HISTORY OF MIFFLIN COUNTY
From Franklin Ellis'
History of That Part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys
Embraced in the Counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder.
Philadelphia, 1886.
CHAPTER III.
The Medical Profession.
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Biographical Sketches of Early and Late Practitioners - County Medical Societies.
THE earliest history relative to the practice of medicine in this county dates back to the year 1794. At this period there resided in Lewistown a physician known as Dr. BUCK. His
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place of residence was on the same lot where now stands the Coleman House. After practicing for some time at Lewistown, he removed to Perry County. Shortly after Dr. Buck's departure his successor appeared in the person of DR. JOHN CREIGH, a son of John Creigh, of Carlisle. Dr. Creigh lived in a house that formerly stood on the site of the Franciscus hardware-store. He later moved to Landisburg and to Carlisle, and died at the latter place.
Contemporary with Dr. Creigh was DR. WILLIAM WATSON He was a son of John Watson, of Mifflintown, where he practiced a short time; removed to Lewistown and remained there until the year 1806, when he removed to Bedford, having become interested in the famous springs located at the latter place. Here he resided the remainder of his life and upon his death was succeeded by his son. About 1790, DR. EZRA DOTY, then a young man, and a physician, came to Mifflintown from Sharon, Conn., and settled at that place about 1800. Two younger brothers, Roswell and Southard Doty, also physicians, came to Mifflintown, and soon after settled in Lewistown, where they engaged in the practice of their profession. They each married a daughter of Jarman Jacobs. Dr. Southard Doty very soon after his settlement was taken with typhoid fever and died. Dr. Roswell Doty continued in practice until his death, in 1820. His only child is Mrs. James Parker, now of Lewistown.
Upon the departure of Dr. Watson, DR. JOSEPH B. ARD commenced practicing at Lewistown. He was a son of Joseph Ard, who was a citizen of Turbett township, Juniata County. Dr. Ard remained in practice until about 1850. He afterwards moved to Philadelphia, where, in 1861, at the age of seventy-seven years, he died. His remains were brought to Lewistown, and were interred in the Methodist Cemetery of the place. During his practice Dr. Ard was quite successful, and at the time of his death had acquired the possession of considerable real estate in addition to other wealth.
One of the first physicians to settle and practice in Waynesburg (now McVeytown) was ELIJAH DAVIS, who came to the place about 1810. He was married to Rosanna, a daughter of Edward Dougherty. After practicing for many years Dr. Davis abandoned the profession, and kept the old tavern on the Diamond. He died in 1860.
AUGUSTUS CLEMENS EHRENFELD, M.D., long a practitioner in Armagh township, was born on the 16th day of May, 1774, at Heilbron, Wurtemberg, in Germany. He was educated at the Gymnasium (High School) of his native city, and at Heidelberg, where he graduated. He was a resident, for at least two years, at Geneva, in Switzerland, during 1798 and 1799. A passport was issued to him at Geneva under the authority of the French Republic. This passport designated him as a pharmacist. He was in Italy at the time of one of Napoleon's campaigns and was a volunteer surgeon at one of the battles. He came to this country in 1805 and landed at Philadelphia on the 5th day of August of that year, but did not intend to make this country his home. He, however, commenced the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, but some time afterward he traveled westward through the State as far as Lebanon County. He there passed the year 1807, practicing medicine in company with Dr. Essig, at Fredericksburg (Stumpstown). There he met Charlotte Catharine Stitzer, who became his wife on the 5th day of January, 1808. They immediately went to Philadelphia and began house-keeping with his father, who died in November, 1809. His marriage and his father's death set aside all thoughts of returning to Europe. He then gathered up what little was left of his father's estate and continued to practice medicine and surgery in Philadelphia till November, 1811, when he removed to Lebanon County. From thence he moved to Selinsgrove, in Union County, the following year. In 1817 he located in Mifflinburg (same county), from whence he moved to Adamsburg (same county) in 1822. In 1830 he moved, with his family, into the east end of Kishacoquillas Valley, in Mifflin County. He remained there, in the practice of his profession, till his death.
Dr. Augustus C. Ehrenfeld died January 23, 1839, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.
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mains were buried in the Lutheran burial-ground at Old Salem Church, in Armagh township, where his widow was laid beside him in 1868.
SAMUEL H. ROTHROCK, M.D., was born in Dry Valley April 27, 1852, and was raised in Mifflin County. At the age of seventeen years he began to teach school. He taught four terms, after which he attended Kishacoquillas Seminary and there studied the languages along with the prescribed course of study. He graduated in 1877 at that school, after which time he taught school three terms and studied German and read medicine during vacation and all other spare time during school-terms. He began the study of medicine in the fall of 1877, under Dr. Rutz, of Highland, Madison County, in Illinois. He read till May, 1878, when he began to read medicine with Dr. A. Rothrock. Read with him from May till fall, when he took the principalship of the Milroy schools and taught two years at that place. He again read medicine with Samuel Maclay, M.D., of Milroy, in 1879 and 1880. (Previous to that time he read medicine with Dr. A. Rothrock, of McVeytown, as already named.) In 1880 he went to Cincinnati and attended lectures at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, and graduated at that place in March, 1882. Immediately afterward he located in Reedsville, in Mifflin County, where he still continues in the practice of his profession.
G. G. HARMAN, M.D., was born near Belleville, in Union township, Mifflin County, Pa., May 16, 1854; acquired his literary education at the Kishacoquillas Seminary, in Brown township, and at the Missionary Institute in Selinsgrove, in Snyder County, Pa. He commenced to read medicine with M. F. Hudson, M.D., of Belleville, Pa., in April, 1877, and graduated at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia on the 12th day of March, 1880. He soon afterward located in Allenville, where he practiced medicine until the spring of 1882. when he removed to Reedsville, where he still continues in the active duties of his profession In the fall of 1882 he was married to Miss Eva Smucker, of Mill Creek, in Huntingdon. County, Pa.
DR. JOSEPH HENDERSON was born in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, August 2, 1791. His parents were Matthew and Margaret H. Henderson. His father was a surveyor, and received his instructions under Colonel John Armstrong. At the age of eleven years Joseph Henderson removed to Centre County. In the winters of 181213 he attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, of which institution he is a graduate. He also studied under the instructions of an elder brother, Dr. John Henderson, of Huntingdon County. It was while thus attending lectures that he received from the Secretary of War the appointment of first lieutenant in the Twenty-second Regiment. He opened a recruiting-office, and in the spring of 1813 marched his troops to Sackett's Harbor, where they joined the main army on the frontier. In the fall of 1813 he was promoted to captain, and in 1814 was brevetted major, with the command of a regiment. During his military career he was engaged in the battles of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane and the siege of Fort Erie. After the close of the war he settled at Brown's Mills, where he continued in the practice of his profession until 1850.
He then came to Lewistown, and remained a citizen of the place down to December 25, 1863, when he died from the effects of injuries received fifty years before at Fort Niagara. Dr. Henderson was also, during his life, honored with high civil positions. He was one of the trustees of the State Lunatic Asylum at Harrisburg. In 1832 and 1834 he was a member of Congress, and became intimately acquainted with the prominent men of the day, among whom we would mention Webster, Clay and Calhoun. As a physician, Dr. Henderson ranked among the first, and in his practice met with great success. He was twice married, first, to Miss Jane Maclay, a sister of Judge Maclay. After the death of his first wife he was married to Miss Margaret Isenberg in 1852. Of this last union, their issue were James L., Joseph and William B.
DR. EDWARD BURKE PATTERSON, a native of Northumberland County, came to Lewistown soon after 1812, and began the practice of medicine. Here he continued to reside to the time
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of his death, which occurred in 1828. He left no issue, and is buried in the Presbyterian Church-yard. He is still remembered by the older inhabitants as an excellent physician and a man possessed of a jovial disposition.
A. ROTHROCK
ABRAHAM ROTHROCK, M.D., was born on the 19th of April, 1806, in Derry township, Mifflin County, Pa., and in early youth was rendered familiar with labor both on the farm and, in the tannery owned and operated by his father. He received a thorough English education at home, with additional instruction in Latin and the sciences at the Lewistown Academy, after which, in 1826, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Edmund Burke Patterson, of Lewistown, and at his death became a student in the office of Dr. James Culbertson. He attended a course of lectures in the fall of 1828-29 at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated in 1835. Dr. Rothrock began his professional labors at McVeytown, Mifflin County, where he has been actively engaged in practice for a period of fifty-five years, and still responds to the calls of his many patients. From the beginning his field of labor covered a wide area, his rides often extending to remote portions of the county, where his skill and large experience as an accoucheur and general practitioner rendered his presence desirable. The largest share of
Practice in McVeytown fell to Dr. Rothrock, though much of it has, with the advance of years, been relinquished. He still responds to the calls of his early patients, and is frequently summoned in consultation. He is a member of the District Medical Society, of the County Medical Society and of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, of which he was first vice-president in 1878, and has often participated in discussions before those bodies. During the late war he was appointed and held the office
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of surgeon of the board of enrollment for the Seventeenth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. The doctor has, in his political associations, been always either a Whig or a Republican, though never ambitious for official distinctions. His religious views are in harmony with the creed of the Presbyterian Church, his membership being with the church of that denomination in McVeytown, in which he fills the office of elder. Dr. Rothrock was married, on the 11th of May, 1837, to Phoebe Brinton, daughter of Joseph Trimble, of Delaware County, Pa. Their children are Joseph Trimble, Ann, Amanda H. and Mary Mifflin, wife of David McFarland, of West Chester, Pa.
Joseph Trimble Rothrock, M.D., was born April 9, 1839, at McVeytown. After receiving an academic education, he entered the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, and graduated with the degree of " M.D." in the University of Pennsylvania in 1868. Commencing his practice at Agricultural College, Centre County, Pa., he removed, in 1870, to Wilkesbarre, Pa., and remained until 1877, making a specialty of diseases of the eye and ear. In 186465 he was associated with the exploration party of the Western Union Telegraph Extension in British Columbia, and in 1873 and 1875 was botanist and surveyor to Lieutenant Wheeler's expedition. He has been a member of the Canadian Botanical Society, the Boston Natural History Society, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and contributed many valuable papers to medical and botanical literature. He was one of the founders of the Wilkesbarre Hospital, and in the summer of 1876 successfully inaugurated a new idea in education by establishing "The North Mountain School of Physical Culture," in Luzerne County, for the training of youths. He enlisted during the late war as private in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, was wounded at Fredericksburg and afterward made captain of Company E, Twentieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. Dr. Rothrock was, on the 2d of January, 1877, elected professor of botany in the University of Pennsylvania. He was, May 27, 1869, married to Martha, daughter of Addison and Elizabeth May, of West Chester, Pa., and has had five children, two of whom are deceased.
The grandfather of Dr. Abraham Rothrock emigrated from one of the Rhine provinces to America, and settled in Bucks County, where he engaged in farming and remained during his life-time. His children were eight sons and two daughters, of whom Philip was born in 1757 in Bucks County, Pa., and removed to Derry township, Mifflin County, where he followed the tanner's trade. He married Martha, daughter of Abram Labaugh, one of the earliest settlers in the county. Their children were Joseph, Jonathan, Abraham, Philip, David, George and William; also two daughters, who died in infancy. Philip Rothrock died on the 13th day of October, 1851, and his wife on the 22d of January, 1858.
DR. JOHN PARSHALL was practicing in the county as early as 1815.
DR. JAMES M. CONNELL came to Lewistown about 1816, commenced the practice of medicine, in which he continued until 1845, when he removed to Ohio, and there died in 1884.
DR. ALEXANDER JOHNSON practiced in the county in 1817.
DR. FRANK SWARTZ, a German, came to Lewistown prior to 1821, probably about 1818. He practiced in the place for many years, and remained an inhabitant of Lewistown to the time of his death. His son, DR. J. A. SWARTZ, practiced for many years in McVeytown.
DR. ANDREW P. LINN came to McVeytown in 1819 from Chambersburg, and practiced until 1830, when he was succeeded by Dr. Abraham Rothrock.
DR. LEWIS HORNING began practice in Lewistown in 1821, but remained only a few years, moving away in 1824.
DR. LEWIS HOOVER, a native of Dry Valley, born in Derry township, resided in Lewistown, and practiced for a number of years. He died in 1854.
SAMUEL SMITH appears as one of the physicians of Mifflin County in the year I823.
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DR. J. CROMWELL REYNOLDS was born in 1810. After studying medicine, be enlisted in the Seminole War as a surgeon. From 1843 to 1846 he was located and practiced his profession at McVeytown. He served in the Mexican War, and on his return settled at Harrisburg. He died February 20, 1849, and is buried in St. Mark's Cemetery, Lewistown.
ALEXANDER MCLEOD, CHRISTIAN SWARTZ, H. C. WAMPLER, WILLIAM JONES and JACOB KREIDER were practitioners in 1833.
JAMES CULBERTSON
JAMES CULBERTSON, M.D., was born on the 12th of March, 1803, near Carlisle, in Cumberland County, Pa., and having been when a child deprived of the tender care of his parents, became a member of the family of his guardian, Thomas Urie, who resided on the adjoining farm. With him he remained until twelve years of age, when his preparatory collegiate course was begun at Hopewell Academy, in Shippensburg, Pa. He entered the sophomore class of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, and was graduated from that institution in 1824. Deciding upon medicine as his profession, and estimating it at its just importance, he determined to prepare himself thoroughly before undertaking its various responsibilities, He began his studies under the preceptorship of Dr. Adam Hays, of Carlisle, and was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania on the 6th of April, 1827. After a period spent in travel, Dr. Culbertson, in 1828, chose Lewistown as the scene of his professional labors, and continued actively employed until his death, on the 30th of March, 1854, being for three years associated with Dr. Edmund Patterson, after which he established an independent practice. The doctor was a constant reader, possessed a remarkably retentive memory, and made himself thoroughly familiar with the best professional literature of the day. His field of labor was extended and his prac-
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tice successful. While well versed in the department of surgery, and skillful in the treatment of disease, he was especially happy as a diagnostician, and possessed a mind peculiarly fitted to analyze the nature and tendency of disease. He loved his calling, and was in hearty sympathy with every effort having for its object the promotion of the cause of medical science and the higher interests of the profession. Personally, he was remarkable for his genial temperament, which quickly endeared him to those with whom he was thrown professionally in contact. This fact, together with his abilities, rendered his presence much desired in consultation. Dr. Culbertson, aside from his medical studies, gave much time and thought to the sciences of geology and mineralogy, and was a constant contributor to the medical and scientific journals of the day. He was a member of the Geological Society of Pennsylvania, and of the Mifflin County Medical Society, of which he was president at the time of his death.
The latter society on that occasion passed the following resolutions:
"Resolved, That in the decease of our late friend and fellow citizen, Dr. James Culbertson, the profession has lost an able practitioner; his medical associates, a judicious adviser; the sick and afflicted, an attentive physician and sympathizing friend, and society, generally, an exemplary member, whose urbanity and gentlemanly deportment had endeared him to a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
"Resolved, That we sincerely sympathize with his bereaved family in their irreparable loss.
"Resolved, That members of this society attend his funeral April 2d at two o'clock P.M.
"Resolved, That members of the society, as a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.
"Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the local country papers, and a copy presented to the family of deceased."
Dr. Culbertson was a Whig in his political convictions, and, although decided on questions of public policy, never aspired to office. His religious belief was in harmony with the creed of the Presbyterian Church, of which he later in life became a member. He was identified with the interests of Lewistown, and filled, among other offices, those of trustee of the Lewistown Academy and the Lewistown Bank. Dr. Culbertson was, on the 3d of July, 1839, married to Mary, daughter of Robert Steel, a native of Lewistown, associated by early fancily history with the State of Delaware. Their children are William A., born May 29, 1840, died October 4, 1843, and Horace J., born May 25, 1842, an attorney in Lewistown, who pursued his preparatory studies at the Lewistown Academy, entered the sophomore class of Lafayette College iii September, 1859, and began the study of law in 1864. He was admitted to the bar in April, 1866, and filled the office of district attorney of Mifflin County from November, 1871, to January, 1875.
The grandfather of Dr. Culbertson, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, was William Culbertson, who resided in Cumberland County, Pa., where he became, in 1771, the purchaser of six hundred acres of land, a portion of which is still held by his great-grandson. Among his children was Samuel, a native of Cumberland County, where he was a prosperous farmer, a member of the Supreme Executive Council, an exemplary citizen, an elder in the Silver Spring Presbyterian Church and a man of large influence and usefulness. His death occurred in 1807. His two sons were William and James, the latter the subject of this biography.
DR. L. G. SNOWDEN practiced in 1835. He came to McVeytown, located as a physician and remained until 1843.
DR. CHARLES BOWER, a native of Union County (now Snyder), settled at Newton Hamilton in 1838 and practiced until the Mexican War, when he enlisted as a lieutenant. After the war he returned to the place and resumed practice. He continued in active practice until the War of the Rebellion, when he again entered the service as assistant surgeon. In this last service he remained until the close of the war, advancing to the position of medical director of corps. After the war he settled at Harrisburg, and died about 1870. Prior to 1850 Mr. Bower was a member of the State Legislature.
DR. PETER AHLE practiced in the county in 1811. DR. JAMES FORSTER also practiced at this period.
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THOS. VAN VALZAH
THOMAS VAN VALZAH, M.D., was born December 23, 1793, at Buffalo Cross-Roads, Union County, Pa. He received his classical education from the Rev. Thomas Hood, who instructed students from the neighborhood. His preparatory course in medicine was obtained under the immediate direction of his father, a successful physician of extensive practice. Dr. Van Valzah was a surgeon in the army in the War of 1812, at the early age of twenty years, and afterwards graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1818. He entered on the practice of his profession in Lewisburgh, near the place of his birth, and steadily advanced in a career of success. In 1837 he moved to Freeport, Ill., and returned to Pennsylvania in 1842, and resumed his professional labors at Lewistown, where he remained until his death, having been in the active exercise of his profession for fifty-eight years.
Dr. Van Valzah was by nature and education well fitted for his profession. He had a charm and kindliness of manner that inspired the patient with confidence and sympathy, and his presence in the sick-room was often of itself a medicine and restorative to the invalid. He never waived the call of the poor and his services were freely bestowed to needy sufferers. He was an able physician, and, aside from his local practice, was often called abroad for consultation, prescription and surgery. He kept himself well read in medical works and was always abreast of the progress of medical science. He excelled as a surgeon, was a rapid and skillful operator. The first case of Caesarian operation in this country was performed by Drs. Dougal and Van Valzah in 1827, in Northumberland County, Pa., and is reported in the American Journal of Medical Sciences, 1835, page 343.
The first high operation for lithotomy in America was performed by Dr. Gibson, of
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Philadelphia; the second by Dr. Carpenter, of Lancaster; and the third by Dr. Van Valzah, of Lewisburgh. Gibson's Surgery, vol. ii., page 244, edition of 1849, refers to the successful operations of these eminent physicians.
The second successful high operation in America for lithotomy was performed by Dr. Van Valzah.
The doctor delighted to dispense hospitality, and at his house his friends loved to congregate to receive a welcome and enjoy generous entertainment. He was kind, dignified and considerate of the rights and feelings of others. His long white beard, bright eyes and cheerful countenance gave him an attractive and patriarchal appearance.
Dr. Van Valzah was married, February 3, 1820, to Harriet Howard, of Union County, Pa. They had eight children. A daughter died in infancy, a son in his youth, and two sons, Robert and John, in manhood, in Freeport, Ill., both physicians, the latter from disease contracted at the siege of Vicksburg, while surgeon in the army. His wife died January 25, 1870. Two sons, two daughters and three grandchildren survived him, David, a captain in the army; Thomas Howard, a practicing physician in Lewistown, residing with his sister; Mary E. Jacob and her daughter; and Jennie H. Parker and two daughters, of Mifflintown, Pa.
Dr. Van Valzah died May 6, 1870, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, at his home, in full possession of his faculties, of pleuro-pneumonia, contracted during a visit to Washington. His death was much lamented, and at the time of his funeral all places of business were closed as a public testimonial of respect to his memory.
SAMUEL MACLAY, M.D., a son of Wm. P. Maclay, was born in Union township, Mifflin County, Pa., on the 5th day of October, 1803. He graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, July 6, 1825. He read medicine with Joseph Henderson, M.D., in 1825 to 1828. He graduated in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania March 21, 1829; practiced medicine in Lewistown from 1829 to 1833, at which time he moved to Milroy, and has continued there ever since in the practice of his profession, except one year, from April, 1871, to April, 1872, during which time the doctor and his family lived in Virginia.
SAMUEL MACLAY, M.D., JR., a son of Samuel Maclay, a cousin of Samuel Maclay, M.D., Sr., read medicine with Joseph Henderson, M.D., and graduated at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and came to Milroy in 1839, and attended to Samuel Maclay, Sr.'s, practice during his visit in foreign countries. Samuel Maclay, Jr., left Milroy in 1843 and went to the Western States; he died in Cincinnati in 1851.
GEORGE VANCE MITCHELL, M.D., was born in Oliver township, Mifflin County, Pa., on the 10th day of April, 1811. During his infancy his mother died, and in a few years afterward his father died also. He was then cared for by his uncle and guardian, Judge Criswell, who gave direction to his literary and scientific pursuits. He commenced the study of medicine in 1830, in the office of Dr. O. Friel, a young physician who had acquired a high reputation as an oculist. In the year 1831 he entered the office of A. Rothrock, M.D., for the purpose of pursuing his studies of medicine. During his time in that office he manifested more than ordinary aptitude in acquiring correct ideas in the various departments of medicine. He attended lectures in Jefferson College in Philadelphia, and in the year 1834 he graduated. Soon afterward he commenced the practice of medicine in Belleville, in Mifflin County, Pa., and remained at that place until 1841, when he removed a few miles eastward to Kishacoquillas, in a new and well-arranged house, with office attached, built expressly for him by his father-in-law. He was married, the 24th day of October, 1837, to Miss Elizabeth R. Taylor, a daughter of a wealthy and highly-respected farmer. By this marriage they raised two sons and three daughters. During his professional life he lived in the beautiful and fertile valley of Kishacoquillas, which is peopled with wealthy and industrious farmers. Being located in the country made his field of labor a hard one.
As a practitioner he was eminently successful in all the departments of the healing art. He
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was a studious reader, keeping fully abreast with all the discoveries or improvements as reported in the periodical journals or new medical books. During his professional labors he was often called upon to meet with his professional brethren to join in consultation upon important or obscure cases. In his deportment there was such a caste of refinement that on his entering the sick-chamber his manner and sympathy for his suffering patient made him always a welcome visitor. During the War of the Rebellion he tendered his services to the United States government, and on the 26th day of November, 1862, he was appointed assistant surgeon, which position he accepted, and in one month afterward he was promoted to surgeon in the One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry, where his services were highly appreciated by the soldiers as well as by the medical staff under whom he served. He was a consistent and influential member of the Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed a life of unusual good health until within a few months of his death, when general debility made inroads upon his constitution and he became admonished by failing strength to seek relief by rest and appropriate remedies. A few weeks before his death he was suddenly stricken down with an attack of softening of the brain, from which time he began to sink, until the 20th day of July, 1876, when he departed in peace.
T. A. WORRALL
THOMAS A. WORRALL, M.D., was born in the borough of Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pa., from which he removed to Philadelphia and subsequently to Baltimore. His education was principally obtained in the latter cities, an academic course having been pursued in Philadelphia and concluded in Baltimore. He early chose the law as a profession, and began his studies with one of the eminent members of the bar of that day, but eventually abandoned it for a medical course, which he pursued at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and finished in 1837 at the Washington Medical College, Baltimore, from which he was graduated. During this course of study he had charge of the City Small-pox Hospital, and won many commendations from the faculty for his assiduous devotion to duty. Possessing a cultivated literary taste and wielding a ready pen, he began to write at the age of sixteen, and meanwhile contributed frequently to the magazines of the day, being from time to time the editor of several papers. During the whole of his active life he devoted much time to literary pursuits, and left, on his death, the manuscript copy of the following poems: "Alzarah," "Malek " and "Gomer, the Reborn of the Nineteenth Century," which will, at no distant date, be published by his family. Dr. Worrall in 1838 removed to Lewistown and opened an office in the old stone building located on the corner of Brown and Market Streets, since demolished. From that date until a short time prior to his death he continued in active practice of a general character. His skill as a surgeon and correct judgment as a diagnostician at once gave him a leading place among the physicians of the county, and made his counsel in adjacent counties much sought after. Having made diseases of the eye a special study, he also obtained an enviable reputation as an oculist. In 1852 the doctor married Miss Lizzie Ker, only daughter of Rev. Joshua Moore, of Norristown, Pa. Their children are a son, Clarence Augustus, who married Ada C. Worrall, of Philadelphia, and a daughter, Florence Garnet, who died in youth. Dr. Worrall offered his services to the government during the late war, was appointed brigade surgeon by President Lincoln on the 26th of December, 1861, commissioned by Governor Curtin May 6, 1862, and was placed in charge of the hospital at Alexandria, Va. In the spring of 1863 he was ordered to the Department of the Army of the Tennessee, and assigned to duty at Vicksburg under General Grant. He was then ordered to report at Grand Gulf, La., where his duties were exceedingly arduous, and later at Vicksburg and Nashville, Tenn. He was afterward stationed at Alton, Ill., and in the fall of 1864 he was assigned to hospital service in Maryland, from whence he assumed charge of the hospital at Riker's Island, N. Y., containing five thousand patients. His resignation was accepted in the spring of 1865. Dr. Worrall possessed strong political convictions, and was among the earliest advocates of the doctrine of Abolition, which received from
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him practical aid as one of the leaders of the party in the county. He afterward allied himself to the Whig and Republican parties, and although at one time chief burgess of the borough of Lewistown, usually declined all political honors. His religious views were in harmony with those of the Society of Friends, of which he was a member, and his ready pen was frequently devoted to religious themes. The death of Dr. Worrall occurred on the 30th of October, 1877.
The ancestors of Dr. Thomas Augustus Worrall are traced back to 1066 in a direct line to Sir Hubert de Worrall, a chieftain and knight who, with several sons and grandsons, accompanied William, Duke of Normandy, from France, and was engaged in the battle of Hastings, in which sanguinary fight three of the sons were slain. One grandson saved the life of Richard Coeur de Lion, and only for the prudence and courage of young Worrall the King would have perished in an ambuscade artfully prepared for him by the infidels. Sir Hubert was ennobled by William and erected, by permission, a stately palace in Northumberland, four miles from Morpeth. Large estates were given him in Northumberland, and the ruins of the old castle, or homestead, are still to be seen there. Richard Coeur de Lion, highly appreciating Sir Hubert's conduct on this occasion, conferred additional honors upon the family. Their arms were, "Three lions en passant," and the motto, "Fortitudine et Prudentia." A branch of the family went to Ireland, under Henry II., and again a certain Sir William Worrall took estates in Ireland under Charles I., and this branch of the family has its living representatives in the children of John, the son of John, the son of John, who was the son of James Worrall. The main branch of the family remained in England, but their title passed or decayed, and they mixed with the commonalty.
A Margaret Worrall was the grand-aunt of Dean Swift and also of the poet Dryden, the former having lived several years prior to his death with Dr. Worrall, of Dublin. The grandfather of Sheridan was a near neighbor and associate of these two. Two immense fortunes have been lost by its carelessness of records - one reverted to Trinity College, Dublin, the other escheated to the crown.
Hon. Septimus Worrall now holds a place about the courts of Queen Victoria. John, great-grandfather of our subject, was a lineal descendant of Sir Hubert de Worrall, and was known as " John Worrall, of Wales." He emigrated from Wales with William Penn, having married Sarah Goodwin, of London. Upon arriving in Philadelphia he took up a tract of land where Market Street now is, and an estate in New Jersey of two thousand acres. He finally settled in Middletown, Delaware County, Pa., and took up an estate of five hundred acres. The Middletown Quaker Meeting-house and school-house are located on this tract. His wife died while on a visit to Ireland with other members of the Society of Friends' Meeting, and was buried there. This John had three sons, Peter, John and Thomas, and Thomas had a son George, who was born in 1769 at the family stone mansion, Middletown, and married Jane, daughter of Joseph and Mary Dawson Sermon, of Philadelphia, by whom he had seven sons and three daughters, - George, Isaac, Charles, Richard, Joseph, Horatio, Dr. Thomas Augustus, Matilda, Jane and Mary. His death occurred at Lewistown, Pa., March 27, 1845. All the children lived to have families. Five of the sons studied medicine, four of whom graduated. Isaac and Thomas Augustus were very successful practitioners, and three of these brothers also served with credit in the late Rebellion. Dr. Thomas Augustus is the subject of this sketch, and took his name from his grandfather.
The writer is indebted to Miss Mamie Bailey, adopted daughter of Dr. Worrall, for the facts herein noted.
BENJAMIN BERRY, M.D., practiced medicine in Milroy in August, 1830; was there about two years. Nothing is learned of his history as to education or medical school from which he graduated. From Milroy he moved to Centre County, near Centre Furnace, and remained there till his death.
JOHN MORRISON, M.D., graduated in one of the Philadelphia medical schools, probably the University of Pennsylvania. He practiced medicine in Milroy from 1832 to 1834, at
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which time he left that place and went to Bucks County, where he died several years afterward.
The first doctor in Belleville was a Dr. Cook; after him came Dr. Westhoven, and about 1830 came Dr. Eliphaz Bigelow, who remained till about 1858, when his nephew, Dr. William G. Bigelow, came, who remained until 1871, after which came Dr. Jacob K. Metz, who remained about two years.
J. K. METZ
JACOB K. METZ is of German parentage. His grandfather, whose name was, so far as is known, John Metz, emigrated from the Fatherland and settled in Lancaster County, from whence he removed to Huntingdon, Pa., and became the popular landlord of the place. His residence was again changed to Petersburg, in the same county, where he was both a saddler and farmer, and finally Ohio became his home, where his death occurred. His children were John, Lewis, who died in youth, and one daughter. John Metz was born about the year 1785 in Lancaster County, and accompanied his parents on their removal to Huntingdon, and subsequently to Petersburg. He entered the office of Dr. Beard, of Manheim, Lancaster County, as a student of medicine, and, on completing his studies, engaged for a short time in practice at that point. After a residence of seven years in Petersburg he removed to Brady township, Huntingdon County, which continued for a period of sixty years to be his home. His death occurred in 1874 in Petersburg. He was married to Fanny Keyser, whose children are John K., Maria (wife of Jacob Shaffner), Henry K., Samuel K., Jonathan K., Elizabeth (wife of John Baum), Jacob K, and Frances (wife of George P. Wakefield).
Jacob K., the subject of this biographical sketch, was born on the 16th of August, 1825,
486 JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
in Brady township, Huntingdon County, Pa. He was early taught the value of labor, and many demands were made upon his time and strength in the work of the farm. Having, however, a higher purpose in view, he resolved to master a profession, and at the age of twenty-two began the study of medicine with his father, concluding his course at the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, from which he was graduated March 7, 1852. At once entering into copartnership with his father, he speedily became interested in a large and successful practice. He was, on the 7th of May, 1857, married to Ann, daughter of John Carver, of Huntingdon County. Their children are Frances (wife of Howard Cunningham), Jane E. (deceased), Mary K., Harry W. and Maggie G. (twins) and John P. Mrs. Metz died July 16, 1876, and he was again married, June 9, 1881, to Barbara A. King, daughter of David M. Zook, of Menno township, where he still resides. Dr. Metz, though still a practitioner, after years of severe labor, when the largest share of the practice of the locality fell to his lot, has relinquished the arduous work of the profession. A Democrat in his political sentiments, he is not an active worker in the field of politics, and cares nothing for the honors of office.
In 1873, Dr. Eliphaz C. Bigelow, another nephew of the first Eliphaz Bigelow, located there and remained to the time of his death, in 1882. In the fall of 1882 came Dr. Brown A. Bigelow, son of the first Dr. Eliphaz Bigelow, who is a practicing physician at Belleville at the present time (1885).
M. T. MITCHELL, M.D., graduated at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in the month of March, 1840. He came to Milroy and began the practice of medicine in 1840. He remained there until the time of his death, which was in March, 1860.
Dr. JOHN C. RHEAM (Thompsonian) practiced medicine in Upper Milroy for several years. He was there in November, 1846, and moved some time afterward to Pleasant Gap, in Centre County, where he established a Thompsonian resort.
DR. SAMUEL SMITH, studied medicine under Dr. Joseph B. Ard, and began practice in Lewistown about 1840. After continuing a few years, he removed to Pittsburgh, where he died about 1883.
DR. ELIAS W. HALE, studied under the instructions of Dr. Joseph B. Ard. Practiced in Lewistown a few years, and removed to near Reedsville. About 1865 he moved to Bellefonte, where he still resides.
DR. REINHOLD, a German physician of the homoeopathic school, came to this country about 1840. After a time he settled in Juniata County, the first of the school to settle in the county. He remained there several years, and then moved to Lewistown. After practicing a few years at the latter place, he finally removed to Williamsport, where, after practicing many years, he died.
DRS. SEVERUS and ALBERT S. CUMMINGS, came to Lewistown from Middleburg, Union County (now Snyder), about 1848. Severus practiced till his death by an accident, October 29, 1863. Dr. Albert moved to Sunbury a year or so before his brother's death, but after the accident returned to Lewistown, remained about a year and finally settled at Sunbury.
In 1849, DR. J. A. SWARTZ, a son of Dr. Frank Swartz, of Lewistown, studied medicine with his father and began practice in his native town. After he graduated at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, he became a resident of McVeytown, where he continued his practice until 1884. He is now in one of the departments at Washington, D. C.
DR. J. B. MITCHELL, practiced at Lewistown in 1850. He also conducted a drug-store.
DR. A. W. MASS, a native of Juniata County, came to Lewistown, and studied with Dr. Joseph Ard. Having graduated at Philadelphia, he began practice in Lewistown in 1851. Here he remained six years, when he removed to Philadelphia.
DR. GEORGE HOOVER, studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Lewis Hoover, and graduated at the Medical College of Philadelphia about 1855. He settled at Lewistown, where he practiced until his death, in February, 1875.
DR. DAVID D. MAHON settled in Newton Hamilton in 1861, soon after Dr. Chas. Bower
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joined the army. He practiced until 1865, when he was succeeded by his son, Dr. J. T. Mahon, who is still in practice.
JOHN I. MARKS, M.D., was born in Lewistown on the 9th day of April, 1826. He received his primary and preparatory education at the Lewistown Academy and at Tuscarora Academy, in Juniata County. He graduated at Jefferson College, in Cannonsburg, Pa., in June, 1846. He read medicine with Thomas Vanvalzah, M.D., and T. A. Worrall, M.D., both of Lewistown. He graduated at the Pennsylvania Hospital January 6, 1855. He practiced medicine, first, in Lewistown two years, second, in Lockhaven two years; he then returned to Lewistown and practiced medicine in that place until he moved to Milroy, where he practiced medicine two years. The Civil War then commenced and he went to the army with the three months' men as a surgeon in the Seventy-eighth Regiment. When the three months had expired he came home and remained a short time. He again returned to the army in 1864, and was assigned to the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Afterwards he was assigned to the Seventy-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Owing to ill health he came home and remained there until he recovered; he then went back to the army and was assigned to the Eighteenth Regiment of Pennsylvania Cavalry as surgeon. This was about three months before the close of the war. He became severely sick and was compelled to leave the army for home. After his recovery he again resumed the practice of medicine, and continued to practice in Lewistown until the time of his death. He died January 12, 1882. During the last two years of his life he was too frail to practice.
SAMUEL LEWIS ALEXANDER, M.D., was born in Armagh township, Mifflin County, August 15, 1834. In 1838 his parents moved to Penn's Valley, in Centre County, where he received a liberal free-school education. In 1851 he entered Dickinson Seminary, in Williamsport, Pa., where he remained until the California gold fever of 1852, then at its height, took possession of his boyish fancy, and, in company with several friends, he took the
"overland route " to the then far-away land of gold. He remained in California, working in the gold-mines and merchandising, for three years, when he thought his dreams of wealth had been sufficiently realized to warrant a return to his home in the East. He consequently sailed from San Francisco, intending to come by the way of Cape Horn, but was only out twenty-four hours when the steamer upon which he had taken passage was wrecked by running on a bar, and many of the passengers were lost in the ocean. He was picked up by a vessel and taken back to San Francisco, stripped of all the wealth he had accumulated during his three years' toil on the Pacific coast. After his return home he read medicine with J. P. Wilson, then a distinguished physician of Centre County. In 1857 he entered the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, and graduated at that institution in 1859. He married Miss Mary Louise Noblet, of Philadelphia, and located at Milroy, in Mifflin County. He there began to practice medicine, and soon acquired a large and lucrative practice. The Civil War then broke out in all its fury, and the calls of his country aroused his patriotism to such an extent that in July, 1861, he entered the army as first assistant surgeon, and was assigned to the First Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Cavalry (Forty-fourth Regiment). On November 25th his regiment was detailed to capture some rebels then at Drainsville, Va., and on their return to headquarters he was shot by a rebel hid in ambush. The orderly sergeant (William Wagner), who was with him at the time, held him on his horse until they reached a farm-house, a short distance farther on their way, where they stopped, only long enough to get a conveyance, upon which the doctor was placed and taken to camp. They arrived at camp in the after-part of the night or early in the morning. He breathed his last soon afterward. He died November 27, 1861.
ISAAC P. NEFF, M.D., was born in Penn's Valley, Centre County, January 23, 1833, about two miles west of where Centre Hall now stands. He attended school at Dickinson Seminary, in Williamsport, and at Pennsylvania College, in Centre County. He read medicine
488 JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
with his brother, Peter D. Neff, M.D., in 1857 and 1858; graduated at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in March, 1859, after attending two full courses of lectures. He commenced the practice of medicine at Nittany Hall in April, 1859, and on the 27th of the following May he moved to the lower end of Penn's Valley, and practiced medicine in Aaronsburg and vicinity until September, 1865, when he relinquished the practice and entered upon the study of theology. In October, 1866, he moved to Milroy, in Mifflin County, and there resumed the practice of medicine, and continued in the same until March, 1868. At that time he received and accepted a call from the Evangelical Lutheran pastorate of Liberty Valley, in Tioga County, Pa. He married there, and has been in the active work of the ministry ever since.
F. S. KOHLER, M.D., was born at Milroy, Mifflin County, December 18, 1836. He received his primary education in the common schools of that place. He engaged in the business of clerking at various places, viz.: Centre Hall, Bellefonte and Lewistown, at which latter place he studied Latin and the higher mathematics under the private tutorship of Professor I. J. Stine, with a view of preparing himself for the study of law. In 1857 he went to Philadelphia, and there became acquainted with a number of medical students, who turned his attention from the law to medicine. He then studied medicine and graduated from the Eclectic College in 1860. He located at Reedsville and engaged in the practice of medicine, and entered the army as assistant surgeon of the Twenty-first Pennsylvania Cavalry in February, 1865, and was discharged in August of the same year, when the war closed. He again resumed the practice of medicine in Reedsville, and continued there until the fall of 1872. In the mean time the college at which he had graduated met with reverses, and was finally disbanded. Not wishing to incur the ostracism of his professional brethren, as an alumnus of a defunct medical college, in the fall of 1872 he entered the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, and graduated with the class in March, 1873. He then located at Vevay, in Indiana. That region being malarial, he practiced there several years, when he discovered that his health began to fail. In 1880 he sought the Rocky Mountains and located at Morgan City, in Utah, where he established a medical school, and is now engaged in practicing and teaching medicine.
CHARLES S. HURLBUT, M.D., is descended from English stock, the earliest representatives of the family having, on their emigration, settled in Connecticut, from whence a branch removed and located in the Wyoming Valley, Pa. In the line of descent from the latter was Christopher, grandfather of Dr. Hurlbut, who resided in Steuben County, N. Y. His children were James, Christopher, John and several daughters. John, whose birth occurred in the Wyoming Valley, when a youth removed to New York State, where he married Priscilla, daughter of William Sharp, of Staten Island, N. Y. Their children are Edward, William, John, Charles S., Elizabeth (wife of Rev. Mr. Woodcock), Abigail, Mary (wife of Rev. T. M. Hodgman) and Martha. Charles S. Hurlbut was born February 9, 1826, in Steuben County, N. Y., where the early years of his life were spent. He received a classical education at the Alfred University, located at Alfred Centre, Allegany County, N. Y., and choosing the profession of medicine as that most congenial to his tastes, began his studies with Dr. Dimmick, of Burns, Allegany County, N. Y., afterward concluding them with Dr. W. S. Babbitt, of Olean, N. Y., and graduating from the University of Buffalo, at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1852. Immediately after he accepted a partnership with his preceptor, Dr. Babbitt, at Olean, and continued this association for several years, ultimately controlling the practice on the removal of the latter to Lockport, N. Y. Being especially interested in surgery, most of the surgical cases in the vicinity came under his direction, which, together with an extensive general practice, rendered his labors both arduous and responsible. Here he remained until 1867, when Lewistown offered an attractive field, and has since been his home, as also the scene of successful professional labor until the present time. Dr. Hurlbut is a member of the Mifflin County Medical Society and of the Juniata Valley
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Medical Society, in both of which he manifests an active interest. A Republican in his political sympathies, he is not a partisan, and has invariably declined all proffers of office. His religious creed is in harmony with that of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a member. The doctor was, on the 15th of October, 1868, married to Mary C., only daughter of Arthur B. and Anna Eliza Long, of Lewistown.
G. N. HARCY, M.D., graduated in the Hungarian University, in Hungary. After practicing medicine in Lewistown and Lilleyville, in Mifflin County, he moved to Siglerville, in Armagh township, in the month of September, 1859. He continued to practice medicine in that place until August, 1862. He then moved to Huron County, in the State of Ohio, where he still remains in the practice of his profession.
DR. THOMAS C. THOMAS (eclectic) came to Milroy from somewhere in the neighborhood of Pine Grove, in Centre County, some time in 1862, and practiced medicine in that place until some time in 1865. He then moved away.
SOLOMON F. WEHR, M.D., was born in Union County, Pa., near New Berlin. Attended lectures in Philadelphia at a medical college in Spruce Street. He practiced medicine in Madisonburg, in Centre County, and came to Milroy in the spring of 1863, and practiced medicine until the 1st day of April, 1866, at which time he moved from Milroy.
ABRAHAM HARSHBARGER, M.D., was born in Potter township, Centre County, on the 12th day of December, 1810. He read medicine with T. A. Worrall, M. D., in Lewistown, Mifflin County, in 1841 and 1842. He completed his course of medical studies with William I. Wilson, M.D., of Centre County, Pa., in 1842. Graduated at the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, in the month of March, 1844, and began practice in McAlisterville, Juniata County, and continued there until about 1856, when he moved to Port Royal and practiced until September, 1861, when he enlisted as captain of Company I, of the Forty-ninth Regiment. He was commissioned as assistant surgeon of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers August 2, 1862; was promoted to surgeon of the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers December 5, 1862. After that regiment was mustered out he was transferred to the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers November 9, 1863. He served in that regiment until it was mustered out, the 24th day of June, 1865, being at the close of the war. He was in the army from September, 1861, to June 24, 1865. He came to Milroy on the 4th day of September, 1865, and still continues to practice medicine in that place.
DR. A. H. SHAEFFER was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1867, at the age of twenty-seven. Practiced in Belleville until the fall of 1873, when he removed to Lewistown, where he still resides engaged in active practice.
DR. COX, in 1869, settled at Lewistown, and commenced practice as a homoeopathist. He moved away in 1871.
DR. M. B. GARVER studied medicine with Dr. D. C. Smith, and graduated at Hahnemann College,, Cleveland, in 1871. Located at New Holland, Lancaster County; then moved to Thompsontown, Juniata County. In 1880 he removed to Belleville, in Union township, where he still resides.
DR. WILLIAM F. SPETH, a native of Germany, and a graduate of Hesse Darmstadt, came to this country, and was an intimate friend of Dr. Herring and other leaders of the homoeopathic school. He settled for several years in Pottsville, and upon the retirement of Dr. Cox was persuaded to come to Lewistown, where he remained until his death, in June, 1881, being over sixty years of age.
M. BONNER FLYNN., M.D., was born in New York City, N. Y., January 13, 1843. He attended the Cumberland Valley Institute, in Mechanicsburg, Pa., in 1852 and 1853. He afterward attended St. John's College, in Frederick City, Md., in 1857 and 1859. He commenced the study of medicine in 1860, and graduated first at Bellevue College, in New York City, in 1862; then, second, he graduated at the New York Hygeo-Therapeutic College on March 29, 1865. He entered the United States service of the late
490 JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
Rebellion in 1862. He practiced medicine in Jersey City from 1865 to 1867; in Worcester, Mass., from 1867 to 1872. He located at Reedsville in August, 1874, and removed to Lewistown in March, 1882.
ALEXANDER SAMUEL HARSHBARGER, M.D., son of Abraham Harshbarger, M.D., was born in McAlisterville, in Juniata County, Pa., January 6, 1850; graduated at the Airyview Academy, in Port Royal, Juniata County, in 1867. He read medicine with his father in Milroy, Mifflin County, in 1868 and 1869. He graduated at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in March, 1870, and practiced medicine from that date with his father, in Milroy, to August, 1884. He then moved to Lewistown, where he still continues in the practice of his profession.
WALTER H. PARCELS, M.D., was born in Allegany County, in the State of New York. He read medicine with Drs. Allen and Noble. of Oberlin, in the State of Ohio. He attended his first course of medical lectures at Cleveland Medical College in 1870, and practiced medicine irregularly, but continued medical studies until the winter of 1872 and 1873, when he graduated at the Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He located in Reedsville, Mifflin County, Pa., where he remained a year and a half, and moved to Toledo. In 1876 he came to Lewistown and began a practice, which he continues.
BROWN A. BIGELOW, M.D., was born in Belleville, Mifflin County, September 25, 1850. He is the youngest son of Dr. Eliphaz Bigelow, who came to Mifflin County in 1829. Three of his sons became physicians. Dr. Eliphaz moved from Belleville to Huntingdon County in 1855. From this place Brown A. Bigelow attended school, one term, at the Kishacoquillas Seminary, in 1864. He also attended school one term at McAlevey's Fort, under Professor Austin. He began the study of medicine, under Dr. James H. Bigelow, in 1871, and entered the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, in October, 1872, and graduated at that place on the 11th day of March, 1874. He then practiced medicine with Dr. James H. Bigelow, two years, at McAlevey's Fort, and in March,1876, he moved to Siglerville and practiced medicine in that place until December 14, 1882, when he moved to Belleville, where he still remains in the practice of his profession.
DR. D. C. DEAN, a native of Saville township, Perry County, studied medicine with Dr. H. 0. Orris, of Newport. In 1877, he graduated at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and practiced in Perry County until November, 1881, when he moved to Lewistown, where he is now in practice.
DR. W. S. WILSON settled at McVeytown in 1881.
DR. D. C. SMITH, a native of Thompsontown, Juniata County, graduated a homoeopathist in 1869. He settled at Mifflin and in 1882 removed to Lewistown, where he still continues in practice.
DR. D. NIPPLE began practice in 1882, at Newton Hamilton, where he still resides.
DR. B. BOOK, a student of Dr. D. C. Smith and a graduate of the Homoeopathic College, Philadelphia, settled at Lewistown April, 1884, where he is still in practice,
DR. R. M. JOHNSON is a practicing physician at McVeytown, having located there in 1884.
WOODS STERRETT, M.D., was born in the east end of Kishacoquillas Valley, at what is now McAuley's Mill, February 11, 1852. He received his education at Airyview Academy, in Juniata County, Pa., in 1872. He read medicine with Samuel Maclay, M.D., in Milroy, beginning in 1873 and ending in 1877. He graduated at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, March 12, 1877, and began the practice of medicine at Yeagertown, in Mifflin County, on the 9th day of April, 1877. He left Yeagertown in April, 1879, and began to practice medicine in Port Royal, in Juniata County, immediately afterward. He left Port Royal in September, 1882, and went to Milroy, where he still continues to practice medicine with Samuel Maclay, M.D.
GEORGE P. RISHEL, M.D., was born in Centre County, near Bellefonte, on the 9th day of January, 1854. He received his education at the Pennsylvania State College and gradu-
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ated at that school in 1880. He read medicine with Thomas R. Hayes, M.D., of Bellefonte, during 1879 and 1880. He took three full courses of lectures in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated at that school in March, 1883, and moved to Milroy about the close of August, 1884, where he still continues to practice in the medical profession.
SAMUEL J. BOYER, M.D., was born at Markelsville, in Perry County, Pa., July 2, 1856. Received his early education at Markelsville, and afterward studied at the New Bloomfield Academy. In the spring of 1877 he commenced the study of medicine at Plainfield, in Cumberland County, Pa., with Preceptor J. E. Vancamp, where he continued his studies till the fall of 1879. From that place he went to the city of Baltimore and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the spring he returned to Markelsville and there pursued the study of medicine under the instructions of J. D. Shull till the opening of college, and then attended medical lectures during the following winter, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore on the 1st day of March, 1881. He registered his diploma in Carlisle, in Cumberland County, Pa., and practiced with his former preceptor for seven months. He then went to Illinois and after one year he located in Elliottsburg, Perry County, Pa., and continued to practice medicine for a period of over two years. He then went to Ohio and attended a partial course of lectures at the Cincinnati Medical College of Physicians and Surgeons, and during the next spring he came back to Pennsylvania. On the 12th day of March, 1 884, he located at Siglerville, where he began the practice of medicine, and where he still continues.
B. RUSH KOHLER, M.D., was born in Reedsville, in Mifflin County, September 7, 1865. He received his education at the common schools of Mifflin County. In 1879 he went to Utah Territory and there commenced the study of medicine under the instruction of F. S. Kohler, M.D., and afterwards he graduated at the Medical Department of the Western Reserve University, at Cleveland, Ohio, February 25, 1885. He is now engaged in the practice at Reedsville.
Among the later physicians at Belleville should be named the following: Dr. Augustus Hibler, for several years subsequent to 1850; and from 1861 to 1867, Dr. Sheaffer (elsewhere spoken of); Dr. M. F. Hudson, who succeeded him and remained until 1880; Dr. John B. Floyd took the place of the latter, and is a practicing physician at Belleville at the present time; Dr. M. B. Garver, a homoeopathic physician, was there several years prior to October, 1885, when he removed to Lancaster County; Dr. J. J. Dahlen, a German doctor, who came in 1855 and remained until 1859, when he removed to the State of Ohio, and returning in 1866, remained until 1875; and Dr. J. W. Lyle, who commenced practicing medicine in Belleville in 1884, and is there at the present time.
MEDICAL SOCIETIES.The first medical society of Mifflin County was organized in 1845. The following is a list of the officers and members at that time:
President, Dr. Joseph B. Ard; Vice-Presidents, Drs. Thomas Van Valzah, Joseph Henderson; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. T. A. Worrall; Recording Secretary, Dr. C. Cameron; Secretary, Dr. James Culbertson. Members, Drs. J. C. Reynolds, Samuel Maclay, George V. Mitchell, A. Rothrock, Charles Bower, Lewis Hoover and John Metz. Afterwards the following also became members: Drs. Howard, E. W. Hale, Robert Martin, A. W. Mass, I. B. Herring and S. S. Cummings. How long this organization continued to exist is unknown. Of this original society, Drs. A. Rothrock, Samuel Maclay and John Metz are still living and practicing in the county.
The present Mifflin County Medical Society was organized March 4, 1874. The first meeting was held at the office of Dr. Charles S. Hurlbut, of Lewistown. The following officers were then elected:
President, Dr. A. Rothrock; Vice-President, Dr. T. H. Van Valzah; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. George V. Mitchell; Treasurer, Dr. A. Harshbarger; Secretary, Dr. A. H. Shaeffer. Members, Drs. C. S. Hurlbut; M. F. Hudson, James T. Mahon, A. S. Harshbarger. The so-
492 JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
ciety has held four meetings each year since its organization, and at the present time is in a flourishing condition. The following is a list of the present officers and members: President, Dr. A. H. Shaeffer; Vice-Presidents, Drs. G. G. Harmen, V. O. McKim; Treasurer, Dr. W. H. Parcels; Secretary, Dr. A. S. Harshbarger. Members, Drs. C. S. Hurlbut, T. H. Van Valzah, G. C. Dean, S. H. Rothrock, A. Harshbarger, W. S. Wilson, John P. Getter, A. Rothrock, I. B. Floyd, I. H. Mahon, Woods Sterrett.
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