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"To
Keep his Memory Green!"
PART IV
DR. ELKAHAH WILLIAMS
====================
Obituary
Biography
Correspondence
Of
all of the grand children of Captain Isaac Williams and Amelia Gibson the
grandest, perhaps, was Doctor Elkanah. Affectionately
known to his family and friends as "Caney" or "Kanie", he
certainly deserves the most attention from historians. He pioneered in this country in the field of
eye and ear medicine and surgery. He
was the first American physician to make a specialty of the diseases of the
eye. And he was the first in any American medical college to occupy & chair
in ophthalmology.
He
authored numerous treatises on diseases of the eye, and treatment of the
sane. Some where in family or medical
archives there is a collection of his writings made by his widow, Sarah
McGrew=Williams following his death.
Captain
Isaac's descendants want to know two things about their illustrious uncle:
Query 1: Where is
Elkanah Williams buried? Somewhere in
Cincinnati or somewhere back home in Indiana"?
Query 2:
Where is the historic collection of his writings, which Dr. Thomas R.
Shastid described in the American Encylopedia of Opthalmology? Is it buried somewhere in family
collections? or has it found its place in some museum or reference library?
If you, who read this tribute to the memory of Dr.
Elkanah Williams, this country's pioneer in ophthalmology, can answer either of
these queries, please advise:
FAMILY HISTORIANS
Ben and Alice Dixon
6008 Arosa Street, San Diego 15, California
(This address was as of the 1960s)
DR. ELHANAH WILLIAMS
====================
Medical Pioneer
Synopsis of
his Life and Works
1822: Born, Lawrence county, Indiana, son of
Capt. Isaac Williams Education: Common schools, and Bedford Academy
1847: Graduated Asbury (DePauw) University
Teacher, common schools
Married
Sarah Farmer of Bedford; she died in 1851
1850: MD
Degree, University of Louisville
General
practice at Bedford; graduate studies at Louisville
1852: Opened
practice in Cincinnati
Married
Sarah McGrew
1853: To Europe for special studies in
oto-laryngology; 18 months in Paris; London, Moorfields; Prague, Vienna, Berlin.
1855: Opened
special eye-and-ear practice, Cincinnati
Established
charity clinic at Miami Medical College
1860: Occupied
Chair in Ophthalmology, Miami Medical-- 1st in U.S.
l861-65:
Asst. Surgeon, U.S. Marine Hospital Service, Civil War
1862: Attended
Paris Medical Congress
1862-72:
Ophthalmic Surgeon, Commercial Hospital, Cincinnati
1867-73:
Co-Editor, Cincinnati Lancet and Observer
1872: Attended
London Medical Congress
1875: President
Ohio Medical Society
1876: President
American Ophthalmological Society,
and
New York Ophthalmic Congress
1886: Retirement;
Alabama (Mobile) residence
1887: Retirement;
Southern California (Los Ange1es) residence
1888: Death,
Oct. 5th at Hazelwood, Pennsylvania
Remains
to Cincinnati for interment (says Enquirer, 10-6-88)
Survived
by widow, Sarah McGrew-Williams, and daughter, Mary Belle Williams=Sturges.
Interment: Grave l38, Lot 48, Spring Grove Cemetery,
Cincinnati
DR. E.
WILLIAMS IS DEAD
(Cincinnati Enquirer) (
October 6, 1888)
One of the Most Eminent of Oculists
He
Introduced the Use of the Ophthalmoscope
The Life Work of a Brilliant Light
in the Medical Profession
+++
Dr. E. Williams, the celebrated
occulist, of this city, is dead. He died yesterday at Hazelwood, Penn., at the
home of his friend, Rev. H. D. Walter.
His death was not unexpected.
About two years ago he was afflicted with an incurable affection of the
brain.
Since then he has not practiced
his profession. Instead, he has been
travelling over the country in search of health accompanied by his wife. Winter before last he spent in Mobile,
Ala. Then he went to Los Angeles,
Cal. From there he went to the East,
and remained there until his death.
With the passing away of Dr.
Williams the medical profession loses one of its brightest lights, and the
world one of its most distinguished men, in his particular specia1ty. He was born in Indiana sixty years ago, and
was educated there until he began the study of medicine. This he did at Louisville, Ky., and
graduated from the college there. After
practicing for a time in Indiana he went to Europe and continued his studies in
Germany and France. He mastered the
languages of each of those countries.
About 1854 he returned and began the practice of his profession in this
city, where he remained until overcome by the affliction which caused his
death.
+++ A WONDERFUL CAREER +++
In the medical
world Dr. Williams stood for years at the head of the oculists. He was in Europe when Helmholtz discovered
the ophthalmoscope, and he was the first one to introduce its use and
application in England. The Doctor was
placed in charge of the eye and ear clinic in the greatest London medical
college, and his fame soon became world wide.
He was the father of ophthalmology in the United States. When he advocated separate treatment and
scientific consideration of diseases of the eye and ear, the old practitioners
laughed at him, but he lived to see his claims recognized. The distinguished man was the author of
many able papers on the treatment of the eye and ear, and he was untii a short
time before his illness a valued
+++ CONTRIBUTOR TO MEDICAL JOURNALS +++
Of this country. He made three trips to Europe, and was
received with distinguished consideration.
Dr.Wi1liams received some very large fees, and he frequently treated the
needy and poor for nothing. People came
from all parts of the world to consult him.
A well-known Cincinnatian who was in Paris several years ago, while
talking to a French physician, happened to mention Cincinnati. "Ah," remarked the
Frenchman, do you know Dr. Williams, the great occulist who lives there?”
The eminent
dead occupied his office on Eighth street, between Vine and Walnut, for more
than thirty years. It is said he
affected
+++ HUNDREDS OF WONDERFUL CURES +++
His skill with
the knife was remarkable, and he could perform the most delicate operation
successfully. For several years past,
Doctor Wil1iams was associated with Dr. S.C. Ayres and Dr. Eric E. Sattler.
Dr. Williams
was honored by foreign medical societies with honorary membership as much as
any other American. In 1876 he was the
President of the Medical Congress that assembled in this city. In his specialty as an oculist he was a
recognized authority the world over.
He leaves a
widow surviving him. The Remains will be brought to this city for
interment. A meeting of the medical
profession has been called for this evening at half past eight o'clock, at the
Miami Medical College to take action on the death of the distinguished doctor.
DR. ELKANAH WILLIAMS
====================
Medical Pioneer
He
was greatly influenced both in his personal philosophy and his medical
indoctrination by his contacts with Dr. Daniel Drake, the great pioneer medical
mentor of Kentucky and Ohio. Drake's
scientific masterpiece, "Diseases of the Interior Valley of North America"
was published the year he graduated.
There is no doubt but that it was the influence of Dr. Drake, coupled
with that of Dr. S. D. Gross, a leading practitioner of Louisville, that
inspired Elkanah to go to Europe for graduate studies in surgery.
While
teaching in Lawrence county in the winter of 1847, Elkanah decided to give
himself a Christmas gift -- a family of his own. On December 23rd he took Sarah S. Farmer of Bedford as his
wife. And while he was pursuing his
medical studies at Louisville, two daughter were born to them; Clara and Mary
Belle. After graduation he opened an
office in Bedford as general practitioner, with very good success. But his home was saddened by the death of
his wife in 1851. He buried her at Old
Shiloh cemetery.
His
home shattered, he decided to leave Bedford and move to the medical center of
Cincinnati. Closing his home and
office, he first went to Louisville for some graduate work in surgery, and then
remove to Cincinnati, in 1852. But by November
of that year, his mind was made up -- he would visit the great medical centers
in Europe and specialize in treatment of diseases of the eye and ear.
His
brothers -- all prosperous farmers -- enthusiastically agreed to look after his
girls while he was gone, and to finance him to any required extent. Garret, Richard, Dick and Jack and Bart
pooled resources and told him to go the limit.
He could repay them whenever he was able. But in the meantime, he agreed to visit agricultural and
mechanical fairs in Europe and relay to them the latest and newest projects in
continental scientific farming.
One
of the things he did under this informal contract, was to purchase for them a
good stud horse in France. He shipped
it home to them, highly insured. And
with this animal the Williams brothers, Alex Cox, and Henry Culbertson bred up
a fine line of draft horses in southern Indiana
He left for Europe in November,
1852, and was away for more than two years.
In Paris he studied for eighteen months with DesMares, Nelaton and
Roux. Helmholtz, at Konigsburg, had
just invented the ophthalmoscope, and Dr. Williams immediately became
associated with Dr. Andre Anagnostakis in a modification of the
instrument. He then went to London
where for several months he was connected with the great Moorfields Clinic.
There he made the first
demonstration in the British Isles of the use of the ophthalmoscope. He also published the first article in
English on the subject: "The
Ophthalmoscope" which appeared in the London Medical Times
and Gazette for July 1 and 8, 1854. His
preceptors in London were Bowman, Dixon, Wordsworth and others. After his tour at London he pursued his
studies further at Prague, Vienna, and Berlin.
He had some sadness along with
his fun in Europe. His oldest daughter,
Clara, died November 25, 1853 -- just a year after he had left Indiana. She went to join her mother at Old
Shiloh. And the news of her death was
the Christmas greeting Elkanah received that year.
Returning to Cincinnati in
1855, he resumed his practice, but limited it to the field of the eye and
ear. It has been said that he
"was the first regularly accredited physician in America who confined his
practice strictly to those branches."
The old time general practitioners cast a lot of sarcasm and jealousy in
his direction, deriding his "specialty" as high-toned medical
aristocracy.
But Dr. Elkanah went quietly
about his work, and the profession finally came around to his way of
thinking. In the same year he organized
his charity clinic at Miami Medical School.
And while he was receiving high fees from patients who could afford to
pay for eye surgery, he was at the same time giving thousands of dollars worth
of professional service free to those who couldn't pay.
In 1860 he was given the Chair
in Ophthalmology at Miami Medical -- first such chair in America. As the Professor of Ophthalmology he
delivered the first series of clinical lectures ever given in this field. He trained many skilled students in the
field of eye surgery, and then sent them out across the country to establish
the specialty. One of his students was
his nephew Abram, the son of Pryor Williams who, on completion of his studies
went to St. Louis and set up there the first "Eye Specialist"
office. Elkanah's teaching career
covered a period of twenty years.
During the Civil war when the
medical school was closed, he was commissioned an assistant surgeon in the
U.SMarine Hospital Service -- predecessor of today's U.S. Public Health
Service. In this capacity, when he
learned that his nephew Eldridge Williams lay dangerously wounded in Seminary
Hospital at Frederick, Maryland, after
the Battle of Antietam, he traveled all the way thither, with "Dear Aunt
Sallie' to do what could be done for the young hero. (See Letters 5, 6, 7.)
For thirty years Dr. Williams
was a leader in medical affairs not only in Cincinnati and Ohio, but across the
nation and internationally. He was
president of the Ohio Medical Society and of the American Ophthalmological
Society, as well as the New York Medical Congress of 1876. He attended the World Medical Congress at
Paris in 1862 (where he presented a paper in French) and the Congress at London
in 1872.
He contributed numerous
professional articles to the medical press including nearly 50 covering his
specialty, nearly all of which were were published in the Cincinnati Lancet
and Observer. He was co-editor
of this organ from 1867 to 1873.
Dr. Thomas H. Shastid, in a
biographical article (American Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology)
says: "There exists a privately
collected book in which his articles, or at least the most of them, were
brought together by Mrs. Williams, with an artistic title-page and a table of
contents running to many pages, from the pen of his pupil, the late Major
Christian R. Holmes of Cincinnati."
+++
Dr. R. Sattler, another of his associates of
Cincinnati, has supplied a charming characterization of Dr. Elkanah Williams:
"Tall
and broad-shouldered, with a merry facial expression which mirrored his genial
character, eyes which by their soft and penetrating gaze fascinated the
attention and invited discussion, associated with a frank and earnest address,
uniformly courteous manners, devoid of all studied or acquired polish, one
could but be impressed that with him the art of being and appearing agreeable
was a natural or spontaneous attribute or gift.
"Endowed
with a disposition broad, generous and affectionate, an even and jolly
temperament, he attracted many people, and in his social as well as
professional relation he was always a conspicuous man, in particular because his
ready conversational power, adaptive ability, and diverse funds of information
rendered easy an approach with strangers
"His
fund of story telling was, among his friends, almost proverbial; and this, as
well as his knack for their favorable introduction, must also be considered as
one of his characteristics; certain it is that it afforded him as much plaasure
as it often did his listeners.
"In
his judgment of men and their actions, he was as charitable as he was liberal
and just; firm in his own convictions pertaining to religious and secular
affairs, he accorded the most respectful recognition to the views of
others. He was an upright Christian,
and his conduct in religious matters was exemplary. To his own cherished religious views, and to the simple creed of
his church, he was zealously devoted."
+++
Both
of his wives were "Aunt Sally" -- the first, Sarah Farmer, who sleeps
with little Clara at Old Shiloh. There
are few memories of this Aunt Sally other than the epitaph. The second Aunt Sally was Sarah McGrew --
and there are still many happy memories of her among the descendants of Captain
Isaac Williams, scattered as they are.
She was a mother to numerous Williams cousins who loved to visit her and
Uncle Caney in Cincinnati -- or to live with them and attend lectures or go to
business college.
Two years before his death, Dr.
Williams retired completely from practice.
He had become aware of an apparently incurable tumor or other brain
affection. For two years he and Aunt
Sally travelled far and wide in quest of relief. The California sunshine did not help. Neither did Alabama's balmy weather. In 1888 they were in Pennsylvania, visiting with an old friend at
Hazelwood, the Rev. H. D. Walter.
Elkanah Williams died in his home, October 5, 1888.
“To Keep his Memory Green!”
This is
Your Own
M E M O R I A L
===========================
to our
Illustrious Uncle
and Cousin
DOCTOR ELKANAH WILLIAMS
Pioneer in
Eye Surgery
Who like Elkanah of old
Established a New Order
+
THE NEW SCHOOL OF EYE THERAPY
In Fulfullment of
A Great
Prophecy
“The eyes of the blind
be opened,
“And the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped.
DR. ELKANAH WILLIAMS
====================
A Cabinet of Private Correspondence
from, to, and concerning the famous Indiana oculist
(1853--1883)
These
letters, forwarded by Mrs. Beulah Thompson to amplify other biographical
material on Elkanah Williams, have been copied from family archives in Lawrence
county. They represent the most active
period of "Uncle Caney's" life.
The originals are in possession of his niece Mrs. Cornelia Jones, of
Williams, Indiana.
Where
the copyist has been uncertain of chirography, in some obscure passages, we
have tried to restore it by interpretation.
The editorial approach has been to preserve spelling, punctuation and
capitalization. Lengthy pages of
longhand have, however, been broken up into cogent paragraphs that do not exist
in the originals. Parenthetical insertions
are largely editorial.
+++
(1) July 4, 1853
Andrew J. Williams to Elkanah Williams in
Paris. "Respected Brother"
Big deal about a stud horse.
(2) April 30? 1856
Elkanah Williams to "Dear
Sallie" his wife. Death and
sadness in the family
(3) March 16, 1857
Bartimus williams to "Dear
Brother". Corn and hogs and
cattle, and a "flowering" mill.
(4) March 16, 1857
Andrew J. Wil1iams to "E. Williams,
dear Brother". Rheumatism; again
the horse; and the secret of success.
(5) Novembcr 27, 1861
Eldridge Williams, Recruit, to "Dear
Aunt Sallie". How it feels to be a
soldier.
(6) November 12, 1862
The Doctor's Wife to "Dear
Abram". Cousin Eldridge at point
of death after falling in action at Antietam.
(7) November
12, 1862
The Doctor to "Dear Abram". Empyema at Seminary Hospital, Frederick,
Maryland. The Lord's will be done.
(8) December 24, 1875
E. Williams to "My dearest
Wife". Brother Jack died last
night. The cup of life is a strange
mixture of joy and sorrow.
(9) February 11, 1883
Dr. Williams to "my dear old friend",
Dr. Isaac Denson. A budget of cherished memories.
© 2003 Williams Family Association