Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/104

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

were executed upon a gallows at Bloomsburg, borrowed from the authorities o f O rb im county. T w o weeks before the execution T ully confessed to Attorney Elw ell that he w as guilty and corroborated the evidence o f K elly. H ester and M cH ugh did not confess their guilt in a public manner, although they had the ministrations o f a priest on the morn­ ing of their death. What they told the father confessor is not known, as the secrets of the confessional are kept inviolate by (he Roman Catholic Church, but the priest saw T u lly’s

confession and approved o f its publication. The informer, K elly, was subsequently made a witness in a sim ilar trial at W ilkesBarre, where he confessed to an appalling series o f crimes. H is evidence was there given without stipulated immunity, but as his punishment would have prevented the bring­ ing o f others to justice through similar con­ fessions o f w'itnesses, he w as allowed to go free. H e left this section, and what subMqucntly became o f him is not known.

C H A PTER V III T H E M E D IC A L P R O F E S S IO N O F C O L U M B IA C O U N T Y { B y Luther B. K lin t, M. D ., Catawissa, P a .) The noble profession o f medicine has had many representatives in the past who have left their impress upon the history o f Columbia county. Doctors have alw ays been the inti­ mate counselors and true fncnds of the peole, and in this county there are many who ave a warm spot in their hearts when the fam ily physician is discussed. T o the pioneers o f this section o f Pennsylvania the old-time countiy doctor was one of the welcome visitors at their isolated homes. In those days the practice o f medicine required good horseman­ ship, r u ^ e d health and all the courage and endurance (hat the physician could command, fo r the roads were often mere muddy trails, the homes fa r apart, and the dangers of the forests and morasses were added to by the terrors o f wild beast.* and still more ferocious savages. A ll of the earlier physicians were obliged to keep at least three good horses on hand at alt times, fo r often when the doctor had ridden home from a tweniy-milc trip he would have to retrace his tracks without sufficient time to n u ke a change o f garments. And besides the hardships of the constant and long rides, the old physicians were expected to wait for their pay for an indefinite time. In the days o f lack o f currcnc)- and trading there was some excuse fo r this, but at the present time the physician is still a waiter, and usually a gootl one. Most everyone gets his money before the doctor is paid, yet (here is seldom a complaint from the long-suffering medico. T he first doctor who came to Columbia county is supposed to have been Dr. E. B.

E

Bacon, who hailed from Connecticut, by w ay o f Kingston. A t that time his practice e x ­ tended from Catawissa to the headwaters o f Fishing creek. H e removed to W ellsboro in ( 8 ^ and engaged in farming. Drs. Townsend and K rid cr were the next arrivals, and they located in Bloomsburg. T h e former remained but a short time, but the lat­ ter practiced in the town until his death. About 18 18 Dr. Roe came, and divided his time between healing and teaching school. H e then removed up F ish ir^ creek and went to fanning. Dr. Ebm czcr ^ n i c l s came to Catawissa about (822, and w as followed the next year by Dr. Harmon Gearhart, whom he highly recommended to the people of the town. D r. Daniels sold his practice in 1834 to D r. Jo h n Ram say, and removed to Indianapolis. D r. Gearhart died In 18 33 .' Dr. Ramsay removed to Bloomsburg and look a leading part in the affairs of the town. H e was especially active in the paths o f educa­ tion. H e died suddenly in 1863. D r. William Petrikin came to Bloomsburg in 1834. H e w as a son of the famous Dr. David Pctrikin, o f Danville, and had all o f his fa­ ther’s energy and brilliancy, but death carried him off in 1842. Dr. David N. Scott came to Bloomsburg in 1842 and resided in the part o f town mclenamed “ Scottown" from the fact that the Doctor laid it out into lots, and built the first house there. H e removed to K an sas some years later. Dr. Thom as V’astinc came to Bloomsburg in 1833, but soon left fo r Williamsport. Later