Early Medical Profession In Warren County
This page is part of the Warren County Ohio GenWeb project
You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor since 15 March 2005 -- thanks for stopping by!
Warren County Local History by Dallas Bogan

Early Medical Profession In Warren County

Contributor:
Dallas Bogan on 30 August 2004
Source:
original article by Dallas Bogan
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan

Practicing physicians in early Warren County were few and far between. The doctor occupied a space of great leadership. His intelligence was far greater than his pioneer friends, and his learning was sought after to the utmost. He made an impression upon the unlearned and unskilled people in time of distress.
He ministered to the family; he came in and out of the home and the family welcomed him beside their fireside. He exhibited great education, and became the confidential advisor in the family circle.
Newspapers and magazines were not found in the common home in this era. The doctor supplied this form of social information in his visits.
Saddlebags that were always carried on his trusty horse were used mainly for his pay, which consisted mostly of produce that was exchanged for his services. Wealth was not sought after, and the doctor generally lived a somewhat comfortable life.

Dr. Evan Banes is given credit as possibly the first practicing physician resident in Warren County. He was a native of Pennsylvania and arrived at Columbia in possibly the year 1796. Along with John Smith and Samuel Heighway, he purchased a large tract of land from John Cleves Symmes in the area of Waynesville. As the population began to grow, Dr. Banes saw a need for a practicing physician and accepted the challenge. He practiced his profession in the vicinity of Waynesville until 1811, and thence moved to Clark County where he died November 3, 1827.

Dr. John C. Winans was the first practicing physician in the Turtle Creek settlement, which was later to become Lebanon. For seven weeks the Western Spy, published at Cincinnati, beginning in February, 1801, printed this account:

"John C. Winans, lately arrived from Elizabethtown, N.J., with a general assortment of medicines, respectfully tenders his services to the public in the line of his profession as physician and surgeon. Those who may have occasion and are disposed to call on him, may find him at the Rev. Mr. Kemper's on Turtle Creek, where he has opened his shop and is now in a capacity to serve them."

Four years previous to 1801, Dr. Winans was the only physician residing in the vicinity of Lebanon.

Another resident to practice medicine in early Lebanon was Dr. David Morris. He first settled about two miles northwest of the town in 1805, and in 1816, he moved into Lebanon and continued his practice. He next moved to Brookville, In., in 1818, where he remained one year, and then returned to Lebanon. He relocated next, in 1832, to a farm near the City of Cedars where he died in 1850.

Dr. Benjamin Dubois, a native of Monmouth County N.J., established an office for the residents of Franklin and Carlisle from 1806 until his death in 1851.

Dr. Joseph Canby was practicing medicine in Warren County as early as 1810. His practice at Lebanon lasted twenty years.

Dr. John S. Haller practiced medicine for a short time in Lebanon, and then located in the town of Franklin about 1818. He died in 1875, having practiced within about ten years of his death.

Dr. John Cottle was a native of Maine, and, having moved to Maineville in 1818, he practiced until 1843. From 1818 until about 1830, he was the only practicing physician in Hamilton Township.

Dr. J.W. Lanier practiced at Franklin for several years after 1811.

A Methodist preacher, Dr. Jeptha F. Moore, practiced medicine at Lebanon from about 1812 to 1822.

Dr. Martin Lathrop began his practice in Waynesville about 1812, and, after his death, about eight years later; his nephew, Dr. Horace Lathrop, succeeded him.

The Shakers at Union Village engaged Dr. Calvin Morrill as physician soon after it's founding. He relocated from New Jersey and died at Union Village in 1833.

Dr. Charles D. Hampton, a Pennsylvanian, born in 1792, came to Ohio in 1815. He first practiced at Cincinnati and, in 1815, moved to Clarksville in Clinton County. He next joined the Shakers, in 1822, and practiced until his death, in 1863.

Dr. Otho Evans, having practiced in Butler County for some six years, resumed his practice at Franklin in April 1827. He was born in Kentucky September 9, 1797, and moved to Ohio with his family as a Child. His practice sustained a total of forty years.

Born near New Brunswick, N.J., February 19, 1792, Dr. John Van Harlingen practiced medicine in Warren County for fifty years, possibly longer than any other physician in the county.
His ancestors were inhabitants of Holland. Young John never spoke English until his eighth year. His early education was framed at New Brunswick and, in 1809; he graduated from Rutger's College. He read medicine in New Brunswick and attended all lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York City. He was fully licensed to practice medicine by the State officials in New Jersey, after passing the medical examination in 1812.
After practicing in his native State for five years, he moved, in 1817, with his family to Lebanon.
His practice was in the field of obstetrics, a practice he utilized both in New Jersey and Lebanon. Upon his arrival in Lebanon, he found this field to be mostly in the hands of women. Dr. Van Harlingen, with his highly professional education, did much to replace this inferior practice and put it into the hands of intelligent medical practitioners.
The field of obstetrics did not take all his time, for he always paid close attention to his other branches of practice.
He spent many hours in the saddle, his journeys taking him to all parts of Warren County and to other nearby counties. His trials were numerous, as with other physicians of the day. He suffered successive days without sleep, often crossed the bridgeless Little Miami River, with no concern for his own safety, and daily faced the most enduring episode of his practice, the weather.
Dr. John Van Harlingen died in 1866, living to the age of ninety years.

Dr. Joshua Stevens was a native of Winthrop, Me., and was born March 21, 1794. His early vocations included farming and brick laying. His elementary education was of a common nature, but a great commitment to further himself led him into the field of self-study.
On July 4, 1817, he left his home State of Maine and opened a boarding school at Bristol, near Philadelphia. It was here he began the study of medicine, and eventually entered the office of Dr. Joseph Parrish, of Philadelphia.
He attended lectures of the medical department of the university during the winters of 1818 thru 1820. Unconcerned with graduating, he began his practice in Philadelphia.
In 1821, he, along with two or three friends, floated down the Ohio in a flatboat. On this trip he carried letters of introduction to Dr. Daniel Drake of Cincinnati.
His intentions were to practice his trade in the Queen City, but he set up an office in Monroe, possibly because of the residence of his relatives.
He located in Lebanon in 1847, where he resided until his death. Among his many achievements was that he took an active part in the old "District" Medical Society, and was for years its President. After this venture, he was for more than ten years President of the Lebanon Medical Society.
About seven years prior to his death, while on a professional visit, he was in a buggy accident, from which he was thrown. He received a severe concussion of the brain, an affliction from which he never fully recovered. He died at Lebanon on May 2, 1871.

Dr. Joseph G. Paulding began practicing medicine in Deerfield Township in 1838. He was sent, in 1844, by the Associate Reformed Church, of which he was a member, as missionary to Palestine. In this capacity, he assisted in the origination of missions at Damascus and Cairo.
He returned to this country in 1854 and reestablished his medical career at Mason. He continued his practice, with the exception of his duty in the Civil War, until his health forced his retirement. In 1871, he moved to Piqua where he died in 1874.

Dr. Jesse Harvey, a native of North Carolina, began his practice in Harveysburg in 1830. His background in education was established in Ohio. He was highly celebrated for his knowledge of the natural sciences. He was especially renowned because of his involvement concerning the education of the African Americans and the Native Americans. He was sent, in 1847, as a missionary of the Society of Friends, to the Shawnee Indians of Kansas Territory. He died the next year, in his forty-seventh year.

Dr. Jonathan W. Davis was born in Greene County, Ohio, on July 8, 1821. His schooling during the first part of his life was lax, because of his much needed assistance on the family farm. By age twenty-two, Dr. Davis had received a good English education, and soon after embarked upon a career of medicine, studying under the direction of Dr. Edmund Hawes, of Mount Holly. In 1846, he became a member of the Lebanon Medical Society. His practice was begun at Waynesville, and during the overwhelming epidemic cholera in the summer of 1849; his labor and toil were almost non-stop. On July 26, 1849, he made a house call about five miles from home. The dreaded disease attacked his body about 6 o'clock P.M. He immediately returned home where he died at 3 o'clock the next morning. He died at the age of just twenty-nine, just a mere nine hours after contact with the dreaded disease.


FOOTNOTES: [a place to add additional information that you might want to submit]

     

NOTICE: All documents and electronic images placed on the Warren County OHGenWeb site remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. These documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the submitter, or their legal representative, and contact the listed Warren County OHGenWeb coordinator with proof of this consent.

This page created 30 August 2004 and last updated 28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved