Susan Sawyer - Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Ohio History

Speaking Ill of the Dead:

Jerks in Ohio History

Speaking Ill of the Dead:

Jerks in Ohio History

Susan Sawyer

Guilford, Connecticut

An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright 2016 by Rowman & Littlefield

Map: Melissa Baker Rowman & Littlefield

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sawyer, Susan, author.

Title: Speaking ill of the dead : jerks in Ohio history / Susan Sawyer.

Other titles: Jerks in Ohio history

Description: Guilford, Connecticut : Globe Pequot Press, 2016. | Series:

Speaking ill of the dead | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016009249 (print) | LCCN 2016010784 (ebook) | ISBN

9780762779161 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781493018925 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: OhioHistoryAnecdotes. | OhioBiographyAnecdotes. | Outlaws OhioBiographyAnecdotes. | Rogues and vagabondsOhioBiographyAnecdotes. |

CriminalsIllinoisOhioBiographyAnecdotes.

Classification: LCC F491.6 .S29 2016 (print) | LCC F491.6 (ebook) | DDC

364.3092/2771dc23

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Contents

Dr. John Cook Bennett

The Diploma Peddler 18041867

I n 1820 only two medical colleges had been established west of the Allegheny Mountains, and doctors were in short supply for the growing population. But a practicing Ohio physician found a way to confer medical degrees on anyone who wanted to become a doctorand his unethical, illegal actions earned him the title of The Diploma Peddler.

Dr. John Cook Bennett believed that medical degrees should be awarded on merit and not on the length of time spent in preparatory studies. Following the path of many aspiring physicians during the early decades of the nineteenth century, he obtained practical experience from a competent mentor. He then passed a lengthy examination issued by the state of Ohio and received a license to practice medicine. And in spite of his beliefs that a medical education was not necessary to become proficient in medicine, he made numerous attempts to establish several medical collegesand funded his endeavors by selling bogus medical diplomas.

Born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on August 3, 1804, John Cook Bennett was the oldest child of Abigail Cook and John Bennett. At a young age he and his family moved to Marietta, Ohio, to join other family members who had already settled there. Few facts are available about his childhood, other than he was raised in southeastern Ohio. Although Bennett claimed to be a graduate of Ohio University, records of his attendance or graduation have never been found.

Since a lack of finances prohibited Bennett from attending one of the two medical colleges in the regionTransylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnatihe turned to his uncle, Dr. Samuel P. Hildreth, for guidance. A respected physician in the region, Hildreth took his eighteen-year-old nephew under his wing for a medical preceptorship in 1822.

Bennett was a diligent medical apprentice under Hildreth, traveling with his uncle throughout southeastern Ohio and portions of neighboring states, treating patients, and gaining practical experience along the way. He also studied standard medical texts, along with Latin and Greek, to prepare for the state medical exam. On November 1, 1825, he traveled to Meigs County, Ohio, to take his medical examination. He passed the exam with ease and officially became a licensed physician.

By passing the medical exam, Bennett legally earned the right to practice medicine. But successfully demonstrating his proficiency on the test did not give him the privilege of using the term MD after his name. Medical degrees were hard to attain at the time, and many competent physicians did not have a degree from a medical college. Still, holding an MD signified that the possessor was a medical authority, and the public appreciated the status of physicians who had obtained medical degrees.

In January 1826 Bennett married Mary Barker in Wisemans Bottom, a small community near Marietta. For the next four years, the young couple moved from place to place in Ohio. They established their first home in St. Clairsville, the Belmont County seat. Bennett quickly became active in the community, joining the medical society and the Masons. The following year the Bennetts moved to McConnelsville and welcomed their first child, Mary, into the world sometime during late 1827 or early 1828.

The Bennetts next move was to Circleville, the seat of Pickaway County, in 1828. In this small town south of Columbus, Bennett opened a medical practice. By the end of the year, he claimed to be generating a lucrative income from his practice, averaging four to twelve dollars a day. Around the same time, the Bennetts welcomed the birth of their second child, Joseph, but the baby only lived for a few days. During their stay in Circleville, Bennett fought against a measles epidemic and was engaged in a variety of other activities.

In August 1829 the Bennetts relocated to Malta, on the west bank of the Muskingum opposite McConnelsville. A short time later they moved to Barnesville, a small town eighteen miles from their first home in St. Clairsville.

In Barnesville Bennett set up his medical practice in partnership with Dr. John Gladstone Affleck, who had been educated in Glasgow, Scotland. Some historians contend that Affleck encouraged Bennett to take medical courses at McGill College in Montreal. Bennett later claimed he attended lectures in Montreal and received a medical degree from the College Medical dEmulation, although no records have been found to document his statement or verify the existence of the medical college. Nonetheless, by July 1831 Bennett was claiming to hold a medical degree, adding MD after his name.

During his early years as a physician in Ohio, Bennett advertised his services in newspapers, establishing visibility throughout the state as a notable physician. Even though he had never attended medical school, he also established legitimacy for himself by writing and submitting articles to professional medical journals.

Outside of medicine Bennett served as a traveling minister, preaching in several Methodist Episcopal churches in Ohio. He occasionally signed his name as the Rev. Doctor John Cook Bennett. Raised as a Methodist and married in the Methodist church, Bennett abruptly switched to the primitive Christian church around 1830. The movement, advocated by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander, abandoned sectarian creeds and supported primitive Christianity. The church was known by several names, including the Christian Disciples and the Disciples of Christ.