LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 610.92 Sp3g I.H.S. A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF CHICAGO A COLLECTION OF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF THE EMINENT REPRESENTATIVES, PAST AND PRESENT, OF THE MED- ICAL PROFESSION OF CHICAGO COMPILED BY F. M. SPERRY ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO J. H. BEERS & CO. i e o 4 r INDBX Allen, Jonathan Adams 127 Andrews, Edmund 53 Babcock, Robert Hall 123 Bartlett, John : 44 Billings, Frank 168 Bishop, Seth Scott 195 Blaney, James Van Zandt 77 Bogue, R. G 207 Brainard, Daniel 236 Brophy, Truman W 209 Brower, Daniel Roberts 99 Byford, Henry T 154 Byford, William Heath 10 Gary, Frank 66 Christopher, Walter S 142 Church, Archibald 97 Cotton, Alfred Cleveland 215 Danforth, Isaac N 120 Davis, Nathan Smith, Jr 175 Davis, Nathan Smith, Sr 1 De Lee, Joseph Bolivar 211 Dewey, Richard 198 Dickinson, Frances 150 Dudley, E. C 63 Dyas, William Godfrey 148 Earle, Charles Warrington 163 Evans, John 185 Favill, Henry Baird 199 Fenger, Christian 35 Freer, Joseph W 194 Goodkind, Maurice L 220 Gunn, Moses 1 30 Hall, Winfield Scott 133 Hamilton, John B 231 Harmon, Elijah D 42 Harris, Malcolm LaSalle 230 Hektoen, Ludvig 132 Henrotin, Fernand 127 Herrick, William B 103 Hollister, John Hamilcar 201 Holmes, Edward Lorenzo 79 Hotz, Ferdinand Carl 105 Ingals, Ephraim 235 Ingals, Ephraim Fletcher 107 Jackson, Abraham Reeves 72 Jewell, James Stewart 219 Johnson, Frank Seward 52 Johnson, Hosmer Allen 49 Jones, Samuel J 206 Lyman, Henry M 32 Martin, Franklin H 189 Mergler, Marie J 1 ' Miller, DeLaskie 46 Miller. Truman W 106 Murphy, John B 73 Newman, Henry Parker 89 Owens, John E 1 84 Parkes, Charles Theodore 221 Quine, William E 69 Ranch, John M ' 117 Rea, Robert Laughlin 00 Ridlon, John 179 I I 80464 vi INDEX. PAGE PAGE Robinson, Byron 114 Thompson, Mary Harris 57 Robison, John Albert 3GU Van Hook, Weller 187 Senn, Nicholas 15 Smith, Charles Oilman 141 Waite, Lucy 62 Stevenson, Sarah Hackett 145 Waugh, William F 128 Wolcott, Alexander 31 Talbot, Eugene Solomon 81 Wood, Casey A 203 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OK CHICAQO LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOiS URDANA s. p, A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS NATHAN SMITH DAVIS, M. D., SR. In considering the character and career of this eminent member of the medical faculty, the impartial observer will be disposed to rank him not only among the most distinguished members of his profession, but also as one of those men of broad culture and genuine benevolence who do honor to man- kind at large. In overcoming obstacles, he has exhibited patience and per- sistence; through a long and busy life he has known none but worthy motives; to the practice of his profession he has brought rare skill and inventive resource; while in the imparting of instruction, whether through his pen or in the class room, he has shown profound aptness. Such qualities as these stamp him as a man of genius, and entitle him to be classed with the benefactors of mankind. Dr. Davis was born on January 9, 1817, in a rude cabin of logs, erected by his father, Dow Davis, among the primitive forests of Chenango county, New York, of which his parents were pioneer settlers. He was the young- est of a family of seven children, and was deprived of a mother's care at the tender age of seven years, Mrs. Davis, whose maiden name was Eleanor Smith, having died in 1824. His father lived to attain the extraordinary age of ninety years, and died upon the farm which he had reclaimed from the giants of the forest. The early years of Dr. Davis's life were passed much as were those of other farmers' sons in a new settlement, i. e., in hard work during the summer, and in attendance upon the district schools in the winter months. This alterna- tion of study with work continued until he reached the age of sixteen years, and there can be little doubt that outdoor life and manual exercise did much to build up his naturally spare form into healthy, robust manhood. At the same time, it is probable that a frontier life was not without its influence in forming 2 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED and fostering those habits of industry and self-reliance which proved such potent factors in achieving success in after life. While yet a boy, however, he displayed an inborn thirst for knowledge, a fondness for study, and an aptitude in acquiring such learning as was within his reach, which convinced his father that to confine his native abilities within the limits of a woodland farm would be to do the boy an injustice; and while possessed of only limited means, he sent young Nathan to the Cazenovia Seminary when the latter had reached his sixteenth year. He attended that institution for only one session, but his thirst was intensified, rather than slaked, and in April, 1834, he began the study of the profession on whose prac- tice and schools, whose ethics and culture, he was destined to shed a brilliant and a permanent light. His first preceptor was Dr. Daniel Clark, of Che- nango county. Within a few months he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Western New York, as a matriculant, graduating therefrom, with distinguished honor, on January 31, 1837, before he had reached the age which entitled him to exercise the right of suffrage. Meanwhile, he had become a student in the office of Dr. Thomas Jackson, of Binghamton, New York, continuing under his instruction until he received his final degree. The subject of his graduating thesis was "Animal Temperature," and in this he combated the (then) generally accepted theory that the evolution of heat had its origin in the union of oxygen and carbon in the lungs, maintain- ing that its evolution was in the tissues. The inherent merit of his argument was such, and the premises upon which it rested were so accurately established by experimental investigation, that the Faculty of the college selected it as one of those to be publicly read on the day of his graduation. He began his professional career as a general practitioner, at Vienna, New York, his partner being Dr. Daniel Chatfield. The field was too narrow to meet his aspirations, and he soon felt its limitations. His partnership . with Dr. Chatfield was formed in February, 1837, and the following July it was dissolved, Dr. Davis removing to Binghamton, in the same State, where he at once commanded professional confidence and popular patronage. He had scarcely resided at Binghamton for a year when he was married to Anna Maria, a daughter of Hon. John Parker, of Vienna, for whom he had formed a strong attachment during his brief sojourn in that village. The exacting demands of a constantly increasing general practice did not hamper Dr. Davis in the prosecution of those scientific studies which lay near- est to his heart. Chemistry, Medical Botany, Geology and Political Economy were among his favorite subjects of research, while at the same time he strove to perfect himself in the study of Surgical Anatomy. Even at this early period in his career, he displayed that interest in a sound professional educa- tion which so pre-eminently characterized him in later years. It was his PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 3 habit, during the winter months, to dissect one or two cadavers, in a room adjoining his office, for the purpose of instructing the resident medical stu- dents of Binghamton, and he frequently responded to requests to lecture on topics connected with Physiology, Botany and Chemistry, before the advanced pupils of the district schools, and for the Binghamton Academy. Of the last named institution he was one of the founders, as also of the Lyceum Debating Society of Binghamton ; and it is worth while to state that it was largely in this amateur school of oratory and debate that he acquired that fluency of dic- tion, perspicacity of statement, solidity of argument and aptness of illustration which, in after years, contributed to his eminence as a lecturer and a writer. He was yet a young man when he was elected a member of the Broome County Medical Society, of which body he was Secretary from 1841 to 1843, and Librarian from 1843 t I &47, as well as a member of the Board of Cen- sors for several years. In 1843 ne was chosen a delegate to represent his county organization at the annual meeting of the State Medical Society, at Albany. Even at this time he was well and favorably known to the profession throughout the State of New York by reason of many valuable brochures which had already appeared from his pen. In 1840 (three years after grad- uation) he had w-on the first prize offered by the State Society for the best essay upon "Diseases of the Spinal Column, their Causes, Diagnosis and Mode of Treatment." In 1841 he had won another prize through his contribution to medical science entitled "Analysis of the Discoveries concerning the Physi- ology of the Nervous System." It followed that when he took his seat as a delegate in the body which represented the highest medical learning of the State his voice was heard with respectful attention. It was then and there that he made his first public plea for a higher standard of professional quali- fication. He introduced a series of resolutions which, even because of their novelty, could scarcely have failed to provoke discussion. He was in advance of the time, but he was "building better than he knew." They called for a better general education for medical postulants, a lengthening of the course of instruction, a grading of the curriculum, and the establishment of inde- pendent boards of medical examiners. While his proposed resolutions were not adopted they gave rise to earnest and thoughtful discussion. At the next annual meeting of the State Society (in February, 1845) a ca ^ was issued for a National Convention of Delegates from medical colleges and societies throughout the Union, "to meet at New York, on the first Tuesday in May, 1846, for the purpose of adopting some concerted action." Dr. Davis was made chairman of the committee to summon the convention and carry the project to a successful result. The work was well done; and from this incep- tion has grown the American Medical Association, embracing representatives from every State and from every reputable college in the country; an organ- 4 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED ization universal, permanent and efficient, and for the formation of which the medical profession of the United States and of the world owes Dr. Davis a deep and lasting debt of gratitude. During the entire history of the organiza- tion he has played an important part, alike in its proceedings and its advance- ment. During more than half a century he was absent from only four of its annual meetings, and in its achievements he may well feel a personal almost a paternal pride, having been more thoroughly identified with its success than any other individual physician in the land. The wider acquaintance with his professional brethren, which was a nec- essary concomitant of his attendance upon these State and National gather- ings, naturally resulted in an enlargement of his views as to his own personal sphere of practice and usefulness. In the summer of 1847 ne removed to New York City, where, for a time, he was a general practitioner. The light of his genius, however, burned too vividly long to be "hid under a bushel." His first position as an instructor was in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, when he took charge of the dissecting rooms, and taught Prac- tical Anatomy. Later, by special request of the Faculty, he delivered the spring term course of lectures upon Medical Jurisprudence. In July, 1849, ne accepted the proffered Chair of Physrology and General Pathology in Rush Medical College, Chicago. He deferred entering upon the duties of his new position until September, because of an epidemic of cholera then prevailing in New York, as well as in most of the cities and many of the rural districts throughout the country. Until the end of August his time was fully occupied, night and day, in the care of the sufferers from the deadly scourge. He deliv- ered his introductory lecture at Rush the first week in October. In this con- nection may be quoted the words of two other eminent Chicago practitioners, Drs. Senn and Lyman. Dr. Nicholas Senn, the eminent surgeon, than whom no better authority can be quoted, gives him this unstinted praise : "He is unquestionably the Nestor of Medicine in Chicago. His capacity for work seems as limitless as his energy is indomitable. As a teacher he is clear, painstaking and successful. His intellectual powers are of the highest order, his mind being medico-judicial and profoundly analytical." Dr. Lyman says that he is "a pioneer physician of Chicago ; an early associate of Rush Medi- cal ; a great worker ; close observer and describer ; exceedingly industrious, and the founder of the Northwestern University. Medical School." At the time of Dr. Davis's coming, Chicago could not boast more than 23,000 inhabitants, and the city was far from being healthy, owing to its situ- ation on a low prairie, with no sewerage and only a very limited supply of water other than that obtained from wells, which were apt to be more or less contaminated. He at once comprehended the need of sanitary reforms and a permanent general hospital, and set himself to work to secure both ends ; and PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 5 from that time to the present he has been actively identified with every important educational, scientific and sanitary interest in Chicago. In 1850 he delivered a course of six public lectures, before large audiences, in which he urged the immediate need for a supply of purer water from the bosom of the lake, and of a system of conduits for the removal of the city's sewage. In addition, he convincingly demonstrated the feasibility of both projects. A small admission fee to these lectures was charged, and with the proceeds was established a small hospital, with twelve beds, out of which has grown Mercy Hospital, with its accommodation for three hundred and fifty patients and its ample facilities for clinical instruction. For nearly forty years Dr. Davis was the senior member of the attending staff of this institution, his connection therewith continuing until 1890. Meanwhile, he was transferred from his original Chair at Rush College to that of Principles and Practice of Medi- cine and Clinical Medicine, which he filled until the spring of 1859, bringing to his newly assigned duties rare ability, consummate learning and conscien- tious fidelity. He did not, however, for a moment, lose sight of his interest in the advancement of the standard of professional education, notwithstanding the fact that his own college prescribed only two yearly terms of four months each as essential for a diploma. In 1859 an opportunity was afforded him to "show his faith by his works." In that year the Chicago Medical College was founded, with requirements for admission and graduation somewhat along the lines which he had been advocating for years. A moderate amount of pre- liminary education was required for matriculation, three annual courses of six months each were prescribed, and a curriculum graded to correspond, as well as regular attendance on hospital clinics. He was offered a chair correspond- ing to that which he held at Rush, and at once determined to lend his aid to the new institution, even at the cost of not a little personal sacrifice. The first term of the infant institution now the Medical Department of the North- western University began in the fall of 1859. Only thirty students were enrolled, but its growth has been steady, and to-day it stands in the front rank of American medical colleges. For more than forty years Dr. Davis was con- nected with its Faculty, more recently as Dean and Emeritus Professor of Principles and Practice of Medicine. Dr. Davis has been a prominent and active member in many medical societies and associations. He was one of the organizers of the Illinois State Medical Society, of which he was elected President in 1855, and served as Secretary for twelve consecutive years. He also aided in founding the Chi- cago Medical Society, and has taken a deep interest in its welfare. Of the American Medical Association he has ever been one of the main supports, and to its proceedings he has contributed numerous papers of unexcelled interest 6 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED and value. No member has ever had a clearer perception of the true purpose and proper scope of the association than he, and in 1897 he prepared a brief history of its origin and progress, which was read at the meeting of that year, and published in pamphlet form. When, in 1883, it was decided to publish the transactions of the association in the form of a weekly journal instead of an annual volume, he was selected to edit the same, and for six years he dis- charged the laborious duties of this position with singular fidelity, and with such success that when he retired therefrom, in 1889, the Journal of the Amer- ican Medical Association was established on a solid financial basis. He took an active part in arranging the preliminaries for the International Medical Congress held at Washington, in August, 1887, and was first chosen Secre- tary General of the Executive Committee, and subsequently succeeded the late Dr. Austin Flint, of New York, as President. While engaged in his duties as Secretary, and arranging for the meeting of the Congress, while at the same time neglecting neither his private practice, his college and hospital duties, nor his editorial work, he was attacked by complete hemiplegia of the right half of the body and extremities, although the paralysis proved only tem- porary. As a general practitioner, Dr. Davis has been an unwearied worker, and his success at times has been little less than marvelous. He passed through the cholera epidemics of 1849, I &5 2 > 1854 and 1866 with unremitting zeal in his efforts to alleviate suffering and effect cures. At the bedside of a patient his tender touch, his pleasant smile and kindly voice both invite and inspire confi- dence. Nor has he ever failed to respond to the call of the sick poor, and thou- sands of Chicago's needy ones can testify to the generosity which neither asked nor expected reward. As a man, he is genial and courteous. As an instructor, enthusiastic, painstaking and interesting. As a reasoner, he is clear and convincing, his comparisons quick, and his judgment well-nigh unerring. He has been a member of the Methodist Church since his sixteenth year, and has always consistently exemplified the religion which he professed, and at the same time been keenly alive to the duties of a public-spirited citizen. He was one of the founders of the Northwestern University, of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Chicago Historical Society, the Illinois State Microscopical Society, the Union College of Law in which he for a time filled the Chair of Medical Jurisprudence and the Washingtonian Home. In the cause of temperance he has ever taken a lively interest, discouraging the use of alco- holic stimulants in professional practice, and being a valued contributor to the American Medical Temperance Quarterly. His benefactions to both public and private charity are large, and he has taken active part in promoting the organization of systematic relief for the destitute. As a writer the Doctor has been not only prolific, but clear and facile as PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 7 well. Within the first year after his graduation he became a contributor to medical journals and in 1848 assumed editorial management of the Annalist, a semi-monthly publication. The number of valuable papers, reports and addresses communicated to medical societies and periodicals has been exceed- ingly large, and in addition thereto he is the author of the following publi- cations in book form : "A Text-Book on Agricultural Chemistry, for Use in District and Public Schools," for which a prize was awarded by the State Agricultural Society of New York, 1848; "History of Medical Education and Institutions in the United States, from the First Settlement of the British Provinces to the Year 1850, with a Chapter on the Present Condition and Wants of the Profession, and the Means Necessary for Supplying those Wants," 1851 ; "A Lecture on the Effects of Alcoholic Drinks on the Human System, and the Duties of Medical Men in Relation thereto," delivered in the Rush Medical College, December 25, 1854, with ah appendix containing orig- inal experiments in relation to the effects of alcohol on respiration and animal heat; "History of the American Medical Association, from its Organization to the Year 1855;" "Clinical Lectures on Various Important Diseases," 1875; "Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Medicine," delivered in the Chi- cago Medical College, 1884, second edition, 1887; "Address on the Progress of Medical Education in the United States of America, During the Century Ending in 1876," delivered before the International Medical Congress, at Philadelphia, September 9, 1876, published in the volume of transactions of that congress; the chapter on "Bronchitis" in the American System of Medi- cine, edited by W. Pepper, Philadelphia; the chapters on "Chronic Alcohol- ism, Polyuria and Chronic Articular Rheumatism" in the Reference Hand- Book of Medical Sciences, New York, William Wood & Co., 1886; and the "Address of the President of the Ninth International Medical Congress," delivered before the Congress in Washington, D. C., August, 1887, published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Congress, 1887. Dr. Eugene S. Talbot writes: "Dr. N. S. Davis has been a lifelong friend to the science of dentistry. Believing that dental science is an insep- arable part of the healing art, he has urged for decades that it be taught in medical colleges like other medical specialties. In July, 1865, at an entertain- ment given by him to the members of the American Dental Association, he responded to the sentiment 'To the President of the American Medical Asso- ciation, Medicine, Surgery, and Dentistry, Departments of a Common Science. Their principles should constitute a Common Brotherhood.' Upon that occasion he said, 'Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry are actually Depart- ments of a Common Science. They are all based upon chemistry, anatomy, physiology, pathology and materia medica. Without chemistry and anatomy no one of you, as dentists, can know either the composition or structure of a 8 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED single tooth, or its connections with the jaws, gums, blood vessels, nerves, etc. Without physiology no one could know the natural uses and influences of the several parts just named or the relations of the teeth to the whole process of digestion, assimilation and nutrition. As pathology bears the same relation to organized structures in an imperfect .or diseased condition as physiology does to them in the natural, so without a knowledge of it, neither the physi- cian, surgeon nor dentist could know anything of the origin, nature and ten- dencies of the diseases and defects he professes to treat. The materia medica, in its full scope, includes everything that can be made useful in the mitigation or removal of any of the ills to which our race is liable.' "In 1881, at a meeting of the American Medical Association, a resolution offered by the late Dr. Samuel D. Gross, that 'a Section of Dental and Oral Surgery be created on the same footing as all other sections of that body,' and seconded by Dr. Davis, was carried. Dental and Oral Surgery were thus professionally recognized as a department of medicine. Six years later, under a belief that there were able men practicing dentistry who, though not medical graduates, were yet entitled to recognition, and in order to unite still more intimately dentistry with other departments of medicine and surgery, Dr. Davis at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association, in Chicago, 1887, offered the following resolution, which was adopted by nearly a unani- mous vote, 'Resolved, That the regular graduates of such Dental Schools and Colleges as require of their students a standard of preliminary or general edu- cation and a term of professional study equal to the best class of the medical colleges of this country, and embrace in their curriculum all the fundamental branches of medicine, differing chiefly by substituting practical and clinical instruction in dental and oral medicine and surgery in place of clinical instruc- tion in general medicine and surgery, be recognized as members of the regular profession of medicine, and eligible to membership in the Association on the same conditions and subject to the same regulations as all other members.' "In a paper read before the Section of Stomatology of the American Medical Association held in Atlantic City, June 5-8, 1900, Dr. Davis has said, 'obviously there is no more propriety in having a separate profession of dentis- try than there is of ophthalmology or, neurology or gynecology. The same standard of preliminary education, and the same curriculum of medical studies covering the four, years' course, should be required of all who propose to prac- tice in any of the departments or specialties of medicine and surgery. All should be required to pass the same examining boards, be designated by the same title, M. D., and be governed by the same rules, both ethical and legal. Let there be in every medical college faculty a Professor of Dental and Oral Pathology and Practice on the same basis that you have a Professor of PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 9 Ophthalmology, Neurology or Gynecology. The instruction by an efficient occupant of such a Chair is needed as an important aid to every practitioner of medicine, whether his field of practice is in the city or the country. For if he never attempts to treat a defective tooth or a diseased gum, he should be able to recognize the existence of such condition and promptly direct the sufferers to those who would treat them.' "The admitted advance in the professional status of American Dentistry during the past three decades has undoubtedly been largely due to the unselfish zeal of Dr. N. S. Davis for the best interests of all departments of medicine." Dr. Daniel R. Brower writes : "One of the most remarkable men the country has produced, and in addition to his great scientific attainments, his clear judgment of things, has been wonderfully gifted in language. I could regard him as a good orator as well as a great physician." Dr. Christian Fenger wrote: "Dr. N. S. Davis, Sr., is the father of medical organization in this country and is the founder of the American Medical Association. He has always been the champion of higher medical education. His fixedness of purpose and unswerving devotion to high princi- ple have made him the most honored member of the medical profession of this country." Dr. Frank Billings wrote : "Dr. N. S. Davis, Sr., is a man of wonderful native ability, whose indefatigable, painstaking, untiring energy in the study and practice of medicine, and the practice and the example of a virtuous, moral, upright life, place him far above his fellows a leader of leaders of men. Full of years and fuller of honors worthily earned, he affords an exam- ple which all should imitate, though few if any will attain the heights he so modestly occupies." Dr. W. F. Waugh writes : "No Chicago physician is more widely known, more highly respected, than the venerable father of , the American Medical Association, and of Chicago medicine, Dr. N. S. Davis. His strong advo- cacy of temperance, in a section of the country where temperance truths have not preponderated in the last half century, shows his fearless independence and strong sense of right." Dr. John Ridlon writes : "For half a century the most notable figure in Western medicine. A man of untiring energy and of inflexible will. A leader of great men; a ruler of little men. The most learned physician in America. A man of childlike simplicity, with a mind open to scientific truth from any source, no matter how humble." io A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED WILLIAM HEATH BYFORD, A. M., M. D. The death of Dr. William H. Byford, which occurred at Chicago on May 21, 1890, was not only a profound affliction to his family and his circle of immediate friends, but also a positive loss to the cause of medical education; while at the same time marking the removal from active practice of an eminent surgeon and the termination of one of the most successful courses in scientific surgery that has illustrated the present era of progress. Dr. Byford was born at Eaton, Ohio, March 20, 1817. His ancestors came to America from Suffolk, England, and the only patrimony which he in- herited consisted of the physical vigor and the tenacity of purpose characteristic of the race from which he sprang. Not long after his birth his parents removed to New Albany, and later to the little village of Hindostan, Indiana. There William H. attended a district school, but the death of his father, before he had reached the age of nine years, compelled him to devote his time and ener- gies entirely to manual labor, in order that from his scanty earnings he might contribute to the maintenance of his widowed mother and her destitute fam- ily. Four years after his father's death he and his mother went to live upon her father's farm in Crawford county, Indiana, but here, too, the boy found labor a necessity. At the age of fourteen he formed the purpose of learning the blacksmith's trade, but could find no master of that craft willing to accept him as an apprentice. Baffled in this direction, he turned to the tailors, with whom he was more successful. One whom Dr. Byford himself described as "a kind-hearted Christian gentleman by the name of Davis" took him into his shop. There the boy remained two years, completing his apprenticeship at Vincennes, where he served four years longer. YoUng Byford, however, was conscious of a capability for something higher and better than he could attain through this humble handicraft. While serving as an apprentice he borrowed books and devoted every leisure moment after his daily toil to study. Such were his zeal, industry and unremitting energy that he thus acquired an excellent knowledge of English, besides mak- ing some progress in the rudiments of Latin, Greek and French. Chemistry, Physiology and Natural History later engrossed his mental efforts, and it was probably the fascination which these branches of study possessed for him that first made him feel his God-prompted vocation for the medical profession. He resolved to become a physician, and Dr. Joseph Maddox, of Vincennes, received him into his office as a student. So keen was his intellect, so quick was his comprehension, and so assiduous his application, that in less than two years, after passing an examination before a State Board of Commissioners he was found qualified to engage in the practice of medicine and surgery, under the then existing law. He first established himself professionally at LIBRARY UNIVtRSITY OF ILLINOIS PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. n Owensville, Indiana, in August, 1838. Two years later he removed to Mount Vernon, where he became associated with Dr. Hezekiah Holland, whose daughter, Miss Mary Ann, he married in 1840. After his ten years' residence at Mount Vernon, Dr. Byford attended a course of lectures at the Ohio Medical College, and was graduated from that institution in 1845. 1 I &47 ne performed two Cfesarean operations, and, while it does not appear that either of them was absolutely successful, yet the excellent account of them which he published, and which was followed by other contributions to medical journals, at once attracted the general attention of the profession and gained for him an enviable reputation. In October, 1850, he was chosen to the Professorship of Anatomy at the Evansville (Indi- ana) Medical College, and accordingly removed to that city. Two years later he was transferred to the Chair of Theory and Practice of Medicine, which he filled until the college became extinct, in 1854, during a portion of the time aiding in editing a medical journal published at Evansville, known as the Indiana Medical Journal. In 1854 he became a member of the American Medical Association and was made a special committee on Scrofula. On this subject he prepared an elaborate and valuable report, which commanded wide- spread attention and greatly added to his constantly growing reputation. In May, 1857, he was Vice-President of the association. In the autumn of that year he accepted the Professorship of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and removed with his family to that city. For two years he discharged the duties of this position with distin- guished ability, but resigned in 1859 to accept the same chair in the Chicago Medical College, of which institution then in its infancy he was one of the founders. His motives in taking this step were of a character which reflected high honor on his professional zeal and foresight, and wholly unselfish. He was anxious for the establishment of a medical college which should insist upon enlarged annual courses, afford a more systematic and better graded cur- riculum, and which should require better preliminary preparation on the part of matriculants. For twenty years he filled his chair at the Chicago Medical College, witnessing not only its growth but also seeing the gradual adoption of the principles which he had so earnestly and so ably advocated. In 1879 he was recalled to Rush Medical College, to occupy the Chair of Gynecology, which had been especially created for him. As an instructor alike in the lectures and class rooms Dr. Byford was at once perspicuous yet profound, going down into the very depths of scientific research, yet always simple in his enunciation of the most recondite truths. His clinics were always crowded with students and practitioners, and the utmost attention was always paid to his slightest word. In the medical educa- tion of women he was one of the pioneers of the West. He was one of the 12 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED founders of the Woman's Medical College of Chicago, aiding its formation by giving freely of his time, his influence and his wealth. The institution was organized in 1870 and Dr. By ford became president of the Faculty, as well as of the Board of Trustees, both of which positions he held until his death. Indeed, it may be questioned whether the success of that institution was not dearer to him than that of any other undertaking of his life. The success of the Woman's Hospital is also largely attributed to his tireless and unflagging zeal. Himself one of the eminent gynecologists of the century, he was anx- ious that the knowledge of this important specialty in medical practice should spread among his professional brethren. In 1876 he was one of the founders of the American Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. He was at one time its Vice-President and later its President, continuing in active membership until he died. He was also a prime mover in the organization of the Chicago Gynecological Society and a life member of the British Gynecological Society. There are many measures in practice with which his name is inti- mately connected; for example, the use of ergot in fibroid tumors of the uterus; drainage per rectum abscesses that have previously discharged into that viscus; abdominal section for ruptured extra-uterine pregnancy, pro- posed before the days of Tait ; and the systematic use of the slippery elm tent. He was the first in this country to advocate stitching the open sac to the abdominal wound after enucleation of cysts of the broad ligament. As a practitioner Dr. Byford was singularly successful. He was in gen- eral practice for, twenty-two years before he made gynecology his . specialty. He possessed in an eminent degree that subtle faculty sometimes called per- sonal magnetism, which was never, more clearly manifested than by the readi- ness with which children responded to his constant and always friendly notice. As a consultant he was unfailing in courtesy and scrupulously honorable toward his confreres. As a companion he was genial, yet never unmindful of proper limitations. As a friend he was sympathetic, generous and true. His domestic life was one of ideal happiness. Reference has been already made to his marriage to the daughter of his professional partner at Mount Vernon Miss Mary Ann Holland. Mrs. Byford, who died in 1865, was noted alike for her earnest Christian character and her many domestic virtues. Dr. and Mrs. Byford had the following named children : W. H. Byford, Jr., M. D., deceased ; Dr. Henry T. Byford, an eminent gynecologist of Chicago ; Mrs. Anna Byford Leonard; Mrs. Mary B. Schuyler; and Mrs. Maud B. VanSchaack. In 1873 the Doctor married Miss Lina W. Flershem, of Buf- falo. The only child of the second union died in infancy. Dr. Byford was a devout Christian, alike in professed faith and in daily life. His death was not preceded by any lingering, painful illness. Although for three years he had been conscious of symptoms of heart disease, he contin- PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 13. ued in active practice, and not until the last hours of his life was there any impairment of his mental faculties. Four days before his death he performed abdominal section for the removal of the appendages on account of fibroid tumor of the uterus, and on the day preceding his death he attended to his customary professional duties. His demise was sudden. Early on the morn- ing of May 21, 1890, he succumbed to an attack of angina pectoris. An ano- dyne was administered by a neighboring physician, and Dr. Henry T. Byfqrd was hastily summoned. Before the son could reach his father's bedside, however, the latter was unconscious, and at 2 A. M. he entered into eternal rest. Dr. N. S. Davis, Sr., paid the following eulogy to this distinguished member of the profession : "The late William Heath Byford of Chicago is the best example of a literally self-educated man, who attained a deservedly high reputation as a medical practitioner, teacher and writer, as well as a man of honor, integrity and of humanity, with whom I have been acquainted. He spent nearly all the years usually allotted to school education in diligent labor to aid in supporting a widowed mother and family. From his ninth to his twenty-first year of age he was thus employed. Yet through it all he managed to obtain the necessary books, and perseveringly devoted his evenings, odd hours, and rainy days to their study. Thereby he came to legal age with a bet- ter practical education, including both Greek and Latin, than is possessed by many of the graduates of our High Schools. Then he studied medicine, and entering upon practice he advanced step by step until he reached an honor- able position among the most highly honored of his profession. He was a persevering supporter of whatever tended to the elevation of medical educa- tion and the practical usefulness of the profession. The prominent traits of his character were simplicity and kindness, clearness of perception and practical application, with an unyielding perseverance in the pursuit of whatever he deemed attainable and right." Comparatively little has been said, in the preceding paragraphs, in refer- ence to Dr. Byford as an author. His principal editorial work was done as associate editor of the Chicago Medical Journal (with Dr. N. S. Davis) and as editor-in-chief of the Chicago Medical Journal and Examiner, which was a combination of the Journal and the Examiner, and was published under the auspices of the Chicago Medical Press Association. For a time he also edited the Northwestern Medical and Surgical Journal. His contributions to current medical literature were frequent (his favorite subject being Gynecology) and were always well received. He was a prolific writer, yet he never lapsed into weakness, nor, did he ever become uninteresting or tautological. Indeed, with a mind like his at once analytic and synthetic his works could not fail to command attention. A list of Dr. William H. Byford's articles and works is appended : i 4 A GROUP OF DISTINGUISHED "Csesarean Section," 1847; "Treatment of Continued or Typhoid Fever," American Journal of Medical Science, 1851; "Milk Sickness"; Report Committee on Scrofula, Transactions, American Medical Association, 1855; "Physiology, Pathology and Therapeutics of Muscular Exercise," Chi- cago, J. Barnet, 1858; "A case of Pelvic Abscess," Transactions, Illinois State Medical Society, 1859; "Successful Ovariotomy," Chicago Medical Exam- iner, 1860; "Ovarian Tumors. Is Ovariotomy a Justifiable Operation?" Ibid., 1861 ; "Two Successful Cases of Ovariotomy," Ibid., 1863; "Removal of Multilocular Tumor Weighing Thirty Pounds," Ibid., 1863 ; "A Treatise on the Chronic Inflammation and Displacements of the Unimpregnate Uterus," Philadelphia, Lindsay & Blakiston, 1864; "The Practice of Medicine and Surgery Applied to the Diseases and Accidents Incident to Women," Philadelphia, Lindsay & Blakiston, 1865; "The Philosophy of Domestic Life," Boston, Lee & Shepard, 1869; "A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Obstetrics," New York, William Wood & Co., 1870; "An Address Introduc- tory to the Course of Instruction in the Woman's Hospital Medical College, Session of 1870-71," Chicago, R. Fergus' Sons; "The Address in Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children," Transactions, American Medical Association, 1875; "Treatment of Uterine Fibroids by Ergot," Ibid., 1875-, "The Causes and Treatment of Non-puerperal Hemorrhages of the Womb," Transactions, International Medical Congress, Philadelphia, 1876; "The Spontaneous and Artificial Destruction and Expulsion of Fibrous Tumors of the Uterus," Transactions, American Gynecological Society, 1876; "The Sec- ond Decade of Life," annual address before the Tri-State Medical Society, 1877 ; "Dermoid Ovarian Tumors," Transactions, American Gynecological Society, 1879; "A Case of Double Operation of Ovariotomy and Hyster- otomy, with Remarks," American Journal of Obstetrics, 1879; "On Puerperal Vaginitis and Laceration as Causes of Vesico-vaginal Fistula," Chicago Med- ical Journal and Examiner, 1879; "Ergot in the Treatment of Fibroid Tumors of the Uterus," Ibid., 1879; "Chronic Inversion of the Uterus," Transactions, American Gynecological Society, 1879; "Fibrous Tumors of the Uterus," American Clinical Lecture, New York, 1879; "Displacement of the Ovaries," Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 1880; "On the Diagnosis of Ovarian Tumor," Ibid., 1880; "The Successufl Extirpation of an Encepha- loid Kidney," Transactions, American Gynecological Society, 1880; "Pelvic Abscess," Peoria Medical Monthly, 1880-81 ; "The History of Gynecology in Chicago," Chicago Medical Journal and Examiner, 1881 ; "Annual Address of the President," Transactions, American Gynecological Society, 1881; "Remarks on Chronic Abscess of the Pelvis," Ibid., 1883 ; "Remarks on Intra- pelvic Inflammation in the Chronic Form,"/o;