Mower County, Minnesota - Chapter 25: The Physician, 1911

Chapter 25: The Physician

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 and Services - His Limitations - The Pioneer Physicians of Mower County - The Mower County Medical Association - Edited by A. W. Allen, M. D.

In an age when, in tlie combat of man against man, heroes are worshiped according to tlie number 'they slay in battle, it is inspiring and eleA'ating to be permitted to pay tribute to the meii who Avon glory in fighting disease and through whose devotiori and skill thousands of useful lives have been saved and been made happy.

"For every man slain by Ca?sar, Napoleon and Grant in all their bloody campaigns, Jenner, Pasteur and Lister have saved alive a thousand." The first anfesthetic 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."

"i\Iedicin(^' is the most cdsinopoiitan of the three great 'learned' professions. ]\Iedicines 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 (U'oss the sacred portals 'of the temple of Aesculapius." No other secular profession has ever reached such a consciousness of duties Avhich it corporately owes to the rest of the woi'ld. ^Vhat are the principles which a profession, more profuse in its disinterested charities than any other profession in tlie woi'Id lias established for its guidance?

It was about 2,300 years ago that the ])ractitioners of the, art of healing liegan to take an oath eiiipliasizing the responsibilities whieli the nobility and lioliness of the art imposed upon them. Hippocrates, forever to be revered, gave the oath his name. AVheii a Greek physician took the Hippocratie 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. Tlie Hippocratie oath assumes that when a man has learned the art of restoring the sick to health he has passed into a realm in Avhich 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, Avas 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. The true physician will make his profession no trade, but will be accurate in diagnosis and painstaking in prescribing. He will allow no prejudice nor theory to interfere with the relief of human suflfering and the saving of human life; and will lay under contribution every source of information, be it humble or exalted, that can be made useful in the cure of disease. He will be kind to the poor, sympathetic Avith the sick, ethical toward medical colleagues and courteous toward all men.

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 dcA'eloping and educating power in medical work. Tlie 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 lie finds a new remedy for disease. The greatest and best inedical 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

(nimau cveaturt'S with haul work to do, tmd often many mouths to feed; but tiiere 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 whicli every service must receive its pecuniary reward. The physician is a host in himself, a natural leader among his fellow men, a center of influence for the most practical good, an etiflcient 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 ow^n 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 xinw^'itten, of the pioneer physician of Mower 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 concern of himself and companions was materially engaged with, the serious problem of existence. The struggle to survive -was, at its best, a competition Avith nature. Hard winters and poor roads were the chief impediments. Only rough outlines remain of the heroic and adventurous side of the pioneer physican's long, active and honored life. The imagination cannot, unaided by the facts, picture the primitive eonditons with which he had to contend. Long and dreary rides, by day and night, in summer's heat and winter's cold, through snow, and mud, and rain, w^as 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 Avork, 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 ot: 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 conditions of liis 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 lightened the burden, took away the responsibilitj', dispelled the gloom. The old doctor, with his two-wheeled gig and saddle bag, his setous, crude herbs, and vet?esections, 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 conditions 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 roentgen rays, our experimental pharmacology, and our antitoxins - without anything except his eyes, his ears, his lingers, his native vigor and resourcefulness; then we can appreciate the professional limitation of our fathers, appreciate no less the triumphal marcli 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 tlie mainstays of civilization. It made possible the building of the Panama canal, made Havana a clean city, and diminislied the possibility of introducing yellow fever among us. It has kept cholera in check, pointed out the danger of bubonic phiguc through the rat-infested districts of San Francisco, and it uow 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 stegonyia as a yellow fever carrier, and the rat and ground squirrel as plague distributors.

The medical history of Mower county begins with J. C. Jones, Avho located in LeRoy township in the spring of 1855. His wife was also a physician. They remained until 1866 and then removed to Missouri.

Austin

The pioneer physician of Austin was that venerable practitioner of the kindly old school, Dr. Orlenzer Allen, who came in April, 1856, and practiced until 1870, when he removed to Wisconsin, where he lived until the time of his death, April 5, 1883. He was born at Alfred, New York, in 1830, and located in "Wisconsin in 1842. His medical education was received at the Rush I\Iedical College, at Chicago, from which institution he graduated in 1856. Dr. Allen was an ideal country physician, kindly, self-sacrificing and able. His twin brother, Ormanzo, was also a prominent figure in Austin and Mower county in an early day. The next physician to locate in Austin was Dr. J. N. Wheat, a homeopath. He came in September, 1856. Dr. Wheat was born in Old Hadley, Massachusetts, January 16, 1818, spent his boyhood in New York and Ohio, and graduated in medicine at Buffalo in 1852. He became one of the foremost citizens of Mower county. Dr. S. P. Thornhill came in tlie winter of 1869-70. He was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, March 21, 1821, and studied medicine at West Carlisle, Ohio. He served as regimental and brigade surgeon in the Civil war, and subsequently c^me to Austin, where he died in 1879. Dr. Hiram L. Coon graduated from the Rush Medical College in 1855, came to Austin in 1856, remained a few years and then moved to Northfield. Dr. W. C. Jones came to Austin during the Civil war, practiced a few years and died about 1879. He was the father of B. F. Jones, at one time a newspaper editor and politician of Austin. Dr. W. L. Hollister came to Mower county in 1867, lived at Lansing a while, and then came to Austin in 1871. He still resides here. Dr. 0. W. Gibson came to Austin in February, 1867. He was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in 1839. During the C^ivil war he served in both army and navy as surgeon. Dr. James P. Squires came to Austin in 1873. He was born in Livingston county. New York, in 1825, and graduated in medicine at Buffalo, New York, in 1851. He was an array surgeon and came here from Faribault county, this state. Dr.

Thomas Phillips, a homeopath, came in May, 1882. He was born in Canada, graduated from the University of Chicago in 1880 and later from the Hahnemann Medical College in the same city. Dr. Ellen M. Fairbanks, wife of Alonzo Fairbanks, came to Austin Avith her husband in 1859. In 1881 she graduated from the Woman's Medical College at Chicago. A Dr. McDonald, a graduate of McGill University, Montreal, practiced here a few years in the early eighties. Dr. C. H. Johnson came to Austin, June 16, 1884. He was born in Canada, in 1855, graduated from McGill University, Montreal, and came here at once. With this the story of the earlier physicians of Austin ends, those coming since the middle eighties being numbered among the comparatively modern physicians of the city.

Brownsdale was the home of a number of physicians at an early day. Dr. Hunter came to Brownsdale in the fall of 1871 and died the following year. Dr. Eryhmy came from Preston, Minnesota, in the spring of 1871 and remained until the spring of 1874, Avhen he went to California, where he died a few years later. Dr. Bidell, another early physician, stayed in this county a year or so, either in Brownsdale or Grand Meadow, and then went to the Dakotas. He was a graduate of the Chicago Medical school. Dr. A. S. Britz came in 1876 and stayed until 1880. He was born in Indiana, March 1, 1844, served in the Civil war, and graduated in medicine at Chicago. After leaving here he went to Clearwater, Minnesota. Dr. Hall came from Preston in 1876 and after remaining a iew months went to Lake City. Dr. Minkler, who graduated in medicine in Canada, came here in 1875, but in a short time returned to Wisconsin. Dr. Dodd, a graduate of the Rush Medical College, Chicago, came in 1880. In 1882, owing to failing health, he went to California, where he died. Dr. David Ivyto, Avho had graduated in medicine at Indianapolis, practiced here a short time in 1883. Dr. C. S. Beaulieau came in 1880 ; Dr. Gray in 1883; Dr. Johnson in 1884; and Dr. Foward in 1884. Dr. G. W. Gray was born in 1851 and came to Minnesota in 1877, practicing in Grand iMeadow until 1883, when he came to Brownsdale. Dr. Frank M. Johnson was born in AVisconsin in 1854. He graduated from the Rush Medical College in the class of 1882, and came to Brownsdale in the fall of 1883.

Dexter

former home. He was a graduate of the Cincinnati Medical College. The next physician to locate here was L. D. Johnson, who afterward moved to Grand Meadow. Dr. McCormick practiced here for a while and then moved to the Dakotas.

Grand Meadow

The first physician at this point was Dr. Samuel Jenks, who came in 1872. He was a native of New York, and a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, class of 1872. He was a well educated successful physician. He remained till 1880, when he moved to the Dakotas. The second physician was Dr. Wilder, who came in the fall of 1876, and was associated with Dr. Jenks, both in practice and in the drug business. He removed to Iowa City in 1878. He came from Wisconsin and was not a regular graduate in his profession. Dr. 0. A. Case came to Grand Meadow in 1877.. He removed from here in 1878. Dr. Remington came in the winter of 1881 and left the following summer. Dr. L. D. Jackson located in Grand Meadow in March, 1879. He was born in Vermont in 1851, and graduated from the Rush Medical College in 1877. Upon coming to this county he practiced in Dexter before coming to Grand Meadow.

Rose Creek

Dr. Obadiah Wheelock, the first physician in Rose Creek, was born in New York in 1828, graduated in medicine at New York, and came to Rose Creek in 1872. He belonged to the eclectic school.

Dr. Josef Allays was the first to practice medicine in Lansing. He came in 1857 and settled in section one. He was a Catholic priest, and combined the duties of priest, physician and farmer. He moved from here to Chicago. Dr. R. Soule came in 1865. His career is told elsewhere. Dr. Lafayette, a Frenchman, came to Lansing from Red Wing, in the fall of 1866. He was of the eclectic practice. After remaining here three years he went to Missouri.

Dr. Jones came here from Pennsylvania in 1855, and settled on the Joe Mason farm. When Dr. Alsdorff came he gave up practice and in 1866 went to IMissouri, where he took up farming. Dr. G. M. Alsdorflf. an eclectic, came to LeRoy in 1864. He was born in Pennsylvania, November '^4, 1824, and there remained until coming to Minnesota. When the new village was laid out, in 1867, Dr. Alsdorff opened an office, and the following year moved to the new location. Dr. Bingham, a graduate of the Rush JMedical College at Chicago, practiced for a short time and then went to Lanesboro, where he died of smallpox. Dr. E. J. Kingsbury came from Decorah in 1869. He Avas born in New York state in 1832, and in 1854 graduated from the American Medical Institute at Cincinnati. In 1855 he came to Mower county, preempted land in Bennington township, assisted in the organization of the town and became a prominent citizen. Subsequently he practiced in Spring Valley and Decorah before coming to LeRoy. Dr. Corbitt came from Michigan in 1868, and remained here at intervals until his death in 1880. He was an allopath, and graduated in medicine at New York. Dr. C. W. Thrall came here from Wisconsin and entered into partnership with Dr. Kingsbury. He was a regular and a graduate of the Rush Medical College, Chicago. From here he went to LaCrosse. In the spring of 1880, Dr. F. C. Davy came here and became a partner of Dr. Alsdorff. After leaving here he attained considerable distinction as a chemist. In the spring of 1881, Dr. Aldenkirk, a homeopath, came here. Later he went to Iowa.

The first physician to locate in Lyle was Dr. A. Truane, who came in 1870. He moved from Lyle to Wisconsin. Dr. Tanner, a homeopath, came in 1870, and made a short stay. In 1881, Dr. M. 6. Gordon, of Montreal, located here. He remained but a short time.

In the preceding paragraphs has been related the story of the early physicians of Mower county. The present-day physicians are nobly following in their predecessors' footsteps. The Mower County Medical Association was organized October 3, 1902. The meeting was called to order by Dr. W. S. Fullerton, state organizer, and Dr. C. A. Hegge, the former being made temporary chairman and the latter temporary secretary. The officers elected were: President, AVilliam Hollister; vice president, W. F. Cobb; secretary, C. A. Hegge ; treasurer, G. F. Schottler. The physicians present at the organization were : A. W. Allen, 0. H. Hegge, C. A. Hegge, William Hollister, W. H. ]\IcKenna, F. Kimball Fiester. C. F. Lewis, II. F. Pierson, E. H Washbrrn-Rodgers, O. C. Marcklien, George W. Gray, G. J. Schottler, W. W. Freeman, W. F. Cobl) and W. A. Frazer. Since then the presidents have been: 1903.

William Cobb ; 1904, A. E. Henslin ; 1905, H. F. Pierson ; 1906, G. J. Schottler; 1907, W. A. Frazer; 1908, C. C. Leek; 1909, M. J. Hart; 1910, C. F. Lewis. The society has done much to sustain the ethics of the profession, to promote the sanitation of the county, to protect the health of the community and to guard against charlatanry in all guises and forms. The society is now constituted as follows : President, C. F. Lewis ; secretary, Clifford C. Leek, Austin; other members, A. W. Allen, Austin; W. F Cobb, Lyle; A. N. Collins, Austin; W. A. Frazer, Lyle; G. W Gray, Brownsdale; M. J. Hart, LeRov; C. H. Hegge, Austin; 0 H. Hegge, Austin ; A. E. Henslin, LeRoy ; C. H. Johnson, Austin R. S. Mitchell, Grand Meadow ; Homer F. Pierson, Austin ; G. M F. Rogers, Austin; G. J. Schottler, Dexter; E. V. Smith, Adams P. T. Torkelson, Lyle.

Other physicians in the county are : F. E. Daigneau, Austin "VV. H. McKenna, Austin; Alb. Plummer, Racine; C. B. Lynde, Rose Creek, and H. L. Baker, Waltham.