15
t BemoTed Iron] c mm.,.
; The so, let) has hud no consors since 1666.
218
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
ond Cavalry as assistant surgeon, from April 15, 1864,
to Nov. 1, 1865. Dr. T. H. Studdiford was in the
medical department in Baltimore, Md., during the war.
Honorary Members. — The roll contains the following
names: Isaac Ogden,* elected May 11, 1826; J. R.
Ludlow,* elected Oct. 28, 1851 ; William Johnson,*
elected May 8, 1866 ; John F. Schenck, John Blane,
elected May 12, 1868; John McKelway,* Henry S.
Harris, elected April 18, 1871.
The meetings have always, with two exceptions,
been held at Elemington, generally alternating be-
tween the county-house and the Union Hotel. In
1862 the society met at Perryville, at the office of Dr.
John Blane, and in 1864 at the office of Dr. G. H.
Larison, in Lambertville.
Up to 1872 ninety-four members had been admitted
into the society. Of this number twenty -six had been
lost by death, four had been expelled, twenty-four
had removed from the county or been honorably dis-
charged, two by cutting of the county, and seven
dropped for delinquency ; leaving, at that date, thirty-
one members in good standing. The loss in member-
ship since that time has somewhat exceeded the gain
by admission of new members; so that at the present'
time (1880) the membership numbers twenty-four, as
follows : A. Shannon, Stanton, President ; George N.
Best, Stockton, First Vice-President ; A. C.' Smith,
Bloomsbury, Second Vice-President ; O. H. Sproul,
Stockton, Secretary ; John Blane, Perryville, Treas-
urer ; C. W. Larison, Ringos, Reporter ; W. R. Little,
Bloomsbury; M. Abel, Quakertown; N. B. Boileau,
Perryville ; Isaac S. Cramer, Sergeantsville ; W. H.
Schenck, Flemington ; W. S. Creveling, Bethlehem ;
T. H. Studdiford, G. H. Larison, Lambertville; John
S. Linabury, Mountainville ; M. D. Knight, Little
York ; George R. Sullivan, Flemington ; George T.
Ribble, Milford; J. O. Hon", Bloomsbury; A. S. Pit-
tinger, Glen Gardiner ; William Knight, Clinton ; G.
W. Bartow, Three Bridges ; M. K. Reading, Baptist-
town ; John H. Ewing, Flemington.
Of the members of this society, three have become
fellows of the State Medical Society by virtue of hold-
ing the office of president of the latter organization, —
viz., Samuel Lilly* in 1853, John Blane in 1861, and
G. H. Larison in 1874.
The following are the names of the first physicians
who settled at the several points named, with the
dates of their commencement of practice : John Rock-
hill, at Pittstown, in 1748; George A. Vescelius,
South Branch and Three Bridges, 1749; Rev. John
Hanna, Bethlehem, 1760; Oliver Barnet, New German-
town, 1765 ; George Creed, Flemington, 1765 ; Aaron
Forman, Quakertown, 1706 ; Gershom Craven, Ringos,
1771 ; John F. Grandin, Hamden, 1783 ; Jacob Jen-
nings, Readington, 1784; William McGill, Milford,
1790; Clark, Oakdale, 1790, or earlier; John
Bowne, Prallsville, 1791 ; William Prall, Reaville,
1791 ; â– Holmes, New Hampton, about 1800 ;
Isaac Ogden, White House, 1800 ; Richard Kroesen,
Lambertville, 1802; Benjamin V. C. Hunt, Clinton,
1810 ; James Pyatt, Boar's Head, 1812 ; Jonathan
Axford, Clarksville, 1812 ; John McGloughen, Spring
Mills, 1815; Edmund Porter, Frenchtown, 1820;
Henry Holcombe, Everittstown, 1821 ; Henry S. Har-
ris, Mount Pleasant, 1827 ; William R. Hand, Bar-
bertown, 1828; Henry Field, Lebanonville, 1831;
John Blane, Perryville, 1831 ; George P. Rex, Clo-
ver Hill, 1834 ; Dunn, Rocktown, 1838 ; Rich-
ard Mershon, Sergeantsville, 1840; Thomas T. Mann,
Little York, 1840; John Barcroft, Rosemont, 1841;
Henry A. Kirkpatrick, Stanton, 1841 ; Frederick
Gaston, Woodsville, 1846 ; Jacob K. Stryker, Califor-
nia, 1849 ; Joseph Stevenson, Centreville, 1851 ;
George T. Heston, Fairmount, 1853 ; Robert Fen-
wick, Annandale, 1855 ; Louis Blackwell, Wertsville,
1855 ; â– Hoffman, Mechanicsville, 1860 ; John
Leavitt, Baptisttown, 1860 ; John S. Linaberry,
Mountainville, 1861 ; O. H. Sproul, Stockton, 1866 ;
Robert Fenwick, Junction, 1866 ; ' William C. Al-
paugh, Cokesburg, 1868; William Hackett, High
Bridge, 1869.
Personal sketches of many of the more prominent
medical men of Hunterdon County are here given.
John Rockhill. — Dr. Blane, in his " Medical
History of Hunterdon County," says of Dr. Rockhill
that he was the first regular physician in the county
of whom there is any reliable record. He was a son
of Edward Rockhill, of Burlington Co., N. J. ; born
March 22, 1726 ; studied medicine with Dr. Thomas
Cadwallader, of Philadelphia. At the commencement
of his medical life, in 1748, he migrated to Pittstown,
Hunterdon Co., and there was physician to the So-
ciety of Friends. He died there April 7, 1798, and
was buried in the Friends' burying-ground at Quaker-
town. He married (1) a Miss Robeson, whose brother
married the doctor's sister, the grandmother of ex-
Secretary of the Navy Robeson. In addition to
Blane's record, from which the above is derived, we
add that he married (2) Elizabeth Potts, widow of
Thomas Potts, who was (1772) sheriff of Sussex
County and a member of the Provincial Assembly of
1776. The doctor had no issue by his second mar-
riage. Her children by a former marriage intermar-
ried with his by a former wife, and for several gener-
ations the Potts and Rockhill families have been
closely intermarried. Mrs. Rockhill, who survived
her husband some years, was a daughter of
Lukens, of Pennsylvania, and sister to the well-known
John Lukens, surveyor-general of that State prior to
the Revolution. Dr. Rockhill was in some manner
related to the old Jersey family of Lambert (Thomas
Lambert, who came in the " Shield," 1678). In some
family papers he speaks of "Cousin Achsah" (Lam-
bert). He was therefore probably related to his pre-
ceptor, Dr. Cadwallader, who married into the family
of Lambert. He entered into some speculations in
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.
219
land with the latter, Dr. Rockhill doing thesurvey-
ing; the papers are dated 1764-66, and ->ln>\v thai
Cadwallader was at that date in Trenton. From the
" New Jersey Biographical Encyclopaedia" we extract
the following reminiscences:
"The range of country oyer which big f itions wore mop
enormous, bolng limited only by the Him- ttoontaina on th< rth end
tin- Delaware on tin- west, and extending on tho south and east fairly
I'll" tlin t.'i riti .1-3- .-..vi'ivil l,v tin- phy-,.i.,i,H of Hurl i union, Karitaii, uii'l
Bfew Brunswick. Owing i" tip' troublous state of the ttmesihls practice
WHS largely HUrgical, ollr of Iii" IO itnl.l.' I'll-i'S Inin- 11 lll"»t lIllU^'lMolli
gunshot wound that be treated with remarkable (.kill and success.
During a foray on the part or the Indiana lirlng to tho north of the
mountains the bouse "t a settler named H edges was attacked, plundered,
mill hurncit; and, while tho family woro uscuping to the woods, ono of
tho children, a girl of twelve, was shot directly through s 1 ■• ■tun
I'll, ilh was supposed, dead; butwhen hor people returned tho noxt
morning Mho was found iii tho brush, very much exhausted, but yet alive.
in. BockhUl was sent for,— the distance to Plttstown was nearly forty
nillos, end tho roadn llttlo more than tdazod tnuks through tho woods, —
uii'l by his exertions wived her life. She entirely i.tomt- "I, ami -nl... -
quently married a son of Edward Marshall — the Edward Marshall who
took tho famous 'long walk' along the Delaware — and reared a family of
twelvo children."
Frederick A. Potts lives on :i part of the old Bock-
hill property.
George Andrew Viesseltus. — This old-time
physician, familiarly known as the " Red-Cheeked
Doctor,"* was bom and educated in Holland or Ger-
many, and emigrated t" America not later than 174!).
He lived on the "Old York Boad," half a mile from
Three Bridges, in Amwell township, lie was an en-
ergetic and successful practitioner, and in his prac-
tice traversed a large district of country. He died
in 1707. His remains were interred on his own land
with no monument to mark the spot
His wife was Miss Psyche Gardiner, of Three
Bridges. They had five children. — Hendrick, An-
drus, Theodoras, Margaret, Ida. The farm remained
iii the family until Henry and Catharine, his wife,
sold it, May 1, 17'.t7, to Gabriel Carkhoff, who took
the old stone building down and built the house now
occupied by his son-in-law, Barrillia Bobbins.
When l»i. Viesselius died medical advice was mi
scarce that his widow W88 frequent 1\ called Oil, and
she. with the assistance of a hound hoy (Jacob Tidd I,
often prepared washes, salves, plasters, etc Jacob
afterwards set up business for himself.t
John Manners, who was a physician as well as a
lawyer. f was horn in Hunterdon County in \~Xi>.
He was the s f John and Rachel Manner-. After
a full course in the College of New Jersey in- entered
the Medical Department of the University of Penn-
sylvania, from which he received ln> degree of M.D.
in 1812. S 1 after, he was licensed to practice in
New Jersey. lie located at l'leiiiington, hut stilise-
s.. 1 1 ii.'. 1 "ii rt. ' ..11 hi . . r Mil- <>i' liis cheeks being very red, probably ft
congenital affoctlon.— Blane.
t Tho reader i» referred t.> Dr. Blanc 1 ! "Medical Ulster] 1 Btantardon
Oonnty" (p. 80) fbi an emuaUuj anecdote Involving Drs. Vlessellus and
Mm net
[See sketch with "Bench and Bai ol Hunterdon Oonnty," in this
work.
quently removed to a handsome' country-seat near
Clinton, this county, to which he gave the name of
" P.elvoir." Having married [in 1810) a daughter of
Dr. Thomas Cooper, of South Carolina, In- was
brought into intimate relations with many eminent
Southerners, which developed in him an admiration
for Southern character and customs, and led him to
make P.e'lvoir, a- mar a- he eonld, the model of a
Southern homestead. He became a member of the
County Medical Society in 1886. His latter years
were devoted more to law than to physic. lie died
.1 mi. j i, lsi.">:!, and h_\ hi- will In- prescribed hi- place
of Imriali and his epitaph, which is as follow- :
"Ere ted to the momorj of Hon. John Manners, Esq., a.m., M.D., and
Counsel In l-nt-Law "f Th.' So] Can 1, I nile.l Slat'.* "f A pica. The
Friend and Medical Pupil ..I" Benjamin Bush, M.D., LL.I).. Philadelphia.
Tin- Friend, tin- Pupil, and the Son-ln-Law of Thomas Coopor, M.D.,
1. 1, ii,. .1' . of South Carolina; and tho Friend and Correspondent of
Thomas Jefferson, I.L.Ii.,of Virginia, formerly President of the I iilt."l
States."
JOHN Bow.NK studied medicine under the in-true-
tion of I >r. Mose- Seott, of New Iirunsw ick, and I'rof.
William Shipman, of Philadelphia. I Ic was licensed
in L791, and commenced atonee to practice in Pralls-
ville. Four years later i 17'.i"ij he removed to Ringos,
where he followed his profession tor over sixty years.
and at the same time successfully managed hi- farm.
" lie was horn Sept. 2, 1767, upon a farm which was
in June 28, 1778, the battle-field of Monmouth," the
scenes of which battle were indelibly stamped upon
his memory, and during which his father and family
sought refuge in the woods and two days later re-
turned to a desolated home.
"He Wits," says Dr. Stephen Wiekes,* 1 "intelli-
gently conservative in the adoption of new modes of
practice. He was a man of cheer, fond of anecdote.
quick in reply, and possessed "la temperament which
rendered labor light. Business and duty were not
hardships to him. He was a member of the Presby-
terian ( Ihurch of Mount Airy, and for more than fifty
year- â– of it- ruling elders. 1 11 the eventful times
in which he lived hi' was warmly attached to the in-
stitutions and liberties of his country, and was ready
on all suitable occasions to give expression to his
opinions, and to sustain these with argument spiced
with the wit and humor for which he was noted. He
never descended to the vulgar, nor in any way brought
reproach upon the Christian name which he so uni-
formly illustrated, and to which so early in life he
connected himself."
lie became quite wealthy. He died Nov. 4. 1867,
on the farm at Barber's Station mi which he had
lived for nearly sixty-two years,' ami now the resi-
dence of hi- only -on. lion. Joseph •;. Bowne. He
was a prominent member of the state Medical So-
ciety, which conferred upon him the honorary degree
I Trenton, V .1.
jr, pp. i"sl t IM.
• Blot
220
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
of M.D. He was also one of the founders, an active
member, and for years an officer, of the Hunterdon
County Medical Society. He was elected a member
in 1818 of the Cliosophic Society of Nassau Hall,
Princeton.* His remains were interred in the Barber
burial-ground, on the road from Headquarters to
Lambertville, where a beautiful engraved obelisk of
Italian marble marks his grave, on the shaft of which
is:
On the right-hand side :
" John Bowne, M.D.,
Born
September 2d, 1767.
Licensed
August 3d, 1791.
Died
November 4th, 1857.
Fifty years a
Ruling Elder in the
2d Presbyterian Church, Aniwell."
On the left-hand side :
" Ann Coole,
wife of
John Bowne, M.D.,
Born
March 5th, 1770.
Died
February 18th, 1856."
" Dr. Bowne was a most remarkable man. Although
of small stature, he was blessed with a very robust
constitution, was a man of the most indomitable en-
ergy. His practice in his palmiest days extended
over an area of more than twenty miles long by six
miles wide, at a time when public roads were few and
far between, his labors being performed principally
on horseback. He might at all times and seasons of
the year, in fair weather or foul, be seen emerging
from his gate at the earliest dawn on his daily visits
to his patients. As a physician he was bold, and at
the same time a sound and judicious practitioner.
He possessed the regard and esteem of all his profes-
sional brethren in a most unbounded degree."!
Oliver Barnet, born in 1743, was a brother of
Dr. William Barnet, of Elizabethtown, who was not
only distinguished as a physician, but was a promi-
nent Whig and patriot during the Revolution. The
home of Oliver was in New Germantown, Hunterdon
Co. He was wealthy, endowed with civil offices, and,
like his brother, an earnest Revolutionary patriot and
successful physician. He was surgeon of the Fourth
Regiment, his commission dating Feb. 14, 1776. J He
was one of the associate justices at the trial in West-
field of the murderer of Rev. James Caldwell, of
Elizabeth town.
Dr. Barnet's name is still remembered in the place
of his residence in connection with many anecdotes
illustrative of his peculiar character. One is related
by the Rev. Dr. Messier, of Somerville. Dr. Barnet
* Biographical Encyclopedia of Now Jersoy, p. 475.
+ Dr. Blanc's Med. Hist. Hunterdon County, p. 2G.
J Stryker's Register.
had a colored man, Cuffy, who drove his coach and
was a favorite. After building a vault for himself on
a sightly knoll, he told Cuffy that when he died he
might be put in it with himself and Mrs. Barnet; but
Cuffy stammered, ' N-n-no, doctor, I guess not." —
"Why not, Cuffy ?" — Well, doctor," said Cuffy,
" there will be a resurrection ; and if the devil comes
for you, he might make a mistake and take me. No,
I don't want to be put there." The old doctor laughed
and changed the subject. Dr. Barnet died in 1809,
aged sixty-six. His remains rest in the vault alluded
to, erected on his estate.?
Isaac Ogden, born near Elizabethtown, N. J., in
1764 was graduated at Princeton in 1784. Upon enter-
ing his profession he settled at Six-Mile Run, near his
native town. He there married a daughter of Elder
Peter Stoothoff. It was said that he rocked the cradle
of his wife when an infant, while as a student he
boarded in her father's family. || The only child by
this marriage became in early life the wife of Rev.
Isaac N. Wyckoff, D.D., then of Somerset County,
now of Albany, N. Y. She died in 1827.
Dr. Ogden left his first place of residence, and after
being a short time at White House removed to New
Germantown. He there succeeded to the practice of
Dr. Oliver Barnet, his brother-in-law, about 1809, and
during the next few years practiced extensively and
successfully. He had considerable celebrity as an ob-
stetrician. He was an earnest student of astronomy,
and for several years he published an almanac, in
which were weather "prognostications" in rhyme,
which at the time had an extensive circulation, and
of which, preserved as curiosities, copies are still to
be found in out-of-the-way country-houses and in the
hands of book-collectors.iy He became a member of
the State society in 1788, and was one of the founders
of the District Medical Society of Hunterdon County
in 1821. He was president of the latter in 1823 and
in 1826, when he removed from the county (to New
Brunswick, N. J.), was elected the first honorary
member. During the later years of his life he aban-
doned the practice of medicine almost entirely, and
acted as postmaster. He died suddenly of apoplexy,
and was buried in the graveyard of the First Reformed
Church of New Brunswick. His memorial stone has
the following inscription :
" Sacred to the memory of Dr. Isaac Ogden, who departed this life on
the 6th of May, 1829, in the 60th year of his age. A kind husband, an
affectionate father, an humblo Christian."**
Abraham Bertiion, or Berthand, was a practi-
tioner living on the south branch of the Raritan
River, not far from Readington. Tradition locates
him there about the year 1784. He lived in a small
house on the hill, near Levi Mettler's present resi-
dence. In 1786 he kept the tavern at North Branch.
g Wlckes' Hist. Med,
|| Ibid., p. 361.
If N. J. Biog. Ency., p. 430
** MSS. Notes of Rev. Dr.
Now Joreoy to 1800, pp. 136, 137.
THE MEDICAL I'KOFKaSK )N OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.
L'L'l
Jaioij 1v.i:i;i: i , burn near l-'lemington, Dee. 2">,
1771, was brought up there with liis father, and en-
tered ill'' Methodist ministry at about the age of
twenty-one or twenty-two, continuing a- an itinerant
preacher tor several year - . Ill- removed to Port Eliz-
abeth, Cumberland Co., X. J., married, commenced
the study of medicine, and was licensed in 1805. He
died hi Pemberton, N. J., in the autumn of 1831.
Lewis K. Needham reail medicine with Dr. Jep-
thah B. Munn, and later with Dr. John P.lane ; at-
tended medical lectures, ami in ]X3."i received his
doctor's degree. After being examined ami licensed
he entered into partnership with Dr. Blane, which
association continued until his death. He wa- a phy-
sician "T marked ability, ami consequently highly
successful. He was possessed of genial manners ami
a kindly disposition. His wife wa- Su-an 1'. Sayro,
of Morris Co.. N. .1. He was born at East Haildani,
Conn., in 1806, and died at Perryville, N. .1., Nov.
12, 1841.
IIi;m:v H. SCHENCK, Jit., oldest son of Dr. Henry
and Ellen ( Hardenberg) Schenck, of Millstone, Som-
erset I'o., .V.I., was born in New York State in 1782
(February). He subsequently removed, with his
lather, to Neshanic, NT. J. He married .lam- Herder j
began the study of medicine, but soon after became a
soldier in the war of 1812. After the war he practiced
medicine vigorously ami successfully, both at (.Quaker-
town ami at Readington, settling at the latter place
about 1810, and being in practice there until his death,
Dec. 20, 1X23. 1 1 is remains rest in the churchyard at
Keailinirton. He left a widow and -evoral children,
but none of them in the profession. II is name is the
twelfth on the roll of members of the medical society
of this county. In Readington he resided first in the
old parsonage building, about two mile- from the
church, on the road leading tV Readington to
White House, later ill the old brick Ten I'.yek house,
on the Old York Road, cast of (he church, and closed
hi- life in a house a few hundred yards farther east,
subsequently occupied by .Mr. Titus.*
JOHN HONEYMAN was born near New liennan-
lown. Hunterdon Co., Feb. 22, 1798. He was the
eldest s,m of .lames Honeyman ami Mary Miller, ami
a -rands, ,n of John 1 [o my man. who figured in the
French and Indian war under Wolfe, and during the
Revolution as ''the spy of Washington." While in
his " teens" the subject of this notice taught thi
i rermantown Academy, and afterwards attended Mid-
dlebury College, Vermont, lie studied medicine with
Dr. William Johnson, of White House, attended lec-
turesin 1822-23 at the University of Pennsylvania,
ami commenced practice in his native villa-,- in L824,
Alter a professional career of fifty years, he died .Ian.
-'. 1874. 1 1 e held numerous offices in the medi.
ciety and the Presbyterian church, of which he was a
ruling elder for twenty year-, lie had a large prac-
tice, wa- esteemed far and wide, and by economy
accumulated a competence. Hi- character wa- -»
extremely exemplary that it is said of him that he
never prevaricated, never t"ld an untruth, never ut-
tered a harsh word, never made mi • ie my. Hi- death
created avoid in the medical profession which will long
In- lilt, tin" he had tic love and re-pect of the frater-
nity. Al about thirty years of age he married Mi-s
Elizabeth 8. Nevius, daughter of Judge Peter 8. Ne-
vius, ,d' Pleasant Plains, Somerset < k). They had one
daughter, who married Judge II. D. Maxwell, of
Ivaston, ['a., and tine, sons, — viz., John C, who be-
came a physician : Peti t X., a merchant : and A. A'.
D., an attorney, editor, and publisher in Somerville.
The children are all living, — John ami Peter in New
Germantown, their native place. For further details
of his life the reader is referred t,, the " Family Me-
morial," published in 1*74.
.Iiiiin l-'nKMAN GltAXIHX was born May 28, 1792;
studied medicine under Dr. Newell, of AUentown, X.
J.; practiced his profession all his life at Hamden,
where he died in 1811. His grandson, John Forman
Grandin, M.D., studied medicine under lion. John
Manners, M.D., at i '1 int. m : received his degree at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1852, ami has since
pra: U ed ln> pr. I 'ssi n ,,| ( bxton I i« n-lii| \ .1.
for further .-ketch of Dr. Grandin see biographical
department of Clinton township.
George P. Rex, born in the city of Philadelphia,
Sept. 2, 1818, was educated in tin' classical schools of
that city ; studied medicine in the office of I »r. I
McClellan, and was graduated at Jefferson Medical
College in is:: I: -, .tiled at Clover Hill, X. J., that
year, and practiced medicine; was married in 1886 lo
Gertrude V.. daughter of Jacob Williamson. Esq.,
and in 1837 moved to Heaville, hi- pre-eut residence.
In 1856 he removed to IVrry, I'ikc Co., 111., and - i
after was appointed a member of the State Hoard of
Education, ami assisted in building the state Normal
University, at Bloomington, HI., as a member of the
building committee. In 1861 he entered the military
service as surgeon of the Thirty-third I Normali Illi-
nois Infantry Regiment, and served through the war
as division surgeon ami medical director; was mus-
tered out in December, 1865. He was largely engaged
in cotton-planting mar Selma. Ala., in 1866 67, and
was made post-SUTgeon of the United Stales army at.
Selma, Ala., in September. I-,;:. | M [868 ],,. wga
eleeted high sheriff of Dallas (',,.. Ala., and in 1869
was appointed by President Grant United States as-
sessor of internal revenue for the See 1 District of
that State, embracing twenty-six counties, lie re-
mained in this position until 1871, when, his health
failing him. he returned to Keaville. N. J., where he
ha- -inee resided ami praetieed his profession, being
one of the three oldest physicians in Hunterdon
County. He became a member of the < Jounty 1 >istriet
Medical Society. May ::. 1 886, WOS it- Irea-urer in 1 850,
and .,ii,. of the board of eeiis,,r- from 1 s |s t-, I -
222
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
John Frelinghuysen Schenck, a native of Ne-
shanic, Somerset Co. (born June 6, 1799), is of Dutch
descent, his ancestors having come from Holland and
settled in the Millstone valley. His father, Dr.
Henry H. Schenck, was an assistant surgeon in the
E evolutionary army. His maternal grandfather was
Rev. Jacob R. Hardenberg, first president of Queen's
(now Rutgers) College. He commenced reading
medicine with his brother, Dr. Jacob R. Schenck,
and continued his studies with Dr. Henry Vander-
veer; attended the College of Physicians and Sur-
geons, New York, and was licensed to practice in