In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, medicine in the settlements was often carried out far from a doctor’s office. In order to obtain treatment, settlers living on isolated farms undertook a long and sometimes arduous journey.
If a settlement was lucky to have a doctor living within a day’s journey, settlers expected the doctor to come to them.
Doctors traveled long distances.
Rural doctors were general practitioners by necessity. They delivered babies, set broken limbs, pulled teeth and tended to all sorts of wounds and diseases. They often created their own medications, as well as many of the instruments they used.
The rural family doctor was well known in the community. They most probably delivered every child in the community and sat with the dying as they drew their last breath. They saw people into and out of this world and in the meantime tried to keep them alive and healthy.
Dr. Stephen B. Mossop was one of our first practicing physicians in Brown County. He lived in Schooner Valley in western Washington Township. He came here from Ennis, Ireland, County Clare. He was one of several of our professional men that immigrated here from another country in the 1850s. Dr. Mossop got his medical degree in Dublin, Ireland. He practiced medicine around the area of Schooner Valley for over 50 years.
Dr. George P. Story was another one of our early doctors that settled here. He was born about 1809 in Pennsylvania. Dr. Story moved his family from Morgan County, Ohio to Van Buren Township, Brown County about 1851. In that year he got a land grant from the government for 173 acres and settled in what is now the village named after him, Story, Indiana. At the time he received his land grant the county was still considered mostly wild country. He practiced medicine until the 1890s after which time he moved to Illinois.
Dr. Samuel C. Wilson was also one of our earliest doctors that we have any personal records of. His family kept his journals that have helped to document some of his life as a doctor. He, like Dr. Story, came from the same area of Belmont County, Ohio. He came to Brown County by 1857. Dr. Wilson’s log house sits next to Christiansburg Road just north of the Christiansburg Cemetery, although it is only a shell now from a fire that occurred there a couple of years ago. He practiced medicine up until the 1890s.
One wouldn’t think of Brown County as the place for immigrants to settle, but we had our fair share. The Genolin family coming here from France seemed to fit right in. One of John Genolin Sr.’s boys, Charles, was a pharmacist. Another one of his sons, John F. Genolin, became a doctor and practiced in Nashville from the 1880s to the 1910s. When he came of age, he went to work at the office of Dr. Martin Phillips and devoted himself to the study of medicine.
Of course, many of our native Brown Countians still remember Dr. Alfred Ralphy. He left a wealth of information on his practice and the life of a country doctor. His office can still be seen in the Pioneer Village in Nashville. Dr. Ralphy served Brown County and its people for 50 years.
The records of some of these doctors can be found at the Historical Society Archives. There are many other names such as Dr. James P. Moser and Dr. James G. Ward.
Not only did physicians practice in Brown County, several midwives were officially recognized. Those that we know of were Louisa Hatchett, Johanna Richards, Sarah Merriman, Marietta J. Smith and Amy Whitehorn. You can find many of Brown County’s practicing physicians and midwives on the Ruth Lilly Medical Library website at library.medicine.iu.edu.
—Rhonda A. Dunn, Brown County Historical Society archivist
