Chapter 10, from "History of Wabasha County" (MN-1920 book).
Chapter 10
EARLY PHYSICIANS
Pages 55
From the book
"HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY, MINNESOTA"
Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge and Others
Published Winona, MN by H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., 1920
Republished Currently by Higginson Books
The first physician in Wabasha County was Dr. M. Thurston, whose stay was brief. The first regularly graduated physician in the county was Dr. F. H. Milligan.
For two or three years he enjoyed the field alone, not only the whole of Wabasha County, but the whole region on both sides of the river, a territory almost equal to a New England state. In 1857 he left the county and located at Hastings, Dakota County, but returned to Wabasha in 1858.
In the winter of 1855-56, Dr. J. P. Bowen arrived on the ground and soon formed a copartnership with Dr. Milligan, which continued for a year. Dr. Bowen remained at Wabasha until the spring of 1859, when he left for a less severe climate.
In the year 1855 Dr.. Geo. F. Childs and Dr. H. S. Teft located in the flourishing village of Minneiska, and continued in the practice of medicine, both in town and country, until 1860, when Dr. Childs went to Washington, D. C., and Dr. Teft removed to Plainview, where he led an active and laborious life.
In the early spring of 1856 Dr. O. S. Lont took up a residence in Mazeppa. Of modest demeanor, genial and kindhearted, he did not claim to his compeers to be a graduate of any school.
In the summer of 1857 Dr. W. L. Lincoln commenced the practice of medicine in the city of Wabasha.
In 1857 Dr. Chauncy Gibbs, of Painesville, Ohio, worn out by the practice of his profession, to renew his failing health and if possible to prolong his life, removed to a farm on the beautiful prairie where now is Plainview. He did not contemplate the practice of his profession, but a noble soul can never know of suffering without offering relief, so he was agin in the harness for a few short months.
The exact date is not obtained, but not far removed in point of time, Dr. C. C. Vilas located at Lake City, remaining a few years, and then removing to Michigan to return again to Lake City after the close of the war.
In 1860 Dr. Sheldon Brooks removed from Winona County to Minneiska; and while he gave a large share of his time to business, he practiced his profession as the occasion demanded his services, and so he may be well among the men who have contributed their share to give honor to the profession of Wabasha County.
The Wabasha County Medical Society was organized in 1869, at Lake City, which at that time had no physician. The first officers were: Dr. F. H. Milligan, president; Dr. E. C. Spauling, of Lake City, secretary. The slip cut from the local weekly newspaper was clipped of its date. Dr. Spaulding was not engaged in the practice of medicine, but a newspaperman of Lake City. Dr. R. N. Murray, who was at this time engaged in the milling business, soon after this meeting entered upon a practice at Lake City. Dr. W. H. Spafford, of this same place, belonged to this organization until his death. Dr. Isaac J. Wells was also one of the charter members, as was Dr. P. C. Remondino (Peter Charles Remondino (1846-1926) San Diego Biographies, link contributed by Sister Jane Remondino), a graduate of Jefferson College, Philadelphia, but a convert to the tenets of Hahnemann. (Samuel Hahnemann, 1755 - 1843, founder of "The Healing Art of Homeopathy," a system of medical practice that treats a disease especially by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in healthy persons produce symptoms similar to those of the disease.)
Later members of the society during the first fifteen years of its existence were: 1869, Drs. J. P. Waste and N. S. Teft, of Plainview; 1870, Drs. F. Lessing, of Wabasha, and B. F. La Rue of Lake City; 1871, Dr. G. R. Patten, of Lake City and Dr. J. C. Adams (honorary); 1872, Dr. William L. Lincoln of Wabasha, and Dr. Bacon, of Mazeppa; 1875, Drs. J. P. Davis, of Kellogg, E. A. Tupper (a partner of Dr. Milligan), W. F. Adams, of Elgin, and Dr. Stone; 1876, Dr. F. W. Van Dyke; 1877, Dr. Low, of Wabasha; 1878, Dr. Charles W. Tinker, of Wabasha, 1883, Dr. Charles W. Crary and Dr. Curry.
End of Chapter
NEXT
BACK
WABASHA CO 1884
WABASHA CO 1920