Page 153

t
PROFESSIONS
   By Fred G. Dicke
            Medical
  In view of the complete and
  careful treatment of this sub-
  ject by persons who made the
  history of this community a mat-
  ter of life-long study and inter-
  est, it would be presumptive to
  attempt to record any compre-
  hensive review of the develop-
  ment of the so-called "learned
  professions" in Manitowoc
  county. Space does not permit
  personal mention of the many
  professional men who were and
  are imeiortant figures, not only
  in their respective fields, but in
  the development of the commu-
  nity at large. The intent is only
  to repeat a few of the import-
  ant dates and events in our past,
  restricting comment to the for-
  mative years in the growth of
the professions of law and medi-
cine.
  The earliest practitioners in
the county, as in most pioneer
communities, had no formal
medical education. There were
no legal prerequisites to meet
and undoubtedly many who en-
tered the field  were outright
quaks, who did more harm than
good. Others, by long experi-
ence and conscientious applica-
tion, and probably by trial and
error, became proficient in the
treatment of certain ills. Some, it
is said, were so successful and
so devoted to their work thal
they gained the   respect, not
only of the community but of
the graduate physicians who lat-
er appeared on the scene. It is
notable that a fair proportion of
these  early   "doctors"  were
women who first became inter-
ested as mid-wives and practi-
cal nurses, and, in the absence
of trained medical men, devel-
oped their own line of herbs,
poultices and purgatives. Crude
though their methods were, no
better was available; and per-
haps, in'riding or walking in in-
clement weather the miles that
often separated them from their
patients, they made up in devo-
tion to duty what they lacked in
technical skill.
     First "Doctor" in 1847
  It is a matter of record that
not until 1847, when the popu-
lation of the county had passed
the thousand mark, did the first
bonefide physician   locate in
Manitowoc. Until that time, the
nearest doctor was the surgeon
at the army post at Green Bay.
If a person were seriously ill,
a messenger might be sent
there; but since the round trip
was a matter of at least two
days, the patient had usually
either died or recovered by the
time the doctor arrived.
  As an interesting sidelight,
Dr. Falge, in his fine "History
of Manitowoc County", records
the unpleasant experience of an
even earlier practitioner who
visited the county as a tourist
in 1821. An army surgeon from
the post at Green Bay, he had
been granted a furlough and was
passing through our county, on
his was home from Kentucky.
When near the present site of
Manitowoc, he was shot in the
back and killed by one of the
local Indians.
  After 1850, doctors began to
arrive in the county yearly. A
number of them were present to
help fight the great cholera epi-
demics of 1850 and 1854. Within
50 years, that is by the turn of
the century, nearly two hundred
had located in the county-but
few had remained for long. The
Civil war took many of them
away, but the majority, after
spending some time here, moved
to larger  communities where
they could get cash money for
their services rather than the
153
ýOYOF A CENTURY
TORY OF A CENTURY   MANITOWOC COUNTY, WIS.
MANITOWOC COUNTY, WIS.