Newspapers / InterCom (Durham, N.C.) / April 1, 1966, edition 1 / Page 8
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‘ ^ Daniel Drake (1785-1852) (Drake is a private medical ward on second floor.) Drake was born in the north eastern state of New Jersey. He did not remain an easterner for long, however; for soon after celebrating his second birthday, his family joined in the migra tion to the West, travelling almost 400 miles overland in covered wagons to invest in the fertile and relatively cheap farm land of Kentucky. Until his fifteenth year, Drake lived in a log cabin in Kentucky, receiving his early education from itinerant teachers who travelled about offering classes in the three “r’s.” At that point in his life, Drake’s family decided that their son should study to become a doctor. And, although a fami ly of limited means, arrange ments w'ere made for him to study with a doctor in Cincin nati, Dr. William Goforth. $400 Education Dr. Drake later wrote about this turning point in his life in a letter to his daughter: “At last . . . father announced . . . that 1 was to go down before the setting in of winter. I was to live in the Doctor’s family, and he [father] was to pay $400, provided 1 remained, as it was expected I would, four years, by which time, I was to be transmuted into a doctor, as I should then be 19!” Drake was the first student of medicine in Cincinnati. At the end of his training wdth Dr. Goforth, the doctor gave his stu dent a “diploma” which read: “I do certify, that Mr. Daniel Drake has pursued under my direction, for four years, the Daniel Drake, M.D. A Pioneering Physician of the West study of Physic, Surgery, and Midwifery. From his good Abil ities and marked Attention to the Prosecution of his studies, I am fully convinced, that he is well qualified to practice in the above branches of his Profes sion. ’ ’ During the next ten years, Drake maintained a practice and continued his medical education at the University of Pennsyl vania. He received his M.D. de gree from that university in 1816. Botanical Interest It was also during this time, that Drake began to write. One of the early pieces, a pamphlet entitled Notices Concerning Cin cinnati, contained a botanical section, which, it has been noted, “contains the earliest listing of the indigenous plants.” This was so well received, that Drake decided to follow' it with a book. The book. Natural and Statisti-- cal View, or Picture of Cincin nati and the Miami Country gained renown for Drake both here and abroad. In 1817 Dr. Drake embarked on his career as an educator. He accepted the Chair of Materia, Mediea and Medical Botany at the Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and thus became the first professor of these subjects west of the Alle gheny Mountains. In his writings, Dr. Drake often drew reference to the log cabin in which he spent his boyhood days in Kentucky. The next year Dr. Drake re turned to Cincinnati, and de voted himself to a series of bo tanical lectures in that city. Medical lectures followed, and with such success that the doctor was encouraged to pursue his dream of establishing a college, medical school, and hospital. In 1819 the Medical College of Ohio was incorporated. Dr. Drake was made lecturer on the insti tutes and practice of medicine. While at Ohio, Dr. Drake was instrumental in having the Ohio General Assembly charter the Commercial Hospital and Luna tic Asylum. One writer recalls: ‘ ‘ This was the first hospital in the Mississippi Valley estab- lised for teaching purposes, staffed only by the professors of a medical school.” Drake felt this to be an important part of a medical education and once de clared: “The laboratory is not more necessary for the study of chemistry or a garden of plants for the study of botany, than a hospital for the study of prac tical medicine and surgery....” Unfortunately, at this point misunderstandings arose at the medical college, which resulted in Dr. Drake’s resignation. He returned to Lexintgon and there joined again the faculty at Transylvania University, later being elected to the position of dean of the faculty. Founded Journal Then it was back to Cincin nati, where, in 1827, Dr. Drake founded and for several years edited The Western Medical and Physical Journal, Original and Elcctic. The periodical had a life span of thirty years. Tlie first western doctor to be called to a professorsliip in an eastern school. Dr. Drake ac cepted in 1830 the Chair of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia. This w'as fol lowed by a move back to Cincin nati and then the acceptance of a professorship of clinical medi cine and pathological anatomy (a position created especially for Dr. Drake) at the Louisville Medical Institute. He remained in Louisville for ten years. Between teaching sessions, Dr. Drake travelled extensively through lower Canada, the lake region, the Mississippi Valley and the southern states, with the purpose of gathering informa tion about the diseases of the in habitants of those areas. Author of a Classic In 1850 the first of his two- volume classic of medical geog raphy was published: A System atic Treatise, Historical, Etio logical, and Practical on the Principal Diseases of the In terior Valley of North Ameri ca, as they appear in the Cau casian, African, Indian, and Es quimaux Varieties of its Popu lation. President Denied Dr. Drake’s reputation had grown to rather handsome pro portions by this time, and pa tients from great distances Avould write consulting him. It has been noted that “in 1841, Abraham Lincoln wrote to Drake describing an illness at length and asking for an opinion par ticularly with reference to treat ment.” It is interesting to also note that “Dr. Drake ‘refused to give either without personal examination.’ ” Saw Needs of Blind During this Kentucky period, Dr. Drake was also instrumental in encouraging the establishment of a school for the blind in that state. INTERCOM - 8
InterCom (Durham, N.C.)
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April 1, 1966, edition 1
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