Redwood County, Minnesota - Chapter 25: Physicians and Surgeons, 1916

The physician, especially in a pioneer community, comes more intimately in contact with the social life of the people than any other man. He sees household life as it is without the veneer that is often put on for other visitors. His advice as to sanitation of the home and surroundings is acted upon. In the early days he, the preacher, the teacher and the lawyer were the only highly educated men in the community He was a leader in intellect and public opinion, as well as the healer of bodies and minds.

A great writer has said: "Men most nearly resemble the gods when they afford health to their fellow-men." In an age when, in the combat of man against man, and nation against nation, destruction is rife through the world, it is insipiration to pay tribute to those devoted souls who are laboring to preserve mankind and bring it to the highest degree of physical efficiency.

"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 except in the hour when it needs him to minister to its physical ills. 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, black, rich and poor, are equal and alike when they cross the sacred portals of the temple of ^sculapius." 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 practitioners of the art of healing began to take an oath, emphasizing 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 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. The Hippocratie oath assumes that when 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 he is received in a system of principles and rules governing all licensed physicians, and enforced and respected by high-minded 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. 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 suffering 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 with 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 gives 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 life-work should not be one in which every service must receive its pecun- iary 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 direct 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 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 in Redwood 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, and the ambitions of his companions, and he, with them, was controlled by the forces which determine 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 with nature. Hard winters, 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 he had to contend with. Long and dreary rides, by day and night, in summer's heat 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."

can narrate the past events in the life of such a man ? His deeds were "written upon the tablet 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 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 live ; 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 his life, he did not know the educating influences of society work. He was a busy man, with little leisure for 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 hard-working 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 neigh- bor. Earnest, cheery, confident, his presence lightened the burden, took away the responsibility, dispelled the gloom. The old doctor, with his two-wheeled gig and saddlebags, 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 sod of the pioneer region he loved so well."

During the winter of 1864-65 there was no physician in the Stockade at Redwood Falls. The nearest medico was at Ft. Ridgely, where an army surgeon was stationed.

Dr. D. L. Hitchcock reached the Stockade with his family early in the summer of 1865, and became the first physician in the county. He was joined in 1870 by Dr. W. D. Flinn.

For many years these two physicians ministered to the needs of the pioneers. The story of their experiences, riding over the trackless prairies to isolated cabins far beyond the limits of the county, braving the heat and mosquitoes of summer, and the bitter storms of winter, sometimes forced to spend the night in some abandoned shanty, bringing healing in their little black bags, their clever hands, and their skilled brains, would make a volume of pioneer life well worth the writing.

Contemporaries of Drs. Hitchcock and Flinn were Dr. J. B. Wellcome, of Sleepy Eye; Dr. T. H. Sherwin, of Beaver Falls; Dr. Henry Schoregge, of Henryville (Renville county), and Dr. C. S. Knapp, of Cairo (Renville county). Each of these men had some small practice in the edges of Redwood county.

The pioneer doctors of Redwood county had many interesting experiences. Dr. Hitchcock and Dr. Flynn endured hardships trying both to mind and body. One of their thrilling adventures took place during the blizzard of 1873. A man near Wood Lake had frozen his feet and an amputation was necessary. Accordingly, Dr. Hitchcock and Dr. Flynn started out across the prairie with the necessary implements. While they were on their trip the wind suddenly changed, the snow began to fall so thickly that they could not see their horses' heads in front of them and they were finally forced to take refuge in a cabin a mile before reaching the residence of their patient. For three days they were snowed up in this cabin. On the third day by much effort they broke the way through to their patient's house, performed the

The Redwood Falls directory of 1878 gives three physicians, W. D. Flinn, W. M. Evans and M. W. Vilos, as practicing in Redwood Falls at that time. In 1880 the name of C. S. Stoddard appears. Drs. Flinn and Stoddard appear in the lists of 1884, and the name of A. G. Hammer is added. In 1886, the Redwood Falls physicians were W. D. Flinn and Frederick H. Morton. In 1888 the names of Giles R. Pease and Hazen W. "Wells first appear. W. D. Flinn and Giles R. Pease were the Redwood Falls physicians in 1892. C. P. Gibson was added to the list in 1894. A. B. Hawes appears on the list in 1896, the other three physicians being Drs. Flinn, Pease and Gibson. In 1900 the name of Henry E. Schlegel first appears, and in 1902 the name of W. A. Palmer is seen. W. Beet and William Corpron are new names in 1904. W. A. Brand first appears in the directory in 1906. The Redwood Falls physicians in 1908 were F. P. Boyd, W. A. Brand, C. P. Gibson and G. P. Pease. The name of A. G. Chadbourn first appears in 1912. In the same year appears the firm of Pease & Flinn, T. E. Flinn having started practice with Giles R. Pease. In 1914 the four physicians were W. A. Brand, C. P. Gibson, Giles R. Pease and T. E. Flinn. Drs. Brand, Pease and Flinn are the present practitioners.

A distinct stride in the history of medicine and surgery in Redwood county was the erection in 1915 at Redwood Falls, of a splendid hospital, fitted with all the latest appliances and excellently equipped in all the departments usually appertaining to a modern hospital. The building is pleasantly located and is one of the city's most sightly structures. It was erected by Drs. Giles R. Pease and T. E. Flinn, these gentlemen being the present supervising physicians and surgeons of the institution.

F. V. Crandall was the first physician in Lamberton. Lemont S. Crandall, a physician there for some twenty years, first appears in the directory of 1882. Christopher Queolis first appears in 1888. In 1894 the Lamberton physicians were L. S. Crandall, J. G. Ellis and A. F. Gooslee. In 1896 the name of J. C. R. Charest appears in place of A. F. Gosslee. In 1900 the Lamberton physicians were L. S. Crandall and C. P. Nelson. In 1912 the physicians there were George W. Boot, L. S. Crandall and Charles C. Walker. For a time, Louis O. Clements was the first physician, his name first appearing in 1904. The name of Charles C. Walker first appears in 1908, and the name of Dirk V. Gleysteen in 1914. Drs. Walber and Gleysteen are the present practitioners.

The first physician in Walnut Grove was R. W. Hoyt. The name of H. B. Van Buskirk, for several years the only physician in the village, first appears in the directories of 1884. The name of Charles I. Remington first appears in 1900, the name of Robert

A. Bickford was the first physician in Milroy. He was followed by Prank J. Bickford. Then for several years there was no permanent resident physician. The name of Bjarne Rvan, the present practitioner of Milroy, first appears in the directories of 1914.

The first physician in Morgan was James L. Adams, who is still practicing there. The name of David R. Butler appears in the directories of 1900.

O. A. Case was the first physician in Sanborn. The name of John Hobinecht first appears in the directories of 1896; John J. Piatt in 1898; George W. Boot in 1900; Oscar E. Bennett in 1902 ; William G. Richards in 1906, and Arthur L. Kusske in 1908. The name of the present practitioner, Monte C. Piper first appears in 1916.

E. R. Jellison was the first physician in Seaforth, moving there shortly after the coming of the railroad. He left not long after, and there has since been no permanent resident physician.

The first physician in Vesta was Frank D. Gray who practiced there some eight years. The name of Roy A. Peterson, the present practitioner, first appears in the directories of 1912.

Willis W. Creswell was the first physician in Delhi, his name first appearing in the directories of 1904. The name of P. A. Carrell appears in 1912. There is now no physician in the village.

The first physicians in Wabasso were Alf. G. Chadbourn and H. E. Lucas. The name of Gilbert L. Goslee first appears in the directories in 1906. In 1912 the names of Frank W. Brey and H. G. Bickford appear. Dr. Brey is the present practitioner of Wabasso.

The physicians of Belview are F. A. Aldrich and Emma S. Aldrich. The first physician was H. P. Dredge, whose name first appears in the directories of 1898. The name of Thore N. Thoreson appears in 1914.

Wm. D. Flinn, graduated from the Rush Medical College in Illinois in 1868. He received his certificate from the medical board of the state Jan. 22, 1884, and filed it for record in this county May 3, 1884.

Frederick H. Morton, graduated from the Rush Medical College in the state of Illinois. He received his certificate from the medical board of the state on April 28, 1884, and filed it for record in this county May 3, 1884.

Giles R. Pease graduated from the medical department of the University of Michigan. He received his certificate from the state on Sept. 12, 1885, and filed it for record in this county on March 7, 1888.

C. P. Gibson graduated from the Chicago Medical College in the state of Illinois. He received his certificate from the state on April 19, 1884, and filed it for record in this county on April 7, 1888.

Henry E. Schlegel received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 10, 1897, and filed it for record in this county on June 24, 1897.

William Algernon Brand received his certificate from the medical board of the state on July 1, 1904, and filed it for record in this county on July 15, 1904.

Walter A. Palmer received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 22, 1899, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 7, 1900.

Alfred G. Chadbourn received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 19, 1900. He filed it for record in this county on July 26, 1900.

Thomas Edwin Flinn received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Jan. 25, 1911, and filed it for record in this county May 5, 1911.

Wallace E. Belt was given his certificate by the medical board of the state on Jan. 16, 1903, and filed it for record in this county on Jan. 21, 1903.

Stephen D. Sour received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 9, 1896, and filed it for record in this county June 4, 1904. He graduated from Hamline university in St. Paul, Minn.

C. P. Nelson received his certificate from the medical board of the state April 11, 1899. He filed it for record in this county on July 14, 1900.

Gilbert L. Goslee received his certificate from the medical board of the state Oct. 3, 1904, and filed it for record in this eounty Oct. 7, 1904. He graduated from the Keokuk College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Lucian Orville Clement, received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 20, 1902, and filed it for record in this county on July 18, 1902.

L. S. Crandall received his certificate from the medical board of the state Nov. 28, 1883, and filed it for record in this county on Jan. 3, 1884.

Dirk Gleysteen received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Jan. 17, 1912, and filed it for record in this county on March 4, 1912.

Charles C. Walker received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 9, 1896, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 14, 1903.

Frank D. Gray received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Feb. 28, 1887, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 19, 1904.

Earl Jamieson received his certificate from the Minnesota state board of medical examiners on Oct. 11, 1907, and filed it for record in this county Jan. 15, 1908.

Robert H. Ray received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Oct. 11, 1900. He filed it for record in this county on Oct. 15, 1900.

Chas. L. Remington received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Jan. 16, 1884, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 18, 1899.

Bjarne Rvan received his certificate from the medical board of the state on April 19, 1911, and filed it for record in this county on May 6, 1911.

James L. Adams received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Jan. 6, 1893, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 17, 1893.

Ernest R. Jellison received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 8, 1901, and filed it for record in this county on Oct. 7, 1901.

Arthur Louis Kusske received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 13, 1907, and filed it for record in this county on Sept. 26, 1907.

O. E. Bennett received his certificate from the medical board of the state on April 12, 1901, and filed it for record in this county on May 4, 1901.

William Geo. Richards received his certificate from the medical board of the state on July 1, 1904. He filed it for record in this county on May 31, 1905.

Monte Charles Piper received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 29, 1910, and filed it for record in this county on Jan. 16, 1912.

John Habenicht graduated from the medical university at Prague, Bohemia, in Europe. He received his certificate from the medical board of the state June 25, 1887, and filed it for record in this county on March 8, 1895.

Roy Albert Peterson received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Jan. 25, 1911. He filed it for record in this county on April 21, 1911.

Herman E. Lucas received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Oct. 23, 1883, and filed it for record in this county on June 21, 1900.

Frank W. Brey received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 29, 1910, and filed it for record in this county on May 6, 1911.

H. G. Bickford received his certificate from the medical board of the state on April 12, 1901, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 12, 1910.

Thore Nels Thoreson received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Oct. 12, 1897, and filed it for record in this county on July 5, 1913.

H. P. Dredge received his certificate from the medical board of the state June 9, 1896. It was filed on July 28, 1896, for record in this county. It was also filed for record on Oct. 30, 1901.

Frederick Herrick Aldrich was given his certificate by the medical board of the state on June 20, 1902, and filed it for record in this county on August 22, 1902.

Edward W. Gag received his certificate from the medical board of the state on Jan. 15, 1904, and filed it for record in this county on Feb. 11, 1904.

George P. Wilkinson received his certificate from the medical board of the state on April 17, 1903, and filed it for record in this county on July 30, 1904.

Hazen W. Wells, graduated from the Hahnneman Medical College of Chicago in the state of Illinois. He received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 29, 1887, and filed it for record in this county on July 1, 1887.

Henry C. Way graduated from the college of physicians and surgeons, Keokuk, in the state of Iowa. He received his certificate from the medical board of Minnesota on April 15, 1887, and filed it for record in this county on April 30, 1887.

Raymond W. Whittier received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 26, 1912, and filed it for record in this county on Aug. 20, 1915.

Emma L. Scholz received her certificate from the Minnesota state board of medical examiners on June 20, 1902, and filed it for record in this county April 4, 1907.

John Stevens, Jr., received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 10, 1897, and filed it for record in this county on July 25, 1905.

E. Lawrence Meyer received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 17, 1905, and filed it for record in this county Aug. 21, 1905.

Joseph Clement Micheal received his certificate from the state medical board on June 20, 1913, and filed it for record in this county July 26, 1913.

John P. Landry graduated from the medical department of Laral university in Canada. He received his certificate from the medical board of the state on April 22, 1884, and filed it for record in this county Jan. 15, 1889.

John Edward Doran received his certificate from the medical board of the state on June 16, 1898, and filed it for record in this county on June 5, 1902.

Wilhelm S. Anderson received his certificate from the medical board of the state June 19, 1903, and filed it for record in this county on March 16, 1904.

The Brown-Redwood County Medical Society holds its regular meetings January and June, the annual meeting being in January. Dr. M. C. Piper, of Sanborn, is president, and Dr. G. P. Reineke, of New Ulm, secretary. The following are the members : J. L. Adams, New Ulm ; W. A. Brand, Redwood Palls ; L. A. Fritsche, New Ulm ; D. Gleysteen, Lamberton ; P. D. Gray, Marshall ; D. A. Herron, Comfrey ; Earl Jamieson, Walnut Grove ; M. A. Kiefer, Sleepy Eye; A. L. Kusske, Hutchinson; W. A. Meierding, Springfield ; R. A. Peterson, Vesta ; Bjarne Ravn, Milroy ; J. C. Rothenburg, Springfield ; J. L. Schoch, New Ulm ; 0. J. Seifert, New Ulm ; J. S. Shrader, Springfield ; O. C. Strickler, New Ulm; Mathias Sundt, Hanska; J. H. Vogel, New Ulm; C. C. Walker, Lamberton ; G. B. Weiser, New Ulm ; J. W. B. Wellcome, Sleepy Eye.

(Since the above was in type, Dr. Earl Jamieson of Walnut Grove has succeeded Dr. Piper as president. Dr. Kusske has removed to Hutchinson. New members are T. F. Hammermeister of New Ulm and P. A. Striekler of Sleepy Eye.)