Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 4: Medicine and Medical Institute, 1924

The relief of suffering and the prevention of disease have had their practitioners and medical advocates in Bristol county for close upon three centuries. The doctors of the "old school" were indeed of a very old and practical school; the doctors of today, with the record of the experience of the physicians of yesterday, combined with their acquirement of the attainments that are the gift of modern science, both respect the old régime for the foundations laid, and collaborate for investigation and application of the solutions of the problems of this hour. In times of epidemic and disease, in peace and in war, they have represented their calling notably well, and both men and women of the profession, whether in the common round of their days, or as heads of hospital institutions, as medical captains of military contingents, or as nurses on the battlefields, have shared self-sacrificingly at duty's call.

The two Bristol county societies of physicians trace their associated genealogies to the Massachusetts Medical Society that was formed in 1781, to include all regular physicians practising medicine in the Commonwealth, thus, as emphasized in the Massachusetts Laws, Chapter 82, 1859: "No person shall hereafter become a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society except upon examination by the censors of said society; and any person of good moral character found to possess the qualifications prescribed by the rules and regulations of said society, shall be admitted a fellow of said society."

As the institution increased in membership, district societies were formed during the early part of the last century, all under the control of the old society, but appointing their own officers, establishing rules in conformity with those of the original organization, yet receiving and disposing of property outside the authority of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Walter L. Burrage, M. D., secretary of the Massachusetts Medical Society; Arthur R. Crandell, M. D., secretary of the Bristol North District Medical Society; and Alanson D. Abbe, M. D., secretary of the Bristol South District Medical Society, have been of generous assistance in gathering information, so far as records have been kept, for a general survey of the district societies.

The Bristol North District Medical Society is representative of the best thought and practice in medicology in New England today. Practitioners of proven worth direct its affairs. Both out of its official list and its rank and file have come notable doctors and surgeons, captains of contingents in the wars, and State Medical Society leaders. The records of the society loaned by Dr. Crandell, who has been its secretary since 1913, and who was president of the district at that time, show that organization took place June 20, 1849, with its membership in Taunton, Seekonk, Attleboro, Rehoboth, Norton, Mansfield, Easton, Raynham, Berkley, Freetown, Somerset, Dighton and Swansea. When the State line was changed in 1862, nearly all of Pawtucket and a part of Seekonk were attached to Rhode Island, and members of those places afterwards became known as non-resident fellows of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

East Attleboro had the honor of being the first meeting place for organization, the medical men present being Drs. Benoni Carpenter, of Pawtucket; Seba A. Carpenter, of Attleboro; James B. Dean, of Taunton; Johnson Gardner, of Seekonk; Thaddeus Phillips, of Attleboro; Menzies R. Randall, of Rehoboth; Phineas Savery, of Attleboro; Caleb Swan, of North Easton. The first officers were: President, Seba A. Carpenter, Attleboro; vice-president, Menzies R. Randall, Rehoboth; secretary and treasurer, William F. Perry; librarians, Phineas Savery and James B. Dean. The meetings of the society were quarterly, and held on the third Wednesday of June, September, December and March, the last being the annual meeting for the election of officers. At first, meetings were to be held only at Taunton and East Attleboro; later, "at such places as the society by vote shall determine." The last meeting held at Attleboro was on September 11, 1873. Since that time nearly all the meetings have been held at Taunton, or jointly with the Bristol South District society.

The records reveal how at their gatherings the membership have read many instructive and timely papers, and how on occasions they have had the pleasure of listening to specialists from other cities, as, for example, when Dr. Briggs lectured on "The Toxic Treatment of Cancer"; Dr. Goss on "Employment as a Remedial Agent in the Treatment of Mental Diseases"; Dr. Ralph C. Larrabee, of Boston, on "Experiences with the Allen Treatment of Diabetes with Surgical Complications." The papers that have been read before the society are too numerous to recount; but all have been notable topics of discussion, and they have had proven value in the everyday rounds of the doctor of the district. At the meeting of September 15, 1910, it was voted that Middleboro and Lakeville be transferred from Bristol South to Bristol North, and that Swansea and Somerset be transferred to the south district. The society now has a membership of sixty-five, and the officers since 1890 are as follows:

1915-1916 - President, Dr. W. H. Allen, of Mansfield; Vice-President, Dr. Joseph B. Gerould, of North Attleboro; Secretary, Dr. A. R. Crandell; Treasurer, Dr. W. Y. Fox.

1917 - President, Dr. Sumner Coolidge, of Middleboro; Vice-President, Dr. Horace G. Ripley; Secretary, Dr. A. R. Crandell; Treasurer, Dr. W. Y. Fox.

1921-1922 - -President, Dr. Sumner Coolidge; Vice-President, Dr. William O. Hewitt, of Attleboro; Secretary, Dr. A. R. Crandell; Treasurer, Dr. R. D. Dean.

The two largest cities and many of the small towns of Bristol county are represented in the membership of the Bristol South District Medical Society, and they include not only some of the ablest practitioners in this part of the country, but also those who as directors of medicine and surgery in hospitals have attained more than local fame. Every May and November this group of doctors comes together, either in Fall River or New Bedford, to exchange ideas and talk over the results of a widespread practice. They have their speaker, either one of their own number or a leader in some special line of medical or surgical investigation, while the semi-annual gatherings are intended, both professionally and socially, to concentrate the society's aims, and to retain the organization in the enviable place the founders purposed for it.

This Bristol South District Medical Society has had its existence since the year 1839, its charter having been granted April 3 of that year by the Massachusetts Medical Councillors, thus:

To Alexander Read, Andrew Mackie, Paul Spooner, Samuel Sawyer, Julius A. Mathew, William C. Westridge, fellows of said society, greeting: your application made in due form, (requesting a district or subordinate medical society, residing in the following towns in the county of Bristol, viz.: New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Freetown, Fairhaven, Dartmouth and Westport; in the county of Plymouth - Middleboro, Rochester and Wareham, in Dukes county - Chilmark, Tisbury and Edgartown. and Nantucket) was duly considered at a meeting of the councillors held at Boston on the third day of April, 1839, A. D., and it was voted that your requests should be granted;

Be it therefore known, that, pursuant to an act of the Legislature of this commonwealth, entitled an act in addition to an act entitled: "An act to incorporate certain persons by the name of the Massachusetts Medical Society," authorizing the councillors of said society .thereunto, and a district or subordinate society by the name of the Southern District Medical Society is hereby established, to consist of those fellows of the Massachusetts Medical Society now residents within the limits aforesaid, for the purpose of electing officers and transacting such other business as they shall deem expedient.

In testimony whereof, the president, pursuant to the aforesaid vote of the councillors, has hereunto subscribed his name and affixed the seal of the corporation at Boston, this sixth day of April, A. D. 1839.

Since those grants were made, the society's name has been changed to Bristol South District Medical Society, and it consists of all fellows of the Massachusetts Medical Society residing in New Bedford, Fall River, Westport, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Middleboro, Rochester, Mattapoisett, Wareham, Nantucket, Edgartown, Tisbury and Chilmark. Owing to the unfortunate loss of the early papers of the society, there is no list extant of the first officials of the organization. As is customary, papers have been read and discussed at the meetings of the society, that inevitably prove of practical value to the membership.

Within recent years, joint meetings with other medical societies have been a means of increasing interest and attendance, and have broadened the views of all the societies concerned. For example, a joint meeting of the Barnstable, Bristol North and South, and Plymouth District societies was held November 10, 1921, at Lakeville State Sanatorium, with such speakers as Drs. John W. Bartol, Walter P. Powers, Sumner H. Remick, Edward Reynolds and Hon. Loring B. Young. Again a joint meeting of all these societies was held at the same place November 9, 1922, with these speakers: Drs. John W. Bartol, George Chandler Whipple, Eugene R. Kelley, Richard P. Strong, and Benjamin White, Ph. D.

The doctors of dental surgery in this part of the State, in their county organization effected in 1895, have strengthened in city and town the field of the skilled dental operator. Their history here, eminently representative of the present-day organizations, has been distinctive in fraternal meetings, for the instructive papers read by members and visitors, and for their generally live programme of effort throughout the year.

The secretary of the association, William W. Marvel, D. M. D., of Fall River, states that the Southeastern District is a component part of the Massachusetts State Dental Society, which in turn is a constituent of the American Dental Association, so that local members become members of the other two. According to the records, the first meeting was held in the office of Dr. Byron H. Strout, of Taunton, January 25, 1895, in response to a call by the State president, Dr. Joseph King Knight. At that time an organization was effected, and officers were elected as follows: Secretary, Dr. Francis M. Kennedy, of New Bedford; treasurer, Dr. Edward §S. Hathaway, of Middleboro; councillors: Dr. E. C. Hinckley, of Hyannis; Dr. Frederick S. Faxon, of Brockton; Dr. E. S. Hathaway, of Middleboro; Dr. Eugene V. MacLeod, of New Bedford; Dr. B. H. Strout, of Taunton. The executive committee consisted of Dr. E. V. MacLeod, chairman; Dr. B. H. Strout, Taunton, and Dr. C. Ernest Perkins of Brockton. The District comprises that part of the State south of and including Brockton and Attleboro. The membership at the present time, 1923, is 114, and the officers of the association are: Secretary, Dr. William W. Marvel, of Fall River; treasurer, Dr. Fred J. Sullivan, of Fall River; councillors: Drs. T. P. Sullivan, Fall River; B. H. Strout, Taunton; Ernest Greene, New Bedford; F. B. Hinckley, Fall River; E. J. McQuillan, New Bedford; executive committee: Drs. F. B. Hinckley, Fall River, chairman; A. F. McCann and H. L. Stover, of Fall River.

With the establishment of a tuberculosis hospital in one of the most accessible and healthful sections of this part of the State, the county to that extent has met many of the requirements of modern sanitation, while the people of the county are assured of a hospital headquarters well managed in every respect for remedial and safe-guarding agencies.

The hospital is situated on the north side of Oak Hill avenue, in Attleboro, on the former Talaquega park, the land comprising 89 acres - 39 acres to the north, and 50 acres to the south of Oak Hill avenue. Twenty acres are under cultivation, 30 acres are in pasture, 39 acres are in woodland, and include a pond of about six acres. Vegetables are produced from the hospital farm, while milk is supplied from the Bristol County Agricultural School.

The hospital, which is as nearly modern and practical as possible, has its administration building with offices, trustees' rooms, dining rooms, dormitory, while the residence of the superintendent is near the administration building, and convenient to the hospital. The hospital building has a minimum capacity of sixty beds, with men's, women's and children's wards, diet kitchen, utility rooms and lavatories; also there are verandas on three sides. The ground floor is about 160 feet above mean sea level. Men are granted permission to work on the farm, and women to do kitchen and other work. The institution was opened to receive patients, November 15, 1919, and the first patient went there November 17, that year. By the legislative acts of 1916, Chapter 281, these cities and towns in Bristol county are furnished accommodations here: Acushnet, Attleboro, Berkley, Dartmouth, Dighton, Easton, Fairhaven, Freetown, Mansfield, North Attleboro, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton, Westport. There are now more than one hundred patients, the larger number coming from Taunton, a few cases having been admitted from outside the State. An entertainment committee, composed of department heads, has been organized to divert and please the patients; choirs from churches and clubs have entertained; while Catholic and Protestant clergymen attend to the spiritual needs of the patients. The trustees consist of the county commissioners; the executive officers are Edgar L. Crossman, county treasurer, and Adam §. MacKnight. secretary. Dr. MacKnight is the resident physician.

A Bristol county organization of practical value to the community, and to itself in its relationships to the various cities, hospitals and other institutions represented by its membership, is the Bristol County Nurses' Association, the facts of its history being as follows: A meeting of the graduate nurses of Bristol county was called at Taunton by Mary B. Williams, chairman of the Morton Hospital Training School, December 30, 1903. The meeting resulted in the formation of the Bristol County Nurses' Association, and the following-named officers were elected: President, Miss Clara D. Noyes; Vice-Presidents: Mrs. Evelyn Tilden and Miss Ella Sears; Secretary, Miss Jessie Mariner; Treasurer, Miss Harriet Seaver; Board of Directors: Misses Mary C. McKenna, Agnes M. Tracy, Hilda Ward, Emily Robertson, Lilla B. Mack, Marianne Hirst. The names of the charter members have not been found. The officers in 1923 were: President, Mrs. F. B. Albert; vice-presidents: Misses Ursula B. Noyes, R. N., and Marion E. Seaver, R. N.; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. Anna E. Duffy, R. N.; board of directors: Miss Estelle Evans, R. N.; Miss Rosella A. Wells, R. N.; Mrs. Averill, Taunton State Hospital; Miss Jane McAdams, R. N.; Miss Florence Thistlethwaite, R. N.; Miss Edith L. Meates, R. N.

Since the reorganization of the American Nurses' Association, in 1919, the Massachusetts State Association made the request that this association be called the Bristol County Branch of the Massachusetts State Nurses' Association, which request was granted.