THE BEGINNING OF FORMAL DENTAL EDUCATION
AT BAINBRIDGE, OHIO
BY EDWARD C. MILLS, D.D.S., F.A.C.D.
The history of any human endeavor deals
with the process of
its growth; and though its development
may be irregular, it is a
continuous process proceeding from
antecedent conditions. In this
process of evolution, it may take on new
form and become unlike
its former self, but continuity retains
enough of the old to serve
as the basis for tracing subsequent
progress. Dentistry in its initial
state, has been traced to medicine and
surgery because it is con-
clusive that any care given to dental
ailments, would be con-
sidered as some phase of medical
practice.
Many names are deserving of mention as
contributing to the
development of dentistry, other than
those dentists from the
Atlantic States who were to follow in
the wake of the tide of
emigration to the West. The increasing
number of dentists was
greatly accelerated as a result of the
panic of 1837 brought on
by President Andrew Jackson's policy
relative to the United States
Bank. Many persons unable to earn a
livelihood from their former
vocations and lured by the apparent
success of those practicing
dentistry, were tempted to follow that
calling. There being no
legal restraint, numerous incompetent,
unqualified persons entered
the practice, ambitious for great
financial returns.
Population is migratory and is attracted
by natural advantages
and productiveness of the territory.
Ohio ranks as one of the
most remarkable instances in the
increase in population. Prior to
1850, no state had made such progress in
this respect as Ohio, and
during the two decades previous to this
date, its population had
increased 110%.
With this influx came the
physician--whose services were of
the greatest necessity in those
strenuous years of pioneer life.
(243)
244
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Every ailment that flesh is heir to came
within his province, and
dental troubles were administered to
with the turnkey or crude
forceps.
Among the physicians came John Harris, a
native of Pompey,
New York. He was educated in medicine
and commenced prac-
tice in 1819. A year later he removed to
Mississippi where he
practiced as a physician and surgeon,
but owing to impaired
health, he came to Ohio, and located at
Madison, a few miles
from Cincinnati. While here his two
brothers, James and Chapin
A. Harris studied medicine under his
preceptorship.
As the population became more
centralized into communities,
Ohio became an inviting field for the
increasing number of den-
tists from the East. The settlements
being small, it was neces-
sary to adopt an itinerant practice in
order to procure a livelihood.
An examination of the Cincinnati papers
during the period 1817-
1824 enables one to form an estimate of
the qualifications of
some of those itinerant pioneers, among
whom were Dr. E. Parmly,
who was later to become the first
president of the first dental
society in the world--the Society of
Dental Surgeons of the City
and State of New York, December 3, 1834;
Dr. Plantou, from
Paris, France, who is credited as being
the first to introduce
porcelain teeth into this
country--supplanting the teeth carved
from ivory; Drs. Green, Ratrie, and
Monroe, whose announce-
ments bespeak a preliminary training of
a high order for that
period.
No doubt contact with the foregoing
itinerant dentists awak-
ened in the mind of Harris an interest
in dentistry, from which
was to follow a new era in dental
education, as evidenced by the
subsequent events which took place at
Bainbridge, Ohio, where he
located about 1825 and established a
School of Medical Instruc-
tion, according to the following
announcement which appeared in
the Chillicothe Supporter &
Gazette, November 1, 1827:
MEDICAL INSTRUCTION
Dr. J. Harris, of the village of
Bainbridge, Ross County, is making
a variety of preparations and
arrangements for the instruction of a private
class of medical students preparatory to
their entering a Medical College
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 245
for the consummation of their
profession. Among which are Anatomical
preparations and Chemical Apparatus,
sufficiently extensive for the exhibi-
tion of many important experiments. He
will deliver Lectures, during the
winter season, at least once a week on
each of the following branches, viz.:
Demonstrative Anatomy, Operative Surgery
and Chemistry; and during the
summer season he will devote as much of
his time in lecturing on Osteology,
Physiology, Materia Medica, Theory and
Practice of Medicine and Ob-
stetrics, as his professional avocations
may permit; and every possible
facility will be afforded to those who
may see cause to patronize his efforts.
No student will be received who has not
at least a first rate English educa-
tion. Terms of tuition will be
reasonable, depending on circumstances.
October 25, 1827.
This no doubt was prompted by the Act in
1824 of the Dis-
trict Medical Societies, which required
that all applicants for exam-
ination should have received instruction
under a preceptor.
The same newspaper carried the following
announcement
from February 21, 1828, until the issue
of December 3, 1828.
DENTAL SURGERY
DR. JOHN HARRIS
Respectfully informs the citizens of
Bainbridge and contiguous towns
that he has just received a large supply
of SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS.
Among which are a full set, for the
practice of Dental Surgery. From his
knowledge of the Medical Profession
Surgery and Dental Surgery in par-
ticular, he flatters himself that he
shall be able to render general satisfac-
tion to all, who may have occasion to
employ him. He will set Artificial
Teeth with much permanency and so
natural in appearance, as to escape
detection; and without that pain so
consequent upon the operation as per-
formed by most Dentists--cure all cases
of Scurvy of the Teeth--preserve
those that are decaying by plugging--extract
all kinds of Teeth and Stumps
with ease; and perform every other
operation of a Dental character.
BAINBRIDGE, Feb. 7, 1828.
This announcement indicates that
students under his precep-
torship, intent on the study of medicine
had become interested in
the practice of dentistry, and a
"large supply of Surgical Instru-
ments, among which are a full set for
the practice of Dental Sur-
gery" leads us to believe this was
an additional outfit for his stu-
dents. The subsequent portion of the
announcement was possibly
intended to attract patients for a
dental clinic in which to give
246
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
technical instruction to his pupils. He
was equipped for his own
personal practice because according to
an announcement pub-
lished in the Columbus Ohio State
Journal and Columbus Gazette,
issue of October 14, 1830, he stated
that he "has been a practi-
tioner for more than ten years and has
devoted more than half his
time to the theory and practice of
Dentistry."1
Years later, one of his students, James
Taylor, commenting
on Harris' ability, said:
From a long and intimate acquaintance of
the medical profession we
must say--we know of none better
calculated to advance a student in his
studies. It appeared to be with him not
only a duty, but a pleasure--at
the close of every day to review the studies
thereof; to explain and enforce
each lesson which his natural endowment
and previous hard study has so
well enabled him to do. We have always
thought, had he devoted himself
exclusively to the practice of medicine
and surgery, he would have en-
joyed an enviable reputation. His
attention was however turned more
particularly to the specialty of
dentistry and our profession might date
much of its present advancement to his
unwearied zeal.
We are indebted to Dr. Jonathan Taft,
editor of Dental
Register (Cincinnati, 1847-1923), in volume XX (1868), page
91, for the statement:
Dr. Edward Taylor was born near
Bainbridge, which place might
very properly be called the starting
point of the following pioneers of the
profession in the Mississippi Valley; Drs.
John, James and Chapin A. Harris,
Dr. [John] Jones, formerly of Dayton,
Ohio, and Dr. [Wesley] Wampler
of Illinois, and Dr. [Samuel T.] Church
of Baltimore, and Joseph, James
and Irwin Taylor.
Subsequent research has also added to
this list the names of
Dr. John Allen, Dr. Edward P. Church and
William Jones, a phy-
sician late of Kenton, Ohio. Undoubtedly
inspiration and instruc-
tion were received in this primitive
school by others whose names
have been lost to dental history, but
such as are preserved have
redounded to the unsung praise of Dr.
John Harris--that unselfish
promoter of dental science.
James H. Harris, brother of John, with
whom he had studied
1 The building in which Dr. Harris
practiced, and gave instructions in medicine
and dentistry, was purchased by the Ohio State Dental
Society, December 10, 1938.
(Ross County Records, Deed Book 230, p.
602.)
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 247
medicine in Madison, Ohio, located in
Columbus, Ohio, in the
practice of medicine in March, 1822,
with his "office and residence
on the east side of High Street, first
door south of the State
House." His stay was of short
duration as, among a list of un-
claimed letters, published October 17,
1822, was one addressed to
"James H. or Chapin
Harris." June 5, 1827, he was
located in
Lancaster and was elected treasurer of
the Thirteenth District
Medical Society. In the Lancaster Gazette,
December 20, 1828,
is his announcement that he has resumed
practice of "Physic,
Surgery and Midwifery." This
indicates an absence from Lan-
caster the greater portion of 1828--one
of the years during which
John Harris was conducting his school in
Bainbridge. He must
have given up the practice of medicine
entirely, because his name
does not appear in the list of members
of the Thirteenth District
Medical Society, published June 2, 1829.
He announced himself
as a dentist to the residents in
Columbus in November, 1830, after
which he practiced dentistry in
Lancaster for a number of years,
later locating in Baltimore, Maryland,
where he died on October
24, 1836.
Edward P. Church, a native of Middlesex,
New York, was a
student under John Harris at Bainbridge,
after which he practiced
in several southern cities; later he
returned to near his former
home in New York state, where he died of
cholera, July 22, 1832.
He invented forceps for extracting the
upper third molar, which
in 1849 were in use by the majority of
dentists in this country.
Samuel T. Church of Baltimore, is listed
in the Baltimore city
directories from 1858 until 1864. During
the years 1858-1861, he
was professor of operative dentistry in
the Baltimore College of
Dental Surgery, for which information
the writer is indebted to
Dr. J. Ben Robinson, the present dean of
that school.
Dr. Wesley Wampler, was a Virginian, and
after leaving
Bainbridge followed an itinerant
practice in Ohio, Illinois and
Wisconsin, finally settling at Milton
Station, now Humboldt, Illi-
nois. While practicing there, in 1856,
Abraham Lincoln on his way
to Chicago had him remove a tooth, the
first he had had extracted
by a dentist.
Dr. John Jones of Dayton, after a few
years' practice at
248
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Miamisburg, Ohio, located in Dayton
about 1840. He later
attended the Ohio College of Dental
Surgery and was a member
of the first graduating class in 1846.
"He was a man highly
esteemed both in professional and
private life; his loss is no doubt
felt by more of the citizens than would
be the loss of any other
citizen, public or private." He
died there September 11, 1850.
Drs. John Jones and B. A. Satterthwait,
another Dayton
dentist, at the meeting of the
Mississippi Valley Dental Associa-
tion, September 1, 1846, introduced the
following resolution which
was adopted:
Resolved: That any member of this
Society, who shall extol his own
peculiar merits, over those of a fellow
practitioner, or offer his services at
lower rates than is common among the
members of the profession among
whom he operates, through public prints,
or uses any secret nostrum (unless
pledged prior to the present time to
maintain secrecy) shall be liable to ex-
pulsion from this Society.
Here we witness the beginning of our
code of ethics.
John Allen, born November 4, 1810, was a
native of New
York state and his father was for many
years a practicing phy-
sician in Cincinnati. Allen was a
pioneer in porcelain dental art
and the inventor of "Continuous
Gum" work. He made many con-
tributions to dental prosthesis, the
appreciation of which was mani-
fested by award of medals from many
societies and institutes.
He was active in dental education and
dental college work; took
an active interest in organized
dentistry and in 1861 was elected
president of the American Dental
Convention. He practiced in
Cincinnati until 1854, when he removed
to New York City. He
died March 8, 1902.
It is an interesting coincidence that
these events occurred just
one hundred years after the Frenchman,
Fauchard, had published
his monumental work Le
Chirurgieu-dentiste, thus establishing
another epoch in dentistry. The fact
that John Harris had been
practicing since 1820, as evidenced by
his announcement in the
Ohio State Journal for October 14, 1830, having his own equip-
ment for this purpose, the announcement
of "an additional supply
of instruments" among which
"are a full set for the practice of
dental surgery" furnishes
unmistakable evidence that this set was
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 249
for the use of his students and a
subsequent portion of his
announcement was possibly intended to
attract patients for a clinic
in which to instruct his pupils in
dental technic.
Harris remained in Bainbridge until May,
1830, when he
removed to Chillicothe. He made
occasional trips as an itinerant,
at least one to Columbus in October,
1830, and others to the South,
and in 1834 he was located at
Georgetown, Kentucky. The Com-
monwealth of Frankfort, on April 1, 1835, published his announce-
ment as of the firm of Harris and Hobbs
of Louisville, and as
practicing his profession "in
Frankfort during the present session
of the legislature." During the
winter of 1835 and 1836 he at-
tended a course in medicine and also
delivered a course of dental
lectures before the students of the
Medical Department of the
Transylvania University at Louisville
and also contributed a series
of articles on dentistry in the Commonwealth
of Frankfort. In
1836 he made an unsuccessful attempt to
obtain a charter for a
dental college in Kentucky. This was the
first effort, not only
in this country but throughout the world
to establish an institution
of this kind through legislative
enactment. A letter from Dr. R. L.
Sprau of Louisville, Kentucky, under
date of August 24, 1934,
states, "It may be of interest to
know that an attempt was made
to have an act passed to regulate the
practice of dentistry at that
time [1836]. The record does not say who
was responsible, but
Harris was in Frankfort at that
time."
Under date of August 28, Sprau wrote:
"There is a reference
in another record of an attempt to have
legislation passed to charter
a dental college."
In July, 1842, John Harris was again in
Chillicothe, and in
1845 was practicing in Annapolis,
Maryland. At the sixth annual
meeting of the American Society of
Dental Surgeons in 1845, of
which he was made a member in absentia
at its organization in
1840, he read a paper, published in the American
Journal of
Dental Science (New York, 1839-1909), volume VI, page 100, in
which he sounded the death knell to the
retention of pulpless teeth.
If the experience of the most scientific
and skillful practitioners that
have ever lived could be ascertained, I
think it would be found that in the
adoption of other treatment than this
[extraction], they have often been
250
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
disappointed in their expectations and
that while they and their patients have
been lulled into imaginary security by
the temporary relief from pain, the
malady itself has continued and become
the cause of other and sometimes
more formidable diseases. . . . The
records of medicine furnished numerous
examples . . . wherever a remedy has
been tried that could be suggested
by the skill and ingenuity of man, without
success--cures have been speedily
and permanently effected by the removal
of diseased teeth even where they
have not been productive of pain or
suspected as the cause of the mischief.
These facts were forcibly emphasized by
Dr. William Hunter
of England seventy years later. A report
and description of an
artificial nose and palate made by him
for a lady patient in Scott
County, Kentucky, in 1841, is used by
Chapin A. Harris in his
edition of Fox's Natural History of
the Human Teeth (1846).
In 1845 Dr. John Harris donated to the
Museum of the
Baltimore College of Dental Surgery some
twelve thousand morbid
dental specimens. At the commencement of
this college, February
17, 1846, Dean Chapin A. Harris gave the
graduating address,
and his brother John Harris, his
instructor in dentistry at Bain-
bridge, presented the diplomas. Great
must have been the grati-
fication of John Harris on this occasion
when he witnessed the
full fruition of the seed of his ideas
and ideals as sown and
nurtured in his "School of
Instruction" the first of its kind in the
annals of dentistry, and perhaps of
medicine.
The length of John Harris' residence in
Annapolis is uncer-
tain. He was a resident of Frederick,
Maryland, in 1849, with his
wife, Mrs. Martha Wampler (nee Edmiston)
whom he had mar-
ried at Bainbridge, November 12, 1827,
and their children. Harris,
while on one of his itinerant trips,
died at Hertford, North Caro-
lina, July 26, 1849, and was buried
there by the Masonic fraternity.
As previously stated the students of
John Harris at Bain-
bridge became dentists with one known
exception--Dr. William
Jones of Kenton, Ohio; Jones was a
native of southern Ohio
who began practice in West Liberty,
Ohio, then removed to Round-
head, and about 1848-49 he came to
Kenton. Jones was a man of
eccentric habits and a religious turn of
mind. He abandoned his
profession to preach the gospel, but not
finding that sufficiently
remunerative he returned to the practice
of medicine in Kenton,
where he died, about 1874. He was a
charter member of the
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 251
Hardin County Medical Society, organized
at Kenton, July 8, 1850,
and served five times as president.2
He reported a case in which a
lower maxilla had been lost by necrosis,
and new bone had been
produced (a case of reproduction of the
inferior maxillary bone,
following necrosis), published in the American
Journal of Dental
Science, second series, volume III (1853-54), page 592-6, and
abstracted in the Dental Register of
the West (Cincinnati, 1847-
1923), volume VII (1853-54), page 64-5.
Dr. George Watt, Xenia, Ohio, former
editor of the Ohio
Journal of Dental Science (Toledo, 0., 1881-) referred therein
to Jones, as follows:
In the Spring of 1850 I made the
acquaintance of William Jones,
M.D., of Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio,
who had been a student with Dr.
James Taylor, under a private preceptor
and he told me much about their
student lives. The location was at or in
the vicinity of Bainbridge, Ohio,
where Dr. Taylor was born. . . . They
remained fast friends till death.
Dr. Jones told me, and I think Dr.
Taylor did likewise, that John Harris,
a brother of the after famous and
revered Chapin A. Harris was their
preceptor, and this quiet country
locality might well be called the birth
place of American dentistry.
Chapin A. Harris was practicing medicine
at Greenfield but 10 or
12 miles distant. Both the Harris
brothers and Dr. Taylor concluded
to practice dentistry in connection with
medicine. A free exchange of
opinion showed that Drs. Chapin Harris
and James Taylor held identical
opinions as to the necessity of a
thorough professional education for the
dentist, and neither rested until he
had, with such assistance as he could
rally around him, established a college
to afford the desired instruction,
of which both so strongly felt the need.
. . .3
The Taylors were natives of the vicinity
of Bainbridge.
Of the seven sons of Joseph and Jane
(Irwin) Taylor, four were
dentists, all probably influenced by
James Taylor, one of the sons,
who was one of the early students of
John Harris.
Joseph Taylor (1806-1873) followed an
itinerant practice
until 1831 when he located in Vicksburg,
Mississippi, later in Mays-
ville, Kentucky, and in 1850 he became
associated with his brother
Jame, in Cincinnati. He had a high
appreciation of dental science
and was successful in the construction
of obturators and artificial
2 Warner, Beers & Co., pub., History of Hardin
County, Ohio (Chicago, 1883),
238.
3 VII (1887), 3.
252
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
palates, and took great interest in
organization of dental societies.
Owing to ill health he was obliged to
retire from practice in 1859,
when he engaged in horticulture.
Edward Taylor (1811-1868) began practice
in some of the
small towns along the Mississippi River.
In 1833, he settled in
Springfield, Ohio, later at Maysville,
Kentucky, and finally at
Natchez, Mississippi, where he remained
for several years. About
1844, he opened an office in Louisville,
Kentucky, but was soon
induced to join his brother James in
Cincinnati. An attack of
cholera in 1847 so enfeebled his
constitution that he was unable
to continue the arduous duties of an
office practice.
Irwin Taylor (1813-1843) studied with
his brother Joseph in
Maysville, Kentucky, and shortly
afterward went to Natchez,
Mississippi, where his brother Edward
was then practicing. He
died there April 4, 1843, and was buried
in Spring Grove Cemetery,
Cincinnati.
James Taylor (March 25, 1809-June 12,
1881) exercised
greater influence in the development of
dentistry in the West than
any of his contemporaries. While a
student with John Harris,
they visited Chapin A. Harris, then
practicing medicine in Green-
field, fifteen miles north of
Bainbridge, and induced him to devote
himself to dental science.
Dr. James Taylor began practice at
Hillsboro, later received
his M.D. degree at Lexington, Kentucky,
and opened his office in
Bainbridge in the practice of dentistry
and medicine. For several
years he spent his winters in the South
and his summers in the
North. In 1834 he gave up medical
practice, devoting himself
wholly to dentistry. In 1842 he
permanently located in Cincinnati,
where he was joined by his brother
Edward, who had been prac-
ticing in Louisville, and they soon
established a lucrative practice.
Edward's health failing, he was
succeeded by his brother Joseph
from Maysville. These three brothers
laid a secure foundation
for dentistry, and through their labors
contributed to the profes-
sional character which it attained in
the Mississippi Valley. They
were largely responsible for the
organization of the Mississippi
Valley Association of Dental Surgeons
established in Cincinnati
in August, 1844.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 253
In 1844, James Taylor advocated the
necessity of a dental
school in Cincinnati, and in 1845 the
Ohio College of Dental
Surgery was organized, the second of its
kind in the world. In
1847, the Dental Register of the West
was begun, and he became
the first editor. Taylor's contributions
to dental literature were
voluminous, touching upon every phase of
dental practice. He was
a charter member of the American Society
of Dental Surgeons in
1839 and was elected president of the
American Dental Convention
in Boston, August 6, 1856. He was a
deserving and modest re-
cipient of all the honors in the power
of the dental profession to
bestow.
Chapin A. Harris (May 6, 1806-September
29, 1860) was
born in Pompey, New York, and in early
manhood came to Madi-
son, Ohio, and studied medicine in the
office of his brother Dr.
John Harris. He was licensed by the
Board of Medical Censors
and commenced the practice of medicine
in Greenfield, Ohio. He
became interested in dentistry and
received instruction from his
brother John in Bainbridge. He remained
in Greenfield about a
year, then moved to Bloomfield, Ohio. He
later traveled as an
itinerant through the South, finally
locating in Fredericksburg,
Virginia, and in 1835 permanently in
Baltimore, and at once be-
came a contributor to medical and
periodical literature. He was
one of the most vigorous and productive
of our dental writers and
has long been regarded the founder of
dental literature in America.
In 1839, he published his first work, The
Dental Art, a Practical
Treatise on Dental Surgery which work, under title of Principles
and Practice of Dental Surgery, passed through the thirteenth and
last edition in 1896.
In 1839 he was the instigator of, and
became editor of, the
American Journal of Dental Science, the first dental periodical
publication in the world, and continued
as editor until his death.
Harris experienced some opposition in
his efforts to establish the
journal. Solyman Brown wrote:
Dr. Chapin A. Harris of Baltimore, an
eminent practitioner of
dentistry and educated physician and
surgeon visited the city of New York
to consult with some of his professional
brethren on the subject, which
254
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
later occupied much of his attention and
engrossed a large share of his
professional attention. He invited Dr.
Horace H. Hayden of Baltimore to
accompany him to the commercial capital
of the nation and assist him in
the enterprise; but Dr. Hayden declined
to comply, alleging that he had
labored too hard and too long in the
acquisition of professional knowledge
to sow it broadcast through the land by
means of a magazine. Whereupon
Dr. Harris visited New York alone and
invited Dr. E. Parmly, Dr. E.
Baker and a few others, including the
writer, to meet at some suitable place
to discuss the business of his errand to
the north. . . . Late in the afternoon
Dr. Hayden arrived and joined in the
discussion, still expressing himself
as opposed to the movement of publishing
professional knowledge to the
world. Nevertheless, in spite of this
individual objection, the meeting re-
solved on the publication of a Dental
Journal forthwith.4
In 1849, Harris published a Dictionary
of Dental Surgery,
Biography, Bibliography and Medical
Terminology, a volume of
779 pages, the first dental dictionary
in the English language, the
sixth edition of which appeared in 1898.
He was the first to re-
spond to the call of Dr. H. H. Hayden to
organize the American
Society of Dental Surgeons in 1840, and
it was on his motion that
the convention to organize a society
"resolved that a National
Society be formed."
There is a tradition that Harris with
Hayden's advice and
assistance endeavored to establish a
dental training school as an
adjunct to the Medical Department of the
University of Maryland.
If this request was made, it may have
been rejected, due to the
hostility of Dr. H. W., Baxley, one of
the dental faculty, to the
regents of the university.
Burton L. Thorpe's biography of C. A.
Harris, states that
not disheartened, Dr. Harris went to New
York City and consulted the
leading men of the profession and with
their aid endeavored to establish
a chair of dentistry in one of the New
York medical colleges. Meeting with
discouragement, but stimulated with
renewed energy, he returned to Balti-
more and during the winter of 1839-40,
almost entirely unaided, he secured
the signatures of representative
citizens to a petition to the legislature of
Maryland for the incorporation of a
College of Dental Surgery at Balti-
more. After numerous difficulties and
considerable opposition by jealous
medical rivals, which he finally
overcame, the charter was granted and with
4 Dental Science and Art Journal (New York, 1875), February, 1875; cited also
in Dental Cosmos (Philadelphia,
1859-1936), LXII (1920), 944-5.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS OF OHIO 255
the aid of H. H. Hayden, Thomas E. Bond,
and H. Willis Baxley, he or-
ganized the Baltimore College of Dental
Surgery, of which he was the first
dean.
This was the first dental college in the
world.
Harris received the honorary M. D.
degree from Washington
Medical College at Baltimore, in which
he was a professor in
1838. His D.D.S. was obtained from the
American Society of
Dental Surgery, and an honorary D.D.S.
degree was conferred
upon him by the Philadelphia Dental
College in 1854. He was
elected president of the American Dental
Convention in 1856.
His death occurred on September 29,
1860, due mainly to
overwork. At a meeting of the dentists
in New York City, October
8, 1860, of which Eleazar Parmly was
chairman and Solyman
Brown, secretary, under the "Harris
Testimonial Fund," the pre-
amble and resolutions pay him the
following tribute:
Every distinct profession in human
society has its leading members,
men of energy, talent and eminence. This
is true of the dental profession
as of any other, and not less true in
America than in other quarters of the
globe.
The names of Greenwood, Woodendale,
Gardette, Hayden, Flagg, Hud-
son, Koecker and Randall among others
that have left their sublunary labors,
are evidence of this fact.
It has become our melancholy duty in
pursuance of the object of this
meeting to add another name to this
catalog, more highly distinguished
than any of his predecessors for
numerous and valuable contributions to
the science and literature of his
profession, as well as by his writings, as
by personal inculcations as head of the
oldest, and for many years, the only
dental college in the world.5
Harris, through his founding of the
first dental journal, gave
a death blow to the selfish, secretive
attitude of many dentists as
to their methods of practice; in his
activities which contributed
to the formation of the American Society
of Dental Surgeons, he
furnished a substitution of a
cooperative type of society for the
old one of naked individualism, and in
the Baltimore College of
Dental Surgery, he brought to a full
fruition the ideals for den-
tistry that had been fostered in the
mind of his brother, Dr. John
5 Ibid., II (1860-61), 221.
256
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Harris, his preceptor, when conducting
his school of Medical In-
struction, in Bainbridge.6
We have previously referred to the first
dental journal, the
American Journal of Dental Science (1839), founded by Chapin
A. Harris, who became its first editor.
The second periodical publication,
worthy of the distinction of
the name "Journal," was the Dental
Register of the West, founded
under the auspices of the Mississippi
Valley Association of Dental
Surgeons in 1847, and first edited by
James Taylor. It suspended
publication with the November issue,
1922, at the close of the
seventy-fifth volume, and was the oldest
dental journal in the
world.
The organization of the Ohio State
Dental Society on June
27, 1866, was the dawn of a new and brighter era for
dentistry in
Ohio. Such an organization marked the
end of various sporadic
attempts to unite the profession of the
state as a whole, and happily
such ending was as the morning
ends--when it merges into the
fuller light of the day.
Of these United States, it is with
pardonable pride that we
point to our own great commonwealth.
Ohio has contributed its
full share of patriots to our Nation in
times of peace and war. In
peace her sons are found in the highest
positions of trust and honor
in national affairs: while in war, they
have led the perilous advance
and accomplished deeds of heroic valor.
In the realm of literature, science,
law, medicine, and dentistry,
fame has crowned the efforts of many of
the sons of this great
state. And here in Ohio was laid the
very foundation of dental
education, since which time there has
been no cessation of building
thereon. Ohio has given many names whose
heritage to dentistry
will cause them to live, wherever and as
long as the profession is
practiced, and their zealous endeavors
and notable achievements
will ever continue to reflect leadership
in this important branch of
health service.
6 There has been much controversy as to who was the first to conceive the
idea
of a dental college, and for information
pertaining to this subject, the reader is
referred to the following publications: Dental
Register of the West, XV (1861),
79-80; James Taylor, Life and
Character of Chapin A. Harris (Cincinnati); Dental
Cosmos, LXII (1920), 936-58; L. Parmly Brown, New
Light on Dental History
(Peekskill, N. Y.).