Goodhue County, Minnesota - Chapter 19: The Physician, 1909

His Proud Achievements - His Solemn Oath - His Ethics - The True Physician - His Reward - His Delicate Relation to the Human Family - His Inventions and Discoveries Free Gifts - The Pioneer Doctor - His Character - His Services - His Limitations - The March of Medicine - Biographies - A Roll of Honor - The Goodhue County Medical Society - The Twentieth Century - Preventive Medicine - The Physician as an Educator. - By George C. Wellner, M. D.

In an age when, in the combat of man against man, heroes are worshipped according to the number they slay in battle, it is inspiring and elevating to be permitted to pay tribute to the men who won glory in fighting disease and through whose devotion and skill thousands of useful lives have been saved and been made happy.

"For every man slain by Caesar. Napoleon and Grant in all their bloody campaigns, Jenner, Pasteur and Lister have saved alive a thousand." The first anaesthetic has done more for the real happiness of mankind than all the philosophers from Socrates to Mills. Society laurels the soldier and the philosopher and practically ignores the physician. Few remember his labors, for what Sir Thomas Browne said three hundred years ago is surely true : "The iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy and deals with the memory of men without distinction to merit to perpetuity."

"Medicine is the most cosmopolitan of the three great ^learned' professions. Medicine never built a prison or lit a fagot, never incited men to battle or crucified anyone. Saint and sinner, white and black, rich and poor, are equal and alike when they cross the sacred portals of the temple of .Esculapius." No other secular profession has ever reached such a consciousness of duties which it corporately owes to the rest of the world. What are the principles which a profession, more profuse in its disinterested charities than any other profession in the world has established for its guidance?

It was about 2,300 years ago that the practicers of the art of healing began to take an oath emphasizing the responsibilities which the nobility and holiness of the art imposed upon them. Hippocrates, forever to be revered, gave the oath his name. When a Greek physician took the Hippocratic oath and a graduate of the modern medical school takes it, the act is one not only of obligation for himself, but of recognition of a great benefactor of mankind. The Hippocratic oath assumes that simply because a man has learned the art of restoring the sick to health he has passed into a realm in which the rules of personal selfishness are immediately abridged, if not expunged, and recognized in a system of principles and rules governing all licensed physicians, and enforced and respected by high-toned and cultured gentlemen - a standard of professional honor so sacred and inviolate that no graduate or regular practitioner will ever presume or dare to violate it.

Robert Louis Stevenson, seeing the life of the medical man only from without, was not far wrong when he spoke of the modern scientific medical man as probably the noblest figure of the age. The noble and exalted character of the ancient profession of medicine is surpassed by no sister science in the magnificence of its gifts. Reflecting upon its purity, beneficence and grandeur it must be accorded to be the noblest of professions. Though the noblest of professions it is the meanest of trades. Unless the physician will live a life of purity, of virtue, of honor and of honesty, he should seek a livelihood elsewhere, and "Insult not the gods by striving through base methods and ignoble ambitions in resembling them."

The true physician will make his profession no trade, but will administer Ids duties with the love of man in his heart and the glory of God in his soul, his aim will be : To be accurate in diagnosis and painstaking in prescribing, to allow no prejudice nor theory to interfere with the relief of human suffering and the saving of human life ; to lay under contribution every source of information, be it humble or exalted, that can be made useful in the cure of disease ; to be kind to the poor, sympathetic with the sick, ethical toward medical colleagues and courteous toward all men ; to regard his calling as that of one anointed to holy office, firmly convinced that no nobler work can be given to man, and to go forth to his labor with love for humanity, inspired witli a reverent assurance that for this cause came he into the world.

ciation of no applauding multitude; his renown from the pen of no fulsome historian. For him the victor's crown comes from the hand of the immortal God. He that has done the greatest good for his fellow man, has, in the doing of it, won the greatest reward in earth's possession, even though no mortal man know of the deed but him !"

The true physician is he who has a proper conception and estimation of the real character of his profession; whose intellectual and moral fitness give weight, standing and character in the consideration and estimation of society and the public at large. His privileges and powers for good or for evil are great; in fact no other profession, calling or vocation in this life occupies such a delicate relation to the human family.

There is a tremendous developing and educating power in medical work. The medical man is almost the only member of the community who does not make money out of his important discoveries. It is a point of honor with him to allow the whole world to profit by his researches when he finds a new remedy for disease. The greatest and best medical and surgical discoveries and inventions have been free gifts to suffering humanity the moment their value was demonstrated. The reward of the physician is in the benefit which the sick and helpless receive, and in the gratitude, which should not be stinted, of the community at large. Medical men are not angels ; they are in fact very human creatures with hard work to do, and often many mouths to feed ; but there is a strain of benevolence in all their work. From the beginning they are taught a doctrine of helpfulness to others, and are made to think that their lifework should not be one in which every service must receive its pecuniary reward. The physician is a host in himself, a natural leader among his fellowmen, a center of influence for the most practical good, an efficient helper in times of direst need, a trusted and honest citizen. What more can any prophet ask than honor in his own country and a daily welcome among his own friends !

It does not take long for the waves of oblivion to close over those who have taken a most prominent and active part in the affairs of the day. The life of the pioneer doctor is no exception to this law, for, as Dr. John Browne tells us, "It is the lot of the successful medical practitioner to be invaluable when alive, and to be forgotten soon after he is dead, and this is not altogether or chiefly from any special ingratitude or injustice on the part of mankind, but from the very nature of the case." However, the pioneer physician still lives in the memory of many of us, though he is now more rare as an individual than in the years gone by, and is gradually passing out of existence. The history, written and unwritten, of the pioneer physician of Goodhue county, as elsewhere, presents him to view as working out the destiny of the wilderness, hand in hand with the other forces of civilization for the common good. He was an integral part of the primitive social fabric. As such he shared the manners, the customs, the aims, and the ambitions of his companions, and he. with them, was controlled by the forces which determine the common state and the common destiny. The chief concerns of himself and companions were material - engaged with the serious problem of existence. The struggle to survive was, at its best, a competition with nature. Hard winters and poor roads were the chief impediments. Only rough outlines remain of the heroic and adventurous side of the pioneer physician's long, active and honored life. The imagination cannot, unaided by the facts, picture the primitive conditions with which he had to contend. Long and dreary rides, by day and night, in summer's beat and winter's cold, through snow, and mud. and rain, was his common lot. He trusted himself to. the mercy of the elements, crossed unbridged streams, made his way through uncut forests, and traveled the roadless wilderness. He spent one-fifth of his life in his conveyance, and in some cases traveled as many as two hundred thousand miles in the same.

Dr. Oliver. Wendell Holmes has graphically described the old doctor's daily routine: "Half a dollar a visit - drive, drive, drive, all day; get up in the night and harness your own horse - drive again ten miles in a snowstorm ; shake powders out of a vial - drive back again, if you don't happen to be stuck in a drift; no home, no peace, no continuous meals, no unbroken sleep, no Sunday, no holiday, no social intercourse, but eternal jog, jog, jog in a sulky."

He always responded to the call of the poor, and gave freely his services to those who could not pay without hardship. Who can narrate the past events in the life of such a man? His deeds were ''written upon the. tablets of loving and grateful hearts, and the hearts are now dust. The long and exhausting rides through storm, or mud, or snow ; the exposure to contagions ; the patient vigils by the bedside of pain; the kindly deeds of charity; the reassuring messages to the despondent ; the shielding of the innocent; the guarding of secrets; the numberless self-abnegations that cannot be tabulated, and are soon forgotten, like the roses of yesterday." Wealth did not flow into the old practitioner's coffers; in fact, he needed no coffers. He was a poor collector, and with all his efforts he obtained but little, and never what was his due. As an offset to the generally acknowledged abilities of the old doctor in every other line of his work, it must also be admitted that he was greatly deficient in business tact. Often content with the sentiment of apparent appreciation of services rendered to his patrons, of lives saved, of sufferings assuaged, and of health restored, he was too easily satisfied with the reflection that he had a very noble profession, but a very poor trade.

Though poor in purse, he was rich in heart, in head, and in public esteem. He made at least a very measurable success of life, if success consists in being of some small use to the community or country in which one lives; if it consists in having an intelligent, sympathetic outlook for human needs; if it is success to love one's work ; if it is success to have friends and be a friend, then the old doctor has made a success of life.

He was a lonely worker, and relied largely on his own unaided observation for his knowledge. Isolated by the conditions of his life, he did not know the educating influences of society work. He was a busy man. with little leisure for the indulgence of literary or other tastes. He possessed, however, what no books or laboratories can furnish, and that is : a capacity for work, willingness to be helpful, broad sympathies, honesty, and a great deal of common sense. His greatest fame was the fealty of a few friends; his recompense a final peace at life's twilight hour. He was a hardworking man, beloved and revered by all. He was discreet and silent, and held his counsel when he entered the sick-room. In every family he was indispensable, important, and oftentimes a dignified personage. He was the adviser of the family in matters not always purely medical. As time passed, the circle of his friends enlarged, his brain expanded, and his heart steadily grew mellower. Could all the pleasant, touching, heroic incidents be told in connection with the old doctor, it would be a revelation to the young physician of today; but he can never know the admiration and love in which the old doctor was held. :'How like an angel light was his coming in the stormy midnight to the lonely cabin miles away from the nearest neighbor. Earnest, cheery, confident, his presence lighted the burden, took away the responsibility, dispelled the gloom. The old doctor, with his twowheeled gig and saddle bags, his setons, crude herbs, and venesections, resourceful, brave and true; busy, blunt, and honest, loyally doing his best - who was physician, surgeon, obstetrician, oculist, aurist, guide, philosopher and friend - is sleeping under the oaks on the prairies he loved so well."

The early history of the pioneer physician is naturally a story of feeble resources. His professional limitations were, therefore, necessarily great. To enable us to understand these limitations we must take a retrospective glance at the condition of medicine sixty years ago. Imagine, if you can. the forlorn condition of the doctor without our present means of physical diagnosis, without the clinical thermometer, the various specula, the hypodermatic syringe, the ophthalmoscope, the otoscope, the rhinoscope, the aspirator, and many other similar instruments; without the aid of hematology, of anaesthetics, of antisepsis, of the modern microscope, without our laboratories and experiments, our chemistry, our bacteriology, our Eoentgen .rays, our experimental pharmacology, and our antitoxins - without anything except his eyes, his ears, his fingers, his native vigor and resourcefulness; then we can appreciate the professional limitations of our fathers, appreciate no less the triumphal march of medicine during a single lifetime. It requires no prophet's power to foretell the fact that the science of medicine stands at this hour upon the threshold of an era which will belittle all the past. In this most wonderful era of the world's history, this magic age, the science of medicine is rapidly being elevated into the position of one of the bulwarks of society and one of the mainstays of civilization. It made possible the building of the Panama canal, made Havana a clean city, and diminished the possibility of introducing yellow fever among us. It has kept cholera in cheek, pointed out the danger of bubonic plague through the rat-infested districts of San Francisco, and it now urges that the government shall maintain sentinels to guard the Gulf coast from yellow fever, the Mississippi from cholera, the whole United States from bubonic plague. It also discovered the stegomyia as a yellow-fever carrier, and the rat and ground squirrel as plague distributors.

Though none of the immortal discoveries or inventions were made in Goodhue county, all of them have been applied and utilized for the benefit of the people in this vicinity. The practice of medicine has had some able representatives in this county, many of whom have gained distinction and an honorable place among their fellows. Some of them have been sought out for public service and broader fields of usefulness, while others have led a quieter but no less honorable existence in the sphere of their choice, many being laid to rest after lives of sacrifice to the community amidst general regret and deep sorrow.

The medical history of this county begins with the arrival of Dr. W. W. Sweney, in 1852. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1818. After receiving an academic and professional education, he was graduated at Rush Medical College in 1851. He was president of the Goodhue County Medical Society in 1872. and of the

Slate Medical Society in 1873, author of several prize essays, and member of the territorial legislature. Dr. Sweney was a practitioner of wide repute, and possessed the confidence of the people in a rare degree. He was endeared to all by his remarkable integrity, gentleness, sterling worth, and high professional morality. The constant influence of his example, personal and professional, has alike honored him and the calling to which he was chosen. Dr. Sweney had a long and honorable career. The writer knew him as one of the finest specimens of the kind-hearted, ever-helpful, modest medical gentlemen of his generation. He was laid to rest amid general regret and deep sorrow in August, 1882.

Another of the earliest physicians was Dr. John Kelly, born in New York, in 1801. He crossed the plains in 1849, and came to Goodhue county in 1853, settling in Florence. He was chairman of the first board of township supervisors and member of the board of county supervisors. In 1856, Dr. J. E. Tebbetts settled in the village of Cannon Falls. He was of Maine birth, and a fine type of the old doctor. He grew gray in the pioneer service, and passed away in 1877. Dr. Charles Hill came to this county in 1857, settling in Roscoe that year, and in Pine Island in 1859. He was born in Illinois in 1826, and was graduated at Rush Medical College in 1857. In 1869 he was elected to the state senate. At the reorganization of the Goodhue County Medical Society, in 1902, he was chosen president. Dr. Hill is a gentleman of the old school. He is the Nestor of the profession in the county. Him we should be tempted to call venerable if he had not succeeded in remaining young through the aid of his eternally youthful enthusiasm. In the same year a valuable addition to the profession in Red Wing was made in the arrival of Dr. A. B. Hawley, a native of New York, born in 1833. Dr. Hawley was of attractive personality. He was a man of the most genial nature, fine physique, tall, active, keen-eyed and perfectly unostentatious; an able practitioner, and very popular. He was a leading citizen, and one of the prime movers in the building of Christ Church. He passed away September 20, 1878. Other physicians who came in ante-bellum days were Drs. C. II. Connely. William Brown and F. F. Hoyt. Dr. Brown was commissioned as surgeon in the Civil War. Dr. Hoyt had the honor of being elected a member of the first city council. Some time in the fifties, Dr. Ole Oleson settled in or near Leon. His name appears in the records of the period as a judge of elections. In 1862, Dr. E. S. Park established himself in Red Wing. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1811. Altogether his practice covered forty years of earnest, active work. He served the county many years as coroner. His death occurred February 12. 1888. It is to be regretted that so little is recorded of the pioneer physician and his stirring and hazardous lot. At the conclusion of the war Red Wing was chosen as a field by Dr. Charles N. Hewitt, a native of Vermont, born in 1885. Dr. Hewitt has had a long and honorable career. He has held various high offices. In the medical history of the county lie takes a high place a's physician and surgeon. As sanitarian, it is difficult adequately to estimate his great services to the commonwealth of Minnesota. He has left the imprint of his work upon the whole subject of public health. In 1865 Dr. ( Uveem. born in Norway in 1835, settled near Bader, where he continued to practice with success for many years. In the following year Dr. Christian J. Gronvold settled in Norway, township of Wanamingo. He was born in Norway in 1833. and died in the nineties. Dr. (ironvold was appointed a member of the stale board of health in 187i>. He was a man of much natural ability, one of the foremost authorities on leprosy, and somewhat of an original. Some time in the sixties Dr. A. \Y. M. Archarius endeavored to establish himself' in Red Wing. Unfortunately for the community, he did not succeed. He was a t a 1 1 . s| >a l'e. extremely dignified and learned gentleman. Be complained to the writer, who made his acquaintance in Chicago in 1875, of his inability to make a living here, and of the success of the advertising quacks. He returned to Sweden, where the king gave him office commensurate with his abilities. The first homeopathic phyiscian to take up his residence in Red Wing was Dr. C. <i. Bigbee, horn in New York, in 183"). lie came in the sixties, and remained about ten years. He was a captain in the Union army, made choice of the medical profession, and was a successful practitioner. After an honorable Civil War record, 0. H. Hall, born in Erie county. New York, in 1842, studied medicine, was graduated a1 the Buffalo University, and settled in Zumbrota in 1868. He is a charter member of the Goodhue County Medical Society, and a successful physician. In 1869, Dr. Bruno Jaehnig established himself in Red Wing. He was 'born in Saxony. February 19, 1841. - Dr. Jaehnig has filled various positions of trust with faithfulness, and places of honor with modesty. ITe served the city as health officer, 1898-1907, and the state as physician to the training school since 1892. The people are indebted to him for long and valuable services.

The practitioners whose lives have been faintly outlined here are the pioneers of the profession. They are among the most notable makers of history. Special homage should be paid these men - or the memories of these men - for their toil, devotion and sacrifice in the rude and eventful days forty or more years ago. They were the peers of any in all the useful elements of manhood. They were citizens most relied upon by their neighbors in foul as well as fair weather. It would be hard to find a person in the county who owes no debt of gratitude to one of these men.

One of the firsl of the younger practitioners was Dr. Douglas Shiley. He came to Red Wing in 1871 ; became t he associate and partner of Dr. Sweney, and moved to another field in 1876. Another newcomer was Dr. W. <i. \V. Tupper, a native of .Maine, who Located in Zumbrota. Subsequently he moved to Wed Wing, then to Wabasha, and later hack to Zumbrota, where he died about ls!><>. In the early seventies Dr. GaleE Allen, a homeopath, and native of Vermont, horn in 1833, established himself in Red Wing. He was a well-educated, respectable and successful practitioner. He died in L900. In 1875, \)v. George C. Wellner, born in Bavaria, May 24. 1849, selected Hnl Wing as a field. He twice moved to other fields, returning in 1883 and 1893. He is president of the board of health and secretary of the hoard of United States examining surgeons. In 1907 he was chosen president of the Goodhue County Medical Society. Others who located in Red Wing a little later were Dr. John II. Beauford, Dr. F.-Laus and Dr. Lund, none of whom continued there long. In I87<i Dr. W. M. Sweney. son of the pioneer physician, entered upon the practice of medicine in Red Wing. He was born in Marietta, Ul.r November 6, 1849. He was in active practice1 about ten years. In 1882 Governor Hubbard appointed him member of the State Fish Commission. He has served the city as health officer in various emergencies, and the county as coroner. Dr. Sweney is a member of the city council and the board of health, and is earnestly devoted to the service of the city. His favorite study is anthropology. In the same year the county received a notable accession in Dr. A. T. Conley, who established himself in Cannon Falls. He was born in Jefferson county, New York, December 6, 1847. Dr. Conley is one of the veteran figures of the profession. He has a wide repute as a physician and a man, as attested by his popularity. His has been a life worthy of emulation, distinguished for sacrifice and service to others. He has served the Goodhue County Medical Society as president, and the city of Cannon Falls as health officer. In 1877 Dr. George H. Overholt settled in Kenyon.' He was born in 1842, and was graduated at the Albany Medical College in 1866. In the following year Dr. Philo E. Jones, an Ohioan by birth and education, took up his residence in Red Wing. He built up a large practice in a short time, and maintained the same for fifteen years. Dr. Jones possessed culture, an infinite store of information, industry and surgical and business ability. Dr. William M. Newhall was his able associate and partner. About 1880 Dr. H. L. Brynildsen began the practice of medicine in Vasa. He was born in Norway, July 29. 1850, and was for many years a most serviceable practitioner to the people of Vasa and vicinity, being highly appreciated by them. His usefulness was cut short by death, June 29, 1908. The eighties brought to Red Wing a large number of physicians, prominent among whom were Drs. M. Magelsen, Peter Mogstad, Edward Boeckman, J. F. A. Twetan, J. H. Sandberg, Ed. Hart, Noble Jones, 0. J. Brown, George Leininger, E. A. Shannon, H. L. Scheide and Drs. Babcock and Simons. Nearly all of them were able practitioners, and several of them continued there for years, but all have removed from the county or passed away, not, however, without leaving behind them the enduring fragrance, of good deeds. In 1886 Dr. II. E. Conley permanently established himself in Cannon Falls. He was born in Palo, la., July 11, 1855. Dr. Conley is a brother of A. T. Conley, and one of the successful physicians of the county. He is president of the Goodhue County Medical Society. Dr. II. L. MeKinstry came to Zumbrota in 1875 and to Red Wing in 1888. He is a Pennsylvanian, born June 14, 1847. Dr. MeKinstry served the Third Regiment, M. N. G., as major and surgeon. 1886-1901, and the city as health officer and councilman, and in various honorary capacities. Two years later Red Wing was chosen as a field by Dr. .1. Y. Anderson, born in Sweden, .March 20, 1860. Dr. Anderson is one of the prosperous physicians. He is the medical director of the Scandinavian Relief Association and a member of the board of United States examining surgeons, and lias served the city as health officer. In the nineties a number of practitioners located in Red Wing, among others Drs. B. Dearborn, V Juell, Th. N. Thoresen, L. L. Mayland and Marcus Thrane. They, like their colleagues of an earlier date, practiced here for a space of time, then sought other fields. In 1893 Dr. F. W. Dimmitt opened an office in Red Wing. He was born in Cambridge, 111., August 25, 1859. Dr. Dimmitt found an extended field of usefulness, and has built up a lucrative practice. He is vice-president of the Goodhue County Medical Society, and one of the most ardent promotors of the society's interests. In the following year Dr. A. W. Jones, a native Ohioan, born April 12, 1863, selected Red Wing as a field. Dr. Jones is a wellequipped physician, a man of intellectual interests, and a scholar of wide range and various cultivation. He is a member of the board of United States examining surgeons and a member of the board of education. In 1893 the village of Goodhue was chosen as a field by Dr. H. P. Sawyer. He was born in 1870. Dr. Sawyer has for years had an extensive clientele, and has much endeared himself to the community in which he lives. In 1894 Dr. M. W. Smith and his wife, Dr. Grace Gardner-Smith, established themselves in Red Wing. Dr. Smith was born in Rockford, 111., October 27, 1870. He is a member of the board of education and countv examiner for the state sanatorium for consumptives. Dr.

Smith has in various ways proved himself a useful citizen. Dr. Graee Gardner-Smith is a native of Pennsylvania. She is physician to the girls' department of the state training' school and a member of the library board. In 1895 Dr. J. A. Gates, of Kenyon, entered upon his successful career as physician, business man, and in 1905 as legislator. As a member of the legislature he has effectually blocked measures prepared in the interests of quackery. Dr. Marshall Stephens, a homeopath, located in Red Wing in 1894. Pie was born near Pittsburg, Penn., in 1840. He was professor of mathematics and natural sciences in Hamline University, and served as member of the board of United States examining surgeons. In the later nineties, Dr. K. E. Gryttenholm located in Zumbrota. He is a native of Norway, born December 6, 1862. Dr. Gryttenholm is surgeon to the C, G. W. railway, an able practitioner, ever active in medical affairs, and has served the Goodhue County Medical Society as president. About 1900 Dr. Edward Backe, born in 1862, settled in Kenyon. Dr. Baeke is a graduate of the Royal University, Christ iania, a successful practitioner, and a former president of the Goodhue County Medical Society. In 1902 the medical fraternity of Red Wing received further accessions. They were: Dr. M." IP. Cremer, born in Cashton, Wis., March 12, 1870. and graduated at Rush Medical College in 1893, and Dr. L. PL Clay don. born in England, April 5, 1869, and graduated at the University of Minnesota in 1895. The same year Dr. A. E. Johnson commenced practice in Zumbrota, and four months later in Red Wing. He was born in Kasson, Minn., June 23, 1876, and is a graduate of Rush Medical College, of the class of 1902. In 1904 Dr. S. B. Haessly entered upon his professional career in Cannon Falls. He was born in Campbellsport, Wis., December 25, 1875, and was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Chicago, in 1904. He came to Red Wing in 1909. After graduating at the University of Minnesota in 1907, Dr. C. E. Gates located in Goodhue, and became the associate and partner of Dr. H. P. Sawyer. Pie was born in 1879. In the same year. Dr. O. O. Larson, born in Rush River, Wis., in 1877, and a graduate of the PTniversity of Minnesota in 1907, opened an office in Zumbrota. Dr. Larson is the county physician for the Zumbrota district. A further addition to the profession in Red Wing, in 1907, was made in the arrival of Dr. P. H. Cremer. He was born in Wisconsin, March 21, 1878, and was graduated at Rush Medical College in 1904. In 1909 he removed to Cannon Falls. Early in 1908 Dr. N. L. Werner, born in Diamond Bluff. Wis., October 21, 1877, established himself in Red Wing. He is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago, of the class of 1903. Later in the same year Dr. P. J. Weyrens came to Red Wing. He was born in Stearns county. Minnesota, March

12. 1873. and was graduated at the University of Minnesota in 1900. Other physicians than those named established themselves in the county since the beginning of its settlement. They are embraced in the Lists following the various points of location.

F. Keller, F. Delaine. M. Johnson, C. A. Burnett. A. ( '. Clum, X. Nelson, < >. Nelson. Swedenburg, 1". < '. Bjorneby. Vasa - Dr. Tigerhjelm. Zumbrota- Drs. 0. I. Hall, Slawson, Shattuek, Wellcome. I). Brainerdj J. C. Cockburn, A. Hirsh, A. Koren, Sedgwick, C. AI. Frye, Beebe, J. C. Crewe, T. R. Watson, Courtney, G. C. Hoff.

No man. woman or child in this county can be so situated as not to be a debtor to one of these men. They are the members of a profession which exacts from them the largesl responsibility and the greatesl death rate in the world, receiving no rewards comparable with the work done or the burdens borne. They are the men thai are fighting in behalf of the people against death. We need imi begrudge destructive heroes their Fame, but the constructive ones oughl not to be forgotten. The heroism of skill and toil belonging to the Latter class is worthy of as grateful record. No other men under heaven can do humanity so much good as physicians.

To create a medium for intellectual exchange and to give protection to the public and the profession^ the Goodhue County Medical Society was founded in 1869. The charter members, so far as now known were : Drs. AY. W. Sweney, A. B. Hawley, C. N. Hewitt. E. S. Park, F. F. Hoyt. B. Jaehnig, of Red Wing; Charles Hill, of Pine Island; Christian J. Gronvold. of Norway; 0. H. Hall, of Zumbrota. The official records of the society have, unfortunately, not been preserved, and it is now quite impossible even to outline its usefulness in its infancy. However, we may still be able to impress the reader with the sterling integrity of its members, who traveled twenty or thirty miles by team to attend these meetings. They had a deep and enduring interest in the manifold problems of medicine and a human interest in the affairs of their brotherhood and our Great Master's entire family. They found that society work was both a direct aid and a stimulus, and that in a multitude of counsel there is wisdom. The meetings were held in Red Wing, Cannon Palls, Norway and Zumbrota. In those distant times only advanced aye and illness were reasons for members staying away, and then their interests did not die oul with the termination of presidential or other office. In the seventies and eighties the society added to its membership. Its meetings were both well attended and profitable. The last meeting the writer attended was at the home of Dr. Gronvold, in Norway, in 1SS4. It was an outdoor meeting on a beautiful day in July. Every preparation had been made for the occasion. The table was se1 under a leafy canopy. The dinner, as the saying is. came off triumphantly. It comprised a boundless profusion of everything nutritious in the garb most light and digestible for an infirm stomach. The host admirably filled the chair, and the post-prandial enjoyments, including the society's program, were rarely, or never, svirpassed by any banquet the writer ever saw. .Much thai was delectable at the time, and that is not unpleasing on reflection now, could he recited, but would probably be less interesting to the reader than to the writer.

Flourishing as the society was, its existence was terminated in 1891. The causes need not be traced here. They recall no divisive memories. The few facts in the possession of the writer give no special significance to the event. In October, 1902, the society was reorganized at Red Wing. The new organization has been strengthened and improved. Its boundaries have been pushed forward. It brings medical men more constantly together, making consultations more easy and more natural, and stimulating fraternal feeling. It makes collective and comparative experiments possible, furnishing a center in which is focussed the "group opinion." Its programs are stronger than before. It discusses its problems from time to time with the leaders of the profession. It invites joint meetings with other county societies. The society has a membership of twenty-three, consisting of the following gentlemen: J. V. Anderson, Edmund Backe, A. T. Conley, H. E. Conley, M. II. Cremer, P. H. Cremer, F. W. Dimmitt, J. A. Gates, C. E. Gates, K. Gryttenholm, C. X. Hewitt. Charles Hill, S. B. Haessly. Bruno Jaehnig, A. AY. Jones, 0. 0. Larson, H. L. McKinstry, C. B. McKaig, G. H. Overholt, H. P. Sawyer, M. W. Smith, George C. YVellner, N. L. Werner. The society considers all respectable physicians its rightful subjects, and rejects all whose so-called education is unaccompanied by any fruits of character. The admission of no clean-handed, honorable and competent physician is opposed. Membership in the society is a guarantee of the physician's good standing, and that he pursues

My friends and brothers in art! A few short years and a new generation shall search these pages for the meager record of our lives. God grant that it may be said of us that the world was better for our having lived. Let us always bear in mind that tht* thing that shall comfort us when we step down into the Valley of the Shadow will not be the size of the estate we shall leave behind, nor the places of honor we have held among men; but, rather, the reflection that we have been able to relieve some poor sufferer in his mortal pain, that we have been useful men in our generation, and thai we may look forward with confidence to the reward which awaits a life of honest labor. Grant us an honest fame, or grant us none.

With the opening of the twentieth century the boundaries of medical science have been broadened. A radical change between the physician and the public is at hand. "Recent events," says Presidenl Charles W. Kliot. ''have brought into strong light a new function of the medical profession, which is sure to be extended and made more effective in the near future. We mean the function of leaching the whole population how diseases are caused and communicated, and whal are the corresponding means of prevention." The great public does not realize that in the medical profession the whole line of discovery and effort is toward hygienic living as Ihe prevenlive of disease, and that in this the doctors are laboring to make the human race immune from disease, and willing to teach the people their part in the struggle. We are all naturally interested in the' preservation of health by the prevention of disease. Most people have a fairly distinct idea 1hat proper attention to sanitation is essential to good health, but the great majority are not informed of the possibilities out of which disease may come. When a family stands at the grave of a relative who has succumbed to a condition which could have been prevented, as has been proven by different action in the selfsame condition in other people, a new idea takes possession of them. This new idea, where the value of prevention is more appreciated than the importance of cure, is the ideal situation.

The tendency of modern research is to give especial prominence to preventive medicine. To relieve suffering is a godlike office, but to prevent suffering is a higher office still. In the past the field of medicine was restricted to the relief of disease already present, without taking note of its broader and higher mission. On the practical assumption that the function of medical skill is to cure disease, not to discover and ward off its approach, the physician is seldom afforded an opportunity to apply his art before the disease das progressed t<><> far. The question of the necessity for treatmenl is not decided by the family physician, hut by those not qualified to determine the meaning or gravity of the symptoms. To recognize disease and apply the remedies for it. is to the lay mind, the extent of the physician's office, and is all that custom demands. A Large proportion of serious cases which come before physicians arc made serious by neglect, and the neglect arises from the disease not being recognized in its early curable stages. This fact accounts for a large proportion of operations that are performed nowadays. The frequency of sudden death from unsuspected heart and kidney disease further illustrates how seldom the physical condition of a person not consciously ill is made the subject of investigation. There are few children of school age free from one or more physical ailments, few adults not afflicted with some chronic disability. All this would be guarded against if the family physician were the sanitary adviser, having constant supervision of the family, instead of being called only when someone has broken a leg or one of the children has the croup. So long as a man sees in his physician only a feeler of pulses and a writer of prescriptions, the relation of medicine to him cannot be expected to improve. Today physicians are no longer a group of men and women to whom one only looks for a diagnosis and a prescription. They have come to recognize the fact that their usefulness as physicians in dealing with disease problems depends in a great measure on the cooperation of the public. They must have intelligent cooperation to make their work as effective as it is possible for it to be. Prevention of disease is typical of the line in which medicine as a whole is to have its principal development in the near future. Let once the idea be grasped that the physician is engaged in preventing disease, instead of waiting for an opportunity to cure it - that his mission is a wider one than merely to deal out pills or open abscesses, or attend confinements - and men will prefer to put themselves under such directions as will tend to avert illness, instead of relying upon this or that method of cure in case they should become ill.

A large part of society has ever been against legitimate medicine, depending upon the scientific physician in time of trouble, yet in the interim openly supporting all sorts of shams, frauds and impostors. "The horizon of the average man's interest in medicine," says Dr. Welch, "scarcely extends beyond the circumference of his own body or that of his family, and he measures the value of the medical art by its capacity to cure his cold, his rheumatism and his dyspepsia, all unconscious, because he does not encounter them, of the many perils which medicine has removed from his path through life. What does he know of the decline of the death rate by one half, and of the increase of the expectation of life by ten or twelve years during the past century?'1 He pays the lawyer for services involving property ten times the fee that the physician receives for services involving life. Many well-informed people recognize the standing of medical men, simply because of their knowledge of the immense amount and high character of the work which is being done by the profession, but millions of men and women of reasonable intelligence and education, practically ignorant of this, intrust their most valuable possessions - life and health - to charlatans and chance, though they would not enter court without a lawyer nor build a house without an architect. All of this is due to ignorance of modern medicine. The instruction of the laity by the medical profession is the rational cure for popular ignorance. If the public be properly informed it will become interested, and if interested, it will assist. The knowledge of the human body and the betterment of physical conditions is too personal not to excite interest, if properly presented. The more the public is informed on medical matters the greater is its ability to protect itself, and the closer it will come to the regular physician, and thehigher the standard it will demand. 'We, the medical profession, are now in the possession of truths that can help our fellow man. Is it not our duty to tell our fellow man?" The answers to this question are: the national campaign against tuberculosis, the bulletins of the boards of health, the medical instruction' of the public by county medical societies, by virtue of a resolution of the American Medical Association. The medical profession has accepted facts that bear on the welfare of the. people, and it is its duty to make them known. The time is now at hand for a radical change in the relation of the physician to the public at large. Medicine can he a power in the world only as it is represented by the practitioner. He must no longer be concerned only with existing disease, but must take cognizance of the broader field which it is the province of medicine to occupy. His new duty will be to enter into a copartnership with the people for the prevention of disease ; to inform them, according to the measure of their needs, concerning a science which so deeply concerns the life work, comfort, happiness and mental achievements of every individual. He will take up the medical education of the people and instruct them how to avoid and abort disease, how to make hygiene effective, how to develop physical perfection, and to promote mental and moral improvement.

With the diffusion of this information the voice of the profession will be heard in the halls of legislation ; its influence will be felt in a virile grasp of the great principles that underlie the physical well-being of society. Neglect of public sanitation will cease to fill oui' hospitals and our cemeteries; architecture will no longer be the handmaiden of disease; systems of education arranged withoul the slightest reference to the laws of mental development will be discarded. Questions of health will have their weight in determining the relations of capital and labor; excessive hours of duty, exacted of those to whose vigilance the lives of the traveling public are intrusted, will no more result in appalling disasters. Unrestricted traffic in drink will not continue to destroy life and health, and to prepare an inheritance of disease for offspring yet unborn. Public opinion will cease to applaud that abnormal activity in business and social life which has already gone far toward making us a nation of invalids." "A great duty," says a distinguished president of the American Medical Association, "rests on the practitioner today. He must not shirk it; he must rise to his new burden, accept, and bear it. The reward to the medical profession for taking this new burden will be a broader life for the practitioner, a greater consideration for his fellow man, better citizenship, and the recognition by the world that the medical profession is a great benefactor."

"To labor for the alleviation of suffering and for the restoration of health." says Professor John Allan AVyeth, "is a noble vocation, but to teach our fellows how to avoid disaster is a prouder privilege and higher duty." - George C. Wellner, M. D.

Dr. George Christian Wellner was born May 24, 1849, near the ancient city of Seheinfeld. Middle Franeonia, Bavaria, where the family settled prior to 1700. He came to the U. S. in 1857, settling in Manitowoc. AVis.. and moving to Chicago in 1862. He received his education in the parochial school of the old country, the common schools of the U. S., Prof. Geo. W. Quackenbos' Private Academy, and Rush Medical College. He came to Red AVing, Minn., in 1875 and located successively in Springfield, Minn., 1880; Red Wing, 1883; AVabasha, 1885, and Red AVing, 1893. In 1878 he married Miss Aiargaret S. Hickman. Their children are, Emilie M. (Airs. R. A. Haeussler), George C, Berthold B., Giralda M., and Aiargaret Al. The doctor has held the following offices : Physician to the North Star Dispensary, Chicago, 1875 ; county physician. Brown county, Minn., 1880-83 ; member common council and board of education. Springfield, Minn.. 1882; county physician, 5th district Goodhue county, Minn., 1884; county physician, AVabasha county, Minn., and health officer of AVabasha, 1890-93 ; secretary board U. S. examining surgeons, AVabasha, 1886-93 ; assistant surgeon 3rd regiment Al. N. G., 1887 ; president AVabasha County Medical society, 1890; secretary board U. S. examining surgeons, Red AVing, 1897 to present time; president Goodhue County Medical Society, 1906; president board of health, Red AVing, 1907 to present time; director 3rd district Alin- nesota Association for the Relief and Prevention of Tuberculosis ; member of the Goodhue County Medical Society, Minnesota State Medical Society, member of the American Medical Association. Dr. "Wellner is the author of "'The Medical Graduate and His Needs," and of the article "The Physician," the latter of which appears in this volume.