Some days I get the cart a little ahead of the horse, as was the case yesterday when I published the magnificent obituary of Dr. Charles Fitch, 1825-1889, pioneer Lucas County physician. So I rounded up a couple of other items at the museum yesterday to share this morning.
The first is a portrait of Dr. Fitch from the collection (above) and the second is the text of a fairly comprehensive biography taken from "History of Medicine in Lucas County," written by Dr. Thomas Morford Throckmorton (1852-1940), who practiced medicine in Chariton, and his son, Dr. Thomas Bentley Throckmorton (1885-1961), who practiced in Des Moines.
This excellent resource is a reprint of a series of articles published during 1933 and 1934 in the Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society. The senior Dr. Tom Throckmorton wrote the article about Dr. Fitch.
Dr. Fitch was a son of Lyman and Jane (Cregar) Fitch. Lyman Fitch died during 1851 in Wyandot County, Ohio, and his widow as well as Charles and at least three of his siblings came to Iowa during the next year. Charles landed in Chariton, the others settled at Garden Grove, where Jane died on Nov. 1, 1885. Her remains were brought to Chariton for burial on the family lot here.
Here's the rather lengthy text of the Throckmorton article about Dr. Fitch:
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The most outstanding man ever to practice in Lucas County, in the writer's opinion, was the late Dr. Charles Fitch. He was born in Orleans County, New York, June 25, 1825, and afterwards moved with his parents to Ohio. At the early age of 15 years he began to teach school. He received his literary education at the Methodist Seminary at Norwalk and at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1846, when he was 21 years of age, he enlisted in the Fifteenth Regiment of the United States Regulars and served through the entire Mexican War, taking part in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. He received an honorable discharge from the army at the close of the war.
Charles Fitch then returned to his home and, taking up the study of medicine in Cleveland, was graduated from the Western Reserve Medical College in 1852. During the Civil War, he held the position of contract surgeon, since he declined to muster in the service under the commission which he had received as regimental surgeon. He served three years in this capacity with distinction. At Fort Pillow, he was wounded in the thigh and taken prisoner; but was paroled on the following day.
Dr. Fitch came to Chariton in 1852 and may truly be called a pioneer. This was at the time when there was neither a church nor a schoolhouse in the county. Here he was married in 1853 to Miss Lucy Jane Wescoatt by the Rev. Robert Coles, one of the first ministers to locate in Chariton. Dr, Fitch's residence was continuous in Chariton except for a few years spent in Keosauqua, Van Buren County.
His practice extended into the adjacent counties of Marion, Warren, Monroe, Wayne and Clarke, and even as far south and west as to include Decatur and Union. Dr. Fitch was the right kind of a doctor for this new and wild territory for nature and education had fitted him well for his tasks. He was robust in constitution, intrepid in character and possessed of a skill in medicine and surgery that was equal to the best of his day.
The writer quotes from an address he gave at the old settlers' reunion in Chariton, September 24, 1907: "It is with profound respect that I recall the name of Dr. Charles Fitch. To my mind, no other man who has lived in Lucas County did more for the early settlers than did the good doctor, who came to Chariton in 1852. Over long roads, traveling dark nights through storms, crossing swollen streams not spanned by bridges, following an obscure trail with only the sky and boundless prairies around him, the doctor journeyed ofttimes cold, hungry and weary; many times arriving at his destination, on account of the distance traveled, or the loss of the trail, only to find the patient dead, or a child born without medical assistance.
"Dr. Fitch was an outstanding character. His personality was his own. He was a man well developed physically, with an acute, inquiring mind and a keen intellect, not sluggish or lazy. He was endowed with a natural ability to see into the complex workings of the most wonderful handiwork of God, the human body, and to interpret its ills. He was a man, in my opinion, who never had a superior, nor even an equal, in medical science in Lucas or in the adjoining counties. He really was 50 years ahead of his time. I made the acquaintance of the good doctor many years ago and, as a medical brother, I can truthfully say of him that he was always ready to respond to the call of ailing humanity. No matter how far the distance, how uncertain the condition of the roads or the weather, whether the ailing one be rich or poor, be it night or day, the doctor went when he was summoned. The physicians of the past 40 years know nothing of hardships or privations as compared to those which this early pioneer and medical patron had to face and surmont. May peace be to his ashes."
Dr. Fitch, in 1855, became a member of Chariton Lodge No. 63 A.F. and A.M. In 1868 he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows No. 64.
He was a good citizen and a man of keen judgment and quick action. In 1854 when smallpox broke out in the eastern part of the county, William Parmenter, Edwin Maydole and others became afflicted. Dr. Lind of Lagrange, in Cedar Township, was the first to be called in attendance. Later, Dr. Wyatt Waynick and Fitch were called in consultation. The citizens of Chariton, on learning of the nearness of the disease, raised a furor, called a meeting of the townfolk, and demanded quarantine of the town in the hope of preventing the spread of contagion. Dr. Fitch, who came in late at the meeting upon learning of its purpose said: "We have no smallpox in Chariton and we do not need a quarantine. If you insist on quarantining the town you will have to go east three miles to the fork of the road and put up a warning sign saying, 'Smallpox --- Take the Left Hand Road.' Gentlemen, you may do this if you wish, but if you do, not a merchant will do business outside of the townspeople and those of you who are preparing to sell to the Mormons who are no on their way west will have no customers. Quarantine if you like, but remember what that means."
Needless to state the resolution, so hastily passed, was at once rescinded, Fortunately, no other cases of smallpox developed in the county at that time. The writer well remembers the pockmarked faces of William Parmenter and Edwin Maydole, as they were tenants on his father's farm in 1857.
Dr. Fitch, who had no mean ability as a surgeon, amputated William McDermott's leg for gangrene of the foot June 20, 1875. Mr. McDermott was the first settler to build a cabin and live in the territory of what is now known as Lucas County. Soon after the doctor had located in the county an epidemic of so-called "dysentery" broke out and many of those who were stricken then died from the disease. Doctors were few and far between, but Dr. Fitch, who had seen much of cholera while at Cleveland Ohio, and in the upper and lower Sandusky regions, recognized the ailment at once and realized its seriousness. Rather than to stampede the people through fear, he kept his own counsel, and in time the epidemic waned and finally ceased. Thus, one may gain insight into the character of the man who always had at heart the interest and welfare of both patient and community.
Dr. Fitch was a pleasant and congenial gentleman and, as a consultant, he always showed a due deference to the writer. I recall vividly an incident which occurred in the early years of my practice while I was located at Derby. In the spring of 1881, my office door was opened one frosty morning and a friendly voice inquired, "Good morning, doctor. May I have the loan of a horse for a few hours?" Looking about I discovered that the visitor was none other than my good friend, Dr. Fitch of Chariton. "Certainly," I replied. Finding that the doctor's destination was in a locality where I was expecting to make a call, I gave orders for two horses to be saddled and brought at once. The condition of the roads absolutely precluded the use of a buggy or buckboard. Together we started out over very rough and frozen roads.
As we turned our mounts onto the old Mormon Trace road, we passed the Jacob Taylor farm. Recognizing the house my guest remarked, "I had a rather peculiar experience there many years ago. I was called out one night to see young Jake. He had been ill for several days with quinsy. I found him seriously ill. His throat was badly swollen and he was having great difficulty in breathing. I examined him as best I could by candle light and made up my mind that I would not attempt to lance a throat abscess under such trying conditions. After debating the problem in my mind for a time, I said to the father, "Now, Mr. Taylor, what this boy needs, more than anything else, is some sleep. He is all worn out. I will given him some medicine to help him rest and in the morning, if his throat is not better, I will lance it. I called for a pitcher of boiling water and after adding some myrrh and chlorate of potash, I directed the patient to inhale the steam. Then I fixed up the "easing powder" which consisted of a good round dose of ipecac and powdered alum. I finally succeeded in getting the patient to sip a glass of hot water, and then I gave him the powder. Assuring the family that the boy would soon be better, providing he kept his head over the edge of the bed and continued to inhale the steam, I climbed the ladder to the loft, presumably to get a little sleep. Of course I did not take off my clothes; I just waited to see what would happen. In a little while I heard the patient begin to cough and then to retch, the sure signs of the oncoming storm. Soon a voice called out at the bottom of the ladder, "Doc, O Doc, come down quick! Jakey is puking like a sick dog.' I called out for them to keep the patient's head low until I could come down, but I didn't hurry. When I finally got down in the room I found that the retching and coughing had ruptured the abscess. Soon the patient was easy and asleep." This incident illustrates the resourcefulness which the doctor exhibited when confronted by some unusual circumstance.
Dr Fitch was a hard working man. Endowed by nature with a strong, rugged phyique, he had an almost inexhaustible amount of energy. His willingness to serve the people kept him extremely busy and, at times, he would go without sleep or rest for days. The uncanny ability to persevere in his work irritated some of his colleagues who were unable to stand a similar strain. This gave rise to some feeling among a few of his confreres, and on one occasion a certain physician referred to Fitch as having "a cast-iron constitution and a wrought-iron rump," to which the amiable doctor returned the compliment by calling his fraternal brother "a big bag of pomposity." The latter remark was certainly warranted, for I happened to know well the one to whom the appellation was applied.
The doctor's health began to fail in 1887. He spent the winter of 1888 in Los Angeles, California, in the hope of retaining his vitality; but it was not to be. He died at his home in Chariton, in diabetic coma, October 29, 1889, in his sixty-fifth year. The writer attended him during his last sickness and was present when he died. A wife and five children survived him: Mrs. Henry Bertram, Dr.Ella, Charles, Miss Laura and Frank, all of Chariton. His remains were tenderly and affectionately laid to rest in the Chariton cemetery, the last sad act which sympathizing friends and devoted patients cold offer as an outward expression to one they loved so well; and thus ended the earthly career of a good man and worthy physician.
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