History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

50 History of Medical Practice in Illinoisas he continues in the profession, to bestow upon its cultivation and applicationin the treatment of disease, his earnest and undivided attention. . . .Nothing is more certain than that no man can do justice to two or threediverse pursuits at one and the same time. . . . And I am ready to exhortyou to go on, faithful to your chosen calling, regardless of the smiles orfrowns of those around you, until at last you reach that field on which thegrim messenger will never enter." Unknown to them then, soon many ofthe physicians listening to Dr. Davis that evening would be working onfields where that same "grim messenger" had stalked so recently, amassingthe statistics which were to constitute the report of the Committee on MilitarySurgery presented to the 1864 House of Delegates.1 863 —JacksonvilleThe flyleaf of this year's transactions reads: "Eleventh Annual Meeting,for the years 1861, 1862 and 1863, Jacksonville, May 5, 1863." The first warmeeting of the Illinois State Medical Society opened inthe Old PresbyterianChurch in Jacksonville.At the opening session, Dr. D. W. Stormont, Chairman of the Committeeon Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths, reported: "In the presentdistracted condition of our nation we cannot recommend any measures aslikely to be efficient in securing the passage of this law. Hygeia is deposed;Mars now reigns supreme."Dr. J.H. Hollister offered a resolution "that we tender to those of ourmembers serving as medical officers in the Army, and now absent in thefield, assurances of our kind remembrance of their humane labors and personalsacrifices; that we congratulate them upon their being able to contributeservices so valuable to a cause so noble, and that we join with themin earnest desires, and personal efforts if need be, for the early restoration ofpeace and integrity of the entire Union."The members in attendance elected new officers,instructed committeesto proceed as before, and voted that an examining committee from theSociety should attend the examination of candidates for graduation fromthe Chicago Medical College and the Medical Department of the LindUniversity. The cooperation between the schools and organized medicinewas such that, in all probability, this committee was the first MedicalExamining Board in Illinois, although it operated without state supervisionor laws.Then they met in the entry of the church, on the streets of Jacksonville,in the stuffy railroad station, perhaps in rooming house parlors and hotellobbies, to discuss that lonely man in the White House, the campaignsunder way, whether the war could last another year, the blockade of theSouth, the ability of the Generals, the power of both Armies. Was the prison