Letters From
LETTERS FROM HORATIO ROBINSON STORER
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sandwich July 14th 1838
Dear Mother
As I have not wrote to you before I hope you will excuse my not writing sooner. I hope you are all well. I do not wish for any more books at present than I can get down here. As you sent word yesterday for me to send word by Mr. Quincy for whatever I wanted I could not refrain from writing you a letter. I shall send down my journal with my books. I had a very pleasant ride down. and hope you will be able to come down soon. I have not seen Dr. Forsyth yet. and hope father will come down soon. We are about 1 mile from the shore. I do not wish for any thing in particular.
And believe me your
Affectionate and loving boy
Horatio
P.S. I have just come home from the sea shore and as I have leisure I will add a few words . I like the school and scholars very much. I go to the quaker meeting. I have not been home-sick in the least since I came down.
Same letter:
Dear Friend,
I forward by Quincy H's journal and he will now commence on a single sheet and we will forward them when finished. Your son is very amiable and we all feel much attached to him, and I think we have not a boy in school more happy or contented. His health is good and his appetite very regular, his crackers I put in a closet and told him when he wished for one at recess, to come and ask me for I might forget to offer them and some of them are still left. I brought him out a couple today, and asked him why he did not come to get them. his reply was "Aunt Mercy I dont feel hungry only at meal times" Then he appears to have a good appetite and is fond of meat. We allways let them have as much of it once a day as they wish unless their Parents restrict us, and I think it does him no hurt. I mention this about his food thinking it would be satisfactory as regular appetite I consider a ____ of health.
Ever Thine M K Wing
Sunday 12
When I got up I went into the school room to stay till breakfast. After breakfast i went to read in the bible till time to go to town to meeting . Then I came home. I had some bread and butter.Then sat in the school room till supper time. After supper I went to bed.
Monday 13
When I got up I went & dressed myself I then went our to play until school time. After school I ate my breakfast. After breakfast I went to play till school time. After school I ate my dinner. After dinner I went to play till school time. After school I then had supper! After supper I went to bed.
Tuesday 14
When I got up I went to wash myself. Then I went to play till school time. I then ate breakfast. After breakfast I played till school time. After school time I ate my dinner. After dinner I played till school time. After school I ate supper. After supper I played a little while and then I went to bed. Nothing troubled me.
Wednesday 15
After I had washed myself I went out to play till school time. After school I ate my breakfast. After breakfast I went to play till school time. After school I went to eat my dinner. After dinner I went to play till school time. After school I ate my supper and then I went to bed. Nothing troubled me.
Thurs. 16
When I got up I went to play till breakfast time. After breakfast I went to play till school time. After school I went to eat my dinner. After dinner I went to play till school time. After school I went to eat my supper. I went to bed.
Friday 17
I got up when the bell rang and ran to eat my breakfast. After breakfast I went out to play till school time, After school I ate my dinner. After dinner I went out to play till the bell rang for school. After school I went to eat my supper. After supper I went to bed.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sunday July 15th
When I got up I went to wash myself and went into the school room and read in the Bible till breakfast time. After breakfast we read in the Bible again then I sat in the school room till meeting time.
When I came home we had dinner. After dinner we did not go to meeting. In the afternoon when we had supper we then ate it. After supper I read a little and then went to bed.
Monday July 16th
When I got up I went and washed myself and then I went to play till the 3d bell rang and then we read till breakfast. Then after breakfast it rained so that we could not play till school time. Having recited my lessons I went to dinner after dinner I went into the school room and staid till school time. After school I ate my supper and then played till bedtime.
Tuesday July 17
I got up when the 1st bell rang .(which chimes at 6 o,clock) As usual, having dressed and washed myself I went to play till the time to read the Bible came. Which took just till breakfast time. After breakfast I played till school time. Having recited all my lessons I had dinner. after dinner we played till school time. after school we had supper. After supper some of the boys went blueberrying. And then I went to bed.
Wednesday 18 July
After I had washed myself I played till school time which took up the time till breakfast. After breakfast we played till schooltime. After school we had dinner. After dinner we played till school time. After school we ate supper. After supper we played till bed time.
Thursday 19
After I had dressed and washed myself I went to play till school time. After school we had breakfast. After breakfast I played till school time. After school we ate supper. I played after school. We played till bed-time.
Friday 20
I went as soon as I got up to wash myself. then I went to play till school time. which took till the time before breakfast. When breakfast was done I played till school time. After school I ate my dinner. When dinner was done we played till school time. When school was done I ate my supper. After supper I played a little while and then went to bed.
Saturday 21
As soon as I got up I went to wash myself and then went to play. After I had played a little while went to school which took up the time before breakfast. after breakfast i played till school time.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Abby Jane Storer Care of Dr Storer, Boston, Mass.
Sandwich Monday, 13
Dear Mother
I would have written you sooner but as I did not have leisure till now I did not. Aunt Mercy has been sick but is some better. We have 2 teachers, Mr. Wing & Mr. Brooks. I sleep with Walter Gusset. We get up in the morning at 6 o'clock & go to bed at 8 o'clock. I went to spend Friday with Dr. Forsyth. they have a large and there we have to walk on Sundays 1 1/2 miles to meeting. We go to the seashore 2 week. I belong in the 3d class. 35 boys go to this school. I relished your currants very much. I should like to have you send me down a ____ Magazine. I have not been sick since I come down to Sandwich. The days ae verp pleasant. I have not had a cold or a cough since I came down here. Kiss little Abby & Mary for me.
Believe me to be your
Affectionate son
H.R.S.
same letter:
Dear friend.
I am just recovering from a severe illness and find my strength so exhausted that I cannot add more to this than to say as it respects Hs going to Meeting he has allway been with us except twice. which is 1/2 mile instes of 1 1/2 as he mentions which is the distance of the village.
MK Wing
Addressed by Mrs Wing to D H Storer M D, 14 Winter St. Boston, Ms
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sandwich, Aug 27th, 1838.
Dear Father
As I have leisure for a few moments I think I will write a few lines to you. Are you well? I wish you would write to Mother and tell her I hope she will come down here soon. and give My love to Franky and Abby. Aunt Mercy has just recovered from a sickness. All the boys except the smallest ones went on Friday away to a pond about 5 miles off. Where we spend the day in fishing and bathing. When we came home we ate supper then we went to bed. Give my love to sister, and
believe me to be
your affectionate
son
H R S.
Dear Friend
I find sickness has given me a trembling hand, but I wished to add a line to assure you that H. is in most excellent health. we think we can percieve [sic] a weekly gain in strength, size and flesh. Affectionately yours
- K. Wing
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Mrs Abby J. Storer, Care of Capt Dr. Storer, Boston, Ms.
Sandwich. May 27th.
Dear Mother,
I received yours of the 23d Safely and I am very much obliged to you for writing me so soon. In regard to your questions I shall now answer them. I am very well but it seemed as if I never should get through with the time. It was very windy all the way and I kept shivering with the cold east wind. I eat nothing on board except what you gave me to put in my pocket to eat on the way. Reuben Lovell was the Captain and the only person o board who was kind to me except one Sailor named Mark Norris and Some of the Passengers. The rest were Drunk and playing cards all the Time. Miss Mary-Ann Hall came down with me to go to apple grove to School. She was also sick the greater part of the way. I did not spend a cent on board as you told me you did not want me to. I hope you will come and see me soon. Mr. Wilkinson started to go home last night. His son is only about 6 months older than I am. You Spoke of a boy named Barrett going to our School. There is no such one here but perhaps he goes to Paul? Arings?. I dont know half the boys. Good by.
Yours D C
H.
P.S.
Please send some black tape for Shoe Strings.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D H Storer M Dr, Boston, Ms
June 7th, 1839.
Dear Mother,
I received your kind letter last night and I wrote two or three days before, but did not have an opportunity to send it with the bundle till yesterday or it should have gone before. But about eating anything on board the packet. I took nothing but a cup of tea for which I did not have to pay anything and I ate nothing else for fear it would make me sick. I slept on board the packet because the captain said that he expected we would start in the night and if I had known that it would continue a head wind all night I would have gone home and staid one more night. I study Geography, Parkers grammar, for I cannot get the lessons in Smiths. Greens Scholars companion for a definer. Worcesters Fourth book, Smiths Arithmetic, which I think is pretty hard. I sleep with Master Forman Wilkinson of Syracuse. I have been to Dr. Forsyths once and that was when I went to meeting and I stopped to Dinner. Last Saturday I found a large box tortoise and brought it home and put it in a barrel to keep it for Father and let it stay there for about half an hour when I went to get it and carry it in for Aunt Mercy to see when I found it had upset the barrel and walked off. I have been to the quaker meeting most of the time but I went to town once and then I went to the Unitarian. I go to meeting with the rest of the boys please send me a pair of shoes for my every day ones for the one I have got on are about worn out. tell Franky that I hope he is much better and that he must bear his disappointment as well as he can. kiss little Mary a thousand times for being so affectionate and so remembrant of her brother give my love to Aunt Sarah and Aunt Francis and grandmother and to my Dear Father, kiss little Abby for me.
yours affectionately
Horatio
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D H Storer M D, Winter St., Boston, Packet, Ms
Sandwich, June 13th, 1839.
Dear Father,
I reeived your letter this morning and am very much obliged to you for writing me. I am very well and get along with my studies pretty well. I go to the Sunday-School when I go to Town to meeting. Dr. Forsyth's wife and his infant are in Boston. give my love to Frank and tell him that I hope he and Mother will come and visit me soon, for it seems I have not seen for a great while. Kiss Mary and Abby for me. Give my love to Aunt Francis and Grandmother.
Yours Truly,
Horatio.
same letter:
Dear Mother,
How do you do? I don't do much of anything except when I am in School. The stocking you sent me fits me finely and there is no fault in it. The bundle I shall send with the letter it will contain the flannel drawers and the thick pair of white stockings. My garden gets along well there are so many weeds that I cannot tell them from the young plants. Write me again soon if you please!
Your affectionate Son
HRS.
Sandwich, July 29 yol? 39
Dear Mother,
I am very well and hope that you soon will be able to get somebody in Euoviel's place I guess you can get almost any sort of a vehicle to come down in. last friday the boys went down to Scorten Harbour and staid all day we made a great fire out of logs and dried beach grass and the we roasted some Menhaden which we had got while the men were seining shad I should think most a million at a time they are very good eating I think. We sailed most of the way down and back in a fishing boat I got a cut on the hand which pains me a good deal by a Menhaden which was thrown at me by George Johnson. Give my love to sisters and Father
I remain your son
Horatio
I feared thou might feel anxious about H's hand. It was not a deep cut at first, not much more than a scratch and it has healed entirely over it was thrown in play, and not with any design to hurt him at all, and I thought best to add this note knowing that trifles when communicated in this way to the absent, oft crease some anxiety. M K W
Same letter:
Sandwich 7th Mo 28th 1839
Dear Friend
I received thine of the 21st and have made enquiry respecting thy being accommadated with a house and chaise and find that those can. I believe I wrote thee word that H would probably need another pair of pantaloons. The matter is now decided beyond a doubt that his activity had done much towards wearing out all his common ones, and it will be well for him to have a pr that will bear exosure in the country, strength is more requisite than a fine texture. H's health has been excellent, and our Teacher says he has no boy in school that gives greater promise of being one of the first schollars in school. We all consider him a boy of more than common talents, and I sincerely hope the anxiety of Parental love will be repaid by seeing these talents rightly improved. I regret the health of thy sister should keep you from I hoe ere this she is better.
Sincerely thine Mercy K Wing
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Miss E. H. Brewer; Care T Brewer Eqs, Newark (N J)
Boston. Apr. 19th, 1840.
Dear Aunt,
As, on the day after tomorrow I am going down to Sandwich I may not have an opportunity- as-good as this to write to you I think that I had better make the best of my chance. I am very well and so are we all, except Father who has been hurt by the coming off of the wheel of the chaise, and little Robert who has a very bad cold and suffers a good deal from pain. On one of Mr. Nuttalls lectures he gave me the leaf of a Cape of Good Hope plant, which he said when put into some moist earth and covered with a glass would grow to be a perfect plant. I have tried the experiment and so far it succeeds very well. Please write an answer as soon as you can. Give my love to all.
yrs try
Horatio Robinson
P.S.
I am very sorry that Aunt Katy has gone to Uncle Gardner's [Gardner Brewer brother of Abby Jane.]as when she was here she fixed the plants and made them grow.
- R.
Addressed to Mrs. A. J. Storer, Care of D. H. Storer, M. D., Boston.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sandwich. April 20th. 1840.
Dear Mother,
As you asked me to write you as soon as I could I now take this opportunity to comply with your wishes. When the packet started from Boston it was about 5 o'clock on Friday morning and when I got to Sandwich it was 5 in the evening. As we was passing Scituate I saw 5 or 6 houses on fire. I saw a porpoise rolling over but you need not think I am telling you a swordfish story for Capt. Atkins told me what it was. When we got within 4 miles of Sandwich there was a calm and we went at about the rate of 1 mile an hour. We had to drop anchor half a mile from the wharf because it was low tide. I went ashore in the boat. Uncle Joseph was waiting for us and we got into the car and rode to his wagon. I was not seasick at all during the voyage. [crossed out sentence] I sleep in a room with 2 beds in it. I sleep in one with Heath Rich and Gustavus Fuller and Dwight Hooper in the other. I am very well. Give my love to all. Ask Frank if he has forgotten me, and kiss little Mary and Robert for my sake.
Yrs Try
Horatio
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. H. Storer, 14 Winter St., Boston, Mass.
Sandwich. May 15th. 1840.
Dear Parents,
I received your kind letter yesterday and did not answer Mothers before for I had not got the stockings, they fit me exactly. I left off wearing the flannel night drawers a week ago and the day drawers today. Father mentioned in the letter of yesterday something about a letter from Uncle Thomas but I could not find any among the newspapers. I should like to have you send me some money as I am out of specie. They charged half a dollar for my passage and 1/4 for my meals and as father gave 1 dollar I had 1/4 left. I spent that on Monday. We went monday afternoon a fishing and I broke my old line and bought a new line and spent the rest in refreshments. We caught between 40 and 50 perch and shiners beside a fresh water eel 1 yard long and 3 inches in circumference. I want you to send me another pair of shoes for one pair is worn out. On May day I went up in the woods and had a pretty good time. I lent the paper from Syracuse to Forman Wilkinson and he seem pleased with it. He and I are good friends again. There was 5 or 6 other boys on board the packet with me. The lock of my trunk is broke and I cannot keep the things in order very well. Heath Rick does not sleep with me any longer and I sleep alone. Mrs Forsyth sends her love to you. I wish I could see you for it seems kind of lonely here. Remember me to all my friends. Kiss brothers and sisters for me. and believe me your dutiful son. Horatio.
P.S. I shall send the flannels with the letter. H.
Addressed to A. J. Storer, 14 Winter St., Boston, Mass; Care of Mrs. A. Forsyth. Capt Atkins, Packet.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sandwich. May 24th. 1840.
Dear Mother,
As I was coming home from meeting this afternoon I though I would stop in and see the Dr. and deliver your message. There was nobody at home beside Mrs. Forsyth. She said that she would carry a letter to you as she was going to Boston tomorrow, so I though I would send one. I am very well and so are we all. I think that Uncle Joseph is pretty cross now as he will not let me go to town at all. I have a garden with 2 other boys but there is not a great variety of seeds there being Muskmelons, Cucumbers, Radishes, and Sweet-peas. I have to set 3 or 4 hours if I only miss 2 or 3 words. Mr. Wing want to know if you dont wish me to study latin as he has the same books as a the latin school and a class has just begun the book. There is another spaniard here from Trinidad in Cuba whose name is Jose Maria Burin. He talks with Lewis the other a good deal. I now wear my summer clothes pretty often. I dont wear Aprons now because I can keep clean without them. Just as though a boy 10 years old couldnt go without aprons. give my love to all my friends accepting a great deal yourself.
believe me always your
dutiful son
HRS
P.S.
Make my shoes by my last measure.
HRS
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to A. J. Storer, Boston, Mass; Care of Capt Atkins, Packet.
Sandwich. May 31st. 1840.
Dear Mother,
I am very well and so are we all. I shall send with this letter the small trunk and the thick clothes. Your asked me where I got the ruled paper. I did not like the other because I could not write straight. It was the last of June that Mr. Thayer said the reports were to be carried to school. I get along pretty well in my studies. Yesterday afternoon we went down to the shore with the applegrove girls as far as Scorton harbour. We had a pretty good time running about. I go halves in eggs with Forman Wilkinson and Gustavus Fuller. We have got nine so far, they are catbirds, robins, blackbirds, and night-hawks. The day before yesterday the boys went into water but I did not go for I had to set. With the papers you sent me the boys who sleep in the room with me (by the way all their fathers are whigs) play whig reading room and we have a pretty good time. I climb the trees a little now. Did you receive a letter a little while by Mrs Forsyth. Tell Frank I wish he was down here with me. I hope George [??Frisbie Hoar (1820-1904)??] will not go away with all my heart. Give my love to all my relations keeping a good deal your self.
Yr son.
Horatio.
Addressed to Mrs. A. J. Storer, Care of D. H. Storer M D, Boston, Mass, Packet/
Sandwich. June 19th 1840.
Dear Mother,
You said in your last but one something about a letter care of Mrs. Forsyth. I had sent it down by one of the boys to deliver it to her but I suppose that he did not look but put it into the mail. I do not any more papers just now as I have got plenty. I have had 5 or 6 papers from Uncle John [probably John Parker Boyd the Syracuse minister]. The old shoes I do not think are worth mending. The harrison Almanac is about torn up now. I wish I could see the little kitten it must be a pretty little thing. I am pretty well and go along in my study very well. On the mill pond in front of the house there is a boat named "Hard Cider" made by a democrat. most every night we sail in it. I wish Franky would come down and see me. Tomorrow is Formans birth day he will be 11. Aunt Mercy has gone on a visit she will not be back for several days. I have very good times now a days and feel very contented and happy. Give my love to all.
y'r affectionate Son
H.
P.S.
I should like to have you sen me down some more thin clothes.
H.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Mrs. D. H. Storer M D, Boston, Winter St.
Sandwich. June [Postmarked July 18] 16th. 1840.
Dear Mother,
I wrote to you about a week ago and I supposed you had got it but it seems you have not so I must give you an account of the 4th at sandwich. Early in the morning we woke up thinking it was a pleasant day but our joy was soon turned into sorrow for it rained hard. We went down stairs thinking we would have to go to school. After breakfast school began. We had been in a quarter of an hour when Mr. Wing said that as we had not prepared our lessons we might not go to school anymore that day. We went out and in a few minutes it brightened up and began to clear off. A few of the boys were out chopping wood when the question arose "Who's for building a log cabin." Some of us went and asked Uncle Joseph about it and he said we might so we went to work some hauling loghs others carrying tools, etc. It is now about done. The top is clapboarded over. It has 2 United States flags with a portrait of General Harrison and a picture of his log cabin on them. We intended to have gone to Barnstable if it had been pleasant but it was put off till Monday. At the village several accidents happened a boy broke his leg but I believe there was none beside that of a very serious nature. On Monday we dressed in our best and got into 2 stages and a carry all to go on our intended visit to Barnstable. We stopped at Eldridges hotel and then went to the bowling alley and staid some time. A good many of the boys then went about some one way and some another. I spent 3 quarters of a dollar while there. At noon we were called together to partake of a diner. There were 2 large flags which the man said were hoisted to give notice of our presence. A few days ago I saw a paper containing an account of us while there. I went all over the court house then I went up to the cupola where I had a fine view of all around me. At about 6 we returned home cheering about everybody we came. You asked me in your letter if I had received the hat, etc. I reply yes. I am very sorry George [??Frisbie Hoar??]has gone home and do not think I can get along without him when I go home which I shall do in a fortnight. I am very well and happy. I do not think of anything more just now, so good by for a fortnight (it seems very long time to me). Give my love to all.
Yr Son,
Horatio Storer
To Mrs Dr. Storer. Winter Street.
Dear Friend,
As Horatio has kindly offered me to write in his letter I improve a few moments to assure thee of his continued health, and I believe happiness. I think he has enjoyed himself well at all times, except when his lessons were rather harder than he liked. Our teacher has urged him forward as fast as he though would answer as he could not feel willing to have him fail when examined provided close attention to study could prevent it, and he now thinks he will pass very well, his health has been excellent all Summer. I do not think he will need any more clothes. as he informs us he expects to leave the 1st of August.
Respectfully thine
Mercy K Wing
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Dr. D. H. Storer, 14 Winter Street, Boston
Tuesday August 6th 1844
Dear Parents
How is Robert? You asked me to write to Uncle Thomas [probably Thomas Mayo Brewer (1814-1880)]on Monday but I did not receive yours till Tuesday. Franks hoarseness was cured by his taking a little "composition" -- he has several time been a little hoarse in the morning when he got up but has been well by night. he wants to know if he should have another attack like the first if you would care if he should take some more of the "composition" as it did him so much good before. Mrs B.[grandmother?] thought I had better ask you first as she thought you might be opposed to ever taking any Thompsonian medicine. I did not see cousin Henry on the 1st as you wrote. Why not? I wanted him to go a fishing with me. Has Mrs L. gone away. About H. Cushing and the Latin school Frank told you when at home. Petunia seed vessels when ripe ought to turn brown and split open. You will find some packed away among our seeds. Tell Father that the "Lenciocus pulchellus" is very plenty here. I have no way to get the two kinds of Bream to him -- have caught a good many of each -- the spotted kind is most common. I am quite well now. Mr. Coleman, the gentleman who carried my letter to you, lives in Mr. B's [gramdfather Thomas Brewer??] old house -- and is a real fishing character. Fishing is his greatest delight. He has been fishing with me a good many times -- and we have been eeling more than once till 12 at night. Give my love to all
yr son
Horatio
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Dr D. H. Storer
14 Winter St
Boston
Mass postmark Concord Mass Aug 13
Sunday August 11th 1844
Dear Parents,
I suppose Frank has told about everything that I should otherwise have written about, so you need not expect to hear much from me. How does Robert do now? Is he any better? And how does Frank like Hingham? I hope he is as well as he was here. Mrs B. [grandmother??] asks me to tell you that F. did not have one dull turn here and she never saw any boy of his age so active and sprightly as he was. Tell F. that Patrick sends his best respects to him and the whole of us want poor Frank back as we miss him greatly. Mrs B. says that it seems as if some one was dead it is so lonesome without him - his plate is daily placed on the table in its usual place and his chair drawn up for him. Mr. B. went to Shirley yesterday and will be back tomorrow. How are Abby & Mary? Are berries thick at H.? Tell F. that there is a bat's nest in the saw-mill. I cant think of much more - give my love to all
Horatio
It seems too bad to send such a short scribble but I can't think of much in a week- but less this time as it is not a week since F. went. Perhaps I shall come and see you an hour or two so don't be scared if I should happen along some day. Lend word how the chickens are and much oblige.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Tuesday August 21st 1844
My dear Parents,
I should have written on Sunday but though I would wait till I got your letter but did not receive it last night and therefore shall not wait any longer. Is Robert any better? Hom many and what sortf of fish did you catch when you went to the rocks. How is Aunt Elizabeth? You say Dr. Reynolds has left the Medical School- what is that for? - and you say that I shall like it when I study medicine - if I dont change my opinion that moment is far off, for I dont much think I shall like to be cooped up studying medicine. Tell Frank that the big Pickerel we had in our Fish Pond got away, as the pond overflowed during a heavy rain - and that Mr Coleman killed a bat in one of his rooms and brought it to me - that I shold have sent it down to him but it would not keep. There are not many kinds of fish to be taken here but I will send you a catalugue of them as furnished by Mr B. They are the Pickerel, Perch, Brook Trout, Shiner, Bream, Chub sucker, Common Sucker, L. Pulchellus, Horn Pout, Eel, and several kinds of minnows. Their average size and utmost limits are as follows; The Pickerel commonly weight about 3/4 of a pound but sometimes it is caught weighing 5 or 6 pounds-the perch averages 1/2 a lb. sometimes a pound - Trout are rather scarce-usually weighs from an ounce to a pound- Shiners weight 2 or 3 ounces-as do also Bream - Chub suckers average 1/2 a pound - the other sucker weighs 2 or 3 pounds - the L____ .P____ sometimes weighs a pound - they usually are as large as those I sent - Horn pouts aveage 1/2 a pound - The common mud eel is very plenty and is sometimes taken weighing 4 pounds - The Lamprey Eel comes up in the spring to lay its spawn and often weights 2 pounds. Shad and Alewives also ascend the river to some distance above Lowell but do not come as far as here. when is Aunt Margaret [Margaret Susannah Storer 1802-1878] coming? Tell Uncle Thomas that wild ducks and pigeons are plenty her - all sorts of hawks also - and that a fish hawk made us a visit on Monday. Frank must write me a letter - tell Abby and Mary that I have not forgotten them.
Good bye and believe me ever to be
yr loving son
Horatio
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. Humphreys Storer M. D., 14 Winter St. Boston (Ma)
Provincetown, Sunday afternoon
Dear Father,
I did not sail before 1/2 past 8 last night as the vessel had to wait for a passenger. After we had started a fog came up and we had to achor in the narrows, inside of Boston light from 10 o'clock al night. I turned in for a little which but the study of entomology did not suit me as well as the study of me did the insects, so I sat up, in a cabin not more than 5 foot high and 10 long, it raining and thundering and lightening all the time. We started again at 1/2 past 6 this morning with a smart breeze S. E. by E, and put her through every stitch of canvass set. The boat went like a bird and arrived here before 12 this mornig, getting in half an hour before the packet which sailed at 1/2 past 11 yesterday morning and beating her by a good 12 hours as she was sailing in the night while we were anchored. I never was out in such rough weather in my life, on deck nearly all the time, and yet was not so sick as I was at Nahaut the other day. Captain Attwood would have me stay with him, and so here I am, duly installed. He was very much pleased with the 'Synopsis.' I was very much pleased with him and his wife; they have 5 or 6 young children, all as talkative as can be. He has run a smack up to Boston ever since the Torpedo went, going some 14 times or so, he left off last week and now goes out every night excpet saturday night catching mackerel in a drag net. On the promontory where he lives, which at high tide is entirely surrounded by water, are some 30 houses whose owners are employed mightly in this business. Hundreds of fish are strewed on the shore among which I notice menhaden, herring, goosefish, smooth and prickly skates, flounders, sculpin, old whiting, and old dogfish; the dogfish begin to come this week. I saw two great shark's heads with smooth teeth, and shall perform the duty of a dentist towards them. There is the skeleton of a whale lying on the beach, which was caught last Wednesday within half a mile of shore, and yielded 50 barrels of oil. Mr. Attwood spoke to me about a species of Poionotry which they take in their nets and which I am going to see. There is a Dr. Robinson in the town who is making a collection for some western museum, and upon whom I shall call; he has many skins of fishes, among which is an entire Bone Shark. I shall take a description of it. Tell Uncle Thomas that I made a great mistake in not bringing a gun, as the Captain says I can't find one any wheres down here, and there are birds without number, Plover, Loons, Ring necks, Terns and Gulls, himself to the contrary not withstanding, There are but few birds breed within 5 or 6 miles of here, there are so many houses scattered around; I took a short walk and found a nest scooped in the sand amidst the beach grass with one egg in it; it is either that of a ring-neck or of some kind of tattler, I could not tell which, as both were flying round my head making a great rumpus. The tattler is not the peet-weet, as it is not so spotted, and is darker neither does it shake itself quite so often, but the egg if anything is a little larger than that of the peet-weet; tomorrow I shall try to surprise the bird on the nest and shall then ascertain. I do not know whether to advise Frank's coming down or not as Mrs. Attwood is rather feeble. I spoke to the Captain about it; he wanted him to come here; I told him of course not; and he says he will inquire of the neighbours and let me know with the price tomorrow; I will write you then; if he comes send a gurix? You will probably receive some 'vara piscis' by the case of some marketman.
Monday Morning. Mr. Attwood has just got in with 70 or 80 mackerel and as many dog-fish -- the first of the season -- I must close to send by the smack.
love to all
yr's in a hurry
Horatio
[Ethel-October 1993]
Tuesday morning July 2nd[1844??]
My dear Mother
Concluding that my the time this arrived you would be at home, I will begin my weekly task which nevertheless is not a very unpleasant one. Suppose I commence with "Extracts from my Diary. No. 2." Monday June 24 - I weeded the Strawberries for the second time as the weeds had spring up again. Tuesday - As the White weed had sprung up pretty thick in Mr B.'s meadow it had to be dug up root by root with common knifes by Patrick and me, and it took a good part of the day. Wednesday-I weeded the Parsnips and Onions. Thursday-weeded Strawberries. Friday- Patrick was employed filling up a pretty large hollow back of the house by ploughing and I drove the oxen for him. Saturday-Hoed potatoes in the morning and in the afternoon til I tired my wrists; I then went over to Mr Prescott Barretts who I believe is Mrs B.'s brother-in-law and had a good time helping the boys load hay. In the evening Mr B. went into water with me. Sunday-Went to meeting all day. Dined in town at Mrs. Farrars the aunt of Mr B.. Saw Mr. Hoar on the meeting house steps and he spoke to me. In the evening when we got home we found that the cows had got away and we hunted nearly two hours for them and at last found them. Monday- I went after some cabbage plants. It rained so in the morning I had to stay in most of the time, but it cleared off in the afternoon and I went a fishing down to the iriver. I caught-some Perch, Bream, Horn-pouts and what they call Chivin. The latter is about a foot long usually and of a silvery color in which and in in its shape it differs from the Shiner. Tuesday A. M.-I weeded the Beets till 10 o'clock and then began the "2nd epistle of Horatio unto his parents." I am very well. Send word how you all are and about your trip to the Falls. To-day is about the hottest we have had yet. It is so dry that there is not water enough to grind more than 2 bushels a day before it stops. My Cow-hides are very leaky. It is not too late for those hen's eggs I guess if we only take proper care after they are hatched. Cousin Herny Stone when he came to Concord with Miss M*** L** stopped at this very house and lent Mrs B. one of Mr Parkers sermons. Give my love to Mary and tell her if in a week or two she will come and see me I will go a berrying with her. Love to all. Hope to see some of you soon. Ask father if he dont feel a little better. I presume you do.
yr affec'te son
H R Storer
P.S. Last week I caught a snapping turtle that weighed 4 or 5 pounds and gave him to an old codger named Dudley who is worth more than 2000 dollars yet goes in rags, because he wanted it for dinner.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. Humphreys Storer M. D
14 Winter St.
Boston Ms
Care of Anthony Holbrook Esq.
Quincy Market
Wednesday Evening May 27th 1846
Dear Parents,
I have not yet had a letter; why not? I suppose you have got mine. I am very well and pleased with everything except the horrid weather, but that can't last long it is so bad. I have to wear the brogans, as my boots have given way, and the sand comes over the sides into them very badly. If I do not keep Tappan to work it will not be my fault, as I shall send a good large boxful of rare fish forthwith; I have not yet had a very good opportunity to send but yesterday I went over to town and bought a raisin box so I am prepared. I have seen 1 specimen of Peprilus triacanthus, 2 of Gasterostens Noveboraceusis, and 1 of Ammodytes Americanus. If I had a glass jar I could save specimens of young dogfish, from the egg to the mature creature for the Medical Im. Society. There are 2 or 3 species of the family Clupeidae, which are not described in your report, which I shall send, and perhps a sole. Last night there were 8 or 10 sharks taken, of different kinds in the nets by the fishermen, but none could be secured. Whiting are beginning to be very plenty. I have caught a very handsome bird colored much like Uncle Thomas' sparrow, but it will probably die, as I have nothing to give him to eat. Tell Frank never to ask me to go over to Captain Brevoort's again for flounders as I caught today with a gaff 40 or 50 flounders the smallest of which was larger tahn any of the Deer Island founders brought to market. All the fishermen concur in the belief that Brit are the young of the English Herring, catching them in all stages; when about half grown they call them Spirling, and use them for bait. There is not a drop of pump-water within 3 miles of us, and we drink rain water altogether; it is really very good, and equal to the best aqueduct water. I need a gun very much; Mr Attwood (sic) advised me to write for it. I am getting to be quite a sailor; am out in a boat more or less every day; this afternoon I rowed over to town and back alone in a dory, about 2 1/2 miles each way, in quite a sea. The fishermen here all have sail boats of about 5 tons burden, all as clean and as trim as can be, far more handsome that the long wharfs boats and faster sailers; Mr Attwood has the prettiest of the whole; it has been launched but a week and is a perfect beauty; Whenever I go out wih him I do all the steering, and have learnt much about managing a boat. Yesterday I saw the process of making oil and boiling whale-blubber, something new. I have not yet had the promised newspapers. Tell Uncle Thomas that unless he looks out he will be too late for Martha's Vineyard and bird's eggs, I think I have missed them. Whenever you send any thing to me, carry it to Antony Holbrook for the smacks. I wish you would write every day. Send the new's about Robert, and New Hampshire bird's eggs.
Give my love to all, and a kiss to the children except
Frank, as it might make him blush.
G O O D - N I G H T.
Horatio
Stat nominis umbra
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sunday Sept. 13th [HRS freshman at Harvard]
Dear Frank,
I suppose you would like to hear how College goes on. I have to study very hard, but shall get used to it before long I hope. Gus Hay got back last week after being sick a fortnight. For 9 days we had the hottest weather there has been, and last Tuesday night there was a most tremendous thunder storm, the most severe Father says he ever knew; last night it rained very hard too. I got hazed night before last by a lot of Sophomore's. (I want you never to tell anyone about this because it wouldn't do to have it get round); I thought they might perhaps come so I had chained the blinds too with a strong chain -- well, about 7 o'clock along they came, tried the door and found it fastened, and then climbed out and attacked the window, with an axe or crowbar. they smashed off the blinds and then came the tug of war; Gus Hay was very much frightened and I had to do all the defending, but after smashing in the window, they pried up the sash and in they came. There were about 20 of them. Jenks Otis was one of the leaders. Among them were George Shaw, Jos. Crane, Jo. Keyes of Concord, and George Gardner. They seated themselves very coolly and made us do all sort of anticks. Gus Hay did all they told him too right off, but I didn't till I was made too. They staid about 1/2 an hour and then went off. The other night one of the Freshmen had his room burst open, and they tried to get him on to his knees to pray for them but they couldn't; another had assafoetida and gunpowder through his keyhole etc. Yesterday morning there was stuck up on the bulletin board of the College where they put advertisements of different lectures, and meetings of Societies etc., the following notice:
The following Freshmen are hereby proclaimed as trustworthy in no respect, and the public are cautioned against having anything to do with them.
Then followed a list of names among whom were Ned. Everett and Lang Williams. I wish that you would write oftener.
Good Bye
Horatio
Same letter:
My dear Frank
I wish you would write to us. I brought two breast pins one for Jane and one for Sally and one for Miss Bailey and a comb for Miss Coe which I intended sending by Mr. Coe but he went before I knew it. How can I send them. Ask Mrs Coe, how I can send a little box. Find some way. I bought a famous large jack knife for you 3 weeks since and here it is. Your Father
[MHS: Page 209 of Warner letter book covering November 1847: Transcript of HRS letter "Received in Boston Sunday 21 November 1847"[delivered in person??]]
Winter Street: Boston/
Sunday Morning/ 21 November 1847
Dear H.
I took your bird to Dr Cabot last evening, and he said that it is either the Cacicus cristatus, or the Cacicus Montezuma: but probably the latter. Its head is so much injured that its species cannot be determined with certainty.
At any rate it is very rare, and he never saw it before.
Yrs &c
Horatio R. Storer.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. Humphreys Storer M.D
Cor. Sec. of Mass. Med. Society
14 Winter St.
Boston
Mass.
Mt. Crawford House Wh. Mts.
July 26th 1848
Dear Father,
Mother has just joined us again and as I have now seen the letters from home it is but fair that I should write back. I have wished time and again that you were with me. I should enjoy myself so much more although I am afraid that you would refuse the walking part of the journey. We have walked thus far about 50 miles in three days, and I like it much - having thus far suffered none from my feet. Gus as usual groaned at intervals, yet I can not see that he has lost any flesh and am inclined to think that he enjoys much more than he would on Cape Cod. I staid but three days at Centre Harbor and have not yet determined whether I shall stay there more than a day or two on my return or not. Since I left C. H. I have enjoyed myself extremely, stopping most of the time at farmhouses and meeting a good many odd characters as you may suppose. I have but few opportunities for collecting Nature's youngsters as yet, having nothing with me most of the time but my knapsack all whose corners were full of clothes. I have however secured several species of snails - you may judge how hard pushed I have been from this - that in the hollow of this pen I am writing with are several, which I placed there this morning when on the mountains, as I had nothing else with me. I have also got several species of small fish, new to me, for you, and a beautiful snake for "our" society - all of which are contained within the precincts of a lemon syrup bottle. Salamanders thus far I have not found although I have searched both zealously and carefully. While on this head, I may mention that one of my college friends up here is accompanied by one of Prof Horsfords German corps who is on an insect hunt. They are now at Fabyan's and I shall probably see them day after tomorrow. I skinned and stuffed a beautiful little "Muscicape" but the ants completely spoiled it. We have kept company for many miles with two of Ex-editor Buckingham's sons (the younger an ex-freshman), pedestrians like ourselves and very good company withal. I have fished but a few times as yet - yesterday I had pretty good luck and caught quite a large mess of trout. Frank doubtless will be glad to learn that I have shot a crow - "cunning" to the contrary notwithstanding - and Abby and Mary would like to see a little "bar"-cub that is here at the hotel and was caught with in gun shot of the window I am writing at - he is about four months old and quite a little tartar. I shall write you again before long - if you don't change your mind about coming up to the Lake and I still hope you will, do write me now and then. I almost forgot to speak about these donfounded little black flies - they bite worse than mosquitoes. With much love, in in F. Land T.
yr aaff. son
Horatio R.
P.S. If any letters were sent on Monday or Tuesday please write to what address or what place they were directed HR.
Same letter
At a place called the White Mountains -
in the state of New Hampshire.
Dear Grandmother, Aunts, and
all the rest of the good folks,
I hope soon to be able to devote a whole sheet to your especial edification, but don't feel up to it tonight - you will see the reason thereof somewhere on this page. The scenery in this region you all know is perfectly delightful. The extent of the woods, the dashing brooks, the steep cliffs &c, &c you can all well imagine. None of could I do justice to, so I won't try. But some of the "romantic" part may be new, and I am afraid will seem much more ridiculous than it did to us. 1 "exempli gratia", as the grammars have it - one hot (I mustn't omit this item) night after a hard days walk on stopping at a farm house, the good lady introduced to the "softest"featherbed I ever saw - we concluded to try it, we were tired - but soon repented - if I ever swore I verily believe I should have said "darnation" more than once. Another time we got caught in a thunder storm at least three miles from any house. There was no retreat and we had to take it till we were completely soaked. I reached this hotel last night- ascended Mt. Crawford which is 3,000 ft high this morning - and hard work it was too, almost perpendicular; go up Mt Washington tomorrow if fair - and the next day start for Franconia. I hope ere then to have a letter myself from home but am dubious. Give my love, I have written, but on glancing at the top of the page I must say, take my love all and believe me y'r aff. grandson, nephew, brother &c &c.
Horatio R. Storer
[Ethel-October 1993]
Divinity Hall, No. 1
Jan. 1st 1849.
Dear Folks-
In the first place I wish you all a "happy new-year" -- and may you see and enjoy many more.
In the second place I may as well tell you how wroth?? I feel at being obliged to stay out here, and be debarred from the pleasure of seeing "these things" and of calling on "those pretty girls."
In the third place dont any of you cry at what is coming in this
Fourth place -- which is
That I, do hereby, with the aid, both admonitory and monetary of my brother Frank, alias "the judge", alias "the Ancient Greek", and in company with him, give and assign to "the old doctor" a whip -- hoping that no one may ever "whip" it away from his chaise and trusting that he will not be so ungrateful as to christen it on our backs. Hereafter if any one "had rather be whipped than do" anything they may be suited.
That I, with the same assistance as before, do also give Mother a steel ring, for a few of those strings of keys. It is but a trifle -- yet may it be a typo? of our family circle, hard to separate and immediately reuniting.
That I, with the same goodly assistance, do give to Abby M. and Mary G. respectively, a gold ring -- may they wear them now -- and in a few years when they receive another with the minister's benediction, may the marriage pledge and the token of their brothers' love be placed on the same finger and there remain through life.
That I and the Judge do hereby give Robertey W. a box of tools, disregarding the "saw" about the danger of playing with edged tools. May he acquire by their use, sufficient skill to compete with Frank in the noble science of splitting kindlings, and sawing wood.
That I myself, alone, do, after admonishing always to do readily his duty with regard to shovelling the sidewalk, getting the horse and "shining"my Sunday boots, give to my respectable brother Frank a fishing rod -- hoping that he may give good cause to the minnows and sharks to be afraid -- by the way, he must always recollect to hold it by the little end and not the big one -- and that he may ever have good luck.
Finally, that I do hereby give my Aunt Margaret my best respects --(there, I forgot all about thanking her for my note paper) -- may she always have much happiness and pleasant slumber -- and whenever I sing "Oh Susanna"!! may she accompany me on the "pianny".
And now after sending you all, my love, I will end by these three wishes.
May Father have all his bills paid.
May you all be well to enjoy the fruit thereof, and
May you always be as happy, as good natured, and many other ases, as you are today -- or ought to be.
y'r affectionate son, brother, nephew
Horatio R. Storer
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Dr. D. Humphreys Storer
14 Winter St.
Boston
At sea July 8th 5 o'clock A.M.
Dear Mother,
As the Captain thinks of touching at Provincetown and I am not quite used up yet I will try to write you a few lines. We have had a pretty good breeze all night and are now in sight of Long Point. Dr Wyman and I are sitting on deck by the side of the bowsprit keep on as steady as we can and writing home ^ he of course to Miss Wheelwright. We didn't turn in last night till pretty late and amused ourselves cogitating whether a large fire that we saw in the direction of Cambridge was burning up either of our rooms. Well we turned in - Dr Wyman and Frank soon began to snore - but as for me - however I am still alive - Why I was almost eaten up; I got desperate several times - but in as much as I must get used to it some time or other I concluded to lie still as I could and scratch! Tiger flourishes - he runs about the deck - last night he slept down in the cabin; he will do well enough. We have no ink aboard, so you see my substitute - we intend however to lay in a supply before long at John Atwood's store.
If the water would only keep as smooth as it is now, I should anticipate a good deal more comfort. But I suppose that by tonight we shall begin to feel and look somewhat woebegone.
Capt A. showed us last night his chart of the coast, so that we might see where we are going. He intends now to spend the greater part of the time in the straits of Belle Isle. If we have foul weather we shall go up through the gut of Canseau and then stop a few days at the Madgaleine Islands which according to Audubon are amongst the greatest places there for the ornithologist.
Dr. Wyman's chief object is to procure embryos - of all sorts and in all stages of developement. In this he will not probably have much difficulty.
As there is some motion, just enough to make it difficult to write, I will now close - sending hereby my love to all-
Good bye
Horatio R.
Same letter: Provincetown - Sunday noon
Here we are at the tavern, formerly Lothrop's, now Fullers. When we reached Long Point we found Atwoods wife sick with measles - every body frightened &c. The doctor came and saw she was not very dangerously sick - but it will detain the Capt. till tomorrow noon when we hope to be off again. Dr Wyman is rather glad of the detention than otherwise for he can now complete his equipment by getting those things that he had no time for yesterday. We took a stroll along shore with collecting box but did not get much - saw a dried blue fish and two sword fish heads and the carcasses of some blackfish that ran ashore at Touro last Sunday. Then Frank and I went into water and had a good swim - after which we adjourned to Atwood's house for dinner. Then came across to this side letting Tiger come with us and swim to the shore from the end of the long wharf where the boats stop. He feels exceedingly jolly at being once more on land if this sand can be so called. Dr Wyman while I write is microscoping some goose fish eggs. The Revenue Cutter is still here.
Sunday evening-
After an early supper we all went off to walk together. We ranged the shores for a good distance with no success and then struck back into the bushes where we collected a few flowers that will go into my plant book. I have already picked up on the beach one bug for Dr Burnett and the first time that I overhaul my berth I shall select a few of the best to be found there for him. Within an hour an east wind has sprung up bringing with it a thick fog. I am very sorry for I had much rather be kept at Newfoundland or Nova Scotia by foul weather than here. I intended to have written a little tomorrow morning, but I find that the steamer goes before I shall be up and if I do not send by her this letter will not reach you till Thursday. Dr Wyman has just been with me to a Methodist meeting, well filled and pretty well preached to. I was much astonished to see the number of people in the street today, they put Boston to shame as regards church going. I begin to feel as if I needed the sleep that I ought to have had last night - must therefore again bid you good bye
yr affect. son Horatio
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to Dr. D. Humphreys Storer
14 Winter St.
Boston
Schr Richmond. Mass.
Bras D'Or --July 26, 1849.
Dear Mother,
This letter I find can be taken by a vessel that sails for home tomorrow morning- we have now been on the coast for 5 days but the Capt. has not yet commenced operations - he expects to be on his ground tomorrow if the wind allows. Since I last wrote you, which was from the Gut of Canso, and two letters at the same time, we have had all sorts of experiences - some good and others plaguely bad. After leaving Wilmot, we had a pleasant run through the gut, stopping one day therein to get wood and water. These two days were real Godsends to us, for it was very pleasant weather compared with the fogs and rains we had just passed through. The passage was very narrow, Nova Scotia on one side and Cape Breton Island on the other, and the scenery was very fi____ , sometimes thick woods and again fairy? ninn___ down to the waters edge. We here fell in company with an English schooner bound for this place and have kept with her ever since - for her Captain is well acquainted with the coast and has shown Atwood the whereabouts of all the many harbors this? far? - very few of which are drawn on the chart. If we had not met him we should have coasted along Newfoundland, whereas we came directly across the Gulf of St Lawrence to Labrador. And this same crossing the Gulf was slightly direful? - just after passing Cape Marlbro the northern part of the Gut, the wind began to freshen and at last it blew a perfect gale. Our consort was a very dull sailor and on his account we had to carry much less sail than otherwise and also lay to part of the time - notwithstanding all this we had a very quick run across - coming over 300 miles in two days - and it was rough enough too. We had all of us another attack of the "heaves" - and I find that the second coming thereof is always worse than the first. We passed by the Madgalen Islands in the midst of the gale and of the night so that we could not stop as we wished. Our first land was St Marys Island which is but a short distance east of Anticosti - here we harbored for a day or two in Yankee harbor - a most beautiful place. We got there in a calm and as the vessel moved but slowly, Dr Wyman, Frank and I took a dory and rowed for the land. O! it was grand enough- for surpassing all my expectations. This first landing in Labrador. Guillemots and Puffins flying about all around, and the great sea gulls sailing just over our heads. The water was so transparent that we could see the bottom when many fathoms below in so that we really had to stop, impatient as we were to get ashore, and look for a long time at the sea urchins and shells so far down - well at last we landed and everything was new - all the plants alpine in their character just like those of the top of the White Mts - the crustaceans scattered every where over the rocks by the gulls - all was new. We tried for a long time in vain to believe that we we at last away up her in Labrador, until at last we found ourselves walking over the tops of a forest of fir trees and good stout ones too, and yet but a few inches high and so matted that we could drive a cart right over them all. Whilst here we visited some of those famous? islands where so many sea fowl breed and I had to confess that Audubon's description though promising so much yet falls far short of the truth. The boats went to them several times and we have had ever since eggs and birds in abundance and cooked in every fashion. I went but once and that was enough for me, I is such wholesale I had with me one of the Englishmen any and part of his crew. We went merely sport? of it as we already had birds and eggs enough - so we brought away with us but a few eggs and yet there were over 30 dozen. We might if we wished have loaded the boat down to the gunwales - to get birds we had only to walk along and knock them on the head as they sat on the nest. I took Tiger with us and he had a capital time digging out Puffins (Mortuas arctierus) which burrow just like rabbits. We have got a lot of their eggs - they are new to our collections. Frank got an eider duck nest and eggs another time - and I find that the Razor billed Auk (alcatorda) breed in great abundance with the Murse (uria troile). I write herewith another letter - good bye - love to all,
yrs affectionately
Horatio R.
I ____ strongly whether to write a separate letter or enclose this in what I have just written. I guess as it will all go by one vessel that I will choose the latter. I was just in the middle of Yankee Harbor in the goodly island of St Marys when I left off. The day that Frank went off to get eggs - he went but once, getting enough of it then as I did, I staid on the main island with Dr Wyman to collect other things. Well a Frenchman, who lives about a league from thence and catching seals for a living, comes off to see us and brought off with him a lot of indians - Esquimaux - but of the tribe called Mountaineers to distinguish them from those on the Coast. They talked pretty good English and we had quite a confab. The Frenchman was very anxious that we should pay him a visit, which we should have done had the next day not been exceedingly foggy. He has his residence just at the mouth of a river in which he has put a salmon weir, and the day that he came to see us he caught 30 salmon and 15 goodly salmon trout. We were sorry not to visit him. Whilst here I shot a famous? great Eider duck which Tiger brought out of the water for me as well as if he had been regularly trained to it. This puts me in mind of another of Tiger's adventures: before we got into harbor Dr Wyman shot from the vessels deck an Alea Tordas, which has a very stout sharp beak. He only broke its wing but it fell into the water as if dead. Tiger sprang overboard, swam to it and proceeded to take it into his mouth, when much to his surprise and horror the bird 'hit him a clip' with its bill and put itself into fighting attitude. Tiger was taken all aback and began to bark loudly swimming all the time around the bird and watching in vain for a good opportunity to renew the attack. As soon as we could for laughing we lowered a boat to his assistance. This gave him new courage. He made a vigorous onset, seized the bird by the body, which in turn seized him by the nose - and thus in close embrace they were pulled into the boat together.
After leaving St. Marys we kept on in company with an Englishman to the island of Great Mecatrina where we harbored for the night only. We came to it with a heavy sea and quite a gale blowing. Our Englishman though we already had eggs aboard enough must needs get some more on the way by stopping at the Muere Rocks a noted breeding place. Well as Atwood did not know the way into our distant harbor himself, and moreover had no boat fit for the great surf then breaking over the rock we had to lay to in the heavy sea for two hours till our consort got eggs enough. So that we were all made sea sick again, but soon recovered on reaching Gt Mecatrina. Here we found an egger from St Johns, Newfoundland, who had just completed his cargo-2000 dozen! and who sailed for home the next morning. From him Capt Atwood received the then unpleasant information that a schooner, the Richmond, had arrived on the coast from Boston about a fortnight before for cod liver oil - and that a man had come out from London, who had manufactured So tiring of the same stuff, we had a good stroll over the island and left for another harbor - but as the weather looked fair last night we kept agoing - but it roughened in the evening so that towards morning the heaviest sea was running that we have yet seen. Today it has been very rough and yet no wind so that although we were in sight of the harbor at day break we did not get in till after dinner. We now find that the Richmond is here - has made a complete failure - and leaves for home tomorrow morning in despair, carrying with him this letter. She was secretly fitted out by that Phillipps who tried so hard to throw dust in Capt Atwood's eyes. He expected from her about a hundred barrels, in lieu of which he gets 28 gallons! She has quite a formidable apparatus for trying out the oil. The Capt. took 10 barrels of livers by way of experiment and made out of all this only 28 gallons. So he gave it up as a bad job, but he has bought up a great deal of the common cod oil which they intend to palm off as the "genuine" - Atwood writes home by her to Burnett I suppose. As Capt. says that their is now no other oiler on the coast. Atwood pumped him dry this afternoon and did not let him know moreover what he is after.
While all this was going on our passenger took a dory and rowed over to Mr Jones: who is mentioned so particularly in Audubon's book. He is the great man of the coast and has lived here for years, making a good deal of money. He moved last fall to Nova Scotia leaving the place in charge of his son, and has just got back. We found them very glad to see us and they pressed us much to make them a visit - but Atwood much to our sorrow thinks of starting again tomorrow- it is too bad, for this is a grand place for Wyman and myself - plenty of birds and trout. This Jones establishment is a large one, he having about 40 men in his employ. He catches immense quantities of seals and we got a lot of their skulls. The house is in very good taste throughout - handsome rooms, goods &c - quite an oasis in this desert. They showed us some of the very rare birds of this region, set up in fine style by Mrs Jones - they would have done Ogden or Dr. Cabot credit. We also saw an Esquimaux woman here of the Coast tribe. We left Tiger on board for fear the he might get eaten up, and it was well that we did so, for we found here some splendid dogs - some Esquimaux, others Newfoundland. They were very benign to us and treated us like old friends. We hope to stop here on our way back, if we do we shall make ourselves at home and have a jolly time. There is a large fleet of fishermen now here and the news has just gone abroad that we have a doctor aboard - so Dr Wyman since I have begun this second sheet has had two patients and begins already to chafe. I am afraid that I shan't have another chance to write home. All's well so far. I hope before long to get some where and go ashore for some days. this eternal sailing about upsets every thing. begun to stuff some birds - had to leave off in the midst of it because sea sick. good by again
yrs aff.
Horatio R.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. Humphreys Storer M.D.
14 Winter St.
Boston
Mass.
Schr. Butler U.S.
Red Bay - Straits of Belle Isle
3 August 1849
Dear Mother.
Luckily and unexpectedly I have just heard of this opportunity to send a letter. The topsail schooner Butler having nearly completed her cargo of fish sails in a day or two for Sedgewick, Maine - so by her it goes, although we may perhaps get home before she does. I wrote last just as we had arrived at Bras d'or and on the Richmond probably had fair winds I suppose that you received my letter soon after it was written.
We remained at Bras d'or only a couple of days after the date of that letter. One of them was rainy and unpleasant, but cased in my oil clothes I started with our sailor to catch some trout if we could, but we had but poor luck. The only action was caught by me. Now as we had had a long pull for several miles we did not wish to return empty handed - so we brought back a good mess of turnip tops, which as greens I can assure you proved quite acceptable to our taste. How we obtained the same remains to this day a mystery to all but the foragers.
On the other of the two days I have mentioned we started off to see the country, the Captain giving us notice that if the wind was fair he should sail and therefore if we saw his greatest flag at the mast head we must come aboard as soon as possible. Well, after a long row we reached the main land - several miles, for the harbor in which most of the vessels lie is a branch of the main harbor running up into an island. Dr Wyman had found the carcass of a porpoise and was hard at work preparing its skull and i had almost reached after hard climbing the top of the high range of hills at the head of the bay. Just below me was a hawks nest that I intended to look into at least and the old birds were screaming around my head - but as I stopped to breathe, I saw the confounded signal flying. Down I came and off we started, the Dr taking with him his unfinished skull. As we passed some French vessels from the Magdalen Islands moored near the sloop, we saw our skipper very coolly taking his ease upon the deck of one of them. Upon hailing him we found that he had altered his mind for that day and that we therefore had had our trouble for nothing. But in the afternoon we made another visit to Mr Jones, the veteran seal catcher - were received kindly, had a pleasant walk in the neighborhood and were shown all over the premises. We saw the different uses made of the seal, the ode of extracting its oil, its flesh packed down for the food of the large pack of Newfoundland and Esquimaux dogs in winter, the skins, both undressed and prepared, the boots made therefrom, snow shoes, dog sleighs and harness and much else new to us. They were very desirous that we should make them a long visit - and we hope when we return to Bras d'or to see them again.
Atwood does not make out as well as he expected, for the livers are unusually poor this year. Instead of yielding as he hoped one third of their bulk in oil, they have given thus for only about a fifth. This is a great deal better than the Capt of the Richmond did at any rate. The oil is fully equal in color and flavor to the best sample that he showed Burnett. The distilling causes no unpleasant odor and we all take a good deal of interest in it, sometimes even trying our hands at the business.
We expect to leave for home in a week or ten days and I hope to be ready for Cambridge by the 1st of September. All's well except that the black flies and mosquitoes bite most horribly. We are so bitten that one would think that we all had the measles. Love to all. Good bye
yr aff Horatio R.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. Humphreys Storer M.D.
14 Winter St.
Boston
Schr. Helena: Mass. U.S.
Red Bay, Labrador. 4 August 1849
Dear Mother.
I wrote a letter last night which will go to Sedgwick, Maine, by the shcr. Butler. I have since heard that the Helena of Mount Desert is full and will probably sail tomorrow. So though very much fatigued by yesterdays exertions I will write by her also, that one of the letters at least may have a chance of reaching home before we do. For out skipper intends to sail in about 10 days and if we have tolerably fair winds we shall be in Boston by the 1 September.
We left Bras d'or last Saturday morning and arrived here the same day, making about 40 miles to the eastward. This is as far as we shall go in that direction and expect to begin to start along homeward tomorrow stopping at most of the harbors on the coast. The Capt. has not succeeded with the oil as well as he expected, for the livers are much poorer than usual, yet he will probably complete his cargo . We have been here a week today and are beginning to get tired of it and wish for another harbor. It is very barren and desolate and we have explored it in every direction. As it is quite a noted place for codfish, there is quite a settlement, a few families remaining throughout the year but by far the majority coming from New Foundld. with their families in the spring and returning with their spoils in the fall. I have made acquaintance with all the inhabitants and like them pretty well. They are very hospitable and tolerably well educated, esteem it a favor if one pays them a visit for it tends to keep them from feeling lonesome. The live in small cottages covered with turf, and the interstices between the boards stuffed with moss. Before we had entered one we thought that they must be very uncomfortable but have since found it otherwise. They catch great quantities of fish and dress and pack them in what they call stages, which are long building made of poles entirely, and extending out over the water for some distance so that the fish can be thrown directly into them from the boats.
The most peculiar operations that I have ever seen is their method of dressing fish. They always split all the fish caught through the day the same evening and as this often amounts to many quintals it is no small job, Now as the men get pretty well tired in catching the fish, the women usually prepare them, and I wish that some of the Boston ladies could look in upon them while thus engaged, for it is tremendously hard work to one unaccustomed to it. Each fish passes through several hands, one cutting it open, another breaks off the head, another splits it and removes the greater part of the backbone and passes it to the boys who salt and pack it. All this is done in much less time that one could tell it, even though it were done in a very few words.
We all attended Church last Sunday which is the first time that I have been since I left home. As those who live her throughout the year are compelled to keep like dormice snug indoors during winter they make the most of their chance in summer to meet together in one of the houses and listen to a sermon.
Yesterday we walked to Black Bay which is about a mile from here and as the path is but little better than the springy bog and sharp rocks on either side, we are all pretty well used up today. We found no curlew there as we hoped but Frank shot several yellow legs. As for me I am the fisherman of the expedition and caught yesterday for our dinner, which we cooked our selves in true back woods fashion, about 15 lbs of trout in as many minutes. I have thus far caught a good many trout, some of them weighing several pounds.
We have just got the dredge in order and have use it but once by way of experiment. It works well and hereafter we intend to work it often - shall make a trial today if the weather is moderate. Tell Gus. that I am inclined to think he may thank his stars that he staid at home, for he would have grumbled greatly, but I have a most capital time, whereas he is hardly energetic enough. Alls well- love to all- good bye- yr aff. Horatio R.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Addressed to D. Humphreys Storer M.D.
14 Winter St.
Boston
Schr. Nelson: Mass. U.S.
Brador. Labrador
Sunday 19 August 1849
Dear Mother.
When I wrote last from Red Bay, I was in hopes that we should be able to get home by the 1st of September but am now rather afraid of it. We were detained there a week longer than we expected by head winds and did not arrive at this place till the night before last - and now find that if we had waited here instead of going any farther Eastward that the cargo would have been completed and we probably arrived at home by this time. For fish and consequently oil have been very scarce at Red Bay so that Capt. A. has got but little in comparison with what he expected whilst here everything has been unusually plenty and several vessels which arrived after us have completed their cargoes and gone home. As far as we are concerned we could have collected many more specimens here. But I suppose that it would be useless to complain. If we are here for a few days we shall find plenty to do. I have since last night been dubitating strongly as to what I ought to do. A vessel sails on Tuesday for a port near Portland and as she is a pretty poor sailor she has a chance of getting home a few days before we do, but then on the other hand it will be but a few days, and will be a much more unpleasant voyage - strange folks and poor accommodations - and moreover she will go right out into the fog and rough weather - whilst we shall coast along shore, putting into harbor whenever a head wind comes up - so after all I am inclined to think that it will be better to keep with this sloop - as I shall by this means escape a little of the hot weather and stand some chance of keeping in good health.
We are all well and ar not yet homesick - have had on the whole a first rate time, though should have liked it better if we could have gone into more harbors. Nevertheless by remaining in Red Bay were of course acquainted with the Lord Bishop of Newfoundland who was there for a day or two and was polite and civil as could have been willed. We had moreover a great conflagration on shore lighted by the skipper, which promise at one time to destroy a goodly lot of her majesty's trees, but after considerable exertion it was stopped. Curlews have been plenty so that we have killed as many as we want. Other birds scarce at Red Bay, though we find abundance of them here - have at different times procured several young hawks - yesterday one egg - probably of the rough legged falcon, exceedingly rare.
We yesterday, after a hard forenoons work, rowed down to Paroquat Island whence the puffins breed - which is said to be the haunt of more of them than are to be found on all the rest of the coast - on our way back came near being swamped by the tremendous sea - got back safe, though with a good deal of water in the boat. Dr W. and I got drenched by the water but Frank who steered kept dry. We have got used however to all these things long ago.
I might perhaps apologize for the hand writing were I not [hole] I can and had I not just skinned several birds and feel rather tired and stiff.
Under the present circumstances I think that I had better keep by the vessel as I have said. If I came home in another it would look as if we had had trouble and separated. I hope that the folks at Cambridge will give me but little trouble at my return, probably about the 15th of September - some making up to be sure but I think that we can compromise by letting it stand until the class begins to review - if it has to be otherwise, why then I shall lose what health I have gained by my voyage. I wrote a letter to Gus by the vessel in which one of yours went.
Love to all - Good Bye -
yr affec
Horatio R.
P.S. Monday night - August 20
I am the more decided to come home in the sloop - as we sail if the wind be fair tomorrow morning for home - because the skipper has got out of firewood and can therefore try? out no more oil - and moreover the other vessel by which I shall send this letter is a "pinky" with the cabin, which is very small, in the forward part of the vessel thereby being as to her accommodations much more inconvenient and unpleasant.
Yesterday as well as to day was both foggy and rainy - did but little on the former - worked hard on the latter - started to be in at the hauling of the herring seine that I might get some lampreys and flounder which are usually caught also - found it impossible to land among the breakers with our dory and came near getting capsized whilst retreating from the beach, escaping with our boat half filled with water - rowed back a long distance. Then landed and walked to the cove where the boats whereafter all this trouble they did not shoot the seine. Frank had remained on board. Dr W. as usual had strayed off I didn't know where - whilst I who had been all the morning poking about with the youngest son of old Jones had the pleasure of eating the best dinner I have had on this coast at their house - much to Dr. Wymans chagrin, and he has been grouchy (grouty?) ever since.
Atwood has so far forgotten his home principles as to sell the remainder of our fish ____ to some Frenchmen tonight for oil. How the folks at Provincetown would roll up their eyes. I have done my best to persuade Frank to write a letter but can't succeed - he is too lazy and not remarkably benign - is pretty plump - I am stronger than before and well tanned but am about as thin.[!]
Last night we saw on board of a vessel just arrived from the north the skins of a polar bear that weight about 1800 lbs and was as large as an ox -- Received 14 gun shots and an axe tap on the skull before he surrendered - Such a one as I should like to find.
I am now bootless and pantless. Have to make the most of fragments of both. Shall know better what clothes to take next time. Yet the trunk will be as full of clean garments as it was when we started. That red flannel was put on the day we arrive here and will there stay till the day we reach Boston! Good by again till the 1st of September I hope or thereabouts-
yrs Horatio R.
[Ethel-October 1993]
Divinity Hall, Cambridge
7 October 1849
10 P.M.
Dear Grandmother,
I confess that I am heartily ashamed of myself -- at home a whole month and have neither written a line to you or been to see you. This comes rather near neglect, or alt least would seem so. And now that I find it impossible to go to Higham?. I must at least tell you why. The fact is that since my return I have been so driven that I have hardly had time to think what I was about. My eyes are so badly at present that I cannot work much in the evening--and as the days are growing short I have to make the most of them; have hardly had time yet to see Father and Mother more than a few moments at a time -- for I stay out here now on Sundays and go in very seldom during the week.
I intended at first and have intended ever since to spend one Sunday with you, but I could not get back early enough for recitation on Monday morning -- so that with much sorrow I gave up that plan -- and wont put off writing any longer. In the first place, I want to have you write me a good long letter, telling how you are and all the news -- and especially telling how soon you shall come up, so that I can then go straight way to town and judge for myself as to how the folks all do.
Having duly impressed my wants for a letter upon you I must follow the example of most folks in conversation and talk of the weather. What a storm it was yesterday! It blew a perfect gale her at Cambridge, breaking off branches and upsetting chimneys, and now and then smashing window panes by way of variety; notwithstanding this, some of my classmates started off in the afternoon for Chelsea beach and Point Shirley that they might see the great waves dash up. I didn't go, for I had seen enough of such exhibitions this summer to last me a few months. I should suppose though that the ladies who might ride down to Nantucket today might get some beautiful sea -opes, as well as see perhaps a vessel or two ashore. I hear tonight that among the wrecks was a packet ship, many of whose passengers were drowned -- hope not though shouldn't be surprised.
I called on Uncle Stone the other day, when I went to Dr. Robinsons funeral. Spent about an hour with him and enjoyed the visit much: found him in as good spirits and as jolly as ever, looking not a day older than when I saw him last two years ago. He enjoined on me, although he had just written you, to deliver you in person his best respects. As I can't do that, I send them now none the worse for having been in my keeping so long. I should never have known the Dr. in the world. He was so haggard and thin --nothing but skin and bones. I did not even know he was sick until two days before he died and I was then so lame as to be unable to go to Andover to see him -- if I had had any idea however how quiet and peaceful his last moments were to be, nothing should have hindered me from seeing him. I don't think I ever was affected so much before by the death of any one --indeed have hardly got over it yet.
Fred Leverett, you know, my old playmate has just entered the Sophomore Class and is living here in Divinity Hall -- so that we see a good deal of each other. I like him much -- he is a very hard student and if I did not occasionally stir him up and make him take some exercise, I think he would be sick. He doesn't like our climate at all -- no wonder, if we are to have such weather as the past few days.
I find that though Cambridge is still as dusty or as muddy as before, it is much more pleasant to a Senior than to a Freshman, Soph. or even Junior. The Class to be sure is very much divided into factions, but then I have kept so much aloof from College Society and have led so much of a hermit life here in Divinity, that I have thus far been allowed to keep rather neutral grounds. These troubles found in every graduating class and which often grow into lasting animosities are I think in great measure produced by the different Clubs and Societies among the students -- and now when the time for choosing Class orator and poet draws near, the different parties support their various candidates with as much ardor as the great political parties do theirs. The Societies to which I belong however are of so peaceful a nature that I escape most of it -- and to these few I can give but little time this winter excpet to the Nat. Hist. Society -- whose dignity I am as duty bound to support, both because I happen to be President thereof, and because it is at present one of the largest and most flourishing brotherhoods in College.
A couple of my classmates, one of whom came very near going with me to Labrador, went in vacation to Niagara and Montreal -- camping out in the woods for a great part of the time and living on games -- of which they shot plenty, amongst it indeed several deer. They purchased an Indian canoe, in which they descended the St. Lawrence some distance and then had it transported over land to Lake Champlain -- after paddling the length of this they brough their canoe home with them and now use it on Charles River. I am growing rather sleepy, so must stop here though I intended when I began to "go" another sheet. Give my love to all. Shake hands with Grandpa for me and kiss Aunt Lizzie.
Good night
yr affectionate Horatio R.
[MHS: Page 70 of Warner letter book covering February 1851: Transcript of HRS letter "Received in Boston Monday 3 February 1850"[but really 1851]]
Winter Street: Boston/
/Monday/ 3 February\ 1851
My dear Fellow:
If you are not too afraid of me I shall be very glad to see you this afternoon: to talk over matters interesting to us both. I believe I have some cigars stowed away in a corner of my room which will effectually prevent all contagion. Have been alone much of the forenoon and cogitating whether the eggs then i.e. this forenoon laid can be hatched: will depend upon you. I think they are good ones, but you may perhaps be able to prove them "faule."
truly yours
Horatio R. Storer
Mr Hermann J. Warner
Franklin Place
[MHS: Page 74 of Warner letter book covering February 1851: Transcript of HRS letter "Received in Boston Monday 17 February 1851"]
Winter Street: Boston/
/Monday/ 17 February\ 1851
My dear Fellow:
I have had a long and serious talk this morning with my Father concerning our project: and I feel it necessary, though greatly against my will, to give up all thought of it at present. He assured me that uder ordinary circumstances, nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to se me thus engaged: that he though the plan a good one and worthy of success and that it should be prosecuted without delay. But he correctly advised me, broken down as I am in health, weak and dyspeptic, hardly recovered for recent disease, to do nothing whatever for the coming year, save moderately studying my profession, and devote all my leisure hours, if I get any, to exercise and pleasure, to husband carefully my strength for next Wsinter's hard work. I cannot of course but yield to his counsel and acknowledge it just: but I am very very sorry. I hope that you and Hale may begin the work together, for I should be happy to contribute all in my power to its advancement and should trust that hereafter my health might allow me to enter the firm as a bona fide partner
Truly yours
[Horatio R] Storer
Mr Hermann J. Warner
Franklin Place
[Smithsonian Archives R.U. 52 V. 1 p 156]
Boston, 4 March, 1851
14 Winter St.
My dear Sir,
Having had occasion of late to investigate the different groups of the old genus 'Etheostoma' with reference to some dubious specimens, I wish to know if you have ever, at any time, published descriptions of any new species - if I am not mistaken I have heard your name used in connection with these fish, although I cannot recall at what time it was or by whom.
truly yours
Horatio R. Storer.
[For the Boston Journal.]
To Farmers and Cattle Breeders.
Mr. Editor:--I wish to address, through your paper, certain questions to the farmers and cattle breeders of the State, hoping through them to obtain valuable information.
It is well known that at the present moment bitter controversies are progressing upon a most important and interesting subject--the question of the unity of the human race--that the debate has involved not individuals merely, nor a single country, but the whole civilized world, and that in it are engaged, though not necessarily against each other, every ardent lover of science, and every upholder of religion.
This is no place to discuss the merits of either side--that is often enough done elsewhere--but to inquire concerning an alleged fact is a very different thing--and this it is that is here intended.
The following is given in our text-books as an instance of "the possible extent of variation with the limits of species." I quote the words of the English physiologist, Dr. Carpenter:
"In the year 1791, one of the ewes on the farm of Seth Wright, in the State of Massachusetts, produced a male lamb, which from the singular length of its body and the shortness of its legs, received the name of the Ancon (query, Anchor?) or Otter breed. This peculiar conformation, rendering the animal unable to leap fences, appeared to the farmers around so desirable that they wished it continued. Wright, consequently, determined on breeding from this ram; but the first year only two of its offspring were marked by the same peculiarities. In succeeding years he obtained greater numbers; and when they became capable of breeding with one another and new and strongly marked variety, before unknown to the world, was established."
Now this is not urged only as an example of the degree in which accidental peculiarities, appearing in a single individual, may be taken advantage of by man, for some purpose useful to him. Thus far the reasoning would have been sound--but much more is claimed; based, almost wholly, on it as proof, another argument is advanced. It is said that here we have, from the length of time since its origin, an example of the influence which a scanty population may have formerly had in the production, first of varieties--and then of distinct races, among men. The natural tendency, at least at the present time, is for any peculiarity of color, of development or of shade, or in the bones of the skull, among persons of the same race, to be speedily lost by the intermarriage of the individual who exhibits them with that larger proportion in whom they are absent. But it is imagined that in earlier ages of the world, some persons presenting such peculiarities may have been so far separated from all others, that frequent union took place among themselves--and that hence was caused, in a few generations, the permanence of those well marked characteristics which now define the tribes of men.. "Thus," it is said, "by the force of circumstances, the same creation of a new race would have been effected, as the breeder of animals now accomplishes by the system he adopts."
Here then is a question of fact. Even though true we might not allow it all the weight that is claimed for it--but is it true?
Is a breed of sheep still in existence known by the above names? and presenting the same peculiarities? or has it died out?
- Did the breed, whether now existing or not, show a tendency, unless prevented, to drop its characteristics and return to the old standard?
- If the breed still exists, what means have been taken to preserve it? and by whom?
- In what town did it originate?
These questions can doubtless be answered--even though unfortunately we have little or no clue to the name of the town in which Seth Wright lived--and they are therefor propounded to the farmers of the Commonwealth for the information, not merely of a medical student, but of his professors and of all scientific men. H.R.S.
Boston, 28th March, 1851
[MHS: Page 78 of Warner letter book covering May 1851: Transcript of HRS letter "Received in Boston Wednesday 28 May 1851"]
Winter Street: /Boston/
/Tuesday/ 27 May 1851
My dear Hermann:
There was need of no microscope to show me your good points: I trust I have known them long and well: our friendship required no such clasp.
It was consecrated to toil by one too early lost: scholar, man of genius, lover of nature, lamented by all his acquaintances, by the world. It should have passed into hands more worthy than mine. but his memory shall cling to it still: nor as I use it shall I forget you my friend, nor your kind heart.
Thus doubly endeared to me, will it disclose new beauty in my favorite studies, the works of God, and, let me hope, exalt, strengthen my faith in Him.
I thank you again
truly
- R. Storer
Hermann J. Warner
Franklin Place
[Harvard Archives: From Class Meetings folder of same box (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 class of 1850]
Boston 26 June 1851
My dear Hale,
I intend being present upon Commencement night, if possible, & unless prevented by absence or by serious indisposition, I shall probably attend every other meeting of the Class of 1850, through life.
Success & happiness to all its members-
Perhaps I ought to say, Especially to you, Charlie - & your brethren of the Committee.
Truly yrs
Horatio R. Storer
[MHS: Page 104-109 of Warner letter book covering July 1851: Transcript of HRS letter "Received in Lenox, Massachusetts in July 1851"]
Winter Street: /Boston/
/Friday/ 11 July 1851
My dear friend:
I receive your good letter last evening: for it, thanks. You have then heard of our classmate's death: equally sudden and terrible: which affected me more perhaps than has ever event of the kind. When I last saw him, the night before I left for the Provinces, he was full of life, sanguine, vigorous, confident: apparently never anticipating for a moment any derangement of his plans, any check to his course. He was then about going to sea for some days with my old Provincetown skipper. I saw no more of him, but heard at various times and from various friends, of his movements and intentions.
Last Sunday or thereabouts I though to myself that I should like to read in his own handwriting an account of his late nautical excursion, and determine to write him the next day to that effect. The first thing that struck my eyes on Monday morning upon taking up the newspaper was, that he was dead: and you may judge how I was shocked, how utterly overwhelmed for the time. I immediately informed those of us who were at hand, in the hope that they would attend his funeral, but in vain. I was the only one of his class who followed him to the grave. My chum's [Hay's?] sister was buried on the same afternoon, but my thoughts were with Ball.
I saw his friends, his physician: and from them learned the circumstances of his death. On Wednesday, the second, he was first taken sick: on Saturday noon the fifth, he was dead. His disease, Lung Fever; and a most violent attack. Careless exposure to the air after mowing a while on Tuesday probably killed him. You recollect his habitual recklessness, never taking any precautions concerning his health: on the contrary, often times running the most fearful _____, as if for any daring.(?) On Wednesday morning he commenced the Study of Law in old Mr Hoar's office: spent there the forenoon, and received the preliminary advice and good counsel usually bestowed on such occasions. Upon returning home, he went up to his room and fainted, in which state he was found by one of the family, who thus received the first intimation that he was even at all unwell. From this time until his death he recovered not his senses, remaining either unconscious or in a state of furious(?) delirium the whole time. His suffering could have been but most intense, most horrible, to one so strong; he could not have borne the great difficulty of breathing peculiar to the disease, the gasping choking sensations; and it is well he knew nothing of them, that he was spared the last agony.
I regret exceedingly that I was not informed of his illness, for I should have taking at least a melancholy pleasure in trying to soothe the last dread moments of an intimate friend. And such Ball has ever been to me, despite his roughness, his forbidding, even unpleasant manners, his at times almost ill-breeding; traits that were owing to circumstances over which he had no control; a country life, a hard father, a forced seclusion from refined society. We had many tastes in common: we had studied together: we had travelled together and we had perhaps seen in each others hearts a little that savored of independence of self reliance, of disgust and contempt at the too common sycophant and "toad", that bound us by a still stronger tie; some might call the feeling "pugnacity" let them if they will: but I call it, as evinced in Ball, a noble trait of character; and wish to God that a spark of the same might be kindled in the breast of every man.
I went to the funeral, but looked not at the body; for though Ball had been with me often in the dissecting room, and to a certain degree had associated himself with scenes of death, I preferred recollecting him as he had been, in the bloom of youth, stripped perhaps for a friendly bout in your College room, eager, expectant, prepared, every muscle swelling with conscious power.
It has been a heavy blow to the father and well it might be; for though as deacon of the church he saw fit to promise (sic) and to exercise the most Puritanical rigor and severity, and to treat Ephraim on all occasions like a mere child, it was yet his oldest son, and now he's lost to him. And indeed I know of none, and since his death I have seen many who knew him, who were not greatly affected at his decease, and who do not mourn him. In my home he came and went like one of the family; my father and mother were both pleased with him; the one with his frank and hearty manliness, the other with that naive, or rather rustic, brusqueness, which with us he never carried too far. I feel, and with sincerity I say it, that in him our Class has lost one who would one day have honoured us all, who had talent and energy, who aimed at a lofty mark, and who would have reached it, with the help of God; for despite his apparent carelessness of thought, he had principles, and good ones too.
But the poor fellow belied his looks and has gone before, to meet Brown, to await us. And as one by one we follow his footsteps through the dark valley, may we be as prepared, as universally mourned as he:
truly your friend
/Horatio Robinson/ Storer
Hermann J. Warner
at Mr Wilson's
Lenox: Massachusetts
[Postmarked: Boston 14 Jul 3 cts]
Note by Warner at bottom of transcript "Friday 19 July 1851: note to Storer about Ball's death: and Baph-Brih(?) expedition(?). no copy kept.]
[probably Countway, but possibly a microfilm copy from Harvard Archives. Same information is in HRS's secretary notes for Boylston Medical Society definitely from the Countway]
280 [page no? in upper right]
Boston, 15 Nov. 1851
Dear Sir,
At a regular meeting of the Boylston Medical Society of Harvard University, held this day at the Mass. Gen. Hospital, the following gentlemen were elected its officers for the ensuing year.
President - Dr Samuel Cabot
Vice Pres. John E. Hathaway
Secretary - Horatio R. Storer
Trustees of its Fund. Drs Ware, Hayward, Shattuck, Homans, Bigelow, Jackson & Adams.
Committee upon Prize Dissertations. Dr Gould, Gordon, H. J. Bigelow, Parkman & J. M. Warren.
with much respect
Horatio R. Storer
Secretary.
Pres. Sparks.
[Countway: 3 Jan 1852]
Copy:
President and Fellows of Harvard College [this is lined through]
To the Corporation of Harvard University
Gentlemen
At a meeting of the Boylston Medical Society of Harvard University, held on the evening of Friday, 12 Dec. at the rooms of the Tremont St. Medical Schools, The Society by vote directed me their Secretary to address in their name the Corporation of the University upon a matter of interest and importance to the whole medical class, namely the State of the Medical Library.
It is well known to the profession that the facilities of the student in this city for consulting medical books are but few. That while our brethren in the law & theological schools of the university enjoy opportunities for reference unrivalled, we are as it were confined to the perusal of our text books alone, & that thereby a decided and permanent check is given to the progress of our own medical knowledge & of Medical Science in our hands.
Does a student wish to offer a well digested and creditable inaugural thesis, does he desire to distinguish himself in any special branch of medicine, whither is he to look for authority & for aid?
Is he called upon in any emergency to decide an important scientific or practical quest... involving perhaps his reputation as an observing scholar, as a judicious practitioner, or as a reliable witness in the Court of Justice, whither is he to turn? Medical authors may, and often do disagree, & need to be extensively, as well as faithfully compared.
It may be said that those of us who would improve better opportunities if we had them, have already access to other libraries, to those of our friends, or fathers perhaps, and to the Athenaeum. But this is true of but a few, and in fact the latter library, that of the Athenaeum, is from neglect, considered by good judges at least 20 years behind the age.
The subject needs but a few words. There are many students, good and faithful, who would read books if they could but find them. There are also many, who come hither after long studying elsewhere, to finish their education equally by book reading or by lecture hearing, and sometimes at least these go away again, not finding what they seek, and thinking it strange that the Harvard Medical School should possess but 1200 volumes, while the little starveling at Brunswick has 3400, & these too almost all of them standard works and modern.
Under these circumstances, you will pardon the Society for their troubling you, it is not in a meddlesome spirit that they come, but respectfully and as supplicants. Many of them are graduates of Cambridge, and while pleading for themselves, they are not forgetful of their less fortunate companions, and besides we are all of us still now in ally covered by the Alma Mater garment, though indeed it be but by the hem, and we may therefore rightfully claim a tithe of her fostering care.
There are books at Cambridge, so writes the Public Librarian, that are accessible to the medical student. But how is it in reality, are they in truth accessible to us? During the whole winter, our mornings are occupied by lectures and to walk to Cambridge in this chill season is always difficult and unpleasant, often indeed impossible, it would involve exposure, it would occupy too large a portion of the shortened day, (yet), to travel otherwise, many of us are too poor, so that those books are now unconsulted and unconsultable.
But we are told that by preexisting conditions, a portion of these books, in number 1000, those known by the name of the Boylston Medical Library, cannot be removed from Cambridge. That since their transit from Hold(?) Chapel, they have been doomed to a perpetual and dusty oblivion in the alcoves of Gore(?) Hall.
If such be really the case, if the Medical College be not indeed a part of the University at Cambridge, and as such one of its Halls, we can but lament. But if on the contrary, such transfer be not impossible, we earnestly ask that those books be removed to Boston to the shelves of the Medical College. And we do this believing that thereby would be carried out more fully the real intentions of the generous man who founded that library, and whose name we bear.
If however, this our request cannot be granted, if these many books, almost equalling in number those we now have, are really cut off from us, there are yet others in the Cambridge library, bound there by no such stern resolutions, many of them duplicates of works in the Boylston Library, and now to all intents & purposes, utterly useless, to the student, to the college, and concerning these, we make the same request.
By such changes, the Library of the university would be but little impaired and the Library of the Medical College would be greatly benefitted. Therefor do we suggest its propriety, not to say, its receptivity to the Corporation.
For the Society
Horatio R. Storer, Sec.
14 Winter St.
3 Jan, 1852
Whatever may appear imperfect, ill-advised or culpable in the above petition, is wholly owing to the youth and inexperience of the writer. He would have shrunk from the task imposed upon him by his comrades, had he not been emboldened to it by love for his Alma Mater & devotion to his chosen profession.
But he hopes that the appeal he has offered may be successful . That the Society may not have labored in vain to increase the advantages of the College, and thus to exalt again the revered names of Boylston & Harvard.
[Amherst College Archives]
Boston, 22 March, 1852
14 Winter St.
My dear Sir,
In conversing with me a short time since, Eben. Burgess of Dedham spoke to me of an opening for a young physician that had lately come to your knowledge. If I mistake not, it was at Poindexter, Marion Co., Ga. Should you not intend to appropriate said location for yourself or some of your friends, you would much oblige me by informing me concerning it at some length. Charley Hildreth, who was at the Hospital last year, & whom you doubtless well recollect, is hard up for a place of permanant settlement & would gladly go to the South, could he do so to advantage. I can vouch for his being a good fellow, & well worthy a helping hand.
Excuse me for thus troubling your, & believe me
yrs very truly
Horatio R. Storer
Mr. E. Hitchcock Jr.
[Edward Hitchcock (1828-1911) 1853 med school grad married Mary Lewis Judson, daughter of David Judson of Stratford, Conn. Seven of their ten children survived him.]
[Ethel-October 1993]
Boston, 10 April 1852
14 Winter St.
My dear Sir,
My health has failed me - and I wish very much a week or two's medical treatment under your care - having in times past found the benefit of such. I think a little sea sickness would do me good. If you are now in the "Golden Eagle" and engaged in fishing for Halibut - & if you can stow away for a little while in a corner so troublesome a fellow as myself, I wish you would write me word. Frank enjoyed himself very much when he was with you on like business & I would gladly follow his example. You know me of old, I believe.
very truly
Horatio R. Storer
Capt N. E. Atwood
[Ethel-October 1993]
New Years Day
The 1853d since Christ was born
My dear Fred [A Master Frederic Gilmore is mentioned Dec. 16, 1857 in the Boston Natural Science Proceedings. He had a porcupine shot in New Hampshire.]
You have probably been wishing, with almost every little boy, to see a snow storm coming. Now I can't unlock the clouds for you and cover the streets and the houses and the trees with their white garments -- for only God can do that -- But I can bring you what I hope will still give you real pleasure after the cold winter has gone and the fields and the woods are green again -- a pretty story. That to a philosopher like yourself will have its morals, if you only read it carefully enough -- as I know you will, for the sake at least of its donor.
Your new year will be a happy one I know. May those to come, many I hope, all be as free from care as this.
Your affectionate cousin.
"'Atio"
[Science Museum-Boston Society of Natural History Correspondence]
8 Temple Place [where is this?]
19 Dec: 1853
Dear Sir,
I have just received the accompanying letters from Dr Burnett. They refer particularly to certain reptiles collected by Dr Webb & now in charge of teh Society. It is necessary that some competent person should give immediate attentio to them. This I cannot do, for I sail this week for Europe, & it is therefore necessary that I resign, as hereby I do, my office as Curator of the departement of Herpetology.
respectfully
Horatio R. Storer
Dr John C. Warren
President of Nat: Hist: Society
[Amherst College Archives]
Centre Harbor, N. H.
16 Nov: 1853
My Dear fellow,
Your good news, so very unexpected, has given me great joy. My prayers are with you.
The same mail brought tidings of my brother Frank's dangerous illness at the Cape of Good Hope -- acute phthisis, we fear. Since marriage I have been too happy, perhaps -- & needed this fearful blow from God.
To your wife give warm congratulations from us -- & sometimes recollect
Horatio R. Storer
[Edward Hitchcock (1828-1911) 1853 med school grad married Mary Lewis Judson, daughter of David Judson of Stratford, Conn. Seven of their ten children survived him.]
[Mass Historical Society]
Edinburgh, 24 May, 1854
Dear Sir.
I take the liberty of sending you a pamphlet I picked up while in Paris & which you may not have seen. It is but a trifle, & yet as connected with your favorite study it may not be uninteresting.
Also, the prospects of a remarkable work lately completed by Sir Wm. Jardine, which I send in the hopes that through you it may become better known to our geologists. There are now I believe but two copies of it in America, & the edition, which consisted of but 120 copies, all is nearly exhausted. No other can be issued, for the plates have been destroyed, & the subject of the volumes is so nearly allied to the history of our own Connecticut River sandstones that it should be at least in several, if not in all, of our scientific libraries, for reference. I give this opinion after having examined, not merely the book, but the printer slabs themselves & the quarry from which they are taken. This is on Sir William's estate & quite near Jardine Hall, at which I made a very pleasant visit of several days.
I found his library, which is now combined with that of his late son-in-law, the well known Strickland, to contain a large number of American works, many more than I had expected. To my regret however there were of the Boston Society's Journal but the first volume & a part of the second, & of the "Proceedings" but a few stray sheets of the first volume. Describing as he does so many foreign species of birds, & he has now a large number of Mexican & other American skins on hand, he should have by him Dr Cabot's paper on Ornithology, therein contained.
Sir William has in his possession an immense number of duplicates, not geological alone, but in every branch. He is very anxious to obtain any of our North American species, & would very gladly institute exchanges with any of the Society. This however I made known to it several years since. During my Herpetological Curatorship, he augmented teh collection in this manner by many very valuable species.
I had not intended to write at such length. Please excuse it.
very respectfully
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. [John C.] Warren [President of the Boston Society of Natural History]
[Ethel-Dec.]
Edinburgh
20 Oct. 1854
My Dear Mary, [probably HRS's sister, Mary Goddard Storer (1837-1923)]
After writing Abby [probably HRS's sister, Abby Matilda Storer (1835-1922)] the other day, this fairly belongs to you. I hope it will find a welcome.
Emily and Jessie [b. Sept. 2, 1854] both are doing nicely, & if you find additional attractions in babes who grow "sweeter & sweeter" each day of their lives, I think you would be satisfied with her. _____ by the way, that that the epithet used above is none of mine, that is to say, it didn't use to be, but to tell the truth I can't help repeating it sometimes after hearing it applied by every friend who comes to see us. The little chick continues besides just as good in behavior as good can be which I consider the more praiseworthy, in as much as just at present she is suffering from a severe cold in the head. I am sure she does not inherit this tendency toward propriety from her father, for under similar circumstances he would certainly have kicked up a great _____, especially at nights.
She is just beginning to know one from another to stretch her arms out towards persons or things. She takes greatest satisfaction in this aspect if & at such times to gather her face up into just the funniest little laugh of approval I ever did see.
I suppose you'll laugh at reading these my ecstacies in paper. I'm sure you would if you could see the real ones I go into at many & diverse times through each day, but I can fool myself with the reflection that Uncle Thomas [Thomas Mayo Brewer first child Lucy Stone b. 1854] & Uncle John [John Reed Brewer second child Helen Reed b. 1854] are, just about these times each affording the same pleasant spectacles of
THE HAPPY MAN!
which so far as entertainment & a few other conducives to domestic enjoyment go, is a look of animal of which I had not the slightest previous conception.
The weather of late has been horrid, wind, wind, wind, plenty of gloomy clouds, & some rain. However I am somewhat conforted by the assurance many people have give me "that the weather the past week has been as cold as any I shall see here this winter.
The war with all its unpleasant chances, has produced a decidedly depressing effect upon all Edinburgh. Very many with whom we are thrown in contact, either have relatives in the Crimea or have already lost them there. Add to which the cholera here & the general fear for the last few days of a rupture with America, about that outrageous Greytown business, A war with our country, just at this critical juncture, many do not hesitate to say, would utterly ruin England, I from what I see, this would seem no unlikely result.
Tell father I sent him the rest of those medical papers next Saturday, by Mr. Bartol & he shuld then have a complete series of 128 pages, besides several more independently numbered, that I sent by mother. In a trunk from Miss Kuhn to her mother there also is a roll of "Tables" for Professor S. My head has borne the effort much better than I could have expected. Seems no worse, & though my eyes were pretty severely tried by the night work, yet I trust their discomfort will be but temporary. I wanted the notes to be all in his hands before he began his course, & if they are of any help to him, then will not a whit of my debt of gratitude have been repaid. God bless him & all of you my Darlings, in Brotherly love. H.
Letter from the Peabody & Essex Museum which probably is from someone other than Horatio.
Boston Nov. 11 '54
Joseph Chisholm Esq.
Dr. Sir
I have about 50 heads flax slightly damaged which may perhaps serve your purposes.
Yrs truly
Robert B. Storer
[Harvard Archives: From Class Meetings folder of same box (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 class of 1850]
Centre Harbor, N.H.
13 July, 1855
My dear Hale-
I think I had a note from you, several weeks since, relative to the Class of 1850, which note, reaching me just returned from long absence, I have mislaid --
In answer - I am away for the Summer, & don't feel able, even for a day, to return just now to the hot latitude of Boston - Would any thing tempt me, it should be to meet those old friends-
You will say to them that my best wishes are with them all - & that though my house here is but a small one, a classmate shall ever be most welcome -
yrs very truly
Horatio R. Storer
Charles Hale
next page reads:
Our Classmate Carter--
The honors he has received & which await him are not his alone, for he is one of our representative men.
We respect & esteem him - we rejoice in his success-
[Science Museum - Boston Society of Natural History]
7 Chester St. 11 April 1856
Dear Sir,
I have hardly time just now to give the fish details you desire - your simple reference to the following facts will probably suffice.
The extirpation from the Commonwealth entire, of salmon - almost entire, of trout.
Their constant demand, & at exorbitant rates, in the market.
The comparatively small supply of salt water fish - wholly insufficient, if proper efforts were made to extend thecountry & western trade.
The excellence of many species of fish, now unsaleable, becasue not generally know, as the whiting, trubot & c.
The feasibility of artifically propagating salmon & trout - as proved abroad in France & Scotland - Shad & alewives as proved in Connecticut on the small scale by Dr W. O. Ayres.
The capacity, in many species, of adapting themselves to new localities, from fresh water to fresh water, as shown by common pickerel place in our Berkshire ponds where there wer none, byu the great norther pike of the lakes transplanted to Connecticut River = from Salt water to fresh, shown by the smelts in Jamaica Pond - & from solt water to saltwater, shown by the tautog planted in Massachusetts Bay, north of Cape Cod, & consequently in water of much colder temperature.
The small expense, both of the preliminary experiments, & of the business when placed on a permanent basis.
The adaptation of many parts of our state to the purpose.
The advantage of a greater supply of fish to the general health, & by lowering their prices, to the general purse.
The propriety of and for the State - of a petition in behalf of such from the Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist - & if there is to be a Board of Commissioners the appointment on such Board, of Capt. Atwood of Provincetown, a Corresponding Member of the Society.
yrs very truly
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Shaw
13 Bowdoin St
[Countway]
7 Chester St. Boston
7 March, 1857
Dear Dr.
I am just now working up certain statistics on the subject of criminal abortion. If you can put me in the way of ascertaining the proportionate number of still births of later or for a series of years in any of our large American cities, or can furnish me with any other facts bearing on the present frequency or increase of the crime, I shall be greatly obliged.
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Jarvis.
[Smithsonian Archives: RU 52 Box 10]
7 Chester St. Boston
15 Dec: 1857
Dear Sir.
I am just leaving for western Texas on a several months journey - & should be greatly obliged for cards of introduction to any of your correspondents in that region, especially to Heerman.
Trusting the request will not be allowed to occasion you trouble, I am
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Baird
[Note at bottom probably in different handwriting: "Will leave from 2 or 3 weeks from this date"]
[Smithsonian Archives: RU 52 Box 10]
[Draft of requested letter:]
The bearer of this letter, Dr. Horatio R. Storer of Boston is about visiting Texas for the benefit of his health and the porsectution fohis studies in Natural History. I therefore commend him to the correspondents of the Smithsonian Institution and to men of science generally for aid the prosecution of his scientific investigations.
[Smithsonian Archives: RU 52 Box 10]
Boston. 2 Jan. 1858
Dear Sir.
I am much obliged for y\our kind letter to Dr Heerman -
Pleass express my thanks also to Prof. Henry for his favors.
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Baird.
[Smithsonian Archives: RU 52 Box 10]
7 Chester St. Boston
5 Jan: 1858
Dear Sir.
I shall undoubtedly have opportunities of getting hold of various interesting specimens in Texas, but have been at a loss as to how to transport them. It has been suggested that you might have collecting cases on hand, better than anything I could get made here, even if there were time.
I think Samuels(?) spoke of a leather covered valise or pannier.
Should you have one or a pair of such out of use, I shall be glad to use them in the service of the Instit.
I shall leave Boston on the 12th inst.
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Baird.
[Countway B MS c75.3] Dr. H.R. Storer's Resolution June 1859
Resolved: That a Committee be appointed by the Chair to bring before the next Legislature the alarming increase of Criminal Abortion in this Commonwealth; & to request in the name of thsi Society, a careful revision of the Statutes upon that crime. [I suspect this is Mass Med Society and not Suffolk District Society. Wolfe may be able to tell by the collection it is from.]
[COuntway]
Boston
27 Jan 1859
To the Councillors of the Mass. Med. Society.
Gentlemen,
The undersigned, a member of the Committee appointed at the Annual Meeting of the Society in 1857 to consider the whole subject of the increased frequency of the procuring Criminal Abortion would hereby enter his respectful protest against the report made by that Committee in Feb. 1858, accepted though it has been by your Board; on the ground that the report was prepared, offered & accepted during his unavoidable absence from this part of the country, & without his knowledge.
And moreover, in as much as it had been voted by the Society that the report should be made to the Councillors "that they may bring the matter before the Society at the next annual meeting,"* [*Proceeding of Councillors, 1858. page 77] & as it does not appear from the printed records of that meeting that these instructions were complied with & as the undersigned is prepared with additional reasons & additional proof that the laws of this Commonwealth are not "already sufficiently stringent provided that the are executed" he therefor enters his earnest prayer that the votes by which the report of said Committee, & the resolutions thereto appended were accepted by your honored body, may be reconsidered, & that the whole matter may be either resubmitted to the same Committee, with instructions to again report at an adjourned meeting of your body before the next Annual meeting of the Society, or that the Councillors will themselves hear the remonstrant or permit him to submit a minority report at such adjourned meeting, that the Councillors when bringing the subject before the Society at the Annual Meeting in compliance with their instructions to that effect, may be able to report thereon in accordance with the facts i the case.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
Horatio R. Storer
Chairman of Committee from the Suff. Dist. to the Parent Society, on the subject of Criminal Abortion.
Note on letter:
Dr H. R. Storer Com
Read at the Stated
Meeting of the Council
Feb 2, 1859
[Harvard Archives Letter in UA 1.5.130 Corporation Papers 2nd series 1857-1860 Box 11 ]
Milton
11 Aug. 1859
My Dear Sir -
The bearer, Mr. Herman West of Randolph,is very anxious to obtain a collegiate education. His circumstances are straitened - so much so that he can receive no pecuniary aid from his friends. He is represented to me as a very close student, & as well worthy any assistance from either of the beneficiary funds of the College.
I can therefore confidently refer him to yourself for kind & valuable advice.
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
(Class of 1850-)
Pres: Walker
[College of Physicians of Philadelphia---Carson, Joseph, 1808-1876 Collection, v. 2 [Z10c/10].
Blue Hills, Milton
near Boston
17 Dec. 1859
Dear Sir,
Dr. H. Miller of Louisville, President of the American Medical Association, has in accordance with a note of the Association, to send memorials on the subject of Criminal Abortion to the several State Legislatures of the Union & to the Congress--He writes me for copies of my report on the subject to accompany his memorial.
I will therefore thank you to send him without delay & by express as many of the extra copies you have printed as are necessary for the above purpose--charging the same to the account of the Association. With them send also a duplicate for Dr. Millier with my regards.
You will please acknowledge the receipt of this letter--& oblige
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mr. Collins.
[Houghton Sumner collection]
Blue Hills, Milton
2 Feb. 1860
Dear Sir,
For vol X of the Pacific Survey, & for other favors hitherto received at your hand, you have my thanks. I sincerely trust that you are now permanently restored to health & to our country.
Yours very truly
Hoartio R. Storer
Mr Sumner.
[Houghton Sumner collection]
Blue Hills, Milton
6 April, 1862
Dear Sir,
Accept my thanks for the copy of Colorado Expedition Report, & also for what you have accomplished toward the present advance of our country.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mr. Sumner,
P.S. As I write, the receipt of Vol XII Pac. R. R. Report has placed me under renewed obligations, & again tonight, 9th inst., I open this note that had escaped mailing to acknowledge the copy of your speech in behalf of the National Slavery [??] with it came the news of many victories.
The hour we have all prayed for seems to have come at last.
[Houghton Sumner collection]
Blue Hills, Milton
26 May, 1862
My dear Sir,
You must pardon my begging your earnest attention to a case of individual distress at a time, of all others, when your energies must all have been severely taxed by public anxieties. I trust however that the disaster to Branky(?) will prove to have been greatly exagerated.
The enclosed letters will explain themselves, that dated on the 22d inst. I have this evening received.
The writer John Doyle of the 2d Artillery, now at Fort Delaware has lived with me as farm servant & it was probably in accordance with my advice that he reentered the Army, & risked the fate that he thinks awaits him. I cannot however believe that his case can be as he represents it. It must be that his Commanding officer if frightening him as a punishment for what Court martial however severe would visit one who deserted in peace, & voluntarily re-enlisted during the Country's direst need, with death?
I beg you will at once investigate the case & inform me of it at your earliest moment. Should the boy's fear prove well founded, I am sure that Mr. Lincoln at your intercession would extend the merciful & saving arm. I feel that I can confidently rest upon you in this matter. I would at once go to Washington were it necessary, but the whole thing is better in your hands.
I should add that John formerly worked for my neighbor John L Eldridge, & that the letter dated March was not acted upon by me, as I heard there had been a reprieve.
In haste, ssincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer (M.D.)
Mr Sumner.
[Sumner letter to Lincoln 28 May requesting clemency in ToStorer file.]
[Houghton Sumner collection]
Blue Hills, Milton
1 June, 1862
Dear Sir,
You have my sincere thanks.
Truly yours
Horatio R. Storer
Mr. Sumner.
[Countway] Hotel Pelham
6 July 1863
Dear Dr.
I must apologize for not having named a time on which my wagon should be at your service. If agreeable to yourself, I will take the Dorchr. Av. horse car that leaves Bn. on 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, reaching the lower hills at 4 P.M., so that you can join me as it passes near your house. If I am prevented by any call away from town, you will find me absent from the car, otherwise not. I shall of course depend upon you staying with me to tea, & will see you safe back again at any hour you may desire.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Jarvis.
[Countway]
Hotel Pelham
28 Aug. 1863
My dear Dr.
I shall be much obliged if you will inform me how many private establishments for the treatment of nervous disease there are in this State beside your own, & by whom kept. I presume also that you will be able to send me a list of the various public & private institutions, for the same purpose, throughout the Country, outside our own state. Do not trouble yourself however to do so, unless it is perfectly convenient.
Mrs Storer continues in much the same condition as when you saw her, having had three attacks since, one of them on that same evening.[!]
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Jarvis.
[Countway]
Hotel Pelham
8 Sept. 1863
Dear Dr.
I should before this have acknowledged the receipt of your kind answer to my inquires but have been very busily occupied. My own note to you was unofficial, the Commission not having been organized at the time it was written. It is now however my pleasure to convey to you the thanks of the Board for the useful information communicated to them.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Jarvis. Secy. Commn. in Lunacy
[Countway]
Hotel Pelham
8 Oct. 1863
Dear Dr.
We were talking yesterday of asylums for inebriates. Do you know of anyone, medical, clerical or of any other antecedents, who is fitted to undertake such an establishment, on the small scale, for females of the better class? If so, I would be glad to know it & to meet him. I agree with you as to the official ties of his position. A wife of similar character & tastes would seem to be required, yet a lady, & with absence of children.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Jarvis.
[Countway]
Hotel Pelham
5 Nov. 1863
My Dear Dr.
Your kind note of this morning, with its two alternatives, yet leaves the point I would make untouched. It is not who has been Superintendent without an Assistant, or who has been either Superintendent or assistant, but who has been both Superintendent & assistant, at one time having filled the one office & subsequently the other? So far as I am aware, the gentleman I refer to would seem to be either Dr Prince or Dr Stedman, but I am in doubt.
I dislike to cause you any real inconvenience, but I supposed you must be so familiar with the antecedents of your fraternity, as to be readily able to answer my questions. It would seem as though there could hardly be many ex-Superintendents now out of office in New England.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Jarvis.
[MHS: Page 79-80 of Warner letter book covering July 1865: Transcript of HRS letter "Received in Lancaster New Hampshire in July 1865"]
Hotel Pelham; Boston
25 July 1865
Dear Warner:
I am working up some points pertaining to women in medical jurisprudence and am a little bewildered by some of the uncertainties in thought and expression, of the law - as to matters, more particularly, of doubtful sex. In what for instance would the law define the man as differing structurally from the woman? And how decide that the "monster" otherwise entitled to inherit, have "human shape"? and to what extent one or the other sexual type must "prevail" in a supposed hermaphrodite?
If you can assist me in the solution of these questions, no more curious than they are practical and important, I shall be very glad to give you full credit when I publish.
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Hermann J. Warner Esq.
19 Court Street
Boston
[Am. Phil. Soc. Archives letter to Chauncey Wright]
Hotel Pelham
24 Nov. 1865
Dear Sir.
In making your report of the meeting of the Academy the other evening at Mr Lorings, I will thank you to refer to my own remarks as follows:
"Prof.[overwrites something probably "Dr."] H. R. Storer called attention to the fact that among two Sections of the Academy, there was one of 'Medicine,' to which he himself, with several others of the Fellows, had been formally assigned. This Section had hitherto been considered as more of an ornamental or complementary, than of a working character; no contributions having been made through it the nearly ten years he, Prof. [again overwrite] S., had been a Fellow, save two by himself, the one, in Dec. 1858, being a paper upon "the Decrease of the Normal Rate of Increase of Our Native Population," & the other, in Feb. 1864, upon "The Causation of Insanity in Women." To these he would now add a third, communicated because of the great importance of the subject in a Scientific light, & that it might thus go upon foreign record, a paper upon extirpation of the human uterus with its appendages, by abdominal section.
"There had been but five cases on record of this operation successfully performed; one by Clay of Great Britain, one by Koeberle of Germany, & thrice by Burnham & Kimball in this country. To these he was now able to add a sixth, from his own practice; the tumor, fibrocystic in character, weighing 37 lbs. & far exceeding in this respect the others above referred to. The operations had generally been considered by surgeons & the profession generally as either impracticable or unjustifiable. A careful examination however alike of the 16 fatal, & of the 6 successful cases that have now occurred, affords abundant reason to set aside this verdict. Prof. S. gave a summary of his reasons for claiming the recognition of this operation as justifiable in future cases, & likely to save many lives now allowed to be sacrificed with attempt at aid.
"The paper in full is to be published in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, at Philadelphia, for January next."
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mr Wright.
[Houghton Library]
[Following letter from H.B. Storer the Spiritualist (handwriting is identical to H.B.'s letters to Clara Barton) was miscredited by Eleanor Tilton to Horatio R. in her biography of Holmes]
Designed? for Janry 1--
Janry 4, 1866
Dear Doctor
I did not intend that the holidays should have passed without my begging your acceptance of one of my this years ____ . -- for which I inclose a paper which you will be so good as put in the beginning of any copy at Ticknor & Fields which may suit you.
Within a few months I have been re-reading all your writings - some of them in presentation copies, and as I read I have often been moved to write & say how much I find to admire and to sympathize with, in these thoughts and suggestions to which you have given utterance -- and beauty --
This fall I had staying with me an accomplished lady friend, who had always been repelled from reading Elsie Venner by a vague antipathy to a snake story. I always said that the "snake horrors" was the only artistic defect in that book. That it might have doubted, whether so painful & shocking a theme was within the just limits of artistic treatment & I had a good opportunity in this reading to see how artistic treatment can overcome any kind of difficulty.
The death of Elsie Venner was a complete triumph of the moral & pathetic element over the disgust & horror -- & I know nothing in any literature I am acquainted with more truly noble & pathetic -- I must regard that book as your masterpiece -- a book no less full of suggestions of wisdom than of requisite applications of languages & shadings of words. The deep mournful moral is of an extent which one longs to explain -- to snakes underlie much of the unspoken & unspeakable unhappiness of life.
I have often thought that a work on Education based on Physiological Principles was yet a desideratum. Most works on education prescribe for a child just as you would for kneading up a batch of biscuits. A book that should tell parents what not to expect - not to try to do - not to be disappointed if they do not do - would be a great help to the world.
Religious & seculate education both ought to have a just physiological basis -- a thing as yet scarcely heard of ---
There are many of these things which I want to talk with you about & as I expect to pass a few days with Miss Fistor? about the middle of January, I shall then hope to see you. There are several ... [all that was available at Houghton Library]
[Mass. Hist. Society, Dall]
Hotel Pelham
24 Jan 1866
Dear Madam,
I believe you have charge of the embryo library of the Assoc. of Social Sciences, & so may value the enclosed work of mine toward unravelling one of the most tangled problems alike of political economy & social ethics, upon which indeed our very existence as a distinctive nationality will be found to rest. It is a matter that I have studied closely for nearly ten years [would put start in 1856 or 57], more closely probably than any one else in the country, & with my views our most intelligent medical men now coincide, though at first they could hardly believe the extent of the crime.
I had thought of bringing the subject up at your annual meeting & indeed had prepared a paper upon the subject, but other engagements prevented my carrying out the intentions.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mrs Dall
[Mass. Hist. Society, Dall]
Hotel Pelham
18 June 1866
My dear Madam,
Want of a moments leisure has prevented me from acknowledging your kind note till now. Your coments are very just, & I may take occasion to print them, in part or in whole, in case my publishers think best to issue another edition of "Why Not?" & you do not object. Were you to send a terse & Dallian notice of the books to one of our Journals, say to the Atlantic, I doubt not it would aid greatly in its circulation.
As for myself, my time is now so wholly engrossed that I am unable to look after the welfare of any such fledgling once launched from the nest. [sounds to me like you are doing just that!]
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mrs. Dall
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20964]
Hotel Pelham
15 April 1867(?)
Dear Dr.
Thanks for the Med. Register you were so kind as to send me. It reflects much credit upon your energy & good taste.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Ethel-Dec.]
Berkshire Medical College
Pittsfield, July 17, 1867.
[printed for an 8-year-old]
My dear John,
Perhaps you have been thoughtful enough to send me a letter this week, but if you have, I have not yet received it. I shall hope to however by this noon's mail. Frank has been studying the geography of Pittsfield with me. We have not taken long walks together--North, South, East, and West--and he will perhaps be able when he goes home, to draw a map of the whole town, showing where the two rail road stations are, and the churches, and the post office, and the banks, and the medical college, and the cemetery, and Silver Lake and the Housatanic river. Give my love to Malcolm and Grandma.
Good bye, affectionately your Papa.
[Houghton Library]
Hotel Pelham
28 Dec, 1867
My dear Dr.
I have become satisfied that I was wrong in the opinion I have till now entertained, that the convict Mcgee was alive at the time of his examination. It is therefore clearly my duty to make all possible amends to Dr Ellis for the injury I may have occasioned him, & necessary that the revocation of my views should be as complete & public as was their avowal.
To this end I am now preparing for immediate publication in the New York Medical Record, the journal in which my obnoxious article appeared, a paper that I hope will put this unfortunate subject finally at rest.
To do this will however involve a careful resume' of all the features of the Mcgee case, & as there were certain points observed, such as, the contraction of the ventricles, the regular beat of 80 to the minute, prior to opening the thorax, &c &c, which under the circumstances must subvert the hitherto received doctrines of physiologists. I shall esteem it a great favor if you will furnish me at your very first leisure with such arguments as will serve to destroy forever the position I have hitherto taken in the premises - and end I am now as anxious as yourself to accomplish. [Hard to believe that Horatio is serious in this request!]
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Holmes-
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20965]
Hotel Pelham
Jany 31, 68.
Dr. Sir
Among my pamphlets I have lately come across these upon cholera, which I received while I was in Europe and which perhaps may not be in your collection. I have mislaid your published list & therefore am not sure upon this point. They are,
1st Athenaeum(?) upon cholera asphyxia Edinburgh 1832 by Mr. John Lizard(?).
2nd An official document of the English Board of Health containing a letter from its President to Lord Palmerston and a report from Dr. Sutherland on cholera in London in 1854.
3rd Another document from the same board containing a report on the different modes of treatment in 1855.
If either of these will be of any value to you, I shall send them with great pleasure.
Yours Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. J. L.(sic) Toner
Washington
D.C.
[Science Museum - Boston Society of Natural History Correspondence]
Hotel Pelham
27 Jan. 1868
Dear Sir-
I have been trying for several days to see you with reference to the case of Dr A. Swindle(?) Piggote of Baltimore, Md. who writes me as follows, "Before the war I was a member of the Boston Society of Nat. History, & regularly received their Proceedings. During my absence from home while the war was going on, I lost sight of these papers & have heard nothing from the Society since my return. Will you do me the favor to give me some information on the subject?"
I leave the Dr in your hands, but should like to hear from you that you have received my note.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mr Scudder
[Mass Hist Soc- Dall]
Hotel Pelham
3 March 1869
Dear Madam,
I both read the Advertiser, & am accustomed to misunderstandings, indeed consider it a compliment under certain circumstances, to be misunderstood, such being a stale(?) device for concealing that a shot has told.
Very many of the leading physicians in Baltimore know me personally & understand me. Some of them also understand the vain attempts that certain malcontents here at home have made to disconcert me, & that the current of feeling among Boston physicians upon this point is rapidly changing in my favor.
I have directed Messrs Little, Brown & Co. [Criminal Abortion with Heard also Nurses and Nursing] to send the book to Dr. Williams, & am obliged to you for your kind interest.
The enclosed note, which I received this morning, & which you will please return, is a fair sample of the treatment that I received from those competent to express an opinion.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mrs. Dall.
[Mass Hist Soc- Dall]
Hotel Pelham
16 March 1869
Dear Madam,
The medical journal ["New England Medical Gazette," homeopathic, for March, 1869] you were so kind as to send me was duly received, and I have read your article with care. I cannot help thinking that you have done both physicians and your own sex great injustice, and at the same time dealt a heavy blow at the e public good morals; for, if your statements are true, they apply, a fortiori, with a thousand time more weight to the ordinary friendly and social intercourse of ladies and gentlemen with each other. The only emotion, besides pity, that attendance upon a woman afflicted with pelvic disease can inspire in a physician, is simple disgust, which would be greatly enhanced did he suppose that she was conscious of any other feeling.
"Speaking for myself, did I believe your charges true as a general, or even a very occasional thing, I should at once relinquish practice. I have taken occasion to make inquiries of many ladies since reading your article, indeed giving it to them to read, and they have invariably repelled the imputation, both as regards themselves and their friends, as the foulest of slanders.
"I shall bring the subject before the Gunaecological Society tonight, and it will have thoughtful consideration. My own impression is, that every high-minded physician will declare that you must be in error, and that the community will be influenced rather against than in favor of the employment of female physicians, if such are the arguments employed.
"You will, I know, believe that I think you are sincere, and be sure, on the other hand, that I am equally so myself.
Yours very truly
Horatio R. Storer.
Mrs. Caroline H. Dall.
Note at top: 7 April. I must apologize for my neglect in having neglected so long to send this letter.
[Countway]
GYNAECOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF BOSTON
31 March 1869.
Dear Sir,
The Regular Fortnightly Meeting of the Society will be held at Hotel Pelham on Tuesday evening next, at 71/2 o'clock. I am empowered to invite you, in the name of the Society, to be present at this meeting.
Yours sincerely,
H R Storer M.D., Secretray
Dr. Fifield. [William Cranch Bond Fifield]
[Houghton Library]
Hotel Pelham
8 May 1869
Dear Dr.
I am weriting a paper upon the gynaecological work done by the old time physicians in New England, & shall be much obliged for any assistance you can give me. I have mislaid my copy of your address at the College a year or two ago, & should value ____ this. Has your lecture at the Lowell Institute been published? I heard it & enjoyed it at the time. In preparing it, you undoubtedly came across much that I now need.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Holmes.
[Countway]
GYNAECOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF BOSTON
14 Sept 1869.
Dear Sir,
The Regular Fortnightly Meeting of the Society will be held at Hotel Pelham on Tuesday evening next, at 71/2 o'clock. I am empowered to invite you, in the name of the Society, to be present at this meeting.
Yours sincerely,
H R Storer M.D., Secretray
Dr. Jeffries Wyman
Dear Dr.
Happened to read a paper at the Academy tonight on Fissu_____ Generation in the Human Species, and Chauncey Wright informed me that you once brought up the subject there yourself. Will you please appriseme when this was, & whether your paper was published, or an abstract of it, in the Memoirs or Proceedings, & if not, what the conclusions were that you came to. I think also that this subject was once incidentally alluded to at a meeting of the national History Society. I shall be obliged if you will tell me when, with reference also to any published report.
Any views of your own that you may favor me with, I will gladly incorporatein my own paper, giving the credit. HRS
[Countway]
Hotel Pelham
20 Sept 1869
My Dear Dr.
I have received your very interesting note. What I have myself been working at of late has been the problem of double monstrosities, although the problems of foetus by inclusion, whether Virchow's case of Minerva, or Van Bun_____ 's of entire skeleton in the testicles of a young boy, has long been one suggestive of a good many thoughts.
Your may disagree with the views that I enclose. Your expression of "Double from the Start" would imply that you do. I wish however that you would read the paper and freely criticize & return or save as may be, & also that you would prepare a paper, the longer and more exhaustive the better, upon the Genus variation theory as applies to the human species. It would be welcomed by the Gyn. Society and indeed by the whole medical world, for such systems, elucidated have all the chance of romance. My Journal, in which I should be glad to publish your paper is to have large circulation in Europe.
Yrs ever sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Wyman.
[Ethel-Dec.]
Hotel Pelham
27 Dec. 1869
My Dear Miss Minnie,[who is this???]
Your beautiful flag causes me both joy & sorrow. This, that I haven't a yacht at least as large & trim as the Glimpse(?) to correspond to the breathing & touch, touch the delicious breath of the sea, the whisper of its foam, & its loving caress come with the old delight to my mind whenever the flag catches my eye. If ever I'm a fortunate owner I trust it may be of a "Minnie," and I'll try to make her as natty abow & aloft, & in her behaviour as gainly(?), as self-possessed & as true to her helm as her fair namesake.
Emily desires me to bear for her kind remembrance & her thanks to Misses Anne & Kittie for their thoughtful & very tasty gift. How much beauty wise little fingers can weave into the veriest things of use. Perhaps if my boys live to see family outshoots of their own, little ones may be searching in the cushions for those strange interlacements of needles, a long time hence, after you & I & the rest of the old folks have flitted away elsewhere.
I often laugh to myself when I think of last Summers varied experiences with the tangled skeins of so many lives knotting themselves together to make the confusion a little the worse confounded. I fear I was very moody & self-absorbed, very tired in mind I know, & I don't think I ever felt so much like drifting like a log on the waves of each day. I've been ashamed of it a great many times since, for it was certainly very, very uncivil, but I was carrying heavy business cares at the time, aside from my profession, & was in the midst of a conflict with uncertainties, doubts & downright disbelief of which young ladies, the angels may conceive, but not themselves know. There was but one issue to such a strife. Compelled humbly to surrender to the Master my life had denied, I find a peace of which before I had had no conception, & then strangely enough, the harbor of refuge for which my ships at sea had been so long & so ineffectually struggling was reached at last on Christmas Eve. Your father will be glad to know that Col Storer[who is this???] has completed good negotiating here at home for his iron working & goes in a few days to Troy, in pursuance of an arrangements within Mr(?) Griswold's firm.
With a happy year, if wishes can bring it
HRS
Hotel Pelham
Feb 14th [no year but around 1870]
Note attached to Auntie Carrie letter to John which has sentence: "Papa has a little rheumatism just now, but he is pretty well notwithstanding & sends a kiss to you."
Dear John,
I don't exactly like the notion of your surreptitious communication with the base of supplies in the kitchen - It isn't exactly what we call "Acting on the squares." To do anything that you wouldn't like to have Dr or Mrs Lowell know, would seem to involve more or less stretch of you sense of right. Don't do anything that your conscience does not fully approve. Affectionately your father.
To the American Medical Association:
Boston, 19 April, 1870
Respectfully represents the Gynaecological Society of Boston, an Association duly organized, and in affiliation with your own, by the formal incorporation of your Code of Ethics into its Constitution, that a great and flagrant injustice is committed towards worthy members of the profession by another Medical Association, subject to your cognizance; to wit: the Massachusetts Medical Society, so called; in that, compelling every physician resident within the State to make application for its membership, under penalty otherwise of being considered and treated as irregular, it exercises an invidious and oppressive discrimination between the applicants, admitting the graduates of one Medical School to full membership, without other formality than the presentation of their diploma, while it subjects the graduates of all other Medical Colleges whatever, to a rigid, and--in view of the exemption referred to,--ignominious examination.
And wherein that the said Massachusetts Medical Society has, by the course described, acted in contravention of that Section of your Code of Ethics which defines the duties for the support of professional character.
And wherein that the said Massachusetts Medical Society, by a recent vote of its Councillors, sheltereth itself behind an old ad unwarrantable compact with Harvard College, still in force, in discriminative favor of the graduates of said College as against those of every other Medical School in the country, and upon remonstrance, refuseth to amend its ways.
And wherein that the said Massachusetts Medical Society has long and notoriously broken that other of your rules which by Article IV., Section I., of the Code L prescribes the Duties of Physicians to each other, and to the Profession at large, in that it permits irregular physicians, publicly advertising themselves as such, to remain in full and acknowledged fellowship, the Gynaecological Society would respectfully represent that it is incumbent upon your honorable body to take such action in the premises as shall mete to those collectively transgressing your Code, the same impartial justice as would be dealt to individual men, and to withhold from the said Massachusetts Medical Society and its component District Societies, the right of representation at your sessions until it has purged itself of its present gross contempt.
For the Society,
WINSLOW LEWIS, President
HORATIO R. STORER, Secretary.
{ SEAL }
I hereby certify the above to be a true copy of the document now in my hands.
- B. ATKINSON,
Perm. Sec'y A. M. A.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20969]
Propter uterum est mulier The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston
- S. of B. 1869 Devoted to the advancement of the knowledge of the Diseases of Women
Edited by
Winslow Lewis, M.D. Horatio R. Storer, M.D. Geo. H. Bixby, M.D.
Subscription three dollars a year in advance
Published Monthly,
JAMES CAMPBELL, Publisher
Hotel Pelham
Boston, Mass. 21 April 1870
My Dear Dr Toner,
If I am able to go to Washington, I shall very likely stir a matter that will have to go to the Committee upon Ethics. I send a pamphlet & the March number of the Gynaecological Journal, read from pages 174 to 179 in latter. Trusting you are well.
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Toner.
Washington, 3 May, 1870.
To the Committee upon Ethics:
GENTLEMEN:-The undersigned, having reason to believe that your Committee have labored under a mistaken impression with regard to the grounds upon which the protest has been entered by the Gynaecological Society of Boston, against representation at your session by the Massachusetts Medical Society, would respectfully call your attention to the following facts:
- That he protest says nothing about Fellows of the Massachusetts Medical Society consulting with irregular practitioners; therefore it is not necessary that charges should ave been preferred against such parties--this being entirely a separate matter, capable of being disposed of at home, and with it your decision has nothing to do.
- That charges in writing have been made against the irregular practitioners themselves, and the M.M. Society has failed to take honorable action in the premises--and that, in accordance with this fact, which cannot be disposed of at home, your Committee are bound to afford the desired relief.
III. That a member of the profession from a distant State, a graduate of Dartmouth College, stands distrained of his rights as a physician in honorable standing, by rejection by the Censors of the Society, after unfair and invidious examination, while his own hospital steward was admitted over his head to fellowship, without being asked a single question, upon the mere presentation of the Harvard Diploma,--a violation of your Code with which the Society has been formally charged, which it has refused to right, and which therefore it is incumbent upon you to act upon.
- That a Stature of the Society permits and sanctions this outrage in violation of your Code; that the Society has been called upon to rescind it, and that it refuses to do so. This charge, also, you cannot ignore.
That there may be no mistake in this matter, these charges are now distinctly and emphatically repeated.
You will perceive that they are upon two separate points, each of which should be decided upon by itself, and which must not be confounded; namely, the unjust fostering of Harvard College, and the prolonged tolerance of irregular practitioners, in despite of every effort which the By-Laws of the Society will permit, to oust them.
You will also perceive that the first of these charges it the one that affects more particularly the honor of the whole profession, and must not therefore, be winked out of sight, while the latter is of comparatively trifling and local importance--and you are reminded that to permit such conduct in high places without rebuke, or to pass over charges such as these, which have been proved true to you beyond possible denial, is to yourselves strike a blow at the very heart of the Association.
The undersigned would not imply that it is possible that any member of your Committee, no matter what College he may represent, can be actuated in his decision by the fear of incurring the displeasure of a powerful rival, or by timid subserviency to a let-alone policy, or by a still baser desire to compromise in this question of right and justice; but they would nevertheless remind you that o admit the Massachusetts delegates the present year, would be considered, and would be, an endorsement by you, of what in individuals would be unhesitatingly condemned.
Moreover, a collateral protest from Dartmouth College has arrived since the case was closed by you, to receive which, it is respectfully suggested, it is incumbent upon you, alike as impartial judges and honorable gentlemen.
If, as it is now represented, your Report has already been sent to the President of the Association, it is certainly in your power to request its return until you shall have been enabled to render it, if not already so, in full accordance with the facts in the case, even if you have to delay until the case of the Washington Societies has been settled.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
HORATIO R. STORER.
JOHN L. SULLIVAN.
I hereby certify the above to be a true copy of the document now in my hands.
- B. ATKINSON,
Perm. Sec'y A. M. A.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20967]
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston ...
Hotel Pelham
Boston Mass., 17 June 1870
Dear Dr.
I shall be glad to glad to be have the additions. May be a little delayed about getting your paper into print as there is a great deal of other material on file.
Enjoyed the Washington visit extremely. Remember me to all friends.
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20968]
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston ...
Hotel Pelham
Boston, Mass. 22 June 1870
Dear Dr.
Your enclosures received. Thanks for your kind allusions. You will find in July's Gynl. Journal a word or two about those "misrepresentations", which I am afraid were rather wilful than otherwise.
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Toner
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20970-1]
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston ...
Hotel Pelham
Boston, Mass. 2 Aug 1870
Dear Dr.
I have been able today for the first time, to take up your MS with a view of sending to the printer. Upon looking over the new slips, I feel compelled to accept your offer, of yourself rearranging the sheets.
I am not very well just now & am afraid that I might not be able to take the time necessary to do the subject justice.
I therefore send the papers to you by mail, & when ready you can send back in the same way.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner
[Ethel-Dec.]
Ottawa -
Pr. of Ontario
16 Sept - 1870
My Dear John-
Though just starting for home & very much fatigued, I cannot resist my desire to have a few words with my dear boys. Though I had seen Canada before, I have been more than ever impressed by its strength & power by my visit here, so far away in the wilderness comparatively.
Already a city of some thirty thousand inhabitants, Ottawa is rapidly increasing, being now the great centre of the Northern lumber trade, a great portion of which finds its outlet towards Great Britain through Quebec, while the remainder goes to the States by way of Lake Champlain. We visited one of two great saw mills which together employ several hundred men, the other night at midnight, & the sight was most interesting, logs in comparison with which anything we see at home would be but trifling, passing into a dozen or twenty board each at once & at the same _____, while the whole atmosphere was so redolent with the fragrant smell of the wood, that one could easily imagine oneself in the midst of the pine forests.
From this place to the North Pole is as yet almost an unbroken wilderness. I asked how far it was to the Red River country where the Canadians have just suppressed a rebellion, & was told that it was only 2000 miles! The houses of Parliament here, of whose beauty I had often heard, were truly magnificent, built by the Government of Great Britain, it was undoubtedly with the expectation that Canada was to remain British for all time. Before many years, however, the Provinces will all of them probably , pass into a union with our own States.
Give my love to Frank, & do not yourself forget how dear you will always be, whether at home or for the while with strangers.
Your father.
[Countway]
Hotel Pelham
20 Oct. 1870
Dear Sir,
I am directed by the Gynaecological Society of Boston to communicate to you certain resolutions passed at a Special Meeting of the Society, held in the 8th inst.; the President, Dr Winslow Lewis in the Chair, & Dr. Henry A. Martin of Boston Highlands acting as Secretary pro tem. They are as follows-
" Whereas, two members of the Gynaecological Society, Drs H. R. Storer & J. L. Sullivan, have been formally censured by the Councillors of the Massachusetts Medical Society, for having been instrumental in procuring certain actions to be taken by the American Medical Association at its Session at Washington in May last,-&
" Whereas, It was in accordance with instructions from the Gunaecological Society, & in its behalf, that the said Drs Storer & Sullivan presented the memorial concerning the invidious distinction made by the Mass. Med. Society in favor of Harvard College, & its tolerance of irregular practitioners, upon which the actions of the American Medical Association was based,
therefore
" Resolved, that the credit or demerit of the results thereof belongs to the Gynaecological Society, in accordance with whose well defined instructions said Dr. Storer & Sullivan acted & not to them as individuals.
" Resolved, That for the Councillors of the Mass. Med. Society to censure a Fellow or Fellows, is a gross violation of the By-laws of said Society & an insult to every other Fellow thereof.
" Resolved, that the censure passed upon Drs Storer & Sullivan, being illegal, is therefore necessarily null & void, & that the Gynaecological Society, composed of seventeen active members, all of whom are Fellows of the Mass. Med. Society, does hereby demand for itself a trial according to the laws of the Mass. Med. Society, being alone responsible for the Memorial presented by its delegates to the American Medical Association.
" Resolved, that copies of the above preamble & resolutions be sent to the President & Recording Secretary of the Mass. Med. Society, & published in the Journal of the Society, the Boston Med. & Surg. Journal, & such other medical journals as the President may deem expedient."
Sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Sec. G. S. of B.
Dr Swan
Rec. Sect. Mass Med. Socy.
the censure passed upon Drs Storer & Sullivan, being
credit or demerit of the results thereof belongs to the Gynaecological Society, in accordance with whose well defined instructions said Dr. Storer & Sullivan acted & not to them as individuals.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20972-3]
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston ...
Hotel Pelham
Boston, Mass. 18 Nov 1870
Dear Dr.
Thanks for your letter. The Revolutionary list would I think be published to better purpose in Dr Cox's Quarterly than in the Gynaecological. I should however take pleasure in referring to it editorially when it appears. I wish you would let me know whether it is possible to obtain a list of the names of the physicians, regular & irregular, in the country from the last Revenue returns, & how much one of the clerks at the Department would charge therefore.
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20974]
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston ... [Subscription ("three" crossed out) 5 dollars in advance.]
Hotel Pelham
Boston, Mass. 10 Jan 1871
Dear Dr.
Journal for February has gone to the printers. I will endeavor before long to notice your address, but I'm humbled by "an embarrassment of riches". there's so much to say about so many things.
The Statistics were completed in the January number & you should have received them before this. I will remind the publisher. I am receiving letters which show that my Southern friends do not allow the censure by the Councillors of the Mass Med Society upon myself & Dr. Sullivan for upholding the authority of the Am. Med. Association, to pass unrebuked.
I congratulate you on your new & greatly deserved honor. With remembrance to all friends.
yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner
[Ethel-Dec.]
Hotel Pelham
2 Feb. 1871
My Dear John,
You have already very likely been informed from 182 Boylston St. [grandmother] of the prospect of a new "Aunt Kate." It is a very pleasant prospect to us all & we must all of us rejoice in Uncle Frank's happiness. You will recollect having seen Miss Eliot at Mt Desert.
I think Uncle F. would enjoy receiving a little letter of congratulations from you very much.
I have been so very busy since hearing from you that I have been unable to attend to your requests, but have desired often to do so. Mutton Tallow or glycerine I used to find better for chapped hands than cold cream. The one you can undoubtedly get from the cook, & the other from Dr. Robinson.
Write me soon. With much love
ever affectionately
Your father
Dr. Sullivan is no longer my partner, so that Dr Warner & myself are again over-engrossed with work.
[Countway - 1994]
[New Letterhead, no longer have the symbol]
Office of
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston
Devoted to the advancement of the knowledge of the Diseases of Women
Edited by
Winslow Lewis, M.D. Horatio R. Storer, M.D. Geo. H. Bixby, M.D.
Hotel Pelham
(Corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets)
Boston, Mass., 9 Feb 1871
Dear Dr.
Sister Frances, the Superior of St Elizabeth's & St Francis' Hospitals for Women, in Hanson St & at Somerville, has authorized me to write you to become one of the Consulting Surgeons, since you were unable to accept the position of Attending Do., & she desires to meet you & the gentlemen who have consented to act, on Saturday evening next, Feb. 11, at 7.30, at my rooms in this building (5th[!] story), that the Staff may be regularly organized.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Martin.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20975]
Office of
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston
Devoted to the advancement of the knowledge of the Diseases of Women
Edited by
Winslow Lewis, M.D. Horatio R. Storer, M.D. Geo. H. Bixby, M.D.
Hotel Pelham
(Corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets)
Boston, Mass. 13 Feb 1871
Dear Dr.
Pardon my delay in acknowledging your favor of June 25th. The Gynaecological Society have restricted me to matters purely gynaecological in the Journals, else I would gladly print your memorandum which is more of an obstetrical character. You will recognize the difference between midwifery & the diseases of women. Under these circumstances I sent it to my neighbor Dr Brown of the Boston "Med. & Surg Journal", the organ of those who just now are talking about "States Rights" as paramount to the authority of the American Medical Association. Whether the word "Washington" frightened him or not I don't know, but he has declined it, & at the same has refused to sign the appended "Articles", or to become a member of the Association of Medical Editors, not being willing he says, to conform to "the rules which such an organization might see fit to impose upon him." You see that Massachusetts has exchanged places with South Carolina!
My publisher, Mr James Campbell of 18 Tremont St., tells me that already two separate lists of all the physicians in the United States have been made. So that it will not be worth while for you to be at any expense in the matter.
Would it not be for your interest for you to have the Campbell reprint some copies of the "Statistics" for circulation among your friends & the members of the Association. He would do it for you very reasonably without doubt.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Countway]
Office of
The Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston,
Devoted to the advancement of the knowledge of the Diseases of Women,
EDITED BY
WINSLOW LEWIS, M.D. HORATIO R. STORER, M.D. GEO. H. BIXBY, M.D.
Hotel Pelham,
(Corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets.)
Boston, Mass., 21 Feb 1871
Dear Dr.
Will you be kind enough to send me a list of the Hospitals for the Insane in this Country as at present officered. Dr Tyler informed me that you are better informed upon this subject than himself.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Jarvis.
[Note at bottom of this letter by E. Jarvis]
Massachusetts, _____ Pliny Earle
List w_____ _____ my note book.
State. _____ Superintendent
Feb. 22, sent by mail 23d 71
- Jarvis
[Ethel-October 1993]
Sunday evening
5 March 1871.
My Dear Son John [over writes other words]-
Not having any of my own paper up stairs, I have taken a piece of Auntie's, altering the invective that she had commenced. You will excuse it, in view of my having so bad a headache this evening that I am sitting with my feet in a ____ and my head swathed with a cold bandage. I haven't felt quite as well as usual of late, or I should have written you oftener, but you know that I have a great many letters to write every day. Almost all of them are to strangers whom I care very little for, but it all has to be done for our Daily Bread. And so I don't have as much time as I should like, for those I love. Auntie hopes to go to see you some time next week, but she can't promise. It won't be long now before your vacation. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful day today as much as we all have in town.
ever affectinately
Your father.
[Ethel-Dec.]
28 March 1871
11 P.M.[!]
My Dear John,
I am sorry to have written you so seldom of late, but my time, at night or by day, has been very much engrossed by far less pleasant duties.
Dr. Warner was very sick last week & for many hours I felt very anxious about him. Though confined to the house but a couple of days he has hardly as yet fully recovered.
Mamma has had a very tedious time of it too. She is easier to day but she has suffered severely from the painful measures [What?]thought advisable for her by Dr Brown-Se'quard. [Where was he in 1871?] I only hope that she may receive permanent benefit, though this is far from certain.
How fast easter is approaching. In a very few days it will have come & passed. Another milestone in the journey of all our lives. I hope, my Dear John, that the years as they come and go, will all bring to you only happiness in the best sense of the word. There will be plenty of trouble, for no one can escape that, but let there be no sense of shame, or loss of self respect. Only keep that always, & then you will always be happy, without it never.
Ever affectionately
Your Father
[Ethel-Dec.]
26 Jan. 1872
My Dear John,
Auntie is very sorry indeed that she cannot visit you tomorrow as she had been intending to do. Miss Semple has invited her to a French party, which she wishes very much to attend, but she could not get back in season if she went to Southborough. Next week, Saturday is our Church night, but she says that she shall certainly go to see you week after next, without fail. So be patient till then & you will enjoy her visit all the more.
I hope myself to go to see you before long. We have not heard from you this week. Are you sick? Let me know at once.
Ever affectionately
Your father.
[Ethel-October 1993]
30 Jan 1872
My Dear John,
Despite your request to the contrary, I have written to Dr Lowell immediately upon receiving your note. Grandma & Uncle are both sick & Auntie & Frank have, both of them, colds, so that our hospital at home is already pretty full. If you are really sick enough to require the change I will of course go for you, but this time it is much better that you should be patient for a few days longer where you are.
Ever affy your
father
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20976]
[Slightly different letterhead]
Boston, 5 March 1872
Dear Dr.
Your diagrams were duly received. They are alike interesting & important, & I trust that you will soon have all your deductions in print.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
Sunday evening
14 June 1872
My dear John,
You will be very sorry to know that our Hannah has been taken away to a better service than that of any earthly master. After you went back, she was so much worse & was rendered so helpless by the rheumatic stiffness & pain & swelling of her joints, that I thought the right to have more constant attention than she could have here - & she was accordingly carried to the Carney Hospital & tenderly nursed by the Sisters of Charity. For a couple of days she seemed to improve, but today she grew rapidly worse again & died this evening. She had lived with us twelve long years & had done her share to help in a great deal of sickness & trouble. We shall all miss her very much. Very fond as she was of you boys, you had each of you reasons to be grateful to her for long & faithful care. A good girl & now at rest.
Goodnight - with love.
yr father
[Harvard Archives: From Correpsondenc etc. file of Secretary's File HUD 250.505 class of 1850]
Dear Sir
your note to my son Horatio respecting your Class Supper was duly received. He is in Naples - and may remain there for years to come.
respectfully yrs
- Humphreys Storer
Boston June 8th 75.
[The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine]
- South W.(?) Park Lane
W.
12 Dec. 1876
My dear Mrs. Dyer,
I am sorry that I must say that I have never met Dr Wilson & Dr Greenhalph(?) but once at that incidentally at the Samaritan Hospital. Any effort made in your nephew's behalf by a stranger would be quite sure to effect more harm than good.
Since I saw you last, both Mrs. Storer & myself have been but poorly, & most of the time have kept closely housed. It is not unlikely that before long we shall be compelled to leave your trying climate. This I should regret the more, because my son is very happy & progressing well at his school, in Norfolk, and because, besides, the Branch Council of England have during the past week voted to place my name upon the Medical Register, which has scarcely ever been done before in the case of an American, thus enabling me, if I chose, to practise in Great Britain. It will however have the effect wherever I go, of making England more of home to me hereafter than it could else have been.
We are so sorry that you have had so much illness.
Remember us both to your good husband, & believe me ever
yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mrs Dyer.
[Countway - 1994--Ropes to Chadwick letter with copy of Storer letter]
Boston:
40 State Street:
3 Sept. 1877
My dear Jim:
The enclosed extract form a letter from Dr Storer was received this morning fomr his. His address is 49 Washington Street:
Newport: R.I.
Faithfully Yours
- C. Ropes [1836-1899-John Codman]
******"While in Boston, I was mindful of what you wrote me concerning Dr. Chadwick's wish that the books collected by the Gynaecological Society, should be added to his General Medical Library. I believe that I wrote you from London, that as at present arranged, when the books pass from my custody, they will have to go to the Boston Public Library. I think however that my old associates have still the power to determine this point, and I judge form some little conversation that I had with one or two of them, that they might be willing to make the change indicated. Should Dr. Chadwick still desire it, he would therefore to well to send an explicit request to that effect, either addressed to me officially as Secretary of the Society, or not, as he may prefer. I would then see that is was acted upon at the earliest moment. His application would be the more likely to be successful, should he incidentally allude to the fact that the Gynaecological Society of Boston as an organization for this special work dissociated from the kindred department of Obstetrics, (Midwifery) dated prior to all others that have ever been established.
I cannot act in the matter on my own responsibility, and could more easily effect in the way indicated what Dr. Chadwick desires than otherwise."
Signed
Horatio R. Storer.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20977-8]
49 Washington St.
Newport, R.I.
1 Sept. 1877
My dear Dr Toner,
On returning to Boston a few days ago after five years absence in Europe, I found a very kind letter from Dr John Morris of Baltimore, informing me of the approaching publication of your History of the Rocky Mountain Medical Association. It has given me great pleasure to subscribe for a copy, & I shall value it all the more highly because the work of a most esteemed friend.
That I did not answer the one or two letters of inquiry you sent me regarding my own professional life, you must pardon. I was sick in body & weary in mind, & was keenly alive to the fact that I have accomplished but very little that is worth remembering.
Though permanently crippled in limb, I have however been making through all these years a tolerably fair convalescence, & may yet hope to do some worthy labor. It is a joy to return again to th old field, & I gladly look forward to meeting again my brethren of the American and Rocky Mountain Medical Associations. Pardon me that I have placed the National body first. I used to be bitterly condemned for asserting its authority as above that of the members of my native state. The lapse of time, & that sober meditation that illness & exile naturally induce, have but strengthened me in my allegiance to that organization that represents our whole country.
I hope you are in all respects as you yourself would desire; like good wine, but improving with the years.
Remember me to each of my old Washington & Georgetown friends as you may chance to meet, & believe me
ever sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. J.M. Toner.
49 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
4 Sept. 1877
Dear Sir,
I fear that I may have neglected to acknowledge the volume & one pamphlet that you were kind enough to send me in London. Accept my thanks for these.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr [James Read] Chadwick.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20979-80]
Newport, R.I.
2 Oct. 1877
My dear Dr Toner,
Pardon my delay in acknowledging your very kind letter of the 4th ult. It has been owing to my strong disinclination for anything like notoriety, & were it not that it would be alike unkind & wrong to neglect assisting towards the completeness of your book, I should probably withhold the brief outline that I now enclose. So far from occupying the same honored position as our friends Drs Atlee & Davis, yourself, & a few others of the elder brethren, I feel like Keats, as I have already intimated to you, that my name "has been writ in water." Not that I would in any way have changed my record save to add to it, & to intensify & deepen some of its lines. Life or rather one's active health, is but short, & our Art is very long. There remains much that I wished to do, & that I might indeed have accomplished had I but recognized my time. Instead of giving me "eight pages" like the first leaders to whom you have referred, let a dozen lines suffice.
The great satisfaction that I take in my medical history is from having been able to help, under much condemnation, in removing some of the obstacles toward the honorable recognition by the general profession of the department to which I had devoted myself, & in believing that I was instrumental, both at Washington & at Boston, in preserving under still greater obloquy the very existence of the American Medical Association during the most troublous times of its history, at the close of the Civil War.
Concerning the late Dr. E. B. Moore of Boston. I enclosed to his son, Mr. S. G. Moore, a druggist at Chelsea, Mass., the duplicate circular that you sent me, with the request that he would fill it out & return to you. He has probably already done so.
I shall look forward with pleasure to our next meeting. You will smile when I tell you that I have often thought of the delicious breakfast, whereat you feasted us upon shad served in cream, in the house so crowded with books.
ever yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
Newport, R. I.
2 Nov. 1877
Dear Sir,
Yours of the 8th ult., & a letter from Dr. Wadsworth as Clerk of the B M S G, have both been received. As soon as I can find time to do so, probably during the present month, I shall take pleasure in communicating them both to the members of the Gyn. Soc.
Remember me kindly to Dr Lyman, & believe me
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Chadwick.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20981]
Moss Bank Cottage
Newport, R.I.
12 Nov. 1877
Dear Dr.
Pardon my delay. It has been caused by having to attend to a little army of mechanics, who have been getting my house into order for the winter. I enclose your "sketch" & tomorrow or next day will send the "list."
The letter to Dr. Thompson I sent to our friend & my old associate in practice, Dr. Warner of Boston with the request that he would personally place it in Dr T's hands if still living; or find out some member of his family if he has deceased.
Yrs ever sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20982]
Moss Bank Cottage
Newport, R.I.
17 Nov. 1877
My Dear Dr.
I trust the enclosed may be of service. I have kept no record whatever of what I have done, nor copies of my publications. I had collected a very valuable series of med. journals, but presented them before my illness to the library of the Gynl. Society. What books I still have are yet unpacked, so that I have been unable to verify the correctness of the references in the present imperfect list save the journal of the Gynl. Society. Possibly you will be kind enough to do so in your own library, if not too much trouble. When you get the 2d proof from the printer, be so good as to let me see it before you send finally to the press. & oblige
Yrs ever sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
I sent the "sketch"several days ago with slight additions. Let me know if you received this safely.
[Countway Library - 1994]
Newport, R.I.
22 Nov. 1877
Dear Dr.
Your portrait of Waterhouse, which I return herewith, is identical with that in Lettson's(?) "Hints rc",(?) vol III, 1816 - while that in the Redwood Library, his head resting on his hand, was taken while he was still a very young man. I have obtained permission to have it photographed should you desire it. The cost would probably be from two to three dollars.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr Martin -
Dr Frances, the genealogist of this place, knows all about his tribal affinities. He rattled the branches of the family tree for me till I got quite bewildered. Write him that you would value such information, & he will send it all, in black & white
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20983]
Newport, R.I.
29 Nov. 1877
Dear Dr.
You will very likely find that the following brace of my papers failed to get noted on the list.
- A Medico-Legal Study of Rape.
New York Med. Journal Nov. 1865
- The Abetment of Criminal Abortion by Medical Men.
Read before Massachusetts Medical Society, May 30, 1866.
New York Med. Journal, Sept. 1866 p423.
I had forgotten them
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Countway]
Newport, R. I.
2 Jan. 1877[back this soon? Probably should read 1878!]
My dear Sir,
I had been unable at an earlier date to call a meeting of the Gynaecological Society to act upon Dr Chadwick's request, that first reached me through you. Yesterday however being the usual date of the Annual Meeting, it was held, & I presented the communication that had been sent form the Executive Committee of the Dr's "Boston Medical Library Association."
By its Constitution, should our own Society ever be absolutely dissolved, its library must go to the Public Library of Boston. There seemed no alternative therefore, in order to meet Dr Chadwick's wishes, but to revive the Society, which had never formally ceased existence, that it might place its books "on Deposit" with the Library Association, as has been done by other medical organizations in the city.
The extent of what I anticipated was that yearly or possibly quarterly meetings might be held, merely to keep up the organization of the Society, for I had been given to understand that with my illness, & the coincident cessation of the Society's meetings[!] & discontinuance of its Journal[!], almost every particle of life in it had been quenched.
To my exceeding surprize, the meeting yesterday was attended by a large proportion of the immediate members (By the Constitution the number can never exceed 24, & is now 21), most of whom I had not seen since my return. They proved as one man enthusiastic in their greeting, & most kind in their expression as to the future, & while cordially assenting to Dr Chadwick's desire, they utterly objected to & overthrew all my plans for a quiescent state, voting to immediately recommence, & continue as formerly, frequent & hardworking meetings, & capped the climax (shall I say of their absurdity?), by electing me to the Presidential Chair, that had been vacated during my absence by Dr Winslow Lewis' death.
I have made it however clearly understood that since Dr Chadwick & his friends have taken the initiative by their courteous and very fairly worded communications, which have practically necessitated the reestablishment of the Society & its being brought into more direct relations than heretofore with the Boston profession, there must be nothing from this moment to disturb the present general tranquillity.
A Committee has been appointed to confer with that of the Association & arrange the transfer of the Society's library, which in its special department will probably prove to be nearly twice as large as the corresponding collection already possessed by Dr Chadwick & his friends.
The Society's Journal, of which from the outset I was the responsible editor, was conducted at the joint risk and expense of myself & Mr James Campbell of Fremont St, the only medical bookseller & publisher in town. When I fell ill, I thought, from evidence that was brought to me, I had reason to believe that Mr. C. had been keeping false accounts, & as he claimed a balance in his favor of several hundred dollars, I refused to pay it, & the publication of the journal was discontinued. Mr Dexter took the matter in hand, & affected a settlement with Mr C. The copyright stood in my own name, & the Journal had always been stereotyped. Now I was told yesterday, to my great surprize, by Dr Chadwick, librarian, & Dr Hingham, who was one of my old pupils at the Harvard School before the Faculty turned me out of the humble position that was then my comfort & pride, that the file of our Journal is very frequently consulted by Boston physicians, & that it is entirely out of print. I should like to know, in this connection, what has become of the stereotype plates, if they are still in existence. Perhaps Mr Dexter, if you will kindly ask him, may recollect what arrangement was made concerning them when he obtained my release from Mr Campbell's claims, & whether I still retain the copyright.
If still available, the plates might be made of use to the Society in effecting the increase of the library strength as systems of exchange.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mr Ropes [John Codman??]
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20984-5]
12 March 1878
Newport, R.I.
Dear Dr.
I return the two slips of proof thus far received. When completed, I would like to have 1000 extras, perfectly plain, without cover, & with a single line of small plain type preceding to show that it is taken from your book. As a good example of what I mean, I enclose the biography of Faye of Christiana(?), from the library of the Gynaecological Society of Boston. Be kind enough to return it in an early mail. On receipt of the bill for extras, I will remit.
Let me take this opportunity of mentioning a matter that will be sure to interest you. The little Gynaecological Society of Boston has kindly made me its president, our venerable Dr. Winslow Lewis having deceased, & at my suggestion has determined to develop its already very large collection (several hundred) of books & monographs upon the diseases of women, into a library worthy the name, & accessible for consultation to all American gynaecologists. You have already been a very liberal donor to the Society, having sent us copies of Feind(?) , Severn, Lakiotic(?) , King, Walus(?) & Whyte . From your own pen however, we have only the "Anniversary Oration delivered before the Medical Society of the District of Columbia in 1869". The remainder of your series would be greatly valued. You have probably some(?) duplicates that you would be glad to place where they would do much good service. Everything bearing upon the subject, bound or forcife(?) , even to the smallest pamphlet, would be carefully preserved.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
You already know that should you ever come to Newport I shall expect you to make your stay at my house. (?)____ (?)____ remainder of the first proof. I would like to have your printer send me a revise(?) of this.
[Countway - Oct 1994]
Newport, R.I.
18 March, 1878
Dear Dr.
I appreciate your feeling as to increasing the usefulness & influence of the Gynecological Society, & desire to do what I best can toward obtaining these ends. A to any change in the name, however, I am in some doubt. It is already, as at present styled, widely & not unfavorably known. It will not be as difficult to increase its good reputation as it was to initiate it. As to the general term, I think you will find that most of the profession consider it to include the medical as well as the surgical side, alike as to technical interpretation, & as to the working in practice. Besides, the homeopaths in Massachusetts have now started a "Surgical & Gynecological" Society, & we should be sure to be laughed at if we follow their suit in a Medico-Gynecological one.
As to our members assuming to themselves, or acquiring, any special character, it is no more necessary than that the members of the Obstetrical Society should be, or thereby become, simply accoucheurs.
I should probably favor the enlargement of the Society to any extent that might seem desirable, but would prefer that the existing vacancies should first be filled. There are already to such vacancies (Drs Lewis & Bixby), & the directions that the Society have given by vote to the Treasurer will soon ascertain whether there are to be others. Let us consolidate into better shape our already existing material, & then if Dr Hunt & others desire to join us, the Committee upon Membership will be glad to consider their claims. I noticed with interest Dr Hunt's researches into Pneummo(?)-Dynamics in last weeks M. & S. Journal. The discussion had(?) f_____ to employ on both sides, both wind & strength.
Be so good as to return by mail the life of Dr Lewis by Mr Shephard, that I sent you. It must go in its place with the books now in process of transference to the Med. Library Association.
Yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. [Henry Austin] Martin.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20986]
Newport, R.I.
22 March, 1878
My dear Dr Toner,
I fear that you will consider me both ungrateful & unappreciative, that I have not asked you as to what heading you yourself would put to those extras. Be good enough to tell me by return mail, & I will endeavor to decide & let Mr Jones(?) know before he has lost all patience. The novelty of being the subject of an ante-obituary(?), or rather of being conscious of the process of one's own embalmment, must be my excuse for the delay. I have first read with very great interest & pleasure for I had not found it before the biographical sketch of yourself in the N.W. Med & Surg Journal for June 1873. If you still have a spare copy, it would be much valued for the Library of the Gynaecological Society unless indeed the copy you then sent was intended for it & not for myself.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
Two or three more of my papers have received to(?) _____ N. H. Journal of M. S. Journal of Psychology L. S. & Tr. Journal Rev. of Med. & Pharmacy; & London Lancet
[Redwood Library and Athenaeum]
Moss Bank Cottage
12 April, 1878
My dear Sir,
I send for your Board copies of painting os Columbus & Vespucius, one of which is somewhat similar to a larger one tht you already have - whether identical or not, I do not recollect - These, for thepresent, I would like to place "on Deposit".
You will also find the following which may be acceptable as a gift - or possibly of use when the Redwood School of Art, which will come by & bye, has been established.
viz:
Thirteen studes of the human figure by a Neapolitan artist, Licato - made some forty or fifty years ago -
Charcoal copes of Ruff. ( Russ.?) Sanzio's Tebaldeo(?), & of portraits of the Archduke Charles of Austria - by P. La Monica of Naples, an artist still living, though these were also done many years since.
I add a photograph of "Togetha's famous painting of Venus, just sent me by my friend Dr Mc Nutt of San Francisco. As this gentleman is in a position to materially aid the Library. I send two pictures as a gift from him rather than myself, & would sugget that if you have not a copy already, you should send him a line in acknowledgment - His address is, Dr. F. McNutt, 121 Montgomery St. San Francisco -
yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Mr. Rhoades
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20987-8]
The Gynaecological Society of Boston,
FOUNDED IN 1869.
Devoted to the advancement of the knowledge of the Diseases of Women.
Horatio R. Storer, M.D. Joseph G. Pinkham, M.D.
(Newport, R.I.) President (Lynn, Mass.) Treasurer
Henry M. Field, M.D.
(Newton, Mass.) Secretary.
Newport, R.I.
15 June, 1878
My dear Dr Toner,
With reference to the invitation you were kind enough to extend to me to deliver one of the Toner Lectures. I shall be much obliged if you will kindly send me brief particulars respecting the scope one is allowed as to subject, length, time of preparation &c. As yet I only know that you have founded the lectureship, but beyond this nothing more.
Veteran as you are in the wrongs, the wiles, & (may I not say, recollecting our victorious smile the other day at Buffalo) the delights, of downright professional warfare. You may be interested by the new phase the Massachusetts Medical Society's ruine(?) year's imbroglio has just assumed. I send you a newspaper containing a protest & an appeal from the so-called Councillors of the Society to the Fellows at large, that was presented at the Annual Meeting last Wednesday. It was quietly pocketed by the President, not a word being said to the meeting as to who was the sender, or what was the nature of the appeal. The last possible means for my obtaining justice at home has thus been resorted to in vain, & I have now no redress save through the American Medical Association's establishing a common & uniform basis of representation & government for all the State Societies in the Union. In Massachusetts, so great & complete has been the gradual usurpation of power, that the State Society as such virtually no longer exists,--but merely the Board of Councillors, originally only advisory in their character (They used to spell themselves counsellors), but now a circle of Despots -- a body which, at San Francisco & on occasion of their protest against the discipline of the previous year, the American Medical Association voted it had no cognizance of, & therefore could not recognize. You will find this Board of Councillors fitly denounced by Dr. Bowditch in a letter & from Buffalo, contained in the very last number (June 13, 1878, p. 789) of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. They live in the continued hope, openly expressed & as openly acted upon, that the Am. Med. Association will soon cause, or be brought through themselves, to its end. The subject is one that for the good of the whole profession, might well be considered by yourself & your associates of the Judicial Council.
Speaking of this, will you kindly inform me (for I am sure that you are in possession of all such knowledge), as to whether there has as yet existed in this country a journal, conduced by any individual or number of individuals, that has been wholly devoted to the interests of the Amer. Med. Association, -- not entirely like the British Association journal, for that is official, but a near approximation thereto.
Has your professional Directory of the "fifty thousand" yet been published?
Yrs ever sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20989-90]
Newport, R.I.
25 April, 1879
My dear Dr Toner,
Knowing the devoted interest with which you have always cared for the deceased members of the American Medical Association, I have prepared for you the enclosed notes, many of which you may yourself have collected during the past year. Though so near the time of the meeting, I hope that they will prove acceptable.
I notice that in the 1878 list, several names are omitted that you gave in your separate eulogies, & that in one or two cases, where catalogued in both, there are discrepancies in dates.
I have been trusting all along that I would be able to meet you at Atlanta, but now fear that I may be prevented from attending. My little girl is just convalescing from scarlet fever, & is hardly strong enough to take so long a journey, & on the other hand I don't like to go so far from her. If I cannot go, however, I will send a paper to the Section on Public Hygiene, which I will esteem it a great favor if you will kindly give a thought to, so far a to see that it gets formally presented. It will be mailed to Dr. Logan, the Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements. It is upon the new principle of "Sanitary Protection", which bids fair to be a valuable addition to our measures for protecting the public health. I sent you the pamphlet of the Newport organization some weeks since, & you will have noticed the peculiar feature of the plan, which is already affecting a great work here. I have been intending to urge upon you the establishing of a similar Association at Washington.
In the March number of the New York Sanitarian, I have a paper upon the general subject, intended as merely preliminary to the more formal communication that I wish now to present at Atlanta. The whole credit of the new idea belongs to Fleming Jenkins, Prof. of Engineering in the University of Edinburgh.
with sincere respect & regard
yrs ever
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. J. M. Toner.
I notice in the 1878 roll of members that I am entered as having joined the Association in that year. Dating, however, from 1856, I do not find it pleasant to have been dropped from the list when our friend Dr. Atkinson knew very well that my prolonged absence & silence were because I was "absent from the country." In the list of cities of the 1878 volume, I am also entered as of Providence R.I.
[Smithsonian Institution Arechives Record unit 7002 SF Baird Collection, Box 34]
Newport R.I.
19 May 1880
My dear Prof. Baird,
Only this moment am I able to report concerning the New York houses. My letter miscarried, & I hfa had to wait for the arrival her of the owner. She(?) came by last nights boat. The smaller of teh two houses has meanwhile been let. The larger, the one with the view, is still disengaged. It is large, rather elegantly furnished, & till now occupied each summer by the ______ , Mr Isaac C. Kendall, a wealthy New Yorker. He died last season. The price asked is $1200 - Possibly $1000 would be accpeted.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
[Smithsonian Institution Arechives Record unit 7002 SF Baird Collection, Box 34]
Newport R.I.
20 May 1880
Dear Sir,
Yours received. I neglected to state that the New York cottage has a good stable upon the premises, which I take it for granted woes with the house. It wold of coures be best for you to judge of things for yourself personally, or through Mrs Churchill who probably would know your indoor needs.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Baird
[Smithsonian Institution Arechives Record unit 7002 SF Baird Collection, Box 34]
Newport R.I.
25 May 1880
Dear Sir,
Upon reporting your decision to Mrs Kendall this morning, she desired me to say that if you have not already completed teh other arrangement ot which you refer, you can have her cottage for $800. It is large conveniently ordered, & well furnished, & the stable goes with it. I am somewhat surprized at theoffer, for I believe the house was let for a single Summer, four or five years ago, for something like $3000. It is getting a little late in teh season however, the majority the cottage being already let, & it may be a mark upon the lady's part, of the great respect with which the head of Governement departments are viewed at Newport.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
I am told, what I was not certain about before, that Mrs Rudolph, of whom I spoke with reference to providing meals, affords an excellent table. The houses are direcetcly opposite each other as below.
[map follows which shows HRS house Elm St. Washington St. etc.]
My son writes that he was just starting for Phil when he received my letter, & regrets that he was unable to see you.
[Smithsonian Institution Arechives Record unit 7002 SF Baird Collection, Box 34]
Moss Bank Cottage
Newport R.I.
8 Dec. 1880
My dear Sir,
In(I'm?) acknowledging the receipt of the even more than ususally interesting Annual History of which you yourself have made to be a Special Science, I must also refer to your kind letter of Oct 8th, in which you alluded to our having seen nothing watever of each the whole three months that you were at Newport.
To me this was a source of extreme regret. I had looked forward to the coming of the Commission with great anticipation, & had promised myself a daily visit to its laboratory, & shold gladly have put the whole time of myself, my three grown sons (who were then at home with us), & my boatman at your service as collectors for with much of the bottom for ten miles in every direction we are now tolerably familiar.
I called some four times at Mrs. Ive's, leaving my card each time, & twice I endeavored to see Mrs Baird as well as yourself. Three times I went to the Lead works ______ the first time findin no one, the second time only a student, & thelasttime Messrs Vermill(?) & Smith, who were certainly extremely cordial. This was the occasion of the unfortunate attempt with the telephone, when neither they nor I could catch a word. I had the, for perhaps two minutes, by only glimplse of you for the whole summer, & as I received no invitation form the Head of the Commission, then or subsequently, to go to the place again, I of coure nade no attempt to do so. You will perhaps say that this was too hast action upon my part, hurried by many duties of many kinds as I know you to have been. Invalids, however cannot always help being sensitive, & find it difficult at times to appreciate that they have ceased to be of use. It was, as I have said, a great & permanent disappointment to have seen nothing of the practical working of the Commission.
To turn to a more pleasant topic. Rumors have been rife in Newport that you may decide to have a permanent station here, like or in place of that at Woods Holl, with arrangement for the care& development of living specimens. Is this ture? I should be glad, should it prove so - especially if the establishment coudl be under the direction of such a man as Mr Porval. I would most millingly aid in any way that might be possible. As usual I spend the whole Summer & Fall upon the water, & as usual (this being my fourth winter in Newport) I shall keep one of my sail boats "in commission" through the winter, for we have many days of open weather, in which both duck shooting & cod fishing can be done with but little discomfort.
If the permanent station referred to is among the possibilities (it would not be inappropriate, within the torpedo school the ______ survey &c here, in whole or in part, as fixtures & the Naval Training School propsectively so), you could not do better that obtain teh large house, very near my own, belonging to Dr John P. Gray, of Utica, N.Y. In many respects it would be as good, in others much better, for the purposes indicated (even at $1000 or $1500 a year), than the Lead works. It is directly upon the water, with good landing & anchorage, & much purer sea water than in the lower harbor.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Prof. Baird.
I myself in vain offered $20,000 for the house above referred to, before purchasing my own.
[Smithsonian Institution Arechives Record unit 7002 SF Baird Collection, Box 34]
Newport, R.I.
17 Dec. 1880
My dear Sir,
From a collection of old engravings taht I found abroad, I send you thirteen that possibly you may not yet have, at least disconnected from the works in which they appeared.
I had hoped that in the cause, Newport vs. Woods Holl, the fact that a station here would be visited by such a host of influential people, aside from members of Congress & foreigners might have some weight. Could not your Mr Edwards, whom I met at Gould Island for a few moments last summer while he was draining a seine, be transferred here with the other material, active & inert, of teh Commission? To have a permanent station here need in no way interfere with your annual flying visits to other portions of the Coast. It would however give us the pleasure of seeing yourself occasionally, & it would add very greatly to the present attractions of Newport.
Since receiving your letter, I regret the more that I lost so much last Summer.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Prof Baird.
It has been intrusted to me today since writing the above that surprize had been felt by members of teh Commission that so little interest had been practically shown by the people of Newport in its method of work, & success. I have accordingly spoken with several of the more influential residents here, who did not visit the Lead Works, & they without exception tell me that they would have been delighted to do so, but that they took it for granted from your so out-of-the-way a site, in such an unsavory part of the town, that you did so for the purpose of discouraging visits from all persons not officially connected withthe Commission. I shall therefore at once prepare & put in circulation among householders a petition requesting you, unless you should find the advantages of Woods Holl altogether too great in comparison, to establish a permanent station at Newport "for the purpose of studying throughtout the year the habits, artificial propagation & development of various species of fish while in captivity, & of the marine animals which constitute their food"
[Houghton Library]
Newport, R.I.
6 April, 1881
My dear Sir,
Permit me to earnestly join in the universal entreaty that you accept the chaplaincy at Cambridge. To belief that your impress upon so many men, yearly changing, would weigh more in the last analysis than the most successful general pastorate, To have to add personal desire for your constant influence upon my two sons, John, at Cambridge already - Malcolm, to go this Summer.
Ever sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
The Rev. P. Brooks
Brooks, Phillips
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Phillips Brooks, b. Dec. 13, 1835, d. Jan. 23, 1892, was an American Episcopalian bishop noted for his pulpit oratory. He served as rector of churches in Philadelphia and Boston and as bishop of Massachusetts in his last years. A "broad" churchman with great confidence in liberal theology and American culture, he stressed the undiscovered potential in human nature and the transforming power of Christianity. His lectures at Yale were published as Lectures on Preaching in 1877. Brooks also wrote poetry and hymns, including the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (1868).
Bibliography: Albright, Raymond, Focus on Infinity (1961);Allen, Alexander V. G., ed., Life and Letters of Phillips Brooks, 2 vols. (1900)[see if any from/to HRS-Find where his letters are!]; Lawrence, William, Phillips Brooks: A Study (1930).
[Countway]
Dr. HORATIO R. STORER, having regained his health, has resumed practice in Boston, with his former professional associate, Dr. L. F. Warner, and may be consulted on Thrusdays, from 12 to 4 o'clock, at their old place of business, Hotel Pelham, corner of Boylston and Tremont Streets.
Newport, R. I., Dec. 1st, 1881.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20991-2]
Moss Bank Cottage
Newport, R.I.
22 March, 1882
My dear Dr Toner,
It is to you that all of the members of the Am. Med. Assoct., at their decease, look for honorable burial. One of the most eminent physicians of Rhode Island, & a very early member of the Assoct. (1848), Dr. Davis King of this city, recently been called to his rest. Do you desire a notice of him for your annual report? He was a man after your own heart, a famed bibliophilist.
There are two other worthy Newport physicians, of whom I am not certain whether you have made detailed mention, Drs Stephen W. Butler (Am. Med. Assoc. 1865) who died a year since, & Theophilus C. Dunn (1847, a V. P.), whose decease was in 1871. IF they have thus far failed of notice from the necrologist, I could probably obtain what you would desire, from their families.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20993-4] [20994 also has "resume" card dec 1881]
Moss Bank Cottage
Newport, R.I.
2 May, 1882
Dear Dr.
I send you by this mail a little commemorative book about "Oldport" that possibly you may not have. It contains a sketch of the former medical men of the place, by that friend of the Am. Assoct. & ourselves, the late Usher Parsons of Providence. You really owe the volume to Mr James H. Taylor, a good old fashioned druggist, of whom I begged it for you. Kindly therefore send him a line of acknowledgment. He knows you by repute very well, as Prest. of the Association.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[College of Physicians of Philadelphia---Gross Library Manuscript Collection.]
Newport, R. I.
20 Sept. 1882
My dear Sir,
The card, void of all save your name, has assured me of your safe return to Phila, & has reminded me of what was said of the Surgical Association. I do not know your rules, or the necessary qualifications of members, & can therefore only say that when a vacancy occurs in your number, I should esteem it an honor to be considered a candidate for a place among the elect of American Surgeons, & to be permitted thus to become one of your own professional children.
The enclosed outline of much attempted & but little done, ought perhaps not to have been granted to the solicitation of our good friend Dr. Toner. Several of the points indicated therein have been turned to their own account by now prominent men. It has been a question whether Sloan of Ayrshire may not have conceived from slippery elm tents his first thought of thus using the sea-tangle. Many used to think that Barnes of London found in the uterine dilators (acting from above) of Keiller of Edinburgh & myself, which were suggested to the profession in Scotland & America independently of each other, & upon almost the same day, the idea which he subsequently has rendered classic. The removal of the distended sac in umbilical hernia, to prolong a constantly threatened life, may have possibly served to establish a precedent in similar exceptional cases. Unjustifiable interference with gestation has become recognized as a potent factor in the rendering permanent certain conditions of pregnancy, & in otherwise inducing pelvic disease. Eversion of the rectum for diagnosis & treatment, by digital pressure from within the vagina, is practised now by every surgeon, & reflex, curable, insanity in women is at last acknowledged as one of the inherent "rights" of their sex.
But these are all trifles to one (our?) rex chirurgorum.
ever sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Prof Gross.
[RTP Storer, Oct 1994]
Christmas Eve -
1882
My dear daughter,
There is an old saying that
"All work and no play,
would make John a dull boy,
and
All play and no work
would make John a mere toy".
Now what is true of John, or Jack, as they called him, is just as true of his Sister Agnes. The best way for all is to work part of the time, and then to play for a while, or rest, which is play for old people like your papa and mama - and then, after resting or playing for a while, to work again. Knowing this, I hope you will have a great many happy hours while playing upon your piano, and then for that change that I have said was necessary for us all, I hope you will have a great many more and just as happy hours with the work basket. I shall now be able to take you all my buttons, & my stockings, so that dear mama may find a little play, in rest-
With love
your father.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20995]
Newport, R.I.
12 Jan. 1883
Dear Dr.
The enclosed slip, from this morning's "Providence Journal", may interest you, so far at least as concerns Dr. Senter. Perhaps you can give the desired information concerning Dr. Walter Rodman.
The Writer "Aquidneck", is the correspondent, "Champlin", of the NY Evening Post in pravia(?) propria(?), Mr George Champlin Mason(?), a celebrated architect of this city.
Wishing you all the happiness that can come from a joyous Xmas & a glad New Year, I am
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
Newport Daily News
2 May 1884
THE CATHOLIC VOTE AND PRESIDENT ARTHUR.
To the Editor of the Daily News:-
Permit me to call the attention of Catholics to a point that I have been surprised not to have seen made as yet by any religious or secular journal; namely, that it is the duty of every Catholic voter to employ all his influence, small or great, as it may prove, towards the reelection of President Arthur. Were there no other reason, it should be done towards canceling the immense debt of gratitude under which he has just placed the church, in the matter of the release of the American college of Rome from the impending confiscation of the parent institution of Propaganda.[???]
President Arthur I neither know nor have ever seen. He would have been my choice in the coming election for the reason that becoming our chief magistrate under circumstances than which none could be more difficult, he has acquitted himself discreetly and well. It would be wise, besides, to continue in office a public servant who had succeeded not half so perfectly as he has done, rather than take the chance of a more incapable man simply for the sake of change. But beyond all this, I now put the fact that in a new and most delicately difficult situation, Mr. Arthur has kept the Golden Rule towards so many thousands of his fellow citizens, a very large part of whom are the socially and politically weak, poor in the world's goods, and all of them outside his own communion. That he as done so has proved, in the most open and emphatic way, that he is in no sense a mere and selfish politician, for men of that class would have been sure to hesitate, and he who hesitates in such a matter as this is as sure to lose his life's great opportunity. It may be said that the President has but been true to the American idea, but then he has presented this idea in a new and most vivid light to the world of the nations, and in his act after all there is evident a manly personal dignity and a very unusual degree of moral courage. Mr. Arthur therefore deserves the general expression of our gratitude, by an unanimous vote for his reelection, and it will be another honor for Newport if this city can commence the movement which would be certain to result in success.
The whole correspondence relative to the affair of the American college at Rome, including the letters by Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop Corrigan, Secretary Frelinghuysen and Minister Astor, and also those by the Italian minister of foreign affairs, and Signor Sarelli, the Italian minister of peace and justice, will be found in the Catholic Review (11 Barclay street, N.Y.), for the week ending May 3d. Protestants as well as Catholics would receive more than their six cents' value, if sending for it as a mere matter of history. It will be noticed that Archbishop Corrigan states of the college at Rome that "American citizenship is a condition precedent for admission to its walls." And further, "A few years ago the Irish college in Rome was menaced with alienation; a word from the Minister of Great Britain shielded it from danger. A few years ago the famous abbey of Monte Cassino was doomed to destruction; a word from Mr. Gladstone warded off the peril. A few years ago, in 1848, the Propaganda itself was in danger during the revolution; our glorious Stars and Stripes, sheltering its American inmates, averted all injury."
In the final letter of thanks in behalf of Cardinal McCloskey to the President, through Secretary Frelinghuysen, there occurs the following, which will be found to justify, as it has occasioned, my present communication:--"Besides expressing his own indebtedness for the good office of the government, so kindly and so successfully interposed, the Cardinal feels that he may also, in the premises, make himself the interpreter of the gratitude of the other bishops of the United States as well, and of the entire Catholic population." Horatio R. Storer, M.D. Newport, May 2d [1884]
ARTHUR, CHESTER ALAN
Presidency
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, and died two and a half months later. In a
brief inaugural address, Arthur said, "Men may die, but the fabric of our free
institutions remains unshaken." The administration that followed was competent
but uninspired. Arthur kept Conkling at arm's length and ran his own
government. Mrs. Arthur had died in 1880, and a sister served as First Lady.
The tall, urbane president, who wore sideburns and expensive clothes, shone in
society. When a visitor asked him about his expensive tastes, he replied, "I
may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned
business."
A stalemated party system and a divided Congress limited the achievements of
Arthur's term. He prosecuted grafters in the Post Office and vetoed (1882)
rivers and harbors legislation, but Congress overrode his veto. Arthur also
vetoed (1882) a bill that restricted Chinese immigration, compelling the
lawmakers to pass an improved and less harsh measure. After the Republicans
lost the midterm congressional elections of 1882, Congress enacted, with
Arthur's support, the Pendleton Law that created a Civil Service Commission and
a classified merit system. His support of a lower tariff failed when Congress
enacted the high protective tariff of 1883.
Arthur's tepid record and lack of strong support within his own party cost him
the presidential nomination in 1884. Moreover, he was ill with Bright's disease
and knew that he could not live out a second term. His race for the nomination
was only symbolic, and the party chose James G. BLAINE. Arthur died 21 months
after leaving office. At a time when the presidency was held in low esteem, he
had been both respectable and admirable in office. Conscientious though not
inspiring, he had demonstrated that men of modest background and attainments
could grow in the White House.
Early Political Career
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
Arthur was born in North Fairfield, Vt., on Oct. 5, 1829, the son of a Baptist
clergyman and schoolteacher. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady,
N.Y., in 1848 and was admitted to the bar in 1854. Practicing in New York City,
he defended fugitive slaves and joined the Republican party. In 1859 he married
Ellen Lewis Herndon, and they had three children.
Arthur became an aide to Edwin D. Morgan in Morgan's successful gubernatorial
campaign of 1860 and was appointed the state's engineer‑in‑chief. For the first
two years of the Civil War, he served as assistant quartermaster general,
supplying food and equipment for the New York militia, then inspector general,
and finally quartermaster general for New York. He won praise for his
organizing ability and his overall contribution to the war effort.
When Horatio Seymour, a Democrat, became governor in 1863, Arthur returned to
his law practice, working in Roscoe Conkling's New York political organization
for the next decade. Within the Republican party he was a skilled manager and
mediator. In 1871 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Arthur collector of the
port of New York, a post that involved the handling of two‑thirds of U.S. tariff
revenues. It was the most profitable and powerful patronage job in the nation,
and Arthur was as honest, efficient, and partisan as the position allowed. When
Conkling and President Rutherford B. HAYES quarreled over civil service reform
and party supremacy in 1878, Arthur was removed.
After the Republicans nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio for president in 1880,
they offered Arthur the vice‑presidency, hoping he would help carry New York in
the election. An angry Conkling, who disliked Garfield and had supported Grant
for the nomination, urged Arthur to decline, saying, "Drop it as you would a
red‑hot shoe from the forge." Arthur responded, "The office of vice‑president is
a greater honor than I ever dreamed of attaining," and accepted. In the
campaign he raised funds by assessing officeholders and personally oversaw the
successful Republican canvass of New York State. His services, a colleague
recalled, "were of the highest importance" to the party.
Chester Alan Arthur, 21st president of the United States (1881‑85), succeeded to
the presidency on the death of James A. GARFIELD on Sept. 19, 1881. An
influential member of Roscoe CONKLING's political organization in New York State
before he won the vice‑presidency in 1880, Arthur made a competent chief
executive. This creditable record contradicted the general dismay expressed
when he entered the White House.
Propaganda is the systematic attempt to manipulate the attitudes, beliefs, and
actions of people through the use of symbols such as words, gestures, slogans,
flags, and uniforms. The term generally carries a negative connotation and is
taken to mean ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further a
cause or to damage an opposing cause. The factor that distinguishes
propagandizing from educating and informing is deliberate selectivity and
manipulation. Within modern history, the propaganda machine of the German Nazis
under Joseph GOEBBELS is especially infamous.
The word propaganda was derived from the title of the Congregation for
Propagating the Faith (Congregatio de propaganda fide), established by Pope
Gregory XV in 1622, which had jurisdiction over missionary work conducted by the Roman Catholic church.
[RTP Storer, Oct 1994]
Newport, R. I.
7 Oct. 1884
Dear Daughter,
We are all well. I hope you are very contented. Mamma has found your knife. The Judge sends his compliments, and we our love. Remember me to teh good madames.
Ever with love
Your father
[RTP Storer, Oct 1994]
Newport, R. I.
14 Oct. 1884
My very dear daughter,
Mamma kept awake all last night, and was unhappy, thinking of you, because there was a north wester, and she feared that you might be blown out of the broken window, or the convent be tumbled over, or that something equally disastrous might happen. She is very likely even more homesick for our little maid, that you are for us. Sister --- who was the Countess Castiglione has sent us the enclosed invitation, which I wish we could accept. You may like to show it to Mother Norbert or Madame Mary of Jesus, and then give it to mamma on Thursday. I enclose some stamps. one or two of which came yesterday --
With a great deal of love from us all.
ever affectionately
your papa -
THE DUTY OF ROMAN CATHOLICS REGARDING PROHIBITION,
By DR. H. R. STORER,
President of the Newport (R.I.) Medical Society.
The following communication, written in reply to a letter of inquiry from a prominent Catholic of Boston, as to the proper attitude of members of the church towards Prohibition, appeared in the Newport Daily News for Sept. 30th 1884.
Newport R.I., Sept 26th 1884.
Dear Sir:-I have to thank you for the compliment implied by your letter requesting my advice as to your present duty in relation to the Presidential canvass. We are so completely in the same position as to this question, that I have reply as frankly as you yourself have written.
The very important query that you propose is one that I have met only after long and prayerful deliberation, for till now I have always been identified with the Republican party, and for many years I had held the view expressed by His Grace Archbishop Ryan. That, with a great host of other Catholics who will vote for St. John, I have ventured to seemingly depart from the letter of His Grace's injunction, though, as you will soon perceive, remaining in full harmony with its spirit, is for the following reasons:-
- In appearing to prohibit prohibition, the church is actuated by at least two motives:-
- That, as a church, it may remain consistent with its own rule, which forbids it, save in so far as its clergy are individual voters, to meddle with the politics of the country or state in which it happens to be situated, and
- That it may avoid seeming to contradict, or permit variance from, the rule which guarantees to every child of the church, as to every citizen, the right to conduct his own worldly affairs as he may see fit, including the business by which he supports himself and his family,and the diet by which he maintains or shortens his life, provided these are consistent with good morals, and the safety of the community in which he resides.
Now, upon the contrary,
(A.) The rule which forbids politics to the clergy, would seem, as the greater includes the less (and I say it with all deference to His Grace, for whom I have the most profound respect), to also forbid the message sent by him to the Catholic Total Abstinence Union, if as an intended factor in the present canvass.
(B.) The rule guaranteeing the abstract right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as within the limits defined by the church, protects us all, equally, not merely the liquor dealer and the liquor drinker, but abstainers, and the women and children. The same rule which would seemingly forbid interference with the abstract right of the law breaker to set social order at defiance, also actually forbids interference by him with the safety, comfort and general well being of the rest of the community. Any man, for instance, has the abstract right to keep a saloon. Upon the other hand, his neighbor has the abstract right, equally strong, to be protected from having temptation thrust upon him; he has the right to sleep at night in peace; he has the right to send his wife and children into the streets without offence to their morals or danger to their existence. Or, for the cases are exactly parallel, a man has the abstract right to keep a brothel. His neighbor has an equally strong abstract right that he should not do so. If it is said that the crime against good morals seems much greater in the latter case, it may be replied that such is not wholly true, for sexual lust is by far more universal and natural to mankind than mere thirst for strong drink, and the prostitute, in the majority of instances, consents to her own shame, as she has indeed, aside from religion, the abstract right to do. In the case of the brothel, the community, through the general consent of a majority of its members, suppresses the danger to itself and closes the house of sin, and the church willingly accepts, and even demands, this seeming infraction of its own rule of liberty. In the case of the dram shop, the community is fast rising to a higher moral standard than has obtained int he past, and the church will be sure to be found in sympathy with those whom she perceives to be really "men of good will."
- Upon this whole question of total abstinence as against moderate drinking, the church permits to its children, as to the reverent clergy, a very great latitude of opinion. There are some bishops, as there are many of the inferior clergy, who hold that even the drunkard may be left to his own impaired sense of duty in this matter. There are others who, like Rt. Rev. Bishop Ireland, declare that as "Ninety per cent, at least of all Irish crimes are traceable directly or indirectly to drink, we must lay the axe at the root of the evil." (Address at S. paul to Catholic Total Abstinence Union.) But, we are told, this abstinence must be voluntary. Upon the other hand, Rt. Rev. Bishop Ireland would even exclude, it is said, every liquor dealer from the holy sacraments. But this would be as directly interfering with his business, holding him up to public scorn and thereby preventing him from his self-chosen means of livelihood, as though statute law had closed the doors of his saloon or knocked in the heads of his casks. My own bishop, not long since, at Pawtucket, is said to have solemnly wished that a procession of the widows and orphans they had caused might be made to enter the doors of the saloons of that town. He did "deplore the fact that laws are made to sanction the sale and manufacture of death dealing drink," and declared that "whiskey ought to be banished from the country." But this, most certainly, would be at variance with the message of His Grace Archbishop Ryan. It would be upholding the doctrine of prohibition in its most emphatic form, for no one can doubt that such a demonstration as, it is generally supposed, was suggested by Bishop Hendricken, would have been sure to be followed by the sacking of the saloons, if not the lynching of their keepers, so great would have been the popular indignation at the misery they had produced.
III. Abstinence, it is said, must be voluntary; and yet, and I here quote for a work authorized by the church, published solely for the use of the reverend clergy, and to be procured in this country only through Fr. Pustet & Co., of New York, and Cincinnati, church booksellers and publishers, namely, the "Medicina Pastoralis" of Capellmann, published at Aix-la-chapelle in 1879, the doctrine of the church runs thus concerning drunkards. "Ad sanandum nominen ebriosum, etc. For restoring an habitual drunkard to habits of sobriety, there exists but one single remedy, and that, force." "For when a tippler cannot restrain himself, he must be restrained by others" (Page 51). In the face of this statement, what becomes of the literal reading of the rule of purely voluntary abstinence? But, it may be said, to warrant this application of restraint, this "vis," in other words not merely prohibition but the violent infraction of one's personal liberty as well, the tippler must be a confirmed one. Who then is to draw the line where moral suasion is to end and the assistance fo the law begin, for the restraint permitted is not defined to be that of relatives or friends alone, but, by implication, even that of the policeman and the jailer. Is it the reverend clergy, who in every case are to sign the warrant? Is it the medical man, who has been summed to dress the homicidally or suicidally inflicted wound? Or is it the law of the land? The church is wisely silent. If, as is stated, the loss of self-control, "qui ex delirio perfecto laborant," is to determine the stage at which restraint by others is to begin, the moment the self immolated victim declares by his behavior that he has become willing to disgrace himself, his family, his friends, his church, and the very God who made him, that moment the necessary stage will seem to have been reached.
Moreover, says Capellmann, "Privetur potibus inebraintibus, quaelibet occasio, illos sibi comparandi. Every occasion is to be removed of the inebriate's drinking, or obtaining the means to drink." Now this is as distinct an injunction as language can frame, that not only is the victim of drink to be debarred the abstract and natural right of drinking what he chooses, but he is to be prevented from purchasing what he chooses, and by implication the liquor dealer is also to be restrained from selling what he chooses to the drunkard. What stronger evidence can be possible, to show that you and I, in endeavoring to protect our brothers, the innocent form the tempter, and the vendor from himself and from the evil one, are in reality but obeying the rules of the church?
- It is our duty as citizens, and we are told by the church, to assist in preserving the existence of the nation of which we are each an individual part. We, therefore, ought not to stand aloof from the present canvass and refuse to vote at all. Some of us cannot, myself for one, conscientiously support the Republican candidate, for he has shown himself unfit for public trust. or can I, upon the other hand, uphold the Democratic nominee, since he falls short of that high personal character which should be indispensable in the head of our republic. There is accordingly but one single course besides that is possible for us. To pursue it, therefore, becomes our duty and the more clearly so, s the distinct aim of the new party, at whose birth we are now assisting, is to glorify Almighty God, and to uphold righteousness.
- We must not forget, as underlying the apparent inconsistency and want of concert upon this question, among the reverent clergy and the right reverend bishops, that the light wines of Italy and the continent are so very different from the fiery whiskeys and rum sought by our own intemperates, that what is permissible indulgence in the one land becomes a most dangerous risk in the other. This is a point that the church, I believe, has partially lost sight of. She would not, to be consistent with herself, deviate from a time honored maxim, nor should she suffer the imputation of mistake in the past by any course that though seeming an advance, might be misinterpreted as change. It is my firm conviction, however, that the church by further definition of private as conflicting with public right, and of individual liberty as restrained everywhere and upon all sides by that of all others, will yet show distinctly that our present position is at one with her own.
- I will not say, for it would be very wrong for me to do so, that a prohibitor law by the church upon the reverent clergy themselves, would go far towards the millennium so longed for by Bishops Ireland and Hendricken. There is no more potent influence, however, for good than the force of example, and though in cases of illness the strictest rule of abstinence has to be relaxed in obedience to the physician,--for those who are well, no matter what their position in the social order, there can be no greater safety, no higher test, than a mind absolutely in its normal conditio of stability, uninfluenced by strong drink, no less than by anger, envy, hatred or unhallowed desire. Should the Sovereign Pontiff, through the grace of God, be moved to issue such an edict as I have ventured to imagine,--and were Rome but upon our own soil, he might see reason to do so--what a multiplication of good example there would be set us, what a realization of the golden rule of practical love to one's neighbor there would be, what a wonderful access of influence and vigor to Holy Church:
VII. I think that from the above you will perceive that by upholding Prohibition (save for sacramental and strictly medicinal purposes). we are in obedience to our spiritual superiors. In my own case, there exists an additional obligation. A couple of years ago there was established here in Newport, but he ordinary of this diocese, Rt. Rev. Bishop Hendricken, with the assistance of Rt. Rev. Bishop Chatard (of Vincennes), and with the permission and approbation of His Eminence, Cardinal McCloskey, a Catholic society within my own profession, The Guild of St. Thomas of Aquin, with distinctly defined duties, one of which is the reclamation of the drunkard and the prevention of this most slavish and hideous vice. The welfare of the guild and obedience to its rules were committed, in part, to myself, as it first provost, and I have daily striven to be mindful of them. My present position as a Prohibitionist, is in exact conformity thereto. That the guild has not become more conspicuous, or shown more evidence of activity and life, as been owing , in a measure, to the feeble health of its reverend chaplain, upon whom devolves the task of regularly calling its meetings. In this, as in all other affairs of our lives, a seed must at times remain dormant for a while, and we can but patiently wait Almighty God's own time.
VIII. Until we are told by our direct superiors that we are in this matter of prohibition in opposition to a rule of the church, it is our duty, I think, to pursue our own conviction of what is right. o such statement has yet been made for the altar of St. Mary's in Newport. Should such however occur, we have still the liberty to appeal to our bishop, our archbishop, the cardinal and if needs be to our Holy Father himself. Meanwhile, the Presidential Canvass goes on, and it is our duty to continue to withstand, so for as we can, and according to the light that is given us, the great enemy who steals away men's senses, and then find them his easiest tools for the work of hell.
- To forbid a church society as such, or one generally supposed to be recognized by the reverend clergy, to assume an attitude politically which might be thought by persons ignorant fo ecclesiastical polity, to commit the church itself to the measures in question, is undoubtedly within the province, and may be often the duty, of our directors. This, however, by no means implies that the church would not permit the separate members of the same society to act as they pleased concerning the point at issue, as individual and upon their own responsibility.*
I trust that my reply, hasty and imperfect as it is, for there is much more that might be said, may reach you, dear sir, in season to be of aid. So important is the point that you have raised that it is possible I may think best to publish our correspondence. If I do so, it will be solely in the hope of effecting good thereby.
Sincerely yours,
Horatio R. Storer.
To Mr. John Francis Marrin,
Secretary, Catholic Club,
30 Rochester street, Boston.
*Since the above letter was published, Mr. Marrin, the gentlemen to whom it was addressed has received from Rev. James M. Cleary of Wisconsin, president of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, the following acknowledgement that Catholics are perfectly free to vote for Prohibition. "You can give your political support to the Prohibition candidate for the Presidency without any scruple of conscience. Prohibition as a political policy, is not opposed to Catholic ethics. Then only is prohibition of the liquor traffic opposed to Catholic ethics when it forbids the use of intoxicating liquors for the alleged reason that they are an evil in themselves and their use is sinful. This is what was meant by the illustrious archbishop of Philadelphia. The Prohibition party, as I understand its policy, does not contemplate forbidding the use, but the manufacture and sale, of liquor. Its principles are founded on the notion that entire prohibition is the best way to cure and prevent abuses, and is simply a policy. Those who assert that intoxicants in themselves are essentially bad and sinful, are guilty of the heresy of the Manichees. A Catholic can be a Prohibitionist, but a Prohibitionist who claims that rum is an evil in itself in the abstract, is not a good Catholic. * * * You can vote for St. John and be as good a Catholic as you ever were."
It may be added that Bishop Spalding of Illinois has said, "So long as saloon keepers, etc., so long will all good citizens have the right to employ political means to suppress the illegal traffic, and if other remedies fail, to try what effect prohibitory legislation will have."
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20996]
Newport, R.I.
20 March, 1885
Dear Dr.
A thousand thanks. Though many of your references are familiar to me, others are new & will be of great use. Will return the slips &c shortly.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20997]
Newport, R.I.
22 March, 1885
Dear Dr.
I hasten to return your valuable notes, with renewed thanks. I find many discrepancies & some actual errors. You have had as yet but a partial list, even of names. As soon as I can find leisure, I will send you an epitome of my own results. Would do so at once, but have to lecture upon the subject at Annual Meeting of Newport Med. Socy. shortly after Easter, & am at present in the very midst of preparations.
May our Nestor & Head Centre of Medical necrologists be spared to us yet for a great many years.
ever yrs sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Mass. Historical Society]
Newport, R. I.
9 Nov. 1885
My dear Sir,
The receipt of the formal invitation today reminds me that ever since our young people found in each other their ideals, I have been wishing to make your personal acquaintance. That I have not more actively attempted it has resulted in part from persistence of semi-invalidism, & of late from resumption of the active practice of my profession, extremely fatiguing to one who had been a long time at rest, & who is possibly several years your senior. I shall hope that the interest, & now the affection, that we each have felt for a child of the other, may hereafter ripen into mutual respect & esteem.
With kindest remembrance to Mrs. Paine.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Mr. Robt. Treat Paine.
[Robert Seton Papers CSET II-1-6--Notre Dame Archives]
58 Washington St.
25 Feb. 1886
Rt. Rev.
Dear Sir,
I write at Rt. Rev. Bp. Hendricken's suggestion that you "now more of medal lore than any other clergyman in America." I am interested in medical numismatics, have perhaps one of the largest collections of this kind in the country, & take much pleasure as a student in this direction. A legitimate branch, I think of the subject, although not generally accepted as such by the members of my profession, comprises those medals & tokens of Holy Church & her several congregations which relate to sacred places & sources of healing. I am desirous of procuring every thing of the sort that I can, & also of obtaining references to authorities treating of them. As yet I possess only Bonanni, Numismata Pontificum Romanonum, 1699, fol., & Scilla, Bueno Notizia della Monete Pontificia, 1715, 4o, though I have recently received from Weimar a publication entitled "Die Deutsche Pestamulate," containing description of some sixty varieties of the Wittenbergar Pastmaler, chiefly religious, & some one hundred & sixty different types of the Benedicts Pfenninge. Of American religio-medico medals I only know definitely of those of St. Anne de Beaupre' in the Prov. of Quebec, though I have been told that a cholera token was struck by a church in Nova Scotia, which I have not yet ben able to trace.
Any assistance, dear Sir, that your leisure may permit you to give me will be gratefully acknowledged &, if possible, most gladly reciprocated.
Respectfully & Sincerely yours,
- R. Storer
Rt. Rev. Mgs. Seton
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 20998-9]
Newport, R.I.
30 March, 1886
Dear Dr Toner,
I enclose a slip that may interest you. If you knew Dr Francis, you will appreciate the void he leaves in the circle of his daily associates.
There is a matter in which I think you may be able to assist me. For some time I have been working at medical numismatics, & am desirous of obtaining not only specimens, but references to all work & monographs & even short articles upon the subject, in whatever language. Your townsman, Dr. Wm Lee, has had kind correspondence with me & has already sent me a list of the American portion of his collection, which I presume to be the largest in this country.
It seem to me that there is a legitimate Department or Sub-Division of medical medals, which has never hitherto been appreciated by collectors, or even by medical men, & that is the medals & spiritual tokens, issued by the Church & its confraternities, in honor of marvelous places & sources of healing. I have tried in vain thus far to find the works upon this special class, that I feel assured must exist. Rt. Rev. Bp Hendricken of this Diocese has been unable to give me a clue. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Seton, to whom I had been advised to apply by Bp. H. is equally uncertain. I already possess Scilla, Breva Nitizia della Murete Pontificia(?) Roma, 1714, 4o & Bonammi's Sylandia(?) Numismata Pontificum Romanum, 2 vols, Rome, 1669, fol., but these only treat of the Papal regular coinage, & the earlier Vatican medals. I have also lately received from Weimar, "Die deutschen Pastamulate(?) , which describes some one hundred & fifty "Benedicto Phennige" & the like, but this barely opens the vast & apparently undescribed field of which I speak.
I shall be glad to add to my series both of medical and medico-religious medals & tokens, & to obtain the addresses of collectors of either.
I have heard that there exists a Toner medal (Univ. of Pa.?), though I have never as yet sen one. If it is possible for me to obtain a copy I should like to do so, as a reminder of a friend for whom I have always entertained very profound respect & esteem.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21000-1]
[Newport Historical Society stamped at the top]
Newport, R.I.
5 April, 1886
Dear Dr Toner,
I enclose further slips relating to Dr. Francis; the longer one by his brother, Val. Mott F.
You may also be interested in the progress of Church matters here. Our new parish is only a year old, but already firmly founded.
What you tell me of the transfer of the Lee collection of med. medals to permanent quarters at the Surgeon General's Office, interests me greatly. I am always troubled when a find private collection is scattered again, as is so very often the case. Not only the medical profession but the whole nation, owes you a debt of gratitude for your generosity & wisdom in providing for the perpetuity of the Toner Library, & it is a disgrace to the Government that a proper building has not long since been provided.
If I can ask you to take so much trouble, I wish you would have copied for me, of course at my expense, the cards of Dr Lee's catalogue & of any other medical medals of the Surg. Gen. Cabinet. I will promise not to publish them as such, & will only refer to them incidentally and in a proper manner, giving the office always full credit. I have probably already a great many of them myself, & I may be able, if I live, to contribute in more ways than one to the usefulness & interest of which the office has done in this direction. I believe fully in centralization, as regards making Government collections, of whatever kind the best in the country, & I only wish that this principle could be practically applied to the coin cabinet at the U.S Mint, which does not possess a single copy of a very great many of even its own issues. There is nothing I would like better, were it possible, that my son, a young lawyer in Boston, who is Curator of the Coins & Medals of Harvard University, or I myself who hold the same office for the Newport Historical Society, might obtain some non-salaried connection with the Mint Cabinet. It seems to me that there is a field there for interesting & very useful work, without indulgence in any great or unwarrantable expense. I have another son,a student at present in the Harvard Medical School, who is also an expert numismatist, & whom I think you will some day know as as staunch in his loyalty to the Am. Med. Association as his father & grandfather before him.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21002-3]
Newport, R.I.
4 Nov. 1886
Dear Dr.
I have failed thus far to obtain a copy of your medal. Will you not kindly send me rubbings of it. You will see the commencement of a paper upon the subject that may interest you in this months NE Medical Monthly.
Yours sincerely
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
I wish very much to find some one who knows anything about the Catholic medals commemorative of miraculous sources or places of healing, such as of Lourdes, Knock, St Anne de Beaujois, etc, etc., of which I already have several. I fail to find any publications whatever upon this special subject, or any clergyman who has given any attention to it, although I have corresponded thereon with Mr. Preston(?) , Bps. Chatard & Hendricken, & others. I have a very large collection of Catholic medals, & save those of St Benedict, the origin of a great many of them seems lost in obscurity. Works on the papal coinage & the Vatican medals exist in abundance, but apparently not upon the various series in question.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21006-7]
Newport, R.I.
7 Dec. 1886
Dear Dr Toner,
Having completed so far as I am at present able, a paper upon "The Medals, Jetons & Tokens illustrative of Midwifery & the Diseases of Women", I am at present writing upon those in any way connected with Sanitary Science. In this emanation(?) your own will occupy a prominent place, & it becomes very necessary if I fail as I have thus far done in procuring a specimen, that I should at least see good impressions of both faces; which are best made by moistening a bit of thin white letter paper & pressing it upon the medal by a piece of rubber, & then allowing to dry. If dry cloth or tissue paper is at once thereafter applied to the medal, there is no risk of tarnish.
Dr Davis has recently give me a copy of the Am. Assocn medal, with his bust, & I shall find it of assistance in my work.
I have the following list of your sanitary papers. Please supply omissions.
1865-Propriety & Necessity of Compelling Vaccination. Phila ., 1865.
" - Inoculation in Pa. [list goes on for nine more items]
You can undoubtedly give me valuable information as to other American foundations of medical prize medals.
I have seen reference to one in connection with the University of Georgetown. Can you tell me as to this? Those I yet know of besides yourself & the Davis already referred to, and the following. [another list of 10 items follows]
Now there are many other med. colleges at which prizes were awarded. I wish to ascertain that that give, or have ever given, medals.
Is Rev. Fr. Toner, who has just been appointed Pastor of the Jesuit Community at Providence a relation of yours? If such is the case, I shall be more than glad. I owe to the Order an irrepayable debt. When ill in London some years ago, several of the Mound(?) St. Fathers gave me devoted care & affection, & I am ever happy to serve them.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
- M. Toner, M.D.
Have you any medals of Sr Charles Burrowes(?) ? I have several& _____ of_____ in all 20, & desire impressions of them very much.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21004-5]
Newport, R.I.
24 Dec. 1886
Dear Dr Toner,
You have my thanks for your prompt & very satisfactory reply concerning yourself. The medal I shall preserve with care & return as soon as I receive your welcome gift of the bronze. To show the advantages of personal inspections in this matter, I may mention that the only description I had preserved of our medal, sent to me by a mutual friend, gave upon the reverse a laurel wreath instead of branches of oak tied by a ribbon. You will pardon my saying so, but I wish that in a memorial intended for all future time, your identity had been more distinctly indicated. During the present & the ensuing half dozen generations you will be know as the illustrious T., but a time will come when antiquarians will wonder whether your medal is of a genial German, Scandinavian, Russian or Magyar, & whether you were doctor of divinity, a field-marshall or a jurist. I own one or two of these indeterminate medals, & know of others, & they are at once a puzzle & a prolonged disappointment. Dr Davis' is nearly as indefinite, but it gives his initials, & the name of the medical body conferring the medal, thereby identifying him with it. Kindly inform me of the form of inscription upon yours when give to a laureate.
I also want an impression of your Georgetown medal. The Agassiz medal (U.S. Mint) I know about, although I do not yet own a specimen. I possess however the large Swiss medal of A., by Landry of Neufchitil(?) , one of the most beautiful ever yet designed or struck. Of the Boerhaare(?) medals, Kluegskerns of Ghent mentions three [technical stuff for several lines] I should much lie impression of this, These, as I think I have before mentioned, are best taken by moistening thin white letter paper, applying with pressure from a bit of rubber, & then allowing to dry.
I repeat my thanks, & with best wishes for a happy Christmas. I pray that you may be spared to help us celebrate your own Centennial.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
[Diocese of Providence Archives]
Newport, R.I.
5 May 1887
Rt. Rev. Dear Sir,
Ever since our interview I have been endeavoring to make an Act of Contrition commensurate with the embarrassment that I fear I have unwittingly occasioned for you in re the Sisters of Jesus Marie.
Before referring to this however, let me state, that you may indeed have perceived, that our petition to the Holy Father was dispatched one week before the appearance of the first unpleasant telegram relative to Mgr(Msgr?) Capal. I had learned much of that gentleman's views & character during my residence in England [was he involved in the dispensation?] & private personal interviews with him in Newport & had received the impression of a very earnest, high minded & statesman like prelate, however he might have offended Cardinal Manning. My belief in his integrity has not since been shaken. I may add that the petition was in French as I thought it most likely to reach him for whom it was intended.
As to the Sisters, the appended newspaper statement which followed directly upon a briefer one in the same quarter that was occasioning a wrong impression caused great anger at the time in Rev. Fr. Coyle. He interviewed the editor of the paper & though informed by that gentleman that I had nothing to do with the first publication & was indeed ignorant that it was to be made, as I had myself assured Fr. Coyle, he subsequently made the charge, which was absolutely untrue that I was its author, with the implication thereby I had embarrassed, or might prove eventually to have prevented, his insisting upon & obtaining the Episcopal prohibition [of what?] he determined should be made. As I do not permit my word to be challenged, even by a priest, I procured the enclosed letter from Mr. Davis, the editor referred to. It has been seen by others, who are aware why it was elicited & I have no reason to believe that the facts have since been questioned.
Fr. Coyle has asserted that the Sisters intentionally acted improperly & uncanonically in the matter of the purchase. Having, as they supposed, received from the Rev. Administrator, & bona fide permission to buy at Newport, they intended before proceeding any further, also to ask permission from the parish priest. I myself dissuaded them from this, since Fr. C. had assured me that he had nothing whatever to do with the question. He had told me that it was not for him to give or to withhold permission, but merely to accept the new Bishop's decision, whatever it might prove. As I believed implicitly that a priest would not convey an untruth, either directly or by implication, I took him at his word, especially as the Sisters were to seek no aid from the parish, or to have anything to do with it save the mere fact of residing within its outer limits. I supposed, & so I told them, that Fr. Coyle had stated to me the rule in such matters, of the Baltimore Council. No[The] negotiation for purchase was a very delicate one, & liable to miscarry upon the slightest intimation of it reaching those who hold the adjacent properties. I therefore convinced the Sisters that it was best to wait till the conveyance had been made. The very moment afterwards, while the ink was still hardly dry, & before their action was known to a single other person, they stated the whole case to Fr. Coyle. That he showed his anger to them I have personal knowledge. I accompanied them to his house from the lawyers' & waited in the carriage at the door until their return. One of the two was in tears, & the others' face was scarlet, showing that she had received some grave affront. I at once claimed the fault if there had been any, & tendered to Fr. Coyle my resignation as trustee of St. Joseph's Parish. He refused to accept it, & I have all this time been compelled to seem to sanction what I still consider bitter race prejudice. I do not life to add flagrant injustice. I have since however thought that it could not be called just that when these ladies in writing of the interview in question to the Rev. Administrator, or perhaps to Fr. Coyle himself, who in the meantime had been informed by me that I was wholly to blame, spoke of his having treated them in a courteous manner, their letter should be commented upon, & indeed if I am not mistaken sent to Archbishop Williams, as in[?] evidence that they had contradicted themselves & their statements were therefore unworthy of credence. In their humility, they desired to shield or to palliate the conduct of a hot headed & hasty young priest, & they were thus rewarded.
As to the engagement by Fr. Coyle of other French Religious, for purposes different from those contemplated by the Mesdames of Jesus-Marie, this has been I believe an wholly & post facto act, very convenient towards making the need of the latter seem exaggerate, & perhaps partly determined by Dr. Grace's refusal to longer loan him the Sisters of Mercy, who were suddenly withdrawn from St. Joseph's, just as they were commencing to deck the Christmas trees.
It was reported, I presume both to Fr. McCabe & Archbishop Williams, that the Sisters were proceeding to enlarge the Newport house, as though secure of their tenure. Nothing however was farther from the fact of[or] from their intention. They began certain repairs that were necessary to save their building from further ruinous waste, & this solely at my instance [insistence], as it would have been at yours had you been in my place.
There being a very strong & general desire that these French Sisters should come to Newport, & it being believed even by Protestants, as intimated in the Davis letter, that their presence here would increase the advantages of Newport for those who might wish to become residents, the fact that Fr. Coyle's feeling towards them has for some months been publicly known had apparently served to check the interest that was at first unusually strong, & indeed almost phenomenal, in the success of the new St. Joseph's parish. Eloquence, untiring labor, much self sacrifice our rector is admired & beloved for. Many of his personal ways are attractive. He has besides made shrewd purchases of real estate, at first within the new bounds[?] of St. Mary's parish which subsequently had to be broken again in consequence, & fairly large collections. But, it is said, if justice be lacking, wherein are we better off then[than] before we came? That he is succeeding admirably in constructing a typical "Irish" parish, is acknowledged by every one. Whether this is all that is needed in a cosmopolitan place like Newport, with its peculiar spiritual requirements & opportunities, it is perhaps not right that I should even discuss. He has brought back many to their duties who for years had not entered St. Mary's, but these were Catholics already. He has made Catholics of quite a number of others, who already had Catholic wives. For what Dr. Henricken specially selected him, as that good bishop himself told me, to carve a second parish by dexterity & mere force of arms from the territory of the very unwilling & strenuously resisting Rev. Dr. Grace, there could have been no more suitable agent than Fr. Coyle. But to have asked bread & been given stone, I will not say fish & been given a serpent, has caused it to be soberly queried whether in place of King Log (wrong though it has been for people thus to allude to Dr. Grace's inertial from mere physical disability), we have not had a King Stork placed over us.
Many have thought, as I do still, that the presence of these French ladies in the parish would have been of assistance to Fr. Coyle, in bringing him into contact with persons, the parents of children from outside Newport, who could materially aid him in his projects, & whom he would be certain otherwise not to reach. There are those within St. Joseph's parish, influential persons, the Misses Caldwell of Catholic University for instance, who from dislike of his intense race partisanship or other similar reasons, no longer attend St. Joseph's at all, but have returned to St. Mary's. Some of the may pay their pew rents to Fr. Coyle, & send their servants perhaps to the church, but visibly do no more. It is not unlikely that the present disappointment will but increase the feeling that of late has been growing rapidly.
For myself, I have found so much in Fr. Coyle to love & respect & honor, that I have almost admired his zeal in what I have considered his want of humility & even wrongheartedness. For a convert to be told in one breath "Behold another Christ, & rejoice that you are permitted to crawl in the dust to His feet," & very short after "If there is a man in this parish, who dares to oppose me even in the slightest matter, I will smash him as I would a bed-bug" (pardon the exact quotation), produces a moral sensation. It is not that I have not been long enough in the Church to become used to such divergent instruction, for I am sure that it is really very exceptional. The precise language given above was however used in my presence, to the hundred or more members of the St. Joseph's Total Abstinence Society, of which I was then president. I resigned shortly after & declined to reconsider this action, & yet I have still a very sincere affection for him, & had I been born like himself in Ireland, I should no doubt consider him absolute perfection. We have been told from the altar that having been constituted perpetual or canonical incumbent by the late deceased Bishop, there existed no authority by which our Superior could be brought to book in case he should exceed his lawful powers.
Very recent, & before me, Fr. C. said to one of your clergy, & doubtless referring to this very matter of the Sisters, that your servant had the most persistent will that he had ever met, implying that it was for him to break & humble it. I can truly say that throughout this whole affair I have merely done what I thought my duty, in the service of Almighty God. Had you approved the undertaking, I should have gratefully begged that whatever merit there might have been for any one, should be accredited to Fr. Coyle, lest his influence might have been lessened by the surmise of any lay assistance. It is my constant prayer that if ever Our Lord should permit me to do some slight thing for Him, & should say to me as to St. Thomas of Aquinas[?] "Bene me ..." grace might be given me to answer "Domine, non visi Te."
But all this is aside from what I wished to say to you. The publication that I have appended became widely known elsewhere, even by the French outside the diocese of Providence. In many quarters, I haver reason to believe, you decision relative to these Sisters has been looked for with anxiety, as definitive of your policy regarding this intensely interesting question of race, whether it is to be a continuance of that of the late Dr. Hendricken or a broader, &, if I may dare thus to use the word, more Catholic character. The anti-French party will of course be delighted, especially as the victims are those very Fall River Sisters whom they have, as I think wrongly, confounded with the participants in the late ecclesiastical imbroglio, all the particulars of which became known at Rome, which so soon on accordance with the wishes of the parish, reversed the decision of Bp. Hendricken, though endorsed by his Episcopal & Archespicopal colleagues. Fr. Coyle was a great favorite of Bp. Hendricken, was thoroughly in accord with the policy of his patron, & very greatly chagrined at the result. To most of those who are familiar with the conditions that then obtained & with the needs existing at Newport, it will seem that these ladies are vicariously punished for the cause of their compatriots. I had hoped that there was here, at the very outset of your administration, a golden opportunity of allaying all this widespread anticipation of continued apparent unfriendliness, particularly at a moment when the Holy Father is endeavoring to resume more satisfactory relations with the French at home, but your Grace had decided otherwise & as you tell me, I must believe it is God's will that Hibernia, however intolerant of English coercion, would again, to uninstructed eyes, seem to press La belle France from the common pathway.
I can only regret, as I repeat, that I have been the means of perhaps causing your motives to be misunderstood by many intelligent as well as ignorant persons, & of thereby, I am afraid, lessening in the future the good results you would be sure to have attained. With such roses however awaiting you as the completed Cathedral & Freedom of Worship in Rhode Island, there must perhaps in the nature of things have been a single thorn. Pity it is so sharp a one as the French question & the hope of these thousands of humble people among us for kinder & more considerate treatment than they have at times received.
I am now seeing the Real Estate Agent, & endeavoring to dispose of their very beautiful estate for the Sisters, at their request. To these experts it seems incomprehensible that this property of four acres, of all others in Newport, the best adapted for convental purposes, & which no one here would have believed could ever have been obtained for the purpose, should not be so quickly relinquished. When they say to me "they thought 'the Church buys, but never sells'", I can only reply that many popular notions regarding that divine institution are radically wrong. I am assured that to lease the house, unfurnished as it is, will be difficult, if not impossible, & that long delay may occur before a suitable purchaser can be found. Meanwhile, the estate is suffering for want of completion of the repairs to the buildings, & alterations to the grounds.
I anticipate from what I have been permitted to know regarding the Vatican methods, that there is much of interest to political economists soon to confront our Bishops in New England. With Cardinals Gibbons and Taschereau differing as to the Knights of Labor, & the opinion that Archbishop Williams at this moment may be offering in favor of the former already partially offset by the practical experience of Archbishop Corrigan, every phase of the labor problem but complicates still more to others. The French question is of that character. Each one of its occurrences will be reported to the Holy Father. With the present wages offered, the whole of Lower Canada already tends witherwards & the recent success of the Equality Rights party in Rhode Island cannot but intensify the vis a fronte. In controlling & guiding this great faction of your children, their own Religious, no less than their clergy, would seem to a simple man like myself, your greatest aid.
Believe me
humbly, sincerely, & pliably yours
Rt. Rev. Bp. Harkins Horatio R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21008-9]
Newport, R.I.
15 June, 1887
Dear Dr.
Dr. Seaman's medal I have already returned to him, registered. Thanks for the opportunity of examining it. Have you as yet given a Smithsonian medal? I wrote to the Mint as you suggested, but Mr. Fox was unable to give me any additional information. I have but today learned, on seeing Saunder's medallic Memorials of Washington, for the first time, that Mint Director R. M. Patterson, of whom there exists a medal which I have not yet seen, was a medical man Was such the case with either Snowden, Pollock or Lindermann? I have an indistinct idea that it may have been so with the last of them.
I have been _____ed (shosted?) this evening to learn that Rev. Father Toner of Providence, concerning whom I asked you, has just deceased. It is hardly six weeks since he was installed as Superior of the little community at St Joseph's in P. May he rest in peace.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Brown University Library]
Newport, R. I.
13 Dec. 1887
My dear Sir,
I appreciated your letter of 27 Oct. & the beautiful photograph. Till now I have not seen my way to be of aid. Possibly you may think I have at last placed the whole question before the people in a practical form. At any rate, since yesterday forenoon, throngs of deeply interested persons have lingered, very lovingly & appreciatingly, before your Heroine. I place her foremost, because in the world's estimation it is easier to do, and to suffer, adn even to die, than to give.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Mr. Turner
[Check Newport papers for just prior to and after 13 dec, 1887 to see if HRS wrote or did something with respect to some giving woman.]
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21011-12]
Newport, R.I.
23 March, 1888
Dear Dr.
Thanks for your letter. I have conferred with Drs. Rankin & Turner & they both promise cordial cooperation. The former is from NY, & has hitherto fully sympathized with the New Code(?) party. As they have never either of them attended a meeting of the Assocn., I am afraid that I shall be compelled to attempt the duties assigned to me, though I would gladly have escaped them.
My great anxiety in the matter I have already confided to you. The local Secretary has been appointed independently of any suggestions from myself. He is not upon speaking terms with one or more of those upon whose assistance I must mainly depend & I foresee for the year to come a task in comparison with which to try to combine oil & water without an emulsifying agent, would be but a trifle.
Kindly inform me as to what is expected of the Committee of Arrangements other than engaging halls, attempting to reduce local RR fares, obtaining hotel accommodations, acting as missionaries upon the State Society, & upon strictly local sources of hospitality. Please also define the duties of the Secretary & to what extent he is independent of, or subject to, the aforesaid Committee. So greatly obliged.
Yours truly
- R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
I congratulate you upon the magnificent university you are to initiate tomorrow.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21013-4]
Newport, R.I.
9 April, 1888
Dear Dr. Toner,
I have delayed replying to your letter that I might reflect a little upon the questions that you present regarding the Am. Med. Asson. meeting I have in 1889. I am sorry that I can hold out very little encouragement. The physicians permanently here are but fie, the cream of the "Season" business being taken by Camp followers of the aristocrats who come temporarily from N.Y. & Phila. Of those residents, when I returned to this country, eleven years ago, the leaders were dead, two or three others have practically deceased through intemperance, & others still have gone away. Those here now are hopelessly divided. I myself though one of the founder of the local Society, resigned from it a couple of years ago, & it mow consists of but four or five members. As a Society it was then out of sympathy with the Am. Med. Assoc. (regarding the Internat. Med. Congress). I expressed my views very plainly, & when as Chairman of a Committee to prepare resolutions of regret at the death of a member (Samuel W. Francis) I had ended them with "May he rest in peace!", it was decided to expunge this sentence, I withdrew my name from the list.
The physicians here are too poor, almost without exception, to extend the household courtesies usual at such a time. There is no public spirit whatever among the citizens at large. Few wealthy people are permanent residents & a portio of these employ irregulars. The City Government is so constantly parsimonious that it spends not a dollar save for daily needs, & then every cent must be fought for, as has been the case with the system of sewerage now recently adopted.
That Newport would be the most delightful of places for the meeting goes without saying. That all sorts of charming excursions are possible in the neighborhood is proverbial, but both May & June are months when the town is preparing for its annual capture of the favored few, all its thoughts are occupied with this, & it has not yet learned that to get the good will of a thousand distant doctors would be the best of general advertisements. I shall myself very likely be absent at the time proposed. Were I a dozen years younger I might feel differently, but two or three years ago I made great efforts toward proper entertainment of the Assocn of Superintendents of Am. Insane Asylums when holding their annual session here, & though feebly seconded & the alienists expressing themselves as grateful, it was altogether too much of an undertaking for a partial invalid to attempt again.
The Providence doctors, though there has been a good deal of the anti-Congress feeling among them too, may very likely be glad to have the Session in their city, in that case, a day at Newport might be arranged.
I enclose check for the Congress medal & am obliged to you for sending it. The Silver Toner I have returned, registered. You have my sincere thanks.
ever yours
- R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21015-6]
Newport, R.I.
14 May, 1888
My dear Dr. Toner,
I notice by the paper that despite my anxieties, Newport was fixed upon by the Association. If you will permit me further to advise, I would suggest that no local appointment whatever be made without due deliberation. A great deal, as regards securing an apparently cordial reception will depend upon obtaining the cooperation of those who have hitherto been inclined to antagonize the Assoct, or simply hold aloof. With a little care I think that this can be secured, but if your colleagues move hastily it will be absolutely impossible. Personal differences exist here of the bitterest character, & though in view of my age, I am myself treated with great outward courtesy by all the physicians here whether I agree with then in Assoct matters or not, this is not true of one or two of the younger men, who may perhaps have lacked the grace of wisdom & whose very names affect all the rest as the red rag an angry bull.
I should say unhesitatingly that it would be well to bring to the front & to consult them by letter at the outset, Dr. F. H. Rankin & H E Turner, ow whom the latter is our oldest practitioner & for many reasons one of the most prominent men in Rhode Island. Dr Rankin has the best practice in Newport, is President of the local Society member of the local Board of Health, & a physician to the Newport Hospital. Dr Turner is both of the latter, President of the State Board of Health, & City Physician. It is Dr Rankin who had seemed to treat me unkindly in the matter I wrote you of before.
If anybody should solicit a position of local office, this should be so for again at his appointment unless clearly for the good of all concerned, & as for myself, keep me wholly in the background. I have no ambitions whatever, & can help you far more by giving to some one else whatever place you might kindly think of offering me. I shall be quite sure of having all the "(dis)credit" as it will be called by some, of having in one way or another persuaded you to come, just as was the case once when the Assoct. met in Boston. I am anxious that the meeting shall be a success in every respect, & contrary as it may seem to all my previous record, I shall suggest again that discretion will in this instance prove by far the better part of valor. If you can secure Rankin & Tuner, you will obtain much more good will from the State Society & throughout R. I., than will otherwise be possible. I presume one great object of the Assoct. now is to close, so far as it can honorably be don, the gulf that now exists.
Should you decide to take my advice, write me to this effect & I will endeavor to incline Rankin & Turner favorably toward any overtures you may subsequently see fit to make them.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21017-8]
Newport, R.I.
5 June, 1888
Dear Dr.
Thanks for the Cincinnati programme. You will see by the paper I send you today that I have taken the reins in hand.
As to the local Secretary. My own terms with the gentleman are still, as they have been, harmonious, but only through the exertion of constant self control. He was with me for a couple of years, till I became tired of the necessarily unremitting efforts to keep out of the hot water he himself was daily in. Do my best, however, I was more than once scalded & still tingle with the recollections. The difficulties I had anticipated upon his account have already commenced. Though connected with several medical societies, he is not a member of the State Society of R. I. He was a Secretary of one of the Sections of the Int. Med. Congress, & at one time a member of the Section of State Medicine of Am Med. Assocn., & perhaps indeed read a paper before it, though he did not at the time join the Assocn.
Now the R. I. Society (so small is the State) has neither County nor District Societies, & down here in Newport but four of us are members. Entrance is through an Examining Board, after recommendation by a separate Board of Censors. Some time ago, at my advice, our friend presented his various credentials (diploma of graduation from the University at Munich included) to the Censors & was ready to pass on to the examination. The Censors, however, were so satisfied that they recommended to the Society at large, in open session to admit him without further ado, by common consent or acclamation, which is sometimes though rarely done. There seems to have bee a young candidate present, just entering practice & a stranger to the aforesaid, who got up & objected on the ground of favoritism, whereat the others disclaimed any desire to evade the ordinary course, & refused to be made an exception to the usual rule. In reality however he took this opposition, which was by the merest chance & in no sense personal, in the very highest dudgeon, & when he found that to have the examination made would require some five separate visits to Providence (30 miles), for the members of the board have different days, he wrote to it that he considered the game hardly worth the candle. Having thus relieved his mind, it occurs to them that if he should now present himself to the Board, some of its members may remember his perhaps not too respectful letter. He has very recently written Dr Davis, enclosing the entrance fee to the Assocn & a certificate signed by the Prest & Secy, that he is a member of the R. I. Medico-Legal Society (he is one of the State Medical Examiners), but I am in doubt as to this meeting the rule. He has not yet heard from Dr. D. The question is therefore open, as to whether he will retrace his steps & offer himself to the R. I. Examining Board voluntarily, or, if he hears form Chicago that to do this is really necessary, take offense, bolt from the traces & throw up the appointment, in which case during the next year we shall have the liveliest of experiences. His temperament is the one that insists than if a person is not absolutely with him, he must be as absolutely against him. This morning he asked me whether in case he did resign, I should not appoint X or Y, with whom he is still at variance, in his stead, both of these being persons whom I should not think of for a moment. I mention this matter only to show that my forebodings were not without foundation.
There is still another thorn to the (golden?) rose you gave me. I have taken two or three occasions to soothe Dr. Rankin, of whom I previously wrote you, & by dwelling upon the prajic(?) policy of the Association, had somewhat calmed his mind. I mentioned to you that he is now the leader here, & has been in absolute sympathy with the N. Y. recreants. At our general meeting just held, he openly brought up the Code of Ethics question, & stated that neither he nor the many New Yorkers were are "Season-doctors" here, & whom I shall depend upon him to influence, would sign in the old way were it required. As he is still a member of the R I State Society, I showed him that he would become a "member by application" if he preferred to do so, but I don't know what to say when he asks what arrangement can be made regarding the bolters from the regular NY State Society.
You will advise me in time as in every other matter, & I shall feel accordingly grateful.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21019-20]
Newport, R.I.
12 June, 1888
Dear Dr. Toner,
I have asked Mr Swan, who is president of our NE Commercial Bank, to obtain for you copies of his past contributions which are very considerable in number. Should you favor him with a copy of one of your own many historical publication, it would be sure to please him.
I send today two portions of the Programme of Am Inst of Instruction(?) which meets here very shortly, & expect a delegation of many hundreds. Possibly something of the kind would be useful to us in the Spring. A brief history of the Assocn with biog. sketches of its officers for the year, by yourself, would be most suitable for such a publication, & would be universally appreciated. Any further suggestions as to the make up of a proper campaign pamphlet wold be very acceptable.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21021]
NEWPORT SANITARY PROTECTION ASSOCIATION
Franklin & Spring Sts. ["45 Bellevue avenue" is crossed out.]
Newport, R.I.
28 June, 1888
Dear Dr. Toner,
I have to thank you for yours of the 5th inst. Drs Davis & Atkinson have both of them written to the effect that the main question which has been troubling me was settled at the outset. Dr. J. B. Hamilton stating to the Permt Secy that the Local Secy was elected by the Association, & that as Secretary of the Nominating Committee he had by inadvertence failed to report the fact. It is possible that this virtual independence of the gentleman in question, of the other members of the Comm. of Arrangements, may give rise to no trouble in the future, but in view of its possibility I do not look forward with perfect confidence.
I enclose report of late meeting of State Society. You will perceive that my anxiety is not without foundation. The newspaper fail to state that before adjourn it was voted to appoint a Committee of Three, to report at next quarterly meeting such actions as the Society could take toward aiding us next June.
I shall be greatly favored if you will send me a list of gentlemen in the NE states other than R. I. who would be most likely to assist (?)____ State Committees associated with our local one. There are of course two opposite classes to consider. In Massachusetts for instance, there are some, not always the most influential of its men, who have remained faithful to the Assocn & its policy, attending its meetings & taking an active part therein. On the other hand, there are others, old & young, of whom H J Bigelow & JR Chadwick are typical, who would be of very great aid could they be brought back to allegiance. Unkindly as I have myself been treated by many of them, I would gladly forgive it all & for the sake of peace & harmony & the old historical names of the Assocn, the sons of many of whom are now prominent upon the field, do all that I can to remove the unkindly feelings that have so long existed. As to this however I shall defer to the advice of yourself & Dr Davis, my senior by a little, but who have done so infinitely more in establishing the Assocn in the hearts of the profession. I am ready now to work. Do you but definitely tell me what to do.
I wrote Dawson of Cincinnati some days since for detailed information from his own recent experience, but as yet he has failed to reply. Dr Davis practically directs me not to bother with the fact that our Newport men have never been members of the Assocn or of the State Society, but t select them just the same and the have them made "members by invitation" upon the organization of the annual meeting. It is pleasant to have these Gordian Knots loosed by the judicial sword.
Thus far my medals of sanitation papers number six. in Sanitarian for May, July, August, Oct. 1887, & Feb. & April, 1888. I have about half completed the Series. The "famine" pieces are now in the printer's hands, & next in sequence will come those illustrating Epidemics. I have recently received descriptions of the new medal of Alumni Assocn of Uny of Pa., & should be very glad to obtain a coy. If at any time you come across a stray Lindeman(?) or Patterson medal of the US Mint, both of whom were I believe medical men, you will know where it would prove greatly valued.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
Suggest to Dr Storer the project(?) of making at Newport an exhibit of medical portraits, engrave, &c
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21023a]
[American Medical Association--40th Annual Meeting letterhead]
Newport, R.I.
8 Nov., 1888
Dear Sir:[part of letterhead]
Should you think of any suggestions relative to coming meeting, do not fail to let me know.
Mr. Jas. C. Swan, Prest. N. E. Commercial Bank sent you a parcel some time since which has not been acknowledged. I tell him that it could not have been received by you, as I consider you the most prompt of men. It would be well for you to write directly to him about it.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21023b]
[American Medical Association--40th Annual Meeting letterhead]
Newport, R.I.
8 Jan. 1889
Dear Doctor:[part of letterhead]
Thanks for your letter of the 5th. I have the "Baron Spolesco", (an irregular as you had supposed possibly a son of Sr.(?) Patrick Icatianeza(?)), & have also two or three duplicates of him which I should like to exchange. For your remembrance however I am none the less obliged.
The volumes of Trans. Int. Med. C. came the other day. Why don't the publishers inquire what binding was preferred before sending them? They will certainly (?)____ as ending (?)____ (?)____ as the medal. I notice that the worthy registrar entered upon the list a certain Dr. Storer of Newport, of whom I have heard. It was not my father, David Humphreys of Boston, nor myself, Horatio Robinson, nor my son Dr. Malcolm S., now an intern at the Mass. Gen. Hospital. However, with such an army to look after, the health of some of whom did not permit their personal registry at Washington, it is only a wonder that you did everything so well.
Everything so far goes favorably regarding the approaching meeting. From every quarter I receive in(?)____ of interest & encouragement.
And now, my dear Dr., may St. Joseph, who is the patron of our parish, & my own protector through Holy Baptism, ever have you in his gracious keeping.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Dr. J. M. Toner.
[COuntway]
THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
40th Annual Meeting
AND 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF NEWPORT.
(It will be noticed that the Session is postponed, by authority, from the First to the FOURTH Tuesday, the 25th of June, 1889.)
[letterhead also included the following:
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENT
- R. STORER, Chairman C. F. Barker; M. E. Baldwin; C. A. Brackett; J. P. Curley; J. P. Donovan: H. Ecroyd, Jr.; V.M. Francis; T.A. Kenefick; G. M. Odell; F. H. Rankin; W.C. Rives, Jr.; S.H. Sears; W.S. Sherman; H E. Turner.
- Thornton Parker, Local Secretary
Associate committee appointed by the R. I. Medical Society
G.D. Hersey, Wh. Palmer, G.T. Swarts all of Providence.
Newport, R. I., 11 Jan 1889
Dear Doctor:
I must apologize for having been so dilatory. As it is over seventeen years since I have attended a meeting of the Society, & as my health will probably never again permit me to reside in Massachusetts, it seems better that I should resign. I shall always however look back to the M.M.S. as my professional cradle, & intention(?) but the kindest feelings for its individual members. A score of members, who have recently joined the Society, may well take my place.
While writing, let me say that I shall be glad if you will take a personal interest in the approaching meeting of the Am. Med. Associat. The opportunity will be a favorable one for Massachusetts & Boston, to resume its former position of influence with regard to the general profession. Newport was formerly known as "The Isle of Peace," & this could be no better place for forgetting differences of opinion, & reuniting for the strengths & advantages of the whole country. It is especially desired that the present should be a scientific meeting, & contributions from yourself & colleagues will be very welcome. Whatever I can personally do for the interests of Boston, my birth place, will give me immense pleasure.
faithfully yours
- R. Storer
Dr. Draper.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21024-5]
Newport, R.I.
22 Jan. 1889
Dear Dr. Toner,
Though I am constantly acquiring more facts regarding medical numismatics, I am ever anxious for more, & you will pardon me if I again ask your assistance.
The following have long been "necrological"
[total letter deals with medical numismatics]
[COuntway]
THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
40th Annual Meeting
AND 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SETTLEMENT OF NEWPORT.
Newport, R. I., 21 Feb 1889
Dear Doctor:
Thanks for your prompt reply.
I now ask another favor.
The Chairman of the Section on Ophthalmology, Dr Frothingham of Ann Arbor, writes that he has now "over twenty papers" listed, but that he greatly wants one or two from Boston. He is in doubt who of your men are kindly disposed towards the Assoc. & who not. If you can kindly broach the matter, perhaps to Dr. Williams, Hay[!] & Darby, & lead them to appreciate the opportunity now existing, of meeting kindly overture in an equally friendly spirit, it will help us very much. I shall be glad of an early answer.
sincerely yours
H.R. Storer
Dr. Shattuck
CW &c.
I forgot to add that we have assigned you probably one of the halls at the Newport Casino. Much depends upon the attendance at the respective sections. Surgery & Gynaecology have already written to enter their claims for consideration upon this account.
Our two leading practitioners here, Drs C F Barker, Prest. Newport Board of Health, & F H Rankin, Prest. Newport Medical Society, might perhaps give you papers should you invite them. They would both require urging, for in this local climate of ours there is an immense deal of the vis inertiae. They are both of them competent men, & both of them New York bred, though the former is a native of this Island.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21026]
[AMA 40th letterhead with W. Thornton Parker scratched out as local secretary and V. M. Francis written in. TYPED LETTER]
Newport, R.I.
February 28th, 1889
Dear Doctor:
Thanks for your kind remembrance. I shall doubly value it, the medal, for its own merit and noble associations, and for your own.
The Vienna medal is legitimately includable in my list. It was an honor conferred for medical labor and excellence, as much so in its way as if it had been from the Royal Society of London or from the French Academy. Therefore kindly send me its impressions without further delay.
You will notice that in the February number of the Sanitarian, I again allude to you, in connection with Inoculation.
I commenced in last months (January) No. of the American Journal of Numismatics a more general paper, upon the medals and tokens illustrative of the Science of Medicine. You will probably find it on file at the Surgeon General's Office.
Association matters are running smoothly. The Local Secretary, about whom we had some correspondence, disturbed me by removing from the city and vacating the office to which the Association had appointed him, but the vacancy has now been filled, very acceptably to the profession here.
Yours sincerely
- R. Storer
Dr. J.M. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21027-8-9]
Newport, R.I.
April 3, 1889
Dear Doctor:
The Editors of the American Journal of Numismatics ...
I have another, and a great favor to ask. In an evil hour I have consented to try to give a lift to your Rush Monument Committee by reading a brief paper upon Rush as an Obstetrician, in the Section thereto devoted. You may recall his very remarkable statement regarding anaesthesia in Midwifery.--
"I have expressed a hope in another place (Med. Repository, Vol. VI), that a medicine would be discovered that should suspend sensibility altogether, and leave irritability, or the power of motion, unimpaired, and thereby destroy labour-pains altogether." (Med. Inquiries & Observations, 3d ed., 1789-98, p. 376.) So far as I am aware, the only ones who have at all appreciated this, have been Channing (Etherization in Child-birth), Gaillard Thomas (A Century of Medicine), and Faget of New Orleans (L'Ard d'apaiser les Douleurs de L'Enfatement). There are but few medical books in Newport at the best, and I find nothing that can aid me. Thatcher is silent about Rush in this regard, and the only other life of him here seems to be the sketch in Medico-Legal Journal of Dec. 1886, "Benjamin Rush and American Psychiatry," which I have, and a report in of which its author, Dr. Mills of Phila., was kind enough to send me. You, on the other hand, are int he midst of authorities.
I want to know -
- What is there in that "another place" ( Med. Repository, VI) relative to obstetric anodynia?
- Are there others who referred to this "Prophecy" of Rush, save Channing, Thomas and Faget?
I have looked up the Dr. in Appleton's, and Encyclopedia (sic) Britannica. Mills refers to sketches of him by Sanders (Lives of the Signers, etc.), David Ramsey, 1813f (An Eulogium, &c.), Dr. Hosack (Tribute, etc., Phila. MEd. Journal, VII, 1823, p. 162), Dr. T.D. Mitchell of Phila., 1848 (The Character of Rush), Richardson of London (The Asclepiad, Oct. 1885), and Tuke (The Insane in the U.S. and Canada, London, 1885).
- Upon what occasion (in 1808) were his two medals (both of which I have) struck at the U.S. Mint? Dr. Pepper of Phila. has kindly been trying to ascertain this for me at the Mint, but thus far in vain. He has sent me letters from Col. Snowden, late Director there, and Mr. McClure, the Curator of the Cabinet, to the effect that they have failed in obtaining any information whatever. Neither of them knew that there existed more than one of the medals, and if the Mint does not possess a copy, and they have discovered no clue to its origin.
Association matters running smoothly. I hope that you will bring a very large delegation of your Washington friends.
Yours sincerely.
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21030]
Newport, R.I.
17 April 1889
Dear Dr, Toner -
Thank you very much for sending the books from your library, now specially under the wings of the American eagle. I examined them very carefully & returned them at once, & trust that they reached you safely. I failed to find any information concerning the medals, save that "lead -Think - Observe" on one of them is from the class of Fr. R's lecture "on the Causes which have retarded the progress of medicine," so they were struck apparently, five years before his death, & while he was connected with the mint, the likeness is in its way probably as correct as that in Sully's painting.
As to his anticipation of induced anaesthesia in child birth, we can look for no comments upon that, of course, previous to 1846. I am still very anxious to know what Rush himself said upon this matter, "in another place," Will you kindly glance over Gross, "Am Med Biog. in the 19th Century," at your own Physicians after the Revolution, of which I doubt if I have ever seen a copy. It wold be a comfort to me to ascertain all that has been written upon this special point. As you may suppose, hardly a moment of my time is now my own, but I try to do for the Association all that an invalid possibly can.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21031]
Newport, R.I.
April 25, 1889
Dear Doctor:
Yours of 24th, enclosing Dr. Foster's letter regarding Dr. Bascom's paper, is at hand.
Upon April 13th I wrote Dr. F.S. Bascom of Salt Lake City that his application to read a paper upon "The Climate of the Salt Lake Region" had been received through Dr. Wm. Pepper of Phila., and had been referred to Dr. Lindsley of Nashville, Chairman of the Section on State Medicine. I also wrote Dr. Pepper to the same effect.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
The books you so kindly sent me were immediately returned. I trust that they reached you safely.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21033a]
Newport, R.I.
May 11, 1889
Dear Doctor:
Yours of yesterday at hand. Have entered you for room at Ocean House, which adjoins place of meeting.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[From Countway uncatalouged collection of Henry Ingersoll Bowditch]
Newport, R.I.
11 June 1889
Dear Dr.
You my have noticed that in the May number of the Sanitarian, p. 437, I alluded somewhat pointedly to yourself. I had no reprints or even a single duplicate copy, or I should have sent you one.
Yrs sincerely
H.R. Storer
[Note from Henry Ingersoll Bowditch associated with above letter.]From the Sanitarian May 1887 from my old friend H. R. Storer He has probably the largest collection of medical medals, either original or copied, now in America
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21033b]
[letterhead now has V. Mott Francis, M.D., Secretary under H. R. Storer M.D., Chairman; includes military surgeons (Fort Adams, U.S.N. Torpedo Station, and U.S.N. Training School; also Association Committee appointed by the R. I. Medical Society] Newport, R.I.
June 13, 1889
Dear Doctor:
Kindly correct for me enclosed lit of Committee on Necrology. I think Dr. Trimble of Miss. is G. W. Dr. Galbreth of Nebraska, W. S. Galbraith, and Dr. Mackie of Wisconsin, W. According to Polk's Medical Directory of the U.S., there seems to be no Dr. Whiting in New Hampshire. Who represents the U.S. Army upon the Committee? Please answer at once-[last in longhand]
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21034]
[letterhead crossed out]
Newport, R.I.
29 July 1889
Dear Doctor:
The enclosed letter from Dr. Hollister has placed us all here in a very unpleasant situation, & I am exceedingly anxious to have your aid in obtaining a reversal of the decision. After long consideration by the Committee of Arrangements, it was unanimously thought desirable to depart from the custom of merely furnishing drink &c, & to provide more refined & lasting, mental, food. It was thought that a notice of Rhode Island's greatest physician, John Clarke, till now almost unknown to the profession, would be appreciated, & especially so by those having the Association in charge. With great difficulty & almost against his will, Mr Swoffold(?) was persuaded to write & deliver this necrological sketch. Had we not succeeded in effecting this, we should therefore probably have had no aid of any consequence from the City of Newport toward the success of the meeting, or else it would have been confined to such directions as would very likely have been declined by the Committee. The people have been excessively sensitive. Dr. Hollister's letter was received this evening. The only one to whom I have yet shown it is Dr. Turner, & he takes it as a direct slight, not only to Mr. Swoffold(?), but to our Committee. It will be certain to be so considered by the rest of our men. This is very important, in view of the efforts that all have made without exception, for the success of the meeting & the pleasant feeling which till now had seemed on all sides to exist.
Between ourselves, I have often thought that if the Journal of the Assocn seemed a little less anxious to be a mere rival of the mass of American medical journals, there would be far less feeling of Jealousy & antagonism upon their part, & the average practitioner would take greater interest in the welfare of the Association. Rhode Island is but a little State, & what occurs at one end of it is known soon throughout its borders. Thus to throw Dr John Clarke & the Chief R. I. lawyer now living, into the waste basket, will be seen to be misunderstood & will go far to wash(?) out again that return of the New England allegiance that we have been striving so hard to win.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Countway uncatalogued HI Bowditch collection]
Newport, R.I.
31 July, 1889
Dear Dr.
Your very kind letter came duly, but I have been so very tired by the many months of unaccustomed labor int the way of correspondence, etc., etc., relative to the meeting, that I have postponed acknowledging friendly messages that should have been answered at once. I am glad that patience & forbearance united(?) to you their perfecting work. There were quite a number present who knew your electrical temperament, & who presumed that you were probably heavily "charged" for the occasion, & it was with a sense of great relief, that they noted your silence & gave you credit for most praiseworthy self control. By omitting the Separation requisition this year the Assocn made a cordial hand stretch across what has been though impossible chasm, & the cordial response from so many who have been supposed irreconcilable, give very good augury for a more & more harmonious future. Every one was glad that you came, & every one was as glad that you did not cauterize the now so rapidly healing sore.
I myself was only sorry that your visit had to be so brief, & that I was unable to do anything for your comfort.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21035-6]
Newport, R.I.
6 Aug. 1889
My Dear Dr. Toner,
As St. Joseph is my patron, it is quite fitting that I should have to thank one of his name-children for intercessory aid. Dr. Hollister has written me a graceful letter, & you have extricated us all, Assocn as well as Committee, from what would have been an awkward position.
You have made a complete conquest of my daughter[Agnes is 15]. Were she raising a temple to Aesculapius, I am quite sure that the statue of the Deity therein would be that of yourself.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
I think that I suggested both to you & Dr. Gibson(?) the feasibility of adding to the general professional interest in Dr Rush & to your treasury by distributing (for an equivalent) to public libraries, med. colleges & similar institutions, & the subscribers to your monument fund, photographs of his medals. I have asked the gentleman who took those that I exhibited, not to destroy the negatives (small & enlarged) till I could bring this subject to your attention. He is one of the officer at the Casino & is willing to work in concert with you for moderate compensation.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21037]
Newport, R.I.
26 Aug. 1889
Dear Doctor: [ marked out AMA 40th letterhead]
I received today from Chicago the proof of my paper on Dr Rush & his medals. In it I acknowledged my obligation to you for very valuable assistance. I shall have a reprint of 500 copies for obstetricians & numismatists. Does the Smithsonian still distribute gratuitously such papers, not published by itself? If so, & you think the game worth the candle, please ascertain what number would be required for the list of medical societies, journals & libraries, & public libraries, abroad. Before hearing from you formally, I will direct a sufficiency to be forwarded to Washington, expressage paid.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21038]
Newport, R.I.
26 Sept. 1889
My dear Dr Toner,
Yours of 30 Aug. came duly, & I directed the journal to send you the fifty copies of my paper, upon my own acct. The slips now enclosed to be inserted, explain themselves.
The Smithsonian list came, but a little late. I can however make it useful otherwise. I did not have the foreign extras printed as I have no longer ambitions of any kind, & the paper was written solely to help along the monument project.
Tow of my children, the oldest son & the daughter are probably now at the Riggs House. Should either of them fall ill, they will not fail to ask your aid.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21039-40]
Newport, R.I.
31 Oct. 1889
Dear Dr. Toner,
As you requested, I have written a brief necrological notice of our friend Dr. L. F. Warner of Boston, which I will submit for your approval as soon as I shall have received a date or two from his daughter, at present in Boston.
At your leisure, I should like a list of your medical portraits, as possibly I may be able to contribute tenels(?) (thanls). You can doubtless obtain accessions from Dr Geo. J. Fisher of Sing Sing, who prides himself upon his medical collections, & from Dr J R Chadwick of Boston who will have control of any duplicates at the Boston Medical Library. Your are probably familiar with the following, a copy of which may be in your own, or the General Congressional, or the Surg. Gen. Office library. J.C.B. Hochsen(?) "Verzeichness einen Samlung von Bildnisse, Grostentrails berukenten sergte," Berlin, 1771, 4o. I have a copy that, from its binding, may at one time have been in the library of the King of Saxony.
I find no note or other trace of the Int. Med. Congress medal ever having been received here.
I have inquired concerning the "fern-leaved beach" form our agricultural authority, here. Mr. L.D. Davis, editor of the "Daily News". He says that Mr. Brown(?) [sic], the Govt forester in your city has told him that there are already several small specimens in the public ground. Mr Mecham of Phila has some choice one for sale at his nurseries.
One or two would eventually be greatly admired upon the lawn of your Asylum.
My daughter begs to be kindly remembered.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21041]
Newport, R.I.
18 Dec. 1889
Dear Dr.
I wish to obtain your assistance in what seem to me a matter of much importance.
Dr. L. Pfeiffer of Weimar, Germany, whose numismatic work "Postulatia in Nummis" is a monument of learning & labor, has for many years (fifteen) been at work upon the bibliography of Small Pox, Inoculation & Vaccination, in which you too are interested. He wishes to celebrate the Jubilee of Jenner in 1995 by the publication of the titles of everything upon the subject till then published, including other forms of vaccination, as syphilization, Pasteur's suggestions, etc. etc. His own library of the kind now comprises 2000 titles. He has as his colleague in the work Dr. B. Schuchard of Gothe, a bibliographer of the first rank. To make the memorial to Jenner the more cosmopolitan, they wish to publish if possible through the Smithsonian Institution, "that the great Englishman, his memory lim(?) by Germans, may have his monument erected thus(?) in America." He has thirty portraits of Jenner & many other illustrations. After publication of the titles, he would off his library, "unique of its kind", to any public institution for what it has actually cost him.
I send by present mail a sample of his cataloguing for a single year. Also his general arrangement. Lest you fail to receive it, I enclose another copy of the latter, all I have. Please let me know early as to this subject. There is, I think, an opportunity for your own name to appear with honor in connection with it.
I have just sent to Mr. Paul Beckwith(?) of the National Museum moulds of some sixty rare old historical medals, the moulds of which I chanced to own & which he was very desirous of obtaining casts or electrotypes from.
I had opportunity to briefly refer to you again in the November Sanitarian.
In my paper on the Rush medals, kindly make the following correction. Obverse should be Benjamin Rus M:D: of &c. Reverse should insert after "book." "above, SYDENHAM
Ever sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Harvard Archives]
Newport, R.I.
15 March, 1890
Dear Sir.
It is very probable that none of the following applications will be considered of importance you your Committee - or "national"
Hon. Member Canadian Medical Assoc.
Hon. Member New Brunswick (Canada) Medical Society.
Hon. Member Medical Society of Finland.
Hon. Member California State Medical Society.
Hon. Member Louisville Obstetrical Society.
Corr. Member Obstetrical Society of London.
Corr. Member Obstetrical Society of Berlin.
Corr. Member Archaeological & Geographical Institutes of Pernambuco.
Corr. Member Amer Numismatics & Wrch. Society
Corr. Member N.Y. Medico-Legal Society
l'Associe' E'tranger Royal Numismatic Society of Belgium.
Member of the Associazione MEdica Sorrentino (Med. Society of Sorrento, Italy).
Member Amer. Public Health Associat.
Member R.I. (State) Medical Society.
a Vice Prest. (1868) Am Medical Association.
Vice Prest. (Gynaecol. Section) of the International Medical Congress of 1887.
In 1876 I was placed upon the British Medical Register, this having been the first instance, I was informed at the London office, by the Registrar, in which the Harvard Medical Degree had been thus recognized.
Of the three "founders" of the Harvard Club of R.I., I only remain. Francis Brimley & Charles Timothy Brooks having both deceased.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21042-3]
Newport, R.I.
25 April 1890
Dear Dr. Toner,
Thanks for the report of the Garfield Memorial Hospital.
Have you the elder Braithwaite (of "Retrospect") in your collection of med. portraits? I have a rather nice proof before letter simply marked in pencil "Braithwaite" by whom I know not, which I think may be he, although I am aware there were unprofessional celebrities of the name. I will give it to you with pleasure.
Among some old memoranda I find the following which I may not have previously mentioned to you, "Does Dr. Toner know that Surgeon Samuel Russell Trevett (1783-1822), U.S.N. collected material for a biography of American physicians? I trust that you are well & happy.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
- M. Toner. M.D.
Has the Washington Training School for Nurses a medal? I have description of its seal from Circ. of Infn(?) Bureau of Education, No. 1-1882, p. 17.
I presume that your new Training School at the Garfield Hospital has hardly as yet progressed so far.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21044-5]
Newport, R.I.
26 Nov. 1890
My dear Dr.
Your clippings were examined by us all with much interest. I now return them. Mrs. Storer adding one upon "Zero", which fortunately the Newport thermometer very seldom touches, & I a scrap upon "Thanksgiving" with the hope that your tomorrow's dinner may be greatly enjoyed & be followed only by very pleasant dreams. Had Agnes not gone to school before I decided to write this morning, she would have wished to contribute her mite, for she is developing a strong taste for literature of the better sort, & she has placed Dr. Toner among her ideals.
You can aid me in a matter which I have at heart. When on the French coast of Newfoundland last Summer we spent a week at a settlement which is rapidly being destroyed by the steady invasion of sands, borne in by the wind. The people are poor, & we wish very much to aid them towards saving what is left of their homes. In many places along our own coast in beach grass or reed (Calamogiostis aremaria) has been artificially planted for the purpose, just as Dactylis cocapitosa was at the Falkland Islands. I think that our Government has published something upon the subject & if so I wish to obtain four copies of it to send to Newf'd. If I were certain I could obtain them through the Dept of Agriculture, I would not trouble you. I should also like to know if it is possible to obtain from Govt a supply of the seed, or rootlets, or the address of any person who has been employed for collecting such, & who could therefore be relied upon.
Another thing is on my mind. At Kentville, Nova Scotia, I came across a man, comfortably off (I think he is the Sheriff of the town), a Mr. Watson L. Bishop, who is a naturalist of the Hugh Miller type, save that instead of rocks, he is extremely wise as to the native habits of birds, beasts & fishes. He wishes to devote his whole time to these matters & could be procured, I think for a moderate salary. He is besides a very artistic taxidermist. I have written to Prof. G. Brown Goode about him & eventually he may find places for him in his Dept, but the post of all others he seems to me fitted for would be (?)____ the Superintendency (as practical manager) of your proposed zoological garden. If you have influence in that direction, it is worthy of your consideration.
When next at the Govt. Insane Asylum, give my regards to the good Dr. in charge & ask him for a memo(?) of the case & result of John Doyle, a soldier who was sent there from Fort Delaware on June 10 (or there abouts), 1862. He had been previously a servant of mine, & in looking over some old letters a day or two ago, was brought to my memory.
Do not think of "growing old" till the new library building is completed, & you have yourself been formally installed therein, with many subsequent years of personal possession, I trust.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21046]
Newport, R.I.
23 Dec. 1890
Dear Dr.
You may have seen the enclosed. C. seems trenching upon your ground.
We all send wishes for a very happy Christmas.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21047-8]
Newport, R.I.
25 April, 1891
My Dear Dr. Toner,
I was glad to hear from you again & to have the opportunity of reading your very interesting address. G. W. is certainly an ever fertile theme & a skilful cultivator like yourself gathers crop after crop of delicious fruit without in any sense impoverishing the soil. It is really wonderful how year after year you make new finds, & as in the cutting that you showed me in the wood near the Soldiers' House, open new vistas & disclose unsuspected beauties & visions.
My daughter thinks the woodcut that of a very find looking man, but that "it really does not do Dr. Toner justice."
I had hoped that we might be able to attend the coming session of the Association. The Grippe, however, has again severely visited Newport during the present spring. We have all had a recurrence of it & as yet hardly feel in condition for travel.
We should have enjoyed, best of all, again meeting yourself.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21049]
SEAL OF THE NEWPORT NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
THE MUSEUM
TOURO STREET
Newport, R.I.
24 June 1891
Dear Dr.
It was a source of great regret to me that I could not attend the meeting of Am. Med. Assn. Chief of its pleasures would have been again meeting yourself. I have read with interest your report on the Jenner Centennial. There are now somewhat over fifty medals relating to vaccination and its promulgators. Of these, a dozen are of Jenner himself. If you should wish, I would with pleasure prepare a brief paper upon them.
Though the proposition to collect a Jennerian library was negatived, nothing seems to have been said concerning his bibliography. It would be very pleasant if you could avail yourself in this direction of the labors of our correspondent Dr Pfeiffer of Weimar. The memorial volume, or volumes (if it results in a 2d), would then become even more worthy a place in the libraries of the world.
My wife and daughter join in kind remembrance.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
58 Washington St.
Newport R.I.
15 Dec. 1891
Dear Sir,
I have your favor of the 13th. In the Am. Journal of Num. for Jan., 1888, I published in supplement to my previous paper, enclosing a very important contribution for Mr. C. Ruland of Weimar, Custodian of the Goethe Museum. The Journal furnished me not a single duplicate, else I would send it to you with pleasure. You can probbly obtain the number, however, from MR. Luman H. Low, of Scott & Co., 62 East 23d St. N. Y. I congratulate you on your good fortune in obtaining so many of the medals, & I shall be glad to have their numbers as correspoding to my lists. If there prove anything not mentioned in the _____ list, I shall value its description. Mr. W. H. Darley of Belleville, Ontario, seems thus far to have had the first collection of Goethe medals in this country, but he has only six, while I myself, have but four. My study of them was but incidental to the greater work of catalogueing all known medical medals, upon which I have been for several years engaged.
You may be able to aid me from your professional stand point. Bot hin the "Sanitarian" & the ASmer Journal of Num. I have published descriptions of many medals & tokens of pharmacists, & I am always glad to learn of such, for doubtless many exist that are neither in my already large collection of them, nor entered in my MS. notes. Any information that you can give in _____ "medicals" will be duly appreciated & credited.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R.I.
6 June,? 1892
Dear Sir,
I copy from my second Goethe article what will especially interest you, ...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
Do not fail to let me know of any medical medals which wyo may come across, or hear of.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R.I.
6 June, 1892
Dear Sir,
I have added the Kullnick? Goethe (my No. 16) to my collection, & am surprized that so close an observer as Hofrath? Ruland did not observe the BERLIN under garland of oakleaves on reverse.
I should like to know what you have of Schiller. He also comes within the medical list, as he was at one time an army surgeon. I have twelve different medals & jetons of S.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
I have enquired into the difficulty of getting copies of my paper on G., & find that the back numbers of Amer. J. of Num. was in possession of the late Senior Editor, Mr. J. Colbrun, who died only last week. It is probable that they will now soon become accessible.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R.I.
19 June,? 1892
Dear Sir,
I have your ...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Have you joined Am. Num. Ass. of which Chas L Latiman? is Sect.? I have become a member without expectation of any advantage therefrom, but to aid in increasing a general interest in the subject.
On edge of II above, is _____ note F. APELL?
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R.I.
26 July, 1892
Dear Sir,
Among medals taht I have recently received from abroad there are two or three of Schiller that I had not before. One of these is in duplicate, & I therefore enclose a rubbing, as possibly you may not have it. Tin, In _____ of obverse, SEBALD F. DRENTWETTD. It was No. 3059 of the Cisternes sale at Amsterdam, on 13-17 June, & has costme 75 cents, for which you may have it. The piece is in but tolerably good condition. Edges somewhat dented.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R.I.
8 Aug. 1892
Dear Sir,
There are quite a number of Humbolts. ...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R.I.
18 Aug. 1892
Dear Sir,
You will find Prof. S. Oettinger of 107 East 45th St., N. Y., excessively painstaking & obliging. He keeps the run of all the foreign catalogues, & when sending out orders for his own private collection, he will do the same for his friends. Should you mention my name to him, he will soon inform you of every Goethe that is to be procured, anywhere.
If you have decided, as you should, to regularly take the American Journal of Numismatics, I wish you would inform me as to the correctness of my list of American pharmacy? medals & tokens. ...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21050]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R.I.
21 Sept. 1892
Dear Dr. Toner,
You have my thanks for your extremely interesting Address. Could Washington have forecasted the future, he would certainly have requested you to act as his literary executor and biographer. You most faithfully fill both roles.
Since my last publication in the "Sanitarian", I have learned of several vaccination medals not then known to me, & have added to my own series of them. With best regards
Yours sincerely
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Amherst College Archives]
Newport R.I.
28 Nov. 1892
Dear Sir,
By a newspaper I notice that you have a "Sawyer" medal at Amherst, for anat. & phys. work. Kindly let me have rubbings or an impression with details as to what of it is struck, & what only engraved. I should also like the founder's full name, & dates of his birth (& death?) & whether or not he was a medical man, & to know if it is gold, silver, or bronze.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Prof. Hitchcock-
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21051]
Newport, R.I.
8 Oct. 1893
Dear Dr.
At a book sale in Boston by C. F. Libbie & Co on Oct 7-19, there are a number of engraving os physicians, nos. 1528-1617. I have the catalogue from my son Dr. Malcolm Storer of 476 Boylston St. & I will ask him to send one to you, as there are some old ones that may yet be absent in your collection.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport R.I.
17 Feb. 1894
My dear Mr. Speck,
You have certainly been very fortunate. In your list, you speak of reverse of No. 15 ...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Harvard Archives- Eliot collection] HRS letter to Eliot 20 Feb 1894 give position to my son Malcolm [if does not show up, write for it.]
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport R.I.
27 Feb. 1894
Dear Sir,
I enclose the medals.
The earliest S. that I have seems to be the one by Bavre', 1821 (series numismatica &c.) that commemorating his electio to the Enfant Academie in 1791 wasnot struck till after his death, & presumably not till 1859.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport R.I.
7 March. 1894
Dear Sir,
I have yours & enclosures, & am glad that the pieces were satisfactory.
I have now ready for the printer ...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport R.I.
9 April. 1894
Dear Sir,
I am very glad if my Goethe list has been of any service to your. It must be some time yet before we can reach Schiller in the serial that I am publishing in the Am Journal of Numismatics. Though I have had an installment in every quarterly number since Jan. 1889, we have only presented the medical medals of British, Central & South America, the United States, & a small portion of those of Great Britain. Holland, Belgium & France will precede Germany. I however have these all of them ready for the press in manuscript. But life is short, & Art is long.[!]
I lately worte to Mr. C. Ruland at weimar concerning the details of another Goethe of which I had learned the existenc, & he describes it as follows.
...
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
8 Jan. 1895
My Dear Sir,
Yours of the 28th ult. came Duly, & I congratulate you on the acquisition of the David medals. The Goethe ...
Sincerely yrs.
H.R. Storer
If you ever learn of any pharmacetutical medals or tokens, do not fail to inform me. There are many very high class ones (of distinguished chemsist, etc.) quite a number of which I already have.
[APS Archives: Letter (Post card) to [Henry Phillip] ]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
23 Jan. 1895
Dear Sir,
Have you any medals or tokens in any [way] relating to medicine or phramacy in the Cabinet of the Society. If so, & you will mention to me what they are, I will give credit in the paper upon the general subject now being published in the Am. Journal of Numismatics.
Yrs sincerely
- R. Storer
(M. D.)
[Ans Jan 30 to my best knowledge & belief no such medals in possession of the A. P. S. H. P. per E.M.]
[Harvard Archives - (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
21 Feb., 1895
My dear Thayer,
I have little to add to that, already too much, which I have already sent you-
- Mrs. Gilmore's name is Emily Spaulding (Patten).
Emily - married 12 July, 1853, at Boston- died 27 Feb, 1872, at Worcester Mass.
Caroline - married 21 July, 1873, at Frankfort amte Main. died 26 April, 1874, at Sorrento, Italy.
Frances - married 20 Sept. 1876, at Edinburgh, Scotland. Mrs. Storer's parents were Peter and Katherine (Fraser) MacKenzie-
- Jessie - born at Edinburgh, 2 Sept., 1854. Died at Boston 2 Dec., 1855.
Frank - born at Boston 5 Dec., 1856.
John - born at Milton, Massl, 28 Sept. 1859 - A. B. 1892; LL.B. 1895. married Edith, daughter of Robert Treat Paine, (A. B. 1855, A. M.) of Boston.
Malcolm - born at Milton 25 April, 1862; A. B. 1885, M.D. 1889.
Agnes - born at Sorrento, Italy, 22 April - 1874.
- Was Prest. (1887) of the Rocky Mountain Medical Association (composed of the physicians who attended the Meeting of the American Medical Association at San Francisco in 1871.) The Associaton receives no accessions to its number, meets yearly at the same time and place as the Am. Med. Association, and will continue to do so till the last member has deceased. Though there were many at first, they were nearly all of them men advanced in years, and but few now remain.
Was a Vice-Prest of the Gynaecological Section fo the IXth International Medical Congress at Washington in 1887, and have very recently received its "Diploma di Benemerenza" from the XIth International Medical Congress held in 1894 at Rome, Italy.
Am Corresponding Fellow of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, and am now Honorary President of the Newport Medical Society.
- Have been a Director of the Newport Co-operative Building Association; a Trustee of St. Joseph's Church, Newport; President o fthe St. Joseph's Total Abstinence Society (150 men); for a number of years a member of the Prohibiton City Committee of Newport, and twice Prohibiton Candidate for State Senator.
- As to a portion of what I now enclose - you, of course, cannot approve, or even understand, my having progressed beyond the position into which I was born and in which I was bred, even though your own standpoint is in advance of that. None save those who have themselves suffered similarly, in spirit, in mind, and physically as well, are competent to judge. Since the change, I have endeavored, instead of allowing myself to be dragged below my former levels, to assist others upward to it, - and hope that I have been of aid - We may yet all find that in striving to serve a common Master, we shall gain admittance into a fold more Common to us all than even when we were boys together.
If ever you or yours should be in Newport, you may be sure of a cordial welcome.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
My father was A.B. Bowdoin 1822; A. M. Bowd.; M. D. Harv. 1825; LL.D. Bowd. 1876.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
12 May 1895
Dear Sir,
I ought to have earlier acknowledged yours of March 19th, but my time has been much occupied, & I am besides far from well. I am glad that you have No. 8, which I own also.
...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21052]
Newport, R.I.
5 June, 1895
My Dear Dr.
I have a large quantity of odd volumes & numbers of Am. med. journals. If the sets in your library are not all of them complete, it is possible that I might be able to supply some deficiencies. It would give me pleasure to send you anything I have that you might want. If you will send me a list of your needs. Trusting that you are well & happy.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection] postal card
Newport, R. I.
25 June. 1895
Dear Sir,
I was glad to see by yours of the 9th that you had recently obtained such valuable accssions. I have myself recently obtained the 1819 Senior? Numismatica Schiller. I already had the 1823.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
18 Aug. 1897
Dear Sir,
Since writing you, I have obtained the following medals.
...
I have known of this for several years, but it has till now eluded me.
Sincerely yrs.
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
NEWPORT
SANITARY PROTECTION ASSOCIATION.
Newport, R. I., 8 Sept 1895
My dear Sir,
I am very much obliged for the cuts of the pharmaceutical medals. Please give me the date of that number of the "Record", & the name & address of its editor. I had already a description of the Hamburg medal from Mr. Thos. S. Wiegand? of the Phil. Coll. of Pharmacy. & I knew of the existence of the Flickinger, but had not yet obtained the details. Can you give me F's place of residence, whether Vienna, or not? There is another medal of von Helmholtz, on hi 70th birthday, in 1891. I should also like Dr. Fr. Hoffman's address in New York. I am always gald to know of any medals, or even tokens, relating to pharmacy, as I of course include them in my serial list of the medals relating to medicine in teh Am Joural of Numismatics.
I trust that you will obtain the Goethe that you mention.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Kindly reply at once.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
12 Sept. 1895
My dear Sir,
Thanks for your prompt reply.
I have found the duty question a vary serious one, as well as other charges I have had to pay at the Custom House in N. Y. Small packagtes I have occasionaly had cme by registered mail. My NY agent has imported many medals for me in combination orders, with other collectors, but he charges .30 for the mark & .50 for the florins, so that the prices come high. I have urged that the N.Y. Society tak the matter up, & endeavor to have the duty removed.
I have just obtained another Schiller, from Leipsic & enclose rubbing.
...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
15 Sept. 1895
Dear Sir,
I was glad to obtain the rubbing of MR. F's Schiller as I had never seen this medal. I had, however, briefly its description. You will find it in the _____ _____ auction catalogue, Ghent, 12 Apr. 1886, p. 88, No. 162. As this is the only time I have ever seenit mentioned it is undoubtedly very rare. Angelica? Facius? of Wiemar generally signed herself Ang. Facius, or AS. Facius, or A.F. Are you sure that the A. is absent in this case?
As to the price, the dealers, who know our special requirements have us at their mercy. Mr. F. gets hold of many rarities. I have frequently declined pieces that he has written me about or sent me for inspection, because I have thought them too high. What I have bought of him, however, have always proved valuable.
It is sometimes quite amusing to trace the coures of individual medals that may come into the market. For instance, I pay Sothesby of London to send me his catalogues. A few months ago there appeared in one of them an oval silver medal of Kings Hospital, Oxmantom (near Dublin). Suspecting its true character, I at once made iquiries abroad & found that it was not medical (it proved to be of a boy's school, for the sons of the "freemen" of Dublin, like Christ's Hospital, London, & Herot's? Hospital, Edinburgh, both of which medals I own.) I therefore did not bid for it, & it was bought by a dealer outside of London, who offered it to me for 16/ ($4). I declined it, & it was purchased by Mr. Chapman of Phila, who seems while abroad to have tried to make "a corner" in medical medals, for my especial benefit. At any rate, he wrote me that he purchased every thing of the kind that he could find on sale in Europe & sent me a great box full, weighing many pounds for inspection. Fortunately, I already had most of them. Among them was the medal in question. Its price had risen to $20 (80/.). When I declined it, I was able to enlighten the gentleman as to its actual character. He will probably have to hold it for some time to come.
I enclose rubbing of 23 Schillers of mine that possibly you may not have. I shall be obliged if you will send me rubbings of your others, whether you think that I have them or not, so that I may ascertain if there may be any die varieties that we have not yet recognized.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21053]
Newport, R.I.
1 Oct. 1895
Dear Dr.
I am asked for information concerning Dr. John Lavoux , & his wife Mme Hattie Lavoux, born Bostarch, who were both devoted to the sick & wounded soldiers in New York in 1776. Can you aid me? Hoping that you are well.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Dr. Toner.
[Library of Congress--Aldrich collection]
[Letter was on a letterhead "Seal of the Newport Natural History Society"; The Museum, Touro Street.]
58 Washington St.
Newport R.I., 23 Oct. 1895
Dear Sir,
Capt. Jos. W. Collins of Md. is a candidate for the position of Chief of the U.S. Fish Commission, with which he was long connected. Should he be nominated by the President, I believe that he would be found both competent and reliable.
Sincerely yrs.
- R. Storer
Prest. Newport Nat. Hist. Society
Senator Aldrich.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
137 West 47th St. N.Y.
4-III-1896
Dear Sir,
I have been here for some four weeks, consulting the Lister Library & that of the Am. Num. & Arch. Society, of which I am an honorary member, & at the same time sifting the city for medical pieces. I have found but little, however, that I had no already. A few unopublished druggists' tokens, &c. THe last week I have been in my bed, with a gouty attack. Shortly after I get out again, I shall return to Newport.
I regret with you that you were not able to secure teh medallion but blad that you have obtained the Prague Schiller. It is described by Done? Ghuer? in his Bohemische Munzern?, p. 570. No. 4890. Kindly keep me informed of your accessions.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
I have the Carns?.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
23-III-1896
Dear Sir,
I enclose rubbing of a G. I have just received from Leipsic.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21054]
Newport, R.I.
5 - IV(?) 1896
Dear Dr. Toner,
When and where are you to hold your Jenner Celebration? I have prepared with care a list, with descriptions, of the medals of Dr. Jenner, together with those illustrating Small Pox, Inoculation, and Vaccination generally. Together, they are many. I have thought somewhat of publishing it abroad where physicians are more interested in the history of our profession, through one of the Societies of which I am a member, but I would rather place it in your hands to use it as you might think best. This, I presume, would be the more patriotic method.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer
I hope you are very well, and bearing your years and honors, as ever, very gracefully.
What engravings of Jenner, & by whom, are in your collection? & what are at the National Museum?
[Library of Congress-Toner Folio 21055]
Newport, R.I.
18 IV, 1896
My Dear Dr. Toner,
I am sorry indeed to hear that you are not as well as formerly. Dr. Davis at once wrote me, and has done so a second time. Being ill just now himself, & thinking it possible that he may not be able to attend, he proposes to entrust his address to Dr. Didama, Chairman of the Committee, & it has advised me to do the same with my own very brief communication, upon the Memorials of Jenner. If I could have had it ready in season it was my hope to submit it to you preliminarily, for careful annotation. I was however, taken ill some six weeks ago in New York, where I had been spending a portion of the winter, and am still far behind in my corresponded and literary work.
ARS LONGA, VITA BREVISSIMA.
Before printing, I still hope that you may be able to give me points regarding the nearly fifty engravings of Jenner which I catalogue.
At Atlanta, you may meet and recollect Dr. Peter F. Curley of this city, a member of the R. I. State Board of Health, and brother Catholic. I am always glad when two of my best friends know and appreciate each other.
My wife and daughter join me in best wishes.
ever sincerely yours,
Horatio R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
31-V-1896
Dear Sir,
I wrote you some weeks ago of my then latest addition to the Schillers, but have not heard from you since. I have now obtained anotehr ver beautiful uniface, which seems as yet undescribed.
Obverse
Reverse
Bronze, 60. 95 mm.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
15-VI-1896
Dear Sir,
I duly received the rubbing of your Muller Goethe. It is, as you suppose, a companion to his schiller.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
18 June, 1896
Dear Miss Porvel,
You will have found the Report more satisfactory, as I was permitted to see the proof. I submitted your query concerning Peter Hey__(?) to my son thedr., & he thus replies.
"Tell Miss P. that the Dutch artists used portraits much in the way newspaper cuts are used now, with almost any body's name under them. The bust of Maurice of Orange was used for several other worthies."
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
12-VIII-1896
Dear Sir,
I congratulate you. What do you ask for the "poor" No. 14? I do not suppose you care to keep duplicates.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
20-VIII-1896
Dear Sir,
Thanks for the Janus? I return my check.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
21-VIII-1896
Dear Sir,
Regarding your uniface Goethe, of 41 mm. is it like theobv. of the Bovy 1824, with inscription in smaller letters, & CK under the head, as described in the Hambruger Car. for 29 May, No. 2333?
Yrs sincerely
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
1-IX-1896
Dear Sir,
I enclose rubbings of a fourth "Sebold F. Drentwett D.", which I received today from Hamburg.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
16 March. 1896
Dear Sir,
I have just obtained from Munich, & send rubbings, of the little medal of Schiller, which seems to be very rare & by K. Fischer. It is described by Durr? Ning, Suppl II, p. 24, No. 14.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
16 Jan., 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
There will be a meeting of the amateur numismatists of Newport at the room of the Historical Society on Touro St. on Tuesday next, Janl, 19th, at 3.30 P.M., to consider the formation of a Coin and Medal Club.
You are cordially invited to attend.
Yours sincerely
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
27 Jan., 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
I have considered the question of Saturdays for our meetings, but I find that the business men (Bunker(?), Robinson & Session) area as much engaged hten as on any other afternoon, the former indeed then paying off his workmen, so that it would be well to adhere to Tuesday. In your record, it would be poroper to preface your first entry by "First Regular Meeting", & hereafter thus to continue the sequence.
The Second entry should be -
"Special Meeting -
"A Special meeting was held on Tuesday, Jan 26th, at 1130 A. M., at the house of the Secretary - Miss Stevens was elected a member".
Your postal card notifications might be as follows-
"30 Jan. 1897
"The Second regular meeting of the Newport
"Coin and Medal Club will be held on
"Tuesday next, Feb. 2d, at 3.30 P.M. inthe
"gallery of the Historical Society. Subject for
"consideration: the Jackson medals, and
"U.S. Bank tokens of 1834-41. You are
"cordially invited to be present and exhibit
"specimens.
---
"Secretary."
They should be sent to your brother, Messrs. J. A. Swan, R.R. Barker, W. S. Sisson (Care Geo. A. Weaver & Co.), Jas H. Chapelle, Gordon(?) Anderson, E. P. Allan, W. P. Sheffield, Jr., Edwin S. Burdick, & Dr. E. P. Robinson, & Miss Stevens.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
3 Feb., 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
I went to get forty copies of the Herlad this morning to send to foreign correspondents, but could not obtain a single one. The whole issue had been sold, I presume on account of the article on Judah Touro. If you have not a copy, HOwever, I will send you my own. Though the report is singularly correct, considering there were so many numbers, there are several typographical errors which you will please rectify when entering in the book.
First column- ...
Perhaps the medals of Columbus might be a good subject for the next meeting. Possibly you may be able to find a Columbian half & quarter dollar to exhibit, among your frieinds, if you have not them.
If you will make an impression from your papal seal, & let me have it, with the cardinals medal, a little beforehand, we will present a report thereon.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
17 Feb. [1897]
Dear Miss Porvel,
The following corrections should be made in the report in this morning's Herald-
2d paragraph ...
You have perhaps noticed that our example has been followed by the stamp collectors - in the formation of the Newport Philatelic Club.
YOu will pardon my apparent usurpation of your official duties. That there was so much technical detail is my excuse. Hereafter I will not do so.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
23 Feb. [1897]
Dear Miss Porvel,
I will of course aid you in all that I can, subject of course to your wish that I should do so. 1620to 1700 might be added, as at the former date the Bermuda or Sounds(?) Island coinage was issued. By thus restricting the period, we may have one or two more meetings before the present decimal system is reached.
I regret Miss Stevens' disinclination. The Club can be kept within the control of nice people if only they will join. There will be found much to interest those with artistic tastes, aside form the heavier attractions of history.
My daughter goes to Boston this morning, but may be back for the meeting.
The Daughters of teh Revolution meet in the Hist. Soc. building on one Tuesday afternoon of each month, but Mr Tilley says taht if we wish it they can use the outer hall, giving us that of the Nat. Hist., if our attendance should be sufficiently large to require it.
At the "Herald" office they tell me that there has been quite a demand for the reports of our meetings.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Swan has some admirable early colonials.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
3 March, 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
Despite my suggestion that they be more careful, the printer of teh Herald have again made several errors.
3d paragraph, ...
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
17 March, 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
We all missed you yesterday. I again have to note printers errors. As the Herlad is made up during the night, it is impossible to revise the proof. I have urged greater care upon the compositors, but tehy are probably in a hurry to get home before day break.
2d paragraph ...
I carried Joseph Wheaton (Wharton?)to the meeting, & brought him back again, for safety's sake. The book I left for you upon the table.
Curiously enough, Mrs Chase brought the same newspaer slip that you sent.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Today I have letter from Mr. A. C. Zabriskie of N.Y., that he sends as a gift to the Club some twenty medals.
The package came before I could mail this. Will you threfore, as Secretary, kindly acknowledge their receipt, with the thanks of the Club, to Mr. Andrew C. Zabriskie, 52 Beaver St. New York, President of the Am. Numismatic and Archaeological Society.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
1 April, 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
The three faithfulones who were at the meeting deeply regretted that their Secretary could not be with them. We were sure, however, that you had been prevented. I had hastily glanced at the pamphlet, & handed it to the librarina, Mrs Chace(?), as I had to complete the report. Therfore I did not notice the Columbus print, but will look for it.
As usual there were typographical errors in the report, but not many considering its length.
2d column, 1st paragraph ...
I enclose a couple of trifles from my daughter.
Admiral Luce called yesterday (but I was out), with a letter from Mrs Geo. C. Mason, to the effect that she had from her husband's estate a sword of O. H. Perry's, & a Nelson medal, which she wished to sell. I have written to Adml that possibly you might like to obtain the latter. My son is at the moment very ill in Boston or I should bring it to his attention, though he probably already has the medal.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
16 April, 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
We were all grieved that you could not be with us on Tuesday. I trust that your convalescence will now be rapid. Mr. Worthington could not find room for your report until this morning. Though very legibly written there are still typographical errors as really seems inevitable.
2d paragraph ...
Mr. Joseph Wharton (in _____(?)) regularly accompanies me to the meetings, in the hope of finding his possesor(?).
[no salutation or signature]
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
3 May, 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
The report in the Herald was delayed for want of space. Again there are typogr. errors.
1st Column, ...
I trust that you are well again.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
The reports of teh first and second meetings were copied in full into the "Numismatist" for February.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
12 May, 1897
My dear Miss Porvel,
I am very sorry that you are still so much of an invalid, & can assure you that you are very much missed by us all.
I have received a reply to my letter to Belgium regarding your Willem Von Zintelade(?) seal, but as the numismatists thre are at fault, I shall now write to Holland.
In the Herald's report of yesterday's meeting there are again priner's errors.
1st Column, 2d paragraph 4th line dimes should be disme.
...
Hoping that you may be able to be at the next meeting.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
It was unfortunate that you should miss two naval expostions - the Lords Howe and Nelson.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
NEWPORT H. R. S. Pres.
COIN AND MEDAL R.E. Porvel, Secy.
CLUB
Newport, R. I.
24 May-1897
Dear Sir,
I am glad to hear from you again, for I had feared that you might be ill. The "H.W." Schiller ...
...
Mr Ruland has done much conjoined publication upon medical medals, relating to epidemics, with Dr. L. Pfeiffer, also of Weimar, whi is especially known for his researches relative to samll Pox & Vaccination. Have they both collections of medals, & did you see them?
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
3 June, 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
We were again sadly disappointed at your being unable to be with us on Tuesday.
I call your attention to the followin errors, for correction in the Record.
2d paragraph, 6th line should be 1797-
...
I enclose Mr. Wharton's letter, & think that he intended the nickel pieces either for the Club or for yourself. They were evidently not to be sent back to him.
Miss Stevens mentioned that she should be absent till October, & I stated that you had suggested to me at an earlier meeting that it might be well for the Club also to take a vacation during the hot weather. No one present, however, savemyself seemed to favor this view. It would seem that the others had not yet begun to lose their interest.
I trust that your medals reached you safely with the book.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
16 July-1897
My Dear Sir,
I have yours of yesterday. You have doubtless noticed the the smaller Vienna Schiller, of 1859, "C.R.", which we both have, is als by Radnitzky.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Did you find from Mr. Ruland who the "H.W." Goethes & Schillers were by. He wrote me some time ago that he was then uncertain. Schlickeysen & Pattmann & Droysen? do not state. I had a memorandum that they were by H. Wilke of Hamburg, but I had neglected to note my authorization.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
4 Nov. 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
If permitted by your own engagements, please summon the C. & M. Club for next Tuesday afternoon, at 3.30. I have seen Mr. Swan, &it will be impossible for him to attend the meetings if in the evening. To do so would also be much more difficult for you and me. It would be well, however to notify Dr. E. P. Robinson, & Messrs. R. R. Barker, W. S. Sisson, Y Hamilton Tompkins. Mr. S. willcome, & Mr. T. expreses himself as much interested.
Subject: The Coins & Medals of Upper Canada.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
13 Nov. 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
THe corrections for your record book are
3d par. 8yh linr ...
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
3 Dec., 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
If it meets your own convenience, will you call a meeting of the C. & M. Club for next Tuesday afternoon.
When in Boston a few days ago, my daughter found that of the "seven thousand" portrait engravings that Estes & Lauriat have for sale, a very great many are naval. In price they range from ten to fifteen cents - mostly at ten.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
9 Dec. 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
There are more than the usual number of typographical errors in the last Report.
...
I have several times asked in vain, to see the proof. With a paper printed during the night, this is difficult.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
10 Dec. 1897
Dear Sir,
I have just obtained from Geneva, one of the little Goethe pieces, & I wish a comparison of yours with mine. This one was on reverse crossed oak branches tied by ribbon, & in field: JETON The late Dr Eduard Rueppell of Frankfort _____ in his _____ zur Kenntniss Der numismatische _____ an _____ und Naturefors_____ &c. describes one with JETTON, & I have had the impression that yours is like this latter. The obverse (K_____ vest) differs from the one with Schiller reverse in having a dot after Goethe, & in some minor points. It is almost precisely like the obverse of the "Numismanschen Abend"
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
16 Dec., 1897
Dear Miss Porvel,
As to a meeting of the C. & M. Club next week, consult your own convenience. As for myself, I should prefer monthly meetings, if equally acceptable to the otherrs, for my time is very much occupied & I am not feeling as well as last winter. I sometimes think that monthly meetings durin gthe Summer also, would not prove so heavy a burdent as we have thought, & thre were occsaionally people here then who would be interested. Mr. Zabriskie writes me from N. Y. that "if the Club is still in esxistence", he wishes to give to it some medals & numismatic books.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
28 Dec. 1897
Dear Sir,
I duly received yours of the 14th.
Your friend who supposed I had exhibited Goethe medals in N. Y. evidently had in mind another occasion. Prof. S. Oettinger (from Munich) of 107 East 45th St., did since with Mr. Daniel Parish, Jr., & me a very extended series of Austrian medals, the three of us being immediate? members of the Num. Society of Vienna. The exhibiton was under the auspices of the Grolier Club, at their building, & was very generally admired & praised. THe idea was Prof. Oettinger's, but I was able to furnish a good many specimens that did not seem to exist in N. Y. The display seems to have excited great interest in Vienna, & to have given great satisfaction there, as the work of all their best engravers was quite fully represented.
Upon a very much more limited scale, you & I could acomplish the same thing with the Goethes, though the G. Club of N.Y, of which you are probably a member, or , if not, _____ _____ in connection with some gentlemen who was. The Club would perhaps be willint to publish an illustrated catalogue of the medals in that event. We could furnish the material for ____to type or similar cuts, & they could bear the expense therof. Were their late President, Dr. _____ R_____ , still living, I could perhaps easily arrange as to this.
Sincerely yrs.
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
31 Dec. 1897
Dear Sir,
I have just received from Berlin another Schiller. If you have not yet got it, the rubbing will interest you.
Obv. ...
Rev. ...
Precisely what Society is the Schlaraffia?, of which there are several medals? I judge that it is social, artistic & humorous, though Schiller could hardly have been called a "loiterer".
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
6 Jan., 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
There are the following typographical errors to be corrected.
5th paragraph ...
Mr. Zabriskie has sent me another beautiful medal for the Club - of nausau(?) - Do not mention this in your present letter of acknowledgment, but refrain till it has been formally presented at the next meeting.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
The meeting's report was so long, that I had to condense your own, which however will go upon file & be presented.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
26 Jan., 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
If you feel able, the meeting might be called for Tuesday next.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
3 Feb., 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
We were very sorry that you could not be withus on Tuesday. The weather was certainly bad. YOur friend would have been welcome.
To your note I can only reply that we need you as Secretary. With that office & the presidency filled by partial invalids we have guarantee of continued success. Much of the good work of this world isperformed by those who theoretically are shelved & incapable, that perhaps they may give example to those who in reality are in better condition to bear the labor.
There are the following errors in today's Herlas.
4th paragraph, ...
You will please send thanks to Messrs. Faerber(?) & Zabriskie, & the "friend".
You will perceive that you have been entrusted with rather an interesting duty. Messrs S. H. & H. Chapman, of 1348 Pine St., Philadelphia, are Quakers. Though by profession coin & medal dealers, they are in reality cultivated gentlemen, in good society. By their accurate scholarship, & scrupulosuly honorable methods, they have done much to elevate numismatics in this country. They are besides of acknowledged authority in everything pertaining to Greek art, as studetns & not as merchans. They had postponed so long making their recent holy alliances, that they have been thought confirmed celibates & congratulations therefore are in good taste from all interested in our common Science. To send a line, officially, you will therefore not find an unwelcome task.
the Gilman letter needs no reply. I return for you to preserve with teh "Archives", your recent report, & also those of MRs. Chase. Her lists might perhaps be pasted at the end of your record book.
I had not noticed that the Hirsch Munich(?) Circular had already been presented, & so gave another. West India coins & medals for the next meeting seem appropriate, as continuing the round(?)
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
My daughter reports very warm weather.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
8 Feb, 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
Mr. Al_____ informed me yesterday that it was to his daughter that the Club is indebted for the interesting Cuban souvenier token. Be good enough therefore to convey to her officially its thanks. If Miss Almon(?) does not join Miss Barton at Havana in her sanitary work, we shall be glad to see her at our meetings. It is not inappropriate that she reside in Red Cross Avenue.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
16 Feb. 1898
Dear Sir,
I have another Goethe todya, from Paris, that is new to me. Lead, Cast, Uniface ... Can you tell me anything about it?
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
24 Feb. 1898
Dear Sir,
I send you foil impression of teh G. uniface. If it reaches you safely you will notice more clearly the anterior projection of wreath, & the braod curve of base. In
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
the latter respect it seem to differ from all the others. I have your letters.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
25 Feb., 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
If you are sufficiently well, we might meet again on Tuesday next. I trust that the weather may prove more propitious that a month ago.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
3 March, 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
There were but minor corrections of todays report.
3d paragrpah ...
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
5 March, 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
After writing you, I was shown at the Herald office that I had myself been the cause of a preposterous error, in carelessly stating the dat of the meeting as Feb., instead of March 1st. Their proofreader detected it in time & though it a mistake, but nevertheless printe it as given, since I had requested that tey always "follow the coy" instead of making chages of their own, as they seemed inclined to do at first.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
11 March-1898
Dear Sir,
The Goethe was from B. Baer, 8 rue Daguerry, Paris, a dealer, not at auction
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
31 March, 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
If you feel able, our meeting might be held on Tuesday next.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
7 April, 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
There are more than the usual number of typographical errors.
3d paragrpah 6th line, should be Thalpan.
...
[probable next page]
Mr. Baruch not attending, I left the note & list of books at his house.
As your Spanish piece proved to have been struck at Potose, Bolivia, I have reserved its presentation for a future South America Meeting.
The Club regretted extremely that you were unable to be present.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
Dear Miss Porvel
My poor parent is still confined to his bed and still unablet to do any writing, which explains why you are called upon to wreath(?) with my trying chirography. The enclosed letter from Mr Zabriskie I have acknowledged, but father makes _____ to ask you to kind__ write Mr Zabriskie as Secretary that the Clubs final _____ meeting will be postponed till the last of May so that the members may have the pleasure of hearing his paper.
Trusting your household has escaped this second visitation of grippe which seems(?) more _____ _____ than(?) that earlier in the month(?)
believe me
Very sincerely yours
Agnes C. Storer
58 Washington Street
April twenty-first
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
5 May 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
There are fewer printers' errors than usual in the Report.
3d paar. 2d line should be Guatemala.
...
As I am poorly, & it was a good place for a break North America having been completed, it seemed best to suspend for the warm weather.
YOur Cincinnati medal had been shown at a prior meeting, it is my impression. I place it with the book in a drawer of the table.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Newport, R. I.
15 June 1898
My dear Sir,
I return herewith the Pressburg Goethe rubbing, with my thanks. Do you know the engraver? You are fortunate in the promise of the Melchior medallion. I shall be glad to have its description when you receive it. I have little doubt that the Grolier Club would be willing to interest themselves in the proposed exhibition, whenever we shall have specimens enough to warrant it, & that the N. Y. Goethe Club would be also inclined to assist by acting as its sponsors. To include Schiller also would not be inappropriate.
Sincerely yrs.
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
9 Nov. 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
As to our Club, I have not felt particularly well of late, & have besides questioned whether the interest of some of the rest of us were not a little flagging. Still, if you yourself feel able, & inclined, to continue the effort, I will do what I can for the general interest. I have received letters form distant numismatists who profess that they have enjoyed our published reports & hope that they will not be discontinued, & this has induced me to write you now. Thre have, besides, been some more medals & coins received from Mr. Zabriskie, which have to be reported. Threfore if you will summon a meeting for next week, I will endeavor to attend. Monday would this time be more convenient for me than Tuesday, & 3 o'clock, if this is not too early. The topic was to be the coinage of Venezuela & Columbia, in Co__________t of those of South America.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
17 Nov. 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
In the printed version of your recent report, thre are as usual, a few typographical errors.
6th paragraph, 1st line ...
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Newport Historical Society-Newport Coin & Medal Club Correspondence]
58 Washington St.
2 Dec., 1898
Dear Miss Porvel,
As only Mrs. Chase & Mr. Austin appeared it was thought best to adjourn the meeting, especially since Mr. Zabriskie has sent us another very fine medal.
Possibly some of the absentees may have thought that two meetings in one month were too many.
Use your own discretion as to summoning us again for next week, or waiting till January. In the former event, Mr. Sisson has promised to attend.
I have sent Mr. Tilley's adroitly worded reply, to Mr. Fearing(?).
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Harvard Archives]
Hotel Kensington
5th Av. & 15th St
New York
24 Feb., 1900
Dear Sir,
The Numismatic Society of Holland, of which I am a foreign associate, has now, like that of Belgium, the word "Royal" prefixed to it.
Sincerely yours
H.R. Storer 50.
Mr. Tillinghest.
[Harvard Archives]
Hotel Kensington
27 Feb., 1900
Dear Sir,
Yes, of both -- & of divers other medical & numismatic societies in England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, Canada, & Brazil, -- these, however, not having the word Royal attached to them.
Sincerelly yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Noyes.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Hotel Kensington
5th Av. & 15th St. N.Y.
12 March, 1900
Dear Sir,
I enclose rubbings of two Goethe medals I have just received. They are by Lamer of Nurenberg, & have his name upon the arm truncation. You very likely have them both.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Postal Card to Wm A. Speck, Esq- Haverstraw, N.Y.
Hotel Kensington N.Y.
15 March, 1900
My dear Sir,
I am very sorry that you have been ill, & trust that you have now fully recovered. My own trip to Europe last Summer helped me greatly, & though I have not regained the lost ground, I have not, at past seventy, good reason to be contented.
The Scharff? medal I know, & will therefore not trouble you for the illustration.
sincerely yrs.
H.R. Storer
[Medico-Legal Journal of NY Vol 18(1) 1900--page 132]
The chair presented a letter from Dr. H. R. Storer, of Atlantic City, N.J.:
Hotel Chatham, Atlantic City, N. J., May 9, 1900.
Dear Sir.--Yours of the 7th has been forwarded to me from Newport. I regret that ill health will prevent my attending the dinner to Mr. Hudson [other letters of regret say Dr. THomson Jay Hudson-dinner in New York], whose researches in Psychology will doubtless receive their due recognition. Aside from confessions to non-perpetrated acts, through the hope of benefit, it is easy to understand that the long-continued pressure of fear, or even of the mere excitement attending a criminal charge, may proudce dreams of personal guilt, and that the nightmare of such may during waking hours persist to such a degree as to become believed-in reality to the person involved. While to these cases again are to be added those of central cerebral lesion or from reflex irritation, where criminal acts are, withougt any apparent reason, merely a delusion. Such are the innumerable instances of "unpardonable sin" familar to all alienists. May years ago, when I was one of the then existing Commission in Lunacy of Massachusetts, a patient at the Worcester Hospital begged me to have him hung for an alleged murder which I found not only had never occurred, but could not have done so, the victim having been imaginary, as well as all of the circumstances and details stated.
Sincerely yours,
- R. Stover,(sic)
Hon. Prest. New York (sic) Medical Society [should be Newport not New York]
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
The Wilmot
14 East 53d St. N.Y.
18 May, 1900
My dear Sir,
The enclosed may interest you. I have just obtained the piece from Munich, & had previously not know of its existence.
Hoping that your health is now completely reestablished.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
New Grant House
Stamford, N.Y.
23 June, 1900
Dear Sir,
I am glad to have your list of G. accessions, & to congratulate you on your success in obtaining them. There are still quite a number of others of which I have notes, that as yet have escaped us both. The uniface, laureated & to left, that I had from Baer of Paris if of lead, like your own. Possibly the die was too weak to endure a harder notch, & may have broken before many could be struck. Your _____, O.B. is I think by Berg. _____
Had I known that I was to pass through Haverstraw on my way to Lake Mohawk a month ago, I should certainly have called upon you. I hope that the pleasure is only deferred. We go on to Lake George on Saturday, & after a while return to Newport for a few weeks. We trust? again to spend the winter in New York, if still in this country.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck
[Harvard Archives - Eliot collection]
Newport, R.I.
16 Nov., 1900
My dear Sir,
Two or three years ago I wrote to you about a collection of medals relating to medicine that during a long time I had been forming, which I intended should eventually become a memorial to my father, as he in his early days, when I was a boy, was interested in numismatics.
I finally decided to give the collection, more than two thousand pieces, to the Boston Medical Library, the directors consenting that they shall be preserved in the new Holmes Hall, with the portrait of my father which wa painted for the library "by the physicians of Boston", hanging above them. In so doing, I have made this proviso: That, if at any time in the future, through now unforseen circumstances, the Library shall caseate to exist as such, or its control shall pass to persons according to the Code of Ethics of the American Medical Association in any way irregular, then the collection shall be transferred to the possession of Harvard University, from which my father received his medical degree in 1825, I my own in 1853, and my son his in 1889. Now as to a point referred to in the last clause. I have always hoped that the library itself might in some way or other become directly affiliated with the University, & since its inception I have repeatedly written to Dr. Chadwick as to this. He has recently informed me that the time had come when a rearrangement of the relations of the Library to the Medical School seems necessary. Coincidentally I found among some old papers that I was destroying, certain documents indirect bearing upon this question, namely: a copy of a petition drawn by myself nearly fifty rears ago, in 1852, as Chairman of a Committee of the Medical Classes of the three years then required, and sent to the Corporation of the University, requesting that the Boylston Medical Library (i.e. Library of the Medical School) might be increased, to the welfare of the students, by the addition of such medical works as might be in the general library at Cambridge; and your father's official reply thereto, to the effect that though the Corporation perceived the reasonableness of the suggestion, they were just then hampered by lack of means, c., &c.,-- together with letters form Dr. Harris, then general librarian, detailing the number of books that might have been rendered available. These papers I have sent to Dr. Chadwick.
If you have it in your power, by placing all the University medical books, whether in Boston or Cambridge, upon deposit at the new Library building, easily accessible as it is & will be to the medical students, or in any other way that may suggest itself to you, - in inducing the Library to become an avowed department of the University, I think that it would eventually prove to have been wise. Not least, as so far tending to strengthen the Medical School, as against the influence of any possibly powerful rival, in Boston, in the future. I trust that as yet age is touching you but lightly.
Sincerely yours
Horatio R. Storer
'50
Prest Eliot
Newport Daily News, Friday, December 14, 1900
Obituary of Dr. P.F. Curley.
A pillar of strength to our whole community has fallen,and many are the mourners who go about our streets.
Dr Peter Francis Curley was born in Newport, September 18, 1861, was educated in Newport, and received his degree at the Albany Medical College in 1883. He was for two years attached to St Peter's Hospital at Albany, and upon returning to Rhode Island commenced practice at Providence, where his ability was quickly recognized. In August, 1887, his brother, Dr. John P. Curley, having removed as it was supposed permanently to St. Louis, he came to Newport, and it was here that his life's work was done. He had for several years been upon the staff of the Newport Hospital, and as treasurer of the Sanitary Protection Association, and member of the school committee, and of the boards of health and medical societies of both the city and state, worthily filled these positions of honor.
Not 40 years old! And yet today Dr. Curley is mourned by our whole city as though full of years as he was of works of mercy and self-sacrifice. This of itself is exceptional and noteworthy, so seldom is it that to any one is given universal respect and affection in the place of his birth.[!]
Dr. Curley was bred and trained well. He came of a family in which the domestic ties are unusually strong, and since his parents' deaths he had, though not the oldest, seemed yet practically its head. His one great aim was to preserve and add to their happiness, and though his anxieties for them were great he never swerved from his faithful and loving service. Finding his greatest happiness in his home, he cared nothing of the distractions and excitements that to many men seem so essential and his course was uneventful, save that it was always upward. With probably the largest practice ever acquired in this city, and having charge of late years of many of our most prominent families, he yet retained, and clearly through intention and purpose, an enormous number of charity patients. He was indeed the just man, whose leanings were ever towards others rather than himself, and today the blessings of many a widow and orphan are with him in his passage hence.
Dr. Curley's was a peculiarly winning and attractive presence; his speech and his mind were chaste, his conduct void of offence towards God and towards men. He was the embodiment of duty well performed, of charity limitless. He could not refuse a sick call, by day or night, even though already over-fatigued; and this it was that killed him, all so prematurely. Though advised months ago to take a prolonged rest, and told that otherwise he would inevitably succumb, he was always waiting until others could be left, entrusted to his keeping. Is it not true, in view of recent events, that this precious life also has been sacrificed to the apathy of the city authorities, who have permitted a preventable epidemic to scourge Newport, [!] and have thus greatly increased for the time the anxieties and fatigues of all our physicians? Dr. Curley felt that he could not leave while so many were needlessly endangered. It is now too late.
He was the good physician, the kind friend, the devout and humble believer; an example, a comfort, a protection--under God, the saver of many imperilled lives. His memory will endure in Newport, and as prayers without ceasing have been offered for his recovery, by both Protestant and Catholic, in many a home, and by the priests and sisterhoods to whom he was a constant aid, so now all unite in praying for his eternal rest, in thanksgiving for this beneficent life.
- R. S.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
The Wilmot
14 E. 53rd St. N. Y.
10 April, 1901
My dear Sir,
You have certainly been very fortunate, much more so than myself, for I had not seen the Ruland catalogue & supposed that the Hamberger? had neglected to send it to me. By a strange coincidence it arrived last evening, shortly after I had recieved your letter. Is R. Dead? If not, it must have been hard for him then to sacrifice his goethes.
Can you tell me as to the enclosed rubbing, about which I have perhaps asked you before. Obverse: A man in classic barb writing in a book. It was sent to me some years ago from a sale, as of Schiller. I though it might be Uhland?, but it give 18 October instead of 13 November.
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
Midway Ind. Hot Springs, Va.
19 May 1901
Dear Sir,
I have yors of the 5th. The medals are already displayed at the Boston Medical Library, with my son, Dr. Malcolm Storer, as Curator. Though o longer my own, I shall continue to add to them. I trust that they will give others the pleast that they have for years to myself.
The medal I was in doubt about had been catalogued as a Schiller rather than a Goethe.
We now soon return to Newport. If you find yourself there druing the summer, I shall be very glad to see you.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
230 Central Park South
New York
13 May 1902
Dear Sir,
I have today received from Frankfurt ...
...
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Speck.
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection] Postal Card to Speck
Newport R. I.
25 July 1902
Dear Sir,
I have yours of the 23d, & have been much interested.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
230 Central Park South
New York
30 Dec. 1902
Dear Sir,
I enclose rubbing of a Schiller jeton ...
Trusting that you are well, & wishing you many Happy New Years,
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Speck
Should you visit New York, do not fail to come & see me.
[Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R.I.
5 March, 1906
Dear Sir,
Since Jan. 1889, now sixteen years, I have been serially describing the medals & tokens relating to Medicine in the Am. Journal of Numismatics & have given my collection of some three thousand of these pieces to the Boston Medical Library. I shall be greatly obliged if you willl favor me with description, including metal & size in mm., of the Dr. F. V. Hayden medal of the Acad. of Nat. Sciences. Rubbings, or photo, or plaster casts would be valued by the authorities of teh Library, & duly acknowledged.
As with all my care, knowledge of some such medals must have yet escaped me, kindly inform me of any thing of the kind with which you may be familiar.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer (M.D.)
Hon. PRest. Newp. Nat. Hist. Socy.
Prof. Brown-
[Note on bottom: Will Dr. Nolen(?) kindly reply to this letter. A.(?)J.(?)B.?)
[Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia]
Newport, R.I.
14 March, 1906
Dear Sir,
Thanks for the Hayden notes. The Brinton medal I described in the Am. J. of Num. for July, 1900, No. 1519 of my list. I know Dr. B. personally. His was a member of the Association of American (& Canadian) Medical Journals, of which many years ago I was president.
YOur medal to Karl A. Von Zittell, 1895, was sold at auction in Munich on Feb. 6th. I bid for it, but failed to obtain it. Should you strike a copy form the old or the new dies in aluminum or other base metal, the Boston Medical Library would highly value it.
If your library has the series of Am. J. of Num. since 1889, you will find already listed the medals of many natural scientists. Those of Linnaeus, of which the Boston Library possesses many, are now in press.
I send a pamphlet that may interest you as a philadelphian. Rush was an "all-round" scientist.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Mr. Nolan.
[Walsh children]
Newport, R. I.
1 Sept. 1906
Dear Dr. Walsh,
I have read your paper in this month's "Messenger" with extreme interest.
Among the twelve medals of Vesalius that I have described in the Amer. Journal of Numismatics, & most of which are in the Storer Collection at the Boston Medical Library, there is one that may interest you. It is a prize fouded by Pius VII for the studetns at the hospital Santo Spirito in Rome, & certainly shows that this Pope did not consider V. a disobedient son of the Church.
Obverse. Under trees, V. dissecting a cadaver. Legend: SEXCENTOS EXSECVIT VT NATVRAM SCRVTARETVR Exergue(?): T*M(encandetti')'I'
Reverse. The hospital. Upon base: T MERCANDETTI-FECIT ROMA Inscription:NOSOCOMIVM Exergue, a crowned asmonal shield over crossed laurel branches. At side of the crown:PRAENVA-STUDIOR(UM).
Silver, bronze, 50 mm.
His final unhappiness is then referred to upon two other medals, struck at Brussels.
Obverse. Bust, to left. Benartti: JOUVENEL
Inscription: ANDRE VESALE NE-EN1514 MORT EN 1564
Reverse. Above a shelf with books, the middle one with the inscription: DE COR-PORIS/HUM.FA-BRICA/LIB.VII.BASIL./1543. Below: VESALE QUE BRUXELLES A VU NAITRE/FUT LE PERE DE L'ANATOME./1537, APRES ...
Bronze. 47 mm.
Obverse. As preceding, save break in inscription is after EN, instead of before it.
Reverse. IL FUT/LE PERE BE/...
Silver, bronze. 34 mm.
I regret that I have nto a duplicate of V. for you. I send one, however, of Xavier Bichat, & hope that it may prove the nucleus of the Fordham cabinet of medals illustrating medical history.
Your are doubtless in touch with the Soc. Fr. d'Histoire de la Me'decine, of which I am myself a member.
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Prof. Walsh.
[Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia]
Newport, R.I.
19 Sept., 1906
Dear Sir,
The medal received. Renewed thanks.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Mr. Nolan.
[Walsh children]
Newport, R. I.
10 Oct. 1906
Dear Dr.,
Yours without date duly reached me.
The medal you ask about is not known to me. It may still exist, for many of medical clerics have hitherto been classified as of the latter. I used to have many old fashioned instruments, active & passive, especially gynaecological, as pessaries & other appliances that I had removed from patients. I gave them away, however, several years ago, when I distributed my large medical library between that of Bowdoin College, the Boston Medical, R. I. State Med. Society, & Army Med. L. at Washington. My father had a large collection of medical instruments, chiefly obstetrical, which he gave to the Harvard Med. School, in which he was prof. for some twenty five years.
Why is your name not upon the pages of "American Men of Science," published by "The Science Press," N.Y. during the present year? J. McKeen Cattell of Columbia Univ. was the compiler. When another edition appears, for as this is confined to living men such is doubtless intended, you should attend to this.
When in N.Y. you kindly gave me a prescription for some Caseara(?) in a Glycerine vehicle. As I have mislaid it will you be so good as to send it to me again.
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Dr. Walsh.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
4 July 1908
Dear Fred W.
It was a delight to se your familiar handwriting again.
Were I really able for the effort & the fatigue, it would make me very happy to meet you few who are still left, at C. I am still young in spirit, but my casing has begun to feel the inevitable, & I trust that when the break does come, it will be of the "alltogether".
Dr. Ben Jeffries of Chestnut St. has written me that he is preparing a notice of his fellow eyeman, Gus Hay, for a medical journal. I have sent him some points, & referred him to Noble for others. In this matter, J. would be very glad to hear from yourself.
What ails Noble, beyond old age?
Give my love to all the men. You know that you have it already.
As ever, yrs sincerely H. R. Storer
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
12 Nov. 1908
My dear Fred,
It is indeed a great delight to here from you again.
Am grieved at what you tell me of Noble. I wrote him some little time ago, but received no reply.
Should you see Warner again, give him my best wishes. I had not even known that he was married.
Astonished is a mild word to use regarding Jeffries. He has not sent me his memoir. He wrote me that he intended preparing it, but in a way that led me to think, although our relations together have always been pleasant, that he already had all the information concerning Hay that was desired. So that my reply was not a very lengthy one.
As H. was my room mate during the whole four years, I probably know as much about him as anyone else, & J. was doubtless aware of this. What you quote from J. is all new to me, & merely serves to confirm my confidence in even current "history", as to that of the past, who chooses, may believe.
Hay was of course with us all the time, & an intimation to the contray is simply preposterous.
I had supposed taht H. went directly to the Coast Survey before studying(?) medicine, but J. thought, or had been informed, that he had had a year or two of postgraduate mathematics at Cambridge before doing that. As to this, I was "surprized".
Noble of course yields to you the Class Secretaryship. You should correct J's error in the next(?) mo. of Harv. Grad. Magazine, & should request J. to recall & cancel all the copies of his memoir.
Ever Affy
H.R.S.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
12 May 1909
Dear Fred Dickn,
It is always a great pleasure to hear from you, & your classmates. Thay you keep fairly well, you should feel grateful for. My own tolerable health despite all that I have gone through, I surely owe to my having solved the one great secret of a happy old age. For every joy, & they are numberless, that comes to me, I daily & devotedly thank Heaven, - & for every disappointment or physical pain, I as devoutly & very humbly rejoice that it is no worse.
Only last evening I was reading "Ugo Bassi's Sermon in the Hospital". B was Chaplain to Garibaldi in 1849, & after capture by the Austrians was shot.
"And while we suffer, let us set our souls
To suffer perfectly, since this alone,
The suffering, which is this world's special grace,
May here be perfected and left behind".
I shall be with you at No. 5 in spirit, - would it could be in flesh also. To those who are left & come thither, my love.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
11 Sept, 1909
My dear Hales Wallace,
Now that Noble has been "called to the bar" of the Supremest Court, I am glad that what remains of the class has been placed in your care, & trust, for the sake of us all, even including yourself, that in the race we are all of us now so swiftly running for Charon's skiff, you may be the last to reach it. In this month's no. of Harv. Grad. Magazine, p._____ , the late Dr. Charles Ellery Stedman of Brookline is reported as of the Class of '50. He graduated, however, in 1852. Though the error is but a slight one, it might be well, for the perfection of the record, for you to mention the fact to his Class Secretary, S. L. Thorndike of 82 Devonshire St., & also to Wm R. Thayer, editor of the Magazine, at 8 Berkeley St. Cambridge.
I have heard from Fred Williams that you are probably the best preserved of the remnants. It would be a great pleasure to know this through personal observation. Don't fail to recollect that should you come to Newport, a warm welcome awaits you at my house. I have not forgotten the pleasant years we passed together at C., & as time slips by, the memory of them becomes more vivid than ever.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
22 Sept. 1909
Dear S.,
Your letter has refreshed me.
I remember Fuller, the Beaufort man, very distinctly. The other Southerners not so well. You should confer concerning them with E H Walls, the editor of the Quinquennial Catalogue.
Glad to know you have done your part towards the better method of University Extension. I have had two sons gradate at H., one of them also in Law & the other in Medicine, & a grandson just entering his junior year. This last is now in Northern Newfoundland, capturing young caribou for crossing with Dr. Grenfell's herd of reindeer.
Rejoiced at good news from Hobbs. I have not heard the details of his case.
With you it is probably as with me, the long past becomes more and more vividly present in memory. For instance, as I write, I recall the pleasant autumn afternoon when we went out to the funeral of our classmate Ben(?) Williams, [Benjamin Payson Williams died 1856]at the secluded farm in West Roxbury. The solemnity & impressiveness of it all are as present to me as if it were yesterday.
Don't let it be so long till I hear from you again.
Affecty yrs
H.R.S.
[Redwood library - note enclosed with "1867 (1858 paper at AAAS) "On the decrease ..."
58 Washington St.
12 Dec. 1909
My dear Mr. Bliss, [Richard 1842-1920]
The Library may not have the enclosed. The Simpson paper & my own of 1858 (fifty years ago) may be of interest as historical. The latter was the opening word of the race suicide discussion in this country. What you will find about it in the smaller pamphlet of 1897 will give you perhaps a better idea of the then mental states of scientists in Boston & Cambridge. The Elder Josiah Q. (Harv. prex) had me to breakfast at his house in Park St. the next day after my paper at the Academy & with tears in his eyes begged me not to publish. He "had no doubt as to the facts, but to make them known would ruin N E in the estimation of the world", & it was so with J. Bigelow, Asa Gray, Lovering(?) & the rest almost without exception.
Strictly medical papers I do not send, as they might be "out of place".
Sincerely yrs
- R. S.
[Archdiocese of Boston]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
19 May, 1910
Very dear Sir,
Your kind reception of my daughter permits me to ask if we may not hope to offer you the hospitality of our home, at any time this Summer that may suit your own convenience. Your acceptance of the invitation would give the greatest pleasure to Mrs. Storer and myself.
Sincerely ours
H.R. Storer
I am glad to notice your interest in the Guild of St. Luke.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
26 May - 1910
My dear Suter,
Were I as active as I hear you are, I should certainly try to join again our now octogenarian circle - you will have, however, to count me there in spirit, & when you call the roll, please answer in my behalf Adsuen(?).
It will do each of you old boys good to spend a day in Newport during the present summer, & whether you come alone or in each others' company, you will find a very hearty welcome at my home. I have chosen a most lovely spot, D.V., to die in, with the setting sun, across the water, just before me. When your turns come, may you each have such surrounding to cheer you, but may all your days still be long in the land.
The Class of Fifty, still here & gone, God bless us all.
Affy yrs
- R. Storer
[Walsh children]
Newport, R. I.
7 June, 1910
Dear Dr.,
I send you a marked Spectator.
Miss Pauline Willis, a distinguished Am. convert, now of London, has asked me to do so, thinking you would like to answer the article upon Anglicanism & Modernism by a letter to that Journal. She would have addressed you personally, had she the pleasure of your acquaintance.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Prof. Walsh
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
24 Nov. 1910
My dear Suter,
I have been absent for the past month at Prospect(?), Ct. where my wife has been very dangerously ill. We brought her home last night by the hospital car of the N.Y., N. H., & H. RR, & I hasten to reply to your letters.
I remember Noble affectionately, & anything that can led to the welfare of those who were dear to him has my cordial approval. I shall be glad if an opportunity shall occur for me to make Mrs. N's acquaintance.
Now that Quincy has gone, I am in doubt as to how many of us remain. Kindly mention to me their names.
Thanksgiving Day has for many years been for me one of the saddest in the year because upon it long ago my then only child lay dying. Today has been rendered especially happy, since Mrs S. has been spared to return to our home still living.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Give my kindest wishes to all who may attend the meeting. Should any of them ever find their way to Newport, they will find a hearty welcome.
Edinburgh Medical Journal, July 1911 letter to Sir A. R. Simpson which was published as "Reminiscences of J. Y. Simpson
Hotel Brighton, Atlantic City, N. J.
22nd May 1911
My Dear Doctor[Doctor crossed out on the reprint and "Sir A.R.." written in] Simpson,--
Yours of the 6th inst. has reached me here on my way home to Newport from several months in Florida. As with many other kind letters I have had from you during nearly half a century [find these!], it has again reminded me of the happy period that I spent as almost a member of your uncle's household. A reminder as to how this came about may still interest you.
In 1846 surgical anaesthesia was realised in Boston, at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where it was rendered effective, being then, as ever subsequently, a virtual appendage of Harvard University, at which in 1847 [if he finished Boston Latin in 1846, why did he not start sooner?] I matriculated as a student. My father was at the time one of the physicians of the hospital. For this reason I was permitted prematurely to attend the operations thereat in advance of my graduation in medicine in 1853. Though I was not present at the very first ether cases, I saw a great many of the early later ones, and was privileged to be present, as assistant, during 1851 to 1853, at perhaps most of the private surgical work of two of the most prominent surgeons at the hospital, Doctors Henry J. Bigelow and J. Mason Warren. Therefore from the outset I was trained to believe in the superexcellence of suphuric ether.
Upon leaving for Europe in October 1853 [passport I have was not issued till 15 December, 1853!] it was my intention to spend a couple of years at Vienna, then the Mecca of most young American Physicians. For a very curious reason, however I did not reach that city till twenty years later--in 1873, In the fifties Professor Simpson was at the head of living gynaecologists; indeed he may be truly said to have created this department, as distinguished form parturition and its few peculiar diseases. Appreciating this fact, and even then intending to make gynaecology my eventual specialty, I did not dare hope for more than a mere glimpse of so great a man. Just before sailing, my preceptor in obstetrics, Dr. Walter Channing, who had visited Professor Simpson, and had written a large work upon Etherisation in Childbirth, asked if I would not like a letter of introduction to him. You can conceive my elation at this, and my subsequent chagrin upon finding that the letter commended me as "an enthusiastic student in natural history." Channing knew my real wish, but even then the intense jealousies of the ether-chloroform controversy were having their effect upon the Boston mind. [But HRS, couldn't Channing have been considering your best interest given that Simpson had natural history interests? He could have not offered you a letter at all!] My first impulse, fortunately not yielded to, was to destroy the letter, in utter disbelief in its possible usefulness. Having progressed toward Vienna as far as Venice, an accident of my traveling companion [you call your wife a "traveling companion"!] induced me to change my route, and after visiting hospitals in Paris and London, and finding myself so near to Edinburgh, I went thither, as I supposed, for merely a day or two. Bethinking of the Channing letter, I called at 52 Queen Street, with very little anticipation of what was there to occur.
Passing a great staircase, which many grand ladies were ascending, and through a hall filled with poor women, I was shown into a spacious library, around which were waiting a number of anxious husbands and physicians who had brought patients. At a desk in the centre sat a most attractive young secretary, the future Sir William Overend Priestley, a relative of the famous chemist, and who himself was to become so distinguished a gynaecologist in London. This gentleman received me most cordially, and the friendship, soon to become so close, remained unbroken until his death. Presently the professor came down from above, hastened from one to another, and then opening Channing's letter, said, "My friend mentions that Dr. Storer is greatly interested in natural history. Now, there is but little of that sort of thing in Edinburgh. My time is very limited, but for the next day or two I will try to show you what there is. What branch do you care most for?" I replied, "the diseases of women." "Oh, ho!" he said, "that's wholly a different affair. Come upstairs."
He then took me into a little chamber adjoining his own central consulting-room. A lady was lying upon a couch. "She is the wife," he said, "of a very prominent clergyman in New York. Examine her. I will return in fifteen minutes, and you shall tell me her disease." I was greatly embarrassed, and so was the lady, but she said that in that house all must do as the professor commanded. He returned, and I acknowledged my utter ignorance. He replied that I was so far right, for he had himself seen but one similar case. Taking me into another chamber, I thought that the lesion here might probably be so and so. "Wrong, but very near the truth." Regarding a third patient I ventured a positive diagnosis, was this time right, and invited to breakfast next morning. Thence I gradually advanced day by day, through the professor's great kindness and patience, until he admitted to full assistantship with Priestley, in charge of his private cases, even of the greatest importance, and his house became to me a second home.
I have spoken at length of this episode as showing how greatly a mere word, in season, may change a man's whole life.
Of Dr. Simpson himself, his leonine personality, his goodness to the poor, his tenaciousness of views that his experience had proved correct, his courage, his hatred of wrong, his deep religious belief, the world knows of all these. I could instance, from my own personal knowledge, a thousand examples. Better, however, that I, an old man, in my eighty-second year, should speak of matters of more general and important bearing.
Upon my leaving Edinburgh at the close of 1855 [He was back in the U.S. in June or July!] Dr. Simpson urged me to settle permanently in Glasgow, thinking, of course, that I might be of aid in the care of his even then very large number of American patients. I decided, however, to return to Boston. His parting gift, interesting in regard to much that afterwards occurred, was a solid gold ink-stand, studded with Scottish jewels. Many a night I had sat for hours at his bedside writing from his dictation much that till then he had not published, and there was nothing, he now said, that could more appropriately bring his teachings to my mind and transmit them to others than a receptacle for printer's ink. For this there at once came the need.
From the beginning of the ether-chloroform controversy in 1848, and even now, the name of Simpson has been anathema in Boston. Immediately after 1846 the profession was in a ferment regarding the rival claims of Morton and Jackson--the one a seeker for an agent for surgical insensibility to pain, and the other the suggestor of sulphuric ether--both subsequently quarreling, and each claiming exclusive merit. No one who was not upon the spot can have the slightest idea of the professional rancour and virulence that prevailed. Into this turbulent camp, like a bomb, came the announcement of chloroform, and not unnaturally, and in self-relief as it were, even if we eliminate the national features of the case, the adherents of both great contending factions turned, as one man, against Simpson. Their sons and their sons' sons have inherited the unkind feeling, just as occurred in the Harvey and Jenner, and a great many other colossal professional controversies.
The Massachusetts General Hospital has had its semi-centennial celebration, with great pomp and ceremony, of the discovery at Boston, and in that hospital, of surgical anaesthesia, and thereat sulphuric ether was lauded as the one only safe and justifiable agent. The coming centennial jubilee will doubtless be still more imposing. Could it have been that the real and essential heavenly boon of anaesthesia could alone have been considered, Boston and Edinburgh would have joined hands in fraternal clasp, and the names of John C. Warren, who first dared give ether in a capital operation, and of Simpson, who imperilled his own life when testing chloroform, would have been linked together for all time.
Long before the discovery of anaesthesia Dr. Benjamin Rush, "The American Sydenham," foretold that an agent would eventually be found to cancel the anguish of labour without in any way interfering with normal uterine contraction. This prophecy, as I have shown (Journal of the American Medical Association[get probably Rush medal paper.]), seems to have escaped Simpson's almost boundless research. Otherwise he would have been sure to have followed the clue till its secret had been revealed. Had Edinburgh been the recipient, we may be sure that while general anaesthesia would have been lauded to the skies, Scottish good fellowship would have fairly treated every successive improvement. Unlike the spirit of the existing monument to Ether alone, the words suggested by Boston's generously-minded poet physician, "To Either," would have been inscribed, and the best of all anaesthetic agents have been allowed peaceably to win.
In Boston, and wherever in America the teachings of Boston and Harvard University have extended, the use of chloroform is still practically forbidden. Elsewhere in this country, as in all others of the world, its many special advantages, particularly in midwifery, are of course recognized. Very early in the controversy I endeavored to state these in papers in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, reprinted under the title of Eutokia. In consequence, though Boston born and bred, in practice there for many years, and a Harvard man at that, I was myself put under the ban--overjoyed, I need not say, to find myself in such good company. Simpson was very unjustly and most strangely accused in Boston of having by implication, if not directly, claimed the whole credit of the discovery of anaesthesia. His very last public words were in reply to Dr. Jacob Bigelow, who brought me into the world, and who was one of my preceptors at Harvard. From his death-bed Dr. Simpson sent me the proof-sheets of this paper, corrected by his won hand, and not long ago I transferred them to the great medical library connected with the Unites States Surgeon-General's office at Washington, as the place much more certain than Boston of their being prized and reverently preserved.
Aside from the chloroform controversy, Simpson's fame as a gynaecologist was secure. Before him, in America, a Ferguson's speculum and lunar caustic, with watch spring and globular pessaries, constituted the gynaecological armamentarium. At his death the American Medical Association was in session in Washington. A telegram from his son reached me within an hour afterwards. Upon communicating it to the Association that body at once adjourned, and to add still greater honour, it held a special memorial meeting, at which many of the most noted physicians in America were present and took part. This appreciation was of the gynaecologist even more than the anaesthetist. At almost every one of the American colleges Simpson's teachings, as such, are perpetuated. There is, however, one great and marked exception. The Medical School of Harvard University has been, and is still prominent in its neglect of everything pertaining to gynaecology. In every other department there are professors, assistant professors, and instructors, almost without number. Here gynaecology is practically placed at the bottom of the list. It will be said that disapproval of chloroform has had nothing to do with this virtual boycott. The coincidence, however, is not undeserving comment.* [*Possibly my remarks regarding the Harvard Medical School, with its present immense resources, may be somewhat overdrawn, for I am not familiar with its latest curriculum, but they are certainly true of the neglect of gynaecology at its great hospital, at which both myself and my son were educated.]
Of my own stewardship but a word need be said. Simpson had committed to me and to Priestley for publication his collected, and also till then, unwritten, contributions to obstetrics and gynaecology. They appeared first in Edinburgh and afterwards in Philadelphia. Repudiated in Boston, I there for twenty years defended them at the sacrifice, as it proved, of all my chief personal ambitions. Incurring septicaemia through over-fatigue of body and mind, I subsequently removed to the physically and intellectually more genial climate of Rhode Island, and have here received for more than thirty years, and without a single exception, the sympathy, approval, and most generous co-operation of its entire profession. Chloroform is not here a chimaera dire, and Simpson's memory is beloved. It is possible that the trying east winds of Massachusetts Bay did much towards hardening the temper of the old Boston Puritans and cruelising them. I have long thus explained to myself the course of its etherists. Almost all of them however were my contemporaries are now dead. Before long I must join them, and I am looking forward with much humorous interest to see whether it will be the hand of fellowship or the still averted countenance that will then greet me.
Of Simpson's other assistants, men without exception of remarkable ability in their chosen field, I could say much had I the vigour to do so. Keith I knew fairly well, and also Drummond, whom I saw somewhat of at Nice, as of Lachlan Aitken at Rome. Lawson Tait and Matthews Duncan were correspondents of mine[get this!], but it was Priestley, the genial and always self-sacrificing, who was my intimate friend. He felt with me, and with no slavish subserviency to our dear master, that to have merely been one of 'Simpson's men" was the very highest professional privilege and honour.--Yours, etc.,
Horatio R. Storer.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
3 June, 1911
My dear Suter,
All happiness be yours, & the same good wish to the few now left of our classmates.
For four months I have been visiting my oldest son in Florida, & have just returned to my now broken home. You would all have been welcome during these long years. You will be doubly so, now that I should so much prize renewal of the old friendships.
To each of you, as our centennial more nearly approaches, there doubtless comes,(?) as to myself, clearer & clearer memories of the dear old times together, of '46 to '50, & more vivid the sense of our vast fondness for each other, while any little trivial antipathies there may have been, entirely fade away.
I regret very much that I do not feel quite strong enough to attend the re-union. My love to you all.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[ Countway Library - letter bound in publicaion on Simpson]
Newport, R. I.
16 March, 1912
Dear Dr. W.,
A friend has sent me Wednesday's Transcript. You were very good to have recollected me after all these years. I knew Lister in 1854-5, while he was attached to the Edin . Royal Infirmary & was devoted to Syme's daughter, whom he married. I send you a couple of pamphlets. In one of them you will see that while L. suggested carbolic acid in 1867, in 1868 I was not only emplying it while operating, but was atomizing it about my hospital wards -- you will also notice that I was then advocating proper instruction of nurses. Alfred Hosmer of Wqaltham was once good enough to say in the B M & S J, that he considered this the initial step in our modern training system.
As to peritoneal invasion, if you take the trouble to refer to vol. V, Sept. 1871, of the Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston, you will find a statement by Dr. Theophilus Mack, of St. Catherine's Ontario, which will be sure to interest you. Dr. M. was an Irish surgeon of great skill, previously in the R. Navy.
I have not forgotten that your grandfather was my father's private preceptor, that your father was one of my staunchest friends, & that it is to you that I owe the life of my son Malcolm.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
Dr. Warren.
[Walsh children-letter on stationary with black border probably because of 1910 death of Frances Sophia]
Newport, R. I.
12 Sept. 1911
Dear Dr.,
I have your very kind letter.
Regarding Dwight, I send slips that may materially aid you. Within a very few weeks I had a note from him, stating that Maurice Richardson had at last decided that his disease was malignant. Rumors of this had been prevalent for quite a long time.
In the Transcript editorial one expression has very much surprised me. It is regarding D.s predecessor, O. W. Holmes whose tenure it describes as of "incapacity tempered with epigrams." Now the T. (evening) has always been one of the Harvard mouthpieces, the B. Advertiser (morning) having been the other. If ever there had been a man who has been idolized in the Boston professional as well as literary circles, it has been Holmes, his popularity, or rather I should say his intellectual esteem, by others, has been far greater than that of D. wholly aside from his cult as a poet & wit, & though from the very outset he made no claim to be a practitioner, though to be sure his essay on Childbed Fever as a Private Pestilence made an epoch both in obstetrics & sanitation & foreshadowed our present surgical & gynaecological techniques, Holmes as a teacher of anatomy was unrivalled. The only man whom I could compare with him was Palmer, who was a colleague of mine in the old Berkshire School, & held Chair in several other colleges. H. practically invented the stereoscope, made important improvements in the microscope, & when it came to dry bones, he clothed them with life. As with too many scientists he was, however, not always too generous,--as when his department was divided, & physiology for a short period transferred to Brown-Se'quard, he violently & almost virulently resisted the change.
In reading Dwight's very recently published book, Thoughts of a Catholic Anatomist, 1911, you have doubtless been impressed by two very important characteristics. One of them is, that from beginning to end it might have been written by a dozen or even a hundred Protestant teachers, or even by those who are not Christians at all. It is a masterly plan for deism, or rather I should say Theism, pure & simple, & though it discusses, the very latest arguments for agnosticism, it might be placed by the side of Sir Charles Bell's treatise upon the human hand. One fails to find any reference to the divinity of our Lord, or indeed to any professedly R C tenet whatever, & this is what, & what only, unbelievers in the Faith will seek in the book.
Secondly, D. strongly defends not a new, but certainly not generally accepted theory, even by the most thoughtful or most biased anatomists, that the negro is not an undeveloped possibility of mental, and spiritual, & even physical development & betterment, but in every sense a degenerate from some unknown or mythical hyper excellent & exalted race in the past. Were this true, every effort in the present, even by Holy Church itself, would be worse than thrown away, for it could only excite hopes, national, racial, & religious, that could never be fulfilled. Whether his view is founded upon Old Testament history D. does not say, but it is thought by mankind generally that the negro as represented upon the earliest Egyptian & other African monuments, papyri, & mummy cases, & the negro of today, are but one & the same.
Your reference to myself was unexpected. I will think the matter over. As for myself, I have no desire for notoriety. If you can make me of any use, however, to others, is another thing. Of this you can judge better than I.
sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Dr. J.J. Walsh.
[Walsh children-letter on stationary with black border probably because of 1910 death of Frances Sophia]
Newport, R. I.
14 Sept. 1911
Dear Dr. Walsh,
Again, another newsp. slip. Toner of Washington was I presume, C. by birth. Was the elder Keyes a convert? & Gregory of St. Louis? & Charles A. Pope of St. Louis, a famous srugeon who, in a brainstorm, while in Paris, took his life? Charles West of London was,--great authority in infantile disease. I knew him well.
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Harvard Archives]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R.I.
22 Oct. 1911
Dear Sir,
In consuting your admirable H.U. Directory, I have noticed a couple of typogr. slips-
Ehrlich, E.M. Poison d'or shoul be Toison (Golden Fleece). As some fifty eight [53?] years ago I had rooms uon this avenue, the initial caught my attention.
Look, S.M. Standford.
The book is wonderfully free from such errors.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer '50
Mr. Lane
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
8 June 1912
My dear Suter,
I very much regret that I hardly feel able to visit Cambridge. Give my very best wishes to each & all.
Im ny Quinquennial (1905) the following remain unstarred, though I am quite certain that some of them must have gone - Please inform me as to this.
J H Cabot Robinson
Carr Warner
Clifford Williams
Coolidge Wood
Foster Wyeth
Frost
Hobbs
King
with you & myself,
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Walsh children-letter on stationary with black border probably because of 1910 death of Frances Sophia]
Newport, R. I.
3 Sept. 1912
Dear Dr. Walsh,
It was very good of you to think of me amid all your cares attending the throes of Fordham's resurrection. & I am duly thankful. I none the less feel, however, & very acutely, that the honor is entirely undeserved.
I shall endeavor to go on to NY on the date appointed, but am still quite incapacitated through a bad fall which has kept me most of the past month in bed.
Among the personal papers that I sent you, there was a little printed slip giving the details of the Boston post graduate scheme of 1867. As I have not other copy, please send me this at your first convenience, & much oblige
yours sincerely
H.R. Storer
Newport Daily News, February 19, 1913
LIFE ON THE DEEP SEA.
Ocean Hospital Ships Would Render General as Well as Human Aid.
Dr. Storer's Plea My Elicit Further Communications to Congressional Committee.
The following letter will interest all residents of the Atlantic seaboard, whether deep-sea fishermen and sailors, or merely those who appreciate their perils. It is published in the hope of elicitating still further communciations to the Congressional committee.
58 Washington Street. Newport R. I. February 12, 1913.
Hon. Joshua W. Alexander, Member of Congress from Missouri, Chairman of Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
Dear Sir: Permit me to say a word in favor of the hospital ship bill now in your hands.
I am somewhat familiar with the Atlantic coast from Belle Isle strait to New York, from the sea, and have several times crossed the great fishing "banks", and also with the facts that not only are there in all our sea-board towns and villages fishermen and along-shore seamen who are prematurely retired through accident or disease contracted in their calling, but that patients are frequently brought in who have been rendered incurable through previous neglect or delay, each of them becoming so far a public burden rather than a self-supporting wage earner. Upon the hospital ship medical and surgical cases could at once be cared for, and where necessary quickly conveyed to one of the numerous coast hospitals. At the Newport Hospital, for instance, there is special provision for such patients under the care of an officer of the United States Marine Hospital, now Public Health Service formerly Dr. Henry Ecroyd, and now Dr. C.W. Stewart.
The experience of Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell, previously of the English Deep Sea Mission to the North Sea, and now for some years superintendent of the same in Newfoundland and Labrador, and that of the French Fisheries' Mission to St. Pierre and Miquelon, have fully proved the necessity of deep sea hospitals, and besides have been of great aid, frequently indeed directly life-saving to our own fisherman and seamen. Visits to Labrador and to nearly every port upon the whole coast of Newfoundland, have personally convinced me of this general need. That ocean hospital ships are no experiment has been shown not only but the instances cited, but also in the navies. In the South African war, the American ship Maine was found of very great use by the British at the Cape of Good Hope, and during our own recent world circuit the Solace, under the command of Surgeon General Stokes, favorably met all the objections that had been made.
As to the question of private or public foundation and management, allow me to remind you that ever since the American Revolution our deep-sea fishermen and coastwise mariners have been of the greatest aid to the country as enlisting of the navy in our actual or threatened wars, and as a reserve ever ready for immediate call in times of emergency. Therefore putting aside all questions of humanity or other altruism, it would seem wise to pass the bill as a mere measure of public safety and protection. The relation to government of the hospital ship should be very similar to that of the revenue cutter, the main difference being that the one is primarily to preserve property and the other health and life.
In addition to this the "beats" of the hospital ship would usually be on or in the vicinity of those portions of the regular lanes of the trans-Atlantic steamships which throughout the year are most infested by fog and on which, as is generally known, collisions with fishing vessels at anchor often occur, with their occasional destruction, which is not always reported. Dories break adrift from their trawl lines during fog or sudden gales, and are lost with their occupants. Life might thus be saved by the hospital ship, there would be fewer widows each year in Gloucester and all along the coast, injured schooners could be towed to port, or warning sent in every direction by wireless of the existence in that locality of a dangerous derelict. The same is true of icebergs, which government is not so anxious to locate. In many cases where an officer of a fishing vessel has been suddenly disabled, it has returned to port with an empty hold. Such great loss would no longer be necessary. For us, the region to be patrolled would be the great fishing banks, several hundred miles off New England.
In the Survey of February 8 you will have notice, with admirable cuts of the Alpha of the North Sea service and the St. Francois d'Assise of the French Grand Banks' medical mission, a brief summary of the various objections to the hospital ship bill that may be made to you. You will find, however, that the members of my profession in the coast cities, who from personal knowledge are certainly most competent to advise in this matter, are quite sure to be unanimous in their support of the bill. Were you yourself a resident of the seaboard instead of an inland state, argument of the subject would be wholly unrequired.
Yours sincerely,
Horatio R. Storer
(M.D., LL.D.)
Senior Consulting Surgeon, Newport Hospital.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Newport, R. I.
10 Sept. 1913
My dear S.,
Yours of Aug. 4th reached me in bed, where I was enjoying(?)(sic) a period of bronchopheumonia. I am just now convalescent, with many letters in arrears.
You are perhaps near enough to the Canadian border to enjoy the legal controversies into which that most miserable Hew(?) has played, your professional brethren. If, as is today rumored, the How government has arbitrarily negatived the dicta of the High Court at Montreas, the runaway midget may yet prove the means of hastening annexation, which for many reasons I should be glad of. It would be very good for this country, but very bad for Canada.
I was glad to hear through you of the rest of us, & to judge from the steadiness of your handwriting that you are still, only dropping the s, Hale indeed. [Play on Hales--Hales Wallace Suter] Long may you remain so.
When you write to the boys again, give them my very best remembrance.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Harvard Archives; Note in Secretary's Record book HUD 250.___ class of 1850]
58 Washington St.
Newport R.I.
25 Aug. 1914
Dear Classmate,
You will have heard of the death of our Secretary, Suter. His official papers have been sent to me by his son, Rev. J. H. S., probably because his father sat next to me, alphabetically, during our four years at Cambridge. It has now become necessary for a successor to be chosen, and as it is improbable that we can ever again attend collectively, for this purpose, I suggest that each of you send me at your earliest leisure, the name of the one whom you would prefer to fill the vacant place. I will then inform you of the result.
Our survivors seem to be J. H. Cabot, Coolidge, Foster, Robinson, Storer, Warner, F. D. Williams, and Wyeth, with Gustavus Rudolphus Whitridge, Charleston, S.C. temporary member.
[following was not sent -- crossed out]
I often think of you all affectionately, and wish we might meet each other again to review happy memories. As our circle contracts, its bond should unite us the more closely together.
sincerely yours
H.R.Storer seven copies
[HRS note says: "notification sent 25 Aug 1914"]
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
NJ Wyeth - New Dorp(?)
Staten Island, N.Y.
Newport, R. I.
20 Sept. 1914
My dear Classmate
Several weeks ago, I wrote you, but as I have received no reply my letter cannot have been delivered. Assuming therefore that you might be no longer extant, I have asked your townsman Dr. Devlin as to this, & he assures me that you are still with us.
Our Secretary, Suter, having died, his official data were confided to me by his son, Rev. J.W.S. '81, & it now has become necessary to appoint a successor. I accordingly addressed the survivors, Cabot, Coolidge, Foster, Robinson, Warner, Williams, & yourself to this effect, & the vote at present stands Foster 1, Storer 5. Warner is apparently marooned somewhere in Europe, so that it may be quite a while before we can hear from him. Upon receiving your own preference, therefore, which I trust may be immediate, I will let the others know the result.
Among Suter's papers I have found several letters from yourself, poetical & other, each of them closing with "John Noble, First Honor Man of Harvard Class of 1850", a tribute of affection for our chief with which I myself fully sympathize.
yrs affectionately
HRS
Note in HRS hand at bottom "answered 22 sept."
[Harvard Archives]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
25 Sept. 1914
Dear Sir,
To fill the Class Secretaryship of 1850, vacated by the recent death of Mr. H.W. Suter, a home vote has been taken by the remaining survivors: J.H. Cabot, Coolidge, Foster, Robinson, Storer, Warner, F.D. Williams, & Wyeth, all of whom are too old & infirm for another personal meeting, with the following results:
Foster 1, Storer 6. The eighth member, Mr. H. J. Warner is probably marooned somewhere in Europe. He has been twice written, but as yet no reply.
Sincerely yrs.
Horatio R. Storer
M.D., LL.B.(Harvard);LL.D.(Fordham)
The Editors Quinquennial C.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Copy Newport, R. I.
25 Sept. 1914
My dear Foster,
The poll for Class Secretary has resulted as follows: Foster 1 (H.R.S.), Storer 6. Warner is apparently marooned some where in Europe. I have written him twice, but as yet no reply. The others have answered most cordially, each of them expressing the utmost interest in those who remain. The script of Cabot, Coolidge, Robinson & yourself as yet shows no sign of debility. Williams, partially paralysed & with commencing mental failure, sends his love through his companion, Mrs. Esther von Nurscheim. Wyeth's pen betrays his feeble hand. I wrote twice to him at New Dorp, & finally reached him at the Florence Home through his townsman, Dr. Devlin. He closed his letter as several that were(?) upon Suter's file, with this description appended to his signatures "John Noble, First Honor Man of the Class of 1850." I have told him that in this constant recollection of our Chief, we all join.
In my previous epistle to each, I purposely refrained from expressing my affection for the Class, which I find increases with every year, that I might in no way influence the choice for the Secretaryship. I can now most warmly reciprocate your very kind & brotherly words. As you know very well, both you & Mrs. Foster are identified with many of my happiest memories, & I have long hoped that my dear daughter, Agnes of Sorrento, [!!] now a mature woman, might renew with your wife the close associations that her mother so long enjoyed. I trust yet to see you both in Newport. My own days of travel are over. As I date from Feb. 1830 I feel quite a child beside you, with your eleven months of seniority.
You will find an obituary of Suter in the Sept. Harvard Graduates' Magazine, which of course you take. It was probably furnished by his son, Secretary of the Class of 1889, from whom I requested, & now enclose, our classmate's latest photograph, which shows that he had evidently mellowed, & as plainly improved spiritually as his life advanced. If you will return it promptly, I will circulate it around the rest. Similarly, send me your own for it will give pleasure to all of us to again see you, & as you really are. I will endeavor to obtain the others also, & let me suggest that since our days are steadily growing fewer, you each send me upon the last day of every month a brief word of how completely you continue to hold your own. I will then notify the remainder(?) & in this way we shall draw more closely towards each other & renew the dear memories of Auld Lang Syne.
Rev. Mr. Suter has informed me that there stands at the Suffolk Bank in favor of the Class a balance of $27.18. I shall direct that this be held transferrable, who knows how shortly, to my successor.
A memoir of Noble[HRS note in margin says "Seen already by Williams"], by Robert S. Rantoul, appeared in the Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Society for March, 1911. Do not fail to see it.
yrs ever
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850 apparently a copy of letter actually mailed.]
My dear Coolidge, 7 Oct. 1914
The poll for Class Secretary has results as follows, all the survivors voting: Foster 1, Storer 7. Warner is marooned in Switzerland, but I finally reached him. Willis is very feeble, ... [this and next paragraph continue in similar vein to letter to Foster of 25 Sept.]
You will permit me to refer to one of my very pleasant earlier memories. It is of the day that you first appeared at the Latin School, & is of a very attractive boy, not at all of the usual Ameriican type, who had enough of a foreign accent to win the favorable interest of us all. This first impression I never knew, with a single one of us to change. For your brother, Dr. Algernon, I had the _____ affectionate appreciation _____ my own brother, who so recently died, had of your other _____ _____ Sidney, C.
If you were again Ambassador to France, or member of anotehr Commission for _____ international _____ , how much sooner this _____ war would probably _____ .
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850-- identical to article in Dec. 1914 HGM except it was a single paragraph and the following material in bold.]
Sent to W. R. Thayer for H. G. M.
21 Oct 1914
Since all the survivors of the class are now invalided through old age, and another gathering at Cambridge therefore rendered very improbable, the filling of the secretaryship, vacated by the death of H. W. Suter, was effected by a home vote participated in by all who remain: J. H. Cabot, of Brookline; F. C. Foster, of Cambridge; J. H. Robinson, of Melrose; T. J. Coolidge and F. D. Williams, of Boston; H. J. Warner, N. J. Wyeth, and Storer. A temporary member, G. R. Whitridge, of Charleston, S.C., failed to be reached, and may be dead. Williams, the favorite N.E. landscape painter, is very feeble both in body and mind. Warner, long resident abroad, is in Switzerland, recognizing professionally that inter arma silent leges, and Wyeth at the Florence Home, New Dorp, Staten Island.
Recent photographs, showing the striking changes that all have undergone during the sixty four 64 years since graduation, are being circulated, and so warm have been the mutual expressions of affection accompanying the vote just taken, that frequent reports of the condition of each will probably now be interchanged until the Class has ceased to exist.
The Secretary has been elected a director of the ancient Redwood Library at Newport. p. 294.
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
30 Oct. 1914
Dear Foster
I am today asked by the editor, of the Quinquennial Cat. as to the "Degrees, Honors, or Appointments" received by members of the class. Please at once inform me as to your own. Also who v____ed as (at?) our first ten members.
I enclose Cabot's photo. Kindly return it quickly. Your own I was very glad to see.
---
Robinson
----
Coolidge
----
Wyeth
[presumably same letter sent to Robinson, Collidge and Wyeth]
[Johns Hopkins: Jacobs Collection]
Newport R.I.
28 Jan. 1915
Dear Dr. J.
I have today returned the book, with thanks.
You will have noticed that 131a was merely designed, but never executed, & that 133 no longer exists. I would have seemed better if the figures of the medals had been given in the appropriate section, rather than all haphazard. That by Monkefen(?) was duplicated, & at first entire & very small, & then both obv. & rev. separately & much larger. That by Siegqark, you cast which will go in your name to the Boston Medical Library, was improperly numbered twice,--101 on p. 145 & 141 on p. 230. There is probably at laeast a third copy of the orignal 130, 46 by 73 mm., for such was offered at the Stroehlin Sale, Geneva, 20 Feb. 1911, Part II, No. 4439,-as well as of the modern reproduction (34 X 54 mm), _____ 141-I have 129, 135, 136a, 136c, & 138.
YOu may be interested to know, tha, as in a number of similar cases, I have found among my notes the description of an additional Heller, apparently unknown to Weese or his collaborators. It was a prize medal for physiology at the University of Wurtenberg (Stuttgart). This merely shows that even the most careful search proves often incomplete. You will recollect, perhaps that it was so in the case of Fournie's(?) most admirable work upon the medals of the _____ of the Parisian Faculty of Medicine.
Obverse. Bust of Duke Karle Eugen (1728-1793).
Reverse. Before a draped wall, the dissection of a child upon a table. At right, a bust, bearing BAL-IE-NUS and at left a genius(?) pointing to a skeleton upon a slab, over which: HALLER A second genius opens a book. Beneathg: W Legend: OSTENDIT SECRETA NATURAE
Bronze, _____ Described by Binder, p. 246, No. 313. Offered in Gebert Catalogue, 23 April, 1912, No. 902.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Harvard Archives -- (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
John G. Robinson 12 July
Boston
by(?) kind(?) S-5(?)
I write you as Secretary of the Harvard Class of 1850.
Quite recently, & only by noting the stir(?) girl(?) your father _____ in the new Quinquennial Catalogue just published I have learned of your father's death nearly six months ago. It is my duty to make proper notice of his useful life in the next number of the Harvard Graduates' Magazine, & to express the symph(?)of the Secretary and Class that he has for a short time preceded us. There are six now left. I sent the notices of our loss, & have received app____ed sympathy from all, save Warner, a _____ _____ of your _____ & your father, who has long been _____ in _____, & to them still(?). If you will kindly send me at your very first leisure a brief sketch of what you & the family would like to have written, I will at once forward it to the editor of the H G Magazine.
I may say that I sat very near your father, alphabetically, during our four years in college, always esteemed him. I only regret that owing to invalidism for many years I have not been able to finally meet many of the class.
HRS Secretary
Newport Journal, Sept 3, 1915
- STORER PROTESTS.
Believes "The Birth of the Nation" Would
Fan the Flame of Race Prejudice.
Cutting Off of Its Most Demoralizing
Features Due to Insistence of
White People Everywhere.
In connection with the protest entered before Mayor Burlingame by colored citizens, against the exhibition in this city of the picture play, "The Birth of the Nation," Dr. Horatio R. Storer has sent to the mayor the following open letter, registering his individual protest against the proposed production, with his reasons therfore:
58 Washington street, 27 August 1915. His Honor, Mayor Burlingame:
My Dear Sir: Without having in any way been approached upon the subject, permit me to protest against allowing the much discussed and really very objectionable play, "The Birth of the Nation," to be exhibited in this city.
Shorn though it may be of its most demoralizing features, this has only been accomplished through the forcible insistence of the best of our white people, everywhere. The intent of the play, to make money and to fan the flame of race prejudice, which of late years has been rapidly lessening, still remains. That the setting is spectacularly gorgeous, and that it has been installed at great expense, has nothing to do with the main question. This outlay has been re-paid manyfold through the attendance of crowds of careless and ill advised persons, who would equally flock, were it permitted by the law, to a representation of even the Crucifixion itself.
The real author, a peculiar kind of clergyman, is through his reprehensible books. "The Clansman." "The Leopard's Spots." etc., said to have become a millionaire. Who can estimate the harm these have done to us all in a national way? Who can compute the mental suffering and the check to their enliftment they have caused to our colored brethren?
Years ago I publicly protested against the circulation of these books by the Redwood and People's libraries, and years ago I used my best efforts towards preventing license of the similar play that then was striven for. That it was refused by our authorities gained great credit for Newport throughout the country.
That our city was then true to its best sense of public duty was in slight reparation for its old inglorious and most regrettable history, of having been the creator and headquarters of the African slave trade. Think of the scores of distilleries here before the American Revolution, changing molasses from the West Indian sugar plantations into New England rum and then of this being exchanged in Guinea for nude men and women, of the countless poor creatures brought to our wharves, the best of these forced immigrants, the direct ancestors of many of the present attendants at our four colored churches, retained here for home labor, while the remainder were sold South, or were sent to the Caribbean in purchase of the main staple of that accursed rum, which from a Newport pulpit has been denounced as the chief cause, originally and continuously since, of our city's decadence from its old comparative supremacy.
Think of all this, dear sir, you who best represent the sober-minded, and then encourage, if you can, the entrance here even for a brief moment, of a virtual firebrand, inciting to dislike, personal affront, and even destruction, were this possible, of a large fraction of our people -- no matter how it may be condoned as "now entirely unobjectionable, emasculated of its confessedly evil tendencies, and attractive even to the most refined." Every cent paid for admission would be to further encourage the worst negro hater in this country, and be a tribute to his prolonged defiance of all Christian precept. Of every effort towards redeeming our past regarding the colored race, and his inordinate thirst for Northern money. If it be true, as this man insists, that the American nation was born from a womb of tyranny, immorality and most barbaric cruelty, should he be permitted, equally to blame for it all, as he is, to flaunt under the specious guise of historic interest, miscalled resentative of the community that it this odious fact of the "Birth of a Nation," in the very faces of our own white Americans, who at this late period, are not to be held accountable for the deeds of their misguided ancestors.
You will perhaps permit me to print this letter, as it is to you as the reppatriotism nad most insulting realism, has been written
Yours sincerely,
Horatio R. Storer,
(M. D., LL.D.)
[National Library of Medicine]
Newport, R.I.
29 Jan, 1916
Dear Dr. McC.[Champe C. McCulloch]
I am a little remiss in acknowledging yours of the 11th, but at 86, & still with a large correspondence, it is difficult to be always prompt. I am glad that I have been able to find all the slips form the A. J. of N., that you asked for, & in addition have sent you the following: Oct. 1811, Jan. 1913 (Nos. 2730-40) is missing as the printer neglected to send me slips, and you will have to have these ten copied by hand; April, 1912; July, 1912; January, 1913. Here the publication, very suddenly and much to my regret, ceased, although I have long been an honorary member of the Am. Num. Society, the owner of the Journal, & have frequently given both to its library and its collections. The avowed reason given was that having consecutively published upon medical medals from Jan. 1889 to Jan, 1913, no less than twenty four years, I had heartily tired the members, of whom but very few are medical men, & that they wanted a change. It has been privately hinted to me, however, that the Society had hoped to obtain, by gift or bequest, my quite large collection of these pieces, several thousand in number, & that it was disappointed when I gave them to the Boston Medical Library, in memory of my father, who had practised there for over fifty years, had been on the Mass. Gen. Hospital staff & a professor in the Harvard Medical School, & where I myself had entered the world and our profession.
When forced to cease, I had so far as I then knew them, completed the medical medals of British, Central & South America, the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, & Denmark, Holland & Belgium, & was then in the midst of Austria. These remain practically ready for the printer, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Japan. Since then I have learned to a great many additions in all these countries, quite a portio of them apparently undescribed. I have continuously been adding to the Boston Collection & frequent gifts have been contributed by other physicians, & by designers of the medals. An instance of the former is Dr. Frederic Parkes Weber of London, a distinguished numismatic writer, son of Sir Hermann Weber, also a numismatist, & consulting physician to King Edward VII. Dr. W. very kindly divided his valuable collection of medical medals, very equally, between the British Museum & myself.
At my age, I have not cared for the further bother of publication, & this will probably have to be done, posthumously, by my son, Dr. Malcolm Storer of Boston who is president of the B. Numismatic Society, & Curator of the collections of the Medical Library, the Mass. Historical Society, & of Harvard University. He is preparing with Admiral Prince Louis of Battenburg a work upon Naval medals, of which he has probably the finest collection in this country.
I thought at one time of offering my MS. to the Smithsonian through which I received foreign publications, & talked of it with Prof. Langley, but as I was not an aviator he was not much interested. Had either Prof. Henry or Prof. Baird, who were both of them personal friends been living, they would have favored the project. Your predecessor, Surgeon Billings, was long a correspondent, & would I think,have approved its appearing as a memoir from your office through the public printer, sever of whose much more mammoth issues I have owned, the last of them has been the great A.L.A. Portrait Index from the Library of Congress, by Lane, the librarian of Harvard & Miss Browne, of the 120,000 portraits enumerated, but comparatively few are of medical men.
You may possibly recall my list of medals relating to military & Naval Hygiene, Section XI of the general list of Sanitation contained in the Sanitarian for Feb, May, July, &Aug. 1890; Sept. 1891 (1st & 2nd Supplements); March, 1893 (3d do.); Oct 1894 (4th do.); & Oct & Nov., 1898 (5th do.). I had thought of completing & publishing these separately, as I did those of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, of which I am now preparing a revision. A similar list of the medals of dental surgeons & dentistry I have ready for the printer.
Your Army Medical School has a memorial prize medal of Surgeon Hoff, with name of recipient struck (not engraved) upon a removable disk. Surgeon Dallas Brake(?), then Curator of the Museum, was kind enough to send me a photo of the medal of 1898, with the name of B.E. Higley, Jr. If those of the other recipients have all been struck, for individual commendation, I shall value a list of them.
Since your office last informed me of your own accessions, you must have obtained quite a number of which I should like very much to hear. Your former colleague, the late Mr. Fletcher, M.R.C.Sc., was devoted to me in this respect.
Do you possess or have you ever heard of a large medallion of my old master, Simpson of Edinburgh, with whom I spent 1854-5, & whom I not only loved, but reverence? [present tense!] The artist seemed unknown. All the local history of the sad & most discreditable "Ether Controversy" is most sedulously preserved by the Mass. Historical Society. Some time ago, thinking that for evident reason it might be more safely kept & valued at Washington & by the Government than in Boston, I sent you the finally corrected proof, which was confided to me by S., of his reply from his death bed to Prof. Jacob Bigelow, who had cruelly charged that so far from claiming the discovery of chloroform merely, S. was attempting that of anaesthesia itself. Never a more unfounded attack& that too with the knowledge that S. was dying. But medical politics ran high in those days, & the Athens of New England could not allow any mention to the Athens of Great Britain, to which for generations it had owed so much. Walter Channing of Harvard, my American preceptor, who wrote the bulky Etherization in Child Birth, was a graduate of Edinburgh & a personal friend of S., & therefore juster than his colleagues. "Ether Day" is still annually celebrated with much pomp and ceremony at the Mass. Gen. Hospital. Since, however, my intimate friend Dr.R. Tait McKenzie of the University of Pa., now Major in the British Army, had by his beautiful medallion at the University , of which I have the silver replica in _____., perpetuated the claim of Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia, both to Surgical Anaesthesia and to Ether as its agent, it is barely possible that Boston may waive a portion of its insistence & be satisfied with the modified term "Generalized Anaesthesia Day." Long had published his several ether cases. It is very probable that Dr. C.J. Jackson, whom I knew personally, had read these & possible forgotten their author. Hence his ready suggestion to Morton, of sulphuric ether. I have never seen this explanation of his fathership. Long, 1842, Jackson, 1846, Simpson, chloroform, 1847.
You will have known only by hearsay of what occurred at the meeting of the Am Med. Association at Washington in 1870, the first, if I recollect rightly, that was held after the Civil War, I had then some little influence in the profession, having been Secretary & V.P. of the Association, & my father its president. During a morning session, I received a telegram from a son of Simpson, that his father at that hour died. I sent it up to the president, & he moved that the Association at once adjourn. This was done. I doubt if such marked & national honor had ever been paid to the memory of a physician of that or any other country.
Fifty years ago in 1863, in the Boston Medical & Surgical Journal, I urged the peculiar advantage of chloroform over ether in child bed. This was reprinted as "Eutokia", which you have, & again twenty five years ago, in 1899[sic], I referred to this important point, in my Medals of Benjamin Rush, Obstetrician, also in your library.
Sixty one years ago, I attended the course upon Military Surgery by Prof. Sir George Ballingall of the British Army, at the University of Edinburgh. I have taken the more interest in the progress of your Office, upon this account.
Pardon the length of my screed.
Yrs sincerely
H.R. Storer
Hon. Prest. Edinburgh University Club of N.A.
[National Library of Medicine]
Newport, R.I.
3 March, 1916
Dear Dr. McC.
Yours of 29 Jan. & 2 Feb. reached me during a months illness in bed, for which I am just now convalescing. Within the past month I have entered my 87th year, & this too reminds me that my days of such pleasant correspondence must now be nearly over.
The Huff registry I value, since if I am right regarding each name being struck & not engraved, they in fact(?) become different medals.
The Sternberg medal is new to me. I shall be glad of its description.
You did not tell me if you knew of the lately discovered & probably unique medallion (215 cm.) of J.Y. Simpson.
sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer.
[National Library of Medicine]
Newport, R.I.
4 March, 1916
Dear Mr. G.(?) [Fielding Hudson Garrison]
Thanks for your very courteous offer of aid. One good turn deserves another. Therefore I am sending you today a large photo of JYS that will be certain to interest Col Mc.C. Neither of the references to which you allude is to a medallion. The photo, 215 mm(?), is of the size of the original which is in plaster faced with thin bronze which after several months of correspondence with the leading numismatists here & abroad, seems to be proved unique. The likeness is fife like, precisely the man with whom I spent 1854 & 1855, the turning points in my life. I sent a copy of the ph. to the University of Edinburgh, where it was received with rejoicing, & pronounced far superior to any busts, engraving, &c that exist in that city. The history of the medal is very remarkable. Ether was first use at Boston in 1846, four years after it had been employed for surgery by Dr. Crawford Long of Athens, Ga., a graduate of the University of Pa., at which there is now the splendid medallion of L. by Dr. R. Tait Mckenzie a professor there, & of which I have a smaller copy in silver. In 1847, a year later, came Simpson's discovery of chloroform, with its certain advantages over ether, especially in labor. The ether-chloroform controversy was waged in New England with exceeding virulence, for many years. In the very midst of it, in 1858, this medallion was given by a Boston physician [You, Horatio?]to the Harvard Medical School. Its existence was not widely known & till now has not been heard of. It was immediately lost, or mislaid,--it could not have been intentionally, for what physician, no matter how much a partisan, would do anything like that?--& now quite recently, & apparently accidentally, It has reappeared, after a lapse of nearly 60 years! The medallion is of course now priceless, although there may be doubt of this fact being recognized even yet in Boston.
I also send for your library collection of such, the photo of one of our Newport fraternity, Dr. Rufus Elmer Darrah who died a week or so ago of pneumonia, in the very prime of life. He was one of the two really great surgeons in Southern Rhode Island, with an unusually large & lucrative practice. He was a very public spirited man, a member of the State Board of Health, chairman of the local do, & of the City Recreation Commission, member of the School Committee, Major & Surgeon of the Newport Artillery, &c &c. I have begged this of the widow for you, & you might be good enough to send her an official acknowledgement, at her residence in Bull St.
And now for a question or two, of what may prove a long series.
Has the Major Gen. Gorgas medal got TIFFANY & CO. upon the lower right edge of reverse?
You have the Dr. Jacob Harsen rectangular medal of the N. Y. College of Physicians & Surgeons (Medical Dept. of Columbia University). The lecturer upon the reverse is Dr. Gurdon Buck. The ten hearers are physicians. All are portraits. Have you the key, MS. or otherwise, to their identity. Most probably all of them are dead. After long correspondence I have fount that they were probably John C. Acheson, Fred Sturgis ( then an officer of the Pacific Mail S.S. Co., & later F.R.S.), Andrew H. Smith, D.D. St. John Roosa, S.B. Tuthill, O B Miller, Robert F. Weir, Alfred North, Normand Sink. This leaves one vacancy. I am not certain that the order given is correct. Dr. Weir wrote met that he was then Buck's house surgeon. G.M. Smith had been mentioned, but W. says that this was an error. About N. Smith there is some question. Mr. Browne, librarian of the Academy of Medicine, of which I used to be a non-resident member, & many others have tried to solve the problem, but in vain. Perhaps you can do so.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Is the Bronson in capital letters, as was reported by Surgeon Billings? It is not in the slip that you have sent. I presume that the medal was struck, & not merely engraved. If the latter, it would not be recognized by numismatists.
[College of Physicians of Philadelphia--- Autograph Collection, Storer.
Newport, R.I.
12 April, 1916
Dear Dr. P.(epper)
I return the Disbrow(?) Catalogue, with thanks. Though the Chapmans, in their preface, refer to my having assisted Dr. D. in its compilation, I had not seen it before, having probably been absent at the time of its issue. Enclosed I send a brief classification with was of aid during the comparison I have just made of it with my own notes. I have made several pencil corrections which may aid your own catalogues.
I have often wondered if you properly appreciated the real value of the University's collection. There are but few existing that surpass it. Their comparative perfection may be thus stated.
- Boston Medical Library Collection.
- University of Vienna-Bequest of Dr. Josef Brettanen(?) of Trieste.
- U. S. Surgeon General's Office at Washington. THe collection of the late Dr. Wm Lee.
- The collection of Dr Raphael Blanchard of Paris.
- The British Museum
- The University of Pa.
- The Wellcome Medical Museum at London.
The late Dr. George Fisher of Sing Sing had a number of rarities. I purchased his entire collection at his death, & eventually disposed of the many duplicates in Holland. His medical engravings were obtained by Johns Hopkins.
If you have not already selected your curator, I should think that Dr. Kirk might be sufficiently interested.
In my old age (87) I have pleasant memories of your father. Is it not true that through my grandson's marriage to Elizabeth Claxton, granddaughter of Mrs. John La Farge, [Margaret Perry according to Annals] who though much younger than myself is yet my godmother,[Was a godmother required as part of Horatio's becoming a Catholic?] I may claim very distant alliances with the clan of Pepper?
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
There are several of your pieces, about which I desire information. 433& 601 appear to be duplicates. ...[three pages of references to medals.]
[National Library of Medicine]
Newport, R.I.
3 May, 1916
My dear Col.(?)
Several weeks ago I sent the Library, through your Mr. Floyd, a photo of the to me very interesting medallion of Simpson of Edinburgh that has recently been rediscovered, but have as yet had no word of its having been received. Kindly send me a postal as to this.
I also sent photo of a recently deceased Newport surgeon, Dr. Darrah. His dates were 1861-1916.
In these days of, I hope, Mexican reconstruction, you men must be very busy, & I should think would rejoice thereat- [!]
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Beinecke/Yale-Speck Collection]
58 Washington St.
Newport, R. I.
30 June 1916
My dear Sir.
Your very welcome missive foundme, as is not not unusual for me at eighty sever, ill in bed. It was doubly valued, for I had written to you at Haverstraw once or twice during these many years, regarding Goethe medals, & receiving no answer had feared that you had passed from this life. Long may you be spared to continue your fascinating & useful labors.
After a little, when I may be stronger, I shall hope that we may resume our always to me, very interesting correspondence.
Sincerely Yours
- R. Storer
M.D. LL. D.
Hon Prest. Edinburgh University Club
Mr. Speck q. v. r.
Can you obtain for me a copy, or rubbings, or detailed description of the Yale Bezelius Club medal? I already know about & have published description of the Dr. Campbell medal of the Med. Department of the Univ.
OFFERS ITS SERVICES.
Sanitary Protection Association to Make House Inspections
History of the Organization, Which Again Comes Forward in Infantile Paralysis Emergency.
To the Editor of the Daily News:
Dear Sir: The resumption of its former activity by the Newport Sanitary Protection Association means much for the residents of this city, particularly of the summer colony. That no possible misunderstanding may occur, a brief word as to its history and effectiveness will therefore not be out of place.
As is well known, 40 years ago, in 1877, Professor Fleming Jenkin of the University of Edinburgh devised a new method of health preservation which was entitled sanitary protection. It was learned especially from the late Dr. David King, at that time the leading physician here, that, despite its natural salubrity and health possibilities, Newport was in reality one of the worst drained (there were practically no sewers), most saturated with filth, and generally wholly neglected sanitarily, of all the cities on the coast.
The Association was at once formed by a number of summer and other residents, and was the second in existence, next to Edinburgh. Subsequently, and with but slight modifications, the system extended itself to Glasgow and Dundee, Scotland; London, Bedfore, Bradford, Brighton, Cheltenham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Cambridge, Cardiff and Bath, England; Dublin, Ireland; and Montreal, Canada, and it now very generally underlies the health protection of this country. A paper read at the fortieth annual meeting of the American Medical Association held at Newport in June, 1889, and published in the Journal of the Association for May 10, 1890, had much to do with this result. It was entitled "Volunteer Sanitary Organizations as an Aid to Official Boards of Health."[By HRS?]
During its early years the Association had the active co-operation of such members as Messrs. Andrew B. Altmon, Mrs. M. C. Acosta, ... ... J.H. Storer, ..., T.W. Wood, and Sidney Woolett.
Very many others, less active, might be mentioned, who annually had their residences inspected and their plumbing, sewers, etc., kept in perfect order. In fact there were years in which the real estate agents had difficulty in leasing residences unless that had the approval of the Association. Most of the members mentioned above are now dead, but the good they did lives after them. This list has never before been published. Many have known the great influence exerted by the Association, but few have appreciated its real extent.
Notably, it was through the Association that the city adopted a plan of sewerage, very imperfect and faulty, as the Association predicted, though the present one has proved. Its report, through Professor Pumpelly, upon the failure of natural freezing to insure a perfectly safe ice supply, became authoritative. Its series of tests, through Colonel Waring, upon the purifying by aeration of polluted water, greatly increased that gentleman's reputation and influence. Its house-to-house inspection of the city by the national Board of Health, through the very generous sum contributed by the Newport Casino, proved all that had been feared illy ventilated interiors, leaking roofs, wet cellars, foul vaults and infected wells; and its numberless private inspections and wise suggestions insured safety for an ever extending circle of summer visitors.
Lastly, but by no means least, it has mainly been through the Association that Newport, after years of persistent obstruction, obtained its present very efficient and admirable Board of Health. At first a merely advisory board to the aldermen was appointed, next a separate board, though but for a single year, but now as is supremely necessary, its members are chosen for different periods, thus rendering possible a constant and persistent general plan. Through it, and especially through its recently deceased chairman, Dr. Darrah, and its present chairman, Mr.Greenlaw, has been effected medical supervision of the schools and much else of equal value, which have placed Newport will in line with other progressive cities. At present the services of its medical members, Drs. Sullivan, Ramsay and Clark, assisted when necessary by Dr. William A. Sherman, are proving invaluable.
Upon the establishment of the board and in effect since Newport has now become one of the most healthy cities in the country, the Association some year ago decided to cease its active operations, while retaining its organization under its charter, ad pursue a policy of quiet waiting until in the presence of an epidemic, or even a threatening of an epidemic, its services, in aid entirely of the Board of Health, might again seem to be required.
Such an emergency appears now to exist. At the present moment there is in Brooklyn and New York a frightful epidemic of infantile paralysis, one of the most fatal diseases known. Diphtheria and typhoid were formerly dreaded by physicians, but they are now under fair control. Infantile paralysis still baffles all knowledge and skill. It is feared by the national authorities, the course of last resort, that in New York it can hardly be controlled, for at least three months to come, until the frosts of October. The cases as yet recognized in Newport are in skillful hands and will, it is to be hoped, be speedily overcome, but already measures against their spread have been taken at the United States Naval Training Station with its thousands of young apprentices, and practically a rigid quarantine against the coming of New York children has been established here as in many places elsewhere. Should another case occur in Newport or even be suspected, the Board of Health would at once be notified, and it is probable that the isolation hospital for contagious disease outside the compact portions of the city, would again be re-opened.
Under these circumstances no reasonable precautions would be neglected. Unsanitary conditions cannot of themselves produce contagious disease, but their existence predisposes to the contagion of such disease, its severity and fatality, as the most careless and thoughtless person, and even the most advanced theorists of the present day, have to acknowledge. It is therefore that the Sanitary Protection Association again offers its services from house inspections and water analyses. its officers are well known to the community. The president, Mr. Van Alen, like his father, has long taken great interest in the work of the Association; the treasurer Dr. Mary E. Baldwin, has the confidence of all, as has also Dr. Jacoby the secretary, both of them being prominent as hygienists; while the executive officer, Mr.Lloyd M. Mayer, who will supervise the inspectors reports, has always, both by inheritance and personality, been identified with the summer colony. The inspecting engineer, Mr. Robert Frame, was long with Colonel Waring, and is prepared for active co-operation.
Yours sincerely,
H.R.S.
Newport, July 16, 1916.
[James Coyle Papers 2/07 Notre Dame Archives]
Newport R.I.
6 Oct. 1916
Dear Father James, the Superb,
I was delighted to learn from the paper you sent me, of the consecration of St Mary's & of your own elevation to the foot of the throne, which comes very near indeed to occupying the desk(?) itself. May you yet do this. I should earlier have expressed my joy, but writing, even of the briefest note, is commencing to fatigue me. Agnes is resting in the White Mts., probably to return today or tomorrow. Her satisfaction & pride in our loved pastor will equal my own.
Little Newport is so engrossed in its petty affairs that your great event seems as yet known by no one. Not a word about it in either of the papers. I telephoned last night to the Newport Herald, and though two of its conductors(?), W. & B. are C., not a word thereof this morning. I shall now send word to the D. News, though I had hoped that the first announcement might have been in the C. paper. Tiresome politics, as you know, seem to occupy now a days, with base ball news, the attention of almost every journalist. Pardon their not arising to the occasion, or appreciating their opportunity. There can be nothing that could excite greater interest in all Newport. You of course already understand how worthily our dear Father Higney is succeeding you. He will now of course be stimulated to even greater efforts.
I wish that we would often see you. Hearing occasionally about a friend cannot compare with close personal vision. You know that a warm welcome & a bed in our "priests chamber" always await you.
Sincerely yrs.
- R. Storer
[James Coyle Papers CCOY 2/08 Notre Dame Archives]
Newport R.I.
6 Dec. 1916
Dear Bp.(Bishop?) in future,
Congratulations for your now dry city, & renewed do. to yourself.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Newport Daily News June 23- 1917
TO STRENGTHEN ALLIES.
Dr. Storer Appeals for Volunteers for British Navy or the Committee.
To the Editor of the News:
Dear Sir--It has not generally been known that for some time the Edinburgh University Club of North America, in connection with the British Embassy in New York, as been assisting British subjects, old soldiers and new recruits, and possibly an occasional American volunteer to leave for England by way of Canada. It was not thought best to appear to be in any way violating our neutrality law. I, myself, received directly from the British government several packages of large and small posters, and recruiting pamphlets in various languages and addressed to both men and women. For evident reasons I could not openly distribute these, though I did send copies to the libraries of Harvard University and the Newport Historical Society, where eventually they will prove of interest. Now, however, that a British recruiting office, with consent and approval of our government has been opened in New York city the case is very different. I am enabled in a quiet way to do my bit, for every aid we can any of us give to strengthen the allies is in reality for the protection of this country and ourselves. I have today received the following:
"Edinburgh University Club of North America,
"Chemistry Department.
"Columbia University,
"New York City."
"Dear Sir: At the request of Major C.D. Murray of the British Recruiting Mission, 280 Broadway, New Your city, I am circulating the following appeal among all members of the Edinburgh University Club resident in the United States.
"Your special attention is directed to the fact that the British Recruiting Mission has established headquarters in New York city at 280 Broadway, where it desires British and Canadian subjects of military age to present themselves for recruitment.
"I urgently request all of our members to spread this information among all the Britishers and Canadians of their acquaintance in all walks of life, as the response must be full and immediate.
"A special request is now made for volunteer workers, who are themselves unable for good and sufficient reasons to shoulder a gun for their country's service, but will serve on Recruiting Committees throughout your city and give some time to the work of reaching and approaching likely men.
"If you cannot fight yourself, will you serve on such a committee?
"Please also send me the names and addresses of any others who are willing to serve on such a committee, as well as the names and addresses of any possible army recruits known to you.
"Yours faithfully,
"James Kendall,
"Secretary."
I can merely add that I shall gladly co-operate in this movement, and shall be happy to hear, either personally or by letter, from any one whose duty lies in this direction whether by direct volunteering for the British army, or by serving upon such a committee as is above indicated.
Sincerely yours,
(Dr.) Horatio R. Storer (aged 88),
Honorary President Edinburgh University Club of North America.
58 Washington street, Newport, R. I., June 20, 1917.
[Harvard Archives (Secretary's File) HUD 250.505 Class of 1850]
Sent 10 July-
Class of 1850-
Report for 1917.
Death. H. J. Warner
Survivors-
- J. Warner (crossed out)
- J. Coolidge
- R. S.
Their physical condition - poor.
" mental " - normal.
" expectations of further longevity. nil.
" feeling thereat - content.
" affection for Harvard - undiminished.
Respectfully submitted.
Horatio Robinson Storer
Secretary.
The News July 19-1917
TOBACCO FOR SOLDIERS.
The British Over-Seas Club Needs Contributions for the Distressed.
To the Editor of the News:
Dear Sir: The title of the Over-Seas Club might at first deceive. Instead of the usual travelers' Club that hospitably opens it door to kindred spirits in many cities of the world, it is really a stupendous organization which in various ways has had much to do with the liberty and progress of the British empire. This was fully explained a few days ago by Lord Northcliffe, the president, at the annual meeting of the American branch in New York. The patron of the parent society is the English king, the vice patron the Duke of Connaught, and the vice presidents high celebrities, including colonial governors, the nobility, admirals, generals, and the like.
The chief aim or the club at present is to furnish supplies of tobacco, of which there is an abundance in London, to the soldiers in active service. For this purpose to May, 1917, over $1,200,000 had been expended, and there had been actually sent over 360 tons or tobacco, and over 240,000,000 of cigarettes, all of this to the front, and none of it distributed in England.
As a physician, I, of course, do not believe in the use of tobacco by boys and young men, but for soldiers grievously wounded or exhausted by the vigils and varied anxieties of the trenches, it is very different. The only real solace and indeed the best medicine for such cases is tobacco. The present appeal is endorsed by field and hospital surgeons, commanding officers and army and naval chaplains, and has the direct approval of the British War Office. I have now entrusted to me the official collecting book No. 70, 235, with spaces for 52 subscriptions, with the request that I aid in filling them. This I shall attempt to do. Contributions, however large or small, of money but not of tobacco itself, will therefore be gladly received and promptly forwarded.
That the Queen Mary's Needlework Guild is also engaged in sending tobacco to distressed soldiers is in no sense an interference. They are engaged in Honorable rivalry, and both deserve abundant co-operation.
H.R. Storer
58 Washington street, July 18, 1917.
[Walsh children]
Newport, R. I.
20 July, 1917
Dear Dr. W.,
I am very glad that you are to discourse upon NY gynaecology & shall look with great interest for the publication. Geo. Elliot, whose life was all too short, should be mentioned & also Peaslee, though he was at times unjust to me, & had a way of selecting his cases, so as to avoid all risk of failure where the chances did not promise well. I always try to do him justice, & while I endeavor to forget all unkind feeling towards any one still living, I do this even more regarding the dead.[!] You might also refer to White, who when Flint & Hammilton(?) came to N. Y. remained in Buffalo. All these nine _____ I knew intimately.
You may be interested in the enclosed which was compiled, almost without my knowledge, by Dr Toner of Washington, whom of course you recollect as President of the Am. Med. Association, & the most popular old bachelor Catholic physician in the U. S. It was upon my return to this country after some six years stay abroad with my family, most of the time on cruthces. Since then I have kept no account of the quite a number of papers that I have published. I greatly appreciated the kind invitation I accepted from the N. Y. State Society & Academy of Medicine as _____ in the list of the Academy I was a non-resident Fellow, & one of the very few Bostonians who properly appreciated N. Y. The "circular enclosed" was not therein.
Maloney & his wife are now visiting us.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Perhaps the honor that I have valued the most has been the Hon. Presidency of the Edinburgh University Club--Something(?) like(?) you Dr.(Sr.) Gregory.
[National Library of Medicine]
Newport, R.I.
23 Febr, 1918
My dear McC.,
Your _____ial paper reached me three months ago, just as I was taken by a very serious illness which my physician thought for a while was to be my last. Still confused upstairs, I am but recommencing my greatly delayed correspondence. Add to this that I commenced last week my 89th year, & that there is thus added the burden of advanced senility.
Last evening I was able to read your very erudite & extremely interesting pamphlet which will go far towards the literary credit of your service. Aptly enough I have had upon my table for the last two days a large photograph of Dr. R. Tait McKenzie's very latest, & just completed medallion, & by far the most living of any he has yet executed, that of Sir Robert Jones, of the British A.M.C. It bears conspicuously upon the lapels the staff of Aesa(?), with wreath and _____.
As to the distinction that you so well draw between this symbol and that of Mercury, the patron of liars & thieves, I have myself been long troubled in spirit. The caduceus appears upon the sleeve of so many subordinate government officers & on so many even important medical medals, that it affects me as an almost intentional insult to our profession. It is upon the ancient arms of the Boylston Medical Society of Harvard University. It was the seal of the Boston Medical Library until at my suggestion the late Dr. Chadwick properly changed it, although the _____ seems again to be _____. For many years I was disgusted every time that as a Fellow (non-resident) of the Academy of Medicine I had to step over the large mosaic in the floor of its vestibule in 43d St. I had a brief paper myself years ago upon the subject in the Harvard Graduates Magazine.
I have a few doubts as to the proper personality of your Epidaemic crest. Spurless, & what good officer upon dress parade fails to wear his sword or A_____ offender?--looking backward, as no well trained private should ever do, & as if calling his d_____ to some choice morsel, & with not even his beak open, as singing the martial's song of hate or the chant of victory, he reminds me of the emasculated or congenital capon that, vowed to the good by his grateful patients, went to the dinner table of his priests. You will pardon this seeming sacrilege. The very(?)(racy?) democratic Fillie(?) Cock, arrogant & vain glorious, but with a certain military bearing, always seemed but a barn(?) yard fowl after all, strangely so in comparison with the Napoleonic eagles -- or even with the staunchly impressive one of Prussia, or that of the old Ptolemaic coins of Egypt, or even the scrawny Secretary bird of Mexico, with its feet upon a cactus plant, & its grasp upon a serpent.
Your history of the whole design shows weak research.
You have doubtless appreciated the interest in the "ankh", the Egyptian symbol of life, in the handles of the "schlangenstab" and will consult with great pleasure, if you have not already done so, the truly wonderful discussion of symbolism on Greek coins by Mrs Agnes (Baldasin) Booth of the American Numismatic Society, Amer. Journl of Numismatics, vol XLIX, 1915, No. 672.
- 8 of your paper, 4th line. Should Church be Rush, through printer's lapse. There was an R.C., perhaps of R. I., in the army a century previously. Excuse my presumption in suggesting this possibility.
I am now slowly comparing(?) your description of medals that was recently sent me, & will send the result as soon as I am able.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
[Smithsonian Institution Archives; Record Unit 192; U.S. National Museum, 1877-1975; Permanent Administrative Files; Box 191]
Newport, R.I.
26 March, 1918
Dear Sir,
Will you kindly inform me of any medals in any way relating to Medicine that may be in your Case. Many years ago I published in the N.Y. Sanitarian a list of those pertaining to the two services that were then known to me. Several of them are in the collection at the Boston Medical Library, & a number in the private ______ ______ of my son., Dr. Malcolm Storer of Boston.
I write especially just now to see if you coan complete for me the description of the following, also of De Long's Jeanerette Expedition.
[description follows]
There is another of which I have filed to obtain details, & should value your aid here also.
- S. Hospital Ship Maine - ...
There was a gold medal whichwas presented to Jenner by the Surgeons of the British Navy in 1801, the locality of which is now unknown. Have you, by any chance, a note relative to this?
You are doubtless familiar with the extensive collection of medals under Col. McCullough's charge at the Army Medical Museum. There are navals among them. As I am now in my 89th year my researches in this direction are well nigh completed.
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
The News May 11-1918
GRENFELL IN LABRADOR
Never Again Can the Fisher
Folk Suffer as of Old.
Dr. Storer Writes of the Transformation Wrought by the Medical Mission.
To the Editor of the Daily News:
Dear Sir: It seems to me that the approaching visit to Newport of Dr. Grenfell of labrador, of the man who to all that desolate land is at once its beloved physician, just judge, fearless leader and in all things truest friend, is an event which should interest your readers profoundly. I speak from deepest conviction, for, knowing the Labrador as I Do, I know the transformation, nothing less, wrought throughout its entire length by the never failing faith and hope and love of my brother physician, whom I shall count it one of the honors of my life to greet when he comes to tell us Sunday of the pitiful needs of the people he has served for over a quarter of a century with abounding joy "in journeyings often, in perils of waters in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren, in labors and painfulness in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."
Only the bare outline of Dr. Grenfell's history, both before and after his coming from England to the new world, is generally known. Despite all that has been published on the Labrador Medical Mission itself, we know but fragments of the life of its founder--of the happy boyhood and education in the noble profession of healing, in which he early distinguished himself as a surgeon of rare ability, and resourcefulness; of his experiences as a worker in London's most miserable slums, and subsequently among the great fleet of deep-sea fishermen in the North sea, and finally of his transfer to Newfoundland and Labrador, with the instant recognition that to this forbidding field he ad indeed been called to a life work of sacrifice and consecration. Bit by bit, something of his life's peril and his life's romance have been revealed. To take but a single episode: In all fiction what can surpass for thrilling danger Dr. Grenfell's escape from the ice flow adrift in the open sea? All hope abandoned, and apparently no possible chance of succor! In this desperate extremity, all but frozen and with senses benumbed, he yet bethinks himself of the suffering patients awaiting his coming. Must they wait forever in vain? The thought nerves him to a last battle for life and though the deed causes him the keenest mental torture, the dog companions so dear to him are sacrificed. Covered by their still warm and reeking skins, the flickering flame of life revives and he is saved. His rescuer still lives to narrate this wonderful adventure.
I have mentioned my personal interest in the Labrador. In my early days, now nearly a century ago, it wa practically a terra incognita, save to a few scientists, among others my father's intimate friend, the great Audubon, whose tales of Labrador's treasures of bird life fired my boyish ambition to follow in his footsteps. This I did in 1849, as a Harvard student, with my brother, afterwards Professor Francis Humphreys Storer, and Professor Jeffries Wyman, our little party making an exploratory trip to the north, during which we secured many additions for the university herbarium and a large number of fishes, several of which were undescribed, and of bird skins, etc. for the Boston Society of Natural History. We were fortunate in covering territory that had escaped the search of the celebrated naturalist Sir John Richardson, who had visited much of British North America.
Many years later, just before Dr. Grenfell's coming, I again visited Labrador and Newfoundland, with my wife and daughter, stopping at many of the tiny fishing hamlets along the coast unknown to the usual tourist. Everywhere, outside of St. John's itself, in Newfoundland, the pleasure of our summer holiday was sadly marred by the most pitiful sights of physical suffering unalleviated, of needless death fast approaching unchallenged, through the utter lack of doctors and nurses and all absolutely essential medical supplies. A single tragic incident from the many we witnessed will give some slight idea of the conditions along the Labrador as regards the dearth of all medical assistance "before Grenfell came."
After a perfect summer day, we dropped anchor in the glory of one of the most gorgeous Arctic night I have ever beheld. The aurora spread over the entire heavens was a sight to marvel at, but our exclamations of delight and wonder quickly died in apprehension, so unusual was the number of small fishing boats that instantly made for the steamer, boats manned by men and boys who rowed as if for their very lives: Poor fellows! The rowed indeed in the desperate hope of saving lives--but lives dearer than their own. To this day I hear that first heartbreaking appeal. From the first boat that reached us there sprang erect the figure of a very old man. A patriarch among men, and evidently the little hamlet's leader and spokesman. With arms extended to heaven he cried out: "Captain! For the love of God, is there a doctor aboard? Our women and children are dying like flies. In God's name, man, help us, save us!"
Alone, unaided, just recovering as I was from severe illness, with nothing at hand but the ship's meagre medical supplies. I could do but pitifully little, nothing at all it seemed to me, as all that awful night I strove with death, and such anguish as in all my lifelong experience with mortal agony I had never witnessed. The old patriarch had told but the tragic truth. The people of that poverty-stricken hamlet were indeed dying "like flies," under an outbreak of the more virulent type of the dreaded "black diphtheria," and no possibility of help of any kind reaching them till we could send it from the mainland.
Thank God, now that "the doctor" has gone to them, never again can a situation so desperate arise for the brave people of Labrador, for a long chain of hospitals, as of schoolhouses and tiny social centres, now dot the coast, every one struggling doubly hard for existence in this terrific time, yet enduring, as they will, please God, to the end, preventing and assuaging every form of human ill. Nor have the wonders wrought been wholly material, but rather of the spirit which quickeneth. Thanks to Wilfred Grenfell's coming amongst them and far more to the example of his life than of his words--thanks to the little army of like-minded men and women who are working so valiantly with him, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man are no longer seemingly empty words on the Labrador, but the very leaveness of life.
Yours sincerely,
Horatio R. Storer, M. D.
Newport, May 11, 1918.
Newport R. I. Dec 8 1918
Dear Dr Farlow:
I have yours of Nov. 26th. You speak of the serpent of Aesculapius, and that of Mercury. Mercury had two-an unequal combat.
What I object to is the underlying idea. The original and between ourselves still usually accepted embodiment of Medicine, is the very decent, wise and wholly to be respected person, under whose emblem we are content to serve, while the interloper who has disgraced us all is now asserting his right to do so.
In my letter I mentioned that the present is peculiarly a proper time t endeavor to set things right. Throughout the country there is a renaissance of interest in Art and the classics. Everywhere our profession is seeking to raise the general standard by elevating that of early education, and by resisting whereever it is to be found the tendency to degeneration from the early days and the many admirable characteristics of our fathrers. That this exists I send herewith several tangible proofs.
First, as to the comparative positions of the British and American Governments regarding the matter in question. We move too hastily, they are discreet. We often submit matters, important as well as trivial, to persons of "the people", self made, uneducated, anxious for display, and they show their ignorance. They, the British, for the most part, entrust affairs, at least those that are disassociated from mere business, to University men. Therefore, the emblem that distinguishes the officers of their Army Medical Corps is that of Aesculapius, his staff, crowned with a single serpent within a wreath, and this device is recognized as the only one that is proper or legitimate among the armies of the world, save in ours. (See exhibit A) In these days of the universal presence of army officers these emblems have become of very much greater interest and importance.
The American Government, on the other hand, in all the various ramifications of its Army Medical Corps, has introduced the despicable Hermetic symbor, two serpents upright, in close embrace around a winged staff. This in all outside affairs, is the sign of Trade and of than only.
It might indeed be thought a trivial adjunct, and as really symbolical of the whole American people as such, but it is surely a pity that of all classes it should have been selected to signify so eminently respectable a profession as our own.
I have mentioned this anomaly to many, both within and without the army. Without exception, they had previously not realized its importance. To a man they have felt that the error is egregious and should be corrected.
In an interesting summary that was given in the National Geographic Magazine for Oct. 1917, of the insignia of our Uniformed Forces, tehre appeared illustrations of our offical herpatolory tat are especially cogent. It was there stated taht the Caduceus "is a magic wand which exerts influences over living and dead." (The peculiar propriety of the latter principle, in this connection, does not appear, save as an instance of lucus a non lucendo.) The caduceus distinguished the following U.S. Government departments and uses-
U.S. Army Guidon Field Hospital
Ambulance Corps
Sleeve Med. Dept.
Dental Corps
Sanitary Corps
Veterinary Corps
Ambulance Corps
Nurses Corps
Collar. Med. Dept.
U.S. Navy Sleeve, Pharmacists
Public Health Service
Flag Caduceus and foul anchor-yellow
Collar. Surgeon General,blue
Shoulder. Interne and attenuated skeleton of the staff of Aesculapius.
Let his resume' be considered as exhibits B & C
Moreover let us consider the following- a pernicious example is too readily imitated and as easily excused.
The recently constituted Volunteer Medical Service Corps, else to be praised, has as its insignia a silver caduceus of 15x20 mm. the two serpent being surmounted by excessively hypertrophied wings and teh letters V M S (exhibit D) I cannot wear my own without an instinctive flush of shame. Its adoption was undoubtedly due to the conviction that our Government, having already adopted the present army emblem, the cue should therefore thenceforth be followed. Another example of Our Country-right or wrong.
And again, the National Tuberculosis Association, with its zeal, its resources, its control of universal sympathy, and the average educational acquirements of those who have it in charge, has become a power. Its publications are sent everywhere, among the wise and the illiterate and have a many sided effect. In the last number of its Bulletin, Nov 1918, there is given a sketch of its newly founded Modern Health Crusaders Department (for the enrollment of American Children), and with it an illustration of its button, seal and ormedalet. This depicts, beneath the American flag and beside the Association's shield with its patriarchal cross, a thinly clad young man (suggestive of consumption), extending the caduceus. This I now send you as exhibit E.
I was disturbed by this display of ill judgement, and at once brought it to the attention of Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs of Baltimore, Secretary of the Assocation, with whom I had previously discussed the Mercury-Aesculapius embroglio, for I knew that Dr. Jacobs, the very most accomplished and thoroughly alive in such matters of all our medical men, would be astonished at what had thus escaped his notice, and would at once desire to do what Dr. Chadwick had formerly done in similar need for the Boston Medical Library. This in the present instance would have been attended by very trifling expence. Dr. Jacob's reply I enclose as exhibits F and H. I had forwarded my protest to the "Crusader Executive" of the association, resident in New York. The reply of this gentleman, sent you as exhibit G, is puerile and almost unworthy of consideration. He acknowledges having servilely copied the Government. He speaks of "getting across" the error upon their Modern Health Crusader's buttons as having more chance than if they had only one snake, and as if two wrongs ever made one right. (certainly a truly Hermetic and business way of putting it) He thinks "there is authority for Mercury having served as a messenger of healing". The medical associates upon the Tuberculosis Board of this Daniel come to Judgment must be delighted at his connecting them to such heterodox doctrines.
Hydragyrum, the technical name for Mercury, the metal, has been and is used in the treatment of the most filthy of all diseases. Ergo: Mercury, the God, ia a messenger of healing. (Quod erat demonstrandum) I had told Dr. Jacobs that until the error was corrected, he and his colleagues would suffer in the estimation of all well educated physicians.
The position is therefor clearly this - there exists a very grevious error and its persistent continuance affects ist spread and harm. To expect its correction from within the offending bodies is unreasonable. The Commander of the Army would say that it was but a trifle and not worthy of his consideration: that his business was with Mars and Vulcan who forged the weapons. The Chief of the Amry Medical Department would fear that his critics and-censors, and who does not have them?- would say taht he was magnifying his office and making a mountain out of a molehiss. He might dread besides that to exhibit classical lore might jeopardize the new building that the Surgeon General is now striving for.
As to the Association, I hve not thought it right, valuing Dr. Jacob as I do, to risk embroiling him with those who apparently cannot understand his view, and with whom he is engaged in a public duty.
And therefore still more. It seems to me a perfectly legitimate and essentially satisfactory action for the Library to undertake. YOu have eventually?
much material to aid your progress. I have not mentioned to my son that I am writing you - but your committee could vote it as one of his duties as Curator, to initiate and pursue the attempt under their initiation, direction and approval.
In my brief article in the Harv. Grad. Mag, Dec 1912, it was stated that the winged caduceus of Mercury with its two serpents illustrated his attributes as the Patron of Thieves and Liars. The staff of Aesculapius has but a single serpent, and suggests the pursuit of Wisdom, pure and simple, first and last, and all the time. Dr. S.G. Gerhard of Philadelphia, in his instructive article on the insignia of the Am. Med. Assoc., agrees that the tokens of merchants may properly bear the caduceus, but certainly not the medals of (last page missing)
H.R. Storer
[Nat. Library of Medicine]
Newport, R. I.
25 May, 1919
Dear Dr. G.
Rapidly failing eyesight has kept yours of 24 March with a long list of others, Commander Taylor's kind response among them, as yet unanswered, Pardon my inability.
Dr. Crawford W. Long of Athens Ga. had his part, no unimportant one, in the Ether controversy, & therefore deserves your attention. Have you as yet his medallion, executed for the University of Pa., of which he was a graduate, by Robert Tait McKenzie? If not, I will gladly send you a fine photo of it.
I have recently been delighted on learning from my son, Dr. Malcolm Storer of Boston, of your highly erudite discussion of Asclepias vs. Hermes, a subject in which I have myself been greatly interested, in the J. of the A. M.A., to which for a great many years till of late I had been a subscriber. Davis of Chicago founded the Association in 1846, the ether year. My father joined it in 1847, & I in 1855, & became one of its very first Secretaries, gold medalist, and V.P., when my health permanently failed. My father was its president.
As for the Caduceus, I despise it, as I condemn Masonry(?). Seven years ago, in the Harvard Graduates Magazine for 1912 p. 386, I relieved my Taint(?) upon this subject & during the past year have suggested to a Committee of the Boston Medical Library that they institute a crusade to persuade you gentlemen of the army to remove the obnoxious emblem from your collars & sleeves. How you have engineered(?) the disgrace I have never been able to conceive till now that you have concentrated the odium upon Col. Huff.
The caduceus distinguishes not merely the medical officers as non combatants, but the _____ & slackers who avoid the service, but if in it desert & run away, & for this the winged heels of Mercury are most significant. The seal of the old Boylston Medical Society of Harvard University has the caduceus, & for this I have grieved. The first do. of the B.M.L. had it also, until I persuaded Chadwick to change it. I used to spend the winter in NY, & as a non-resident Fellow of the Acad. of Med, was often in the 43d St. building. The rooms of the Amer Numismatic Society were then upstairs & almost every day I visited its delightful library. It was really with a mental pang that I had so often to step over the great mosaic caduceus upon entering from the street. As if a single c. were not one too many, Dr Martin presents to us upon the bottom of his diploma of the Volunteer Medical Service Corps with no less than _____ (thirteen?), & now to cap the climax, our friend Dr. Barton Jacobs, the responsible officer of the National Tuberculosis Association had permitted on of his business associated time to his metropolitan instinct, to form a band of infant "crusaders," consisting of all the children of America, & to this issue in each monthly Bulletin the figure of a poorly diseased woman extending to them, of all things, the caduceus. I took Dr. J. to do for this, & he faithfully disclaimed all sympathy with it, but he turned my protest over to his New York friend. This gentleman very crossly replied that Dr. S. was altogether too critical, & that he had been taught to believe that Mercury was a great aid & a sort of demigod to our profession. Doubtless. but as _____ to the patrons of thieves & liars as well as of merchants _____ these of whom are so often associated, the gentleman in these days must have been thinking of salveridian.(??)
Pardon this tirade, but as the New Yorker attributed the ingraiting caduceus almost wholly to the bad example of you gentlemen of the army I have had to send it. "A ward in season, how good is it," sometimes but I hope it may stimulate you in the efforts to remove what is rapidly becoming a national disgrace.
How's that for over 90?
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
[Nat. Library of Medicine]
Newport, R. I.
7 June, 1919
Dear Dr. G.,
I have yours. As to the feetless reptiles in affectionate embrace ("omnistonets copuli"), I regret your implied decision, & shall look with anxiety for your further arguments. Asides from my respects for Col Hoff's reasoning, & from my sympathy with you gentleman of the Md Cr(?) in your design for that million dollar appropriation from U.S. C. for the new building, I cannot but think that the best educated of our profession & the mass of University, collegiate & high school educators will consider the ______ aforesaid a movement backwards & downwards, a real descent towards the level of "the great American people," of whom the Army Medical officers are recognized as the highest embodiment. She appears a blow to classical education. I may ask Judge Claxton, the U.S. Commissioner of Education, with whom I have had other correspondence[!], as to this. "Ad census difficuli, sed fialis descensus Aremic(?)," A. or the educated need ______, being the abyss confronting those who consider the favor of support of the great Army of the opponents of the best interests of medicine,--apothecaries, wholesale & retail, charlatans, proprietarians(?) & hypnotists with controllers, et cet omne ge______ . Will Col McCulloch have to ______ the alteration of the ______ bearings of your service, mainly because iconoclasts like Dr. Jacobs & colleagues, base their affront to the medical history of the world squarely upon the plea that the medical officers of the U.S. Army have set them the example.
As to Long. You might acknowledge the receipt of the photo directly to Dr. R. Tait McKenzie of the Univ. of Pa., who let me decide where it would be best appreciated. Its claims to priority U & ______ shall be considered by the South as Supreme, but when we consider that he was so threatened & scared by his townsmen, on the ground of experimentation, that he ceased using ether, I fear that he will always be classed with Wells, Colton(?), & the other pioneers. It seems to me, however, that Long's achievements may perhaps justify claims that it was from him, however indirectly, that C. T. Jackson's famous reply, "sulphuric Ether," to Morton's query was inspired. Boston was then much more provincial than at present. It recognized N.Y. Phila., Baltimore & Washington as of medical equality with itself, but until after the Civil War, Mason & Dixon's Line was in verity one of demarcation, & it was hardly supposable that Athens, Ga., could take precedence of "the" Athens of America. It is improbable that either of the Mass.Hosp. Staff, of which my father was a member, had heard of Long or his essays. It is not improbable that J., who though an educated physician was chiefly known as a consulting scientific chemist & geologist, with many acquaintances & correspondents in the South, had heard of the new ethereal characteristics. He was entirely more likely to have done so than any other man in Boston.
You have one or more duplicates although in different notes(?), of the Swedish medal of J. I have for years tried to find a copy of it in Europe, & it would probably be impossible to have a single specimen struck from the dies of Stockholm. Therefore, will you & Col McCulloch please remember, whenever you may feel particularly benevolent, that you cold hardly do anything more peculiarly appreciable by the boston Medical Library than to send it one of your ______ . I knew J. personally, & have always bewailed his weakness in allowing M. to beguile him into seeking a p.(?), but through which he lost the esteem of the profession. His was very sad & tragic. His grief might have been assuaged a little could he have thought that his reputation might have then been conserved a little in Boston of all places, & regarding the discovery in which he did indeed play so important a part. A long time ago, very soon after Simpson's departure in 1870, I sent your library, for safer preservation that they might have had in B. the proof sheets of his death bed letter to Dr. Jacob Bigelow, in reply to the charge that he had claimed the whole credit for anaesthetics, which was very unjust and very untrue. Immediately after returning from Edinburgh in 1855, after nearly two years[less, unless he went before December!] with S. as not merely pupil but assistant in private practice, upon precisely the same footing as Priestley, who was co-editor with me of S's Obstetric Memoirs & Contributions" in that same year, I came at once against my will into the midst of that terrible Ether Controversy, or rather most unseemly local broil, which was still though nine years had passed since 1846, at the very height of its virulence. Being naturally a believer in chloroform, as I am still, I became the willing victim of many strifes, the smarting of which I yet remember, with a great deal of amusement, and much enjoyment. [?!!!?] Boston still has its "Ether" instead of its "Anaesthetics" Day, & it will be many years before it wakens to its mistake. Do you wonder then that I am interested in the case of Dr. Long, whose beautiful medal, in silver, is at the B.M.L.? Tait McKenzie has made medallions of quite a number of American & Canadian physicians, all of which should be in your collection.
I sent, for your biographical department, the autob. of one of our Newport physicians. The ______ Record of your neighbor Howard University, of which he is a Trustee. In his way he is a replica of the best of Booker Washington. He is a member of the local, State, & National Medical Societies, & an Xray expert has indeed an international reputation. His hands(?) are scarred(?) by operations & skin grafting, & he bids fair eventually to become another martyr to Science. [like you Horatio?] With it all, the most retiring & least assuming of men. We all respect him.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Nat. Library of Medicine]
Newport, R. I.
12 July, 1919
Dear Dr. G.
Yours of the 13th ult. came duly.
Years ago, when retiring from active practice, I decided to become my own executor & therefore distributed my fairly extensive medical library. My father, knowing this intention, bequeathed his own which was even larger & contained many books that he had imparted to my son Dr Malcolm S. of Boston, whom I therefore told to help himself to anything of mine that he had not already. The remainder I sent to Bowdoin, where my father from Portland, had taken his A.B., & to Chadwick for the Boston, & to the R.I. State, & to the N.Y. Ac. of Med, of which I was a non-resident Fellow, & to the S.G.L. Whether some of them went to my intimate friend Dr. Toner for the Congressional, I have forgotten. Very recently, as my thread of life is becoming extremely tenuous, I have been doing the same with my general books. A few days ago my daughter brought me an armful of these for direction where to send them, & to my surprise your life of Billings, still uncut, was among them. I had forgotten that I owned it. It will not long remain unread, nor will it be parted with. It is certainly a monument to your zeal, industry, patience, friendship, & good taste. I knew B., Otis, & Woodward during & after the C.W.
Can you answer for me the following questions? You doubtless have the publications of Henry Draper(?), M.D., the astronomer of N.Y. I have a medal of him ___ing a sky machine (not of the present type or use), by C. Barber, each with Latin inscription. On one of them occurs "Curators R P F S," apparently the directors of some Royal Society, the identify of which I do not recognize. You probably Have the ______ to it. Previously I have had the obverse of his other medal, by J. C. Chaplain of Paris, the prize of the National Academy of Science, which is excessively done.
A year or two ago I had a long & very convivial(?) letter from Miss Helen Farquhar of London, which as with many others, I never found time to answer. Recently I have had another, equally interesting, with her Vol. I for the Boston Medical Library, in which she mentions your aids in regard to her so favorite Jonah Pie___. It interested me.
I have now reached the interesting point at which I can read my letters only with the aid of a powerful glass, & what I have myself written almost not at all. None the less, however, & perhaps indeed even more so, I enjoy the letters of my correspondents after they have been interpreted by my nurse. You may be in touch with Sir R. J. Godlee of London, late president R. C.(M?) S, nephew of Lister, & his biographer. You probably have that fascinating book. I knew L. in 1854-5, when he was "sparking" Agnes Syme of Edinburgh who made him such a devoted wife & amanuensis. We have two or three medals of L., & G. has lately sent me a precious photograph, of the medallion at Glasgow University, & is endeavoring to procure a cast of that at Westminster Abbey.
Have you "L'Asepsie'" of Pan on file?[??]
Sincerely yours
H.R. Storer.
Perhaps I may have mentioned my at last discovering the whereabouts of a plaster medallion of Dr. Robert Haven(?) of Phila, the chemistry of which was by the Saunders, & figured by Provost Smith in his life. I ______ that it was given to the University of Pa. a couple of years ago, by Dr. Robert Amory Haven(?).
Similarly, I presented a perhaps unique medallion of Dr. Samuel G. Howe of Boston, the famous educator of the blind, & finally found it at Augusta, Maine, That was at the B.U.L.
[Smithsonian Institution Archives; Record Unit 192; U.S. National Museum, 1877-1975; Permanent Administrative Files; Box 213]
Newport, R.I.
6 Oct. 1919.
Dear Mr. R.:
On April 6, 1918, y\ou were good enough to replyto a query of mine relative to medical medals at the National Museum and the S. I. The only one you mentioned, that of Dr. J. Harsen of the N. Y. College of Physisians & Surgeons, is represented in the very large collection of such medals that i gave to the Boston Medical Library in memeory of my father. It is interesting to my profession inasmuch as all knowledge of theidentify of a portin fo the physicians whom it depicts seems to have lapsed. I studied the question for a long time among the brethren fo N. Y. and published thereon in the Numismatick for Jan., 1917, which is probably on file at the N. M.
At the present time I am exercised by an equally interesting? problme in which the S. I. is perhaps in a position to help. I have lately obtained a replica (aluminum) of a medal (gold) of the late Dr. Henry Draper of N.Y., of whom I already possessed the medal of the Nataional Academy of Science. It bears an astronomical instrument, & Latin inscriptions, in the course of which there occurs "Curatores R. P. F. S.", presumably the initials of some colastial society, the name of which perhaps commences with teh wod Royal. In regard to this, the authorities of teh Boston Medical Library, in conjunction with divers scientific sharps of B. & Cambridge are absolutely at fault, as is also Lt. Col. Garrison of the S.G.L. of your city. In Prof. Berker's Memoirs of Draper, the medal is described, but no further clue given, save the statement that it was conferred by Congress, & struck at the U. S. Mint. Dr. Comparatte of teh M., however, writes that after careful research & thought hte medal was signed by their C. Barber, he is satisfied that this was not the case, & that "as the eclipse expedition with which Draper was to go as official photographer in 1874, & which was the occasion of awarding hte medal, was under the general auspices of the S.I.", should look in your direction, as the court of last resort.
I think that in my previous lettter I mentioned an "assay" medal of Dr. John Lowrey of N. Y., the botanist, & Prof. Henry, which is at the Boston Medical Library. Dr. Comparette could supply this and you should certainly have it at the I. As you are both governmental, it should cost you no expense. Henry Chapman of Phila., the dealer, has another medal of Henry, more pretentious. I should have purchased this had I found that H., though he studied medicine, had ever received the degree, either in course or honoris causa. I knew him personally, as he was a friend of my father.
In my early days, I was familiar with the name of a member of your gens, who like Dr. [John Edwards] Holbrook of Charleston, Couper of Ga., & Dr. J.C. Nott(?) [typed said North] of Mobile, of whose medal we have a cast, was a distinguished Southern naturalist.
Sincerely yours,
H.R. Storer[their copy said Stover]
[Smithsonian Institution Archives; Record Unit 192; U.S. National Museum, 1877-1975; Permanent Administrative Files; Box 213]
58 Washington Street
Newport, R.I.
Dear Mr. R.
Your reply to my inquiry regarding the Dr______ Medal was valued, save that the enclousres from the N. A. of S. ______ ______ was missing. It probably remained upon your table. The very briefest abstract of it, if not too much trouble, would be afavor. You should have the N.A.S. medal of D. in the collection of the I. At the Boston Medical Library we have its obverse, in bronze.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer [Ravenel's chief writes to Stover]
Newport Daily News Saturday April 27? 1920
SUN TREATMENT ENDORSED
Thezac-Porsemeur Method Now Being Applied at Hospital.
Dr. Horatio R. Storer Calls Attention to New Gateway of Hope Opening to Helpless Sufferers.
To the Editor of the Daily News:
Dear Sir: In these days when as a community, we Newporters are coming to realize, perhaps as never before, that we are indeed citizens of no mean city, it behooves us all, it seems to me, to recall above all that a city's enduring greatness consists not wholly, not chiefly even, in its beauty of situation, in its rare climate, in the glories of its historic past--these desirable and precious possessions are indeed ours in abounding measure, but it consists in the value of each individual citizen's work for the common good. The ideal citizen then, man or woman, must be not simply a good man or a good woman, but also a man or woman good for something pro bono publico--a truism surely, but one the wisest of us too often forgets.
With this thought in mind, may I call the attention of such of you readers as my not already know of them, to certain medical demonstrations of proven value now being pursued at the Newport Hospital? These demonstrations I am myself following with the keenest interest and jubilation, as I have been officially connected with the Hospital for nearly half a century, as with hospitals in general for the Scriptural "three score years and ten," and my interest now in life's closing is keen as ever in my profession's mission of saving lives and healing broken bodies, the noblest mission a man may choose. I have always believed, save that of saving human souls.
I refer to the treatments now being given at the Hospital by the new method of applying heliotherapy, or the Thezac-Porsemeur method of sun treatment, used during the past three years with extraordinary success by our fellow-citizen and, may I add, ardent lover of Newport since her girlhood, Mrs. Edward C. Post at her sanatorium at Porsmeur, Morlaix Brittany. No less remarkable and hopeful results have been attained in several other sanatoria and hospitals in this country and abroad, the treatments having been given here in the Newport Hospital and elsewhere under the immediate direction of the Hospital staff in a great variety of cases, chiefly tubercular, where such treatment is indicated.
Originally brought to Mrs. Post's attention by M. di Thezac, the lens used in the Thezac-Porsmeur method was first put into practical use at Mrs. Post's sanatorium the Preventorium Whitney Warren, by Miss Helen Whidden, R.N., who had thoroughly studied European methods. AS graduate of the Newport Hospital who has brought high honor on the Hospital by her original work in this important branch of medical science and possessing many friends here in Newport. I am proud indeed as one of Miss Whidden's instructors[! get more on this!] during her training at the Hospital to pay tribute to the untiring devotion, the rare resourcefulness and skill, the warm human sympathy, and above all to the divine caritas she has brought so unswervingly to her service for suffering humanity. The value of Miss Whidden's work has been indeed far-reaching both in her private nursing, much of it here in Newport, and in these later years in waging effective warfare against the dreaded "White Plague" in the most terribly tubercular riddled province in all war-wasted France.
The method of applying the Thezac-Porsmeur sun treatment may be briefly outlined. By means of a double convex lens, having a diameter of 12 inches and a focal length of 72 inches, the sun's rays are directed to the part requiring treatment, the head experienced at the focal point (very much as by the use of the ordinary burning glass) being greater or less according as the patient if farther from or nearer to the lens. Hence the attending physician can easily direct exactly the degree of heat deemed advisable for applications in a given case, and can gauge the proper duration and frequency of the treatments, which in most cases it has been found should lengthen progressively.
In a recent number of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the official organ of the medical profession in this country, Dr. Robert W. Lovett of Boston describes a most interesting series of carefully observed cases treated by the method at the Children's Hospital, and states that the consensus of opinion reached by himself and his colleagues on the hospital staff is that there was greater progress in the cases treated by the lens than there had been before, or that there had been in similar cases. Inclosing his exhaustive article Dr. Lovett says; "For six years I have had experience in sun treatment in which the whole body has been exposed, and I am a strong advocate of its value. I am equally convinced that the treatment with the lens is a distinct addition to our therapeutic measures, as it possesses decided advantages. it can be delicately regulated and controlled; it is applicable when the sun is sufficiently clouded to be useless for general exposure: and it can be used in a sunny room by opening the window and pointing the cylinder at the sun. It seems free from risk when used according to directions, and it seems to embody real possibilities."
Porsmeur means "the Great Gate." May we Newporters not feel and indeed confidently hope that two of our citizens have worded together so earnestly, so wisely, at Porsmeur that together they are opening a gateway of hope to many now helpless sufferers whose greatest dread is lest they become life-long burdens,or so they deem it, upon their families, and to some indeed, who now sit in darkness and int eh shadow of death.
Horatio R. Storer, M. D.
Senior Consultant, Newport Hospital.
Newport April 24, 1920.
[Boston Public Library-1846 R-B BLS ms. 418]
58 Washingotn Street
Newport, R. I.
4 Feb. 1921
Dear Prof. P.[ennypacker],
Can you tell me about the dates, between 1842 & 1846, at which my classmate the late Thos. Jeff. Coolidge of Boston, entered & left the Latin School? I had suppposed that he graduated with the rest of us, but reference to the Catalogue shows that this was not the case. As I have been Secretary of the Harvard Class of 1850 I have been expected to _____ a brief mortuary report when necessary, in the H. G. M. C. was the last of us save myself, & I do not like to be balked at the very commencement of his career.
My position is now a peculiar one,--an officer bereft of his post. A Secretary no longer with an organization to represent, or to whom to account. I feel forlorn. It was bead enough to be the oldest living gradate. It is worse to be the last of a fine set of gentlemen.
This month I enter my 92d year, contented and happy, confined to my chair, save when raised by my daughter or nurse. As the final change must necessarily now soon come, I can truly say moritume te saluto.
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
[Boston Public Library-1846 R-B BLS ms. 418]
58 Washingotn Street
Newport, R. I.
6 Feb. 1921
Dear Prof.,
Do pardon the memorial lapses of extreme old age. I find that Coolidge was not at the L. S. at all, but entered in 1847 in the Sophomore year at H.C. after eight years of pupilage in Switzerland. He was a couuple of years younger than most of the rest of us & it was perhaps this that led me to think that he was one of the finished products of Epes(?) L. D. & F. G. A throng of boys flock to my mind,--The Cambridgeites & the PLS crowd, & the Chauncey Hall throng (Gideon Francis Thayer, Thomas Custing(?)), & the Quakers School parcel(?) of Boston boys at Sandwich where we were first taught the anticipation of old Johnny Snelling's(?) sound ruler which he carried under his arm when teaching us writing & which after his death, in F.G.'s(?) stalwart hands, became such a terrible instrument of torture.
I hope I have not troubled you.
sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
I wish that to your Catalogue you had added the partial timers. E.g., In my early days at the school there were two gay youths who apparently did not stay long enough to learn the bit. They were Ycleps(?) Weld (Wm. Gordons "Billy") & Richardson (?) W. became a noted Boston merchant, with a country home here at Newport, R. as having been seen by us with no seasonable change of trousers, was known as "Leather breeches." The room was warmed by a long & low cast iron stove in the centre, beside which a pile of full or half length cord wood. Mr. Francis Edward Parker, afterwards a genial young lawyer whom I knew socially, was the deus ex machina. P. had to bend in feeding the stove, in doing it & chancing to look up, caught W. just behind, with another stick, in base imitation, backed by R. & an admiring suite. R. was long & lanky, like Doug(?) I, & Billy E. his S. P. was correspondingly short & thick set. --Naturally nettled, P. dashed for W., though taken unaware. W. stood his ground, Doug I. rushed to his defence, bad blood ensued, & there we had it, a veritable combat de trois. P. soon saw the folly of it all, & stopped the play, & being a right good fellow inflicted a very light punishment for what doubtless deserved a quite severe one. Thereby he acquired the respect & affection of us all.
Newport, R. I.
21 Jan, 1922
Rev & very dear
Father,
The oldest living graduate of Harvard University sends his brotherly salutation and[&] good wishes to the oldest living member of the Paulist Order.
Though so very much his senior, old enough according to the physical law to have almost been his parent, the Harvard old boy, still a student, confesses to his more youthful comrade how much he regrets that through no fault of his own, he had not the education that is conferred only by the Catholic Church.
All of us at first have not the same gifts. But[That] some receive a portion of such in later life, ought to elicit from us the greater gratitude for this[these] very reason[reasons].
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Aetat. xciii.[Aet. XCI II]
[Walsh children typed letter with HRS's handwritten corrections.]
58 Washington Street
Newport, R.I.
Feb. first 1922
Dear Dr. Walsh:
I should have earlier acknowledged your kind letter, but before doing so I have bee re-reading your eulogy of the 3 converts (les trois mous quetaires re_____) in the Convert League Journal of some six years ago. What can I add to what you then said? One does not like to have part in his own obituary. For several recent years I had been the Secretary of my Harvard Class (1850), the last of whom, Mr. T. J. Coolidge of Boston, former ambassador to France, died very recently. It has been my sad duty, as their "Old Mortality," to give each his send off in the Harvard Graduates' Magazine. When the last had gone, I anticipated my own post obit, by saying that all that I could be justly recalled of myself was by the quotation "He lived, He died. Behold the sum the abstract(?) of the historians page."
I of course knew Dwight, and just before he died had a pathetic letter from him, regarding the progress of his disease. Emmet was among my intimates. Sims had been one of my correspondents before he came up from Montgomery, and while he and Bozeman, his then associate, never dreamed that they could quarrel, after reaching New York, he consulted me frequently about his Woman's Hospital, the progress of its bill through the New York Legislature, the first aid that he had in its financing through Mrs. Thompson of Springfield, etc. My acquaintance with Emmet probably began on or near the very day he came up form Virginia. Sims was interested by E's facility as a medical draughtsman, and doubtless many of the early records at the hospital, both of diagnosis and operative treatment, the majority of them "plastic", will be found to have been illustrated by him. At the close of 1855, after my long stay in Edinburgh as pupil and private assistant to Simpson, and although I at once received appointment to the staff of the Boston Lying-In Hospital, I gave two years to general practice, that I might prove to the profession that I was not a man of but one idea, and then came out as a pelvic specialist, pure and simple, refusing midwifery and even syphilis, which so many in those days somewhat justly considered among the "diseases of women." Of course it was impossible for Emmet, situated as he was in relation to Sims, to take such a step until some time afterwards. Emmet and I were for many years working in parallel lines. He in innumerable cases of partial prolapse from subinvolution, tired to lift up this organ by splints as it were, through lateral cicatrices, from "plastically" paring the vaginal walls. Whatever else the effect, the local constriction of the canal thus produced, went far to restore conjugal felicity. He thus obtained double gratitude, while his patients appreciated his faithful interest, from his standpoint, in their welfare.
Such was the famous "N.Y. Method," whatever its merits, it seemed to me better, however, to try to remove the cause of the procidentia, the undue uterine weight, than to treat merely its effect. The graduated Simpson's Sound kept me informed as to how much increased involution, or shrinkage in size, I was producing, and an occasional pregnancy in obstinate cases of sterility, gave evidence of the wisdom of my views. News of the "Boston Way" soon got about, and the N. Y. State Society once did me the honor to summon me to Albany, to tell them what I was about, & the why and wherefore. The Academy of Med., of which for some years I was a non-resident Fellow, once showed me a similar compliment, and called me in for a discussion of one of my procedures. I think it was "pocketing" the ovarian pedicula, which is now familiar both at home and aborad. Most of my work, however, from the beginning and whether for diagnosis, or for permanent results, was in abdominal surgery. I did not often hear of Emmet's essaying major operations.
Speaking of Sims, he was always my very dear friend. Very shortly before his death, he was here in Newport, and sitting in my study, weeping like a woman or a child. it was after the great break at the hospital came. As almost always happens at "institutions", jealousy got into the staff, and upon a comparatively trifling point of etiquette he was deserted by all the men he had virtually created, even Emmet and Gaillard Thomas. For several years subsequently I spent the winters in N.Y. Each time, I regularly made my first visit to Bryant Park, and no matter what the weather, stood for a while, hat in hand, before that bronze statue, in reverence. Sims was always good in trusting his friends as though they were his equals. I had been interested in vesico-vaginal. I had seen the elder Hayward operate several times, of course unsuccessfully, at the M.G. H., and also the quite famous Jobert de Lamballa in Paris. This gentlemmen's cases would be reported in the Gazette des Hospitaux as guerisons, and next day the silk sutures would inevitably cut out. Sims' bent iron spoon, his duck bill speculum, or Levator perinei, was an inspiration. It at once solved the problem, but it was bulky and expensive. There was at or near the time in N.Y., a certain Dr. Augustus Gardner, now long dead, who was ambitious, but doing little practice. To evidence his erudition, he published prints of all the vaginal specula that it ever entered the brain of man to conceive. Simpson in Edinburgh had taught me for all purposes of diagnosis to throw all specula aside, as utterly deceptive and untrustworthy. I afterward owned a number, for exhibition to my pupils as undesirable. Several of us were examining Gardner's long array. I said that I thought that any valuable addition would be absolutely impossible, when one of the other men exclaimed "Well, I'll wager that Storer here, who has a way of inventing instruments as he goes along in his daily work, can get up something that will put these others clean out of sight." I laughed and begged to be spared. The next day I took my double bladed Cuses to Codman & Shurtleff, told them to alter slightly the position of a single screw, swung one of the blades back upon the other without removing it, and thus we had Sims' duckbill, as serviceable as the original, and more easy in manipulation.
I published a cut of it in the Journal of the Gynaecological Society of Boston, and asked that the new tool might be known as the Boston speculum, for in those days all my ambitions were for the future of Boston, and that it might become the great American Gynaecological centre. Partly, however, because of my loyalty to Simpson, and of my acceptance of his belief that chloroform in some respects, especially in obstetrics, was preferable to ether, my views were generally very naturally opposed. I lost my poor assistantship to my father's chair. I had been promised a full professorship of the diseases of women, of which he then practically recognized merely those of pregnancy, parturition and lactation, while he was to retain Obstetrics proper and Medical Jurisprudence. it is perhaps as well, however, though it cost me much grief before I could see this. Because if I had continued to have everything my own way, and each day had proved happier that the one before, I might never have become a Catholic.
Sims, as I have intimated, behaved like a brother. My improved speculum combined the excellence of the Cusco and the Duck Bill, and was less expensive that the two of them combined, a thing of importance in country practice. C. & S. told me long afterward, that they had still two men in its exclusive manufacture. I now, nearly fifty years subsequently, occasionally see it upon the dealer's lists. Sims, indeed, seemed not to consider it an interference with his own product, but rather as a compliment and an aid to his own transcendent idea.
But I might go on, thus disjointly and almost incoherently, through the garrulity of old age. I can only say do as you may think best. In your Emmet paper you seemed quite familiar with some of the things I have attempted. Let me know what papers of mine you have, I will see if I can add to them. You may perhaps find that apparently under the surface I have touched upon, perhaps influenced somewhat, some of the graver issues that at present seriously vex our portion of mankind.
Much may depend upon your reply to me.
Sincerely yours
H.R. Storer
My little typist & stenographer, she was a "Yeoman(F)," finds it difficult to interpret much of my writing, So do I, myself.
Gladys was int the navy at the time and stationed at the training station now the Navy War College . june 1918 graduated septermber joined Navy. Nov. 11 the armistice was signed. Yeoman(F) stands for Yeoman female
[Walsh children typed letter with HRS's handwritten corrections.]
58 Washington Street
Newport, R.I.
February Ninth 1922.
Dear Dr. Walsh:
Again thanks. I return your MS. with slight suggestions. So long as you cannot use the notes I sent you please return them. The Converts' Journal was from March, 1917 and you spoke of D. E. and S.
The great change of sentiment in New England within the last few years has been owing in great measure to the American Medical Associagntion and it was partly owing to the wide spread influence of my prize essay. The Association most emphatically placed its seal of condemnation upon what had really become the general custom, permitted and to a great extent encouraged by the members of our profession. When these gentlemen were convinced that in many respects they had been wrong, they yielded to the increasingly immense force of professional opinion, and what began in the local crusade against unbelieving and extremely refractory medical and domestic customs, similarly revolutionized the public mind and ended in so profound and general a revulsion of sentiment as produced a very general change in belief and practice. What commenced here spread like wildfire throughout New England, and as a matter of course had very great influence over the rest of the country. Think this over seriously, and then appreciate with me the character and universal extent of the change. Nothing that the Association has ever done has been more beneficent and universally effective than this.
As to your desire for the names of sympathizers in our work, I may frankly tell you that within the past century and in the locality referred to there have been almost none. There was in Boston in my early days a Dr. H.B.C. Greene, a Harvard Graduate, who had the courage of his convictions, but of course he was then looked upon with suspicion and contempt. I think he proved short lived. There was Dr. Geo. A. Otis, very distinguished in Army Surgery during the Civil War, and one of the founders of the Surgeon General's Office and Museum and Library in Washington. He settled in Springfield Massachusetts, and whether he had undergone a change in his original views i do not know, but presume that this may have been the case. You will find him referred to in a pamphlet I sent you today. In those days there was a scarcity of men in literature and science who dared to venture against the usual way of public thinking. If he was a physician, he ran the risk of losing all his practice if he had ever achieved one. Dr. John G. Blake of Boston you of course knew, but he was not of the type you inquired about. His wife was an appreciated poetess, and their son Dr. Bapst Blake was born into very different conditions and is properly appreciated and treated in the "Hub of the Universe," which would have been far better named as such by anyone except of its own natives.
You of course know Dr. Marcy of Cambridge and Boston. I have not myself seen him for thirty years, but I have followed his course since its inception. He is probably a very wealthy man, purely from his profession, but I have probably not given him half the credit that was his due, because I have thought that a portion of his receipts must have been from the invention of the rubber glove, the Kangaroo suture, and a valuable improvement in tenning which came from his work upon the latter. Since, however, he has disclaimed all this, and I can really give him the credit of having given all his attention to his strictly professional work, I can plainly say that I don't think there is another man in the country, not even the Mayos of Rochester, who has really done so much for American Surgery. He was Lister's first and chief American pupil and assistant, just as I was of Simpson, and our courses have been nearly parallel. I could say much upon this subject, but I can truly say that with your facile pen and your great gift of convincing your readers, I should be delighted if someday you would prepare a really truthful work about the history of modern general and particularly abdominal surgery. I don't know but I imagine that he must be a Methodist, for he has the LL.D. form the Wesleyan University. At any rate I have reason to believe that he is very fair and liberal in his views, and he is certainly very generous towards other people who might have been thought his rivals.
Sincerely yours
- R. Storer
Upon the brink, eighteen days from now, if he lives so long, of his 93d year.
[Walsh children hand written letter]
58 Washington Street
Newport, R.I.
14 Feb. 1922.
Dear Dr. W.
I have yours,
Since writing, I have been more than ever impressed by the great influence the Am. Med. Association has exerted, however unintentionally, & unwillingly even, had it but appreciate the result that would naturally follow, towards effecting what you & I are both praying for the conversion of America. Fifty years ago it was believed, or assumed, by the mass of physicians, & by women, & by all that infantile life (O'Malley had not then laid down "the law" with a diagram to show birth controllers precisely how than can perform vasectomy),-did not come until after quickening. The Association, by speech, the printed word, & by action, showed that life did initiate from the very beginning, & that "therapeutic abortion" was therefore very generally murder. Protestant pulpits were compelled to preach Catholic doctrines.
Will it then be too much, for you to insert in your Cyclopedia something like the following: Every single word helps in this crusade, & even a mouse may aid a lion like yourself.
Sincerely yrs
- R. Storer
For nearly seventy years, Dr. Storer has written much upon the real time of commencement of foetal life, & of its sanctity. He has been supported, frequently and most authoritatively, by the concerted aid of the American Medical Association, the great body of reputable physicians, of which his father was a president and himself a vice-president. That action of the Association has been the most beneficent of its existence, and for the fact that he was to a small extent enabled to take a part, Dr. S. will be held in grateful remembrance, rather than as a progressive and successful surgeon.
If the V. P. of the A. M. A. is referred to in your other portion, strike it out.
Note on back of a liquor license ballot:
During his whole life Dr. S. has given thought to matters of the highest social importance. While in Paris and London in the fifties he studied the questions of foundlings & the separation of public women & his very first appointment upon returning? to this country was to the Boston Lying-in Hospital. ____ applicants were at that time compelled to show their "marriage ____ ." He insisted that this should not be required in first pregnancies. As early as 1856, he published the first of his long series of papers upon Criminal Abortion, this being a paper sent to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences of which he was perhaps then the youngest Fellow. Another was a prize essay of the American Medical Association entitled the Physical Evils of Forced Abortions, published in its Transactions, & subsequently, by special vote of the Association, issued by by Messrs Lee & Shepard of Boston under the title of "Why Not? A Book for every Woman." Many thousands of this were circulated.
With regard to the social evil, Dr. S. was one of the first to act towards the present crusade, which is becoming so much better that against tuberculosis. In a presedential address at Chicago, before the Rocky Mountain Medical Associaton upon "The Extirpation of Syphilis" which was published in the journal of the american Medical Assocition he initiated much that is now of universal belief. As a graduate of the Harvard Law School as well as that of Medicine, he published with Dr. F.H. Heard a Boston lawyer, through Messrs, Little, Brown & Co. the famous law firm, a manual of procedures in criminal abortion cases.
In the medical education of nurses he was presently the leader in this country. As Chief of Staff of St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston, a Franciscan institution he established regular and systematic training, both religious and lay. This was in the sixties.
Upon being forced by illness to relinquish active practice, & as a student of the University of Edinburgh being greatly interested in emanations from that city he introduced at Newport the then new system of Sanitary Protection he revolutionized conditions in that city and established a precedent which has been very largely followed.
Upon ceasing relations as a teacher, in Harvard University, he established a course of instruction in gynaecology for graduated physicians, receiving no applicants save members of the American Medical Association & those courses were attended by physicians from all over the country. He thus anticipated by several years all post graduate institutions, as at the NY Post Graduate Hospital & College.
By the now celebrated collection of medical medals that he founded at the Boston Medical Library in memory of his father, who had been president of the American Medical Association, while he himself had reached the Vice-presidency, he furnished an additional great aid in medical solution.
UNDATED NOTES ON A SHEET OF PAPER IN SMALL HANDWRITING:
Life as a boy, characteristics. _____ from letters of his family. _____ older relatives for such letters or records.
Life at College. Activities, relationships to college life of the time. friends. _____ get records or letters from families of his friends of that time.
Reasons for deciding on medicine: feelings about it at end of Labrador Journal
Life at medical & law schools, & after- teaching? - abroad - Simpson.
practice, ( development of feeling with Boston MD.s?)
breakdown development of interests after that & characteristic activities, civic work of people in newport
numismatics, correspondents
Cf article in Ave Maria; orignator of rubber gloves, v.p. Am. Medical Society
religious changes and reasons.
Birth Day Poetry
At a recent birthday festival in this city there were a _____ of pa_____ eff_____ activities were from one
This is an *------ bit of its _____-
Who will not envy the night? ____ with opposite? the _______feelings when in ____ __ - _- _____ but now he cannot well object.
The second is in another sta___ - else from a ______ very ___ are very _____.
The third in blank verse is from a d__________________
The fourth is from another prize florist
Dr S. in _____ & st__ng two to bonnie Scotland. Partial doesnt a long ___d__ of the country, familiarity, with the beautiful Coriples scenery & expression of the visions(?) & sterling good qualities of the Scots people, have under____ resp____d_ appreciate on the founding, doubly acceptable to him, Mr. MacLallen has shown my _____ that he is a loyal follower of Robbie Burns
In Newport there has been in__i_ a resemble period quite a galaxy of lovers of that gentle when the l_____ ger. van Gogh, the senior Alex, Dr Taylor, whose Catholic _____ becomes well worthy of my anthology, Mr ____ __ to bp__ _office, & other have ___ pl____ in our _________, _______ all. Miss Ester Mother Seth of Washinton St, whose book of hymns & spiritual sonnets should have __ cherished place in any Newport household.