CONTENTS. History of the Medical Society of New Haven County, 1 Biographies of the Members. 17 Leverett Hubbard, .. _. 19 Eneas Munson, 25, Eneas Munson, Jr., .... 36 John Spalding, 40 Samuel Nesbitt, 44 Ebenezer Beardsley, 47 Dr. Stiles' Letter _ 54 Hezekiah Beardsley, .... 59 Edward Carrington, 61 Levi Ives, 63 Obadiah Hotchkiss, 69 John Goodrich, 71 Samuel Darling, 73 Joseph Darling, 74 Jared Potter, 75 William Gould, 94 Walter Munson, 95 Jared Foot, 96 Aaron Andrews, 97 Moses Gaylord, 98 Abraham Tomlinson, 99 Elias Carrington, 101 Elnathan Beach, . _ 101 Thomas T. Cornwall, 102 Elisha Chapman,. 103 Insign Hough, 105 Nathaniel Thayer, 106 Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, 106 Preserved Porter, 106 Abel Bronson, 107 Isaac Baldwin, 108 Nathan Leavenworth, 108 Osee Dutton, 109 Amzi Hull, 109 Hezekiah Hooker, 109 Edward Crafte, 110 Josiah Root, 110 James Potter, 111 Early History of the New Haven Medical Association,... 113 Biographies of the Members, 125 John Barker, 125 Dr. Barker's Account of Yellow- Fever, .. 128 Nathaniel Hubbard, 133 Elijah Munson, , 135 Joel Northrop, 140 John Skinner, 142 Thomas Goodsell, 144 James Gilbert, 145 Henry Mead, 150 [From the Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, Vol. II.] MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. By HENRY BRONSON, M.D. [Read at different dates, between Dec. 9th, 1872, and Oct. 16th, 1876.] [In the following papers I have aimed to collect and put in an enduring form much valuable and often perishable material gathered several years ago from many sources-records, manu- script documents and letters, old newspapers, traditions, and living witnesses. In their preparation, I hoped to make an acceptable contribution to general history, and at the'same time render a special, and much needed service to the medical profession. To adapt them to the wants of the latter, I may have entered into more detail than otherwise would have been necessary. Several of the number have been read to the New Haven Medical Association. With these explanatory remarks, I submit the results of my labor.] HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY, ESTABLISHED IN 1784. Before the Revolution there was not much intercourse between the different sections of our country. A limited coasting trade along the Atlantic border brought the commercial classes in the maritime towns into frequent contact; but the benefits of this scarcely extended to the interior. Each colony-■ in many cases each town-was, to a large extent, an isolated com- munity. But the war which broke out in 1775 brought with it great changes. It excited the wildest passions; introduced self' 2 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. ishness, corruption, vice, misery, and a deluge of paper money; bnt certain incidental advantages flowed from it. Large bodies of men were gathered from every quarter, and associated for mili- tary purposes. To supply food and clothing, arms and equip- ments, an extended internal trade was required. The sections, near and remote, were for the first time brought face to face, and bound together in desperate endeavor for a common object. Men who had before been strangers became co-workers and per- sonal friends. Though the standard of morality was debased, they learned well the advantages of union, of combined effort and social intercourse, which they were slow to forget. The accom- plishments which individuals in high positions possessed became by contact and the magnetism of superior natures common prop- erty, and reproduced their like. Emulation was excited, and society enlightened, and in a certain sense improved and refined. Whatever one's pursuits or education, tastes, or talents might be, he was sure to find, from his enlarged acquaintance, sym- pathising and congenial spirits with whom he could fraternize and reciprocate for mutual good (or evil). There were in the army a few accomplished and many reputable physicians and surgeons who witnessed and shared the benefits of united effort -of familiar professional intercourse-and who when peace returned feared the disintegrating and depressing influence of isolation. There lived in New Haven and its vicinity several more or less eminent practitioners who had been in the war, among them Jared Potter, William Gould?, Ebenezer Beardsley, John Spaulding and Levi Ives. Others had been associated in the civil service of the State to determine the competency of those desiring to join the army as surgeons. They doubtless felt the loss of the advantages they had enjoyed, and sought to regain them. In pursuance of this object, early in December, 1783, through the columns of the Connecticut Journal, an invitation was given to the "faculty of the county" to meet in New Haven on the fifth of January following. But before the time appointed, or January second, 1784, the New Haven physicians formed themselves into a town association, (the city 3 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. had not then been chartered, its birth happening six days later,) and entered into an agreement, ostensibly for the purpose of regulating professional intercourse and the charges for ser- vice, and then used their organization and influence to establish a county society. This preliminary work, personal to them- selves, having been done, they in their associated capacity prepared an explanatory address to be read at the county meeting. The meeting was held according to notice on the fifth day of January, 1784. Col. (Dr.) Leverett Hubbard was chosen chairman, and Dr. Samuel Darling, secretary. At this point, the address above alluded to was probably read. " The associated faculty of New Haven," as they style them- selves, thank the gentlemen convened for the respect paid to their advertisment, and flatter themselves that their consulta- tions will " produce harmony and love " among the faculty. They refer to the importance of the medical profession, and the necessity of " effectual regulations " to preserve its (so called) dignity, but at the same time think it needless to harrangue those present on these matters. They point to the "vast advantages of medical societies in divers parts of the world " as shown by their works, and call upon the " faculty through- out the county " to unite with them in forming a society for the following purposes: 1st. For strengthening and brightening the chain of friendship: 2dly. For observing the weather and the disorders it is productive of, the method of treatment and the event, accurately and candidly: 3dly. For the communication of new discoveries in Physic or Surgery, or any sentiments in theory, or any discoveries in Botany: 4thly. For correspondence with the several associations within this State, the neighboring states, or Europe: 5thly. For joining the faculty in their application to the General Assembly for incorporation. The address closed with the compliments of the season cus- tomary at the beginning of the new year. The preliminary business being concluded, the meeting "resolved" itself into a society to be called and known by the name of the Medical Society of New Haven County, [the 4 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. members] "plighting their honor to each other for the observ- ance of such regulations as may be adopted by the majority." The Society having been organized in this manner, it was meet that it should declare its purposes and objects. These were stated to be First. To lay a proper foundation for that unanimity and friendship which are essential to the dignity and usefulness of the profession: Secondly. To make accurate observations on the air, seasons,' climate, and the various diseases incident to the inhabitants of this country, with the mode of treat- ment and event in all singular cases : Thirdly. For the communication of any discoveries in Physic, Surgery, Botany and Chemistry: Fourthly. For the purpose of a correspondence with the medical societies in this, the neighboring states, and in Europe: Fifthly. For uniting with the several medical societies within this State in a joint application to the Legislature " for charter privileges." At the same meeting, a vote was passed appointing " Messrs. Leverett Hubbard, Eneas Munson, Jared Potter, Ebenezer Beardsley, Samuel Nesbitt and Samuel Darling a committee to form further regulations to be laid before the next meeting," which, by a vote of adjournment, was to be held on the first Monday of February then ensuing, at the Coffee House in New Haven, which stood on the site of the Tontine Hotel. At the next meeting, February second, 1784, the committee reported the following (so-called) regulations, which were unan- imously agreed to: First. That the Society convene once in three months, by adjournment, in the City of New Haven: Secondly. That in all cases where council is requisite we will be ready to assist each other in consultation without reserve: Thirdly. That if any physician or surgeon residing in this county shall neglect or refuse, after six months, to become a member of this Society, the members will utterly refuse to have any connection with him as a practitioner unless he can give a satisfactory reason for his neglect to this Society: Fourthly. That no person who has been in practice less than one year shall be permitted to become a member of this Society unless he submits to an examina- tion. [This article was repealed in 1789]: Fifthly. That a committee shall be appointed by the Society for the purpose of examining candidates, whose duty it shall be carefully to examine such students as shall offer themselves for that purpose, and if they shall be found properly MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 5 qualified for the practice by a major part of said committee, they shall furnish him or them with a certificate which he or they shall exhibit to the Society at their next general meeting, and be received as members of the Society, they subscribing to the rules and regulations of the Society: [The sixth article has been carefully erased according to a vote (literally inter- preted) passed January second, 1788.] Seventhly. That there be chosen by ballot, in the month of January, a Presi- dent who shall be entitled to a casting vote, also a Vice-President, likewise a Secretary: Eighthly. That any communication made within the line of the profession shall have an hearing, and be discussed previous to any other business. The Ninth and last article provided that the names of the members, the votes passed, and the extraordinary cases and discoveries communicated should be placed on record. Then follow the names of members, sixty-one in all, the first twenty-six in the hand of the Secretary. The others, beginning with John Spalding, are autographs. Leverett Hubbard, William Gould, Eneas Munson, Walter Munson, Elias Carrington, Aaron Andrews, Jared Potter, Samuel Nesbitt, Edward Carrington, Ebenezer Beardsley, Samuel Darling, Edward Crafte, Gad Pond, Levi Ives, William Wright, Elnathan Beach, Obadiah Hotchkiss, Elizur Wheeler, Abraham Tomlinson, Abel Brunson, Jared Foot, Isaac Baldwin, Hezekiah Hooker, John Goodrich, Hezekiah Beardsley, Moses Galord, John Spaulding, Elisha Chapman, Phineas Clark, Ensign Hough, Tho. Ruggles Pynchon, Mark Newell, Nathan Leavenworth, Osee Dutton, Josiah Root, Lewis Morgan, Aaron Elliott, Amzi Hull, Preserved Porter, James Eaton Beach, Nathaniel Hubbard, Eneas Munson, Jun., Stephen Hall, Jr., Joseph Darling, Thomas T. Cornwell, Theodore Wadsworth. Aaron Gregory, William A. Tomlinson, Nathaniel Thayer, Horace Beardsley, William Shelton, Jun., Aaron Burr Bradley, 6 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Nathaniel Perry, James Potter, Amos Mead, Samuel Mather, Josh Poor, Anthony Burritl, Joseph Trowbridge, Lewis Beers, James Clarke. At the same meeting, Dr. Hubbard (usually called Col. Hub- bard), who had been chosen chairman at the previous meeting, delivered a "spirited address" which is entered at length upon the record book. He expresses his obligations, and is pro- foundly sensible of the honor conferred; but like others sud- denly called to high positions, thinks himself unequal to the task assigned him. He hopes that his selection for the office " will be a leading step to introduce some worthy gentleman that will fill the chair with more dignity and honor"-for all of which he received the formal thanks of the Society. At the same time, Drs. William Gould, of Branford, Eneas Munson, of New Haven, Jared Potter, of Wallingford, Samuel Nesbitt and Ebenezer Beardsley, of New Haven, and Edward Carrington, of Amity, afterward Woodbridge, were chosen the Committee of Correspondence-a great distinction. They were also a com- mittee to examine candidates for practice. A vote was also passed thanking "The Honorable the Consul of France at New York [Mr. St. John] for the generous and benevolent tender of his services to the Society in his letter of the twenty-eighth ul- timo, and that the committee of correspondence, * * request him to forward to the Society twelve of the books mentioned in his late publication in the New York papers," &c. This letter, dated January twenty-seventh, 1784, signed "St. John" and recorded, appears to have been written to Pierpont Edwards, of New Haven, in answer to "information" received. It is filled with compliments and generous offers of assistance. Among other things, the writer suggests that a botanical garden would " add renown to the new raised [newly chartered] city, and honor to its founders;" proffers "the seeds of upwards of two hundred plants lately gathered from the king's garden (Paris); recommends as foreign members of the Society Doctor Du Breuil and Mr. Parmentier, of Paris; proposes to apply " for MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 7 the freedom of the new City" of New Haven ; and begs that his best respects may be presented to Drs. Munson, Beardsley, and other patriotic citizens. I find on file a second letter from the same source, dated March nineteenth, 1784, superscribed " Eneas Munson, Esq.," but addressed apparently to the Society. It acknowledges the receipt of the "very polite, elegant and flattering letter" (from the committee of correspondence, I presume), to which it is a reply. It is written in a patronizing style, and excels the pre- vious one in friendly sympathy and liberal promises. The botanical garden is again alluded to, and the manner of planting the seeds forwarded and labelling the plants is described. The plants of this continent, the writer thinks, should be collected, and an address drawn up for circulation in Europe, explaining the objects of the botanical institution, and giving a plan of the Medical Society, with a request that the " great and good per- sonages of that country" would cooperate as " patrons, associ- ates and protectors. Such a step [he continues] would procure books, prints, and every succor; and perhaps too a person well versed in Botany would be sent here, at their expense, to con- duct your garden, make collections, institute a hortus siccus, &c., till some among the pupils of the new academy might be found capable of becoming a professor," &c. That the work might in the mean time go on, more seeds had been sent for by packet. " To render the new medical institution more useful," the irrepressible Consul recommends that it be "connected with the translation and publication of the French Journal de Medecine," a few convincing numbers of which were sent with the letter. The Journal, he thinks, would sell rapidly, while the under- taking would give employment to a bookseller and editor, reputation to the city, and renown to the Society. "A chair of Chemistry" might at some time follow, and New Haven become "a place desirable to live in." Further on, our liberal- minded and enthusiastic friend expresses his unbounded admi- ration of certain published proceedings-plainly worded and unpretending-of a town meeting in New Haven, conferring the privileges of citizenship on a class of persons who had been 8 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. enemies in the war just closed. Referring to the town's vote, he thus delivers himself: "It is the essence of reason herself, clothed in all the pomp of the most sublime eloquence. What an example of philanthropy and of the true spirit of govern- ment you have the honor of holding up to the world! I have just sent it [the printed document] to France, to the Marechal Prince de Beauveau, in order to be translated, and inserted in all the European papers." In closing, the Consul begs to return his most cordial thanks, and to present his respects to each member of the committee (of correspondence), and of the Society, and subscribes himself, with unfeigned esteem and re- spect, the very humble servant, &c. At the next meeting in May, the Society " voted that Messrs. John Goodrich, Leverett Hubbard, Levi Ives, Hezekiah Beards- ley, Samuel Nesbitt, Edward Carrington, Abel Bronson, Abra- ham Tomlinson, Eneas Munson, Jared Potter, be a committee to take care of the botanical garden," designed, doubtless, to receive the seeds of the French consul, and to confer greatness upon the Society and the new-born city; but the purpose must have failed, and the garden perished in its infancy, for I can find no further trace of it. At the same date, certain persons -Drs. Gould, Munson, Carrington and Bronson-were selected to " prepare themselves to exhibit some observations to the Society at the next meeting, in accordance with a custom which was established and continued till January, 1787, when it was abandoned. Dr. Nesbitt " exhibited to the meeting" a case of singultus. He was formally thanked, and his " observations" were recorded at length, in conformity with the ninth regula- tion which was observed for two or three years, and then disre- garded. Those who organized the New Haven County Medical Society designed from the first to employ it as a means of establishing a state medical society. Indeed, this was with them a leading purpose, and the state institution a main object never out of mind. This is proved by their declaration of motives at the outset. They wanted a charter, and seemed to have a presenti- ment of the difficulties they would encounter. To secure their MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 9 object, they saw that a combined and general effort was re- quired, Having united the county, they sought the aid of the profession throughout the State. As early as April, 1784, the committee of correspondence addressed circular letters to the several counties, asking the appointment of delegates to meet in Hartford. The object was to concert measures to benefit the profession, and to petition for state legislation and a charter. The movement was not at first, nor for a long time, successful; but renewed endeavor and a dogged persistence, after eight years of discouragement and defeat, secured the boon. During this interval, much of the time of the county meetings was oc- cupied, as proved by the records, in organizing and carrying out plans for an authorized state society. The details of these plans and a particular account of the protracted struggle has been given in the " Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical society" for 1873. In this connection, I shall not further notice, unless incidentally, those proceedings of the county society which at length brought forth, equipped for service, the Connecticut Medical Society. At the August meeting of this year (1784), a vote of thanks " to Dr. Munson for his observations " on a case of locked jaw cured by electricity, was passed; Drs. William Gould, Abel Bronson and Elnathan Beach wTere " desired to exhibit some observations on the theory or practice of physic at the next meeting," while each member was "recommended to bring in the history of some case once in three months, or at farthest in twelve months, to the clerk to be kept on file for perusal." At the meeting in October, a case was communicated by Dr. Tom- linson on difficult deglutition, one by Dr. Spalding on fracture of the cranium, and one by Dr. Beach on puerperal disease. The first anniversary meeting of the Society was held on the fifth day of January, 1.785, as by adjournment, at the Coffee House, in New Haven. In accordance with the regulations, Col. Hubbard was chosen President, (he had before been chair- man) Dr. Munson, Vice-President, and Dr. Samuel Darling, Secretary and Treasurer. The old committee of correspond- ence, which was also to act as the committee of examination, 10 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. was re-elected. Dr. Hubbard, " physician and surgeon," desir- ous perhaps to make some return for the honor conferred, " stated and delivered " observations on gangrene of the scro- tum, and was thanked therefor. Dr. Edward Carrington was complimented in like manner for his " observations." At the same time there was a movement for a society library, and the committee of correspondence was instructed to make out a list of books, and prepare the needful regulations. This action however, appears to have been premature, for the committee afterward reported " that the procuring of a library at the pres- ent time would not be expedient." Mr. James Eaton Beach, a candidate for the practice of physic and surgery, at his desire, was examined, apparently in open meeting, " with regard to his knowledge in the aforesaid arts," found duly qualified, and made a member of the Society. At the other meetings during the year, Drs. Jared Potter, Ebenezer Beardsley and Nesbitt read "dissertations," while Drs. Munson, Nesbitt and Beardsley reported each a case. The last named was " desired to exhibit some observations on the phthisis pulmonalis," while Drs. Wal- ter Munson, S. Nesbitt, Elisha Chapman, L. Ives and Eneas Munson, Jun., were selected to "exhibit," &c., according to custom, at future meetings. At the annual meeting in January, 1786, and afterward till 1792, the old officers were re-elected. Dr. Hubbard was added to the committee of correspondence and examination, and the following vote passed: Voted, That upon the decease of any member of this Society who has de- served well of the public and of the Society, some member shall be appointed to deliver an eulogium on the occasion, which shall be entered on the records, to the end that the memory of such worthy characters may be preserved from oblivion, and their survivors encited to emulate their worthy actions. At the next meeting in April, a form of certificate was adopted which the committee of examination was to give to candidates who were found "well qualified to practice," in testimony whereof the committee were to affix to the instrument their names, and annex the seal of the Society, " in the medical chamber of the MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 11 City of New Haven," &c. Licentiates were to pay six shillings to the treasurer, and be recommended for membership. A cer- tificate was also to be devised, after the manner, I suppose, of the renowned foreign societies, and issued to all members wil- ling to pay the cost. It was to bear the society's seal, set forth the honorable connection of the holder, and peradventure, be his passport to fame. Not only were these wmighty matters attended to, but during the year Drs. E. Beardsley and E. Munson, Jr., read dissertations; Drs. Hubbard and Beardsley reported cases; while a tax of one shilling for expenses in- curred was imposed on each member. In 1787, at the adjourned annual meeting, February seventh, the custom of selecting the same members throughout for both the standing committees was changed. Messrs. Nesbitt, Potter, E. Beardsley, H. Beardsley, Munson, Sen., Elnathan Beach and L. Ives were made the committee of correspondence, and Messrs. Hubbard, Munson, E. Beardsley, Nesbitt and H. Beardsley, the committee of examination. The custom of designating certain members to "exhibit observations " at future meetings having been discontinued, a vote was passed recom- mending members to communicate such cases and observations as might occur to them. In conclusion, the committee of correspondence was "desired to select a number of the most interesting cases which have or may be exhibited to the Society, and transmit them to some medical or philosophical society in the United States or in Europe, and to request a literary correspondence." At the different meetings in the year five cases were reported by Drs. Ives, Nesbitt and E. Beardsley, and one on the bite of a mad dog was communicated to the Society in a letter by the distinguished Benjamin Gale, of Killingworth. All, with one exception, were afterward published. In January, 1788, an important movement was initiated. The plan adopted the previous year of selecting from the files of the society papers to be transmitted to other societies, &c., was abandoned, and a more ambitious course taken, as appears by the following vote : 12 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Voted, That a collection of the most interesting cases communicated to the Society be made, and that they be published in a pamphlet at the expense of the Society. * * Messrs. Hubbard, Munson, E. Beardsley, Nesbitt and S. Darling to be a committee for this purpose. "A suitable device" to be prefixed to the pamphlet was authorized, and a subscription to defray expenses taken up. I have a list of the subscribers with the sums subscribed. L. Hubbard, for himself and son, gave £1-10; E. Munson, for himself and son, £1-10; H. Beardsley, 18s.; S. Nesbitt, E. Beardsley, J. Spalding and E. Chapman, 12s. each, and others, nineteen in number, 6s. each ; in all £12. Each subscriber was to have one copy, and the members of the committee of publica- tion each three copies. The work appeared in the summer of 1788, the preface bearing the date of June fourteenth. As a device on the title-page is a bearded, stern-looking, staring figure, in a closely fitting striped cap or helmet, which may have been intended for the head of Galen, with the words "plus ultra'' underneath, the whole inclosed by a circle. The motto may perhaps be considered as a disclaimer of merit on the part of the Society. The work, printed by Josiah Meigs at an expense inclusive of paper of £10-15-4, for five hundred copies, and to be sold for one shilling and eight pence (about twenty eight cents) per copy, is entitled: "Cases and Obser- vations ; by the Medical Society of New Haven County, in the State of Connecticut." It contains eighty-six pages and twenty-six distinct papers, each of the latter (with a single exception) embracing the statement of one or more cases, and contributed by the most distinguished members of the Society. All or nearly all had been read in the county meetings. Of the articles printed, Dr. Hubbard furnished two, Munson, Sen., two, Nesbitt, seven, Spalding, four, E. Beardsley, six, and Elnathan Beach, Abraham Tomlinson, L. Ives, II. Beardsley, and Benjamin Gale, (the last not a member,) each one. The names of contributors, as given in the table of contents, are in each case (with one exception) adorned with the characters F. M. S. (fellow of the medical society?)--a title given probably by the certificate of membership prescribed by the vote of MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 13 April, 1786. Dr. Gale, whose communication was presented by Dr. Hubbard, is styled C. M. S., in anticipation perhaps of the distinction which the expected charter of the Connecticut Medical Society would soon confer. Nearly all the cases are interesting, some of them important. They may at this day be perused with profit. The publication was of a kind which had not before been attempted in this State, and undeniably was a great enterprise. It made a stir in the profession not unlike that caused by a new baby in a previously luckless family. It was of course greatly prized by those who gave it being, and gained much notoriety and considerable reputation for the Society, as shown by the records and papers on file. Copies were sent to other societies and distinguished individ- uals, and flattering letters were received in reply. Among those who complimented the work were the secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, Dr. John Warren, of Boston, Bishop Seabury, the President of the Col- lege of Physicians, of Philadelphia, and Drs. John Morgan and James Mease, of the same place. The general favor with which the first effort of the Society was received awakened the enthusiasm of members and inspired confidence. The ordinary business of the Society in 1788 was not neg- lected. Three cases each were reported by E. Beardsley, S. Nesbitt and J. Spalding, and one each by E. Munson, H. Beardsley, E. Chapman, and E. Beach, several of which were included in the published collection. The license fee, (the cer- tificate to be printed from an engraved plate,) to be in keeping with the increased dignity of the "faculty," was raised from six shillings to ten and sixpence, one and sixpence of the same to go to the secretary ; the tax on members was advanced from one shilling yearly to one shilling quarterly, and the " reverend the clergy of the county," were requested to furnish quarterly lists of deaths with the causes. In compliance with the request, Rev. John Foot, and he only, so far as the record shows, sent in a list for the first Congregational society of Cheshire, in 1789. We have seen that the movement made in the infancy of the Society to establish a library did not succeed. But in process 14 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. of time, books by donation accumulated. The pamphlet of "Gases and Observations," to a large extent gratuitously circu- lated, brought in return many -volumes. Dr. Obadiah Hotch- kiss, in October, 1790, was chosen librarian, with instructions to get the works of Dr. John Fothergill, and Parkinson's Voy- age to the South Seas, bound and lettered. A. committee, consisting of Drs. Munson and Goodrich, was at the same time appointed to prepare regulations for the government of the library. These (approved in January, 1791,) provided for " books, philosophical apparatus, natural curiosities, and other property," showing varied possessions or expectations on the part of the Society. William A. Tomlinson, of Stratford, one of the most promis- ing of the junior members of the Society, having died in Au- gust, 1789, Dr. Ebenezer Beardsley was requested, in accordance with the vote of 1786, to deliver " an eulogium" on his life and character. The service was performed in January, 1790. The document is recorded at length, and was "to be communicated to the public." The next year, Dr. Hezekiah Beardsley died, and Dr. Eneas Munson was appointed his eulogist. He dis- charged the duty assigned him in October of that year, and was invited to publish the paper. It is not recorded, though a vote was passed requiring that it should be. In April, 1791, Dr. Jared Potter was chosen as the eulogist of Dr. Ebenezer Beardsley, then lately deceased. I do not find any evidence that he com- plied with the wishes of the Society. In the mean time, Dr. John Goodrich had been desired to prepare a history of the Society, its rise and progress; a request which was acceded to, as appears by the record of January, 1791. I can find no fur- ther trace of his " dissertation." At a meeting held in July, 1790, a vote was passed that " the thanks of the Society be given to any person, whether of the faculty or not" who would offer a solution of any one or all of the following questions: 1. Whether any sensible change in the air or season gave rise to the late catarrhal epidemic ? 2. Whether the disease was contagious? 15 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 3. Whether the humoral pathology is necessary to account for the origin or phenomena of disease ? To these interesting queries, replies were invited through the columns of the Connecticut Journal. Dr. Gideon Shepard, of Newtown, forwarded an "ingenious answer to the third ques- tion ;" Mr. Jonathan Osborne, of New Haven, " philosophical observations" on the two first questions; and Dr. Philip Jones, of West Springfield, "ingenious observations and answers to the three questions." The authors were all paid by a vote of thanks, according to contract, the vote to be published in the Connecticut Journal. The papers are on file. They are not weighty or convincing, and are doubtless not average specimens of the medical literature of that day. The essay of Mr. Osborne, who was a young man, possibly a medical student, is for the most part correctly written, praise which cannot be bestowed on the others. The period between January, 1789, and January, 1792, was one of activity in the usual as well as the extraordinary busi- ness of the Society. Cases were reported by Drs. Spalding, Hubbard, Munson, E. Beardsley, Elnathan Beach, J. Eaton Beach, Amos Mead, Gideon Shepard and William A. Tomlin- son, twenty-seven in number, twelve of them by Spalding, and four by Tomlinson. At the April and October meetings, 1790, "observations on the influenza and state of the air" were made by Dr. E. Beardsley, which, after his death, were, by vote of the Society, to be "perfected and finished" by Drs. E. Munson, Jared Potter and Horace Beardsley. In January, 1792, at the last election of the Society, Dr. Hubbard was unanimously chosen president; but having filled this office seven years, he asked to be excused from further ser- vice. He was thanked, and Dr. Eneas Munson, sen., elected in his stead. Dr. Jared Potter was made vice-president; Dr. Darling was continued as secretary and treasurer, and Dr. Hotchkiss, as librarian. Drs. Munson, Hubbard, Jared Potter, Spalding and James Clarke composed the committee of examination, and Drs. Hubbard, Munson, Jared Potter, Elnathan Beach, J. Spald- ing, James Clarke, Obadiah Hotchkiss, S. Darling, Amos Mead, 16 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. James Potter, SamuePMather and Nathaniel Perry, the com- mittee of correspondence. Several of these, it will be observed, did not reside in the county. They had been made members in 1790 and 1791, and were placed upon the committees for the purpose, probably, of strengthening the Society before the Legis- lature, in its efforts to obtain a charter. To relieve the burden of membership and render the Society popular, the obnoxious quarterly tax, was, January, 1792, abolished. In May, 1792, the Connecticut Medical Society was chartered, and the mission of the Medical Society of New Haven County was at an end. The New Haven county section of the former took its place,* and exercised most of its functions. But for the purpose of winding up its affairs, the meetings of the old volun- tary association, sometimes so called in the record, were still occasionally held. Many members had failed to pay the quar- terly assessments, which of course could not be collected by legal process. It was nevertheless important, on equitable grounds, that the delinquents should not escape. Successive committees were appointed to write to them, urging a speedy settlement; but the debtors did as they pleased, as is their wont. The library, too, and other property remained to be dis- posed of. The matter came up for consideration in September, 1793, but the business was postponed from time to time. Much embarrassment resulted from the conduct of those who shirked the old shilling tax. They were considered as having no right- ful claims to the property of the Society, and plans were devised to exclude them from its benefits. At length, September 25th, 1798, at a meeting "legally warned," a vote was passed to give all the property of the Society to the Connecticut Medical Soci- ety, the same to be assorted into parcels and delivered to the secretary, " as a reward for such prize questions or dissertations as should be proposed." In October following, the latter Society, in convention, accepted the gift, and offered " Parkin- son's Voyage to the South Seas" as a prize for the best essay on "scirrhus, its rise, symptoms, progress, and treatment," and the "Works of Dr. John Fothergill, folio," for the successful * It used the same record book; and as the old did not expire with the birth of the new, the entries belonging to each are more or less intermingled. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 17 essay on the "scarlatina anginosa of Connecticut, in 1793." Two years later, or in October, 1800, the same prizes were again offered, the first for the best paper on scirrhus, the second, for the best on chronic rheumatism. Mercury was proposed for a third question, but no reward was promised. At the end of twelve months, the unanswered questions were renewed. A dissertation on chronic rheumatism was laid before an ad- journed meeting in May, 1802, but its claims were referred to the annual convention in October. When October came, the old prize questions of 1800 were again brought forward, the same to be published as before. In October, 1803, (nobody want- ing or no one deserving the prizes,) they were continued. In May, 1807, they were once more continued, "with the addition of influenza, as subjects for discussion." I cannot ascertain from the record book that any of the prizes proposed were ever awarded, though one entry favors the supposition that several essays were offered. Dr. Eli Ives, however, in his sketch of the physicians of New Haven county, says that "some few" of the books received in 1798 were distributed as prizes. " The re- mainder," he continues, "were lost or not accounted for." In this manner perished a library, which (in the words of the same writer) contained "a number of valuable works, such as those of Fothergill, Darwin, Cullen, Rush, and others of a like char- acter," contributed by members, authors, and societies; and "which, if it had been fostered till this time, would have con- tained a valuable collection of medical books, superior to any other library in the State." BIOGRAPHIES. The late Dr. Eli Ives, in the Northern Literary Messenger, of New Haven, in January and February, 1848, and in the New Haven Journal and Courier, October, 1852, in the last case with additions, published sundry papers filling several columns, en- titled "Historical Sketches of the Medical Society of New Haven County; by a Member."* Though hastily written and * The New Haven County Medical Society ended its active life so soon as the Connecticut Medical Society was incorporated in 1792, as already mentioned. No members were admitted after 1791, when Dr. Ives was twelve years old. 18 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. carelessly printed, discursive, fragmentary, and sometimes inac- curate, they are very interesting, containing much valuable matter which no one else in his day could have furnished. Of history they contain little, of reminiscence and tradition, much, both characteristically and profusely illustrated by anecdote. After remarking (incorrectly) that the Society was the first in the State,* the writer transcribes the declaration of purposes, the regulations, and. a long letter from the French Consul in New York, and then quits the record for more congenial topics. The remainder consists of biographical sketches of some of the founders of the Society, written in the Doctor's peculiar (I was about to say original) style. The characters delineated are those of Leverett Hubbard, Eneas Munson, Samuel Nesbitt, Jared Potter, Ebenezer Beardsley and Levi Ives. More than half the space devoted to these prominent individuals is dedi- cated to Munson, of whom the delineator was a distinguished and favorite pupil. The other notices are in several instances meagre and unsatisfactory. Dr. Ives' information, impressions and opinions were doubtless derived in large part from his pre- ceptor and father, both of whom lived to an advanced age. He had the great privilege of a personal intercourse with some of the persons he describes, and of intimate acquaintance with the contemporaries of the others; but these undeniable advantages, relied on too exclusively, have proved a source of error. The blemishes of the sketches, considered as history, are due to the author's neglect to correct memory and verify supposed facts by records, manuscripts and documents within reach. Those * In another place the doctor thinks it was the first in the United States. Ac- cording to Dr. Thatcher, in his Medical Biography, the Massachusetts Medical Society was incorporated and organized in 1781, and the Medical Society of New Jersey, in 1783. Judge Church, in his Litchfield (Ct.) Centennial Address, 1851. states that a medical association was formed in that county in 1767 (another says 1766), of which Joseph Perry, Seth Bird, James Potter and others were distin- guished members. In the Connecticut Courant, June fifth, 1781, "the members of the first medical society in the thirteen United States of America, since their independence" were notified " to meet at the dwelling house of Dr. John Cham- berlain, in Amenia precinct, Dutchess county, New York, on the third Tuesday of June, 1781, at 10 o'clock, A. M. (Signed) Oliver Fuller, clerk. The "New Lon- don [County?] Medicab Society," John Barker, president, Simon Wolcott, secre- tary, was in existence as early at least as April twentieth, 1784. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 19 accustomed to historical inquiries know how unreliable tra- dition is, and how frequently the best memory is mistaken. I shall attempt in the following pages to collect and preserve by authentic types all which is accessible and important relat- ing to the subjects about which I write. I am prompted to the work by the apprehension that much valuable material may be lost. As I proceed, I shall use freely and gratefully Dr. Ives' sketches so far as they go, and are suitable to my purpose. LEVERETT HUBBARD Was the oldest of the eight children of Col. John Hubbard, of New Haven, and of his wife, Elizabeth Stevens, of Killing- worth, and was born July twenty-first, 1725. His great, great grandfather was the Rev. William Hubbard, of Ipswich, the historian, and his great grandmother, on the Hubbard side, the daughter of Gov. Leverett, of Mass. His father was himself a physician of great respectability and high social position. He was also, for many years, judge of probate for this district, and was often called Judge Hubbard. The daughter of the judge, Elizabeth, married President Stiles of Yale College. With these advantages of lineage and station, Leverett Hub- bard was sent to Yale College, and was graduated in the class of 1744. His professional studies were pursued under the direction of his father. From a case which he afterward reported to the county society, it appears that he began prac- tice when but nineteen years old. In the expedition to Louis- burg in 1745, he had abundant opportunity to become familiar with surgical as well as medical cases and their treatment. May twenty-second, 1746, he married Mrs. Sarah Whitehead. In 1748, according to Col. Lyon's plan of New Flaven, he lived on the east side of Meadow street, the second house from George. Afterward he built the stone house next adjoining on the corner, still standing, where he lived when the streets of New Haven were named in 1784. Not long before his death, he put up a fine dwelling on the opposite side of Meadow street, corner of Congress avenue, and moved into it. It was owned 20 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. and occupied by the late Nathan Peck. In 1758, at the time of Mr. Whittlesey's ordination, both he and his wife were members of the first church in New Haven. That Dr. Hubbard encountered some of the embarrassments which others meet with in their early practice is nearly cer- tain. The " old doctors," doubtless, shook their wise heads incredulously when his name was mentioned. Some dispar- agingly called him a "young man," or an "experimenter," without experience. Others, it may be, " darn'd him with faint praise." But whatever the hindrances they did not prevent his success. By courage and industry, aided by a good address, he ran rapidly into a full practice, and gained a position in the hearts of the people reached by few. Not only was he eminent as a physician, but he was greatly respected and honored in the other walks of life. He was prominent in the church to which he belonged; was frequently one of the society's committee, and when he attained age and dignity, was often moderator of society's meeting, no small distinction in those days. In the Revolution, the General Assembly selected him as one of the committee of eighteen to examine those who proposed to enter the army as surgeons or surgeons' mates, any three of whom might give a certificate.* The military title of colonel which he usually bore, and which was more honorable than that of doctor, was earned before the war, probably in the militia service. He was doubtless a patriot (rebel) during that first " great rebellion," but once his conduct excited grave suspicion. While the faithful promptly withdrew, he and his son Leverett were among those who " remained in town with the enemy " during its occupation by the British, July fifth and sixth, 1779, the father detained probably by urgent professional business. After the evacuation, the town in town meeting appointed a trusty committee, of which Dr. Levi Ives was one, to inquire into the proceeding. The offenders were summoned to appear and give reasons for conduct so questionable. At a subsequent meeting a report was made, the delinquents classified, and the guilt computed and apportioned. Dr. Hubbard was found to * Hinman's War of the Revolution, p. 239. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 21 belong to a class whose reasons, though "not fully sufficient," were to be viewed with "good will and candor" because of the circumstances. When the Medical Society of New Haven County was organ- ized, Dr. Hubbard, then fifty-nine years old, was chosen its president. It was a fitting choice. He was the senior member of the society ; was at the head of practice in the county, and was foremost in social position and dignity of manners. His inaugural address has one singular merit, it is short. Equally conspicuous are its defects. It may not be proper to criticise, but considered as a piece of brain-work, it is disjointed in its matter, meagre in thought, and faulty in its literature. But it must be said in extenuation that the physicians of that day were usually untrained and unpracticed in composition. The reputed scholars among them were too often more ambitious to write poor Latin than creditable English. Dr. Hubbard was one of the active and earnest workers of the county society. He reported to its meetings several cases drawn from his large experience, two of which were afterward printed in the pamphlet of "Casesand Observations." They are interesting, and, owing to extensive corrections, read much better in print than in manuscript. He was chairman of the committee of publication, and of several other important com- mittees. In January, 1791, after having been re-elected for the seventh time, he declined to serve longer as president. Dr. Hubbard was among the most influential of the founders of the Connecticut Medical Society. He was often a member of the committees and conventions which concerted the meas- ures and unfolded the plans which at length won over the reluctant law-givers; and was one of the corporators (second on the list) when the charter was obtained. At the first meeting of the " fellows" (county delegates) of the society, in October, 1792, he, as the recognized head of the profession in New Haven county, to which the appointment rightfully belonged, was chosen president. His address for the occasion was deliv- ered at the opening of the next meeting, in May, 1793, when thanks were "returned for his elegant oration." (The manu- 22 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. script document is in my possession, and does not deserve the commendation so incontinently bestowed.) At the annual con- vention which followed he was re-elected, and presented to the meeting a society seal, for which he was again thanked. At the same session the degree of M.D. was conferred on him in accord- ance with the charter. This and another given to Elihu Tudor, of East Windsor, by the same vote, were the first granted by the society. In 1794, New Haven was smitten with great and mortal sick- ness. A putrid sore throat began in February, and lasted till the middle of autumn. Early in June the yellow fever ap- peared, and continued till the end of October. Among those attacked by the latter disease were Drs. Munson, Spalding and Northrop. Dr. Hubbard was doubtless much worn by attend- ance on the sick. He left town, it was said, "on account of his health," and died of yellow fever, after a brief sickness, in Hart- ford, October first, 1794, in his seventieth year. There he was buried; but soon afterward the body was secretly disinterred and conveyed to New Haven (Stiles' Diary). At the society's convention, which met in Middletown soon after, the members resolved " to go into mourning by wearing a scarf or black rib- bon on the left arm for one month." At the same time the new president, Eneas Munson, was appointed to deliver "an eulo- gium in memory" of the departed. The service was performed in presence of the convention in October, 1795. A brief, but flattering biographical notice was published in the Connecticut Journal. October fifteenth, 1794. Dr. Hubbard was doubtless an able physician, and one of the most popular of his time. He was " of medium size, symmet- rically formed, and capable of great enduranceactive, indus- trious, faithful to the sick, and devoted to his profession. He was dignified in his bearing, (" grand," said an aged lady re- cently deceased,) affable, courteous and kind, winning the con- fidence and affection of his patients. At the same time, he is reported to have been a bold and efficient, but discriminating, prescriber-one who was usually correct in diagnosis, quick to discover the salient points in a case, and prompt to select and MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 23 apply the appropriate remedy. He did business with great dis- patch, and was regarded by his friends and pupils as the end of the law in medicine. With these advantages he could not fail to gain and hold fast a large business. It extended over the county and to more distant parts of the state, embracing all the branches of the profession. He told Dr. Ives (so the latter affirms) that he kept four horses, (he was fond of a good horse,) and rode by average forty miles a day. A servant always slept near the front door to attend to night calls, and to bring up his horse. In 1771 he charged one shilling (nearly seventeen cents) for a visit, and furnished medicine at the rate of one shilling for an emetic or sudorific, etc. In 1784, the physicians of New Haven agreed to double their prices. There is, in the rooms of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, a "day book" of Dr. Hubbard covering over nine months, from May to February, 1786-7, a period when he is supposed to have been in full practice. Counting the visits at different periods and taking the average, I find that he made, or rather charged (the cash business must have been very small) eight visits and a fraction daily. Considering that most of his practice was at a convenient distance, this is a smaller number than I was led to expect, and quite insufficient to require "four good horses," and forty miles of daily travel. I at first con- cluded that fevers and epidemic diseases were not then com- mon, and that unusual health prevailed ; but on consulting Dr. Webster's work on Pestilence (Vol. ii, p. 25), it appears that the burials in New Haven, first society, in 1786 and 1787, were somewhat above the average. From the same account book, I ascertain that Col. Hubbard rarely saw a patient more than once a day. Most of his cases were medical, a few obstetrical, and still fewer surgical. A visit was entered at two shillings, an emetic at one shilling, a cathar- tic, one shilling, bleeding, two shillings, drawing a tooth, two shillings. Most frequently his prescription was a cathartic, often a sudorific, rarely an emetic, and occasionally blood-let- ting. Mixed up with these professional items, are charges for molasses at four and a half pence a pint, or for rum at one shil- 24 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. ling a quart, etc., as if lie kept these articles for his patients, or the families he attended. Had he owned a store, the store books would have been the place for these things. He seems often to have gone to Allingtown, but not frequently into ad- joining or more distant towns. A man with so much reputation, and controlling so large a business, having a renown which comes from a "foreign cor- respondence" with "eminent physicians in Europe" (see obitu- ary notice), might be tempted to use his advantages for selfish purposes. Indeed, he was accused of this-of sometimes being supercilious and overbearing. Dr. Barker was introduced to him by Rev. Dr. Dana, the latter remarking that his friend had come to remain as a physician. " Ploughmen are more needed in this place than doctors," Hubbard gruffly replied. It was also said by the younger members of the profession-those par- ticularly who adhered to the new gospel of the once famous Dr. John Brown-that he read nothing; that he was half a century behind the time; that his opinions were rusty with age, and his practice old fashioned. They at length perhaps thought it time for him "to shuffle off," and were possibly disappointed that the people did not think so too. The qualities which distinguished Dr. Hubbard were not of the highest order, or the rarest among men; but he was famous in his day. He had a talent for business, and tact in the man- agement of the sick; amassed riches; lived in a fashionable house; and was greatly honored by the profession. In private life he was sober, just and exemplary; a good member of soci- ety, true to the church of which he was a member, compassion- ate, benevolent and faithful in the different relations of life. Col. Hubbard's will was dated February nineteenth, 1790. He left an estate worth over $27,000. His books, of all kinds, were valued at $82; plate at $159; dwelling house, $3,000. His first wife, Sarah Whitehead, died December fifth, 1769, in the fiftieth year of her age; his second wife, Hester, October nine- teenth, 1804, aged 51. They had many children: Stephen Whitehead, b. June 16, 1747 ; graduated at Yale College in 1766, and d. in 1771; a young man of great promise: 25 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Leverett, b. Sept. 7, 1749; d. April 14, 1787: Wyllis, born February 25, 1755; died March 29, 1774: Sarah, b. May 31, 1758, and married John Trumbull, poet, etc.: Bradford, un- married; d. "June 16, 1825, aged 64:"* Nathaniel; died June 16, 1825, aged "about 63:" Elizabeth, d. Jan. 18, 1787, aged 14: Julia, d. March 29, 1794, aged 16: Leverett, b. Sept. 7, 1794: Lucretia, after her father's death, m. Jirah Isham, and d. in New London, aged 23 : Mary ; m. Rev. John Lewis, and d. before Feb. 19, 1790. ENEAS MUNSON. On Gen. Wadsworth's Plan of New Haven, made in 1748, may be seen on the westerly side of York Street (since so cal- led), a little south of Chapel street, a house in red with a wing on the north side bearing the name of "Ben Munson, school- master?'' This Benjamin, a mechanic and reputed " man of wit," son of Benjamin, was the father of Eneas Munson. The mother's name was Abigail, the daughter of John Punderson, second. Their children were : Eneas, born June thirteenth, 1734: Abigail, September twenty-eighth, 1735: Benjamin, February twenty-eighth, 1738-9 : Susannah, February twenty- eighth, 1741: all recorded in New Haven. The three last died early of black canker (so called) or angina maligna. Eneas, the only surviving child, was brought up tenderly and sent to Yale College. Having done more than his share of the mischief, for the most part without detection, he was graduated in 1753. Soon after, he was in Northampton, engaged in teaching, where he joined the church. Under the instruction of Ezra Stiles, then a tutor in Yale College, he studied Divinity and was * This is a part of the inscription on his grave stone, making his death occur on the same day as that of his brother Nathaniel. I suspect some error. Adminis- tration on his estate was taken out Nov. Sth, 1826. Bradford was not noted for industry or enterprise. He was a " do-nothing." On one occasion his father inquired of his grandson Leverett " Where's Brad. ?" "Over at Uncle Nat's." "What's he doing?" "Nothing." "Where's Nat.?'» "Helping Uncle Brad." Long afterward the phrase "helping uncle Brad.," was used to signify idleness in its most elaborate form. 26 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. licensed to preach. He was fond of Metaphysics, and became a rigid Calvinist, maintaining opinions he never renounced. In 1755, during the old French war, he acted as chaplain under Lord Gardner, then stationed on Long Island. He never was " settled," but preached as an evangelist. Says Dr. Ives, " his manner, when speaking on religious subjects, or in the act of devotion, was solemn and dignified." He did not continue long a minister. Hard study (so called) and insufficient exer- cise broke his health. He was afflicted with dyspepsia; became a hypochondriac ; was afraid of being struck by lightning if he rode out; and felt obliged to change his profession. Another reason was afterward given for the change. His instinct for wit and humor and his love of mirth sometimes got the better of his " solemn and dignified " endeavor, causing him to place the sacred and profane in irreverent juxtaposition, and leading to many unseemly exhibitions. Numerous amusing anecdotes relating to his pulpit and other official performances are yet in circulation. On one occasion he read all the-old notices which he found in the pulpit; on another, he rode off with a shirt he had borrowed of a brother minister to preach in, hotly pursued by its destitute owner, who wanted it for the afternoon service. After having studied medicine a short time with Dr. James Darley, of East Hampton, (L. L), and with some one on Gard- ner's Island, obtaining in his own estimation a very meagre knowledge of the profession, Dr. Munson, in 1756, began practice in Bedford, N. Y., within the limits of the disputed territory then known as the Oblong or Nine Partners, whence, in 1760, he removed to New Haven. In January following, his parents, as an expression of their "love and affection," con- veyed to him by deed one half of their dwelling house and home lot, including the whole of the " new end," and one half the well. The lot was bounded northerly and easterly by high- way, and southerly by Naphtali Daggett. Here he is presumed to have lived till about February, 1774, when, for £150, Stephen Munson quit-claimed to him the house and land where said Stephen "formerly dwelt," the land amounting to one fourth of an acre, bounded northerly and easterly on highway, south- MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 27 erly and westerly on the grantee. This is supposed to be the house which now occupies the southwesterly corner of York and Chapel streets, which, only a few years ago, stood twenty feet further north than now, and in which the doctor so long lived and finally died. Before the Revolution, Dr. Munson had acquired a wide rep- utation as a skillful and scientific physician. He was a patriot during the war, but his personal courage, it is said, was not great enough to allow him to enlist. In the more congenial sphere of home duties, however, he was prompt, and sufficiently zealous. He was one of the committee of distinguished medical men selected from different parts of the State to determine the qualifications of those proposing to enter the surgical depart- ment of the army. Seven times between 1778 and 1781. inclu- sive, he was a deputy to the General Court, then holding semi- annual sessions. He was also a justice of the peace. Before him "the committee of public safety brought all their cases for trial." He " condemned fearlessly the enemies of the country," evincing thereby 11 no small share of political courage." On the list of the fathers -those who organized the Medical Society of New Haven County, and pledged themselves to sus- tain it-Dr. Munson's name stands third, but he ranked third only in name. No one was more influential than he in main- taining its usefulness, and giving it a reputation at home and abroad. From the beginning, he was a member of the commit- tees of correspondence and examination, and did probably as much to establish the Connecticut Medical Society as any other individual, possibly more. His services in this regard, and his eminence as a physician were recognized when a charter was at last obtained in 1792. He was a fellow the first nine years, and was the first vice-president. When Dr. Hubbard died in 1794, he was promoted to the highest office in the gift of the Society, notwithstanding he was from the same town as his predecessor. He was also honored with the degree of M.D., the third con- ferred by that body, and requested to deliver an eulogy on the character of the late President, a duty which he discharged a year later. For seven successive years he held the office of 28 MEDICAL HISTORY" AND BIOGRAPHY. president, when his re-election was apparently prevented by a conspiracy at the New Haven county meeting, in September, 1801. Previously to that time, and subsequently for several years, it was the practice to elect the president for the time being a fellow; but at that meeting the rule was disregarded. It was also the custom-much complained of, but supposed to be in conformity to the charter-to select the president from among the fellows in convention. Dr. Munson, not being a fellow, was not a candidate for the office, and Dr. James Potter, of Fairfield county, was chosen his successor. He was thus defeated, seemingly by the movement which left him out of the county delegation, Dr. John Barker being chosen in his stead. I infer that he regarded this action in the county meeting as a personal indignity, for he immediately asked to be " dismissed from any further connection with the society." The request was at that time denied, but seems finally to have been granted, though no record is made of the fact. The breach was per- manent, and the doctor's tax for 1801 was abated. A biographical notice printed in the Connecticut Journal at the time of his death, and another in Dr. Thatcher's Medical Biography, published in 1828, state that Dr. Munson was re- elected to the presidency of the Connecticut Medical Society "as long as he was willing to serve." I have given an account of the circumstances, and of the facts as they appear on record. I may have misconstrued them. On the list of members of the New Haven Medical Associa- tion, when its organization was completed, January twentieth, 1803, Dr. Munson's name stands at the head. He was at that time, and had been since Col. Hubbard's death, the first practi- tioner in the city. For a much longer period be had ranked highest in learning and science. Though nearly sixty-nine years of age, he had lost none of his interest in his profession, and continued to attend the meetings of the Association till it went under in 1814. After its resurrection in 1818, it no longer met at his house, and he was only an occasional attend- ant. At this time be had nearly given up practice, though he still prescribed for those applying to him at his house. Even MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGBAPHY. 29 when much enfeebled by a protracted and painful disease, (an enlargement of the prostate gland,) his old friends, who for their bodily ills had alway gone to him for relief, did not feel safe till they had taken his advice. But the time at last came when labor must cease. He died June sixteenth, 1826, aged 92, having been seventy years a physician. At the time of his death, he was the oldest person in the city. His funeral was attended at the Episcopal church where a sermon was preached by Mr. Croswell. About $4,000, net value, was the whole amount of his estate, showing that his large and long practice and a plain way of living were in his case not profitable, or else that he lacked the usual dollar-hoarding instinct. It is generally believed that, up to the early part of the pres- ent century, Dr. Munson was the ablest physician that ever practiced for a long time in New Haven. Possessing naturally a strong and discriminating mind and retentive memory, with enthusiasm enough to secure earnestness and activity, he was never weary of accumulating knowledge-reading, conversing, observing, experimenting, corresponding by letter, &c., as he had opportunity. His industrious habits were kept up beyond the period when labor usually becomes irksome, his studies being mostly confined to medicine and collateral subjects. He may have been credulous, possibly superstitious; he was cer- tainly one or the other, if an opinion may be formed from the remedies he sometimes gave. But should we not judge his belief by the standards of his time? However we may decide this question, it is undoubtedly true that in the matter of pro- fessional learning and scientific information, (both of which he liked to show off,) he ranked with the eminent men of his country. It was practical knowledge which he most sought- that which he could carry to the bedside of sickness, and make useful in prescription. Dr. Eli Ives, his medical student and habitual eulogist, speaks in the most exalted terms of his attainments in science. He was surely a competent judge, and would not intentionally exaggerate; but it may be that he was unconsciously influenced by judgments formed in the imma- ture period of pupilage. These judgments, reluctantly modi- 30 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. fled by the experience of riper years, we are prone to carry with us through life. Our schoolmasters-those who have moulded our plastic brains and shaped our half-fledged thoughts; who from their plethoric stores have poured into our lean and hun- gry but retentive minds the varied elements of knowledge and opinion-are ever after, in imagination, prodigies of learning, and in our estimation are as much above other mortals as they once seemed above ourselves. I speak only of tendencies, and do not mean to say that Dr. Ives was unduly influenced by early impressions. He had unusual opportunities to correct first estimates. But I quote: Dr. Munson was a pioneer in the science of Botany, extensively acquainted with plants, unrivaled in his knowledge of indigenous materia medica, and in materia medica generally probably his superior was not to be found in Europe. Few are aware how much they are indebted to him for what knowledge they possess of materia medica, and of the practice of medicine. He often prescribed actaea, san- guinaria, aletris, veratrum, chrysoplenium, zanthorrhoea, and isnardia. To Dr. Munson the faculty of this country were more indebted for the introduction of new articles and valuable modes of practice than to any other individual. His knowledge of plants was acquired under great difficulties. The facilities afforded by the sexual system of Linnaeus, and of the natural orders of Jussieu, he did not possess. He possessed the knowledge of the practical ideas of Ray and Wither- ing, and other writers of the last century, not directly from their books, but from the sources whence they derived their facts. Many articles of the materia medica of a doubtful character he tested in his practice; and his ideas thence obtained were definite, and his conclusions accurate. When unknown articles were pre- sented to the medical society for the purpose of learning their names and uses, all eyes were turned to him, who was able to solve the difficulties, and to give the name and history of the articles. Having so much reputation as a botanist, I cannot account for the fact that he was placed almost at the foot of the com- mittee appointed by the county society in 1784 to take charge of the projected botanical garden. Nor do I understand why his inquisitive mind did not seek aid from the works of Lin- naeus and others who had made large advances in the study. His alleged correspondence with the learned men of Europe must have placed him in the way of obtaining foreign intelli- gence, and the books so essential to a student here. Among his correspondents was Baron Storck, of Vienna, from whom, continues Dr. Ives: 31 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. He received the seeds of the conium maculatum in a lettter. The plant was not found in this country previous to the planting of the seeds by the doctor. He thus introduced it into practice and used it more efficiently than any other practitioner. The extract which he used he manufactured by his own hands or under his own eye, and it always produced its specific effects. When Dr. Anthony [?] Fothergill visited this country, he brought letters of introduction to Dr. Munson. Dr. Munson studied Chemistry with zeal and made many chemical experiments. Previous to the introduction of the anti-phlogistic theory of Chemistry, he was looked upon as a master of the science, and no one in this vicinity was as well acquainted with Mineralogy, and he manufactured many of his medicinal chemical compounds. On the introduction of the discoveries of Lavoisier and Chaptai, in the latter part of the last century, he immediately adopted them, and was the first in this country to use the new medicinal agents which were developed by those discoveries. He was looked up to by all his medical brethren on all subjects relating to Chemistry and Pharmacy. [Prof. Silliman, sen., was accustomed, in his early lectures, to speak of him with deference.] I do not suppose that Dr. Munson's knowledge of natural science was systematic or at all complete. Pursued as it was (to a large extent) without the aid of books, and in ignorance of what others had done, it could not have been of an advanced kind, even when measured by the standards of that day. His Botany in particular must have been of the primitive sort, medical more than general, popular rather than scientific. His Chemistry may have been of a better quality, and possibly would have approached the low standard of that day. The evidence however is not satisfactory on this point. Surely an individual of that period in a private station, without instruc- tion or assistance, and with no adequate supply of books, chemicals, apparatus and the conveniences of a laboratory, must have been a genius indeed to have made very great progress. He was sometimes visionary; dreamed of wonderful discoveries in Chemistry; was known as an experimental alchemist :* but may in the face of all this, have achieved dis- * Since this was written, I have met with the following items-entries in the Diary of Dr. Stiles in 1789. I can think of no name that would fill the blank like that of Munson. " March second. This afternoon Dr. visited me to discourse on Chem- istry and inquiry concerning the hemetic Philosophy." " March third. Dr. visited me again to-day to converse about the transmutation of metals, which he says Dr. Koon performed at Wallingford last December. He is infatuated with the notion that I know something about it. I 32 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. tinguished success in science. His reputation, however, does not rest so much on what he accomplished as on the fact that he was a pioneer, laboring heroically and alone in a new and glorious field of inquiry-a field fruitful in wonders almost as great as those pictured by alchemy. His high reputation as a worker and explorer in different branches of knowledge, and his eminence as a physician were recognized when, in 1813, in spite of his great age (79), he was selected to fill the chair of materia medica and Botany in the new born Medical Institution of Yale College. He was not expected to undertake the active duties of the office. These were discharged by his younger associate, Dr. Eli Ives. Dr. Munson reported four cases to the county society, and delivered an "Eulogy" on the character of Dr. II. Beardsley. Two of the cases were printed in the pamphlet of 1788, and one read at a later period is on file.* Though worth preservation, they have few salient points, and disclose none of the peculiar traits which so distinguished their author. They are drawn up with no more than ordinary skill, make too free a use of technical terms, and scarcely sustain the doctor's reputation as a scholar. The style is hard, and the pathological remarks common place. These observations have peculiar fitness when applied to the manuscript on file. One who knew him well has said he "wrote the Latin language with elegance and facility." If this be so he must have cultivated it more successfully than he did his mother tongue. Unless I mistake the indications, he wrote with difficulty and reluctance, and was unpracticed in compo- sition of any kind. Besides the cases above referred to, I told him that I knew nothing but what is in the books; that I had never pos- sessed the secret, if there was any; that I never saw or conversed with any one that I thought had it; that I had never made or seen the preparation, if that thing was possible; that I had never performed transmutation nor seen it per- formed; and that I held the whole to be a vain and illusory pursuit." I can learn nothing of " Dr. Koon." Very like he was some itinerant professor of the black arts. * This is a case of hydrocephalus internus. During its progress, when the pulse became " quick, fluttering and very irregular, the skin very dry," he " directed fowls to be split open and applied to the feet, and the body to be wrap- ped in a sheep-skin immediately after taking it off the sheep. " MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 33 cannot find that he published any thing except an account of the yellow fever of New Haven in 1794 (he himself had an attack) published in Dr. Webster's Collection of Papers on Bilious Fevers, which I have not seen. It is to be regretted that a man so able to instruct did not think more of his suc- cessors, and make himself familiar by study and practice with the only certain means of transmitting knowledge. Of medical books of current date, unwieldy in size and cheap in construc- tion, we have more than enough ; but carefully prepared works written three-quarters of a century ago, especially in the histor- ical department, are much needed. For ready and genuine wit, Dr. Munson was one of the most remarkable men of his day. His conversation was racy and spicy, abounding in pithy sentences and amusing anecdote, with a perennial flow of quaint, humorous remark. Having a keen sense of the ludicrous, and an innate love of mirth, he grouped ideas in the drollest and most unexpected manner, and presented them in the most fantastic combinations. When disposed to be facetious, he would catch at a trivial observation or circumstance, and by adding a casual remark would make it appear supremely ridiculous. His liveliest and sharpest sallies escaped him without effort and almost unconsciously. While others were splitting their sides with laughter, he looked serious and unconcerned as if nothing had happened. Ever prepared, with quiver always full, no one, even his most inti- mate friends, were secure from his shafts. Dr. Ives' account of him, interesting but rhapsodical, is made up in large part of stories (several of them too long for insertion here) illustrative of his wit and humor. They are faithfully recited, doubtless, but some are improbable in certain of their details; others bear the marks of having grown by repetition. Besides these there are floating about many anecdotes and old saws, their circulation kept up by the retiring generation. I have room for only a few of the briefest. The doctor was once attending his son-in-law, David Daggett, a very able lawyer, much feared by his legal opponents. An anxious neighbor met him at the gate and inquired " How is 34 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. your patient?" "So so." "Is he dangerous?" The reply quickly came: "No, nor will he be till he's better than now." A woman wTith a large mouth, preparing to have a tooth drawn, threw open her heavy jaws ; Munson looked into the gulf, and stepping back, remarked blandly: "Madam, you need not open your mouth so wide, I shall stand outside." He was once dining with the corporation at commencement dinner, when President Dwight, who was a good trencher-man, remarked, preparatory to some observations on diet, " You observe, gen- tlemen, that I eat a great deal of bread with my meat." "Yes," said the doctor, instantly, "and we notice that you eat much meat with your bread." He gave to a student of college a writing certifying to his indisposition. The holder took it to President Dwight, and asked to be excused from recitation. The latter, ambitious to be thought to know symptoms, told him to put out his tongue. "Your tongue, sir, is clean, you cannot be excused." The doctor was again consulted, and resolving to take the conceit out of the president, gave the youth a bit of coloring substance, saying, " Chew this, and go again to your master." He did so; the tongue was again called for, and its owner promptly excused. He gave an emetic to a troublesome neighbor, Isaac Doolittle, who in a fit of intoxi- cation had taken an ounce of laudanum. The next day, finding his patient sober, he admonished him in the most solemn man- ner of the error of his ways, saying he had rescued him from a horrible death. " I do not thank vou for what you have done," Doolittle replied. "Well, I am sure the neighbors wont," responded the doctor. Nor did he spare his own household. His sons differed widely in their notions of the value and uses of money, and he was accustomed to speak of their peculiarities in a characteristic way. Thus he distinguished them : Eneas, money-making Munson : Elijah, money-saving Munson : Elihu, money-spending Munson: George, no-money Munson : Henry, catch-penny Munson. The boys in retaliation termed the old gentleman old money Munson. Doctor Munson was sometimes sarcastic; but his usual aim was not to wound or stir up resentful feelings. Pleasantry MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 35 rather than satire was in harmony with his instincts. His humor was naturally of the genial, kindly sort-of the kind which excites agreeable emotions, and makes one a lively, cheerful companion. He was not a ready talker; would not speak unless he had something to say, and did not make ran- dom statements. A good field for the exercise of his peculiar talent was found in his profession. He could make the sick room cheerful, keep up the spirits of the desponding, and inspire courage and confidence. His treatment of nervous, dyspeptic, hysterical and hypochondriacal cases, adapted as it was to the changing moods and fancies of his patients, was particularly successful. Only in the lighter forms of disease, when gloom was an obstacle to be removed, did he give rein to his mirth- provoking proclivities. If the illness were severe and danger imminent, his bearing was wholly changed, and no word or expression not in keeping with the circumstances was allowed to escape him. Dr. Munson was above the average size, erect and dignified in appearance. Of course he wore a wig with a pig-tail, which is still preserved. His grave countenance, rarely ruffled by a smile, and his serious, somewhat reserved manner led strangers to think him unsocial and austere. They could form no conception of the fun which lay pressed down beneath that rigid exterior, nor of the struggle it cost him to keep the fastenings secure. In doc- trinal theology, he belonged to the straitest of the New England sects; but his thoughts and speech would not conform to his abstract opinions. Unfortunately for his ministerial hopes, the prompting of his nature defied restraint. He regretted his in- firmity, as he called it, but said he could not help it. Dr. Munson belonged to the first church of New Haven, and was a prominent member of the society; but in 1814, dissatis- fied with the proceedings which resulted in pulling down the old meeting house and building a new one, he took a dismis- sion, and went to Trinity church. He did not, it is said, renounce his opinions. His belief, the growth of sixty years, was too firmly established to be uprooted in a day. He was an 36 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. honest man, sincere in his professions, faithful to his convic- tions, a good member of society, just and true in all his rela- tions. He once chewed tobacco, but broke himself of the habit, using for a little time bits of tarred rope as a substitute. "The dignity of the profession," so called, was well sup- ported by Dr. Munson. Perhaps he was fastidious, but he did not allow himself to solicit practice. To do so would have been an act of humiliation, damaging to his self-respect. Professional pride and opinion in his day did not permit a man of his stand- ing to put his name on his door, and thus invite custom by advertisement. He expected business to come to him unasked, as it did. That very neat way of obtaining unconscious noto- riety, and so getting patients without the aid of suasion, through the newspaper reporter, had not then been invented. Dr. Munson first married Susanna Howell, who died April twenty-first, 1803. Soon after he married Sarah Perit. The marriage jointure is dated November sixteenth, 1804. His children, all by his first wife, and all of whom lived to adult age, were: 1, Clarinda, unmarried; 2, Eneas; 3, Elijah; 4, Wealthy, m. David Daggett; 5, George; 6, Elihu, m. a daugh- ter of his mother-in-law; had some of the ready wit of his father; 7, Henry; 8, Frederick, d. unmarried. ENEAS MUNSON, Jr. He was the oldest of the sons of Dr. Eneas Munson, and was born September eleventh, 1763. Immediately after his graduation at Yale College in 1780, at the age of seventeen, he received the appointment of surgeon's mate, and entered the Revolutionary army, having probably studied medicine during the last year of his college life with his father. The fact that any one was received into the medical service at his immature age is proof of the pressing need of competent surgeons. In 1780 he was connected with Col. Swift's regiment, and in 1781 with Col. Butler's (Connecticut line). He was thus exposed to the dangers, hardships and privations of military life at that eventful period ; was at the siege of Yorktown, and while still a minor gained much varied and valuable experience, the inci- MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 37 dents of which he was fond of recounting in after life. At the close of the war he returned to New Haven, and took charge of a hospital (supposed to be a private one) for the innocula- tion and treatment of small-pox-a disease quite rife at that day-often communicated by the returning soldiers. Capt. James Barney (now deceased), of Westville, born in 1777, informed me in 1870 that, in 1791 or 1792; he with sixty others went into a pock-house on Grapevine point, under the care of Dr. Munson, Jr., where all had the innoculated small-pox, and were besides nearly starved. None died. At this place the town pest-house once stood, but a new building at the foot of Chapel street, then a secluded spot, was about 1785 substituted for it In after life the doctor used to point out an old build- ing near West rock, on the way to Wintergreen lake, where he once had small-pox patients. The farther end of Goffe street, it is said, used to be called pock-house lane. It is understood that Dr. Munson's private practice was quite limited. Not liking the business, he did not seek it. So soon as he had accumulated some property, by degrees he turned his attention to other and more lucrative pursuits. He loaned money and made profitable investments, buying and selling as opportunity presented. In October, 1799, he bought of David Austin, Jr., a store on the wharf which, in February following, he conveyed to Munson, Mulford & Co. (Eneas Munson, Jr., Harvey Mulford and Abraham Bradley, third). The building is described as on or adjoining to Union Wharf, "no. 1 in the range of stores built by David Austin, Jr." The company was engaged in the West India and coasting trade, and had another store on State street; but, in October, 1802, Munson quit- claimed to his partners his interest in the Wharf property, and at the same time probably quit the business. In May, 1806, he had connected himself with Ransom Shelton. The company (Munson and Shelton) sold dry goods and groceries on the northeast corner of Elm and York streets, the store (still stand- ing) being owned and previously " occupied " as a store-house by himself. At a later date he was associated with Harvey Sanford in the same business. In 1808, 1809 and 1810 the 38 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. name of the firm was Shelton & Sanford, Munson still being a partner. Besides trade he sometimes engaged in outside commercial enterprises or speculations, took ventures in whal- ing voyages, etc. Before chartered insurance companies were common, he occasionally insured against losses at sea. He gained a wide reputation for the sagacity, prudence and success with which he managed his own affairs, and in 1812 was elected President of the New Haven Bank. Till 1831, nineteen years, during a period of great financial difficulty, he managed this institution with uprightness, judgment and skill. In 1832 he was chosen President of the Mechanics' Bank, in this city, which office he held three years. Still later, in 1837, he accepted the presidency of the City Bank, and discharged the duties one year. Dr. Munson appears to have joined the county medical society in 1785 ; read by appointment a "dissertation" at the meeting in April, 1786; became a member of the Connecticut Medical Society in September, 1792, and was dismissed, apparently in 1802, soon after his father left the society. I do not find his name mentioned except in connection with these dates, and there is circumstantial evidence that he did not, unless quite early, attend medical meetings of any kind. In June, 1801, Dr. Munson purchased of Ezra Ford, for $1725, one-quarter of an acre of land, and the house recently standing on the northerly side of Elm street, a little west of College, where he resided. Two years later, he bought of Noah Barber, for $6,500, three acres of land, with a wood dwelling (nearly new), "and all other buildings," on the northeasterly corner of Elm and York streets, where he afterward lived and died. Though never an applicant for public favor, Dr. Munson in several instances accepted office. He was a councilman in 1804 ; an aiderman in 1805, 1819 and 1828; justice of the peace in 1808, 1818 and 1824, and perhaps at other times. In politics he was first a federalist, next a whig; but was never a partizan or the slave of a party. In religion he was a congregationalist, till about 1814, when he left the first society for the same reason that influenced his father, and became a churchman. 39 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. To the sacrifices necessary to secure wealth, Dr. Munson will- ingly submitted; in other words, he was content to creep till he got strength to walk. As a business man he achieved suc- cess by persistent industry and economy, by unfailing punctu- ality and scrupulous integrity. For financial ability, sound discretion and shrewd practical sense, no man in New Haven had a better reputation. An undertaking or adventure which he condemned was almost sure to turn out poorly. He had no confidence for instance in the old Farmington canal; refused to take stock in it, and was of course denounced for his want of "public spirit." He was one of the very few who can safely go outside their regular business, and embark in speculative enterprises. His risks were so divided or otherwise guarded that if one turned out unfortunately there was compensation in some other, and the damage was soon repaired. So great was the confidence of the public in his wisdom and skill that they indulged in exaggerated estimates of his riches. He had a reasonable confidence in himself, so that when he had once formed an opinion deliberately he was not easily driven from it. Having made up his mind that railroads for travel were better fitted to break the necks of people than carry them safely, he never could be persuaded to ride on one. He held decided opinions, but was not considered obstinate, and had none of the family eccentricities. Though he loved anecdote and enjoyed a good story, he lacked the sharp wit of the father. He was a well-dressed man, a gentleman in his manners, and an excellent card-player. According to Dr. Dana's record, Dr. Munson was married May third, 1794, to Mary, daughter of Levi Shepard, of North- ampton. They had seven children, three of whom reached adult life: Alfred Munson, M. D. (died in 1870), and Charles Munson, both of New Haven ; and Mary Ann (now deceased), who married George Y. Cutler, of Watertown in this State. The father died of dysentery, August twenty-second, 1852, aged eighty-nine, leaving property of the value of about $65,000, and the mother February sixth, 1848, aged seventy- six. 40 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. He appears to have been born in 1739, but where I am un- able to say. Nor do I know his parentage. I suppose he practiced medicine before the Revolution in Windham county, and a memorandum which I made while searching the state records, in Hartford, leads me to think be may have lived in Plainfield. Rev. J. S. Spalding, of Newburyport, states that he found on the records of Woodstock, Conn., that "Dr. John Spalding and Mrs. Elizabeth Chamberlain were married, Jan- uary eighth, 1771. They had a child, John, born January sixth, 1772." In April, 1775, a person by the same name was ap- pointed surgeon of the third regiment, raised for the war, commanded by Col. Israel Putnam. There can be little doubt that the Dr. Spaulding spoken of in these cases was the one who afterward settled in New Haven. From an examination of the " Army Accounts," in Hartford, I conclude that he was connected with the military service for several years, perhaps continuously till the close of 1780. On the twenty-second of Jan- uary, 1781, he seems to have been a practitioner in New Haven. I infer it from a surgical case which he afterward reported, in which Dr. Ives was called in to assist him. It is printed in the collection of "Cases and Observations." I have no other knowledge of him till January, 1784, when he appears, at the age of forty-five, as a subscriber to the "city agreement," and the articles of the county society. Of the latter, judging from the record book, he was not an active member for several years, but in 1788 was placed on the committee of examination, and in 1789, on the committee of correspondence, which positions he held during the remaining life of the society. He reported one case in October, 1784, and fourteen others in 1788 and afterward, all of them surgical cases. The four first were pub- lished in the pamphlet of Cases, &c. One of them, which first appeared in the Connecticut Journal, June twenty-first, 1786, in a letter to Dr. Stiles, written at the "particular request" of the latter, describes an extraordinary accident, by which the breech-pin of a loaded gun "entered the right eye, and, driving the eye with the whole of its bony orbit before it," lodged JOHN SPALDING. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 41 against the vertebrae of the neck and the angle of the jaw, without piercing the skin. This large body remained unsuspected for six months. When discovered, it was firmly wedged in its position, and resisted all attempts to dislodge it. After sawing off a portion of it, and removing with a trephine a part of the jaw, the remainder, at the end of eight months from the injury, was extracted, the whole operation being very painful and pro- tracted. The patient, Ezra Curtis, speedily recovered, and the doctor was glorified. The case is well drawn up, having prob- ably the benefit of Dr. Stiles' correcting hand. The three other printed cases are in substance interesting. Dr. Spalding was one of the corporators of the Connecticut Medical Society ; a fellow eight years, between 1793 and 1804, inclusive ; chairman of the committee of examination for New Haven county three years, between 1799 and 1804, inclusive; and a member of the committee to revise the by daws, in 1800. In 1793 he was in charge of a hospital for innoculated small- pox patients; in 1794 had an attack of yellow fever; in 1802 received from the convention the degree of M.D., and in 1810 withdrew from the society. Though his name is not among the subscribers to the articles of the New Haven Medical Asso- ciation, he was nevertheless an early member, more distin- guished for absence and the twenty-five cent fines incurred, than for any thing else. The clerk, apparently discouraged, ceased to warn him after May, 1805. Twice only, in June and September, 1804, did the association meet at his house. Ap- parently he sought release and oblivion, and both were vouch- safed. On the twenty-second day of March, i794, for £150 ($500), Dr. Spalding bought of Jacob Pinto a house, barn, and half an acre of land on the easterly side of State street, near the foot of Wall. The house, (an old wood one), stood till some five or six years ago close by the New Haven and Northampton Rail- road bridge, on the further side. Here the doctor afterward lived. Dr. Spalding seems to have been the chief surgeon in New Haven from 1781 to the time of his death in 1813. He had an 42 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. extensive practice out of town, particularly in Fairfield county, but had not all the business in his line nearer home. Most of the " bone-setting" in the city, I am informed,* was at one period (after 1800) done not by him but by a Mrs. Bradley, of Westville. Some of the physicians in New Haven did not regard his competency and skill as equal to his reputation, and their known views may have prejudiced bis standing with the people. The statement is probably true that he was fond of cutting instruments, and had not always the knowledge or dexterity required to use them safely. Dr. Eli Ives, in his lec- tures, used to relate a case to prove how rash and unfortunate a certain surgeon, supposed but not certainly known to have been Dr. Spalding, sometimes was. Dr. Munson and Dr. Beardsley had a heated controversy concerning an operation for strangulated hernia in a child, the former objecting on account of the proposed operator. In their excitement each intimated that the other was a murderer. The child died, when Dr. Munson proposed that the operation should then be performed, and said if it were not a failure he would take upon himself the guilt [minus the penalty, probably] of murder. The physicians at hand were all invited to witness the result. The surgeon began, and with the first incision laid open the intestine, thus proving that Munson's fears were well-grounded.f In illustration of the primitive style of his surgery, it may be mentioned that he amputated fingers with the chisel and mal- let-a style which did not end with him. Though Dr. Spalding was honored to a certain extent by the * My authority is Dr. Samuel S. Noyes, of New Canaan, Fairfield county, to whom I am much indebted. He was about four years in the drug store of his kinsman, Dr. Samuel Darling, of New Haven, between 1804 and Jan., 1808, study- ing medicine, and learning the business of a druggist. The physicians of New Haven and the neighborhood were often in the store, and he became well ac- quainted with them. From him I have gained much information concerning Drs. L. Hubbard, Eneas Munson, sen., Levi Ives, Spalding, Northrop, Hotchkiss and others. Dr. Noyes (October, 1876), is still living, aged about ninety. f This is presumed to be the account of the operation as given by Dr. Munson, whose pupil Dr. Ives was. I know not whether it does full justice to the operator. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 43 profession, his lack of professional and scientific culture is apparent. Nor could he have had the advantages of education. Two manuscript papers (cases not printed), reported to the county society, now in my possession, prove this. They abound in technical terms, but still more in literary delinquences. Dr. Spalding, poor man, had more than the common allot- ment of matrimonial infelicity. As the story goes, his unfaith- ful wife, finding him in the way of her schemes, poisoned him with arsenic, putting it in successive doses into his drinks. The result was he lost all the hair on his person, the privation (which proved permanent) giving him a singular, somewhat comical appearance. This is the account which I have received from several old and trustworthy people; but in President Stiles' Diary I find, under date of July twelfth, 1788, the fol- lowing statement: Dr. Spalding, aged 45, [?] of this city, at my house. I examined his face and head. His beard, eye-brows and lashes and hair of his head is entirely come off. He first perceived it coming off in February last, and in May was the last time of his shaving. He has been in tolerable health : has had no fit of sickness. He was in captivity two years, in 1780 and 1781 [he was apparently in New Haven in January, 1781, as already stated] in Barbadoes in the W. Indies, where he had a fit of sickness. He suspects that might lay the foundation of the loss of hair. He never read or heard of a similar instance till I told him of one in Capt. Lawton, in Newport, who in 1774 lost his beard and all the hair of his head and body at sea, in perfect health. Dr. Stiles refers to other cases. I conclude from this account that Dr. Spalding did not then suspect poison, or else concealed his suspicion. The loss of hair from the continued use of arsenic in excessive doses is an occa- sional, but very rare occurrence, and can scarcely happen without a previous or simultaneous loss of health. It is quite possible that poisoning was not thought of till jealousy or some family quarrel had sharpened the faculties, and grounds for a divorce were sought-sought, it is understood, successfully. Dr. Kirtland, of Ohio, met Dr. Spalding about 1800, and thus writes : " He dined at my grandfather Potter's, and greatly interested my young mind." " He wore a sorrel or golden col- ored wig which to my young eyes contrasted strangely with his 44 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. pale white skin, alabaster, or sub-pellucid lips, hairless head, eye-brows and eye-lids, and beardless chin." He was a tall, spare man, a little stooping when he moved. Dr. Spalding had a son, Dr. John Spalding, Jr., said to have been a young man of promise, whose name appeared in connec- tion with a lottery in October, 1795. In the ship Hope, Capt. Nathaniel Ray, the son embarked as "surgeon and agent" on a luckless seal-catching voyage to the South Pacific. On his way home, says the Connecticut Journal, he died at Monte- video, May sixth, 1801. The continued wet weather had spoiled the skins, the losses were severe, and suicide was the result. The doting father's heart was broken, and he never recovered from the shock. It may be owing to his great afflic- tion that he at length lost, to some extent, his interest in pro- fessional matters, and sought retirement. On the twentieth of May, 180-1, Dr. Spalding was married, in Norwalk, to Elizabeth Scribner, and died (says his grave- stone) August twenty-sixth, 1813, aged 74. His estate, valued at $4,384, was distributed to his widow, Elizabeth, and an only child, Frances Elizabeth, the last born September sixth, 1806. The mother was admitted, by certificate, a member of the "united church" of New Haven, in July, 1818. The daughter was married to Charles Kellog, and was (with her husband) living in New Haven, September eleventh, 1827, and afterward. She died before September twenty-sixth, 1833, leaving three children, John S., George and Frances, all minors, "of Nor- walk," where all were residing in September, 1848, John S. of legal age. SAMUEL NESBITT. I have been unable to obtain any certain information regard- ing bis origin and early life. He is said to have b6en a Scotch- man, educated in Edinburgh, and must have been in New Haven several years before the date implied by Dr. Ives' remark that he was in practice here (in the whole) ten or twelve years. According to Trinity parish record, (" Notitia paroch- ialis,"} he and his wife, Mehitable, had a child, Margaret, baptized October twenty-first, 1772. Another, Elizabeth, was MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 45 baptized October second, 1774, and another, Mehitable, Decem- ber eighth, 1776. One of his cases, (supposed to have been in New Haven,) reported to the county society, occurred on the thirteenth of November, 1773. Others, also reported, occurred in 1774. In March, 1777, he was chosen vestryman of Trinity parish, an office which he held five years. He was clerk of the parish and vestry from 1779 to 1782, junior church warden in 1786 and 1787, senior church warden in 1788, and delegate to diocesan conventions during the last-named year. When New Haven was captured by the British troops, he was one of those, including several of his denomination, who did not flee from the invader; but his reasons for not doing so were deemed by the wrathful patriots "sufficient." Dr. Nesbitt's name, written by himself, in a brisk, business- like hand, is attached to the "agreement" of the New Haven physicians, January second, 1784. He was also an original and most respectable member of the county society. To its support he contributed largely; was alway on its committees of corre- spondence and examination; reported more cases during his active membership than any other individual save one; and was efficient and influential in every measure looking to the good of the profession. Of his papers, seven in all were published, covering twenty-three pages. Several of them are interesting, one, relating to a severed tendo-Achilles, particu- larly so. The retracted ends of the divided tendon were drawn together and made fast by suture. Adhesion followed, and a cure was effected in three or four weeks, the use and motion of the limb being quite restored. The result of the operation, and the skill with which it was performed, procured for the doctor a good deal of surgical reputation. An account of the case appeared in the medical journals of Europe. But his commu- nications are not always well drawn up. They have grave literary defects, (for which the author, owing to his position on the publishing committee, must be alone responsible,) and are commonplace in thought. His practice, as described by him- self, was highly antiphlogistic. He used the lancet with start- ling freedom, and claimed that his patients throve by the 46 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. treatment. He had a case of " violent and copious discharge of blood from the stomach " in the person of Capt. Noble Hinman, aged forty, (see Cases and Observations, page twenty-nine,) and at the close of the narrative remarks : "The patient lost, in about thirty-six hours, ninety-two ounces of blood [nearly three quarts] by the lancet; and, I am confident, by the most moderate calculation, double that amount by hemorrhage." " The treatment," he continues, " by God's blessing, had the desired effect." I suspect the blessing would have done better without the treatment. It should, however, be mentioned, in extenuation, that Capt. Hinman was "of a very plethoric habit." At length the doctor got tired of phlebotomy and antimony, and transferred his talents and himself from medicine to the ministry. He was ordained deacon, October twelfth, and priest October twenty-second, 1788, in the Episcopal church, by Bishop Seabury, though his formal connection with the medical society and its standing committees continued till 1790. In 1792, as I am informed by the Rev. Dr. Beardsley, of New Haven, he became the rector of the parish of St. Thomas and St. Dennis, South Carolina, but in the following year returned to New York, and was chosen rector of St. Anne's church, Brooklyn, L. I., where he remained three or four years. He next appears as a resident of New York city without parochial charge, having apparently met with disappointment and failure in his new calling, as men changing their professions in middle life are wont to do. Leaving the care of souls to those trained to the work, he resumed his former vocation, and was in practice there as early, at least, as May, 1800, and was occasionally visited by New Haven people seeking medical treatment. In the New York Directory for 1806, I find these names: "Samuel Nesbitt, sen., physician, 194, house 60, Cherry street" Samuel Nesbitt, Jr., 315 Water street." In 1811, I find only this: "Samuel Nesbitt, physician, 175 Cherry, house 83 Beekman." In 1817 the name had disappeared. He is supposed to have died before 1814. The New Haven Herald for November third, 1807, announces the death in New York of "Mrs. Mehitable MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 47 Nesbitt, aged fifty-nine, consort of Dr. Samuel Nesbitt, formerly of this city." Dr. Nesbitt lived in the wood house on the northwesterly corner of Chapel and Olive streets, now much enlarged, and. known as the Elliot House (hotel). He is still remembered by one of our oldest people, Mr. Beriah Bradley,* as a very gentle- manly and greatly respected physician, who had a good practice, and. the entire confidence of his employers. Dr. Ives, in his short sketch of him, says: " He was a scholar, a scientific man, an accomplished gentleman, and a learned physician, and from his acquaintance in Europe probably did more to make the [county] society known abroad than any other member." He contributed much to the library of the society; " but with all his learning he was not a popular physician, and never did a great amount of business. His practice was confined to a few families of the first standing in society." So far as these remarks are complimentary, they were doubtless in the main well deserved ; but the scholarship, if good English literature, as set forth in written exercises, be included, is not so evident. But the standard of that day was low, while belle-lettre accomplish- ments did not then more than now enlarge a physician's practice. EBENEZER BEARDSLEY Had a respectable parentage. He was born in the parish of Stratfield (now Bridgeport) in the town of Stratford, the origina^ home of the Beardsleys in this country, in 1746. His father was John Beardsley, Jr. ; his mother's name was Martha - , of Fairfield. He had two elder brothers. Nehemiah, of New Fairfield, was a major of militia in the Revolution, a member of the Constitutional convention of 1788, and a prominent man in the county. He died in March, 1811, aged, seventy-nine, leaving children. Gershom was a physician and druggist, of Mansfield, Windham county, in 1790 and afterward. Hezekiah was a younger brother. There were also two sisters, Mary Comstock and Lydia Hubbell, the first of whom was deceased in 1790. (See Hezekiah Beardsley's will in the probate office of New Haven.) * Deceased since this was written. 48 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Dr. Beardsley's youth, it is said, was distinguished by marks of genius, and a strength of mind beyond his years. By un- common assiduity, he mastered the English and Latin languages, and gained much philosophical and physiological knowledge. Waterbury was the first known theater of his professional life. At what time he went there I have been unable to learn. I do not find his name on the records earlier than January fifth, 1773, when he bought of the administrators two-thirds of the dwelling house of Moses Cook, deceased, one hundred rods northeasterly of the meeting house. Dr. Frederick Leaven- worth, of Waterbury, used to say that he built and occupied the small one-story house which recently stood oh the angle made by the junction of North Main and Grove streets. In November, 1774. he was one of the committee of fourteen appointed in town meeting to assist in carrying " into execution in every article thereof''the recommendations of the General Congress. (History of Waterbury, page 335.) On the break- ing out of the war in the following year (1775), he joined the army, and was surgeon's mate in Col. Webb's (seventh) regiment. In May, 1776, he was attached to Col. Willys' regiment (twenty- second) in the city of New7 York. During his three years' con- nection with the service, he had ample opportunity for observa- tion and experiment, which his vigorous and inquisitive mind diligently improved. Poor health and a delicate constitution compelled him at last to return to private life. Soon afterward, probably in 1779, he removed to New Haven, with the supposed intention of becoming a druggist. In January, 1781, on the recommendation of the first church of Waterbury, he and his wife, after " renewing the covenant," wrere admitted to the White Haven church, then under the care of Rev. Jonathan Edwards. In the Connecticut Courant (Hartford), for March twentieth and afterward, 1781, I find him offering "for sale at his shop near the college [in New Haven] the best imported card wire." I do not know where he lesided at this period; but October thirty-first, 1785, he bought for £450, of William Mansfield, a lot on the southerly side of Chapel street, a little below Orange, sixty feet by one hundred and thirty-eight, with 49 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. a dwelling house, next east of the McCracken corner, so-called. Here he lived and died. His trade as a druggist, etc., grew into an extensive business, which obliged him often to go to New York and Philadelphia, where acquaintances were formed. " He became one of the largest importers of drugs and medi- cines in this country," visited Europe for the purpose of making purchases, and frequently "supplied the retail apothe- caries in New York." He also dealt in paints, dye-stuffs and shipping furs. Hezekiah, a younger brother, was at one time (1786) his partner, the name of the firm being E. & H. Beards- ley. At a subsequent date (1788-9), he was without a partner, and according to an advertisement did business "at the sign of the unicorn and mortar, a few rods below Mr. Miles' tavern." The "tavern," still standing, is the long, low, wood building on the northerly side of Chapel street, between Church and Orange, next west of the stable gang-way. Still later, he connected himself with a minor son, the company being known as E. Beardsley & Son. The details of the trade were managed by clerks, of which he had several, or by his partner when he had one. Though much absorbed in his private affairs, he did not disown his obligations to society. At the first city meeting under the charter, in 1784, and thereafter till 1787, inclusive, he was elected a councilman. Having accepted office, I hope he did not (as many do) neglect its duties. Dr. Beardsley was one of the founders, and among the most active and influential supporters of the county society. He was always a member of the committees of correspondence and examination, took a prominent part in the movement to establish a state institution, and was a more frequent contrib- utor to the medical literature of the society than any other individual. In January, 1786, he "delivered a dissertation" on phthisis pulmoaalis-a disease which he had thoroughly inves- tigated, and was supposed to treat with great success ; and subsequently (1790), read two papers on air, influenza, and epidemics, the subject to be continued. At his death a little later, Drs. Munson, Potter, and Horace Beardsley, (the last his son) were appointed " to perfect and finish" what the deceased 50 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. had begun; but nothing came of the appointment. In Jan- uary, 1790, by request of the society, he delivered an eulogy on the death of Dr. William A. Tomlinson, a member, which is recorded. Though too much in the style of the funeral orations and addresses of our day, it exhibits thought, discrim- ination and skill. Of the twenty-six "articles" contained in the pamphlet of "Cases and Observations," six, making sixteen printed pages, are from the pen of Dr. Beardsley. They are, taken together, the best in the collection, well written, graphic in description, and important in matter, setting forth the writer as a close observer and sagacious physician, one having a dis- tinct aim and purpose, and seeking definite results. Unlike many of the "cases" which fill our books with rubbish, his have a meaning and prove something; suggest new and better modes of practice, and add to the certainties, rather than the perplexities, of medicine. Evidently, he thought for himself, and would not accept an error because it was sanctioned by authority. For instance, he found no difficulty in repudiating the received dogma which taught that all the symptoms in the diseases of children which could not well be explained "should be placed to the account of worms." He rejected the reasoning as soon as it misled him, and a case occurred (see " article eighth) which proved it dangerous. It is wise for a physician to be governed by authority and precedent when he must act promptly and there is no sufficient knowledge to guide him ; but this automatic conduct can be justified no longer than the time required to ascertain definitely what the facts are. Dr. Beardsley's cerebral equipments-his clear intellect and intui- tive perception-enabled him to perceive the danger which lurked in venerated maxims-to detect error and find the way out of it. Judging from the evidence, I am inclined to think that in natural and valuable gifts, and perhaps in the knowl- edge which comes from observation and study, he stood at the head of the profession in New Haven. According to Dr. Ives' very brief sketch, Dr. Beardsley was accused of introducing himself clandestinely and dishonorably into practice, pretending that he did not want it, though ask- MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 51 ing of his brethren the privilege of seeing their extraordinary cases, and then abusing their confidence. The charge may be true. Some eminent physicians have a broad streak of mean- ness running through them ; but it should be remembered that old practitioners are proverbially jealous, and sometimes use or countenance detraction to embarrass a successful new comer and possible rival. It is not probable that the physicians of New Haven, shrewd and suspicious, would have been long or dangerously taken in by a shallow trick like the one named. But however this may be, the accused, without the aid of family or powerful friends, ran quickly into a full professional business, and before his short twelve years' practice had ended, " was considered as the most popular physician in the place, particularly among fashionable people." This is the more remarkable from the fact that he was largely engaged in pur- suits outside of his profession-pursuits which in the minds of many are incompatible with the best success in practical medi- cine. In this country, he was more extensively and advanta- geously known, perhaps, than any man of his profession, certainly than any one of his age, in the city. Dr. Rush was accustomed " to speak of him in his lectures in terms of commendation." Says Dr. Ives, whose education could not have prejudiced him in his favor, " he was a man of no ordinary talents." In proof that his merit was appreciated by those qualified to judge, he received from Yale College the honorary degree of A.M., in 1784, and in 1790 was elected a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society. President Stiles was his friend, and when Dr. Ed- wards charged him with believing in universal salvation, and attempted, without success, to expel him from his church, wrote in his memorable Diary, under the date of February twenty-sixth, 1789, as follows : Dr. Edwards' congregation are disgusted with his publicly, in a church meeting, impeaching Dr. Beardsley of universal salvation before he had taken the previous steps of a Christian brother. This is a pretext. In truth his incessant preaching of New Divinity and rigidity in Christian administration have disgusted them.* * See addendum, page 292. 52 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. That Dr. Beardsley had previously been liberal in his re- ligious views, or (perhaps I should say) had not the strong denominational prejudices of some others, is evinced by the fact that in January, 1784, he subscribed eighteen shillings to the fund which was to purchase an organ for Trinity church. Among the other subscribers were Drs. Hezekiah Beardsley, Leverett Hubbard, and John Goodrich, the two last members of Mr. Whittlesey's church. It will be remembered that the war had just closed, and that "churchmen" had been, as a gen- eral rule, royalists, and not unfrequently plotters for the over- throw of the rebellion. It is honorable to those concerned that they could so soon forget their contentions and animosities. It is said that Dr. Beardsley was of middle stature and a slender form, having fine features and a "very piercing black eye." Some regarded him as an ambitious man. Possibly he was elated by his distinguished success. He lived in good style, and " his family was considered as the most expensive and fashionable in the city." In a sketch of his character pub- lished in the Connecticut Journal, April thirteenth, 1791, soon after his death, evidently prepared by a skillful, non-medical hand, (perhaps by Dr. Stiles,) he is spoken of as a person of " uncommon humanity and benevolence," whose life adorned his Christian character, and whose faith was based on an intelli- gent and unwearied study of the Scriptures. Dr. Ives affirms that he renounced Universalism in his last illness, but I find no evidence that he became reconciled to his accuser and pastor, Dr. Edwards. His sympathizer in the controversy, Dr. Stiles, attended him in his closing sickness, and officiated at his funeral. Notwithstanding his physical infirmities, Dr. Beardsley's regular habits enabled him to discharge the duties of a labori- ous profession till November, 1790, " when from a sudden exertion a rupture in the lungs [a hemorrhage, I suppose] took place which wTas succeeded by a local inflammation, and termi- nated in an open ulcer." It was a painful illness. His friend, Dr. Stiles, speaks of it, and of its termination, in his Diary, thus: MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 53 January twenty-fifth, 1791. I visited Dr. Ebenezer Beardsley, and prayed with him, in the last stage of a rapid and sudden consumption, or tabes pulmonalis. April fifth, 1791. This morning died here Dr. Ebenezer Beardsley, as. forty- five, an ingenious man. April sixth, 1791. I attended Dr. Beardsley's funeral, and spake at his grave. In this manner, in the prime of manhood, was closed the career of an able physician and " ingenious man!" I have not been able to find his tombstone. At the meeting of the county society, held two days after his death, Dr. Jared Potter was selected to pronounce his eulogy, but appears to have failed in the duty. His inventory, including drugs and medicines on the way from London, amounted to about $8,500. Among the items were one hundred and thirty-six volumes of books, mostly medical. His wife, Martha, and the following children are named in his will, in the order given: 1. Horace : graduated at Yale College in 1787 ; studied medi- cine ; was examined before the county society, January seventh, 1790, and admitted to membership. His father by will gave him the use for one year of a house and land (which was after- ward distributed to him) in Branford. He may have lived there for a time. In connection with his brother, he continued the business of the father (" Horace and Thomas Phillips Beard- sley" was the name of the firm) till the death of the junior member in February, 1793. In December of the same year he was still in New Haven ; but in October, 1795, he and his mother and sister, Sally, had removed to Cabot, Caledonia county, Vermont. Here he was living in February, 1801. He died before 1820. 2. Thomas Phillips. He was a minor at the death of his father, and chose Horace for his guardian. October twelfth, 1791, he was married by Dr. Dana to Eunice Todd, a sister of Eli Todd, M.D., who was born in New Haven, and studied medicine with Dr. Beardsley. Like the druggists of that day, he was called "doctor," and died of "a consumptive disease," in his twenty-second year, February nineteenth, 1793 (see Con- necticut Journal), giving all his property to his wife. 54 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 3. John. Horace was his guardian. One "John Beardsley'' was admitted to the church of the United Society, March, 1816. 4. Bennet. The mother was guardian of Bennet and Henry. He was "of Cabot," Vermont, October, 1800. 5. Henry. He was baptized, February tenth, 1782, and was "of New Haven," November eleventh, 1802, when he sold his interest in the homestead to Samuel Hughes. 6. Sally. She was probably of age when her father died, as I do not find that she had a guardian appointed. She was in Cabot with her mother in October, 1795, and the wife of Tru- man Cowles, of Farmington, in February, 1801. ADDENDUM.-See page 289. Dr. Stiles was an ardent friend of religious liberty, and gen- erous to those who differed from him. It is well known that he was himself skeptical in early life, and stood in need of the charity which so adorned his own character. As others have done who are reluctant to take their religion on trust, he had a long and severe struggle with himself. After having assidu- ously studied the Christian evidences and examined the Scrip- tures, his doubts, it is said, were removed. In 1754, says Professor Kingsley, in his sketch of his life, he came " to some satisfactory conclusions as to the truth of revelation," and "by 1755, he had emerged from what he denominates 'the darkness of skepticism.'" I do not think that this representation is sufficiently full, nor, even in the light of facts then well known, quite accurate. It should be said, however, that the record itself is not alway clear. The facts, as gathered from Dr. Holmes' life of Stiles, and the Birth Day Memoir of the latter (written in 1767) which the volume contains, would seem to be as follows: In 1747 and 1748 Dr. Stiles, in his own words, " had not indeed a disbelief, but was in a state of skepticism." Afterward, his doubts clear- ing up, he was licensed to preach. Again his doubts returned and increased till 1752, when he laid aside preaching and began to study law, giving, as "a sufficient pretext" for the change, MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 55 his "infirm state of health." The next year (1753) he took the attorney's oath, and became a candidate for practice. At the same time he applied himself " assiduously to the study of the evidences of revelation." During these years of anxiety, that is, from 1749 to 1755, he was a tutor in Yale College. In 1754, according to the memoir, he " had acquired a strong and pre- vailing preponderancy to the belief in revelation," which "soon appeared to be the best system on the foot of natural religion." He does not say that he had "come to certain satisfactory con- clusions as to the truth of revelation," but (as he alleges in another place) had "obtained a preponderancy towards Christi- anity " which, viewed as before from the standpoint of natural religion, "appeared to be the best system." Further on he adds, "all difficulties" concerning "the genuineness and sufficient authenticity of the Old and New Testaments in the originals come down to us, and in the translation particularly of the New Testament," he professes to have, " in a great measure, sur- mounted by 1753 and 1754." The context shows that by authen- ticity, he meant, not conformity to facts, but only genuineness with a little verbal variety. He accuses himself, very justly, of a " profusion of fancy and language." In January, 1755, he was invited " to conform," and succeed Dr. Johnson in the Episcopal church at Stratford, with a salary of at least .£100 sterling a year. Previously, in October, 1752, he had "sustained a vigo- rous application to take orders, and become a minister in the Episcopal church in Newport, then represented as a living of £200 sterling a year." "I thank God," he goes on to say, " none of these things moved me, nor addressed me with the least charm of temptation. I was, indeed, at this time, inclined to deism; I was not disposed to profess a mode of religion which I did not believe, for the sake of a living." It cannot be doubted that the words " at this time," in the above quota- tion refer to both 1752 and January 1755. This appears not only from this but from other parts of the memoir. At the close of the paragraph, he makes this remark: " As nearly as I can now recollect, these were my governing views about religion, at the age of twenty-seven, 1754." He was twenty- seven on the tenth day of December, 1754. 56 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. According to his own statement, then, Dr. Stiles was a deist from 1750, or a little later, to December, 1754, or January, 1755, -an unwilling deist earnestly seeking and impatiently waiting for more light. He was a religious man, but with his utmost efforts for many years he could get no further than the religion of nature. As to the things beyond, he was not a disbeliever, as he more than once asserts, but an unbeliever, skeptic, or doubter, withholding belief till the clouds should clear away, and the truth become apparent. So far as I have traced his his- tory, it is sufficiently clear that he had yet made no progress in the Christian faith. His account of himself, though written in a slovenly way, is frank, candid, apparently conscientious, and consistent with itself. No one can well accuse him of duplicity. But in the narration which immediately follows the period under consideration, there are statements which, viewed in the light of subsequent developments, are remarkable. I quote from the memoir: By 1755, my doubts having given way, I could honestly devote myself to the service of the great Immanuel. Just as I had emerged from Deism,* or rather the darkness of skepticism, (for I never was a disbeliever, I only wanted light,) it pleased the great Head of the church to open a door at Newport," etc. [He then expresses his gratitude thus :] " I thank God, I ever revered his Providence, and submitted myself to its over-ruling guidance. I had now little objection on the head of incredulity, the clouds of skepticism having evanished." The date "1755," at the beginning of the preceding extract, should not include January, 1755, w-hen the doctor was a deist. The invitation to preach in Newport, to which he refers, and which he accepted, was given in April, 1755; the call to become the minister of the second church there, was made in May following, while his ordination took place in the autumn, October twenty-second. Two months or even three (counting * Notwithstanding this and similar passages, Prof. Kingsley and others seem not to have discovered that Dr. Stiles was a deist, or deistically inclined. In speaking of his opinions, they do not use the plain, direct language of the nar- rator. Omitting certain expressions, they can find in him only an indefinite sort of " skepticism"-a word which the Memoir does not employ, except as explana- tory of some other. In this way is given (unintentionally, doubtless), an imper- fect, not to say inaccurate, idea of the doctor's religious belief. 57 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. from his birth-day, December tenth, 1754,) is a short time in which to pass the gulf which should separate deism from the Christian pulpit. Nor can much more be said of a somewhat longer time, say four or six, or even nine months, when so complete a transformation of opinion was required. Without success he had worked hard nearly five years to extricate him- self from the darkness of skepticism. How strange then that he should be able, apparently without any new light, to place himself, as it were, by a single bound, on the safe side of that broad chasm. I am suspicious he did no such thing. There is ground for thinking that what he supposes occurred in 1755 happened at a later period, and that the change in his mind was much more gradual than represented. It is difficult to see how his memory could be so much at fault, but it is easier per- haps than to understand how he could try to deceive himself in his private journal. It is possible, indeed highly probable, that he undertook preaching and the care of souls, as a specula- tion, when his faith was very weak, hoping that the exercise of the ministerial functions would give a practical turn to his thoughts, awaken devotional sentiments, prompt to virtuous action, and do for his religious belief what many distracting years of study and profitless speculation had failed to accom- plish. Some such explanation seems necessary to save him from the charge of dissimulation, of which, without it, the following letter, addressed to Jared Ingersoll, Esq., the distin- guished lawyer, of New Haven, furnishes the proof. It would be harsh to speak of Dr. Stiles as a hypocrite or even time- server. He had the weaknesses of our common nature; had the folly to write letters not in harmony with his position before the world, and to leave a memoir of himself and a private journal-that is all. Newport, August 16, 1756. Dear Sir-You have my thanks for your most acceptable favor of ninth instant. It is unhappy that moral nature-or that whatever it is for which the common Creator designed man-should suffer the fate of trifles, to be almost indiscrim- inately intermixed with fiction and religious fooleries. The more we think and examine, the more perplext and at a loss. The present scene is so confused that I scarce know what path to travel. One-half of the religions of the world are vanity. And I am much put to it to see what purpose God Almighty means to 58 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. subserve by putting such a system of beings into existence as man, but must submit to facts. In some cheerful moments, indeed, human nature looks like a fine garden, susceptible of noble improvement and high connections: at other times 'tis such a confused, dark wilderness, I don't know what to make of it. 1 many times wish myself where I might see your realities and facts, but yet I feel afraid-Good God, what astonishing principles hast thou implanted into man! Some seem to propel us, sure "as DuMoivre," to our happiness; others urge and drive to sure misery. We come into this world, eat and drink, marry, etc., etc., etc., and lie down to sleep out the sabbath of the tomb-, but who knows whether " to wake in raptures to a life to come t" We all go " to one common chamber kept for fel- low dust." I rather think 'tis no more to die than to lie down and take a nap when weary with the common burdens of life. We are soon forgotten in this part of the moral world. The registers of monumental life but barely relate- "That once a private name, to most unknown, " Lived a short usual sum of common years " With man .. . and then . .. with man in common died." The substance of Christianity is as old as creation; if the restoration of morality be its ultimate design. The great plan which opens our connection with futurity, and other parts of God's moral dominions, is interspersed with many episodes (par- don the epic phrase)-and these are mostly heeded by systematic, fanciful priests, who use them to amuse and gull mankind out of a subsistence. But there is such a thing as promoting unsuperstitious homage to Deity, and genuine virtue and benevolence. I look upon social virtue of most consequence, as it fits for that society we expect to live in millions of ages hence; if we survive death. I please myself with the prospect of hereafter conversing with our good friends that have left us, and are, I hope, ere now settled peaceably in other moral climes. I intend hereafter to visit them, and make 'em tell me a thousand new things. I intend, when I have got a little more moral cash, to travel largely in the Almighty's dominions-but then I intend to take it leisurely, for we have thousands and thousands of years before us. I should be glad to converse with Father Abraham (though I don't think the old fellow knew more than you and I, when here) and Paul (for I don't question but he is a boon companion); and the Prince Royal of the moral world, if I may be permitted this last honor, who can readily tell us whether he ever paid a visit to this disordered world, and what kind of orders he gave, etc., etc. I doubt not the universal Agent, which secretly and yet perceptibly acts in the vegetable and animal world, has access to human minds, and can infuse the true solamen of life. To him therefore I daily and fiducially apply for moral biases, propellemics and infusions to guide me in inoffensive and virtuous behavior; and I begin not to doubt but he pours in pledges of practical affection. You must know the quakers and I live by the spirit; I mean the spirit that manifestly diffuses itself through the universe, and operates in all, for " All are but parts of one stupendous whole, " Whose body nature is, and God the soul, MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 59 " That seen thro' all, and yet in all the same, "Great in the earth as in the ethereal frame, " Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, " Glows in the stars and blossoms in the trees." This same principle actuates, enlivens, animates and invigorates the whole, matter and minds: " extends through all extent, " Spreads undivided, operates unspent, " As full, as perfect in man- " As the rapt seraph " I cannot conceive why minds should be left destitute and forsaken and forlorn of these paternal influences. I more than half believe he invigorates all intelli- gences, and enlivens the whole moral world. But as Job says, Where is he ? We seek on the right hand, and he is not there; on the left, etc. We feel for him in whom we live, etc., but I can't see him with eyes of flesh; he escapes our finest optics; and yet we sensibly perceive him acting and enlivening all, all around us, but I can't see him; more, I can't see your soul, your think, your kinke, when I look you in the face; while yet I discern an ineffable something blaze in the face of man that looks like Divinity. To that divinity which I daily discern in the face of nature, I daily apply for paternal advice and suggestions. But I am very young in virtue yet; yet I am learning the art as fast as I can; for I am persuaded 'tis to be learnt, just as any other art is to be learnt, by application to my master and by industry. To this great Master I go with the same freedom I used to go to master Ingersoll. It will do me no hurt, as Tully says by the immor- tality of the soul. I don't so much as desire you to read all this unconnected letter. I write just as thoughts flow and pour in. I am naturally (in my carnal state) given to profu- sion of fancy and language. You will read the date and some of the first lines, and then turn to the I am, dear sir, your affectionate (for I really love you) Don't let any- body see this. humble servant, EZRA STILES. Jared Ingersoll, Esq. HEZEKIAH BEARDSLEY Was a "physician and druggist," and practiced medicine, so far as his poor health would permit, in Southington, where he appears to have resided as early as 1778. In 1780 I find him in Hartford. There he was engaged in some kind of business, as appears from a notice to debtors, " of more than one year's standing," in the Connecticut Courant, September eleventh, 1781, signed by himself. There is nothing to show whether or not he was or had been a practicing physician in Hartford. In 60 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. the same paper, June twenty-sixth, 1781, "Beardsley and Hop- kins" " inform their old customers and the public that they have removed their apothecary store to the house of Mr. Charles Caldwell, a few rods east of the Court House." I con- jecture that the " Beardsley" here named was Hezekiah, and that the "Hopkins" was Dr. Asa Hopkins, druggist, a son of Joseph Hopkins, Esq., of Waterbury, with whom the Beardsleys were doubtless well acquainted. Hezekiah's will, executed in Hartford, was witnessed by Asa Hopkins. I cannot find his name on the land records there. January twenty-eighth, 1782, Dr. Beardsley, "of Hartford," bought of Richard Cutler for £300 a house and lot, the latter fifty two feet front by one hundred and thirty in depth, on the south side of Chapel street, nearly midway between Church and Orange, where he lived and died. His drug-store stood next adjoining on the west side, "opposite Mr. John Miles's tavern." In 1786 he was in company with his brother in the drug-trade; in 1787, '88 and '89, was alone in business, and at the time of his death was in partnership with his brother-in-law, Isaac Davis, the firm having the name of Beardsley & Davis. Dr. Beardsley was a member-one of the original twenty-six- of the county society; but his name is scarcely mentioned in the record till February, 1787, when he was put on the committee of correspondence-a position which he occupied during the remainder of his life. He was also one of the committee of examination for the year named. I cannot learn that he made any communication to the society till April, 1788, when he reported a case entitled "A Schirrhus in the Pylorus of an Infant" which, some years previously, he had attended about three years in Southington. It was printed with the papers of the society. Dr. Beardsley was not a signer of the "city agreement," so-called, January second, 1784, (the city had not then been chartered,) from which circumstance I infer that he was not at that period a practicing physician. He probably never did much, if any. professional business in New Haven, though he may have been a candidate for it. Appearances would indicate MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 61 that he was a man of respectable attainments, of excellent character, and successful in trade. Several months before his death he went South, for the benefit of the health of his wife. In Savannah he was attacked with a "peripneumony," the effects of which compelled him to return before December twenty-first, 1789, (the date of the first codicil of his will,) his wife being too ill to accompany him. He died of consumption, May tenth, 1790, in his forty-second year; she, April twenty- fifth, 1790, in Savannah. Her name was Elizabeth. Their grave-stones may be seen in the northwesterly part of the old cemetery, among those removed from the Upper green. The Connecticut Journal, in connection with a brief notice of his death, speaks of him in the following commendatory terms: " He sustained an irreproachable character through life, and died universally lamented by his acquaintance. Reading and reflection had furnished him with an unusual portion of useful knowledge, and those who knew him best always ad- mired that firmness, accuracy and strength of mind, which rendered him one of the most independent of men." Obituary notices, when dealing in eulogy, like monumental inscriptions, or funeral sermons and addresses, are nearly worth- less for historical purposes; but there is reason to think that these words of the Journal are in accordance with the truth. Dr. Beardsley appears to have left no children. The greater part of his property, amounting in the whole to £2,483, was given by will to his brothers and sisters. EDWARD CARRINGTON. His ancestors in the direct line in this country were Edward, of Charleston, Mass., Dr. Peter, Dr. John, and Dr. Lemuel, of Amity parish, town of New Haven. Of the last named, who married July 10, 1746, Mrs. Esther Riggs, of Derby, Edward was the only son. He was born in April, 1747, and became an orphan before he was fourteen years of age. Rev. John Wood- bridge was his guardian, while the widow, Esther, was the guardian of the only daughter, Esther. A large amount of land belonged to the estate. 62 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Edward probably pursued his preparatory studies with his guardian, and was graduated at Yale College in 1767. He studied medicine with Col. L. Hubbard, and commenced prac- tice in New Haven, in the part then called "town plat." On the twenty-fifth day of December, 1768, he joined the first church, of New Haven, and, in 1771, was married to Susannah Whittlesey. His name is occasionally met with before the Revolution in the society records and the book of town meet- ings, the context attesting his respectability as a man. But when the war came he was suspected of hostility to the patriot cause. In October, 1776, a petition having one hundred and two signers, prayed the "Governor, etc.," to decree that he and five others, whose names are given, should "be removed to some interior part of the country," they being dangerous men, "inimical to the liberties of America." A citation followed, but when the trial came, two only, Ralph Isaacs and Abiathar Camp, were found guilty. (See Hinman's American Revolution, p. 566-7.) But Carrington's troubles did not end here. For remaining in New Haven (town centre) July fifth and sixth, 1779, (the faithful having fled,) he with many others was sum- moned to appear before a town committee, to answer for con- duct so suspicious. He was among the audacious eight (seven beside himself, namely, Bela Hubbard, Enos Alling, John Alling, David Cook, Benjamin Pardee, Daniel Upson and Richard Woodhull) who gave no heed to the summons, "in contempt of the authority of the town." What was done with him does not appear, but erelong he had removed to Amity, now a part of Woodbridge, where he had, February twenty- second, 1779, bought the homestead of his father, with several other tracts of land-property which he had sold five years before. Here, away from his persecutors, he seems to have lived in coveted but not prosperous peace, for in September, 1783, he was constrained to give a mortgage on land to secure a note for <£264. In 1785 he removed to Milford, where he died, September twenty-third, 1795, insolvent, his widow, Susannah, acting as administratrix. His inventory amounted to £178-10, and the debts to £1274. In the Connecticut Jour- 63 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGKAPHY. nal, February fourth, 1796, the dwelling house and half an acre of land, "at the Gut, so-called," in Milford, which had been the property of Dr. Carrington, were offered for sale. Dr. Carrington joined the county society at the outset, and was one of its honored, and apparently influential members. He occupied positions on the committees of correspondence and examination, his name being placed last, for the reason probably that he was the youngest. After October, 1786, the record is silent regarding him. Indeed, soon after his removal to Milford, he seemed to have lost his interest in the society. Nor is his name found on the lists of the Connecticut Medical Society. He may have been an invalid in his latter years, and his intercourse with his professional brethren by this means curtailed. Mr. Lambert, (see his " Colony of New Haven,") in his "correct list from the first settlement" of Milford of its physicians does not include him among the number; but "Dr. Ned. Carrington " is familiarly spoken of by some old people there. He died in the prime of manhood. The children of Dr. Carrington were : Gen. Edward, of Prov- idence, consul at Canton; born November second, 1775, and died December twenty-second, 1843: Henry, of Middletown, born in 1781 ; died five or six years ago: Susan, Esther, Eliza- beth, Mary. LEVI IVES. His father, Samuel Ives, who died January thirty-first, 1784, in his seventy-fourth year, was a small farmer, of North Haven, then a parish of New Haven, where Levi was born, June fourth, 1750. His mother's name was Mary Gilbert. He had a brother Samuel and a sister Lois, both older than himself. At the age of fifteen he was afflicted with epilepsy, and went to live with Dr. Eneas Munson to be cured. At sixteen, the disease having been removed, his physician became his teacher in medicine. His studies were continued till the age of twenty- one. The friendship which grew out of the intimacy between instructor and pupil lasted through life. 64 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. After leaving Dr. Munson, Dr. Ives entered into mercantile business, in Derby, in company with Jolin Sherman, a son of the first Roger Sherman, of New Haven. Soon, however, he abandoned trade, returned to his native town, and became a candidate for medical practice. I find him in New Haven as early as March, 1773, when he sold to his father the half of a house in which he then lived. He is called in the deed "Mr. Levi Ives." In 1778 or 1779, he dwelt in a house still standing on the northeasterly side of Broadway, No. 69. Afterward, he removed to the dwelling, then next adjoining, westerly, where he died. On this spot Eleazar T. Fitch now lives. Dr. Ives came upon the stage at a critical era, just when the revolutionary storm was gathering. At the outset, he espoused the rebel cause, and became an enthusiastic patriot. Because of his trust worthy zeal, he was, in December, 1774, and after- ward, chosen by the town a member of the "committee of in- spection," whose business it was to look after the tories, and expose their machinations. Unlike many others who were con- tent to persecute peaceable royalists, he was ever ready to give material aid-to shoulder his musket, if need be. Says the "Historical Sketch" so often referred to,-"Dr. Ives was, early in the war, appointed surgeon of the militia under the command of Gen. Wooster, who fought at White Plains. During that campaign he did the duty of surgeon to four regiments. He afterward received a commission of surgeon in the army, under the command of Gens. Montgomery and Wooster, in the expe- dition to take Quebec."* When Gen. Burgoyne appeared suddenly before Ticonderoga, on his way to the Hudson river, in the summer of 1777, Dr. Ives was "lieutenant in a company of volunteers (in which President Daggett was a private) which marched " to oppose * Of one of the first regiments called out by Connecticut in the beginning of the war (April, 1775), commanded by Maj. Gen. Wooster, acting as colonel, Jared Pot- ter was surgeon, and Levi Ives and Israel Chalker, surgeon's mates. I cannot find that Gen. Wooster was in the fight near White Plains, and he seems to have been left in command at Montreal when Montgomery, eleven months before the White Plains affair, set out to meet Arnold before Quebec. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 65 the invader. At the time the British troops were making their way from West Haven to New Haven, July fifth, 1779, he was one of the plucky little band who opposed their progress at Milford hill. While running for his life, he was " exposed a mark for the main army in good gun shot." He also acted as surgeon on that memorable day, being the only one on^the ground. After the enemy had retired, the soldier-surgeon was one of the committee appointed in town meeting to probe the motives of those who remained in town during its military occupation. In after life he loved to relate his revolutionary experiences, warming with emotion as the story proceeded. When the Medical Society of New Haven County was organ- ized, in January, 1784, Dr. Ives, then nearly thirty-four years of age, was one of the younger members. He was not active or prominent, his name rarely appearing on the record book ; but in 1787 he was put on the committee of correspondence, and the next year on that of examination, to which positions he was afterward repeatedly chosen. I do not find that be made more than one communication to the society, and that was a case of poisoning by corrosive sublimate. It was pub- lished in the pamphlet of " Cases and Observations," and has at this day no special interest. He was not "one of the con- ductors " of that work, as stated in a biographical notice in the Connecticut Journal; nor was he one of the " committee of pub- lication nor was the work the "first medical journal in this country," nor was it a medical journal at all. His name was not connected with the movement to establish the Connecticut Medical Society till October, 1791, near the close of the strug- gle ; but it appears among the corporators when the charter was obtained. Several times, first in 1794, he was elected a fellow of the society, and in 1802 and afterward, was chairman of county meetings. When, in October, 1804, the convention chose a committee to examine papers for publication, he was placed at its head: but the papers entitled " Communications of the Medical Society of Connecticut," did not appear till 1810, under the superintendence of another committee. (I write this to correct error in the obituary7 referred to.) In October, 1809, 66 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. the society honored him with the degree of M. D., and in 1817, dismissed him at his own request. For many years, near the close of the last and beginning of the present century, he was the surgeon of the second regiment of militia. Dr. Ives was a good physician, much esteemed by his medi- cal brethren, and greatly beloved by his patients. According to my information, he had not as large a business as some others, but it was respectable in amount and kind, and extended to East Haven, West Haven, Hotchkisstown (Westville), Ham- den, North Guilford, etc. He visited his patients on horseback, equipped with saddle-bags. Neither his early advantages nor his natural endowments qualified him to take the highest rank among medical men-to become a leader. Though without pretension to scholarship or science, he is said to have taken two foreign medical journals, and "kept up with all the im- provements of his profession." " He was the first to discover the true pathology of croup, more than thirty years in advance of the European physicians. He ascertained the formation of a membrane in the trachea, and as a proof of his opinion exhib- ited a membrane coughed up." "As a practitioner he was prompt, active and judicious." As a man, Dr. Ives was enthusiastic, warm-hearted and gen- erous ; impulsive, passionate it may be, but placable and merci- ful. His impetuosity sometimes led him astray, perhaps exposed him to censure, but there was no malice in his thought, no guile in his heart. At the same time he had decided and durable convictions, which he was ever ready, even eager, to carry out-to transmute into acts. In this sense he was a courageous man. Nor was he affrighted when he found him- self in a minority. After the adoption of the Federal Constitu- tion in 1788, he took the liberal side in public affairs, and became an ardent, irrepressible republican (democrat). On the success of his party and the inauguration of his favorite, Jeffer- son, he was enraptured. The political revolution was celebrated by bonfires, processions, orations and song-singing. On his inauguration in March, 1801, a grand festival was held in Wallingford, which was repeated in succeeding years as often MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 67 as the anniversary returned. On these occasions Dr. Ives became more demonstrative than the federalists thought seemly. On the ninth of March, 1803, the celebration was to be in New Haven. Arrangements had been made for a procession, an oration in the old blue meeting-house by Pierpont Edwards, and a ball when the ceremonies were concluded. A few days before the appointed time, there appeared in the federal papers a song entitled Moll Cary, "to be sung [so said a head line] at the close of the republican exercises." In these jingling and pitiless verses, irreverent and sometimes vulgar, written in imitation of Watts' one hundred and forty-eighth psalm, by Theodore Dwight, Deacon Ives, derisively so called, occupied a conspicuous place.* Their appearance greatly perplexed the republicans, and furnished boundless merriment for their oppo- nents. For half a generation they continued to be sung, re- hearsed and reprinted, sometimes by the republicans to show how much they were abused. But Dr. Ives could not be extinguished by ridicule. A man of weaker political convic- tions would have gone into retirement discouraged : but he, though " all the talent and all the religion " were on the other side, stood by his party, wondering in the mean time how his son, Eli, could be so indifferent. At a later period, when the workmen were preparing to lay the foundations of the center church, digging ruthlessly among the graves, his sense of deco- rum was shocked. To him the act seemed wrong-sacriligious -and he started with his shovel to assist in filling up the trenches. But cooling off on the way-a friend of order as well as propriety-he soon returned, his work undone. He under- stood the vehemence of his own nature, and often mourned over the haste and error which flowed from it. * Ye tribes of faction join, Your daughters and your wives; Moll Carey's come to dine. And dance with Deacon Ives. Ye ragged throng Of democrats As thick as rats, Come join the song, etc. 68 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Dr. Ives was one of the selectmen in 1787 and the six fol- lowing years, a councilman in 1818, a candidate for second representative (beaten by federal machinations and seven votes*) in 1819, and a justice of the peace the same year. Though an active politician, he had one quality much needed in our time and all times, that of honesty. In his private character Dr. Ives was above reproach. He joined the Fair Haven church in 1778, and was made a deacon in 1787, which position he held at the time of his death. He was truthful, conscientious, large-hearted, and devoted to duty. He continued in the active exercise of his professional calling till attacked by a painful malady (called angina pectoris) which after three or four years of suffering terminated his life, October seventeenth, 1826, at the age of seventy-six. Not a worshiper of mammon, he left property of the net value of only about $4000. In form, the doctor was taller than the average, stout and somewhat inclined to corpulency. He wore a wig with a pig- tail behind, like the gentleman of his day. Dr. Ives married as follows: I. Lydia Augur, April 22, 1772, who died September 10, 1802, aged 49; II. Margaret Bird, daughter of Rev. Samuel Bird, January 8, 1804, who died September 29, 1888, aged 68. His children were: 1. Levi. He was a lawyer in New Haven, and died Jan. 31, 1811: 2. Mary; b. Dec. 12, 1774; d. Oct. 26, 1776: 8. Elihu; b. Aug. 10, 1777; baptized Oct. 5, 1777: 4. Eli; b. Feb. 7, 1779; baptized Feb. 21, 1779, and d. Oct. 8, 1861: 5. Polly; b. Jan. 9, 1782; m. Asaph Dunbar: 6. Nancy; b. Nov. 14, 1785 ; m. Ezra Hotch- kiss, and d. April 19, 1836: 7. Sophia: b. March 1, 1788, died unmarried, aged 66: 8. William ; b. same date; d. unmarried : 9. Lydia; b. July 26, 1795; m. Wm. Budington, of Fairfield. She was the mother of Rev. Dr. Budington, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and died in 1873 : 10. Samuel Bird; b. Jan. 23, 1805 ; d. June * His successful rival was Charles Bostwick, " an old school democrat" (Colum- bian Register), for whom the federalists voted on the second ballot. Ralph I. Ingersoll (republican), was first representative. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 69 21, 1826 : 11. Henry; b. Feb. 21, 1807 ; a merchant tailor and lives in Cincinnati: 12. Jennet; b. March 8, 1809; married Joseph Magill, of New Haven. She is now a widow. OBADIAH HOTCHKISS. His father, Obadiah Hotchkiss, a worthy blacksmith, who died in 1805, lived on the westerly side of York street, about thirteen rods south of Elm, in a wood house still standing. His mother's maiden name was Mary Perkins. He was born September fourth, 1762, and was graduated at Yale College in 1778. His practice began in East Haven, where his son Lewis was born in December, 1786. Though his name is on the orig- inal list of the county society, no part was assigned him in the conduct of affairs (seemingly on account of his youthfulness) till he was appointed librarian in October, 1790, at which time he had probably removed to New Haven. Among those attacked with the yellow fever of 1794, he was one. Six times between 1796 and 1811, inclusive, he was a fellow of the Con- necticut Medical Society. He was also a member of the com- mittee of examination in 1795 and afterward; one of the committee to nominate professors in the new Medical Institu- tion of Yale College in 1811; clerk of the county meeting in 1796, and chairman in 1820. When the New Haven Medical Association was organized, in 1803, he joined it, and for many years appears to have been a very peaceable, non-demonstrative attendant; but after its collapse and its subsequent resuscita- tion in 1818, he seemed wearied, and soon lost his interest in its proceedings. After October of that year, no meetings were held at his house; he became apparently an inveterate " absen- tee," and the clerk, as weary as himself, ceased to warn him. At the county meeting in January, 1820, at his own request, he was "released from the burdens" of the Connecticut Medi- cal Society, and then disappeared in the darkness outside. On the thirteenth of August, 1792, Dr. Hotchkiss bought of Isaac Davis, for £700, the lot and buildings on Chapel street 70 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. which had belonged to Hezekiah Beardsley, where he ever afterward lived, and for a long time carried on a large business as a druggist, etc. At first his medicines, paints, etc., " imported from London," were kept in the western part of his house, but soon after 1800, he erected a brick store next adjoining, on the west, now occupied by Wallace B. Fenn & Co., and removed his goods into it. Before May sixteenth, 1803, he became con- nected with his brother-in-law, Nathaniel S. Lewis, and the company was known as Hotchkiss & Lewis. In 1806, May first, Lewis retired, when the doctor's son Lewis was admitted as a partner, and the company name changed to Hotchkiss & Son, the junior partner taking charge of the store. At a later period (after January fourteenth, 1814,) M. A. Durand entered the firm, thenceforth known as L. Hotchkiss & Co. On the six- teenth of November, 1819, Dr. Hotchkiss retired, and the busi- ness was carried on by the other partners under the name of Hotchkiss & Durand. A few years afterward, before 1830, Durand sold out, and "Lewis Hotchkiss" was left alone. The latter continued the trade till a few years before his death. In politics, Dr. Hotchkiss took the democratic side, but was not noisy, showed no bitterness, and belonged to no robber-ring. In August, 1804, President Jefferson appointed him one of the commissioners of bankruptcy. He was councilman from 1805 to 1808, and from 1819 to 1822, inclusive, and was made a jus- tice of the peace in 1825. On religious questions he was supposed to be in harmony with that circle of physicians which included Drs. Jared Foot, of Northford, Wells, of Berlin, after- ward of Hartford, Todd, of Farmington and Hartford, Beach, of Cheshire, and others who, in their theological views, looked to Dr. Potter, of Wallingford, as their leader and expounder. I do not find that he felt himself obliged to annoy his friends with his opinions. In the latter part of his life, he adopted another creed, joined the first church in New Haven, in June, 1831, and, according to Dr. Ives, "became a zealous Christian." Whatever his position before the world, he was considered an honest, sincere man, whose formal belief grew out of his con- victions, and whose profession and practice were at one. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 71 As a physician. Dr. Hotchkiss was not eminent, but prudent and faithful. In the matter of ability, or talent, he belonged to the great middle class, and was content to abide there. He set up no claim to superior wisdom or scholarship, and, with a cor- rect appreciation of himself and the world outside, made no more ado than was needful. As I understand it, he did not boast of his business, his skill, or his cures. His practice was not extensive, but there is abundant proof that he was a good family physician, kind, attentive, patient and trustworthy. Those who had long employed him, and best knew his worth, were much attached to him. His friends thought him very successful in the cases of children, and he was doubtless a better practitioner than some others who had more learning or reputa- tion, or who were more pretentious. In the last years of his life he did not seek professional business. As a man, Dr. Hotchkiss was plain, social in his habits genial and contented. He loved a good joke, was fond of humor, and inclined to take life easily. In person, he was of medium size, and well rounded in form. If he were not naturally slug- gish, he did not (to say the least) like to heat his blood, and fret himself by over-exertion. Dr. Hotchkiss was married, February seventh, 1782, to Han- nah Lewis, of Stratford. He died of a dropsical affection, January 28, 1832, aged 69; she, November 22, 1831, aged 74. Their children were: Silas; b. Oct. 11, 1784; d. Oct. 2, 1795: Lewis; b. Dec. 25, 1786: m. Hannah, daughter of Dr. Joseph Trowbridge, of Danbury ; was in business with his father; a deacon in the first church of New Haven, and died Oct. 14, 1859: Hannah Frances; b. April 7, 1796; d. May 4, 1815. JOHN GOODRICH. He was born (I know not where) about 1753, and graduated at Yale College in 1778. I suppose he may have been the same who, in 1777, took the "oath of fidelity" required by the Gen- eral Assembly, in Glastenbury, where the sophomore and 72 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. junior classes of college resided during a part of that year, hav- ing been starved out in New Haven.* A person of the same name was in the Revolutionary army in 1781 and 1782; in the former year connected with Col. Durkee's regiment, as appears from the army accounts in the comptroller's office in Hartford. He was married to Eunice Atwater, of New Haven, July tenth, 1779, joined the first church of New Haven, December thirty- first, 1780, and was chosen collector of society rates in 1783. The births of two children of his are on record in New Haven: Fanny, born December nineteenth, 1780; John Talcott, born March twenty-fourth, 1785. A son (name not given) died March twenty-eighth, 1794, aged two years and one month. He was not a signer of the agreement of the New Haven physicians in 1784, and was not then probably a practicing physician in the place; but he joined the county society a few days later. I infer that he had some knowledge of plants from the fact that, in May, 1784, he was appointed chairman of the "committee to take charge of the botanical garden." At a sub- sequent date (October, 1790), he was appointed the historian of the society, probably a compliment to his literary attainments. His " Dissertation on the Rise and Progress of the Society " was delivered in January following. I cannot find that he did any- thing more: nor is his name found on the record except in the cases mentioned. To the extent of six shillings he was a sub- scriber (seemingly not a paying one) for the pamphlet printed by the society in 1788. From the fact that his name is not among those who from time to time paid the quarterly shilling tax, I conclude that he did not usually attend the meetings. Circumstances indicate that he had but little practice in New Haven, and that he soon abandoned the hope of it. In 1786 and afterward he was a druggist, etc., having a house and store on the southerly side of Chapel street, a little east of the present New Haven House. (Hubbard and Atwater occupied the store before him, Joseph Darling after him.) In an advertisement, in 1788, he is alluded to as an "innholder." As early as 1793 * See Chapin's " Glastonbury Centennial," pp. 98, 100. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 73 he had become a lawyer and squire, and during that year pub- lished " The Civil and Executive Officer's Assistant," etc., a book of forms. The Connecticut Register of 1795, and later, puts his name down as a practicing attorney. He was also a constable. The Connecticut Journal, of January sixteenth, 1800, an- nounces the death of Dr. Goodrich "in the forty-eighth year of his age," but does not say when it happened. In his inventory the symbolic "saddle-bags" appear among the items, furnishing probable evidence that he had once been, or attempted to be, a physician. He died insolvent. SAMUEL DARLING. His father, Thomas Darling, Esq., of that part of New Haven which now lies in Woodbridge, a graduate of Yale College, a tutor, a sincere loyalist in the war, a judge of the county court and a sterling man, was married to Mrs. Abigail Noyes, July twenty-third, 1745. Among their children were Abigail (who married Judge Charles Chauncey, of New Haven), Susannah, Samuel, Thomas and Joseph. Samuel was born January thir- tieth, 1751. Having entered Yale College, he was graduated in 1769, and became rector of the Hopkins Grammar School in 1770. His instructor in medicine was Dr. L. Hubbard. The fact that he was a signer of the agreement of the New Haven physicians, January, 1784, shows he was then regarded as a physician, or one performing medical service for which a fee was charged. Of the Medical Society of New Haven County, he was an original member, and its first and only secretary, discharging the duties of that important office with commend- able fidelity. He seems to have had little to do with the society except to keep its record, reporting no case, reading no paper, and acting on no committee except the committee of publica- tion of 1788. His literary education probably secured him a place on that. When the Connecticut Medical Society was organized in 1792, he joined it, and at the first New Haven 74 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. county meeting was chosen clerk, holding office one year. His connection as a member and tax-payer was continued till 1811, when at his own request he was dismissed. According to my information, and the evidence which cir- cumstances supply, Dr. Darling never practiced much, perhaps scarcely at all out of his store. He was a druggist. In August, 1786, he advertised drugs and medicines " at his store in George street near Col. Leverett Hubbard's." Probably like many others of that day he at first entered into the drug business to enable him to eke out a living while waiting for patients. But patients proving coy or wayward, he at length ceased to court them, and was content with his pestle and mortar. He however continued to give medical advice at his store, charging only for the medicine. He also bled those who called on him, and drew teeth. His tooth-ache avenger is in the possession of the New Haven Colony Historical Society. It is a blood- curdling, brutal-looking instrument. In February, 1785, Dr. Darling became a member of the first church of New Haven, and in the year following was chosen a deacon, which office he held till his death, fifty-six years. In October, 1793, and at other times, he bought property on the westerly side of State street, between Chapel and Crown streets, where he ever afterward lived. His house stood in part on the site of the present Merchant's Bank, the well being still in use in the cellar of the bank. His drug-store was in the north part of his house. Dr. Darling was an eminently worthy, conscientious and truthful man, whom every one respected and esteemed. For purity of character, integrity of purpose, and kindly instincts, he was extensively known. He died January fifteenth, 1842, leaving property of the net value of about $9,000. JOSEPH DARLING, A younger brother of the preceding, was born July first, 1759. He was graduated at Yale College, studied medicine with Col. Hubbard, joined the county society about 1787, and the Con- 75 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. necticut Medical Society in 1792, from the last of which he was dismissed in 1811. It is believed he never practiced, though he often pulled teeth. In May, 1793, he sold "groceries," in the store previously occupied by Dr. Goodrich, next door east of Isaac Beers' bookstore. At this place he bought property soon afterward, and here he lived and kept a drug-store till about 1810, when he purchased on the northeasterly corner of Church and Crown streets, where he resided some thirty years, dispensing drugs, etc. At length he sold out, and during the war of 1812 built, on the site of his former residence in Chapel street, the brick dwelling (now three stories high) standing next to the "New Haven House," where he afterward lived. His drug business was also transferred. Undeniably he was a man of truth, but like other tradesmen was sometimes oblivious. A caller inquired if he knew a remedy for corns. " O yes," he replied, "here's a corn-plaster, a certain cure," hobbling pain- fully, as he spoke. "But what's the matter with your foot?" asked the other. " O, I've a blasted corn-' have tried every- thing-no use," responded the doctor. Dr. Darling was long a justice of the peace, and often aider- man, councilman, etc. He was competent in office, led an irre- proachable life, and was a valuable member of society. Though not as mild in his disposition as his brother, he was more enter- prising and energetic. He died November fifteenth, 1850, aged ninety-one, leaving an estate valued at about $10,000. Was of the fifth generation of the descendants of John Potter, one of the signers of the "Plantation covenant" of the original JARED POTTER* * I am chiefly indebted for the materials of this sketch to a detailed paper kindly prepared at my request and for my use by the venerable Jared Potter Kirtland, M.D., LL. D., a distinguished physician, medical professor and naturalist, now of East Rockport, near Cleveland, Ohio, who formerly practiced medicine in Wallingford and Durham, whose youth was spent in the family of his grandfather, Dr. Potter, and whose early education and training were superintended by him. This paper, apart from its special uses, has a general historical value. I have appropriated whatever was germane to my purpose, often using the language of the writer without further acknowledgment. 76 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. settlers of New Haven. He was the ninth child and youngest son of Gideon and Mary Moulthrop Potter, of East Haven, (then a part of New Haven), where he was born September twenty- fifth, 1742. In that parish and its vicinity there prevailed at the time a fatal form of dysentery, which returned repeatedly with the season. The people suffered greatly from the want of physi- cians, and the parents of the child (so says a family tradition), determined at the outset to educate him for the medical pro- fession. The father's will, proved March, 1758, gave to the wife all household goods, money on hand and debts due the estate for "the bringing up of their youngest son to learning." At the age of eleven, the youth began to fit for college, under the care of the Rev. Philemon Robbins, of Branford. At the close of the day, on every Saturday, he returned home on foot, walking most of the distance after dark. On one oc- casion, while passing through an obscure hollow, an incident occurred which had an effect on his opinions and conduct in after-life. His mind, like those of other children of that day, had been filled with stories of ghosts and apparitions which popular opinion connected with the place. While thinking probably of what he had heard, he was suddenly confronted by a headless man with extended arms, in a threatening atti- tude. He halted, ashamed to retreat and afraid to advance. Congestive chills crept over him, and a cold sweat broke out. Soon, however, he regained his self-possession, and arming himself with a club, pressed forward. Instantly the spectre disappeared, leaving in its place a tall tree-stump with a broken-off limb on each side. The occurrence cured him of superstitious fears, and he was accustomed, at a later day, to tell his experience, with salutary results, to his young friends. Early in this century, the belief in ghosts and witchcraft, among certain classes, was as common in Connecticut as in the days of Cotton Mather. In 1756, Potter became a member of Yale College, where he was graduated in 1760, at the age of eighteen. He is believed to have been a diligent student. Of President Clap and Tutor Strong, particularly the latter, he used to speak with MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 77 respect and affection, but rarely referred to this period of his life. Having been refused an honor to which he considered himself entitled, he did not leave the institution with favorable impressions. The officials generally, in his opinion, were pom- pous and pedantic. In more advanced life, owing to differences in politics and religion, mutually hostile feelings were engen- dered, which, on his part, found expression in dissuasives addressed to students and others disposed to patronize the col- lege. Largely in consequence of his influence, Wallingford, the place of his residence for the last thirty-eight years of his life, furnished to the institution for a long period not a single gradu- ate, a fact which President Dwight noticed in his "Travels," in 1810 ?. Immediately after leaving college, Mr. Potter began the study of medicine, which he pursued three years, the first half with Dr. Harpin of Milford, the last with the distinguished Rev. Jared Eliot, a clerical physician of large practice in Killing- worth, Conn. While with the latter, he had the opportunity to cultivate a taste for Agriculture and Horticulture, which he never lost. Influenced perhaps by the recent deaths of his father and an elder brother, David, the latter leaving a large and dependent family, Dr. Potter selected as a field for practice his native vil- lage. There then prevailed in East Haven, especially on the margins of the salt marshes, and on the high road to New Haven west of the stone meeting house, an intermittent fever which, as usual, gave its coloring to all other diseases, acute and chronic, then existing. The young physician treated it with teaspoonful doses of powdered Peruvian bark and Madeira wine, at regular intervals, while as a prophylactic everybody drank Huxham's tincture of bark. Satisfactory success and a liberal patronage following, he " commenced building a house on the margin of the public green, a little east of the stone church," and soon began to think of taking a wife. On the nineteenth day of April, 1764, he married Sarah, the oldest daughter of Samuel and Mary Moulthrop Forbes, who lived half a mile west of the aforesaid church, on the northerly side 78 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. of the main road. The bride was at the time in ill health, caused by repeated attacks of fever and ague, and afterward through life was a great sufferer from rheumatism, which popular opinion attributed, without reason doubtless, to the bark administered in her early days. After marriage, the wedded pair, instead of going to Europe, went immediately to house-keeping in their new dwelling. The next two or three seasons proved unusually sickly, and the doctor's business and reputation were much extended. At length, as his success and rare merit became more widely known, Dr. Potter received pressing invitations to remove to New Haven, old society. Erelong he sold his place in East Haven, obtained a house near the centre of the present city, and removed thither. It was a one-story, wooden building, which stood at the south end and on the west side of Gregson street, contiguous to the Sandemanian meeting-house. Its ex- ternal appearance had undergone but slight change in 1865. Here he dwelt while in New Haven, and here were born his only children, Sarah and Polly, the last named, February tenth, 1772. They married brothers, the eldest, Billius Kirtland, about 1790, the youngest, Turhand Kirtland, January nine- teenth, 1793, both of Wallingford. Polly was the mother of Jared Potter Kirtland, and died in Poland, Ohio, March twenty- first, 1850. After removal, the doctor's business and popularity as a physician rapidly increased. Medical fees were larger and more promptly paid than afterward, so that with the help of good management and a plain way of living, he was able in a few years to accumulate a small estate, which was greatly needed and mostly expended in the turbulent times which fol- lowed. At that period, the "City of Elms," grandly so called, was only a flourishing village of some fifteen hundred inhabi- tants. It was the seat of an extensive and prosperous com- merce, and a fashionable resort for the people of the southern colonies and the West Indies, and to some extent of Europe. But a storm was gathering, and Dr. Potter, skilled in diagnosis, was able to translate the symptoms, and prognosticate what MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 79 followed. From its exposed position, he apprehended that New Haven was among the places which, in the coming tempest, would be destroyed. Taking counsel of prudence, and solicit- ous for the safety of his young family, he sought a place more distant from the coast, and in 1772, at the age of thirty, removed to Wallingford. Here, in the centre of the village, he rented a large and com- modious house, then owned by Aaron Hackley, and afterward by Dr. Billius Kirtland and heirs, where his family resided till the close of the Revolution. In the town of his adoption, thenceforth his permanent residence, he at once entered on a large country practice, which was pursued without intermission (except for the nearly two years spent in the army, and during certain sessions of the General Court when a representative) till the last week of his life. When the war at length came, in 1775, the general confidence in his ability and faithfulness was evinced by his appointment as surgeon to the first of the first six regiments raised, by order of the General Assembly, for the public service, commanded by Col. David Wooster. In this capacity, he was present at the capture of St. Johns, where a fine supply of surgical instruments and medical stores was ob- tained ; and afterward of Montreal, where he was detailed and placed in charge of a hospital crowded with those suffering from wounds, fevers, small-pox, and the long catalogue of dis- eases incident to fresh and half-disciplined troops. The good condition of the buildings, with the help of captured supplies, both made effectual by the discipline and order introduced, enabled him to make his patients comfortable so long as the station could be held. But soon reverses came. After the death of Montgomery and the failure of the expedition against Quebec, the whole American army was obliged to fall back. The hospital was broken up, the inmates joined the departing forces, and a disastrous retreat was begun by the way of lakes Champlain and George. A scene of dismay, disaster and suffer- ing ensued which surpasses description. At Ticonderoga the retreat became a rout. Every hour increased the sickness and distress. The military stores had been abandoned or destroyed, 80 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. and there were in the hands of the surgeons no resources for the occasion. He used to describe those terrible times, and the torture he endured on account of his helplessness in the midst of so much misery. His Quaker principles were sorely tried. Personally, on several occasions, he narrowly escaped capture. On their return to Connecticut, the surviving members of the first regiment were discharged, the year for which they had enlisted having expired. In the " Army Accounts" in Hart- ford, April fifteenth, 1776, Dr. Potter is credited with his ac- count rendered, £53-14-8. In obedience to orders, before he left for Canada, Dr. Potter provided himself with a horse and waiter, a suit of green broad- cloth, sash, feathers, and a due amount of tinsel. He made a display only equalled by that of some of the newly fledged surgeons and assistant surgeons in the late Rebellion. For this he had no taste: so when he had secured quarters in Montreal, he packed up the trappings mentioned, and every superfluous incumbrance. A pair of portmanteaus, filled with the rubbish and two hundred dollars in cash, was placed on the horse in charge of the waiter, and the latter dispatched to Mrs. Potter, in Wallingford. On arriving at Ticonderoga, the traveller donned the doctor's green suit and other military equipments, and wheeling to the left passed down into Vermont, where he pretended to be an officer and commissary detached from the army in Canada to purchase horses for its immediate supply. By offering high prices, paying small sums out of Mrs. Potter's funds, and giving notes for the balance, saying he should be back soon to make larger purchases, he secured a number of animals which he took to Albany and sold, together with the doctor's horse at low prices. He then moved by water down the Hudson and around to New Haven. For a time he played the gentleman about the country, but on the doctor's return the money had all been spent, and the enterprising waiter had be- come a seedy vagabond. After the disbanding of his regiment, Dr. Potter (July, 1776) became the surgeon of Col. Wm. Douglas' regiment or battalion destined for the defence of New York. Wm. Gould was his MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 81 mate and Benjamin Trumbull chaplain, the latter his associate in the same capacity, in Canada. The regiment, attached to the command of Gen. Greene, was stationed at an advanced post back of Brooklyn, L. I. In the rashly conceived and wretch- edly fought " battle " which followed, it was out-flanked by a strong force of Waldeckers, and narrowly escaped destruction or capture. Its safety was secured by a shot lodged in the fore- head of the German Colonel, while his lieutenant was helplessly drunk. In the confusion which ensued, Douglas was able to lead off his men, one by one, over a treacherous tide-dam. It was the opinion of Dr. Potter that the battle (so called) would have been more creditable on our part had not Greene been taken sick at the critical time. Owing to the remissness of the British commander, a successful retreat was effected to New York and so up the Hudson, the enemy in pursuit. Washing- ton succeeded in preserving order and a degree of discipline among his shattered forces, as proved by the conflicts at Harlem and Chatterton hill. At the latter place, Douglas' regiment, in particular, was distinguished for good behavior. At length there was a temporary halt, followed by an attack, which was " feebly resisted," at White Plains. Repeated reverses had much discouraged our men. A low form of fever broke out among them, and large numbers were prostrated by a typhoid dysentery, known as the camp distemper. Besides the sick there were many wounded requiring attention. As in Canada, the medical stores, when most needed, had all been lost. Of course there was great suffering, much aggravated by depriva- tion. The labors and responsibilities of the surgeons, crippled for want of means, were greatly increased. The world has never known the full extent of their trials. There is certain evidence that Dr. Potter did his whole duty. With deep emo- tion he used to refer to his experiences in the fall of 1776. "The public," said he, "could see and applaud the good con- duct of the officers of the line, but no one seemed to com- prehend and appreciate the trials that the surgeons endured in this and the Canadian campaigns." 82 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. After the affair at White Plains, Col. Douglas' regiment was sent among the highlands on the Hudson, where it continued on duty till the twenty-ninth of December, 1776, when it was mustered out of service by Gen. Heath. Dr. Potter then returned to Wallingford. Long afterward, he was asked why he did not remain in the army. He replied : " I considered our cause just. I did not lack courage; but I witnessed so many scenes of carnage, suffering and horror that, at the close of the campaign of 1776, I entertained doubts whether war, under any circumstances, could be justified. Besides, my constitution was so much impaired that for the next two years I was unfit for service." On reaching home he resumed his practice, as his health permitted, when gradually certain threatening tubercu- lar symptoms disappeared. When Gov. Tryon invaded New Haven on the fifth of July, 1779, he allowed himself to be appointed the surgeon of a regi- ment of militia, hastily collected near East rock to resist the invader. While some of them were reconnoitering in the neighborhood of Neck bridge, they unexpectedly received a volley from a scouting party of the enemy. Though no one was hurt, the surprised warriors were in too much haste to find shelter among "the cedars" near by to return the fire. The regimental surgical duties in that campaign, lasting one day, were not oppressive. Thus ended Dr. Potter's military career. Across the street, directly opposite Dr. Potter's residence, on the great thoroughfare between New York and Boston, (by the way of New Haven,) was the noted inn of Capt. Johnson. In the summer of 1776, William Franklin, the loyal governor of New Jersey, was arrested, sent to Wallingford, and lodged on parole in this house. It was crowded with officers, soldiersand travellers of whig proclivities. On him the occupants delighted to vent their spite, pursuing him with jeers, insult, and even threats of assassination. There were in the town, at that time, several wealthy and respectable tory families who desired to mitigate the sufferings of the Governor. They applied to Mrs. Potter for a parlor, chamber, and private table, for his use in her spacious, well-furnished house, offering ample compensation MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 83 in specie. She accepted, and he was secretly removed to his new apartments, where he was comparatively secure. He kept himself secluded, and saw no outside company except his tory friends. Morning, noon and night, when Mrs. Potter's little daughters were out of school, he invariably secured their com- pany to walk with him in a well cultivated flower garden, back of the house. On these occasions he chatted, played and even romped with his young companions. He became much attached to them, and often watched the clock, impatient for the hour of their return from school. At length both sides became alarmed. Stories of intended personal violence reached the Governor's ears. A very respect- able Episcopalian had been shot at Tyler's mills for being a tory, and the house well was to be poisoned. The whigs, on their part, noticed the frequent visits of the tories to the pris- oner's quarters, and suspected a conspiracy for his stealthy removal, in the night, to the sea-shore, and thence to some British vessel in the Sound. Each party sent a petition to Gov. Trumbull, requesting his removal for greater safety. The re- quest was finally complied with, but the fugitive found no rest. On taking leave of Mrs. Potter and the children, he expressed great gratitude for uniform kindness, and promised to secure for her and her family full protection when, in a few months, the country had been subjugated, and the expected hanging, con- fiscation and proscription should begin. After his return to Wallingford, at the end of the campaign of 1776, Dr. Potter gradually enlarged his consultation busi- ness, and so far as convenience permitted, declined surgical practice. His painful experience in the army had made the latter distasteful, though he continued to take a lively interest in that branch of his profession, reading (as he had always done) the new books as they appeared. In his manipulations as an operator, he exhibited extraordinary coolness, grace and skill, his manner contrasting with that of certain professed surgeons of his time. His judgment in important cases was so much valued that he continued to be called in consultation. 84 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Near the close of the Revolution, Dr. Potter purchased a farm of fifty acres at the foot of Main street, half a mile south of the village center, now known as the Rice Hall place, where he resided till 1805. Here he had the desired opportunity to indulge his early taste for Agriculture and Horticulture. He was a florist and pomologist, and devoted all the time which his profession and the education of his daughters left at his dis- posal to farming and the cultivation of fruits and flowers, laboring with his own hands. He demonstrated practically that the exhausted soils of Connecticut could be cheaply reno- vated by a judicious system of farming with the aid of plaster of Paris and clover. It is said that he was in correspondence with Dr. Franklin as early as 1786 on the cultivation of the white mulberry and silk-worm. He received from the doctor a quantity of mulberry seed, and largely stocked his farm with the plants. Considerable silk was produced from that source as late as 1814. Doctor Potter was one of the earliest, most honored and influential members of the Medical Society of New Haven County, his name standing seventh on the roll. He was always on the committee of correspondence, and generally on that of examination. Wherever his name is found on an important committee, it usually stands next after that of Eneas Munson, who was eight years his senior. He was not fond of exhibiting himself in public, and so far as I can ascertain made no com- munication to the society. In January, 1786, however, he was one of a committee appointed to prepare and publish in the [New Haven] Weekly Gazette a "history of some of the medi- cal societies of Europe and America" which is presumed to be the history which was printed soon after in that paper, and which is still preserved in manuscript in the hand of the doctor. When the much lamented Dr. E. Beardsley died in 1791, he was requested, by vote, to become his eulogist, but no proof of performance is on record. A year later he became the vice- president of the society. Of those who were active and influential in obtaining the charter of the Connecticut Medical Society, and in shaping its MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 85 provisions, Dr. Potter was among the foremost. He was one of the corporators, the first secretary in 1792, the vice-president in 1804 and 1805, a fellow eleven years in the first thirteen, and a member of important committees. In 1797, he read to the society an "essay," and in 1798 was thanked for his "philo- sophical and ingenious dissertation." As proved by his corre- spondence now in the hands of his grandson, Dr. Kirtland, he was urged by leading members of the profession in different parts of the state to become a candidate for the presidency. He persistently declined, alleging to his friends that he had not the confidence to preside over such a body ; that he had no means and no taste for the style required for that position ; that a majority of the members were his opponents in religion and politics, and that numbers were avowedly hostile to any move- ment of the kind. To be president of the society, it may be remarked, was then considered a great honor, the reward of merit of the highest order. In 1798, he received from that body the degree of M. D. About 1790, as already stated, Dr. Potter gave in marriage his daughter Sarah, to Dr. Billius Kirtland, a highly intelligent physician of Wallingford. His widely extended consultation business had previously interfered with his local practice; but now he turned over the latter, as much as possible, to his son- in-law, then recently, his pupil. He was thus able to devote himself to the former more exclusively than before. An extensive file of his correspondence shows that he was called into every part of the State, and even beyond its limits. On some occasions, he was absent from home several days or even weeks at a time. An instance will show the kind of difficulties he encountered. About 1803, when a fatal form of dysentery prevailed along the Housatonic river, the leading citizens of Huntington desired his assistance, but wanted assurance from him that he would not scatter with his prescriptions his hereti- cal opinions on politics and religion. Accordingly, a messenger was despatched, qualified to negotiate, who made known his business in lofty, diplomatic style. The doctor promptly agreed to the stipulation, but on the condition that he too 86 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. should be allowed to enjoy undisturbed his own peculiar views, and the twain departed. An actively inflammatory form of dysentery was found which had been aggravated by stimulating treatment. A change of practice soon improved the old cases, and made of a milder type the new, modifications which the anxious public could appreciate. As the disease continued in its mitigated form, the doctor was fully employed for several weeks. On taking leave he was waited on by a committee, Gen. W and Gen. B , who, after paying his bill and presenting a complimentary gift, expressed grate- ful acknowledgments, and added : "Receiving our impressions from common report and the newspapers, we expected to meet with a hybrid, a cross between Robespierre and Tom Payne, but have had the pleasure to find in you a kind, affable and intelligent gentleman," or words to that effect. In the commencement of the present century, when Dr. Potter was much occupied with his varied duties, giving attention to his scattered and often distant professional calls, cultivating his farm and garden, prosecuting his studies, and carrying on his political controversies, he proposed for a season to intermit his labors, and devote considerable time to travel for recreation and instruction. In particular he wished to visit New York, Dr. Hosack's botanical garden, the book-stores, the grave of Hamilton, and the scenes of his military experiences. At length he fixed on 1805 as the time for the journey ; but his plans were rudely broken by a sad occurrence. In that year a change of constitution (diathesis) and the characters of disease began to show itself at different points in New England. Connected with this change, a low grade of typhus fever ap- peared in Wallingford. Dr. Billius Kirtland and his wife were among the first victims. Their four orphan children were im- mediately adopted by their grandfather, and taken into his family, as had been some years before another grandchild, Jared Potter Kirtland. To the care, support, education and special training of these children, he devoted, with singleness of purpose, the remaining five years of his life. Leaving his farm, he removed to the residence of his deceased son-in-law. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 87 and prosecuted his professional business, at home and abroad, with renewed vigor, and to the full extent of his endurance. A series of somewhat sickly years ensued. He had attained the age of sixty-three, had become corpulent, but enjoyed almost perfect health. His long " rides" and large practice were fatiguing and laborious; the charge of his young family gave him little rest in the intervals of business; but instead of complaining, he only regretted that his new responsibilities curtailed his expenditure for books, and abridged his time for reading. Whatever his disappointments and trials, he was cheerful, hopeful, unwearied, bearing all his burdens with courage and contentment. In 1805, at the busiest period of Dr. Potter's life, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Peters, the renowned Episcopal clergyman and tory, of Hebron, who, in retaliation for indignities received at the hands of the whigs in 1774, wrote and published in Eng- land a mendacious History of Connecticut, (a work to this day believed by half of the educated people of the West to be a true history,) returned to this country. He had obtained from Carver's heirs the title to a claim for lands on the Upper Missis- sippi, and sought Mr. Jefferson's assistance in securing it. The President advised him to enlist in his behalf some leading democratic friends in Connecticut, whom he named, thinking probably that he would not get much help in that quarter. He took the advice, and made his first visit to Dr. Potter, with whom he had formerly been acquainted. Said he : " Doctor, I want you to recommend my claim to Mr. Jefferson'.s considera- tion." " I have no personal acquaintance with Mr. Jefferson ; he knows nothing of me, and my recommendation would be of no avail," replied the doctor. " You are mistaken," rejoined the other. " Mr. Jefferson is familiar with your standing and political influence, and would treat with deference your opinion. He showed me the parody entitled Moll Carey, and said he knew all the parties named in that vulgar production. They were his warm friends, worthy members of society, and political martyrs; and he was astonished that party strife should so debase his opponents, many of them distinguished for their 88 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. religious professions. Avowed infidels [he continued] could not have done worse.'' Bishop* Peters, often so styled, spent most of his time for several days in Dr. Potter's family, frequently dining at his table. He was tall and erect, having large and commanding features, with a lofty, dictatorial manner. As the doctor, owing to professional engagements, could give him but little attention, the Bishop put aside his dignity, and made the ac- quaintance of the younger members of the family, interesting himself in their studies, reading, and even their amusements. His apparent familiarity with every important personage and event in Europe and America, taken in connection with his sociable, impressive way, made his remarks and general conver- sation very instructive. The flower and fruit gardens were examined critically, and valuable information given concerning European Horticulture. The interviews with Dr. Potter were marked by kindness and courtesy on both sides, though the two were as wide apart as the poles in their opinions and respective careers. Often their personal experiences were de- tailed, and the events of the American and French revolutions discussed. On these occasions he was accustomed to occupy a particular seat at a table on which several books were lying. During these conversations he would invariably take up the books one after another, examining each. One morning, antici- pating the usual visit, a member of the family (a young lady, humorously inclined) removed all the books, and placed in their stead Peters' anonymous History of Connecticut. Soon the Bishop arrived, took the chair intended for him, and began the conversation. When a few minutes had elapsed, he took up the book, and catching a glimpse of the title, burst into a laugh, in which the doctor joined. He seemed amused at the credence which his stories had gained. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the recommendation to the President which Peters sought was not obtained. He died, neglected and in poverty, in New York, in 1826, aged ninety. * He was chosen Bishop of Vermont in 1794, but was never consecrated. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 89 Pressed with hard work, and the most important domestic duties, the last years of Dr. Potter's life were passed without note-worthy incident. His death occurred under unusual cir- cumstances. Passing a field of rye on his farm, he plucked a head of the ripe grain, shelled it in his hand, and blowing away the chaff, threw the kernels into his mouth. A beard lodged on the uvula, causing inflammation, gangrene and death at the end of six days, July 30th, 1810. An immense concourse of people attended the funeral. His decease was felt to be a public calamity. Even his political opponents were sincere mourners. On a neat monument, erected by his widow, in the Wallingford cemetery, are the following words, penned by Abraham Bishop, of New Haven : He was an able scholar, an instructive companion, and an eminent physician. All who knew and valued him will soon be added to the number of the dead; yet not with their applause nor with monument will perish the good fruits of his many and distinguished virtues. In the first decade of the present century, Dr. Potter was probably the most celebrated and popular physician in the State. He was an excellent judge of symptoms and specially skilled in diagnosis. By critical examination he attained won- derful success in detecting the nature, seat and tendency of the most obscure diseases. In pleurisy, dysentery, puerperal fever and other severe acute diseases, he was an energetic practi- tioner. "In cases of this kind," says Dr. Miner in Thatcher's Medical Biography, "he was esteemed, and apparently with justice, to be superior to any physician of his time in Connec- ticut." The same authority gives currency to the charge (by others repeated) that "he was very sceptical of the powers of medicine in most chronic complaints," and that his practice in such cases was inefficient, sometimes almost inert; but I have the best of evidence that the charge was unfounded, and that it grew out of the fact that he discriminated in his treatment, giving medicine wffien there were solid reasons for it, and withholding it when a cure could be better effected by changes of diet and regimen, or improvement in the habits and practices of his patients. . He was not accustomed to give drugs at random, or, 90 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY in other words, till he fully comprehended the difficulty to be removed. In practice, he was particularly fond of the alkalies and alkaline earths. Chalk was a common article in his pre- scriptions. The famous "Potter's powder," as used by him, was composed of chalk, carbonate of ammonia, camphor and charcoal. He used it largely in dyspeptic and other gastric complaints. Like his instructor, Eliot, Dr. Potter was a famous medical teacher, and some of the most distinguished physicians of the State were once his pupils. He was an accomplished scholar, and a diligent student through life. His reading was comprehensive and very thor- ough, as evinced by the notes and critical remarks he usually made in the margins of his favorite books. When business pressed, much of the night was often spent in their perusal. His reading included the most important periodicals of the day. His library was extensive, the miscellaneous department con- taining works on almost every subject. That on medicine, embracing most of the authors then known, and especially rich in ancient lore, fell into the hands of his grandson, Dr. J. P. Kirtland, and has by him been donated to the Western Reserve College. Originally a Jeffersonian democrat, Dr. Potter took a warm interest in the politics of his later life. His prominence and great influence made him peculiarly obnoxious to the federal party, and the butt of their newspaper wits. One of the most caustic and offensive passages in that famous ode or song entitled Moll Carey refers to him, and his well-known anti- slavery sentiments. Unpopular as they were, these sentiments were maintained unflinchingly through life. On his marriage, among her wedding gifts, the bride received from her father, a slave-trader, a black slave, aged seventeen, named Jack John, whereat she was delighted, he surprised and annoyed. The reputed master's keen moral sense was shocked at the idea of holding a slave, so in 1772 Jack received emancipation papers, now on record in Wallingford. Afterward, the latter gained some renown as a freeman and voter. He was upright, kind 91 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. and faithful; became a sailor and ultimately a successful farmer, and accumulated property. When he died, in 1816, the select- men ordered his burial in an obscure fence corner, among weeds and briers. His grave, with its sandstone slab, surrounded by showy and costly monuments, now occupies the center of Wal- lingford cemetery. Though greatly interested in the political questions of the day, I will venture to say that Dr. Potter was in no sense a demagogue. He was too conscientious and manly forthat; did not use his influence for base purposes, and sought nothing for himself. Thinking his own thoughts, and forming his own opinions, he was not deceived by names, was the slave of no party, and followed no leader who was clearly in the wrong. For Washington, Adams and Hamilton, as heroes and states- men of the Revolution, he had great respect, but thought they and the federal party were too fond of parade-too much inclined to look with favor on the follies and vices of monarch- ical governments. His admiration of Hamilton's financial skill and good management was often expressed, and when that great man fell no one mourned his death more sincerely than he. Aaron Burr, concerning whose true character he gained much information through his friend, Judge Pierpont Edwards, for a time a resident of Wallingford, he regarded as a consum- mate villain as early as the presidential election of 1800.-Many times the doctor was a representative from Wallingford to the General Court, but though an industrious and influential mem- ber. his modesty always prevented his making a speech. In 1801, he was voted for to "stand in nomination" for assistant, but not chosen. Dr. Potter's reading and intercourse made him familiar with the whole field of theological controversy, while his knowledge of the Bible was extensive and accurate. No biblical scholar could quote it more promptly or apply it with more adroitness, and he was fond of discussion. His extraordinary colloquial powers, strong reasoning faculty, logical method, suavity of manner, candor, and perfect command of temper, gave him a great advantage, and often an easy victory in argument. When 92 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. equally matched, having a plucky opponent, the whole night was sometimes spent in these encounters. He delighted to meet with an intelligent radical or enthusiast in religion, politics, medicine, philosophy, or common business pursuits. When he did so, a set-to was sure to occur. Occasionally some well-wisher, a little verdant perhaps, would attempt his conversion, but soon found the task hopeless, and himself con- strained to retire in confusion. The doctor's great knowledge, quickness of perception, wit and humor, made his conversation always instructive and entertaining, while his gentlemanly bearing made friends of his adversaries. Though brought up in the Congregational faith of New England, Dr. Potter embraced the doctrine of universal salva- tion while still in college, and adhered to it unflinchingly through life. He did this at much cost, and there is no reason to doubt his entire sincerity. He believed that Christ died for all-that the atonement would ultimately secure the salvation of all, and was frank enough to say so. " I believe," said he, "in the authenticity of the Scriptures, and the efficacy of the atonement as firmly as the most orthodox. The only difference between us relates to the extent of that atonement. I believe it will reach every descendant of Adam ; they that it will save only a part of the human family." By his adversaries in religion and politics he was charged with being an infidel and sceptic, but he denied emphatically that he was either, and pro- tested against the injustice done him. One describes him as a "speculating theologian," whose pupils generally left his "office with minds tinged with sceptical notions." Another says he was the " leader of a party of free-thinkers in and out of the profession," among whom " were old Dr. Foote of North- ford, Drs. Wells, of Berlin, afterward of Hartford, [Eli] Todd, Beach, of Cheshire, and Hotchkiss," of New Haven. These were not all free-thinkers in the sense in which that term is usually employed, and of the whole number of Dr. Potter's students, only one avowed infidel sentiments, and he finally embraced Methodism. The truth is, in the latter part of the last century, and the early part of the present, public opinion, 93 MEDICAL HISTORY AMD BIOGRAPHY. or rather the ruling classes in this State, could not brook dis- sent, whether in Church or State, and dissent hereabouts, in numerous instances, took the form of Universalism. The pre- sent generation has no adequate conception of the deep feeling- on this subject which prevailed three quarters of a century ago. Dr. Potter was a dissenter, and chose, in the exercise of his right, to be an universalist, and paid the penalty. Hard names, without reference to fitness-the hardest which for the moment could be made to stick-were applied to him ; but no longer should his opinions be misstated. Not one of his accu- sers probably lived a purer, more beneficent, or in any sense a better life. As a guide and standard of conduct, he often ap- pealed to Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Young's Night Thoughts he knew well-nigh "by heart," and in his serious moods often quoted familiarly. When taking a final leave of a beloved grand-child, two months before his death, his last words were : " Be good, be virtuous, and always do as you would be done by," tears flowing down his venerable cheeks. Dr. Potter was himself tolerant and charitable; humane, philanthropic and sympathetic in a high degree; kindhearted, generous, and true in all the relations of life. In his deal- ings he was honorable and just; in his manners easy, affa- ble, unpretending and unceremonious. In his sketches, Dr. Eli Ives, (who condemned unsparingly his religious views,) speaking of his professional standing, says he was " free from any little arts of intrigue," and "left behind him the character of a very talented, honorable and high minded physician." His urbanity, candor, and perfect fairness made him a most accept- able counsellor, while his thoughtful regard for the reputations of the young physicians he met, made this class his warm friends. Always his dress was simple, and plain as a Quaker's. In stature he was below the average, in early life slender, and in later years very corpulent. With one exception, already referred to, he was always in good health. He had a round face, regular features, mild blue eyes, a kindly expression, and a fair skin, with a glow of redness on each cheek. 94 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. WILLIAM GOULD, Of Branford, was the son of Dr. William, and the grandson of Dr. Bichard Gould, both of the same town. The last came from North Taunton, parish of Oakhampton, Devonshire, Eng- land. The subject of this notice was born November seven- teenth, 1727. I have been unable to glean much concerning his early life, but learn from the ''Foote Genealogy" that he married, May fifth, 1763, for his second wife, Mary Foote, widow of Timothy Johnson. From the " Army Accounts," in Hartford, I find that, in September, 1782, one with his name was paid £18-18 for service in Col. Swift's regiment in 1781. He was one of the earliest and oldest of the members of the Medical Society of New Haven County, his name standing second on the list of subscribers. In testimony of his respect- ability, he was placed at the head of the first committees of correspondence and for the examination of students, the highest position after the presidency which could have been given him. For three successive years he was thus honored, and on two occasions was invited "to exhibit some observations," at the next meeting, for the edification of the members. I cannot find that he took any notice of the invitations. After August, 1786, his name is not mentioned on the record, appearances indicating that he was negligent of his duties. Perhaps he did not attend the meetings because he had "no time"-a very poor excuse. Every man finds time for that which most interests him. More likely, attendance was irksome, or paid unsatis- factory dividends. The society survived his defection. In 1793, Dr. Gould made known by advertisement that he had opened a hospital for innoculated small-pox. Possibly because he withheld assistance in the struggle for a charter, his name is not found among the corporators of the Connecticut Medical Society in 1792. But he became a member at the first county meeting. On the same occasion, he was chosen a fel- low, (or delegate to the society's convention,) an office to which he was reelected in 1793 and 1795. After this last date his MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 95 name disappears. Once more he found " no time," or could see no profit. Dr. Gould was a member of the Constitutional Convention of the State in 1788, representative to the Assembly in 1795, and a justice of the peace many years in the latter part of his life. As a physician and man, I can sav little more than that he sustained a high character,-was both competent and trust- worthy. His death took place July twenty-ninth, 1805; that of his widow, September twenty-fifth, 1818, at the age of 79. Among his children were Dr. William, born in 1752; gradu- ated at Yale College in 1771 ; married, March second, 1775, Rebecca Foote; settled in Manchester. Vt., and died 1819 : Dr. Orchard; born March first, 1764; graduated at Y. C., 1783; practiced medicine in Branford; removed to Indiana about 1817 and d. 1819: James; well known as Judge Gould, of Litchfield; was graduated at Y. C., 1791, and d. 1838: Eliza- beth; married Judge Ro<<er M. Sherman. Was the son of Obadiah and Hannah (Booth) Munson, of New Haven, and was born December twenty-fifth, 1733. June nine- teenth, 1760, he married Mabel Mansfield. From the New Haven land records, I find that he lived in North Haven parish where he bought a house and land adjoining the "sabbath day houses lots," as early as December, 1760, and afterward made several other purchases. He joined the county society in the beginning, and with the exception of Drs. Hubbard and Gould, appears to have been the oldest subscriber. On one occasion he was selected " to deliver observations on the theory and practice of physic," a somewhat extended subject; on another, he was named for one of the eight members from this county of the proposed state society. Further than this he was either not present at the meetings, or quite inaudible. I am sorry to find that his name does not once appear among those who paid the quarterly shilling tax. In 1792 he was still at North Haven, and connected himself with the Connecticut Medical WALTER MUNSON 96 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Society, but the connection was only nominal, if the record tells the whole truth. In December, 1795, he offered for sale, by advertisement in the Connecticut Journal, his house and barn and forty acres of land, with a ship yard, situated in North Haven, on the road from New Haven to Wallingford, a little over half a mile from the meeting house, and twenty rods from the river. Soon after (1796 or 1797), he appeared as a resident of New Haven. According to the aforesaid Journal, he died December twenty-seventh, 1802. Dr. Elijah Munson presented a bill against the estate for attendance, the fact prov- ing a custom not as creditable as the present. The inventory amounted to $170.70 ; the debts to $345.37. Dr. Munson seems to have had a small practice and less thrift. Of his note-worthy personal achievements I am not informed, but on the town records he is credited with the fol- lowing children: John, born March first, 1761; Wilmot, b. July fourth, 1764; Bettie, b. Nov. seventh, 1765; Paulina, b. April second, 1770. JARED FOOT, Of Branford, Northford society, the eldest son of Dr. Ichabod and Hannah (Harrison) Foot, was born July seventeenth, 1735. He was one of the older and among the earliest members of the county society. Seemingly, however, he did not go to its quar- terly gatherings, or lift a finger in its prolonged struggle for charter privileges, and a higher life. Like a star he dwelt apart, not getting near enough to be taxed. But if he held himself aloof from those he should have assisted, he helped to reward their completed labors, and in a moment of self-negation invested six shillings in the pamphlet of 1788. I hope he read it and found his ideas multiplied, and his cerebral lobes ex- panded. But as he seems not to have joined the Connecticut Medical Society, I conclude his os frontis was not permanently lifted. In his isolation he may have thought he knew enough, when in fact he knew but little. A worthy man and a good member of society, Dr. Foot is understood to have been a reputable physician, having a rea- MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 97 sonable amount of business. Dr. Ives classes him with those who accepted the peculiar views in philosophy and religion of Dr. Potter, of Wallingford; but I learn from a lineal descendant who was much in his family that he was considered to be an universalist; that he attended the congregational church, and conducted religious services regularly in his family. In his habits he was a cold water man, offering to his professional brethren an example of temperance, at that day, (and every day,) greatly needed. The Foot Genealogy gives Dr. Foot four wives (one at a time, of course); namely, Submit Bishop, of Madison ? Sarah Stillman, of New Haven, Jemima Holcomb, and Hannah Kim- berly, of North Guilford. His five children were all by his first wife. He lived two miles from the village of Northford, on the road to Durham, and died October eleventh, 1820, aged eighty- five. His only son, Joseph Foot, M.D., Y. C., 1787, a student of Jared Potter, was a practitioner of distinction in North Haven, who died April twenty-fourth, 1836, aged sixty-six. AARON ANDREWS, Of Wallingford, the son of Samuel and Abigail (Tyler) An- drews, was born within the limits of the present town .of Meriden, August twenty-ninth, 1734; married, December eighteenth, 1771, Sarah Whiting, of Stamford, and settled as a physician in the old village. He built and occupied the house on Main Street now owned and occupied by Samuel B. Par- melee. He was one of the oldest and apparently one of the earliest members of the Medical Society of N. H. County, but I do not find his name in the proceedings, though it is on a late list of tax-payers. To the Connecticut Medical Society he attached himself in the beginning, paying bis taxes like a mar- tyr; but in 1804, having become old and weary, be asked and received a dismission. As he seems rarely to have attended the county meetings, thinking probably the profits did not equal the cost of travel, he was not much missed. 98 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. From Dr. J. P. Kirtland, of Ohio. I learn that Dr. Andrews was a disciple of the Boerhaavian school, invariably used its terms in conversation, and firmly believed its doctrines and theories. When Cullen's views threatened to take the place of those more ancient, he denounced them as heretical and dan- gerous. He was a relative of the Hull family, and had great confidence in the noted nostrum long known as " Hull's Physic," composed of aloes, nitrate of potash and aromatics, a famous remedy for colic, then more common than now. He was successful in the use of the remedy, and gained some re- nown for his treatment of the bowel-complaints of children. Though eccentric and antiquated, he was much respected as a man. His library contained some old and valuable medical works, which were thoroughly studied. He died November twenty-fourth, 1814; his widow, August twenty-eighth, 1836, aged ninety-two and a half. MOSES GAYLORD. He was a noted surgeon of Wallingford. Mr. Elihu Yale, of New Haven, thinks he was born in Durham, and that his father was Joseph Gaylord who married Elizabeth Rich, and his grandfather John Gaylord, who went from Waterbury to Durham. "He married Jemima Tyler, of Wallingford, and had Tyler who died in the State of New York; Harriet, who married Noah Lindsley, of Meriden, and Nancy, who married Israel Harrison." His medical instructor was Dr. Jesse Cole, of Durham. As a practitioner, his whole attention w7as given to surgery and midwifery. Though having a wide reputation, and doing a large business, he was a man of no reading, and a bungler in his operations. For the most part he confined him- self to minor surgery, leaving important cases to Dr. Spalding, of New Haven, or Dr. Wm. B. Hall, of Middletown. Like others having limited resources, he had great faith in salves, plasters, liniments and washes. Dr. J. P. Kirtland is my authority for saying so. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 99 Dr. Gaylord joined the county society at an early period, but after he did so his name is not found on the record. Perhaps he thought the name was sufficient encouragement. His con- nection with the Connecticut Medical Society was no more eventful, for all that can be said, is that he was admitted in April, 1793, and dismissed in September, 1804. Probably he had no abiding wish for the success, and no relish for the objects, of either organization. According to Dr. Davis, " he was tall and rather spare-looking, with thin face and large nose, and when riding horse-back, as was his habit, or when walking, was bent forward." He died of a cancer of the face, August ninth, 1830, aged seventy-seven, and his widow, Jemima (Tyler,) February eighteenth, 1840, aged eighty-three. ABRAHAM TOMLINSON, According to Cothren's Woodbury, was a native of that town, and a resident of Judea society in 1758, where he remained several years. November eleventh, 1760, he married Mary Gypson, had a child, Billy, born November ninth, 1761, and finally removed to Milford. At the age of forty-six, he united with the Medical Society of New Haven County. His name appears for the first time in May, 1784, when he was chosen one of the committee who were to make real the vision of a botanical garden. Two short cases of difficult deglutition, bearing his name, were printed in the pamphlet of 1788. The foreign bodies causing the mischief were removed by vomiting, induced in one case by warm water, in the other by tartar emetic. Beyond this small contribution, I cannot find that the doctor, at that time, did anything worthy of remembrance. The heroic band battling for a charter had none of his help. Among the first to join the Connecticut Medical Society, Dr. Tomlinson for nineteen years was a useful and faithful member. Fourteen times he was elected fellow, and in several instances was put on important committees. In testimony of his high respectability, the society conferred on him, in 1802, the degree of M. D., the 100 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. title having then been bestowed by that body on but nine per- sons in this State,* all renowned practitioners. These are their names : Leverett Hubbard and Elihu (written Elisha in the record) Tudor in 1793, Eneas Munson and Seth Bird in 1794, James Potter and Thomas Mosely in 1795, James Clark in 1796, and Theophilus Bogers and Jared Potter in 1798. Five others living out of the State had been similarly complimented. At a later period, Dr. Tomlinson read before the county meeting a paper (he had previously reported two cases) which the clerk with his habitual generosity calls a " very ingenious dissertation." It may be the one published by the society in the pamphlet of 1810, entitled " Communications of the Medical Society of Connecticut, Number I " It occupies nearly two pages, and relates a case of anasarca, cured by digitalis, in which seven gallons of water were passed by the kidneys in about three days, nearly half the amount on the second day of treat- ment. But the time approached for work to cease. When, in 1813, at the age of seventy-five, the doctor at his own request was dismissed from the society, the clerk was directed to " make a proper acknowledgment of the feelings of the society to Dr. Tomlinson, for liis long and useful exertions in behalf of the society." According to his tomb-stone, he died December twenty-ninth, 1816. aged seventy-eight. His will, to which a codicil was added in 1814, names his wife Hester, and his sons Abraham, David and John G., the two last executors. To Abraham's children, he gave land and a dwelling-house in Patterson, Dutchess County, N. Y., their father (in whom con- fidence seems to have been wanting) to have the use and improvement of the same. His inventory, including thirty-three books, some of them medical, amounted to $11,320. His son, Abraham (Y. C., 1785), educated a physician, united with the Connecticut Medical Society in 1795, and died in 1820. * At that time Yale College had thus honored at home and abroad four individ- uals, all before 1792, namely: Daniel Turner in 1723, John Bartlett in 1779, and Charles Kilby and David Ramsay in 1789. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 101 Born May seventeenth, 1734, was the son of Noadiah Carring- ton, of Woodbridge. He studied medicine with a Dr. Warner, settled in Milford about 1758 or '59, and married Esther Nor- throp, of that town, in 1760? At the age of fifty he became a member of the New Haven county society, his name standing fifth on the roll. Though he paid all his society taxes, I fear he did not find the meetings edifying, for seemingly he rarely attended them. He joined the Connecticut Medical Society in the beginning, but the enrollment of his name appears to have satisfied his yearnings for knowledge. Dr. Carrington sustained a good reputation, and did a large professional business in Milford and its neighborhood. He died intestate, August sixth, 1800. The inventory of his estate amounted to £581-12-4; though nearly £1000 (including twenty-one volumes of medical books) were distributed to the widow and six children, namely; Elias, a physician, died, 1836 ; Ephraim, died, 1801; John, died, 1817; Esther Foster, Sarah Smith, and Julia. Two sons, Dr. Samuel, Y. C., 1786, and Abijah, Y. C., 1800, state senator, comptroller, etc., are not mentioned in the distribution. His widow married Deacon William Atwater, and died April fourteenth. 1817, aged seventy- two. (I am indebted to Mr. John W. Carrington, of New York, for some facts concerning Dr. C.) ELIAS CARRINGTON, ELNATHAN BEACH Was the son of John, and the grandson of Capt. Elnathan Beach, and was born in Cheshire, then a part of Wallingford, August thirtieth, 1760. Becoming a physician in his native village, he joined the Medical Society of New Haven County, and was an active and respected member from the beginning to the end of its active life. Though young, he was at different times placed on important committees, stated cases (a short one was printed in the pamphlet of 1788), paid his shilling tax, and bore his share of all the burdens. When the Connecticut 102 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, Medical Society was chartered, he was one of the forty-six cor- porators, and was afterward a fellow, and a member of the examining committee of New Haven county. In 1795 his townsmen elected him to the General Assembly. Intelligent and competent, he proved himself qualified for the several positions he occupied. A manuscript case of his on file, though faulty in form, proves that his mind was clear and his views definite-qualities to which some of his contemporaries, with more reputation, could not lay claim. It is understood that he gained the confidence of the best people of Cheshire, and was greatly beloved by his employers ; but a young physician who settled in the same village, Dr. Cornwall, is said to have made considerable inroads on his practice. However this may be, he concluded to remove, and in December, 1795, advertised, in the Connecticut Journal, his " large and elegant house on the corner of the green, ten rods south of the meeting house in Cheshire," which he had himself built, being "the first frame house in the town." It afterward became the residence of Rev. Dr. Bronson, and is now called, 1 believe, the " Bronson house." In August following, Dr. Beach notified his debtors to make payment on or before the thirteenth of September. In the winter following, as I am informed by Mr. Elihu Yale, he removed to Western New York, where he settled as a physician in Marcellus. He opened a store for the sale of dry goods, groceries and medicines, became a politician, was appointed sheriff of Onondaga county in 1799, and died, much respected and greatly lamented, in 1801. THOMAS T. CORNWALL, As Mr. Elihu Yale informs me, was born in the north part of Middletown, now Cromwell, May first, 1767, and in early life removed with his father to Cheshire. He was the medical student of Dr. Elnathan Beach, and began practice in Trumbull at the age of twenty-one. After three years he removed to Cheshire, where he married, July twenty-ninth, 1790, Lucinda, daughter of Rev. John Foote. She is said to have been a ''fine Greek and Hebrew scholar," who at an early date attracted the MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 103 notice of President Stiles. He joined the county society, (of which he was probably a licentiate,) apparently in 1788, and the Connecticut Medical Society in 1792 ; but was not active or influential, holding no office. Possibly he was too busy (as the phrase is) to attend the meetings. His membership of the last named society continued till 1809. I find the title of M. D. appended to his name, but cannot learn how be came by it. A mistake is possible. Dr. Cornwall, popular in his manners, facile and flexible, is said to have run quickly into a good business, to some extent at the expense of his medical preceptor, Dr. Beach. There may have been truth in the statement that his methods of obtaining practice were objectionable. Certainly, he was not sufficiently careful of his reputation, professional or popular. A good name is worth more than it costs, but the groundlings cannot be made to think so. Thirty-five or forty years ago, on the border- land between Waterbury and Cheshire, I used occasionally to meet Dr. Cornwall in consultation. Though without scientific culture, he was affable, and. so far as could be discovered, unob- jectionable in his methods. He was then nearly seventy, tall, and at our last meeting stiff and bent from rheumatism. Scarcely ever confined by sickness, he practiced till the last year of his life, .and died February twentieth, 1846, in his seventy-ninth year. ELISHA CHAPMAN. I cannot connect him with any of his name mentioned in the genealogy of the " Chapman Family nor have I been able to obtain much information from other sources. In March, 1778, he was "of New Haven," and purchased land in Mount Carmel society, then a part of New Haven, afterward in Hamden. In December of the same year, he had married Rebecca, a daughter of Samuel Bellamy, of New Haven, and through her acquired a right to considerable real estate at Mount Carmel. From the frequency with which they bought and sold landed property, inclusive of family rights, in that place, at this period and after- 104 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. ward, I infer that they lived there, though I have no certain evidence of the fact. He was made a freeman April twentieth, 1780. 1 think he could not have resided in New Haven centre in January, 1784, or he would have signed the ''agreement" of that date. He was probably not present when the county society was organized, but soon became a member, entering his name himself. At the meeting in October, 1785. he " delivered a dissertation," by appointment, and, in July, 1788, reported a case of erysipelas in writing ; but I cannot find that he did any- thing more. When the roll of the Connecticut Medical Society was made out in May, 1793, he appears as a member from Hamden, where he was still living in September, 1795. In 1797, he had removed to North Haven (where he previously owned land), and in August, 1799, was a delegate from the church there to the council in Durham, which ordained the Rev. David Smith. He was dismissed from the Connecticut Medical Society in April, 1798, but was re-admitted in January, 1800. In November of the last named year, he purchased of Charles Chauncey, for $2000, three-eighths of an acre of land in this city, between Union and State streets, with a house which, before and after February, 1801, he occupied. The house stood on the easterly side of State street, a little north of the northerly line of Crown street. In August, 1801, he was admitted to the United church on certificate. Dr. Chapman was a member from the beginning of the New Haven Medical Association, but before the end of the first year (1803) was charged with " a breach " of the rules. His case, says the clerk, "was passed over," and meetings were held at his house, when his turn came, till June, 1806. By an adver- tisement, dated July first, following, he offered for sale his house, etc., on State street, with twelve rooms, and a front on Union street. August fifth, of the same year, he notified his debtors and creditors that he should leave town for New York state by the middle of October following, and on the twentieth of the same month deeded his place to Asa Bradley for $4000. He removed to the state mentioned before the year closed, and thus passed from sight. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGBAPHY. 105 Dr. Chapman did not do much business in New Haven, and probably did not in Hamden and North Haven. He is said to have been disappointed at his poor success in the city. His frequent removals indicate restlessness or discouragement, neither of which is compatible with a prosperous practice. I suspect he had no abiding love for his profession. If that be so, the fact accounts for his faltering interest in the medical societies to which he belonged, his frequent absence from the meetings, his neglect to pay the quarterly assessments, etc. Whatever his short comings, he had one talent-that of getting and saving. He is understood to have been a man of property, and of a good reputation. In a corporal sense, he was a solid, " thick set " man. Dr. Chapman had a son-"Master Elisha Chapman, Jr."- who died in St. Kitts, July twelfth, 1801, aged fourteen. (See Conn. Journal, August twelfth, 1801.) I cannot ascertain that he had other children. INSIGN HOUGH, The son of Daniel and Violet (Benton) Hough, was born in Meriden, then a society of Wallingford, September first, 1746. In 1769 he commenced practice in his native village, charging twenty-five cents a visit. His connection with the county society began probably in 1785, and with the Connecticut Medical Society in 1793. From the last he withdrew in 1804. Though he did not often attend medical meetings, he distin- guished himself throughout as a prompt tax-payer, showing a willingness to make sacrifices for the common good, and put- ting to shame the sordid and thoughtless. A short, lively man, much esteemed as a physician, he paid his last debt, December third, 1813, at the age of sixty-seven. His wife, Mary, died February sixth, 1820, aged seventy-two.-As early as 1801, Dr. Hough was engaged in testing the efficacy of vaccination as a preventive of small-pox. (See Davis' Wallingford.) Dr. Hough was succeeded in his practice by his son, Isaac I. Hough, M. D., an intelligent man, who sustained a high reputa- tion and did a large business. He was a taverner in the old 106 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. village, and died in 1852, weighing about three hundred and fifty pounds. (Davis' Wallingford.) NATHANIEL THAYER, Of Durham? is understood to have been born in Boston. He was examined by the committee of the N. H. county society, and admitted to membership in October, 1789. In November, 1791, he married Anna Fowler, of Durham. In 1792, one Nathaniel Thayer was a Litchfield county member of the Con- necticut Medical Society. About 1800, says Prof. Fowler, he removed to Lee, Mass., where he practiced many years. His death occurred in Westfield, Mass., June twenty-fourth, 1824, at the age of sixty-five. THOMAS RUGGLES PYNCHON Was an ingenious and distinguished physician and surgeon who settled in Guilford, according to my information, in 1784. He was educated in .New York and Philadelphia, joined the county society (probably) in 1784, and the Connecticut Medical Society soon after its organization. He was a fellow from this county in 1794-a period when the choicest of the profession were selected for that office. His death in 1795 ? was the result of a fall with his horse down a bank twenty feet high, in a dark night. PRESERVED PORTER, Born November twenty-third, 1729, was the son of Dr. Daniel, the grandson of Dr. Daniel, (both of Waterbury,) and the great grandson of Dr. Daniel, of Farmington, the last of whom was licensed by the General Court, in 1654, and whose salary "in attending the service of the country " was, in 1671, increased from six to twelve pounds a year. All were famous bone- setters, and, if we except the Farmington ancestor, of whom 1 cannot speak, were eldest sons. The late Dr. Jesse Porter was the youngest son, the late Dr. Joseph Porter, the nephew, and MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 107 the still later Dr. Daniel Porter, fourth, the grand nephew, of Dr. Preserved. The fourth Dr. Daniel, a medical graduate of Yale College, was, I believe, the last of that lineage of doctors in Waterbury. He was long an inmate of the insane asylum at Brattleboro, and died a wanderer at the West, in 1863, aged fifty-eight. From the position on the roll of Dr. Preserved Porter's signa- ture, I conclude that he joined the county society in 1785. Beyond this there is nothing to show that he took an interest in this or any other medical society. He had a wide reputa- tion, in Waterbury and its neighborhood, as a bone-setter and surgeon, but his practice is believed to have been unscientific, and his skill to some extent an inheritance. He married Sarah Gould, of New Milford, and later, Lydia Welton, and died October twenty-third, 1803. ABEL BRONSON, Of Waterbury, now Middlebury, born May thirtieth, 1743, was the son of Lieut. Josiah Bronson. Cothren's Woodbury places his name among the residents of Woodbury (present limits). He was the uncle of Silas Bronson, of New York, who left $200,000 to the city of Waterbury for a public library, and a more distant relative of Isaac Bronson, the banker, of Greotg field Hill. He married first, Lydia Benham, second, Lydia Hawkins. Becoming an early but not active or prominent member of the county medical society, he was placed on the committee which was to take charge of the "botanical garden," probably for the purpose of interesting the rural districts. The story of his connection with the Connecticut Medical Society is all told when it is said that he was a member for the first ten years. Of his professional business, I only know that in the beginning of the present century he had a hospital, where he innoculated for small-pox, which the New Haven people some- times patronized. The grave-stones of "Dr. Abel Brownson," and of his two wives, are in the old grave-yard in Watertown. It is there stated that he died August second, 1805. 108 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. ISAAC BALDWIN, Of Waterbury, was a surgeon or surgeon's mate in the Revolu- tion. In May, 1782, he married Sarah, daughter of Rev. Mark Leavenworth, of Waterbury, where he built a house for him- self, still standing, on the south side of Grand street, a little east of the old burying yard. He became a member of the county society in the beginning, and of the Connecticut Medi- cal Society when that was organized, but seems to have been a "sleeping partner" in both connections. He was esteemed as a physician and man, but having the misfortune to lose a leg, he removed from Waterbury about 1797. For a few years his residence was in Sharon, Mass., whence he removed to Great Barrington, and resumed practice. His grave-stone there says bis death took place February twenty-first, 1814, in his fifty- ninth year. His wife died February twenty-second, 1793. The late Dr. Edward Field, a very respectable physician of Waterbury, married, successively, two of Dr. Baldwin's daugh- ters. Dr. Frederick Leavenworth of the same place, an eccen- tric but shrewd and capable man, was Dr. Baldwin's medical pupil. (See Leavenworth Genealogy.) NATHAN LEAVENWORTH, The son of Rev. Mark and Sarah (Hull) Leavenworth, of Waterbury, was born December eleventh, 1761. In 1778 he graduated at Yale College, and in 1779 joined the continental army as surgeon's mate. He remained in the service "till the close of the war, leaving West Point in June, 1784." Immedi- ately afterward he must have connected himself with the county society, for in October of that year he settled in the Darlington district, South Carolina, where he remained 'in practice till broken health compelled him to leave in 1793. "Returning home, he lived an invalid in weakness and pain till his death," January ninth, 1799. He never married.-"Leavenworth Post office," in the above district, established near his residence, and discontinued since the Rebellion, was named after him (Leaven- worth Genealogy). MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 109 OSEE (HOSEA) DUTTON, Of Oxford, an autograph-subscriber, joined the society probably as early as 1785, after which time I can find no trace of him in any medical record. The Connecticut Journal says he prac- ticed in Oxford about forty years, was long the town clerk, and died January ninth, 1826, aged seventy-two. AMZI HULL, Of Woodbridge, became a member of the society about 1785. Like others he was invited "to furnish some observa- tions on the theory and practice of physic," but apparently neglected his opportunity to distinguish himself. In the first years of its existence, he was connected with the Connecticut Medical Society. I know of nothing else to preserve his memory except the fact that he left a clean tax record. Ac- cording to the Connecticut Journal, he died October second, 1795 ; his eldest daughter, January seventh, 1794; his eldest son in October, 1794; and his only surviving daughter in Septem- ber, 1795. His remaining son, Araetius Bevil Hull, was grad- uated at Yale College in 1807, became a tutor, and afterward the pastor of the Old South church, of Worcester, Mass. The doctor lived "on the great road from New Haven to Litchfield, six miles from the city." His wife was Mary Ann Kasson, who afterward married Capt. Gideon Leavenworth. Of Woodbridge, was probably the son of William and Rachel (Waller) Hooker, of Woodbury, born June sixth, 1756. (See Cothren's Woodbury.) On the twenty-third day of March, 1780, he was " of New Haven," and bought of Jabez Bacon, of Woodbury, two acres of land, bounded "south on the meeting-house green," in the parish of Bethany, then in New Haven, afterward in Woodbridge, with a house. At the time of the "Dayton robbery," (March fourteenth, 1780,) says the author of "Chauncey Judd," he lived by the green in Wood- bridge. He was an original member (more ornamental than HEZEKIAH HOOKER, 110 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. useful, apparently) of the county society, and joined the Connec- ticut Medical Society in January, 1793. Administration on his estate, represented insolvent, was taken out April fourth, 1798. Dr. Thomas Goodsell was one of the commissioners. Among his effects are enumerated medical books, saddle-bags and vials. £318 were distributed to the widow and children. Or Crafts, of Derby, was an original member of the county and state medical societies. In 1793, he and Liberty Kim- berly, both of Derby, gave notice in the Connecticut Journal, that they had opened a hospital for the innoculation of small- pox. When, at a county meeting, in 1798, an attempt was made to collect mortuary and other medical statistics, Dr. Crafte was appointed to do the work for Derby. Seemingly he did as much as others, that is, nothing. In 1818 he "was excused from the burdens of the society," and early in 1821 died, insolvent, his son Edward acting as administrator. EDWARD CRAFTE, JOSIAH ROOT. The Root Genealogy makes him the son of Josiah Root, of Southington, born December seventeenth, 1752. He settled in the south part of that town, became a surgeon, afterward "apothe- cary general," in the army of the Revolution, and secured a pension in later years. His name, affixed to the articles of the county society in 1785, has appended to it in the hand of the clerk, "Hon. member;" not probably because any special honor was intended, but to distinguish him from the ordinary members living in New Haven county. In 1798 he attached himself to the Connecticut Medical Society, and in April of that year he (or one with his name) was chosen to collect the statistics of mortality and disease for Hamden. In January, 1803, the same person (apparently) advertised in the New Haven Visitor for sale in Hamden, "dry goods, groceries, etc.." and at the same time made knowm his intention " to continue his medical profession as usual." After 1798 till his dismis- sion in 1816, his name was continued on the roll of taxable 111 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGKAPHY. members of New Haven county, though in 1813 and subse- quently he seems to have lived in Southington. (Mr. Tim- low's Southington, published since the above was written, says Dr. Root had returned to Southington in 1805.) He married April first, 1786, Mirah, daughter of Lemuel Lewis, and died in Southington, June sixth, 1841. He is described as "a man of good abilities," and an attractive story-teller. [The preceding names include all the members of the " Medi- cal Society of New Haven County" from this county of whom I have been able to obtain information. From time to time, in 1785 and afterward, residents of other counties were admitted to membership, among them Mark Newell and Theo- dore Wadsworth, of Southington; Anthony Burritt, of South - bury, then in Litchfield County; William Shelton, (Y. C., 1788,) M.D., of Huntington; William Augur Tomlinson, a young and promising physician of Stratford; James Eaton Beach, of Stratford and Bridgeport; Lewis Beers, of Fairfield county; Nathaniel Perry, M.D., of Woodbury, one of the most respectable physicians in Litchfield County, and fourth secretary of the state society; Joseph Trowbridge, M.D., of Danbury: Samuel Mather, M.D., of Lyme; James Clarke, M.D., of Stratford, the second secretary of the Connecticut Medical Society, and an eminent physician ; Amos Mead, M.D., an old and prominent practitioner and Whig, of Greenwich, and James Potter ; the four last, corporators of the state society. Of all I have brief sketches, but shall print in this connection only the following.] JAMES POTTER, Of New Fairfield, now Sherman, is supposed by Dr. Blake- man (see his presidential address of 1853) to have been born in Southington. It has been conjectured that he studied medicine with his relative, Jared Potter, but this is improbable, for the latter was'the younger of the two by several years. In 1780 he was a member of the Litchfield county medical society, and on the last day of February, officiated at Sharon 112 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. in magnificent style, as orator of the day. As he was one of the most distinguished physicians and citizens of Fairfield county, his co-operation with others in different parts of the state, was sought by those who were wrestling with the state authorities for a medical charter. lie united with the New Haven county society in January, 1791, and was imme- diately placed on the committee of correspondence, and made chairman of a special committee to revise the bill pending before the General Assembly. By his influence and that of others, a medical society or association was organized in Fairfield county, and at its first meeting in March, 1792, he was put at the head of a delegation which was to meet those from other counties to agree on the provisions of the forthcoming charter. On the list of corporators his name stands first, an honor yielded him by the veterans who had labored longer in the cause, in consideration doubtless of the chief offices of the society which the latter were to fill. For the first eleven years he was ten times a fellow, and first on the list from his county nine times. In 1795 the convention conferred on him the degree of M.D., the fifth granted to a citizen of this State. In 1801, when Drs. Hubbard and Munson, the fathers of the institution, had been sufficiently rewarded, he was chosen president, the third in order. The next year he was again elected, but in October, 1803, not being a fellow, his "resignation," says the record, was "accepted." After his death, February tenth, 1804, at the age of sixty-seven, the convention which met in May voted that the " Connecticut Medical Society entertain a high respect for the merits and zeal of their late President, Dr. James Potter," etc. Dr. Potter was not only eminent as a physician, but prom- inent as a citizen. Several times he was a representative in the Legislature. He was also a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1788, and a justice of the peace, etc. A popular practitioner, he had a large and widely extended business, and in his part of the State was considered foremost in his profession. Dr. Blakeman, however, could " not learn that he possessed scientific or practical qualifications superior to many of his brethren in the county." Ardent, devoted to MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 113 his calling, social in his habits, fond of anecdote, and some- what famous as a medical instructor; he was at the same time ambitious and excessively vain. Dr. Sumner (Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society, 1851,) gives an amusing and apparently characteristic extract from his oration before the Litchfield county society in 1780. I have read the published original, and for elaborate bombast think it excels anything I have ever seen in print. At this day a good reputation would have been hopelessly ruined by its delivery or publication. In October, 1796, he was selected by the convention of fellows, etc., to pronounce an "oration" before that body in May follow- ing. I presume it was on this occasion, when on the way to discharge the duty assigned him, that he was persuaded by some wags in Reading, where he had stopped over night, to rehearse his speech, exhibiting himself as he expected to appear before the convention. Standing in an armed chair, his pompous manner and magniloquent style furnished measure- less amusement to a motley crowd of listeners. Dr. Blakeman describes the scene. The chair so ridiculously distinguished is still preserved. EARLY HISTORY OF THE NEW HAVEN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, ORGANIZED IN 1803 * [In my historical account of the Medical Society of New Haven County, I spoke of a manuscript agreement in my posses- sion by which the physicians (in another place styled the asso- ciated faculty) of New Haven pledge themselves " in honor" to abide by certain expressed regulations. It bears the date of January second, 1784, three days before the organization of the county society. It is in the hand of Samuel Darling, and has attached to it the autograph signatures of Leverett Hubbard, Eneas Munson, Samuel Nesbitt, Levi Ives, Samuel * The peculiarities of style and thought noticeable in this paper-its occasional lack of the gravity which befits history-are explained by the fact that it was originally prepared as part of an address to be read before the Association. See introductory remarks, p. 239. 114 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Darling, Ebenezer Beardsley and Jolin Spalding. The sub- scribers bound themselves in six articles, as follows: to assist each other in consultation ; to give no answer to the application of any physician or surgeon desirous of settling in the town till the association had been consulted; to indicate to the new- comer that he need not expect to be countenanced or consulted with till he became a member; to present bills for attendance when the visits had been discontinued ; to settle book accounts yearly; to meet monthly, to observe carefully, and to report any extraordinary cases. A seventh article was added which prescribes the fees for medical attendance which were double those which prevailed before the war. A visit was to be two shillings ; if made in the night, four shillings ; in consultation, six shillings; attending physician in council, three shillings; detention per hour, one shilling; day mileage, one and six- pence, and one shilling for the visit; night mileage, three shillings; mileage on the Sabbath, three shillings, one half to go to the poor, "if the patient is affluent." The charge for an emetic was fixed at two shillings, a cathartic, at two shillings, blood-letting, two shillings. (The country, deadly sick of depreciated paper money, was then on a specie basis.) This appears to have been the first medical society in this part of the State, and to have been intended for a permanent existence. It used its influence to organize a county society, and at the preliminary meeting of the latter appeared before it in a formal address, congratulatory, explanatory and recom- mendatory. What other notable thing it did, or what finally became of it, I know not. Had it lived long, I think I should have found some trace of it.] The New Haven Medical Association, ultimately so-called, appears from the first entry in the record book to have originated in "a meeting of the physicians of the city of New Haven, on the sixth day of January, 1803," to whom application had been made by the select men for a contract to attend the town's poor for the ensuing year. At this meeting it was agreed as follows : MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 115 1st. Any gentleman of the faculty shall be at liberty to make a contract with the select men, for the Alms-house alone, for the ensuing year. 2ndly. When any physician shall be called to attend any poor person out of the Alms-house, he shall remain under the care of the physician first called, unless at the particular desire of the patient. 3rdly. The following prices shall be the rule by which we will regulate our charges in the bill to be exhibited to the select men, viz: two shillings for a day visit in the City; four shillings for a night visit; one shilling for a puke; one do. for a purge; one do. for bleeding; one do. for a mile travel; three do. for a visit to the hospital [pest house] for common cases, and four do. for small pox and yellow fever; twenty shillings for obstetrical cases. These regulations are signed in the hand of John Barker, the Clerk, by Levi Ives, Elisha Chapman, Joel Northrop, John Barker, Obadiah Hotchkiss, Jr., Elijah Monson, Nathaniel Hubbard, John Skinner, Eli Ives, Nine in all. Eneas Munson, (sen.) signed afterward, making ten original members. A little later, John Spalding had be- come a member, though not a signer. At an adjourned meeting, held at Justus Butler's (he kept a tavern on the north westerly corner of Elm and York streets, afterward on the site of the Post office, on Church street) on the twentieth of January following, "the gentlemen of the faculty," often so-called, entered into an "agreement," the object of which was, in the words of the record, " to establish the practice of physic in this city on a respectable footing; to enable ourselves to live by the profession; to promote a good understanding and harmonious intercourse with each other; to avoid the disgraceful practice of undermining one another by doing business for a less compensation [than the established prices], and to exclude from our communion every person who shall obtrude himself among us without a regular introduction, and conforming to our established rules of practice." Connected with this statement of objects and motives is a general "fee- table " (afterward a famous topic for discussion) which fixes the charge for an ordinary visit at fifty cents, for a consultation visit at one dollar, and so on ; the prices in all cases being fifty per cent higher than the town paid for its poor. A discount 116 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. might be made in behalf of needy patients. The main object of the meeting appears to have been accomplished when the fee- table was adopted. Through its magic influence, "a good understanding and harmonious intercourse " were to be secured, and " the disgraceful practice of undermining one another " by- undercharging to be abolished. To the preamble which I have quoted (which is copied with little alteration in every revision of the articles of association) and the fee table are appended, all except the two last in the hand of the clerk, thirteen names, that of Eneas Munson heading the list. Among them that of Joel Northrop, before given, is not found ; while those of James Gilbert, Henry Mead, Thomas Goodsell and Timothy P. Beers (appearing at the bottom of the list) must have been added at a later date. At the next meeting at Dr. [Levi] Ives', there were not members enough present to do business; but-at the next fol- lowing one, February fifteenth, the clerk was directed to make a copy of the agreement, signed by all the members for " each gentleman of the faculty," for which service he was to receive twenty-five cents per copy. At the same meeting, " the price of innoculating for kine pox," then lately introduced in this country, was fixed at three dollars. It thus continued till after 1808. At an adjourned meeting, at Dr. Northrop's, May tenth, 1803, certain rules of proceeding at the meetings were adopted. These required that cases should first be called for by the chair; then a question, proposed at the next previous meet- ing, was to be discussed. Five were to make a quorum, and two could adjourn. The clerk was allowed six cents each for notices of meetings. At the next meeting held two weeks afterward, at Dr. Skinner's, the first question-"What is the nature or cause of jaundice?" was discussed, and "determined by an unanimous voice." The second question was "What is the nature and best mode of treating angina maligna?"; the third, "What is the nature of choler, vulgarly so-called ?" During the summer the meetings were discontinued owing " to the shortness of the evenings and the multiplicity of business," MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 117 but were renewed in November, when "brother Chapman was cited to answer to a breach of our agreement.'' At the next meeting, "his answer being absent, [the subject] was passed over for the present." Thus matters went on much as they did seventy years later. At the beginning of the new year (1804). when the "agree- ment" entered into had expired by its terms, a vote was passed to renew it "with respect to prices with our customers," but to charge for town paupers the same as for others. Any member however might make a contract with the town at not less than twenty-five cents a visit. These weighty matters-the fee-table and the alms-house question-being settled, the interest in the meetings seemed to die out, and the society itself was in danger of perishing. At length, when the prospect was gloomy enough, some ingenious member proved equal to the occasion, and proposed a successful remedy. At the meeting held May first, five only in attendance, " it was agreed that each member present should undertake to bring his man this night, one week, and present him to the meeting at Dr. Eli Ives'." At the same time Eneas Munson and Eli Ives were chosen "a committee to report ways and means whereby a more punctual attendance may be effected." On the eighth of May, 1804, each agreeing member appears to have " brought his man," according to contract, there being but two absentees. The committee on " ways and means " made a formal report, proposing additions to the rules. They " observed " and thought it " necessary " that the oldest member present should be chairman or moderator; that no person should be allowed to speak more than once on the same subject (except by permission), or to digress, or to relate any anecdote or story, or to take any "refreshment" (liquor), till the cases had been reported and the question discussed; that some one should " read a dissertation upon Anatomy or any other part of physic as often as every meetingthat the meetings should be held at four o'clock, P. M., on the first Wednesday in each month ; and that a fine of twenty-five cents should be imposed for absence, and twelve and a half for tardiness. The report 118 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. was ''accepted " (adopted), and lively times followed. At the June meeting, all being present but three, the question "Is bleeding ever admissible in indirect debility ?" was discussed, but not disposed of. At the meeting in July (two absentees only) it was "largely discussed," every one present taking a part. Three dissertations were also read on the subject by Drs. Munson, Eli Ives and J. Barker. At the close, the question was settled by a negative vote " with but one dissenting voice," certain ponderous reasons for the decision being entered in the record. At the same meeting Drs. Munson, Northrop and Barker were selected as " a committee to collect the evidences of the efficacy of kine pox." At the next meeting in August, their report was "heard and accepted which [business] took up the whole afternoon." The report was so satisfactory that a vote was passed to print it in a newspaper, at the expense of the Association. On the ninth of August and subsequently, in 1804, a paper (supposed to be the one named in the record) appeared in the Connecticut Journal, signed by Eneas Munson, chairman, and John Barker, clerk. It is not forcibly or creditably written. At a later period, it was agreed, after dis- cussion, that the asthenic inflamation of Brown had no existence. Still later, " 'twas allowed that a certain state of the atmosphere was the remote cause " of dysentery, while " 'twas agreed that heat, cold, acrid bile (and the want of it) were the proximate causes." The new zeal of which I have spoken proved to be a tem- porary spasm. It soon passed away, leaving the evidences of expended energy - languor, weariness and indifference - all symptoms of "indirect debility" following excitement, the nature of which, but not the remedy, had just been decided by vote. Early in 1805, the interest in the meetingshad evidently subsided, and toward the end of the year had nearly expired. Too often the clerk was obliged to write " no quorum," " no business," "four present," "two present," "none present," " members came in too late for business," "question postpon- ed," or (apologetically) " streets muddy," " weather rainy," etc., etc. The fines imposed were apparently not paid. Not even MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 119 the fee-table had power to rouse the comatose " faculty for in July, 1806, when the subject was called up, it was apatheti- cally decided to do nothing. Occasionally, it is true, some unusal occurrence would call forth an unwonted demonstration. In April, 1807, the festive Dr. N. Hubbard, fortunately as it were, was accused of "contracting with the select men contrary to our agreement." To hear the defence, nine members assem- bled ! To the committee which had been appointed to confer with him, Hubbard pretended ignorance of the rule, and agreed to give up the contract. But he did not appear to make his own statement as he had promised. Whereupon a vote was passed that he be " specially warned " for the next meeting. He heeded the summons, bringing "a line from one of the select men stating that he had made no contract!" Thus "the matter was cleared up," and harmony reigned. The Association continued "to drag its slow length along," leading a beggarly, precarious life, till some of its kind friends became alarmed. It was evident that the " do-nothing " policy would extinguish it utterly. At length, at a meeting held October twenty-eighth, 1807, five members only present, "the evening was spent in conversation about the threatening aspect of our Association," etc. The touching question whether it should be continued-in other words, whether its life were worth saving-was proposed for the next meeting, November tenth. So extreme was the apathy that few assembled, and the question was not discussed till December seventh, when it " was unanimously concluded to continue it." The instinctive love of offspring, and the assiduous care of the faithful, rescued the society for the time. There was an awakening. New energy inspired the members ; a few spirited meetings, as I infer from the notes of the clerk, were held, but erelong the old disease marked by listlessness, torpor and absenteeism returned. The case however had not yet become desperate. "The mis- conduct of a member "- the same who had before been threatened for a breach of the rules-came seasonably to the relief of the society. It may have prevented a decisive catastrophe. The accused was notified of the charges, June 120 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. sixth, 1808. He stayed from the meetings and wrote letters. At last he " came in but was called away," and the case was " laid over." lie proved refractory, and would not be " brought to a sense of his duty." At last, at the fifteenth meeting from the citation, seven present and three absent, an unanimous vote of censure and non-intercourse was passed, which was unani- mously ratified at the next meeting, " every member being present but Dr. Eneas Munson." This vote, signed by the members, did the business-brought the delinquent to terms. After remaining "out in the cold" six months, he sent in his written confession (copied by the clerk), in which he acknowl- edges his short-comings, expresses his sorrow, and promises reformation. He was of course again received into fellowship. Three years later, the same individual became once more the subject of discipline. At length, after summary measures had been threatened, he came forward and "made his defence." This not proving satisfactory, he made " a clean breast of it, ' " confessed his faults, promised to adhere to the articles of association, and was restored to favor by an unanimous vote." In March, 1810, Dr. James Gilbert withdrew from the Asso- ciation "without assigning any reasons." In retaliation, a vote was passed to " withdraw from him," and to refuse his aid in consultations-" present Eneas Munson, L. Ives, J. Barker, O. Hotchkiss, Elijah Munson, J. Skinner, N. Hubbard, E. Ship- man and E. Ives." (Except on great occasions, when a vote was expected to crush by its weight, it was not the custom at that period to give the names of those present.) As time wore on the Association gave still more alarming- proofs of expiring vitality. During the last five months of 1811, but two meetings were held, and at the last of these the members came in too late to discuss the question. In January, 1812, a vote was passed "to attend the poor out of the alms house at one and sixpence per visit, and to supply medicines at half price." This business seemed to use up the remaining strength of the society. But four other meetings (I am guided by the record) were held during the year. At two of these there was no quorum; at another, no business but the admis- MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 121 sion of a new member, Timothy P. Beers. After July, 1812, there is no evidence of a meeting till December twenty-seventh, 1814, twenty-nine months, when eight members assembled, to wit: Drs. Eneas Munson, L. Ives, O. Hotchkiss, Elijah Munson, J. Skinner, Eli Ives, J. Knight, and T. P. Beers, and voted "that the price of a visit should be seventy-five cents," with liberty to charge fifty cents ; the consultation fee to be one dollar and a half. With this expiring kick, the Association, which for more than eight years had led a useful but somewhat sickly life, again went under, and for three dark, dreary years uttered no sound and made no sign. But it was not utterly defunct. The result proved that it had gone into winter quarters and was hybernating; or rather had entered the cocoon stage of life and become a chrysalid. It had gone through the caterpil- lar or grub stage; had crawled on the ground its allotted time, and had now retired to prepare by purification and metamorpho- sis for a final resurrection and higher life. * * * * ******** Just what happened during that long night of Cimmerian gloom (between December, 1814, and January, 1818) may never be known. Let us not be too inquisitive, but with averted faces await the break of day. On the fifth of January, 1818, morning came. At that memorable date, in the month of alms-house and fee-table questions, the physicians of New Haven met at Dr. Ives'. Dr. T. P. Beers was chosen clerk, and the prostrate Association was placed again on its legs. Drs. Knight, Zerah Hawley, Samuel Punderson, John Titsworth, A. S. Jones, and John Bennet were voted members. Drs. Knight Beers, and Punderson were chosen a committee to revise the articles of association. At the next meeting, January twelfth, their report " was unanimously agreed to." A vote was also passed-provoked by a vicious practice which the select men had fallen into of "docking bills "-to charge for attending the town's poor the same as for other patients. A suit was to be brought if payment was refused, the costs, if the suitor failed, to be borne by the Association. Ten years afterward, a claim (under this rule apparently) was made on the Association, "for 122 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. the expenses of his suit," by Dr. Beers, but the case "was set- tled satisfactorily." The revised regulations, embraced in thirteen articles, with a preamble, are similar to those adopted in 1803 and 1804, and to those which continued in operation till 1842, when considerable additions were made. The rules as to " refreshments " (liquors chiefly were meant), monthly meetings and fines were not changed. Following the articlesis the fee-table revised, fixing the visit at seventy-five cents, the night visit and consultation visit each one dollar and a half, etc. Appended to all are fourteen names, autographs, viz: J. Knight, Eli Ives, Timo. P. Beers, V. M. Dow, S. Punderson, Jr., John Titsworth, Alfred S. Monson, Charles Hooker, J. F. Hunt, J. T. Denison, J. P. Herrick, Thomas Hubbard, Nathan B. Ives, Henry D. Bulkley. Several names are not in the list, while the last eight must have been added at a later date. After its resurrection, the Association prospered moderately, but did not lose its constitutional infirmities. Twenty-one meetings were held (or appointed) in 1818. Of eight of these the inevitable " no quorum " or " no business " makes up the whole record. In the spring of 1821, there were more decided symptoms of collapse. At the nine meetings which intervened between May seventh and December tenth, exclusive, there were not, at any one, members enough present to attempt busi- ness. At the last date, the oft-recurring pauper question came up, infusing a little animation which sufficed for four meetings, when a wet blanket in the form of "bad weather" quenched all the fire. Five months later, when matters were again looking desperate, all the members " usually warned " were gathered in council at Dr. Punderson's, to wit: Eneas Monson, E. Ives, J. Knight, T. P. Beers, J. Skinner, J. Titsworth, S. Punderson, A. S. Monson, and Z. Hawley, nine in all. It was then and there agreed (languidly doubtless) that some one should write on the question selected for discussion, but no one did write. In the following January (1824), "all present ex- cept Dr. Beers," it was again agreed that some member should read an essay at each meeting, in "catalogical order," but there MEDICAL HISTORY AND BTOGKAPHY. 123 was no reading in any order. In December of this year, the Association made its first formal contract with the selectmen for attendance on the town's poor "both in and out of the alms house.'' Each member attended at the latter his proportion of the year, the order being determined by lot. The contract was renewed from year to year. The compensation was at first $140. In 1829 it was increased to $160; in 1853 to $300. At several meetings held in April, May and June, 1825, the question of starting "a periodical publication in this city, to be conducted by the members of this Association" was agitated. At one of these, each member was required to prepare a com- munication for the contemplated work. Beyond this nothing apparently was done. But a better fate awaited another move- ment. On the first day of May, 1826, the expediency of estab- lishing a hospital in New Haven came up jbr consideration. E. Ives, T. P. Beers, A. S. Monson and J. Skinner were chosen "a committee to draft a report on the subject." They sub- mitted articles, nine in number, which were in substance to be embraced in an act of incorporation. These were approved, and the General Hospital Society of Connecticut was chartered by the Legislature then in session. A warm interest was also taken in the rising temperance reformation. As early as Feb- ruary, 1827, the Association, by an unanimous vote, passed res- olutions designed to forward the enterprise, and provided for their publication in the newspapers. One of these alleges that of the ninety-four deaths of persons over twenty occurring in this town in 1826, "more than one-third were caused or has- tened, directly or indirectly, by intemperance," and that there was a similar proportion in the two preceding years. At the first meeting in January, 1828, an important move- ment was initiated. Drs. Beers and Dow were chosen a com- mittee to ascertain the best method of obtaining a correct list of the deaths of the city. Some of the aidermen promised to bring the matter before the city council. As the result of the movement, Virgil M. Dow was selected by the Association to keep the obituary record-a service which he faithfully per- formed, without reward and with little assistance, till his health 124 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. failed in June, 1851, when he resigned. An attempt was also made to keep a birth-record but without success. In the mean time the Association had not rugged health. It appeared vigorous at times, but it was subject to ill turns- had somnolent attacks and ague fits-and was largely at the mercy of the "weather" and its other enemies. Still there was from year to year a little improvement in health and constitu- tion. In 1825 twenty-five meetings were warned with only eight perfect failures. In July, 1826, a vote was passed to meet every Monday at two p. m. (The weekly meetings con- tinued about nine months.) At the same time the system of tines (which hitherto seems not to have been enforced) was re- vised. During the remainder of the year regular meetings were held, and something done at each. On the first of January, 1827, the " weather was stormy," and few attended. The fines incurred by absentees were remitted at the next meeting. But this vote (by skillful manoeuvering. probably) was "reconsid- ered and rescinded" at the meeting which followed. In April, those members who exposed themselves to fines were to be al- lowed to " commute " at one dollar a quarter, and when the weather was stormy were to be excused wholly. In January, 1830, some having made an improper use of the stormy clause, it was voted that no one should be excused on account of weather. At a still later period, (March, 1833,) "the system of fining for being absent and tardy was by vote abolished," while unpaid fines were "cancelled." This vote (by more strategy, seemingly) was rescinded in May, but the anti-penalty members again carried their point, December. 1833. Thus ended the attempt to make the attendance on the meetings com- pulsory. In the revised articles which were adopted in June, 1835, the clause imposing fines for delinquency was omitted. The rule prescribing fines was in operation seven years and a half. During the whole period there seem to have been col- lected (judging from the accounts of the clerks kept on the last leaves of the first volume of records) $82.46. (If this sum, $18.37 were paid during the first year (1826-7). The delin- quents who paid it, with the amounts, were the following : MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 125 N. Smith, $4 ; T. P. Beers, $3.87|; E. Ives, J. Knight, and C' Hooker, each$2.37|; V. M. Dow, 0.87|; J. F. Hunt, $0.75; A. S. Monson, $0.75; A. Wolcott, $0.62|; S. Punderson, $0.37|. Dr. Skinner's is the only name which is not found in this list. As he was not then a practitioner, he may have been (by consent) excused from payment. So soon as the fining system was given up, it was deemed necessary to call in the aid of other means to secure punctuality, and make the meetings more interesting. A plan was adopted, February third, 1834, which required that the member "at whose house the meeting was held " should make a written communication on some subject, chosen by himself, which should be the regular subject for discussion, no excuse except for "adequate cause" to be received. Within a year fif- teen papers were read by eleven members. But the effort proved exhausting, and the Association returned to its old routine-the statement of cases with a poor attendance. Com- mittees, however, were set to work in good time on the articles of Association and the fee-table, when the skies brightened. In the new articles which were adopted May eighth, 1835, the meetings were to be held every second Monday. The charge for a visit was soon after raised to one dollar; consultation visits and night visits each to two dollars, etc. The effect was doubtless exhilerating; but as the weather continued "stormy," I conclude that the changes in the articles, considered as in- centives, were not the equivalent of the fines discontinued. JOHN BARKER. He was the son of Capt. Joshua Barker, of Lebanon, Conn., where he was born in 1757. His father's sister, Bethiah, was the mother of the late Judge Simeon Baldwin, of New Haven. After graduating at Yale College in 1777, he studied medicine with Dr. John Barker, of his native town, who was probably his uncle. July 18, 1784, he married Huldah, daughter of Rev. Stephen White, of Windham, and sister of Dyer White of New Haven. He settled in North Carolina, where, accord- 126 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. ing to his own statement, he spent (a part, perhaps all, of the time in Bath) the first ten years of his professional life. While returning to Connecticut by sea, his infant daughter " was washed out of her mother's arms" and drowned, July 23d, 1788. Thenceforth for a season his residence was in Wind- ham. On the appearance of yellow fever in the summer of 1794, he had removed to New Haven. On the second of No- vember of that year his wife became a member of Dr. Dana's church. In October, 1802, he bought of Thomas Finch, for $1100, twenty rods of land on the southerly side of George street, some fifty feet east of the easterly line of Temple street, with a house and buildings ■ the former yet standing though apparently near its end. Here he resided. I find Dr. Barker's name on the roll of the Connecticut Med- ical Society in 1793. He afterward became one of the most influential and respected of its members, both in conventions and county meetings. He was a fellow eleven years between 1801 and 1812, inclusive ; one of the committee of examination for New Haven county in 1802, 1803 and 1804 ; secretary from 1805 to 1809, inclusive; and vice president in 1812 in which year he received the degree of M.D. Of the measures which were adopted by the society to establish the Medical Institution of Yale College, he was an active supporter. He was also chairman of the committee to select and publish the "Commu- nications " in a pamphlet of seventy-eight pages, which appeared in 1810, and was a member of several other important com- mittees. In 1795 Dr. Barker wrote an essay on the yellow fever which prevailed in New Haven the year previous, covering twenty- two foolscap pages. The mutilated manuscript is in my pos- session. Those portions of it which relate to the origin and progress of the disease and the circumstances attending it, have a permanent interest.* In May, 1806, the doctor read before the county meeting " a very ingenious dissertation," so called by the clerk, Dr. Farnham. It may be the case which was * I have transcribed the portions referred to, beginning with the first page which has been preserved. See page 366. 127 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. published in the pamphlet above referred to, and entitled " An Affection of the Right Ovarium," covering two and a half pages. The case is sufficiently uncommon, but as presented, it suggests no improvement in theory or practice, and conse- quently has no scientific value. When the New Haven Medical Association was organized, in January, 1803, Dr. Barker was in attendance prepared to do his part. He was chosen clerk, and continued faithfully to perform the duties of the office till his death, ten years after. A punctual attendant of the meetings, he appears to have borne much more than his share of the burdens, and to have contributed largely to perpetuate the association, and give it respectability. Its decadance and final temporary extinction was probably in part due to the loss of his services and influ- ence. The record as kept by him (altogether too brief) covers thirty-four pages, every entry of which was made by himself. He wrote a plain, uniform, not elegant, but quite legible hand, which scribes would do well to imitate. Though his powers of expression and condensation (notwithstanding his large ex- perience) were not always equal to the occasion, his services as clerk or secretary were much sought. Besides holding that office in the Connecticut Medical Society for five years, he per- formed its duties for the New Haven county meetings one year, and for Trinity parish during nearly the whole time of his resi- dence in New Haven. Of the Episcopal society he was in truth a much respected member, and more than once (in 1798 and 1801) was a delegate to the diocesan convention. In civil life he held the commission of justice of the peace many years in the latter part of his life. Dr. Barker's business-it was a general practice-was not as large as that of some others, but it steadily increased as his merits became known till it reached a respectable amount. He attended several of the "first families" in the pity, and to a large extent had the confidence of his associates and friends in Trinity parish. Popular opinion gave him an honorable posi- tion as a man of professional and scientific attainments, and the facts which I have been able to collect are in accord with this 128 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. opinion. He was not only an esteemed physician but a good citizen and neighbor, plain, unassuming, peaceable, mild in his manners, exemplary and trustworthy-a person whom all re- spected. If I do not mistake the indications, he was more dis- tinguished for usefulness than brilliancy-for practical rather than speculative talent or genius. He was above the ordinary size, impulsive, hypochondriacal at times, and thriftless in money matters. Dr. Barker died February 24th, 1813. aged 55. His disease, popularly supposed to have been taken from Capt. Abel Den- ison whom he attended, was called southern fever. His wife, Huldah, died September 19th, 1848, aged 88. Their children were: Julia : b. Nov. 25, 1786; died unmd. in New Haven, June 22, 1855: a daughter; b. July 2, 1788; drowned July 23, 1788: John; b. March 17, 1791; died at sea Aug. 26, 1820 : Charlotte; b. May 13, 1795; d. June 24, 1803: Charles; b. July 4, 1799; d. Sep. 4, 1822, in New York City, unmd.: William ; b. June 8, 1802 ; d. Oct. 25, 1833, in North Carolina ; married and left one child: George W. ; b. Feb. 9, 1805; d. in Waverly, Illinois, Nov. 22, 1843; married and left five chil- dren. \Dr. Barker's account of Yellow Fever in New Haven, in 1794.] After a conflict of five days, with symptoms unusually vio- lent and complicated, and not fairly bearing the type of our common remittents, she [Mrs. Isaac Gorham, the first attacked] died on the fifteenth [of June]. About the time that Mrs. Gorham died, Mr. Elijah Austin, merchant, and Mr. Henry Hubbard, his clerk, both sickened and were attended with like symptoms not only to those of Mrs. Gorham but those of each other. They were both from home when taken sick, the former in New York, the latter at Derby. They died within a few hours of each other on the twentieth. About the time of the death of these two gentle- men, a son of Isaac Gorham was taken sick with like symp- toms, and he died on the twenty-sixth. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 129 The very sudden death of four persons who were daily em- ployed within a small distance (for the store of Mr. Austin was separated from Mr. Gorham's house only by a narrow yard about two rods wide) spread alarm through the city, and the inquiry soon became general-What is the disease and from whence did it originate ? It has been observed above that the disease of which Mrs. Gorham died had not in fact acquired a name owing to the novelty and complication of the symptoms. Not only the sud- denness of her death and the anomalous nature of her disease, but those also of Mr. Austin, Mr. Hubbard and young Gorham, all within so short a space, occasioned much speculation among the citizens at large, and drew from every physician of the city some observations upon the nature and origin of the disease; and as their opinions on both points were not unanimous, it was not to be expected that the citizens would agree. While one party, headed and supported in their opinion by an elderly and respectable physician [Dr. Eneas Munson ?], was recom- mending strenuous exertions as necessary and the only effectual means to prevent the spread of the disease; another party no less powerful, and supported by a physician, an older man [Dr. Leverett Hubbard?], and not less esteemed for his respectability and usefulness in the city, was declaring it no ways different from the prevailing epidemic of the preceding months only in the degree of its malignity. These two opposite opinions, sup- ported by two such respectable physicians, produced conflicting sentiments, and caused much delay in the adoption of effectual measures to stay the progress of the pestilence. I am sensible the current of opinion among the citizens is in favor of a foreign importation of a contagion [in yellow fever]. I confess there are several circumstances- that favor such an opinion, viz: its never having existed among us before-its beginning in a family who lived adjacent to where a vessel lay that had been employed in the W. Indies to transfer the sick with the fever from place to place-their keeping a public house and entertaining sailors from the vessel-and the possibility for some time after the fever began to spread, of tracing it from that 130 medical History and biography. source in most of the instances where it broke out. Be it so that all these circumstances are strictly true, and not only so but that the contagion was actually imported in the suspected vessel (for I think it safer to act under this belief than wholly discard the idea), etc. The vegetation put forth early in the month of May, and was as forward as usual; yet by the middle of the month it was very much checked by drouth, and vegetables were on the decline. Had it not been for a refreshing rain on the twenty- third and twenty-fourth the whole face of the earth would have been clothed in sackcloth. Had alternate showers and sunshine succeeded to these rains at short intervals during the remainder of the spring and fore part of summer, we should in all proba- bility have had a healthy season, at least if we can infer any- thing from the contagion taking no effect in other places where some of our citizens sickened with the fever and died. I think the inference is plain there was a different cause to render it active here, and this I conceive must be the state of the air. Here the question naturally arises-Where within the limits of our city are the sinks of filth and putrefaction capable of producing such a change of air as to be followed by such a dreadful pestilence? * * * Cabbages were so much dam- aged by it [the early drouth], that they never recovered during the summer season. They were in a remarkable manner cov- ered with putrid spots, but few of them headed, and they wilted away in the fall without coming to perfection. But in what is called the creek which runs parallel by the side of Union street, and by the aid of springs which are numerous upon its borders, vegetation was, as usually is the case, kept alive later, notwithstanding the drouth, than in other parts of the town-a much greater quantity [of vegetation] and that in greater luxuriance was left there to purify when those springs dried up than in places which partook less of moisture. In the common channel of the creek, the tide usually ebbs and flows about one third of its length. The rest of the way it has been so filled and raised by art for the purpose of build- ing necessaries, hog-pens, tan-houses and stables with the other MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 131 convenience of gardens, that common tides never affect it. Thus, then it is easy to conceive in a dry season, when there are no rains for a series of weeks and months to wash away the filth from the sources of corruption, there must be a great accumulation of concentrated effluvia. It may be further ob- served, in addition to what is usual, that in one of the tan yards upon this creek, and contiguous to the seat of the greatest sickness, were thrown a large quantity of putrid seal skins brought in from the South Seas, about the time the fever began ; that these so impregnated the air with their noxious effluvia, the inhabitants wrere very much incommoded, and were compelled to keep their windows shut next to the yard; that these skins were thrown after a while into vats, and then tanned, in the course of the season, to the great annoyance of the neighborhood; that besides the very offensive and stinking mud natural to the creek, it is a common receptacle for dead cats and dogs, and many other animals that happen to die within a considerable distance of it. It was no uncommon thing to see some of these animals lying dead in the streets during the sickness and especially cats, perhaps starved to death in the absence of the families to which they belonged. These circum- stances all conspired to contaminate the air; and as before hinted, perhaps the blending of animal and vegetable putrid exhalations thus together serves in some degree to account for that variation, and for their possessing a higher degree of malignancy than has been common in the yellow fever. But if vegetable putrefaction and exhalation are essential to the production of yellow fever, it may be inquired how it should begin so low down upon the wharf where no vegetables grow, rather than upon the creek where it might have had the aid of such exhalations, so necessary an ingredient in the com- position of generating causes to the fever. The answer to such an inquiry appears to me to be involved in no more difficulty than why a person living constantly exposed to cold northerly winds should escape an attack of pleurisy or any other acute fever, and his next-door neighbor, living in a valley and never exposed to such a wind, should be attacked by those fevers. 132 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. The cause, when it exists in the air, may as easily be conveyed to one as the other; and it is a fact well known that exhala- tions often communicate diseases at the distance of half a mile. But in accounting how the exhalations from putrid vegetables, if they did exist upon the creek or near the water side, should be conveyed down upon the wharf as far as Gorham's house, I presume we need not have recourse to supernatural causes; a very natural one may be given for it. It is, I believe, agreeable to the observations of every one acquainted with the phenomena of tides ebbing and flowing, that the contiguous air is so much influenced by them that it follows them in their course by ebbing and flowing with them. This, as ebb tides leave the earth bare below Gorham's house twice in every twenty-four hours, would in all probability draw the land breeze after them as often in the course of every day.-Why not convey any exhalations with which the air is pregnant along with it? * * This naturally directs our attention to the wharf and its appendages, the first place within the city affected by the disease. It is composed of marsh sods bound together by the roots of marsh vegetables; and perhaps each sod contains a number of mussels. These are thrown into a promiscuous heap within a wooden frame which forms the outlines of the wharf, and serves to confine the sods within certain bounds, and to secure it from the wasting effects of the surrounding waters. Here they are left in a succulent state exposed to the heat and sun to undergo a fermenting process. Being deprived of their common nutriment, they necessarily form a mass of putrefaction, from whence exhalations arise of a nature destruc- tive to the health of the inhabitants. The best method perhaps to secure ourselves against these exhalations would be to cover the sods about a foot deep with gravel and sand, and to empty on pitch sufficient to form a crust about an inch thick. [Dr. Barker finds other causes which corrupted the air on the wharf. The cellars of the houses and stores were sunk below the tides, and in many cases below the flats. Oftentimes these contained putrid vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbages, etc., while ventilation was neglected.] The scrapings of fish often MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 133 cleaned and left in large quantities on the wharf, or thrown by the side of it: boat-loads of clams thrown upon the flats, and a great part of them left there till they became putrid; the blood, harslets and bowels of beeves, sheep, etc., killed at the slaughter-house on the head of the wharf, with all the other filth and nastiness of such places lying during the spring and summer months, above high-water mark, in a putrid state; these are the nuisances on and about the wharf, and contribute greatly to impregnate the air with noxious particles very un- favorable to the health of its inhabitants. NATHANIEL HUBBARD, A son of Col. Leverett Hubbard, was baptized by Rev. Mr. Whittlesey, August eleventh, 1765. Supposed to have studied medicine with his father, he began practice early. About 1785 he enrolled himself as a member of the Medical Society of New Haven County ; but except in this instance his name is not found on the record book. His connection with the Connecticut Medical Society may be thus described in full: He joined it at the first county meeting, September fourth, 1792 ; he was elected a fellow in 1796; he was "excused," etc., (i. e.. dismissed), January fourth, 1820. Of the New Haven Medical Association he was an original and more conspicuous member. He had a convivial infirmity which sometimes led him astray, and it is said that the "regulation" denying "re- freshments" till the business had been disposed of was aimed at him. Much trouble and some amusement grew out of his erratic, "unprofessional conduct." Of the "rules and regula- tions" which were made to control festive and eccentric mem- bers, he was a hardened transgressor; but when caught and brought to the block was a model of humility and contrition. At one time, when given up as an incorrigible offender grown more contumacious from justice's delay, he was ignominiously expelled and declared an outlaw; but erelong he came for- ward, a penitent, and like the returning prodigal was received with open arms and a tender embrace. When the association 134 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. was awakened from its prolonged apoplectic sleep in January, 1818, and the roll was again called, no answer came from him. He was not dead, but "played out," as the phrase is. Dr. Hubbard commenced practice wTith advantages that are rarely possessed. His father was then at the height of his reputation, and at an age when one is willing, not to lose his business, but to transfer a part of it-the drift-wood and parings first-to some hopeful son. The name and blood alone were a large inheritance for a young physician-a lifting power to be relied on. Though medical men do not believe skill in physic hereditary, it is difficult to make sick people think it is not. Sustained by these external props-parental aid, family influence and popular bias-young Hubbard could scarcely fail of success. Improving his opportunities, he soon obtained a good business, and ultimately became a famous ac- coucheur. In his chosen branch, he had for many years after his father's death (in 1794) much more practice than any other one in the city. He was a great favorite of expectant mothers, and during his better days, the impression was general that no woman could be safely confined without bis assistance. If he happened to be out of the way, and another was called in, the patient, it is said, did not thrive till he was found. One enthu- siastic admirer declared she had rather have him drunk than another sober. After his habits became so bad that no one could rely on him, it is reported that those likely to need his aid were accustomed to shut him up seasonably, and keep him under lock and key, till his services were wanted. He was one of those men, more common half a century ago than now, who were great doctors if you could but catch them sober. I suppose he had no book knowledge, but practised his profession as he learned it, without modification and improvement. A sociable, genteel, easy-going, good-natured, shallow fellow, a reputed libertine and gambler, he doubtless (when not in his cups) acquitted himself creditably in the ordinary cases to which he was called. He was fond of show, dressed well, carried a cane, and wore white-top boots and a gold ring. In 1797 and after- ward he was adjutant, and at a later period brigade-major and MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 135 inspector of militia. The passion for drink was developed early, and grew on him till in the latter years of his life he became a wreck-a helpless, harmless imbecile. His form (his form only), is said to have been much like that of the late Dr. Beers, but one size smaller. The latter, it will be remembered, was large and portly. Dr. Hubbard lived in the " stone house" on the corner of Meadow and George streets, after his father removed from it. In August, 1814, he bought, with the means he had left, for $2,500, the house now standing on the northerly side of Court street, the first east of the railroad bridge, with forty-seven rods of land, the front extending to Artizan street, where he after- ward resided. December sixth, 1789, Dr. Hubbard was married by Dr. Dana to Phebe McCleve, said to have been a woman of great excellence, who was mortified and heart-broken at her husband's degradation. He died, says the Columbian Register, June six- teenth, 1825, aged about sixty-three, (some say he died in the alms-house, where he had often been taken for safety or sup- port,) his widow Phebe and an only daughter and child, Jane W. Hubbard, surviving him. He left property of the value of some $1,500, after the debts were paid. The widow lived on the homestead several years, and died after June nineteenth, 1830. The daughter married a Mr. Moore, of Sal- isbury, in this State, and died, leaving no children, a few years ago. ELIJAH MUNSON.* He was the son of Dr. Eneas, sen., and was born about 1766. He is presumed to have studied medicine with his father, and probably began practice, under favorable auspices, before 1790. His name as a physician is not met with till January, 1793, when he was admitted to the Connecticut Medical Society. * I have written the name according to the practice of both father and sons till 1800 or later. Yale triennial catalogue used the old orthography till 1826. In that year Alfred S. Munson, of the third generation, appears as Alfred S. Monson, and in 1829, the second Eneas Munson, as Eneas Monson. The name of the first Eneas is still (1874) printed as in the beginning. 136 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. His distinguished father was well able to give him business and probably did so. However this may be, he soon obtained a respectable practice. But the yellow fever of 1794 put his courage to the test. Forgetting that he was a zealous non-con- tagionist, but remembering the fate of the hindmost, he joined the terror-smitten crowd, physicians, clergymen and others, making it is said excellent time to Derby. This is the story as I get it from several quarters, but I suspect a mistake. Mun- son was apparently in the city on the twenty-third of September (the most fatal month in the season) when, at the New Haven county meeting, he was elected clerk and librarian for the year then ensuing, holding the office two years. He might have left and then returned, but had his conduct been disreputable, I think he would not have been thus honored. It is highly probable that it was at some other time, and on account of some other sickness, that he was frightened and ran for his life. There can be no doubt that the race as described did happen.* For seven years, first in 1794, Dr. Munson was one of the examining committee (twice chairman) of the Connecticut Medical Society for his own county, and at different times was a member of other important committees. He was one of the original eight or nine who founded the New Haven Medical Association, and appears to have been an interested attendant during the first ten years of its existence. In the meantime he was doing a moderate professional business. In 1814 or 1815, he became somewhat distinguished for his success in dysentery, and on one occasion President Dwight publicly * Since the above was written, further inquiry has tended to show that the race referred to came off in July, 1805. In that and the succeeding month, according to the Connecticut Herald, a disease, called, by the board of health of the city, malignant fever, but by the people yellow fever, prevailed in New Haven. The doctors wrangled as usual, and the citizens were greatly alarmed. The superior court adjourned, the students at college were dismissed, and some of " the principal inhabitants " removed. On the twenty-ninth of July the editor of the Herald pre- maturely pronounced the city healthy, while a writer for that paper thought the " faculty might safely return." The board of health, on the twelfth of August, said the "malignant fever had entirely ceased." The disease appears to have been fatal in five cases. It was probably yellow fever, or so near it that the difference was of no importance. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 137 recommended him to his classes for his successful treatment of the anginose forms of scarlet fever. But before January, 1818, when the association was resuscitated, his love for his profession seems to have died out, and his name is not found among the subscribing members of that date. In two years more (January, 1820) he was, at his own request, " released from the burdens" (i. e., taxes of $1.50 per annum) of the Connecticut Medical Society, or, in other words, was dismissed. His practice had fallen off (perhaps it was no longer sought); his health was not good, and thenceforth he devoted his time chiefly to the drug business. His shop stood next south of his house, which is yet standing on the southeasterly corner of Church and Crown streets. He bought the place, " lately the property of David Austin, Esq.," with seventy-five rods of land, September fif- teenth, 1801, for <£800. In his mental constitution Dr. Munson departed widely from the common standard, his thoughts flowing stubbornly in a channel of his own. Though his mind was not refined by lit- erature or enlarged by science, it was naturally vigorous, and above the average in the intellectual department. He detested Chemistry because of certain bitter experiences in boyhood. According to his own story, his father set him to watching the fire used in some chemical experiment, telling him how to pro- ceed. He forgot his instructions, in consequence of which the apparatus blew up, and he was flogged. Ever after the sound of the word Chemistry cost him a sigh and a shudder. Nor could he tolerate the new terms which scientific innovators introduced to perplex the souls of an older generation. The late Dr. Tully, soon after he came to New Haven (1829), pre- scribed for a patient actaea racemosa, long known in this neigh- borhood as cohosh, and sent the recipe to the drug-store of " Doctor 'Lige," as he was called. The latter took the paper, and reading slowly and with difficulty-" Tincturae actaea race- mosae"-impatiently exclaimed : " There isn't no such medicine, and if there was it wouldn't do to take it." He was an eccen- tric man, uncouth, erratic, crotchety and perverse; but there was no lack of better qualities. He was kind, charitable to the 138 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. poor, honest, conscientious and "terribly in earnest." Often in his later years he reproached himself bitterly for his sacrifice of life by bad practice, and declared that he left the profession partly because its responsibilities pressed so heavily upon him. In trifling he never indulged, and was too serious to enjoy a joke. The Bible was his favorite book, and he astonished those with whom he conversed by his familiarity with it. Though very religious, he did not attend church, having a creed of his own. On one occasion, however, he was persuaded by the new (second) wife he had married to go to Trinity. Of course the congregation stared, but nothing serious happened till the min- ister announced the text: "Behold! Elijah is here." The doc- tor was greatly affronted, and never forgave the indignity. He left his seat and, as some will have it, went stamping down the aisle, muttering audibly that he had not come there to be insulted. In company, Dr. Munson talked incessantly, and would not be suppressed. The new theology called Taylorism he de- tested. Could he find a patient listener, he would discourse by the hour till the latter was fagged out, and longed to escape. He loved to descant on ecclesiastical abuses, the wiles of the clergy, and the inconsistencies of "professors." Sometimes he would pull a sermon he had written from his pocket, and beg his unwilling friend to listen to it. He was not reserved in his private opinions, and too often was inclined to be censorious, finding fault with physicians and their practice, and not sparing his own father. The latter, he claimed, did not help him as he ought in getting business, but preferred to assist his younger favorite, Eli Ives. He always rode a hobby, and did not leave one till he had found another. At one time it was a point in theology, at another, a new watch or gun, a razor of superior manufacture, an improved rake or hoe, etc. Whatever idea was uppermost in his mind took possession of his whole nature, and found expression in perennial and uncontrollable speech. Though intelligent, he was superstitious, saw spectres, and conversed with angels in the night. As the latter visited him often, they must have been less annoyed by his verbal infirmity than his friends in the flesh. He thought much, spoke as he MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 139 thought, and was annoyed by criticism or remarks implying doubt. No one accused him of hypocrisy or timidity. It was supposed he would have died at the stake for his opinions, though he once quailed before yellow fever. Those who could divest themselves of prejudice, looking beneath the rugged surface, acknowledged the vigor of his mind, and excellent moral qualities. In person Dr. Munson was heavily built, sluggish in his movements (lingual excepted), and inclined to corpulency. In his last sickness there were no decided indications of disease, except his own belief that his end was near. Waiting patiently the result, he died on the day he had predicted, October tenth, 1838, aged seventy-two. A post-mortem examination (while living he was violently opposed to this method of settling disputed questions) discovered no departure from healthy structure, and no sufficient cause of death. On his grave-stone the title of M.D. is appended to the name. As I cannot find whence lie obtained it, I conclude that there may be an error. I am not aware that Dr. Munson ever held an important public office, though he was health-officer in 1803. He was often, in 1802 and afterward, a democratic candidate for assis- tant and member of Congress, but never I believe when there was a hope of his election. Had he been chosen to either of these positions, I do not suppose he would, by plunder, have become rich, after two or four years' service. According to my information, he was not an active politician, and had no ambition for political preferment. But when the anti-masonic furor broke out in 1828, his moral sense was touched. He took the fever in a virulent form, and became an enthusiastic and loquacious anti-mason. The attack doubtless brought satisfaction to him as it did affliction to his friends. Dr. Munson married for his first wife, Curtis, of Southbury; for his second, Grace, the daughter of Elijah Thomson, of Hotchkisstown, now Westville, the last reputed rich. He gave by will a property amounting to about $14,000 to his brother Eneas as trustee for his only living issue, Nathan C. Munson, his wife and their children, all of Southbury. His widow married John II. Jacocks. 140 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. JOEL NORTHROP Came from New Milford. Soon after his graduation at Yale College, in 1776, he settled in Danbury, and became connected, as surgeon's mate, with the military hospital in that place. He removed to New Haven before July fifth, 1779, and lived in a house which stood on the home lot of the late Leverett Candee, on the northerly side of Elm street, near State. In April, 1781, he bought, for £230, the place owned and occupied by the late Dr. N. B. Ives, on Elm street, one hundred feet easterly of Col- lege street. Here he lived several years, but in 1790 sold out for £400 ($1,333.33). He then removed to the long wood house built by himself, with a piazza in front, now known as Baker's Hotel, on the west side of Fleet street, some nine rods below Whiting street. In 1794 he had the yellow fever, and in 1796 removed to Branford. Before 1803 he returned, and again occupied the dwelling in Fleet street. After October, 1805, he left the city to reside in a stone house which he had erected on the north side of the Derby road, in Orange, near the hither boundary of Maltby park. It was pulled down a few years ago. Here he died, after a brief illness, of lung fever, February ninth, 1807, aged fifty-three. His monument, in the old cemetery, appends M. D. to his name, but the triennial catalogue of Yale College does not give him the title. Dr. Northrop's name is not among those of the New Haven physicians who signed the agreement of January, 1784; nor is it on the list of members of the Medical Society of N. H. County. Whether he held himself aloof from the profession, or the profession from him, does not appear. He was, however, an original member of the Connecticut Medical Society, as shown by the roll of the first secretary; but in 1804 he fell under the displeasure of the " President and Fellows," and in October of that year, because of his " making and vending nos- trums contrary to the by-laws," was expelled. For two or three years previous to that date, he had advertised and recommended in the Connecticut Journal "Dr. Northrop's new improved Bit- ters," but not in extravagant or very offensive terms. Probably MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 141 this was not the specific infraction of law for which he suffered. He is understood to have been in the practice of selling patent medicines. Thenceforth (in a professional sense) he became an outlaw; but, like other degraded mortals in his circumstances, snapped his fingers at those who would destroy him, and went on dispensing nostrums. When the original agreement out of which grew the N. H. Medical Association was entered into, January, 1803, Dr. Nor- throp was the third subscriber. His name again appears on several occasions, twice when meetings were held at his house; but after his expulsion from the fold of the faithful by the ruling society, he is heard of no more except among the goats outside. Asa physician, Dr. Northrop is best remembered by a few old persons for his large practice in a certain class of contagious diseases, and for a bad reputation in other cases. He was also a horse-doctor. Desirous, it is said, of more business, he rented his house on the Derby road to a select company from New York, and thus greatly enlarged the demand for his pecu- liar skill. He never had much general practice, though he was occasionally called to patients out of town. Much of his time was given to pecuniary speculations which at first brought him large gains. At one period he is said to have been worth one hundred thousand dollars; but the floods came, those whom he had trusted failed, and insolvency followed. Dr. Northrop had naturally a strong mind. His form was stout and his muscular energy very great. He was an inveter- ate smoker; had a strange passion for cats; but had not him- self the confidence of the public. Old persons of the sober sort, when his name is mentioned, shrug their shoulders and say: " He was a very wicked man." Though hot-tempered and vio- lent, he was kind and indulgent in several relations, and had strong domestic attachments. He had an only daughter, Polly, whom he loved tenderly, who became the wife of " Mr. Elihu Ives, merchant," son of Dr. Levi Ives. She was young, beau- tiful and accomplished-"a perfect angel," said one who knew her well. She died " very suddenly, Sunday evening," January 142 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. twenty-third, 1803, aged twenty-four, in child-bed. Dr. Munson, sen., at a late hour, was in attendance. The doting father gave way to the most boisterous grief, rolled upon the floor, blas- phemed, and for a time raved like a lunatic. Nearly three years later, his son, Joel, who was occupied in his father's drug-store, died, in his eighteenth year. These severe afflic- tions, aided by pecuniary misfortune, broke the wretched man's heart. He did not recover from the shock, and in sixteen months more closed his earthly career. Dr. Northrop married, May fifteenth, 1777, Mabel Sarah, the eldest daughter of Rev. Samuel Bird, the first minister of the White Haven society, New Haven. Mr. Bird died of inocula- ted small pox, May third, 1784, having made his son-in-law one of his executors. Mrs. Northrop died February fourteenth, 1835, aged seventy-eight. (See Dr. Beardsley's paper in the first volume of the N. II. Col. Hist. Society, page 117.) JOHN SKINNER, The son of John and Sarah (Kennedy) Skinner, of East Wind- sor, was born March fifth, 1765. In 1795 he appears to have been a member of the Connecticut Medical Society from East Hartford. In the Connecticut Courant, September, 1795, he advertised himself as a dentist. He had probably removed to New Haven as early as February, 1800, for in that month he and his wife Chloe, a daughter of the first Roger Sherman of New Haven, were admitted by certificate to the church of the United Society. In the same year and afterward, he was city clerk; collector of taxes in 1803, 1804, and 1805; and sheriff for many years, first in 1810. Still later he was city constable and chief police officer, whose duty it was to look after the violators of law and good order-mischievous boys, and sus- picious characters of every age. He was long the terror of evil-doers. If an urchin went fishing on the sabbath, or played ball on Fast day, or climbed a forbidden fence, or made wry faces at a passing dignitary, he kept a look-out for Dr. Skinner. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 143 Frail mothers secured the obedience of their children by telling them Dr. Skinner-Dr. Skinner with the patch (naevus) on his nose-was coming. If the doctor was seen walking with, another up Chapel street, it was naturally supposed he was taking him to Esq. Daggett for condemnation. On one occa- sion he was in company with President Day, a very plain man, when some colored boys playing on the walk saw him coming. Hastily gathering their scattered marbles, and drawing them- selves up by the fence, they stood breathless till the two had passed. When the danger was over, one whispered to the others: " I wonder who Dr. Skinner has got now." President Day used to tell the story. Dr. Skinner joined the New Haven Medical Association at the beginning, and kept up the connection through life. For a long period he was apparently a regular attendant, the meet- ings being held at his house in turn till 1831. In May, 1826, he was appointed by the association chairman of a committee to solicit funds for the General Hospital Society of New Haven, in which capacity he was efficient and faithful. Afterward he wTas treasurer of the society. If he ever practiced medicine in New Haven, it must have been at an early period. He con- tinued however to draw teeth, the alacrity with which he did the work leading some to think he enjoyed it-found music in the crash of his instrument. In every official position Dr. Skinner was faithful. Though so much dreaded by the juveniles of the city, he was at heart a kind man, social in his feelings, and sincere in his friendships. His virtues were indeed of the sterner sort. He had strong prejudices; disliked innovations; denounced wickedness, ex- travagance and folly in public affairs; and was not afraid to stand alone in opposition. He loved the good old ways; was called old fashioned; but he was upright, conscientious, and truthful. His death took place June.twenty-fifth, 1850, at the age of eighty-five. The New Haven Medical Association in a body attended his funeral. His wife died December sixth, 1840, aged eighty-three. They had one son, a lawyer in New Haven, who died in 1838. 144 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Was an elder brother of the late Isaac Goodsell, M.D., of Woodbridge, and the second son of Thomas Goodsell, of Judea, now Washington, Litchfield county, where he was born in June, 1775. He studied medicine with Dr. Sheldon, of Litch- field, where he was licensed in 1795 by the county committee of the Connecticut Medical Society. At the New Haven county meeting of the same year, he was admitted a member of the state society. At the date of admission he had settled in Woodbridge, where he appears to have remained till early in 1808. He then removed to New Haven, and became a member of the New Haven Medical Association. In Novem- ber of the same year, he obtained from that body "an intro- ductory letter to the physicians of Philadelphia," where he repaired to attend the medical lectures at the University. In May, 1809, he had returned to New Haven, where be remained till near the close of 1810. He then removed to Whitesboro, Oneida County, N. Y., and went into business with Dr. Capron. Having married a Miss Livingston, he again changed his resi- dence, and went to Utica. While living in Connecticut, Dr. Goodsell was elected a fellow five times between 1805 and 1810, inclusive; was a member of the examining committee an equal length of time, and, according to the clerk, read a " very ingenious disserta- tion" to the county meeting in January, 1806. In 1822 he received the honorary degree of MD. from Yale College, and in 1827 was appointed professor of materia medica in the medical college of Pittsfield, holding the office one year.* Dr. Goodsell did a respectable business in Woodbridge, and had a large and valuable practice in Utica. In ability and pro- fessional attainments, he ranked above the average. Dr. Eli Ives used to speak of him approvingly. He died January twelfth, 1864, aged eighty-nine. THOMAS GOODSELL, * Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of N. Y., 1865, p. 295. MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 145 JAMES GILBERT. He was the eighth and youngest child and only son of Dea. James and Eunice (Nichols) Gilbert, and was born in a wood house which stood on the south-westerly corner of George and Broad streets, (where the late Dr. V. M. Dow lived and died,) October 25th, 1779. I can learn little of his childhood except that he was (very naturally) the pet of the family, and loved like other boys to tease his sisters. While a member of Yale College, where he graduated in 1800, his scholarship, it is said, was of a high order, as "attested by the honors conferred on him by the faculty."* He was elected into the Phi Beta Kappa Society; but I do not find that he recieved any "appointment" at graduation. During his last year in college, he began the study of medicine, giving most of his time to Chemistry and Botany. In the former science, more especially, he made honorable proficiency, and might, it is thought, have become distinguished. In the winter of 1801-2, we find him in the celebrated medical school of Philadelphia, attending the lectures of Rush, Wistar, Barton and Woodhouse. By too close appli- cation, aided doubtless by unaccustomed confinement, his health gave way so that he was obliged "to relinquish his plan of continuing his studies in Philadelphia." Soon after, he accepted an invitation from Dr. Conklin to settle in Southold (L. I.), where he practised with reputation for more than two years. He then (1805) left the place to attend the medical lectures in New York. At the end of the course, though urged to establish himself in that city, his friends persuaded him to return to New Haven. Dr. Gilbert probably joined the New Haven Medical Associa- tion as early as the middle of the year 1806. His name is first mentioned on the record book, November twenty-fifth, 1806. * For the materials of this notice T am partly indebted to a biographical sketch of Dr. Gilbert, written by his pupil, the late Dr. Punderson, of this city, and pub- lished in the Columbian Register, March 14th, 1818, soon after the death of Dr. Gilbert; which sketch, with some additions and omissions, was republished in Thatcher's American Medical Biography, 1828. 146 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. It does not again appear, except when meetings were held at his house, till March fourteenth, 1810, when a letter was read from him giving notice of his withdrawal from the association. It is evident from what followed that this was not the beginning but the clumination of some "unpleasantness" or personal difficulty. With the exception of Dr. G. himself, the members were all present, called together, perhaps, in expectation of the message. Be this as it may, they were very wroth at the boldness of the young man, and discoursed in this wise:- "Voted, that as Dr. James Gilbert, lately a member of this association, has withdrawn from the same, without assigning any reasons, that we will withdraw from him so far as not to consult with him in any medical case until he returns to the association, and that the clerk notify him of this our vote by transmitting to him a copy of the same."-And then, as if to give weight to the sentence, and to extinguish any life which might remain, the names of those present were added as follows : "Drs. Eneas Munson, Levi Ives, John Barker, Obadiah Hotch- kiss, Elijah Munson, John Skinner, Nathaniel Hubbard, Elias Shipman and Eli Ives." The disturber defied his late associates, and never returned to the fold of the faithful. Indeed, he held himself aloof from the profession at large (at least formally), for be never became a member of the Connecticut Medical Society. In extenuation, it is charged by Gilbert's friends that the old physicians did not, when he first came to New Haven or after- ward, treat him cordially. Thinking perhaps that he obtained business faster than was seemly, "they talked about him," used detraction when opportunity offered, and made the most of bis mistakes. On the other side, it is affirmed that he was guilty of practices generally esteemed disreputable-resorted to the tricks of the mountebank to attract notice and secure business. He wore a broad brim hat, had his coat cut in Quaker style, and drove at a fast gait in a small, very low, one-seated, queer- looking vehicle, and pretended that his practice was different from that of other physicians. These affectations, perhaps in his case exaggerated, do not win the good opinion of sensible MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 147 men. They are the arts of the imposter and capture only fools, but the fools in medicine are too numerous to be despised. The explanation is probably this-Dr. Gilbert was ambitious and energetic. Conscious of his own strength, he was deter- mined to succeed, and used the appliances which for the moment seemed best suited to his purpose. He achieved success-a success which his merits, not the appliances, deserved. Persuaded that he was ill-used ; thinking probably that open opposition would be more profitable than the hollow forms of friendship, and confident that he could stand alone, he cut loose from his medical associates, and thenceforth pursued his divergent career untrammelled. Steadily with unfaltering courage, he worked his way upward. His practice in physic, surgery and obstetrics increased from year to year, and extended into the neighboring towns. In the mean time, the necessary intercourse between him and his brethren of New Haven could not have been governed by much delicacy as to prescriptive rights or professional etiquette. Dr. Gilbert may not have been guilty of dishonorable intentions, but his course in connection with the circumstances named was calculated to excite jealousy and dislike, particularly in those whose business interests were perjudiced by his success. Dr. Gilbert had long cherished the hope of visiting Europe. After the death of his wife, and the accumulation of some property, he, in the spring of 1814, sailed from New York for France. Having attended the hospitals in Paris, he crossed the Channel, and spent the ensuing winter in the hospitals and lecture-rooms of London, reading as he had opportunity. In consequence of unremitting application to study, assisted by an abstemious diet and the exchange of an active for a sedentary life, his health again broke down. Unwilling to abandon his purpose, he persevered till spring, when a severe pulmonary affection came on, threatening a confirmed consumption. By Sir Astley Cooper's advice, he promptly left London, and re- turned to America. During the voyage his naturally vigorous constitution got the better of his disease, and he reached home, in the spring of 1815, unexpectedly restored. 148 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. Dr. Gilbert's friends bad not forgotten him in his absence, and his business speedily returned. He put aside the eccen- tricities and supposed affectations which before distinguished him. Taught a lesson in simplicity by his intercourse with distinguished men abroad, he discarded that foolish little vehicle, and those whimsically cut garments, and appeared on all occasions as a plain, unpretending, well-bred gentleman. Hitherto he had dwelt with his mother under the parental roof, but he now built a house on Crown street with an office adjoin- ing, (the latter looking up High street), where he afterward lived. Here he pursued his profession with augmented zeal and increasing reputation, giving particular attention to sur- gery. His health was so good that he was able to endure the fatigues, irregularities and responsibilities of a practitioner fully occupied. His fame was extending, and about this time he was elected an honorary member of the Physico-Medical Society of New York, to which several eminent medical men of New Haven and Connecticut belonged. But early in August,- 1817, he was taken with what was called catarrhal fever, which continued several weeks, and reduced him greatly. After a partial recovery, and the lapse of several weeks more without improvement, the symptoms of phthisis once more appeared. These not yielding to medicine, he determined to try a milder climate. He sailed from New Haven, December twenty-sixth, and arrived in Charleston, S. C., January eighth, 1818. The season proving wet and cold, after remaining several weeks without benefit, he took passage for Havana. Though alarmed by an " abscess which burst in his lungs" the day before his expected departure, he sailed at the appointed time, and died five days out from Charleston, February sixth, 1818. He left a widow and two children, and about $5,000 in property. His books were appraised at $108.22; his medi- cines, surgical instruments, etc., at $337.43. The death of Dr. Gilbert wras felt to be a great calamity. He died too early-before his sun had reached its zenith-and yet not till he had become distinguished, and given promise of still greater eminence. It is doubtful whether there has lived in MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 149 New Haven another man who acquired in a medical practice of only ten years a reputation more brilliant and solid. He had an active, acute, discriminating and philosophical mind, and a marked individuality of character. His views were often original, his investigations thorough, and his scholarship respectable. The aptness and tact which he displayed in the application of knowledge were remarkable. He had much theoretical knowledge, but he was also an earnest, enterprising, assiduous and practical man of business, challenging the respect of all. I do not learn that his practice was peculiar, as popularly supposed, unless peculiar mean discriminating. He had, however, his chosen remedies, and favorite methods of management, as every observing and skillful practitioner has. Cantharis was with him an important medicine in the low, apathetic forms of typhus fever. He gave it, sometimes to the extent of causing strangury, to wake the dormant ener- gies and rouse action. He was sometimes accused of "experi- menting," as doctors are wont to be who are supposed to depart in the least from the beaten track. In a case of uterine hemorrhage admitting of no delay, he gathered up some hand- fuls of snow and applied to the abdomen. The patient died, and the gossips charged her death to the practice, doubtless without sufficient reason. The late Dr. Eli Ives used, in his lectures, to speak of him and of his treatment of disease with the greatest respect. For surgery he had a predilection. His quick eye, steady hand and skillful manipulation qualified him for eminent success in this department. Though his best energies were given to his profession, his knowledge was not confined to it. As every physician should be, he was well informed on all those subjects which most interest the intelli- gent world outside. A portion of his time was given to medical instruction. His nephew, the late Virgil M. Dow, and the late Samuel Punderson, were among his later pupils. There was in Dr. Gilbert a vein of humor. Near the Milford road in Orange, he was shown a place where the lightning had torn up the soil. To the owner of the land, who was standing by, he remarked : "Deep into that hole has entered a thunder- 150 MEDICAL HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. bolt of malleable iron. Whoever finds it will make a fortune." The hint was taken and the search made; the excavation which still remains proving how thoroughly the work was done. Nor was the doctor indifferent to the sports requiring skill, having a particular fondness for duck-shooting. Armed with a long gun, he often went in a boat down the harbor, shooting the bird on the wing. Dr. Gilbert was twice married-first, to Grace Mix, Septem- ber, 1808. She died September sixth, 1813, aged twenty-one ; secondly, to Juliana Tyler, a daughter of Samuel Tyler, of Wallingford, May, 1816. After the death of Dr. Gilbert, she married Dr. Joseph Palmer, Jr., and died in Ashford, February fourteenth, 1821. (See N. H. Herald, March 6, 1821.) His children, all by his first wife, were Matthew J.; b. August 14, 1809; d. May 24, 1848, in Ohio: Edward; b. Jan. 9, 1811; d. August 20, 1813 : Grace E.; b. August 29, 1813 ; d. December 8, 1833. HENRY MEAD Was in New Haven as early as 1806. At first he was suspected as a practitioner without credentials, with whom the elect could not honorably consult; but an examination of his medical diploma, from Columbia College, New York, satisfied the doubters, and secured his admission to the New Haven Medical Association and the Connecticut Medical Society. Though well educated, he is understood not to have obtained much practice. For a season he kept a drug-store on the north side of Chapel street, a little above Orange, but, not satisfied with his business, near the close of 1809, he removed to New York city and became a glass manufacturer. (Dr. Samuel S. Noyes. See p. 280.) Biographical sketches of Eneas Monson, John Spalding, Levi Ives and Obadiah Hotchkiss were given in my account of the members of the Medical Society of New Haven County, while a detailed notice of Eli Ives may be found in the Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society for 1867.