THE PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO:
THEIR LIVES AND THEIR
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF
THE STATE, 1788-1835.*
THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICAL
PRACTICE--AN ATTEMPT TO REGULATE BY LAW
AND THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE MOVEMENT
By DONALD
D. SHIRA, A.B., M.D.
In discussing the legal requirements for
medical practice dur-
ing the period from the first official
settlement of the Northwest
Territory to the repeal of all laws
designed to regulate the prac-
tice of physic and surgery in Ohio, it
seems appropriate to sketch
in, first of all, an historical
background. The various factors and
influences which were responsible for
the enactment of the first
laws should be well understood.
Immigration into the Northwest Territory
during the time
it was owned by England was discouraged
for various reasons.
Even in the interval between 1783, when
it was ceded to the United
States, and the enactment of the
Ordinance of 1787, there was
very little inducement to settlement.
However, passage of the
Ordinance with its provision for civil
administration and for
acquisition of valid land titles gave a
powerful impetus to immi-
gration. Prior to the settling of
Marietta, April 7, 1788, the white
population consisted for the most part
of squatters and itinerant
traders and trappers. The boundaries of
Ohio were not yet de-
* The eight papers under this heading
were read before the Public Session of
the Ohio Committee on Medical History
and Archives, Ohio History Conference,
Ohio State Archaeological and Historical
Society Library, Columbus, April 7, 1939.
(181)
182
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
fined. There was not a single civilian
physician in the entire
Northwest Territory. In the early summer
of 1788 Jabez True
put in his appearance at Marietta and
became the first practicing
physician in Ohio.1 Dr. True was a
native of New Hampshire,
had served as a surgeon on a privateer
ship during the Revolu-
tionary War, and, after his arrival in
Ohio, was appointed a
surgeon's mate in the Indian war at $22
per month. After the
close of hostilities he resumed his
practice which took him as far
as thirty miles up and down the Ohio
River. He traveled by canoe
and was usually accompanied by two armed
guards as a protection
against Indian attack. True died in 1823
at the age of sixty-three,
having practiced in Marietta for
thirty-five years.
It was quite natural that the first
settlements should be along
the waterways. Water transportation was
easier, the bottom lands
were more fertile and such locations
were safer from Indian attack
since most Indian villages were inland.
The first settlements of
any size were the Muskingum colony
(Marietta), the Miami colony
(Cincinnati), the Steubenville colony
(Steubenville), and the
Scioto colony (Chillicothe). Because of
the difficulty of return
transportation against the current of
the Ohio River, the Govern-
ment, in 1796, commissioned Colonel
Ebenezer Zane to cut a semi-
circular road from Martin's Ferry to a
point at Aberdeen on the
Ohio River. This was known as Zane's
Trace. At first it was
scarcely more than a trail, but was soon
widened to a passable
road. It soon swarmed with home seekers
from the East. Hamlets
sprang up along its course some of which
later grew into cities--
St. Clairsville, Cambridge, Zanesville,
Lancaster, Kingston, Chilli-
cothe and West Union. At the same time
another tide of immigra-
tion was sweeping in from the South,
having gained access to
Kentucky by way of the historic
Cumberland Gap. The two on-
sweeping waves commingled in the Ohio
country. What was the
result? The population of Ohio, which in
1800 was about 45,000,
jumped to about 230,000 in 1810, and by
1820, in one short decade,
had leaped to over half a million.2
1 Samuel Prescott Hildreth,Biographical and Historical Memoirs of
the Early
Pioneer Settlers of Ohio . . . (Cincinnati, 1852), 329.
2 Roderick Peattie, Geography of Ohio
(Columbus, 1923), 116.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 183
Whence came the physicians to minister
to the ills of this
swelling horde? They did not come in
sufficient numbers. But
ailing flesh cries out for surcease from
pain. The ill were com-
pelled to turn to whatever source held
promise of relief. As a
result quacks, mountebanks and
charlatans, like a plague, soon
infested the entire state.
At last a self-appointed Moses, in the
person of Dr. Samuel
Prescott Hildreth, arose to lead the
medical profession out of
the wilderness of chaos. Hildreth, a
practicing physician at
Marietta, was elected to the state
legislature in 1810. He took it
upon himself personally, to draft and to
steer through the General
Assembly the first act designed to
regulate the practice of physic
and surgery in Ohio.3 The
preamble of this first law reveals
clearly the incentive for its origin. It
reads, "Whereas the prac-
tice of physic and surgery is a science
so immediately interesting
to society that every encouragement for
its promotion should be
given, and every abuse of it, so far as
possible, suppressed--
Therefore. ... ."4
This first law (January 14, 1811)
provided that the state be
divided into five medical districts. In
each district three censors,
or examiners, were appointed by the
General Assembly whose
duty it was to meet at designated towns
twice each year for the
purpose of examining candidates for the
practice of medicine,
and to issue licenses. The law required
that the candidate should
satisfy the censors that he was a person
of good moral character
and also that he had "attended
three full years to the theory and
practice of medicine under the guidance
of some able physician
or surgeon, or a license from some
medical society shewing his
having been admitted as a practitioner,
and give satisfactory
answers to such questions as may be put
to him by the censors,
or examiners, on anatomy, surgery,
materia medica, chymistry
and the theory and practice of
medicine." It further specified that
licenses should "be either printed
on smooth, handsome paper, or
written on parchment in a fair, round
hand." The censors were
allowed $5.00 for each license granted,
and were required to pub-
3 H. Z. Williams & Bro., pub., History of
Washington County, Ohio .. . (Cleve-
land, 1881),
408-10.
4 Ohio Laws, Statutes, etc., Acts,
9 Assemb., 1810/11, p. 18.
184
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
lish the names of the successful
candidates in some newspaper of
general circulation.
A unique feature of the law was that
while it did not pro-
hibit a person without a license from
practicing medicine, it did
stipulate that no person so practicing
could invoke the law to
collect fees for services rendered. Not
much in the form of teeth,
to be sure, but as much perhaps as one
should expect in a medical
legislative infant still in swaddling
clothes.
A little more than a year later
(February 8, 1812) Hildreth's
law was repealed and an act to
incorporate a medical society was
passed.5 It specified that the society
be officially known as the
"President and Fellows of the
Medical Society of the State of
Ohio." The names of 120 physicians
eligible to membership were
written into the law. Whoever drafted
this law certainly had only
a casual knowledge of the state's
physicians since many of them
were placed in wrong counties. For
example, the celebrated Daniel
Drake was listed as from Franklin
County, and Samuel Prescott
Hildreth as from Champaign County.
This law divided the state into seven
medical districts and the
physicians residing in each district
constituted a medical society.
From each of these societies not less
than two, nor more than
three, members were to be chosen by
ballot to represent the society
at the state convention, the first of
which was to be held in Chilli-
cothe on November 1, 1812. It was
stipulated that ten delegates
present at the convention should
constitute a quorum. The law
required that component district
societies should "communicate
information to each other," and
that district societies should
relay to the state convention "such
curious cases and observations
as may come to their knowledge." On
the other hand, it was the
duty of the state convention "to
cause to be published such ex-
traordinary cases, and such observations
on the state of the air,
and on epidemical and other disorders as
they may think proper,
for the benefit of society and citizens
in general." So here was
the first attempt in Ohio to elevate
medical standards through
the dissemination of knowledge. The
convention was empowered
5 Ibid., 10 Assemb., 1811/12, p. 58.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 185
to expel members for misdemeanors; to
appoint an examining
committee for each district; to
"confer honorary degrees on such
members of the faculty as they may from
time to time find of
distinguished merit;" to purchase
and to hold property up to
$12,000; and to levy a tax not to exceed
$2.00 per annum upon
all members of the society; which tax
could be collected through
suit before any justice of the peace.
Real teeth were put into this law. It
stated any male person
(either there were no female
practitioners or they were not worth
considering) who was guilty of
practicing without a "licence"
not only could not invoke the law to collect fees for services
rendered, but was subject to a fine of
"not more than one hundred
nor less than five dollars for every
offense." But here were the
real fangs. One-half the fine imposed
was to go to the person
instigating the suit, and one-half for
the use of the local medical
society. No doubt it was thought that
splitting the fines would
appeal to the cupidity of the laymen and
thus stimulate whole-
sale suits against the quacks. `Inquiry
into the practical results of
this method would make an interesting
study.
Another feature of this law was the
strict prohibition of
price fixing by the society. Evidently
fear of monopolistic prac-
tices existed then even as now.
In passing it is interesting to note
that, pursuant to this law,
an attempt was made to hold a convention
in Chillicothe in 1812,
but only five delegates put in an
appearance. They were: Dr.
Daniel Drake, Cincinnati; Dr. Samuel
Parsons, Columbus; Dr.
Joseph Canby, Lebanon; and Drs. Joseph
Scott and John Ed-
miston, Chillicothe.6 Since
ten delegates were required for a
quorum no business could be transacted
and the convention ad-
journed sine die. Nine years
elapsed before the next convention
was held in Columbus in 1821.
The next change in the laws occurred in
less than a year,
January 19, 1813,7
precipitated no doubt because of the failure to
assemble a state convention. Without a
state convention no dis-
trict examining censors could be
appointed since the convention
6 Western Journal of the Medical and Physical
Sciences (Cincinnati, 1827-1888),
VII (1834), 479.
7 Ohio Laws, Acts, 11 Assemb., 1812/13, p. 28.
186
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
had been invested with that power.
Without censors no candidates
could be examined nor licenses issued.
As a result the principal
objective of the law had been defeated.
In the new law the num-
ber of districts remained the same,
seven. The General Assembly
named seven physicians in each district
to act as censors. The
sponsors of the law, who must have been
medical men, were per-
sistently trying to get some sort of
action--to devise some means
of curbing the activity of medical
charlatans.
This act must have been reasonably
satisfactory since there
was no more tampering with the laws
until January 28, 1817, and
then only for the ostensible purpose of
making the district societies
self-perpetuating by empowering them to
select a board of censors
to serve for each ensuing year.
An amendment to the then existing
medical laws was passed
January 30, 1818. Here for the first
time was given legal recog-
nition to formal medical education
because it provided that "any
person having received the degree of
Doctor of Medicine in any
university or other medical institution
within the United States
. . . shall, on application be entitled
to a license . . . without an
examination."
The next major change in the medical
laws was made January
15, 1821.8 In this new law nine medical
districts, to conform with
the circuits of the Court of Common
Pleas, were set up. Five
censors were named for each district. It
created a Medical Con-
vention of Ohio "to be holden"
in Columbus once each year begin-
ning with June, 1821. The convention was
to consist of one dele-
gate from each district. Since there
were nine districts the con-
vention could have a maximum of only
nine members in atten-
dance. In effect the convention was
equivalent to a central licensing
board with power to "prescribe the
periods and methods of study
and qualifications of candidates."
The convention was also directed
"to elect annually two of its body
to attend as visitors, the com-
mencements in the Medical College of
Ohio; join with the faculty
of that institution in the examination
of candidates for degrees,
vote on their admission, and subscribe
their diplomas on behalf of
the convention, and for their services
they shall be paid two dol-
8 Ibid., 19 Assemb., 1820/21, p. 28.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 187
lars per diem." Joseph Canby of
Warren County, and John Ed-
miston, of Ross County, were designated
as the visitors to the
ensuing commencement of the Medical
College of Ohio.
That the members of the first Medical
Convention of Ohio,
held in Columbus, June 4, 1821, took
their responsibilities seriously
is attested by the stringent rules which
they adopted governing
the qualifications of candidates for the
practice of physic and sur-
gery. Among the principal stipulations
were: that the candidate
be of good moral character; that he have
a competent acquaintance
with the Greek and Latin languages; that
he be well informed in
"Mechanical Philosophy;" that
he shall have "read the various
branches of the profession, with, and
attended practice of some
regularly educated and reputable
practitioner for the term of two
years;" that he "shall have
obtained the information contained" in
the prescribed text-books; and that he
shall have attended one
course of medical lectures on all the
branches taught in some "re-
spectable Medical Institution."9
One is tempted to speculate as to the
familiarity of the august
convention members themselves with the
formidable array of books
listed, not to mention their knowledge
of Greek, Latin, and
"Mechanical Philosophy." No
doubt it gave "the faculty" con-
siderable satisfaction as well as an
added sense of dignity thus to
impress the humble neophyte with the
profundity of their wis-
dom. One cannot help wondering how many
prospective medicos
may have been shunted off into some less
exacting but more
lucrative vocation.
An interval of six years appears to have
elapsed before the
second convention was held in Columbus,
December 10, 1827.10
In the interim repeal of old, and the
enactment of new laws had
divided the state into twenty-two
medical districts, the general plan
of organization, censorship and
licensure remaining essentially
the same. The third convention of the
General Medical Society11
was held in Columbus, January 5, 1829.
The fourth convention
was held in 1831 and the fifth in 1833.
Unfortunately no printed
9 Worthington (Ohio) Franklin Chronicle, July 2, 1821, p. 4.
10 Medical State Convention, Proceedings
. . . Columbus, December 10, 1827
(Zanesville, O., 1828).
11 General Medical
Society, Proceedings . . . Columbus, January 5, 1829 (Colum-
bus, 0., 1829).
188
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
proceedings of either of the last two
conventions have been dis-
covered.
This brings us to the end of the legal
phase of medical organi-
zation. In 1833, the state legislature,
discouraged at the futile
attempt to suppress quackery by law,
gave up in despair and re-
pealed all existing laws pertaining to
the practice of physic and
surgery.12 This action met
with the approval of the medical pro-
fession generally which evidently had
reached the conclusion that
the only effective way to exterminate
quacks was to elevate the
educational standard of physicians,
somewhat on the theory per-
haps, that "virtue is its own
reward." They reasoned that the
automatic operation of the law of the
"survival of the fittest"
would eventually weed out the quacks. A
vain hope, for quacks
and cultists have flourished the world
over since the "memory of
man runneth not to the contrary,"
and probably will continue to
thrive, regardless of restraining laws
or of any transcendental
heights to which medical enlightenment
may soar so long as the
sucker birth-rate remains at status
quo. At the very moment of
the repeal of the medical laws one of
the most stupendous systems
of quackery this country has ever
known--the Thomsonian sys-
tem--was approaching its zenith. Thus,
after twenty-two years of
persistent effort, it seemed that the
more legislation that was
adopted to discourage the growth of the
multi-headed hydra of
empiricism, the more gargantuan it
became.
So from the time of the repeal of all
medical practice laws in
1833 to the enactment of the medical
practice act in 1896--a period
of sixty-three years--any person so
inclined, regardless of his
qualifications or his knowledge of
medical subjects, could hang out
his shingle and practice medicine in the
state of Ohio.
12 Ohio Laws, Acts, 31
Assemb., 1832/33, p. 27.