Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin - Chapter 11: Medical Fraternity, 1912

Chapter 11: Medical Fraternity

The first settlement in Fond du Lac county was made in 1836, but no physi¬ cian, worthy of the name, was nearer than Green Bay, until the advent of Dr. M. C. Darling in the winter of 1838.

Today, Fond du Lac county has a well appointed general hospital, a modern, well equipped county insane asylum, for the treatment of various diseases, welltrained professional nurses ; a small army of licensed physicians, all graduates of colleges of standing, and stores making a specialty of handling drugs, and surgical appliances. This was not the case in the territorial days of Wisconsin and the first years of the county.

By a treaty with the Menominee Indians in 1831, the United States acquired all that tract of land, approximately 2,500.000 acres, lying to the east of Green Bay. Fox river, Lake Winnebago and Fond du Lac river. With the exception of the army post at Green Bay, Solomon Juneau and a half dozen whites at Milwaukee, and the Rev. Cutting Marsh, a Presbyterian missionary among the Stockbridge tribe of Indians, then near Kaukauna, no white people were per¬ mitted to locate in the extensive fertile territory. Fond du Lac county was then the home of the Indians, among whom was an important personage - the medi¬ cine man. These medicine men, as a rule, were shrewd and experienced in a way ; some were sincere and worthy of respect, while others were charlatans of a greater or less degree. They corresponded closely to the herbalists or herb doctors of the old-fashioned rural districts, employing sweating, poulticing, scari¬ fication, various manipulations by the hands, and numerous vegetal remedies, such as purgations, emetics, etc. The medicine man is still to be found among the less civilized tribes, but is diminishing in number and losing his influence.

In the early days of the county's existence, villages, camping sites, postages and favorite hunting and fishing grounds were connected by a vast network of trails. These trails were usually along high grounds, where the soil quickly dried, where the underbrush was least dense, where the fewest and shallowest streams were to be crossed ; in short, the trails followed the paths of least re¬ sistance. Owing to the Indian habit of marching single file, the trails rarely exceeded eighteen inches in width. Yet those were the ordinary roads of the country traveled by hunters, migratory bands of adventurers, traders and In¬ dian war parties. Often these trails were widened and improved by the early settlers, becoming the easiest as well as the most frequented roads along which the first log houses were built and the forests cleared. These were the thorough¬ fares traversed by the pioneer physician. Sometimes on horseback; ofttimes on foot. Inclement weather or distance had no terrors for him and many were the hardships and even dangers he encountered. The doctor of the settlement con¬ cocted most of his own medicines, which were few at that time. Drug stores were few and far between. He had no specialist with which to consult in a trying and difficult case, and in the event of a broken limb, or any other calling for a surgical operation, the doctor relied solely on an humble instrument or two and the assistance of the brave and ever ready woman of the household.

At first, the settlement of Fond du Lac was a slow process. As has been noted, from June 6, 1836, until March, 1838, there were but twelve people of the white race in the county. On the first day of March, 1836, Mrs. Colwert died, after a short illness, during which she was given medical aid by Dr. David Ward, of Green Bay, no physician having become up to that time a member of the community.

The infant settlement of Fond du Lac was more fortunate than many others, in not being so great a while without a regular practicing physician. But, even after Dr. Darling came, and the population increased in numbers, irregulars, such as herb doctors, doctor-women, bone-setters, quacks and charlatans of many de¬ scriptions plied their trade very much as they do now.

The Pioneer Physician

The first physician to settle and practice his profession in Fond du Lac county was Dr. Mason C. Darling. He was a native of Massachusetts and settled in Sheboygan in 1837, as a graduate practitioner. He was poor but ambitious and, not realizing his anticipations, remained but a short time at Sheboygan, coming to Fond du Lac early in the month of April, 1838, under an agreement with James Duane Doty, president of the Fond du Lac Company. He lived in the Company's log house a short time and then erected a cabin on the corner of what is now known as First and Main streets. As a physician and surgeon Dr. Darling became noted, and as a promoter and manager of public enterprises he was deemed a genius. He became very prominent in local and state affairs and was the first man to represent this section of the state in congress. Chicago be¬ came his home in 1864, much to the loss and regret of the city he helped so much to build, and two years thereafter his large and generous heart ceased to beat. The body was brought back to Fond du Lac and interred in Rienzi cemetery.

Dr. W. H. Walker was a graduate of the Cleveland (Ohio) Medical College, and immediately after obtaining his "sheepskin,'' in 1847, he came west, by way of Sheboygan, and located in Fond du Lac. He was accompanied by his young wife. At the time of his arrival, the Fond du Lac House was short of room, so that only Mrs. Walker could be entertained at that hostelry. For several nights the young doctor found sleeping quarters in a shed close by, his bed being a pile of hay. It was but a short time, however, until Dr. Walker erected a home on the southeast corner of Main and Fifth streets, where he long resided and built up a successful practice. Dr. Walker died several years ago but his widow long survived him and remained in Fond du Lac.

Dr. T. P. Bingham is credited with having taken up his residence in Fond du Lac in 1846, coming from Green Bay, where he had established an office in 1842. He is also given the distinction of being the first druggist in the village, for soon after his arrival, he installed a small stock of staple drugs in one of the rooms of the old Fond du Lac House. The "doctor"' was also somewhat of a preacher and circuit rider and while on his itinerary, which comprised the settle¬ ments of Stockbridge, Brothertown, Ball's Corners, Pequot Village and Taycheedah, he ministered to both the bodily and spiritual ills of the Indians and whites. He was one among the many of those early days, whose right to practice as a regular or graduate physician was questioned. But no doubt there was no little virtue in his methods, even though they were followed without the stamp of approval of the collegians.

One of the most noted physicians in Fond du Lac of his day was Dr. D. A. Raymond, who came here in the "Forties" and practiced his profession with marked ability and success. Before leaving his native state, New York, he was well known in his section of it, and his reputation preceded him to his new field of activity. He passed a long life of usefulness and retired from the practice with the consciousness that his work had been well done. His death occurred at the home of a daughter in Portland, Oregon. The body now rests in beautiful Rienzi.

Dr. E. L. Griffin was another physician who came to Fond du Lac county in the "Forties." He was noted for painstaking care and promptness in answer¬ ing calls upon his services, and had high standing in the social and ethical at¬ mosphere of the community. He succeeded Dr. Wiley in the practice at Fond du Lac at the time of the Civil war.

Dr. T. S. Wright was a citizen of Fond du Lac as early as 1848. He was one of the leading men of his day, not only as a physician and surgeon, but also as a druggist, banker and capitalist. Dr. Wright was a builder and many brick structures on Main street owe their existence to his energy and enterprise. With M. C. Darling and others, he established the Darling, Wright & Company bank in 1849, which was the financial institution of the town until the organization of the Bank of the Northwest, now the First National, in 1855. Dr. Wright re¬ turned to the east about 1882 and died a few years thereafter.

There was also a Dr. O. S. Wright who practiced medicine in Fond du Lac early in its history and kept a drug store. He remained only a few years and was not a relative of Dr. T. S. Wright.

Dr. T. J. Patchen came to Fond du Lac in the year 1855. He was of the homeopathic school of medicine and the second disciple of Hahnemann to prac¬ tice his profession in Fond du Lac. Very few of the citizens had heard of Dr. Hahnemann and his methods, so that the "Homeopath"' had uphill work to es¬ tablish himself. He was equal to the task, however, and in an uncultivated field he began his labors, by lecturing and in other ways drilling the people who formed a large clientele, into the principals of his school of medicine. Dr. Patchen was of a sunny, equable temperament, and persuasive withal, so that he succeeded in bringing over to him a large following and at the same time laid the foundation for a lucrative practice. He had many virtues, not the least of which was his advocacy of temperance in all things. This noted physician died a few years ago in Florida and now lies buried in Rienzi cemeterv.

Dr. John Pantillon preceded Dr. Patchen in the practice of homeopathy in Fond du Lac. I le was a man of some force of character, but not enough so as to persuade the people to adopt his system. He left the city after a few years and soon after died.

Dr. Babcock was a pioneer physician of this county, coming here from Ohio a short time after Dr. Darling, with whom he was associated in many different cases. He remained but three or four years and then left for parts unknown.

Dr. William Wiley, Dr. S. S. Bowers, Dr. E. F. Dodge and Dr. Gray were all men of worth in their profession and graduates of the old school. They made their mark in the practice and were all well and favorably known. Dr. Wiley practiced in Fond du Lac and during the Civil war located in Ripon. In a few years, however, he returned to Fond du Lac, where he spent the rest of his days. Drs. Dodge and Bowers are also buried in Fond du Lac. Dr. Gray died in Colorado.

Dr. William Edward Minahan was a native of Chilton, Calumet county, Wis¬ consin, where he was raised on a farm. He was educated in the public schools and the Oshkosh Normal. Taking the customary courses at Rush Medical Col¬ lege (Chicago), he graduated in 1891 and after practicing at Calumetville as the successor to his brother until 1899, he came to Fond du Lac and soon built up a large and remunerative practice. He was talented, energetic and full of the spirit of enterprise and progressiveness, so that he became one of the men of prominence and influence of the city. Having earned a much needed rest he planned a European tour for the summer of 1912 and, with his wife, took passage on the ill-starred Titanic in April for his return home. The vessel, the largest of its kind in existence, was on its maiden trip, and running into an iceberg, near the Newfoundland coast, about eleven o'clock at night, stove in her steel-plated sides and before adequate help was at hand, sank to the bottom of the deep, carry¬ ing with her about 1,500 souls, among whom was Dr. Minahan. His wife and other women of his party were among the several hundred saved by the timely arrival of the Carpathia. The untimely and awful death of Dr. Minahan cast a gloom upon the whole community. He was both popular as a physician and citizen and his loss was keenly felt by all. A more complete sketch of Dr. Mina¬ han will be found in Volume II.

It was some time after the first settlement of Fond du Lac county before Ripon had a graduate physician as a resident. In fact, it was not until 1853, that Dr. J. Rogers, long since deceased, located in that city. He was an educated man, well up in his profession and made a success of his work in Ripon.

Dr. Aaron Everhard was quite successful as a practitioner, and as a citizen stood highly. He came to Ripon from St. Marie in 1856 and was identified with the professional, business and political interests of the place all during his resi¬ dence there. He was very popular and served as mayor of the municipality nine terms. President Cleveland appointed him postmaster and he made a very efficient one. Dr. Everhard died in 1892.

Dr. Henry L. Barnes was one of the early Ripon physicians, locating there in 1858. He was a citizen of Wisconsin as early as 1846, and graduated from the Cleveland Medical College the same year he came to Ripon.

Dr. W. A. Gordon served his country in the Civil war as an army surgeon and in 1866 settled down in Ripon, where he practiced a few years and then went to California in search of a renewal of health.

Dr. Storrs Hall located at Rosendale in 1851 and retired to Ripon at the age of ninety, where he resided with his son, Dr. Sidney Storrs Hall until his death in 1904. He had been in the practice a full half century and was a grad¬ uate from Yale Medical School. Dr. Hall took a great interest in public affairs and in the welfare of Ripon College.

Drs. H. L. Barnes, E. C. Barnes, Butler, Carnahan, A. Everhard, F. A. Ever¬ hard, Henricks, A. Mitchell, Phelps, J. Rogers, Reynolds, B. Schallern, O. Schallern, R. Schallern, G. R. Shaw, F. L. Shepard, Taylor, J. S. Foat, W. A. Gordon, Storrs Hall, S. S. Hall, A. W. Hewitt, William Wiley.

Waupun - Drs. P. D. Moore, Randall, Took, Eypers, Osmun, Osborne, Fisher and wife. Those who have practiced in Waupun, in Dodge county - Drs. D. W. Moore, Bowman, Hersha, J. W. Brown, Swayne, Butterfield, Wadsworth, Harvey, Messer, Reed, W. P. Smith, G. B. Durand, G. T. von Henzel, D. H. Ballmeyer, F. T. Clark, J. F. Brown.

The first medical society in this county was organized about the year 1844 or 1845, while Wisconsin was yet a territory. The exact date cannot be ascertained. It embraced the territory now covered by the counties of Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Calumet. It was organized in Fond du Lac, then only a settlement. Its members are all dead. Dr. Brainard, of Sheboygan county, was president, and Dr. Blodgett, of Calumet county, was secretary. This society was short lived. Embracing but few members scattered over a wide and unsettled territory, re¬ movals and deaths soon disintegrated it.

The next medical organization in the county was effected in the year 1853. Just fifteen years before this date, in 1838, the first medical gentleman settled in the county, the late Dr. Mason C. Darling. The medical organization of 1853 was called the Medical Association of the County of Fond du Lac. Its by-laws and constitution are the only records of its existence which are now extant so far as is known. From these we learn that the object of the society was to "elevate the standard of the profession by the diffusion of medical knowledge, and to pro¬ mote unanimity of feeling and concert of action among the members thereof." The by-laws provided for two meetings a year. This association after the lapse of a year or two, is found to disappear from history. The cause of its going out and the manner of its extinction is mostly conjectural.

The third medical society in the county was organized at Waupun in 1866 and was known as the Northwestern Medical Society, and embraced the eastern part of Green Lake county, the western part of Fond du Lac county, and it also had a few members from Dodge county. Its membership reached a maximum of fif¬ teen or twenty. It held its meetings twice a year. Dr. Storrs Hall, of Rosendale, was elected president and regular meetings were held at Ripon, Berlin and Waupun. This society flourished for a little over a year when it also became extinct. The cause of its demise appears to have been the failure of its members to attend its meetings.

The fourth medical society in the county, known as the Fond du Lac County Medical Society, was organized in 1868 and flourished for a number of years. Its membership was large and included nearly every regular practitioner in the county, and for many years it was considered one of the best county medical societies in the state. Owing to lack of interest and small attendance, it too, like its predecessors became extinct.

The fifth and present county medical society, which is an affiliation with the Wisconsin and American Medical Associations, was organized about two years ago, and includes in its membership a large majority of the legal practitioners of medicine in the county. Its meetings are held bi-monthly in the city of Fond du Lac, unless otherwise agreed upon at a regular meeting.

Several times in the past, the last time the last of March, 1905, the local phy¬ sicians have organized to promote their interests in various ways, but the organ¬ izations were of brief duration, some of them the first meeting being the last.