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Dr. William Davies Hutchings:
An Overview of His Life & Medical Practice, 1851-1903
Ashley Paschal and Prof. Bryan Hanson
DePauw University, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

During the 1800s, the practice of medicine was very different from what it is today, as no single organization dominated the American medical scene. Instead, numerous groups of so-called doctors, all with different philosophies about how medicine should be practiced, were vying for supremacy. All the while, medicine was moving from a strictly empirical basis with roots in antiquity, toward our modern theory-based biomedicine, albeit slowly. It was during this turbulent time that Dr. William D. Hutchings of Madison, Indiana was practicing medicine. He kept very detailed notes in his journals, writing down treatments he used and frequently including short commentaries about their effectiveness. Hutchings’ documents constitute a snapshot of medicine in the hands of the practicing physician. These journals form the basis of our project and allow us to analyze Hutchings from many different aspects. In doing so, we were able to place the doctor within the dynamic medical context of the 19th century, and discovered that Heroic practices were alive and well during his career.

A Brief History of Hutchings

William Davies Hutchings was born on September 15, 1825 in Lexington, Kentucky. He had a brother named Homer and a sister named Agnes; his sister died at a young age. Much of his childhood remains a mystery, though he nearly died from whooping cough when only 6 years old. Apparently the Heroic approach of placing a fly blister (cantharides beetles) over the chest was used to save his life as revealed in one of his journals:

His great granddaughter, Elisabeth Zulauf Kelemen, comments in her biography of Hutchings that this event led him to become a doctor. Hutchings first went to college in the late 1840s, studying at the Lexington Academy in Kentucky.  He then became an apprentice in the office of the well-known and greatly respected Dr. David McClure of New Frankfort, and finally received his medical diploma in 1851, graduating with honors from the Indiana Central Medical College of Indianapolis (a department of Asbury University, now our own DePauw University).   It also appears that he attended Transylvania University in Kentucky, or at least took a few classes there, because he wrote "Transylvania Medical Hall, Lexington Ky" at the top of a section in his medical school notes. After graduating, Hutchings practiced medicine in Wooster and Lexington, Indiana, but eventually settled in Madison, Indiana.  He married Matilda Koehler in 1861 and together they had eleven children.

Our Work

During the summer of 2004, we analyzed four documents from Hutchings' office consisting of his hand-written treatments for diseases. These journals contain 950 entries for treating various conditions and span a time period from 1853 to 1903. Using these documents, we edited and expanded a database that was originally started by Justin McNabney a few years earlier. Our main goal was to gather enough information from these documents and databases to classify Hutchings as a member of one of the large medical movements active at that time. We created a poster (found here in pdf format) presenting our findings along with a description of the important medical movements, Hutchings' life and medical practice, and the documents we obtained from his office. This work has recently been published in Pharmacy in History.

Since completing this overview of Hutchings' medical practice, we have begun an in-depth study of Hutchings' uses of bismuth and antimony compounds. The focus of our work during summer 2005 was to understand the chemistry and therapeutic properties of these elements. The majority of our time was spent studying the uses of antimony compounds in modern medicine for the treatment of the parasitic disease leishmaniasis. Our most recent poster (found here in pdf format) shows our findings along with some background about antimony compounds. We are still investigating the uses of bismuth compounds.

Useful Links

The University of Virginia Health System offers some medical history about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Also features a nice biography about Benjamin Rush. History of Medicine from 1800-1850 - A very in-depth description of early 19th-century medicine including medical movements, women's roles, how the AMA formed, and information on Benjamin Rush. Eclecticism - A detailed overview discussing Eclectic schools, medicines, and how they differed from the other movements of the time. A great site highlighting medical discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries including key breakthroughs in science, surgery, disease diagnosing, along with many others. Also check out the Glossary of Medical Terms describing common 18th and 19th century diseases. A History of Medicine page covering everything from the medical history of the ancient Greeks and Romans to the biographies of some well-known scientists such as Edward Jenner and Louis Pasteur and how medical practices have changed throughout the years. A Glossary of Archaic Chemical Terms and a Dictionary of Obsolete Terms can be found at this classic chemistry site. History of Pharmacy Resources at Viginia Commonweath University

The cover to a box of mercurous chloride, also known as calomel, found in Hutchings' office.

Organizations, Museums & Libraries

• Indiana Medical History Museum - A compact but interesting facility. Volunteers have created a demonstration medicinal plant garden on the grounds.
• Historic Madison, Inc. - An organization dedicated to preserving many historical sites in Madison, Indiana, and the owners of Hutchings' office and artifacts.
• The Lloyd Library - An outstanding library which focuses on historical and modern works on medicinal plants and pharmaceutical topics.
• The Indiana Historical Society - An organization educating people about the history of Indiana
• The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy seeks to promote understanding about pharmaceutical practices throughout history.
• Ohio State University's Medical Heritage Center.
• The Ohio Academy of Medical History seeks to educate about the history of medicine in Ohio.
• Dittrick Medical History Center - Public museum exhibiting rare medical books and artifacts.
• The Ruth Lilly Medical Library- Features many resources on the history of medicine, particularly in Indiana. Also has a searchable database about 19th century Indiana physicians.
• The American Association for the History of Medicine website offers newsletters, conference and exhibit dates, along with links to other great medical history websites.
• National Museum of Civil War Medicine - This museum in Frederick, MD is dedicated to preserving Civil War medical artifacts.
• The Wellcome Library houses an impressive collection of medical books, manuscripts, pictures and films from the past to the present.
• The University of Alabama's Reynolds Historical Library maintains a collection of more than 13,000 rare medical books and manuscripts.
• The International Society for the History of Pharmacy

Miscellaneous

• For further information on medicinal plants, both contemporary and historical, check out Prof. Hanson's page on the topic.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank John Galvin, John Staicer and Kim Nyberg of Historic Madison Inc. for their hospitality and for granting us access to Dr. Hutchings’ office and belongings, without which none of this work would have been possible. Maggie Heran and the staff at the Lloyd Library were most helpful in our research.  We’d also like to thank the Indiana Historical Society and DePauw University for financial support.  Finally, we thank Mike Flannery of the Lister Hill Library of Medicine at the University of Alabama for his guidance and inspiration to pursue this project.

Hutchings' Office and former home in Madison, IN. The two rooms downstairs served as the waiting room and surgery room, while the two upstairs served as a hospital for patients to stay overnight.

Recommended Reading

Works on Hutchings & 19th Century Indiana Medicine

Eckerman, Nancy L. "Practicing Medicine Along the Indiana Frontier" AB Bookman's Weekly: For the Specialist Book World (April 13, 1992): 1439-1444.

Hawkins, Hubert H. "Pioneer Medicine in Indiana" Duneland Notes. Chesterton, IN: Duneland Historical Society. 22:1 (January 1974): 4-11.

Kelemen, Elisabeth Zulauf. “A Horse-and-Buggy Doctor in Hoosierland” Journal of the Indiana State Medical Association 64:7 (July 1971): 1-8.

Kelemen, Elisabeth Zulauf. A Horse-and-Buggy Doctor in Southern Indiana: 1825-1903 (Madison Indiana: Historic Madison Inc, 1973).

McDonell, Katherine Mandusic, (ed.). The Journals of William A. Lindsay: An Ordinary Nineteenth-Century Physician's Surgical Cases (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Historical Society, 1989).

McDonell, Katherine Mandusic. Medicine in Antebellum Indiana: Conflict, Conservatism, and Change (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Historical Society, 1984).

Tyler, Varro E. "Some Potentially Useful Drugs Identified in a Study of Indiana Folk Medicine" in Scarborough, John (ed.), Folklore and Folk Medicines (Madison, WI: American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, 1987): 98-109.

Van Daalen, Cheryl. “The Dr. William Hutchings Office” Louisville Medicine 46:6 (November 1998): 299-301.

Works on (mostly) 19th Century Medicine

Berman, Alex and Michael A. Flannery, America’s Botanico-Medical Movements: Vox Populi (New York:  Pharmaceutical Products Press, 2001).

Bynum, William F., Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century, (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994).

Bynum, William F. et al The Western Medical Tradition 1800-2000 Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Crenner, Christopher Private Practice: In the early 20th century medical office of Dr. Richard Cabot (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).

Flannery, Michael A., John Uri Lloyd: The Great American Eclectic (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1998).

Gevitz, Norman, ed, Other Healers: Unorthodox Medicine in America. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988).

Griggs, Barbara, Green Pharmacy: The History and Evolution of Western Herbal Medicine. (Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1997).

Haller, John S., Jr., American Medicine in Transition (Urbana:  University of Illinois Press, 1981).

Haller, John S., Jr., The History of American Homeopathy. (Pharmaceutical Products Press, forthcoming October 2005).

Haller, John S., Jr., Kindly Medicine: Physio-Medicalism in America, 1836-1911, (Kent: The Kent State University Press, 1997).

Haller, John S., Jr., Medical Protestants:  the Eclectics in American Medicine, 1825-1939 (Carbondale:  Southern Illinois University Press, 1994).

Haller, John S., Jr., The People’s Doctors:  Samuel Thomson and the American Botanical Movement, 1790-1860 (Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, 2000).

Huisman, Frank, and Warner, John Harley, editors, Locating Medical History: the stories and their meanings (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).

Kaufman, Martin, Homeopathy in America: The Rise and Fall of a Medical Heresy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971).

Whorton, James C., Ph.D., Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Note: The plant appearing on the background of this page is Cinchona officinalis, Hutchings' most frequently used plant. Cinchona was the preferred treatment for malaria.