Source:Fleming-physicians/content
THE story of the Cub-ba-You-Quit case in last Sunday's Gazette Times made mention of pioneer families in Pittsburgh—Judge Alexander Addison, his daughter Eliza, wife of Dr. Peter Mowry; Dr. William Addison, the judge's son, partner of Dr. Mowry, and Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, preceptor of Dr. Mowry.
William Addison Mowry, whose common-law marriage with the Indian girl, Cub-ba-You-Quit, made the ejectment proceedings in behalf of their daughter possible, was the son of Dr. Peter and Eliza Addison Mowry. Mention of Dr. Mowry and Dr. Bedford serves to recall the story of Pittsburgh's early physicians, also their life stories, and much of this is interesting history, for these men lived in stirring times, had taken part in great events, were builders in a small way of the nation and in a larger sense of the town and city of Pittsburgh. They were noted men in their day, large owners of realty here, and greatly respected.
Nathaniel Bedford was the first physician to locate in Pittsburgh and Peter Mowry the first medical student here studying under Dr. Bedford, to whom he was indentured after the manner of the times.
Historians of Pittsburgh say Dr. Mowry was an apprentice of Dr. Bedford. This sounds strange, now one would say a medical student. Apprentices were held to a strict accountability. They lived with their masters and served their term of indenture usually for small pay and a small sum at completion of their apprenticeship. Such was Peter Mowry.
There is a difference of ten years in the brief biographies of Dr. Mowry as they appear in Pittsburgh histories. One states that he was born in 1760, another in 1770. Neither states the place of his birth. One says he entered Dr. Bedford's office in 1786, the other 1784. By the first account he would have been 26 years of age, and by the second, 14. It is more reasonable to assume the latter is correct.
Dr. Mowry in his will devised his donation of lands to his brothers, Philip and Daniel. These lands were given by the state to Pennsylvania soldiers for services in the Revolution. Peter Mowry could not have been a soldier had he been born in 1770. He could have acquired these lands in question by purchase.
We know from the statement of the Pittsburgh Gazette in its first issue, July 29, 1786, that there were two doctors then in Pittsburgh. One was Dr. Bedford, the other Dr. George Stevenson. Pittsburgh histories state that Dr. Bedford came to Fort Pitt in 1765 as a surgeon in the British army. In 1770 he resigned his commission and took up his permanent residence here.
Dr. Bedford has an interesting history. He was one of the first permanent residents and one of the largest landholders in the old borough of Birmingham. He is described as a polished gentleman, thoroughly educated in his profession as his commission as surgeon attested. He was successful in his business ventures and soon was the possessor of a modest fortune in realty.
James M. Riddle's first directory of Pittsburgh (1815) contains the line, "Nathaniel Bedford, gentleman, Birmingham." The map of Pittsburgh for 1795 shows Dr. Bedford's residence at Liberty and Irwin streets, the latter later Seventh street. His grounds occupied the block between Barkers alley, Penn, Seventh and Liberty street.
It is not known in what year Dr. Bedford retired from practice. He was born in 1755, as the inscription on his monument attests, and died in 1818, aged 63. Then he was 10 years old when he came as surgeon to Fort Pitt and 15 when he resigned his commission. If he was a surgeon at Fort Pitt in the British service he must have been here in 1774 or prior to that year, for by orders of Gen. Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, Fort Pitt was then abandoned and seized by the Virginia authorities.
One can see the difficulties a compiler of history encounters when dates are considered. The discrepancies noted in Dr. Bedford's case are only samples. If he was in Pittsburgh prior to 1770 as a surgeon the description of the date of his birth is erroneous, but as it came through Masonic sources it will be accepted by many as correct and the surgeon story passed by as presenting an absurdity.
Dr. Bedford was a prominent man in the young and growing town of Pittsburgh. He was a trustee under the Penn grant of land to Trinity Church, the land on which the church is built, in Sixth avenue. This grant was made in 1787. He was also one of the first vestrymen of the church and a charter member of the congregation.
Dr. Bedford was an incorporator of the Pittsburgh Academy in 1787, that institution merged into the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh. He was burgess of the borough of Pittsburgh in 1806 and must have removed to the south side of the Mononghela after that date.
The history of Lodge 45, Free and Accepted Masons of Pittsburgh records that Nathaniel Bedford was made a master mason in 1785, and that he was master of that lodge in 1800, and that several years later he resigned from the lodge. He died March 21, 1818.
Dr. Bedford was buried on a plot of ground on the hillside above what is now South Twelfth street, the Twelfth street incline passing the spot. For many years his monument erected by the Freemasons could be seen. This plot Dr. Bedford deeded to a Methodist congregation on condition that they build a church on the premises which consisted of a half-acre of ground. The church was built but dissensions arising and the debt on the church not being paid the property went to a sale and was purchased by John Nusser, father of John H. Nusser. The Nusser family lived on the site for many years. Mrs. Nusser is still living in Pittburgh [sic], at an advanced age.
John Nusser changed the church into a dwelling to which later a mansard was added, and for many years Mr. Nusser operated a brewery on the lower end of his lot on what was then Manor street, subsequently used for the right of way of the Monongahela division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The old brewery was immediately above the Twelfth Street incline, along the tracks on the upper side. The Nusser home on the hillside above the site of the brewery is still standing and now used by the St. Vincent Literary Society of St. Michael's congregation.
John Nusser took title to the property in 1854. The family new of Dr. Bedford's interment on the lot and their first act was to ascertain the location of his grave and search for the monument that had stood over it, but which had disappeared. The iron urn that had surmounted it lay in the yard.
During the exciting times of the anti-Masonic furore that raged in the '30's some miscreants who hated anything pertaining to the craft, knowing of the Masonic emblems on the Dr. Bedford monument, went there and tumbled the urn off and threw the shaft and base into the ravine below, where the Nussers found it by diligent search years afterward.
The monument was set up at one corner of the yard and the urn in the garden. Those who traveled up and down the Twelfth street incline prior to 1907, when the monument was removed, will remember the urn and the well-kept garden around the Nusser home.
John H. Nusser, or Young John, was mainly instrumental in having the monument restored on his father's place and did so at an expense of $27.50, his first earnings. The marble cutter who did the work, amused at the boy's earnestness, agreed to take that sum, although at current rates the job was worth more. Mr. Nusser was about 15 years old at the time. He says he has never regretted the outlay.
For many years the grave of Dr. Bedford was lost, but the Nussers in digging a cistern unearthed some bones and a search revealed all that remained. At one time alleged descendants of Dr. Bedford came to the Nusser home and wanted to take the remains away but only Mrs. Nusser then knew where they lay and she refused to designate the place, saying they should remain as they were buried and as he had desired.
When the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad, now the Monongahela division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was built in 1873–76, the hillside was cut down quite steep in some places and the Nusser homestead and grounds were much changed.
The doctor's monument he himself selected and he had erected sometime prior to his death and the beautiful Masonic emblems he ordered placed on it. They are still conspicuous on the re-erected monument in Trinity church yard.
In 1857 Lodge 45 appointed a committee to ascertain where the remains of Dr. Bedford lay and to care for the grave, but the effort came to naught. In 1909 the lodge was more successful. Having been notified by John H. Nusser, the remains and monument were transferred to Trinity church yard.
The Pittsburgh chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1909 placed a bronze tablet upon the monument containing the original wording of the inscriptions and the verse which reads:
The mystic band of Masons bright
Mourn the deceased, a son of Light;
Whose soul dissolved at misery's grief,
Promptly offered sweet relief.
A widowed spouse records his name
Of purest Honor, upright Fame;
A husband's faith, a prent's care,
Claim memory's tributary tear.
In the final disposition of Dr. Bedford's bones Monongahela Lodge No. 269 of the South Side and some others aided, notably the late John H. Sorg.
The history of Lodge 45 gives this account of the Doctor:
"The property of which the burial ground was part was needed for the extension of railroad facilities and the last resting place of Dr. Bedford was disturbed by the inroads of progress. Lodge 45, being informed of the sad condition of the monument rising above him, at once, in honor of his having been one of its early members, had the stone shaft and his remains removed to Trinity Churchyard, where he had been a member. The monument may be seen against the west wall of the church.
"A singular fact is that he, a pioneer of Pittsburgh's early days who relieved the sufferings of humanity, should now be side by side with Red Pole, an Indian whose friendliness and love for the whites had saved them many hardships and sufferings—aye, even death—at the hands of his own race."
Red Pole, or Mio-qua-Coo-na-Caw, was a Shawanese chief, who, passing through Pittsburgh with a party of chiefs on their way to Philadelphia, then the nation's capital, took very sick in Pittsburgh and was attended by Dr. Bedford. He died January 28, 1797. "Lamented by the United States," the inscription reads on his tombstone in Trinity Churchyard. He died of pneumonia. The stone over his grave was placed there by the government.
The lodge account differs somewhat from Mr. Nusser's story. The grave of Dr. Bedford was not disturbed by the railroad cut, having been too high above, and the monument re-erected by John H. Nusser's liberality was not placed over the grave, for at the time he did not know of its location. In time he did know. Some time before the removal of the remains Mr. Nusser told some of the members of a literary society that if they would meet him at a certain place on a fixed night he would show them Dr. Bedford.
If slang were then in vogue it is presumable that some of the literary fellows said, "Let's beat him to it." And this they did, with pick and shovel and dug up the worthy doctor's bones, taking his skull with them. That night the members rehearsed Hamlet, "Alas, Poor Yorick." Mr. Nusser was considerably surprised to have the skull returned a few days later.
We do not name Bedford avenue in honor of Pittsburgh's first physician, that name came most probably from the County of Bedford, the name there from the English county, and in the same way we have Lancaster, York, Cumberland, etc. Bedford avenue originally began at Fulton street, now Fullerton, the part below was called Prospect street. We can think of Dr. Bedford when passing along Bedford avenue. The name is English and he was a native of England. Some Pittsburgh historians say he never married; the verses state differently.
Dr. George Stevenson was the second physician who settled in Pittsburgh. In the directory of 1815 we find the line, "George Stephenson, physician, west side of Penn between Hay and Pitt"; today Penn avenue between old Fourth and Fifth streets. He was a Revolutionary soldier, born in York, Pa., in 1759, and when that war broke out a student at the Carlisle Academy. He served with credit and distinction, was conspicuous for gallantry at the battle of the Brandywine and endured all the privations of that terrible winter at Valley Forge.
After the war he returned to Carlisle and having completed his course in medicine located there. When the Whisky Insurrection stirred the old patriots, Dr. Stevenson organized a company of infantry in Carlisle and joined Gen. Henry Lee's army marching to Pittsburgh to put down the insurrection. He was attracted by the beauty of the place and on the expiration of his term of service returned to Carlisle and brought his family here and continued to practice his profession here.
For many years Dr. Stevenson was one of Pittsburgh's most prominent citizens. He first resided next door to the northwest corner of Market and Second streets on Market street. Here he conducted his "shop." All physicians conducted shops—selling drugs, medicines and sometimes surgical instruments. Dr. Stevenson was chief burgess of Pittsburgh in 1801.
We find by looking up the records that Dr. Stevenson served in the Revolution as a third lieutenant in the First Pennsylvania Regiment until 1778, when he resigned to study medicine, but reentered the service in 1779 as a surgeon's mate with the rank of ensign. This position most probably what is now designated as hospital steward.
Dr. Stevenson resided here until 1825 when he returned East and lived a life of leisure well earned. He died in Wilmington, Del., in 1829. He left two sons, both physicians, Dr. Henry Stevenson of the United States Army and Dr. T. S. Stevenson of Carlisle. The family name is commemorated in Stevenson street.
While in Pittsburgh Dr. Stevenson, like most of the soldiers of the Revolution, was an ardent Federalist, and one of the leaders of that party, having for colleagues James O'Hara, Judge Alexander Addison, the Nevilles, father and son, Mayor Isaac Craig, Maj. Ebenezer Denny, Senator James Ross and Editor John Scull of the Pittsburgh Gazette.
Peter Mowry, apprentice in medicine of Nathaniel Bedford, served his time as he was indentured to do. He made rapid progress and soon acquired sufficient knowledge to accompany his instructor on his visits. The life of a pioneer physician was filled with hardships, shared by his apprentices.
There were no paved streets in Pittsburgh in those years. Sidewalks were few and then constructed of rough planks. At night a few streets were poorly lighted. Many were unlighted—so dark that the famed Cimmerian darkness fairly shone in comparison. The doctor usually rode to visit patients who lived at a distance. Generally he went on horseback; if the roads were in fair condition he rode in the old-time "gig," a two-wheeled vehicle much used by physicians and sometimes called a "chaise."
The doctor carried his medicines with him in his saddle bags and in the sick room mixed his potion, or draught or pills or powders. A very necessary article was a lantern. This in condition for use, always sat in the corner of the hall behind the front door, and the doctor was as likely to go without his hat at night as without his lantern.
Some of these lanterns were expensive and ornamental, with brass frame and plate glass. They were illuminated with a wax candle. Cheaper grades of lanterns were of tin in cylindrical shape containing a tallow dip. These cylinders were perforated. Samples of these old-time articles may be seen in the Carnegie Museum.
The doctor carried also a stout stick or cane and slung his saddle bags over his shoulder. If on horseback he hung his lantern at his saddle bow, and if in his gig, it sat on the seat beside him.
During the early years of Pittsburgh the burying grounds were around the churches, that around Trinity alone remaining. At funerals the bier was borne on the shoulders of the pallbearers, the distance usually not great. Custom demanded the presence of the attending physician at the head of the procession to the grave. This custom lead [sic] waggish Billy Price, foundryman, of Roundhouse fame to call out to a leading doctor, on such an occasion.
"Ah, doctor, I see you are delivering your work the same as I do."
Peter Mowry was a good apprentice. His duties were manifold and sometimes unpleasant. He pounded pungent drugs in an iron mortar with a heavy pestle; he made tinctures and spread plasters; rolled pills and measured powders in the "shop."
He was errand boy also—often making long trips with medicine, and often sent by his master for information regarding patients. He usually went along with his master at night as a link boy, or torch-bearer. He cleaned his master's boots, polished his silver buckles and swept and tidied up the office, carried coal and wood and made the fires.
As the apprentice's knowledge increased, so did his responsibilities. He assisted his master in the painful surgery before the use of anesthetics. He drew teeth and let blood, and assisted in all the practice he would ever employ. When he was adjudged sufficiently far along in his course he crossed the mountains on horseback, or by stage, to attend lectures usually at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Peter Mowry went through all this routine in the school of practical instruction. In due time he entered the University of Pennsylvania while the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Rush was there as a professor.
On his return from his course of lectures Dr. Mowry married Eliza, daughter of Judge Addison and entered into partnership with Dr. Bedford. He soon attained a high rank in the profession and was for some time accounted the leading medical authority in Pittsburgh.
William Addison, a son of Judge Addison, studied under his brother-in-law, attended lectures and then spent two years in Paris, finally graduating at the University of Maryland. Upon the completion of his studies he entered into partnership with Dr. Mowry and became one of Pittsburgh's leading physicians. He lived to an advanced age.
Dr. Mowry died in 1833. In his will he styles himself "a practitioner of physick." He had two sons who became physicians, William and Bedford; both, however, died in early life. The Mowry land noted in last Sunday's article consisted originally of 100½ acres, 23 7-10 perches, strict measure, and was conveyed to him by John Fretchman. It began at the Allegheny River about Fifty-first street and extended to McCandless avenue, crossing Butler street and passing beyond the cemetery, described as in Pitt township and bounded by lands of George A. Bayard, heirs of Jacob Negley and other lands of Fritchman—all pioneer names; Bayard and Negley most common today. Fritchman had much land in the vicinity. In 1830 he lived in Versailles township. The consideration to him for Mowry's purchase was $4,500. On this tract Dr. Mowry resided until his death.
About 60 acres of Bayard's holdings were purchased for the Allegheny Cemetery for $15,000. Later Mr. Bayard sold his entire Hatfield property of 100 acres, including the mansion, for $50,000. Mrs. Eliza Mowry and the other executors of the estate of Dr. Peter Mowry first conveyed the portion of the Mowry estate, about 56 acres, to John H. Shoenberger in trust for the cemetery.
In the report of the cemetery for 1857 there is an item of a payment to Mrs. Mowry and her sons of $14,000 on a debt of $22,595 for the 56 acres. This plot, with the Bayard land and eight acres from R. L. Ewalt, made up most of 167 acres the cemetery contained at that time. The prices paid are low, even for the period. How great a public calamity would it have been had Meister, the assignee of William Mowry's illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth, been successful in his ejectment? Well could Judge Acheson say to the jury on the second trial of the case: "Gentlemen, if you find for the plaintiff you will shake the repose of 56 acres of the dead."
In 1826, when S. Jones published his little directory of Pittsburgh with a steel plate of old Trinity Church as a frontispiece, he enumerated 16 physicians in Pittsburgh, naming Dr. Felix Brunot first, then Dr. Mowry and Dr. Agnew and the others, the latter the father of the late Judge Daniel Agnew of Beaver.
Doctors advertised in those days. Witness this in 1819:
"Drs. Agnew and Simpson have formed a co-partnership in the practice of medicine and conjointly tender their services to their friends and all others who may apply for professional aid. Their shop is at the corner of Wood and Third streets, where one or both may at all times be consulted."
And what is wrong with that simple notice?
In 1815 Dr. Peter Mowry lived on the east side of the Diamond, north of Diamond alley—so Riddle put it in his directory. It was years before the streets in Pittsburgh were numbered. He probably had his shop in his residence. Dr. Mowry is without local commemoration. Dr. Bedford has some, but slight enough. The old school on Bingham street between South Ninth and Tenth streets is called in his honor, and the old Twenty-ninth Ward was the Bedford school district. The square around the South Side Market at Twelfth street, formerly Denman, was once known as Bedford square.
