Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 241
THE PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF THE MUSKINGUM
VALLEY.
BY EDMUND CONE BRUSH, A. M., M. D.
A Paper Read at the Fifth Annual Meeting
of the Society, in the Hall of
the House of Representatives, at
Columbus, March 6, 1890.
Generation after generation of pioneers
have gradually car-
ried the star of empire westward, until
it would seem as if the
work of the pioneer was nearly done. As
these hardy and
adventurous men and women have gradually
opened up the new
world to civilization, they have been
closely followed or accom-
panied by members of the medical
profession. These physicians
have shared the hardships and privations
of the early settlers,
joined them in their joys and sorrows,
helped them to build
their rude homes and to defend them
against the natives of the
forest. To the loyal Buckeye, and
especially to the descendants
of the Ohio pioneers, Marietta is a
hallowed spot. Branching
out from Marietta, the pioneers followed
the two great water
courses uniting there, and dotted their
banks with settlements.
In these early settlements the members
of the medical profes-
sion took a modest but important part.
Forty years ago the
late Dr. Samuel Hildreth, of Marietta,
wrote a series of bio-
graphical sketches of the early
physicians of that place. These
sketches have a short preface, in which
occurs the following:
"As a class, no order of men have
done more to promote
the good of mankind and develop the
resources and natural his-
tory of our country than the physicians,
and wherever the well-
educated in that profession are found,
they are uniformly seen
on the side of order, morality, science
and religion."
What is here given in regard to the
Marietta physicians is
obtained almost entirely from Dr.
Hildreth's sketches and from
his " Pioneer History."
Doctor Thomas Farley, the son of a
revolutionary officer,
emigrated to Marietta in 1788 from
Ipswich, Massachusetts. He
went with the little colony in the
spring (April 20) of 1789 to
make the settlement some twenty miles up
the river, where Bev-
Vol. III-16
242 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
erly and Waterford now stand. In 1790 he
was back in Mari-
etta, helping Doctor True attend
smallpox cases. Six died of
the disease "who took it by
infection," and out of over one
hundred inoculated by the doctors, two
died. In 1791 he was
back at Waterford and one of the inmates
of Fort Frye. Col.
Joseph L. Barker, one of the early
settlers, said of him: " He
was a modest, amiable young man, always
ready to obey the
calls of humanity, and had the good will
and confidence of all
who knew him." Dr. Hildreth says:
" The country being
new, and but a few people in the
settlements, he became dis-
couraged, and returned to his former
home in the autumn of
1790." This date must be a mistake
or a misprint, as Dr. Hil-
dreth in his history, and Horace Nye in
his "Reminiscences,"
both speak of Dr. Farley as being in
Fort Frye, and Fort
Frye was built in 1791. He probably went
back in that year.
During his short stay he nobly fought
one of the most loathsome
of diseases, and shared the hardships of
an Indian war. The
date of his birth and death is not
known.
Dr. Solomon Drown was a native of Rhode
Island and came
out to Marietta in the summer of 1788 as
one of the proprietors
and agents of the Ohio Land Company. It
does not appear that
he intended to settle in the place as a
physician, although he
attended General Varnum as consulting
physician in the sickness
(consumption) of which he died in January,
1789. Dr. Drown
was educated at Brown University, Rhode
Island, and was a
man "of literature and classic
elegance as a writer." The
directors of the Ohio Company selected
him to pronounce the
eulogy at the funeral of General Varnum.
He also delivered
the first anniversary (April 7, 1789)
address commemorative of
the landing of the pioneers. At the
breaking out of the Indian
war, Dr. Drown returned to Rhode Island,
and was appointed
professor of botany and natural history
in Brown University.
Dr. Jabez True, the first physician to
make the territory his
life-long home, was born in Hampstead,
New Hampshire, in
1760. His father was a minister, and in
the French war served
as chaplain of a colonial regiment. He
was the father of ten
children, and in addition to his
pastoral duties prepared young
men for college. Among his students was
his son Jabez. The
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 243
latter received his medical education
under the preceptorship of
Dr. Flagg, of Hampstead, and having
completed his course in
medicine before the end of the
revolutionary war, at once en-
tered the service of his country as
surgeon on a privateer. The
ship was wrecked on the coast of Holland
and the crew was
taken in and kindly cared for by the
Hollanders. Dr. True re-
mained in Holland until the close of the
war, when he returned
and settled in Gilmantown, New
Hampshire. Staying in that
place but a few years, he came to the
then far western country,
and early in the summer of 1788 landed
at Marietta. The set-
tlement was only a few months old, very
small, and the country
was one vast forest. Dr. True seems to
have been of the same
sturdy stuff as those who came before
him. He built himself a
log cabin to be used as an office and
settled himself to business.
When the Indian war broke out in 1791,
Dr. True was ap-
pointed surgeon's mate to the troops
employed by the Ohio Com-
pany's directors, with a salary of
$22.00 per month. Dr. Hil-
dreth says: "This salary was a
welcome and timely aid during
the years of privation which attended
the war, and sorely tried
the resources of the most able among the
inhabitants." This
appointment was held until the close of
the war. " During the
most gloomy and disheartening periods
schools were kept up by
the inhabitants." Dr. True taught
school a part of the time in
a large lower room of one of the block
houses in the garrison at
"the point."
In 1790 smallpox broke out in the
settlement at Marietta.
In 1793 this same disease invaded the
Farmers' Castle at Belpre,
twelve miles below Marietta, on the
Ohio. "A meeting of the
inhabitants was at once called, and it
was voted (as there was no
chance of escaping it, cooped up as they
were in the narrow
walls of a garrison), to send to
Marietta for Dr. True to come
down and inoculate them in their own
dwellings. The doctor ac-
cepted the invitation, and Farmers'
Castle became one great hos-
pital, containing beneath each roof more
or less persons sick with
this loathsome disease. The treatment of
Dr. True was very suc-
cessful and, out of nearly a hundred
cases, not one died. There
being no roads or bridges at this time,
Dr. True's visits to the
different settlements were made in a
canoe. In making trips
244 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
down the Ohio, by keeping in the middle
of the stream there
was comparative safety, but when
returning it was necessary to
keep near the shore and take the chances
of a bullet from an In-
dian rifle. Dr. True made several narrow
escapes, but a kind
providence seemed to have protected him
and saved him to ad-
minister to the relief of his fellow
men. After the war was
over Dr. True took a step up in the
world, and built himself a
frame house and office, and began
clearing and cultivating a
small farm on the Ohio, a short distance
above Marietta. In
1796 he united with the Congregational
Church and for many
years was a deacon. In 1806 he married
Mrs. Sarah Mills,
widow of Captain Charles Mills. "
She was a cheerful, humble
and sincere Christian, with a lively,
benevolent temperament,
ever ready to aid the doctor in his
works of charity." They had
no children, but the children of Mrs.
True were treated with all
the love and tenderness he could have
bestowed upon his own."
By this time the settlers had increased
in numbers, and
spread out over the country. Dr. True,
being the leading phy-
sician, his visits extended twenty or
thirty miles through the
forest. He followed the Indian trails
marked by "blazes"
on the trees, and swam his horse across
the streams.
One of Dr. True's strongest
characteristics was charity; and
these long, lonesome rides were made to
the poor with the same
willingness as to those who were able to
pay. He gave freely
of what he had, often depriving himself.
During the last year
of his life he was county treasurer.
This office gave him addi-
tional means with which to help on
charitable and religious
work. His house was the stopping place
for Congregational and
Presbyterian ministers who visited the
town. Samuel J. Mills,
the projector of foreign missions, spent
two weeks with Dr.
True during the year 1812, and
instituted the Washington
County Bible Society, which is still in
existence. Dr. True was
tall and spare, with simple, but not
ungraceful manners. His
eyes were gray and small, one being
destroyed by a disease of
the optic nerve; with full, projecting
brows; nose large and ac-
quiline; forehead rather low, but face
mild and expressive of
benevolence. He was a man of whom no
enemy could say hard
things, and whom everybody loved and
respected. He died in
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 245
1823, of the prevailing epidemic fever,
aged sixty-three years.
"His memory is still cherished by
the descendants of the early
pioneers for his universal charity,
simplicity of manners and sin-
cere piety." The man's name seems
to have been emblematic
of the man, and his life seems to have
been one of steadfast
duty to those around him and to his God.
Although occupying
an humble position in the settlement of
the great Northwest ter-
ritory, Dr. True filled that position to
the best of his physical
and mental strength. He fell with his
face to the foe, and while
trying to alleviate the sufferings of
others. What man can do
more?
The late Dr. S. P. Hildreth, began the
practice of medicine
in Hempstead, New Hampshire, and boarded
in the family of
John True, a brother of the doctor.
Through Mr. True, Dr.
Hildreth learned that there was a good
opening for a young phy-
sician in Marietta and came to that
place in 1806. Drs. True
and Hart were the only physicians in
practice when Dr. Hildreth
arrived. Thus it was that the man who
has done more than any
other to make us acquainted with pioneer
history came to Ohio.
Drs. Farley, Drown and True all came to
Marietta during
the summer of 1788. It is not known
which one arrived first.
Dr. Nathan McIntosh was born in Needham,
Massachusetts,
in 1768. He was educated at Cambridge
and came to Marietta
in 1789. His journey west was prolonged
by an attack of small-
pox that laid him up at Meadville,
Pennsylvania. In 1791, Dr.
McIntosh was appointed surgeon's mate to
Fort Frye at Water-
ford. At first he was employed by the
Ohio Company and after-
ward by the government. He remained at
Fort Frye about two
years, and during this time-May 23,
1792-he was married to
Rhoda, the daughter of Deacon Enoch
Shepherd, of Marietta.
In July, 1793, the people of Clarksburg,
Virginia, were in need
of a physician and sent to Marietta for
Dr. McIntosh. The re-
quest was accompanied by a company of
soldiers to escort the
doctor to that place. Mrs. McIntosh,
with a baby six weeks
old and a sister, went with the doctor.
There were no roads or
public houses on the way, so that when
night came they camped
out. In order to keep the baby from
crying and thus attract the
Indians, it was dosed with paregoric and
a handkerchief used to
246 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
suppress its cries. This baby grew to be
Colonel Enoch Shep-
herd McIntosh, one of the most respected
and best known citi-
zens of the Muskingum valley. He died
not long since in his
ninety-sixth year. Think of the bravery
of that young mother
and her sister! Imagine if you can a
journey on horseback
eighty miles through the forests, in
constant danger from In-
dians! Imagine camping out at night with
the sky for a cover-
ing and a six-weeks-old baby to care
for! No truer, nobler, or
more heroic women ever lived than those
who helped to settle
the great Northwest territory. Their
many good qualities are
reflected in the younger generations of
Buckeye women.
Dr. McIntosh came back to Marietta in
two years and re-
mained there until he died, September 5,
1823. He was among
the victims of the fever epidemic of
that year. When first mar-
ried the doctor and his wife were
members of the Presbyterian
church. Afterward he joined the
"Methodist Society;" finally,
he came to believe in the universal
salvation and held that belief
until the end. He lectured and wrote a
great deal on religious
subjects, and published a book on
"Scripture Correspondencies."
He was violently opposed to secret
societies and slavery. Dr.
McIntosh was socially inclined and fond
of society. His rich
and fashionable dress and gentlemanly
manners greatly promoted
his favor with the community. He excelled in surgery and
made quite a reputation in that line.
During the latter years of
his life Dr. McIntosh devoted himself to
brick-making and con-
tracting. One of the doctor's last acts
was to ride to Macksburg
to be at the death-bed of his oldest
daughter. Three weeks
more and the doctor, too, had gone to
his reward.
Dr. William Pitt Putnam, a grand-son of
General Israel
Putnam, was born in Brooklyne,
Connecticut, December 11,
1770, and came to Marietta in 1792. He
spent part of his time
with a brother in Belpre, and in 1794
went back to his eastern
home. In 1795 he married Bertha Glyssan
and came back to
the new territory during that year. In
1799 he purchased a tract
of land eight miles above Marietta, on
the Ohio river, and turned
his attention to clearing and cultivating
it. In 1800 he died of
bilious fever.
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 247
"In person, Dr. Putnam was tall and
commanding, with a
cheerful, lively countenance and genteel
address."
Dr. Josiah Hart was born in Berlin,
Connecticut, about
1738, and graduated at Yale in 1762. He
had entertained the
idea of studying for the ministry, but
gave it up and studied
medicine under Dr. Potter, of
Wallingford, Connecticut. "In
1765 he married Miss Abigail Sherman, of
Stonington, and com-
menced the practice of medicine in
Wethersfield." He served
as a regimental surgeon during the
revolution. In 1778, his first
wife having died, he married Mrs.
Abigail Harris. This made
his second Abigail. The doctor
"represented his town in the
legislature, and often filled the more
important town offices, as
well as that of deacon in the
church." In 1796 his second wife
died and he came to Marietta. Here he
married Anna Moulton.
He was one of the first deacons of the
Congregational church at
Marietta. "In 1811, having become
too aged to practice, he
moved to a farm ten miles from Marietta.
He died in August,
1812, of spotted fever, aged
seventy-four years. His wife died
a few hours after, and they were both
buried the same day. In
person, Dr. Hart was below the medium
size, but well formed;
countenance mild, pleasing and
intelligent. In manners very
gentlemanly, and kind, exhibiting a true
Christian spirit in his
intercourse with his fellow men."
Dr. William B. Leonard was born in
London in the year
1737. "When in the prime of life he
served as a surgeon in the
British navy. About the year 1794,
having lost his wife, he de-
cided on removing to the United States
to be concerned in a
woolen factory. For this purpose he
secretly packed up the
machinery and put it on board the vessel
in which he had en-
gaged his passage. Before he sailed it
was discovered by the
officers of the customs, and being a
contraband article prohibited
by the laws of England to be transported
out of the realm, he
was arrested and confined for some time
in prison. Being finally
discharged he came to America about the
year 1797."
The following year he was practicing his
profession in New-
buryport, Messachusetts, where he again
married, but his wife
dying soon after, he moved to Marietta
in 1801, and boarded in
the family of Mr. William Moulton. Here
he again renewed
248 Ohio Arch. and His. Society
Publications. [VoL. 3
the practice of medicine, and in 1802
married Lydia Moulton,
the maiden daughter of his landlord and
sister to the wife of Dr.
Hart. He appears to have been a skilled
surgeon, but was
rough and coarse in his manners and
language, retaining the
habits acquired in his naval service. He
retained and kept up
the fashion of the showy dress, such as
prevailed in the days of
Queen Elizabeth, which in the backwoods
of Ohio excited the
curiosity of a people accustomed to the
most simple attire. His
favorite costume was a blue broadcloth
coat, trimmed in gold
lace, and enormous gilt buttons, a
waistcoat of crimson velvet,
with large pocket flaps, and small
clothes of the same material, a
pair of silk or worsted stockings drawn
over his slender legs,
with large silver buckles at the knees
and in his shoes. On his
head he wore a full flowing periwig (of
which he had six or eight
varieties), crowned with a
three-cornered or cocked beaver hat.
Over the whole, when he appeared on the
street, unless the
weather was very hot, he wore a large
scarlet colored cloak.
This dress, with his gold-headed cane,
always called forth the
admiration and wonder of the boys, who
followed close in his
train, and were often threatened with
his displeasure in not very
civil language. When traveling on
horseback to visit his pa-
tients, he road a coal black steed with
long flowing mane and
tail, the saddle and trappings of which
were as antiquated and
showy as his own dress." He died of
consumption in 1806, aged
sixty-nine years.
On a copper plate prepared before his
death, he had the fol-
lowing engraved:
"Friend: for Jesus' sake forbear
To touch the dust enclosed here;
Blest is the man that spares this urn,
And he's a knave that moves my
bones."
Which epitaph will be recognized as the
one Shakespeare wrote
for his own tomb, but slightly changed
by Dr. Leonard.
Dr. John Baptiste Regnier was born in
Paris in the year
1769. He received a good education, but
studied chiefly archi-
tecture and drawing. He also attended a
course of lectures on
scientific subjects, including medicine.
His father was a loyalist,
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 249
and when his sons were called upon to
enroll themselves in the
ranks of the reformers, he collected all
the money he could and
sent them out of the country. The doctor
was in his twentieth
year, and with his brother, Modeste,
aged fourteen years, joined
a company of emigrants and embarked for
the United States.
In May, 1790, these brothers landed at
Alexandria, and finally
reached Marietta in October following,
with a number of their
companions. In a few days they all
started down the Ohio river
to settle on a tract of land purchased
before leaving France.
Landing at what they supposed to be
their purchase, they at once
erected houses. The next summer they
spent in clearing land,
only to find their title was not good
and they were in a wilder-
ness without a home. About this time the
Indian war broke
out, and the emigrants abandoned their
homes and moved to
other towns. Little Modeste had imbibed
such a dread of the
Indians, that he did not cease to
importune his older brother,
whom he looked upon as a father, until
he decided on leaving
the place and going to New York. Toward
the last of February,
1792, they embarked in a large perogue,
with a small party who
had joined them, and proceeded up stream
for Pittsburg. Near
the head of Buffington's island, in
passing around a fallen tree
top, their vessel upset. They lost all
their provisions and cloth-
ing, while they barely escaped with
their lives to the shore.
Among the other effects of the
unfortunate Regnier then lost in
the Ohio, was a curiously wrought
octagonal cylinder of black
marble, made with mathematical accuracy,
eight or ten inches
long and one in diameter. Several years
after this curious stone
was found on the head of a sand bar some
distance below, and
presented to an eastern museum as a
relic of that singular but
unknown race who built the mounds and
earth-works in the val-
ley of the Ohio. The spot where they
were wrecked was many
miles from any settlement, and the rest
of their journey was
made on foot. They suffered much for
food and were made sick
by eating the seeds of decayed pawpaws.
They finally reached
Pittsburg, and after resting a few days
proceeded on to New York.
Not finding employment here, the young
Regniers went to New-
foundland, where there was a French
settlement. In 1794 they
returned to New York. For three years,
in a land of strangers,
250 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
with an imperfect knowledge of their
language, destitute of all
things but his head and his hands
wherewith to procure a sup-
port for himself and brother, he was
many times tempted to give
up in despair and cease any further
struggle for existence. But
his buoyant French heart enabled him to
resist such thoughts
and kept him afloat in the wide sea of
life.
After returning to New York he seems to
have prospered
and in 1796 he married Miss Content
Chamberlain, the daughter
of a tavern keeper in Unadilla, New
York. Regnier had met
her on his journeys. In 1800,
unfortunate investments made
him again a bankrupt and left him as
destitute as when upset in
the Ohio, eight years before. He now had
a wife and two chil-
dren to provide for and must make one
more effort for a living.
A lingering desire to see once more the
beautiful shores of the
Ohio, on which he had labored and
suffered so much, still con-
tinued to haunt his imagination; and
most especially his brother
Modeste, now arriving at manhood, never
ceased to importune
him to return. Finally, determining to
perfect himself to the
healing art, he left his family with his
wife's people and went to
Washington, Pennsylvania, to be under
Dr. Lamoine. After a
year's study he went back for his
family, and they started for
the Ohio. In November, 1803, they landed
at Marietta. A
Frenchman living there offered the
doctor 100 acres of land
situated on Duck creek, nine miles from
town. This the doctor
bought on credit. By the aid of
neighbors, the Regniers soon
had a log cabin built and were settled
on their farm. It was
soon spread through the country that the
new settler was "a
French doctor," and as there was no
one of his calling within a
circuit of twenty or thirty miles,
except in Marietta, he was
soon employed by the sick in every
direction. For several
months he visited his patients, who were
within six or eight
miles distance, on foot. He did this
until able to purchase a
horse. There was a good deal of sickness
during the early
years of the settlement on the creek,
and also many cases of
surgery, such as fractured limbs and
wounds from axes. These
he dressed in the neatest and most rapid
manner. One singular
case is worth reporting here. A man was
thought to be mortal-
ly wounded by being injured from a
fallen tree, which caught
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 251
him under its extreme branches, bruising
the flesh all over his
body as if whipped with a thousand rods.
So many blows para-
lyzed the heart and rendered him as cold
as if dead. The doc-
tor immediately ordered a large sheep to
be killed and the skin
stripped hastily off, wrapping the naked
body of the man in the
hot, moist covering of the animal. The
effect was like a charm
on the patient, removing all the bruises
and the soreness in a
few hours. In 1807, his brother Francis
came out to Ohio and
proposed to enter into partnership with
him in a store at Mari-
etta, Ohio. In order to afford
educational advantages to his
children, he decided to accept the
proposition, and in February,
1808, left the farm. Before moving he
went to Wheeling to
select goods for the store. While away,
Modeste was taken
with fever and died a few days after the
doctor returned. The
shock of his death quite overwhelmed the
doctor, especially as
he thought that had he been home he
could have saved him.
No telegraph or fast trains in those
days to bring him home in a
few days. His brother Francis becoming
dissatisfied moved
away, taking the store with him. Soon
after this the doctor pur-
chased a drug store. Success now
attended all his endeavors, and
his wealth increased in full ratio with
his family, which consist-
ed of six sons and one daughter. About
1814 he enlarged his
town possession by buying a square,
which he improved by
planting fruit trees and laying out a
large flower garden orna-
mented with arbors and walks. It was a
model for others and
ultimately implanted a permanent taste
for this refining art
among the citizens of Marietta. He was
an original member of
the first incorporated medical society
of Ohio in 1812. In 1818
he was elected county commissioner and
assisted in drafting the
model for the court house now remodeled.
In May, 1819, he
sold his property in town to Dr. Cotton
and purchased three
hundred and twenty acres of land on Duck
creek, twenty-two
miles from Marietta. Here he removed
with his family having
in view the establishing of his sons as
farmers.
Dr. Regnier died in 1821, aged 52 years.
His death was a
severe loss to the community. Two of his
sons became physi-
cians.
Dr. Increase Mathews was born in New
Braintree, Massa-
252 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
chusetts, December 22, 1772. He was the
son of General Rufus
Putnam's older sister, Hulda, and Daniel
Mathews. John
Mathews, who came out to Ohio with the
original forty-eight,
was a brother. In 1798, Dr. Mathews came
to Marietta on a
prospecting tour, and to visit
relatives. His diary of this jour-
ney is in the possession of his
descendants, and is a very inter-
esting document. Under date of August 13, 1798, 1 p. M., is
found the following note: "Went
with Mr. Edward Tupper to
call on Mr. Blennerhasset and his lady,
by whom we were
politely received. Met Miss Sallie
London there on a visit. She
is on the whole an amiable girl, and
possessed of many of those
qualities which make a good companion;
kind, obliging, ever in
good spirits and free from
affectation." The young doctor seems
to have been impressed, and human nature
seems to have been
the same then as now. Under date of
August 31, 1798, is the
following: "Attended a ball at
Colonel Putnam's in Belpre.
We had a large collection of ladies,
some from Marietta and the
Island, who made a brilliant appearance.
Spent the evening
very agreeably." The ladies from
the Island were, no doubt,
Mrs. Blennerhasset and her guest, Miss
London. After a pleas-
ant visit, Dr. Mathews went back east
and married (April 25,
1799) Abigail Willis, of Oakham,
Massachusetts. In the fall of
1800, with his wife and baby, he again
came to Marietta, arriv-
ing there October 4. The winter was
spent in Marietta, and the
other half of the house in which they
lived, was occupied by the
father of the late Governor Brough. In
the spring of 1801 the
Mathews family moved to Zanesville,
Ohio. This same year
General Rufus Putnam, his nephew, Dr.
Mathews and Levi
Whipple purchased the land now composing
the Seventh and
Ninth wards in that city, and laid it
out into a town, which they
called Springfield, afterward Putnam.
Dr. Mathews, after about
one year's stay in Zanesville, moved
across the river to the newly
laid out town, and lived there the
remainder of his life. He
was the first physician to permanently
settle on the Muskingum
river above Marietta. In 1802 (June 14)
the doctor's wife died,
and in 1803 (March 23) he married for
his second wife Betsy,
daughter of Captain John Leavens. They
were married in
Marietta at Major Lincoln's, who had
married Betsy's sister,
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 253
Fannie. Possessing large landed
interests, and having a taste
for agriculture, Dr. Mathews retired
from practice as other phy-
sians settled around him. He was a man
of many accomplish-
ments, with more than the usual amount
of energy and push so
characteristic of the pioneers. He
established the first drug
store and was one of the five original
members of the first
church organized in Muskingum county.
Dr. Mathews sent to
Spain for the first full-blooded Merino
sheep brought to Ohio.
These sheep were delivered in
Washington, D. C., and hauled in
a wagon through to Putnam, Ohio, by a
man sent to Washing-
ton for that purpose.
In 1801, when Dr. Mathews went to
Marietta to buy the
land above mentioned, he had part of the
way as his companion,
John McIntire. These young men rode
together, camped to-
gether the night out on the road, but
neither mentioned his bus-
iness. When they arrived at Marietta,
Dr. Mathews turned up
Washington street to go to his uncle
(General Putnam's) office,
whilst John McIntire went on to the
tavern. The next day the
two men found themselves bidding against
each other on the
same tract of land. John McIntire
already owned a large tract
where Zanesville proper now stands, but
Dr. Mathews bid in the
tract in question at four dollars and
five cents an acre. Many
years after it became blended with
McIntire's tract in the City
of Natural Advantages. The doctor
enjoyed telling his grand-
children that the earliest distinct
recollection of his childhood
was the ringing of the bells to
celebrate the declaration of inde-
pendence. He was a cultivated gentleman
of the old school
and a man whose energy and character
were felt in his day, and
are still exemplified in his
descendants. He was an accom-
plished performer on the violincello, an
entertaining and in-
structive conversationalist. His life
was characterized by its
simplicity and purity. He died June 6,
1856, full of years and
with the high esteem of all his fellow
townsmen, in the eighty-
fourth year of his age, and is buried in
Woodlawn Cemetery,
which was part of his original purchase
from the government in
1801.
In 1796, Dr. Jenner's great discovery of
vaccination was an-
nounced to the medical world. When
smallpox broke out in
254 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL.
3
Putnam in the fall of 1809. Dr. Mathews
procured vaccine virus
and vaccinated himself and family.
People in general had no
confidence in it and would not consent
to it. In order to prove
its efficacy Dr. Mathews took his two
little daughters, Abigail
and Sarah, aged six and seven years, who
had been vaccinated,
into a house and up to the bedside of a
patient very ill with vir-
ulent smallpox. The children did not
take the disease and the
doctor triumphantly proclaimed the
protecting powers of vacci-
nation.
The rest of the villagers were inoculated, but Dr.
Mathews' family was the only one that
depended upon vaccina-
tion. So far as can be learned the
doctor's family was among
the first, if not the first in Ohio, to
be vaccinated.
Dr. Jesse Chandler was the second
physician to settle in
Putnam. He was born in Vermont in 1764,
and studied medi-
cine in his native state. After
practicing a few years he came
with his family to Ohio and located in
the village of Putnam,
across the river from Zanesville, and
now, as has been stated, a
part of that city. At that time there
was but little difference in
the population of the two rival
villages, both being quite small.
But in the year 1814 Zanesville was made
the permanent county
seat with a fair prospect of being made
the state capital, and
took the lead. In order to look after
his land, Doctor Mathews
gladly relinquished his practice upon
the arrival of Dr. Chand-
ler. No other physician settled in
Putnam while Dr. Chandler
lived. His practice, like Dr. Mathews',
extended over all the
western part of the county and into the
adjoining counties.
Traveling was, of course, done on
horseback, and in the earlier
years without roads. Trails, or
bridle-paths, led from house to
house, or from neighborhood to
neighborhood. Dr. Chandler
spent a large part of his time in the
saddle, but possessing an
unusually robust constitution, he was
always ready to respond
to calls. The fees in those days were
very much out of propor-
tion to the time and labor expended.
There being no pharma-
cists, every physician furnished his own
medicines. The doc-
tor's books were a curiosity. He would
often ride a dozen miles,
furnish the medicine needed, and charge
one dollar. Visits in
the village were fifty cents. When many
of his people came to
settle, the credit side would read, by
so much corn, or oats, or
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 255
potatoes, or cash, as the case might be,
and by discount for the
balance. Frequently the "by
discount" was the larger part of
the credit. Dr. Chandler did not become
wealthy.
In the fall of 1809 a bad case of
smallpox developed in the
town. As might be expected there was a
scare. Vaccination
was not yet relied upon, and the doctor
had not seen it suffi-
ciently tried to be entirely satisfied
with its protecting qualities.
Some of the older people had been
inoculated with smallpox,
but the children, and many of the
adults, had no protection.
So all were made ready by the perscribed
dieting, and a general
inoculation took place. The inoculated
cases all got along nice-
ly, no deaths and no disfigurements.
There were in the town a
dozen or more transient persons, mostly
young men, without
friends. The doctor turned his house
into a hospital, took these
young men in, "without money or
price," and carried them
safely through. In the winter of 1813-14
an heretofore un-
known epidemic broke out in Putnam,
which for the want of a
better name, was called "the cold
plague." The attack came
on with a congestive chill,
unconsciousness soon followed, and
death resulted in two or three days.
Some recovered, but
among the victims was Dr. Jesse
Chandler. A true, self-sacrific-
ing physician and man, he was ready for
the summons and faced
death as he had disease, without a
tremor. His age was fifty
years.
Dr. Daniel Bliss, son of Deacon Isaac
Bliss, was born in
Warren, Mass., April 10, 1761. He was
educated in medicine
in Springfield, Mass., and June 6, 1789,
married Prudence, a sis-
ter of Dr. Jesse Chandler. They came out
to Ohio in 1804 with
(or about the same time as) Doctor
Chandler. Doctor Bliss
settled in Waterford (on the side of the
river where Beverly
now stands) but continued sickness led
him to seek another loca-
tion, and he removed to Chandler's salt
works (now Chandlers-
ville) a place twelve miles east of
Zanesville. Settling on a
farm the doctor intended retiring from
practice, but there being
no other physician in that section, the
inhabitants kept him
busy. For over twenty years he was the
first and only physician
in the settlement and his practice
extended into what are now
Guernsey, Noble and Morgan counties. The
doctor kept his
256 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
farm well stocked with good horses. He
always rode horseback,
and traveled fast. It was a good horse
and rider that could
keep up with him on his rounds. As a
physician, Doctor Bliss
was successful and popular. He was a man
of strong opinions,
and fearless in expressing them. He
dared to do right, and take
the consequences. In religious belief he
was a Congregational-
ist. Doctor Bliss died March 17, 1842,
age eighty-one years.
At a ripe age he surrendered to a great
reaper, and with a heavy
credit on the Lamb's book of life he
went to his reward.
Doctor Robert Mitchell was born in
Westmoreland county,
Pennsylvania, in 1778. He studied
medicine there, and in 1808
married Catharine McCulloch, For a
wedding trip the young
couple came to Zanesville, Ohio, on
horseback. When they
settled in that place there were but
twelve shingle roofed houses
in it. The Indians were still there, but
friendly, and would
come to the doctor's house to see the
white papooses. Dr.
Mitchell served in the war 1812, and was
afterward a general in
the Ohio militia. In 1833 he was elected
to Congress, but in
1835 was defeated for re-election by his
Whig opponent. It is
said that the rejoicing of the Whigs
over their success, caused
more drunkenness in Zanesville than ever
was known there in
one night. Doctor Mitchell died November
13, 1848.
Doctor Ziba Adams was, so far as can be
learned, the first
physician to settle in what is now
Morgan county. Doctor
Daniel Rusk, of Malta, made an earnest
effort to find something
of this physician. Just when Doctor
Adams arrived, and just
when he left, could not be ascertained.
That he first settled
some four miles above Malta, on the
river, and afterward in
Malta, is known. Taking the dates of
other events as a cri-
terion, the probabilities are that
Doctor Adams came to the
Muskingum Valley about 1815 or 1816 and
left three or four
years after. What little is known of him
is to his credit; and he,
no doubt, was of the same character as
his colleagues in the
valley.
Dr. Samuel Augustus Barker was probably
the second phy-
sician to settle in Morgan county, and
was certainly the first one
to make it his permanent home. He
settled in McConnelsville
in 1818, one year after the place was
laid out. Dr. Barker was
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 257
born in Dutchess, County, N. Y. He
received a thorough edu-
cation, and graduated in medicine in
time to serve in the war of
1812. Coming west soon after the war,
the doctor first stopped
at Williamsport, W. Va., a town across
the Ohio from Marietta,
where he taught school until he removed
to McConnelsville. In
the latter place he also taught school
until his professional duties
demanded all of his attention. In 1822
he was married to Eliza
B. Shugert. Dr. Barker was the first
county auditor and the
first clerk of the court of Morgan
county. He was the first
postmaster in McConnelsville. He was
sheriff four years and
represented his county in the
legislature for two terms. He ran
for congress in 1843, but was defeated
by his Whig opponent.
Dr. Barker was an honest, upright
gentlemen, and filled many
positions of trust without a blemish on
his character. His many
social qualities made him universally
popular. He died May 12,
1852.
Dr. Samuel Martin was born in
Trowbridge, England, in
1796, and died in Zanesville, Ohio, May
25, 1873. When a
young man, Dr. Martin attended school at
Bath, and, living
twenty miles from that place, he walked
home every Saturday
night. Sunday nights he would walk back
in order to be on
hand for school on Monday. He was
apprenticed to a physician
for a term of seven years, and received
his medical education in
London. He was a fellow of the Royal
College of Surgeons,
and an accomplished Latin, Greek and French
scholar. In 1819
Dr. Martin came to McConnelsville, Ohio,
and went into part-
nership with Dr. Barker. This
partnership was soon dissolved
by Dr. Martin moving into Bloom
township. (He was the first
physician in it.) He married Sarah
Montgomery, a daughter of
one of the early settlers. Dr. Martin
would not send his chil-
dren to school, but educated them
himself, not only in the com-
mon school branches, but in Latin, Greek
and French. He re-
tired from practice early in life, and
moved to Zanesville in 1856.
He and many of his family were Deists.
The doctor's belief
was characterized by its sincerity, and
he had his feelings sorely
wounded once while serving on a jury.
The judge took occasion
in delivering a charge to say "that
a man who did not believe in
the Revelations- was not fit to be a
juror." Dr. Martin was a
Vol. III-17
258 Ohio
Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
scholarly gentleman, a man of fine
instincts and refined sensi-
bilities.
Dr. Martin, in his younger days, was
quite a pedestrian.
Upon arriving in this country he landed
at Philadelphia. From
there he walked across the State of
Pennsylvania to Olean, in
western New York. Here he and his
companion took a canoe
and journeyed down the Allegheny and
Ohio rivers to Louis-
ville, Kentucky. Leaving the canoe here,
Dr. Martin walked to
Nashville, Tennessee. From this place he
tramped through
Kentucky to the Wabash river, opposite
Shawneetown, Illinois;
then on to East St. Louis, and from
there through Illinois and
Indiana to Zanesville, Ohio. Hearing of
the newly developed
salt industry down the Muskingum, Dr.
Martin walked to Bloom
township, Morgan county, and stopped at
"Squire" Montgom-
ery's, where he met his future wife. He
soon moved into Mc-
Connelsville and began the practice of
medicine.
That journey on foot covered many
hundreds of miles and
part of it was made alone. Many nights
were spent by the road
side, as in parts of the country gone
over settlements in those
days were far between. Probably the
first castor oil mill estab-
lished west of the Allegheny mountains
was built at Dresden by
Drs. Nathan Webb, senior and junior.
They came to the shores
of the Waukatomiky in 1821 and
cultivated the castor oil bean.
Their mill was located on the
"Little Prairie." Two lodges of
Shawanese Indians were still there and
interested spectators of
this symptom of civilization. The
doctors were not learned in
their profession, but were the pioneer
physicians of Dresden and
evidently had confidence in castor oil.
From whence they came
or where they went I am not able to
state.
It is impossible for us to fully
appreciate the primitive man-
ner in which these men practiced
medicine. They had to be, in
a degree, pharmacists and practical
botanists. Roots and herbs
were an important part of their
armamentarium. Infusions and
decoctions were the order of the day.
The sugar-coated pill
was then unknown. In fact the life of
the modern physician is
sugar-coated when compared with that of
the pioneers. These
men were obliged to be fertile in
resources, apt in expedients,
and ingenious in improvising. Compare,
if you can, the log
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 259
cabin office of one hundred years ago
with the physician's office
of to-day. Think of the progress made in
medical science since
the days of these men. Chloroform,
cocaine, the hypodermic
syringe, the fever thermometer, and
hundreds of other things
were unknown to them. Notwithstanding
all the new ideas and
inventions the rate of mortality, from
the ordinary aches and ills
of life, was about the same then as now.
In looking over the lives of these men
we find general char-
acteristics that are worthy of thought.
They were interested
and active in educational and religious
matters. They were
energetic and progressive beyond their
times. They took an ac-
tive part in politics and questions of
State. If they were alive
now they would probably let politics
alone. They were brave
men, for on their lonely travels in the
earlier years they had to
face the treachery of the Indian and the
hunger of the wolves.
The more the lives of these men are held
up to view, the more
sterling qualities we find to admire.
There were one or two more of the very
early physicians
about Marietta, Waterford and Zanesville
of whom the writer
could learn nothing, only that they had once
lived in these
places. Their descendants either could
not be found, or when
found could give no information.
Minutes of Fifth Annual Meeting. 241
THE PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF THE MUSKINGUM
VALLEY.
BY EDMUND CONE BRUSH, A. M., M. D.
A Paper Read at the Fifth Annual Meeting
of the Society, in the Hall of
the House of Representatives, at
Columbus, March 6, 1890.
Generation after generation of pioneers
have gradually car-
ried the star of empire westward, until
it would seem as if the
work of the pioneer was nearly done. As
these hardy and
adventurous men and women have gradually
opened up the new
world to civilization, they have been
closely followed or accom-
panied by members of the medical
profession. These physicians
have shared the hardships and privations
of the early settlers,
joined them in their joys and sorrows,
helped them to build
their rude homes and to defend them
against the natives of the
forest. To the loyal Buckeye, and
especially to the descendants
of the Ohio pioneers, Marietta is a
hallowed spot. Branching
out from Marietta, the pioneers followed
the two great water
courses uniting there, and dotted their
banks with settlements.
In these early settlements the members
of the medical profes-
sion took a modest but important part.
Forty years ago the
late Dr. Samuel Hildreth, of Marietta,
wrote a series of bio-
graphical sketches of the early
physicians of that place. These
sketches have a short preface, in which
occurs the following:
"As a class, no order of men have
done more to promote
the good of mankind and develop the
resources and natural his-
tory of our country than the physicians,
and wherever the well-
educated in that profession are found,
they are uniformly seen
on the side of order, morality, science
and religion."
What is here given in regard to the
Marietta physicians is
obtained almost entirely from Dr.
Hildreth's sketches and from
his " Pioneer History."
Doctor Thomas Farley, the son of a
revolutionary officer,
emigrated to Marietta in 1788 from
Ipswich, Massachusetts. He
went with the little colony in the
spring (April 20) of 1789 to
make the settlement some twenty miles up
the river, where Bev-
Vol. III-16