Any history of this county would be incomplete did it not dwell at some length upon the activities of the splendid service rendered the community by the physicians and surgeons who were among the earliest arrivals upon the frontier, and have presided at the births and administered to the sick and dying for the past sixty years.
It was peculiarly fitting and appropriate when Atchison was born, that a prominent physician of those days was on hand to assist in the delivery. In truth, Dr. J. H. Stringfellow was not only the physician in charge, but he also was one of the parents, and from that time to the present, the medical profession has been active in the affairs of the county. There have been many splendid representatives of the profession here since the days of Dr. Stringfellow, and the vicissitudes and trials, and hardships they went through make up a romantic chapter in our history. The oldest physician in the city of Atchison in 1916 in point of service is Dr. E. T. Shelly, and it might be said, without disparagement to others, he is not only the oldest, but he is perhaps held in as high esteem and respect as any other physician who ever practiced here. Dr. Shelly combines the qualities that make for good citizenship. He treats his profession as a good Christian treats his religion. He is a man of ideals, of vision, of integrity, and his life rings true. Yet, withal, Dr. Shelly is not a professional hermit. While his profession comes first, he does not allow it to exclude him from an active interest and participation in the affairs of life. He is a student of political and economic questions, an essayist, and a vigorous advocate of a liberal democracy. His views on these questions are wholesome and instructive, but it is to the profession of medicine that Dr. Shelly addressed himself in a recent interview the author of this history had with him, and his views were expressed as follows:
“What changes have occurred in the practice of medicine since the days of the first physicians here! He did his work on horseback with his medicines in saddle bags thrown over the horse and often had to go many miles to visit a patient over a sparsely settled prairie with roads that were little more than trails. The streams he had to cross were bridgeless, and the larger ones could be crossed only at fords, which, after heavy rains or during freezing weather, were very dangerous.
“Today, in this section of the State, these primitive conditions can hardly be imagined. Nearly every country doctor now has an automobile and crosses gullies and streams on concrete bridges and travels over ‘dragged’ roads. Instead of passing through a sparsely settled country, he finds a fine large farmhouse on nearly every ‘quarter’ or ‘eighty’ supplemented by a substantial barn and spacious granaries. He passes a schoolhouse every few miles and occasionally a rural church and lives in a comfortable, modern home in a flourishing, well-kept country town.
“In the science and art of medicine, the change has been no less marked than in its general practice.
“Until forty years ago, doctors possessed a few great remedies which they often used very skillfully, but the knowledge of the nature of disease was very slight. Treatment was largely symptomatic; that is, remedies were expected chiefly to combat certain symptoms, rather than to treat underlying causes.
“A notion very prevalent until then, and which has not yet disappeared entirely, was that there is a remedy for every disease and that whenever a patient is not cured of his illness it is due, not to the limitations of the healing art, but to the fact that treatment was not begun early enough, or his doctor didn’t know enough or didn’t care enough to give him the right medicine. About that time it began to dawn on the most thoughtful and capable medical men that the course of disease can usually not be quickly checked; that most diseases run a definite course; that most patients recover spontaneously, or the disease persists to the end and is not much influenced by any of the remedies used. About that time medical men began to appreciate also another fact: that underlying most diseases, there is a natural tendency toward recovery, which means that most diseases will cure themselves if given time enough.
“While medical men insist that the practice of medicine is both a science and an art, they are also perfectly willing to admit that it is neither an exact science nor a perfect art. In other words, modern medicine admits that it has not yet scaled the heights or fathomed the depths of scientific knowledge in regard to the nature of disease or of its cure. It is still willing to learn. Indeed, it realizes the fact that there is still infinitely more to learn than has yet been found out. And there is no avenue of human knowledge which it is not willing to explore in order to find out things that will get the sick well and keep the well from getting sick.
“A stunning blow to the old notions of the nature of disease and to the old methods of treatment was administered about thirty years ago by the discovery that most diseases are due to infinitely small, living organisms, called germs or bacteria, which prey upon, or poison the tissues of the body, and thereby disturb, more or less seriously, some, or all, of the normal functions of the body. The scientific laboratory thereupon became the shrine of modern medicine; a new epoch in medicine had arrived.
“This new epoch meant not only that medical and surgical disorders were henceforth to be treated in a much more scientific and rational way than they had been in the past, but that one of the greatest scientific conquests of the ages was underway—the intelligent prevention of disease. Preventive medicine had been born. Soon thereafter a new and unprecedented popular interest in medical matters became prevalent. Newspapers, magazines, and the public forum took a hand in popularizing this new knowledge of the nature of the disease and the methods of preventing disease, which was founded on the new knowledge. Disease began to be looked on no longer as only a mysterious dispensation of Providence, but as a thing which, as scientific medicine advanced, was more and more to come under the knowledge and control of science.
“In no domain of modern medicine have greater advances been made than in surgery, due chiefly to the discovery of the role which germs play in the causation of surgical troubles. Because of the discovery of the necessity of asepsis (the absence of germs) in surgical operations and its practical application, operations, which, if done thirty years ago, would have been almost invariably fatal, can now be done nearly with impunity. Then, surgical operations in large surgical clinics were done by men in Prince Albert coats. Today, the surgeon and his assistants are arrayed in sterilized white gowns and rubber gloves with caps for their heads and special coverings for mouth and nose, which are worn in order to prevent any unfiltered, contaminated vapor from these orifices coming in contact with the freshly made wound. Where proper precautions are taken, and no pus or other filth has come in contact with the wound, some of the most extensive operations are followed by immediate repair, without the formation of pus in the wound. To enumerate even a small part of the triumphs of modern surgery would occupy too much space and is uncalled for here, and these triumphs would have been impossible before the advent of surgical cleanliness.
“But modern medicine does not stop at treating or curing people. It does something even bigger and better—it tries to keep them well. Indeed, the medical profession is the only immolating profession there is—the only profession that is all the time trying, by its efforts in the direction of preventive medicine, to destroy its only source of income—the treatment of disease—by doing all within its power to make disease less and less prevalent. It is continually urging better personal and public hygiene and sanitation. Because medical men understand the stunting effects of ill health on the growing mind and body of the child, they are urging careful medical inspection of schools and school children, and they call for better health conditions in the family, the factory, and the mine, and they denounce without measure unhealthy child labor. Modern medicine tries to banish from the home and school, as nearly as may be, that brutal precept—“He that spareth the rod, hateth his son”— because it knows that the irritable, petulant, stubborn child may be a sick child, or has fools for parents, while the incorrigible boy or girl needs the attention of an expert in nervous and mental diseases rather than the brutality of an impatient, ignorant parent or policeman.
“Modern medicine enters the jungle and by proper sanitary rules and regulations makes a deadly, miasmatic swamp a model of cleanliness and healthfulness, as was done in the Panama Canal zone, and without which the building of the canal would have been impossible.
“Modern medicine seeks to help and to save mankind, not only from physical ills but from moral ills as well. By the careful study of the influence of inheritance and environment on the development and the conduct of the child, it tries to make his physical inheritance as favorable as possible, and his economic and social environment as helpful as may be, realizing that much of our moral delinquency is due to unjust civic and economic conditions.”
It would require a volume to tell the story of the lives of all the early-day physicians of this county. Investigation discloses the fact that they were numerous, and that in addition to Dr. Stringfellow, who gave more of his time to political matters than to his profession, there was a Dr. D. McVay here prior to 1860. He was a southern gentleman, but apparently had more discretion than valor, for he fled from Atchison at the beginning of the Civil war. Dr. William Grimes, concerning whose life brief mention has been heretofore made in this history, was a physician at Atchison in 1858. Dr. W. W. Cochrane was another physician of the old school, a courtly, amiable gentleman, and a good physician. He was for a number of years treasurer of the Kansas Medical Society, and was a pioneer among physicians in administering chloroform in childbirth cases. Dr. Arnold was here in 1859, and later, on a trip to Denver, he was scalped by the Indians. Dr. Joseph Malin, of Weston, Mo., who married one of the McAdows, was a physician in Atchison in 1861, and Dr. J. V. Brining practiced in Atchison in 1862, and remained a practitioner here until 1914.
Dr. William Gough, who had been a Confederate army surgeon, located in Atchison shortly after the war. He practiced in St. Joseph before coming to Atchison, and also at DeKalb, where he married Mrs. Annie Dunning. From DeKalb he moved to Rushville, and then came to Atchison, where he formed a partnership with the late Dr. J. M. Linley. Together they enjoyed an extensive medical and surgical practice, until 1887, when Dr. Gough moved to Los Angeles, Cal., for the benefit of his health. He died there in 1908. Dr. Gough is described by his friends as being a man of large physique, the soul of honor, and displayed the utmost care and gentleness in the care of his patients.
Dr. W. L. Challiss came to Atchison in 1857, and while standing high in his profession, gave most of his time to business affairs, and practiced only spasmodically. There was also a Dr. Buddington in Atchison in 1864, who ran a drug store at Fourth and Commercial streets.
One of the most interesting members of the medical profession in an early day was Dr. Charles F. Kob, a German physician, who lived here about 1858. Dr. Kob had been a surgeon in the army and a member of the Massachusetts and Connecticut Medical Society. He founded the town of Bunker Hill, on Independence creek, ten miles north of Atchison, to which reference has already been made in this history. He lived and practiced in Boston before coming to Atchison. Dr. Amaziah Moore was another very early day physician, who located on a farm three or four miles west of Lancaster, in 1857. He came from Ohio. In 1861 he helped organize a company for the Civil war, which became Company D of the Second Kansas cavalry, of which he was captain.
Dr. John C. Batsell lived about two and one-half miles northwest of Monrovia. He was a native of Kentucky, and was born in Marion county March 16, 1818. He was reared and educated in his native county, where he took up the study of medicine, and became proficient in the science. He commenced the practice of his profession in Valeene, Orange county, Indiana, where he continued successfully for over seven years. In the autumn of 1855 he came to Atchison county, along with John Graves and others, and after looking around, went to DeKalb, Mo., where he remained until the spring of 1866, when he returned to Atchison county, and preëmpted a quarter section, upon which he lived, northwest of Monrovia. He engaged in the practice of medicine in connection with farming, being frequently called into Doniphan and Brown counties. Malarial diseases prevailed to a great extent in those early days, and the people were in straitened circumstances. He furnished medicine and attended to their wants, losing largely in a financial way, as the greater portion of the first dwellers moved away. In 1863 Dr. Batsell organized one-half of Company D, Thirteenth Kansas, of which he was tendered the captaincy, but declined and accepted the position of first lieutenant. On account of serious illness he only served three months in the army. He was major of the Thirteenth Kansas during the Price raid, and at the close of the war was elected to the legislature by the Republican party. He was originally an old-line Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he joined it, as he was in favor of the abolition of slavery. During his latter years he discontinued his practice and devoted his time to his farm. He died about ten years ago.
Dr. David Wait came from Missouri to Kansas in 1859 and settled on a farm near Eden postoffice, now known as the Vollmer farm. He was a striking-looking man and was looked upon as very proficient in his profession. He was an ardent Union man. In fact, Dr. Moore, Dr. Batsell and Dr. Wait were all of great help to the Union cause in the days before the war.
Among other leading physicians of the county, outside of Atchison, of the early days, were Dr. J. F. Martin, Dr. S. G. Page, Dr. C. C. Stivers, and Dr. Desmond, concerning whom the following information is available:
Dr. J. F. Martin was one of the first practitioners in Atchison county. He was a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, and was born September 29, 1828. He graduated at the Transylvania Medical University, in 1854, and afterwards took a course of lectures in St. Louis Medical University. Subsequently he removed to DeKalb, Mo., where he practiced until 1856, coming to Kansas about the same time that Dr. Batsell came. He had a large practice in Doniphan and Brown counties. He practiced ten years, and returned to Decatur, Ill., in 1866, where he remained seven years, and returned to Kansas, locating in Effingham. He died in Effingham in 1877.
Dr. S. G. Page, a native of Juniata county, Pennsylvania, was born July 16, 1845. He attended Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York in 1867: came to Kansas in 1868, and located in Center township, five miles south of Effingham, where he located on a farm which he operated a few years, and then located in Effingham.
Dr. C. C. Stivers, a native of Brown county, Ohio, was born January 6, 1842. He enlisted in Company A, Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer infantry; participated in the battles of Bull Run, Cross Keys and Port Royal. Returning from the war, he took a course of lectures at Miami University in Oxford Ohio; located in Eden in 1877 and practiced until 1881, when he became a resident of Effingham. In 1880 he attended Keokuk Medical College, graduating from that institution. He had the reputation of being a brilliant conversationalist and a very interesting gentleman.
The first doctor to locate at Lancaster was Dr. Desmond, who went there in the latter seventies. While there he married a Miss Streeper, of Good Intent, and about 1885 moved to Stewartsville, Mo. Dr. Desmond was succeeded at Lancaster by Dr. A. L. Charles, who came there from Bunker Hill, Russell county, Kansas, where he had gone four years previously, after graduating from the Kansas City Medical College. Soon after locating at Lancaster, Dr. Charles married Miss Alice Keeney, who lived near Lancaster. Dr. and Mrs. Charles raised a family of seven children, the eldest of whom is the Atchison surgeon, Dr. Hugh L. Charles. Mrs. Charles died of pneumonia in the Atchison hospital in January, 1915. Dr. Charles has been a very successful physician. He enjoys the profoundest respect of his colleagues throughout the county, who regard him as an ideal physician. It is needless to add that he also enjoys the utmost confidence and esteem of a clientele whose numbers are limited only by his ability to serve.
The first physician at Mt. Pleasant was Dr. Eagle, who located there during territorial days and practiced for a number of years. Dr. Jacob Larry also located at Mt. Pleasant about 1856. He was a South Carolinian, and a graduate of Charleston Medical College. During the war he was a surgeon in the army. He located in Iatan, Mo., and was building up a large practice when he committed suicide by taking strychnine and then blowing his brains out with a pistol. Before moving to Iatan Dr. Larry induced Dr. John Parsons, of King’s Bridge, N. Y., who also had been an army surgeon, to come to Mt. Pleasant. Dr. Parsons practiced there several years, and his practice became so large that he finally induced Dr. George W. Redmon to locate at Mt. Pleasant and assist him. Dr. Redmon located there in the fall of 1872, and remained a number of years, later locating at Oak Mills. There was also a Dr. W. W. Crook at Mt. Pleasant, in the seventies. Dr. Crook also practiced in Doniphan, and later moved to Wyoming. Dr. P. R. Moore was another physician who located in Mt. Pleasant township during the seventies, as was also Dr. Johnson. Dr. Charles H. Linley, now a resident physician of Atchison, practiced in Mt. Pleasant for a number of years, and following Dr. Linley came Dr. Miller and Dr. Rice. Dr. Roberts had a small drug store and practiced medicine at Oak Mills in the early days. He was addicted to the liquor habit, and was found dead in his office one morning. He had been preceded in practice at Oak Mills by Dr. Earle, who lived about half way between Oak Mills and Kickapoo, and who settled there during the fifties.
Dr. J. M. Linley came to Atchison March 14, 1865. He was born in Concord, Ky., October 28, 1837. He attended college at Princeton, Ky., and was graduated from Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, in March, 1858, and subsequently attended lectures in Bellevue College, New York. He was post surgeon at New Madrid, Mo., in 1864. Dr. Linley was one of the most successful practitioners of Atchison and was held in high esteem. In 1891 he went abroad and attended clinics in hospitals of Berlin and London. He died in Phoenix, Ariz., November 28, 1900.
The following are the members of the Atchison County Medical Society as reported in 1915: Dr. C. H. Johnson, Dr. H. L. Charles, Dr. M. T. Dingess, Dr. E. J. Bribach, Dr. Robert Dickey, Dr. E. P. Pitts, Dr. C. A. Lilly, Dr. Charles Robinson, Dr. C. H. Linley, Dr. T. E. Horner, Dr. F. A. Pearl, Dr. P. R. Moore, Emmingham, Dr. S. M. Myers, Potter, Dr. G. E. White, Effingham, Dr. G. W. Allaman, Dr. W. F. Smith, Dr. Virgil Morrison, Dr. E. T. Shelly.