OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858
STILL FURTHER ASPECTS
FIVE YEAR REVIEW OF THE
WORK OF THE OHIO COMMITTEE
ON MEDICAL HISTORY AND ARCHIVES
BY ROBERT G. PATERSON, PH. D.
Material presented in this issue of the Ohio
State Archaeo-
logical and Historical Quarterly by the Ohio Committee on Medical
History and Archives represents another
chapter of five continuous
years of effort on the part of a small
group of men throughout
the State in an attempt to mirror the
significant contributions of
men and events connected with the
development of medicine in
Ohio. The title of the present series
is, "Ohio Medical History
1835-1858, Still Further Aspects."
The origin of the Committee is explained
by Dr. Jonathan
Forman, chairman, as follows:
On September 27, 1937, a memorandum
proposing such a Committee
was submitted by Dr. Paterson, executive
secretary of the Ohio Public
Health Association. The matter was then
taken up with Secretary Harlow
Lindley of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society. On October
26, the Board of Trustees of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society approved the plan and authorized
the appointment of Dr. Forman
as chairman and Dr. Lindley as
Secretary1 with power to enlarge the
Committee as events dictated.
Approval by the Council of the Ohio
State Medical Associa-
tion and the Executive Committee of the
Ohio Public Health As-
sociation was received in December,
1937. On May 12, 1938, the
first formal meeting of the Committee
was held at Columbus in
connection with the annual meeting of
the Ohio State Medical
Association. Annual meetings have been
held since in conjunc-
tion with those of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society. These have taken place on April
7, 1939; April 5, 1940;
1 Dr. Paterson was appointed
Secretary of the Committee in
1939.
307
308
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
April 4, 1941, and April 1, 1942. No
meeting was held in 1943
owing to the restrictions placed on
travel for the duration of the
war.
The first session papers are found in
the April-July, 1939,
number of the Ohio State
Archeological and Historical Quarterly,
XLVIII, No. 3, and cover 175 pages. This
series is under the
title, "The Pioneer Physicians of
Ohio: Their Lives and Their
Contributions to the Development of the
State, 1788-1835." Papers
were presented by Howard Dittrick, M.
D., Cleveland; Jonathan
Forman, M. D., Columbus; Edward C.
Mills, D. D. S., Columbus;
Robert G. Paterson, Ph. D., Columbus;
Donald D. Shira, M. D.,
Columbus; David A. Tucker, M. D.,
Cincinnati; James J. Tyler,
M. D., Warren; and Frederick C. Waite, Ph. D., Cleveland.
The second session papers are found in
the October-Decem-
ber, 1940, number of the Quarterly, XLIX,
No. 4, and cover 82
pages. The title of the second series
is, "Ohio Medical History
of the Period 1835-1858." Papers
were presented by: Howard
Dittrick, M. D., Cleveland; Jonathan
Forman, M. D., Columbus;
Lucy Stone Hertzog, Chardon; Edward C.
Mills, D. D. S.,
Columbus; Robert G. Paterson, Ph. D.,
Columbus; Donald D.
Shira, M. D., Columbus; David A. Tucker,
M. D., Cincinnati;
and Frederick C. Waite, Ph. D.,
Cleveland.
The third session papers are found in
the October-December,
1941, number of the Quarterly, L,
No. 4, and cover 78 pages. The
title of the third series is, "Ohio
Medical History of the Period
1835-1858." Papers were presented
by: Anne L. Austin, R. N.,
Cleveland; George M. Curtis, M. D.,
Columbus; Howard Dittrick,
M. D., Cleveland; Jonathan Forman, M.
D., Columbus; Philip D.
Jordan, Ph. D., Oxford; Robert G.
Paterson, Ph. D., Columbus;
and Donald D. Shira, M. D., Columbus.
The fourth session papers are found in
the October-December,
1942, number of the Quarterly, LI,
No. 4, and cover 73 pages.
The title of the fourth series is,
"Ohio Medical History, 1835-
1858, Further Aspects." Papers were presented by Jonathan
Forman, M. D., Columbus; Leon Goldman,
M. D., Cincinnati;
Russell L. Haden, M. D., Cleveland;
Philip D. Jordan, Ph. D.,
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 309
Oxford; Edward C. Mills, D. D. S.,
Columbus; E. W. Mitchell,
M. D., Cincinnati; Ralph Taylor, M. D.,
Columbus; and A. E.
Waller, Ph. D., Columbus.
On May 5, 1940, the Ohio Committee was
elected a con-
stituent in the Society of the American
Association of the History
of Medicine and has continued its
membership to date. Dr. How-
ard Dittrick, Cleveland, has been our
delegate to the American
Association. On October 7, 1940, under
the auspices of the Ohio
Committee, a fall meeting of the
American Association was held
in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Dittrick served
as chairman.
Thus there has been accumulating
gradually a body of orderly
facts which will help to illuminate not
only the trials and successes
of medicine in Ohio but also the
contribution made by medicine to
the general social development of the
State--a phase of history
too long neglected.
THE BELMONT MEDICAL SOCIETY, 1847-1860
AN EARLY COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY IN OHIO
By ROBERT
G. PATERSON, PH. D.
At the Centennial Exposition held in
Philadelphia in 1876,
Dr. John S. Billings presented a review of Medical Literature and
Institutions1 for the hundred
years, 1776 to 1876. In the course
of his review he took occasion to refer
to the publications of the
Belmont County Medical Society in the
following language:
A rare medical periodical and curiosity
in its way is "The Belmont
Medical Journal," published at
Bridgeport, Ohio, under the auspices of
the Belmont County Medical Society,
1858-60. With this belongs the
transactions of the same Society from
1847 to 1857, forming in all, three
small volumes in 12 mo. These
publications are unique in their way, and
illustrate what can be done by a county
medical society, composed entirely
of county practitioners. They contain some amusing flights of
rhetoric,
and some well-recorded cases, and many
papers are interesting because it
is evident that they were written
precisely as the authors talked.2
Such a statement coming from Dr.
Billings upon such an
auspicious occasion raised these volumes
from a local to a na-
tional plane and so this contribution to
medical history in Ohio
by a county medical society becomes
important and needs to be
recorded as fully as it is possible to
do so.
The Ohio Committee on Medical History
and Archives is
deeply indebted to Homer S. West, M. D.,3
St. Clairsville, Ohio,
for the gift of several volumes relating
to this particular episode.
His donations were made in memory of his
father, Henry West,
M. D., St. Clairsville, a charter member
of the Belmont Medical
Society.
1 John S. Billings, A Century of
American Medicine 1776-1876 (Philadelphia, 1876),
chapter on "Literature and
Institutions."
2 Ibid.,
335.
3 Homer S. West, M.D., was born February
18, 1874, at St. Clairsville, Ohio.
He graduated from Franklin College, New
Athens, Ohio, in 1894 and received his
M.D. degree from New York City
University Medical College in 1897. He is the
son of Dr. Henry West who had nine sons;
five of whom were pharmacists and four
of whom were physicians. At the present
writing, Homer S. West, M.D., is the
Health Commissioner of Belmont County.
310
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 311
A close examination of the volumes
reveals guiding minds
and spirits quite unusual for the times.
Volume 1 covers the
Transactions of the Society for the years from 1847 to 1854-5
inclusive. It contains the Preamble,
Constitution and By-Laws of
the Belmont Medical Society Together
with a Code of Medical
Ethics and a Bill of Rates Adopted by
Said Society. These were
signed by Ephraim Gaston, M.D.,
President, and Henry West,
M. D., Secretary, and dated at St.
Clairsville, Ohio, April 7, 1847.
This pamphlet of sixteen pages was
printed at St. Clairsville, Ohio,
by Heaton and Gressinger in 1847.
There follows a pamphlet of twenty-two
pages entitled, Code
of Ethics of the American Medical
Association Adopted by the
Belmont Medical Society, and ordered
to be printed For the Use
of the Members and For Private
Distribution. This was printed
by Dunham and Gressinger at St.
Clairsville, Ohio, in 1849. Then
follow the Transactions for 1847
covering sixty-six pages; fifty-
nine pages for 1848, printed by Horton
J. Howard, St. Clairs-
ville, Ohio; seventy-six pages for 1849-1850, printed by J.
S.
Affleck, Brideport, Ohio, who continues
to be the printer there-
after; for 1850-1851, there are ninety
pages together with a gen-
eral index of the Transactions from
1847 through 1851; sixty-five
pages for 1851-1852; fifty-five pages
for 1853-1854, and one hun-
dred and seventy-two pages for
1854-1855. This makes a grand
total of six hundred and twenty-two
pages.4
Reception of the Transactions in
the medical world was
cordial. An example of the current
comment follows:
Dr. Smith, the Editor of the Boston
Medical and Surgical Journal,
who has just made a tour of Europe, Asia
and Africa and is withal one
of the most accomplished Physicians of
the Age, thus speaks of the Belmont
Medical Society:
"For a small unpretending
association, there is not one in the country
that accomplishes more for the
advancement and respectability of the pro-
fession than the Belmont Medical Society
of Ohio. From 1847 to 1851,
the transactions already published,
would do honor to a much older and
more prominent body."5
4 J. G. Affleck, ed, Transactions of the Belmont Medical Society from 1847-55:
with Which is Bound the
Constitution and By-Laws . . . Together with a Code of
Medical Ethics and a Bill of Rates
Adopted by Said Society. 2-vols.
(Bridgeport,
Ohio), cited in Index-Catalogue of
the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office,
United States Army (1st series). I, 863.
5 St. Clairsville Gazette and
Citizen, Sept. 19, 1851.
312 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY THE CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE BELMONT MEDICAL SOCIETY, TOGETHER WITH A CODE OF MEDICAL ETHICS, AND A BOLL OF RATES, ADOPTED BY SAID SOCIETY. ST. CLAIRSVILLE O. PRINTED BY HEATON AND GRESSINGER, 1847. |
|
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 313
Volume 2 embraces The Belmont
Medical Journal--A
Monthly Periodical Published under
the Patronage of the Belmont
Medical Society.6 Drs. James M. McConahey and John G. Af-
fleck were selected as editors for the
first year and Drs. William
Estep and Ephraim Gaston for the second year. The publisher
was J. G. Affleck at Bridgeport, Ohio.
The period covers June,
1858, to May, 1860. An
"Explanation" at the beginning of the
volume is as follows:
The Belmont Medical Journal was
commenced in June 1858, termining
in July 1860--being a substitute for the
"Belmont Medical Transactions,"
a yearly issue published also by the
Society, from 1847 to 1858.
According to this statement Volume 1,
which ends in 1855
should have had three more transactions
in it; one for 1855-1856;
one for 1856-1857; and one for
1857-1858. Either these are miss-
ing or there was a break in the
continuous publication. Again
Volume 2, which contains the Journal,
begins with June, 1858,
and the last number is dated May, not
July, 1860. It must have
been the last number because it contains
the Valedictory. The
motto
placed at its mast-head was "Rerum Cognoscere Causas--
To Know the Causes of Things." The
editors stated that the
purpose in establishing a Journal
to replace the Transactions was
"to diffuse the experience of the
Society still more extensively--
to lay before the people the subject of
Health." Again the printer
was J. G. Affleck, Bridgeport, Ohio.
Current comment on the
"Journal" in the medical press
throughout the country was laudatory in
the extreme. Dr. J. W.
Hamilton, editor of the Ohio Medical
and Surgical Journal, had
this to say:
Belmont Medical Journal.--This is the
organ of the Belmont Medical
Society. Just think of it, Belmont
County not only sustains a Medical
Society, but a Medical Journal also.
This we consider decidedly plucky.
6 Belmont
Medical Journal: A Monthly Periodical Published under the Patron-
age of the Belmont Medical
Society. Edited by James M. McConahey, John G.
Affleck, W. M. Estep and Ephraim Gaston,
I-II (June 1858-May 1860), cited in
loc. cit.
The Ohio Committee on Medical History
and Archives also received from Dr.
Homer S. West the "Record Book of
the Belmont Medical Society" beginning
February 30, 1847, and continuing to
January 20, 1859, in the handwritings of the
various secretaries. As will be noted
the minutes record the first meeting as being
held on February 30, 1847, whereas the
public notice of the first meeting is for
January 30, 1847, and the report of the
meeting is found in the Belmont Chronicle for
February 12, 1847.
314 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY |
|
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 315
It is a monthly of 16 pages, the
fourteenth number of which is before us.
Nor is this all. Belmont County gives this
Journal a large subscription
list, almost all of which are promptly
paying subscribers. Belmont does
but little by way of contribution to the
wind work of the profession but
in a quiet way is doing a good work
worthy not only of commendation but
of imitation.7
A public call for a meeting of the
medical men in Belmont
County8 to be held in St.
Clairsville, Ohio, was published in the
public press9 on
January 29, 1847. The meeting was held on
January 30, 1847, at the National Hotel,
St. Clairsville, Ohio.10 Dr.
Clarkson Schooly, of Loydsville, was
selected as chairman and Dr.
Smith Holloway, St. Clairsville, as
secretary of the meeting. Sev-
eral committees were appointed. On
Constitution--Drs. Hewet-
son, Holloway and Walker. On a Code of
Ethics--Drs. West,
Alexander and McConahey. On a Fee
Bill--Drs. Estep, C.
Schooly and L. Schooly. A resolution was
adopted to publish
the proceedings of the Society in
"The Belmont Chronicle" and
the "St. Clairsville Gazette."
Those present at this meeting were:
Drs. Ephraim Gaston, Joseph Hewetson,
John Alexander, Jo-
sephus Walker, Smith Holloway, Henry
West, John Campbell,
Thomas Irwin, James D. Coleman, Harvey,
J. Bailey, P. R. Chap-
man, David Tidball, William Estep, C.
Schooly, L. J. Dallas and
R. M. Andrews. Thirteen additional
physicians signed the Con-
stitution on December 6, 1847, making in
all a total membership
of thirty-nine.
The origin of this county society was
bound up intimately
7 Ohio Medical and Surgical Journal (Columbus), XII (1859-60), 79.
8 Colonel C. L. Poorman says, About the
year 1835 the first attempt to organize a
county medical society was made. Dr.
Evans of Morristown was its secretary and its
meetings were held in St. Clairsville. A
second organization of the medical practi-
tioners of Belmont County, took place
February 30 (sic) 1847 at St. Clairsville. The
last election of officers occurred at
Belmont April 16, 1867 (sic). The last meeting was
held at Barnesville, January 20, 1859
(sic). C. L. Poorman, "History of Belmont
County," in Brant & Fuller,
pub., History of the Upper Ohio Valley . . . (Madison,
1890), II, 795-9.
The subsequent history of the medical
organization in Belmont reveals that
in 1870, Belmont County joined in the
"Medical and Chirurgical Society of Eastern
Ohio," and finally on December 5,
1885, the organization of the Belmont County
Medical Society was initiated and
continues to date.
9 Belmont Chronicle, Friday, January 29, 1847, p. 3.
"Medical Notice
"The physicians of Belmont County
are respectfully requested to meet in St.
Clairsville on Saturday, January 30,
1817, at the House of Thomas Johnson, for
the purpose of organizing themselves into a Society for
their mutual benefit, and
for the advancement of the Medical
Science. It is hoped that every physician in
the County will be in attendance.
January 18, 1847."
10 Belmont Chronicle, February
12, 1847. p. 3, reports the results of this meeting.
316
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
with two factors--the medical
developments in the State of Ohio
as a whole and the sources of influence
connected with the medical
centers at Cincinnati, Lexington,
Kentucky and Columbus, where
medical faculties exerted a wide
influence. A few of the physicians
in Belmont County were connected with
the development of the
Medical Convention of Ohio which
flourished from 1835 to 1851.
Here they came in contact with such
notable leaders of medical
thought in Ohio as Daniel Drake, Samuel
P. Hildreth, Peter Al-
len, William Awl and Robert Thompson.
Also a number of the
Belmont physicians received their
medical degrees from the Medi-
cal College of Ohio at Cincinnati; the
Transylvania Medical Col-
lege at Lexington, Kentucky; and the
Starling Medical College,
at Columbus.
Convening on March 1, 1847, the Belmont
Medical Society
was formed by the adoption of the
Constitution. A corrected
roll of members was drawn up containing
a total of fifty-three
physicians in the county. Examination of
the "Preamble, Con-
stitution and By-Laws," reveals
that the Preamble stated:
We, the undersigned, Practitioners of
Physic and Surgery in the
County of Belmont, and its vicinity, as
well as for the purpose of promot-
ing harmony and good fellowship, as of
elevating the cause of Medical
Science, and its collateral branches,
associate ourselves under the following
Constitution.
The Constitution provided: "That,
the Association shall be
denominated the Belmont Medical Society";
for the usual officers;
that for membership, "any regular
Practitioner of Medicine, in
good standing, may become a member of
this Society by signing
this Constitution, paying into the
Treasury Fifty-cents, and com-
plying with such other regulations as
may be hereafter provided
by the By-Laws of this Society";
that, the Society should "have
the power to form a Library and a
Cabinet of Specimens in the
varying departments of natural science,
both from the donations
of individuals and other Associations
and by levying of fines and
taxes, agreeable to the regulations
which may be provided by
the By-Laws of this Society"; that,
"the Society shall hold at least
four meetings a year"; that,
"the annual meeting shall be holden
on the 1st Monday in March, and the
others on the 1st Mondays
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 317
of June, September and December";
that, "there shall be two
standing committees--1st on Quackery;
2nd on Improvements in
the Science of Medicine and such other
committees as the interests
of the Society may require."11
The original Constitution was adopted
March 1, 1847, and
was signed by twenty-six physicians.12 It was amended
December
6, 1847, to change the meetings from the
first Monday to the first
Thursday in the months of March, June,
September and Decem-
ber. It was amended again on March 7,
1850, to provide for
meetings on the first Thursday in April,
July, October and January.
The first "Code of Ethics"
adopted by the Society on April
7, 1847, came beyond doubt from the
Medical Convention of
Ohio which was organized in 1835. The
two codes are exact
duplicates of each other. Furthermore,
there were three Belmont
County physicians in attendance at the
second meeting of the
Medical Convention of Ohio held in
Columbus, Ohio, January
1-3, 1838. They were Thomas Carroll,
Ephraim Gaston and Isaac
Hoover. Of these, Ephraim Gaston was the
only charter member
of the Belmont Medical Society. Dr.
Hoover joined the Society
at a later date and Dr. Carroll never
joined since he had moved to
Cincinnati in 1841. Following the
organization of the American
Medical Association13 on May
5, 1847, at Philadelphia, the Belmont
Medical Society adopted the "Code
of Ethics" of the national body.
By inference, therefore, it must have
been Dr. Gaston who
had the copy of the "Code of
Ethics" of the Medical Convention
of Ohio. He was an active member of the
Medical Convention
of Ohio from 1838 to 1851. He was
elected president of the
Convention at its meeting in Columbus
May 20-22, 1845, which
11 The Constitution and By-Laws of
the Belmont Medical Society Together
With a Code of Medical Ethics and a
Bill of Rates Adopted by Said Society (St.
Clairs-
ville, 1847), 3, 4, 5.
12 The signers of the Constitution who
became charter members were in the order
of signature: Ephraim Gaston,
Morristown; Lindley Schooly, Belmont; Josephus
Walker, St. Clairsville; P. R. Chapman, Hendrysburg;
Wm. Estep, Loydsville; Clark-
son Schooly, Loydsville; Henry West, St.
Clairsville; David Tidball, Hendrysburg;
E. P. Birdsong, Bellaire; George W. Lyle,------------
Smith Holloway,
St. Clairsville; Jesse Bailey, Flushing;
R. M. Andrews, Bellaire; Benajah P. Steele.
St. Clairsville; John Campbell,
Uniontown; Wm. Schooly, Somerton; John A.
Weyer,----------; Thomas Irwin,
Uniontown; William Milligan, ------------; James
D. Coleman, Centerville; Simon B. West,
Martinsville; Harrison Wilson, Center-
ville; James M. McConahey, Bridgeport;
Joseph Hewetson, St. Clairsville; L. J.
Dallas, Sewellsville; and John
Alexander, Flushing.
13 N. S. Davis, History of the American Medical
Association, from Its Organ-
ization up to January, 1855. Edited by S. W. Butler, M. D. (Philadelphia, 1855).
318 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was two years before the organization of the Belmont Medical
Society.
The Bill of Rates adopted by the Society14 covers
almost
every conceivable contingency arising from general
practice. The
main headings are: Practice of Physic, Obstetrics; Shop
Fee Bill;
and Surgical Operations.
Under the heading of Practice of Physic are found the
fol-
lowing:
For each visit
in town
........................... .50
For visit in the country for the first mile..........
1.00
Venesection and extracting teeth .................. .25
Vaccination ..................................... .50
Gonorrhoea, fee in advance ........................
5.00 to 20.00
Syphilis,
fee in advance ........................... 20.00 to 50.00
Under Obstetrics are found the following items:
Natural case of delivery.......................... 4.00 to
5.00
Preternatural cases............................... 8.00
Forceps used..................................... 10.00
The Shop Fee Bill provides for the prices of dispensing
medicines as the following items will illustrate:
Emetics and cathartics, each .......................
.25
Tinctures, per oz.................................. .25
Anti-spasmodics, per oz ......................... .25 to
.50
Febrifuge
powders,per oz......................... .50
Tonic compound, sufficient for pint of liquor ........ .50
Vessicating & strengthening plasters, each
.......... .25
to .50
Under Surgical Operations, an extended list of
operations are
provided, among which are to be found:
For capital operations: Amputations, Lythotomy, Hernia,
Tre-
phinning,
etc., from
.................................
50.00 to 100.00
For adjusting fractures (each detailed) ...........
5.00 to 20.00
Operations Important on the Eye................. 25.00
to 50.00
For Dressing Recent Wounds .................... 1.00 to 5.00
Tying large arteries in cases of recent wounds......
15.00 to 25.00
Operations
on Hair Lips......................... 10.00
to 20.00
There follows a series of general statements touching
upon
14 The Constitution and
By-Laws of the Belmont Medical Society, . . . 1847,
pp. 12-15.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 319
payments in cash, discounts, collections
and the general business
conduct of the physician.
Throughout the life of the Society the
reports of the two
standing committees--on Quackery and on
Improvements in the
Science of Medicine--were made each
year. All of these reports
afford an excellent measure of the
alertness of the members as
to what was transpiring in the medical
world. One cannot read
these reports without a full
consciousness of how much in earnest
these country practitioners were in the
pursuit of their profession.
Both the Transactions and the Journal
contain numerous
case reports prepared and presented by
the members. These re-
ports reflect the problems confronting
the profession in its at-
tempts to solve the various afflictions
which they were called upon
to treat. They also reflect the bias of the members in their
therapeutic measures.
At a meeting held at St. Clairsville on
March 2, 1848, the
Belmont Medical Society resolved to have
itself incorporated ac-
cording to law. The entry of
incorporation on the county records
is as follows:
State of Ohio, Belmont Co. S. S.
Recorder's office at St. Clairsville
Entered for Recording March 15, 1848 and
recorded 16th do.
H. M. Ward, Recorder Bel. Co. O.
It will be recalled that the Medical
Convention of Ohio was
organized in 1835 and that in 1846 the
Ohio State Medical Society
was organized. Between 1846 and 1851
these two bodies held
their respective meetings concurrently.
In 1851 the Convention
merged with the State Society.15 At the annual meeting of the
Ohio State Medical Society held in
Columbus on June 3-5, 1851,
the Belmont Medical Society was admitted
as the fourteenth
auxiliary of the state body through the
presentations made by
Dr. Robert Thompson of Columbus.16 The Belmont Medical
Society continued in this relation until
its demise on April 19,
1860.
15 Robert G. Paterson, "The First
Medical Convention in Ohio," Ohio State
Medical Journal, XXXIV (May, 1938), 560-1.
16 Minutes of the Ohio
State Medical Society
held in Columbus, June, 1851
(Columbus, Ohio, 1851).
320
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The final number of the Belmont
Medical Journal, May, 1860,
says:
Valedictory
With this number closes not only our
editorial charge of the Journal,
but the existence of the Journal also;
the latter we regret. Believing that
soon after the Journal ceases to be, the
Society will also cease to exist.
The cause of this failure may properly
be attributed to bad Financiering,
a part of the members being permitted to
have the privileges and benefits
of the Society for years without paying
a farthing, while the working few
who labored for the good of the Society
have had to bear a pretty heavy
tax. . . . There seems to have been a
general lethargy without a remedy
to meet it, and we suppose will continue
till the Society ceases to exist, then
a reaction will take place, and the
members wake up.17
The Belmont Medical Society did cease to
exist in 1860.
It is generally supposed the approach of
the Civil War and con-
ditions of unrest connected with it were
responsible for the
suspension, but another opinion
attributed the suspension to an
attack made upon Dr. Henry West for his
recognition of a young
practitioner by a consultation with him
and the excitement in-
cident to the controversy.
An examination of the phrase, "the
working few who
labored for the good of the
Society," reveals the following indi-
viduals:
Ephraim Gaston (1799-1868),
Morristown, was the first
president of the Society in 1847 and the
last in 1860. He began
the practice of medicine at Morristown
in 1825. He attended the
second meeting of the Medical Convention
in 1838. He was ad-
mitted to membership in the Ohio State
Medical Society June 6,
1849. That same year he was elected second vice-president of
the
State Society and in 1851 to the third
vice-presidency. In 1858
he was appointed one of the editors of
the Belmont Medical Jour-
nal. The evidence seems to indicate that he was the moving
spirit
in the Society. Throughout the Transactions
and the Journal he
made contributions in the way of case
reports, committee reports
on Quackery and the Improvement of
Medical Science.
17 Belmont Medical Journal, May, 1860, p.
177.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 321 Henry West (1810-1887), St. Clairsville, was the first sec- retary of the Society in 1847 and served in this capacity from 1853 to 1858. He was elected president in 1848 and again in 1858-1859. In 1827 he studied medicine with Dr. Job. Wilson |
|
at Short Creek, Virginia, and with Dr. Will Hamilton at Mt. Pleasant where he began the practice of medicine. In 1830-1831 he attended his first course of lectures at the Medical College of Ohio and located at Bridgeport. Again in 1834-1835 he attended his second course of lectures at the Medical College of Ohio and received his M. D. degree. In 1845 he removed to St. Clairsville where he practiced the remainder of his life. He served two terms in the House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1838- 1841. He enlisted as Surgeon of the 98th Regiment, O. V. I., in 1862. In 1865-1866 he was elected State Senator on the Repub- |
322
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
lican ticket. He was elected Mayor of
St. Clairsville seven times.
Dr. West had nine sons, five of whom
were druggists and four
physicians. His steadfast support of the Society is attested
through the Transactions and the Journal.18
John Gladstone Affleck (1799-1877),
Bridgeport, served as
vice-president of the Society in 1849;
secretary in 1851-1852;
treasurer from 1855-1860. He acted as
publisher of the Transac-
tions from 1854 to 1858 and publisher as well as one of the
editors
of the Journal from 1858 to 1860.
He was born in Drummelzier,
Scotland, and emigrated to America in
1819. About 1825 he
settled at Barnesville, then moved to
Somerton and finally about
1840 to Bridgeport where he died. He is
described as "by far the
most learned physician that ever resided
in Barnesville, but having
a large fortune and being a perfect
cormorant after knowledge,
the dry, monotonous drudgery of the
profession could not be en-
dured by him and he soon abandoned
it."19 So he entered the
printing and publishing business. He
edited The National His-
torian in St. Clairsville from July 16, 1831, to June, 1833;
then
True Blue at Bridgeport from
1840-1846; then The Belmont
Farmer; The Dog and The Cocoanut; all containing a series of
reflections on the follies of mankind,
taking his characters from
well-known Bridgeporters His mother was first cousin to
Premier Gladstone. In all his
contributions to the work of the
Society, Dr. Affleck was ever courageous
and pungent in his
opinions.
William Estep (1815-1880), Loydsville,
was elected secretary
of the Society in 1850-1851;
vice-president in 1856-1858; and was
one of the editors of the Journal. He
settled at Loydsville in 1840
and received his M. D. degree from
Starling Medical College in
1850. He was admitted to membership in
the Ohio State Medical
Society in 1852. His contributions to
the Transactions and the
Journal were constant and in many cases pointed.
James M. McConahey (1809-1870),
Bridgeport, was elected
vice-president of the Society in
1850-1851; president in 1855-
18 Committee of the
Belmont County Medical Society, Memoir
of Dr. Henry West
(St. Clairsville, O., 1891), 19.
19 J. A. Caldwell, History of Belmont
and Jefferson Counties, Ohio (Wheeling,
W.
Va., 1880), 317.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 323
1856 and was one of the editors of the Journal.
He studied medi-
cine with Dr. William Hamilton of Mt.
Pleasant and graduated
M. D. from the Medical College of Ohio.
He was appointed one
of the editors of the Journal and
his contributions of case reports
were always interesting.
These men then appear to be the
stalwarts in the organization
and maintenance of the Belmont Medical
Society. Their zeal for
the work never flagged. When it is
recalled that the population
of the county in 1850 was only 35,378,
the achievement of these
physicians becomes remarkable. One thing
in their favor was
the strategic location of the county. It
bordered on the Ohio
River which provided the first means of
transportation from the
East to the "Ohio Country";
then on Zane's Trace, the first road
through Ohio from the East; and finally,
on the National Road.
This meant that it became one of the
natural areas for the rise
of settlements and that it received the
stimulus of ideas from
the outside world.
That the organized activity of the
Belmont Medical Society
was unique in the United States at the
time is attested by the
attention paid to it by Dr. Billings
before the International Medical
Congress at Philadelphia in 1876 as well
as the printed record of
its proceedings in the Transactions and
the Journal.
THE BREADTH OF VISION OF DR. JOHN STRONG
NEWBERRY
By A. E. WALLER, Ph. D.1
Attention has been directed to the
interesting circumstance
that many of our leaders in the natural
sciences whose schooling
ended before 1850 held degrees in
medicine. When it is asked how
this happens to be the case, the facts
seem to show that only the
colleges of medicine offered an approach
in training and teaching
to modern laboratory study. Thus Asa
Gray, John Torrey, George
Engelmann, to mention the most
distinguished botanists, and some
lesser lights such as Charles Parry,
Jacob Bigelow, John M. Bige-
low, Charles W. Short and others all
were the holders of medical
degrees. With the exception of Jacob
Bigelow, whose contribution
to the materia medica of the day is
unparalleled, none of these
men made great contributions to
medicine.
The subject of this paper is a
geologist, one of the founders
of paleontology for the United States,
Dr. John Strong Newberry.
His work in botany is mainly in
paleobotany, but he was one of the
throng of explorers of the Western
States whose botanical col-
lections made possible the quick
organization of the flora of North
America under the guiding genius of
Torrey and Gray. Those
interested in Ohioana remember him as a
director of the Ohio
Geological Survey and as the author of
the first catalog of the
plants of the state of Ohio.
Since Newberry was a medical college
graduate who practiced
medicine but gave it up for scientific
studies, it becomes a matter
of philosophical and historical concern
to examine his education
and background. Obviously, since he was
not primarily interested
in the practice of medicine and as he
came from a family of suffi-
cient wealth and was free to choose
whatever he liked in the way
of a career, what he did with his
education is of great interest.
1 Papers from the Department of Botany, The Ohio State University, No. 465.
324
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 325
He became a leader of his time, not in
government, though he
possessed a number of important contacts
to make such a life
possible also. Nor did he turn away from
medicine to law or to
a rectorship in the footsteps of so many
who were given the clas-
sical education of the period.
Quite away from beaten paths, he appears
as one of the first
to rise high in practical
humanitarianism. He found new appli-
cations to human welfare of the natural
sciences he followed. He
remained a professor and by his
researches and teachings trained
young men to go along with him in the
pathways he was exploring.
Before his death the laboratory methods
of study were widely in
use. He may have carefully examined,
during his career, the
strong and weak points of medical
college training as he had ex-
perienced it and thrown his influence
directly toward laboratory
training in the natural sciences. An
address he made before the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science indicates
how seriously he thought along these
lines.
Looking back to the successful medical
practice he built in
the pyramiding population of the
Cleveland of the 1850's, it is
interesting to see how ready he was to
cut short his private prac-
tice to respond to the calls of
usefulness in wider fields. The very
absence of specialization in his
training stands out as an advantage
to him. Without going into detail here
as to the content of his
college work, one only needs to ask
whether a brilliant young phy-
sician of today's schools could turn so
easily to botany or to
geology after several years of active
medical practice.
To express as fully as possible what the
spirit of the bio-
logical sciences entailed at this time
one might call this period
the Golden Age of Nomenclature.
Twenty-five years later the
various fields of the sciences were to
be separated. At the mid-
century, however, many of the
conspicuous plants and animals
were still to be described. This was
also essentially true in geol-
ogy. The rock formations had not been
named. At the same
time comparative studies were beginning
to add to the excitement.
There were minor synthesizing influences
at work, but the major
principles to proceed from the work of
Darwin, Mendel, Faraday,
326
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Lyell, Pasteur and Agassiz were not yet
announced or at least
their antecedents were not yet a part of
the college courses of a
young contemporary of John S. Newberry.
The healing of the
sick was only groping its way from
superstitions, some of which
were as old as the Asclepiads, to the
newer knowledge based on
experimentation. Yet medicine was at
this moment much in ad-
vance of agriculture. The new enabling
legislation which was to
establish colleges of agriculture and
experimental stations was not
yet dreamed of.
So it was that the medical colleges of
the nineteenth century
offered the only schools in which
biological principles were studied.
The advances made in the twentieth
century in biology owe much
to this torch of knowledge passed on by
the medical colleges, even
humble ones. It is beside the point to
say that there were bad
schools as well as good. For these early
schools offered one thing
difficult to obtain in the highly
specialized university centers of
training today. Education was viewed
through a wide-angle lens
to be as all-inclusive as possible. Dr.
Newberry offers a record
worthy of attention.
A soldier in the Revolutionary War was General
Roger New-
berry, the paternal grandfather of John.
The Newberry family
was already an old one in America,
Thomas having landed in
Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1634, and
the forebears of General
Roger having moved later to Connecticut.
The General was in-
terested in the Western Reserve of the
Connecticut Land Com-
pany, although there is no record that
he ever saw his holdings.
His son, Henry, however, was an attorney
who inherited the land
from the General and decided to move to
Ohio. Thus it hap-
pened that, though John Newberry always
thought of himself as
an Ohio man, he was really born in
Windsor, Connecticut. He
was two years old before his father
moved the family in 1824.
Henry Newberry, taking title to his part
of the estate of Gen-
eral Roger, founded the town of Cuyahoga
Falls. While by train-
ing and profession a lawyer, Henry also
had an eye for power
development. There is no doubt about his
interest in the possi-
bilities of water power from the falls
of the Cuyahoga River.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY 1835-58 327
With all the instincts of the
industrialist he wanted to bring mills
and turning wheels to a nearly untamed
wilderness. Northern
Ohio still was practically that, for it
had not been opened to set-
tlement as early as the Ohio River
counties. Cincinnati was the
center of culture. The potentialities of
Cleveland were not to
be realized for some time to come.
Henry Newberry chose Cuyahoga Falls for
his residence and
the place to stake out his future. At
Tallmadge, not far away,
he owned land containing deposits of
coal. It is to the credit of
Henry Newberry, father of John, the
geologist, that he was the
first to appreciate the possibilities of
operating the Tallmadge land
as a coal mining enterprise. Later, when
John's reputation as a
geologist had been made, he recorded in
the Lisbon Railway Re-
port2 a tribute to his
father's foresight in developing coal mines
as an important step in building
industrial Cleveland.
Of the youthful Johnny, one of a family
of nine children, it
is reported that he "helped"
his father in inspecting the mining
properties at Tallmadge. At the age of
eleven he displayed an
overpowering curiosity in the plant
fossils exposed in the slates
and shales composing the roofs of the
mine galleries. Most mature
persons are not without a stir of the
imagination on entering a
clark -cave. The effect was even greater
on the sensitive young
Johnny. He peered down dark passages
lighted by torch or candle.
He saw strange leaves or branches
pressed into solid stone and
themselves feeling like stones. The
desire to learn the story of
those buried plants became for Johnny a
life-long quest. His first
scientific effort was on fossils. His
last paper a year before his
death was on the flora of a coal field
in Montana.
The man, John Strong Newberry, was fond
of recalling the
effect of the visits so frequently made
to the Tallmadge mines.
The Science Museum at Cleveland became
years afterwards the
depository for some of his favorite
specimens. Likewise, the
Columbia School of Mines and the
Smithsonian, after their
establishment, received some of these
specimens. One hopes that
some geologist today noting some J. S.
N. specimens from Tall-
2 First Annual Report of the President of the New Lisbon Railway Co.,
presented
at the Annual Meeting, January 2d,
1865 (Cleveland, 1865).
328 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
madge would pause a moment to recall the
little boy who grew
up into the famous Dr. Newberry.
When young John was passing out of his
teens and becom-
ing a mature young man, Henry Newberry,
as an enterprising
coal operator received a notable visitor
who may have further
heightened John's interest in geology.
James Hall was thirty
years of age at the time of his visit to
Henry Newberry. He had
already been connected with New York
Geological Survey for
five years. In 1841, to extend his
knowledge of the limestones
and their ranges, Hall made a journey to
the Mississippi River.
On his return eastward, he stopped with
the Newberrys of Cuya-
hoga Falls. Young John, already familiar
with the Tallmadge
mines, was more than ever eager to visit
them and show them to
the distinguished James Hall.
Unfortunately there is no written
record of the conversation that took
place between the nineteen-
year-old host and the thirty-year-old
guest. It may have been
warm and witty or serious and heavy. It
probably was both as
the visit may have lasted several days.
This visit, however,
was the beginning of a fine friendship
of many years. It was both
personal and professional in import as
both were later to become
Presidents of the American Association
for the Advancement of
Science, Hall in 1857 and Newberry in
1867. Hall became the
most prolific writer of the period in
geology. Newberry became
internationally famous--the first
American to receive the Murchi-
son Medal. Newberry's work, however, was
not confined to
geology. He left a significant record in
whatever field he touched.
The visit of James Hall may have been
the turning point in
John Newberry's life and may have fixed
his resolve to devote
himself to scholarly pursuits. Henry
Newberry was able to bring
every comfort and opportunity to his
nine children and John was
sent to Western Reserve College, which
was then still located at
Hudson, where it had been incorporated
two years after Henry
Newberry had moved to Cuyahoga Falls. It
was the oldest and
best school of the district and there
John was sent. The avowed
purpose of the college was to
"educate pious young men as
pastors for her [Ohio's] destitute
churches," "to preserve the
present literary and religious character
of the state and redeem
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 329
it from future decline" and
"to train competent young men to
fill the cabinet and for the bench and
bar."3 These were high
aims and many young men developed along
the lines indicated.
John Newberry was to show that there
were still other aims to be
discovered. The college, never a large
one before its removal
to Cleveland, was not without influence
in educating the young men
and later the young women of the State.
Already talented as a
keen observer and with a scientific
bent, John Newberry profited
by his literary studies. He was ready to
enter the Cleveland
Medical College in 1846 and he obtained
his degree in 1848.
A strong ingredient in his medical
college training was the
contact with Dr. Jared P. Kirtland.4
As a boy Dr. Kirtland had
developed a consuming interest in the
living world, and his grand-
father, Dr. Jared Potter of Wallingford,
Connecticut, had taken
the boy's training in hand, and taught
him all he knew of birds
and insects and plants, so that "at
the age of twelve Kirtland was
already familiar with budding and
grafting." At twenty he was
one of the first students to enter the
newly opened Yale Medical
School, from which he was graduated in 1815. At Yale, Kirtland
studied botany under the famous Dr. Ives
and mineralogy and
zoology under Professor Silliman. In his
contact with Dr. Ives,
Kirtland antedated by a few years
another young man who was
later to make notable contributions to
Ohio botany, William S.
Sullivant. By 1830, Dr. Kirtland
was not only one of the best
known and best liked physicians, but he
had served in the Ohio
Legislative Assembly as the
representative of Trumbull County
and organized the first effort to have
made a State Geological Sur-
vey. In this he took part in 1827 and found
himself in an em-
barrassing position. The State Treasury
was without funds. He
paid the assistants out of his own
pocket and took for his reward
the geological specimens which were
later the nucleus of the col-
lections in the Cleveland Museum. For a
while Dr. Kirtland
lived in Cincinnati as professor in the
Ohio Medical College. He
was asked to return to the Western
Reserve in 1841 to the
3 Harriet Taylor Upton, et al.,
History of the Western Reserve (Chicago, 1940),
340.
4 George M. Curtis, "Jared Potter Kirtland, M.D.," Ohio State Medical Journal
(Columbus), XXXVII (1941), 10.
330
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Willoughby College of Medicine, by Dr.
John Delemater. In 1844,
Dr. Kirtland wrote to his friend, Dr.
Samuel P. Hildreth of Mari-
etta: "You doubtless have learned
we are busily engaged in
building up a medical institution at
Cleveland. Our efforts are
thus far successful as we now number 67
students in our class
and our course of instruction has been
very satisfactory. We hope
to have our school . . . as the Medical
Department of W. R.
College by an act of the legislature
this season."5
In 1845, the year before John entered
Medical College,
Cleveland was a city of 9,573 people and
was already called the
"Forest City." There were those who said of it that it
would
continue "to be a delightful place
of rus-urban residence"6 but
any great industrial or commercial
future seemed unlikely. Such
men as the Newberry family, Dr. Kirtland
and others, by de-
veloping industries and increasing
cultural opportunities, built up
the community in spite of the doubters.
The Cleveland Medical College was headed
by Dr. John Dele-
mater as the professor of general
pathology, midwifery and
diseases of women and children; Dr.
Kirtland was professor of
physical diagnosis and the theory and
practice of physic. There
were five others on the faculty. Wednesdays were given to
"Medical and Surgical
Cliniques." The announcement also car-
ried this alluring statement, "As
surgical operations are performed
gratuitously in the presence of the class, it is believed that there
are
few Medical Institutions in the country
where the principles of
surgery are more fully taught with their
application to successful
practice than in this." Nine years
after its establishment it had
enrolled more than a thousand students
and was well launched.
As to John Newberry, he was much
impressed by Dr. Kirt-
land, who taught him ornithology and
added to his interest in
geology, as well as taught him botany
and materia medica. John,
however, was not handicapped or obliged
to confine his studies to
the local scene. After obtaining his
degree he went for the next
two years to study abroad.
5 Ibid.
6 J. S. Newberry in Knight
and Parsons Business
Directory, of the City of
Cleveland (Cleveland, 1853), 31.
OHIO MEDICAL, HISTORY, 1835-58 331
Most of this study period was spent in
Paris. Besides at-
tending medical lectures he also
attended geological courses. He
visited Italy and made his first
contribution to scientific literature
in the description of a quarry
containing fossil fish at Monte
Bolca, Italy. This was published in 1851
in The Family Visitor.
He returned to Cleveland and opened up
his medical practice.
He is reported as having been
successful. He practiced medicine
from 1851 to 1855. His residence is
given in Knight and Parsons
Directory for 1853 as being at the
"Cor of Superior and Euclid."7
and his office in Kelly's Block at 64
Superior Street. There are
58 physicians-surgeons listed in this
directory in an article entitled
"Cleveland past, present, and
future." This article is quite likely
accurate, since it was written by Dr.
Newberry himself. It de-
serves to be read by collectors of
Western Reserve and Pioneer
Ohio history.
In 1845, public-spirited citizens of
Cleveland voted a municipal
loan of $200,000 for the construction of a railroad to connect Cleve-
land with Columbus and Cincinnati. The
first train entered Cleve-
land traveling all the way from
Cincinnati in 1851. Previously the
only connections had been by canal but
that traffic, as well as the
Lake traffic, was ice bound during the
entire winter. As New-
berry described it "with the first
hard frost the business of the city
went into a state of hybernation, lying dormant
and dead until
resuscitated by the genial warmth of
returning spring."8 He also
said,
The effect of the construction of these
various railroad lines, all con-
verging to Cleveland as a centre, upon
her business and general prosperity
has been magical. The commercial
transactions of every month, are far
greater than formerly, and now we have
twelve such months in every year.
We have no longer an annual hybernation,
but reckon time by the same
almanac which serves as a guide to other
civilized communities. Nor is it
longer necessary, that the existence of
a Clevelander should be extended
thirty-three per cent beyond the common
term in order that he should
have his share of life.9
Clearly John Newberry saw the prosperity
of his community
and took pride in sharing it. He could
write precisely and with a
7 Ibid., 215.
8 Ibid., 31.
9 Ibid., 32.
332
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
light touch. He lived near Dr. John
Delemater and perhaps con-
tinued to see Dr. Kirtland whose
residence was not in Cleveland.
He had married and gave all indication
of permanent location in
Cleveland.
He began to publish scientific articles
and four papers of his
on fossil plants appeared in 1853 in the
short-lived but thoroughly
excellent Annals of Science. This
ambitious publication is de-
scribed as a semi-monthly magazine
devoted to science and the
arts. Its editor was H. L. Smith, a
physician and professor of
general and physiological chemistry in
the Western College of
Homeopathic Medicine. The city of
Cleveland was flourishing
at this time, with two medical colleges
and a university just becom-
ing established. John Newberry apparently maintained friend-
ships in both medical colleges and was
active and happy in civic
affairs. The Annals of Science ran
from November, 1852, to May,
1854. In August, 1843, the seventh
annual meeting of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of
Science was held in Cleve-
land and the Annals published a
full account of the program with
abstracts of many of the articles.
Culturally, as well as commer-
cially, Cleveland was growing.
The Cleveland Academy of Natural
Sciences was founded in
1845 by Dr. Kirtland. It was one of his
particular delights. In
1853, J. P. Kirtland was
president, as he probably had been con-
tinuously, and John S. Newberry, former
student and now a
mature man and colleague in the field of
medicine, was recording
secretary. There was one other interesting activity in which
Newberry participated at this time. The
Young Men's Christian
Association was started that same year.
In February of the fol-
lowing year when the constitution and
by-laws were adopted he
was made the first president.10 Truly,
his position in the city was
established. He was a recognized
scientist, a physician to be re-
spected and a prosperous family man.
Here his life changed.
In May, 1855, he was appointed
assistant surgeon and geol-
ogist on the Williamson and Abbott
Expedition. This expedition
was authorized to explore the country
from San Francisco to the
10 Samuel
P. Orth, A History of Cleveland
(Chicago, 1910), I, 406.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 333
Columbia River. The reports on the
botany, geology and zoology
of Northern California are in the sixth
volume of the Reports of
Explorations and Surveys to ascertain
the most practical and eco-
nomical route for a Railroad
from the Mississippi River to the
Pacific Ocean, made in 1853-6 (Washington, 1857). His work
on the trees of Northern California was
illustrated and was done
in collaboration with Torrey and Gray.
Thus, in one year, John
Newberry was working with the foremost
botanists of the country.
He worked in Washington while completing
his reports, though
his family remained in Cleveland. In
1857, he was given a similar
appointment on the Lieut. Joseph C. Ives
Expedition for the
exploration and navigation of the
Colorado River. A boat from
San Francisco sailing around Lower
California, up to the mouth
of the Colorado River, carried a smaller
steamer suitable for ex-
ploring the river. While waiting near Yuma for the dismantled
small boat to be fitted for its
exploring work, John Newberry
became ill and almost left the
party. He recovered, however,
sufficiently to continue. With his recovery his accustomed zest
for living returned, as is evidenced in
the following excerpt from
a letter written aboard the steamer Explorer,
February 10,1858,
on the Colorado River, by Newberry to
his friend, F. V. Hayden:
I should be very happy to be one of your
pleasant circle at the Smith-
sonian this winter . . . I am doomed to
pass the entire winter and spring
doing the hardest kind of field duty
with few of its pleasures or rewards.
Day after day we slowly crawl along up
the muddy Colorado--, confined
to a little tucked up, over-loaded,
over-crowded steamer with no retreat
from the cold, heat, wind or drifting
sand, and nothing but the monotony
of an absolute desert to, feast our eyes
upon, with nothing but bacon and
beans and rice and bread and sand--or
rather Sand and Bacon, etc. to eat,
sleeping on shore with a sand drift,
eyes, nose, mouth, ears, clothes and bed
filled with sand--with almost everyone
discontented and cross. I some-
times almost envy you who are
reposing in your "otium cum dig." studying
abundant material, eating comforting
food, sleeping on good beds, washing
clean and dressing neatly every day, and
having a good time generally.
I only hope you appreciate your
advantages with sometimes pity on poor
wretches who are not so fortunate.
After several paragraphs in more serious
vein about the ex-
pedition he ends the letter: "Give
my love to all who love me.
Ah, who does in all W. Be a good boy, don't get tight. And
334 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
when you read this think of me as one of
your best friends. P. S.
I am sorry this sheet is disfigured by
this caricature of a Mohave
belle, but paper is very scarce and I
must use up every scrap."11
Following the Ives Expedition, Newberry
also accompanied
Capt. John N. Macomb on the expedition
over parts of northern
Arizona and Utah. This led to covering
portions of the land sur-
vey of the Ives Expedition. The Report
of the Macomb Expedi-
tion was not published until 1876, but
it is interesting to see how
the return journey became later almost
the exact route of the
Santa Fe across Arizona and New Mexico
to Garden, Kansas.
After the summer survey work on the
Macomb Expedition in 1859
was completed Newberry came back to
Washington to join the
Smithsonian staff. With the outbreak of
the Civil War he entered
the United States Army, but was elected
a member of the United
States Sanitary Commission, June 14,
1861. The first sanitary in-
spection of troops was made by him at
Cairo, Illinois, in connection
with the Reverend Henry Bellows and Dr.
William H. Mussey.
By September of 1861, however, his
status again was to undergo a
change. He was called to serve as
secretary of the Western Divi-
sion of the U. S. Sanitary Commission.
So he resigned from the
Army and established headquarters at
Louisville, Kentucky.
The story of the Sanitary Commission is
best told by Dr. New-
berry himself.12
The outbreak of the rebellion found me
at Washington, D. C. in
the service of the War Department with
which I had been connected for
the five years previous as Acting
Assistant Surgeon and Geologist. On
the 14th of June, I was elected a member
of the United States Sanitary
Commission, and immediately took part in
the meeting then being held at
Washington. . . . It is not, perhaps,
generally known that Cairo had been
seized on the 24th of April by a detachment
of men brought down rapidly
and secretly by the Illinois Central
Railroad Company, just in time to
anticipate a plan formed for its seizure
by the rebels. The transaction was
an interesting and an important one and
saved us a point which in
strategic value was second to no other
one along our frontier.
Having prepared the way by
correspondence in the latter part of
October I went to Columbus, Cincinnati,
and Louisville, where by the
11 George P. Merrill, The First
One-Hundred Years of American Geology (New
Haven, 1924), 684.
12 John S. Newberry, The Sanitary
Commission in the Valley of the Mississippi
(Cleveland, 1671).
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 335
assistance of my friends, Dr. S. M.
Smith, Hon. George Hoadly, Dr. Mussey,
Dr. T. S. Bell, and Mr. Heywood,
meetings of the Associate Members of
the Sanitary Commission were held and
Branch Commissions organized . . .
Thus in these few words he tells of the
part he took in what
was the greatest attempt in saving lives
and caring for soldier
casualties the world had ever seen. A
long letter, dated Louisville,
October 24, 1862, to Fred. Law.
Olmstead, who was the general
secretary of the U. S. Sanitary
Commission concludes with the
following:
By the addition to the medical corps of
a body of trained assistants,
whose duty it shall be to gather up and remove
the wounded from the
battlefield and perform for them the
first necessary offices of relief; and
entrusting to that department
independent means of transportation and
subsistence for the sick, much will be
done to economize life, prevent suf-
fering and improve the health of the
army.13
This statement could be taken from a current message con-
cerning the aims and objectives of our
M. R. T. C. John New-
berry expressed the spirit of today's
activities in this field. Only
the means of carrying out the work has
improved.
A second far-reaching idea is one on
scurvy to be found in
the Sanitary Reporter, for May
15, 1863, as an extract from the
official report of F. N. Hamilton,
Medical Inspector, U. S. Army.
"There were no fresh vegetables
furnished to the troops except
what were obtained from the Sanitary Commission."14 "On the
same day Dr. Newberry replied by
telegram to me: 'Large ship-
ments are being made daily. Yesterday I
telegraphed Cincinnati,
Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh and
have reply that shipments
will be made at once from there.'"
I found that the Sanitary Commission had
already furnished them
with the vegetables they had called for
and which were needed for the
sick so that in the hospitals none were
dying of scurvy; on the contrary
in every instance I found them
recovering rapidly. I would respectfully
suggest that for the season of the year
when neither fresh potatoes nor
onions can be furnished to our armies,
they should be supplied with pickled
onions and cabbage; also potatoes cut in
slices and packed in molasses,
as is the practise with sailors; the
potatoes to be eaten raw.
A third action of great importance grew
out of the first two.
How could hospital supplies for the army
be procured; how could
13 Ibid., 67.
14 Ibid.,
82.
336
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the quantities of fresh foods be kept
flowing to the stations as
rapidly as required? The most important
measure was the Sani-
tary Fair. The Great Western Sanitary
Fair, as the one held in
Cincinnati was called, has been made the
subject of a book by the
Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows who was the
president of the U. S.
Sanitary Commission.15 The following
description of the Chicago
Sanitary Fair in which seventy-two
thousand dollars was ?? the net
proceeds is interesting. "The
contributions to the Fair to be sold
for the benefit of our sick and wounded
soldiers were large, were
munificent; but it was this tone of
deep-seated earnestness which
was largest." The Chicago Fair was
followed by the Cincinnati
Fair which opened Christmas Day. It
produced the surprising
result of raising a fund of two hundred
and thirty-five thousand
dollars. The second Chicago Fair, held
May 30, 1865, the closing
year of the war, realized more than two
hundred thousand dollars.
To sum up briefly, John Newberry,
between September, 1861,
and July, 1866, expended more than eight
hundred thousand
dollars and distributed supplies worth
more than five millions. He
also established a hospital directory at
Louisville in which there
were recorded the names of eight hundred
and fifty thousand
soldiers who had been given direct help
by the Sanitary Commis-
sion and more than one million more who,
on being released, were
through soldiers' homes temporarily fed
or sheltered as they were
furloughed, and for whom no other
adequate provision had been
made. Probably no one up to that time
had been so great an
apostle of humanitarianism. The Sanitary Commission was a
charity "twice blessed" as the
editors of the Sanitary Reporter
noted.
There were two other items to be
mentioned. At the base
hospitals in Murfreesboro, Chattanooga,
Nashville, Louisville, New
Albany and other points, vegetable
gardens were established, not
only to provide food, but for
"convalescent soldiers and those unfit
for regular duty in the field," who
"can do the work, finding
healthful and stimulating exercise in
place of the depressive in-
fluences of convalescent camps."
Finally, in Cleveland, Dr. New-
15 The Great Western Sanitary
Fair (Cincinnati,
1864).
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 337
berry established an employment agency
to help find jobs for the
men going back to civilian life.
When the British army in 1854-1856 had
fought in the Crimea
the death rate mounted from "129 per
thousand to the fantastic
figure of 1,174 per thousand per
year." At this rate the entire
army would have disappeared within a few
months. No wars of
history ever equaled this. In our war
between the states the death
rate dropped from 65 to 44 per thousand
under the ministrations
of the Sanitary Commission. Newberry
planned along lines to
avert disaster and to save the lives of
the men at war.
In the autumn of 1866, at the age of 44
years, with much
practical experience behind him in field
work, in correspondence
with official and semi-official report
making and administration,
with some teaching contacts in
Washington, at Columbia College,
and in research for the Smithsonian and
with four years of private
medical practice, John Newberry was to
embark on his principal
career and to continue in it for the
rest of his life, more than a
quarter of a century. The Columbia
School of Mines was in-
augurated in 1866 and to it John S.
Newberry was called to fill
the multiple post of professor of
geology and botany and paleon-
tology.
The strongest pillar of science in New
York at that time was
doubtless Dr. Torrey. Though Torrey's
real love in the sciences
was botany and he played the major role
in founding the U. S.
National Herbarium and the New York
Botanical Garden Her-
barium and shared countless specimens
with his former student
and great friend, Asa Gray, in the
establishment of the Gray Her-
barium of Harvard, Torrey was,
nevertheless, professor of chem-
istry at Princeton and Columbia. Thus it
was that John S. New-
berry not only was the one to be
responsible for botanical teaching
at Columbia, but also, since Newberry's
interest was mainly in
fossil botany, he was contributing a new
note to the classical botany
of Torrey and Gray. It is also of
interest to see the broad bases
on which the plant sciences lie.
Conventionally expected in liberal
arts colleges and colleges of
agriculture, the plant sciences are
studied as fundamental to medicine,
pharmacy, horticulture, fores-
try, and as applied to fuels--in the
mining schools. The Columbia
338
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
School of Mines is the oldest of its
type in the United States, and
the work of Newberry was that of a
pioneer. He left wonder-
fully complete museum material, by his
own admission, the best
that had ever been assembled. It
contained in Newberry's time
over one hundred thousand specimens and
he made use of the col-
lections as needed in illustrating his
lectures in paleontology and
economic geology. Other specimens he had
collected went to the
Smithsonian and to the Cleveland Museum.
Although perma-
nently situated at Columbia, in 1869,
John Newberry was ap-
pointed Director of the second Ohio
Geological Survey. Unable to
leave New York except for short
intervals he chose a number of
assistants to work in the field. His
principal assistant was Edward
Orton, professor of natural sciences at
Antioch College.
By a curious coincidence, Dr. Orton was
descended from an-
other line of early settlers at Windsor,
Connecticut. His own
boyhood was mostly in Ripley, the
westernmost town in New
York. He entered Hamilton College in
1845 as a sophomore and
was graduated at the age of nineteen in
1848. Teaching the fol-
lowing year at Erie, Pennsylvania, he
entered Lane Theological
Seminary in Cincinnati for the 1849-50
period, but was obliged to
leave because of trouble with his
eyesight. He lived an outdoor
life on a farm and on a coast-wise
steamer, and in 1851 became a
teacher in the Delaware Literary
Institute, Franklin, New York.
The following year he went to Lawrence
Scientific School at Har-
vard where he studied chemistry and
botany. In 1853, he was
again teaching at the Delaware
Institute. He went to the Andover
Theological Seminary and was ordained
without graduating at
Delhi in 1856. He then accepted the
position of professor of
natural sciences at the State Normal
School at Albany. Here,
however, his religious views changed and
he was accused of heresy.
For the best account of this change of
opinion and the position
taken by Dr. Orton, the Memorial Address
by Dr. Washington
Gladden16 should be consulted. Orton was
then principal of a
boys' academy at Chester from which he
was called to Antioch
16 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
(Columbus) VIII (1900),
409-32.
OHIO MEDICAL
HISTORY, 1835-58 339
College in 1865. He
was professor of natural sciences here until
1872, when he became
the president of Antioch.
Meanwhile, in 1869,
Orton accepted the offer of Newberry to
become an assistant
on the Ohio Geological Survey. E. B. An-
drews and John H.
Klippart were likewise principal assistants.
T. G. Wormley was
added as chemist in 1870 as well as some local
assistants. Some of
the most eminent geologists, including E. D.
Cope, O. C. Marsh, F.
B. Meek, R. P. Whitfield, James Hall and
others all
participated at various times. One who was not called
and who entered into
a bitter controversy with Newberry was
Colonel Charles
Whittlesey.17 Some of the
results of the com-
bined studies
established anew the sequence of events in the late
Tertiary when the
ocean reached to Louisville and a subtropical
climate embraced the
lake region, while Greenland was as mild as
the Ohio Valley
today. This was followed by a gradual uplift in
pre-glacial times and
a period of glaciation with the ice sheet ex-
tending to
Cincinnati. A post-glacial period of subsidence and
warmer climate
followed this. For the present another epoch of
elevation is in
progress. All of this was exciting to the geologists,
but Newberry made a
grave tactical error. He was not talking in
common terms or of
common ideas. He was publishing the results
of the
paleontological findings first. The bickerings with Whittle-
sey were echoed at
least in the private letters by another and per-
haps the most
distinguished scientist of the group, Leo Lesquereux.
Newberry himself
would have been unable to say why Les-
quereux regarded him
in contumelious fashion, even if he had
been aware of it. It
is true they had had an interminable con-
troversy--the famous
Larramie question which Lesquereux kept
open long past
anyone's interest in the matter. A mere disagree-
ment over problems of
scientific interpretation, would not, how-
ever, have been
enough to rouse the bitter personal antipathy that
Lesquereux expressed. It is not known that Newberry
wrote
directly to
Lesquereux. To his friend, J.
Peter Lesley, State
Geologist of
Pennsylvania, Lesquereux completely unburdened
himself in many
letters spread over a period of approximately
17 Merrill, First
Hundred Years of American Geology, 451.
340
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
twenty years.18 They had met
probably for the first time when
Newberry was practicing medicine in
Cleveland and Lesquereux
had lived about three years in Columbus.
A letter to Lesley dated
January 9, 1852, contains the following:
"I have now a good deal
of visits destined to my collection of
fossil plants. Yesterday Dr.
Newberry from Cleveland was here."
It is too bad Lesquereux
did not describe this first
meeting. Though neither of them
knew it at the time, it was the contact
between the two persons
who were destined later to be recognized
as the co-founders of
paleobotany for North America. They may
have been disap-
pointed in each other from the start.
Newberry was tall, sure of
himself, with sharp, perhaps critical
eyes. He may not have
known that Sophie, Lesquereux's wife,
was the daughter of Baron
von Wolfskell. Glancing at the humble
surroundings in the little
house at Fourth and Mound Streets, in
Columbus, Newberry may
have been more abashed by their poverty
than alert to their intel-
lectual aristocracy or Sophie's ancient
lineage. If Newberry spoke
in English she would have to act as
intermediary and translate to
German or French, so that her deaf
husband would lip read. If
Newberry spoke French, he may, in spite
of his two years abroad,
have done so haltingly, thus adding
embarrassment to his some-
what aloof manner of separating himself
from his hosts. What-
ever the situation, no other word
concerning Newberry appears
in the Lesley correspondence until
April, 1860, and then Les-
quereux was appalled that Newberry
should have the arrogance
to challenge Heer, the great European
paleontologist who was
Lesquereux's ideal. Yes, it was Newberry
who gave Lesquereux
the feeling he was being disdainfully
treated. No one else in
America seemed to have had this effect
on him.
Lesquereux was elected to membership in
the new (at that
time) National Academy of Sciences,
being the first person so
honored. Newberry, however, was one of
the corporate members.
Lesquereux did not know this or he would
never have written to
18 For extracts from
the Lesquereux letters, grateful acknowledgement is made
to my friend, Andrew Denney Rodgers III.
For sketch of Lesquereux see Merrill,
First Hundred Years of American Geology, 363. Also George Sarton, "Second
Preface to vol. 34," Isis (Cambridge,
Mass.), XXXIV (1942), who offers an excellent
recent interpretation.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 341
Lesley in April, 1863, "I am
sincerely obliged to yourself and
your friends who pleaded for my
admittance. But Newberry's
claim cannot be put aside, especially at
Washington. He is a born
American, a rich man and is sustained by
great political influence."
These were, of course, the things
Lesquereux could never attain.
A furious envy engulfed him.
On January 21, 1865, his letter to
Lesley disparages New-
berry's accomplishments. "I wrote you
about Newberry's opinion
on the old beds of rivers. I see that it
is old or rather that the
same remarks have been made a long time
ago. Dana mentions
the same thing in his Manual."
A sharper note, as bitter as it was
possible for Lesquereux to
write, came from his pen, February 11 of
the same year. "I am
trying to get from our Legislature an
appropriation for a survey
of our coal fields (no general survey).
But I do not think that the
appropriation will be granted and should
it be, it is very probable
that Newberry would get it and not L. I
live here quite unknown
and without friends except Sullivant who
has no influence."
We must not forget that Lesquereux was
rendered totally
deaf from an operation he had submitted
to in an attempt to im-
prove his hearing. He never heard any
English spoken, and while
he learned to write English, he was
always dependent upon his
wife whenever he carried on conversation
in that language. He
was more independent in French, his
native tongue, and German,
as he had learned lip reading for those
languages while, he still
retained some ability to hear. So
devoted was his beloved Sophie,
that he probably never realized the
difficulties others had in con-
versing with him. He did not see
anything incongruous in con-
sidering himself able to conduct field
surveys, and so thought of
himself as a candidate for such a
position and was impatient when
Newberry's claims were recognized ahead
of his own. Therefore,
whenever Newberry might be censured he
was ready to express his
animadversions. On April 7, 1872, he
wrote to Lesley,
Just as soon as I was ready (with a
report) Hayden sent me a new
batch of the same (specimens from the
tertiary and cretaceous) those
got from Newberry who had had them for
years and never found time
for an examination. Perhaps you heard of
the manner in which the
342 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Geological Survey of Ohio has been
conducted. Since its beginning it
was a failure. It was a money enterprise
neither the director nor the
assistants had any plan or any other
purpose, but to get as much money
out of the State for doing nothing at
all. Newberry could not leave New
York and could not give any direction
for work to be done. Of course,
he had not had any control over his
so-called assistants who each of them
are directors over their own district.
Then there were a number of dis-
contented so-called geologists like the
famous Whittlesley, who at once
took part against the survey because
they could not get any slice of the
cake. Hence recriminations, accusations,
hard words, our local papers are
full of letters of these gentlemen of
recriminations of one of these members
against another. I was providentially
spared every kind of connection with
the Survey and I have not taken any part
in those disreputable quarrels
not even by a single word.
The legislature became interested in the
bickering, not be-
cause they were able to offer any
solution to problems of geology
or because they could end the
disputes. On the contrary, they
saw or pretended to see a failure of the
survey itself and suggested
that the whole work be forfeited and
that no money be paid.
Newberry's mistakes lay not along the
lines of geology, but in his
inability to unbend and meet people on
their own level rather than
trying to raise them to his. The
legislature complained that the
reports on the paleontology told nothing
of the natural wealth of
the Ohio lands, or as one legislator is
said to have expressed it "all
this money spent to turn up one damned
salamander that's been
dead a million years."
Newberry resigned in 1872 and
Orton took his place. In
spite of the chiding and clamor which
seemed to impugn Newberry,
his record shows nine published volumes
on Ohio, six on the
geology, two on paleontology, one on
zoology. These were illus-
trated by many maps. Further, a system
of county reports was
begun. All of these volumes continued to
be published after his
resignation, the last appearing in 1883.
Newberry had turned out to be the
Geological Survey's whip-
ping-boy, and the one person who
understood that best was Ed-
ward Orton. His work was largely
economic in character. He cor-
rected the stratigraphy of the coal
measures in the 1884 volume,
the first one published under his own
name. This, by some of the
geologists, is regarded as his
masterpiece, while others hold that the
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 343
1888 publication on petroleum and
natural gas in Ohio exceeded it
in significance. Since that is a matter
pertinent only to geologists
it has no immediate significance here.
There is one important fea-
ture of Newberry's resignation that
remains to be discussed. It is
the effect on Orton's outlook. He was
made the president of
Antioch College, as was previously
mentioned in 1872. In 1873
he was called to the first presidency of
the Ohio Agricultural and
Mechanical College. He accepted the
position and continued to
head the Geological Survey as soon as
Newberry's resignation had
been accepted. As college president, he
directed his effort with
the legislature to altering the nature
of the new institution. The
inspiration for this came from the most
broadly educated man with
whom Orton had become acquainted, John
Newberry. The caution
with which he approached the
legislature, always wary of too much
education, was gleaned from the mishap
to Newberry's survey.
Newberry had tried to separate the
fundamental geology from the
practical applications and discovered
that those interested in "re-
sults" only, could not wait until
the basic studies were ready.
Orton, as college administrator, had the
advantage of the colleges,
with their practical implications,
having been founded first. Know-
ing the impossibility of practical
application without something to
apply, he successfully tackled the
legislature until the college had
become a university. Thus the shadow of
Newberry looms large
across the achievements in learning made
by Ohio State Univer-
sity. Orton, as is well known, having
gained his ends and seen the
university established, resigned the
presidency in 1881 to go on in
geology. In this, too, he followed John
Newberry.
It has been noted that Newberry was an
incorporator of the
National Academy of Sciences and
president in 1867 of the Amer-
ican Association for the Advancement of
Science. There were two
New York organizations to which he also
added luster. Each of
these organizations has been chronicled
by the foremost botanical
bibliographer, John Hendley Barnhart.
The Torrey Botanical So-
ciety owed its origin to Dr. Torrey's
many-sided scientific en-
deavors. Originally it had been known to
its friends and members
as "the Club." Not until about
the time of Torrey's death did it
344
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
have formal organization. The first
president was Dr. George
Thurber, who was followed, after about
seven years, by Dr. New-
berry. From 1880 to 1890 "Newberry
was the president of the
club for ten prosperous years."19
In addition to the Bulletin, the
Memoirs were inaugurated during his presidency and plans for
the New York Botanical Garden were
projected. Newberry was
also president of the New York Academy
of Sciences.20 During
his term of office the name of the
organization was changed from
the old Lyceum. It also became somewhat
ambulatory in its place
of meeting until safely lodged with
Newberry and N. L. Britton21
in the college library building of
Columbia College. Dr. Britton,
later to become the Director of the New
York Botanical Garden,
presented a communication paving the way
for a Scientific Alli-
ance which in turn led to the more
expanded New York Academy
of Sciences as incorporated in 1907 with its
close relation to the
American Museum of Natural History. In
all of this Dr. New-
berry's advice and counsel had been
sought and he had offered
the guiding voice initiating these
actions. As in Orton's case, it
appears that Dr. Britton owed much to
his association with New-
berry. When, in 1867, Newberry had been
called to the presidency
of the A. A. A. S. his address22 bore
the title "Modern Scientific
Investigation: Its Method and
Tendencies." Here he was review-
ing the rapid changes in viewpoint in
the twenty years since he
had been a medical student. The same
principles by which he had
progressed were now valuable as the
guiding aims for the closest
associates he ever had, Orton and
Britton. Both Ohio State Uni-
versity and the New York Botanical
Garden benefited.
Another interesting contribution to the
natural science of Ohio
was mentioned at the beginning of this
paper, namely the first
State catalog of plants of Ohio. The
full story of recording the
plant life of Ohio is too long for
discussion here. Newberry's
paper was first presented at the Ohio
State Medical Society con-
vention in Cincinnati in 1854. Two years
previously, at the June,
19 J. H. Barnhart, Reprinted from the Memoirs
of the Torrey Botany Club, XVII,
12-21.
20 Id., reprinted
from the Scientific Monthly (New York), Nov., 1917.
21 N. L. Britton, "Sketch of John
S. Newberry with Portrait," Torrey Bulletin,
XX (1893), No. 3, p. 89.
22 Reprinted in the 9th number of the American
Naturalist.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 345
1852, meeting, where Dr. Kirtland had
presided in the absence of
Dr. Boerstler of Lancaster, Dr. Robert
Thompson of Columbus
had read an address on the subject of
medical literature and had
referred to Drake and his "Botanicals"
and to the study of the flora
made by Sullivant23 and
Bigelow.24 At this meeting Dr. New-
berry was made a member of a committee
on medical literature,
presumably to investigate medicinal
plants. In 1859-1860 the Cata-
logue of the Flowering Plants and
Ferns of Ohio, by J. S. New-
berry was published. He states in the
introduction,
The following catalogue was presented
and ordered to be published
at the meeting in Cincinnati in 1854,
but by a miscarriage in the mail was not
included in the proceedings of that
meeting. That report embraced a brief
exposition of the generalities of the
geographical botany of Ohio . . . also
from a point of view more strictly
medical, a notice of some of the remedial
agents included in our flora.
These remarks flatly contradict the
later statement by John
Klippart, who, as editor, included an
introduction to the second
catalog published in 1878.25 In this Klippart implied that he, not
Newberry, had prepared the material of
the first catalog. As the
second catalog was published after
Newberry had shown his in-
ability to appease the legislature on
the manner of conducting the
Geological Survey in which Klippart was
an assistant, the attack
seems merely to be a bit of personal
malevolence. It is a peculiar
irony that Newberry, who had given so
much to Ohio, should have
been attacked enviously by Ohio
citizens.
Two other honors came to him before the
close of his noble
career. The last, the presidency of the
International Geologists
Association in 1891, reached him after
he was too ill to preside.
In 1888, he was presented the Murchison
Medal by the Geological
Society of London. He was the first
American to be chosen for
this coveted award. The words of the
citation furnish a fitting
close for this paper: "He is a geologist keen of eye, stout
of
23 Flora of Franklin County.
24 Florula Lancastriensis.
25 H. C. Beardslee, "Catalogue of
the Plants of Ohio," Ohio Agricultural Report,
1877 (Columbus, 1878), 335-63.
346 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
limb, with a due sense of the value of
detail, but with a breadth
of vision that keeps detail in due
subordination."26
26 Additional source material, not
included in the footnote references previously
given are:
(1) James Furman Kemp, "In Memoriam
John Strong Newberry. Two Portraits
on Steel and a Bibliography Chiefly
Prepared by Dr. Newberry in 1889," Columbia
School of Mines Quarterly, I, No. 6.
(2) Sketch of Newberry in A History
of Columbia University (New York,
1904).
(3) A catalog of the most important
scientific writings of Newberry is in the
Surgeon General's Catalog at Washington, D. C.
THE SECRET SIX
AN INQUIRY INTO THE BASIC MATERIA MEDICA
OF
THE THOMSONIAN SYSTEM OF BOTANIC
MEDICINE*
By PHILIP D. JORDAN, PH.D.
Perhaps no single man of medicine
exerted a greater popular
influence during the hectic days of
scientific thought in the nine-
teenth century than did Dr. Samuel
Thomson. Although the in-
timate details of his professional
career did not always coincide
with the stories which Thomson himself
told,1 the general bio-
graphical facts are rather well
established.
"The Father of Botanic
Medicine," was born at Alstead, New
Hampshire, on February 9, 1769, received
his early education at
home, and began the serious practice of
medicine in Boston about
1818.2 He died in Boston on October 4, 1843. Thomson's
lack of
education frequently was commented upon
by contemporaries and
associates. Dr. Morris Mattson, of
Philadelphia, calling upon
Thomson in March, 1838, found him
"illiterate, coarse in his man-
ners, and extremely selfish."3
Even such a friendly individual as
Dr. John Kost felt obliged to comment
upon Thomson's lack of
the "advantages of literary or
scientific training."4 Despite
both
academic and personality defects,
Thomson was to make his in-
fluence felt from the Atlantic Coast
through the Ohio country and
the Old Northwest. Hundreds of eager men
and women--pio-
neers, farmers, merchants and
professional men--came to look
upon the secret six of his botanic
system of medicine and his steam
baths as positive boons to healthful
living. Even the luke-warm
* The research for this paper was made
possible, in part, by a grant from the
Alumni Loyalty Fund of Miami University.
1 Samuel Thomson, Narrative of Life
and Medical Discoveries (Columbus, 1827).
There were many editions of this work,
one (the tenth) appearing in 1835.
2 National Cyclopaedia of American
Biography (New York), VI (1929), 70.
3 Morris Mattson, The American
Vegetable Practice, or a New and Improved
Guide to Health Designed for the Use
of Families (Boston, 1841). In two
volumes.
I, [iii].
4 John Kost, The Practice of Medicine
According to the Plan Most Approved by
the Reformed or Botanic Colleges
of the U. S. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio, 1847),
[iii].
348
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Meeker Day was forced to admit Thomson's
claims as the founder
of the botanic system and felt called
upon to say that "discoveries
so important to the life, happiness, and
health of every living being
have been made, it matters not by whom,
that they should be made
known, and the means [should be
provided] of disseminating their
utility in the relief of our
fellow-beings."5
For one who was to enjoy such
distinguished, not to say
notorious, comment, Thomson's career
certainly had its inception
in a most ordinary environment. Born on
a struggling pioneer
farm and lame from birth, the lad
detested the labors attendant
upon tilling the soil. He much preferred
to roam limpingly through
the woods, stopping now and again to
snatch an unfamiliar weed
and pop it into an inquiring mouth. Thus
he came to know herbs
and their medical use. He was
particularly impressed with the
Lobelia inflata which produced violent perspiration and vomiting.
He was not to be permitted, however, to
wander for long in search
of herbs, for at the age of twenty-one
he was forced to carry the
burden of his father's farm. On July 7,
1790, he was married to
Susan Allen and of this union were born
eight children.
When his wife fell ill and a regular
physician failed to effect
a cure, Thomson enlisted the services of
two root doctors who
seemed to succeed where the medical man
had failed. Thomson's
interest in herbal medicine revived, and
he began to practice
among members of his immediate family.
So successful did he
become that he soon was being called by
friends and neighbors.
Before long he was devoting his time and
talents exclusively to
practice. He attributed his successes to
a theory of medicine
which held that all diseases were
produced by cold and hence that
any treatment which would increase
inward bodily heat would
effect a recovery. To this end he used a
variety of vegetable
remedies, but he placed his greatest
trust in lobelia which he fol-
lowed with doses of Cayenne pepper and
with vapor baths. In
1809, he was indicted and tried at
Salem, Massachusetts, on the
charge of murdering a patient, but was
acquitted. On March 3,
1813, he received from the Patent Office
of the United States
5 Meeker
Day, The Improved American Family Physician, or, Sick Man's Guide
to Health (New York, 1833), [iii].
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 349
the first protection of his botanic
system and on January 28,
1823, was given a revised patent.6 It
was Thomson's plan to per-
mit groups to organize throughout the
country and to practice
accordingly.7 His movement
spread rapidly and became exceed-
ingly popular in the South and West
where thousands endorsed
the use of lobelia, capsicum and steam
baths. Each of these groups
was furnished with a small booklet
containing complete instruc-
tions.
Frequently, Thomson himself toured the
country to sponsor
his botanic system and to defend it against criticism. In
1826,
for example, Thomson was challenged to a
public debate in Cin-
cinnati by Daniel Drake.8 During the forties, the State of Ala-
bama legalized Thomsonian practice.9
In 1835, the governor of
Mississippi had stated "publicly
that one-half the people of that
state relied upon
Thomsonianism."10 Four years
later Thomson
claimed three million adherents in the
United States.11 Ohio, situ-
ated advantageously between the settled
East and the frontier
West, embraced the botanic system with
enthusiasm. Such indi-
viduals as Horton Howard (who sold four
thousand rights in
Ohio and neighboring states in less than
four years), Alva Curtis
(who secured a charter for the Literary
and Botanico-Medical
Institute of Ohio), and Samuel Robinson
(who wrote one of the
most passionate defenses of
Thomsonianism)12 kept public interest
aroused. As a matter of fact, the
Buckeye State became one of
the publishing centers of the movement.
Not only were several
editions of Thomson's botanic medicine
printed in the State, but
also two journals, the Thomsonian
Recorder and the Botanico-
Medical Recorder. Both were edited by Curtis.13
6 Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary
of American Biography (New
York), XVIII (1936), 488-9.
7 Francis R. Packard, History of
Medicine in the United States (New York,
1932), II, 1233-4.
8 Otto Juettner, Daniel Drake and His
Followers (Cincinnati, 1909), 64.
9 Richard H. Shryock, The Development
of Modern Medicine (Philadelphia, 1936).
254.
10 Frederick C. Waite,
"Thomsonianism in Ohio," Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly (Columbus), XLIX
(1940), 327.
11 Ibid.
12 Philip
D. Jordan, "Samuel Robinson: Champion of the Thomsonian System."
Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly (Columbus), LI
(1942), 263-70.
13 Juettner,
Daniel Drake and His Followers, 110-11; Jonathan Forman, "Dr.
Alva Curtis in Columbus, The Thomsonian
Recorder and Columbus' First Medical
School," Ohio State
Archeological and Historical Quarterly (Columbus), LI (1942),
332-40.
350 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
The astonishing success of the
Thomsonian movement rested,
of course, upon the publicity which it
received as well as upon its
method of treatment. In general, this
type of botanic medicine
was opposed to prevailing techniques
such as the use of mercury,
polypharmacy, and phlebotomy. Thomson,
of course, as has been
indicated, relied primarily upon emesis,
enemas, and steam baths.
Such a course of treatment could be as
debilitating as that pre-
scribed by regular physicians. At first
Thomson was content to
practice medicine with lobelia and
capsicum as the first two secret
essentials of his pharmacopoeia. Later
he was to enlarge his material
medica until it contained six
"secret" ingredients. Eventually
these were made public, but even now it
is somewhat difficult to
find quickly an adequate description of
them. Yet they were
printed with full directions and
instructions in some of the botanic
volumes of the nineteenth century.
Thomson set forth six desirable aims in
his system:
1. To cleanse the stomach, overpower the
cold, and promote a free
perspiration.
2. To retain the internal vital heat of the system and cause a free
perspiration.
3. To scour the stomach and bowels, and
remove the canker.
4. To correct the bile and restore
digestion.
5. To strengthen the stomach and bowels
and restore weak patients.
6. To remove pain, prevent
mortification, and promote a natural heat.
Each of these results was dependent upon
the proper use of a
number of botanic remedies in the
form of powders, tinctures,
bitters, syrups, drops, salves, salts,
ointments, and infusions and
decoctions.
One of the best emetics, according to
Thomson, was, of
course, the Lobelia inflata of Linnaeus
which was found in a great
variety of soils throughout the United
States and which commonly
was called "Indian tobacco" by
pioneers and settlers who, when
chewing it, noticed a burning, pungent
sensation followed by
giddiness, headache, perhaps a trembling
of the body, sickness,
and finally vomiting.14 There is evidence that the Penobscot In-
14 Jacob Bigelow, A Treatise on the
Materia Medica, Intended as A Sequel to the
Pharmacopocia of the United States (Boston, 1822), 248-9.
OHIO MEDICAL
HISTORY,
1835-58 351
dians used the plant
and that New England colonials used it with
impunity in gastritis
with infants and termed it "colic weed." For
years lobelia was
used in cases of asthma. As lobelia yielded its
properties readily to
water, wine, vinegar, and alcohol, it could be
readily
administered. Mattson testified that
he found it "par-
ticularly
useful" in "cough, difficulty of breathing, fever, strangury,
pains, strictures,
palpitation of the heart, and nervous affections."15
In 1847, Kost said
that lobelia was "decidedly the most efficient,
safe, and prompt
emetic known, and unlike almost every other
article, does not
inflame, corrode, or in any other way injure the
stomach in bringing
about its specific effect."16
Infusions of to-
bacco (perhaps Narcotina
tabacum rather than "Indian tobacco")
were used with but
little effect in the great cholera in New York
City during the
thirties.17 In 1848, however, Paine said bluntly
that although the
dose of lobelia was from ten to twenty grains, it
was "a hazardous
remedy, and only adapted, as an emetic, to
spasmodic asthma, and
to facilitate the reduction of strangulated
hernia, for which
last purpose it is as useful as tobacco, and
safer."18 Beasley listed several ways lobelia might be
used.19 In
one of the standard
texts of the eighteen-seventies, lobelia was
listed, not among the
emetics, but among the sedatives.20
Thomson himself
prepared the lobelia in three ways. He
powdered leaves and
pods; he manufactured a tincture from the
green herbs and
spirits; and he reduced the seeds to a fine powder
and compounded this
with nos. 2 and 6 of his secret six.
His
standard dosage was
hit-and-miss.For a young child, he advo-
cated administering
as much of the powdered leaves and pods
"as
circumstances shall require."
A dose of the tincture was
"from half to a teaspoonful," and there
seemed no set dosage
when administering
the powdered seeds. "In regard to the quantity
15 Mattson, American Vegetable Practice, 171.
16 Kost, The
Practice of Medicine, 256.
17 Martyn Paine, Letters on the Cholera Asphyxia (New
York, 1832), 49.
18 Id., Materia Medica and Therapeutics (New York,
1818), 84-5.
19 Henry Beasley, The
Medical Formulary: Comprising Standard and Approved
Formulae for the
Preparations and Compounds Employed in Medical Practice
(Philadelphia, 1856),
523.
20 Alfred Stille, Therapeutics
and Materia Medica (Philadelphia, 1874), 354-9.
For earlier uses of Lobelia
inflata. see: Nicholas Culpepper, The Complete Herbal
(London, 1835),
177-8, on English tobacco; and C. F. Leyel, The Magic Book of
Herbs (London, 1926), 246.
352
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to be given as a dose," wrote the
nonchalant Thomson, "it is a
matter of less consequence than is
generally imagined. . . . The
most safe way will be to give the
smallest prescribed dose first,
then repeat it till it produce the
wished for operation."21
It will be remembered that Thomson's
second cardinal prin-
ciple was to "retain the internal
vital heat of the system and cause
a free perspiration." To accomplish
these ends, he utilized cap-
sicum which he himself said he first
discovered and used near
Walpole, New Hampshire, in 1805.22 When capsicum
was not
available, Thomson turned to both the
red and the black peppers
and to ginger. Capsicum (Capsicum
baccatum) was considered by
Kost "the purest, most prompt,
powerful, and permanent stim-
ulant known" and he used it as an
"internal and general" remedy
in inflammations and congestions in
fevers; as a gargle in the
putrid sore throat of scarlet fever;
and, mixed with pitch, as a
plaster in affections of the spine, hip,
liver, lungs and spleen.23
Both Thomson and Mattson advocated from
a half to a teaspoon-
ful as a standard dose,24 and
Kost recommended a dosage that
ranged from five to twenty grains of
either in powder or tincture.25
There was little difficulty, of course,
in preparing capsicum or
peppers. Thomson reduced them to a fine
powder, infused in
hot water, or in a tea of no. 3 of his
secret six.
The third step in the Thomsonian system
was to "scour the
stomach and bowels." For this the
botanic physician had a choice
from the following: the bark of the
roots of the barberry (Berberis
vulgaris); the root of the white pond lily (Nymphea odorata);
the inner bark of the hemlock (Pinus
canadensis); the root of the
marsh rosemary (Statice limonium); the
bark, leaves, and berries
of three species of sumac (Rhus
glabrum, Rhus typhinum, Rhus
copallinum); the leaves of the witch hazel (Hamamelis vir-
giniana); the leaves of the wild red raspberry (Rubus
strigosos);
and the root and top of the squaw weed
or cocash (Aster
puniceus).
21 Day, The
Improved American Family Physician, 47.
22 Ibid., 49.
23 Kost, The Practice of Medicine,
352.
24 Day, The Improved American Family Physician, 51; Mattson,
American Vege-
table Practice, 191.
25 Kost, The
Practice of Medicine, 353.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 353
This vegetable materia medica acted upon
the bowels and
thus accomplished the third objective.
Thomson recommended
the following prescription: "Take Bayberry root bark, white
pond Lily root, and the inner bark of
Hemlock, equal parts of each
pounded and well mixed together; steep
one ounce of the powder
in a pint of boiling water, and give for
a common dose a common
wine glass full, sweetened."26
The fourth step in the Thomsonian system
was to "correct
the bile and restore
digestion." Here again there was a
choice
from among five vegetables: Balomy (Chelone
glabra); poplar
bark (Populus tremuloides or Populus
grandidentata); barberry
bark (Berberis vulgaris); bitter
root bark (Apocynum androsoemi-
folium); and golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis) which
also was
called Ohio Kercuma, orange root,
tumeric root, yellow puccoon,
eye balm and Indian paint Thomson
himself was not sufficiently
acquainted with the golden seal to give
a description of it, but he
said that he had had enough experience
with it to recommend it
as a very pleasant bitter. He used
bitters as follows: "Take the
Bitter Herb, or Balomy, Barberry and
Poplar bark, equal parts,
pulverised, one ounce of the powder to a
pint of hot water and
half a pint of spirit. For a dose take
half a wine glass. full."27
For hot bitters he advocated adding of a
teaspoonful of his no. 2
(Capsicum). Such a preparation was said to "correct the bile
and create an appetite by restoring the
digestive powers; and may
be freely used both as a restorative and
to prevent disease."
The fifth objective, "to strengthen
the stomach and bowels
and restore weak patients," called
for the use of the fifth of the
secret six. This was nothing more than a
simple sugar syrup
made from either peach meats (Amygdalus
persica) or from wild
cherry stones (Prunus virginiana) both
of which were used by
the botanic physician as an
"agreeable" tonic, in dyspepsia, fever
and ague, diarrhoea, worms, jaundice,
and female obstructions
"when more efficient remedies are
not at hand."28 Thomson ad-
vocated the following: "Take poplar
bark and bark of the root
26 Day, The Improved American Family Physician, 67.
27 Ibid., 69.
28 Mattson, American
Vegetable Practice, 295.
354
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
of Bayberry, one pound each, and boil
them in two gallons of
water, strain off, and add seven pounds
of good sugar; then scald
and skim it, and add half a pound of
peachmeats; or the same
quantity of cherry stone meats, pounded
fine. When cool add a
gallon of brandy; and keep it in bottles
for use. Take half a
wine glass full two or three times a
day."29
Last in the series of six in the
Thomsonian program was the
desire to "remove pain, prevent
mortification, and promote a
natural heat." This meant the use of rheumatic drops
prepared
with high wines, 4th proof brandy, gum
myrrh (Myrrha), and
capsicum. For external application spirits of turpentine was
added and sometimes gum camphor. The sixth
of the secret six
was prepared as follows: "Take one gallon of good fourth
proof brandy, or any kind of high wines,
one pound of gum
myrrh pounded fine, one ounce of
capsicum, and put them into a
stone jug and boil it a few minutes in a
kettle of water, leaving
the jug unstopped. When settled, bottle
it up for use."30 The
dose was from one to two teaspoonfuls.
Thomson recommended
his no. 6 for rheumatism, headache,
bruises, sprains, swelled
joints and old sores and maintained that
it would allay inflamma-
tion, bring down swelling and produce a
tendency to heal.
This, then, was the vegetable materia
medica upon which the
orthodox Thomsonian physician depended
and which composed the
secret six that Thomson kept
confidential during the formative
years of his botanic system. After his
basic six had become public,
the "Father of Botanic
Medicine" urged that families keep the fol-
lowing stock of medicine on hand:
1 oz. of the Emetic Herb
2 ozs. of Cayenne
1/2 lb. Bayberry root hark in powder
1 lb. of Poplar lark
1 lb. of Ginger
1 pint of the Rheumatic Drops
"This stock," he wrote,
"will be sufficient for a family for
one year, and with such articles as they
can easily procure them-
29 Day. The Improved American Family Physician,
69.
30 Ibid., 70.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 355
selves when wanted, will enable them to
cure any disease, which
a family of common size may be afflicted
with during that time.
The expense will be small, and much
better than to employ a
doctor and have his extravagant bill to
pay."31
That members of the regular medical
profession were only too
well aware that Thomsonianism was
cutting into their fees is
shown by the following verse:
The wondering world inquire to know
Is it the truth? Can it be so?
Why gentlemen the de'ils to pay,
That you forsake the good old way,
And take a course both new and odd,
That wise professors never trod--
Your craft is wanning sire, we know it,
Thomsonian skill will over throw it.
They often have it in their pow'r,
To save men at the 'leventh hour;
And thus confer a cure unlooked for,
The patient save, but starve the
doctor!32
31 Ibid., 75.
32 John A. Brown, Quackery
Exposed!!! Or a Few Remarks on the Thomsoman
System of Medicine (Boston, 1833), 4.
DENTAL EDUCATION IN OHIO*
By EDWARD C. MILLS, D.D.S.
In 1860, the terms of graduation at the
Ohio College of
Dental Surgery were as follows:
A candidate must have attended two full
courses of lectures--the
last one in this institution, of good
moral character, and be 21 years old;
prepare a thesis on some subject
pertaining to dental science, and deposit
a full set of teeth of his own
workmanship; also undergo a satisfactory
examination in all branches taught in
this college.
A full course in a regular medical or
dental college, or four years
reputable practice will be considered
equivalent to a first course in school.
Terms of admission were--Professors'
tickets for one course or ses-
sion, $100.00; Demonstrators' tickets
$10.00; Matriculation fee $5.00;
Diploma fee, $30.00.
No preliminary educational requirements
are mentioned.
By a resolution in February, 1861,
the number of chairs
was reduced to five. The Chair of
Chemistry and Metallurgy was
to be changed to Chemistry and
Physiology; the Institutes of
Dental Science to that of Institute of
Medical and Dental Science;
Anatomy and Physiology to Anatomy and
Histology; and
Mechanical Dentistry to Mechanical
Dentistry and Metallurgy.
The personnel of the Board of Trustees
remained practically
the same since the organization of the
college in 1845 until 1865.
In order to bring the college more under
the control of the Ohio
Dental College Association, a change in
the original charter was
brought about by the following
Legislative Act:
AN ACT--To regulate colleges of dental
surgery.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General
Assembly of the State of
Ohio. That the Board of Trustees of any
college of dental surgery here-
tofore incorporated and organized under
any law in this State, shall con-
sist of nine members and shall be
elected by the Stockholders of such
college in a manner as hereinafter
provided.
Section 2. The stockholders of such
college of dental surgery shall,
* Previous contributions under this
caption have appeared in this Quarterly in the
issues of July, 1939; October-December,
1940; October-December, 1942, Vol. XLVIII,
No. 3, Vol. XLIX, No. 4 and Vol. LI, No.
4, respectively.
356
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 357
at their first annual meeting after the
passage of this Act, proceed to elect
nine trustees of such college, three of
whom to serve as such for one year,
three of whom to serve as such for two
years, and three of whom to serve
as such for three years; Provided that
vacancies in said board of trustees,
occurring from any other cause than
expiration of the terms of the trustee,
creating such a vacancy, shall be filled
by the election by said stockholders,
of a trustee or trustees, to serve only
for the unexpired part of such term.
Section 3. This Act shall be in force
from and after its passage.
(Signed) John Johnston,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
April 13, 1865. S. Humphreville,
President pro tern of the Senate.
By virtue of this Act, a new board--all
dentists--was elected
as follows: George W. Keely, President;
B. D. Wheeler, Secre-
tary; A. Berry, A. S. Talbert, W. W.
Allport, H. J. McKellops,
W. H. Morgan, W. G. Redman and M.
DeCamp. Miss Lucy
Hobbs, who graduated in the Class of
1865, was the first woman
to receive the dental degree.
With the session of 1867-8, a new Chair
of Clinical Den-
tistry was substituted for Demonstrator
of Operative and Mechan-
ical Dentistry; the Chair of Pathology
and Therapeutics was
revived; and Microscopy added to the
Chair of Chemistry. Also
a Chair on Histology and Physiology was
established. Eight
years, instead of four years, of
reputable practice, were to be
considered equivalent to one session at
college. The entrance
requirement was a preliminary
examination, the requirements of
which were a good English education; the
students were to be
divided into two classes, junior and
senior.
The announcement for 1867 states that
the faculties of the
several dental colleges of America, with
a single exception--The
Pennsylvania Dental College--had united
in forming a society
called "The Association of the
Colleges of Dentistry." The Ohio
College thoroughly approved of this
organization, and as it was
the first step toward unification of
dental educational institutions,
here is a copy of the Constitution and
By-Laws of the Association
of the Colleges of Dentistry:
358 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
CONSTITUTION
WHEREAS we recognize the necessity for
further effort for the
advancement and elevation of our
profession, and for a higher standard of
education and professional attainments;
Therefore
RESOLVED--That we do form ourselves into
an Association for
the accomplishment of the above object,
with the following regulations
for our government:
Article I
This organization shall be styled The
Association of the Colleges of
Dentistry, and shall be composed of the
Faculties of the Dental Colleges
subscribing to this Constitution.
Article II
The duty of this organization shall be
to confer together upon such
means and to suggest such measures to
the various colleges as may lead
to a concert of action in the
furtherance of these objects.
Article III
The officers of this Association shall
be a President, Vice President,
Recording Secretary, Corresponding
Secretary and Treasurer.
Article IV
The vote on all ordinary questions may
be decided by the individual
members of the Association present at
the meetings; but the determination
of any question of importance shall only
be by a vote of the colleges be-
longing to this organization. Each
college being entitled to but one vote,
and in case of a tie, the matter shall
be referred hack to the respective
Faculties for decision; the Professors
in the Didactic course of each col-
lege being entitled to vote, and the
majority shall decide.
Article V
This Constitution may be amended or
altered, by notice being given
one year in advance to all Faculties:
two-thirds of the Colleges being
necessary to effect such change.
BY-LAWS
I.
That the rule of our Dental Colleges allowing one session in a
medical college to be considered equivalent to one course in a
Dental College be abolished.
II.
That two full years of pupilage with a reputable Dental practitioner,
inclusive of two complete courses of
lectures in a Dental College,
be required to entitle the candidate to
an examination for graduation
for the degree of D.D.S.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY
1835-58 359
III.
That a graduate of a respectable medical college, who, has been
under the pupilage of a reputable
Dentist for one year, and shall
have attended one full course of
lectures in a Dental College, shall
be entitled to examination for the
degree of D.D.S.
IV.
That eight years of Dental practice, including regular pupilage, will
be regarded as equivalent to one course
of lectures.
V.
That the regular term of
instruction in the Dental Colleges, be
five months, the session in each to
commence on the 15th of
October.
VI.
That students entering the Colleges later than the 10th of November,
will not be credited for a full course,
nor be eligible to graduation
at the same term.
VII.
That a candidate for graduation will be required to furnish a
written certificate of having pursued
the required pupilage, or
period of practice.
VIII. Regarding the education of the
profession as the primary and only
object in the establishment of Dental
Colleges, therefore,
Resolved, That whilst this Association does not forbid, it cannot
ap-
prove the conferring of degrees upon
persons who have not complied with
the regulations agreed upon by this
body, with the exception of gentlemen
who have distinguished themselves as
contributors to Dental Science.1
The Announcement of 1867 states that the
college was first
to introduce the idea of "Volunteer
Demonstrators" calling in
eminent practitioners from various parts
of the country "to explain
and illustrate all that is peculiar in
his manipulations." During
the years following, many prominent
practitioners became visitors
as "Clinical Instructors."
The Ohio State Dental Society at its
organization in 1866,
expressed a cooperative spirit in
relation to the Ohio College, by
unanimously adopting the following
resolution:
RESOLVED--That we, the members of the
Ohio State Dental
Society, pledge ourselves to sustain the
Ohio Dental College, deeming
it a duty we owe the profession that the
honor may be sustained, and that
true dental science may be advanced: and
we further
RESOLVED, That, if need be, we will give
our money to sustain
said Institution.
There were a few lean years ahead in the
history of this
1 Dental Register, XXI (1867), 29-33,
181-2.
360
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
school, during which its struggle for
existence was questionable;
the graduating class in 1874 numbered
but seven.
The Mississippi Valley Dental
Association at its annual
meeting in March, 1877, voiced similar
support in the following
unanimous resolution:
RESOLVED--That a committee of three be
appointed to obtain con-
tributions for the purpose of making
some changes and improvements in
the Ohio
Dental College building; also for
providing some additional ap-
pliances and apparatus for illustration
in teaching and also to increase the
library.
What financial assistance may have been
the result of this
philanthropic resolution, we are unable
to ascertain, except that
the Announcement for 1878 states that at
the last meeting of
the Dental College Association, the
propriety of reducing fees
for instruction was seriously
considered, inasmuch as the insti-
tution was out of debt and free of
taxation; also
the majority of stockholders being
dental practitioners who had given their
means in establishing Dental Colleges,
and having also relinquished all
claims to interest or profit from this
stock . . . that they should have
the benefit of the lowest fees consistent
with a thorough course of in-
struction, should they wish to place
their sons or students in the institution.
For these considerations and also in
view of the general depression
. . . the Faculty have determined to
make a reduction of 25% from the
fees formerly charged for tickets. A
still greater reduction has been made
in the diploma fee.
This seems to have complied with an
implied request by the
College Association.
The terms of admission to the session of
1878 were as fol-
lows: Matriculation (entrance) $5.00;
Professors' tickets $75.00
for one session; Demonstrators' tickets
(for anatomy) $5.00;
Diploma Fee $20.00.
The importance of preliminary
educational qualifications of
prospective dental students was no doubt
becoming evident, be-
cause, as early as 1874 it was urged
that all who enter the college
"shall come as thoroughly versed in
their preparatory studies as
possible. By far too many students seek
to enter the profession
who are sadly deficient in general
literary and scientific attain-
ment."
OHIO MEDICAL
HISTORY, 1835-58 361
The Alumni Association of the college
was organized March
6, 1879, at Cincinnati.
In 1881, a reorganization of the college
took place under
the guidance of Dr. H. A. Smith, and the
school entered an era
of prosperity under his management. By a
ruling of the National
Association of Dental Faculties,
beginning in 1885, the equivalency
of one session credited to practitioners
of five years' practice, was
abolished, and all students were
required to attend two full ses-
sions--excepting graduates of medicine,
who were, as heretofore,
credited with one session. The practice
of conferring honorary
degrees on dentists of recognized
ability and service to the pro-
fession, was also discontinued. In 1888,
the college became affili-
ated with the University of Cincinnati,
under the name of Ohio
College of Dental Surgery, Dental
Department of the University
of Cincinnati.
With the session of 1891-2, the college
inaugurated the
requirement of a three-year course for
graduation, with freshman,
junior and senior classes, which had
been prescribed by the
National Association of Dental
Faculties. In 1895, the college
had outgrown its old quarters on College
Street, and with the
session of 1895-6, it was established in
a new building located at
the corner of Court Street and Central
Avenue--centrally located
and within a short distance of its
former premises.
The announcement of 1896-7 called
attention to a spring
course of clinical instruction
immediately following the winter
session; and a fall clinical course,
beginning in September pre-
ceding the fall opening of the school.
These courses were con-
tinued, according to announcements, as
late as 1923-4.
In 1903, a four-year course of study was
made of the re-
quirements for graduation; but in 1904
the three-year require-
ment was re-established. The school, as
the Dental Department
of the University of Cincinnati,
continued satisfactorily until the
session of 1906-7, when the arrangement
was discontinued.
The session of 1910 inaugurated the
first special course for
women to qualify for positions as dental
nurses and assistants in
362
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
dental offices. Flora N. Haag, D.D.S.,
class of 1905, was super-
intendent of the course in 1912-3.
The announcement of 1912-3 states the
requirement of a new
college building located at the corner
of Seventh Avenue and
Mound Street. The odium which was
associated with schools not
affiliated with universities, was
becoming more pronounced about
this period, and many such schools were
opprobriously referred to
as "commercial institutions."
In 1916, the Ohio College announced its
affiliation with the
Lebanon University, as its Dental
Department, and that "among
other advantages, students, deficient in
preliminary educational
qualifications may utilize the academic department
of the Uni-
versity for this work." The
affiliation with the Lebanon Univer-
sity discontinued prior to 1923, as in July of
that year, the school
again became affiliated with the
University of Cincinnati as its
Dental Department.
Frequent reference to educational
qualifications of prospective
students was made in the college
announcements. Colleges in
Ohio that had been recognized as
departments of universities had
adopted standards that were rigidly
adhered to. The Dental
Department of the Ohio State and Western
Reserve universities
had adopted such standards regulating
the admission of students;
but in lieu of these standards, other
schools admitted students
who supposedly passed so-called
examinations by a supposed
representative of the State School
Commissioner's office. The
examinations were looked upon with
suspicion by the State Dental
Board, and for many years there was a
wrangle as to what should
constitute acceptable evidence of
satisfactory qualifications of
prospective dental students.
At this time anyone desiring to practice
in Ohio was to
"present evidence satisfactory to
the State Dental Board that he
is a graduate of a reputable Dental
College, as defined by the
Board," and appear before the Board
and pass a satisfactory
examination, consisting of practical
demonstration, and written
or oral tests, or both, on subjects that
were found in the dental
college curriculum.
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 363
Notwithstanding persistent opposition, in
April, 1915, the
dental law was amended by Section
1321-1, as follows:
The applicant shall also present with
his application a certificate of
the State Superintendent of public
instruction, that he is possessed of a
general education, equal to that
required for graduation from a first grade
high school in this State. Said
superintendent of public instruction shall
issue a certificate without examining
the applicant, provided said applicant
presents to him one of the following
credentials: A diploma from an
approved college granting the degree of
A.B., B.S., or equivalent degree;
a certificate showing graduation from a
high school of the first grade, or
from a normal or a preparatory school,
legally constituted, after four years
of study; a teacher's permanent or life
high school certificate; a certificate
of admittance by examination to the
freshman class of an approved college,
granting the degree of A.B., B.S., or
equivalent degree. In the absence of
the foregoing credentials, and before
issuing such certificate, the applicant
shall be examined by said superintendent
of public instruction, in such
branches as are required from a first
grade high school, and to pass such
examination shall be sufficient
qualification to entitle such applicant to a
certificate; provided, however, that the
superintendent of public instruction
may designate any county superintendent
of schools to hold such examina-
tions at such times and places as may be
necessary, convenient . . .
This amendment left the colleges free to
accept students,
regardless of preliminary
qualifications, but it was a dictum as to
the credentials required by the State
Dental Board of graduates
expecting to take the examination and
practice in Ohio. As a
result, all colleges in Ohio adopted
this standard, and there was a
radical change later in the 1914 report
of the National Association
of Dental Examiners.
Failures of graduates from the four Ohio dental colleges
ranged from 42.5 per cent. to 2.6 per
cent. These examinations
were taken before eight state boards and
the two colleges that
had the smallest percentage of failures
were institutions which had
previously insisted on the preliminary
requirements called for in
the foregoing amendment.
The Dental Educational Council of
America, organized in
1909, was patterned after the Council on
Medical Education of
the American Medical Association, for
the improvement of the
relations between the Associations of
Examiners and the Faculties
of the Dental Colleges. Since the
permanent organization of the
364
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
American Association of Dental Schools
in 1923, this Council
has been composed of six delegates from
this latter organization
and the same number from each--the
National Association of
Dental Examiners and the American Dental
Association. The
function of this Council is the
promotion of higher scholastic
standards and improvement of the
curriculum in dental colleges.
The Council contended with many factions
during the early years
of its existence, but has proved to be
the prime factor in the
unification and standardization of
dental education.
In 1916, all dental schools in the
country had been visited
by representatives of the Council, and
it was found that sonic
lacked efficient management, others were
financially unable to give
satisfactory instruction, and still
others had different handicaps.
This eventually led to the division of
the schools into Classes A, B
and C in 1916.
The requirement for Class A rating
included an academic
requirement and beginning in 1917 the
dental curriculum was ex-
tended through four years of thirty-two
weeks, instead of three
such years, and twenty-one required
subjects were listed; Class
B were those schools which, though
failing to meet the require-
ments of Class A rating, could do so by
making important im-
provements; while Class C schools, to
become acceptable, would
require a complete reorganization. The
Ohio College of Dental
Surgery was rated Class B in 1918.
In 1917, the four-year course was inaugurated,
and in 1924
began to require one year of approved
work in an academic col-
lege for admission. The University of
Cincinnati with which
the Ohio College had become affiliated,
insisted on improvement
in the methods of teaching. The decrease
in students and a cor-
responding lack of funds and resources
of the university to absorb
and develop it in coordination with the
medical school of the
university, indicated its early
discontinuance. The Dental Edu-
cational Council had withheld a
reclassification of the school since
1923, in anticipation of its prospective
regeneration.2
2 Acknowledgment is made to Dr. W. J.
Gies' report for 1926 on "Dental
Education in the United States and
Canada."
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 365
Dr. Harry T. Smith, the last dean--who
had been adminis-
trative head of the college for years,
out of sheer love for the
institution--offered to present it
complete, including buildings and
equipment, to the University of
Cincinnati as an outright gift,
provided it would be called "The H.
A. Smith Dental College,
University of Cincinnati" in honor
of his father. Because of lack
of funds to carry on the school, the
university had to refuse this
gift. Consequently the trustees of the
college voted to close the
school. The college was therefore closed
on July 15, 1926.3
During the eighty-one years of its
existence, 2,497 students
received their degrees, and many have
reflected credit on their
alma mater and have been an honor to the
dental profession.
The names of the alumni are to be found
on the first faculties
of practically all colleges west of the
Alleghenies and have occu-
pied responsible positions in organized
dentistry--which bespeaks
the influence this school has had in
dental education and in shaping
the destiny of the profession. The
announcement of the discon-
tinuance of the Ohio College of Dental
Surgery, was received
with regret--not by its alumni alone,
but by its many friends
throughout the profession.
From an incomplete file of Announcements
and Bulletins of
the Ohio College, an attempt has been
made (as in the previous
paper, October-December, 1942) to
arrange in chronological order.
the names of the professors and
demonstrators for the period
covered in this article. Owing to a
diversity of headings for cer-
tain subjects, some of these have been
placed under a general
caption.
Following the death of Dr. Harry A.
Smith in 1913, who
had served as dean since 1878, he was
succeeded by his son, Dr.
H. T. Smith, who continued as dean until
the close of the school
in 1926. Dr. James Taylor, the founder
of the school, who
assumed the chair of Institutes of
Dental Science in 1855, occupied
the same until 1878, at which time the
chair became that of
3 Later, at a meeting of the College of
Dentistry Committee of the Cincinnati
Dental Society, B. F. Kroger made an
offer of a gift of one million dollars for a
dental college at the University of Cincinnati. In
discussing the matter, however,
it was decided that it would be necessary to raise more
funds from other sources,
which did not seem possible, and the matter was
dropped.
366 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Principles
and Practice and Dental Hygiene, which he occupied
until
his death in 1881.
Demonstrators of Operative and Mechanical Dentistry:
(Became
designated Clinical Dentistry in 1866):
1855-58 H. R. Smith 1860
Merit Wells4
Professors of Clinical Dentistry:
1863-61
E. Collins 1870-71 William
Taft
1866 C. R. Butler 1873 J. I. Taylor
1866-67 W. T. Arrington 1876-77 H. M. Reid
1878 H. A. Smith
Professors of Operative Dentistry:
1854-78 J. Taft 1909-16 W. H. 0. McGehee
1878-1906 H. A. Smith 1913-14 C. W. Noel
(Emeritus
1912-13) 1915-18 H. C. Holton
1899-1908 T. I. Way 1919 Mark Keller
(Dental
Technics) 1920 B. A. Schnedl
1908 H. T. Smith 1921-25 H. T. Smith
1922-25 George F. Woodbury
Demonstrators of Operative Dentistry:
1864 L. D. Walter 1897 H. T. Smith
(Late
of Rochester, N. Y.) 1899-01 C. A. Porter
A.
M. Moore 1902 A. N. Kearby
1878 C. l. Keely 1903-05 J. N. Myers
1879-82
H. L. Moore 1905-06 Harry Miller
1880-82 J. M. Clyde 1906 Paul Cassidy
1883-85 A. E. McConkey 1913 E. Lloyd Everly
1886 A. T. Olmstead 1914-15 H. C. Holton
1886-88 B. C. Hinckley 1915 Flora N. Haag
1888-92 J. E. Barricklow 1916-25 C. J. Keely
1889-91 A. O. Ross 1918 C. T. Adams
1889 F. L. Cary 1918 R. C. Hoblitzel
1890 L. E. Custer 1918 C. R. McWethy
1890 E. J. Ward 1918 R. W. Sheer
1890
&'93 H. M. Thomson 1921-25 Sardis Krikorian
1891-92 E. A. Mehaffey 1922 E. R. Cumley
1894-98 T. L. Way 1923 Rodney Cornell
1894-96 H. A. Whiteside 1923-25 G. B. Rader
1896-01 C. P. McLaughlin 1925 C. T. Fairo
4
Arrangements were effected by which he was to remain for two years at least.
and
during the vacations, would keep the Infirmary open, in order that there might
be a
permanent business which would result in much good to the class during the
session.
OHIO
MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58
367
Professors
of Mechanical (Prosthetic) Dentistry:
1857-58 Joseph Richardson 1880-86 Frank Bell
1863-66 H. R. Smith 1886-07 Grant Molyneaux
1864 J. Cheesbrough 1908 Frank Burger
1864 J. G. Van Marter 1909-11 D. D. Cornell
1867 H. R. Smith 1912 H. V. Methven
1870-71 C. M. Wright 1913 M. L. Baylis
J. A.
Watling 1913-25
J. N. Myers
1873-77 Wm. Van Antwerp 1914 C. Ford Deller
1878-79 J. R. Clayton 1915 R. H. Smith
1917-27, C. H. Stricker
Demonstrators
of Mechanical Dentistry:
1876-77 N. S. Hoff 1902 H. E. Caswell
1879 E. W. Anderson 1903 D. D. Cornell
1879 W. H: Cameron 1903 M. A. Becker
1880 H. E. Highlands 1904 J. P. Becker
1883-85 Grant Molyneaux 1905 Charles A. Allen
1887 James Silcott 1906 Samuel N. Young
1888 C. N. Neidhamer 1907 Frank Burger
1889 G. W. Gandee 1907 V. S. Taylor
1890-91 Max J. Martin 1908-11 M. M. Maupin
1892 G. C. Minturn 1917 Henry S. Davis
1893 D. D. Cornell 1918
&
1894-96 F. A. Lush 1920-21 W. B.
Caldwell
1897-98 L. T. Ivins 1921-22
Roger W. Taylor
1899-01 R. W. Taylor 1922 E. W. Neiderhofer
1900-01 C. F. Cooper 1923 C. E. Marshall
1901 A. N. Bruzelius 1924 William Kleet
1902 J. D. Gordon 1925 E. T. Gibboney
Crown
and Bridge Work:
1896-97 H. A. Whiteside 1916 Alden J. Bush
1898-05 E. A. Mehaffey 1917-20 Robert H. Smith
1906-12 Harry Miller 1921 D. D. Cornell
1912 H. V. Methven 1922 George F. Woodbury
1913-15 R. C. Harkrader 1923-25 H. J. Neidhamer
Demonstrators:
1912 M. M. Maupin 1918-22 W. O. Hulick
1916 C. E. Plum 1922 W. O. Blackburn
1925
S. Krikorian
368 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Gold Inlays:
1918-22 F. T.
Craven 1920-22 A. A.
Kumler
Continuous Gum and Porcelain:
1878 Frank
Bell 1905 Harry Miller
1879 C.
W. Wardell 1906 P. H. Williams
1901-03 W. O.
Hulick 1907-12 V. B. Dalton
1904 J.
N. Myers 1923 M. C. Schuman
1924-25 K. H.
Cooke
Demonstrator of Carving Teeth:
1878 S.
Wardell
Oral Surgery:
1876-80 F. H.
Rehwinkel 1915 E. Lloyd Everly
1879 William Taft 1916-18 Hugh MacMillan
1880-82 Wm.
Clendenin, M.D. 1918 R. C. Harkrader
1883 C.
Kerns, M.D. (Cleft
Palate)
1884-1910 William
Knight, M.D. 1919-25 Robert M. Schell
1899-03 H. C.
Matlack 1923-25 C. A. Langdale
1912 Dudley
Palmer, M.D. (Cleft
Palate)
Exodontia:
1900 C.
A. Porter 1916 H. C. Holton
1902-05 Frank
Burger 1921-25 R M.
Schell
1907-12 Paul
Cassidy 1923 B. E. Baldridge
1913-15 V. B.
Dalton 1925 E. T. Gibboney
Anesthetics:
1879 &'86-87 Otto Arnold 1908 L.
S. Colter, M.D.
1890-01 L.
E. Custer 1913-14 V. B. Dalton
1907-12 Paul
Cassidy 1916-17 Hugh MacMillan
1919-25 R. M.
Schell
Orthodontia:
1878-88 George
W. Keely 1906 P. H. Williams
1889-08 Charles
I. Keely 1907-20 Van B. Dalton
1886 C.
H. Martin 1918 C. T. Adams
1896-97 W. S.
Locke 1921-22 B. A. Schnedl
1899-09 H. T.
Smith 1921-24 A. P. Matthews
1900-01 C. P.
Porter 1923-25 Thomas E. Hughes
1902-05 Frank
Burger 1925 K. H. Cooke
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58 369
Oral Hygiene:
1878-80 James
Taylor 1918-25 S. J. Rauh
1896 J.
Taft 1923 Ann Buntin
Prophylaxis and Periodontia:
1909 Gillette
Hayden 1918-21 R. Siegel
1911-12 Flora
N. Haag 1921 E. H. Eberly
1922 J. B.
Boutet
Dental Jurisprudence:
1909-11 H. A.
Smith 1917 W. P. Rogers
1913-16 Starbuck
Smith 1918-25 A.
H. Morrell
Industrial Dentistry:
1918-22 A. D. Hewetson
Metallurgy:
1860 George
Watt 1909-11 D. D. Cornell
1863 H. A.
Smith 1912 H. V. Methven
1864 H. R.
Smith 1913 J. N. Myers
1871 C. M.
Wright 1914 C. F. Deller
1880-86 Frank
Bell 1916 C. E. Plum
1887-1906 Grant Molyneaux 1917 F.
F. Heyroth
1907-08 Frank
Burger 1918-20 Robt. H. Smith
1924-25 H. O. Wall
Bacteriology, Biology, etc.:
1897-99 0. L. Cameron, M.D. 1908 A.
E. Osmond, M.D.
1907 E. C.
Walden, M.D. 1919 C. J. Weichelman, M.D.
1925 W. B. Wherry, M.D.
Chair of Chemistry and Metallurgy:
1855-60 & 64 George Watt 1873-1920 J.
S. Cassidy
1863 H.
A. Smith 1878 Alex Brown
1866-67 S. P. Cutler 1879 Oscar
Heise
J. G. Willis 1880 Ira Athern
Analytical Chemistry:
1880 W.
L. Dudley 1898-1911
David Stern
1882-84 G. S.
Junkerman 1915 G. T. Fette
1890-97 H.
T. Smith 1915 W. F. Knemoeller
1897 A.
A. Kumler 1917 F. F. Heyroth
1917 D. F. Mayne
370 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Materia
Medica:
1912-19 G. T. Fette 1921 E. N. Niederhoefer
1920 L. F. Werner 1924-25 W. F. Vosseler
1925
A. P. Matthews
Anatomy:
1863-64 George Edwin Jones, M.D. 1912-13 Hugh W. MacMillan
1864-71 Charles Kearns, M.D. 1914-15 E. Lloyd Everly
1873-82 William Clendenin, M.D. 1916-17 C. F. McClintic
1883 Charles Kearns, M.D. 1919-23 A. P. Gewert
1884-1911
William Knight, M.D. 1924-25 O. V. Batson
Demonstrators
of Anatomy:
1864-67 William Taft 1882 William A. Bettman
1870-71 A. Schwagmeyer, M. D. 1886 Grant Molyneaux
1873-74 H. L. Lewis 1887-1903 H. C.
Matlack
1876 Wm. Van Antwerp 1905 E. 0. Smith, M.D.
1878 E. G. Betty 1906-10 G. B. Rhodes
1880 Otto Arnold 1911 A. J. Light
1881 William Knight, M.D. 1920-21 B. A. Schnedl
1881 G. S. Junkerman, Asst. 1922 E. R. Cumley
1923-25
H. 0. Wall
Pathology
& Therapeutics:
1853-60 J. B. Smith, M.D. 1884-08 H. A. Smith
1866-67 George Watt 1909-24 H. T. Smith
1870-71 Edward Rives 1912-21 A. E. Osmond
1873-77 F. Brunning 1915-16 C. H. Stricker
1878-81 A. 0. Rawls 1917 D. F. Mayne
1882-11 C. M. Wright 1918 A. E. Lindsey
1924 J. R. Schumaker
Electro-Therapeutics:
1918 William M. Doughty, M. D.
Clinical
Pathology:
1923-24 S. Rabkin (At Jewish Hospital)
Histology
& Physiology:
1858 C. B. Chapman 1881-82 J. R. Clayton
1864 Charles Kearns, M.D. 1897 C. M. Wright
1866-67 C. W. Spaulding 1899-00 G. T. Fette
1870-73 Edward Rives, M.D. 1910-11 A. E. Osmond
1873-76 J. L. Cilley, M.D. 1915 W. J. Graf, M.D.
1879 A. G. Rose 1924 Martin H. Fischer, M.D.
1924-25 J. R. Schumaker
OHIO
MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-58
371
MISCELLANEOUS:
Dental
Ionization:
1924-25
D. F. Mayne
Dermatology
and Syphiology:
1906-08 A. J. Markley, M.D. 1918 M. C. Heidingsfeld, M.D.
1921-25
C. J. Broeman, M.D.
Pediatrics
in Relation to Dentistry:
1918-25
Albert J. Bell, M.D.
Relation
of Eye and Ear to the Teeth:
1896-97 R. C. Heflebower, M.D. 1918
Charles C. Jones, M.D.
1920-25
W. McAyres, M.D.
Rhynology:
1923 D. J. Leslie, M.D.
X-Ray
and Radiology:
1910 H. T. Smith 1919 Charles
Goosman, M.D.
1916-18Sidney
Lange 1920-25 E. R. Bader
1922 L.
E. Custer
Diseases
of Women and Children in Relation to Dentistry:
1876-77
George Watt
Dental
Electricity:
1900-08
L. E. Custer
The
Announcement of 1895-96 contains the last published list
of
stockholders, which gives the following names that do not ap-
pear in
volume LI, page 312 of the Quarterly:
Albaugh,
WVm., Chicago, Ill. Chase,
H. S., St. Louis, Mo.
Barron,
Henry, St. Louis, Mo. Clancey,
D. W., Cincinnati, Ohio
Bell,
Frank, Cincinnati, Ohio Clayton,
J. R., Shelbyville, Ind.
Berry,
A., Cincinnati, Ohio Cobb,
S. J., Nashville, Tenn.
Betty,
E. G., Cincinnati, Ohio Corson,
R., Middletown, Ohio
Blake,
Aaron, St. Louis, Mo. Cummins,
S. M., Elkhart, Ind.
Cameron,
J. G., Cincinnati, Ohio Cushing,
G. H., Chicago, Ill.
Canine,
J. F., Louisville, Ky. Dean,
James C., Chicago, Ill.
Cassidy,
J. S., Covington, Ky. Doyle,
B. O., Louisville, Ky.
372 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Emminger, A. F.,
Columbus, Ohio Redman, W. G.,
Louisville, Ky.
Evans, R. L., Toledo,
Ohio Reid, H. M.,
Cincinnati, Ohio
Forbes, Isaiah, St.
Louis, Mo. Rhoads, S.
M., Wooster, Ohio
Fuller, John C.,
Chicago, Ill. Rice,
J. S., Shelbyville, Ind.
Hayes, Geo. F.,
Buffalo, N. Y. Robbins,
A. B., Meadville, Pa.
Hoff, N. S.,
Cincinnati, Ohio Rosenthal,
C. N., Cincinnati, Ohio
How, W. S.,
Cincinnati, Ohio Sedgwick,
W. H., Granville, Ohio
Honsinger, Emanuel,
Chicago, Ill. Sheffield, W.
W., New London, Conn.
Horton, W. P.,
Cleveland, Ohio Slayton,
N. B., Florence, Italy
Hunter, F. A.,
Cincinnati, Ohio Sloan,
A., St. Louis, Mo.
Jamison, F. K.,
Connersville, Ind. Sloan, E.
C., Ironton, Ohio
Leslie, A. M., St.
Louis, Mo. Taft, C.
R., Cincinnati, Ohio
Leslie, James,
Cincinnati, Ohio Taft,
William, Cincinnati, Ohio
McClelland, J. A.,
Louisville, Ky. Taylor, J.
I., Cincinnati, Ohio
McMillen, J. T.,
Paris, Ky. Terry,
C. E., Zurich, Switzerland
Morgan, W. H.,
Nashville, Tenn. Walker,
L. D., Rochester, N. Y.
Morrill, W. F., New
Albany, Ind. Welch,
Charles, Wilmington, Ohio
Morrison, W. N., St.
Louis, Mo. Welch,
L. B., Wilmington, Ohio
Phillipa, D.,
Springfield, Ohio Whaley,
D. C., Pomeroy, Ohio
Quinlan, J. D.,
Chicago, Ill. Whitney,
B. T., Buffalo, N. Y.
Rawls, A. O.,
Lexington, Ky. Williams,
I., New Philadelphia, Ohio
OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858
STILL FURTHER ASPECTS
FIVE YEAR REVIEW OF THE
WORK OF THE OHIO COMMITTEE
ON MEDICAL HISTORY AND ARCHIVES
BY ROBERT G. PATERSON, PH. D.
Material presented in this issue of the Ohio
State Archaeo-
logical and Historical Quarterly by the Ohio Committee on Medical
History and Archives represents another
chapter of five continuous
years of effort on the part of a small
group of men throughout
the State in an attempt to mirror the
significant contributions of
men and events connected with the
development of medicine in
Ohio. The title of the present series
is, "Ohio Medical History
1835-1858, Still Further Aspects."
The origin of the Committee is explained
by Dr. Jonathan
Forman, chairman, as follows:
On September 27, 1937, a memorandum
proposing such a Committee
was submitted by Dr. Paterson, executive
secretary of the Ohio Public
Health Association. The matter was then
taken up with Secretary Harlow
Lindley of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society. On October
26, the Board of Trustees of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society approved the plan and authorized
the appointment of Dr. Forman
as chairman and Dr. Lindley as
Secretary1 with power to enlarge the
Committee as events dictated.
Approval by the Council of the Ohio
State Medical Associa-
tion and the Executive Committee of the
Ohio Public Health As-
sociation was received in December,
1937. On May 12, 1938, the
first formal meeting of the Committee
was held at Columbus in
connection with the annual meeting of
the Ohio State Medical
Association. Annual meetings have been
held since in conjunc-
tion with those of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical
Society. These have taken place on April
7, 1939; April 5, 1940;
1 Dr. Paterson was appointed
Secretary of the Committee in
1939.
307