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THE ORIGINAL
THIRTEEN MEMBERS
OF THE
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JOHN CURWEN, M. D.,
Secretary of the Association
1 a B 5
  WARREN, PA.;
E. COWAN & CO., PRINTERS. 
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Preface,
  This address was prepared by direction of the
Association of Medical Superintendents of American
Institutions for  the  Insane  to  be  delivered on the
fortieth anniversary of the first meeting of the Asso-
ciation.   The anniversary meeting could not be held
on the same day as that of the  original meeting  on
account of the engagements of the majority of the
members.

  The address has since been enlarged by the addi-
tion of short biographical notices of the  gentlemen
named.   After its preparation  it was thought that
the interest of the subject  would  be increased  by
having the portraits of the original  thirteen  to ac-
company the printed  address, and  these  have  all
been procured through the kindness  of friends who
gave the  writer such information as enabled him to
secure them all.  The photographs  of Drs.  Kirk-
bride, Bell, Ray, Butler, Earle  and Awl were taken
from photographs in the possession  of the writer;
that of Dr. Woodward was sent by  Dr.  Quinby, of
Worcester, Mass.;  that of  Dr. White was from a
miniature in the possession of Dr. H.  Shelton Carter,
of New  York; that  of Dr.  Stedman from a photo- 
4
graph sent by  his son,  Dr. H. R. Stodman; that of
Dr. Brigham from a photograph sent  by Dr. D. K.
Burrell, of Brigham Hall, Canandaigua, X. Y.; that
of Dr. Stribling  from one  loaned  by  Dr. A. M.
Fauntleroy, of  Staunton, Ya.; that of Dr. Unit was
taken from a miniature  of his earlier  years in the
possession  of Miss Mary .J. Gait, of Norfolk,  Ya.,
being the only one known to exist; and that of Dr.
Cutter was obtained  from Dr.  Howe  through the
kind attention of Dr. Edward Jarvis, of Dorchester,
Mass.,  being  one  of the last acts of his active and
devoted life.

   Delay  has been occasioned by the difficulty of ob-
taining all the material  needed for the photographs
and the biographical sketches; then in the prepara-
tion of the photographs by the artist, and  more
particularly by the  difficulty experienced by the
writer in securing time, amid the constantly increa-
sing duties of a large  hospital, to put the biographi-
cal notices in proper form.

   The thanks of  the writer are  gratefully rendered
to all  those who  so courteously  and cheerfully sent
him the  photographs and  other matter to aid him
in the prosecution of the work.

   All failures and defects are to be charged to the
writer, whose aims and intentions were  higher and
better than his performances.

                             JOHN  C(TRWEX.
   March 20. 1885. 
5
  On the sixteenth day of  October, 1844,  the thir-
teen gentlemen who formed the Association of Med-
ical  Superintendents  of American Institutions  for
the Insane,  met  at Jones's Hotel, in the city of
Philadelphia.   That famous hostelry has long  since
given place to the demands and requirements of the
business  community,  and has been converted  into
stores and offices, but the  Association, then formed
in the interests and for the  promotion of the welfare
of the insane, has  been steadily growing in numbers,
in influence and in  power,  until now it covers, with
its protecting shield,  a large proportion of the in-
sane throughout the length and breadth of the land.

  Of the thirteen  gentlemen who then  met,  two
only are now living, having passed the allotted  pe-
riod  of three-score years and ten, but still engaged
in good works; one in charge of  a hospital for  the
insane and the other in duties  of a less  exacting
nature.   It may be of service to us, who yet endea-
vor to maintain  the  standing, dignity and import-
ance of the  Association, and to advance the inter-
ests  of the insane, to recall that  group and learn
from  their lives  and  their devotion  to  the cause,
lessons for our own guidance, direction and progress.

  Meeting on the evening of the first or second day
of the sessions, at the house of the first  Secretary, 
                        I)

for social intercourse and  interchange of views and
plans on  those  subjects which  most fully  occupied
their thoughts,  their appearance was so striking and
impressive  that, after  an interval  of almost  forty
years, it comes  before the mental vision of the wri-
ter in the most vivid and distinct form.   Subsequent
intercourse and a more  intimate acquaintance with
the   majority   of  them served  to heighten and
strengthen  the  regard and  esteem  in  which they
were  held,  and to give more thorough understand-
ing  of the  high aim and principles which  actuated
them. 
 
 
Dr,  Samuel  B,  Woodward,
  Prominent in the  group was the first President,
Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, whose  "personal  ap-
pearance was commanding and his carriage truly
majestic."  His hair was  almost white, and  with  a
bright, animated  expression  of  countenance and
large, handsome features,  he made a strong impres-
sion by  his earnest manner.   "His stature was six
feet,  two and a  half  inches, and, without the defor-
mity of  obesity, his  weight was about two hundred
and sixty pounds.  He was erect,  and  though full
in figure, his  motions were  quick and  graceful.
Although very civil and acceptable to all, beseemed
born  to  command.   Dignity and ever-enduring
cheerfulness sat upon his countenance and beto-
kened the serenity  and happy state of  the feelings
within.   Of an ardent, enthusiastic temperament.
he exerted b}'  his conversation and writings a won-
derful influence on the community in which he lived,
and he employed his full powers for many years, for
the benefit of the insane, by endeavoring to interest
all within the  reach  of his influence to  labor for
thein.'; 
s
  Dr. Samuel Bayard Woodward was born at Tor-
rington, Litchfield  county,  Connecticut,  June  10,
1787, studied medicine  with  his father,  an emi-
nent physician, and  at the  age  of twenty-one was
licensed to practice medicine by the medical board
of his native  county, and  soon  located  himself in
Weathersfteld, Connecticut,  When  the  Penitenti-
ary was moved to Weathersfield, he  was appointed
Physician, and held  the  position so  long as he re-
mained in Weathersfield.

  He was one of the Medical  Examiners  of  the
medical school in X^ew Haven, chosen by the State
Medical Society.  He was  efficient  in establishing
the Retreat at Hartford.  He issued circulars and
made the arrangements  to  collect the  funds.   He
was one of the medical  visitors of that institution
while he remained  in the vicinity.   He  took credit
to himself in  having secured  for it  its  present  de-
lightful location.  His attention  was called  to  this
special department of the profession, by the occur-
rence of several cases of insanity in  his own prac-
tice and in that  of his professional brethren, whose
adviser he was.  The difficulty of managing these
cases in their private practice, led Dr. Woodward,
and  his particular friend, Dr. Eli  Todd,  to take the
first step towards  the establishment  of the Retreat,
He was appointed Superintendent of the State  Lu-
natic Hospital, at Worcester,  Mass., in  September,
1832,  went to  Worcester in  December following,
and moved into the hospital as soon as rooms could
be  finished and furnished for  the reception of his 
!)
family.  He retired on June  30, 1846, on account
of failing health, and moved to Northampton where
he died quite suddenly, on the evening of January
3, 1850.  He was the first President of the Associa-
tion. 
 
1]
Dr, Samuel  White,
   Dr. Samuel White was in  personal appearance a
strong contrast  to  Dr. Woodward.  He was tall,
though  slender, his countenance grave  and  digni-
fied, yet he was of a social disposition and a man of
pleasing address.  Within a more limited sphere, he
discharged the various duties of a long  and  active
professional life with ability and in a truly Christian
spirit.   With iron  gray hair  and  a sober, calm and
thoughtful expression,  he  gave the  impression of a
man of earnest  character,  and  of thoughtful, stu-
dious habits.

   Dr. Samuel White  was born  in Coventry, Con-
necticut, on  February 23, 1777, and pursued the
study of medicine and  surgery with Dr.  Philip Tur-
ner, of  Norwich, Connecticut, a distinguished sur-
geon in  the army of the revolution.  He commenced
his professional  career at Hudson,  New York, in
17t>7, and married in 1799.   His  practice soon be-
came extensive and he was often called, especially
as a surgeon, to  a great distance.   In 1808 he was
elected Professor of Obstetrics and Practical Surge- 
12
ry in  the  Berkshire  Medical Institution, Pittsheld.
Massachusetts,  which  situation,  after  giving two
courses of lectures, he resigned.

   Owing to the occurrence of insanity in  his own
family, by which his domestic enjoyments were in-
terrupted, he was led to pay much attention to this
disorder, and in 1830 he established a private luna-
tic Asylum at  Hudson, which  he successfully con-
ducted.

   In  1843, he  was  elected  President  of  the New
York State  Medical  Society, and  delivered an.ad-
dress on insanity, which  presented  one of  the best
synopses of our knowledge of insanity,  especially of
its treatment, which  has  ever been  published.   In
October, 1844,  he attended the meeting  of the Asso-
ciation,  but soon after  his health began to  fail, and
he died at Hudson, February 10, 1845.   He was the
first Yice President of the Association. 
 
 
l:.:
              Dr.  Isaac Ray,


  Dr.  Isaac Ray, then in his prime, active, vigo-
rous and earnest in every thought  and movement,
stood then, as he did through all the remainder of
his  life, among  the  first of  those  who there met.
With iron gray  hair, and the student stoop of his
shoulders, he  delighted  to  gather a  small  group
around him and  discuss the different questions which
concerned the welfare of the insane, sitting  in  that
peculiar posture so  natural to him, with his head
bent forward, his legs crossed, and his hands crossed
or folded  together on his  lap before him.   No one
who ever enjoyed these opportunities of hearing him
pour forth the richness of a mind, well stored with
the treasures of  literature in general and of insanity
in particular, either as one of a group or when seat-
ed with him in his own parlor,  will ever forget the
instruction which he  then received, and the kindly.
fatherly tone and manner he always evinced'towards
those younger in years and in experience.  In what-
ever position in  life he was called to act, his sound
judgment  and  well-matured views always gave him
a commanding influence, which he invariably used 
14
to promote the  welfare  of the  insane  and other
afflicted classes.

  Dr.  Isaac  Ray was  a  native of  Massachusetts.
Born  of highly respectable  parents, in the town of
Beverly,  on the 16th of January.  1S07, he there
commenced his earliest  education, subsequently  en-
tering  Phillips Academy at Andover, and  afterwards
Bowdoin College, where he remained till compelled
by ill-health to leave his studies, which he had been
prosecuting with great  assiduity.   As soon  as  his
health was sufficiently restored, he began the study
of medicine in the  office  of Dr. Hart, of Beverly,
completing his studies under Dr. Shattuck, a distin-
guished physician in Boston, and ultimately gradua-
ting at the Medical Department of Harvard Tniver-
sity, in 1827.  In that  year  he  began the practice
of his profession at Portland, Maine, and while there
he delivered his first course of lectures on botany—
a branch of science  for  which  he  had a great fond-
ness.

   About two years after Dr. Ray had commenced
the practice of medicine in Portland. Maine, induce-
ments  were offered  to  him to leave that city and
settle in Eastport.  in the same State; there, soon
after, he fixed, as he then supposed, his  permanent
residence.  It was at this time, while living in East-
port, that Dr. Ray first had  his interest excited on
the subject of insanity and the treatment of the in-
sane, and especially in reference to matters connect-
ed with  the  branch of medical  jurisprudence rela-
ting to it.   The prevalent views on all  these sub- 
1.0
jects were then far behind  what are common at the
present day. and led Dr. Ray to prepare a work,
"The  Jurisprudence of Insanity," since  generally
recognized as one of the highest authorities in this
department of medico-legal knowledge, and quoted
alike by alienists, lawyers and  all others interested
in the  subject, at home  and abroad.

   Dr.  Ray was  appointed  Medical Superintendent
of the State Hospital for  the  Insane, at Augusta,
Maine, in the year 1841, and this led to his perma-
nent  removal  from  Eastport.   He  immediately
assumed the duties of this  position, residing in the
institution,  till he was invited by  the Board of Trus-
tees of the Butler Hospital at Providence, Rhode
Island—which was then about to be organized—to
become its Superintendent.

   Dr.  Ray  found  his position  at Providence a spe-
cially  pleasant one.   His labor was much  less ardu-
ous  than it  had  previously been;  he wras enabled  to
carrv  out  his  own  well-considered plans,  and  it
afforded him a long-desired  opportunity  to  visit
many  of the more  prominent institutions  for the
Insane in Great  Britain and on the Continent.  With
this  view Dr. Ray sailed  for Europe soon after his
appointment,  and in this manner passed the summer
months of LS4o.  He spent the next two years  in
superintending the erection of  the  Butler Hospital,
which  was opened for  the reception  of patients  in
1S47.   Then taking up his residence in the hospi-
tal,  he remained  there, superintending  its affairs 
16
with great ability, and to the satisfaction of all who
were in any  way connected with it, till January,
1867, when his impaired  health  compelled him to
resign  this position to which he was  so  much  at-
tached, and in which he had  done so much to elevate
the standard  of hospital treatment  for  the insane.
He spent most of the year in visiting his profession-
al brethren in different parts of the country, and in
selecting a place for his permanent residence, finally
accepting the city of  Philadelphia.  Here he con-
tinued to live at his residence on Baring  Street, till
his death on the  morning  of the  31st of March,
1881, being then in the seventy-fifth year of his age.  '

   Dr. Ray was a member of many professional and
scientific associations;  was one of the founders of the
Social  Science Association;  was  appointed by the
Court one of  the  Board of  Guardians  of the  Poor
of the city of Philadelphia;  and his experience and
his devotion to the insane led him to take an  active
part in the work of that department.  Dr. Ray de-
livered  two courses of lectures on  " Insanity and
Medical Jurisprudence", before the class of one of
the medical colleges of Philadelphia, without com-
pensation.
   Dr.  Ray received  the  degree of  LL. D.  from
Brown University in 1871).   He was Yice President
of the Association  from 1851  to  1855. and  Presi-
dent from 1855 to 1859. 
 
 
IV
         Dr,  Luther  V. Bell,


  Dr. Luther Y. Bell was tall and commanding in
his appearance, with  a large, high forehead and  an
abundance of dark, bushy hair, and his whole coun-
tenance gave the impress of a fine and active intel-
lect,  which  placed him in so prominent a position
among  his fellow-men  in whatever situation  he
might be placed, either in urging  the claims of the
insane or in state and national politics, for which he
inherited a strong predilection.  His social qualities
were of a high order and he charmed all who came
within  the sound of his voice, or met him in familiar
intercourse, with the well-matured views he so ably
and eloquently advanced on all subjects.

  Dr. Luther V. Bell  was born  in  Chester, New
Hampshire. December 30, 1806, son of Hon. Sam-
uel  Bell, successively Chief Justice, Governor and
United  States Senator from New  Hampshire.  He
entered  Bowdoin College at twelve years of age and
graduated in  1823.  He received his medical degree
from Dartmouth  College, in 1826. and subsequently
pursued his  medical studies in Europe.   He  com- 
Is
menced and pursued the practice  of medicine and
surgery, in the towns of Brunswick  and Deny. Xew
Hampshire, with success in both departments, and
interested himself  largely in sanitary  and philan-
thropic measures,  tending  to  the  elevation  of his
profession and  the general welfare of the people.
In 18.'U, he was awarded the Boylston Prize  Medal
for a dissertation on the dietetic regimen  best fitted
for the inhabitants of  XTew  England.  In 1.835  he
presented an essay on the Lxternal Exploration of
Diseases, which forms the first third  of  the  ninth
volume of the Library  of  Practical Medicine.  He
subsequently put forth a small volume entitled, "An
attempt to investigate some obscure and  undecided
doctrines in relation to small pox and varioliform
diseases."

   He labored  earnestly in the establishment  of the
New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, was elected
to the  General Court with the special object of urg-
ing forward this measure, and  made a very able re-
port on the number and condition of the insane of
that State, and the  means of providing for  them.
While  attending a  second session of the Legislature
and  pressing this  object, he  received, very  unex-
pectedly, the intelligence  of his having  been ap-
pointed Physician  and Superintendent of the  Mc-
Lean Asylum for  the  Insane.   He was appointed
during the latter  part of 1836, and entered upon
his official duties at the beginning of the next year.

   He was an early and earnest advocate for  the in- 
19
troduction of steam and hot water, and mechanical
power, as the  proper  and  only  suitable mode of
warming and ventilating hospitals, and the McLean
Asylum over which he presided was the first institu-
tion in which a circulation  of hot water was success-
fully employed for warming a large inflowing cur-
rent of air.   In   1845, on the  solicitation  of the
Trustees of  the  Butler Hospital  for the  Insane at
Providence, Rhode Island, then in contemplation,
the Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital,
of which  the McLean Asylum is a branch, gave Dr.
Hell leave of absence to visit Europe, that he might,
after a comparison   of the  institutions of the old
world, be enabled to devise a plan of hospital em-
bodying  all that was excellent and desirable,  then
known to the  profession.   After his return he pre-
sented the plan of that establishment, which so  fully
met the highest hopes of its friends.

  He was for two years President of the Massachu-
setts Medical Society, and his inaugural address was
on Ventilation.   He subsequently  published a small
volume entitled "The practical method of ventila-
ting buildings, with   an appendix on  heating by
steam and hot water.'1

  He held the  post of Executive  Councillor in the
administration of Governor  Briggs, in 1850,  and
was  a member of the  Committee of Pardons,  to
which  was referred two cases famous in the  annals
of crime in Massachusetts:  that of  Daniel  Pearsons,
convicted  of the murder of his wife and infant twin 
20
children,  and that  of Prof. J.  XV. Webster, for the
murder of Dr. George Parkman.  He was the can-
didate of the Whig party in the Seventh Congres-
sional District of Massachusetts, in 1853, but though
receiving a  plurality of  votes in the first trial, was
beaten on the second by the union of the two  oppo-
sing parties on the  same  candidate.

  He was also a Delegate in the Convention for re-
viewing the  State Constitution.

  He resigned his position as Superintendent  of the
McLean Asylum, in the  fall of 1856,  the state of his
health urging this  step.  In addition  to impaired
health from pulmonary disease  he had lost children,
one after another,   at the most interesting epochs
of parental attachment, and under the highest hopes.
The death of his estimable  wife filled the measure
of his domestic sorrow.  From the McLean Asylum
he removed  to  his  private  residence in Monument
Square, Charlestown.  Here his life was not a re-
tirement, as  he was constantly  consulted in cases of
insanity and  other cerebral and nervous affections
and on  questions of a medico-legal  character.  At
the breaking out of the  rebellion, he was among the
first to offer  his services to the Government.  He
went as  Surgeon of the 11th  Regiment of  Massa-
chusetts Volunteers, but was soon  promoted  to the
position of Brigade Surgeon to Gen. Hooker's Divi-
sion on the Lower  Potomac.  He died in camp quite
suddenly from endocarditis on  February 11,  1862.

  He was known to the older members of the Asso- 
21
ciation as the able Alienist physician, by his great
skill in the detection of disordered mental manifes-
tations,  by his elaborate description of that form of
acute Mania, so often described as Bell's disease, by
his genial qualities  and  his earnest, persevering
efforts to advance the specialty to the  highest rank.
He was Vice President  of the Association from 1850
to 1851, and President from 1851 to 1855. 
 
23
Dr. Charles  H.  Stedman,
  Dr. Charles  H. Stedman was about the medium
height, rather stoutly built, with a large, well-formed
head and high forehead, and a full face.  With easy,
pleasant  manner, great  good nature and cheerful
disposition, his character was such as to attract and
attach to him, those to whom he was called to min-
ister.

  Dr.  Charles Harrison  Stedman  was born  in
Lancaster, Mass.,  June 17, 1805.  He entered Yale
College whence he  did not graduate, but received
subsequently an  honorary degree  of A. M.   He
took the degree of M. D. at  Harvard, in 1828.   In
1S30, he was appointed Resident  Surgeon of the
United States Marine Hospital at Chelsea.  In 1840,
he  removed  to Boston  and entered into  practice
there.   In 1842, he was appointed Superintendent
of the Boston Lunatic Hospital, and Physician and
Surgeon to the numerous correctional, industrial and
reformatory institutions of Boston, in the same enclo-
sure which contained the Lunatic Asylum.  In 1851,
he resumed  private practice in Boston.  He was the 
21
first  medical Coroner appointed in the State.   In
1851, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate.
In 1853. he  became one of the Governor's Council.
At the opening of the Boston City Hospital in 1864,
he was appointed Yisiting  Surgeon and died dune
7, 1866,  Senior Surgeon of that Institution.

  Few men  had greater opportunities of observing
disease than he, and  he improved  them with great
earnestness.   He was averse to writing, although he
was  very clear and  perspicuous in style, so that
much of his observation has been  lost.   He educa-
ted many students before the days of medical schools
in Boston, many of whom  have attained high posi-
tions in the  medical world, and all  of whom remem-
ber  him with  warm respect  and  affection, for  his
lucid way of teaching,  his quick diagnosis, his won-
derful resources in therapeutics and his manly, deci-
ded  and easy methods of conveying his instructions.
His  manner was polished, his disposition humane
and  sense of the ludicrous and love of a joke, very
keen.

   His son  Dr. Henry  R.  Stedman, now has  a pri-
vate institution for the insane  in Boston. 
 
 
2")
Dr.  John  S.  Butler,
  Dr. John S. Butler was of the  medium height,
rather stoutly built, with a large, well-formed head
and high forehead, sandy hair and  a merry twinkle
of his eye  which showed  his  fondness for humor.
Rather sedate and  grave when not engaged in con-
versation, he yet had a  strong relish for the mirth-
ful, and could pass from grave to gay with great
ease.  After a long and  laborious service he retired
to enjoy the rest he had so clearly earned, and has
for years been engaged in lighter work which did
not require so heav}^ a demand   on  his  physical
powers.

  Dr.. John S. Butler was appointed  Superintend-
ent of the Boston Lunatic Hospital, September 1(5,
183!). and resigned October 10, 1842.   He was ap-
pointed Superintendent of the Retreat for the Insane
at Hartford, Conn., on May 13, 1843,  and  resigned
October 20. 1873.   " We see as the result of these
thirty of  the best years of his life,  the dreary, cold,
dark and  forbidding walls  of  the  narrow  passage-
ways,  and  comfortless  rooms  and dormitories  of 
2<i
1843. converted into an institution well nigh perfect
in all its appointments.—the spacious  halls and par-
lors  ornamented  and made attractive  with paint-
ings, engravings and other works of art; the wdiole
structure from  foundation  to ceiling re-constructed
and  rebuilt, placing the Retreat among  fhe most
home-like and cheerful residences of the  kind any-
where to be found;  libraries of books and  the peri-
odicals of the day upon the tables and in every hall;
the ground and lawn, through his agency, converted
from an open field to one of the most beautiful  of
parks.  These  are  among  the noble  monuments
which he has reared  and left, giving beauty, comfort
and  cheerfulness to the Retreat and  its  surround-
ings, and  which have and  will  continue to shed joy
and  sunshine into many a patient's sad heart, and
are admired and appreciated  as his work.   Yet the
most gratifying and glorious result of  these years of
toil and care,  is in the restoration of patients sca'-
tered up and down through the whole land, whose
grateful  remembrance he enjoys, and  whose  bless-
ings will  follow  him to the end of his days.'1  He
was  Vice  President of the  Association from 1862 to
1870, and President from 1870 to 1873. 
 
 
         Dr, Amariah  Brigham,

   Dr. Amariah  Brigham was rather above the me-
 dium height, with a full, thoughtful face, large fore-
 head and rather a grave demeanor.  He labored in-
 dustriously with his pen to advance the cause of the
 insane.

   Dr. Amariah Brigham was born  at New Marl-
 boro'; Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on Decem-
 ber  26.  17!.)8.   He commenced  practice, a  youth
 somewhat short  of his majority, in the town of En-
 field, Massachusetts, where he remained two years,
 and  then removed to Greenfield, where he continued
 seven  years.   He visited  Europe, sailing on  July
 16, 1828, and remained  abroad visiting hospitals in
 all the countries  he visited, about a year, reaching
 Boston, on his return, on July  4, 1829, and in a
 short time resumed  practice in Greenfield. He re-
 moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in April, 183.1.

   While  in Hartford he  wrote  and  published the
following works:  Influence of Mental Cultivation
on Health; Influence of  Religion on the Health and
Physical  Welfare of Mankind; a Treatise on Epi-
demic Cholera; and an Inquiry concerning the Dis- 
2 s
eases and  Functions of the Brain,  the  Spinal  Cord
and the Xerves.   In 1837, he was elected  Professor
of Anatomy and  Surgery in the College of Physi-
cians and  Surgeons, New York city, where he  re-
mained a year and a half.  He was elected Super-
intendent  and  Physician of the  Retreat for the
Insane,  Hartford,  Connecticut, in  1840, and in the
fall of 1842, to a similar appointment in connection
with the State Lunatic Asylum, Utica, New York.
He commenced publishing the  Journal, of  Insanity
in July, 1844.  His health began to fail in the sum-
mer of 1847, (though  he had  been feeble  for  two
years previous) and though  benefited by  a trip to
the South, in the spring of 1848. he never fully re-
gained it,  and  died, September 8, 1849.

   In person  Dr.  Brigham was tall, somewhat less
than six feet in height, and very sleuder, his weight,
in health,  probably not exceeding one hundred and
thirty pounds.  His features were well proportioned,
though  rather small than otherwise, eyes of a soft,
dark blue, expressing, more  than usual, the varying
emotions of his mind.   His hair wTas thin, of a brown
color, and slightly, if  at  all, gray at the time of his
death.   His gait   was naturally  slow,  and by no
means  graceful,  while his voice was soft, low and
quite melodious.   As  a whole, however, his appear-
ance and manner  indicated, to the observer, a  supe-
rior and cultivated intellect, a firm will,  perfect self-
possession, a social disposition, and a kind and  gen-
erous heart,  He  was Yice President of the Associa-
tion from  1848 to  the time of his death. 
 
 
2! I
            Dr, Pliny  Earle,


  Dr. Plinv  Earle was  at that time in the  prime
of life and  decided in all his convictions.  With a
large head, fine forehead and pleasant expression of
countenance he showed  the  scholar as well as the
man of active work.

  Compelled  by ill-health for a time to relinquish
the active  work of a Superintendent, he returned
to it when  his health was improved, and still con-
tinues to discharge faithfully the duties.

  He was appointed Superintendent and Physician
of the Bloomingdale  Asylum on April 1, 1844, and
resigned in April, 1849.   He was appointed Super-
intendent of the State Lunatic  Hospital at  North-
ampton, July 2,  1864, and is still on duty.  He was
Yice President  of the  Association  from 1883 to
1884. and President from 1884 to 1885. 
 
31
      Dr,  Thomas S,  Kirkbride,


  Dr. Thomas  S. Kirkbride was  of the medium
height, rather slightly built, not robust in health or
physical development,  but with a pleasant, amiable
countenance  and  a winning  way, with an intellec-
tual expression, and showed in every movement the
earnestness  and  determination which marked his
whole course of life.

  Calm, thoughtful, naturally quick and impulsive,
with great sensitiveness but with full control over
all his emotions and  feelings, he was  able to carry
with him,  by the  steady, persistent course which he
pursued,, all who were  within the reach of  his influ-
ence, and  attached to  him all  with whom he came
into daily  association.  His whole  thought was di-
rected to the welfare  of the insane, and nothing de-
terred him from urging those plans wdiich he believed
best adapted to promote to the highest degree their
interests.

  Dr. Thomas  S.  Kirkbride was born near Morris-
ville,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  July 31, 
32
1809.  He received his academical education at the
Academy  at  Trenton, N. J.; graduated from the
medical department of the University of  Pennsyl-
vania in the  spring of 1832,  and  was very shortly
afterwards  appointed  Resident  Physician  of  the
Asylum for  the relief of those  deprived  of  their
reason, at Frankford, Philadelphia,  and remained
there one year; and was then  elected  Resident  Phy-
sician of the  Pennsylvania Hospital, where  he re-
mained two years.

  After leaving the Hospital  he opened an office in
Philadelphia, intending  to devote himself to the
practice of surgery; but  in October, 1840, he  was
elected by the  Managers of the Pennsylvania Hos-
pital  to the  office of Physician-in-chief  and  Super-
intendent of the Department for  the insane,  then
ready for the reception of patients.

  He entered on the duties of the new  position, on
the  first day of January,  1841,  and continued to
hold  that position until the  day of his death. De-
cember 17, 1883.

  He was Secretary of the Association from  1844
to 1851; Treasurer from 1844 to  1855;  Yice Presi-
dent from 1855 to 1862; and'President from 1862
to 1870.

  He  was appointed  by Gov.  Win. F. Johnston,
Trustee of the  Pennsylvania  State Lunatic Hospital
at Harrisburg, in  1851, and held that office until
1862. 

  He was connected with the  Pennsylvania Institu-
tion  for the instruction of the Blind, for more than
forty years, as one of the Trustees.

  The propositions on the construction of  hospitals
for the insane adopted by the Association  in 1851,
and  those  on the organization  of hospitals for  the
insane adopted in 1853, were  drawn up by him.

  His work on the  Construction, Organization and
General  arrangements of Hospitals  for  the Insane
was  first published in 1856, and a second and  en-
larged edition  in 1880, having  been arranged and
prepared for the  press during the convalescence
from a severe illness.  In no work  in  the English
language are the true principles of the construction,
arrangement and organization of hospitals for  the
insane, more lucidly and more thoroughly  set forth,
than in the last edition of that  book.

  He early  entertained  the idea of the separation
of the sexes in buildings under the same general
management, and this plan was more fully developed
in the report for 1854.   He labored with the great-
est assiduity  to collect by private subscription  the
money needed for the erection of such a building on
the  part of the  property west of the hospital, then
in operation, and so faithfully did he give himself to
this work, and so zealously was  he supported by the
Managers of the Hospital,  that the  greater part of
the  money was subscribed and the first stone of the
new building was laid  on July 7, 1856. and  the
corner-stone was laid on October 1, 1856. 
 
 
 
35
             Dr,  Wm M,  Awl


   Dr. Wm. M. Awl was rather above the medium
height, with a large head and  prominent forehead,
sandy hair and rather  grave expression of counte-
nance when in repose.   No one more heartily en-
joyed the humorous and no one could better perform
his part in the promotion of mirth and cheerfulness
among his fellows, and he soon  became the centre
and life of every social gathering.  Earnest, faithful
and laborious, he gave himself with  all his energy
to the care and management of, with  proper provi-
sion for, the insane, but his physical  strength  gave
way under the strong pressure of the mental exer-
tion.

   Dr. Wm. Maclay Awl was  born in  Harrisburg,
Penn'a,  on May 24, 1799, his mother  having been a
lineal descendant of John Harris, who founded  Har-
risburg, and the daughter of Wm. Maclay, the first
Senator of the United  States from  Pennsylvania;
and while quite young,  the family moved  to a  farm
at a short distance  from  Sunbury. Penn'a.  When
fifteen years of age  he  was sent to the Academy in 
Northumberland, kept by Rev. Isaac Greer, and after
his death by his son Robert  C. Greer, afterwards
Judge of the Supreme Court of the (nited States,
and there he acquired all his preliminary education.
He studied  medicine with Dr. Samuel Agnew.  of
Harrisburg.   He attended one course of lectures  in
the session of 1819  20. in the University of Penn-
sylvania, which seems to have been the only course
he attended, though he received  the honorary de-
gree of M. D. at a later date, from Jefferson College.

   In  the spring of 1826,  he started on  foot for
Ohio, and settled first at Lancaster, and an import-
ant surgical  operation there performed gave him his
first introduction into practice.  After moving  sev-
eral  times from  place to place he  finally settled  in
Columbus, Ohio, in  1833.  His attention was  first
called to the care of the insane by a case which oc-
curred while in Somerset, Ohio, which he was called
upon  to treat; a case of violent acute mania.  Short-
ly after his  settlement  in Columbus, an epidemic  of
Cholera occurred which gave  him abundant oppor-
tunities to practice  in the community at large, and
also in the Penitentiary.

   On January 5. 1835,  he attended a convention  of
medical men of Ohio, which had been called by him-
self and  several others, to  take  some  measures
towards the  care of the insane and the education  of
the blind.  A memorial was presented to the Legis-
ture  on  these subjects, and  an appropriation  was
obtained towards the erection of a, Hospital  for the 
insane, and  Dr. Awl  was  appointed  one of the
Trustees to build it.  He, in company with two oth-
ers, visited the Eastern and Middle States to gain
information on the subject.  The building was com-
pleted in  1838, and Dr. Awl resigned as Trustee
and was appointed Superintendent.   He was one of
the originators of the Ohio Institution for the Blind
and was always deeply interested in that institution,
and was  Physician of it at the time of his death.
He continued in charge of the Lunatic  Asylum un-
til 1850, when  he was displaced by that  system of
political  appointment  which  has so unfortunately
prevailed in Ohio from that day  to this.

   He was  Yice President of the Association  from
1846  to  1848, and President from  1848 to 1851.
He was  also one  of the original  members of the
American Medical Association, of which he was one
of the first Yice Presidents.

   He attended the meeting of  the Association in
Philadelphia in 1876, and quietly passed away on
November  19, 1876, having been a  sufferer from a
complication of diseases, for several years. 
 
 
 
39
      Dr  Francis  T,  Stribling,


  Dr. Francis T. Stribling  was  of the  medium
height, with a full, fair face and fine forehead, a cor-
dial, genial  manner, and a generous, open-hearted
expression which won on those with whom he came
into constant association.  Never  very  robust in
build or in health, he yet managed, by care and dis-
cretion,  to accomplish a large amount  of work for
the insane and attach to him, by the gentleness of
his  manner and the  persuasive tone of his voice,  all
those with whom he was called to associate.

  Dr. Francis  T. Stribling was born January 2(1.
1810, in the town of Staunton, Virginia,  where  he
received his elementary education and soon entered
the office  of his father, who was then clerk  of the
county of Augusta, in which he remained several
years.   It was  probably in this position that he  ac-
quired those habits of neatness, method and order
for  which he was so much distinguished in after life.
Having  determined  to adopt the medical profession,
after some preparatory reading under the advice of
a distinguished physician of  Staunton, he spent  a 
4(1
session at the University of Virginia, and in the fol-
lowing year took  his degree in Philadelphia.   He
then commenced the practice of his profession  in
Staunton, and  soon won the confidence of the public.

  In 1836, at  the early age of twenty-six years, he
was  elected by  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who
then composed the Board of Directors, Physician to
the Western Lunatic Asylum.  Within  a few  days
after his election,  Dr. Stkibling went on a tour of
observation through  the  Middle  and  Northern
States, to inspect the best regulated institutions for
the insane, and to gather by  observation  and inter-
course with those in  charge, all the  information
necessary to guide him in  discharge of  his respon-
sible duties.   The law regulating the institutions for
the insane  in Virginia, passed by the Legislature in
1840-41, was  prepared by him.  He died July 23,
1874. 
 
 
41
            Dr,  John  M,  Galt,


   Dr. John M. Galt had the most youthful appear-
ance of any of the members, with a  very full  face,
medium forehead, large head and pleasant counte-
nance.  He was of the medium  height,  rather stout-
ly built, with a  pleasant manner, easy expression
and a full flow of words, and was the third member
of his  family  who, in  regular  succession, had had
charge of the institution which  he then represented.

   Dr. John Minson Galt was born in Williamsburg,
Virginia, on March 19, 1819.   He evinced at a very
early age an ardent love of reading and study, and
was  remarkable, not  only  for  his acquirements in
his studies, but also for his ability in  all athletic ex-
ercises.   He eagerly  read  all the principal authors
within  his reach in English, Latin, Greek  or French
and was also enthusiastically fond of Botany.   He
graduated  in 1838, at  William and  Mary College,
and received his medical degree  from  the  Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania in 1841.

   In July.  1841, he was appointed Medical Superin- 
42
tendent of Eastern  Lunatic Asylum  at  Williams-
burg.

  Dr.  Galt  contributed largely during  his whole
life to magazines on general subjects, in addition to
many articles on the subject of Insanity.   In  1846,
he published  a work entitled "Treatment of Insan-
ity."   " He was a great linguist, for with the excep-
tion of the Russian  and Turkish  languages, he re-
quired no one to  translate  for him the  tongues of
the other nations  of Europe."  " It was  his daily
habit to read a certain number of pages of Xeno-
phon,  Thucydicles,  or some  other  standard  Greek
author.  In addition he had turned  his attention to
the languages of the East, and was so good an Ori-
entalist that he  read  the  Koran  in the  oiiginal
Arabic.7'

   Though  singularly temperate  in all  things, his
digestive  organization  became  very much under-
mined, and he was for  several years subject  to at-
tacks of indigestion,  occasionally of great violence,
the last of which occurred in May, 1862, and termi-
nated in his death, on the 18th of that month, after
an  illness of  four clays, and  was  buried among bis
forefathers, in the Bruton Parish Church, Williams-
burg, Virginia. 
 
1
-A*   tfr*
 
43
Dr,  Nehemiah  Cutter,
  Dr. Nehemiah Cutter was of the medium height,
rather under than above, stoutly built, with a plea-
sant, benevolent expression of countenance and a
mild manner  of speaking.  Endowed with  great
energy  and  determination, when  the institution
which he  had built with  great labor and  expense,
was burned, and the work of years swept awav in a
few hours, he returned to the practice of medicine
with all the ardor and energy  of his  youth.

  "Dr. Nehemiah Cutter was born in Jaffrey, N.
II.,  March 30, 1787.  Graduated at Middlebury Col-
lege in  1814, and  received  the degree of M. D. at
Yale, 1817, and died March 15, 1859,  aged  72
years.

  He commenced  practice  in Pepperell,  Mass.,  in
1818.  He had  charge of an  insane  person in that
year, and  about 1822 received insane persons into
his  family.   The number of  patients  increased  so
rapidly that he was obliged  to make additions to his 
44
house and about 1834. built a new and larger build-
mg in addition to those already erected.

  He was associated for a time with Dr. Wilder, of
Northampton,  and  later  of Pittsfield,  afterwards
with  John  P.  Tarbell  and his  nephew Dr. C. E.
Parker, his connection with either of the above par-
ties not continuing for any great  length of time.

  In  October, 1848, I  (Dr. J. G.  N.  Howe)  pur-
chased of him part of the building and was connect-
ed  with  him in the care of the nervous and insane
until we were burnt out in May, 1853.   After that
we  each received patients  into our families.  The
Doctor, only those  of a milder type of insanity, and
those requiring restraint  and  confinement were
placed under my charge, the care of whom I have
continued until the present time."

  " As a patron of education, he contributed large-
ly of his own means for the founding  and support
of an Academy in  Pepperell.  Self-possessed on all
trying occasions, even in temper, social  and affable
to distinction, he acquired a powerful salutary influ-
ence  over the minds of his patients.   His interest
in the public welfare rendered him  greatly beloved
and his loss was sincerely regretted." 
45
  Srcn  were the men who met  together to form
this Association.   Men of determined purpose, great
benevolence  and philanthropy and in every way
admirably fitted  for the work which they laid out
for themselves.

  Varying  in years  from  thirty-five  to sixty,  it
would  naturally have  been  expected that some
would not be able to continue long at the work,  and
accordingly it will be found that some died within a
few years.   The majority held on  for many years
and  two still  remain, one in active  service and the
other enjoying the reward of a well-spent life.

   Any one  who will carefully examine  the list  of
subjects assigned to the different committees at the
first meeting will understand  more fully the strong
grasp they had  of the whole subject of the care and
treatment of the insane, and the clear determination
on their part to lay such foundations  for the struc-
ture of which the Association was to be composed,
that no  defects  should mar the work to  be  done in
future years.

   That progress has been made  is only what was to
have been  expected  by the steady  advance in the
different departments of medicine,  by  research and
experiment; but all these were anticipated and  pro- 
46
vided for in the plan they then laid down and strict-
ly adhered to.   Their views  were broad  and com-
prehensive and the foundations were laid  in accord-
ance with those views, and  nothing has been said or
done, in late years, which can impugn or  invalidate
the  correctness of the opinions  advanced, nor can
that be successfully done except  by men of equal or
greater mental  calibre.

  It may not be amiss  to  state  succinctly some of
the  principles which they believed laid at the foun-
dation of all  efforts for  the relief and  treatment of
the  insane.  That the State should make ample and
comfortable accommodations in properly constructed
hospitals for all classes and  conditions of the insane;
and while private liberality and philanthropy might
arrange for  the  care and  treatment of a limited
class, the greater portion of  the  insane were inclu-
ded  in that class for  which alone the State,  in  its
capacity as Sovereign, should give all that was re-
quired for their accommodation and  for the protec-
tion of  the Community at large.  Acting on this
principle they used all  their influence and persua-
sion on the several communities of which they were
residents, by their personal influence as individuals
and by their  writings, to obtain the fullest and most
complete  provision in every respect  for  all  of the
class indicated.   They were  not  to be thv/arted in
the  attainment of the object  by any ordinary oppo-
sition, but they persevered,  many  of them  in  the
face of apparently unsurmountable  obstacles, until,
after the lapse of years, they had the gratification
of seeing  their  views endorsed  and  embodied in 
47
stone and brick.   They held firmly to the opinion,
that "every hospital built at the public expense, while
possessing  everything  that  can contribute  to  the
health,  comfort  and  restoration  of  its  patients,
should yet be plain but substantial in character, in
good taste architecturally, but avoiding all extrava-
gant embellishment or unnecessary expenditures."

   All the arrangements of the  wards should be so
made as to give the greatest amount of light, cheer-
fulness   and  homelike  surroundings.  Studiously
avoiding everything which could convey unpleasant
impressions, while "abundant means for occupation,
amusement, and  all that  comes under the head of
moral treatment, should be  provided in every hos-
pital."   In  the  selection  of a  site for  a hospital,
cheerful surroundings and an extensive and varied
prospect should be sought for,  and all the resources
of the  art of landscape gardening should be em-
ployed  to make the views on the grounds, and  the
grounds themselves, as beautiful and attractive as
possible.

   In the light of the discussion  so urgently  carried
forward in these  times, it is especially noteworthy
to recall the resolution unanimously  adopted at the
first meeting,  and fully to consider the import of the
words in which that resolution  is expressed, "That
it is  the unanimous sense of this convention, that"
the attempt to abandon entirely the use of all means
of personal  restraint is not sanctioned by the true
interests of the insane." 
48
  Have any class of men a more definite idea of the
true interests of the insane or made more strenuous
efforts to secure  and advance  those interests than
those  who  held that view to be just and  correct?
Even  a brief summary of  the  cardinal principles
which were laid down in relation to the construction
and organization  of hospitals,  the  medical,  moral
and  hygienic treatment, the  necessity  of  more
thorough and careful teaching on the whole subject
of mental disorders, the legal principles which should
govern in the decision of cases of the jurisprudence
of the insane, and in fact of every matter pertaining
to the welfare of the  insane,  would  require  more
time than could be  given to it  now; but those who
will study carefully  the propositions of the Associa-
tion and the resolutions on various subjects discussed,
will find in them every matter which has any bearing
on the true interests of the  insane,  expressed  in the
clearest language, and with a force and  elegance
which will  convince  them that those who prepared
all these deliverances  had  very clear and  definite
ideas on all matters pertaining to  the best iuterests
of the insane, and had no hesitation in making those
views known.

   Any one will find himself  amply repaid for a care-
ful perusal of all these  propositions, by the clear
impression on his own mind of truths-,  and conclu-
sions which may have had a vague meaning to him,
but which will be  brought out by such study, with
the clearness and fullness of a well-executed photo-
graph, and he will have a higher esteem for the men 
49
who devoted their strength of mind and body to the
work  before them.

  It is our duty, following as we can in their foot-
steps, to exert all our powers to hand down to oth-
ers  what we have received, and  acting on the prin-
ciple which guided  them that much yet remains to
be  done to improve the condition  of the insane, to
enlighten the  community on the proper treatment
to be  pursued, and  to urge to the adoption of every
available  means  which  the science and  art of the
times  can devise for the occupation, diversion, im-
provement, instruction and restoration of all classes
of the insane.
 
 
 
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