Dr. Daniel Lowrey

HERTZLER, LOWREY, MATTINGLY, TEAGARDEN, SIMMONS

Posted By: John Stuekerjuergen (email)
Date: 7/7/2024 at 07:39:49

Daniel Lowrey: West Point’s Pioneer Physician

Six Weeks without Bed Sleep

Roots in Pennsylvania:
One of the earliest physicians to practice in West Point was Dr. Daniel Lowrey (1806-1885). Lowrey grew up in a small town southeast of Pittsburgh. As a young man, he had considered studying to become a Lutheran minister. However, he later converted to Catholicism and made a different career choice. At age 18, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Cooper of Johnstown, PA. After medical college in Philadelphia, he commenced practice in Salisbury, PA. There, in 1828, Dr. Lowrey married Susan Mattingly, the first of his three wives. She died in 1833, leaving four children.

In 1835, Dr. Lowrey moved his practice to Lathropolis, OH, and then to Chillicothe, where he met Esther Teagarden, his second spouse.

Arrival at West Point; cholera epidemic:
In 1845, Dr. Lowrey continued his trek west, settling at West Point, Lee County, Iowa. He established his practice and residence on Jefferson Street (now 5th Street). During his first five years in West Point, Dr. Lowrey welcomed Catholic priests serving West Point to stay with his family. In 1851, a cholera epidemic moved through the area, taking the life of his wife, Esther. She left five children, one of whom (Clement) later became a renowned priest in northeastern Iowa.

In addition to the tragedy of his wife’s death, Dr. Lowrey was faced with a large number of patients that needed care during the cholera epidemic. His children believed he set a record for service in Lee County, and probably a good swath of Iowa. For a period of six weeks, he never slept in a bed. Instead, he slept in the saddle, in a carriage, in a chair, or standing up—wherever he could catch a few winks. At yet another time, he was on the go continuously for three weeks with little sleep.

After the loss of his wife, Esther, Dr. Lowrey married Mary Simmons. Coincidentally, Mary’s father took his third wife at the age of 101. Daniel and Mary Lowrey had six children of their own.

Life of the country physician:
Dr. Lowrey practiced medicine mostly before the Civil War, but his style of practice was followed by many other old-time country doctors up to the turn of the century and beyond. Dr. Arthur Hertzler (1870-1946), for example, grew up in Section 28 of Pleasant Ridge Township and practiced well after Dr. Lowrey. However, except for some improvement in road quality, Dr. Hertzler faced essentially the same challenges as Dr. Lowrey. Dr. Hertzler became known nationally as "The Horse and Buggy Doctor."

There was little money in doctoring in the early days of Iowa, but Dr. Lowrey was offered a lot of hay, oats, potatoes, turnips, furniture, and other articles in lieu of cash. Roads were terrible. The worst days of winter made it difficult to reach patients. If Dr. Lowrey rode horseback, his saddlebags needed to hold everything he might require for his patients. To forget something was to require a long ride back to the office.

In the early days, when the stork was due at some distant farm house, Dr. Lowrey would often go there safely ahead of the delivery and stay until the baby was born. That was sometimes several days. The pay? The doctor got his bed and board and $5 cash if he was lucky.

Retirement: The pace of a country doctor finally came to be too much. Circa 1867, Dr. Lowrey put his practice aside and devoted his attention to home life and to the raising of grapes. He developed one of the finest vineyards in southeast Iowa.