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312 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
DENTISTRY
The Register of June 15, 1890, quotes an old resident as saying: "I
can well remember the time when there were no dentist in Sandusky.
The barbers in those times did all the dental work. They pulled the teeth
with the old-fashioned screws and clamps, and the person who was so unfortunate
as to be obliged to avail himself of the services of the hardhearted
tooth jerkers suffered more agony during the operation than he
would todayhaving his leg taken off without an anesthetic. I remember
when a man came into a barber's shop to have an enormous fang jerked
out. His face was swollen frightfully frpm toothache and his eyes were
bloodshot from loss of sleep. He was in great agony and wanted his tooth
pulled instantly, regairdless of consequence. The barber pried the man's
mouth open to the fullest extent, looked at the tooth and remarked it
would be a tough job. The owner of the thumping, jumping fang insisted
it must come out, so the barber prepared for the struggle. I am
not exaggerating when I say the first tool he produced looked like a pair
of modern ice tongs. He placed the victim in a barber's chair, inserted
the tongs in his mouth, adjusted the clamps to the tooth, told his assistant
to hold his head down firmly, braced his feet against the chair, and pulled
with all his strength. The tooth broke off, releasing the clamps, the barber
fell backwards on the floor, while his victim emitted the most unearthly
howls ever heard from a human being. He sprang from his chair and,
just as the barber got to his feet, attacked him. Bystanders interfered
and prevented a fight. The victim finally cooled down, and a few minutes
later an instrument with a screw in one end and flanked by clamps was
twisted into the tooth, and by the combined efforts of the barber and an
assistant the refractory tooth was finally lifted out amid the howls and
groans of the victim, whose gums and mouth were badly lacerated.''
Unless the narrator referred to some temporary want of dentists he
had a good memory, for the first dentist came to Sandusky in the early
'30s. The Clarion of January 1, 1831, contains the advertisement of
two doctors, J. and T. Davis, one of whom advertises he will act as dentist
and the other says he will engage in the general practice. The
Clarion of July 30, 1843, contains the advertisement of Dr. William P.
Thompson, a dentist. He is closely followed by Dr. R. L. Mills, March
1,1845, with office at the Steamboat Hotel. Dr. M. F. Delano has an ad.
in the issue of October 5, 1844, with office in the old postoffice. He was
here as late as 1855 and later had an office in his residence on Market
Street near the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In 1849 he spent the summer
on the farm of the father of Mrs. Samuel Irvine in Margaretta Township.
J. W. Aiken came next, with an office over S. W. Butler's store. He
owned the house now occupied by Arthur Gallagher, in the West End,
which was used as the Children's Home in the cholera time of 1849. On
September 11,1849, L. T. Dryer advertises his office opposite the Veranda
Hotel. In 1866 the firm of Tate & Stroud were Sandusky dentists. In
1867 the dentists were C. T. & C. E. Stroud, E. J. Waye and D. F.
Wemple. In 1873 S. G. Ashcroft, C. T. Stroud, Waye & Reid and D. F.