MOUNT VERNON — The first monthly presentation of the year held Wednesday evening at the Knox County Historical Society Museum focused on winter donations. Discussions centered around a large pink millstone from the 19th century whose “twin” is on Public Square in Mount Vernon, and three area doctors from yesteryear who practiced in Knox County — two of them women.
The pink millstone is definitely the “heaviest” topic the audience of about 50 learned about during a presentation from museum board member Gloria Parsisson, who did the research. It now rests upright and underneath the museum sign at 875 Harcourt Road. The millstone was probably milled in North Carolina, she said, and was recently given to the museum as a donation from the estate of Lyman and Dorothy Gates.
Lyman was born in Bangs but spent his adult life in Mount Liberty. He knew the story of Samuel Thatcher Sr., who lived from 1792 to 1852 and built several mills in the area using Dry Run Creek starting from the 1820s through the 1840s, Parsisson said. One of the millstones Thatcher used had been on the sidewalk of the Thatcher home at the corner of Ohio 3 and Simmons Church Road — but it had been sold to someone in West Virginia. Lyman tracked down the millstone, bought it and took it back with him to his home at what Parsisson believes was Thatcher’s former hotel and livery, built in 1839.
The second speaker Wednesday was Karen Smith, a member of Questors Chapter 159, part of an international organization. She discussed how group members raised more than $700 to purchase eight boxes’ worth of 19th century medical equipment that had belonged to highly respected Dr. John W. Russell. The collection of mid-19th century equipment — many of them shiny, metal instruments used to treat conditions of the humorous, clavicle and other parts of the body — will be housed in a display case once an inventory has been completed and each instrument, and its purpose, identified.
Russell, a native of Connecticut, attended prestigious medical universities including Berkshire Medical College and Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He could have chosen a surgeon’s position anywhere in the country, but chose to move to Ohio in 1828, Smith said. Russell was modest and enjoyed private practice. He was a married father of five children. He made house calls on a mule-driven carriage following an injury, known as “a man of tireless industry,” she added. He was an excellent general surgeon who focused on the kidneys and gallstones. He and his family were known for owning the Russell-Cooper House, a Victorian mansion he purchased in 1856.
Cooper was known for several things, which included his founding members status within the Ohio State Medical Society. Russell was known for being one of the first medical doctors in the United States to take on a female medical intern, who later became Dr. Jayne Payne. She practiced in Mount Vernon and went on to become one of the first female doctors in Ohio. Last June, once again through the efforts of Questors Chapter 159, a prominent historical figure was honored with an historical marker placed at Buchwald Plaza at the corner of Gambier and Main streets. Payne practiced in Mount Vernon for 20 years before her death of breast cancer in 1882.
Still another physician was recognized Wednesday, with David Greer and then Janet Jacbos discussing the medical and personal legacy of prominent 20th century Danville doctor Pauline Freeman. Many of Freeman’s personal items, which include clothing, are on display. One interesting fact is that at age 14, she and her mother traveled around the world — but no one knows where the funds to do so came from, Greer said. Freeman had a lengthy medical career in Knox County starting in 1934. In 1957, she saved the life of Danville Mayor Albert Banbury, who had gangrene symptoms and was sent to the Mayo Clinic.
