Is It Apothecary-Druggist-Pharmacist? A 19th-century Conundrum

 This post was written by library volunteer Robert Baldwin.

The SCHS Library recently received a donation of Henry A. Kertse’s Pharmacy prescription records. The donor asked us if Kertse's was the oldest pharmacy in Schenectady. This may be true as a matter of semantics. Further investigation is needed as late 19th century New York State medical regulations were in transition. The intriguing question is, "when and who were the pioneers in dispensing medicine in Schenectady?" Let us investigate the history of pharmaceutical practices in New York State. 

Believe it or not, regulated dispensing of medicine is relatively young. Apothecary and druggist businesses organized with minimal scrutiny. Prior to 1900, New Yorkers who wanted to establish a "drug store", did so with little or no regulations. Before pharmacies were known as such, druggist/apothecary shops sold drugs and medicines. Often, the owners manufactured their own medicinal concoctions. As innovations in medical science evolved, so did regulations enabling druggists' ability to produce and deliver medicine. According to the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, the New York State Pharmacist Association was created in 1879. However, it was merely an organization that lobbied to achieve professional recognition. Five years later (1884), Governor Grover Cleveland [1] appointed the first State Board of Pharmacy--a needed regulatory agency. [2] During 1906, a statute was enacted requiring a college degree to obtain a pharmacists license. 

By 1932, college degrees were mandated for those who wished to practice pharmacy. However, this legislative act was rarely enforced. New York City was the exception since the city had stricter guidelines. Two years later, additional laws mandated that only registered pharmacists could dispense poisonous or habit-forming drugs. It took almost three more decades before five-year college-of-pharmacy degrees were required (1960) [3]. Eventually, many universities/colleges offered doctorate degrees. However, doctorate degrees are not currently required to practice pharmacy in New York State. That may change as drug usage and dispensing has become complex.

Before statutes were created and codified by New York State, medicinal and health products were found everywhere. Clark Stanley’s Snake Oil Liniment for arthritis and rheumatism, a product originating from Texas, gained popularity leading to distribution throughout the United States. Peddler's wagons were no longer the source of such medicines. Druggist stores, including Schenectady businesses, began to distribute such items. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the few druggists in Schenectady competed for customers to buy a wide variety of “cure-alls” without prescriptions or doctor's recommendations. One of the earliest known druggists in Schenectady (1835), medical doctor Andrew Truax also competed with other druggist and sold "medicine" that we would consider “quackery” today. As readers would “gander” over advertisements in the Friday, July 18th, 1845 “Schenectady Reflector,” they found: 

The advertisements were never-ending cures for all things. However, the druggist not only sold remedies. Items varied, such as:

• ENGLISH yellow purple top rutabagas 
• Logwood 
• Stationary items 
• Soda and Saratoga Waters 
• Almond Soap 
• Items made of silk 
• Corks for bottles 
• Paints, oils, window putty, turpentine, window glass 
• Lard oil for lamps

Eleven years later, interesting advertisements "in the name of medical science" were on the increase, as shown below from the Schenectady Reflector. Friday, May 30, 1856:

The variety was substantial and it appeared that druggist stores were more like general stores. Who were these druggists? When and where did they operate their businesses in Schenectady?

The earliest record found for Schenectady was a handbill dated May 1831 for "Richard Fuller Druggist and Apothecary" that advertised his wares. (Handbill shown below) This store was located on the south side of State St, adjoining the Canal Bridge. Whole and retail sales included glass, furniture, dyes, woods, lamps, oils, and other sundry goods. Apparently, his business fell into obscurity since we were unable to locate any other documents relating to this enterprise. 

Richard Fuller, Druggist and Apothecary. Hand Bill 1831 [4]

 

Druggist Dr. Andrew Truax (mentioned above), originally operated his store at 117 State St. By 1862, the business relocated at 141 State St. As the street numbers changed in the 1880s, 141 State St was assigned its new number, 261 (remaining there as of 1948). As time passed, the ownership changed. By 1864, Andrew T. Veeder (also a medical doctor) became Truax's business partner. When Truax retired in 1883, junior partner Veeder became sole proprietor. The business listings morphed from Andrew Truax, to A.T. Veeder, to A.T. Veeder & Son; and by 1948, Veeder & Yelverton. The Veeder inventory was extensive. Merchandise included: microscopes, optical goods, ivory and solid silver toilets; and, he even carried a large variety of drugs, medicines and chemicals. I cannot imagine using ivory and solid silver toilets for the dirtiest needs.

David H. Snell, listed both as an apothecary and druggist, operated his store (1841-71) at 147 State St. There was no distinction between the two professional titles at this time. His competitors were very few: Truax (noted above), H. Gnadandorff, Ernest Steinhührer, and Frederick W. Hoffman. Hoffman ran his business for one year. Eventually, Snell's store changed hands and was owned by J. Sharratt Gates (1871-85). Nelson H. Kittle later carried on there (1885-90). In 1888, this address number was assigned 267. Edward Rosa gained ownership (1889-96). J.T.B. Gilmour (1896-97) and John Barron (1897-98) were transient owners. By 1899 and into the 20th century, E.A. Sawyer operated the business at 267 State St [5]. 

Veeder and Yelverton ad [6]

 

David H. Snell, in his early years [7]

 

 

 

Edward Rosa portrait [8]

 

Among the early druggists was Barent I. Mynderse at 97 State St (1841-42); H. Gnadandorff at 91 State St (1860-61) and moved to 107 State St (1862-63), and moved again to 85 State St (1863-66). Thomas Dunlap was at 130 State St (1857-58). A few years passed, A.J. McDonald maintained a druggist shop at 191 State St (1871-77).

Barent I. Mynderse, circa 1835 [9]

Henry C. Van Zandt earned his medical degree at Albany Medical College. Later, he opened a drug store known as VanZandt and Rector (1884-86) which operated at 191 State St. From 1886 to 1894, this business was located in the Central Arcade. The arcade extended from Wall St to the New York Central arcade in the rear of the State St stores. During this period, they were known as VanZandt, Shaffer and Rector. Subsequently. It then was relocated at 455 State St and from 1896 to 1897. Later, John P. Bigelow became the druggist at 455 State.

Dr. Henry C. VanZandt [10]

193 State St was occupied by Dower and Hogeboom 1876-77; and then, by C. Lansing 1878-80. 112 Union St was operated by Edward L. Davis (1881-87). W.T. Hanson and Son/Co. occupied 195 State St (1880-87). Then the street number was reassigned as 335. This druggist remained there (1888-91). By 1891, ownership changed hands with Lyon J. Turnbull continuing there into the twentieth century. 209 State St was owned and maintained by druggist, Ernest Steinhührer (1888-91). As the new educational requirements were enforced, Steinhührer earned his degree and operated as a pharmacist (1891-96). Apparently, Steinhüher retired passing ownership to Rudolph H. Keller operated the store (1896-1930s), however advertised as a druggist even though he did earn a Albany College of Pharmacy degree.

Henry A. Kertse started as a clerk at the age of 15 in Ernest Steinhührer's store (209 State St) until 1886. He decided to follow the profession permanently and earned his Ph.G. degree from the Albany School of Pharmacy, even though it was not required by law [11]. Edward L. Davis, was the druggist at 412 Union St (1888-89). During 1889, Kertse bought the business from Davis (who established it in 1882) [12]. Kertse appears to have been listed as the very first "pharmacist" in Schenectady. His original staff included three subordinates [13]. "In the old days we had to make everything ourselves." Pills, suppositories, infusions, and ointments were made on site. Most interestingly, herbs surpassed all other sales. Kertse eventually succumbed to public demand and offered ice cream sodas. And, a few years later he decided cease focusing on sales of sodas to concentrate on prescription sales [14] By 1960, the antique marble soda apparatus, "THE ARCTIC" still existed under the ownership of Erocle Conti [15]. Today, the building is an eatery, "Canvas, Corks, & Forks", where you can "paint, sip, and eat." 

Kertse's Pharmacy, early 1900s

 

Kertse's Pharmacy building, now Canvas, Corks, and Forks [16]

Arctic Freeze - many drink choices [17]

Kertse's Arctic Freeze soda fountain and Ercole Conti [18]

Eventually, the druggist business became available further up to 790 State St. Ownership turned over four times by the 20th century. First, was George Gertzen (1893-94); second, Roy Webber (1894-96); third, W.K. Wright & Co. (1896-98); and finally, Wells Pharmacy (1899 into the 1900s). Webber was also a graduate of the Albany School of Pharmacy [19].

Without doubt, Henry Kertse was the first licensed "pharmacist" in the city of Schenectady. Prior to his certification, two individuals practiced the dispensing of medicine with qualifications. As earlier mentioned, Andrew Truax and Andrew Veeder were medical doctors; implying they met or exceeded qualifications to "prescribe" medicine. To meet the needs of patients, the quest for more "pharmacists" rapidly increased before 1900.

From 1831 to 1900, there were 35 different druggists and pharmacists. Several druggists operated for one-to-two years. Others were either bought out or became partners of established businesses. Of these, 14 were named as of 1900 (dates of establishment in parenthesis based on City of Schenectady Directories 1841-1900):

• Duryee, George E. 423 State St (1878) 
• Duryee, Harry/Henry B. Jay corner of Franklin (1871-1893 at 191 State St)
• Horstmann Pharmacy, 128 Wall St (1890)
• Keller, R., 209 State St (1896)
• Kertse, H.A., 402 Union St (1889)
• Lyon, J. Trumbull, 335 State St (1891)
• Moore, H.S., 617 State St (1891)
• Netzchmann, J.R. 802 Hamilton St (1897)
• Rector, William, 454 State St (1884)
• Reynolds, C.F., 317 State St (1899)
• Sauter, William, 405 State St (1883-1887 at 211 State St)
• Sawyer, E.A., 267 State St (1899)
• Veeder, A.T. & Son, 261 State St (1883, note he was partner with Dr. Truax earlier)
• Wells' Pharmacy, 790 State St (1899) 

Druggist pioneers of the 1830s made way for growth of the pharmaceutical industry. During the 1830s, there were only three druggists. By the 1890s, 21 different druggists who operated their businesses in Schenectady. Below is a chart that shows the trend of stores peaked in the 1930s with 48 different drugstore operators. The chart does not take into consideration that several vendors operated at multiple locations.

Druggists by Decade [20]

As a postscript to the progression of druggists in history: I lived in Scotia for over 30 years. Memories are recalled about Seth Siskin (Seth's Drug Store on the corner of Fifth St and Vley Rd). Our family, as did many others in the neighborhood, walked to Seth's for our pharmaceutical needs; or stopped in on the way home. A smile and greeted by name, Seth took time not only to explain the medicines, but also asked how we were. Now, the building is a pizzeria.

Footnotes and citations:

1 The 22nd and 24th President of the United States. 
2 "History of PSSNY - Pharmacists Society of the State of New York", https://www.pssny.org/page/History/History-of-PSSNY.htm. 
3 "History of PSSNY - Pharmacists Society of the State of New York", https://www.pssny.org/page/History/History-of-PSSNY.htm.
4 Alonzo Paige Walton Collection, Schenectady County Historical Society.
5 "Daily Union", Schenectady, 2 August 1895.
6 Undated newspaper clipping, Schenectady Businesses Pharmacy file at SCHS.
7 SCHS Veeder 1800s family file.
8 "Daily Union", Schenectady, 2 August 1895.
9 "Samuel Hayden Sexton: 19th Century Schenectady Artist", 1970, by Ona Curran.
10 "The Globe", Schenectady Edition, Saturday 20 August 1900.
11 "Representative Business Men of Schenectady", 1893 indicated that he earned a Ph.G., Pharmacist. 
12 "Daily Union", 2 August 1895.
13 "Union Star", 1959.
14 "Schenectady Gazette", 25 June 1945.
15 "Schenectady Gazette", 28 January 1960.
16 Image from Google.com/maps.
17 "The Daily Gazette", Schenectady, 28 January 1960.
18 Ibid.
19 "Schenectady Daily Union" 2 August 1895.
20 Data is based on physical count of "druggist" business listed in City of Schenectady directories for years from 1841 to 1900; City of Schenectady directories 1900 to 1960 by decade; and, Schenectady city yellow pages 1961 to 2000 by decade.
 

Pharmacies around Schenectady

The peak of cold and flu season is fast approaching, and many of us are heading to our local pharmacy to stock up on medications, COVID tests, masks, and other essentials to get us through the season. Pharmacies are essential businesses in our communities and pharmacists have years of medical expertise to draw on when they help us decipher our prescriptions, recommend an OTC remedy, or administer vaccines. While the concept of creating and selling the remedies for what ails us can be traced back to medieval apothecaries, pharmacies as we know them today are only about 200 years old.

The SCHS Library recently received a donation of a pharmacy prescription book from Kerste’s Pharmacy. The donor asked us whether Kerste’s was “the oldest pharmacy in Schenectady” - a question that led us down a research rabbit-hole. Our answer to that question and other information that we found in our research will be compiled in a future blog post, but we wanted to take a moment to share some of the materials in the SCHS collections that relate to the history of pharmacies in our area.

Page from one of the Kerste's Pharmacy prescription books showing prescription notes pasted into a large ledger. Kerste's Pharmacy Records: ledgers of prescriptions processed through Kerste's Pharmacy,  1886, 1918, 1945.

Henry Kerste and two assistants mixing prescriptions in the pharmacy. Larry Hart Photo and Research Collection.

E. Steinfuhrer Drugs and Medicines. Southeast corner of Ferry and State Streets. Photo from the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.

Ad for Richard Fuller, Druggist and Apothecary from the Grems-Doolittle Library Clippings Collection, Pharmacies File.

Ad for William Sauter, Pharmacist, in the 1896 Schenectady City Directory from the City Directories Collection.

Learn more about the SCHS Library collections on our website, https://schenectadyhistorical.org/collections/, and our Guide to the History of Medicine in Schenectady County: https://schenectadyhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/History-of-Medicine-in-Schenectady-County-Research-Guide.pdf

Eleanor Dorcas Pond Mann, Schenectady Physician

This post was written by library volunteer Gail Denisoff.  

Many are familiar with the names of two early woman doctors in Schenectady – Dr. Janet Murray opened a medical practice on Jay Street in 1891 and Dr. Elizabeth Gillette, perhaps the best known, began her medical and surgical career on Union Street in 1900. Another woman who began her private practice here in 1903, Dr. Eleanor Mann, is lesser known.

Dr. Eleanor Mann, in horse-drawn carriage. Photo from Mann Family Photos file, Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.

 

Born Eleanor Dorcas Pond on November 12, 1867 in Franklin, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Samuel Willis Pond, a local farmer, and his second wife Dorcas B. Gilman. Her father had a son, Dana, from his first marriage who was 15 at the time of Eleanor’s birth and she also had a younger sister who died in infancy. Sadly, her father died just before her third birthday, at the age of 43, and her mother died less than three years later at only 27, leaving Eleanor an orphan at the age of 5.

 
Eleanor was taken in by a widowed aunt, Susan Blake, who had two older children, Edward and Mary, and lived in nearby West Medway, Massachusetts. She was a good student, graduating as the valedictorian of Medway High School in 1885. Because of her scholastic achievements, Eleanor was granted a partial scholarship to Boston University to which she commuted by train from Medway during her freshman year. In later years, she rented a room closer to the college in a boarding house in Somerville, borrowing money to continue her studies.

Described as a person of high intellectual ability, Eleanor was also fun-loving and practical. She and her close friend, Ida Shaw, had no interest in joining one of the established Greek societies on campus at the time. However, when they were seniors they decided to start their own society, one which was different from the others, based in fellowship and service to others. As Ida proclaimed, “Let us found a society that shall be kind alike to all and think more of a girl’s inner self and character than of her personal appearance.” They decided to use a triple Greek letter, and by Thanksgiving of 1888, had fully developed a constitution, motto, rituals, emblems, and bylaws for the new society, Delta Delta Delta. Two other unaffiliated seniors, along with several underclassmen became the first 19 women initiated into the society which still flourishes as a nationwide sorority. Eleanor and Ida were both involved in Tri Delta for the rest of their lives and are celebrated each November on the sorority's Founders Day. 

The first members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority at Boston University. Eleanor is seated on a chair in the middle row, second from left in a light-colored dress, 1889.

After graduating from Boston University in 1889, Eleanor hoped to continue her education in medical school despite opposition from most of her friends, but all her applications were rejected. She spent the next four years teaching Latin and science in Webster and Salem, Massachusetts. Finally, in 1893, she was accepted to Tufts Medical College in Boston along with four other women. Several Boston newspapers followed the progress of the five female students as their attendance at Tufts was considered a novelty at that time. In 1896 all five graduated, The Boston Post reporting: “From the medical department of [Tufts College], there will be five young ladies who have passed examinations…. Miss Eleanor Pond of Medway will appear at commencement. The subject of her thesis will be ”Antisepsis from a Modern Point of View." Miss Pond is a particularly bright, ambitious girl and deserves high praise for the obstacles which she has overcome so successfully during her college career.” Years later, Eleanor wrote an article for The Trident, her sorority publication, entitled “The Woman Doctor,” saying that women had unique qualities to contribute to the medical field and “the desire has grown and developed and has been passed on to her sisters of the future generations. They have overcome almost insurmountable obstacles to attain their purpose until now they have made a place for themselves and a worthy one beside their brother physicians.”

Portrait photo of Eleanor, undated.

Not long after graduation, on July 22, 1896, Eleanor married Arthur S. Mann, a childhood friend from Medway. Many of her Tri Delta sorority sisters attended, singing a Delta Delta Delta song instead of the traditional wedding march. The Boston Post reported, “One of the most fashionable home weddings held here for a dozen years was held at the home of Mrs. Susan Blake when her niece, Dr. Eleanor Dorcas Pond, was given in marriage to Mr. Arthur S. Mann of Chicago, formerly of this town.”

Eleanor and Arthur first lived in Chicago where Arthur, a brilliant MIT graduate, worked as a mechanical engineer. Eleanor practiced medicine there, lectured, and completed some post-graduate work at the Chicago Post Graduate College as well. She also founded a Chicago chapter of TriDelta in 1897. Later that year, she and Arthur moved to New York City where she continued to practice and lectured at the Woman’s Medical School. The Manns lived in New York until 1902 when Arthur’s job took them to Australia for a year. Women were not allowed to practice medicine there so Eleanor taught mathematics in the local high school.  

Arthur and Eleanor Mann seated on a porch in Australia, circa 1902.

When they returned to the United States in 1903, they settled in Schenectady where Arthur began a career with General Electric, receiving several patents for his work. They first lived on Glenwood Boulevard where Eleanor began her practice, devoted almost exclusively to obstetrics and children’s health. Not long after, they purchased a home at 2 Lowell Road, on the corner of Rugby, where Eleanor continued her practice and lived until her death.
Having no children, the Manns were able to travel extensively, including a trip around the world. Their home was full of mementos from their travels and the couple also worked to create beautiful gardens surrounding their home. In 1915, their happy life was shattered by Arthur’s illness and death. Eleanor cared for him devotedly and after his passing spent most of her time doing pro bono work for the poor of Schenectady.

Eleanor’s cousins, Edward and Mary Blake, came to live with her after Arthur died. In 1924, her own health began to deteriorate, but she kept up her practice. In August, she left for a rest at the Clifton Springs Sanitarium near Rochester, NY, with her cousin Mary. Eleanor was there only a few days when she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died the following day on August 26, 1924, at the age of 56. She is buried with her husband in the Mann family plot in Evergreen Cemetery, West Medway, Massachusetts. A sorority sister, Emma Gleason, recalled “At her death, people thronged to the house, the remark universally made being, ‘We loved her so.' What greater tribute could be given? Such was Eleanor Pond as I remember her – a friend I think of with loyalty and affection.”

Gravestone for Eleanor and Arthur Mann, Evergreen Cemetery.

 
Sources:
Applebaum, Beth Dees, "We Loved Her So", Trident, Winter/Spring 2018
Becque, Fran PhD, "Happy 125th Birthday Tri Delta!", Fraternity History and More, 11/27/2013.
Directory of Deceased American Physicians
"History of Delta Delta Delta: Eleanor Dorcas Pond", Tri Delta, Colgate University
New York State Census: 1905, 1915
Schenectady City Directories, 1904-1924
United States Federal Census: 1870, 1880, 1910, 1920

Elizabeth Gillette, Schenectady's First Woman Surgeon

This blog was written by Grems Doolittle Library volunteer Gail Denisoff.

Even as a child, Bessie Gillette didn’t conform to the norm. When other girls were making clothes for their dolls, she was making furniture. While their dolls were the mother or daughter of the dollhouse, Bessie’s was a doctor. When they played girls' games, she ran a drugstore from the family woodshed using tapioca from the kitchen as pills and colored water as potions. This wasn’t surprising considering almost all of her mother’s family were doctors and surgeons. They were also men.

Born in Granby, Connecticut on October 21, 1874, Elizabeth “Bessie” Van Rensselaer Gillette was the daughter of Albert Henry Gillette, a carpenter, and Mary Pinney Jewett Gillette. Her mother’s family were early settlers in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and her father’s family stretched back to the settlers of Gramby and Simsbury, Connecticut. Her family boasts several well-known ancestors, including Mayflower passenger Thomas Rogers and Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut.  Her middle name comes from her mother’s uncle, Van Rensselaer Pinney, who died at the beginning of the Civil War. She had two older sisters, Angie Emma, who was born in 1869, and Lura Mary, who died two days after her birth in 1872.

In 1882, when Bessie was eight years old, a typhoid epidemic swept through their town. Bessie, her sister, and several cousins were victims. Bessie was sick for months, but her sister Angie and some cousins did not survive. After her recovery, she was a nervous and weak child. To build up strength, she spent much of her time outdoors riding horses, skating, climbing trees, and participating in sports.

After attending local district schools, Bessie was sent to a boarding school in Simsbury at the age of ten, and three years later to the Misses Booth Private School in Hartford. After graduation she attended Woodside College for Girls in Hartford. As a young woman with a mind of her own, Elizabeth wanted to follow in the footsteps of family members and become a physician. Her family and friends advised against it, thinking she was too delicate. She persisted and entered the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in 1894. She graduated in 1898, losing only 3 days during that time to illness.

Elizabeth Gillette, circa 1890s. Photo from Gillette Family Photo File, Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.

Now Dr. Gillette, she interned at Women’s Hospital in New York City, receiving her medical license in 1899. She continued working there as a staff physician and also worked in several of the city’s clinics. Additionally, she volunteered time in Mission Schools where she even taught stenography, keeping two lessons ahead of her students.

In 1900, at the age of 25, Elizabeth moved to Schenectady where she had an uncle, watchmaker and jeweler Charles Bickelmann. She opened a private practice on June 1st of that year in a home she purchased at 254 (now 252) Union Street, at the corner of College Street. Although not the first female physician in Schenectady (that distinction goes to Dr. Janet Murray who opened a practice on Jay Street in 1893), Elizabeth was the first licensed female surgeon in Schenectady County. While quite unusual for the time, she was warmly welcomed by her male counterparts and later invited to join the Medical Society of Schenectady County.

Dr. Gillette's house at 252 Union Street. Photo by G. Denisoff, 2020.

Elizabeth was a familiar figure around Schenectady. She often made house calls, first by horse and carriage and soon after by automobile. In 1904, she bought a 14 horse power Maxwell and was often asked by local car dealers to be photographed in her car to inspire other women to purchase one.

Dr. Gillette in her 1904 Maxwell. Photo from the Gillette Family Photo File, Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.

After encountering several cases of cruelty to children in her practice, Elizabeth worked tirelessly to create a Humane Society in Schenectady which later included a home and shelter. In addition to being a founder, she also served as secretary of the society for many years. During World War I, she became involved in home front efforts and taught first aid classes and home care to soldiers’ families.

Elizabeth continued to study medicine all her life to keep up to date on new methods and procedures, especially in surgery, bacteriology and general medicine. She became a certified examiner for mental illnesses and a member of the surgical group of Ellis Hospital. Upon her 50th year of practice, she was honored by the Schenectady Medical Society for her meritorious service.

Dr. Gillette in her office, circa 1950. Photo published in the Daily Gazette.

With several lawmaker ancestors, it was no surprise that Elizabeth had a keen interested in politics. In 1919, a year before women obtained the vote, she was encouraged by Mayor George Lunn to run as a Democrat for the New York State Assembly from Schenectady District 2 and won by only 247 votes, becoming the first woman in upstate New York to be elected to the legislature and the last Democrat from Schenectady County to win until 1964. Her focus was on healthcare, regulation of drugs and mandating physicals for children working in factories. She also worked on local projects such as the construction of a well and pumping station to increase water supply and for funding to continue bridge and canal construction in her district all while maintaining her practice. At that time, terms lasted only one year and in 1920 she was defeated by Republican William Campbell who later became Mayor of Schenectady. She always encouraged women to become involved in politics, and in 1957, advised, “Vote in every election, go to every political meeting possible, learn all you can about political affairs – and always be a lady.”

Dr. Gillette, Legislative Portrait. Photo from New York Red Book, 1920.

She shared her large home with several boarders over the years. Around 1910 her parents came to live with her until their deaths in the 1920s. She was also interested in travel and in the 1930s took several prolonged ocean voyages. In 1931 she sailed to England and France, in 1933 from New York to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal and to Italy in 1935.

Elizabeth Gillette practiced medicine in Schenectady for six decades and was once nominated for the New York State “Doctor of the Year” award. By the mid 1950s she had slowed down a bit but still described herself as “one of those hard-core Connecticut Yankees.” She stopped making night calls and delivering babies, but declared, “I’m not in the operating room much anymore but I still set broken bones, something I love to do,” and planned to keep working “as long as my body will let me, I want to die in harness.”

Elizabeth Gillette and Agnes Haren. Photo from the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.

Dr. Gillette retired in 1959 at the age of 85, but stayed involved with civic organizations including the Schenectady Humane Society, the Schenectady Historical Society (a life member), and as life member and vice president of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Dr. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Gillette died at the age of 90 on June 26th, 1965, in her home. She never married and was survived by several cousins and her longtime live-in housekeeper and friend Agnes Haren. After private services locally, she was buried in her family plot at Granby Cemetery in her birthplace of Granby, Connecticut.

Elizabeth Gillette's gravestone. Photo by M. Cooley, 2015. Posted on FindAGrave.com.

She has been honored posthumously over the years for her contributions to the medical field. In 2000, Dr. Gillette was a recipient of the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce Women of Excellence Award. She earned recognition in 2017 as an inductee to the New York Historic Women of Distinction list by the New York State Senate.

Elizabeth’s Union Street home changed hands several times over the years, eventually falling into disrepair. Efforts were undertaken in the early 2000s by Schenectady County to restore it. The home is unique because it is one of the only Italianate style homes in the Stockade and serves as a gateway to the historic district. The exterior now looks similar to when she lived there and it still carries on a medical tradition with a woman chiropractor practicing on the first floor.

Sources:
"Biography of Elizabeth Van R. Gillette," The Medical Society of the County of Schenectady Capital Region Scrapbook: Pioneers in Medicine, Daily Gazette, by Jeff Wilkin, 7/13/2009
"Dr. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer “Bessie” Gillette," Find a Grave database and images
"Dr. Elizabeth Gillette," Schenectady Daily Gazette Obituary, June 28, 1965 
New York Red Book, An Illustrated State Manual, 1920
New York State Census 1905, 1915, 1925.
Schenectady County buys Gillette House, Spotlight News, by Jessica Harding, 9/14/2009.
United States Federal Census, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940.
Women of Distinction, NYS Senate, 2017 Historical Inductees Honoring Women’s History Month

Ellis Hospital during World War II

This post was written by Grems-Doolittle Library Volunteer Gail Denisoff.

Aerial view of Ellis Hospital around 1944.
Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.

In the early months of 1941, before the United States declared war on Japan, Ellis Hospital was already preparing for the possibility of war.  In The Hospital Courier, a newsletter Published by Ellis Hospital, more and more articles were being written about the role of the hospital in national defense.

The June 1941 issue described the problems hospitals were facing because of the National Defense Program.  Nurses and doctors were being called from hospital staffs to serve in Army and Navy camps and to fill positions in expanded industrial plants.  Defense industries were offering higher wages forcing hospitals to increase salaries to retain personnel.  Suppliers were increasing prices of medical supplies because of the demand by countries at war while delaying delivery of goods.  Ellis, like other hospitals, was feeling the pinch, especially since they weren’t fully recovered from the depression and needed community support.

Ellis Cadet Nurse Corps in 1944. From the Ellis Hospital Collection
at the Grems-Doolittle Library. 

By 1942 the problems intensified.  There was a shortage of nurses for both civilian and military hospitals. Nursing schools were increasing enrollment of students while giving more responsibility to nurses’ aides and other non-professional workers. Ellis began training their first group of 25 women for the Red Cross Volunteer Nurses’ Aide Corps which was to be ready for active service as of March 1, 1942.  By June, Ellis was training its third class although they were still short of the Schenectady quota for volunteer nurses’ aides.

The 38 students entering the Ellis Hospital School of Nursing in September 1942 was the largest in it's history.  These young women had “chosen a field of study where they can immediately meet the war time needs of the country."  At the same time, there were concerns.  Because of the increasing demands for doctors, nurses and hospital facilities there were suggestions to curtail hospitalization of maternity patients and eliminate courses in obstetrical and pediatric nursing from nursing school curriculum to prepare students more quickly for service with the Army and Navy.  Hospitals didn’t want to sacrifice gains made in lowering maternal and infant mortality rates and were actively fighting those proposals.

Ellis nurse being sworn in. From the Ellis Hospital Collection
at the Grems-Doolittle Library. 

By October 1942 forces serving overseas had their full quota of medical personnel according to the AMA but more physicians were needed for troops assigned to the US.  All able-bodied physicians under the age of 37 were being called for active duty and a high percentage of those under 45 were also being called.  The resulting shortage of doctors to care of the civilian population was hoped to be offset by redistribution of hospital doctors and the call for patients to visit doctors at their offices rather than having them make house calls, conserving time. 

On the home front, stepped up war production and the resulting rise in employment were factors in the sharp increase of accidents and deaths due to industrial accidents.  According to the National Safety Council, job related fatalities in the first year following Pearl Harbor totaled 46,500 while injuries topped 4 million putting a strain on hospitals.  Ellis was no exception to this trend.  With war production booming at the General Electric and American Locomotive plants, there were many work-related injuries resulting in hospital visits putting a strain on the reduced staff.

By mid-1943, food rationing greatly restricted the amount and variety of foods that could be purchased for patients.  Hospital menus became much less varied.  Fruits, vegetables and meats appeared on hospital menus less often.  Dietitians and Red Cross Canteen Corps workers tried to produce balanced diets for patients with what they had.  Patients in the hospital for more than seven days were required to surrender their ration books and the hospital was required to remove the proper number of stamps and turn them in to the local rationing board.  The hospital was not able to get extra food supplies for the stamps, however.  Hospital kitchens and individuals were also called upon to save waste fats when cooking.  When a pound or more was accumulated, they were to take it to a local meat dealer who would send it to a renderer as a material for glycerin, an essential ingredient not only in the manufacture of ammunition but also medicinal preparations such as surgical dressings, acid burn jellies, antiseptics and sulfa ointments.  New mothers were being instructed to breast feed their babies due to the shortage of milk.

Nursing professionals estimated that by the end of 1943, one in four graduate nurses would be needed by some branch of the armed forces both domestically and overseas.   Even more would be required to serve in industrial plants causing even more of a drain on hospitals.  Patients were encouraged not to request private duty nurses, which was common at the time. The School of Nursing enrollment was increased and a second class of students was set to begin in February of 1944.  Ellis was continuing to train Red Cross Volunteer Nurses’ Aides with over 85 in active service and 50 being trained by the fall of 1943. In addition, a new training program was being initiated for the US Cadet Nurse Corps.  It offered young women high school graduates an accelerated training course with all expenses paid and a monthly stipend.  In return, they would be available for essential nursing, civilian or military services for the duration of the war.

Unidentified serviceman at Ellis looking at a baby.
From the Ellis Hospital Collection at the Grems-Doolittle Library. 

The number of births recorded in 1943 was an all-time high for the United States.  As a result, Congress appropriated $20,000,000 in the 1944 fiscal year for the Maternal Care Program.  The program was intended to provide maternal and infant care for wives of servicemen who were earning below their civilian pay levels and couldn’t otherwise afford hospital care.  Ellis Hospital and their doctors cooperated with the Federal government in the local implementation of the program and care was equal to that given to non-military patients. 

Staffing concerns continued to be a critical issue.  The demand for 10,000 more graduate nurses in the armed services by July 1, 1944 was causing a strain on hospitals throughout the country.  Local and state authorities were pushing for an equitable distribution of civilian and military nurses to keep home front hospitals above the danger level in staffing.  All nurses between the ages of 21 and 45 who were physically fit and had no children under the age of 14 were classified as available for military service unless filling what was considered an essential nursing position in a hospital or public health agency. Even those nurses in essential positions, who were older, had families or not considered physically fit were classified as “essential for limited duration”.   The fall 1944 class of the nursing school was the largest in its history at 47, 42 of which were members of the Cadet Nurse Corps.  Ellis relied more and more on volunteers.  By early 1944, eleven classes of Red Cross Volunteer Aides had finished training programs and a new class had begun.  A new group, the Red Cross Dietitian’s Aides, were being trained to assist hospital dietitians with preparation of well-balanced patient meals, an ongoing challenge due to food rationing and limitations.  Civilians were being asked to find ways they could help their local hospitals function. Each Hospital Courier Newsletter ran banners asking readers to buy war bonds, volunteer with the Red Cross, conserve paper for war needs and enlist recruits for the Cadet Nurse Corps.

Volunteers from the Schenectady County Chapter of the
 American Red Cross setting up a food table from the
World War II photo collection of Hershel Graubart. 

Ellis joined the Red Cross and other hospitals around the country in collecting blood and plasma for use by the armed forces.  By the end of 1943 close to 6 million units had been collected with another 5 million units requested for 1944.  Civilians were encouraged to regularly give blood for both military and local use. In 1940, Ellis had opened the first blood bank east of Chicago and was essential in this endeavor.  Locally, there was a noticeable increase in accidents causing severe injury or death to children under the age of 14.  This was attributed to fathers being away and mothers not at home, working in war industries.  Traffic fatalities were down due to gas rationing but household and industrial accidents continued to rise.  Care for accident victims took a toll on hospitals in the form of unpaid bills and putting more of a strain on limited staffs and supplies.

The heavy influx of injured workers from GE and ALCO overtaxed the facilities of the hospital.  In 1944 alone, 14,657 patients were admitted to Ellis.  With the staffing shortages, it was sometimes necessary to close some floors and limit surgery to emergency cases.  The Red Cross volunteers proved invaluable during this time.

As the war continued to rage on in Europe, hospitals on the home front began to prepare for the post war challenges to come. Hospital services would need to be expanded to meet the needs of injured veterans.  It was expected that many hospitals would be building additions and updating facilities in the post war years.  Adequate care of wounded veterans and their families would be a major national concern and hospitals would need to work with the government to ensure veterans receive care in their local communities for both service and non-service related disabilities.  Even though mortality rates were dramatically down from previous wars due to the care received on the front, civilian hospitals were expected to receive an influx of war veterans with a wide range of injuries and special needs.  The Rehabilitation Act proposed using all existing hospital facilities for the treatment of returning military as well as civilians disabled by injury.  Federal and state funds were to be used for this program and civilian hospitals were expected to make every possible bed available when asked to do so by the Veterans Bureau. Cadet nurses were still being recruited to begin training so that they would be ready to serve in veteran’s hospitals and for postwar duties in civilian hospitals.  In total, 104 Cadet nurses were trained at Ellis Hospital.

Even with the war winding down in mid-1945, the increase in returning veterans and the depleted hospital staffs was causing some hospitals to curtail admissions.  By this time. Over 60,000 doctors, 54,000 graduate nurses and thousands of technicians were serving the military while civilian hospitals were treating more patients than any time in their histories.  Ellis was meeting the need of the community through the dedication of their staff and volunteers. 

At the end of the war, returning doctors and nurses were welcomed with open arms.  Hospitals slowly began rebuilding their staffs and changing to meet the needs of veterans.  Veteran nurses returned home with valuable skills and experiences, increasing their professional status. The Army had trained many nurses in specialties such as anesthesia and psychiatric care, and nurses who had served overseas had acquired practical experience otherwise unobtainable.  These new skills proved invaluable for Ellis and other hospitals as they continued to meet the challenges of post war America.

Pink Pills for Pale People

Samples of advertisements for Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, ca. 1912. The drawings for these advertisements were made by a Schenectady artist, Margaret Curran-Smith. From Collections of Grems-Doolittle Library. 

Patent medicines -- packaged drugs whose contents are incompletely disclosed -- were plentiful and profitable from after the Civil War through the early twentieth century. Before the first Pure Food and Drug Laws were passed, the manufacturers and promoters of patent medicines made millions of dollars from a credulous public eager for cures for a variety of ailments (and many of whom were unable to afford the regular care of a doctor). One of those patent medicines was Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, which were manufactured, distributed, and marketed in part by W.T. Hanson in Schenectady.

Image of Willis T. Hanson from drawing in newspaper. From Hanson surname file. 

There was no "Dr. Williams" involved with the Pink Pills, but early on, there was a Dr. Jackson connected to the product. In 1890, a Canadian physician, Dr. William Jackson, sold the rights to his Pink Pills for Pale People, a "fatigue remedy," to George Taylor Fulford, a Canadian entrepreneur. Sometime soon after, W.T. Hanson, a Schenectady businessman and druggist, secured the sole distribution rights for Dr. Williams Pink Pills for Pale People in the United States. Hanson was at the center of three separate but seemingly connected companies: the W.T. Hanson Company, the Hanson-Fulford Company, and Dr. Williams' Medicine Company. The executive office, advertising department, factory, and shipping department of all three companies was located at 147 Centre Street (now Broadway). A number of prominent area men, including Edwin Conde of Schenectady and Dr. Alexander Duncan Langmuir of Albany, served on the Dr. Williams' Medicine Company's board of directors. Conde also served for a time as the publicity promoter for the company.

Package of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. Packages of 40 pills were sold for 50 cents from druggists or directly from the Schenectady manufacturer. Image from the Kansas Historical Society's  Kansapedia "Cool Things" topics (http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/cool-things-pink-pills-for-pale-people/10240)

The advertisements for Dr. Williams Pink Pills for Pale People, like those for other patent medicines of the period, offered miraculous personal testimonies, crediting the Pink Pills with rescuing themselves or their children from the brink of death. Statements such as "I tried them and firmly believe that if I had not I should be in my grave right now" and "That Dr. Williams' Pink Pills saved my life is beyond doubt," were common. The medicine claimed to cure chorea, "locomotor ataxia, partial paralyxia, seistica, neuralgia rheumatism, nervous headache, the after-effects of la grippe, palpitation of the heart, pale and sallow complexions, [and] all forms of weakness in male or female." In one advertisement, the Pink Pills were even credited with curing paralysis, after a person took the pills for four months!

The notorious advertisement in which Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People  is credited with curing a  boy's paralysis.  From Hanson surname file.

Advertisements for Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People can be found in newspapers from across the country. In 1901, the advertising efforts of Dr. Williams' Medicine Company were the subject of a glowing article in the Omaha Daily News, which heralded the company as "an example of what can be accomplished by young men in this twentieth century of keen business rivalry and ceaseless competition."

As the twentieth century dawned, patent medicines came under increased scrutiny. In an article in Collier's entitled "The Great American Fraud," Samuel Hopkins Adams took on the patent medicine industry.  Adams listed Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People in a group of nostrums he referred to as "the most conspicuous of this kind now being foisted on the public," and noted the composition of the pills as "green vitriol, starch and sugar." Adams' articles led to the passage of the first Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. The Act required more accurate labeling of medicines, and curbed some of the most misleading, overstated, or fraudulent claims that appeared on the labels of patent medicines.

In 1912, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station conducted an analysis of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. The author of a subsequent report could not resist commenting: "in using the pills the patient is directed first to purge the bowels, then take the pills, bathe frequently, keep the bowels regular, and partake of a nutritious diet. The thought occurs that perhaps the desired result might well be secured by following all of this treatment except the taking of the pills." Dr. Pincus Rothberg, a chemist with the Bureau of Chemistry at the Port of New York, also analyzed the pills and found the composition of the pills to be more than 37 percent sugar, 13 percent iron sulphate, 11 percent potassium carbonate, 15 percent starch, and 17 percent vegetable substance, with traces of talc and a small quantity of strychnin. Rothberg's analysis was published in The Composition of Certain Patent and Proprietary Medicines in 1917. The examination of the Pink Pills led to a court battle; in 1917, the Dr. Williams Medicine Company was found guilty of misbranding its product.

Although the Dr. Williams Medicine Company continued to exist in Schenectady in the early 1920s, it was surely in its decline as the tide turned away from the patent medicine era. In 1922, popular rhyming syndicated columnist Walt Mason singled out Dr. Williams Pink Pills for Pale People in two different columns disparaging patent medicines. "And then at last we're ailing and getting worse each day, and pink pills, unavailing, seem made to throw away," he wrote in one, and "I take pink pills to cure my ills, my gout and flu and tetter; I swallow ten, and now and then I think I'm feeling better" in another. The terminology of the patent medicines began to be used as references to touted would-be panaceas that have little actual benefit; in 1926, a congressman derided a bill before the House of Representatives as being "pink pills for pale people." As early as the 1930s, patent medicines, including Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, were being exhibited as artifacts of a bygone era.

The History of Medicine in Schenectady County

In anticipation of our program about the history of medicine in Schenectady County this Thursday evening, we would like to highlight materials related to the history of medicine in our collections.

Please click here for a research guide to sources pertaining to the history of medicine in the Grems-Doolittle Library. In addition to the sources listed in this guide, family files, city directories, city and county maps, and other library materials are useful in tracing the development of the medical profession in the city and county of Schenectady and learning more about the area's doctors, nurses, dentists, and other medical professionals. Below, we have included a small sample of materials -- please visit the Library to see more of the resources available for research!


Operating room at Ellis Hospital, ca. 1900.
Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.

Advertisement card for Hill Dental Company in Schenectady.
From Grems-Doolittle library Documents Collection.

Steel work addition to Sunnyview Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center on Rosa Road in Schenectady, 1959. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection

Minutes of the Medical Society of the County of Schenectady, 1810.
From Grems-Doolittle Library Documents Collection.

Label from Barhydt and Van Patten in Schenectady. From prescription book, ca. 1900.

Entries in Schenectady Nurses' Directory, 1905.
From Grems-Doolittle Library Documents Collection.