the Chicago 
Maternity, the Mary Thompson and the Maimonides hospitals. She also de- 
voted much time to the Lincoln Park Sanitarium for babies, the Jackson Park 
Sanitarium and the Marks Nathan Jewish Orphanage. 

Dr. Merrill was a co-worker of Dr. Alfred C. Cotton for several years and 
assisted him in the compilation of his works on the diseases of children. She 
was a member of the milk commission of the Chicago Medical Society and 
much of the success of the enterprise was said to be due to her efforts. She 
was also a member of the leading professional societies. . 

She died in Chicago, May 18, 1914. 

FRANK HUGH MONTGOMERY 
(1862-1908) 

Dermatologist and associate of Dr. James Nevins Hyde, Dr. Frank Hugh 
Montgomery was at the peak of a useful career in Chicago when a yacht 
which he was sailing on Lake Michigan was overturned and he was drowned. 

He was born at Fair Haven, Minnesota, January 6, 1862. After he com- 
pleted his academic education at the University of Michigan, he was 
graduated from Rush Medical College in 1888. He was professor of derma- 
tology in the Chicago Clinical School and associate professor of skin and 
genito-urinary diseases in Rush Medical College. 

For several years he was associated with Dr. James Nevins Hyde in the 
compilation of medical works. Dr. Montgomery was dermatologist to 
St. Elizabeth's, Presbyterian and St. Anthony de Padua Hospitals. 

He was a member of the American Dermatological Congress, the American 
Physicians' and Surgeons' Association, the American Medical Association, 
the Illinois State and the Chicago Medical societies, the Chicago Pathological 



178 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 




FRANK HUGH MONTGOMERY 




(Photo by Melvin Syki-s) 

CARL WAGNER 



MARIE LOUISE WHITE 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 179 

Society, and the Physicians' Club. He was also an organizer of the Chicago 
Dermatological Society. 

It was while sailing on Lake Michigan near his summer home in Michigan, 
July 14, 1908, that Dr. Montgomery encountered a squall and was drowned 
while trying to save a companion who had been thrown with him into the 
water by the capsizing of a boat. 

On January 11, 1897, Dr. Montgomery married Miss Caroline L. William- 
son. There were three children, Hamilton, Charlotte and Mary Louise 
Montgomery. 

CARL WAGNER 
(1863-1921) 

Dr. Carl Wagner was born April 14, 1863, near the cathedral city of 
Worms, Rhine-Phalz, Germany, the eldest son of Philip Henry Wagner, a 
naturalized American citizen. The father had come to the United States in 
1848, but had returned to Germany in 1859. 

The future surgeon's preliminary education was received in the towns of 
Frankenthal, Speyer and Landau. His parents destined him for the min- 
istry and, after winning a scholarship in the Lutheran seminary at Utrecht, 
he consented to continue the study of theology, provided he might go to 
America to do so. Consequently, the scholarship was transferred to a 
Lutheran seminary in St. Louis and he sailed for America in 1882. 

A chance meeting with a chemist in New York City changed the course 
of Dr. Wagner's life. He entered the drug trade, in which he remained for 
five years, serving as apprentice, manager and owner of drug stores. In 1887 
he began the study of medicine and the succeeding four years were spent 
in the Universities of Munich, Geneva, Halle, Berlin and Heidelberg. He 
received his medical degree from the last-named university in 1891. 

Almost immediately he returned to America and settled in Detroit, but a 
year later he came to Chicago, where he soon established himself as a sur- 
geon. He early became a member of the surgical staff of St. Joseph's Hos- 
pital and continued in that position until his death. He was also consulting 
surgeon to the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium and the Columbus and 
Cook County hospitals. 

For many years Dr. Wagner was professor of surgery and demonstrator 
of anatomy in the Post-Graduate Medical School of Chicago in the. days 
when it was on the west side. He also served as professor of extramural 
surgery in Rush Medical College. 

He was an active member of the Chicago Medical Society, having served 
as president of the north side branch, and at the time of his death was a 
member of the council. He was also a Fellow of the American College of 
Surgeons and a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois 
State Medical Society and the Chicago Pathological Society. 

In 1894 he married Miss Louisa Ottilie Carll. There were a son and 
daughter, Carl and Louisa Wagner, who followed their father in the practice 
of medicine. A brother, Henry E. Wagner, is also a north side physician. 
Dr. Wagner died March 11, 1921. 

MARIE LOUISE WHITE 
(1868-1918) 

Dr. Marie Louise White was born in Clarkesville, New York, April 25, 



180 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



THEODORE BERNARD SACHS 




ADOLPH GEHRMANN 




(Photo by Walinger) 
HOWARD TAYLOR RICKETTS 



(Photo by Steffens) 
MORTIMER FRANK 



181 



1868, the daughter of Andrew Burnside and Rachel Elizabeth Robertson 
White. Her parents moved to Iowa in 1876 and a year later to Chicago. 

After her graduation from the Austin High School she attended Oberlin 
College from 1884 to 1887. She later entered the Woman's Medical College 
of Chicago, from which she was graduated in 1892. After serving as an in- 
terne in the Woman's Hospital she began the practice of medicine. 

She was an instructor in gynecology in the Post-Graduate Medical School 
and for two years was superintendent of the Charity Hospital, later becom- 
ing assistant to Dr. Henry T. Byford. She also held clinics for several 
years in the Mary Thompson Hospital. 

She was a member of the American Medical Association, the Chicago and 
Illinois State Medical Societies, the Society of Medical History of Chicago 
and the Medical Women's Club. 

Dr. White died July 6, 1918. 

THEODORE BERNARD SACHS 
(1868-1916) 

Dr. Theodore Bernard Sachs, physician, public health worker and tuber- 
culosis specialist, was born in Dinaberg, Russia, May 2, 1868, the son of 
Bernard and Sophia Sachs, of Jewish faith. After being graduated from the 
Kherson High School, he received a degree in law in 1891 from the Imperial 
New Russian University of Odessa. Emigrating to America shortly after- 
ward, he came to Chicago, where he worked his way through the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, from which he was graduated in 1895. During his 
freshman year he received the highest honor in his class, the faculty medal. 

After an interneship of two years at the Michael Reese Hospital, Dr. Sachs 
established an office at Twelfth and Halsted streets in order to serve the 
sick poor, both in private practice and in the clinics of the Jewish Aid Dis- 
pensary, the first in Chicago to be devoted exclusively to the examination 
and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Here he served more than ten 
years. 

In 1903 Dr. Sachs began intensive studies of the prevalence and incidence of 
tuberculosis among children of tuberculous parents in a small congested 
area near his office. Charts of these studies, made in collaboration with his 
wife, Mrs. Lena Louise Wilson Sachs, received honorable mention at the 
International Tuberculosis Congress in Washington in 1908. 

In 1905 Dr. Sachs became attending physician at the Glencoe camp, the 
first in Illinois for poor tuberculous patients. From this crude beginning 
there was developed a winter camp at Dunning and the Edward Sanatorium 
at Naperville, of which he was director and examining physician from 1906 
until his death, in 1916. 

From this period Dr. Sachs gave the greater part of his time to free 
tuberculous work, serving as director and president of the Chicago Tuber- 
culosis Institute ; from 1909 as secretary and later president of the Municipal 
Tuberculosis Commission, and in 1915-16 as president of the National Asso- 
ciation for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis. He was also attending 
physician at the Chicago-Winfield Sanitarium, examining physician for the 
Jewish National Consumptives' hospital at Denver and the founder and first 
president of the Robert Koch Society for the Study of Tuberculosis. 

The establishment of a municipal tuberculosis institution, in which any 
consumptive, regardless of his pecuniary condition, could receive adequate 



182 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

scientific treatment, for years had been Dr. Sachs' chief aim and for four 
years, beginning in 1911, he devoted from two to six hours each day to his 
work as chairman of the committee on plans for the Municipal Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium, funds for which had been made available under the Glackin law. 

The beneficent project had hardly been well launched when Dr. Sachs 
began to encounter what he believed to be sinister political influences that 
menaced his cherished undertaking. These conditions so wrought upon him 
that on April 2, 1916, he committed suicide at the Edward Sanatorium. 

Without Dr. Sachs' utter devotion to the work of controlling tuberculosis 
in Chicago, the campaign would unquestionably have lagged. As physician 
selected by the Visiting Nurse Association to carry on the work of their 
tuberculosis committee, he so impressed his co-workers with the importance 
of the problem that a separate organization, the Chicago Tuberculosis Insti- 
tute, was formed to fight tuberculosis in Chicago. Dr. Sachs was for several 
years president of the Institute. He later organized a committee of the 
Institute to investigate the County Tuberculosis Hospital at Oak Forest. As a 
result of the constructive criticism emanating from his committee, an ade- 
quate medical and nursing corps was given the hospital, to the great good 
of its patients. 

Dr. Sachs was connected with every important public health activity in 
any way connected with tuberculosis in Cook County. He was a born leader, 
a tireless worker and a man whose code was ever strict where moral courage 
and honesty of purpose were involved. His untimely death came as the cul- 
mination of his struggle against the self-seeking politicians whose character 
he could not comprehend. After his death, charges of malfeasance in the 
conduct of the Municipal Sanitarium were proved to be without foundation. 

ADOLPH GEHRMANN 
(1868-1920) 

The province of Dr. Adolph Gehrmann was the laboratory, where he was 
a pioneer in many fields of bacteriological study. He will also be remembered 
as the organizer of the bureau of food inspection of the city of Chicago. 

Born in Decatur, 111., July 19, 1868, he came to Chicago in 1884. After his 
graduation from the South Division High School in 1887, he entered the 
Chicago Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1890. He then 
served two years as interne in Cook County Hospital, and, after pursuing 
special studies in bacteriology and chemistry, he was appointed demonstrator 
in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago and professor of bac- 
teriology in the Post-Graduate Medical School. 

Beginning in January, 1893, Dr. Gehrmann made an extensive eastern trip 
to procure data for the establishment of a bureau of food inspection for the 
city of Chicago, and spent a year thereafter in organizing that department, 
of which he was superintendent from 1894 to 1903. In the former year he 
established the Columbus Medical Laboratories, of which he became presi- 
dent. 

In 1894 Dr. Gehrmann was elected professor of bacteriology and hygiene in 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons and served for twenty-five years. 
Resigning on account of ill health, he was made professor emeritus. 

He was a member of the American Public Health Association, the Ameri- 
can Medical Association, the Illinois State and Chicago Medical societies, the 
Illinois State Academy of Medicine, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 183 

German Medical Society, the Chicago Pathological Society and the Lake 
Michigan Water Commission. 

On December 24, 1910, Dr. Gehrmann married Miss Albertina Marianne 
Weinstein of Milwaukee, who survived him upon his death, October 3, 1920. 

HOWARD TAYLOR R1CKETTS 
(1871-1910) 

Dr. Howard Taylor Ricketts sacrificed his life to the cause of medical 
science. 

Successful research in the causation of spotted fever in Montana prompted 
him to undertake in Mexico a similar investigation of typhus fever, which 
in many ways resembles it. In his zeal he encountered dangers that brought 
about his death in the prime of a career that promised to parallel that of 
Walter Reed, "who gave to man control of that fearful scourge, yellow 
fever." 

Dr. Ricketts was born at Findlay, Ohio, February 9, 1871. He passed 
his youth in Nebraska and was graduated in arts from the University of 
Nebraska in 1894. Three years later he received his medical degree from 
the Northwestern University Medical School. During his student days it 
was necessary for him to earn money during vacations to carry him through 
school. 

After serving as interne at Cook County Hospital, he was successively 
fellow and instructor in pathology in Rush Medical College. Returning 
from a year's visit to Europe in 1902, he became an instructor in the newly 
established department of pathology and bacteriology in the University of 
Chicago, later being appointed assistant professor of pathology. Shortly be- 
fore his death he was called to the chair of pathology in the University of 
Pennsylvania. This position he never held. 

In 1906, while on a vacation enforced by overwork, he became interested 
in the mysterious disease called Rocky Mountain spotted fever. He proved 
the erroneousness of certain views as to its etiology and showed that the 
ailment was conveyed to man by the accidental bite of an infected adult 
tick. In 1909 he discovered what seemed to be the immediate cause of 
spotted fever a small bacillus, which he found in the blood of patients and 
in ticks. 

Owing to the similarity of typhus fever, he felt that his three years' study 
of spotted fever especially fitted him for investigation of tabardillo, or Mex- 
ican typhus. In Mexico City, to which he went, tabardillo claimed hundreds 
of victims annually, including a high percentage of physicians and nurses. 
Dr. Ricketts fully understood the dangers to which he would be exposed, 
but braved them in the interest of medical science. 

In a year he found that Mexican typhus is communicated by the body 
louse and that it could be conveyed to monkeys, in which he also produced 
an immunity. While pushing this and other work to completion, he was 
stricken with tabardillo and died May 3, 1910. 

In 1900 Dr. Ricketts married Miss Myra Tubbs, from whom he received 
much help and encouragement. With two children, she survived him. 

The Mexican government had Dr. Ricketts' works on Mexican typhus 
collected and published in Spanish in a handsome volume of 135 pages en- 
titled "Howard Taylor Ricketts y sus Trabajos sobre el Tabardillo." The 
laboratory in Mexico in which he did his work was named after him. 



184 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

The Chicago Pathological Society published in 1911 a volume of 497 pages 
entitled "Contributions to Medical Science by Howard Taylor Ricketts" and 
containing the classical studies by Dr. Ricketts on oidiomycosis of the skin, 
lymphatotoxic and neurotoxic sera, tetanus, Rocky Mountain fever and Mex- 
ican typhus. i 

Dr. Ricketts was president of the Chicago Pathological Society in 1905-06 
and frequently contributed to its programs. He wrote a book on "Infection, 
Immunity and Serum Therapy," which was published by the American 
Medical Association Press in 1908. 

A fund in the University of Chicago has been established by Mrs. Rick- 
etts, known as the "Howard T. Ricketts Prize," which is awarded annually 
for the best piece of research presented by any student in the department of 
pathology and bacteriology. The departments of pathology and of hygiene 
and bacteriology in the University of Chicago are housed in the Howard 
Taylor Ricketts Laboratory. 

Some of the personal qualities of Dr. Ricketts are well summarized by 
Dr. Ludvig Hektoen : 

"He was a modest and unassuming man of great determination and of the 
highest character, loyal and generous, earnest and genuine in all his doings 
a personality of unusual and winning charm. He deliberately turned away 
from the allurement of active medical practice to devote himself to teaching 
and investigation in pathology." 

MORTIMER FRANK 
(1874-1919) 

Of equal importance to the practice of his chosen specialty was the 
literary side of medicine in the mind of Dr. Mortimer Frank, late secretary 
of the Society of Medical History of Chicago. 

"He toiled early and late to make this organization a center for all who 
were interested in the struggles and accidents of our professional progress," 
Dr. Charles B. Reed has written, "and strove to make the records of those 
events and of current history so ineffaceable that they could be interpreted 
easily by future generations. 

"It was a fortunate thing for medical history when Dr. Frank made it 
his hobby. Into these antiquarian channels of medical history he poured a 
fine and an irresistible enthusiasm, and so earnestly that at the time of his 
death he had accomplished a literary work that was remarkable not only 
in the amount, but in the high standard attained." 

Dr. Frank was born in Buffalo, New York, May 26, 1874, the son of 
Joseph H. and Fannie Goldsmith Frank. After being graduated in civil 
engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1897, he 
entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, from which he 
received his medical degree in 1900. 

Beginning the practice of ophthalmology after graduation, he became 
attending ophthalmologist at Michael Reese Hospital. In 1915 he became 
secretary of the Society of Medical History and editor of its Bulletin, con- 
tinuing in this capacity until his death. 

He was a member of the American Medical Association and the Chicago 
Medical and Illinois State Medical societies. From 1910 to 1913 he served 
as a director of the Chicago Public Library. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



185 



On October 4, 1905, he married Miss Donie Katz of Chicago. There were 
two children, Mary Elizabeth and Katherine Jane Frank. 

Among Dr. Frank's papers in the study of medical history were "Philip 
Syng Physick," "Caricature in Medicine" and "Medicine in English Litera- 
ture Before the Eighteenth Century." In 1916 he began the translation of 
Choulant's "History of Anatomical Illustration," one of the. classics of 
medical literature. The translation was completed, but the work was yet in 
press when he died April 21, 1919. 

The books of his library, numbering about 3,000 volumes, were disposed 
of to the University of Chicago, while his accumulation of portraits, prints 
and catalogues went to the Surgeon-General's Library at Washington. 

ST ANTON ABELES FRIEDBERG 
(1875-1920) 

Succeeding Dr. Mortimer Frank as secretary of the Society of Medical 
History of Chicago, Dr. Stanton Abeles Friedberg lived but a little over a 
year after the death of his predecessor. During that period he gave unspar- 
ingly of his time and energy to the work of the society. 

He was born in Chicago, Decem- 
ber 1, 1875, the son of Cass and 
Laura Abeles Friedberg. With the 
exception of the first year, his boy- 
hood was spent in Leavenworth, 
Kansas. He attended the public 
schools and then went to the Uni- 
versity of Michigan for the term of 
1892-93. In the latter year he en- 
tered Rush Medical College, from 
which he was graduated in 1897. 

After a year's interneship in the 
German Hospital of Chicago, he be- 
gan the practice of general medi- 
cine and in 1900 began his first work 
in oto-laryngology as an assistant to 
the late Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals. In 
1903 he received an appointment to 
the staff of Cook County Hospital. 
In 1906, by civil service examina- 
tion, he became attending oto-laryn- 
gologist at Cook County Hospital, 
holding this position until 1913, 
when he became chief of the ear, nose and throat department in the same 
institution. He continued in this capacity until October, 1919. 

In 1905 he was made assistant instructor in the department of ear, nose 
and throat in Rush Medical College, and two years later he became con- 
sulting oto-laryngologist to the Durand Hospital of the John McCormick 
Institute for Infectious Diseases. Here he did his best piece of work, 
that on tonsillectomy in diphtheria carriers, later carrying forward this 
work while a medical officer during the World War. In 1909 he began 
his work at the Presbyterian Hospital, advancing from the rank of assistant 
to attending laryngologist. 




(Photo by Wallnger) 
STANTON ABELES FRIEDBERG 



186 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

In November, 1917, he was commissioned Major in the Medical Corps, 
U. S. A., and served eight months in the Base Hospital at Camp Doniphan, 
Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The following September he went to France, where 
he served eight months. He received his discharge May 1, 1919. 

Dr. Friedberg was the author of thirty or more published papers relating 
to his specialty. He was a member of the American College of Surgeons, 
the American Medical Association, the American Laryngological Associa- 
tion, the American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, 
the American Medical Association, the Chicago Medical and Illinois State 
Medical societies, the Chicago Laryngological and Otological Society and 
the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology. 

On October 23, 1906, he married Miss Aline Liebman of Shreveport, 
Louisiana. She and three children, Jean, Louise and Stanton A. Fried- 
berg, Jr., survived him upon his death, May 27, 1920. 

Of Dr. Friedberg a colleague has written : "He was the first to remove 
the tonsils and adenoids as a measure to cure diphtheria bacillus carriers. 
He was acknowledged by professional laryngologists as the most expert in 
Chicago in the removal of foreign bodies from the respiratory tract. His 
interest in medical history was real, and not only that of one who enjoys 
the possession of rare things." 




Medical Colleges 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



189 




(Photos by Gates) 

RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE and SENN HALL 
Northeast Corner of Harrison and Wood Streets 



*RUSH MEDICAL COLLEGE 
IN 1843 

A little school domiciled in two rented rooms, an adjunct to which was 
a rude shed where students learned an important part of the sixteen weeks' 
curriculum. 

IN 1922 

A component of one of the greatest universities in the world and a large 
factor in one of the most elaborate projects for the advancement of medical 
education ever conceived. 

Such, in little more than three-quarters of a century, has been the progress 
of Rush Medical College, whose founder in his introductory address at the 
first session of the college, December 4, 1843, had said, "We believe the 
school we this day open is destined to rank among the permanent institu- 
tions of the state. It will pass into other and better hands, it will live on, 
identified with the interests of a great and prosperous city." 

Before Chicago had a corporate existence Rush Medical College had been 
chartered in February, 1837, by the general assembly of Illinois. 

It is the first charter for an institution of learning granted by the legisla- 
ture of the state and it is the oldest charter under which any school of any 
kind is now in operation in Illinois. 

*This history is based principally upon data derived from "The History of Rush Medical College," 
written in 1896 by Doctors Norman Bridge and John Edwin Rhodes: "The Making of a Modern Medical 
School: A Sketch of Rush Medical College," written in 1901 by Dr. Rhodes; and "The Affiliation of Rush 
Medical College with the University of Chicago," written by Dr. -John M. Dodson and published in the 
Bulletin of the Alumni Association of Rush Medical College. 



190 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

In 1836 Chicago was a vigorous, prosperous young community of 3,000 
persons. But two bridges spanned the creek called the Chicago River. The 
houses were primitive and of flimsy construction. The sidewalks were 
"duck-boards" and in rainy weather the streets were bogs, almost impassable. 
"No bottom" signs frequently were stuck in the ooze of Lake Street, the 
principal thoroughfare. There were neither sewers nor drains and drinking 
water was carried from the lake and the river in pails and barrels. 

The faith of its denizens was profound. From 1833 to 1836 the town 
had grown seventeen fold. Some day this remarkable village would have 
a population of 100,000! The vast prairies of its hinterland were rich and 
fertile. The town was at the head of navigation on Lake Michigan and a 
water way was to join the lake and the Mississippi River. Days of great 
abundance were near and against the time of prosperity and expansion, a city 
charter was planned. 

In this stirring epoch came to Chicago a young doctor from "York State," 
as Chicagoans called it then. He was Daniel Brainard. He had been two 
years with a preceptor in Whitesboro, New York. He had studied a year 
at a medical college in Fairfield, New York. Another year in Jefferson 
Medical College in 1834 completed his preparation. While teaching for two 
years he acquired a knowledge of Latin and French in his leisure hours. 
He was a man of rugged character and of high ambition. He possessed ' 
executive force to an exceptional degree. Says a commentator, "With a fine 
presence, dignified and a trifle austere, but active and industrious, he was 
bound to succeed and to lead." 

Zeal to impart his science and art to others possessed the young pioneer. 
The opportunity to pursue his plans in Chicago seemed exceptional. So 
about the time that Eli B. Williams and other leading- inhabitants of the 
village invoked the general assembly for a city charter Dr. Brainard peti- 
tioned the legislature for a charter creating Rush Medical College. In this 
he was aided by Dr. J. C. Goodhue. The enabling act for the medical school 
antedated the grant to the city of Chicago by several days. 

There was inspiration in the name of Rush. In 1776 Benjamin Rush had 
been a member of the provisional conference of Pennsylvania and chairman 
of the committee which reported to Congress that it was expedient to pro- 
claim the separation of the colonies from the British Crown. A month later 
he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was a professor 
of the theory and practice of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, 
1789-1791, and from 1797 to 1813 he was professor of clinical practice. 

A patriot and a pioneer in American medicine had furnished a proud 
name for what was to become one of the great medical schools of the nation. 
Although the name Rush was always the official name of the school, Brainard, 
with local pride, usually referred to it as the Medical School of Chicago. 

Though the panic of 1837 seriously hindered his plans, Dr. Brainard had 
begun to teach anatomy and surgery privately to a few students. It was 
not until the fall of 1843, however, that he and his associates felt warranted 
in actually launching the college. Some of the faculty had to be sum- 
moned from distant communities. Dr. John McLean, professor of the theory 
and practice of medicine, came from his home in Jackson, Michigan, and 
Dr. M. L. Knapp, of the chair of obstetrics and diseases of women and chil- 
dren, journeyed from Waynesville, Illinois, Dr. James V. Z. Blaney, pro- 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 191 

fessor of chemistry and materia medica, was the only member of the faculty 
besides Dr. Brainard who resided in Chicago. 

The first annual announcement of Rush Medical College was issued about 
the end of October, 1843. It proclaimed, "The Rush Medical College was 
chartered by the legislature of Illinois in 1837, but its organization has been 
deferred to the present time when the interest of the medical profession 
requires its being carried into full operation. The superior facilities for medical 
instruction presented by Chicago cannot be denied by anyone acquainted 
with the different towns in this region. The trustees have determined to lay 
the foundation of a medical school whose means of teaching shall be ample 
iti all the different branches, which shall be permanent and adequate to the 
wants of the community, and which shall in all respects advance the interest 
and honor of the profession." 

But sixteen weeks comprised the term of instruction which was begun 
December 4, 1843. To obtain the degree of doctor of medicine the require- 
ments were three years of study with a respectable physician and two courses 
of lectures, the latter in Rush Medical College. Two years of practice were 
to be accepted in lieu of one course. It was necessary that the candidate be 
twenty-one years old, that he have a good moral character and that he 
present a thesis on some medical subejct of his own composition and "in 
his own handwriting," which should be approved by the faculty. 

The regular fees amounted to $65 and the graduating fee was $20. Pros- 
pective students were assured that good board could be obtained in Chicago 
at $2 to $2.50 a week. 

The teaching of the first course was done by four men. As a rule four 
lectures were delivered each day. There is nothing to indicate that physi- 
ology was taught. Anatomy was thoroughly expounded, and chemistry was 
presented theoretically. The lectures were given to twenty-two students 
in two small rooms in the "Saloon" building at the southeast corner of 
Clark and Lake Streets. There was one graduate. 

Public spirited citizens had given the college a lot at the southeast corner 
of Indiana (Grand Avenue) and Dearborn streets and in the summer of 1844 
a building was erected on the site at a cost of $3,500. In the center was a 
dome and the general aspect of the structure was such as to earn for it from 
the late Dr. J. Adams Allen the name of the "rat-trap." 

The second course at Rush was made notable by the lectures of the bril- 
liant Austin Flint, who had become professor of the institutes and practice 
of medicine. Dr. Flint then announced many of the doctrines of ethics 
which later were incorporated into the code of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation. Dr. W. B. Herrick became lecturer on anatomy at this time, thus 
permitting Dr. Brainard to devote all his time to surgery. 

Fifty-one surgical cases and operations were exhibited to the class during 
the session of 1846-47. The college clinic was growing. Among the stu- 
dents at this term were Joseph W. Freer and Ephraim Ingals, both of whom 
in later years were to render distinguished service to their alma mater. 
Now was established a public hospital to be under the care of members of 
the faculty, who gave a regular course of clinical instruction. From Decem- 
ber 1, 1846, to June 23 following, four hundred and forty-two cases were 
attended at the hospital and the dispensary connected with it. 



192 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

The college, as well as the city, was prospering and expanding. New 
talent was sought for the school and in 1849 Dr. N. S. Davis was summoned 
from New York City to occupy the chair of physiology and pathology and 
Dr. Thomas Spencer of Geneva Medical College (N. Y.) took the place 
of Dr. G. G. Fitch in the chair of principles and practice of medicine. For 
Dr. Spencer it was said, "It may be added that he is familiar with the 
various forms of malarious diseases from observation in the middle west 
as well as in the district of his former practice." This was especially urged 
at a time when malarial disease was prevalent in the region of Chicago. 
The only good treatment was quinine, which in those days sometimes cost 
$5 an ounce. 

Dr. Davis, to be known in later years as the "Nestor of the American 
Medical Association," was described in the college anonuncements as "the 
originator of a plan for a National Association whose influence in the cause 
ot icform and improvement had already been beneficially felt." Dr. Joseph 
W. Freer succeeded Dr. J. B. Herrick, a brother of Dr. W. B. Herrick, as 
demonstrator of anatomy in 1850 and it was not long before Dr. Davis 
became professor of pathology, practice of medicine and clinical medicine ; 
Dr. W. B. Herrick assumed the department of physiology and Dr. Brainard 
was announced as professor of surgery and clinical surgery. Dr. Herrick 
was in charge of the United States Marine Hospital, which was located on 
the east side of Michigan Avenue, near River Street, and which had been 
started in 1850-51. The Illinois General Hospital of the Lakes about this 
time was established in the old Lake House at the corner of North Water 
and Rush Streets. There Dr. Brainard had charge of the surgical service 
and Dr. Davis of the medical. In 1851-2 the Hospital of the Lakes passed 
under the care of the Sisters of Mercy and thenceforth it was known as 
Mercy Hospital. 

Teaching of anatomy was assumed in 1855 by Dr. Joseph W. Freer. Dr. 
Hosmer A. Johnson became professor of materia medica and medical juris- 
prudence and Dr. Edmund Andrews, lecturer on comparative anatomy and 
demonstrator. It was at this time that the college was rebuilt at an expense 
of $15,000. It now had a capacity of 250 students. 

The year 1857 witnessed the accession to the faculty of Dr. William Heath 
Byford of Evansville, Indiana, who became professor of obstetrics and dis- 
eases of women. 

/ In 1859 occurred the schism that resulted in separation from the faculty 
/of Doctors N. S. Davis, W. H. Byford, J. H. Hollister and H. A. Johnson. 
( Dr. Davis and his party had vigorously advocated changes in policy which 
/ included, among other things, a graded course of instruction. Dr. Brainard 
and others spiritedly opposed the innovations. There had also been certain 
"incompatibilities." The seceding members at once founded the Medical 
Department of Lind University, later known as the Chicago Medical Col- 
lege, and which finally became the Northwestern University Medical School. 
They took with them the clinical service of Mercy Hospital. 

Now came to Rush, as the result of the departure of Dr. Davis and his 
colleagues, several distinguished teachers, among whom were Dr. Jonathan 
Adams Allen, professor of medicine ; Dr. De Laskie Miller, professor o{ 
obstetrics, and Dr. Robert L. Rea, professor of anatomy, the last-named in 
place of Dr. Freer, transferred to the new department of surgical and 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



microscopic anatomy. At this time Dr. Ephraim Ingals became professor 
of muteria medica and medical jurisprudence. The City Hospital now be- 
came the clinical field of instruction instead of Mercy Hospital. However, 
during the civil war, the City Hospital was commandeered as a military 
eye and car hospital. \Yhen it was restored to local authority it passed 
under the control of the county government, .the city council having dis- 
covered that it was under no legal obligation to maintain a public hospital. 
The institution became known as the County Hospital and was continued 
at the same location, Eighteenth and Arnold streets. Several years later 
a new and larger hospital, predecessor of the one now existing, was erected 
on the ground bounded by Wood, Polk, Lincoln and Harrison streets. In 
1867 Dr. Joseph Presley Ross became a clinical lecturer in Rush College 
and Dr. Henry M. Lyman was designated as pathologist. 

In 1866 Rush Medical College suffered a great loss in the death of Pro- 
fessor Brainard. He had gone to Europe in the spring, his health seriously 
impaired. He returned in the autumn much improved and resumed his 
lectures with accustomed vigor. Chicago was then in the grip of the 
cholera epidemic. On October 9 at 5:00 P. M., Dr. Brainard lectured on 
the subject of surgery. He digressed for a moment to comment on the 
prevalent disease. During the same night he was himself attacked by the 
malady and died the next evening. 

Of Dr. Brainard, Dr. John Edwin Rhodes has written : "From the time 
of the opening of Rush College until his death he served it with pre-eminent 
ability. He was noted for his eloquence in the lecture room and on the 
platform, and was distinguished as an operator and original investigator. 
His experimental work on the use of iodine in surgery and on bone repair 
made him famous. He received deserved recognition during his life time, 
and, while easily the most commanding figure in medicine and surgery in 
this great northwest, he should be classed among the most eminent men of 
his time in American medical history." 

Dr. James V. Z. Blaney now followed Dr. Brainard as president and Dr. 
Moses Gunn, for many years professor of surgery at the University of 
Michigan, succeeded to the chair of surgery left vacant by the lamented 
president. At this time Dr. Edward L. Holmes was announced as a lecturer 
on ophthalmology and otology. 

A new chair of clinical medicine and diseases of the chest was created 
after the commencement of 1868 and Dr. J. P. Ross was designated as the 
incumbent. Dr. Charles T. Parkes, a graduate of a few weeks, succeeded 
Dr. William Lewitt as demonstrator of anatomy. For twenty-three years 
Dr. Parkes kept to this course. He died in harness as the sole professor of 
surgery. The writing of a thesis as a condition of graduation was aban- 
doned at this time. 

Fn the winter of 1868-69 there was issued a little four-page announcement 
of the spring course of lectures for 1869. The lectures were to continue 
from March 3 to July 1. Dr. Blaney was to teach practical chemistry, and 
Doctors Gunn and Ross were to give "Cliniques." The teaching corps 
consisted in addition of the following named men, with their branches 
respectively: W. R. Marsh, instructor in principles and practice of medicine; 
J. H. Etheridge, instructor in materia medica ; C. T. Parkes, instructor in 
anatomy; H. M. Lyman. instructor in physiology; C. T. Fenn, instructor in 
obstetrics; I. N. Danforth. instructor in toxicology and medical jurispru- 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



dence ; H. F. Chesbrough, demonstrator of anatomy, and W. C. Hunt, in- 
structor in microscopic anatomy and the use of the microscope. Dr. Edwin 
Powell was treasurer, and the fee for the course was $20. Twenty students 
attended this spring course. 

The twenty-seventh annual circular appeared in 1869 with few variations 
from the previous one. Dr. Holmes was announced as professor of ophthal- 
mology. The following year his designation was professor of diseases of 
the eye and ear. 

Owing to ill health Dr. Blaney retired from the presidency in 1871. Dr. 
Joseph W. Freer, the senior member of the faculty, succeeded him. At this 
time Dr. Lyman was appointed to the professorship of chemistry and 
pharmacy. Dr. Ingals resigned the chair of materia medica and Dr. Ethe- 
ridge was elected to the position. 

The course of 1871-1872 was cut short by the great fire of October 8 
and 9. Students were scattered with the great army of homeless citizens 
and Rush Medical College existed only as a legal entity. The site was 
covered by a huge pile of brick and twisted iron in which Dr. Freer found 
the half melted stand of his microscope and various pieces of chemical 
apparatus, now preserved in the college. 

The dauntless Chicago spirit was nowhere better exemplified than among 
the faculty members of Rush. In a few days the classes were reassembled 
and the course resumed. In this behalf the authorities of Cook County 
Hospital tendered the use of a clinical amphitheater for a lecture room and 
the Chicago Medical College invited Rush to employ its dissecting room. 
Both offers were Accepted and with these facilities the courses were car- 
ried on. 

For a long time the fact that the college was two miles distant from Cook 
County Hospital was a source of regret to the members of the faculty. It 
was apparent that the time would soon come when it would be necessary 
to erect a new County Hospital, as the facilities of the old one were 
entirely inadequate to the needs of the fast growing city. To make the 
utmost out of the large range of illustrative cases such as are offered by a 
County Hospital in a big community, it was decided not to relocate and 
rebuild Rush College until the new County Hospital was erected. 

In the meantime the school authorities agreed to build for use during the 
period of waiting a temporary structure. In this way the celebrated "col- 
lege under the sidewalk" came into being. To a considerable degree it 
actually was under the sidewalk, although it rose several feet above it. It 
was a rude brick building with a tar root. It contained an amphitheater 
and a laboratory over which was a dissecting room. It cost less than 
$4,000, but it served its purpose for four years. 

By 1875 the construction of a new edifice was begun at the corner of 
Harrison and Wood streets, diagonally opposite the County Hospital. The 
corner stone was laid with the ceremonies of the Masonic order on March 
20, 1875. Grand Master Dewitt C. Cregier, afterwards mayor of Chicago, 
officiated in the presence of a large assemblage. The orator of the day was 
the eloquent Dr. J. Adams Allen. The new building and lot cost in the 
neighborhood of $75,000. The funds were contributed largely by the mem- 
bers of the faculty. 

Upon the death of Dr. Freer on April 12, 1877, Dr. Allen became presi- 
dent of the college. At this time Dr. Walter S. Haines was appointed pro- 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 195 

fessor of chemistry and toxicology to give practically his whole time to the 
college work in this department. 

Until 1877 the only clinical work at the college building was that in 
surgery. Dr. Gunn's Saturday afternoon surgical clinics had been par- 
ticularly successful. Now came a new epoch when these additional clinics 
were inaugurated : 

Diseases of the nervous system, Dr. Lyman. 

Diseases of the heart and lungs, Dr. Ross. 

Medicine, Dr. Norman Bridge. 

These clinics were held once a week throughout the year. The following 
year Dr. James Nevins Hyde began his clinic on skin and venereal diseases. 

In 1880 four more clinics were added to the list, one by Dr. John E. 
Owens on orthopedic surgery, one on diseases of children by Dr. J. Suydam 
Knox and Dr. De Laskie Miller, one on gynecology by Dr. William H. 
Byford and Dr. Daniel T. Nelson and one on diseases of the eye and ear 
by Dr. Edward L. Holmes. In 1882 the clinic in orthopedic surgery was 
dropped from the list, Dr. Owens having resigned his chair. 

After the discontinuance of this clinic there were still eight of at least an 
hour each every week of the year and in eight departments of medicine 
and surgery. In 1884 there was added a clinic on diseases of the throat 
and nose by Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals, which was later enlarged to include 
diseases of the chest. At the same time a second clinic on surgery was 
begun by Dr. Gunn which Dr. Parkes, his successor, increased to three 
each week. In 1890 the service in the department of skin and venereal 
diseases was increased to two clinics a week of an hour each. 

That dentistry is a specialty of medicine was recognized by the college 
in 1882 when the teaching of dental anatomy, physiology, pathology and 
surgery was begun. Dr. W. W. Airport was appointed emeritus professor 
of dental pathology and surgery, and Dr. Truman W. Brophy actively to 
the same chair to give a few lectures each winter on these subjects. Dr. 
Eugene S. Talbot was appointed lecturer on dental anatomy and physiology 
in the spring course. Clinical instruction in dentistry was given in the 
Central Free Dispensary. 

About this time the Chicago Dental Infirmary was established by several 
members of the faculty of Rush in conjunction with the dentists. The pur- 
pose was to teach the technical branches of dentistry to medical graduates 
only. From this institution later was evolved the Chicago College of 
Dental Surgery. 

In the foundation of the Presbyterian Hospital, Rush Medical College 
played a conspicuous role. Dr. Joseph Presley Ross, strongly seconded by 
several members of the faculty, early advocated the establishment of such 
an institution. Soon the support of all the members of the faculty was 
enlisted and in furtherance of the project the college took the first steps 
and expended the first money. A small lot was bought and a hospital struc- 
ture planned. This undertaking was nearly completed before it was known 
that it would ever pass to the control of the Presbyterian denomination. 

Four of the senior members of the faculty died between 1887 and 1890 
.".nd their passing was a severe loss to Rush. Dr. Gunn died on November 
7, 1887, Dr. Byford on May 21, 1890, Dr. Ross in June, 1890. and Dr. Allen 
in the autumn of the same year. Dr. Parkes was transferred to the chair 
of surgery and the chair of anatomy was assumed by Dr. Arthur Dean 



196 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Be van. Dr. James H. Etheridge was transferred to the chair of gynecology 
and Dr. D. R. Brower became professor of mental diseases, materia medica 
and therapeutics in his stead. Dr. Norman Bridge, who had been for several 
years professor sucessively of hygiene and of pathology and adjunct in 
practice of medicine, was transferred to the chair of clinical medicine and 
allied subjects. 

Dr. Edward L. Holmes, who had been a teacher in the college since 
1870, followed Dr. Allen in the presidency. Shortly before Dr. Nicholas 
Senn had been appointed professor of the principles of surgery and surgical 
pathology as a colleague of Dr. Parkes. He resigned in 1890, but on the 
death of Dr. Parkes in 1891 he was appointed professor of the practice of 
surgery and clinical surger)^ Dr. John B. Hamilton being at the same time 
appointed professor of the principles of surgery and clinical surgery. In 
1893 Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals was appointed professor of laryngology. 

President Holmes' administration was vigorous and progressive. "The 
impression was growing in the faculty, by the insistence of President Holmes 
in particular, that the methods of teaching needed to be radically changed," 
says Dr. John Edwin Rhodes. "There must be more laboratory work, more 
practical courses, more personal teaching, less didactic lecturing; and finally 
more years must be spent in the college study. There must be introduced 
into this medical college work more of the elements of manual training, 
and the work must be graded. The impression grew to conviction and so 
in half a dozen years the course of study was metamorphosed completely." 

In 1893 a five-story laboratory building was erected on Harrison Street 
opposite the original college building. It contained laboratories for chem- 
istry, anatomy, pathology, bacteriology and materia medica. Required 
laboratory courses in the various departments were introduced. In 1895 
Dr. Ludvig Hektoen became professor of pathology and under him instruc- 
tion in gross and microscopic pathology was developed into one of the 
strongest and most popular courses. 

A direct result of this progressive attitude was the high culmination of 
Dr. Holmes' administration when Rush Medical College became affiliated 
with the University of Chicago. There had been a brief and unprofitable 
union with 'the first University of Chicago in 1874-5. In 1887 the college 
became the medical department of Lake Forest University, but this rela- 
tionship was merely nominal. When the University of Chicago was founded 
in 1891 President William Rainey Harper had announced plans for an 
institution of a more comprehensive and higher type than had previously 
existed in this country. Professional schools, among them a school of medicine, 
were to be included in the vast project. The conviction became general 
that under the guidance of Dr. Harper one of the great universities of the 
world was to be developed in Chicago. 

"It was due primarily to the foresight and indomitable perseverance of 
Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals that plans to link the medical school with the uni- 
versity were formulated," says Professor John M. Dodson and,' as a result 
of protracted negotiations between President Harper and Dr. Ingals an 
understanding ultimately was reached. For the medical college the fol- 
lowing took part in the final conversations: 

President Edward L. Holmes and Doctors Henry M. Lyman. James H. 
Etheridge, Walter S. Haines, James Nevins Hyde, E. Fletcher Ingals, 
Arthur Dean F>evan, Daniel R. Brower, lohn B. Hamilton and John M. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 197 

Dodson. The only faculty members absent were Dr. Norman Bridge, who 
was in California, and Dr. Nicholas Senn, who was in the south on a brief 
vacation. President Harper, Dr. Thomas W. Goodspeed and Dr. Albion W. 
Small represented the University. 

Affiliation was completed January 5, 1898, and became effective the fol- 
lowing June. 

Executive officers of the medical faculty appointed by the trustees were 
Senior Dean, Dr. Henry M. Lyman ; Junior Dean, Dr. John M. Dodson, 
and Registrar, Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals. 

In 1898 Dr. Frank Billings, who had been a member of the faculty of 
Northwestern University Medical School since 1882, became associated with 
Rush as professor of medicine. Two years later he was elected dean of the 
faculty, which position he has held ever since. 

As a condition precedent to the affiliation it was stipulated by the Uni- 
versity authorities that the debt of Rush Medical College be paid. The 
amount was $73,000 in bonds. The sum needed to extinguish the obliga- 
tion was subscribed by the .members of the faculty, Doctors Nicholas Senn 
and Ephraim Ingals each giving $25,000. 

In 1903 the Senn Memorial Building was erected adjoining the original 
college building. It provides quarters for the Central Free Dispensary and 
various clinical and research laboratories. 

The Central Free Dispensary of West Chicago was organized in 1867, 
under the title of the Brainard Free Dispensary, and incorporated under 
its present title on April 1, 1873. At different periods for nine years it 
occupied small rooms at 232 West Randolph Street, 79 West Madison 
Street, 95 West Randolph Street, 136 North Sangamon Street, and 239 West 
Van Buren Street. 

In 1871 the Herrick Free Dispensary was founded under the auspices of 
the Relief and Aid Society, to assist in relieving the destitution caused by 
the recent fire. This dispensary occupied rooms on Wright Street, near 
Twelfth Street, and confined its task to the care of the sick poor in the 
southern portion of the West Division. 

In 1872, this new dispensary, to which the Relief and Aid Society had 
donated, as a permanent fund, the sum of $5,000, was united with the 
Central Dispensary, under one organization. The medical boards continued 
in office, each with special duties. 

In 1876, the dispensary removed to quarters in the lower story of the new 
Rush Medical College, corner of Harrison and Wood streets. In June, 1902, 
the dispensary was transferred to Senn Hall. 

The medical library at the college has been built up about a nucleus con- 
sisting of the library of the late Dr. J. Adams Allen. Several libraries be- 
longing to members of the faculty have come to the college after the deaths 
of their owners. Among the larger ones may be mentioned those of Doctors 
Charles T. Parkes, Edward L. Holmes and Christian Fenger. Many smaller 
gifts have been received from various sources and the college for several 
years has subscribed for most of the leading periodicals in various languages. 

The library now contains approximately 23,000 volumes, 5,000 pamphlets 
and 15,000 reprint?.. It is one of the large medical libraries of the country. 

The Alumni Association of Rush Medical College was organized in 1879, 
It has held annual meetings at the time of the college commencement am 
joint banquets with the college faculty. For ten years it published its pro- 



198 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

ceedings in pamphlet form and since 1904 has published a "Bulletin" several 
times each year, containing items of interest to the alumni. 

Under the affiliation with the University of Chicago the student spends 
the two preclinical years at the University of Chicago in the Hull Biological 
Laboratories. Instruction is in the hands of teachers whose time is wholly 
devoted to the teaching and investigation in their respective lines. The 
belief is that the student pursuing these studies in the atmosphere of an 
institution devoted to scientific work cannot but gain a broader and more 
thorough conception of the fundamental sciences. 

The clinical branches are taught in Rush Medical College with its Cen- 
tral Free Dispensary, the Presbyterian Hospital, the Home for Destitute 
Crippled Children, the Cook County Hospital and the Durand Hospital of 
the John McCormick Institute for Infectious Diseases. A fifth year, also 
requisite for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, provides for work as an 
interne or in research. 

The great undertaking was graphically outlined by Dean Billings in an 
announcement to the alumni of Rush Medical College under date of January 
16, 1917: 

"It must be a source of gratification to every alumnus of Rush College 
to know that the high standards of medical teaching and the encouragement 
of research at Rush Medical College during its affiliation with the University 
of Chicago produced a medical condition in Chicago which is unique. I 
use the word unique because when a plan for a broad and comprehensive 
medical teaching in America was under discussion by the General Education 
Board, Chicago was found to be the only place where such a big plan could be 
carried out. This condition of medicine in Chicago was brought about by 
the development of medicine at the University of Chicago, at Rush and at 
the Presbyterian Hospital together with the research work done at the 
John McCormick Institute for Infectious Diseases and the Otho S. A. 
Sprague Memorial Institute. 

''The broad and comprehensive plan for medicine in Chicago under the 
administration of the University of Chicago means the development of an 
undergraduate medical school of high standards at the University campus. 
For many years the University of Chicago has conducted at the Hull Bio- 
logical Laboratories the first two years of medical work. It is endowed 
with $2,000,000 with full-time teachers to carry on the work. To complete 
the undergraduate school at the university there will be erected at the 
campus a hospital of 250 beds for the purpose of teaching and medical re- 
search. This hospital will be known as the Albert M. Billings Hospital, 
erected at the cost of $1,000,000, a gift made by a son of A. M. Billings, 
C. K. G. Billings; a grandson, Albert Billings Ruddock; a son-in-law, Charles 
H. Ruddock, and a nephew, Dr. Frank Billings. The hospital will be en- 
dowed with $3.000,000 for the maintenance of the hospital and to furnish 
the funds to pay the salaries of the full-time teachers of clinical medicine 
tvho will also be the staff of the hospital. 

"On the west side at Rush Medical College the old building will be re- 
placed by a new laboratory and clinical building estimated to cost $300,000. 
The sum for the erection of this building has been donated by Mr. and Mrs. 
Frederick H. Rawson of Chicago. It will have direct communication with 
the Presbyterian Hospital, which with its 440 beds will furnish the clinical 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



material of the graduate school. The graduate school will be further en- 
dowed with $1,000,000, the income of which will be used in payment of 
the salaries of the teachers of the graduate school, some of whom will be 
members of the staff of the Presbyterian Hospital. In all probability the 
heads of departments of medicine, surgery and obstetrics in the graduate 
school will be full-time men and all the laboratory workers will be full-time 
teachers. Necessarily the graduate school will afford an opportunity for 
many qualified clinical teachers on part time and part pay. 

"Contractual relations have been entered into between the University of 
Chicago, Rush Medical Colege, the Presbyterian Hospital, and the Otho 
S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute in the development of this big medical 
plan. Necessarily the Central Free Dispensary of West Chicago will have 
the same relations with the graduate school that it has always held with 
Rush Medical College. 

"Therefore, the plan for medicine in Chicago under the administration of 
the University of Chicago contemplates a high standard institution in under- 
graduate medicine, graduate medicine and clinical research. The graduate 
school will offer opportunities for practitioners from anywhere in the world 
to better qualify themselves for medical work of all kinds and if they are 
qualified to do it, to engage in research in subjects in which they may be 
interested. Practitioners young and old and research workers will find an 
opportunity to better qualify themselves-, than in ordinary postgraduate 
schools both for short and long periods of study. It will afford them an 
opportunity to do in Chicago as good or better work than medical men have 
been able to get abroad." 

The finances of the various institutions forming the unified medical plan 
are estimated in excess of $10,000,000. Included in this are the Hull Build- 
ings at the University of Chicago, the endowment for the fundamental 
branches of medicine at the University, the property and endowment of the 
Presbyterian Hospital, the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute and the 
John McCormick Institute for Infectious Diseases. In this sum no estimate 
was placed on the property value of Rush Medical College. 

To carry out the plan it was estimated by the General Education Board 
a few years ago that $5,300,000 would be required for buildings and endow- 
ments. This sum has been subscribed. 

Owing to unsettled business and building conditions, the carrying out of 
the plan has been held in abeyance, but it is believed that its realization will 
take place in the near future. 




200 



HISTORY OF MKOICINK AND SURGKRY IN CHICAGO 




(Photo by Gates) 

HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE 

2811 Cottage Grove Avenue 



*HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE OF CHI- 
CAGO 

Abraham Lincoln, according to reports, aided substantially in the procure- 
ment of the charter for Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago. 

The grant was obtained in 1855. As early as 1849 the matter of the estab- 
lishment of a homeopathic school was under consideration. It was not until 
1852-3, however, that Dr. E. A. Guilbert of Elgin drafted a charter for the 
incorporation of such an institution. The project encountered violent opposi- 
tion forthwith and was not submitted to the general assembly. In the fol- 
lowing biennium Dr. David S. Smith went to the state capital and, say the 
chroniclers, Abraham Lincoln and J. Young Scammon materially assisted him 
in persuading the legislature to adopt a measure granting corporate powers 
to the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago. The date of the charter was 
February 14, 1855. 

The first faculty was organized at a meeting of homeopathic physicians at 
Halsey and King's pharmacy, 168 South Clark Street, on the evening of March 
15, 1860. Present at this meeting were Doctors George E. Shipman, A. E. 
Small, J. L. Kellogg, Nicholas F. Cooke, Gaylord D. Beebe, A. Pitney, E. 
Rawson, J. Davis, S. Seymour, A. K. Boardman and Reuben Ludlam. Dr. 
Shipman was chairman and Dr. Ludlam secretary of the meeting. It was de- 
cided to bring the college into being under the provisions of the charter and 
the following were chosen as members of the first faculty : 



*Dr. Howard R. Chislett's history of Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago in Volume Two of "His- 
tory of Homeopathy," edited by Dr. William Harvey King, is the basis of this record. Information con- 
cerning recent years has been furnished by Dr. Chislett and Dr. Joseph P. Cobb. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 201 

Alvan E. Small, M. D., dean and professor of theory and practice. 

Reuben Ludlam, M. D., registrar and professor of physiology and pathol- 
ogy. 

George E. Shipman, M. D., professor of materia medica. 

H. K. Boardman, M. D., professor of surgery. 

Gaylord D. Beebe, M. D., professor of anatomy. 

Nicholas F. Cooke, M. D., professor of chemistry and toxicology. 

J. L. Kellogg, M. D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology. 

George Payson, Esq., lecturer on medical jurisprudence. 

Dr. David S. Smith, who was elected president of the first board of trustees, 
had begun the practice of medicine in Chicago in 1836. As early as 1837 his 
attention was called to homeopathy, to which he became a complete convert 
after a careful investigation extending over a period of four or five years. Dr. 
Smith was the founder and first president of the Illinois Homeopathic Asso- 
ciation and during his life received all the honors that local and national so- 
cieties could confer upon him. It was through Dr. Smith that the first Hahne- 
mann Hospital was obtained for the benefit of the school. 

Rooms over the Halsey and King pharmacy having been set apart for the 
purposes of the college, the formal opening occurred in October, I860. 
Twenty students were enrolled, of whom nine were in the junior class and 
eleven in the senior department. The entire senior class was graduated at 
Metropolitan Hall, February 14, 1861, forty persons being in the audience. 

Quarters for the teaching of the early students were exceedingly primitive. 
Dr. Temple S. Hoyne, who attended a part of the first lectures, has left this 
description of the accommodations : "The only lecture room was about 
twelve by twenty feet and was arranged to seat, when crowded, about forty 
students. By encroaching upon the speaker's stand, some ten or twelve visit- 
ors could be accommodated. Adjoining this very capacious lecture room was 
a dispensary about eight by ten feet containing a small medicine case or dis- 
pensary table and chairs for three or four patients, the usual number in at- 
tendance when there were any at all. The dissecting room was a small cup- 
board hole in which it was barely possible to dissect two subjects at the same 
time. The whole third story of the building and the greater part of the sec- 
ond were at the disposal of the faculty, but the small rooms mentioned were 
partitioned off and were deemed amply sufficient to accommodate the neces- 
sities of the class." 

During the six years that followed its establishment the college met with 
many successes, many trials and some serious changes in the group of phy- 
sicians and surgeons forming its faculty. Dr. Beebe's separation from the 
. school to accept a commission as surgeon in the Union Army was, however, 
regarded with satisfaction, for his appointment was hailed as a victory for 
those who had striven for recognition of the homeopathic school in the army. 
Dr. Beebe's meritorious services were rewarded by promotion to the rank of 
chief medical director of the Fourteenth Army Corps'. At the close of the war 
he returned to Hahnemann, where he performed many brilliant operations 
including a successful resection of four feet ten inches of the small intestine 
in a woman on whom he was operating for a large umbilical hernia. 

Dr. Smith, having retired from the presidency of the board of trustees in 
1866, was succeeded by Dr. Small and Dr. Ludlam was elected dean. 

The second home of the college was established at 1237 State Street in 1 
and contained lecture rooms sufficiently large to accommodate about one hun- 



202 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

dred students. It is described by Dr. Hoyne as "a dingy sort of place reached 
by climbing two pairs of stairs." The dissecting room was located on the 
same floor and was separated from the lecture room by a single door which 
allowed the foul odors to penetrate to every part of the building. Still it was 
regarded as an improvement upon the old location, the dispensary facilities 
being especially improved. 

The college occupied these unpretentious quarters for five years, the num- 
ber of students increasing from 60 to 90 and the graduating class from 26 
to 38. 

Through the generosity of J. Young Scammon, Hahnemann secured its own 
hospital accommodations in 1870. For this purpose Mr. Scammon donated a 
group of frame buildings at 2813 Groveland Avenue under the name of Scam- 
mon Hospital. Brick additions were made in 1872 and 1873, providing a sat- 1 
isfactory amphitheater for clinical use. This structure was partly destroyed 
by fire in 1883. In its reconstruction it took the form now known as the 
Nurses' Home and served as Hahnemann Hospital until 1894, the year of the 
erection of the new hospital. 

Having decided in 1871 that they needed a home of their own, the board of 
trustees and faculty in June of that year undertook the construction of "Old 
Hahnemann." The cornerstone was laid during the annual meeting of the 
American Institute of Homeopathy in this city. 

The structure, which was located on the site of the present college, was 
ready to receive students in October of the same year. There were seventy- 
nine matriculants. 

During the next decade the college flourished remarkably, the total enroll- 
ment in 1880 being 280. The graduation class in that year numbered 87. In- 
deed, while Old Hahnemann occupied the building, the educational progress 
of the institution was uninterrupted. One of the first of the western colleges 
to insist upon the three-year course and one of the first to formulate the four- 
year graded course, Hahnemann strictly maintained the policy of raising the 
standard of medical education. 

In paying tribute to those responsible for the progress thus made, Dr. How- 
ard R. Chislett, sometime dean, says : "All honor to Doctors Reuben Ludlam, 
George A. Hall and Temple S. Hoyne. They are all dead now, but their 
memories are honored by their one-time students and we rejoice that they all 
lived sufficiently long to round out their useful lives, to prove their faith in 
their former students and supporters and to see their anticipations realized 
in the construction of our group of modern buildings. Without the slightest 
thought of belittling the earnest effort of others, the real pilot that guided 
Hahnemann Medical College as it passed through its many trials was Dr. 
Reuben Ludlam, its first registrar, its second dean and its third president. 

"Dr. Ludlam was graduated from the medical department of the University 
of Pennsylvania in 1852. Arriving in Chicago, he was at once impressed with 
the efficacy of homeopathic medication in the treatment of cholera. His in- 
vestigations led him to enter the new school of practice and in the following 
year he became associated with Dr. D. S. Smith. To Dr. Ludlam may be 
traced the initiative that resulted in the calling of the first meeting for the 
organization of the college ; the resolution that pronounced the time now ripe 
for the establishment of a homeopathic school; the main force and judgment 
that molded the policy of the institution for the twenty-five years of his dean- 
ship ; the chief influence that made for clinical instruction and the determina- 



203 



tion to admit women on an equal footing with men. Doctor Ludlam received 
every honor the American profession could bestow upon him and will always 
be remembered as a gentleman, as a scholar and as the foremost gynecologist 
and editor of his day in the homeopathic ranks." 

Upon Dr. Ludlam's election to the presidency in 1891, Dr. H. B. Fellows, 
who for five years had been in charge of the department of practice, was 
chosen dean. 

The present college building was finished in 1893. It was furnished 
throughout by the alumni association. Since the new college structure has 
been in existence, increased matriculation requirements and the higher stand- 
ard of the four-year graded courses have naturally lessened the number of 
applicants for instruction, so the growth of Hahnemann in the past twenty- 
eight years has been in an educational rather than numerical sense. 

In 1894 the trustees of Hahnemann Medical College incorporated the hos- 
pital as a separate corporate body under the same board of trustees ; this was 
done to overcome certain financial limitations in the college charter. 

When Dr. Fellows relinquished the duties of dean on account of ill health, 
he was succeeded by Dr. Charles H. Vilas, who had been active head of the 
eye and ear department since 1881. Dr. Vilas served three years as dean and 
one year as president of the board of trustees, resigning in 1900 because of ill 
health. 

Dr. E. Stillman Bailey had already in 1884 succeeded Dr. Hoyne as regis- 
trar, a position which he held for ten years. As instructor in physiology, pro- 
fessor of gynecology and registrar, Dr. Bailey did much for Hahnemann for 
twenty years. At the end of this service he was elected dean of the college 
faculty, a position which he occupied until overwork forced him to resign. 
In 1900 he was elected a member of the board of trustees. 

When Dr. Bailey resigned as registrar, Dr. Joseph P. Cobb was chosen to 
succeed him, and during the six years he retained this office, and as senior 
professor of physiology and pediatrics, Dr. Cobb, with Dr. E. M. Bruce, then 
senior in the department of chemistry, labored faithfully and successfully for 
the betterment of instruction, especially in the laboratory courses. 

Upon the retirement of Dr. Vilas from the presidency in May, 1900, the 
faculty united in recommending Dr. George F. Shears as president and Dr. 
Howard R. Chislett as dean. Dr. Shears for many years had been secretary 
of the board of trustees and senior surgeon. It was he who introduced mod- 
ern methods of aseptic and antiseptic surgery into the college and hospital. 
Dr. Shears, as an official, secured for Hahnemann its independence as a cor- 
poration and its freedom from debt. 

During the presidency of Doctor Shears a union or amalgamation of the 
Chicago Homeopathic Medical College with the Hahnemann Medical College 
was consummated, to take effect February 1, 1905. 

On the death of Dr. Shears in 1910, Dr. Chislett was elected president and 
Dr. Charles E. Kahlke was chosen dean. He served until 1913, when he was 
succeeded by Dr. Joseph P. Cobb. 

In the early years of his presidency Dr. Chislett demonstrated to the board 
of trustees that Hahnemann College, like any other educational institutu 
could not be satisfactorily conducted on a commercial basis ; that it could 
do work commensurate with the educational demands if its financial returns 
were limited to the students' fees. 



204 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Through these efforts the individual trustees and other friends of the 
Hahnemann institutions properly financed the college for a period of .years 
(1911-1917), during which the officers of the college and the dean's commit- 
tee (with Dr. Charles E. Rahlke as chairman) were endeavoring to interest 
the trustees in the organization of the Chicago Memorial Foundation, having 
as its purpose the taking over of the Hahnemann interests and developing 
them upon a broader non-sectarian basis, and the raising of funds for a new 
hospital. 

These plans were well under way and by 1914 a sufficient amount of money 
had been pledged to build two of the three wings of the new hospital, when 
the World War convinced the trustees that the time was not propitious for 
expansion. It was therefore decided to broaden the charter of the Hahne- 
mann Hospital, increasing the board of trustees from ten to twenty members 
and giving the corporation the right "to purchase, erect, own, conduct and 
operate hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, one of which colleges 
shall be a medical college." 

It was under this new charter that Hahnemann Medical College was taken 
over by the hospital corporation and conducted as one of the educational units 
of the hospital. By this action the necessity of a president of the college cor- 
poration ceased and Dr. Chislett's responsibilities as president were assumed 
by Mr. John J. Mitchell, president of the hospital board, and Dr. Joseph P. 
Cobb, dean of the college. This action was taken in 1915. 

Under the deanship of Dr. Cobb the funds of the Chicago Memorial Foun- 
dation were materially increased, an important addition being the income 
from a living alumni endowment fund. 

In 1920 John Charles Blake, B. S., Ph. D., who for six years had been pro- 
fessor in charge of the department of chemistry, was elected registrar and on 
February 1, 1921, succeeded Dr. Cobb as dean of the faculty. 

In 1919 the faculty and board of trustees adopted the educational policy 
that the work required of all students should embrace all of the well recog- 
nized principles of medicine, including a complete course in homeopathy. 

Beginning with the session of 1921-22, Hahnemann Medical College, rees- 
tablished under its own charter, with Dr. Cobb as president and Dr. Blake as 
dean, adopted the policy that every course dealing with the principles of medi- 
cine must be accompanied by original research tending to elucidate and ex- 
tend the principles involved. 

With the reestablishment of the college under its own board of trustees, the 
relationship of the college to the alumni, and to the members of the state so- 
ciety was emphasized. Their responsibility was also pointed out and ac- 
cepted by them to the extent that they have become important factors in the 
financial support of the institution. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



205 




(Photo by Gates) 

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL 
2421 South Dearborn Street 



* N O R T H W E S T E R N UNIVERSITY 

MEDICAL SCHOOL . 

First in the United States to apply the principles of scientific pedagogy \ 
to the teaching of medicine and surgery. 

This is the high distinction belonging to Northwestern University Medical 
School, whose aggressive founders were the fathers of modern instructional / 
methods in medical institutions of learning. / 

In the early half of the nineteenth century there were thirty-six medical 
colleges in the country. None maintained a standard of preliminary educa- 
tion for beginning the study of medicine or entering the medical school. No 
laboratory work was required except the dissection of a part of the human 
body. Attendance on clinical instruction was not obligatory upon the stu- 
dent. 

The college faculties generally consisted of six or seven professors and a 
demonstrator of anatomy. The instruction was almost wholly by didactic 
lectures given at the rate of five or six a day to all the students, in a single 
class, without any consecutive order by which the more elementary branches 
might be attended the first year and the more practical the second year. In 
that way all the then recognized branches of medicine were treated each 
year for a period of from twelve to sixteen weeks, which was recognized as 
an annual college term. 

These anomalous conditions evoked numerous and severe criticisms, both 
in the meetings of medical societies and in the medical journals. In the 
annual meeting of the New York State Medical Society, February, 1844, 
Dr. N. S. Davis, then a young delegate from the Broome County Medical 
Society, presented resolutions demanding the adoption of a fair standard of 
general education before commencing the study of medicine, the lengthening 
of annual medical college terms to six months, attendance upon three such 

* Data for this history was obtained mainlv from Volume Three of "Northwestern University, A History 
1855-1905," edited by Arthur Herbert Wilde, Ph. D., and published in 1905. Contained in this are 
"Earlier History of the Medical School," by Dr. N. S. Davis; "Later History of the Medical School," 
by Dr. N. S. Davis, IT, and a sketch of the laboratories by Dr. John H. Long. Information concerning 
(lie work in recent years was kindly furnished by Dr. F. R. Zeit, professor of pathology. 



206 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

terms and the grading of the curriculum in such a manner that the student 
would be able to confine his attention to a limited number of branches each 
year. 

It was the earnest and persistent discussion of these resolutions, and the 
principles they involved, in the annual meetings of the New York State 
Medical Society in 1844 and 1845 that resulted in the call for a national 
convention of delegates from all the regular medical societies, medical col- 
leges and hospitals in this country to be held in May, 1846, in the city of New 
York. Debate upon educational reforms thus precipitated by Dr. Davis 
was continued at this conclave and it eventuated in the final organization of 
the American Medical Association at Philadelphia in May, 1847. The prime 
purpose of the national association was to elevate and systematize medical 
education by inducing the medical schools in all the states to act in concert. 
However, although this purpose was repeatedly and forcefully emphasized at 
succeeding meetings of the national body, not one of the medical schools 
then existing in this country attempted to put this progressive program into 
practice. 

While attending the third annual meeting of the American Medical Asso- 
ciation at Boston in 1849, Dr. Davis was invited to come to Chicago as pro- 
fessor of physiology and pathology in Rush Medical College. Arriving in 
Chicago in the autumn of that year, Dr. Davis entered upon his new duties. 
From the beginning of his incumbency he continually urged adoption of a 
more thorough and efficient system of medical education by Rush Medical 
College without waiting longer for other colleges to act first. His views 
were vigorously supported by Doctors Edmund Andrews and Hosmer A. 
Johnson, who were members of the faculty of Rush. 

However, Dr. Daniel Brainard, president, and a majority of the faculty 
and trustees overruled the insurgents and refused to make any changes in 
the direction desired. 

At this time Lind University, recently established in a building at the 
northwest corner of Randolph and Market streets, was seeking affiliation with 
a medical school. A concertium was proposed to Doctors Johnson, Andrews, 
Ralph N. Isham and David Rutter that included the promise to co-operate 
in the development of scholastic plans in consonance with the policy of the 
American Medical Association. The proffer was accepted by Dr. Johnson 
and his associates, who immediately invited Doctors N. S. Davis and Wil- 
liam H. Byford of Rush Medical College faculty to join them in founding the 
medical department of Lind University. Doctors Davis and Byford there- 
upon resigned their professorships and the undertaking was begun. 

The faculty, as first organized and approved by the board of trustees of 
Lind University, was constituted as follows: 

Titus Deville, M. D., professor of descriptive anatomy. 

John H. Hollister, M. D., professor of physiology and histology. 

F. Mahla, M. D., professor of inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and 
toxicology. 

Hosmer A. Johnson, M. D., professor of materia medica and therapeutics. 

M. R. Taylor, M. D., professor of general pathology. 

Ralph N. Isham, M. D., professor of surgical anatomy. 

Edmund Andrews, M. D., professor of principles and practice of surgery. 

Nathan S. Davis, M. D., professor of principles and practice of medicine. 



HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 207 

William H. Byford, M. D., professor of obstetrics and diseases of women. 
Henry G. Spofford, Esq., professor of medical jurisprudence. 
David Rutter, M. D., emeritus professor of obstetrics. 
Horace Wardner, M. D., demonstrator of anatomy. 

The instruction given by the five first named professors, with dissections 
and laboratory work, constituted the junior course and that given by the 
remaining members of the faculty, with clinical instructions, the senior 
course. Students who were in the first half of the three years of the medical 
curriculum were required to attend the junior course and those in the second 
half the senior course. 

The first annual college term began October 9, 1859, with an introductory 
lecture by Dr. Davis, who said, among other things: "Considerations which 
have induced the faculty to undertake the task of establishing this institu- 
tion may all be included in the two following propositions: First, the very 
liberal offer of the board of trustees of Lind University to furnish all the 
needed accommodations for a medical department, with no other restrictions 
than that the plan of instruction adopted should be such as would most 
effectually promote the educational interests of the profession without ref- 
erence to established customs and usages. Second, a sincere desire on the 
part of the faculty to put into practical operation a system of medical college 
instruction more in accordance with sound educational principles and better 
adapted to the present state of science and art of medicine than that which 
has been so long adhered to by the medical schools of the country." 

The number of matriculants for the first college term was thirty-three, of 
whom nineteen were juniors and fourteen seniors who had completed their 
first courses in some other medical school. The rooms that had been pro- 
vided in the Lind Block consisted of two convenient and well lighted lecture 
halls, a laboratory, a museum, a room for practical anatomy, a library and 
faculty room. The facilities for clinical instruction in the departments of 
practical medicine, surgery, gynecology and pediatrics were furnished by 
Mercy Hospital, an orphan asylum adjoining the hospital and a free dis- 
pensary for the poor in one of the rooms ofLthe medical school. 

For four years the faculty of the medical school efficiently sustained its 
organization for better preliminary education, longer annual college terms, 
properly graded curriculum and direct clinical instruction in both hospital 
and dispensary. The number of matriculants had increased from thirty- 
three in the first year to seventy-nine the fourth year and the temporary 
rooms had become inadequate for their accommodation. The time had also 
come when the trustees of Lind University had promised to have a new and 
adequate building ready for the permanent accommodation of the medical 
department. But the disturbing influences of the civil war and the unexX 
pected financial failure of Sylvester Lind, who had promised the trustees an * 
endowment of $100,000 and in whose honor the university had been named, 
had rendered the trustees unable to fulfill that part of the contract with the 
medical faculty. 

This contretemps caused the trustees of Lind University to change the 
name of the corporation to that of Lake Forest University and to release / 
the medical faculty from all further obligations to remain a department of/ 
that institution. 



208 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

Being thus thrown upon their own resources, the members of the med- 
ical faculty soon after the close of the college term of 1862-63 decided to 
continue the medical school as an independent institution and issued their 
annual announcement under the name of the Chicago Medical College, but 
without any change in the membership of the faculty or the system of in- 
struction. 

A lot was purchased at the corner of State Street and Twenty-second 
Street (then Ringgold 1'lace) and a new college building was erected in 
time for the opening of the college term in October, 1863. In the meantime 
the usual summer courses of clinical and didactic instructions were con- 
tinued for the benefit of a considerable class of students. 

Dr. Davis, in inaugurating the term of 1863, said, "Four years have now 
elapsed since this institution, organized in the manner already indicated, 
began its career in rooms temporarily fitted up, not, as facetiously remarked 
by an enemy of the enterprise, in the loft of a warehouse, but on the third 
and fourth floors of an elegant block of buildings on Market Street. The 
number of students attending the first annual lecture term was thirty-three ; 
the second, fifty-four; the third, sixty-three; and the fourth, eighty-one. 
Thus in the short period of four years the school presented a larger class 
than the old and justly celebrated medical departments of Yale and Dart- 
mouth and equal to the classes in one-fourth of the medical schools in 
the Union." 

As an independent educational institution the Chicago Medical College 
was incorporated April 26, 1864, the following members of the faculty 
being made to constitute the board of trustees : 

Doctors James S. Jewell, Hosmer A. Johnson, John H. Hollister, Henry 
Wing, F. Mahla, Edmund Andrews, Ralph N. Isham, William H. Byford, 
Nathan S. Davis and Mills O. Heydock. 

Dr. Hosmer A. Johnson was elected president and Edmund Andrews 
secretary of the board of trustees. Dr. Davis was choseri dean of the 
4'aculty. 

In 1865 upon the resignation of Dr. Henry Wing from the chair of materia 
medica, Dr. Heydock succeeded' him. Dr. J. M. Woodworth became dem- 
onstrator of anatomy. In 1866 Dr. Johnson resigned from his .professorship 
because of ill health and Dr. Hollister was transferred to the chair of general 
pathology and public hygiene. The next year Dr. Mahla resigned from 
the chair of chemistry and J. E. Davies was appointed in his. place. In 1868 
Professor Davies resigned and Dr. C. Gilbert \Vheeler was made professor 
of chemistry. During this year Dr. Joseph S. Hildreth gave a course of 
lectures on ophthalmology and otology and Dr. Thomas Bevan was appointed 
to the newly created chair of public hygiene. 

In 1869, Dr. Jewell having resigned, Dr. H. W. Boyd was made professor 
of anatomy. Dr. Edward O. F. Roler was made professor of obstetrics and 
diseases of children. Dr. J. S. Sherman, was chosen adjunct professor of 
surgery and Dr. Thomas S. Bond demonstrator of anatomy, Dr. Woodworth 
having resigned. Later in the year Professor Wheeler resigned and Dr. 
N. Gray Bartlett was made professor of inorganic chemistry. Dr. H. P. 
Merriman was chosen professor of organic chemistry and toxicology. A 
chair of ophthalmology and otology was also created and Dr. Samuel J. 
Jones was appointed to it. Upon the resignation of Dr. Heydock, Dr. 



HISTORY OF MKOICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 



William E. Ouine was made professor of materia meclica and therapeutics. 
The latter served as secretary of the college for thirteen years. ^ 

In this year, 1869, the Chicago Medical College became the medical depart- ) 
ment of Northwestern University, the college still holding title to its prop- 
erty and managing its finances. However, the University granted the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine to those recommended by the faculty of the medical / 
college. ,x 

The University at this time gave the college $15,000 toward a new col- 
lege building and promised $1,000 annually to apply upon the salary of the 
professor of chemistry. Students in the college of liberal arts were per- 
mitted to take courses in chemistry in the medical school if they so desired. 
The college for the next twenty years was known as Chicago Medical C'ol^X 
lege, the Medical Department of Northwestern University. J 

In 1870 the college moved from its building in State Street to the comer 
of Twenty-sixth Street and Prairie Avenue. It adjoined Mercy Hospital 
and about this time all the professors teaching practical branches began to 
give clinical instruction in their specialties in Mercy Hospital or in the 
dispensary in the college building. 

At intervals in the next twenty years the following departments of instruc- 
tion were created : gynecology, nervous and mental diseases, histology, 
laryngology and rhinology, pediatrics, physical diagnosis and dermatology. 
The department of materia medica and therapeutics Avas abolished and one 
of pharmacology was substituted. 

In 1890 Mercy Hospital needed the ground upon which the college stood 
for extensive additions. At the same time the college required new build- 
ings to accommodate its laboratories and its growing dispensary. 

By the aid of William Deering land was purchased at the corner of 
Twenty-fifth and Dearborn streets. The corner half of this was set aside 
for Wesley Hospital. The remainder was to be the site of buildings for 
the medical, dental and pharmacy schools of the university. Buildings were 
erected on this land in 1892 and were first used in the college year of 1893-4. 
These buildings are the present home of the college, but gradually they 
have been completely occupied by the medical department. The portion 
provided for the dental school was first taken by the medical school and in 
1901 the portion occupied by the pharmacy school also was occupied. 

In 1890 closer union with Northwestern University was effected. All the 
property of the medical school was given to the University in trust for 
the medical department and it was agreed that all money earned by the 
medical school should be expended upon it and that all additions to the 
faculty or removals from it should be made by the trustees of the University 
upon the recommendation of an executive committee of the faculty. The 
name was changed to Northwestern University Medical School, and since 
that time the medical department has been an integral part of the University. 

In 1890 four years of medical study was made obligatory. At the sameN 
time the college year was lengthened to seven months and in 1894 it was j 
made eight months. The first practical, systematic and required courses^/ 
in clinical laboratory methods were inaugurated in 1899 by Dr. F. R. Zeit. 
These were the first courses of the kind given in any medical school in 
the United States. 

The year 1901 was marked by the accession of Dr. John B. Murphy to 
the faculty as professor of surgery. He held this position until 1905, when 



210 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

he joined the faculty of Rush Medical College, returning in 1908 to North- 
western, where he remained until his death in 1916. 

In 1902 Dr. N. S. Davis, II, became dean of the faculty, and in 1904 Dr. 
Arthur R. Edwards was made secretary. Three years later Dr. Edwards 
was elected dean and held the position for nine years. 

The school was enriched in 1911 by a gift of $250,000 by Mr. James A. 
Patten to advance research medicine and investigation along laboratory and 
clinical lines. Mr. Patten also established a fund of $50,000 for four re- 
search fellowships yielding $600 each. Professor Arthur I. Kendall, who 
established the first laboratory in the Panama Canal Zone and whose studies 
on chemical bacteriology had received world-wide recognition, was secured 
from Harvard University as professor of bacteriology and to direct the work 
established under the Patten Foundation. 

At this time a rule was put into effect requiring two years of college 
work for admission to the medical school. This requirement resulted in 
a marked reduction in students from 1912 to 1915. 

A second large gift to the medical school came in 1914, when Mr. James 
Deering gave $1,000,000 for clinical teaching work in Wesley Memorial 
Hospital. This gift placed control of the hospital under the supervision of 
the faculty of the medical school, as was contracted in the original agree- 
ment between the hospital and the school. 

The arrangement virtually makes Wesley Hospital a "University hos- 
pital," in which the clinicians of the school and the laboratory men are 
nominated by the university trustees as members of the hospital staff, thus 
controlling hospital teaching and charity service. Under this plan the stu- 
dent is educated to carry on Observations and treatment under the guidance 
of the teachers of the medical school and he can command the expert aid 
of the pathologist, bacteriologist, chemist, physiologist and anatomist to 
unravel obscure problems. 

At the beginning of 1915 a fifth year was added to the course. Under 
the rule a student, after completing the four-year course, must serve a year 
as interne or in research work before being awarded his medical degree. 

Upon the resignation of Dr. Edwards as dean in September, 1916, Pro- 
fessor Kendall was appointed acting dean. Later he was made dean, the 
position he now holds. 

Under Dean Kendall there has been a reorganization of the divisional 
courses of instruction, securing more effective administration and more 
efficient teaching and systematic progressive instruction in all departments. 
He also brought about a reorganization of personnel and methods of instruc- 
tion in the clinical dispensaries and more logical relations between didactic 
instruction and practical application in the clinical subjects. 

The courses of the first two years were rearranged with a view to 
improved sequence of subjects. A student faculty council was inaugurated 
to confer upon matters of mutual interest to student and instructor. 

The medical department of the United States Army controlled the school 
from October 1, 1918, to December 21, 1918. Of the 289 students enrolled, 
223 were inducted into the Students' Army Training Corps and 24 into the 
Naval Reserve Force. Of 132 faculty members, 80 were commissioned in 
the Army and Navy Medical Corps. By the beginning of the second tri- 
mester in 1918 a sufficient number of teachers had been relieved from duty 
to permit of a more flexible program for the remainder of the school year. 



211 



In the post-war period of 1918 Dean Kendall was chosen head of a com- 
mission of the Rockefeller Foundation to Ecuador to study yellow fever in 
and about the seaport city of Guayaquil. Dr. Charles A. Elliott, professor 
of medicine, and Mr. H. E. Redenbaugh of the department of chemistry also 
became members of this commission, which, with Dr. Noguchi of the Rocke- 
feller Institute, discovered the etiology of yellow fever. 

The laboratory work of the school has ever been an important feature. 
From available records it appears that the first regular laboratory course 
was given in 1868. This was initiated through the opening of a laboratory 
of practical and analytical chemistry, "both for the instruction of students 
and performance of all kinds of work usually accomplished in such labora- 
tories." Only the didactic course was required, the laboratory course being 
optional, but "urgently recommended." 

This course was under the direction of Dr. C. Gilbert Wheeler, who was 
succeeded in 1870 by Dr. N. Gray Bartlett. Others who served as professors 
of chemistry in the early years were Doctors Walter S. Haines and Marcus P. 
Hatfield. 

In 1881 Dr. John H. Long was engaged to teach inorganic chemistry. 
Two years later he was made professor of chemistry, a position he held 
until his death in June, 1918. 

The first regular laboratory work in histology was begun in 1877-78 under 
the direction of Dr. Lester Curtis and was given through a course of six 
weeks. Little laboratory work in physiology, bacteriology and pathology 
was done in the early years and it was not until the opening of the present 
building in 1893 that ample provision was made for the needs of these 
departments. Since that time the work in all of these departments has been 
developed, keeping step with scientific progress. 

BENNETT MEDICAL COLLEGE . 

Eclecticism was to the fore in Chicago in 1868, when the Bennett College J 
of Eclectic Medicine and Surgery was organized. The prime movers in the-/ 
organization were Doctors H. D. Garrison, A. L. Clark, H. K. Whitford, 
J. F. Cook and H. C. French. 

For the first course of lectures rooms were secured on Kinzie Street, near 
the corner of LaSalle Street. The inaugural address was given by Dr. J. F. 
Cook on the evening of November 1, 1868, and the course of lectures began 
the next day. Nine men and one woman were graduated at the end of the 
first session. 

A charter was obtained from the legislature on March 25, 1869. Dr. L. S. 
Major was chosen as the first president of the board of trustees and held this 
position until 1872, when Dr. A. L. Clark was elected president, continuing 
as such for more than thirty years. 

During the summer of 1869 the college obtained quarters at 180 East 
Washington Street. \Vhen this building was consumed by the great fire of 
1871, temporary quarters were obtained at the southeast corner of Twenty- 
second and State Streets and a month later the entire belongings of the col- 
lege were moved to 461 South Clark Street. The year 1875 found the college 
located at 511 and 513 State street, where it remained until 1889, when i 
was removed to the corner of Ada and Fulton streets in order to have better 
clinical facilities for the study of medicine. It was in this latter year that 



212 HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY IN CHICAGO 

the Cook County Commissioners first appointed practitioners of the eclectic 
school to the attending staff of Cook County Hospital. With this followed 
the appointment of students who had graduated from the Bennett College 
of Eclectic Medicine and Surgery as internes. 

In 1907 the college was changed from an eclectic to a regular school and 
its name was changed to the Bennett Medical College. Three years later 
the Illinois Medical College and Reliance Medical College were consolidated 
with it. At this time it became the Medical Department of Loyola Uni- 
versity. In 1915 the college was transferred to Loyola University and 
formed the Loyola University School of Medicine. 

* N O R T H W E S T E R N U N I V E R S I T Y 

WOMAN'S MEDICAL SCHOOL 

Refusal of local medical colleges to admit women as students led to the 
foundation of the Woman's Medical College, August 2, 1870. 

In 1852 Emily Blackwell attended a course of lectures in Rush Medical Col- 
lege, whereupon, according to the late Dr. Charles Warrington Earle, the 
Illinois State Medical Society, then saturated with the prevailing prejudices 
against female medical education, censured Rush Medical College. Emily 
Blackwell was denied admission to the second-year course and was forced to 
go elsewhere. 

In 1865 Dr. Mary H. Thompson, who had taken an active part in founding 
the Hospital for Women and Children, invoked the aid of Dr. William Heath 
Byford in the matter of procuring for women admission to the lectures of the 
Chicago Medical College, now Northwestern University Medical School; Dr. 
Byford, a member of the faculty of Chicago Medical College, cordially gave 
his support and through his efforts the college consented to admit women. 

Eonr women, one of whom was Dr. Thompson, matriculated in accordance 
with this decree, several other applicants having decided in the meantime to 
proceed to the Pennsylvania Medical College. Dr. Thompson herself was 
granted a diploma after some hesitancy and warm discussion about the pro- 
priety of bestowing a degree upon a woman. The following year women 
were denied admission. 

In these circumstances Dr. Byford suggested the foundation of the Wo- 
man's Hospital Medical College. His plan having been approved, he called 
a meeting in his office August 2, 1870. Present at this gathering were Doc- 
tors Byford, Thompson, Eugene Marguerat, Roswell G. Bogue, Norman 
Bridge, Charles Warrington Earle, Addison H. Foster and Thomas D. Fitch. 
It was decided forthwith to establish a woman's medical college and that same 
night a faculty was formed, in part composed of the persons present and Dr. 
William Godfrey Dyas. 

By October, 1870, the faculty was completed and a home provided. The 
institution was founded under the name of the Woman's Hospital Medical 
College. Dr. Byford was the president. 

The first regular course of lectures began with seventeen students and was 
given in the Women's and Children's Hospital, then located at 402 North 
Clark Street. The course closed in 1871. three women having received their 
diplomas. 

*Data for this history was ohtained from "The