CHICKASAW COUNTY
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The Medical Profession
Register of Physicians, Dentists and Midwives

In no profession have there been such marked changes in the practice and habits of life as in the medical profession. The knowledge of disease and manner of treatment has greatly increased within the memory of those who have not passed beyond the years of middle age; while the science and skill applied in the practice of surgery has advanced beyond the most visionary conceptions of the old-time practitioner.

When the first physicians began practice in Chickasaw County they did not visit their patients in automobiles. Even had this modern method of rapid transit been known at that time, it would have been impracticable on account of the condition of the roads, or rather the absence of roads. The old-time doctor did not even have a buggy to drive about the country, but rode horseback, carrying his saddle-bags well filled with various drugs, largely quinine and calomel, the usual remedies for the prevailing diseases. At least this was the remedy used whether it was the proper one or not. The old-time doctor did not have office hours, at which time his patients could visit him for treatment, nor did he have the telephone by which he could treat patients at long distance. His duties required him to make the rounds every day, regardless of the time of the day or night, and regardless of the weather. His practice extended over a large district, some requiring a full day and night to make the rounds. Sometimes, in a dark night, he would lose his bearings in following a by-path in the woods, but he usually rode a faithful horse who could find the way out if left to his own instinct. The horse usually was so well educated that he knew where the call was to be made and would stop at the place without guidance.

All this experience and much more of a similar character is familiar to physicians who followed the profession half a century ago. Some of these are still living, and some are still in the practice, using the advanced methods in surgery and treatment of diseases. The relation of their experience in the old-time practice furnishes an interesting story for the younger generation.

  • Dr. H.M. MIXER has the distinction of being the first physician to locate in New Hampton, coming here in 1865.
  • Dr. A. BABCOCK followed soon after, in 1867.
  • Dr. E.H. OLMSTED came to Chickasaw County in 1867, locating first in Fredericksburg, and in New Hampton in 1872.
  • Dr. Ira K. GARDNER located in the practice in Lawler in 1870, and came to New Hampton in 1878, and formed a partnership with Dr MIXER.

A number of other physicians came along in the 1880s, some of whom remained but a short time and then departed for other fields.

In 1881 a law was enacted by the Legislature requiring physicians to register in the county in which they engaged in practice. It was also required that certain qualifications be shown before a physician would receive credentials from the established medical board and be entitled to register for practice. The record of register for each county is kept by the Clerk of the District Court, and from this record in the office of the clerk of the court in this county the names of the following physicians appear on the register, beginning with January 1880:

REGISTER of PHYSICIANS, DENTISTS and MIDWIVES

1880 - 1916

DATE NAME AGE PLACE
17 Jan 1883 ALDRICH, Henry C. 26 Nashua
13 Dec 1886 ANDERSON, A.P. 36 Elma
  ARKILLS, W.B. 29 Fredericksburg
26 Jan 1880 BABCOCK, A. 36 New Hampton
07 Jan 1881 BITTINGS, C.M. 39 Nashua
04 Mar 1889 BLANCHARD, F.C. (Dentist) 26 Nashua
04 Dec 1905 BLOWERS, Walter M. 25 Waterloo
20 Jun 1891 BOULDIN, Ira W. 34 New Hampton
23 Aug 1889 BRYANT, Z.Z. 50 Sumner
13 Dec 1886 BUMM, M.O. 28 Elma
13 Dec 1886 BYERS, D.S. 54

Clarksville

09 Aug 1886 CLARK, A.E. (Dentist) --- New Hampton
06 Aug 1900 CRAWFORD, David Agnew --- New Hampton
17 Nov 1890 DENNIS, C.W. 34 -----
11 Nov 1895 DENNIS, E.G. 30 Chase City
17 Dec 1896 DEVOE, Eber H. 37 Chicago
23 May 1916 DONNELL, John W. 38 Kansas City, MO
  DUNN, E.H. 28 Elma
04 Sep 1905 FALLOWS, Howard D. 22 Waucoma
  FEENEY, Francis 23 New Hampton
30 May 1883 FERGUSON, J.T. (Dentist) --- New Hampton
15 Sep 1894 FOWLER, Charles C. 25 New Hampton
05 Aug 1880 GARDNER, Ira K. 34 New Hampton
08 Jan 1887 HARVEY, C.T. 27 New Hampton
02 Feb 1903 HASTINGS, John C. 26 Bailey
24 Jan 1908 HASTINGS, Patrick H. 29 McIntire
27 Sep 1911 HAWK, Nathan F. 50 Marathon
15 Dec 1881 HENNY, D.H. 44 Nashua
24 Aug 1880 HEWITT, C. 34 Lawler
30 Jun 1892 HILL, M.B. 31 New Hampton
02 Jan 1893 HOPKINS, Alfred Grant 48 New Hampton
04 Aug 1884 HORTON, J.D. 24 Nashua
03 Aug 1881 HULBERT, Delos 26 Ionia
27 Aug 1895 JOHNSTON, Edwin N. 26 Fredericksburg
02 Aug 1883 LANDON, O.M. 28 Lawler
27 May 1910 LEWIS, Byron 35 Jewell
15 Apr 1898 LOCKWOOD, Walter B. (Dentist) --- Nashua
  McCLURG, John A. 36 Ionia
08 Sep 1908 McDANNELL, John 26 Glen Haven, WI
  McENANEY, J.B. --- Waucoma
29 May 1915 McGRANE, Merle Joseph 26 Elma
19 Apr 1910 McKINLEY, Alex D. 32 Waterloo
27 Apr 1909 MEYER, Rose Barbara 23 New Hampton
05 Aug 1880 MIXER, H.M. 52 New Hampton
07 Sep 1881 NOBLES, Catherine (Midwife) 71 Nashua
24 Mar 1881 OLDS, B.B. 27 Ionia
09 Aug 1880 OLMSTED, E.H. 53 New Hampton
21 May 1889 OVERFIELD, E.E. 28 Elma
  PITTS, W.S. 50 Fredericksburg
25 May 1894 RATHBUN, Charles N. 24 New Hampton
12 Mar 1892 RAWLINS, John A. 28 Bassett
08 Apr 1908 RICH, Louis P. 28 Frederika
03 Jul 1895 ROBINSON, Robert E. 25 Frederika
29 Jul 1880 SAGE, D.M. 34 Bassett
17 Jun 1913 SAUERBREY, Frank C. 25 Strawberry Point
03 Aug 1880 SCOFIELDS, F.T. 44 Ionia
28 Oct 1907 SHALLENBURGER, John F. 28 Chicago
06 Sep 1895 SHAMBAUGH, L.D. 32 Alta Vista
02 Jan 1882 SHEPERD, John L. 32 Lawler
02 Oct 1880 SHERWIN, F.O. 27 Lawler
  SIMONS, F.W. 32 North Washington
09 Mar 1887 SIPPLE, C.H. (Dentist) 21 Charles City
02 Oct 1903 SITZER, George D. 33 Des Moines
13 Dec 1881 SPAULDING, N. 67 Nashua
17 Nov 1890 STENDER, W. Franklin 40 Des Moines
23 Oct 1880 STRAUS, L.A. 24 Nashua
04 Sep 1902 TARPEY, James F. 31 Elma
09 Feb 1886 TAYLOR, L.W. 24 Fredericksburg
09 Nov 1880 TROY, S.S. 48 Nashua
01 Feb 1894 TRUMPAN, F.C. 22 Elgin
10 Dec 1880 TUCKER, L.M. 57 Nashua
10 Dec 1880 TUCKER, Lennee 21 Nashua
12 Oct 1903 VAN VELZEN, Catherine N. 37 New Hampton
24 Jul 1891 VESPERS, W.S. 38 Elgin
09 Jul 1886 VON BERG, G.W. --- Charles City
08 Nov 1883 WATERS, J. 57 Nashua
05 Apr 1886 WEEKS, E.C. (Dentist) --- Nashua
01 Sep 1880 WIGHT, A.H. 37 Ionia
18 Nov 1905 ZOLLAR, Sherwood B. 24 Fredericksburg

Source:
History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties Iowa, 1919
Volume II, pages 312 - 314
The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago


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