THE MEDICAL TRAINING OF MATTHEW SIMPSON,
1830-1833
by ROBERT
D. CLARK
Assistant Dean, College of Liberal
Arts, University of Oregon
Among the sources which give some
insight into the medical
and general education of the early Ohio
physician are the papers
of Matthew Simpson. Simpson, after a
brief period as a physician,
became, in the middle of the nineteenth
century, a bishop in the
Methodist Episcopal Church and one of
the most eloquent pulpit
and platform speakers in America.
Born in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1811, he was
reared by his widowed
mother and bachelor uncle, Matthew
Simpson, for whom he had
been named. Although the educational
facilities of the Ohio
frontier were generally meager, young
Simpson had an insatiable
thirst for knowledge and more than
usually favorable opportunity
to allay it. His Uncle Matthew, a
member of the Ohio Senate for
ten years and a lay judge of the
Harrison County court for a brief
time, conducted a common and higher
school in Cadiz. Young
Matthew, a brilliant student, was, by
the age of fifteen, assisting
his uncle in the teaching of classes.
In addition, he read widely,
studied botany, Euclid, Latin, Greek,
German, and French, and
wrote occasionally for the local
newspapers and the Juvenile
Literary Society. In 1828 Charles
Elliott, a professor in the
Methodists' Madison College in
Uniontown, Pennsylvania, persuaded
Matthew, who was then seventeen years
of age, to attend college
and assist in the instruction of some
of the beginning courses. In
preparation, Matthew reviewed his
earlier studies, and began to
study surveying and Hebrew. He soon
discovered that he had ad-
vanced considerably beyond his
schoolmates and that what was
difficult for him was also difficult
for his instructors.1 "Teachers,"
1 George R. Crooks, The Life of
Bishop Matthew Simpson (New York, 1890).
These facts about Simpson's early life
are to be found principally in his own diary
and his autobiographical narrative, both
of which are reproduced nearly in full in
Crooks, pp. 1-62.
371
372 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
he wrote to his Uncle Matthew, with no
great show of modesty,
"are but men, and if the United
States can parade no smarter
young men than what comes to this
college, Alas for the times."2
That his own learning was not
superficial, is attested by the fact
that he had mastered the modern
languages (to which he had added
Spanish and Italian) sufficiently well
to use them in reading and
simple conversation, and the German
well enough to preside over
German Methodist conferences which in
later years he conducted
in that language. The college offered
him a tutorship for the second
term, but the unfavorable financial
circumstances at home, his
uncle's need of his services in the
school, and his own disappoint-
ment with the college led him to
decline. After a year of "general
reading," and a consideration and
rejection of law as a career
(because he was not an effective public
speaker), he decided to
study medicine.
He began his medical studies in the
summer of 1830 under the
direction of John McBean, a local
physician, who some four or
five years earlier had guided him in
his study of Latin and Greek.
During the three years of study, in
order to finance his way, he
continued to teach in Uncle Matthew's
school; for a short period
of time he served as copyist in the
county court, worked in the
harvest, did his "stint" on
the roads to pay his tax, and, when
occasion demanded, answered muster for
the militia.
Just how he began his medical studies,
what arrangement he
made for supervision, and how much
tuition he paid, he did not
record with any precision, save that in
the third year of his course
he had paid Dr. McBean twenty-five
dollars, "in part tuition fee."3
His first notation of a reading
assignment was a direction from
Dr. McBean on August 2, 1831, a year
after he had begun his
studies, to read Cooper's Surgery, "next."4
Two days later he
2 Simpson to his Uncle Matthew, November
30, 1828. Bishop Matthew Simpson
Papers, Library of Congress.
3 Simpson's diary, entry for July 3,
1832, in Crooks, Life of Bishop Simpson, 43.
The diary for this period is recorded in
Crooks, pp. 35-45. Since the dates of entries
in the diary are included in the text of
the article whenever reference is made to it,
no further footnote citations of it will
be made.
4 The volume on surgery was undoubtedly
that of Sir Astley Cooper's, a prominent
English surgeon whose works were popular
in this country.
The Medical Training of Matthew
Simpson 373
purchased Hufeland's On Scrofula.5
On August 5 he had "another
talk with Dr. McBean," indicating
that the doctor had, at intervals,
been examining him on his reading. On
September 1 he gave one
of his fellow citizens, Albert G.
Osbon, who was probably a
physician, twenty dollars for the
purpose of purchasing medical
books in the cities for him "if
they can be procured low."
In the meantime he was very much
concerned about his own
health, a concern which revealed some
of his ideas for treatment.
On the day when he began his diary,
January 1, 1831, his twentieth
birthday, he wrote, "Though I am
young, I feel in myself the
shafts of death." Nonetheless,
"since the future is hid from our
view," he thought it best to
improve his talents, and do his best
to "fulfil the purposes of my
creation," which he could not do
"by repining, surely not by
sitting down in despondence, and
closing my eyes ere their light shall
have departed."
He had, however, more specific remedies
than a general philosophy
of life. On June 25, 1831, he wrote,
"The doctor thinks that, by
strict care and active exercise, I may
recover." Ten days later, on
July 5, he dismissed his scholars so
that he could go into the
country "to take fresh air."
He also tried harvesting, and found,
on July 19, that he "stood labor
beyond my expectations," in fact,
he concluded a few days later,
"working in the air . . . is the
most wholesome for me." In
September he bought a horse, "for
the purpose of riding for health,"
the payment of forty dollars
to be made in April!
On September 20, 1831, after six weeks
of study, having finished
reading Cooper's Surgery, he
rode over to Freeport, some twenty
miles distance, where Dr. McBean had
moved his practice. If the
doctor examined him at that time, he
did not do so at any great
length, for the young man, after
arriving at half-past five on one
afternoon, left for home at eight
o'clock the next morning, a copy
of Cooper's Surgical Dictionary under
his arm. He had finished
reading the dictionary by the middle of
December, and began
reading Materia Medica (he did
not identify the author in his
5 Christoph William Hufeland. Very
probably the translation (from the French
translation of M. Bousquet) by Charles
D. Miegs, published in Philadelphia, 1829.
374
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
diary), "to fill the time till I
could see Dr. McBean." In about
three weeks, in addition to meeting his
other responsibilities, taking
part in the religious exercises of the
holidays, and reading a volume
of general interest, he had completed
both volumes of the Materia
Medica. He then commenced reading Dewees--the title of which
he did not identify, suggesting that he
may have been studying
A
Compendius System of
Midwifery, which had been published
in 1824,6 and that he was too modest to
list the title!
On Wednesday, January 12, 1832, he rode
for five hours in the
cold wind to Freeport. He arrived at
four o'clock, but Dr. McBean
had hardly commenced examining him on
surgery, when he was
"sent for express." While the
doctor was out on his emergency
call, young Simpson returned to his
room at the tavern and read
two volumes of Scott's poetical works.
He waited over until Friday
for further examination, and then went
home with the two volumes
of Gibson's Surgery.7 Dr.
McBean, in Cadiz on Saturday for court,
afforded him some "pleasant
conversation."
From the middle of January until
February 18, he was busy
reading Gibson, and indicated, for the
first time, that he was
"taking notes" to assist his
memory. He also commenced a scrap-
book, but he did not record whether it
was for general or medical
purposes. After a month he decided that
his eyes were "so weak"
that he would have "to desist from
taking notes." About the middle
of March Dr. McBean was again in Cadiz
for two days and took
the occasion, between sessions of the
court, to continue the examina-
tion on surgery. On June 19, 1832,
apparently having completed
his studies on surgery, Simpson went to
Freeport and was "minutely
examined." He then began at once
to prepare for examinations
in chemistry and materia medica, in
both of which he was examined
at Freeport on July 3. About this time
he noted that "alarm prevails
about cholera." Neglectful of his
diary, he made but four entries
6 W. P. Dewees was for many years
professor of midwifery at the University of
Pennsylvania. As late as the beginning
of the twentieth century his work was very
highly regarded. See James Gregory
Mumford, A Narrative of Medicine in America
(Philadelphia, 1903), 451.
7 William Gibson, whose Institutes
and Practice of Surgery "was a deservedly
popular text-book." Mumford, Narrative
of Medicine in America, 351.
The Medical Training of Matthew
Simpson 375
in August, one in September, and then
skipped to December 19,
when he noted that he had "this
morning" finished Goode's (sic)
Practice of Medicine,8 and had "lately been engaged in reviewing
anatomy."
In April of 1833 he went to Freeport to
spend the last two or
three months of his study with Dr.
McBean, and, undoubtedly, to
accompany him in his practice. At the
conclusion of his studies he
was examined by the "medical board
organized under the laws of
Ohio" (a description which in his
old age he assigned to the
examining body, and which, perhaps,
lends it undue dignity).9
Having completed his course and taken
his examinations, he re-
ceived from John McBean, as a
certificate, a small scrap of paper
dated at Cadiz, July 25, 1833:
Mr. Matthew Simpson Jr. has studied the
science of medicine under my
direction, for the period prescribed by
the state medical law; and I have
no hesitancy in saying that I consider
him an eminently qualified member
of the medical profession, and
altogether deserving of the public patronage.
(Signed) John McBeanl0
He at once opened an office in Cadiz.
He had not, however, waited until the
completion of his medical
training to begin his practice. At about
the end of his first year of
reading, on July 16, 1831, he
"plugged" two teeth for his brother-
in-law, Curtis Scoles. Late in October,
at the request of his friend
Albert G. Osbon, who was to be absent
for a few days, he "attended"
Reuben Allen three times a day, Tuesday
through Saturday. When
Osbon returned he found that Reuben
"had got some better." In
March 1832, Simpson, while visiting at
Hanover, left some medicine
for his aunt and "directions"
for one of her neighbors. A month
later he borrowed an electrical machine
(a galvanic battery), and
after two days of putting it in order,
tried it out on his sister,
who was ill. Unfortunately, he did not
record the results.
8 J. M. Good, an Englishman who
"furnished Americans with a four-volume work
on general practice" which
"for the time . . . was satisfactory." Henry Burnell
Shafer, The American Medical
Profession, 1783-1850 (New York, 1936), 70.
9 Simpson's autobiographical narrative,
in Crooks, Life of Bishop Simpson, 28-29.
10 Simpson Papers, Library of Congress.
376
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
During the course of his reading he
went frequently into the
woods to "botanize," at one
time gathering "lobelia" (a powerful
emetic used by the Thomsonian doctors),
and at another "boneset."
Drugs were expensive and difficult to
secure on the Ohio frontier,
and most of the doctors relied freely
upon the use of herbs and
folk remedies."11
At the time Simpson was completing his
studies, Thomsonianism
had very nearly reached the height of
its popularity in Ohio. A
"system of medicine," it was named for Samuel Thomson, an
illiterate New Hampshire farmer and
blacksmith, who, nonetheless,
had the peculiar Yankee genius which
led him to be the first to
patent his medicine. By 1835 between one-third and one-half
of all
the doctors in the state were adherents
of the system. Thomson's
panacea was lobelia. He inveighed
against the regular practice,
with, perhaps, good reason,
substituting his own patented remedies
for it. For twenty dollars an aspiring
medic could purchase
Thomson's "system of
medicine" and a certificate to practice.12
Simpson laboriously copied out some
notes from "Thompson,"
as he wrote the name.
Spear Mint-good to stop vomiting-sits
pleasantly on the stomach
Pepper mint-very hot-overpowers cold
Penny Royal-may be used in all
sicknesses-good for the stomach and
warming and cleansing and sweetening.
For a "Cough Powder" he
selected from Thomson the following
prescription: "Four tea spoons of
Skunk cabbage, two of hoarhound,
one Wake Robbin, one of No. 1, one of
No. 2, one of Bay Berry,
one of bitter Root and one of [word
illegible] powder-make
fine mixture. Take half a Tea spoon
going to bed."13
In general, however, as a student of
the "higher branches" of
knowledge, as well as of traditional
medicine, he had only scorn
for the Thomson system, as indicated in
an incomplete essay which
11 William T. Utter, The Frontier State, 1803-1825
(History of the State of Ohio,
II, Columbus, 1942), 347.
12 Frederick C. Waite,
"Thomsonianism in Ohio," Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly, XLIX (1940), 323-327.
13 Undated scrap of paper containing
notes. Simpson Papers, Library of Congress.
The Medical Training of Matthew
Simpson 377
he was writing, apparently, for the
literary society. A traveler, he
wrote, stopping in a snowstorm at a
home, praised the household
for the "cordial hospitality"
and the
neatness and frugality which appeared in
all their arrangements, and to see
the appearance of health and contentment
which reigned in the countenances
of all, from the grandfather now
threescore and ten to the innocent babe
which sported on its mother's knee,
happy in the enjoyment of life, and
thoughtless of the cares and
perplexities accompanying a more advanced
state of existence.
But in another room was a sick young
man; a physician came out,
deploring the fact that he, rather than
another, had not been called
sooner; he feared that the young man
would die from the poisonous
medicine (calomel) which he had taken.
He explained:
["]Calomel, you must know, is
boiled mercury, well strained, dried, and
powdered.--Well, mercury is made out of quick-silver,
which is one of the
most abominablest poisons found in the whole world.
When it goes into
the stomach, it poisons it, and then
passes right through to the lights, and
there it lodges fast enough; for there
is no way for it to get off, but up the
breath, and that poisons the mouth and
gums, and makes the teeth loose.
Well, when it lays in the lights or lungs, it makes
them fester and rot, and
so it brings on a cough to raise the
rotten stuff up, but still the mercury
lays there. Now my object is, to give him lobellia [sic];
this will clean out
the stomach and then go right through to the lights to
clean them out. But
because the mercury's too heavy to come
off with this, I'll steam him till it
melts, and the lobellia will clean it
out easy.["]
The essay explained that the doctor was
a student of "Thompson,"
that he had studied medicine but a
month. A former tradesman, he
had had "miraculous cures." Of
the testimonial letters he had
received from his patients, the first
"was from a lady who stated,
that she had caught a sever [sic] cold--that her nose ran over a
gallon in one day--her eyes felt like
turnips--and head like a
hollow gourd; she applied to the Doctor,
and was well in three
hours." A farmer reported that the
doctor had cured his heifer
"of running away and bellowing."14
14 Fragment of a narrative entitled
"Notes of a Traveller." Simpson Papers, Library
of Congress.
378
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly
Simpson's writing reveals one other
insight into the practices of
the day--the stealing of a corpse from
the graveyard. The narrative
is not of an actual theft, but of a
prank. Several young men, shovels
under their arms, crept past the
doctor's, took his sleigh, went to a
new grave in the cemetery, dug down a
couple of feet, threw dirt
back in loosely, used one of their
members for a "corpse," and
started away when they were fired upon.
They fled in great haste,
the "corpse" among them, but
later came back, secured the sleigh,
and dragged it through a back street to
the doctor's. The doctor
was accused; old women got hold of the
tale and spread it. "Did
you hear of the Insurrection?" one
asked. "No," said the other,
"what was it?" "Why that
old woman at the poor house I forget
her name. . . . Well last night her
grave was ripped up & her
body was stolen off circumstantially
they say by some bominal
Doctors to make mercury & castor
oil of & such like things."
"Och! Och!" said the other
old lady, "raising her spectacles. [']Och!
save us from Insurrections.[']"
The doctor, insisting upon his rights,
had the grave opened, and it was found
that the corpse was un-
disturbed. But the gossip continued.15
Whether or not Simpson
had a cadaver on which to work, in
whatever manner procured, he
does not record, but it does not seem
likely.
At about the time Simpson completed his
course and took his
examinations, another event occurred
which had a much more
profound effect upon his life. The
Methodist preacher Charles
Elliott, who had lured him away to
college, could not forget this
brilliant young man. He therefore came
to him and urged forth-
rightly that he consider his
responsibility to God and the Church.
Young Simpson, having been converted at
about the time he had
begun to practice medicine, had been
very active in the affairs of the
local society. He admitted that he had
had "some thoughts upon
the subject," but that he would
not act unless "Providence" so
directed. Elliott, in the role of
providence, demanded of the annual
conference that it license Simpson and
give him an appointment
which would make it possible for him to
live at home, practice
15 Fragment entitled "The
'Insurrection'--founded on fact." Simpson Papers,
Library of Congress.
The Medical Training of Matthew
Simpson 379
medicine during the week, and preach
alternate Sundays at Cadiz
and nearby St. Clairsville. For nearly
a year he continued this
arrangement, having in the meantime, in
the practice of medicine,
"a tolerable success" for a
young practitioner. Then, abruptly, at
the last of March 1834, he gave up
medicine, and, with his horse,
his saddlebags, and his Bible, took his
regular place in the six-
weeks circuit of Methodist societies.
Henceforth, he was to be a
healer of souls.