Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 49: Medical Practice and Practitioners, 1912 (part 2 of 2)

Dr. George Bernays, one of the most highly educated physicians of his day, came from Germany to Highland, Illinois, in 1849. He was not only a physician but also a scientist and one who had made his mark in Germany before he came to this country. He con¬ ducted a most successful practice in Highland for many years, highly esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He re¬ tired from practice in 1866 and moved to Lebanon where he died. He was the father of the renowned surgeon, Augustus C. Ber¬ nays, of St. Louis, who died only a few years ago.

Dr. F. Jacob Bernays came to Highland with his brother, Dr. George Bernays, in 1849 and immediately began the active practice of medicine for which he obtained the qualifica¬ tions in his native land. In conjunction with his practice he started and operated the first drug store in Highland. When the Civil war began he enlisted in the Federal army and was appointed surgeon. He also occupied a chair in the Humboldt Medical College in St. Louis for a short time but in March, 1864, he resumed the practice of his profession in Highland. In April, 1865, he sold his drug store, his household goods, horses, etc., and removed to St. Genevieve, Missouri.

Dr. George Whitfield Fitch, one of the many doctors whose life was sacrificed on the altar of his country, was born in Staunton, Virginia, in 1822. He was educated by a private tutor until, at the age of thirteen, he came to St. Louis where he obtained his com¬ mon school and academic education. After his graduation he took a trip around the world, a very serious undertaking in that early day. On his return, he attended Mc¬ Dowell's Medical College, graduating in 1848 and began practice in Mobile, Alabama, where he also met and married Miss Pales¬ tine Cleveland, and in a short time moved to St. Louis. About the year 1849 he came to this county and at once started in to practice his profession on the Fitch farm, three miles east of Marine in this county, on the High¬ land-Marine road. He had an extensive practice within a radius of 15 to 20 miles all of which he covered on horse-back. He was a jovial doctor and his cheery, optimistic manner helped his patients quite as much as his drugs. He was also a charter member of Marine Lodge, No. 355, A. F. & A. M., instituted in 1859. After several years, wish¬ ing to educate his children, he moved his family to Greencastle (now Alhambra) where he continued his work until he entered the Army in 1862 being appointed surgeon with the rank of captain. He died in the service, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, of diph¬ theria, in 1863. Dr. Fitch is survived by one son, Dr. Chas. C. Fitch, who at one time practiced in this county, but who now lives in Visalia, California.

Dr. Heinrich Boernstein was a man of in¬ ternational fame. He was born at Hamburg, Germany, Nov. 4, 1805, acquired a thorough medical education in Germany and France, but (as he states in his book "75 years in the Old and New World") disliked the practice as it was usually followed, because he did not believe in its infallibility, the spirit of doubt taking away his faith in verba magistri. He therefore followed a journalistic and thea¬ trical career in Germany and France until the political waves of 1848 and '49 compelled him, like many others, to immigrate to Amer¬ ica, arriving in St. Louis in April, 1849. The cholera raging there then, he decided to settle away from the city upon a farm. Highland being suggested to him, he went there in May. Here he contemplated and had already made contracts for the establishment of a watercure sanitarium, when unexpectedly cholera also broke out at Highland, causing him to abandon the watercure sanitarium idea, and take up regular medical practice, in which he had such good success that out of 1 19 cholera cases he lost only 22, nearly all of the last named being in a state of col¬ lapse when he began treatment. In 1850 after a year's exceptional success, he re¬ turned to St. Louis, to accept the position of chief editor of the "Anzeiger des Westens," the leading German newspaper of the west, of which he soon became proprietor. When the Civil war broke out, he organized a regi¬ ment of volunteers and advanced to military governor of Missouri, a position which he held until the rebel government of that state was dispersed, and loyal state officers elected and installed. Soon after the war he re¬ turned to Vienna, Austria, engaging in lit¬ erary work, where he died about 25 years ago. While in Highland he was the leading intellectual spirit in social life.

Dr. I. E. Hardy was born in Barren county, Kentucky, March 8, 1825, and came with his parents to Alton, Illinois, in 1837. He pur¬ sued his studies in the public schools of that place and later on in Shurtleff College. He began the study of medicine under Dr. B. K. Hart, of Altpn and graduated from the med¬ ical department of Louisville University, March 5, 1849. Prior to that he served in the Mexican war. During the prevalence of cholera, he practiced in Madison Landing and in 1852 located in Alton, where he spent his professional life, with the exception of four years service as assistant surgeon during the Civil war. In 1887 be bought a' ranch in Texas and assisted in laying out the town of Hartly, Texas, on a part of his property. He continued the practice of medicine, while superintending the ranch, up to his last ill¬ ness. He died of abscess of the kidney, in Hartly, Texas, September 21, 1902, after an active professional life extending over 53 years, aged seventy-seven years.

Samuel Willard, M. D., LL. D., physician and educator, began his great educational ca¬ reer, which extended over a half century, as a physician in this county. He was born in Lunenberg, Vermont, Dec. 30, 1821, and came with his father, a druggist, to Carrollton, Illi¬ nois, in 1831. His preparatory education was obtained in Shurtleff College, Upper Al¬ ton, and in 1840 he entered Illinois College at Jacksonville, from which he graduated in :843> as a classmate of Dr. Newton Bateman, another of the great educators of the state. Shortly after he began the study of medicine with a preceptor in Quincy, Illinois, and graduated from the Medical Department of Illinois College in 1848. In 1850 he began the practice of medicine in Collinsville, Illi¬ nois, and was considered one of the best edu¬ cated physicians of the city. He became the partner of Dr. Henry L. Wing, but did not remain in practice very long as his particular bent was toward educational lines. He was selected as superintendent of the public schools of Collinsville, which position he re¬ tained until 1857, when he removed to Nor¬ mal, Illinois, to become a professor in the Department of Languages. He is an enthu¬ siastic Odd Fellow and served as Grand Sec¬ retary of that order in this state from 1856 to 1862 and again from 1865 to 1869. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the Ninety- Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry and was soon promoted to the rank of surgeon with the title of Major. On account of an attack of paralysis, he was compelled to retire from the army and came to Springfield, Illinois, where for a time he served as superinten¬ dent of public schools. He also organized the first library in the city of Springfield and was enthusiastic in its support. In 1870 he was elected professor of history in the West Side High School of Chicago, which position he held, with the exception of two years, for twenty-five years. In 1898 he re¬ tired from active work and is now living, at the age of ninety years, with his daughter in Chicago. Dr. Bateman says of him, "Dr. Willard is a sound thinker; a clear, forcible writer; broad and accurate scholarship, con¬ scientious, genial and kindly and a most es¬ timable gentleman." early '50s and immediately won for himself a place in this community both in a personal and professional way. He was a tall, hand¬ some man, auburn hair and beard, of most courtly manner and a polished gentleman. He not only impressed himself upon this com¬ munity by his successful practice, but took great interest in politics which was an all absorbing topic in that day. He was the editor of a German newspaper, "Die Freie Presse," published in Alton in 1854 and wrote some very lively editorials on the slavery question. Dr. Canisius was appointed to the consulate of Vienna, by President Lin¬ coln which post he held until 1865. Return¬ ing to Alton he officiated as commissioner of the penitentiary for several years. He was then appointed consul to Bristol, England, and later to Geeste, near Berlin, Germany. President Arthur retained him in the con¬ sular service and sent him to Apia, the capi¬ tal of the Samoan Islands in the South Sea, where he still lived as late as 1882.

Dr. Octavius Lumaghi was born in Milan, Italy in 1821. There he spent his youth and received his education and graduated at its university. Later he concluded to enter the medical profession and graduated at the University of Paria, in 1847, at the age of twenty-six years. Three years later, he de¬ cided to visit the United States and see the country, and coming to St. Louis, became much interested in that city and was greatly impressed with its future possibilities, so much so, that he determined to remain and locate there, where he invested largely in real estate. He also commenced to practice medicine, but did not continue in practice very long, as he found it impossible to endure the constant appeal and strain upon his sym¬ pathetic organization. He, about this time, met and married Miss Ann Mac Laughmin, a most interesting lady.

It was also about this time that Dr. Lumaghi's attention was called to the building of a new line of railroad to the east from St. Louis, and seeing what this would likely ac¬ complish for the country, where lay the great coal fields, he decided to locate in Collins¬ ville and be ready to meet the new conditions that would surely follow this undertaking. He immediately commenced to develop the coal business, and the present Lumaghi Coal and Mining Company of St. Louis, with its mines in Illinois is the result of that fore¬ sight. In 1876 he conceived the idea and began to develop the plan, of bringing the smelting ores of lead and zinc to the coal mines instead of taking the coal to lead and zinc mines, and to-day the big Meister Zinc Smelter, located in Collinsville, is the result. Dr. J. L. R. Wadsworth writes of him: "It was during these years that I had the pleasure of meeting him almost daily, and this asso¬ ciation I look back upon with great pleasure.

I could then understand why he could not engage in the practice of medicine. His sym¬ pathies were so great that his nervous system could not carry the burden of the cares and suffering of so many he was sure to be called to help. He was greatly reverenced by his countrymen and associates (as well as all others), and when they had sickness, they wanted his encouragement and sympathy. Many a time in those days, while engaged in practice, my patients would very courteously say to me Doctor, if Dr. Lumaghi would come out with you sometime, it would be a great comfort to me. I never knew the Doctor to decline a single one of these requests and when I saw how he met one and all of these people, and how comforted and sustained they felt after these calls, I could understand. Often he brought them a bottle of wine, but his words of encouragement was the great comfort they so longed for. I learned the true meaning of human sympathy as never before." He was a most interesting conversationalist, and his guests always carried away some new thought or its application ; in his home he was most hospitable and interesting, and invariably that little glass of wine, his own product of which he was quite proud, was presented and en¬ joyed, but not a drop did he take. Eight chil¬ dren came to greet him and his wife in the quiet home on a little hill just outside of the village, where he and his good wife had gath¬ ered so many interesting flowers and trees.

It is exceedingly interesting to all of the old citizens of Collinsville to recall the old days when the Doctor could be seen daily, rain or shine, driving the old horse to the double seated surrey which he always used. The old horse seldom exceeded anything above a slow walk and was constantly chided and encour¬ aged by the Doctor to a faster motion, but no one believed the old horse ever heard a single word addressed to him, and it has always been an unanswered problem if the Doctor knew any more about that conversation than the horse did. More than likely his mind was on some new problem of business or some farreaching question than that of the gait of the old faithful animal. Both seemed perfectly satisfied. He had a face with plenty of good red blood in it, bright and smiling, and was on the alert to greet every one and it was truly a delight to meet him. In 1876, he moved back to St. Louis leaving his work to his sons, Joseph and Louis.

Four daughters are living and all are inter¬ ested in the work their father had commenced. In 1884, his wife was brought back to Collins¬ ville and buried in the little cemetery that overlooked the old home, and in 1894, Dr. Lumaghi followed at the age of seventy-three years. His death was regretted by all who knew him.

Dr. Hezekiah Williams was born in Castine, Maine, March 10, 1827. He was educated at Bowdoin College and at Ann Arbor. His medical education was secured at Cleveland Medical College, and he also studied under Dr.

In 1854 he came to Alton, and in 1857 he married Miss Nonie Dimmock, the daughter of E. L. Dimmock, Esq. In 1862 he entered the army as surgeon of the 2nd Illinois Artil¬ lery with the rank of Major, in which capacity and that of Medical Inspector, he served two years, then returned to Alton where during the remainder of the war he acted as surgeon of the Military Hospital in that city. Dr. Wil¬ liams had associated with him in practice, the late Dr. A. S. Haskell, whose son, Dr. W. A. Haskell, later on, was taken into a partnership, which was only dissolved by the death of Dr. Williams, which occurred in Alton, May 22, 1872, aged forty-five.

Dr. George H. Dewey, son of Dr. Luke Dewey, was born in West Stockbridge, Mass¬ achusetts, March 20, 1827. He came west in 1849, and began the study of medicine, grad¬ uating from McDowell Medical College in about 1852. He then came to Madison county and practiced his profession in Troy and Col¬ linsville, until the out-break of the Civil war. He enlisted in the United States service, November 7, 1862, at Collinsville, Illinois, in the 109th Illinois Infantry, as assistant sur¬ geon, and was later transferred to the nth Reg. Illinois Infantry. He resigned his com¬ mission at Vicksburg, May 6, 1864, and then returned to Madison County, locating at Marine. He continued his work in Marine and Troy until failing health compelled him to give up active work. On January 10, 1888, he was admitted to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Quincy, Ill., where he died on Sep¬ tember 18, 1902. During his residence at the Home, he acted as the librarian of the Home and took great interest in this department.

Dr. Friederich Gross, was born May 28, 1824, in Goelheim, Bavaria, and received his education in the schools of his native country, and entered the University of Munich to take up the study of medicine. About this time occurred the uprising in some parts of Ger¬ many which had for its object the overthrow of monarchy and the establishment of a re¬ publican form of government. He immedi¬ ately joined the revolutionists and remained with them until the insurrection was put down. Fearing for his life he escaped to Switzerland, where he remained for a year. Returning to his native country in 1849, he resumed his studies at the University of Wurtzberg, receiving his diploma four years later. Leaving Germany for the United States he arrived at Edwardsville in the early summer of 1853 ancl engaged in the practice of medi¬ cine, in which he met with more than average success. In 1859 he laid the foundation of the Odd Fellows' Hall, lately torn down to give place to the Wildey Theatre, but sold out to Louis Klingel, father of Adolph Klingel, who completed the building. During his stay in Edwardsville, he married Mrs. Eliza Hess, a widow, to which union three children were born, one of whom became the wife of the late John H. Yager, a prominent attorney of Alton, Illinois. In 1859 Dr. Gross removed to a farm in Benton county, Missouri, where he continued to reside until his death in June,

Dr. Augustus Burr Crouch, a typical ex¬ ample of the "old family doctor," was born in Burlington, Vermont, April 29, 1824. After completing his common school education, he entered Castleton Medical College from which he graduated June 19, 1850. He located in St. Louis where he practiced until he came to Marine, in this county, in 1856, to enter a partnership with Dr. Geo. T. Allen. Three years later Dr. Allen moved to Alton, leaving the entire business to his young successor, which at once gave him an extensive practice. Over impossible roads and fording swollen streams on horseback, Dr. Crouch looked after

On June 17, 1858, Dr. Crouch married Miss Caroline Bunce Hoff, of New York, whose parents were of the Dutch stock who settled in the famous Mohawk valley. Dr. Crouch always maintained a garden of rare fruits and flowers and many a dish of early berries and many spring blossoms found their way to the bedside of the patient that needed them most. All of the rare fruits, flowers and trees that could be found, he had on his place and they were a source of great joy and pride to him after his long hours of work. His skill in his profession and his gentle, generous pres¬ ence in the sick-room are still a subject of comment among the older people of his com¬ munity. His devotion to duty cost him his life, for on one of his long trips he took a heavy cold that caused, his death within a week.

Some time after the doctor's death his widow married Dr. W. A. Stifle, Ph. D., one of the leading educators of this county, and who, later on, served the Central High School in St. Louis for 15 years. Two daughters of Dr. Crouch still survive, Mrs. R. W. Boisselier, of St. Louis, and Mrs. L. Stifle, a teacher in Granite City, Illinois.

Dr. Crouch died in Marine, May 9, 1863, in the prime of his usefulness, and long before the shadows fell to the east, aged thirty-nine years.

Dr. Robert Halter, one of the men who thor¬ oughly exemplified the old family doctor, was born in Zurich, Switzerland, August 7, 1831. After obtaining his preliminary education in his native city, he entered the University of Zurich, from which he graduated in 1852. For three years he practiced with his father, also a physician, when he left his native country to make his home in America, coming directly to Highland, Illinois, in 1855. Dr. Frederick Ryhiner, being ready to retire just at that time, turned most of his practice over to Dr. Halter, so he entered upon a large prac¬ tice from the beginning and it was a very common occurrence for him to be called to St. Jacob, Marine, Pierron, Trenton and Breese.

He was a popular physician enjoying the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens to a marked degree. This was based upon the fact that he devoted his life to his profession, answering all calls from suffering humanity and doing a large amount of charity work.

In 1856 he sent to Europe for his bride, Miss R. Bosshard, and married her April 17th of that year. She died in 1864, leaving no children. On December 28, 1864, he mar¬ ried Miss Louise Suppiger, daughter of Ber¬ nard Suppiger, Sr. and his wife Frances. Three children were born to them, of whom two survive, Mrs. Wm. J. Appel of Tamaroa, : Illinois, and Frederick Halter, now living in St. Louis. In April, 1866, Dr. Halter took a trip back to Switzerland, returning to High¬ land in the fall. He was a charter member of the Masonic Lodge at Highland, and was an enthusiastic Sharpshooter and Turner. For one year he was in partnership with Dr. Abraham Felder. He died of pneumonia, at the zenith of his usefulness, on October 4, 1877, aged 46 years, and his early demise was deplored by a host of friends and neighbors, and much regretted by the community which he had served so faithfully.

Dr. Emil Guelich was born November 29, 1833, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and came to this country locating in St. Louis, where he studied and graduated in pharmacy.

A few years later he entered the St. Louis Medical College, from which he graduated about 1856, and located in Alton and entered upon an unusually successful practice. His services were freely given to rich and poor alike and the esteem in which he was held was such as was accorded to but very few men of his time. His field of action was not only his own county but extended over a wide territory in adjacent counties.

When the Civil war began Dr. Guelich enlisted as a private in the 9th Illinois, and went to Cairo, where he was appointed Hos¬ pital Steward, and later on Surgeon of his regiment. At the battle of Shiloh the com¬ manding officer, Colonel Kueffner, was shot through the lungs, and it was the personal services of Dr. Guelich, right on the battle¬ field, that saved his Colonel's life. After serv¬ ing in the army from 1861 to 1865, he re¬ turned to his practice in Alton, which con¬ tinued as long as he lived. Dr. Guelich was a stanch Republican and it was one of his great¬ est pleasures to throw himself and his influ¬ ence into a political campaign, always choos¬ ing the place where the fight was the hottest. Pie was a man of fine physique and sound constitution, and was called on to undergo severe and prolonged exposures during his whole career. He was always the polished, urbane gentleman, meeting every one with extreme cordiality. While still at the height of his usefulness he died, in Alton, October 16, 1893, aged sixty years.

Dr. William Olive, son of Abel and Eliza¬ beth Olive, was born on a farm in Madison county, August 26, 1836. After receiving his preliminary education in the public schools, he began the study of medicine and gradu¬ ated at the Physio-Medical College of Cincin¬ nati, Ohio, in 1856. He began the practice of his profession in Olive Township, in this county, and remained until 1862 when he located at Pocahontas, Bond county, Illinois, where he remained until 1873, when he re¬ turned to the farm in Olive township. Here he remained in active practice until his re¬ moval to Edwardsville in 1882, where he con¬ tinued his work until 1891, when he located in Houston, Texas, where he still resides prac¬ ticing his profession. Dr. Olive raised and educated three sons, in Madison county, in the practice of medicine, all of whom located in Texas and followed their profession, but Dr. N. A. Olive alone survives, now practicing in Waco, Texas. Dr. Olive is one of the many self-made men of Madison county who not only made his mark in Madison county and in this state, but in other states as well.

Dr. Peter Schermerhorn Weidman, a man who for forty-one years administered to the wants of the people in the eastern section of our county, was born in Schoharie Court House, New York, May 2, 1826. He gained his preliminary and classical education in the common schools and the academy of his native village and at the age of twenty-four began the study of medicine under preceptors and at Ann Arbor. He took his last year at Albany Medical College, New York, from which he graduated in 1855. After practicing in New York for two years, he came west and located at Marine, Illinois, in March 1857, and immediately began an active business that was to last for many years. His was essentially a country practice, extending for many miles in all directions, and either on horse-back or in his high-wheeled sulky, he became a famil¬ iar figure in all the surrounding territory, dur¬ ing the earlier years of his activity. When he first came to Marine, he found five physicians already located there, and lived long enough to see twenty-five doctors come and go in that community during his professional career. He did a general practice and was a fair example of the type of the "old family doctor," so gen¬ eral in that day and so unusual now.

Dr. Weidman retired from active work in 1898, and after living in Marine two years more, moved to Edwardsville, and took up his residence in the Leland Hotel, where he has remained ever since. With the exception

Dr. Otto Sutter, a native of Switzerland, bought out the personal property and good will of Dr. Theophilus Bruckner of Highland, Illinois, who in 1857, left for Switzerland, and continued his practice there for two years when he located at Marine. Here he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the community and soon came into an extensive practice. In the fall of 1868 he left Marine and returned to Switzerland.

Dr. Joseph Pogue was born March 20, 1835, in the city of Philadelphia, was educated in the common and high school studies by a pri¬ vate tutor, entered Pennsylvania Medical Col¬ lege, from which he graduated March 7, 1857. In the same month he located in Alton, where he began the practice of medicine in connec¬ tion with Dr. Han. James. In 1858 he re¬ moved to Edwardsville, where he has been engaged in active practice ever since. In 1862, he was appointed Surgeon-in-Chief of Bur¬ gess' Sharpshooters, with the rank of Major, and continued with this command throughout the war serving as a member and finally as chief of the operating board, being mustered out of service on August 15, 1865, and re¬ sumed his practice in Edwardsville. He has always been interested in medical matters and was one of the organizers of the old Madison County Medical Society, being its secretary in 1857. When the society was reorganized in 1903, he was one of the chief promoters, and did much to place it on a firm and permanent basis.

Dr. Pogue has always been the family doc¬ tor of the old type and for many years en¬ joyed a very large and extensive practice throughout Madison county. But it is as a surgeon of marked ability upon which rests his reputation in this community, he having been a leader in this specialty for more than half a century. He is still hale and hearty in spite of over fifty-four years of continuous hard country practice, and his many friends wish him many more years of good health and activity.

Dr. William H. Martin, one of the men who stood on the firing line for many years in the northwestern corner of this county, was born in Gofif's Town, Hillsboro county, New Hampshire, on December 6, 1832. He at¬ tended the common schools of his county and took a classical course in Pembroke Academy. He then entered Dartmouth College and took his doctor's degree in 1850. On March 22, 1851 he married Miss Mary F. Taylor of Can¬ ada. In the spring of 1857, Dr. Martin came west and permanently settled in Godfrey where he followed his profession during his life time. He was an able and conscientious physician whose services were in great de¬ mand throughout that region. Dr. Martin was highly appreciated in his community and his professional counsel was eagerly sought and held in great esteem. As a public spirited citi¬ zen and upright Christian man, he had the respect of the moral and intelligent society in which he was identified. After a professional career extending over thirty-two years, he died in Godfrey on March 1, 1882.

Dr. Sylvester Stuart Rice was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, July 4, 1834. He re¬ ceived his early education in the public schools and afterwards studied at Salem and Mt. Union College, Alliance, Ohio. To provide means for his medical education, he taught school in Burkesville, Kentucky, from the fall of 1852 to the spring of 1854. The next year he taught at North Vernon, Indiana, and at the same time read medicine with Dr. J. W. Parish, of that city. He attended medical lectures in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1855-56 and began the regular practice of medicine in August 1858, at Collinsville, Illinois, where he remained until 1872 when he removed to Alta- mont, Illinois. In 1882, to perfect himself in his profession, he spent one year in post-graduate work in the Missouri Medi¬ cal College. Dr. Rice took part in all the civic and political movements of the times, and was also an enthusiastic Mason and Odd Fellow. He took great interest in medical organization and was a member of several medical societies. He continued in active practice until his death, which occurred in Altamont, February 9, 1895.

Dr. Gallus Rutz, one of the most active, energetic members of the profession in the eastern section of our county, was born in Werdenburg, Switzerland, on June 21, 1830. With the tide of Swiss emigration he came to Highland, Illinois, when fifteen years of age. His preliminary education was obtained in the public schools of his city and in McKendree College at Lebanon, Illinois. He then entered Humbolt University of St. Louis, and after a four years' course obtained his medi¬ cal degree in 1859. The same year he began his practice in Highland, which continued for thirty years. When the Civil war broke out he recruited a company, which joined the 15th Regiment of Missouri Volunteers, and was appointed surgeon of the regiment. He after¬ wards returned to Highland and resumed his practice, but was also associate editor of the "Highland Union" of which later on he be¬ came editor and owner, and conducted the same until 1874. He was also appointed Post¬ master of Highland in 1869 and continued in that office for twelve years. Dr. Rutz inter¬ ested himself in all the civic affairs of the community and was during later years a mem¬ ber of the Board of Education and of the Common Council of his city. In spite of his many official duties he devoted his chief ener¬ gies to his extensive practice and was known far and wide as a successful physician and surgeon, commanding at all times the respect and esteem of his confreres and fellow citi¬ zens. On account of ill health, due to the ex¬ posures incident to his practice, he left High¬ land on September 21, 1889, for Port Town¬ send, Washington, where he died October 25, 1898.

Dr. Theodore Ruegger was another of the high-grade professional men sent to us by the little Swiss republic. He was born and edu¬ cated in Switzerland and participated in the war for the independence of his native coun¬ try from 1845 t0 1848. He was also a soldier in the Crimean war and shared in all the hard¬ ships of that brief and bitter campaign. Shortly after, he came to America and began the practice of medicine in Edwardsville in about 1858. He was a bachelor and during his residence here lived in the Franklin house in Lowertown. He was a man of command¬ ing appearance, with black hair and eyes and very autocratic in his manners, but was a very successful physician with a large practice and enjoyed the confidence of the whole commu¬ nity. His early death was much regretted by a large circle of friends.

Dr. Alexander Fekete was born in Buda Pesth, Hungary, December 2, 1827, and re¬ ceived his early education under Jesuit in¬ struction. In 1845 he entered the University of Vienna as a medical student, but at the end of three years he became involved in the Revo¬ lution of 1848, and served during eighteen months. In the battle of Hermanstadt he was wounded and captured and was a prisoner for three months, when he made his escape and fled to Turkey. In the spring of 1850 he left Constantinople for London, and in the fall came to America. In 1852 he came to St. Louis and served as drug-clerk and also com¬ pleted his medical studies, graduating from the St. Louis Medical College in 1854. He at once located in Aviston, Illinois, and there married Miss Kate Fisher. In 1859 he moved to Marine in this county and at once became prominent in his profession. As a medical practitioner he exhibited the same tenacity of purpose and the same devotion to duty that he showed upon the field of battle, taking his long rides on horse-back, over the country to visit his patients, carrying his drugs in his saddle-bags. On May 19, 1862, he enlisted in the Civil war as assistant surgeon of the Fifth Missouri Cavalry, but was promoted to the position of Surgeon of his regiment, with the rank of Major, in 1864. He was mustered out of service at Rolla, Missouri, on April 14, 1865, the same night that President Lincoln was assassinated. After the war, Dr. Fekete located in East St. Louis, Illinois, where he spent the remainder of his life, practicing his profession and taking his share also of the civic burdens and honors. He served as As¬ sistant County Physician and Health Officer for many years, and in 1890 was appointed postmaster of his city. Crowned with hon¬ ors, enjoying the esteem of the entire commu¬ nity, he died in East St. Louis, March 27, 1911, aged eighty-three years.

Dr. John Gustavus Smith was born in Eng¬ land and came to America about 1855 and located at Champaign, Illinois, where he was married to Mrs. Lydia Blason. In 1859 he came to Edwardsville and engaged in the practice of medicine for several years. He then located in Girard where he remained for two years, moving from there to Litchfield. After a residence there of three years he retired from practice here, and returned to his native England. Dr. Smith's widow died here only a few years ago and several mem¬ bers of his family still reside in this vicinity.

Dr. John B. Knoebel was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, in 1832. He acquired his scientific and medical education in the University of Basel, and graduated from that institution March 19, 1857. He came to Highland in 1859, but remained only a short time, practicing in Pocahontas, and then in Breese, Illinois. He located perma¬ nently in Highland in 1863, where he built up a large practice which continued for twentyseven years. Dr. Knoebel was always inter¬ ested and helpful in anything that benefited his town and was one of the charter members that established the Masonic Order in High¬ land by organizing Highland Lodge No. 583, on October 6, 1868. Failing health caused his retirement and in 1890 he moved to Manitou, Colorado, where he died, December 31, 1909, and where his widow still lives.

Dr. Abraham Felder, a fair type of the sturdy, scientific and polished men of our profession, that came to us from the little Swiss Republic, was born on March 14, 1820, in Ebnet, Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland, and obtained his early culture in the schools of his native country. He took his classical degree at Stuttgart, Wirtemberg, Germany, and his medical degree in the University of Zurich, Switzerland. On March 14, 1845, he began the practice of medicine in his native town, and there on May 28, 1850, was married to Miss Catharine Mettler. In the spring of 1853 lie emigrated to this country and prac¬ ticed in Warren county, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois, until he came to Highland in i860. He at once gained a foothold and laid the foundation of a large practice which con¬ tinued during his life. He was a man of fine physique, commanding appearance and mag¬ netic personality; rather austere in his man¬ ner, but with the kindest and most sympa¬ thetic soul. During his twenty-four years' residence in Highland, he was ever foremost in anything that was to the best interests of his city and its inhabitants. Thoroughly grounded in his business and devoted to its arduous demands, he was the kind old family doctor to a great number of families in that vicinity. At the age of sixty-four years, long before the sun-set bell should have rung, he died in Highland, June 16, 1884.

nois, in May, 1829. In 1845 Dr. Kell entered a quarter section of land east of Worden, where he continued to reside during his life. He was one of the old settlers of the county and was always interested in the improvement of his neighborhood ; was also very active in getting the Wabash Railroad to run through Worden. Although not a graduate of any medical college, he commenced the study and practice of medicine in connection with Dr. William Hobson, about the year i860. He had quite an extensive practice up to the time of his death which occurred December 22, 1876. His social nature gathered round him many friends, and his public spiritedness and many virtues gained for him the respect and esteem of all who knew him.

Dr. Charles Davis, one of the leading prac¬ titioners in the county, was born in Springfield, Illinois, July 29, 1840, and came to Alton with his father's family in 1846. He is the son of Hon. Levi Davis, who was Auditor of the state of Illinois from 1835 to 1841. Dr. Davis obtained his early education in the pri¬ vate and public schools of Alton and at the St. Louis University. After leaving the uni¬ versity in 1858, he began the study of medi¬ cine, entering the medical department of the Michigan State University, and graduating from the St. Louis Medical College in 1861.

At the outbreak of the Civil war Dr. Davis enlisted in the 7th Illinois Regiment and served until the expiration of his term of enlistment. In 1862, he again enlisted, this time in the 97th Illinois, of which he was ap¬ pointed Assistant Surgeon. Later he was promoted Surgeon with the rank of Major, and served until the close of the war. During this three years' service he passed through many dreadful scenes of blood and carnage, the memory of which lingers with him yet. He rendered splendid service and won such high rank for his skill in the treatment of wounded and suffering soldiers that he was made operating surgeon for his division. At the close of the war he went to Philadelphia and took a post-graduate course at Jefferson College. Thus by thorough preparation and with his remarkable army experience added, he was splendidly equipped for the practice of his profession in civil life. He first located at Godfrey and later removed to Alton, where he built up a large and success¬ ful practice. His skill as a physician, and his noble, generous character, his integrity and high sense of honor won for him the respect and confidence of the entire community. At seventy-two years of age he still practices his profession but not as actively as in his younger days.

Dr. Davis was married March 17, 1875, to Miss Minerva Hohmeyer of Upper Alton. They have six children, all of adult years, and seven grandchildren.

The subject of this sketch comes of a patri¬ otic family : His father was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, and the doctor's two broth¬ ers,' Capt. Jas. W. Davis and Lieut. Levi Davis Jr., served with him in the 97th Illinois, and this patriotic strain has been transmitted to his son, Ralph Davis, who is a Lieutenant in the U. S. Navy.

Dr. Francis Marion Pearce, whose grand¬ father, James Pearce, settled near Edwardsville in 1815, was a native of this county, being born near Grant Fork in Saline town¬ ship, in 1830. He acquired his preliminary education in the common schools of his dis¬ trict. In 1855 he attended medical lectures at the Cincinnati Medical College, and began the practice of medicine in Woodburn, Macoupin county, Illinois, where he remained for five or six years, removing to Alhambra in 1862. Later on he attended the St. Louis Medical College from which he graduated in 1865. He returned to Alhambra and resumed his practice and served that community as long as he lived. Notwithstanding a large and arduous practice, he found time to be inter¬ ested in the affairs of his village and assisted in organizing the village and became its first president. In 1877 he was elected to the legis¬ lature and served the state one term, being a member of the session which was famous for the defeat of John A. Logan for United States senator. At the age of fifty-nine years he died in Alhambra, on March 23, 1889, and was buried in Olive Cemetery by the Masonic Order, of which he had been a faithful and consistent member.

Dr. James Larue Wadsworth, a connecting link between the long distant past and the present, a man who has stood on the firing line in the practice of medicine for half a century, representing all that is meant by the term "old family doctor," was born in North Cornwall, Connecticut, in 1838. He received his education at Oberlin College, Ohio, 1854 to 1857, then removed to Kansas and engaged in teaching until i860, when he began his studies in medicine with Dr. N. S. Davis of Chicago. He graduated from what is now the Medical Department of the Northwestern University of Chicago, Illinois, in 1863. Dr. Wadsworth was married immediately after, to Miss C. P. Halsey of Wisconsin and at once located at Collinsville, Illinois, to take charge of the practice of Dr. Henry L. Wing, at the latter's request, and has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine up to this time, which is about forty-nine years. He is a member of the American Medical Associa¬ tion, the Illinois State Medical Society and the Madison County Medical Society. He has also been the local surgeon for the Vandalia Railroad ever since its construction, fortyfive years ago.

In former years Dr. Wadsworth took great interest in the public schools, and was the leader in the building of the first good school building and the first graded school of the city. He was a member of the city council for a number of terms, was mayor of the city from 1907 to 1909, and built the first paved streets and the first sewerage system of the city. He has been a member of the First Presbyterian Church for forty-nine years and trustee or secretary and treasurer for the past forty-four years. Dr. Wadsworth was one of the first members of the Masonic Lodge of his city. After planning and con¬ structing Glenwood Cemetery, thirty-two years ago, he is still the secretary and treas¬ urer and has the general care of the same. "He has practiced medicine in Collinsville, with rare success, for nearly fifty years, and as The beloved physician' is enshrined in the hearts and homes of its people. And not only in his professional labors but in the reli¬ gious and educational upbuilding of the com¬ munity he has rendered equally useful and faithful service. Such devoted lives as his are their own great reward, as beautiful in the retrospect as in their present endeavor."

Dr. Alexander Monro Powell, one of that type of old family physicians that is fast pass¬ ing away, was born in Hendersonville, Ken¬ tucky, on December 30, 1834. He attended the public schools of his native city, and when nineteen years of age he went to Cambridge, Mo., and taught school, while reading medi¬ cine with a preceptor. Later on he attended the St. Louis Medical College from which he graduated in March, i860. He began his practice in Cambridge, Missouri, where on June 21, i860, he was married to Miss Ann M. Davison, daughter of Dr. A. M. Davison, who died March 5, 1870. On April 18, 1871, he married Miss Louisa Hite Davison, a cousin of his first wife, who with two sons and three daughters still survive. One son, Dr. McDonald M. Powell, a brilliant and ris¬ ing young physician, who practiced with his father in Collinsville, died in 1897.

Being born and raised in Kentucky, Dr. Powell's sympathies were naturally with the Confederacy, which caused the doctor consid¬ erable trouble during the hot days of the

Civil war, and when he found himself in danger of being drafted into the Federal army, he fled to Collinsville, Illinois, arriving early in 1863. Here he remained one year, returned to Cambridge for one year, and came back to Collinsville, where he continued his medical work, thoroughly devoted to his profession. He enjoyed an extensive prac¬ tice, especially in surgery, as long as he lived, and was held in high esteem by all who knew him. Dr. Powell interested himself in all civic affairs, assisted in the formation of municipal government of his city, and was a member of the first city council. Pie was a member of the Episcopal church, and in 1880 began to publish The Banner of the Cross , the first Episcopal Church paper ever pub¬ lished in the Diocese of Springfield, and which was issued from Collinsville for a num¬ ber of years. He also held various offices in the educational system of the community, and at the time of his death was president of the Board of Education. He died at his home in Collinsville, November 2, 1902.

Dr. Titus P. Yerkes, one of the members of our profession who links the past with the present, was born on December 24, 1836, in the city of Philadelphia. At the age of six¬ teen he came with his family to Illinois, and settled on a farm near Metamora, Woodford county. In 1861 he entered upon a classical course in Shurtleff College at Upper Alton, from which he graduated in June, 1861. The same year he began his medical studies in Rush Medical College, Chicago, and received his degree in 1864. He was immediately appointed Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A., and placed in charge of Post Hospital Camp Butler, at Springfield, Illinois, in which capac¬ ity he served until the close of the war. He then located in Upper Alton which has been the scene of his activities ever since. At all times he has conducted an extensive practice, serving the people of a wide territory, held

Dr. Yerkes has always been an energetic and enthusiastic supporter of medical organi¬ zation, being a member not only of the local societies but also of the state and national bodies. He is also a member of the Masonic order, holding the rank of Knight Templar. He also held the position of Examining Sur¬ geon on the pension board at Alton, during the two administrations of President Cleve¬ land. He was married to Miss Susetta B. Bostwick of Upper Alton, on June 30, 1863, who died December 26, 1910. To this union there were born three children, Mrs. C. E. Chamblin, Mrs. T. R. Thomas and Dr. L. L. Yerkes, all still living.

Dr. Yerkes, now seventy-five years old, is in good health and in active practice, and his many friends wish for him many more years of usefulness.

Dr. Abraham S. Haskell was born in Ash¬ by, Massachusetts, in 1817 and came from a long line of successful physicians on his fath¬ er's side. His mother was Hannah Cotton, a direct descendant from the Rev. Cotton Mather. Dr. Haskell studied medicine with his father and later attended Dartmouth Col¬ lege from which he graduated in 1839. He began his practice in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and in 1843 came west and located in Hills¬ boro, Illinois, where he remained until 1864 when he removed to Alton.

Here he formed a partnership with Dr. Hezekiah Williams, which later on also in¬ cluded his son, Dr. W. A. Haskell. Dr. Haskell was ever the earnest, scientific phy¬ sician entirely devoted to his large and lucra¬ tive practice with most gratifying success. As a physician his reputation for medical knowledge and uniform results was second to none in the state, while as a citizen his character was ever above reproach. He con¬ tinued in active practice and participation in civic affairs until his death in 1876.

Dr. Bunyan Hursey McKinney was born at Roaring Springs, Trigg county, Kentucky, October i, 1841, and was the oldest son of Dr. G. W. McKinney. After obtaining a pre¬ paratory education in the public schools, he began to read medicine with his father and later on assisted him in his practice. He came to New Douglas in this county, March 5, 1865, and laid the foundation of his practice, but in the fall he entered the Physio-Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from that institution in March, 1866. Return¬ ing to New Douglas he at once began an extensive practice that was to continue for many years. He was married to Miss Sidde C. Nance of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on Jan¬ uary 2, 1868. He was a member of the first board of trustees of the village and also served as school director at different times. Dr. McKinney's practice was essentially a country practice, as New Douglas was but a small village in that early day, and the num¬ ber of miles traveled by the doctor during his practice of forty-seven years would seem incredible to the average city physician. In point of continuous residence he has lived in New Douglas longer than any other person. He well represents medical practice in the northeastern part of the county and is the dean of the profession there. He has passed the three score and ten and has retired, and is considering the advisability of spending his remaining years in Florida.

Dr. Absolom Townsend Dusenbury, the youngest of thirteen children, was born in Albany, New York, in 1819. His parents died when he was a small boy and he was raised in a boarding school. After obtaining a common school education, he read medicine with preceptors and was granted a license to practice medicine November 1, 1838, by the Albany, New York, Medical Society. He began to practice his profession at Brooklyn,

New York, where he met and married Miss Gertrude Van Epps and in 1841 removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where several years later his wife died. In 1845 he married Miss Susannah Fitch to which union six children were born, two of whom survive, Mrs. Eliza¬ beth A. Nichols, of East St. Louis, Illinois, and Dr. Charles T. Dusenbury, of Monett, Missouri. After a ten years' residence in St. Louis, he removed to Chicago and continued his work until he came to this county in 1865. He then bought the Parker farm, three and one-half miles south of Alhambra, where he resided, doing a strictly country practice, with all that that implies, for some years. In 1878 he moved to New Douglas where he resided during the remainder of his life. Dr. Dusen¬ bury was a member of the Methodist church and the hospitality of his home was always cordially extended to the ministers of the gos¬ pel. He died in New Douglas in 1895, aged seventy-six years and was buried with Ma¬ sonic honors.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin Stevens was born near Bangor, Maine, November 7, 1831, but later moved to Montgomery county, Illinois. When the war broke out he enlisted in Com¬ pany D, 59th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, at Marine, Illinois, and served until mustered out on December 8, 1865. With his regiment, of which he was lieutenant, he traveled over ten thousand miles and participated in nine¬ teen battles. After the war he settled down in St. Jacob, Illinois, and spent the remainder of his life in that community practicing medi¬ cine. Dr. Stevens was from early childhood a devout Christian and every interest of the church was dear to him. Social duties and pleasures and all considerations of personal ease were sacrificed that he might attend to his religious duties, and all the work of the church, social, financial, and devotional found in him a firm supporter.

clear brain, deep study, and intense interest in the welfare of those who were under his care, being at once a faithful physician, a wise counsellor and firm friend. "No night was too dark and no storm too severe for him to respond to the call of duty ; he lived his life within a space of seventy-five years, but his good influence will extend through hun¬ dreds of years to come." He was married November 7, 1866, to Miss Nancy Anderson, who with five children constituted his family. After some months of declining health, he died December 9, 1905, at St. Jacob.

Dr. Edward C. Lemen was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, July 20, 1842. He is a member of the well-known Lemen family that can trace direct descent from the first settlers of the United States. Dr. Lemen graduated in 1868 from the St. Louis Medical College and located in Upper Alton where he has continued in practice until recent years when he retired. Dr. Lemen served through the Civil war and held the rank of lieutenant at its close.

During his whole professional life, Dr. Lemen was a worthy type of the old family physician and enjoyed the confidence and re¬ spect of every one with whom he came in contact. He had a very large practice both in the city and in the surrounding territory and his services were always freely given to every one. This very arduous work, to which he had devoted his life, was the cause of retirement on account of broken health.

Dr. William A. Haskell, son of Dr. A. S. Haskell, was born in Hillsboro, Illinois, in 1845, and received his collegiate education in Harvard University. He took his A. B. degree in 1866, and his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1869. He began his medical practice in Edwardsville in 1869, as a partner of Dr. Joseph Pogue, but moved to Alton in 1870 to join the partnership of Williams and Haskell. This partnership continued up to the death of the two older members, after which Dr. Haskell continued alone in active practice until 1902 when failing health caused him to retire. During his whole professional life he was one of the prominent surgeons of his county, his practice extending beyond the usual territory and meeting with gratifying success. He has always been a leader in any¬ thing that affected the welfare of his city and county and occupied an enviable position in the estimation of his friends and neighbors. His skill as a surgeon has never been sur¬ passed in the county and probably not in the state. He was a member of the Illinois State Board of Health from 1887 to 1892, the last five years of which he was president of the board. He was for many years the most prominent Republican leader in the county and represented his party in various state and national conventions. Since his retire¬ ment he still keeps in touch with medical progress, but also devotes much time to the study of Archaeology in which he takes a great interest.

Dr. John Maclay Armstrong was born in Ottawa, Illinois, on December 9, 1839. Being left an orphan at an early age, he was cared for by the late Judge M. G. Dale, who at that time lived at Vandalia, Illinois. At eleven years of age, he ran away with a circus and traveled with it around the world. Returning home he began the study of medicine with the late Dr. John H. Weir, graduating from Jef¬ ferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1865. He practiced in Pana, Illinois, for six years, then located in Edwardsville, and conducted a successful practice until 1887 when he re¬ moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he remained until 1895 when he resumed his practice in Edwardsville. Dr. Armstrong was a natural born physician, paying especial at¬ tention to internal medicine, which, with a marvelous power of diagnosis, soon gave him a wide reputation and a lucrative practice. He made no distinction between rich and poor, serving all alike, and was always ready to accept a call under any and all circum¬ stances. This devotion to his calling was the cause of his death, for while suffering of la grippe, he made a country call in very in¬ clement weather, fording a swollen stream, took pneumonia and died in forty-eight hours. His death occurred on March 13, 1897, and he was buried by the Masonic order, of which he had been a conspicuous member for many years.

12, 1815, being one of twelve children. In early manhood he came west to St. Louis, traveling most of the way by raft. He was married to Eliza Ann Thorpe on February

13, 1845, to which union ten children were born, eight of whom grew to maturity. After .fifty-two years of married life Mrs. Enos died at Jerseyville, Illinois, May 18, 1897. In 1849 Dr. Enos moved his family to an unim¬ proved prairie farm, four miles north of Marine, which he developed by thrift and in¬ dustry until it became one of the most valu¬ able farms in the county. On February 19, 1874, the ambition of his life was realized when, at the age of fifty-nine years, he gradu¬ ated at the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri. After practicing his profession in his own neighborhood and a short time at Litchfield, Illinois, he, in 1882, moved his family to Jerseyville, Illinois, where he con¬ tinued his chosen calling until 1900 when, at the age of eighty-five, he retired. Five sons, one daughter and two grandsons followed in his footsteps in choosing a profession and are now all engaged in the active practice, except the daughter, Dr. S. Cordelia Enos, who died at Jerseyville, January 17, 1905. The young¬ est child, Miss Grace Enos, is a graduate nurse, now residing in Jerseyville. Dr. Enos continued his residence at Jerseyville until his death on May 12, 1910, aged ninety-five years.

in 1847 and M the age of fifteen came with his parents to New Orleans. After attending the common and high schools of this city, he began the study of medicine and graduated from the New Orleans School of Medicine, March 15, 1870. Being an enthusiastic sharp¬ shooter he attended the National Festival of Sharpshooters in Highland, Illinois, in 1872, where he met Miss Emma Spindler whom he married the same year and returned with her to New Orleans. In 1874 he located at Highland and at once entered upon a large and lucrative practice which continued with¬ out interruption for thirty-three years. He retired from the active practice in 1907, and now watches the shadow of advancing years, surrounded by many friends, honored and esteemed by all in his community.

Dr. Charles Schott, although not to be classed as one of the pioneers, was a man who for twenty-two years exerted a large in¬ fluence in the southern part of this county, both in medical and lay circles. He was born in Germersheim, Rhein Province, Germany, March 26, 1832, and after his academic studies, entered military life, receiving the rank of lieutenant-colonel, cavalry, at the age of seventeen. He came to America in 1849 and began the study of medicine, graduating at Ann Arbor, Michigan. After practicing in Detroit, Janesville, Wisconsin, and Chicago he came to St. Louis and entered the Homeo¬ pathic Medical College of Missouri, gradu¬ ating in 1879. He immediately came to this county, locating at Troy, and began a success¬ ful career in medicine which continued until his death. He was held in high esteem by a large clientele and by the community in gen¬ eral, and his death, on May 21, 1901, was deeply deplored by all.

This simple recital does by no means give the names of all the old heroes of the pro¬ fession. There are many others whose names ought to be inscribed on the roll of honor, whose lives and deeds ought to have a place in these chronicles, but time has effaced the necessary data, has removed everything ex¬ cept possibly their names. During the past century many men have lived, followed their profession in this county, and died, leaving no record of their ministration for future generations. This is very much to be regret¬ ted, and it is to be hoped that some future writer will be fortunate enough to secure the necessary material, so that the story of the old doctor will become more complete.