-n ^ 
 
 o •'■
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 DECEASED PHYSICIANS 
 
 OF 
 
 WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N. Y. 
 
 BEING THE ANNUAL ADDRESS BEFORE THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY MEDICAL 
 SOCIETY, AT ITS SESSION HELD IN WHITE PLAINS, JUNE 1, 1858. 
 
 By GEORGE J., FISHER, A.M., M.D., 
 
 m 
 
 I'RKSioKMT OP Tiis Whstcubster Coc.vty Meuical Socictv; Pkkmaxe.vt Member op ths Aubbican 
 
 Medical AssoaATioN; Pebmankxt ^Iekber op the Medical Sociiitt of thb Statb of 
 
 Nbw York; Fellow of thb New York Academy of Mkdictne; AIember of 
 
 THE New York Lyceum of Natuiul Histort, kc. 
 
 Published by Order of the Society. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HALL, CLAYTON & CO., PRINTERS, 4C PINE STREET. 
 1861.
 
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 m 
 
 fSoob 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 
 
 Gentlemen — Members of the Westchester County Medical So- 
 ciety: 
 
 I propose as the subject of my address on the present occasion, a 
 few brief and imperfect Biographical Sketches of the Deceased Mem- 
 bers of tlie Medical Profession of Westchester County. 
 
 Although medicine, in its history, its ethics, its relations to other and 
 collateral sciences, offers a wide range from which to select a subject, 
 the task of choosing one which has not already been treated upon has 
 not been easy. 
 
 Having at last determined on that which I have just announced, as 
 being one never before attempted in this County, I have hoped to be 
 able to interest you for a brief hour, and at the same time, to place on 
 record "the plain, uuvaruished tale" of the character, merits, trials, 
 and experience of those medical men who have previously been the in- 
 cumbents of the field which vre now occupy. 
 
 How frequently are we reminded, when called to the families of the 
 older inhaljitants, of those who, years long passed, visited the same 
 houses upon a like errand of mercy as ourselvcsl How many hours 
 have we spent in listening to detailed accounts of the many virtues 
 and the wonderful skill of those good old doctors, who were always 
 looked to for aid in the day of anxiety, tribulation, or peril 1 We have 
 been told how they rode on horseback, with their apothecary-shop 
 sn/igly packed in huge leathern saddle-bags, which hung over their 
 horse's back behind them; how promptly they responded to a call, 
 though " in the dead waste and middle of the night;" how cheerfully 
 they came; how patiently they remained, to watch their patients and 
 witness the effects of their remedies. 
 
 As we have listened to these kind reminiscences of our elder breth- 
 ren, who has not felt a strong desire to know more of their birth, edu- 
 cation, and medical pupilage, as well as their social, moral, intellectual
 
 and professional cliaracter ? But, alas! how little is known of tliem 
 They liave expended their days, their talents and skill, quietly and un- 
 ostentatiously among those who doubtless appreciated their services 
 while living, and sincerely mourned their loss when dead. 
 
 " Far from the luadd'ning crowd's ignoble strife, 
 Their sober wishes never learned to stray; 
 Along the cool sequestered vale of life, 
 
 They kept the noiseless tenor of their way." 
 
 Their mortal remains and biography have been consigned to one 
 common grave. Of many, not even the place of their interment if! 
 known ; while in a few instances, 
 
 " these bones from insult to protect, 
 
 Some frail memorial still, erected nigh, 
 With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, 
 Implores the tribute of a sigh." 
 
 " Their name, their years, spelt by th' unlettered muse, 
 The place of fame and elegy supply." 
 
 Their memories are treasured for a Ijrief period by their land jiatrons, 
 but the second generation barely remember their names, and soon tliey 
 pass into oblivion. 
 
 While it becomes our duty to be ever contending with disease, and 
 ever vigilant to avert the shafts of death, so thickly strewn on every 
 liand, all along the voyage of life — from the cradle to the grave — yet 
 all, patient and physician, sooner or later, must yield to the uucon- 
 quered, and "depart alike to the inevita))le grave." 
 
 " Who, to dumb forgclfulncf-s a prey, 
 
 This pleasing, anxious being e'er I'csigncd; 
 Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
 Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind ?" 
 
 I hope we are all inspired l)y an ambition so to live, to improve 
 ourselves, and benefit our race, that our memories may be thought 
 worthy of record and preservation. 
 
 I entered u})on tlic present undertaking, which, at the commeuce- 
 ment, was supposed to be an easy one, but which soon proved to be 
 quite the reverse, both from a long-cherished ]ileasure which the biog- 
 raphy of medical men has afforded me, and still more, as a labor of 
 love towards those who have resigned their responsibilities and their 
 places into our hands, that we may continue where their labor ceased,
 
 and ill turn, transmit to a succeeding generation the accumulated stores 
 of past experience. 
 
 Gladly would I have had another perform this task; yet as none 
 up to the present time have found either the leisure or inclination to 
 undertake and accomplish a biographical memoir of the deceased phy- 
 sicians of our county, I felt it almost a (\^ty to be thus " mindful of 
 the unhonored dead." 
 
 I have not been able to find a single sketch of a member of our So- 
 ciety among its records, nor even in any medical journal, book, or 
 pamphlet, notwithstanding it is more than sixty years since our organi- 
 zation; yet it cannot be supposed that so many years could have roll- 
 ed away without some worthy members of the profession having been 
 called from their earthly spheres of usefulness, whose character, devo- 
 tion, and skill merited a brief memoir. Our county — one of the oldest 
 and most honorable in the State, famous for its localities of interest, ren- 
 dering it classic ground to every American, and boasting of such men 
 as Paulding, Williams, and A^an Wart, John Jay, Daniel D. Tompkins, 
 Washington Irving, and other celebrities — certainly should have 
 possessed some physicians worthy of mention. True, the life of a 
 medical man is in a measure obscure; he is not brought before 
 the masses; there is no forum or pulpit for our profession to develop 
 and display the talents of its votaries; they quietly and unobserved 
 pursue the objects of their calling, minister to the afflicted, from birth 
 to extreme old age, explore all nature in search of still better remedial 
 agents, exhaust all art with the same great purpose in view, investi- 
 gate untiringly the occult and secret nature and sources of the thou- 
 sand ills that our poor mortality is heir to, and yet — 
 
 " Far off the public stage, 
 Pass away their silent age.'' 
 
 There have been in our county medical men whose education, char- 
 acter, and skill, and whose devotion to the cause of science and the in- 
 terests of humanity, though perhaps exercised in a more humble sphere, 
 nevertheless deserve at our hands "some frail memorial" of commen- 
 dation and perpetuation. 
 
 We should I'emember that our whole duty is not performed when 
 the dead are "each in their narrow cells forever laid;" obligations still 
 rest upon us; the living owe a duty to those who have waived them a 
 final adieu, as they left the shores of time, as well as to the genera- 
 tions yet unborn. 
 
 In preparing the following sketches, I have endeavored to apply to
 
 reliable sources for information, involving no trifling amount of corre- 
 Kpoudence, and I desire here to acknowledge my obligations and return 
 my sincere thanks to all who have interested themselves in this work 
 of fraternal affection, by responding to the circular of inquiries address- 
 ed to them ; while I regret that many, from whom much w^as expected, 
 have failed to answer; yet they must be charital)ly excused, as the 
 multifarious duties, both professional and domestic, and the difficulties 
 of obtaining the required information, w^ould deter most men fi'om the 
 imdcrtaking, unless impelled by a spirit of enthusiasm. 
 
 Meagre and unsatisfactory as many of the sketches are, yet it is 
 hoped that, at least to every physician of our own county, these brief 
 memoirs will be of interest. Should any be able to add material of 
 interest to any or all of them, I hope he will not delay nor hesitate to 
 do so; or Avhat would be still better, to commence the work de novo. 
 In many cases the words of the correspondents have been employed, as 
 nothing additional could he obtained, or the sketches in any way im- 
 proved. 
 
 Unfortunately the records of the "Westchester County Medical Socie- 
 ty, from its organization. May 8th, 1*I9T, to June, 1830, have been 
 lost or destroyed, on which account, doubtless, many of the names of 
 its earlier members have not come to the knowledge of the writer; 
 and perhaps, for the same reason, many interesting professional facts 
 connected with the lives of those that are included in these memoirs. 
 
 AVhat has here been attempted for ours, has been ably done for 
 Albany County, by my friend Dr. S. D. Willard, in an address before 
 the Medical Society of that county, which was suljscquontly comnumi- 
 cated l)y it to the State Medical Society, in the Transactions of 
 whicli, for 1857, it was published. The same thing has been done by 
 Dr. S. 11. French, for Broome County, in an address in 1854, publish- 
 ed by that County Medical Society. The biographical sketches of Dr. 
 French, however, included those who were then engaged in practice in 
 Broome County, an undertaking of too delicate a character to justify 
 many in the attempt. 
 
 "Tlie life of a good physician," says Dr. Delafield, in his sketch of 
 the lati; Dr. J. Kearney llodgers, "does not always furnish materials 
 most availal)le to the biograjther. lie may have ])racticed long and 
 successfully; may have formed a large circle of deeply attached friends 
 and patients; may have been ))eloved and honored by the poor; have 
 gained the respect and esteem of every member of liis own profession; 
 have added his fair proportion to the imi)rovements of the day, in his 
 science and Iiis art; and in dying, left a whole community to deplore
 
 his loss, tmd feci, for tlio time, that his j)lace could not be supplied; 
 and yet leave behind him no materials from which a biography could 
 be drawn up of deep interest beyond his own profession, and the circle 
 of patients amonp; whom he moved." 
 
 " It is men of this stamp who leave behind them the regret that they 
 have left no written memorial of what they have learned and what 
 they have accomplished. And it always must be so. The practicing 
 physician who moves most among the sick, and is most esteemed during 
 his lifetime, has little leisure to write. The labors of a long day in 
 country or town, with the cares and anxieties caused by attendance on 
 numerous cases involving danger and often death, are no good prepara- 
 tion for the use of the pen at night. And every day do such men see 
 and learn many things they would be glad to contribute to the com- 
 mon stock of their profession's knowledge; but it cannot be. They 
 go on, day after day, and year after year, learning more and knowing 
 more, until they begin to feel that they have somewhat mastered the 
 diflBculties of their science; have somewhat learned what to discard 
 among rules of art handed down from ages, and what to retain ; have 
 even felt that they themselves have added something to the great pro- 
 fessional treasury ; they drop into the grave, and carry all with them." 
 
 Dr. ARCHIBALD MACDONALD, of White Plains, will first 
 claim our attention, as being one of the most distinguished of the 
 earlier physicians of our county, of whom we have been able to obtain 
 any satisfactory account; but more especially from the fact of his having 
 been prominent among the founders of this Medical Society, now in the 
 sixty-first year of its age. 
 
 In the first volume of the Medical Bcpository, which was the first 
 medical journal ever published in America, under date of June 25th, 
 1797, may be found the following notice: 
 
 " On the 8th of May, at the White Plains, there was a meeting of 
 respectable physicians of the County of Westchester, who formed them- 
 selves into a society, to Ijc known and called by the name and style of 
 ' T/ie Medical Society of the County of Westchester: Dr. Archibald 
 Macdonald was elected President, and Dr. INIatsoii Smith, of Xcw Ilo- 
 chelle. Secretary. The principal views of their formation appear to be 
 a harmonious establishment of a regular practice of physic through- 
 out the county, and an imuiediute compliance of the law of the Legis- 
 lature of the State, made at the last session."
 
 8 
 
 Dr. Archibald Macdouald (not McDonald) was a native of Inver- 
 ness, in Scotland, and belonged to what was called the Glengarry 
 branch of the Macdonalds. The Glengarries write their name Mac- 
 donell, but the Dr., in the latter part of his life, adopted the orthography 
 generally used by the other Macdonald families. 
 
 When the Stuarts, in 1745, made their last attempt to recover the 
 crown, the doctor's father joined Charles Edward, the prentender, with 
 enthusiasm, and during that or the following year perished in battle, 
 when his son Archibald was but a few weeks old; so the parent and 
 his youngest chUd never saw each other. 
 
 Archibald came to this country at the age of twelve years, being 
 about the year 1757. He lived for a while in Canada, and received 
 his medical education in Philadelphia, to which place he was sent by 
 his brother, an officer in the British service. For a number of years 
 he practiced his profession in North Carolina; he also served several 
 years as a surgeon in the British army. 
 
 In the year 1787, he married in Dutchess County, in this State, and 
 continued to reside there for several years, and finally, in the year 1795, 
 settled at White Plains, where he practiced his profession down to the 
 time of his death, which occurred on the 21st day of December, 1813. 
 The place of his sepulchre is designated by a tombstone in the cemetery 
 of the Presbyterian Church in that village. 
 
 He died after three or four days' illness, of what was then usually 
 termed "the winter fever," an epidemic said at the time to be fatal 
 among persons advanced in life, being, at the time of his decease, sixty- 
 eight years of age. 
 
 From a genealogical manuscript in the handwriting of his brother, 
 it appears that he was a descendant of Robert de Bruce; one of his 
 ancestors having married a daughter of that monarch. 
 
 His manner and disposition were hearty, frank and joyous, but his 
 temper was quick and irritable; it is proper to add, that he was a man 
 of remarkable personal courage. 
 
 Of his professional rop\itatioii, we are informed that he occupied a 
 high standing, both with the people and his brethren. Ilis practice 
 was extensive, and he was often called on consultations or otherwise, 
 to great distances. Like most i>hysicians, in his own family he gave 
 very little medicine, and even in his general practice he employed much 
 less medicine than physicians usually did in those days; frequently pre- 
 scribing gentle remedies, more for the encouragement of the patient, 
 than what he deemed the necessity of the case. Long after his death,
 
 9 
 
 his old patients would remark that his cheerful and assuring worda 
 seemed at once to bring relief, and half to perforin the cure. 
 
 His son, James Macdonald, studied medicine first with Dr. David 
 Palmer, of White Plains, and afterwards with the celebrated Dr. David 
 Hosack, of New York. Dr. James Macdonald turned his attention 
 chiefly to the study of insanity; visited Europe, and all its establish- 
 ments for the cure of the insane, and returning to this country, became 
 one of the founders and proprietors of the Sanford Hall Asylum, at 
 Flushing, L. I. He died, much lamented, in the year 1849. Several 
 biographical sketches of him have been published; one of considerable 
 length in the American Journal of Insanity, \\\ the July number for 
 1849; and also a sermon by Rev. Dr. Ogilby, on his funeral occasion. 
 His brother, Allen Macdonald, to whom I am indebted for many of the 
 above facts, continues the charge of the asylum alluded to. 
 
 Dr. SAMUEL ADAMS, of Mount Pleasant, was born in Scotland; 
 he came to this country about the time of the American Revolution, 
 having been a surgeon in the British army. In a communication from 
 Mr. Allen Macdonald, he states that his " brother remembered to 
 have heard both his father and the late Col. Rutgers, of New York, 
 speak of him as a surgeon in the American Revolutionary army, and 
 say that he was present as such at the memorable battle of White 
 Plains." Also that his father, Dr. Archibald Macdonald, spoke of him 
 as a good Latin scholar, having been a classical teacher before coming to 
 this country, and that he had read extensively on anatomy and surgery. 
 He is spoken of as a small, thin person, of rather a severe aspect; a 
 man of great energy, indomitable will, and unflinching perseverance, 
 highly passionate and profane, having no regard for the Christian re- 
 ligion. 
 
 Soon after the war, he settled about one and a half miles east of the 
 upper cross-roads, where he cultivated a farm and practiced his profes- 
 sion for nearly or quite a half-century. 
 
 His medical education was doubtless superior for the period in which 
 he lived. His habits, which he probably acquired while in the army 
 and in war, gave him the sobriquet of " the rough old surgeon." 
 
 Such was his supposed skill in surgery, that if a broken bone was 
 to be set, or any operation to be performed, he must necessarily be sent 
 for, from all parts of the county; and when sent for, tradition says, 
 however well the work may have been done previous to his arrival, he
 
 10 
 
 would find some deficiency, and if possible do it over again, secundum 
 artcm, readjusting a fractured bone, or opening afresh a wound, and 
 generally do it with the emphasis of an oath. 
 
 He was a bold, rough, yet successful surgeon. It is said that espe- 
 cially in the latter part of his practice, his instruments, like himself, 
 becoming old, were rusty and dull, and though he seldom followed 
 Bible precepts, he was obliged to adopt the advice of Solomon, viz.: 
 " That if the tool be dull, lay on the more strength." Undoubtedly 
 most of his cutting operations would be properly denominated "heroic 
 practice." So he lived and rode over the country, and over his cotem- 
 poraries, swaying his sceptre over the heads of all with whom he came 
 in contact. He was sent at least for one term to the Legislature of 
 the State, and died about the year 1828, aged over ninety years. 
 
 The late Dr. Joseph Scribner was in the habit of relating the cir- 
 cumstance of his first interview with Dr. Adams, as being perfectly 
 characteristic of the man. Overtaking him on horseback, one day, 
 after mutual salutation, and making himself known as Dr. Scribner, the 
 eccentric Dr. Adams scanned him with a penetrating glance, and said 
 with a sneer, " Young man, do you intend to practice medicine ? Well — 
 you'll find it a dom mean business;" and putting spurs to his horse, 
 rode rapidly away. 
 
 Dr. Adams was very erect and vsprightly; when 90 years old, he 
 rode on horseback as gracefully as a youth. lie lived without God 
 in the world, and it is to be feared died without reconciliation to that 
 God whom he had neglected, if not despised, in his life. 
 
 Dr. WILLIAM F. ARNOLD, of White Plains, was born in Chat- 
 ham, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., June 1st, 1809. He was the son of a very 
 respectable Methodist minister, whose brother, Samuel G. Arnold, was 
 for a num))cr of years editor and proprietor of " The Wcstchcdcr Spy," 
 published at White Plains. 
 
 William's early op[)ortunities for education were very limited and 
 irregular, in consequence of the itinerant character of his father's pro- 
 fession; at the age of fourteen he removed to Rhinebeck, where, by the 
 special efforts of liis sister and friends, he enjoyed the advantages for a 
 time of a good classical school. Soon after he entered the drug-store 
 of Drs. Piatt and Nelson of that place. By attention to business, and 
 the interest he manifested in the articles of the Materia Medica with 
 which he was surrounded, he gained the respect and esteem of his era-
 
 11 
 
 ployers, and was taken into tlieir odit-c as a medical student. In 1829, 
 through the kindness and aid of his friends, he was enabled tu attend 
 a course of lectures in the Rutgers Medical College of the City of New 
 York. Durhig this term, it is said, he devoted his entire tiiiie and 
 energies to the })rosecution of his studies. It is not known to us 
 whether he afterwards graduated, or became a licentiate of the State, 
 or some county medical society. 
 
 About this thne (1829) he located in White Plains, almost penni- 
 less; he soon, however, entered into a fair })ractice. In May, 1832, he 
 married a Miss Williams, of llhinebeck. A few months after, while 
 apparently in the glow of health, and full of ambitious schemes and 
 bright hoi)CS, he was attacked with luvmoptysis, which recurring again 
 and again as winter approached, induced him to remove to the City 
 of New York, with the hope that the duties of his profession could be 
 performed with less physical exertion and exposure. Finding his ex- 
 pectations not realized, and being oppressed by debt, he returned to 
 White Plains and resumed an office practice in connection with an 
 apothecary-shop, with his brother. This was a more successful enter- 
 prise; his health and (inanccs were both improved thereby. In the 
 autumn of 1834 his disease had so far returned or progressed, that it 
 became ai)parent, unless a change of climate might stay its develoi)meut, 
 consumption was inevitable. He accordingly embarked for St. Tiiomas, 
 W. I., where he safely arrived, and entered into the practice of den- 
 tistry, being unable to practice medicine. In the course of a year or 
 two his disease had so far advanced that he resolved to return again 
 to his native land and home. He died on the voyage; his grave is 
 the mighty deep. 
 
 His disposition was remarkably social and confiding; his character 
 and life that of a devout and humble Christian; thus he lived and 
 died. Dr. Arnold was devoted to his profession, and from all we can 
 learn of his talents and acquirements, under anything like favorable 
 circumstances, he would have 1)ccome eminent. 
 
 Dr. FRANCIS FOWLER practiced in White Plains and vicinity 
 about lifty or sixty years ago. He came from Ncwburgh, Orange 
 County, N. Y., and soon after his arrival married a sister of ex-Sheriff 
 Amos W. Hatfield, of White Plains. His talents and practice are 
 said to have been respectable, and gave promise of good success; but 
 in a few years after settling in White Plains (from four to six) he 
 died, leaving a widow, but no children.
 
 12 
 
 Dr. BREWSTER, also, practiced in White Plains previous to or 
 about the time of Dr. Fowler, but I have been unable to obtain any 
 special information relating to his life and character. 
 
 Dr. WILLIAM BALDWIN, late of New York City, hes be- 
 neath a large, plain, but handsome monument, in the yard of the first 
 or old Methodist Church, of White Plains. He was born in North- 
 ford, Connecticut. Commenced practice about the year 1800. Mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Falconer, daughter of John Falconer, a prominent 
 citizen of White Plains, where he practiced with considerable success 
 and acceptance for a period of about fifteen years. He then removed 
 to the City of New York, and located himself in East Broadway; be- 
 came a prominent and successful practitioner in that section of the 
 city, and gained a more than ordinary practice and honorable position 
 among his professional brethren. He died of a chronic organic dis- 
 ease of the stomach. He left a widow, but no children. She is yet 
 living, and finds a pleasant home with Dr. Jared Liusly, of New 
 York, who was an adopted son of Dr. Baldwin. 
 
 Dr. LIVINGSTON ROE, of White Plains, was born at or near 
 Flushing, Long Island, N. Y., in the year 1811. He was the son of 
 Thomas Roe. Dr. L. Roe was carefully educated by a German 
 teacher; he pursued his medical studies with Dr. John Graham, a re- 
 spectable physician in the City of New York. Dr. G. was known to 
 the profession of his day as the first, or at least among the first, sub- 
 jects of successful extirpation of the parotid gland. Dr. Roe attend- 
 ed lectures principally at the "Rutgers Medical College," which, not 
 obtaining a charter, was unable to confer degrees; it therefore had a 
 brief existence. Dr. R. then attended courses of private lectures, 
 under Drs. Bedford, Pendleton, Bush, &c. Subsequently he attended 
 the medical lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, where, 
 it is said, he graduated. He married in New York, soon after which 
 he went 1o White Plains, and established himself as a coi)artner of 
 Dr. David Puhner, the only physician then practicing in that village. 
 He i)racticed all branches of the profession for a period of thirteen 
 years, with great ability and success. He at the same .time carried 
 ou the business of an apothecary.
 
 13 
 
 He died of ship fcvor, contracted while In attendance upon a num- 
 ber of emigrant vagrants in the ahns-liouse of the county. He wa« 
 also at the time attending ujxin a professional brother, Dr. Joseph 
 8cribner, of Tarrytown, who also died of the same disease, contracted 
 at the same place. There is no doubt that his indefatigable ami anx- 
 ious care of Dr. Scribner materially increased the exciting caases of 
 the attack. Congestion of the brain supervened, and on Tuesday, 
 January 11th, 1848, he died, having been ill but seven days. Dr. 
 Roe left a wife, a son and two daughters, to mourn his loss. 
 
 The doctor was em)>hatically a self-made man; he enjoyed but few 
 early advantages, but being endowed liberally with superior mental 
 qualities, v/ith great industry and force of character, he was enabled 
 to rise superior to time and place. Opposing circumstances were met 
 with a determination to overcome them, adequate to the nature and 
 character of the obstacle. The doctor was actuated by a very lauda- 
 ble ambition to excel in his medical acquirements, and determined, in 
 the outset of his career, to devote all his energies to attain an honora- 
 ble professional eminence, and uj) to the time of his death he had not 
 striven in vain for distinction. 
 
 He possessed, naturally, a frail constitution; he was tall and slen- 
 der, predisposed, perhaps, to consumption, having a light complexion, 
 very light, line, straight hair; in student life very pale, so nmch so, 
 indeed, that he was called in college "the walking spook." Ills mind 
 was exceedingly active, with a most vigorous mental appetite. He 
 was not insensible to the danger of over-exertion of the brain, and not 
 unfrequently alluded to it as an ai)prehendcd cause of his j)reniatur(' 
 death. 
 
 His friend, Dr. Hudson, of White Plains, to wliom 1 am indebted 
 for all the facts and many of the expressions in this sketch, as well as 
 those of Drs. Arnold, Adams, and others, says: "To Dr. Koe it was 
 indeed a painful self-denial to keep from close study and deep thought. 
 We seldom met him, or spent the latest hours of the night with him, 
 (a jirivilege we availed ourselves of as frefpiently as circumstances 
 would permit, for our own profit,) but he had some new idea, some 
 new train of thought, some new theory, or practical suggestion or ex- 
 perience; it was impossible to be with him an hour without learning 
 something new and useful. It was his delight both to elicit and com- 
 municate facts and observations, the results of exi)erience." 
 
 In the commencement of his practice he was not well received, ow- 
 ing partly to the popularity of his respectable partner; perhaps, also, 
 to the circumstance of his unprepossessing address, and want of knowl-
 
 14 
 
 edge of all the little amenities that pertain to the social circle. But 
 obseiTation and a brief experience soon put him in the vantage-ground, 
 when he enjoyed the unlimited confidence and esteem of the whole 
 community in which he lived and labored. 
 
 Dr. Roe's case-books, and the marginal and foot notes in all the 
 works he read, attest his diligence and good sense. At one time he 
 conceived the idea, laid his plans, and commenced the work of writing 
 a treatise on the practice of medicine ; the cares of an increasing fam- 
 ily and an extensive practice so completely engrossed his time that he 
 abandoned the project. 
 
 He almost envied the city physicians the great opportunities which 
 they can enjoy; but his health forbade his removal from the country. 
 
 For many years he availed himself of the practice of the county alms- 
 house, as a school of observation. The miserable and otherwise home- 
 less and hapless patients of that institution felt that in him they had a 
 faithful, skillful, and kind physician and friend. He was eminently 
 accurate in diagnosis, and happy in the adaptation of means to ends. 
 His mechanical resources, as applied to surgery, are well exemplified in 
 the construction of a fracture apparatus, which was a decided improve- 
 ment on Amesbury's sphnt, in the opinion of those who have made use 
 of it. The following resolutions were unanimously passed at the annual 
 meeting of this Society, June 6th, 1848, on motion of Dr. P. Stewart: 
 
 " Whereas, since our last Annual Meeting, there have been removed 
 from us hj the hand of a wise, yet mysterious Providence, in the vigor 
 of manhood and professional usefulness, two of our most worthy and 
 esteemed professional brethren: therefore, 
 
 " Rcsolvpil, That with feelings of the profoundest sorrow, we 
 record the death of Drs. Livingston Roe and Joseph M. Scribner ; and 
 that their absence from our meeting to day recalls to our minds their 
 cheerful and manly countenances, as they have met with us on former 
 occasions like tliis, and boldly maintained the dignity and honor of our 
 profession by discountenancing all forms of empiricism on the one hand, 
 and by their efficient advocacy of estal)lished principles of practice on 
 the otiier, and by the hljeral spirit of improvement which they mani- 
 fested in all the departments of medical science, and which led Dr. Roe 
 to invent a most valuable surgical splint, for which he deserves the 
 thanks of the profession." 
 
 As an evidence of the extent to which Dr. Roe's si)lint had been 
 used, and the favorable opinion entertained of it by the profession, I 
 have extracted from the minutes of the meeting of this Society, held in
 
 15 
 
 Sinp^ Sing, Jane Gth, 1843, the followinj? resolution, wliich was, on mo- 
 tion of Dr. James Fountain, unanimously adopted: 
 
 "Resolved, That the mass of the members of the Medical Society of 
 this county, having used the apparatus for fractures of the extremitiea, 
 invented (or materially improved) and presented to the profession by 
 Dr. L. Roe, consider it as decidedly superior to anything of the kind 
 ever offered to the public; this resolution to be signed by the President 
 and Secretary of this Society, and presented to Dr. Roe, for his 
 disposal." 
 
 Dr. Roe's literary character was respectable; he delivered several 
 well-composed public addresses. On one occasion he delivered a Fourth 
 of July oration, which was so highly ajjpreciated as to merit publica- 
 tion. His remains were deposited in the yard of the Episcopal Church 
 ia White Plains. 
 
 A few days after his death a public meeting was convened, at which 
 resolutions were passed and addresses made, expressive of the bereave- 
 ment of the community. 
 
 llis was an example worthy of the imitation of every member of this 
 or any other medical society. 
 
 Dr. ELISHA belcher, a former practitioner of this county, 
 though not a resident of it, was born in the town of Preston, (now 
 Lebanon,) New London County, Ct., in the year 1751. He received 
 a good classical education, after which he engaged in the study of 
 medicine and surgery. His preceptor's name I have been unable to ob- 
 tain. Before he had finished his medical education, he joined the Conti- 
 nental Army, and soon received the appointment of surgeon's mate; 
 after two years' service in this capacity, he was promoted to the rank 
 of surgeon, and stationed at Greenwich, Fairfield Co., Ct., near the 
 New York State line, where he continued to practice his profession 
 until within one year of his death. He died of hydrothorax, in Decem- 
 ber, 1825, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. 
 
 Dr. Belcher was eminent in his profession; he was frequent ly called 
 as counsel to remote towns as far north as Poughkeepsie. His opinion 
 was valued by both patients and physicians; he was a man of few 
 words, but they were well considered. He was a man below the me- 
 dium stature and size. He was present at the battle of Brooklyn 
 Heights, at the burning of Danbury, and at the battle of "White 
 Plains.
 
 16 
 
 His practice was full three-fourths in Westchester County; he resided 
 within a mile or two of the State line. He educated not less than 
 twelve or fourteen young men to the medical profession, including his 
 two sous, Dr. Elisha R. Belcher, of New York City, and Dr. William 
 N. Belcher, of Sing Sing, N.. Y. 
 
 Dr. Belcher had two sons and seven daughters, who seemed to have 
 had a strong inclination for the medical profession, or at least for its 
 members. His third daughter married Dr. Darius Mead, of Green- 
 wich, Conn., a former student of Dr. Belcher. His fourth daughter 
 married Dr. Stephen Fowler, of North Castle, and, after his death, 
 married Dr. Henry White, of Yorktown. His fifth daughter married 
 Dr. David Palmer, of White Plains. His seventh daughter married 
 Dr. Bartow F. White, son of Dr. Ebenezer White, of Somers, and 
 grandson of Dr. Ebenezer White, of Yorktown. 
 
 Dr. CLARK SAN FORD, of Greenwich, Conn., also deserves 
 mention, although, like Dr. Belcher, he was uot a resident of our county; 
 yet the greater part of his practice was on this side of the Connecticut 
 State line, living within one mile of Westchester County. 
 
 Dr. Sanford was a native of Yermont; he practiced in this county 
 for thirty years. He was extensively known to the profession of his 
 day as the manufacturer of pulverized Peruvian Bark, which was con- 
 sidered to be a superior article, and sold under the name of "Sanford's 
 Bark," for one dollar per pound, while the ordinary bark brought only 
 one-half this price. It was neatly put up in paper boxes, in quantities 
 from one-half a pound to five or more pounds. 
 
 His mill for grinding medicines was located at "]5yrom Mills," a 
 place now known as Glenville; his sons greatly increased the business 
 of grinding medicines after the death of tlicir father. This was nearly 
 the flrst establishment for the purpose in this country, and proved very 
 lucrative to liis son John, who continued the business. 
 
 Dr. Sanford was a bold practitioner of both medicine and surgery. 
 Ho enjoyed a much more than ordinary reputation as a surgeon, being 
 discreet and conservative, yet decided, prompt, and skillful. He edu- 
 cated his eldest son, Joscphus, to the profession, who was a young man 
 of great promise; he settled at the South, and died after a few years' 
 residence there. His third son, Henry, is a very respectable apothe- 
 cary hi New York City.
 
 17 
 
 Dr. Sanforcl was afflicted with a very peculiar idiosyncrasy. An in- 
 finitesimal quantity of pulverized ipecacuanha would affect him seri- 
 ously; he could not carry it about him, or in his saddle-bags, even with 
 every precaution to prevent its escape into the air. It produced an 
 asthmatic affection, analogous to the hay asthma of English medical 
 writers. His susceptibility was so delicate that he could detect its 
 presence by the slightest particles that were floating in the atmos- 
 phere, although imperceptible to the senses of all others; he of course 
 avoided its presence with ])eculiar care. He was a very eccentric man, 
 au inveterate smoker, and had the habit of always carrying his long 
 tobacco-pipe either in his mouth or in his boot-leg. His hair was 
 always dressed in a cue. He is said to have been, like too many medical 
 men of his day, the especial terror of all children. Even in our own days, 
 the doctor is not unfrequently made the object of dread to all juvenile 
 evil-doers; a threat to send for him is often equivalent to "calling 
 spirits from the vasty deep." 
 
 Dr. Sanford died about the year 1820, aged over sixty years, hav- 
 ing had three sons and two daughters. 
 
 Dr. JOHN INGERSOLL, of Yonkers, was born about the year 
 1145; the exact place of his nativity or the precise time of his settle- 
 ment in the town of Yonkers cannot be determined. Mr. Ebenezer 
 Baldwin, an old resident of the town, says he knew Dr. Ingersoll in 
 1804, when he (Mr. B.) first moved into Yonkers. At that date there 
 were but fourteen or fifteen families within what are now the corpo- 
 rate limits of the village; there was a scattered farming population 
 throughout the township, whose borders were the same as at present. 
 Dr. Ingersoll lived then, and until he died in 1828, on a place about 
 three miles northeast of the village. When he first knew him, he was 
 "a big, portly, good-looking man," and " a fine social man," free from 
 bad habits, a good neighbor and excellent citizen; at this time he 
 seemed to be about forty years old. He was then the only physician 
 in the town, and rode from King's Bridge to Chatterton's Hill, in the 
 outskirts of White Plains; he enjoyed the reputation of " a good family 
 doctor, but no surgeon." "Didn't want, and wouldn't attend sur- 
 gical cases, if he could help it." Mr. Baldwin says he has seen many 
 cases of very bad surgery come from under the care of Dr. Ingersoll. 
 His obstetrical practice was very extensive. He was a man who in- 
 variably discountenanced consultations, and generally avoided inter- 
 2
 
 18 
 
 course with bis professional brethren. He is said to have been very 
 attentive to his patients; the darkest night, the most pjtiless storm, 
 was never used as an excuse for not attending to the wants of suffering 
 humanity. About the year 1815 he unfortunately became addicted to 
 habits of insobriety, which increased upon him until his death in 1828. 
 He was an American, and, with his wife, came from the vicinity of 
 Horseneck. They had no children. As is too frequently the case with 
 physicians, he was careless in charging and " easy " in collecting his 
 accounts, consequently left very Uttle property, except the mere "place" 
 on which he lived so many years. 
 
 After Dr. Gates settled in Yonkers, Dr. Ingersoll's practice was 
 very much abridged, which, it is said, rendered Dr. G. no special 
 favorite of Dr. lugersoll. 
 
 Dr. Gates says, that when he came to Yonkers, in the year 1824, 
 he found Dr. lugersoll an old man, being nearly seventy years of age. 
 He thinks it would be difficult to establish for him the fact of having 
 ever received a good professional education. He was " a bungling 
 surgeon and a poor bleeder." He, however, enjoyed a good reputa- 
 tion in the treatment of typhoid pneumonia, which prevailed epidemi- 
 cally in 1813-14: his practice was not to bleed, or in any way to de- 
 plete, but to sustain the vital powers by tonics, stimulants, and diet. 
 He probably published nothing of his long experience and observa- 
 tion. He died in August, 1827, of delirium tremens, and was be- 
 lieved to be about seventy-three years old. Dr. lugersoll and his wife 
 were both buried in the church-yard of St. John's Chapel at Tuckahoe; 
 not even the rudest headstone marks the place of their interment. 
 
 Dr. J. Foster Jenkins, of Yonkers, kindly obtained above facts. 
 
 Dr. DAVID ROGERS, Jk., of Mammaroueck, was the sou of Dr. 
 David Rogers, (not Rodgers,) of Fairfield, Conn., and had descended 
 from a long hue of distinguished physicians of that nanu; in Connecticut. 
 
 Dr. David Rogers, Jr., commenced practice in Mammaroueck before 
 the year 1800. His brotlier. Dr. Charles Rogers, settled in Savannah, 
 Georgia, about the same time, or shortly after. I have been unable to 
 obtain much exact information in relation to his life; he is reported to 
 have been a physician of eminence, and enjoyed an extensive practice. 
 He was famous as an cxtcnninator of worms, and treated all the 
 verminous children in the region; what special antlielmintics he admin- 
 iitored has not been left to the knowledge of posterity. Dr. Moultou 
 states, that when inquiry was made of Dr. Rogers as to the peculiar
 
 19 
 
 article or cunibiiiatiun he employed so successfully as a vermifuge, he 
 replied, in his characteristic style — "Pink and darana))le doses of 
 physic." 
 
 His father. Dr. David Rogers, moved from Fairlicld, where he had 
 practiced for many years, into Rye, about the year 1810, where he 
 spent the remainder of his days, but never engaged in the practice of 
 his profession. 
 
 Dr. David Rogers, Jr., had two sons, whom he educated for the 
 profession of medicine — Drs. David L. and James Rogers, of New York 
 City. The doctor was President of the Westchester County Medical 
 Society for several years, from 1817 to 1820, about which time he 
 removed to the City of New York. While in the country, it is said 
 he was a Presbyterian, but soon after his removal to the city he 
 adopted the plain garb of the Quaker, attended "meeting" instead of 
 " church," and, as a result of his change of faith and garments, he soon 
 found many " friends," who became likewise his patients. lie died 
 about the year 1843 or '44, aged nearly seventy. 
 
 Dr. ISAAC GILBERT GRAHAM, of Mount Pleasant, was a son 
 of Dr. Andrew Graham, and born in Southbury Parish, Woodbury, 
 Conn., September 10th, 1760. He studied medicine under the guid- 
 ance of his fiither, who was a physician in good standing, and son of 
 the Rev. John Graham, A.M., a native of Edinbiu-gh, Scotland, a de- 
 scendant of the Duke of Montrose, and a graduate of the University 
 of Glasgow. 
 
 Dr. Isaac G. Graham, the subject of this sketch, was at an early 
 age appointed assistant surgeon in the American Revolutionary army, 
 under General Washington, at West Point, whose warm regard he pos- 
 sessed, for his medical knowledge and patriotic devotion to the great 
 cause which engaged their united energies. He was present at several 
 important engagements with the enemy. When he retirctl from the 
 array, it is said he received from his superior oflieers the highest proof 
 of their respect and esteem for his alacrity and fidelity in the perform- 
 ance of his military duties. 
 
 At the age of twenty-four years he maiTied Auley l?anckcr, and 
 settled at Unionville, where he commenced the practice of nudiciue in 
 this county, which he successfully prosecuted for nearly half a centary, 
 and until the infirmities of old age compelled him to relinquish all ac- 
 tive duties.
 
 20 
 
 After the passage of the Pension Act by Congress, he received the 
 sum of $440 per annum, for his services in the army. His business in 
 the earher part of his life was extended over a large tract of country, 
 which he was always ready and prompt to attend, being considered 
 very skillful m the treatment of what was then called the winter fever 
 and small-pox; he was much respected by the poor, towards whom he 
 ever manifested a spirit of benevolence and charity. 
 
 During some seasons he practiced inoculation for small-pox to a 
 great extent, and made it quite a lucrative business. It is said he 
 made $1,400 in one season from this practice alone; he of course had 
 but little or no confidence in the prophylactic vii-tues of vaccination. 
 
 With steadiness of purpose and regularity of life he combmed an 
 incorruptible integrity, which secured for him through life unlimited 
 confidence and an unblemished fame. He died as he had lived, a sin- 
 cere and humble behever in the Christian faith, on the first of Septem- 
 ber, 1848, aged eighty-eight years. 
 
 In his personal appearance he is said to have been a little above the 
 medium stature, rather slender, his countenance strikingly intellectual, 
 with rather sharp features. He educated his son Frederick to the 
 medical profession, who is now in practice in Indiana.* 
 
 Dr. STEPHEN FOWLER, of New Castle, was born in Orange 
 County, N. Y . ; he practiced in New Castle, in this county, aljout eight 
 years; his popular and professional reputation were extremely good. 
 His practice was very extensive, and he was one of the few who have 
 been able to accumulate money by an honest practice of medicine, 
 especially in the rural districts. ]3ut he was not permitted to live to 
 enjoy the benefits of his earnings; he died about the year 1814, at the 
 early age of thirty-five years. 
 
 Dr. Joshua W. Bowrou was a student of his, and, after the death of 
 his preceptor, located himself in the immediate vicinity of Dr. Fowler's 
 office. 
 
 Dr. Stephen Fowler died of typhoid pneumonia, which was prevail- 
 ing epidemically at the time. I regret my inability to procure any 
 further information of the suVyect of this brief sketch. 
 
 • 1 am under obligations to my friend, Dr. Haigbt, of rieasantville, for this 
 intcrcBling sketch.
 
 21 
 
 Dr. JOSHUA W. BO WRON, of New Castle, was the son of William 
 and Mary IJowron, who cmi<(rated from England and settled in this 
 country soon after the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Dr. Bowron was born in the town of Washington, Dutchess County, 
 iu April, 1788. He pursued his medical studies under the care of the 
 late Dr. Stephen Fowler, of this county. He attended the medical 
 and surgical lectures of the Barclay Street College, where he also re- 
 ceived the degree of Doctor in Medicine. At that time the Barclay 
 Street Medical College was the only medical institution in the State of 
 New York, and enjoyed a high and deserved reputation. Dr. Bowron 
 commenced the practice of his profession about two miles and a half 
 southeast of the village of Sing Sing, residing on a farm now owned 
 by Peter Titler. 
 
 He had not practiced in this place but two or three years before 
 his preceptor, Dr. Stephen Fowler, died, and by the request of many 
 of the most respectable citizens of New Castle, he was induced to lo- 
 cate In the neighborhood, and occupy the field of practice left vacant 
 by the death of Dr. Fowler, in which place he continued to practice 
 until disease compelled him to abandon his labors. 
 
 When about sixty-two years old he had an attack of apoplexy, 
 which left him with a partial paralysis of one side of the body. SLx 
 months after this attack he gave up his practice, which he had unre- 
 mittingly followed for nearly forty years. The apoplectic seizures re- 
 curring frequently, were followed by a deplorable state of weakness of 
 both body and mind. He was reduced to a complete mental wreck, 
 unable to even feed or dress himself; he was dependent upon the con- 
 stant care of his excellent and devoted wife, who is still living to mourn 
 his loss, and the melancholy termination of his useful career. 
 
 Dr. Bowron was elected President of the Westchester County Medi- 
 cal Society in 1848, and re-elected in 1849, l)ut was not present at 
 the meetings of the Society at either session. I am not aware that he 
 ever contributed anything to medical literature. 
 
 No private i)ractitioner ever enjoyed a wider field of practice, or a 
 longer list of ardent, admiring, and confiding friends. His practice 
 was only limited by his Herculean powers of endurance, which at last 
 gave way under the severe demands of so extensive and so arduous a 
 practice. A love for his profession, with the soul of the good Samari- 
 tan, and unbounded kindness, were his incentives to action. Long will 
 his memory live, cherished by his numerous living friends, and the 
 simple history of his life be transmitted to the rising generation as a 
 l)eautiful example of a benevolent gentleman and a kind i)liysician.
 
 22 
 
 Though engaged in a very arduous country practice, Dr. Bowron 
 found time to read the current literature of the profession. He pos- 
 sessed a very good medical library, which exhibited evidence of exten- 
 sive use ; he also received and read one or more medical journals. He 
 accumulated a competency by his practice, and carried on the various 
 branches of agriculture upon the beautiful farm which he possessed in 
 New Castle, at which place he died, on Friday, the 20th day of Feb- 
 ruary, 185t, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. His brother. Dr. John 
 S. Bowron, is a very respectable physician in New York City. 
 
 I have not learned the number of students of medicine he had under his 
 charge, or the names of any except Dr. Joshua Fowler, of Fleasant- 
 ville, Dr. James Woolsey, of North Castle, and his brother, Dr. John 
 S. Bowron, of New York City. 
 
 Dr. JOSEPH M. SCRIBNER, of Tarrytown, was born in Bed- 
 ford, in this county. May 11th, 1793. 
 
 He pursued his medical studies with Dr. William H. Sackett, of 
 that place. He attended the lectures of what was styled " The Medi- 
 cal Institution of the State of New York." A parchment certificate 
 of his attendance I find, dated Session of 1815-16, and signed by Drs. 
 Jolni Watts, Archibald Bruce, Alexander H. Stevens, Thomas Cock, 
 Jolm Griscom, and Robert Bayard. 
 
 During this session he also attended the clinical lectures of the New 
 York City Hospital, as his certificate shows. He received a dii)loma 
 as licentiate of the Westchester County Medical Society, dated April, 
 181*1, and signed by Dr. David Rogers, Jr., President, and Dr. Wil- 
 liam H. Sackett, Secretary. 
 
 Dr. Scribner commenced practice about two and a half miles south- 
 cast of Sing Sing, near the place where Dr. Jiowron first settled; he 
 remained there but one year, married a Miss AVard, and removed to 
 Bedford, where he remained but one year; he then changed his loca- 
 tion to witliin one and a half niik;s of Tarrytown. He continued to 
 practice in tliis place for al)out fifteen years. In 1835 he removed 
 into tin; village of Tarrytown, where he continued to reside and attend 
 to tlic (Inlics of his profession up to the time of his death, which oc- 
 curred December 28tli, 1847. 
 
 He died of typhoid fever, contracted at the Aims-House, where he 
 was in attendance upon a mimber of severe cases, in connection with
 
 23 
 
 Dr. Roo, of White I'lains, who also fell a victim to the same disease a 
 few days after the death of Dr. Scribncr. 
 
 Dr. Scribncr died at the age of fifty-four. IILs mortal remains find 
 a resting-place in the cemetery connected with the celebrated "Old 
 Dutch Church" of Tarrytown. 
 
 He educated his eldest sou, James W. Scribncr, to the profes«ion. 
 He was a highly respectable practitioner, but probably never contrib- 
 uted anything to the medical periodicals of his day. The resolutions 
 passed by the County Society, as a tribute to his memory, jointly with 
 that of Dr. Roe, will be found in the sketch of the latter. 
 
 Dr. SETH miller, of Sing Sing, was born in April, 1766. He 
 was originally from Lower Salem, from whence he settled in New Cas- 
 tle, where he practiced several years, after which, and before the year 
 1790, he settled in Sing Sing, being the first physician that ever lo- 
 cated in that village. I have not been able to obtain much informa- 
 tion of him except from an old lady, long a resident of Sing Sing, 
 Mrs. John Miller, aged eighty-six years. She informed me that Dr. 
 Miller attended her husband, who was sick with yellow fever, being 
 the first and only case, up to that time, that had ever occurred in the 
 place. It was prevailing in New York City at that time. Mr. Mil- 
 ler had been exposed a few days previous, while m the city on busi- 
 ness. The disease did not spread, his being the only case. 
 
 Dr. 3Iiller designed to educate his only son to medicine, but he 
 soon evinced his entire disinclination for the healing art; therefore he 
 " threw physic to the dogs," and directed his attention to some me- 
 chanical pursuit. The doctor's eldest daugiiter married Dr. Kissam, 
 of New York; his second daughter, who is said to have been extremely 
 beautiful and highly accomplished, married Dr. Wallace, of Troy, N. 
 Y. She is said to have undertaken to continue her husband's i)rac- 
 tice after his death, having devoted nmch time to the study of medi- 
 cine. 
 
 Dr. Stephen Silleck, of Sing Sing, was a student of Dr. Miller fur 
 one year and a half. 
 
 Dr. Miller was a man who was highly esteemed as a physician, and 
 universally beloved as a kind friend and good citizen, lie was gentle- 
 manly and courteous in his manners, and extremely neat and genteel in 
 his dress and personal appearance. He wore his hair done uj) in a club, 
 according to the custom of the times, especially in vogue among jtro-
 
 24 
 
 fessional men. He is said to have been very skillful, and enjoyed the 
 confidence of a large circle of friends and patients. While engaged in 
 practice in New Castle, a wealthy and influential family of Quakers in 
 his neighborhood had never called upon him professionally, from an 
 erroneous impression that he was haughty and proud. One day, in 
 passing their house, he stopped to ask for a drink of water, and seeing 
 some very fine loaves of rye bread, warm from the oven, he very court- 
 eously begged them to present him a loaf, at the same time express- 
 ing his fondness for that kind of bread. Of course, his request was 
 cheerfully complied with, and this little incident and simple act of fa- 
 miliarity forever after secured the friendship as well as patronage and 
 influence of this excellent family. 
 
 Dr. Miller's health began to fail several years before his death, and 
 being unable to attend to his extensive practice, he invited Dr. Jere- 
 miah Drake Fowler to settle in Sing Sing, and participate in, and 
 eventually succeed him in his practice. Dr. Miller died two or three 
 years after the arrival of Dr. Fowler. This event occurred November 
 23, 1808, in the forty-second year of his age, his disease being jaun- 
 dice. He was interred in the cemetery at Sparta, below Sing Sing. 
 
 Dr. HOWARD LEE, of Sing Sing, son of the Dr. Lee famous as 
 the compounder of the celebrated "Lee's Anti-bilious Pills," practiced 
 in that place previous to the year 1838. Little is known of him, ex- 
 cept that he is said to have been very intemperate. 
 
 Du. JEREMIAH DRAKE FOWLER, of Sing Sing, was the son 
 of Reuben Fowler and Martha Drake, who were among the pioneer 
 settlers of Westchester County. He was born the 28th day of De- 
 cember, 1*185, in the village of Peekskill, where his parents resided 
 during the Revolutionary war. His father was about the last to flee 
 from the village on that memorable occasion, when the British, hav- 
 ing landed at Vcrplanck's Point, marched into the town, and after hav- 
 ing driven out the inhabitants and det^troycd some Continental stores, 
 dei)arted, having spent a fciw hours in sacking the place. Dr. Fowler's 
 parents left Peekskill in 1788, and resided in East Chester until 1798, 
 when they removed to Fishkill. At an early age tlu^y gave him the 
 best classical training of the day, with a view to hia entering tiie
 
 25 
 
 medical profession, which lie did in the twenty-second year of his age, 
 being the year 1806; having pnrsued his studies with the elder Dr. 
 Drake, of Peekskill, and attended full courses of lectures at the Col- 
 lege of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City, under J. Augus- 
 tine Smith, David Hosack, John Griscom, and others. 
 
 He settled in Sing Sing (says his son. Dr. Theodore Fowler, to 
 whom I am indebted for the greater portion of this sketch, ) immedi- 
 ately after receiving his degree, at the suggestion of Capt. Hunter, a 
 connection of his residing there, where he labored most successfully 
 until his death, Mdiich occurred in the forty-third year of his age, on 
 the 28th of October, 1828. He died of congestion of the brain. 
 During that period none ranked higher in his profession; he is spoken 
 of by the few friends who remain living, as an eminent and skillful 
 physician. He was the intimate friend and cotemporary of Hosack, 
 Post, Kissam, and the other shining lights of medicine in New York 
 in that day. He was a prominent member of this Medical Society, 
 and several times represented it as its delegate to the State Society. 
 
 He was a practical surveyor, and frequently acted in that capacity,, 
 making most of the surveys in his immediate vicinity. 
 
 He was elected Justice of the Peace, which was considered an 
 honor in those days, and officiated in that capacity during the years 
 1817, '18, and '19; but his clemency in granting the limits, and being 
 security, &c., well-nigh ruined him, financially. 
 
 He was a man of fine physical proportions and noble bearing; his 
 disposition was amiable to a fault. It is said he had no enemies; the 
 truth was, no man could quarrel with him, for if any came to him in 
 ill-humor, a half dozen words from him sufficed to change their feel- 
 ings. In the social circle he was peculiarly happy, in difi"using at all 
 times a rich fund of humor and story, which so strongly characterized 
 the social intercourse of the day in which he lived. 
 
 Dr. Fowler's universal amenity of manner, his professional skill, 
 his social humor, all combined to endear him to a large circle of ad- 
 miring friends, and render his loss in the meridian of life universally 
 deplored. 
 
 Dr. Fowler educated to the profession his brother, Peter D. Fowler, 
 who settled in Fishkill, N. Y., with whom his son, Theodore Fowler, 
 now of the same place, pursued the study of the medical sciences.
 
 26 
 
 Dr. DONAL, of Colaburg, now Croton Station, on the Hudson 
 River, was a young man who engaged in the practice of medicine in 
 that place, at the time of the prevalence of epidemic typhoid pneu- 
 monia, in 1814, and gained for himself an extensive reputation, by 
 adopting the stimulating plan of treatment in that disease, with great 
 success. Soon after he removed to New York, and died. The par- 
 ticulars of his life and character I have been unable to obtam. 
 
 Dr. LYMAN COOK, of Cortlandtown, was an eminent and suc- 
 cessful physician. He is worthy of especial notice by us, having been 
 chosen the delegate of this Society, which he represented by attending 
 the first meeting of the State Medical Society in the year 1807. 
 
 He engaged somewhat in politics, and was once elected to the office 
 of High Sheriff of the county. He removed to one of the Western 
 States, where he located as a physician. 
 
 Dr. NATHANIEL DRAKE, of Peekskill, was born in the town 
 of Yorktown, Westchester County, N. Y., on the 27th of August, 
 1763. He was a son of Judge Gilbert Drake, of that town, a de- 
 scendant of John Drake, of the Council of Plymouth, who was one of 
 the original company established by King James, m 1606, for the 
 settling of New England. 
 
 Dr. James Fountain informed me that he studied medicine under the 
 guidance of Dr. Peter Hugeford, of the same town; while Dr. P. 
 Stewart Avrites me, that he studied with Dr. Ebeuczcr White, 
 of Yorktown, a physician of great distinction in his day; perhaps 
 they are ])oth correct, as he may have studied with each. He attend- 
 ed medical lectures and dissections in New York City, and was one of 
 the medical students who were o1)ligcd to flee for their lives from the 
 mob which attacked the dissecting apartments, with a full determina- 
 tion to break up the school by violence. He commenced practice 
 quite early ill life, in his native town; in a few years, however, he removed 
 to the village of Peekskill, where he continued to practice his profession 
 until within about four months of his death, which occurred on the 1st 
 of Fi'hruary, 1850, being in the eighty-seventh year of his age. Dr. 
 Drake was a respectable practitioner for almost seventy years, under
 
 27 
 
 various reverses of fortune, and at last died poor, and in rather an 
 obscure manner. 
 
 lie was a tall and well-i)roi)oi'ti()nc(l man, of a decided bilious tem- 
 perament, good-natured, and gentlemanly; it is said that no man rode 
 more gracefully and elegantly on horseback than Dr. Drake, even in 
 his extreme old age. With him expiretl the former splendor of the 
 ancient family, not one being left to perpetuate even the name. 
 
 While in general practice Dr. Drake alw&ys had his fair proportion, 
 it was in the obstetrical department that he especially bore off the 
 palm. His natural kindness of heart and urbanity of manner secured 
 to him the friendship and confidence of that class of patients, in the 
 hour of their most imminent peril. Dr. Stewart writes, that "no 
 physician in this region of country has probably ever had so large an 
 experience in this department of our profession ;" his manner was mild 
 and courteous almost to a fault, and where he failed to win by his pro- 
 found knowledge and acquirements, he succeeded by these most excel- 
 lent traits. 
 
 Dr. SAMUEL STRANG, of Peekskill, was another of the physi- 
 cians of the olden time. He was the son of Major Joseph Strang, a 
 Revolutionary hero. The true family name is L'Estrange, which has 
 been corruiited to Strang. They sprang from one of tlie French 
 Huguenot families, whose descendants are now numerous in Yorktown, 
 and comprise the most respectable and wealthy farmers of the town. 
 
 From Bolton's History of Westchester County I extract the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 "From the genealogical table in possession of the Strangs, of Putr 
 nam, it appears that Daniel L'Estrange, and Charlotte, his wife, 
 (daughter of Francis Herbert,) being Protestants, fled from the City 
 of Paris, in the year of our Lord 1685, during the persecutions under 
 Louis the XIV., and came to the City of London. He obtained a 
 lieutenancy in the guards of James the Second, King of Great Britain, 
 and continued there until the year 1688, when with his wife he em- 
 barked for America, in company with a number of French Protestants, 
 and arrived at the City of New York. From thence he went to New 
 Rochellc, and subsequently removed to Rye. Daniel L'E.strange, who 
 was born A.D. 1656, died at Rye, in this county, A.D. 1*106. His will 
 bears date the same year. The late Major Joseph Strang greatly dis- 
 tinguished himself in the batteaux service, during the old French war.'' 
 
 Dr. Strang was born in Yorktown, in the year 1766. He was a
 
 28 
 
 student of Dr. Ebenezer White, of Yorktown, from whom he not only 
 obtained his professional education, but also the hand of his only 
 daughter. 
 
 He practiced his profession in the vicinity of Yorktown for a few 
 years; he then located himself in Peekskill, where he spent the re- 
 mainder of his days. He was a reputable physician, and a man of 
 scrupulous honesty and unwavering integrity; he was tall and slender, 
 of a sanguineous temperament, with a very piercing blue eye and ex- 
 tremely fair skin; he was not taciturn, but a man of quiet demeanor. 
 
 He had twelve children, six sons and a half-dozen daughters. One 
 of his sons, Eugene J. Strang, he carefully educated to the medical 
 profession; he practiced but one year, and died at the age of twenty- 
 seven years, of cardiac disease. He was a young man of promise, being 
 possessed of brilliant talents and extensive acquirements. 
 
 The second daughter of Dr. Strang married Dr. William N. Belcher, 
 of Sing Sing. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Strang died of typhoid pneumonia, in December, 1831, 
 at the age of sixty-five years. 
 
 Dr. peter HUGEFORD, of Cortlandtown, was probably the first 
 regular physician in the northwestern portion of Westchester County. 
 
 He was an Englishman by birth and education, and was unquestion- 
 ably an accomplished medical practitioner. He was certainly a gen- 
 tleman of the decided English stamp, as can be seen by his full-length 
 portrait which now hangs in an ancient parlor of his grand-daughter, 
 Mrs. Betsey Field, a widow of over eighty years, residing near the 
 village of Peekskill. In the same antiquated apartment hang the 
 portraits of two or three of his brothers, haughty-looking, red-faced 
 British officers, with tlieir massive powdered wigs hanging over their 
 shoulders. A doctor in those days was an important-looking person- 
 age. But, alas! the day of ruffled shirts, breeches, and kncc-bucklcs of 
 silver and gold, and shoe-buckles bedecked with precious stones, and 
 huge curled and powdered wigs, and cues which would vie in length 
 and beauty with those of China, has long since passed away; and now, 
 in these modern days of degeneracy, not even the gold-headed cane is 
 tolerated, and doctors, as well as professional men generally, are placed 
 "in tli(! roll of common men," and obliged to dress in threadbare 
 broadchtths, in place of silken gowns. 1 spirit of Hippocrates, Cel-
 
 BUS, and Galen, when sliall thy votaries be restored to their ancient 
 glory ? 
 
 Dr. Ilugeford had many students of niediiine; he was an honorablfi 
 and snccessful practitioner previous to the Revolution. Being a royaUst, 
 he retired to the Britisli army when war was declared. His fine farm 
 of two hundred acres was confiscated, and subsequently given by gov- 
 ernment to John I'auldinjr, for his service as one of the three distin- 
 guished captors of Major Andre, the British spy. 
 
 A cherry-tree brought by Dr. Ilugcford from England, and which 
 he planted in his garden, is still standing on the premises, now owned 
 by Jacob Strang; the tree bears a delicate, white, saccharine cherry, 
 which by grafts, &c., have been widely disseminated. 
 
 This, says Dr. J as. Fountain, from whom I obtained the materials 
 of this, as well as several other sketches, is a kind of service that every 
 physician can do, and thus confer a benefit on posterity, who can reap 
 the fruit of his industry, which, as in this instance, may long outlive 
 his name. 
 
 Dr. Hugeford was probably the most accomplished physician of liLs 
 day in this country. Except the meagre sketch which has been given 
 above, his biography, as far as can be ascertained, is lost. 
 
 Dr. STANLY, of Cortlandtown, was cotemporary with Dr. Huge- 
 ford, lie emigrated froin Connecticut, and settled in Cortlandtown, 
 at precisely what date is not known. His history is almost entirely 
 lost. He was celebrated for his great caution; he carried with him 
 his scale and weights, and at all times weighed carefully every dose of 
 medicine he administered. 
 
 He had one son, whom he educated thoroughly to the medical pro- 
 fession. Young Dr. Stanly married the only child of Richard Currie, 
 a wealthy farmer of this county. They united under the most ausjti- 
 cious and flattering circumstances. He died prematurely of brandy; 
 his wife, of opium; leaving a large family, most of whom are in indigent 
 circumstances. How often does the sun usher in a clear and beautiful 
 morning, and set iii a dark and lowering sky! Such was the morning 
 of life of the accomplished young Dr. Stanly and his tenderly-bred 
 wife, and such their sad fate, even before life's day had run half it? 
 allotted course.
 
 30 
 
 Dr. ELIAS QUEREAU, of Yorktown, was born in the City of 
 New York; the precise date of his birth, however, I have been unable 
 to learn. He pursued his medical studies under the care of Dr. Huge- 
 ford, of Cortlandtown. During the early period of the Revolutionary 
 war, he married in the City of New York, where he engaged in prac- 
 tice for a short time. 
 
 Owing to the unsettled state of the country, it is said he frequently 
 changed his residence and field of practice. Being a royalist, he em- 
 barked for St. Johns, Ca., with other royal refugees; he soon returned 
 to his native State, in consequence of the extreme inclemency of the 
 Canadian climate. Dr. Quereau finally settled in Yorktown, in this 
 county, Avhich was the native place of his vdk, where he continued to 
 reside during the remainder of his life. We are informed that the 
 doctor changed his location fourteen tunes. 
 
 In Yorktown he seems to have commenced anew. He joined the 
 Baptist denomination, and became an active member. With a few 
 others he built a church, which, under the charge of Elder E. Foun- 
 tain, was a prosperous society, and it was kept together forty years 
 by their united aid, and continues to the present tune. During all 
 this long period Dr. Quereau practiced medicine successfully, and with 
 much credit to himself. 
 
 He was a modest, quiet, and unassuming man, and a pious, con- 
 sistent, and benevolent Christian. His Sunday earnings he invariably 
 set apart for the benefit of the Church, believing that, as his duties on 
 that sacred day were labors of love and necessity, he had no right to 
 appropriate the avails thereof to the common purposes of life. He 
 argued that, as they were obtained by the use of the Lord's time, 
 they must, of necessity, be devoted to the advancement of His king- 
 dom. A most noble example, which it would doubtless be well for 
 more of his professional brethren to follow. 
 
 His life as a physician, though laborious, was truly a happy one; 
 so calm, so mild, so obliging, that he had no enemies. The venerable 
 Dr. James Fountain says, although living in his neighborhood many 
 years, he never heard a word uttered by any man against Dr. Quereau 1 
 
 " In misery's darkcFt cavern known, 
 His u.«eful can; was ever nigh, 
 Wlierc hopeless Angiiis'i pour'd iiis groan ; 
 And lonely Want rctir'd to die. 
 
 "No fiumnmns mock'd l)y chill delay, 
 No petty gain dii^dain'd by prMe, 
 The modest waiils of ev'ry day 
 The toil of ev'ry day 8upi>licd.
 
 31 
 
 " nis virtues walk'd tlicir narrow round, 
 Nor made a pause, nor Icit, a void ; 
 And sure th' Eternal Master found 
 The single talent well employ'd." 
 
 He died in his eighty-sixth year, leaving several children and many 
 friends to lament his loss. 
 
 In the simple narrative of this man we have an example as im- 
 pressive and as worthy of imitation as any handed down to us by his- 
 tory. Living in an huml)le sphere, and in a somewhat obscure local- 
 ity, his many virtues, and the esteem with which he was regarded 
 throughout a long life, are as worthy of record, and the example as 
 impressive to the rising generation, as that of an individual in the 
 most elevated position within tlie gift of a multitude. Our country 
 and our profession may well feel pruiid of a character like that of Dr. 
 Qucreau. 
 
 Dr. EBENEZER WHITE, of Yorktown, was the son of Rev. 
 Ebenezer White, of Southampton, L. I. He was born in the lower 
 part of Westchester County, in the year 1T44. He settled in York- 
 town a short time before the Revolutionary war, and took a deep in- 
 terest in that important struggle. He was also much interested in 
 politics and religion, doubtless at a sacrifice of progress in the study 
 of medical science. He carried his library mainly in his head and 
 saddle-bags, and practiced only a routine course through life. In politics 
 he was so successful as to be elected State Senator for one term. In 
 religion he also figured conspicuously. Belonging to the Old School 
 Presbyterian Chm'ch, he, with the pastor, one Silas Constant, a shrewd 
 Yankee, undertook to change the government to the Congregational 
 form, but failing in this, tliey retired, carrying off the records of the 
 old church; they erected a new house, about half a mile from the old 
 one; this little offshoot is still in existence.* 
 
 Dr. White died March 8th, 1825, aged eighty-one ycar.s, leaving a 
 large family of sons and daughters. 
 
 " Dr. White, of Yorktown," says Mr. Bolton, in his History of this 
 county, " through the whole course of the Revolution sustained the 
 character of a patriot, with that devotion and firmness which charac- 
 terized the many at that eventful period of our history. It appears 
 
 * Dr. James Fountain, of Jeflerson Valley, furnished the above statement.
 
 32 
 
 that the enemy made several unsuccessful attempts to capture this dis- 
 tinguished individual. On one occasion they were desirous of exchang- 
 ing the doctor for a British surgeon theu in the hands of the Ameri- 
 cans. To effect his surprisal, a large party of Ught horse were 
 dispatched to Crompoud, with strict orders to surround his dwelling, 
 and make him prisoner. Some kind friend, however, gave the doctor 
 timely warning, which enabled him to escape. 
 
 "As a substitute they seized upon Dr. James Brewer, who resided 
 in the immediate neighborhood, and were proceeding home with their 
 prisoner, when, passing through Stoney Street, they were fired upon 
 by a party of Americans who lay concealed behind the fences. Dr. 
 Brewer received a mortal wound, and expired the next morning, Kov. 
 20th, 1180, in the arms of Dr. White, who had thus narrowly escaped 
 the melancholy fate of his friend. It deserves to be mentioned that he 
 was the only one wounded of the party. Dr. Brewer, who had thus 
 perished at the early age of thirty-nine, was a native of Massachusetts, 
 and left by his wife, Hannah Brewer, four sons and three daughters. 
 His grandson is the present Dr. James Brewer, of Peekskill." (I have 
 been unable to learn anything of Dr. Brewer here referred to.) 
 
 " Ebenezer White, M.D., died 8th day of March, 1825, leaving issue, 
 besides Henry above mentioned, Bartow; Dr. Ebenezer, of Somers- 
 town, (for many years surrogate of the county, and a member of As- 
 sembly;) Lewis, of Peoria; James, Theodosius, of Somers, and a 
 daughter Catharine." 
 
 Dr. BENJAMIN BASSETT, of Peekskill. The following sketch 
 is from the Illg/dand Eagle, of April 10th, 1858, published in Peeks- 
 kill. It was written Ijy Rev. D. L. Marks, of the M. E. Church of 
 that village, and given as an address at the funeral of the deceased. 
 
 We are called in the providence of God, as a community, to the 
 mournful duty of committing to the grave the mortal remains of one 
 long and favorably known among us. It seems to us fitting that on 
 Buch an occasion there should be made a brief record of the man. 
 This duty has devolved on me. For many of the facts I am about to 
 present in this hasty sketch I am indebted to a member of the Medi- 
 cal Faculty, viz., Dr. Lee, of this village. 
 
 Dr. Bassett was born in Derby, Conn., December Gth, 1784. lie 
 graduated at Yale College, in 1807, in the twenty-third year of his age. 
 His medical education was prosecuted under the most favorable circum- 
 Btanccs of the tunes. He received the instructions of the professors of
 
 83 
 
 the University of Peiin, located in riiil;uk-li>Iiia. The celeljratcd Dr8. 
 Rusli, Physic, and Dorsey were among his ineilical instructors. ITcre 
 he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
 
 Soon after he graduated as a pliysician, lie began the i)ractice of his 
 profession in Delaware County, in this State. 
 
 Afterward he removed to Oswego County, where he continued his 
 j>ractice in a sparse population, until about the year 1826, when he re- 
 moved to Yorktown, in this county, where he practiced medicine suc- 
 cessfully about three years, lie removed to Pcekskill in 1829. From 
 that date he has lived and practiced medicine in our midst, endearing 
 himself to a large number of friends and families, until the 21st day 
 of March, 1858, when, as the shades of the Sabbath evening came upon 
 us, he quietly sank into the arms of death, and his spu'it passed to the 
 eternal world. 
 
 He is reported to have borne the most " kind and fraternal deport- 
 ment towards all the junior members of the profession, and to have 
 been free from the slightest tinge of jealousy or ill will, and ever ready 
 to excuse or overlook what others might have considered as an infringe- 
 ment on his rights or interests." His intercourse with all the members 
 of his profession is said to have been marked with " kindness and cour- 
 tesy." Hence, "he had few if any enemies among medical men." 
 
 The estimation in which he was held by the i)rofession was evinced 
 by his election in 181G, and also in 1841, to the honorable position of 
 President of the "Westchester County Medical Society." In the 
 latter year he delivered an address before the Society as their presi- 
 dent, " On the laws of epidemics as exhil)ited in those that had pre- 
 vailed in the county the preceding twenty years." This was so highly 
 appreciated by the Society that it was published by then* order. It is 
 still preserved in a medical work, vol. ix. of the first series of the 
 JVcw York Journal of MaUcinc, p. 183, and is worthy of the place it 
 occupies. It is classical in style, rich in facts, abounds in experience, 
 and every line evincing the closest habits of thought, and a highly dis- 
 criminating mind imited with his characteristic humility and selfnlc- 
 preciation. As he stood before the Society as their president to ad- 
 dress them, the first sentence he uttered assured them of his courtesy 
 and humility, so generally characteristic of true greatness. " Gentle- 
 men," said he, "if you have expected from your president to-tlay a 
 learned treatise on any branch of medical science, you will be disa|>- 
 pointed. We all enjoy in common the same facilities for accjuiring 
 medical knowledge, and many of you proV)ably improve these facilities 
 more than I do." We transfer the brief introduction to that address 
 3
 
 34 
 
 to tins sketch, because it is so perfectly characteristic of the man. 
 Men of real merit are generally men of true humility. Such a man 
 was our esteemed friend, Dr. Bassett. 
 
 Dr. Bassett merited and occupied a prominent position as a physi- 
 cian. A member of the medical profession remarked of him: "That 
 he was a close observer both of the phenomena of disease and of the 
 effect of medicine. He had great confidence in the recuperative power 
 of nature, and accordingly resorted to no liarsh or purturbating reme- 
 dies, but when promptness and decision were demanded, he was not 
 wanting." During the greater portion of his life his vigorous mind 
 was given to the study of disease, and his time was largely occupied 
 with visiting the sick and watching over his patients. He possessed 
 more than ordinary skill in his profession. 
 
 There was a rich and noble benevolence which strongly marked his 
 character. The gratification of doing good seemed to be a much 
 higher compensation for untiring labors by day and night than any 
 other which he received. His services were as cheerfully rendered to 
 the poor as to the rich, and often, like the healing gifts of Christ, they 
 were without money and without price. Many are the grateful testi- 
 monies given of this fact, and there are among us not a few who have 
 lost in his death an invaluable friend. 
 
 He would have accumulated a much larger patrimony for those 
 whom he has left on earth, had he followed his profession as a mere 
 money-makmg trade. But his was a mind and a heart that could rise 
 above all sordid and mercenary motives, and he has left his memory 
 engraved on many grateful hearts. His friends and family have re- 
 ceived, and will keep as a precious treasure, this rich legacy of a good 
 Tiamc and worthy example left them. 
 
 One of his prominent traits of character was that of closely investi- 
 gating any subject that was presented to his attention, before coming 
 to any decision concerning it. Hence he was never hasty nor rash in 
 his decisions. This doubtless did much in making him a "cautious, 
 careful and safe practitioner in his profession." He was such in the 
 estimation of medical men, and in the estimation of the community 
 generally. 
 
 Dr. Bassett was most emphatically a man of one work; and a man 
 greatly devoted to that work. He gave his mind, his heart, and his 
 time to his profession, and followed it very closely for the benefit of 
 others. He was unwearied in his attentions to the sick, exhibiting in 
 the sick room, where as a pasttjr we have often found him, patience, 
 kiuduess, and sympathy to the allliclcd; and wlicn death liallled all his
 
 35 
 
 skill, and claiiiu'd his paticiils as its victims, his sympathies were 
 strouglj' manifested to the bereaved. 
 
 He seemed uever to aim at any worldly display, or to reach a high 
 standard of wealth, bnt to feel perfectly satisfied with a moderate com- 
 petence. Hence, with great simplicity and singleness of heart, he 
 pursncd for nearly half a centnry his daily employment, a stranger to 
 the corroding cares and anxieties of those who are in eager pursuit of 
 wealth. 
 
 Though exposed to the inclemencies of weather, the frequent loss of 
 sleep, and to irregularities of meals, with a feeble constitution, such 
 were his habits of life, that he was rarely confined by illness, and it is 
 believed never with serious disease. His last sickness seemed to be 
 more the exhaustion of his vital powers, by long-continued labors, than 
 by any special disease. 
 
 He literally exhausted life in the practical duties of his profession. 
 Even when he had reached an age at which nature needed repose, he 
 was frequently seen in great feebleness going to visit his patients, and 
 found administering healing remedies to others, when he needed some- 
 thing to support sinking nature in himself. He seemed anxious to do 
 good as long as he had any strength left. After often saving life, and 
 often witnessing death in a great variety of forms, he yielded to the 
 righteous decree of his God, and gathered up his feet in death. Ho 
 closed his eventful life in his own residence, in the village of Peekskill, 
 lamented by a grateful community, in the seventy-fourth year of his 
 age. For several months his health declined, nature gradually yielded, 
 and the light of his life was extinguished in a manner which rendered 
 the last moment almost imperceptible. There lay his veneral^le form, 
 silent and motionless. The angel had come, and the sph'it had de- 
 parted. There sat his aged companion, nearly overcome with grief, 
 left almost alone, consoled by her sous and her Saviour and God. 
 Friends were filled with silent grief. There was a solemn sadness 
 where he had so long resided. Dr. Bassett had gone " to his long 
 home.'' 
 
 In his last sickness he evinced great clearness of mind, and much 
 close and serious thought on the sulyect of religion. His attention had 
 previously been turned to this all-important subject, and at a former 
 period of his life he is said to have sought the mercy of his God, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote bitter things against him- 
 self because he had not come out openly, and in a more public man- 
 ner; and at an early period of his life consecrated himself to Cod, and 
 his intlueucc to Christianity. Jle fully affirmed his faith in all the great
 
 36 
 
 • 
 
 and glorious doctrines of the Cliristiau religion. The immortality of 
 the soul and the resurrection of the body were referred to with great 
 decision of faith, and much emotion of spirit. 
 
 These seemed especially to occupy his mind up to the very last hours 
 of human consciousness. He most emphatically declared to us, 
 and to others, that he had no hope except in Jesus Christ. He did 
 not trust to his morality of life — to his long and sincere devotion to 
 the interests of others — nor to any human de})endencies, but only in 
 the merits of the woi'ld's Redeemer. He made his own arrangements 
 for his funeral, selected the place for his burial, and the clergymen 
 whom he wished to address the living on the day of his interment; and 
 when we promised him that these desires should be complied with, he 
 spoke with great feeling and affection of his endeared and faithful com- 
 panion, and of his children, whom he committed to the care of his 
 Heavenly Father. He wished to be put in a plain coffin, and buried 
 in a plain and Christian manner. Soon after receiving assurances that 
 his wishes should be complied with, his speech failed, and he Ijecame 
 unconscious of what was transpiring about him, and in a few hours 
 passed away to the world of spirits. 
 
 I have also taken from the same paper of March 27th, the following 
 eulogy, written by Prof. Chas. A. Lee, on the life and character of Dr. 
 Benjamin Bassett: An aged and respectable citizen has gone from 
 among us. Probably there is no reader whose eye this notice may 
 strike Ijut will feel that sadness and grief which spring from the loss of 
 one in whom centers a strong personal interest, on learning tliat Dr. 
 Benj. Bassett is dead. When we say that there is scarcely a family in 
 our conununity which does not feel almost as if a member had been cut 
 off, scarcely an individual who does not mourn for him as a departed 
 friend — and that after more than a third of a century spent in the ac- 
 tive duties of his profession in our midst, he yielded up his life to Him 
 who gave it, Avithout an enemy in the world — honored and loved by 
 all classes of society — we need say but little more ; these simple facts 
 are nobler eulogies than any we can pronounce, for they stamp him as 
 a good, useful and christian man. 
 
 Dr. Bassett belonged emphatically to the old school, New Eng- 
 landers of a former generation, few of whom still survive as monuments 
 of their time. Graduating at Yale College in 1807, a classmate of 
 that grand old theologian, Dr. Taylor — both their minds partook of 
 that rather solid than ornamental mould characteristic of tliose early 
 days. J?()uiid together by those peculiar and tender ties which knit 
 kindred s])irits in the formative process of a college course — that affec-
 
 37 
 
 tion was as warm and fresh as when fifty years before they rode out 
 from New Haven, each to launch for himself upon the troubled waters 
 of everyday life — and bidding"- a sad g-ood-bye to old associations and 
 to each other — a scene which we have often heard Dr. Bassctt describe 
 — the future Doctor of Divinity turned back with tearful eyes and ex- 
 claimed, while the future physician, overpowered with emotion, echoed 
 the seitiment, "thou dearest spot on this earth, may the memories 
 which cluster around thee cling to us forever;" and these memories ac- 
 company ing-them thus through after years, it seemed fitting that when 
 one had departed the other should follow to join him in the future 
 world, there never to separate again. There were many points of re- 
 semblance between them — a kind, gentle and affectionate disposition — 
 an abnegation of self — a love for all humanity— and a childlike sim- 
 plicity threw an indescribable charm around each. Mr. Bassett's in- 
 nate modesty prevented him from acquiring any great notority, but 
 did not circumscribe the sphere of his usefulness. His name will ever 
 be cherished by those who came in contact with him, and whom he 
 attended professionally during the long period of his practice in this 
 place. No man ever enjoyed more implicitly the entire confidence of 
 his patients. So great was this faith, that to many, simply his })rcscnce 
 in the sick room inspired more of hope than any saving properties 
 which all the medicine contained, and often have we known the suf- 
 ferer to ascribe such efficacy to his skill and prudence that the very 
 strength of the belief produced the result desired. 
 
 Not only to the homes of the prosperous did he carry hope and 
 health, but to the poor and needy his services were as freely given as 
 they were freely required, never asking or receiving for these labors of 
 mercy anything more than that gratitude which was all that they had 
 to bestow. lie was a fine conversationalist, and possessed an exhaust- 
 less fund of humor, and an immense store of anecdote, which would 
 lighten up the gloomiest apartment, transform the expression of pain 
 into a merry smile, and cause the cheerless visage of the desponding 
 to beam, in spite of every effort to repress it, with a cheerfulness which 
 promised the speedy approach of better days and robust strength. 
 These same qualities made him the life of a social circle, and one of 
 those genial companions with whom an hour spent infuses a glow and 
 warmth and good-will into the whole nature, which drives away all 
 gloomy and misanthropic views, and makes one look with a pleased 
 and kindly eye on everybody and everything. But besides his integ- 
 rity, which was so i)ure m himself that lie hardly suspected dishonesty 
 in others — his single-mindedness, which caused him to form a straight-
 
 38 
 
 forward and mauly opinion on every subject — his most remarkable 
 trait was a universal charity, which rendered him the most liberal of 
 men. No one ever heard him express a harsh or ungenerous opinion 
 of his neighbor; no one ever knew him hesitate to give ample credit 
 where it was due; free from envy, he took delight in the success of 
 others: towards his professional brethren he always expressed the 
 highest regard; if it was a difficult and dangerous case, he was the 
 first to propose a consultation, and whoever gained the glory, he ap- 
 peared entirely satisfied if only the patient was saved. Thus kiiu] and 
 gentle, thoughtful for others, careless for self, a useful citizen, a valued 
 friend, an unobtrusive Christian — full of years and of virtues, he has 
 gone to his rest; sorrowfully we take leave of him in closing this im- 
 perfect tribute, but in our memory he is cherished forever. 
 
 Dr. P. Stewart, of Peekskill, says that Dr. Bassett wrote an article 
 on Epidemic Dysentery and Intermittent Fever, which was published 
 in the N.Y. Medical Journal for May, 1831, which shows the strong 
 points of his mental character; it is a very valuable practical treatise. 
 He also wrote about the same time, as I have been informed, some 
 interesting articles on the effects of sulphate of quinine, but where 
 they were published I cannot say. In his whole life he honored his 
 profession, except perhaps in one particular, viz., in placing too low an 
 estimate on the value of his medical services; his charges w^ere so 
 small that he was unable to live in a manner suitable to a man of his 
 ability, skill and position. Until within the last few years of his life, 
 he felt too poor to avail himself of the means of professional ini})rove- 
 ment that he desired, and ought to have had; and when his circum- 
 stances enabled him to secure these advantages, he was too far ad- 
 vanced in years to profit by them. 
 
 Dr. James Fountain, who enjoyed his acquaintance I'or ujany years, 
 in a letter written to me some time previous to the death of Dr. Bas- 
 sett, speaks of him as follows: " lie was a well read and accomplished 
 physician; he possessed a strong mind, well adapted to reasoning. Dr. 
 Bassett's peculiarity was his excessive caution. I rcjcoUect once having 
 been sent for to consult with liiin in a case of typhoid fever; I recom- 
 mended a powder of camiihdr and 0|)ium; the doctor was delighted to 
 hear Ihc prescrii)ti(tn, for he Imd already jireparcd tlic ])ovvd('r, and 
 had held it between his tliinnb and linger three lioiu's, fciiring it was 
 not quite safe to venture the opium. 
 
 '"I'lie doctor still lives, ))iit lie is going the way of all flesh, after 
 Hccming the respect and esteem of the profession, and a nmltitude of 
 atquuinlances. His manner was ever unobtrusive and luiostentatious."
 
 39 
 
 In six weeks tVdiii tlie time the above was written, Dr. Bassett had 
 departed " to that undiscovered country from whence no traveler 
 returns." 
 
 Dr. ELI as CORNELIUS, of Soraers, was a native of Long Island; 
 he served in the capacity of surgeon's mate in the army of the 
 American Revolution. After the close of the war, he settled in the 
 western part of Somers, where he practiced his profession over forty 
 years with eminent success and credit. 
 
 During the Revolution he contracted the habit of smoking, snuffing, 
 and tipling, but, contrary to the generally received opinion, he was 
 never intoxicated during his long and arduous life. 
 
 Dr. James Foimtain says: "Dr. Cornelius was truly a pattern phy- 
 sician; with a very limited medical education, he commenced the active 
 duties of his profession, but full of energy and ambition, he studied and 
 practiced both by day and by night. He kept three good horses, and 
 rode off rapidly, and on his arrival at home he gave his horse over to 
 his groom, and went directly into his office, and there he spent all his 
 available time in the pursuit of knowledge or in the compounding of 
 medicines. 
 
 "He availed himself of every means of information; he commenced 
 taking the first medical periodical ever published in America, viz., 
 The Medical Repository, and ever continued to read it. He had also all 
 the principal authors of his day, and studied them thoroughly. He 
 very wisely avoided engaging in politics or any public matters, that 
 are so apt to divert the attention of the professional man from the 
 great objects of his calling. Having been inspired by a genuine love, 
 with the requisite enthusiasm, for his profession, he gave it his undivid- 
 ed attention, and the whole force of his energies and talents were 
 made subservient to it. 
 
 " He died at the age of sixty-eight years, having been blessed with a 
 large family, which were carefully and respectably bred. One of his 
 sons having been thoroughly educated, became one of the most cele- 
 brated and accomplished divines in the New England States. 
 
 " He commenced life like many of our profession, in extreme poverty ; 
 but honestly acquired what very few of the devotees of the healing 
 art have been able to do, a competency — having left for his heirs an 
 estate of nearly fifty thousand dollars."
 
 40 
 
 Dr. WILLIAM H. SACKETT was born at Greenwich, in Con- 
 necticut, in the year 1781. He was the second son of Justus Sackett, 
 a farmer of that town. Dr. Sackett was a gentleman of thorough clas- 
 sical education, being a graduate of the literary department of Yale 
 College. He pursued his medical studies under the care of Dr. Perry, 
 of Ridgefield, in his native state. Dr. Nehemiah Perry, now of the 
 same place, was his fellow student. He settled in Bedford in the year 
 1805 or '6, being full of youthful ardor and ambition; some three 
 years after he married the daughter of Col. Jesse Holly, of that place. 
 His mind was amply stored with the ancient and modern literature of 
 the profession. He commenced his studies at an important era in med- 
 icine; a period of transition as it were; new and brilliant lights were 
 just beaming upon the hitherto dark and obscure theories of medicine ; 
 Cullen, Brown, Darwin, and Rush were the leading spirits of the day. 
 Dr. Sackett carefully studied these, and indeed all others of his time. 
 
 He was a man of extraordinary perseverance and industry ; he pur- 
 sued the special objects of his calling energetically, both day and night, 
 and on all possible occasions. He possessed a strong mind, fruitful in 
 resources, and was justly esteemed the most accomplished physician in 
 the county. Uniting the several qualities of mind above mentioned 
 with a thorough collegiate education, and a careful medical pupilage, 
 he soon became a very popular physician, and was universally esteem- 
 ed. It is probably not saying too much, that ho was regarded, and 
 still is in memory, as the pride of the profession in that portion of the 
 county. 
 
 He was very prompt in business, and possessed a remarkably cheer- 
 ful and fun-loving disposition. He rode on horseback, generally upon 
 a gallop, and would never allow the messenger to arrive first at the 
 house of the sick. His "gray mare" was as extensively known as 
 himself. As every great military character, from Alexander the Great 
 to General AVorth, has had his favorite horse, which have received hon- 
 orable mention in history, so should Dr. Sackett's "gray mare" be as- 
 sociated with his memory, as it is to this day at Bedford. 
 
 Dr. Sackett was the preceptor of the late Dr. Joscj)!! Soribner, of 
 Tarrytown, Dr. Mead, of Illinois, and the late Dr. Daily, of Tarry- 
 town, lie possessed a nervo-sanguineous temperament; was tall and 
 slender; his eyes large, blue and piercing. He loved his profession, and 
 fell a sacrifice to it. The whole term of liis practice in Bedford 
 would not exceed fifteen years. He died December 29tli, 1820, in the 
 thirty-ninth year of his age. Alas! his ambition, his energy, his devo- 
 tion to the profession which he so much loved, resulted in his prema-
 
 41 
 
 ture death; he died in the priuio of life, mid in the midst of his useful- 
 ness. 
 
 I am indebted to Drs. J. Foiuitain and Shove for the materials of 
 the above sketch. 
 
 Dr. MATSON smith, of New Rochelle, was born in the year 
 1767, in Lyme, Connecticut. He died March 17th, 1845, in the 79th 
 year of his age. The following is extracted from the published dis- 
 course of Rev. Gorham D. Abbott, on the funeral occasion of Dr. 
 Smith. Mr. Abbott says: "In the course of his education he passed 
 two years at Yale College, a classmate of the Rev. Dr. Nott, Presi- 
 dent of Union College. But his health failing, he returned home and 
 studied medicine in his native village, with Dr. Samuel Mather. In 
 1787, at the early age of twenty, h(! came and settled in New Rochelle 
 as a practicing physician. His father died when he was very young; 
 and as he left his mother's home fifty -seven years ago, to fix his resi- 
 dence in this place, the richest patrimony he bore was a devoted Chris- 
 tian widow's blessing and prayers. He married for his first wife the 
 daughter of his medical instructor, a branch of the family of that name 
 so highly honored in the annals of New England. The names of Drs. 
 Increase and Cotton Mather will be remembered as long as Howard 
 University or the Churches of Christ in Boston have existence. 
 
 " Dr. Smith was a medical licentiate of the State of Connecticut, and 
 for several years President of the Medical Society of Westchester 
 County. His professional knowledge and skill were extensively known 
 and higlily appreciated by his medical brethren; and, in consideration 
 of his standing as a medical practitioner, the Regents of the Univer- 
 sity of New York, some years since, conferred upon him the honorary 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine. For more than half a century he has 
 been identified with the history of his town and county, not only in 
 consequence of the widely extended practice to which he was called 
 by his high professional attainments, his experience and skill, but by 
 his interest and aid in whatever has affected the moral and religious in- 
 terests of nearly three generations of inhabitants. 
 
 " He comnjenced his professional career by taking a marked and de- 
 cided stand in respect to the observance of the Sabbath, of temperance, 
 aud of religion; and he lived to see in the history of his own family 
 the happy fruits of his long course of uprightness, integrity, and piety. 
 
 " He filled many situations of responsibility, confidence aud trust.
 
 42 
 
 He has long been associated with the great, benevolent and philan- 
 thropic institutions of his day. The interests of the Bible, of the 
 Sabbath, of temperance, of morality and religion in our own land, and 
 in the uttermost parts of earth, have ever shared his labors, benefac- 
 tions and prayers. Whatever has concerned the glory of God and the 
 well-being of mankind, either for time or eternity, has found a friend in 
 hun." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Abbott, after giving a detailed account of Dr. Smith's 
 religious experience and views in his last days and hours, describes his 
 death as follows: 
 
 "Early in the forenoon of Monday he appeared in extreme distress. 
 I said softly to him, ' Dr. Smith, if you still feel that all is peace, will 
 you please to give us a sign ?' 
 
 "He distinctly did, though the dying hand had scarcely life remain- 
 mg to obey his will. 
 
 " In the afternoon every indication told that the end was near. His 
 pulse was gone. The power of motion was gone. The hands and the 
 head had assumed their last position. The eye had ceased to look 
 around upon any earthly object; it was fixed and directed to Heaven. 
 Every line and every feature of the countenance began to wear the 
 similitude of death. All gathered around his bed to watch the termin- 
 ation of the conflict with the King of Terrors. I was requested once 
 more to ask the question if he recognized us. I did so. There was 
 no voice — no sign. He was in the midst of the Jordan. He was so 
 far from our shore, that he could make no answer to our voice. We 
 could only commit him to those arms which could bear him up amid 
 the dee))est waves, and receive him safely on the other side. At seven 
 his spirit was with God. 
 
 " ' Night was his time for death, 
 When all around was peace, 
 Calmly to yield the weary breath, 
 From sin and suflering cease; 
 Think of Heaven's bliss, and give the sign 
 To parting friends. Such deatli be mine.' 
 
 Montgomery. 
 
 " Such were the closing days and fmal scenes of the life of our depart- 
 ed brother." 
 
 By my sjjecial re(|ucst, Prof. Joseph Mather Smith, of the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons ii\ New York City, has pre] la red tlic following 
 chaste and elegant notice of his father's professional life, which I sliall
 
 48 
 
 give entire. I hope it will not be tliouglit tliat I have given undue 
 length and prominence to the sketch of Dr. Matson Smith, when it is 
 considc'red that he was one of the earliest and most distinguished of 
 the physicians of the county, and took a special interest in this Society, 
 being present, and having been elected Secretary of its first meeting in 
 May, 1197. I would gladly give each of the sketches equal length, 
 provided the lives of the individuals had furnished the materials for it, 
 and that the facts and incidents could at this day be obtained. 
 
 Although Dr. Smith commenced his professional life at New 
 Rochelle, at the early age of twenty, his success in business was extra- 
 ordinarily rapid. Kor did he fail to enlarge his practice year by year, 
 until it extended over most of the southern towns of the county. This 
 almost unexampled prosperity seems to have resulted from his prepos- 
 sessing })ersonal appearance, his decision of character, his ingratiating 
 address, and the rectitude of his moral and professional deportment. 
 He was fortunate in early securing the respect and confidence of the 
 more respectable and influential of the people among whom he had 
 settled as a stranger, and especially of the physicians of the neighbor- 
 hood. His prudence and discretion were displayed in refraining from 
 actively participating in the exciting and often turbulent political strifes 
 so comnion at the close of the last and the comnieucement of the pres- 
 ent century. Decided and uniform in his political sentiments, a patriot 
 by birth, of the New England school, he expressed his opinions with 
 frankness, but iu terms so respectful and void of offensiveness to his 
 opponents, tliat he never alienated their friendly regard. While thus 
 industriously performing his increasing professional duties, he enlarged 
 the circle of his usefulness by aiding to advance the interests of popular 
 education, not only iu the elementary and solid, but in the higher and 
 classical departments of learning. Nor was he slow in uniting in every 
 project which tended to elevate the moral tone of the community in 
 which he lived; a community which, originally composed mostly of 
 Huguenots and Englishmen of orderly and religious habits, became 
 sadly degenerated during the Revolutionary war. Such was especially 
 the case throughout that portion of the county lying between the boun- 
 daries called the British and American lines, and known as the neutral 
 grounds — a territory overrun by marauders and vagrants, and the 
 scene of many bloody rencontres between the contending parties, and 
 from which many of the best portion of the population voluntarily 
 exiled themselves until after the return of peace. But the influence 
 of Dr. Smith was exerted to promote the accomplishment of a higher 
 purpose, and that was, such a reformation as Christianity alone can
 
 44 
 
 effect. His endeavors directed to this end were attended with results 
 as satisfactory perhaps as the circumstances of the times would permit. 
 
 As a profession, raedicme was regarded by Dr. Smith, next to that 
 of the Christian ministry, as the noblest of human pursuits. Its inher- 
 ent dignity and benevolent attributes were to him transparent in all 
 its aspects ; and it was in the labors of such men as Boerhaave, Syden- 
 ham, Huxham, and CuUen that he recognized its diversified capabili- 
 ties to minister to human happiness. These distinguished physicians 
 he contemplated as models of what medical men should be ; and by 
 those who knew him well, it will not perhaps be thought too partial to 
 say, that hLs conception of a virtuous, humane and enlightened physi- 
 cian was realized in his own character. 
 
 Residing in a country district, it was essential to his success that 
 he attend ahke to the several departments of practical medicine. 
 Happily, it was not against his predilections that he became a general 
 practitioner. Devoted to the practice of physic proper, obstetrics and 
 surgery, it may perhaps be said, aside from some of the rarer and more 
 delicate operations of surgery, which he referred to special experts, 
 that he was equally skillful in these departments. With his experience 
 enlarged by clinical observation, and his judgment matured by reflec- 
 tion, he became a ripe counsellor to his professional neighbors; and as 
 such, he was the more esteemed on account of his courteous deportment, 
 his respect for the opinions of his medical brethren, and his scrupulous 
 care to avoid everything which, in utterance or action, might tend to 
 lessen the confidence of a patient in the skill of his physician. In fact, 
 so strictly and conscientiously were the principles of medical ethics ob- 
 served by him, that no physician hesitated for a moment to meet him 
 at the l)edsidc of his patient. To young physicians of merit he was 
 especially friendly, aiding them in difficult cases, in that kind and 
 delicate manner which could not fail to inspire them with self-confidence, 
 and give to their patients the assurance that their medical attendant 
 was worthy of their regard. 
 
 The liberal and sagacious views of Dr. Smith, in respect to the 
 hygienic and prophylactic I'clations of the medical art, were strikingly 
 illustrated in his adoption of the practice of vaccination at a very early 
 period after its introduction into this country. Convinced by his own 
 experiments that the discovery of Jenner was the greatest boon con- 
 ferred on humanity by medicine, he entered heart and hand into the 
 work of diffusing its benefits in the comnnmity in which he lived, taking 
 great pains to remove the doubts of those whose minds wavered in 
 relation to its value. The practice of vaccination, through the agency
 
 45 
 
 of Dr. Suiitli and a low of his (Hmtciiiporaries, soon hecaiiic as <^cneral 
 ill the County of Westchester, as it did througli the influence of Drs. 
 Yalciitiiie Seaman, Mitchell, Miller, Post, Tlosack, and other medical 
 men in the City of New York. AVith these eniiiient physicians he had 
 frequent professional intercourse, and with them he efliciently co-oper- 
 ated in the attempt to exterminate the variolous disease. 
 
 Though minute in his study of the ordinary endemic diseases of 
 the southern parts of the county, and of which, if the writer remem- 
 bers correctly, he gave an account in an annual address, delivered be- 
 fore the County Medical Society, Dr. Smith also carefully watched 
 the modiilcations of disease, induced by atmospheric influences. The 
 occurrence of new and rare forms of epidemic maladies quickly attract- 
 ed his notice; and the one which, of all others, during his long profes- 
 sional career specially engaged his attention, was the epidemic or ty- 
 phoid pneumonia, which prevailed in the Northern and Eastern States 
 under various modifications, in 1811, '12, and '13, and which, in many 
 places, was extensively prevalent and mortal. The annals of that dis- 
 temper constituted no inconsiderable i)art of the original American 
 medical literature of that period. To the stock of knowledge of the 
 disease Dr. Smith contributed his mite, in a communication to Dr. 
 Hosack, entitled "An Account of a Malignant Epidemic which pre- 
 vailed in the County of Westchester, N. Y., in the summer of 1812;" 
 a communication which was published by that gentleman in the third 
 volume of the Aimrican Mcdiail caul Fhilosoplucnl Rx-gistcr, of which 
 he was the leading conductor. The sketch given by Dr. Smith of the 
 prevalence of the ejiidcraic, and of its symptomatology, peculiarities, 
 and treatment, exhibits the clearness of his views regarding its nature, 
 and of the remedies reiiuired in its treatment. 
 
 Among the physicians who took an active part in the first quarter 
 of the present century in establishing and maintaining the Westchester 
 County Medical Society, the snliject of this memoir was one of the 
 foremost. The efforts he made to advance the interests of the Society 
 were not overlooked by his associates; and the proof that they were 
 not so, was shown in his election to its presidency, an office he filled 
 for many years; and it is well remembered that nothing which did not 
 imperatively claim his attention, was allowed to prevent his attend- 
 ance at its stated meetings. Such meetings were to him occasions of 
 delightful intercour.se with his professional brethren, and of profitable 
 interchange of medical intelligence. And it must be added, that it 
 was, without his solicitation, through the agency of this Society that, 
 in 1830, he received from the Regents of the University of the State 
 the houorarv degree of Doctor of Medicine.
 
 46 
 
 In bis physical developmeut, Dr. Smith was above the ordinary f-tat- 
 ure; and though rather delicate and valitudiuary in his youth and early 
 manhood, yet, after entering into active life, and forming habits, so 
 far as his avocations would admit, the most conducive to health, he 
 became muscular and robust; and with the exception of suffering oc- 
 casional vertigo, and a few attacks of acute inflammatory and febrile 
 disease, he enjoyed a high degree of health until within a year or two 
 before his death. For upwards of thirty years he spent no small 
 share of his time on horseback, traveling over hills and valleys, by 
 day and by night, in heat and cold, in storm and sunshine, answering 
 to every demand of duty, whether professional or otherwise. As old 
 age approached, he, for the most part, exchanged the saddle for the 
 carriage, and deemed it justifiable to abridge his labors, by generally 
 declining to attend to the calls for his services at night. At a later 
 period he felt the necessity of withdrawing from general practice, 
 though he still maintained his position as a consulting physician. In 
 his 17 th year he began to experience, in addition to a troublesome 
 constipation, which had existed for several years, a dysuria, which, 
 after some months, was followed by a retention of urine — a condition 
 from which relief was obtained only by instrumental means. This in- 
 firmity, so common in old age, gradually impau'cd his general health, 
 and being recognized as an enlargement of the prostate gland, with 
 the usual concomitant disorder of the bladder, was of course regarded 
 as incurable. The natural progress of the disorder, and the irritation 
 of the diseased parts, caused or exasperated by the necessary intro- 
 duction of the catheter, gradually induced a collapse, which terminat- 
 ed his life on the llth of March, 1845. 
 
 A brief sketch of his life, and a narrative of the calm, resigned, and 
 devotional state of his mind as he approached the grave, was prepared 
 and delivered as a funeral address, by his excellent friend, the Rev. 
 Gorham D. Abbott, and which is preserved in his family, hi i)rint, as 
 a worthy memorial of his professional and Christian character. 
 
 Dr. STEPHEN ALLEN HART was born at Shrub Oak, West- 
 chester County, New York, June 11th, 1820. He commenced the 
 study of UK'dicine under the direction of Dr. John Collett, in March, 
 1843. Ho is said to have pursued the study with much zeal and ar- 
 dor. After having attended two full courses of lectures at the Uni- 
 versity Medical College, in New York City, he received tin; (Icl'tci! of 
 MD. in the spring of 184G.
 
 47 
 
 He iinnicdiiitcly entered ui)on the practice of his profession in York- 
 town, in liis native county, where he continued to reside until tlie time 
 of his deatli, February 22d, 1849, tet. 29. 
 
 He left a wife and two cliildron to mourn his premature death. 
 
 Dr. Hart gave promise of becoming a prominent member of his pro- 
 fession, possessing as he did all the requisites wliich should character- 
 ize the good physician — amiability, benevolence, intelligence, ambition, 
 and integrity. But he failed to enjoy what it was his aim to secure 
 to others, viz., health and longevity. 
 
 Dr. GEORGE C. FINCH. The following biographical sketch of 
 Dr. Finch was prepared ))y his friend and preceptor, Seth Shove, M. 
 D., and read June 2d, 1857, before the Westchester County Medical 
 Society, in 'accordance with a previous resolution. 
 
 It was referred to the committee of publication; in consequence of 
 the committee not having C(Mitinued the publication of their prccsed- 
 ings, this beautiful eulogy of Dr. Finch has remained in manuscript un- 
 til the i)resent. 
 
 Dr. Shove has kindly consented, with the approval of the commit- 
 tee, to permit it to be published with the other biographical sketches 
 of deceased physicians of this county. This, and the sketches of Drs. 
 Smith and Bassett, are rather more lengthy than the original design 
 of these articles contemplated; yet, since the compiler has failed to ol> 
 tain any information in relation to many physicians that have lived and 
 (lied in this county, he felt justified in introducing a more extended bi- 
 ogra})hy of individuals where it could be furnished; also for the reason 
 that, in either of the above specified cases, particularly the present, it 
 would have been unjust to the author of the sketch to attempt its 
 abridgment. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
 
 Ul)on the record of your Society's Transactions at its last annual 
 meeting is found a resolution, requesting me to prepare a biographical 
 sketch of the late Dr. Finch, one of our fellow members, to be read at 
 this meeting. 
 
 To a knowledge on the part of the mover of that resolution, of my 
 long and intimate acquaintance, and friendly social and professional 
 relations with the deceased, I am probably indebted for the honor 
 of submitting this brief sketch of our lamented friend and brother.
 
 48 
 
 The gratification of responding to a sense of duty imposed by this 
 relation, is mingled with regret of my inability to do justice to the 
 memory of one thus fallen, ere he had arrived at the meridian of his 
 usefulness; and whom, had such an event been my allotment instead of 
 his, I should have considered it an honor to look upon, prospectively, 
 as successor in my field of labor. 
 
 Dr. George C. Finch was born April 6th, 1817, at what is 
 now Croton Falls, in the town of IS^orth Salem, Westchester County, 
 N.Y., where his parents still reside, and where his father, Silas Finch, 
 Esq., has long been known as a prominent and highly respectable cit- 
 izen and magistrate. His mother was Sarah Crosby, daughter of the 
 Hon. Darius Crosby, of Westchester County, for three years a mem- 
 ber of the Lower House of the Assembly, and for four, of the Senate of 
 this State. She is a lady of exalted worth, to whom the son was 
 doubtless much iudel)ted for his many excellent traits of character. 
 They had but two children; the younger, a surviving daughter, wh(» 
 remains, the solace of her otherwise disconsolate parents, at her loved 
 but saddened home. 
 
 In his rudimentary studies the doctor discovered early signs of a 
 taste for learning; and his parents, possessed of ample means, resolved 
 to spare no labor or expense in his education. At the age of ten he 
 was placed at the grammar school of Mr. Minor, of South East, where 
 he remained a considerable time, and was afterwards a member of the 
 North Salem Academy, pursuing his studies with great diligence, un- 
 der the direction of the Rev. Mr. Jelliflf. He was subsequently trans- 
 ferred to Mount Pleasant Academy, of which the Rev. Mr. Prime was 
 principal, where lie prepared for Union College, at which he graduated 
 on the 9th of August, 1839, having sustained and ended his collegiate 
 course in a manner which does him great honor. He was a member 
 of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and if we may judge by an intimation 
 derived from a private source, we should conclude that he Avas a favor- 
 ite of the Faculty and Alumni of the Institution; certain it is that he 
 enjoyed ever after a very enviable friendship and intimacy with [>ersons 
 of distinguished eminence, who were graduates of the same institution. 
 To the ordinary classical attainments, he added a knowledge of tlie 
 French Language. 
 
 Having elected the profession of medicine, and being thus prepared 
 to study it with facility, he entered the ollice of tlie writer of this 
 sketch, where he remained during his term of study, excepting that 
 portion devoted to lectures at the Jefferson Medical College, at which 
 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the spring of 1841.
 
 49 
 
 Being; desirous of cultivating a professional acquaintance, and secur- 
 ing the instructions of the al)lc professors of the institutions of his 
 native State, he employed the spring terra in the medical department 
 of the University of the City of New York, and in the hospitals, &c., 
 after which he returned to associate himself, for a time, with his first 
 preceptor, in order to l)ecome familiar with the details of private 
 practice. 
 
 Thus intellectually qualified to enter uj)i)n tlie active duties of a 
 profession he seemed destined to honor, hut of slender physical consti- 
 tution, he yielded to the promptings of parental choice, and opened an 
 office in his native village, in face of the oft-repeated saying, that "A 
 prophet is not without honor, save in his own country." 
 
 Here he found himself surrounded by a large circle of aecjuaintan- 
 ces and friends, who esteemed him for his moral and intellertual worth; 
 but it rcfjuired time to secure their entire confidence in this newly- 
 acquired relation as their medical adviser. 
 
 In his early professional aspirations, it cannot be denied that the 
 doctor desired to shine, but not in the dark shade which calumny 
 might cast over the reputation of his neighboring physicians. He 
 seemed only ambitious to acquire a reputation for usefulness, and to 
 deserve that reputation. He sought real character, and laid the 
 foundation in sincerity and upright intent. How well he succeeded, 
 may be inferred from the fact that, as his medical abilities came to be 
 appreciated, he gradually acquired a very respectable practice, and a 
 large share of popular esteem, which he ever after enjoyed; both of 
 which might have been increased indefinitely had his physical powers 
 been equal to Jiis mental capabilities. These facts are very creditable 
 to the doctor, i)articularly as Croton Falls was a new field of labor, 
 divided among old and estaljlished practitioners. 
 
 It is believed that, during his twelve years' jjrofessional duties, he 
 never lost one real friend; and if ill health sometimes compelled him 
 to delay his visits, or fail in his attentions to the sick, 
 
 " Consider wlij- the change was wrought, 
 You'll find it his misfortune, not his fault." 
 
 Perhaps the most rernarkal)le features in the doctor's mental con- 
 stitution were quickness of percei)tion, accurate discrimination, and 
 deliberative judgment, regulated by thorough knowledge of his profes- 
 sion. By the exercise of these qualities he was highly successful in 
 his treatment. 
 
 As a man, he was social and honest; as a friend, cordial, sincere- 
 4
 
 50 
 
 and faithful; as a physiciau, humane and skillful. In the strictest 
 sense of the term, he was a gentleman; but nowhere did he appear to 
 better advantage than at the bed-side of his patient. Mild and amia- 
 ble in disposition, urbane in manners, dignified in deportment, on his 
 bland and cheerful countenance the ever-kindling smUe beckoned the 
 sick and desponding to hope, trust and confidence; nor was that confi- 
 dence abused by selfish dissimulation. If his patient or the friends 
 either needed or desired a consultation, it was enough. 
 
 In his relations to other physicians, he was modest and complaisant, 
 Init highly sensible to any infraction of established rules of etiquette 
 or ethics, and was sure to meet such dereliction with indignant reserve 
 and professional non-intercourse. 
 
 He was opposed to every species of quackery, and to anything which 
 bears its semblance. Even the obtrusive pretences of the Hahnema- 
 nean delusion could not captivate his settled and invulnerable princi- 
 ples. When invited to the house of his particular friend, to consult 
 with a distinguished leader in homoeopathy, who had been sent for to 
 see his patient, he replied, apparently against his own interest: "I 
 would be pleased to meet with Dr. J. as an old fi'iend and preceptor, 
 h^U not as a p/iysician." 
 
 The delicacy of his constitution rendering liim unable to endure the 
 fatigue of a laborious country practice, especially in the night, and in 
 bad weather, he at one time conceived the idea of abandoning his pro- 
 fession, at least in part. This, together with a desire to be useful to 
 the public, might have induced him to yield to the solicitations of liis 
 friends, and he was elected supervisor of his town, wliich office he con- 
 tinued to hold for six consecutive years. At the time of his death he 
 was one of the committee for erecting the new pubhc County 
 Buildings. In 1853 he represented his district in the State Assembly. 
 
 In all these relations he discharged his (jfficial duties with great 
 fidelity, and with entire satisfaction to his constituents. 
 
 In the latter part of tlie summer of 1853 he had a severe attack 
 of fever, from which he slowly recovered, but with great difficulty. 
 During the two succeeding years his health, though feeble, was such 
 as to ena))lc liim to travel a little, enjoy the society of his friends, and 
 occasionally to visit the sick in his innnediate neighborhood; indeed, 
 his physician entertained hopes of his ultimate recovery. But in the 
 fall of 1855 slight cough and fever indicated the hisidious approach 
 of pulmonary disease, which terminated his existence on the 28th of 
 March, 1850, in his 30th year. 
 
 lie was not a member of any religious denomination, but a liberal
 
 51 
 
 supporter of the Presbyterian Church, which he regularly attended 
 when not prevented by other duties, and for which he entertained a 
 decided preference. In his last sickness he received the ordinances of 
 the church, and professed his faith in the Saviour. 
 
 In the life of Dr. Finch we have a conspicuous example of private, 
 public, and professional excellence, worthy the imitation of all who, 
 like him, would live esteemed, honored and beloved, and who, like 
 him, would die lamented by all who knew him. 
 
 Dk. henry white, of Yorktown, was born August 31st, 1781. 
 He was the sou of Dr. Ebcnezer White, a sketch of whose life will be 
 found in these memoirs. Having received a good common English 
 education for the times in which he lived, he commenced the study of 
 medicine at the age of eighteen, under the tuition of his father. In 
 the fall and winter of 1802 he attended the medical lectures at 
 Columbia College, in New York City. 
 
 In 1803 he effected a copartnership with Dr. Joshua Secor, in the 
 City of New York, to practice medicine in connection with a drug 
 store. The same year, however, he returned to his father, preferring 
 country to city practice. 
 
 In 1804 he went to Hackensack, Dutchess County, N. Y., and en- 
 gaged in practice; but not feeling encouraged with the location, 
 again returned to his native place. In the same year he married a 
 daughter of l\ev. Silas Constant; their matrimonial alliance was hap- 
 py, but l)ricf; in about two years he was called to mourn the loss of 
 his much beloved wife. In the year 1809 he was elected delegate of 
 this Society, to the State Medical Society, for a term of four years. 
 In 1816 he married the widow of the late Dr. Stephen Fowler, of 
 New Castle, in this county; she is a daughter of Dr. Ehsha Belcher, 
 whose biography has l)ecn given. Having for several years been sur- 
 rogate of the county, in 1823 he became one of the Judges of the 
 Court of Common Pleas, which office he held for many years. He 
 took an active interest in all the great religious and moral enterprises 
 of his time; Bible, temperance, anti-slavery, tract, Sabbath-school, and 
 other societies received his encouragement, and generally found in 
 him an earnest and efficient officer. Indeed, so much of his time was 
 devoted to these engagements, that he could hardly be regarded as one 
 of the practicing physicians of our county, for many years of his life. 
 He was a man possessed of noble sentiments and undoubted veracity.
 
 52 
 
 Punctuality was one of his prominent traits; it was bis rule never to 
 let any one suffer by his neglect or procrastination. He was very 
 scrupulous in his observance of the sacred Sabbath ; to him it was a 
 period of delight — a day of holy rest; he would never permit secular 
 conversation, or the reading of secular papers or books, on that day. 
 
 He was very hospitable, and took great pleasure in entertaining 
 clergymen in particular. 
 
 Dr. White continued the general practice of medicine in his native 
 town until about the year 1840; after which, he merely attended upon 
 the sick as a consulting physician. 
 
 He died of congestion of the lungs, in November, 185t, aged sev- 
 enty-six years. 
 
 With these simple, brief, and imperfect sketches of our deceased 
 brethren, my present labor of love will cease. I will therefore 
 
 " No further seek their merits to disclose, 
 
 Or dra\Y their frailties from their dread abode; 
 (Tiiere they alike in trembling hope repose,) 
 The bosom of their Father and their God.'" 
 
 I had hoped to obtain an account of several others, at least equally 
 worthy of mention as those included in these sketches; I have failed, 
 however, in obtaining the required materials. I shall, therefore, con- 
 sole myself with the hope that another, with more zeal, energy, and 
 ability, may commence the work anew; and should these sketches 
 prove serviceable in rendering such an effort more easy and complete, 
 I shall feel amply repaid for the time bestowed on them. 
 
 May the members of this Society, and all who may chance to read 
 these simple narratives, be stimulated to increased exertions to elevate 
 their intellectual, i)rofessional, moral, and religious character to a po- 
 sition which shall justly entitle them to be held up as exami)les of the 
 truly good physician. With this nol^le ol)jert in view, let us lie dili- 
 gent and lose no time, for all should 
 
 "Remember, life is bnt a shadow, 
 Its dale the intermediate breath we draw; 
 Ten tliousand accidents in ambusli lie. 
 To cnisb tlie frail and fickle tenement. 
 Which, like the brittle hour-glass measuring time, 
 Is often broke ore half its sands are run." 
 
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