Resolutions were adopted providing for a society seal, books, etc., and the meeting adjourned to the first Tuesday in October of the same year at the same place. At this meeting a Board of Censors was chosen, and it was resolved that thereafter no person should be admitted to membership in the society unless he passed an examination by the board, which consisted of the following physicians: John Miller, Bildad Beach, Samuel Porter, Daniel Tibbitts and James Jackson. Dr. John H. Frisbie was chosen to represent the society at the succeeding meeting of the State Medial Society. A committee was chosen to prepare a series of by-laws, and Dr. Daniel Tibbitts was appointed to deliver an oration at the next meeting. Among the members admitted on this occasion were Drs. Daniel Hubbard and David Holbrook; the latter had previously settled at Jamesville as the first settled physician in Onondaga county. The meeting adjourned to the first Tuesday in January, 1807. Dr. Tibbitt's oration, just alluded to, was, of course, the first before the society, and the subject was "The Inflammatory State of Fever." He was voted thanks for his able effort. To spur delinquent members to attendance on the meetings a fine of fifty cents for non-attendance at the yearly meetings was imposed in October, 1808.
At a meeting held August 3, 1812, preparations were made to provide a new code of by-laws. Several committees were appointed in the early years of the society to investigate and prosecute persons who practiced medicine without proper authority. The records do not indicate that meetings were held from 1818 to 1822, excepting one in 1820; but at the meeting in June, 1822, an impetus seems to have been given to the society. The by-laws were considerably changed, the purchase of fifty diplomas ordered, and the censors were called upon to prosecute all who were practicing without proper authority.
In June, 1823, Drs. Elijah Kendrick and ____ Coburn were appointed to "draft a system of Medical Ethics for this society." In 1825 it was resolved that a part of the funds of the society should thereafter be given as prizes, the amount to be decided by a majority of the members present. Prize questions were to be selected by a committee and another committee was appointed to decide on the merits of the dissertations on such questions. The sum of five dollars was voted for the best dissertation on "Some Chronic Disease." Dr. Jonathan Day was awarded the prize. Resolutions were adopted in 1830 strongly condemning the use of ardent spirits except for medical purposes, and that "we will so far as is consistent with the duties of our profession, avoid prescribing alcohol in any form which may endanger the temperate habits of our patients."
On the 6th of July, 1832, a special meeting was held to consult upon measures for the prevention of cholera, which had then begun its march of death in this country. The State Medical Society had issued a circular on the subject, which was the cause of this action. Drs. Day and Clary were appointed a committee to "draught such remarks expressive of the opinion of the society as they deemed proper to publish to the inhabitants of the county." In accordance with this instruction, an extended series of resolutions was adopted announcing the appearance of the dreaded disease; instructing people on matters of sanitation and general cleanliness; deprecating fear of the disease, and giving other prudent counsel. A central committee was also appointed to procure such approved publications on this subject as were deemed valuable, and it was made the duty of every member of the society to report to this committee every case of cholera which might occur in his practice, and his opinion of the disease and history of his treatment of the case. Other committees were appointed with specific duties, all intended to lessen the ravages of the disease. The experiences of the village during the epidemic have been properly described on another page. Rev. Nelson J. Gilbert and Dr. Jonathan Day were among the first victims of the malady, and their loss was a serious one. Such comparative immunity from the scourge as Syracuse enjoyed was due in no small degree to the work of this society.
At the meeting of January 27, 1835, Dr. Hiram Hoyt offered a series of resolutions on the subject of an eye and ear infirmary in Syracuse, but they were withdrawn. In the same year the State Code of Ethics was adopted by the society. About the same time a "Topographical Committee" was appointed with instructions to report upon the topography of the county and its relation to disease. Reference to this committee crops out in the records during a number of years, generally with requests for extension of time and other excuses, but no work appears to have been accomplished by it.
In 1840 the State society issued a circular to county societies asking for an expression as to the advisability of licensing practitioners. The Onondaga County Society strongly favored this course. In 1843 a committee was appointed to inquire into the propriety of using "mineral paste" in dental surgery.
About the year 1845 opposition to homoeopathy in this society became quite marked, and the records show that it did not diminish for many years, several members having been expelled for taking up the alleged medical heresy. At the annual meeting of 1845 a committee of seven prominent members was appointed to collect information of "the two celebrated systems of practice taught by Priessnitz and Hahnemann." Upon the information supplied by this committee and knowledge of homoeopathy derived from other sources, the society condemned the new school in unqualified terms and summarily expelled such members as embraced it, among them Dr. Lyman Clary, who began practicing homoeopathy in 1846 and became very successful. In 1848 a communication was received by the society from the Board of Health relative to the old mill pond which then covered the site of the present State Armory and the park. This was part of the agitation that led to the filling of the pond.
Down to the year 1850 few medical questions and cases were discussed or made the subject of essays in the society, but constant and watchful attention was given to the advancement of the dignity of the profession through the Code of Ethics and by general interchange of views. Only two meetings were held in each year until 1870, exclusive of special meetings; after 1870 the number was doubled. After about 1850 very much more attention was given to reports of cases by members, discussion of their treatment and the reading of medical papers. When the civil war was inaugurated many of the members of the society joined the army, where they performed service as heroic and as valuable to the cause as that of the rank and file. Among these were Drs. A. B. Shipman, R. W. Pease, N. R. Tefft, E. E. Knapp, J. V. Kendall, I. H. Searl, A. D. Head, John Van Duyn, George H. Greeley, Elisha George, Ely Vandewarker, W. T. Plant, John O. Slocum, I. N. Van Slyke, J. S. Coe, J. O. Burt, Hiland Weed, Judson H. Graves and others.
In 1865 the subject of a Library for the society was introduced by Dr. H. D. Didama, and a committee of three (Didama, Smith and Mercer) was appointed to investigate and report on the matter. This resulted in founding a library to be supported by contributions of books, papers and money.
In January, 1866, the society felt called upon to pass the following resolution:
Resolved, That the Onondaga County Medical Society recommend to the physicians of this county to form boards of health, to use proper medical and sanitary regulations to ward off and prevent the spread of Asiatic cholera, the coming of which we have great reason to fear during the coming summer.
On the 1st day of November, 1871, a special meeting was called to consider the proposed removal of Geneva Medial College to Syracuse. Rev. Dr. Jesse T. Peck addressed the society in behalf of the project and the establishment of the college in connection with Syracuse University. Resolutions were adopted strongly favoring the removal, and a committee was afterward appointed who conferred with joint committees of the university and of the Geneva College, resulting in a plan for the founding of the College of Medicine as a branch of Syracuse University.
An event of some importance took place in the afternoon of September 7, 1876, in the tender of a complimentary dinner to Dr. Jehiel Stearns, of Pompey, and Dr. Lake I. Tefft, of Syracuse, in celebration of the semi-centennial year of their practice of medicine. The dinner was given at the Onondaga Temperance House and was presided over by Dr. H. D. Didama. About forty of the physicians of the county were in attendance.
During the last fifteen years of the society's existence it had expressed its approval of the employment of female attendants in the female wards of insane asylums; ordered the examination and substantially approved of the metric system; reported through Dr. Didama the first successful case of tracheotomy in this county (May, 1860); advocated through Dr. Cook the use of electricity in capital punishment, perhaps the earliest advocacy of that reform; gave a banquet to Dr. N. R. Tefft on the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of his practice; adopted active measures for the inauguration of better sanitary conditions in Syracuse; advocated the abandonment of Onondaga Creek as a source of water supply; reported through Dr. Alfred Mercer the deaths from typhoid fever from 1875 to 1884 inclusive (the first five years 117, and the second, 134); and from malarial fever (the first five years 5, and the second 74;) actively participated in the long campaign that has resulted in giving Syracuse its present splendid water supply; participated in a banquet to Dr. Joseph P. Dunlap(1) on February 12, 1895, on the fiftieth anniversary of his residence and beginning of practice in Syracuse.
In the latter part of 1881 a plan was adopted by the society to awaken deeper interest in the meetings and render them of greater value to the members. This plan involved the selection at each annual meeting of twelve essayists, three of whom were to read at each of the four meetings in each year, essays on appropriate subjects. A penalty of five dollars was imposed for each failure to fill one of these appointments. Following is a list of these essayists from that time to the present:
1882.--April, William Manlius Smith, Ely Van de Warker,
W. W. Porter. Annual meeting, J. A. Mowris, W. R. Johnson, J. E.
Carr. September, George W. Cook, O. G. Dibble, G. W. Earll.
1883.--January, J. V. Kendall, W. W. Munson, H. W. Post.
April, L. F. Weaver, F. H. Stevenson, N. Jacobson. June, John L.
Heffron, C. E. Billington, J. P. Dunlap. September, George R. Kinne,
M. Stanton, J. D. Potter. Semi-annual, E. R. Maxson, A. S. Edwards,
J. O. Slocum.
1884.--April, Gregory Doyle, Carrie A. Hatch, L. A. Saxer.
June, R. W. Pease, G. W. Earll, C. F. Wright. September, J. H. Coe,
A. C. Mercer, I. H. Searl.
1885.--January, A. B. Frazer, A. J. Dallas, Vandyke Tripp.
April, U. H. Brown, E. A. Knapp, A. A. Aldrich. June, D. M. Totman,
G. L. Brown, Alfred Mercer. September, Robert Aberdein, E. S. Mumford,
E. J. Holcomb.
1886.--January, M. B. Fairchild, J. H. Graves, L. P.
Deming. April, H. B. Allen, N. Wilbur, F. O. Donohue. June,
L. C. Skinner, B. F. Chase, G. P. Clark. September, F. H. Butler,
A. C. Benedict, S. M. Higgins.
1887.--January, H. B. Wright, J. Van Duyn, G. W. Draper.
April, H. B. Pritchard, C. S. Roberts, J. P. Shumway. June, G. A.
Edwards, H. D. Didama, E. C. Skinner. September, M. G. Rood, A. B.
Randall, Scott Owen.
1888.--January, F. W. Smith, E. S. Maxson, J. W. Knapp.
April, H. Murray, J. W. Fry, J. W. Brown. June, E. A. Didama, F.
A. Strong, E. L. Mooney. September, W. T. Plant, R. C. Hanchett,
H. L. Elsner.
1889.--January, E. S. Sampson, J. G. Justin, F. W. Slocum.
1890.--April, J. F. Munn, Clara Smith, J. D. Potter.
June, F. O. Donohue, David Gilliland, Scott Owen. September, D. M.
Totman, A. S. Edwards, W. J. Ayling. January, Wm. T. Plant, J. P.
Dunlap, E. A. Mumford.
1891. April, G. W. Cook, W. H. Brown, Ely Van de
Warker. July, H. D. Didama, J. P. Dunlap, W. T. Plant.
Following is a list of the presidents of this society from its organization to the present time, with the dates of their election:
1806-7, John H. Frisbie; 1808, Walter Colton; 1809, Daniel Tibbitts; 1810, Samuel Porter; 1812, Isaac Benedict; 1813, H. L. Granger; 1815, S. Fish; 1816, Luther French; 1817, H. L. Granger; 1822-23, Isaac Magoon; 1824-5, William Taylor; 1826-7, Jehiel Stearns; 1828-30, H. B. Moore; 1831, J. B. Hopkins; 1832-3, Benjamin Trumbull; 1834, A. S. Ball; 1835, Schuyler Pulford; 1836, G. W. Richards; 1837-8, Harman Van Dusen; 1839-40, L. I. Tefft; 1845, Lyman Clary; 1846, Horatio Smith; 1847, P. C. Samson; 1848, N. R. Tefft; 1849-50, Abram Hann; 1851, John Briggs; 1852, Jonathan Kneeland; 1853, Hiram Adams; 1854, J. V. Kendall; 1855, A. J. Dallas; 1856, A. B. Shipman; 1857, J. F. Trowbridge; 1858, William Laughlin; 1859, James Foran; 1860, Alfred Mercer; 1861, Israel Parsons; 1862, R. T. Paine; 1863, S. M. Higgins; 1864, Hiram Wiggins; 1865, William Manlius Smith; 1866, H. D. Didama; 1867, Elijah Park; 1868, George W. Cook; 1869, W. W. Porter; 1870, M. D. Benedict; 1871, J. P. Dunlap; 1872, John O. Slocum; 1873, William A. Bennett; 1874, George T. Campbell; 1876, William T. Plant; 1877, W. W. Munson; 1878, Ely Van de Warker; 1879, M. H. Blynn; 1880, M. B. Fairchild; 1881, J. D. Potter; 1882, John Van Duyn; 1883, L. C. Skinner; 1884, G. W. Earll; 1885, J. L. Heffron; 1886, Henry B. Allen; 1887, D. M. Totman; 1888, Henry L. Elsner; 1889, G. L. Brown; 1890, J. W. Brown; 1891, Nathan Jacobson; 1892, F. W. Sears; 1893, N. Wilbur; 1894, J. H. Coe; 1895, Frederick W. Slocum.
Following is a complete list of all the physicians who have ever been members of this society, with such brief details as have been preserved regarding them. The space for this list is cheerfully given up in these pages, in the belief that its preservation must be of great importance to the medical profession, as well as to others, for no other record exists except in the books of the society:
Admitted July 1, 1806.--Gordon Needham, Onondaga Valley;
died there in 1864. Deodatus Clark, Pompey, removed to Oswego.
John H. Frisbie; died May 23, 1809. William Adams, Camillus.
Smith Weed, Eagle Village. Jesse Searl, Homer; died there.
James Jackson, Manlius; died there in 1829. Daniel Tibbitts, Pompey,
removed west. Isaac Benedict, Skaneateles; removed elsewhere.
Salmon Thayer, Onondaga Hill; died in Geddes. Water Colton, Manlius;
removed from the county.
Admitted October 7, 1806.--John Miller Truxton.
Bildad Beach, Marcellus; died there February 15, 1856. Samuel Porter,
Marcellus; died June 13, 1843. Jesse Munger, Camillus; died January
5, 1808. Robert D. Tagart, Tully; died in 1831. John C. Marvin,
South Onondaga; removed to Virginia. Silas Parks, La Fayette.
Dr. David Holbrook, Jamesville; died in 1830. Dr. Holbrook was the
first physician in the county and visited Salina and other points hereabouts
in very early years. Calvin Wright. George Eagen, Jamesville.
Joseph Ely, Delphi; removed from the county. Dr. Ely was a surgeon's
mate in the Revolutionary war for abut two years.
January 6, 1807.--Hezekiah Clarke; died in Pompey, March
4, 1826. James Pettit, Delphi; died at Fredonia, in 1845. John
Davis, Onondaga; died in 1842.
April 7, 1807.--Lewis S. Owen, Homer; died there.
October 6, 1807.--Iddo Ellis, Syracuse; left the county.
January 5, 1808.--Truman Adams, Elbridge; died about
1830.
May 24, 1808.--Ashbel Stedman, Marcellus. Isaac
Magoon, Camillus. Peyton R. Hurlburt, Onondaga Hollow; removed to
Massachusetts in 1813.
October 4, 1808.--Jonathan S. Judd, Green's Corners;
went west. David Fiske, Elbridge.
May 23, 1809.--Erastus Humphrey, Marcellus; removed to
Utica. John Milton Stewart, Onondaga Hollow. Ethan Squire,
Cato. Rufus Moss, Syracuse.
October 3, 1809.--John D. Bissill, Onondaga Hollow.
Solomon King, west part of county. Jonathan Sweet, Canton.
Jacob Bradbury, Manlius; removed to Cincinnati about 1820 and died there.
Henry Green, South Onondaga; left the county.
June 5, 1810.--Nathaniel Sheldon, Liverpool; removed
west. David Kingsbury, Marcellus.
May 25, 1812.--Hezekiah L. Granger, Manlius; died May
26, 1828. Isaac Chichester, Pompey; removed to Indiana. Titus
Merriman, Elbridge, died May 20, 1864. Luther French, Otisco; died
1830. David S. Colvin, Syracuse. Moses Sheldon, Onondaga Hill
and Salina; died at Salina. Lot Thayer, Onondaga; left the county.
August 3, 1812.--William Thayer, Manlius; died there
September 16, 1865. Rodney Starkweather, Fabius; removed west.
L. H. Colvin, Skaneateles.
(Records are absent until October 22, 1814.)
February 22, 1814.--R. Purve. John Washburn, Manlius;
went south.
October 24, 1815.--Joseph Fish, Onondaga Hill.
Judah B. Hopkins, Skaneateles.
May 28, 1816.--Elijah Park, La Fayette; died 1832.
Jehiel Stevens, Pompey; died there 1878. Ashbel Searle, Otisco; died
September, 1875. Chauncey Williams, La Fayette; died 1855.
John S. King, Pompey; removed west.
October 1, 1816.--Ambrose Bennett, Onondaga Hollow; left
the county. Samuel Healy, Onondaga Hill; died May, 1854.
January 23, 1817.--Liberty Kimberly. Henry Ingersoll.
Warren Patchen.
January 1, 1820.--Saul C. Upson, Eagle Village.
Henry B. Moore, Manlius; removed to Coldwater, Mich., and died there in
December, 1868. Joseph W. Brewster, Onondaga Valley; died September
4, 1869. George W. Fitch, Preble. Joseph Kleb.
June 11, 1822.--Oliver Barber. Schuyler Pulford,
Fayetteville; removed to Wisconsin. L. Gaylord, Otisco. Benjamin
Trumbull, Borodino; died in 1835. Ward Bassett, Manlius; died there
1874. E. Clark, Otisco. J. A. Parker, Syracuse. C. Colvin,
Syracuse; died in 1867.
June 10, 1823.--Benjamin M. Root, Canton; died in 1867.
L. I. Tefft, Marcellus; died May 10, 1880. Augustus Harris, Amboy;
died there. Elijah Kendrick, Elbridge; removed to Columbus, O.
Hugh Gillespie, Jamesville; died September 17, 1836, at Michigan City.
John T. Doran, Apulia. Daniel Dennison, Oran; died September 7, 1854.
R. R. Wheelock. K. R. Lansing. Thaddeus Clark, Pompey.
Josiah Millard, Orville; died in Illinois, 1867.
June 8, 1824.--Ansell Lull, Syracuse; died about 1863.
Orrin Osburn. Harley Hooker; died in Syracuse. John W. Hanchett,
Syracuse; died in Syracuse in October, 1844. J. W. Daniels, Salina;
died there February 26, 1849. Adoija White, Camillus.
June 7, 1825.--Mather Williams, Syracuse; died here February
10, 1868. Eli Botsford, Orville; removed west. Parsons G. Shipman,
Delphi; removed to Rochester. J. De Bois Sherman. Hezekiah Joslyn,
Syracuse; died October 30, 1865. Benjamin L. House. Jonathan
Day, Syracuse; died in 1832, of cholera.
June 13, 1826.--George Smith; Syracuse, died there.
Evilyn H. Porter, Skaneateles; died in September, 1875. James Andrews.
June 12, 1827.--Daniel P. Jones, Baldwinsville; died
there March 29, 1861. Jonathan Stanley, Onondaga. H. Van Dusen,
Tully; removed to Wisconsin. Avery Benedict, Baldwinsville.
February 12, 1828.--George Hooker, Syracuse; removed
to Massachusetts. Alonzo S. Ball, Salina; removed to New York.
Benjamin Carlton, jr., removed to Pompey and died there. D. A. Sherwood,
Jamesville; died October 13, 1864.
June 10, 1828.--E. Kirby Chamberlin, Elbridge; removed
west. A. H. Cowles, Marcellus; died May, 1854. George L. Loomis,
Dewitt; died January 5, 1873. Hiram Adams, Fabius; died March 9,
1865. Rial Wright, Syracuse; removed west. Lyman Sprague, Manlius.
George W. Gowing, Tully; died 1857. Ammon P. Adams, died in 1870
in the West.
February 10, 1829.--Wm. Laughlin, died January 19, 1862.
Peter O. Sherwood, Dewitt; died there. George W. Richards, Camillus;
died in Dubuque, Iowa. Aaron Pitney, Elbridge; died in Chicago.
Jano Wheeler, Elbridge; killed by cars in 1866. Daniel Weston, Pompey.
George Morley, west part of the county. E. Adams.
June 9, 1829.--B. F. Green, Salina; died there.
Wanham Root, Canton; died February, 1847. T. S. Gorham. D.
H. Orcutt.
February 9, 1830.--Lyman Clary, Syracuse; died there.
Franklin Moulton, Syracuse. Samuel Kingsley, South Onondaga; died
December, 1881. Daniel Smith, died in Wisconsin. J. C. Hanchett,
Syracuse; died there.
June 8, 1830.--Addison K. Beckwith, north part of county;
died in Palermro, Oswego county, in 1856. Henry K. Webster, Onondaga;
died in Homer.
February 8, 1831.--Dennis Kennedy, Lysander; died April,
1863. Azariah B. Shipman, Syracuse; died in Paris, France, September
15, 1868. James Riggs, Jordan, died January 19, 1855. ___ Baker.
June 4, 1831.--John Collins, Spafford; died in Syracuse.
February 14, 1832.--Daniel D. Evans. Elijah Lawrence,
Baldwinsville; died January, 1845. John O. Shipman, Fayetteville;
died September 29, 1866. Homer Bacon, Delphi. Harvey Roberts,
Elbridge; died June 18, 1855. ___ Farnsworth, Fayetteville; died
there.
July 6, 1832.--Horatio Smith, Syracuse; died July 24,
1851.
January 29, 1833.--I. W. Fitch, Syracuse. Edward
F. Sing, Syracuse. P. C. Sampson, Syracuse; died April 13, 1865.
S. D. Day, Syracuse; died there. David Wilson, Elbridge; died there
about 1865. Edwin G. Dwyer, Kirkville.
June 11, 1833.--N. R. Tefft, Onondaga; died November
14, 1890. Charles S. Sterling, Liverpool. Lewis Bucter.
Franklyn H. Bangs, Marcellus; removed to New York. Stephen B. Gay,
expelled. David M. Shipman, Manlius; removed to Rochester.
W. A. Marsh, Manlius; removed to Palmyra. Hiram Hoyt, Syracuse; died
February 2, 1864.
January 25, 1834.--Joseph W. Chamberlin; removed west.
June 10, 1834.--Dwight Nims, Manlius. Mordecai
Morton. Charles Mandeville, Mottville; removed to Illinois.
George D. Case.
July 19, 1834.--S. E. Matthewson.
June 9, 1835.--John Goodell, Delphi, deceased.
Abraham T. Van Gaasbeck, Syracuse; suspended.
June 14, 1836.--John Briggs, Manlius; died June 13, 1859.
D. C. Worden, Syracuse; suspended 1859. David Brigham. Adam
Vroman. Michael Phillips, Syracuse; died about 1848. A. P.
Hamill, removed to Phoenix; died October, 1890. Richard R. Davis,
Syracuse; died December 13, 1851.
January 31, 1837.--C. B. Chapman, removed from county.
Levi Bartlett, Skaneateles. James Foran, Syracuse; drowned in 1873.
N. M. Pike, Syracuse; died in 1861. Alfred Clark, Elbridge; died
there.
June 13, 1837.--Darwin E. Hurd, Fayetteville; died there
October, 1873. Curtis J. Hurd, Fayetteville; was a surgeon of the
war of 1812; died at Dewitt, July 10, 1850. Wm. J. Lovejoy, Salina;
died at the Isthmus, 1859.
June 12, 1838.--Daniel Harvey. Samuel M. Farnham,
Tully; suspended 1859. Hiram Wiggins, Cicero; removed to Elbridge.
Wm. H. Kinne, Tully.
June 11, 1839.--James C. Stuart; died in Syracuse March
23, 1870. G. W. Perrine. Andrew H. Newcomb, Salina; died October
18, 1851. Thomas Spencer, Syracuse; died in Philadelphia, May 31,
1857.
January 28, 1840. --W. H. Maxwell, Syracuse; removed
to New York. B. B. Schenck; gave up practice for the ministry.
June 9, 1840.--A. B. Edwards; removed. Ely Cooke,
Truxton; died there. Hays McKinley, north part of the county; died
in Wisconsin in 1880. James S. Johnson, Euclid; died at Moravia,
August 19, 1879. David M. Benson, Geddes; deceased.
January 26, 1841.--Isaac Morrell, Borodino; removed from
county. George F. Hurd, Fayetteville; died in Rochester.
June 8, 1841.--L. D. Gage. E. D. Williams, Syracuse.
T. C. Durant; removed to Canada. L. B. Hall; removed to Ohio.
E. T. Richardson, Tully. John Hart. Milton W. Gray, Lysander.
June 14, 1842.--Wm. Ensworth, Camillus; removed to Wisconsin.
Wm. S. Young. J. Kneeland, Borodino; removed to South Onondaga.
June 13, 1843.--Ira B. Geer. James Chandler, Syracuse;
died in 1883. M. M. Marsh, Manlius; died in New York, 1866.
Silas Bliss, Syracuse, deceased. Joel C. Brown. Abraham Hann,
Syracuse; removed to Little Falls. J. K. Cheesman, Marcellus; removed from
county.
January 28, 1844.--Lyman L. Rose, La Fayette; died in
1867. Amos Westcott, Syracuse; committed suicide while insane, July
6, 1873.
June 11, 1844.--Heton F. Noyes; removed to Minnesota.
Wm. A. Grover, Syracuse; removed to California.
June 10, 1845.--Daniel G. Frisbie, Syracuse; removed
to Iowa. C. W. Boyce; removed to Auburn. Thomas B. Washburn.
Wm. G. Redman, Camillus; removed to Louisville.
June 7, 1847.--John F. Trowbridge, died February 14,
1872. Joseph P. Dunlap, Syracuse. Tobias J. Green, Syracuse;
removed to Oswego county.
January 25, 1848.--James V. Kendall, Baldwinsville.
June 13, 1848.--Harvey T. Tolman, Jamesville. Alexander
J. Dallas, Camillus; removed to Syracuse in 1867.
June 12, 1849.--M. D. Benedict, Skaneateles; came to
Syracuse in 1866 and died there in 1884. Wm. Manlius Smith, Syracuse.
January 29, 1850.--James Wells, Baldwinsville.
June 12, 1850.--Henry P. Coon, Syracuse; removed to California
and died there. John E. Todd, Baldwinsville; died April 22, 1868.
Joel B. Linsley, Salina; died in Central America, February 16, 1852.
January 28, 1851.--Harry Gifford, Salina; dismissed,
1870. Israel Parsons, Marcellus.
June 10, 1851.--H. Emmett Roberts, Marcellus; suspended
1863. Jacob O. Loomis, Van Buren, deceased. Roger W. Pease,
Syracuse; died at his home May 28, 1886. Homer Adams, Tully; died
suddenly in Wisconsin, August 3, 1867.
January 27, 1852.--Horace C. Avery, Kirkville; died in
Fayetteville, 1857. Samuel Avery, Syracuse; gave up practice.
January 14, 1853. Theodore C. Pomeroy; now in Syracuse.
June 13, 1854.--Nelson C. Powers, Syracuse; died August
13, 1875. Judson Candee, Pompey; killed by running horse in 1870.
January 30, 1855.--H. P. Wallace, Baldwinsville; died
there March 10, 1886.
June 12, 1855.--W. W. Porter, Geddes; died June 3, 1885.
June 10, 1856.--Allen V. R. Snyder, Euclid; became blind
in 1861. I. N. Van Slyke, Syracuse; died April 15, 1869, at Burlington,
N. J.
June 9, 1857.--Alfred Mercer, Syracuse. L. D. Clark,
Otisco.
June 8, 1858.--George W. Cook, Cicero; came to Syracuse,
August, 1861. D. V. Van Slyke, Syracuse; removed from county.
S. M. Higgins, Memphis; died 1889.
January 31, 1860.--H. B. Wilbur, Syracuse; died May 1,
1883. Horace Nims, Manlius; died in December, 1894.
June 12, 1860.--Robert Treat Paine, Jordan; removed to
Lockport and died January 26, 1868. Wm. H. Palmer, Syracuse; went
to the war but did not return.
June 11, 1861.--Henry Darwin Didama, Salina; removed
to Syracuse in 1864. Hiland A. Weed, Jordan
June 10, 1862.--George W. Draper, Clay; removed to Geddes,
1869 and to Pueblo, 1888.
June 9, 1863.--J. Phelps Shumway, Baldwinsville.
June 14, 1864.--F. M. Byington, Fayetteville; removed
to Kentucky in 1874 and died there in 1877.
January 31, 1865.--W. O. Luce, Elbridge; removed to Auburn
1876. George W. Earll, Skaneateles; died in 1889. Wm. A. Bennett,
Syracuse; removed to Massachusetts. L. C. Skinner, Belle Isle; died
December 11, 1887.
January 30, 1866.--George B. Barrus, Navarino.
Theron Bradford, Syracuse. J. O. Slocum, Syracuse; removed to Camillus
in 1867 and died March 5, 1885. I. H. Searl, Syracuse; died in 1893.
W. Kempster, Syracuse; removed to Utica and was assistant superintendent
in insane asylum. J. N. Arnold, Elbridge; removed to Clyde.
E. C. Spaulding, Fabius; removed to Chicago. James P. Kimball, Pompey;
went into the U. S. service.
June 12, 1866.--Gregory Doyle, Syracuse. James
A. Mowris, La Fayette.
January 29, 1867.--J. Otis Burt, Syracuse. William
T. Plant, Syracuse. Henry Crouse, Syracuse; deceased.
June 11, 1867.--J. W. Lawton, Syracuse; died June 3,
1884. M. H. Blynn, Cicero; died December 10, 1883. S. M. Potter,
Manlius; removed to Cazenovia. O. E. Wainwright, Syracuse; killed
in Central Baptist church disaster, June 23, 1874.
January 28, 1868.--Charles Bliss, Syracuse; removed to
Massachusetts. Wm. Taylor, Pompey; left the county in 1869.
James E. Carr, Jordan. Edwin A. Knapp, Jamesville.
June 9, 1868.--J. D. Potter, Delphi. Leslie Martin,
Lysander; withdrew 1877. F. A. Strong, Brewerton. Wm. M. Bradford;
moved to Cortland county, 1869, settled in Marathon, 1871. J. H.
Graves, Manlius; came to Syracuse in 1881.
January 26, 1869.--James Durward, Otisco; removed to
Indiana. Howard M. Haskell, Onondaga Hill; came to Syracuse in 1870,
and left there the next year. M. M. McDonald, La Fayette; withdrew
in 1874. Henry B Allen, Baldwinsville.
June 8, 1869.--John Van Duyn, Syracuse. George
T. Campbell, Skaneateles; died February 13, 1882. Van Dyke Tripp,
Borodino. James H. Gleason, Salina; left the county in 1870 and died
from poison accidentally. Merritt B. Fairchild, Syracuse.
January 25, 1870.--E V Cuykendall, La Fayette.
E. Van de Warker, Syracuse. A. L. Turner, Onondaga; removed to Pennsylvania
in 1870. James Whitford, Onondaga Valley.
June 14, 1870.--E. E. Carrier, Liverpool; died August,
1870. Isaac Butler, Syracuse.
June 13, 1871.--A. D. Felton, Syracuse; removed to Saratoga
in May, 1873, and thence to Cedarville, N. J. George Whedon, Syracuse;
expelled.
January 30, 1874.--W. W. Morrison, Otisco. Charles
H. Richmond, Syracuse; removed March, 1872. Daniel Terry, Syracuse;
died August 23, 1878. T. E. Quimby, Fayetteville. Henry Laning,
Syracuse; gone to Japan.
June 11, 1872.--Robert B. Wagner, Syracuse; in U. S.
service. H. B. Pritchard, Euclid; removed to Cicero. E. S.
Mumford, Syracuse. Joseph Herne, jr., Syracuse; removed to New York.
September 10, 1872.--Frank H. Butler, Syracuse.
September 9, 1873.--W. R. Johnson, Syracuse.
January 28, 1874.--J. Wiltsie Knapp, Geddes.
April 7, 1874.--C. W. Morse, Syracuse; removed to Michigan.
Edward B. Stearns, Syracuse; removed to Ohio. Arthur S. Hall, Syracuse;
died May, 1876. Orson G. Dibble, Pompey.
June 9, 1874.--L. F. Weaver, Syracuse. Lucius Stevens,
Syracuse; died in Colorado, July, 1884. Frank C. Clarke, Apulia;
removed to Cuyler. F. J. Holcombe, Syracuse. G. W. Earle, Tully.
September 8, 1874.--Wm. A. Chapin, Liverpool; died in
1881. James Willoughby Phillips, Syracuse; removed to Philadelphia
in 1875.
January 26, 1875.--John F. Place, Syracuse; removed to
Madison county in 1879. Amos S. Edwards, Syracuse. Horace F.
Hatch, Syracuse; died September 2, 1876.
June 8, 1875.--H. D. Hunt, Spafford; removed to Cortland
county. Abel C. Benedict, Syracuse.
September, 1875.--Erastus B. Phillips, Syracuse; died
in 1888.
January 25, 1876.--C. M. Trenchard, Syracuse; removed
to Philadelphia. Edgar C. Skinner, Belle Island.
April 11, 1876.--Edwin G. Bush, Syracuse. H. C.
Crowell, East Syracuse; left the State in 1881.
June 13, 1876.--Sumner Rhoades, Syracuse; died June 20,
1877. Anthony B. Magee, Syracuse; removed to Massachusetts, 1879.
January 30, 1877.--John S. Marshall, Syracuse; removed
to Chicago. David M. Totman, Syracuse.
September 25, 1877.--Edwin R. Maxson, Syracuse.
January 29, 1878.--John W. Brown, Mottville. U.
Higgins Brown, Syracuse. Joel G. Justin, Syracuse.
April 9, 1878.--Margaret Stanton, Syracuse.
June 18, 1878.--Alfred Clifford Mercer, Syracuse.
September 10, 1878.--Robert Aberdein, Syracuse.
Horace D. Babcock, Syracuse; died 1894.
January 28, 1879.--Nathan Jacobson, Syracuse. Garrison
Lee Brown, Baldwinsville; removed to Euclid. Carrie A. Hatch, Syracuse.
April 8, 1879.--George A. Edwards, Syracuse. Henry
L. Elsner, Syracuse. Henry W. Post, Marcellus; removed to Springfield,
Mass. C. E. Billington, Manlius.
September 16, 1879.--J. A. McLoughlin, Syracuse; removed
to New York in 1881.
January 27, 1880.--G. w. Sargent, Skaneateles; removed
to Cayuga county.
June 8, 1880.--J. H. Coe, Syracuse. Charles E.
Slocum, Syracuse; left the city in 1882.
June 14, 1881.--M. G. Rood, Onondaga Hill.
September 13, 1881.--Susan J. Taber, Skaneateles; removed
to Pennsylvania.
April 18, 1882.--N. Wilbur, Fayetteville.
June 12, 1882.--John W. Fry, Syracuse.
January 30, 1883.--F. H. Stephenson, Syracuse.
John Lorenzo Heffron, Syracuse.
April 24, 1883.--L. P. Deming, Syracuse. H. Blair
Frazee, Elbridge. Leonard A. Saxer, Syracuse.
September 11, 1883.--B. F. Chase, East Syracuse.
Charles F. Wright, Syracuse
January 29, 1884.--F. O. Donohue, Syracuse. H.
B. Wright, Skaneateles. Gaylord P. Clark, Syracuse. Wm. H.
Maynard, South Onondaga; moved to Syracuse.
April 22, 1884.--Albert A. Aldrich, Onondaga; removed
to Addison. F. W. Smith, Syracuse.
January 27, 1885.--George Bloomer, Syracuse. Samuel
G. Ellis, Syracuse.
June 16, 1885.--A. B. Miller, Geddes. Leon Owen,
Syracuse.
September 14, 1886.--E. S. Sampson, Plank Road.
C. S. Roberts, Syracuse.
January 25, 1887.--E. S. Maxson, Syracuse.
April 12, 1887.--Emory A. Didama, removed to Cortland.
September 13, 1887.--E. L. Mooney, Syracuse. B.
P. Wright, Syracuse. Wm. J. Ayling, Syracuse.
January 31, 1888.--Fred W. Slocum, Camillus. Dwight
H. Murray, Syracuse.
June 12, 1888.--Roderick C. McLennan, Syracuse.
Frederick W. Sears, Syracuse. H. H. Pease, Syracuse. Earll
W. Smith, Syracuse.
January 29, 1889.--Clara Smith, Syracuse. F. W.
Marlow, Syracuse.
April 16, 1889.--David Gilliland, Marcellus. George
M. Price, Syracuse. William B. Breed, Syracuse.
June 12, 1889.--R. A. Whitney, Liverpool.
September 8, 1889.--James O. Longstreet, La Fayette.
October 1, 1889.--J. F. Munn, James T. Michaels, Thomas
H. Halsted and John W. Whitney.
January 28, 1890.--Daniel L. McNamara, John F. Boynton.
April, 1890.--Charles Edgar Heaton, J. M. Robson.
September, 1890.--S. F. Snow, Emma A. Runion.
September, 1891.--D. A. Kellogg, Theresa Bannan, O. A.
Thomas, I. M. Slingerland.
April 19, 1892.--H. D. Merwin, Cicero; J. C. Roth, W.
J. Werfelman, Franklin Kaufman, A. B. Breese, Juliet E. Hanchett, N. F.
Vadeboncoeur, Charles H. Daman, William H. May, Thomas B. Dwyer, Charles
H. Benson, Brace W. Loomis, George T. Head, Charles Lynch, A. D. Head,
S. B. Craton, Syracuse; W. H. McDowell, Tully; Frank R. Coe, Warners; N.
Cavenor, Camillus; A. B. Rood, Manlius Station; Allen Cone, J. C. Carson,
Syracuse.
June, 1892.--C. E. McClary, John Shoudy.
January, 1893.--Wm. M. F. Nelson, A. G. Doust, Kate Hathaway.
April, 1893.--O. W. Oberlander, A. W. Marsh, H. E. Richardson.
September, 1893.--Charles M. Magee, D. W. Burdick.
December, 1893.--Gervas M. Wasse.
March, 1894.--P. Melfi, Hiram B. Hawley, Frank McMorrow,
S. Ellis Crane.
May, 1894.--Wm. A. Curtin, John A. Belch, D. J. McLaughlin,
Chas. L. Parker.
September, 1894.--J. Harris Levy.
December, 1894.--E. J. Wynkoop, E. B. Marvin, M. J. Williams.
May, 1895.--J. H. Burch, John R. Harding.
September, 1895.--W. C. Kellog, Louis K. Peck.
Syracuse Medical Association.--In 1847 occurred the first meeting of medical men in Syracuse for discussion of medical subjects. In that year there was an epidemic of typhus fever, which followed the canal, and visited Syracuse. A hospital had been erected at "Wide Waters," and placed under the charge of Dr. J. P. Dunlap. During this epidemic Dr. Dunlap and others, notably Drs. Stuart and Samson, met informally to discuss subjects pertaining to the epidemic.
Although cholera visited Syracuse in 1854, there is no evidence that the physicians of the city even met to discuss it.
The first organization of the city's medical men was effected November 22, 1858, and the society was called The City Medical Association. This is a partial record of the first meeting:
CITY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
A meeting of the members of the medical profession of the city convened at the office of Dr. A. B. Shipman on Tuesday evening last for the purpose of forming a City Medical Association, and organized by appointing Dr. A. B. Shipman president and Dr. R. W. Pease secretary.
The president appointed Dr. Alfred Mercer a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the regulation of the association, to be reported at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned to meet at the same place--Dr. Shipman's office--on the following Thursday evening.
The minutes of the association have been lost, and the scant records of the association's meetings are to be found in the daily papers of that time.
In January, 1859, Dr. Pease read a paper on Pneumonia. During the discussion which followed, Dr. Mercer emphasized the doctrine of Vis Medicatrix Naturae, and begged the meeting to remember it in boasting of the efficiency of remedies.
At the next meeting Dr. Foran read an essay on Vaccination.
In December Dr. Didama read a paper on "Acetate of Potash in Acute Rheumatism." This paper has been preserved and a copy filed as the first of the essays of the Academy.
Following this there is no record of another meeting of the association until 1866. The Civil war enlisted the services of many of the members, and drowned the interest of those left in the society, so that the association ceased to exist.
Cholera reappeared in 1866, and stirred the doctors of the city to reorganize.
A daily newspaper gives the following record of the events of reorganization:
A meeting of the Doctors was called for January 13, 1866, at the office of Dr. Benedict, in Convention block, to take action on a "Movement to effect sanitary improvements and to prevent and mitigate Cholera," which devised and adopted a resolution that it was desirous and wise to organize a Council of Hygiene and Citizen's Association for that purpose, appointing Drs. Didama, Foran, Dunlap, A. B. Shipman, Cook and Mercer a committee to perfect plans of organization, and report at the next meeting.
The adjourned meeting was held January 17, at the office of Dr. Shipman, when it was resolved to organize a Council of Hygiene, to consist of, president, Dr. A. B. Shipman;' vice-president, Dr. H. D. Didama; secretary, Dr. R. W. Pease; consulting committee, Drs. James Foran, A. Mercer, M. D. Benedict, G. W. Cook and W. Kempster.
At this meeting a proposition was made for the reorganization of the City Medical Association, which was adopted, and the meeting adjourned to meet at the residence of Dr. Pease on January 24, to complete the reorganization of the City Medical Association.
The City Medical Association reorganized January 24, 1826, with the following officers: President, Dr. A. B. Shipman; vice-president, Dr. Lake J. Tefft; secretary, Dr. J. Otis Burt. Dr. Foran was appointed to read an essay on Cholera.
Following is a list of the physicians who have joined this association from the date of its reorganization to the present, with dates when most of them became members:
1866--A. B. Shipman, L. I. Tefft, James Foran, H. D. Didama,
R. W. Pease, M. D. Benedict, W. Kempster, J. A. Mowris, W. A. Bennett,
Henry Crouse, I. H. Searl, Alfred Mercer, George W. Cook, J. P. Dunlap,
I. O. Burt, W. W. Porter.
1868--J. W. Lawton, A. J. Dallas, J. F. Trowbridge.
1869--W. T. Plant, S. B. Gay, M. B. Fairchild, Ely Van
der Warker, Gregory Doyle.
1870--N. C. Powers.
1871--M. M. McDonald, E. S. Mumford, D. Terry, Charles
H. Richmond, A. D. Felter, Henry Laning.
1872--Frank H. Butler.
1873--Elisha George, Lucius Stevens.
1874--Arthur L. Hall, J. W. Knapp, John Van Duyn, Edward
B. Stevens, W. R. Johnson.
1875--Horace F. Hatch, Amos S. Edwards, C. W. Morse.
1876--Sumner Rhoades, L. F. Weaver, E. R. Maxson, George
R. Metcalf, John S. Marshall.
1879--Brace W. Loomis, Margaret Stanton, D. M. Totman,
Nathan Jacobson, Henry L. Elsner, A. C. Benedict, A. F. Vandeboncoeur,
George C. Edwards.
1880--Morris H. Conner, Henry Gifford, jr., U. H. Brown,
Jerome H. Coe, Carrie A. Hatch.
1881--Charles E. Slocum, A. C. Mercer.
1882--Leonard A. Saxer, Samuel C. Ellis, William Davis,
F. W. Smith, C. L. Roberts.
1883--F. A. Stephenson, Miller E. Dann, Lewis P. Deming,
John L. Heffron, Judson J. Taylor, Mary W. Case, W. H. Mills.
1884--William J. Ayling, A. D. Head.
1885--F. W. Marlow, O. A. Thomas, R. C. Hanchett.
1886--Arthur A. Breese, George R. Kinney, J. J. Moore,
E. A. Didama, Edwin S. Maxson, John W. Whitney, W. B. Breed, Fred W. Sears,
W. H. Maynard, James L. Jarvis, H. D. Murray.
1887--Scott Owen, Earll W. Smith, A. B. Miller, Julia
E. Hanchett, B. P. Wright, F. O. Donohue, Daniel McNamara, Charles Wright,
E. L. Mooney.
1888--Emma A. Runnion, Franklin John Kaufman.
1889--G. M. Price, T. H. Halsted, Joseph C. Roth, George
W. Draper.
1890--Katherine A. Hathaway, G. M. Wasse, C. E. Billington,
J. F. Munn, C. N. Daman, A. J. Campbell, N. P. Warner, deceased.
1891--O. W. Oberlander, A. G. Doust, S. F. Snow.
1892--C. E. McClary.
1893--Thomas B. Dwyer, C. H. Ransom, Marcena G. Rood.
1895--Theresa Bannan, F. C. Williams.
Further records of this association from the date of its organization to 1875 are not in existence as far as ascertained, but during that period meetings were held with commendable regularity and were generally well attended. An election of officers took place at the residence of Dr. M. D. Benedict on the 29th of December, 1874, resulting as follows: Dr. Gregory Doyle, president; Dr. E. B. Stevens, vice-president; Dr. George W. Cook, treasurer; Dr. Frank H. Butler, secretary. Dr. M. B. Fairchild had held the office of president just preceding this election, and read at this meeting a paper on "Ventilation."
During the year 1875 small-pox raged in Syracuse and caused many deaths. A small conflict occurred in 1877 between the Board of Health and the physicians over the fact that four members of the association were sued for false imprisonment, the suit being based upon the shutting up of a patient in the pest house, and a verdict of $500 was obtained against one of the defendants. The physicians strongly protested against this proceeding in a series of resolutions, and against being "thus liable to be dragged into court by the caprice and venality of every aggrieved person upon real or imaginary wrongs."
The officers of the association for 1876 were as follows: President, E. B. Stevens; vice-president, F. H. Butler; secretary, E. S. Mumford; treasurer, A. S. Hall.
Officers elected for 1877 were Dr. F. H. Butler, president; Dr. E. S. Mumford, vice-president; Dr. J. S. Marshall, secretary and treasurer. At the meeting held April 17 of this year, Drs. Metcalf, E. S. Mumford, and J. S. Marshall were elected delegates to the meeting of the Central New York Medical Society. Dr. G. W. Cook read an able and exhaustive paper on the sanitary condition of the city schools at the meeting of May 29, 1877. This paper was the outcome of the thorough investigation of the condition of the school buildings by a committee of physicians. The paper was published and resulted in considerable improvement in the sanitary arrangements of several of the schools.
At the meeting of December 15, 1877, the following officers were elected for 1878: Dr. E. S. Mumford, president; Dr. John Van Duyn, vice-president; Dr. J. S. Marshall, secretary and treasurer.
There are no records of meetings held from April 2, 1878, to February 11, 1879, on which date the following officers were elected: Dr. John Van Duyn, president; Dr. George E. Metcalf, vice-president; Dr. Nathan Jacobson, secretary and treasurer. After this date the meetings of the association were generally held at residences of the members.
The next meeting, according to the records, was held January 21, 1880. Dr. Van Duyn continued as president, and Dr. Jacobson as secretary and treasurer. At a meeting held in the following spring, the president congratulated the association on the general success and attendance during the preceding winter.
At the meeting of December 21, 1880, the following officers were elected for 1881: Dr. George R. Metcalf, president; Dr. Ely Van de Warker, vice-president; Dr. Nathan Jacobson, secretary and treasurer. At the meeting of January 4, Dr. Alfred Mercer read an address which had previously been presented to the Common Council, embodying the mortuary statistics of the three preceding years, with tables showing the location of deaths, the favorite month for certain diseases, ages selected, etc. It was shown that twenty per cent of deaths occur from phthisis. The entire percentage of deaths was about thirteen per thousand of population.
Dr. Lucius Stevens was elected president of the association in 1882 and Dr. Jacobson continued as secretary and treasurer. At the meeting of January 3, the retiring president, Dr. Metcalf, read a paper treating upon the subject of the proper requirements of the society, the demands it should make upon its members, the methods to secure its reformation and elevate it to a high standard.
At the meeting of December 19, 1882, the following officers were elected for the succeeding year: Dr. A. C. Mercer, president; Dr. Jerome H. Coe, vice-president; Dr. N. Jacobson, secretary and treasurer. Officers for 1884 were: Dr. Jerome H. Coe, president; Dr. H. L. Elsner, vice-president; Dr. W. H. Mills, secretary and treasurer.
At a meeting held on February 26, 1884, at the residence of Dr. H. D. Didama, Dr. A. C. Mercer read an able paper on the "The Theory of Microscopic Vision." Officers elected for 1885 at the meeting of January 20, were as follows: Dr. H. L. Elsner, president; and Dr. J. L. Heffron, vice-president; Dr. W. F. Marlow, secretary and treasurer. A special meeting was held January 8, at which action was taken on the death of Dr. M. D. Benedict.
At a meeting held in January, Dr. Van Duyn presented a map of a large portion of the city, with marks showing the location of deaths from 1879 to 1884, inclusive, different kinds of marks indicating the character of the disease causing the death, and accompanied by an explanatory paper. This map, with the text of the paper, was engraved and printed in the Syracuse Herald, and was most favorably received, not only by the physicians of the city, but by the city authorities and the community.
At the meeting on January 5, 1886, the following officers were elected: Dr. J. L. Heffron, president; Dr. D. M. Totman, vice-president; Dr. W. J. Ayling, secretary and treasurer. Early in this year the association opened up a discussion of the question of city water supply, which was participated in by several members and undoubtedly contributed its share towards subsequent agitation which has accomplished the object of giving to Syracuse an ample supply of pure water. A special meeting was held on April 24 at the College of Medicine, where this important topic again received a free discussion, and the following resolution was adopted;
Resolved, That the health of our citizens is jeopardized by offensive and noxious and unflushed sewers and by the use of drinking water drawn from contaminated wells, and all wells in crowded cities are likely to be contaminated by sewage and filtrations from stables and out houses, and believing also that an abundant supply of good water is essential to prevent sickness, to protect property and promote the prosperity of the city, and believing, furthermore, that Skaneateles lake is the best available source from whence such supply can be obtained, the Syracuse Medical Association earnestly advises our citizens to vote on the 4th of June that this Skaneateles lake water, the best for the people, shall be procured by the people and owned by the people of the city.
Officers elected from 1887 at a meeting held December 21, 1886, were as follows: Dr. D. M. Totman, president; Dr. F. H. Stephenson, vice-president; Dr. W. J. Ayling, secretary and treasurer. The retiring president read an address on "Cholelithiasis."
The officers elected for 1888 were Dr. D. M. Totman, re-elected president; Dr. F. H. Stephenson, vice-president; Dr. J. P. Deming, secretary and treasurer.
Early in the year the care of the insane occupied the attention of the society and the subject was fully discussed in all of its features, particularly the proposed legislation by the State.
The officers of the association since 1888 have been as follows;
1889--President, N. Jacobson; vice-president, F. H. Stephenson;
secretary and treasurer, Geo. M. Price.
1890--President, Florince O. Donohue; vice-president,
F. H. Stephenson; secretary and treasurer, Geo. M. Price.
1891--President, F. H. Stephenson; vice-president, N.
P. Warner; secretary and treasurer, H. H. Pease.
1893--President, N. P. Warner; vice-president, Thos.
H. Halsted; secretary and treasurer, S. B. Craton.
The officers held office until early in 1894 when the association resolved to disband and reorganize under another name as shown a little further on.
Among the more important papers read before the association by its members were the following:
"New Remedies," Dr. Mumford, January 25, 1876. "Code of Medical Ethics," Dr. Plant, April 4, 1876. "Cases of Puerperal Convulsions," Dr. A. Mercer, May 18, 1876. "Typhoid Fever," Dr. Didama, May 21, 1876. "Diphtheria," Dr. Van Duyn, December 12, 1876. "Thrombosis," Dr. A. Mercer, December 26, 1876. "Pathology of Uterine Flexions," Dr. Van de Warker, January 23, 1877. "Shoulder and other Mal-transverse Presentations," Dr. A. Mercer, February 6, 1877. "Digitalis in Heart and Kidney Diseases," Dr. Didama, March 20, 1877. "Hygienic and Sanitary Condition of our Schools," Dr. Cook, May 29, 1877 (this paper was the outcome of a thorough investigation of the school buildings by a committee of physicians, and resulted in a change for the better). "Quinine as an Antiseptic," Dr. Metcalf, November 27, 1877. "Diphtheria," Dr. Maxson, December 15, 1877, and "Paralysis," January 21, 1880. "The Sulphate of Copper in Croup," Dr. Cook, January 15, 1878. "The Teeth of the Present Generation," Dr. J. S. Marshall, March 19, 1878. "Pure and impure Waters," Dr. Englehardt, March 11, 1879. "Enlarged Tonsils," Dr. Coe, January 18, 1881. "Myxodema," Dr. A. C. Mercer, February 15, 1881. "Ergot in Labor," Dr. A. Mercer, December 19, 1882. "Prevention of the Spread of Disease," Dr. Didama, February 13, 1883. "A Fatal Case of Mastoid Abscess," Dr. U. H. Brown, March 6, 1883. "Mental Therapeutics in General Practice," Dr. Coe, November 25, 1884. "Tonsilitis," Dr. N. Jacobson. "Hysteric Paralysis," Dr. Elsner, January 19, 1886. "Infantile Diarrhoea," Dr. Mills, October 19, 1886. "Pathology on Diabetes," Dr. Stephenson, November 2, 1885. "Prophylaxis of Typhoid Fever," Dr. Roberts, November 23, 1886. "Antiseptic Surgery," Dr. Totman, December 7, 1886. "The Artificial Drumhead," Dr. U. H. Brown, February 1, 1887. "Cholelithiasis," Dr. John L. Heffron, December, 1887. "Care of the Insane," Dr. A. C. Benedict, February 21, 1888. "Intestinal Obstruction," Dr. Mills, March 20, 1888. "Spasmodic Asthma," Dr. Babcock, November 20, 1888. "Cataract Operation with Iridectomy," Dr. Brown, October 22, 1889. "Electricity in Gynecology," Dr. Van de Warker, February 11, 1890. "Electricity in Nervous Diseases," Dr. Elsner, same date. "Universal Manifestations of Tuberculosis," Dr. Halsted, February 25, 1890. "The High School and the Health of our Girls," Dr. John L. Heffron, January 17, 1893.
Many papers and useful discussions have also been heard in 1894-5, since the reorganization as the Syracuse Academy of Medicine.
On the 16th of January, 1894, the Syracuse Medical Association resolved to disband and reorganize under the name of The Syracuse Academy of Medicine. This was done and the academy was legally incorporated on the 1st day of February, 1894. A new constitution and by-laws were adopted, which state the objects of the academy to be:
First--The cultivation and advancement of the Science of Medicine, and
the maintenance of a library.
Second--The promotion of public health.
Third--The maintenance of the honor and character of the medical profession.
The date of the annual meeting is the first Tuesday in December in each year and regular meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. The officers of the academy for 1894 were as follows:
President, Henry D. Didama; vice-presidents, Alfred Mercer, John Van Duyn; secretary, Thomas H. Halsted; treasurer, Edward L. Mooney; council, above officers and Dr. Ely Van de Warker and Dr. Newell P. Warner; trustees, John L. Heffron, Dwight H. Murray, Frank A. Stephenson, Henry L. Elsner, Roderick C. McLennan.
The officers for 1895 are as follows;
President, Alfred Mercer; vice-presidents, John Van Duyn, Ely Van de Warker; secretary, Thomas H. Halsted; treasurer, Edward L. Mooney; council, above officers and Drs. John L. Heffron and Henry L. Elsner; trustees, Henry D. Didama, Roderick C. McLennan, Dwight H. Murray; Newell P. Warner (died September 16, 1895), and George M. Price.
The bequest of Dr. A. B. Shipman becoming available, the academy joined with the County Medical Society, leased rooms in the Larned building, furnished appropriately, established a library and reading room, and now for the first time, the profession has a home of its own for its meetings.
Syracuse Medical College,--In 1809 medical instruction was given in the literary academy established in Fairfield, Herkimer county, ten miles north of Little Falls. In 1812 the State granted a charter to this school under the descriptive and imposing title of 'The College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of the State of New York." This was the sixth medical school organized in the United States. By the advent of public highways it was so completely isolated that in 1839 it closed its doors. The eminent teachers who had kept students on its benches against such great disadvantages, with the students and the properties which it had accumulated, were transferred, in a large part, to the Geneva Medical School, which had been chartered in 1834. In 1840 the faculty of Geneva Medical College included, with others, the names of such men as Willard Parker, Charles B. Coventry, Thomas Spencer, James Hadley, John Delamater, and Frank H. Hamilton, all men of the first rank, and several of whom have been recognized as authorities in medicine and in surgery by two continents.
In 1872 Geneva Medical College had been so shorn of its strength by competition with those schools more fortunately and more accessibly situated, and by the changing methods of instruction, that the faculty gladly accepted a proposition from the Board of Trustees of Syracuse University, then just started, to move the college to this city and incorporate it as one of the colleges making up the university. This was speedily accomplished, and for twenty-three years the College of Medicine has fulfilled its purpose of offering to ambitious young men and young women the best opportunities for higher medical education.
When the Medical College became a part of Syracuse University it graded its courses, lengthened its term, and increased the number of years of study, and in so doing was the third in the United States to thus advance the standard of education in medicine. It has held to its high edicts through thick and through thin, and to-day is rewarded by the proud consciousness that its work is known from one end of the land to the other, and that its diploma is recognized as a testimonial of absolute merit.
In June, 1895, a committee of the Medical College faculty, of which Dr. Gaylord P. Clark was chairman, waited on the Board of Trustees of the university and asked that steps be taken toward the erection of a new building. Plans which had been prepared were presented, and finally the embers of the committee were instructed to build as soon as they had raised sufficient money. Very soon afterward subscriptions to the building fund reached an aggregate of $40,000; among the contributors being E. F. Holden, Hon. James J. Belden, Judge Charles Andrews, Hon. Francis Hendricks, Edwin Nottingham and Messrs. Weeks and Archbold. A little later the construction of a handsome and commodious brick and stone building, facing Orange street, between East Genesee and Fayette, was commenced, to be completed in 1896. It occupies the site upon which the former Medical College stood, and will cost in the neighborhood of $75,000.
The influence of this college upon the profession of medicine in Syracuse and vicinity has been to stimulate all physicians to attain the highest possible degree of professional excellence. It is believed that no city of this size is better served in general medical and surgical practices and in surgical specialties. The faculty, of which Henry D. Didama, M. D., LL. D., is dean, is composed of many of the leading physicians and surgeons in Syracuse.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Dr. Jehiel Stearns was born in Rockingham, Vt., February 6, 1790; graduated from the Medical College at Dartmouth with high honors and was a surgeon in the war of 1812. He settled in Pompey in 1815, and in the following year became a member of the Onondaga County Medical Society. He was particularly distinguished as a surgeon and performed many notable operations. "He was thoroughly upright in his profession, scorning all tricks and sham and pretense, which never secure distinction, though it might obtain notoriety." He died October 8, 1879.
Dr. Hezekiah L. Granger was born in Suffolk, Conn., in 1780, and was a son of Dr. Amos Granger, under whose instruction principally he acquired a knowledge of his profession. After a short period of practice with his father he removed to Litchfield, N. Y. Soon afterward he was offered a partnership with Dr. Joseph White, a distinguished physician of Cherry Valley, which he accepted. This gave him ample opportunity for advancement, of which he was prompt to avail himself, especially in surgery, to which he was partial. In 1810 he settled in Manlius, and there enjoyed a high degree of success until his death, May 26, 1828, at the age of forty-eight years. Although cut down in his prime, Dr. Granger gained a wide reputation both as a physician and a public man. He held several minor offices...and was elected to the Legislature in 1814.
Dr. Harvey Roberts was born in Danbury, Conn., January 11, 1798. His father removed early into the town of Elbridge, where the son attended school and for a time served as clerk in a store. After a period spent in the West he returned and taught school in Elbridge, and about the same time began studying medicine. He attended lectures at Fairfield and received a diploma January 15, 1827. Returning to Elbridge, he began practice as a partner with Dr. Truman Adams, which continued about three years. After that he practiced by himself until 1844, achieving professional success and becoming somewhat prominent in local public affairs. In the year just named he removed from his country home into Elbridge village and there resided until his death. His biographer speaks of him as a strict adherent to professional ethics, a public-spirited citizen and a warm and faithful friend. He died June 18, 1855.
Dr. Jared Wheeler was born in Pomfret, Conn., September 1, 1793. When he was twelve years old his father died, and he was left to depend on his own exertions. It is not known when or with whom he began studying medicine, but in Aurora he studied during a period and attended lectures at Fairfield, where he obtained a license to practice. Returning to Cayuga county, he practiced a year or two at Sennett and then took up his permanent residence in Elbridge. There he practiced over forty years, enduring the hardships inseparable from a physician's life in a new country. He joined the County Medical Society in February, 1829, and was a faithful member. "His sense of medical honor was keen and he found his diagnosis after a careful examination." He united with the congregational church of Elbridge in 1825, and was chosen trustee of Munro Academy in 1834. Dr. Wheeler was killed on the cars near Erie, Pa.
Dr. Hezekiah Clarke was born in Lebanon, Conn., December 19, 1757. His father was a physician and his ancestors came to America in 1640, settled at Hartford, Conn. His maternal grandmother was a sister of President Jonathan Edwards. He studied medicine with his father and at the age of twenty-one years was appointed surgeon's mate in the 3d Connecticut Regiment of the Army of the Revolution. He rendered efficient and valuable service in the war, and particularly at the attack of the British on Fort Griswold. Soon after the war he settled in Pittsfield, Mass., where he remained one year, after which he married and located in Lanesborough, Mass. During the following eighteen years he devoted himself to his profession in that place and in 1805 removed to Pompey, where he arrived on the 3d of November. He remained at Pompey Hill one year and then settled on a farm two miles southeast of the Hill, where he continued his professional labor. He had a large practice and was especially eminent as a surgeon. In the spotted fever epidemic, as it was termed, of 1813-14, his services were so extensive as to finally prostrate him, and he was in one instance carried on a bed to the couch of a patient. Dr. Clarke took a deep interest in the public affairs of his adopted town and was a member of the first board of trustees of the academy. He was father of eight children who grew to maturity. His death occurred March 4, 1826.
Dr. Hiram Hoyt was born in St. Johnsbury, Vt., on April 27, 1800, the fifth of seven sons and in the eleventh of thirteen children born to William Hoyt, who emigrated to St. Johnsbury from Concord, Mass., soon after the Revolution. His mother was a native of Vermont. He began his medical studies in the office of Dr. Josiah Mills in St. Johnsbury, where he continued for a year, and was three years with Dr. Jarnett. He took his degree from Dartmouth Medical Lecture Institute, and began practice in Montpelier, Vt., with Dr. Adams. After five of six years of practice in various places in New England, in 1832 he came to Syracuse, where he resided until his death. Dr. Hoyt's was a forceful character; He was a hard worker, a close student, and filled with ardor for his profession. He became prominent more as a surgeon than as a physician, and for many years was a leader if not the head of that branch of the local profession, in which he was a fearless operator and ready with expedients. In 1846 he read a report before the Onondaga County Medical College on Homoeopathy. He was married, in 1826, to Miss McKiege of Boston, and their children were two sons and two daughters. Dr. Hoyt died February 28, 1874.
Dr. Levi Bartlett was born in Warren, N. H., October 4, 1806, and was a grandson of Joshua Bartlett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1827, studied medicine and located in Skaneateles in 1838. There he practiced nearly fifty years, acquiring a large practice and gaining a high reputation for skill and integrity. He was compelled to relinquish practice eight years prior to his death on account of failing health. He died June 22, 1892.
Dr. Nathan Redington Tefft was born in Greenwich, Washington county, N. Y.; December 25, 1808. He was reared by his maternal grandfather, receiving a good common school education, after which he taught to obtain means for attendance at the Lansingburgh Academy. He settled in Marcellus in the fall of 1827, and entered the office of his brother, Dr. Lake I. Tefft, as a student. With the exception of two winters in teaching school and a few months under tutorship of Drs. Hopkins and Porter of Skaneateles, he remained with his brother until the spring of 1831, when he removed to Onondaga Hill and continued study with Dr. Samuel Healy. In the winter of 1832-3 he attended lectures in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and in the following spring he received a diploma from the State Medical Society. Returning to Onondaga Hill he formed a partnership with Dr. Healy which continued two years when the senior retired, leaving Dr. Tefft an extensive practice. For fifty years he was physician to the county poorhouse, and was secretary of the County Medical Society in 1838-47. In 1862 he was appointed surgeon of the 122d Regiment in which he served two years, retiring on account of ill health. He was elected to the Legislature in 1869 and declined a renomination. He joined the Onondaga County Medical Society in 1833, and in 1883 was tendered a banquet by the society in honor of his fifty years of membership. His death took place November 19, 1890. He was father of Edward S. Tefft of Syracuse. It has been written of Dr. Tefft that "he led a very useful life as a physician and as a member of society. A close student and an indefatigable practitioner, a person of good ability and of excellent judgment, a courteous gentleman, a good surgeon, a safe physician, a satisfactory counselor, and an honest man."
Dr. John Wilkes Hanchett was a son of Capt. Oliver Hanchett, whose ancestry came over from Plymouth, England in 1630. His grandfather was Lieut. John Hanchett, a hero of the old Indian wars, and Capt. Oliver gained his military title as captain of a company in the Revolutionary army. Dr. John Wilkes Hanchett removed to Onondaga Valley in 1824, and two years later settled in Syracuse, where he continued in active practice of his profession until near his death in October, 1844. He was a man of unblemished character and ranked high in the medical profession. He joined the Onondaga County Medical Society on June 8, 1824, and continued an active and consistent member. He was father of M. W. Hanchett, of Syracuse (see sketch, Part III) (in Bios).
Dr. Samuel G. Ellis was born in Plymouth, Mass., July 17, 1811, and died September 13, 1894. While he was still young his parents removed to Chautauqua county, N.Y., where his son graduated from the Fredonia Academy and began studying medicine. In 1838 he graduated from the Fairfield Medical College. He settled first in Cattaraugus county and in 1856 removed to Lima, N.Y., where he remained in successful practice many years. He was eminent as a surgeon, mingled in public affairs, holding several positions of trust. In 1881 he removed to Syracuse and practiced until near his death. He became a member of the Onondaga County Medical Society in 1885 and was one of its most faithful members.
Dr. Lake I. Tefft was born in Greenwich, Washington county, N.Y., March 16, 1797. He obtained his education and his medical diploma in his native place and in 1823 settled in Marcellus, where he continued in practice to about 1850. At this time he largely abandoned his profession and gave his attention to agricultural pursuits for which he possessed ardent taste and broad knowledge. In 1876 he was delegate to the International Medical Convention. Returning to Syracuse, which had been his home after 1863, his health failed and gradually declined until his death, at the home of his son-in-law, George N. Kennedy, in May, 1880. Dr. Tefft was honored with positions of trust and responsibility unsought by himself; he was elected to the Assembly in 1845.
Dr. James Foran was born in Ireland in 1807, where he received a good education and began life as a merchant. His natural tastes soon led him to take up the medical profession. He came to America in 1825, locating first in Albany where he began teaching in a female seminary, giving all of his leisure to the study of medicine. At the end of three years he removed to Canastota, where he continued teaching and studying. In 1833 he settled in Salina where he devoted two more years to study before assuming the responsibilities of active practice. In 1834 he received a license from the State Medical Society and opened an office. In 1837 he became a member of the Onondaga County Medical Society and was its president in 1859. In 1844 he removed to Syracuse where he remained until his death. He was terribly injured in the gunpowder explosion, and about six years before his death was poisoned while treating a patient, by a discharge reaching his blood through an abrasion on his hand, which soon affected his brain and wrecked his mental powers. During a period of insanity he was drowned in Onondaga Creek December 10, 1873. It was written of him that "in the practice of obstetrics he was recognized as second to none in Central New York."
Dr. Darwin E. Hurd was born in Sharon, Conn., in 1813, the son of an eminent physician, with whom he studied the profession. He graduated at Pittsfield, Mass., in 1834 and settled in Canastota, when he removed in 1850 to Fayetteville and there passed the remainder of his life. He was a successful physician and became quite prominent in local politics; he always refused to accept public office. He died October 24, 1873.
Dr. Joseph W. Brewster was born at Lebanon, Conn., February 23, 1764, and died at Onondaga Valley September 4, 1849. At the age of about sixteen he joined the Revolutionary army and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis October 19, 1781. Returning home he studied medicine with his brother, then practicing in Becket, Mass. He began practice in Blanford at the age of twenty-one years. In 1805 he removed to Chatham, N. Y., where he met with excellent success. In the spring of 1818 he removed to Onondaga Valley where he gained not alone a large measure of professional success, but the esteem of the community.
Dr. John F. Trowbridge was born in Columbia county, N.Y., July 21, 1791. After attending school until he was fifteen he worked three years in a store in Johnstown, N.Y., and then began studying medicine in Ghent, N.Y., and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1812. In 1813 he began practice in Bridgewater, N.Y., where he continued thirty years. In 1830 and again in 1839 he was elected to the Assembly and in 1836 declined a nomination for Congress. He settled in Syracuse in 1843, where he enjoyed a considerable practice and the esteem of the community. He was stricken with paralysis in 1871 and died February 18, 1872.
Dr. Mather Williams was born in Columbia county, N.Y., February 3, 1799. At nineteen years of age, after having secured a good education, he began studying medicine in Canaan, his native place, with Dr. Robert G. Frary. The latter soon removed to Hudson and was accompanied by his student. After attending lectures in New York he practiced less than a year in eastern Massachusetts, when he settled in Syracuse in 1825. The village was then very unhealthy and Dr. Williams found an extensive practice. He also carried on a drug business for some years. It has been written of him that "he was a close observer of the ethics of his profession and while very stately, if not even pompous, in his demeanor, was still courteous and gentlemanly at all times." His first wife was the second daughter of Judge Forman. Dr. Williams died in 1869.
Dr. W. W. Porter was born in Washington county, N. Y., July 24, 1826. At the age of twenty-two he began studying medicine in Waitsfield, Vt., and two years later entered the medical college at Woodstock, Vt. After one term there he studied two terms in the college at Castleton, Vt., and graduated in 1851. In the same year he settled in Syracuse in the office of Dr. Hiram Hoyt. In May, 1862, he accepted the position of principal of Geddes school, remaining one year. He then opened an office there and began practice which he continued with increasing success during his life. In 1875 he opened an office in Syracuse, still retaining the Geddes office. On the opening of the Medical College of the University in 1872. Dr. Porter was called as Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and one year later was given the chair of that professorship. Dr. Porter died June 22, 1885.
Dr. Samuel Healy was born in Washington county, N. Y., about the year 1786. He followed teaching in his young manhood, and while engaged in that vocation began studying medicine, for which he developed a decided taste and fitness. Under trying circumstances he attended lectures in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, in which he was aided by Dr. Steel, then on the medical staff in Fort Gansevoort. The following year Dr. Healy returned north to Saratoga and was licensed to practice by the County Medical Society. In 1815, he, in company with Dr. Mann, settled at Onondaga Hill where they began practice in partnership. When Dr. Mann subsequently withdrew Dr. Healy continued alone, and secured a large practice for his time and was very popular personally. He died on the 16th of April, 1854.
Dr. Azariah B. Shipman was born in Roxbury, Conn., March 22, 1803. He was one of five brothers all of whom became physicians. Soon after his birth the family removed to Pitcher, Chenango county, N. Y. The young man was determined to fit himself for a profession and labored at whatever he could find to do in summers, and taught school winters, and studied whenever he could find an hour of leisure. In 1832 he went to Delphi and began studying medicine in his brother's office, and in the winter of 1825 attended a course of lectures at Castleton, Vt. In September, 1829, he removed to Fayetteville where he soon gained a large practice. During the cholera epidemic of 1832 he attended many cases and made special study of the disease. In the winter of 1832-3 he attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania and also the anatomical demonstrations of Jefferson Medical College. In the spring of 1833 he located in Cortland, N. Y., and soon attained a wide celebrity, particularly as a surgeon. In 1844 his reputation as a surgeon and his frequent contributions to medical literature having made him generally known, Dr. Shipman was appointed professor of anatomy in the medical department of the University of Laporte, Ind. In the following year he was appointed to the chair of surgery and remained there five years. In 1849 he settled in Syracuse where he at once took high rank among his professional brethren. It has been stated of him that during the last fifteen years of his active life, he performed as great a number and variety of operations as any surgeon in Western New York. Dr. Shipman entered the army in the civil war as surgeon of the 17th Regiment of New York Volunteers. In March, 1862, he was promoted to brigade surgeon and placed in charge of a hospital at Newport News. In the summer of 1863 he resigned and returned to Syracuse. He however accepted appointment as a reserve surgeon, and was soon ordered back to the service where he remained until failing health prompted his return. With his ruined health and under depression of spirits he gradually declined practice until the spring of 1868, when he started on a European tour. While in Paris he was taken ill and died on the 15th of September, 1868. Dr. Shipman was for many years a member of the New York State Medical Society and represented the Onondaga Medical Society in that body several times. He was four times a delegate to the American Medical Association, and an honorary member of several scientific and historical societies.
Dr. John O. Shipman was born in Roxbury, Conn., in 1805 and died in Syracuse September 24, 1866. He belonged to the family of which five sons were physicians, some of them very eminent. He studied his profession with his elder brother, P. G. Shipman, and others, and in 1823 was licensed by the Onondaga County Medical Society. He began practice in Manlius, where he attained success. When his brother, Dr. A. B. Shipman, left Fayetteville, John O. removed to that place. He soon afterward went to Georgia as a physician to a large company that were to build a railroad in that State. About six years later he returned to Fayetteville, remained there until 1855, when he removed to Syracuse and entered the office of his brother, before noticed. While not so learned and eminent as some of his brothers, Dr. Shipman was entirely worth of confidence.
Dr. Horace F. Hatch was born in Syracuse June 30, 1849, and died September 2, 1875. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he gave part of his time to medical study, particularly chemical and pharmaceutical work. Graduating in chemistry and pharmacy, he returned and entered the Medical College of Syracuse University, graduating in the class of 1874. He practiced in Syracuse until his death, falling a victim to his unselfish labors in the small-pox epidemic of 1875.
Dr. M. D. Benedict was born in Danbury, Conn., January 21, 1814, and died in Syracuse January 7, 1885. His education was obtained in the common school and Danbury Academy. After studying his profession and taking a course of lectures in the medical department of Yale, he began practice in New Haven, Conn., where he continued until 1838. He then removed to Skaneateles and during the succeeding twenty-five years was engaged in a large and successful practice in that village. In September, 1861, he entered the army as surgeon of the 75th N. Y. V., and was mustered out in December, 1864. He was soon after appointed medical officer of the Sanitary Commission and stationed at Washington until September, 1865, when he settled in Syracuse and continued in active practice as long as his health permitted. He joined the County Medical Society in 1869, and was its president in 1870. As a physician he was among the foremost, and as a man was respected by all who knew him.
Dr. Ichabod Howe Searl was born in Southampton, Mass., December 22, 1831. His early education was obtained in the schools of his native town and the Easthampton Seminary. During a number of succeeding years he taught school in Massachusetts and then entered the medical college at Castleton, Vt. In 1862 he was appointed assistant-surgeon of the 26th Regiment N. Y. V., and served about a year, when he was assigned to the 73d Regiment as assistant-surgeon and was afterwards promoted to surgeon. He was discharged with the regiment in 1865, after which he took a course in Bellevue Hospital. Having studied for a time in the office of Dr. Alfred Mercer in Syracuse, previous to his army service, he returned and formed a partnership with him, which continued five years. From that time until his health failed he continued alone in business. He was a member of the County Medical Society and in 1883 was its president. Dr. Searl was a practitioner of signal ability and noted for his kindness of heart. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church. His death took place on April 20, 1893.
Dr. Horace Nims was a lifelong resident and long a reputable practitioner of Manlius. He was born July 5, 1815, and studied medicine with Dr. Taylor, graduating from the Geneva Medical College at the age of twenty-one. After attaining a large practice he enlisted as assistant surgeon in the 149th Regiment, and later was called from the field and placed on the staff in one of the large hospitals at Harper's Ferry. For many years he conducted a drug store in Manlius in connection with his practice, and was at one period postmaster of Manlius. In the latter years of his life he suffered from ill health and died in December, 1894. Unostentatious, kind and considerable, he was accorded the confidence and respect of all who knew him.
Dr. Judson H. Graves was another Manlius physician of repute. He was born in Ontario county, May 22, 1829, where he studied, and he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1858. He also received the degree of M. D. from the Syracuse University in 1876. He settled in Manlius in 1860. He was commissioned captain in the 149th Regiment in 1862, and went to the front, but for reasons connected with the command of the regiment he soon afterward resigned and continued practice in Manlius.
Dr. William Herbert Dunlap was born in Syracuse, June 24, 1853, was educated in this city and received his diploma from the Syracuse College of Medicine. From 1882 to 1884 he was professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the Syracuse Medical College, and of therapeutics, from 1884 until 1887. From the spring of 1886 to 1887 he resided in Germany, where he studied dermatology under eminent professors. From the time of his return he occupied the professorship of dermatology in the local Medical College. His death took place in Syracuse in 1895.
Dr. A. H. Cowles was born in Plymouth, Conn., and his father having died while the son was young, his mother migrated to the town of Marcellus and settled. Ambitious to obtain an education, the young man taught school to obtain the necessary means and to enable him to pursue medical study, which he began in 1822, under instruction of Dr. Erastus Humphreys, in Marcellus. He graduated at Castleton in 1826 and began practice at Navarino in the following year. There he gained a large practice and one that demanded great exertion and much self-sacrifice. In 1835 he removed to Marcellus, where he continued in business until his final illness. He is remembered as a man of excellent character, a member of the Episcopal church. His professional skill was unquestioned, but a lack of care in diagnosing was sometimes attributed to him. He died in May, 1854.
Dr. James Riggs was born December 25, 1807, in Steuben county, N. Y., and began his medical study with a physician in Rome when eighteen years of age, and attended lectures at Fairfield. When twenty-one he removed to Jordan. In 1844 he attended a course of lectures at the Albany Medical College and graduated. He was a man of unblemished character and a good physician. He died January 19, 1855.
Among the early physicians of Marcellus was Dr. David Kingsbury, who was born in 1777, and died March 7, 1841. He practiced in that town nearly forty years.
Dr. George T. Campbell, born in Camillus October 13, 1826, graduated from the Buffalo Medical College in 1851, and settled in Skaneateles in 1858. He died in February, 1882. He was president of the County Medical Society in 1874, and held the office of supervisor and president of Skaneateles village.
Dr. Hiram Adams, who died March 9, 1865, was a native of Madison county, studied his profession in Sherburne and began practice in Clinton about 1821. Five years later he removed to Fabius and there practice until just before his death. He is remembered as an energetic, successful physician.
Dr. William Laughlin was a native of Ireland, and in his young manhood taught school in Saratoga county. He located at Wellington in the town of Van Buren in 1816, where he continued to teach while studying medicine. He received a license at Fairfield in 1823 and practiced all his life at what is now Memphis. He died January 19, 1862, aged seventy years. He was a thorough scholar.
Dr. Amelia L. (Didama) Niven was born at Romulus, Seneca county, September 23, 1850, and a few months later was brought to Syracuse by her parents. She graduated from the seminary of Mr. Brown in Auburn, and in June, 1878, married William H. Niven of Syracuse. After the death of Dr. Didama's son she decided to study medicine, and she graduated from the College of Medicine of Syracuse University in 1888. She died in Florida on May 8, 1890.
Dr. Horace B. Pritchard was born in the town of Lysander March 1, 1843, and received his education in Baldwinsville Academy and Falley Seminary. He studied medicine with Dr. Todd and Dr. J. V. Kendall in Baldwinsville, and graduated from the Geneva Medical College in January, 1870. He began practice in Euclid, where he remained until the fall of 1881; that winter and the next year he spent in the hospitals of New York and in private classes, preparing for special practice. He located for a time in Baldwinsville, but later settled in Cicero, where he practiced successfully the nine years previous to his death. His character as a man was above reproach. He died early in December, 1893.
Dr. Nathaniel A. Cavenor was born in the town of Elbridge June 11, 1863, and died January 9, 1893. He matriculated in the College of Medicine of Syracuse University in 1881 and took his degree in 1885. During his first professional year he was resident physician at the county poorhouse, and afterwards settled in Camillus, where his qualifications and character soon gave him a good practice. He was called when just entering upon the fruits of his study and labor.
The first physician to settle in Pompey was probably a Dr. Holbrook, who located at Pompey Center in 1793. The first resident physician at Pompey Hill was Dr. Walter Colton, who married a daughter of the pioneer, Elizur Brace. He was followed by Dr. Daniel Tibbals, who settled in the town about 1800, and followed his profession many years. Later in life he removed to Erie, Pa., whither his sons had preceded him. Contemporary with Dr. Tibbals from the year 1814 was Dr. Jehiel Stearns, whose long life was devoted to his profession in the town. A sketch of his career appears herein. Dr. Hezekiah Clarke, who had served as a surgeon in the Revolutionary army, settled east of the village of Pompey in 1805 or 1806 and practiced there many years. The early practice of Dr. L. B. Wells was in Pompey, and he was the first homeopath in the town. Dr. J. De Blois Sherman located at Pompey Hill about 1825 and gained considerable celebrity. He subsequently removed to another State.
Dr. Silas W. Park settled at Pompey West Hill in the town of La Fayette in 1800 and began practice over a "ride" that is said to have extended from Liverpool on the north to Cortland on the south and from Skaneateles to Cazenovia east and west. He served as a surgeon in the war of 1812 and was recognized as a skillful man in his profession. He died in 1824. In 1803 his first child and only son was born in what is now La Fayette. He studied with his father and with other physicians of this county and graduated from the Berkshire Medical Institute in December, 1826. He continued in practice in his native town until his death June 17, 1873. He held the office of supervisor of his town in 1861-63, and was also justice of the peace. Dr. Park was a public spirited and useful citizen outside of his professional life, which was successful and honorable.
Dr. Joseph Ely was probably the first physician to settle in Pompey in the valley at Delphi. He remained only about three years. Dr. P. G. Shipman, brother of Dr. A. B. Shipman, of Syracuse, practiced many years at Delphi and died in Rochester in 1871. Dr. Frisbie also was an early practitioner there, and Dr. John L. King and Dr. James Pettit, brother of Judge Pettit, were in partnership there. Dr. Goodell succeeded Dr. Shipman, and others who located there later were Drs. Marsh; Hiram Wiggins, Eli Cook, Isaac Baker, Todd and Potter.
Dr. Samuel Porter came in soon after Dr. Munger, removed to Wellington, and died June 14, 1843. Born at Williamstown, Mass., April 16, 1778, where his father was a surgeon, he entered the first freshman class of Williams College, but left on account of ill health, and subsequently received from that institution the honorary degree of A. M. He finished his medical studies at the age of twenty-one and removed to Skaneateles, where his son, Dr. Evelyn H. Porter, was born in 1801. The latter died here in October, 1875. Both were prominent physicians, and pursued their active careers in this town.
For sketch of Dr. John Collins, of Spafford, see Part III (see Bios). Many of the early physicians are mentioned in the subsequent histories of the several towns.
A SKETCH OF HOMOEOPATHY IN ONONDAGA COUNTY.
From available records it appears that homoeopathy had its first exponent in Onondaga county in the person of a regular practicing physician about fifty years ago. From that time until the incorporation of the Onondaga County Homoeopathic Medical Society in 1863 there was no organization of practitioners of this medical faith. During the period in question, however, through the individual labors and achievements of the few sturdy pioneers in homoeopathy, and notwithstanding most constant and bitter opposition, this practice became firmly established, and the foundation thus laid upon which the present capable corps of workers and powerful and enduring clientale has been based. Numerically, homoeopathists are here as yet in the minority, but in quality of adherents, both lay and professional, in so far as character, ability, influence, and wealth are concerned, they are singularly and disproportionately strong. To-day the Onondaga County Homoeopathic Medical Society stands for progress in all that relates to professional elevation and public welfare, and in these directions occupies advanced ground. In general practice, its members have made records which invite comparisons; while in the specialties, including surgery, they are rapidly coming into the front rank. Such results are evidences of the work of strong minds. In the list of Onondaga's homoeopathists may be found the names of men and women of great ability, character, and force, to whose faithful and intelligent efforts a splendid and enduring following stands as a fit monument.
The first homoeopathic practitioner of this county was Dr. H. H. Cator, who located at Syracuse in 1846. Closely following him were Drs. Lyman Clary and ___ Richardson; then Drs. Stephen Seward, ____ Loomis, Charles Baker of Fayetteville, and B. B. Schenck of Plainville.
The pioneers of homoeopathy were, almost without exception, old school physicians, who, having investigated the new practice, adopted it. From 1863 the history of homoeopathy in Onondaga has been closely identified with that of the county medical society.
It is not the purpose of this sketch to particularly trace the history of this society, but rather to note its organization and membership, and to briefly refer to some of its more important acts. In its archives are to be found records of most of the principal papers which have been presented before the society during its existence, together with the discussions thereupon. It is also not designed to offer general biographical sketches of the members, ave that of the first president.
In 1863 a circular letter signed by Drs. Lyman Clary, J. G. Bigelow, W. A. Hawley, William H. Hoyt, H. H. Cator, Stephen Seward, Charles Baker, and J. C. Covill, all homoeopathic physicians of Onondaga county, was issued calling for a meeting to be held December 3, for the purpose of organizing a county homoeopathic medical society. At the appointed time Drs. Clary, Hoyt, Bigelow, Hawley, Kinne, Rhodes, Baker, and Miller assembled in the office of Dr. Clary and at once proceeded to business. On motion, Dr. Clary was appointed chairman and Dr. Bigelow secretary. The object of the meeting was expressed by the following resolution:
Resolved, That we organized a county homoeopathic medical society by the adoption of a constitution.
A draft of a constitution was then read and after thorough discussion adopted. In accordance with the constitution as adopted, permanent officers were elected as follows: president, Dr. Lyman Clary; vice-president, Dr. William Henry Hoyt; secretary and treasurer, Dr. J. G. Bigelow; censors, Drs. Clary, Hoyt, and Hawley. After the adoption of suitable by-laws, Dr. J. D. Stowe, a delegate to the meeting from the Oswego County Homoeopathic Medical Society, submitted a proposition from the Oswego county society to the effect that the latter organization should discontinue and the members unite with the Onondaga county society. Upon motion it was therefore
Resolved, That the homoeopathic physicians of the counties of Oswego and Cortland are hereby invited to join this society in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
The meeting then adjourned.
Such was the meeting that over thirty years ago gave birth to the Onondaga County Homoeopathic Medical Society. The sole object of the society, as expressed in its constitution, is for the advancement of the science of medicine and surgery. The laws of the State of New York regulating the practice of medicine and surgery and providing for the organization of medical societies was made a part of the constitution.
At first, regular meetings were held annually on the first Tuesday in the month of May, but interest in the meetings was so great that very soon after organization semi-annual meetings were held and later quarterly meetings, while at the present time regular meetings are held every month.
1863--Charter members:--Dr. Lyman Clary, William Henry Hoyt, J. G. Bigelow, William A. Hawley, T. Y. Kinne, H. V. Miller all of Syracuse; R. D. Rhodes, Marcellus; Charles Baker, Fayetteville.
The following physicians became members in the years subsequently named:
1864--J. W. Sheldon, G. H. Greeley, A. R. Morgan, W. E.
Brown, E. D. Leonard, all of Syracuse; B. B. Schenck, Plainville.
1865--Stephen Seward, R. E. Belding, Syracuse.
1866--B. F. Bronson, Syracuse.
1872--Franklin Bigelow, J. C. Covill, Syracuse.
1873--M.C. Garrison, J. H. Turck, U. H. Brown, all of
Syracuse; A. Marks, Baldwinsville.
1874--A. J. Brewster, F. C. Crowell, C. H. Weaver, all
of Syracuse; J. R. Young, Liverpool; D. P. Hutchins, Fayetteville.
1875--Dr. Chidester, A. W. Jaynes, Syracuse; N. B. Sullivan,
Memphis; F. W. Flint, Baldwinsville.
1876--C. H. Richards, Syracuse.
1877--D. M. Emmens, A. B. Kinne, J. Leslie Martin, E.
B. Squire, John Nottingham, R. B. Sullivan, all of Syracuse.
1879--J. W. Candee, P. W. Neefus, Syracuse; C. P. Jennings,
Skaneateles.
1880--C. D. Hale, F. B. Putnam, C. T. Harris, E. O. Kinne,
T. Dwight Stowe, all of Syracuse; P. O. C. Benson, Skaneateles; B. A. Anthony,
Warners; H. H. Cator, Syracuse.
1884--E. H. Flint, M. J. Harris, C. T. Harris, all of
Syracuse.
1887--R. S. True, E. J. Robinson, Carl Schumacher, all
of Syracuse; Frederick Hooker, Fayetteville; J. H. Burch, Baldwinsville.
1888--F. A. Macomber, D. F. Young, S. L. Guild-Leggett,
C. M. Lukens, Elmer E. Keeler, J. H. Hallock, G. E. Orton, all of Syracuse.
1890--W. C. Du Bois, B. W. Sherwood, C. S. Cooper, all
of Syracuse.
1891--G. Forrest Martin, Skaneateles; C. E. Barker, Tully;
D. Weller, Memphis.
1893--C. E. Stephens, R. Carl Kaiser, Syracuse.
1895--A. B. Dake, Mary McMasters, C. E. Hinman, all of
Syracuse.
Honorary Members--L. B. Wells, J. C. Raymond, Utica;
G. B. Palmer, Oneida; J. Chaffee, Palermo; H. B. Fellows, Cayuga; W. F.
Sweeting, South Butler; W. E. Deuel, |Chittenango.
The following is a list of the presidents of the society from its organization to 1895, inclusive:
1863, (First Year), Lyman Clary; 1864, William A. Hawley; 1865, William Henry Hoyt; 1866, J. G. Bigelow; 1867, B. B. Schenck; 1868-69, S. Seward; 1870, H. V. Miller; 1871, F. Bigelow; 1872, William A. Hawley; 1873, J. B. Bigelow; 1874-75, H. V. Miller; 1876, Geo. H. Greeley; 1877, William A. Hawley; 1878, J. G. Bigelow; 1879-80, J. R. Young; 1881, A. J. Brewster; 1882, J. G. Bigelow; 1883-84-85-86-87, William A. Hawley; 1888, A. B. Kinne; 1889, Leslie Martin; 1890-91, J. W. Candee; 1892-93, J. W. Sheldon; 1894, C. D. Hale; 1895, B. W. Sherwood.
Dr. Lyman Clary, one of the pioneers of homoeopathy, had a varied experience during his early practice. He was president of the allopathic Medical Society of Onondaga county in 1845, also had practiced allopathy for twenty years.
At the annual meeting of said society in 1845, as their records show, a committee of several prominent members was appointed to collect information of the two "celebrated systems of medical practice taught by Priessnitz and Hahnemann." Upon the information supplied by the committee and knowledge of homoeopathy derived from other sources, the society condemned the new school in unqualified terms, and summarily expelled such members as embraced it, among those Dr. Clary, for practicing the so called heresy.
The committee formulated so favorable a report of the new practice that they were refused a hearing by their colleagues. Dr. Clary and others who were expelled from the above society, began practicing homoeopathy in 1846, and became very successful.
Dr. Clary, who was made the first president of this society, and who had been most active in its organization, died in May, 1876.
The regard which the society had for Dr. Clary is shown by the memorial resolutions that were adopted at a special meeting held June 2, 1876, and spread upon the records of the society.
The memorial reads as follows:
"Lyman Clary, M. D., one of the oldest members of the Homoeopathic Medical Society, having fulfilled his life work, this society has met to express to his family, also his friends and fellow citizens, our feeling that his work has been well and nobly done and that in his faithful adherence to his enlightened conviction he has set us an example worthy of our following.
Dr. Clary was an honored member of this society since its organization and he occupied many prominent positions of trust and honor, both public and professional. He was president of the following medical societies:
The Onondaga Medical Society of both schools, the Central New York Homoeopathic Medical Society, and the New York State Homoeopathic Medical Society, also the American Institute of Homoeopathy. We congratulate his family and friends on his life of manly integrity and enthusiastic devotion to his chosen profession. We point them to the record of that life for the consolation they will need in the time of their bereavement, and as a further token of our respect for his memory, we will unitedly attend his funeral. Copies of these resolutions shall be spread upon the minutes of the society and forwarded for his family."
The following names represent the list of deaths of members of this society, as the records show;
H. C. Hubbard, 1867; C. H. Richards, May, 1877; E. B. Squier, May, 1879; H. V. Miller, November, 1879; Frank Bigelow, March, 1879; J. G. Bigelow, December, 1885; O. P. Benson, 1890; W. A. Hawley, May, 1891; H. H. Cator, about 1888; Wm. H. Hoyt, December, 1893.
Of the following there is no record of the time of their decease:
B. B. Schenck, Chas. Baker, E. D. Leonard, A. Marsh, R. B. Sullivan, C. T. Harris, D. Chidester.
The work of the Onondaga County Homoeopathic Medical society, which is on the lines of progress and liberality, has been in charge of men of repute in the community and of high standing in the profession. The society has proven itself to be alert and aggressive in its comprehension of the action upon many matters of great importance not only to this community and State, but to mankind in general. Its members are known and honored throughout the country.
The Syracuse Homoeopathic Medical Association is a direct outgrowth of the county society and may be considered one of the evident results of the same.
The Syracuse Homoepathic Free Dispensary, incorporated in May, 1892, is another outcome of the county society, and one which has proved itself to be a blessing to the poor of this city.
For many years prior to 1895, a strong sentiment existed among physicians and laymen in favor of a homoeopathic hospital for Syracuse. For various reasons this project was from time to time deferred, until, it becoming evident that such hospital was an urgent necessity, in 1895 the county society began earnestly to work for its organization. As a result, the Syracuse Homoeopathic Hospital was incorporated December 30, 1895.
The forty incorporators and charter members represent most strikingly the intelligence, business ability and wealth of Syracuse, and thus augurs a successful future for the institution. The trustees effected an organization January 21, 1896, by electing the following officers: A. C. Chase, president; E. A. Powell, first vice-president; O. D. Soule, second vice-president; D. H. Gowing, secretary; Anthony Lamb, treasurer.
1. Dr. Joseph P. Dunlap was born at Carlisle, Montgomery county, this State, in 1815. He was of Scotch ancestry. He was graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1842, and went to practicing medicine in Millport, Chemung county, N.Y. From thence he removed to Syracuse in 1845, and here he has since remained. Dr. Dunlap was active in founding the Syracuse Medical College, and for a number of years held a professorship there.