Hervey - James Walter - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

JAMES WALTER HERVEY, M. D. There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the spectacle of a life that has reached its autumn with a harvest of good and unselfish deeds on behalf of humanity. It is like the forest in October days, when the leaves have borrowed the richest colors of the light and glow in the mellowed sheen of the Indian summer, reflect ing in their closing days all the radiance of their brief existence. The man who has lived for others and has brought into potential exercise the best energies of his mind that he might make the world the brighter and better from his being a part of it cannot fail to enjoy a serenity of soul that reveals itself in his walk and conversation. When such a life is preserved in its strength and energy so that even in age its work continues unabated, it challenges the added admiration of those whose good fortune it is to be brought into con-tact with it.

Such a life has been and is that of Dr. James Walter Hervey, of Indianapolis, a man, who, after preparing himself fully for the noble profession of medicine, entered upon his career with a noble purpose of helping his fellows journeying along the road, and this consecration of himself has been life long and demonstrated in the most valuable service to individuals, the city, the State and the Government. Such a life merits a record of its deeds, that the debt due it may be acknowledged and that it may serve as stimulus to others to endeavor to emulate it.

The subject of our sketch was born of Scotch-Irish parentage, near Brookville, Ind., April 5, 1819, and had the misfortune to lose his father when he was but five years old, his mother being left a widow with five children, in a new and wild country, where there were no schools nor educational facilities of any kind. The devoted woman was so solicitous that her offspring should not grow up in ignorance that she moved to Hamilton, Ohio, where she had the pleasure of seeing her loved ones enjoy the privileges so necessary to their after success in life. Our subject passed through the common schools of that place and then spent two years at a select school at Cincinnati, kept by Prof. Kemper. This completed his primary education and before his twentieth year he was a student of medicine in the office of Dr. John C. Fall, of Preble County, Ohio, with whom he remained four years. The mind of the young student was a very receptive one, and at the same time, was most investigating r id inexorable in its demands for more knowledge. Hence, while the library of his preceptor was a very good one, it was too limited for Dr. Hervey, who was resolved to acquire everything possible to be known that would better qualify him for the noble profession. So he sought and readily obtained access to the valuable libraries of Dr. Christian Sayler and Prof. Baker, of Cincinnati, and the very superior one of Dr. Crookshank, of Fairfield, these worthy and eminent gentlemen being greatly impressed with the studious and ambitious young man and were glad of an opportunity to contribute to his sources of gaining knowledge. But the investigating spirit of the medical student was not satisfied with these many opportunities and privileges, but invested every cent of his spare money in the best books that were procurable. Like so many worthy and ambitious youths of America, the young man lacked the means to defray his expenses through medical college, so that after this faithful preparation he went to Chicago, in the expectation of finding employment with some of the physicians there until he could complete his course and gain his diploma. This was before the days of railroads in that section of country, and with a brave heart and $ 5O in his pocket, which a friend had loaned him, he mounted a pony, the gift of a friend, and turned the head of the animal toward the goal of his desires. This money was all lie had to purchase a complete outfit, and it was so nearly gone that when he reached Indianapolis, he found it necessary to stop for the purpose of recouping his depleted purse. Friends rose up to help him with counsel and more material aid, and he accepted an offer of free board, horse feed and a log cabin ing Hancock County, where the little village of Mount Comfort now stands. Entering upon the practice, which he designed should be but for a season or two at most, things so turned out that he remained there seven years. Thus the life work of this worthy man and eminent physician and publicist began in a rural district among a plain and simple but honest and good people. But it was the best possible school for him. Here as in the, crowded city the varied forms of disease presented themselves, and to an ardent student like him it may he sure that he spent every hour profitably, and with conscientious care he studied each separate case, knowing that he must rely upon his own resources. Here he acquired self reliance and confidence, so essential in the physician. Dr. Hervey has had a most varied experience in his memorable career. He has had patients in the rude log cabin, in village, city and hospital; in the homes of the wealthy, in cellars and garrets, where poverty and crime dwell. He has fought and conquered disease in the camp and on the march, and has defeated death on the battle-field and in the hospital by his superior knowledge of surgery. His advantages have been infinite. He has seen disease treated and surgical operations performed at the most famed centers of the old world, and has availed himself of every possible means of gaining knowledge in his profession. His life in Hancock was most successful, and every day of it was a means of preparation for the larger and more influential fields in which he was destined afterward to glean. Many strange and notable events have chanced to the Doctor, some of them highly romantic, others that were near to having a tragical termination. On one occasion he had a night ride with a maniac, a happening that caused much excitement and interest on account of it being published in the newspapers at the time. Wherever he has been, whatever the duties he has had to perform, he has always discharged them faithfully, and has never failed to win the confidence and the esteem of those to whom his services were rendered. Dr. Hervey began the practice of medicine at, a time when the leading members of the profession were learning that phlebotomy and other means of reducing the vital forces to control sthenic condition of the system were inimical to success at the bedside. The studious young Doctor become thoroughly persuaded that the practice was dangerous, and should be obsolete, and hence, when a severe form of malarial fever, designated as "Congestive Fever" broke out in his neighborhood, and the old practitioners treated it after the then orthodox methods laid down by Bell and Stokes, McIntosh and others.

Dr. Hervey borrowed money and bought quinine at $5.01 an ounce and administered it in full doses. The result was that he scarcely lost a case, while the older physicians lost. many of theirs in the cold stage. The Doctor, as may readily be supposed, encountered much opposition in his course, for it is always the fortune of independent and courageous thinkers and doers to be persecuted. He was sued for malpractice because he used nitrate of silver and tincture of iodine in small-pox, to prevent pitting; but he was vindicated completely in his course and was afterward highly complimented for this course of treatment. The case was reported to the Indiana Medical Journal and other professional periodicals and commented on very freely. This case demonstrated fully to the profession that ignorance is the very worst enemy that it has to encounter. In 1850, after seven years of most successful practice.

Dr. Hervey started for Philadelphia, with the object of attending medical lectures there, but on reaching Indianapolis was persuaded by his old friend, Dr. John S. Bobbs, to attend the medical department of Asbury University. After graduating it was his purpose to go to Chicago, an intention that had clung to him in the seven years of his residence and practice in Hancock, and his old patrons, grateful for the services 1)e Lad rendered them and in admiration of his high character as a neighbor and citizen, made up for him a purse of $800, to be used by him whether he rendered service for it or not. This testimonial so affected him that he decided to protract his stay among the appreciative people, and, as a result, he remained in that region nine years longer. Returning from the University, he transferred his office to the little village of Oakland, in the northeast corner of Marion County, near the junction of Hancock, Marion and Hamilton Counties, and he entered at once upon the practice in the three counties. During his residence at Oakland he was a most ardent temperance worker, and wrote a temperance story, entitled "The Scroll and the Locket, or the Maniac of the Mound." Busy as was his professional life, for his practice was constantly extending, he found time, as all good citizens should, to bestow upon political affairs, and his friends, in appreciation of his services and prompted by a desire to have him where he could be of the greatest possible good to his constituency, nominated and elected him to the Legislature in 1854 from Marion County, it being then entitled to but two representatives. Once introduced into public life, he took a very active part in politics until the outbreak of the Civil war. He is a very fluent and persuasive speaker and rendered. most efficient service to the Republican party in the exciting campaigns of 1858 and 1860, by the speeches he made at various points in Marion County. When Lincoln called for troops the patriotic heart of the Doctor was stirred within him and he promptly offered his services to the Governor of Indiana, who accepted them by appointing him first assistant surgeon of the Fiftieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He remained loyally with the regiment, participating in its battles and marches, until February, 1863, when he was disabled at the battle of Parker's Cross Roads, which necessitated his return home. But a nature like his could not brook idleness, when his friends and good men every-where were at work for the great cause, and his disability preventing him from active duty in the field, he was appointed surgeon in charge of Burnside Barracks, and acting assistant surgeon in the United States army, which position he retained until the close of the war. Nowhere did the wounded and the sick receive more sympathetic and skilled treatment than at Burnside Barracks. The war ending

Dr. Hervey settled in Indianapolis, where he has remained ever since, engaged in the practice of his profession, which speedily became very lucrative, and from the outset he was regarded as one of the leading and progressive physicians of the city. No one has manifested greater interest in the sanitary and other conditions of the city, and no one has labored harder to forward the material interests of the place than he. His labors have been especially arduous and successful in the matter of promoting the sanitary and hygienic condition of Indianapolis and of the State. The Doctor is a member of the Commercial Club, of the Marion County Medical Society, and of the Indiana State Medical Society, having actively participated in the organization of the latter, and has contributed a number of most valuable papers to its literature, among which are the following: (1873) "Utility of the Forces in Diagnosing and Treating Disease;" (1875) "How to Pro-cure Medical Legislation;" (1876) "The Necessity of a State Board of Health and How to Obtain it;" (1878) " Public Hygiene, its importance in Maintaining Health;" (1880) "Mental Hygiene, the Influence of the Body upon the Mind, How to Elevate Manhood." The Doctor is a member of that body of distinguished physicians composing the American Medical Association. He labored indefatigably to have a State board of health established, and to him more than to any other person is due the fact that there is such a body in existence. He spent a great deal of time and ardent labor iii creating public sentiment in favor of such an organization, by pointing out the great good it would accomplish, and wrote a number of most able papers for the secular press upon the subject. The State Medical Society appointed him a member of the State health commission, which was created for the purpose of discharging the duties of a State board of health, until such time as the Legislature should provide for such a body, and a part of its duties consisted in laboring to effect the much desired end. Dr. Hervey remained on this board, laboring tirelessly until its object was accomplished, in 1878, and it expired by limitation. While upon this board he wrote a number of State papers, which were published in the report of the Bureau of Statistics and Geology. Dr. Hervey is a member of the American Public Health Association and also of the International Congress, and has two medals, one from the Washington meeting in 1887 and the other from the last meeting, held at Berlin, Germany. While in Europe the Doctor visited the principal hospitals, medical centers, etc., and it may be safely assumed that his bright, vigorous, receptive and thoroughly disciplined mind took in everything of value that he was brought into contact with. Dr. Hervey has in process of construction a sphygmometer, by which he obtains the motion power of the pulse, and he is confident that this instrument will be of the greatest value to the profession in determining, in diagnosing and treating heart troubles of all kinds. The Doctor has a very facile pen and has written a history of the medical profession of Hancock County, published in the history of that county by King Buiford. He organized the first old settlers' reunion, of Marion, Madison, Han-cock and Hamilton Counties, and was president of the association for twenty years. He has been a valued contributing member of the Masonic order for nearly fifty years, and is a greatly cherished member of that ancient body. Dr. Hervey is likewise a member of George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., at Indianapolis. He took a very active part in promoting public school hygiene and he was appointed by the Marion County Medical Society chairman of a committee to investigate into the health condition of the city schools. Carrying out the design of the committee, he visited all the schools, reported their condition and recommended many improvements, which he has had the pleasure of seeing made. The same authority named him member of a committee to investigate into the character of the water supply of the city and he spent some time analysing the supply in different portions of the city, with the result that some was found polluted and unfit for consumption.

The pen of the Doctor has been used freely in considering the great public questions that have concerned the country, and he is most favorably known as a contributor to the newspapers upon the great vital questions of State that have come up for consideration during the past forty years, there being scarcely one that he has failed to write upon in his felicitous and convincing style. Two biographies of Dr. Hervey have already been published, one in the History of Hancock County, by King & Buiford, of Greenfield, Ind., and the other in the Boys in Blue, by Samuel Hardin, of Anderson, Madison County, Ind. There are also two biographical sketches of him in press, one in the History of the Indiana Legislature, by the Hon. William H. English, of Indianapolis, and the other iii a history of Eminent Physicians, by R. French Stone, M. D., of Indianapolis. Thus the life of this eminent physician and loyal citizen has been spent, his pen and his voice devoted to the diffusion of knowledge and the best efforts of his skill being employed in alleviating the distress of humanity. The influence of such a life will long survive its stay on earth and those yet unborn will be blessed by the works, labor and the patience of James Walter Hervey, who has never lost an opportunity for doing good. Such a man is an honor to the city in which he lives and to the age in which his works have been done.

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