November 1997 Newsletter
Dear Family:
I just received the sad news that Lorraine Yarnall, wife of Alfred
Eli Yarnall passed away on November 9th, 1997 from a heart attack. I
understand the services will be held on Monday, November 16th, 1997. It is
ironic that we have their branch of the family noted in this month
newsletter because of our finally linking them to Francis Yarnall.
Unfortunately the information of Lorraine's passing came after the
November edition of the newsletter was printed for the snail mail version.
Needless to say our prayers go out to the family.
Much love,
Fred
November 1997
?
Dear Family:
Well, another month has come and gone, and they are zipping by too
quickly. It seems that this genealogy bug has some side issues. You start
searching for your roots, and before long you are part of them - just
kidding.
On the positive side, it has been a very successful month for
putting some names and dates together. Our data base is up to 12,625
confirmed family members, and we have tied together some missing pieces
thanks to our group of researchers, and a special big thank you to Mary
Card Yarnell who has given us the product of 40 years plus of her
meticulous research. From historical society and Census records, to
personal research by Mary and her many friends from around the country, she
has sent to us over 300 pages filled with genealogical data; and Mary is
thinking of performing additional research. All we can do is to join in a
common voice of THANKYOU MARY!
As a result of her generousity, we were able to connect Eli Yarnall
Jr. with His father and on back to Francis. The connection came from an
1850 census record in the information supplied by Mary. There are several
people from the present generation that are searching for this link,
including; Dennis Alfred Yarnall, Alfred Eli Yarnall Jr., Sara Louise
Yarnall Armstrong, Mark Wayne Yarnall, Glenn Allen Yarnall, Thomas Charles
Yarnall, Charles Alfred Yarnall, Walter Lewis Yarnall Sr., and Edward
Flowers Yarnall Jr. to name a few. Wit little difference, everyone named
above can trace their line as shown is the example below using Alfred Eli
Yarnall Jr. as an example.
Alfred Eli Yarnall Jr. b. 6/11/1919
m. Lorraine Leanida Oterholtzer b. 11/26/1918
s/o Eli Yarnall b. 11/30/1872
m. Anna Laura Yarnall b. 4/25/1875
s/o Eli Yarnall b. abt 1840
m. Hannah Mary Herd b. 1845
s/o Eli Yarnall b. abt 1810
m. Mary Wood b. ?
s/o Nathan Yarnall b. abt 1778
m. Sarah Scott
s/o Nathan Yarnall b. abt 1731
m. Hannah Pennell
s/o John Yarnall b. 12/24/1688
m. Jane Thomas
s/o Francis
Yarnall b. 4/26/1655
m. Hannah Baker
b. abt 1664
I must admit to a tremendous feeling of excitement as this line was
finally linked together. If you recall, I have asked for help in tracing
Eli in previous newsletters, along with his name on the missing links
poster at the family picnic.
?
OH, YES! The family picnic that is scheduled for JULY 11, 1988. For
those of you who are new to the family picnic, everything is free. We
supply hamburgers, hotdogs and soft drinks. The picnic is held at the Lower
Perkiomen Valley Park in Oaks Pennsylvania, so mark your calendars.
Now, back to the information supplied by Mary Card Yarnell, we are
on the brink of another link, with Jared G. Yarnell as the key to this
link. I will duplicate a letter that was sent out to several of our
researchers. I am having a lot of difficulty with this connection because
the Peter I am looking for may not be the one that I have listed at
generation 3, but could very well be the son of Mordecai Yarnall, brother
to the Peter shown; but let me duplicate the letter to see if anyone can
help us with this connection.
Dear Family:
While on the whole, the following article is very informative and
gives some excellent genealogical information, I must take issue with a
couple of items. First, the Francis and Peter that are mentioned in the
beginning of the article are the sons of Francis and Mary (Lincoln) Yarnall
- the article gives the impression that they came from England. The other
item is the mention of Jasper, a blacksmith, as the brother of Peter. I
have no such information! What I do have is Mordecai, s/o Peter married
Leah Jaspers, and their son was Jasper Yarnall b. abt 1771. This would be
the Jasper incorrectly identified as the brother of Peter. This is further
confirmed by the family line of Ruth Sprague of Oregon who descends from
Francis (1), through Peter (2), Francis (3), Mordecai (4), Jasper (5),
Mordicai (6), Jasper (7), Moreicai Richey Yarnell (8), and Ruth Yarnell
Sprague (9). Another issue is the date of marriage to Katie Adams.
According to his pension papers, that took place, according to church
record, on Feb. 10, 1866, by Benj. D. Zweizig. For the record, Katie died
Oct. 14, 1912.
Jared G. Yarnell
from Berks Co. Biographies
Transcribed by Fred H. Yarnall
10/28/1997
JARED G. YARNELL, a highly esteemed retired citizen of West Reading
borough, Pa., who was for many years engaged in contracting in Spring
Township, Berks County, was born Feb. 23, 1840, in Bern Township, son of
George and Margaret (Lerch) Yarnell.
The Yarnell family is of old English Quaker stock. Francis and
Peter Yarnell came from their native land with the Hugheses, Boones,
Penroses, Kirbys, and Lightfoots, and settled in Oley township. They were
of the fifty or more families who had been left out when the township was
erected. The people to the "south part of Oley" therefore petitioned the
Court at Philadelphia, in 1741, to erect that part into a township. The
petition was granted. Among the sixteen signers to this petition were
Francis and Peter Yarnell, one of whom was the great-grandfather of Jared
G.
Peter Yarnell, grandfather of Jared G., had a brother Jasper, who
was a blacksmith by trade, and who had settled in Maidencreek township
prior to 1800; in 1802, he bought a tract of land in that district from
Michael Dunkel. The Yarnell family was related by marriage to the Lightfoot
family of the Revolutionary days. Peter Yarnell, the grandfather, is buried
at the Quaker Meeting House in Maiden-creek township. He married Maria
Yarnall (the original spelling of the name), and their one son, George, was
born Aug. 4, 1793, in Maiden-creek township.
George Yarnell, son of Peter, obtained a fair education in the
local schools and learned the shoemaking trade, which, however, he did not
follow. He worked at the carpenter's trade, and also followed farming,
having a small tract of land in Bern township, near "Leinbach's Hotel,"
where he died April 23, 1842, and was buried at Epler's Church. Mr Yarnell
married Margaret Lerch, born Jan. 3, 1803 in Bern Township, daughter of
John and Margaret (Steffe) Lerch, who died Sept. 27, 1888, and was buried
beside her husband. They were members of the Reformed Church, and in
politics Mr. Yarnell was a Whig. To George and Margaret (Lerch) Yarnell
there were born these children: Mary, born Feb 16, 1825, is unmarried and
resides at the Home for Widows and single Women, Reading; Reuben J., born
Jan 1, 1831, died unmarried Feb 17, 1861; Catherine, born April 26, 1837,
married Henry R. Tobias, of Bern township: and Jared G.
Jared G. Yarnell attended the schools of Bern township and the
Normal school for two terms, and then taught two winters in Bern and
Brecknock townships, after which he learned the stone mason's trade, which
he followed in connection with stone cutting for several years. He engaged
for a short time in boating on the Schuylkill canal, and in 1867 engaged in
the contracting business, beginning operations in this line by building the
Albright school house in Bern township. He built ten county bridges, the
waterworks at Fleetwood, the Maiden Creek pumping station and pipe line,
and did a great deal of sewer contracting in the city, also breaking the
ground for the City Park at Reading. For twenty-five years he did work for
the city and county. In 1884 he located in West Reading, where he built
fifteen private residences, but since 1905 he has been living retired. On
Sept. 18, 1906, Mr. Yarnell met with an accident, through which he lost his
left leg, eight and one-half inches below the knee.
At the beginning of the Civil war Mr. Yarnell enlisted in Company
E. 42nd regiment for the State defense, and in 1864 reenlisted, becoming on
Sept., 2d, a private in Company II, 205th PA V. I., with which he served
until the close of the war, being with the Army of the Potomac. For many
years Mr. Yarnell was a member of Keim Post, G. A. R. He was raised a Mason
in 1882, belongs to Chandler Lodge, No 227, F. & A. M., Reading Commandery
No. 12, and Excelsior Chapter, No 237. He was a member of LuLu Temple, of
Philadelphia, and a charter member of Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.,
Reading. In politics he is a stanch Republican, being one of the first
councilmen of West Reading, and a prime mover in the establishment of the
borough. He is a member of Bethany Lutheran Church of which he has been an
elder since 1902. On Feb. 10, 1867, Mr. Yarnell was married to Katie M.
Adams. of Cumru township, daughter of Amos and Mary A. (Moore) Adams. One
child has been born to this union: Charles W., alderman of the Fifth ward
of Reading, who married Sarah, daughter of Albert Franks.
Based on the information presented in the article, census records
supplied by Mary Card Yarnell, and the Family records of Ruth Yarnall
Sprague, I am documenting the following line for Jared G. Yarnall.
1. Francis Yarnall and Mary (Lincoln) Yarnall
2. Peter Yarnall and Maria Yarnall
3. George Yarnell and Margaret (Lerch) Yarnell
4. Jared G. Yarnell and Katie M. (Adams) Yarnell
5. Charles W. Yarnell and Sarah (Franks) Yarnell
I am very interested in your comments and any information that you
can add. I will use most of this information in the next newsletter,
including my conclusions, so please get back to me a soon as possible
should you have any additions, recommendations or corrections.
Much love,
Fred
As you can see, we are very close to nailing down this line, but we
need additional information on the children of Mordecai and on Peter. The
researcher mentioned, Ruth Sprague could be some assistance if she can be
located. I have performed a search for her on the internet, and have come
up with 22 Ruth Sprague's across the country, and I am in the process of
trying to locate the one we seek.
?
Well, congratulations are due to one of our cousins; a Mr. Herbert
Yarnell. Do you hear a drum roll in the background? It seems that Herb in
his quest for that famous Yarnell has uncovered a rare document. According
to Herb it is a copy of an original document of the Declaration of
Independence. We all know that one of our distant cousins was the penman
for the Declaration - Timothy Matlack, but heretofore unknown, this
document contained the signature of a William Yarnaell. What a historic
find for Herb, and even though the parchment that he sent to me looks very
much like a zerox copy, I will treasure it always. It would seem that
Herb's discovery is most fortuitous for us, because with the spelling
'aell' it would be the base for a unified hat. Well done Herb!.........
?
PART 2............
....HOLTON YARNALL....
The Wilmington Gazette announced the sale of tickets in the prize
lottery for the benefit of Newark College, Middletown Academy and Emmanuel
Church. The recently organized Delaware Fire Insurance Company was looking
for buildings to insure against fire: The price of whiskey was holding its
own at 26 cents per gallon.
But past the toll gates on the Newport-Gap Turnpike, seven miles
beyond the borough limits, there was excitement in the air. The biggest
thing was happening in Mill Creek Hundred since George Washington's
Continental army, suffering from its defeat at Cooch's Bridge, had encamped
along the banks of Red Clay Creek before marching on to meet the redcoats
at Chadd's Ford in the famous Battle of the Brandywine. Up and down Red
Clay Creek and White Clay Creek, from mill to mill and farm to farm, the
news had been carried by the invisible lines of the rural communication
system, spreading to Stanton, Newport, Christiana, Hockessin, Milltown, and
Newark. From thence it filtered to the crossroads inns where travelers and
waggoners, moving back and forth to Maryland and Pennsylvania, stopped to
refresh themselves and water their horses.
These throbbing waves of gossip all emanated from a focal
point--the old Yarnall property lying in the triangle formed by the
junction of the Gap Turnpike and the Foulk Road midway between Newport and
Hockessin. There in a trampled meadow, a procession of wagons poured out
their loads into mounting piles of clapboards, shingles, timbers, sacks of
plaster of Paris and sundry builder's supplies. Dust lifted from the Pike
as wagons rumbled along behind strong draught horses, hoofbeats thudding
against the earth. Scaffolding has been erected to support a long inclined
runway which lead to the topmost tier of bricks on the walls of a building
under construction.
A crew of laborers, stone masons, and carpenters, under the
direction of contractor Justa Justis, worked from sunup to sundown clearing
out the oak trees, digging foundations, laying brick on brick, mixing
mortar, planing beams, and nailing studding with hand-wrought square nails
for the structure which was to eclipse any in Delaware. It was to be a
public house of unprecedented size, and it had already been given a
name--the Brandywine Chalybeate Springs Hotel.
Behind the hotel site, other laborers were laying gravel on the
path that lead through the woods to the valley and the Chalybeate
spring--bubbling yellowish water which would be the resort's main
attraction in the years to come. The story of the building of the hotel
begins ten years before....
On August 1, 1816, readers of the Delaware Gazette saw the
following announcement:
Will positively be sold at public sale on Thursday the 11th of
September next that valuable tract of land known by the name of the
Yellow Springs
In Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle County and State of Delaware, 5 1/2 miles
west from Wilmington, containing 80 acres. There are on the premises a
well-finished stone dwelling house, 36 feet square, 2 stories high, a good
frame barn and stabling, with other necessary and convenient buildings. The
land is of the first quality with a large proportion of good woodland, and
a never failing stream of water with sufficient fall for any kind of works,
and that noted Chalybeate mineral spring which would make it an object of
great importance to any person wishing to enjoy health, pleasure and
convenience. The place will be divided or sold in any way to accommodate
purchasers, etc.
This property was originally a small part of the 15,500 acre tract
known as "Letitia Manor" which William Penn had conveyed to his daughter
Letitia. The manor was subsequently partitioned and sold to individual
landowners. The Yellow Springs was on one of the tracts containing 593
acres patented to Bryan MacDonnell in 1701 for the yearly quit rent of "one
bushel of good merchantable winter wheat."
Bryan MacDonnell erected a stone dwelling on the property which he
and his wife and children occupied until his death. By his will dated
February 23, 1707, the earliest division of his 593 acre property is
recorded. To his son William he bequeathed 253 acres, and the remaining 345
acres, with the dwelling house and farm building, were handed down to
another son, Bryan, Jr. Both sons later divided and subdivided their lands,
the purchasers, in turn, selling small parcels to new owners.
A study of the deed records of the property which Holton Yarnall
offered for sale in 1816 reveals that Holton had inherited the land from
his father, Ephraim Yarnall, a yeoman farmer who had moved to Mill Creek
Hundred from Chester County, Pennsylvania. Ephraim had purchased 147 acres
from Jeremiah Wollaston for 385 pounds. Jeremiah Wollaston in 1746 had
obtained 286 acres from Francis Land. Francis Land in 1733 had purchased a
plot from Bryan MacDonnel, Jr. for 91 pounds. Thus, Holton Yarnall's
ownership of the Yellow Springs was one of the links in a long chain of
land sales that can be traced back to William Penn.
..................TO BE CONTINUED
?
I have recently had the pleasure of communicating with Anne B.
Ponder. Anne has her roots in the south, and she traces her line from Ellen
Yarnall Matlack, daughter of Mordecai Yarnall, son of Francis Yarnall: but
lets give Anne an opportunity to introduce herself and her family.
Anne B. Ponder-b.16 Mar. 1942-Mother was dau. of Guy Bryan Dewees
and Annie Elizabeth Baker. Born in MS Delta-very small town-father was a
physician as was his father, great grandfather and great great grandfather.
The Biles family of NJ and PA were also Quakers when they first came to
this country. I have one older brother and we both were graduated from U
of Missississippi-Ole Miss. I am married to wonderful Christian who grew
up in Alabama and is a commercial airline pilot. We have two grown
children and our son is married to a lovely young lady. He teaches third
grade and is now getting his Master of Ed. degree in administration. His
wife is studying and earning her undergraduate degree in social work and
our daughter is in her 4th year of medical school with plans to become a
pediatrician. We like to play tennis, grow a vegetable garden when the
deer and the rabbits let us; actually we feed a deer and several rabbits
with our produce from the garden. We enjoy traveling and went to England
and Wales last May. We have a Welsh Pembroke Corgi, named for one of our
ancestors and he helps me do genealogy on the computer. We also like
to fish and read and we love the Florida Gulf Coast-especially in the fall
and in the winter. My husband enjoys a little genealogy but I am the one
who thrives on it.
Thank you Anne for the snapshot of you and your family. I hope that
over the coming months, we can become better aquainted. Your love of
genealogy certainly comes through on your letter to Cousin Paul Robert
Yarnall that I have duplicated below.
Delivered-To: fred@voicenet.com
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 12:11:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Abponder@aol.com
To: Info@navsource.org
cc: fred@voicenet.com
Subject: Yarnall
Dear Paul-
I can't remember if I wrote to you or not. Glad you had Col. Timothy
Matlack's claim to fame right. Of course he served in many other ways too,
but most people don't even know who he was. He and Ellen Yarnall had a
daughter, Martha Matlack, who married Guy Bryan. One of their sons was
Timothy Matlack Bryan who married first Anna Eliza Wilson and they had 3
children, Guy b.1815, George Hunter b.1816 and Mary Wharton b. 1818. Anna
died in 1819 and Timothy Matlack Bryan married again in 1828 Frances
Elizabeth Heiskall and by this marriage he had 3 more children. My
gr.gr.grandmother was Mary Wharton Bryan, dau. of the first marriage. She
married Oscar Lorraine Dewees, M.D. son of William Potts Dewees, M.D. and
Mary Lorraine Dewees in Dec. 1840 in Philadelphia and they moved to
Mississippi in 1841. They had three children and my gr. grandfather was
Timothy Bryan Dewees, the youngest child b. 1851. Dr. Oscar Lorraine
Dewees died in Mississippi in 1859 and Mary Wharton Bryan Dewees remained
in Mississippi but kept her contacts with the family in Philadelphia.
Timothy Bryan Dewees married Margaretta Elizabeth Chipley in 1874. Her
family was an old VA family with ties to the Lee and Fairfax and Dixon
families of long ago. My grandfather was the eldest son of Timothy and
Margaretta (Chipley) Dewees, Guy Bryan Dewees b. 1879. His grandmother
would have been Mary Wharton (Bryan) Dewees the great granddaughter of Col.
Timothy Matlack. Mary W. Dewees was a greatly loved and respected woman
and was called "Grandie" by the family. She died in 1904 and is buried
with much of the family at the old Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church
Cemetery in Madison Co., MS. My grandfather always said of her, "She was
one of the finest women he ever knew." My grandfather was not a man who
was lavish with his compliments either!
Col. Timothy Matlack was dismissed from the Quaker Church for
disunity--he fought in the Rev. War and was an ardent leader during the
years leading up to our struggle for independence from English rule. He
was a Col. in the Shirt Battallion and participated at the Battle of
Trenton---member of the Council of Safety-presided as prosecutor at the
court martial of Benedict Arnold (I still think he was a traitor!)-member
of the Philadelphia Philosophical Society-and friends with Lafayette who in
later years returned to America and visited Col. Matlack. Thomas Jefferson
wrote to Col. Matlack while he was serving his term as President and
requested that Timothy save for him some of his best seeds and orchard
trees for him to take back to his beloved Monticello after his term in
office had expired. Jefferson liked most of all his home in VA. Timothy
Matlack was presented a silver urn by the city for his service to the
revolutionary cause. His daughter, Martha was dismissed for marrying out
of meeting, and from that day on the family worshipped in the Episcopal
Church, though Col. Timothy Matlack was part of the Free Quaker Church for
a while. Martha Matlack married Guy Bryan at Christ Church in Philadelphia
21 June 1785.
Col. Matlack died in 1829 at the age of 94 years, 11 months and 10 days
and was buried in the Free Quaker Burying Ground near the old church but
his body was later exumed in November 1905 and moved to the cemetery in
Fatland across the river from Valley Forge. He lived to be a very aged man
and in his later years, he lived with his daughter and son-in-law, Martha
(Matlack) and Guy Bryan, in Holmesburg, PA. Ellinor Yarnell Matlack (sic)
was buried in the Free Quaker Ground 17 July 1791 Col. Timothy Matlack was
married a second time in 1797 to Elizabeth Capper, widow of Capt. Norris
Capper and sister of David Claypoole, the printer.
Most of my information I have learned from a paper presented to the
Gloucester Co. Historical Society in Haddonfield, NJ by Dr. Asa Matlack
Stackhouse in 1908. I noted one remark about the Matlack family he made on
p. 73 as he remarked: "Speaking of the Napiers, Allibone says:---'They
seem to have a family partiality for gunpowder,' The same may be said of
the descendants of the peace loving Quakers, Timothy and Martha (Haines)
Matlack. Timothy was a Colonel of a Rifle Battalion. Titus Matlack was a
Lieutenant in C.W. Peale's
Company, Col. Will's Battalion, Philadelphia Militia and is said to have
been the first to make saltpetre in this country during the Revolution.
Josiah Matlack was a dragoon in the 2nd Battalion and Seth Matlack was also
a soldier." The author mentions many other descendants of the Matlacks who
distinguished themselves in service to their country and notes that
Timothy's two sons, Mordecai who died on the ship "Randolph" during the
Revolution and William who was a sergeant in Capt. Linton's Company, Col.
Bradford's Battalion, PA Troops.
Submitted by: Mrs. Anne B. Ponder, 5th great granddaughter of Col.
Timothy Matlack and Ellen (Yarnall) Matlack
?
PART 4............
"THERE WERE KINSMEN OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY"
A Paper Prepared and Written for The Historical Society of Schuylkill
County, Pennsylvania By Edgar Downey.
John Lincoln married a widow, Mrs. Rebecca (Morris) Flowers, in
1743. There were five sons and four daughters born to their union. Two of
the daughters were twins. These children were-----
1. Abraham, b. abt 1743 Berks Co PA
2. Hannah, b. 9 March 1748 Berks Co PA
3. Lydia, b. 9 March 1748 Berks Co PA
4. Isaac, b. abt 1750 Berks Co PA
5. Jacob, b. abt 1751 Berks Co PA
6. John, b. abt 1755 Berks Co PA
7. Sarah, b. abt 1757 Berks Co PA
8. Thomas, b. abt 1761 Berks Co PA
9. Rebecca, b. 1767 VA
John Lincoln and all his children moved into Virginia. He died in
1778. Four of his sons later removed from Virginia. His son, the
grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln, went to Kentucky in 1782. While
in Virginia, Grandfather Abraham Lincoln became a Captain of militia. He
appears to have held this rank as early as 1770, and the records also show
him holding the rank in 1776 and 1777. He served in the Cherokee Wars in
1779. He met a tragic death in the hands of hostile Indians on his farm in
Jefferson County, Kentucky, in May of 1786. Grandfather Abraham Lincoln
married Bathsheba Herring in 1770. There were five children by their
marriage, all of them born at Linville Creek, Virginia:
1. Mordecai, b. abt 1771
2. Josiah, b. abt 1773
3. Mary, b. ?
4. Thomas, B. 1778 father of President Lincoln.
5. Nancy, b. abt 1780
Thus have we followed the migration of Abraham Lincoln's direct
ancestors and their families from Berks County into Virginia and Kentucky.
but we must return to those who remained in Pennsylvania, and particularly
in Berks County.
..................TO BE CONTINUED
?
As most of you are aware, our ancestors Philip and Francis Yarnall
came to this country from England. While in recent times we have learned
that other Yarnall's also migrated to this country from England, we have
only found connections to the Philip and Francis lines. Also, while we have
no proof that they were Quakers when they lived in England or that they
came to this country for religious freedom, we do know that they were
Quakers when they settled here. In previous newsletters we gave the beliefs
and growth of Quakerism in this country, now we have an article supplied by
Dea Yarnall MacKinnon on the "Transatlantic Quaker connection", from The
Providence Journal-Bulletin of Monday, February 17, 1997, by Stanley M.
Aronson. According to the Journal, Stanley M. Aronson, M.D., a weekly
contributor, is editor of Medicine & Health/Rhode Island, the monthly
publication of the Rhode Island Medical Society. This column is adapted
from one appearing in last month's issue.
Some 350 years ago, a nonconformist English preacher named George
Fox began a religious movement based upon the principles of simplicity,
gender equality and spiritual autonomy. He called his group the Society of
Friends; others, noting episodes of visible trembling that sometimes
accompanied the inner spiritual experiences of his congregants, called them
Quakers.
It was a curious faith without a defined canon, liturgy, visible
sacraments or established clergy. The movement never attracted many
adherents. Only in the British colonies of New Jersey and Pennsylvania did
the Quakers achieve some political stature.
Despite their small numbers, members of this Christian sect exerted
a measurable influence upon the ethical texture of Western medicine, and
were a powerful force in the formative days of American medical education.
John Fothergill (1712-1780), son of a Quaker missionary, was born
in Yorkshire. He chose medicine but as a dissenter was excluded from the
English universities and hence attended the medical school in Edinburgh. By
1740, he had established himself in London. During the course of a very
successful career, he contributed materially to clinical medicine. His 1748
paper on throat ulcers represented the first comprehensive description of
what would later be called diphtheria. His published studies on the effects
of lead intoxication in house painters and his paper on the relationship of
coronary artery narrowing to angina pectoris represented some of the finest
clinical writings of the 18th Century. Benjamin Franklin, his friend,
co-religionist and sometime patient, shared his curiosity concerning
industrial lead poisoning and would latter publish a book on this subject.
Fothergill was a devout Quaker, devoting much of his energies to
philanthropic causes (including contributions to the University of
Pennsylvania and Harvard medical schools). He was a leader in the English
movement to abolish the slavery of Africans. He also had a scholarly
interest in marine biology and medicinal botany. Fothergill organized a
personal arboretum that became second only to Kew Gardens as England's most
extensive botanical collection.
John Coakley Lettson (1744-1815) was initially trained at St.
Thomas's Hospital, London, but then went to Edinburgh and Leyden to
complete his medical education. In subsequent years, this Quaker became on
of London's most illustrious practitioners. He wrote a number of
influential texts on the effects of alcoholism, and was a leader in the
early temperance movement. He also developed an interest in devising
techniques of artificial resuscitation.
His many social concerns included prison reform. Lettson was noted
for his philanthropy, particularly in sponsoring summer camps for indigent
children, and for his generosity to colleges in the United States. When
Jenner's 1798 paper on vaccination appeared, Lettson became one of its
advocates; and it was he who informed Benjamin Waterhouse (also a Quaker)
of the benefits of this vaccine.
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, was born to a Quaker family near Philadelphia. In 1766, he
traveled to Edinburgh for his formal medical education; and in 1768,
arrived in London to train further with Fothergill. He then studied in the
hospitals of Paris, the costs underwritten by Benjamin Franklin. Upon his
return to the states, Rush played an important role in the Revolution,
helped to establish this country's first medical school, at the University
of Pennsylvania, and led the movement to abolish slavery.
In later years, he wrote extensively on the dangers of ardent
spirits, the health benefits of physical exercise and the need for an
enlightened approach to mental illness.
Caspar Wistar (1761-1818) was another Quaker physician from
Philadelphia who received his medical education in Edinburgh. Upon his
return, he joined the faculty of the new medical school in Philadelphia,
becoming in time one of its great teachers. He was Pennsylvania's leading
spokesman for vaccination, aided in his advocacy by Thomas Jefferson.
Wistar was later chosen as president of the Society for the Abolition of
Slavery. And because of his interest in botany, Nuttall named a new species
of flowering vine (Wistaria speciosa) in his honor. The Wistar Institute in
Philadelphia perpetuates the name of this humanitarian.
Benjamin Waterhouse (1754-1846), from a Rhode Island Quaker family,
voyaged to London in 1775 to apprentice in medicine both with his second
cousin, John Fothergill, and with Lettson. Subsequently, he traveled to
Edinburgh and then to Leyden to complete his clinical studies. Upon his
return to Rhode Island, he opened a medical practice while simultaneously
teaching botany at Rhode Island College (later called Brown University). A
few years later he transferred to Massachusetts, joining the Harvard
faculty, and, with Dexter and Warren, co-founded its medical school.
Through Lettson, he learned of Jenner's cowpox vaccine. In 1800, he
received a small supply of the vaccine and was the first in the States to
employ this preventive step. He wrote much on the medical dangers of
smoking and whiskey.
Two other English physicians born to Quaker families deserve
mention. Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866) was a devout Quaker physician, educated
in Edinburgh, a staunch advocate of the emancipation of slaves, and opposed
to such indulgences as coffee and ardent spirits. In his lifetime, he
strove to improve working conditions of shipboard crews and was a leader in
the English prison reform movement. He viewed his description of a disease
that later bore his name as of but incidental importance.
Joseph Lister (1827-1912) was born in London of Quaker parentage.
His father, a successful merchant, had worked with Hodgkin in their joint
development of the achromatic lens. Young Lister trained in medicine both
in London and Scotland ultimately assuming the chair in surgery at
Edinburg. During this interval, he developed the principles of surgical
antisepsis. He was the first English physician to be raised to the peerage,
and as Lord Lister was also chosen as president of the Royal Society.
These seven Quakers were certainly outstanding physicians and
surgeons; but they were also instrumental in strengthening medical
education by establishing two of the first medical schools in the States.
As proponents of preventive interventions, they were in the forefront of
the vaccination movement on both sides of the Atlantic. They shared a
zealous commitment to the abolition of slavery and were firmly opposed --
on medical grounds -- to the recreational use of alcoholic beverages and
tobacco. They were vocal leaders, too, in the movement for better housing,
prison reform, universal suffrage and public education. Their separate
lives on both shores of the Atlantic, spanning parts of three centuries,
were curiously intertwined by friendships, shared interests in botany,
attendance at the same medical school, their extensive philanthropies, and
their jointly held body of moral and spiritual convictions.
?
Well, it is time for my sick humor to take hold. Åfter the
Philadelphia Eagles managed to beat the Dallas Cow....errr...boys last
week, I thought that I could gloat for a bit, but the AZ Cardnals kind of
stoll my thunder....Grrrrr. So lets pick on a group that never gets picked
on...the LEGAL Beagles. Now, I'm just kidding....the beagle remark has
nothing to do with their class and is not necessarily ment as a snide
remark. You know that.....don't you?
Last month we noted that Lawyers are not typically funny, except by
accident. The following questions from lawyers were taken from official US
court records nationwide.
1. Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn
in?
2. Q: Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage
terminated?
A: By Death!
Q: And by whose death was it terminated?
3. Q: Mrs Jones, do you believe you are emotionally stable?
A: I used to be.
Q: How many times have you committed suicide?
4. So.....You were gone until you returned?
5. Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes!
Q: How many were boys?
A: None!
Q: Were there any girls?
6. You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like,
but can you describe it?
?
PART 3............
"The Myths That Could Destroy America", by Erwin Lutzer, published by "The
Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation" in
The Rebirth of America.
Last month we left off with Myth Number 5 "Morality Cannot Be
Legislated." Mr. Lutzer's premise that "Morality will be legislated" and
his question concerning, "Whose morality will be legislated? We pick up
this month with his portrayal of the groups with agenda's that are against
the Judeo Christian ideals, and we pick it up with Myth Number 6 "The Role
of Men and Women Is Interchangeable:
The radical feminist who so vociferously back the movement want,
first of all, to end the institution of marriage. Shela Cronan speaks for
many of them when she writes, "Since marriage constitutes slavery for
women, it is clear that the Women's Movement must concentrate on attacking
this institution. Freedom for women cannot be won without the abolition of
marriage." These same feminists want freedom from the burden of children.
There can be no equality, they insist, as long as the woman is a homemaker.
Moreover, the children, they say, should be reared by another, namely the
state. The Houston Conference for Women, sponsored by N.O.W., called for
federally-funded day care centers around the clock, seven days a week.
Society as a whole, they insist, should bear the burden. Lenin pursued this
philosophy in Russia; so has Cuba, and Communist China. It is a Marxist
solution. The National Organization for Women opposes the right of churches
to make any differentiation between men and women. The refusal to ordain
homosexuals could soon be interpreted as "contrary to public policy," and
homosexual teachers could flaunt their lifestyle in the public classroom.
Meanwhile, in an incredibly ridiculous project, even the World Council of
Churches has released a Biblical Lectionary that omits all gender based
terms, including all references to God as "He." Both the Scriptures, and
the overwhelming majority of the public at large, still make clear
distinctions between male and female. To disregard these differences is to
invite the disintegration of America.
Myth Number 7. "A Fetus Is Not Human: This very day, as you read
this article, some 4,300 preborn babies will legally be put to death--under
the protection of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade. In
earlier days abortion was the last act of a desperate woman. Today it is
said that 97% of all abortions occur simply for convenience. It has become
the nations's means of birth control. Wrote Peter Singer in Pediatrics, "We
can no longer base our ethics on the idea that human beings are a special
form of creation made in the image of God and singled out from all other
animals." Babies' bodies have been sold by the bag. They are used in some
cosmetics and for experimentation. In one general hospital, the sale of
preborn babies brought in $68,000.00 in a ten year period.
Justice Harry Blackman, author of the 64-page document that came
from the Roe vs. Wade decision, said that objection to abortion came mainly
from two sources: the oath of Hippocrates and Christianity. Since the oath
specifically forbids abortion, the Court wrestled with its influence by
concluded that in the context of general opinion, "ancient religions did
not bar abortion." As for Christianity, it was apparently dismissed by the
court because of the separation of church and state. In effect, the Court
omitted two thousand years of Jedeo-Christian influence and reached back
into paganism to find a basis for its moral judgment. Those who have
studied the document in detail confess that it is a mix of illogical
reasoning and nonsequiturs. Justice Byron White dissented on the decision
and said, "I find nothing in the language or history of the Constitution to
support the Court's judgement. As a result of the tragic decision, more
than 18 million unborn children have had their lives snuffed out -- ten
times the total number of Amrericans lost in all of our nation's wars.
..................TO BE CONTINUED
Much love,
Fred
John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me; for they are thine.
John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word;
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