CORRESPONDENCE OF DR. JOHN SEE OF NYC

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Here are four letters by Dr. John See (18 Apr 1768 - 25 July 1838 m. 2 Dec 1797 Maria Seaman), "a physician in North Tarrytown and New York City", to his teacher and mentor Dr. William Wilson of Clermont.

The letter are transcribed by permission of the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, holders of the Wilson Family Collection. Click on the Wilson Family link for a brief biography of Dr. William Wilson and his role as agent of Robert R. Livingston in the community of Clermont, NY.

The standard history of Columbia County says of the Wilsons: "Dr. William Wilson...came in 1784 from Scotland at the solicitation of Chancellor Livingston, whose family physician he was. Dr. Wilson succeeded Peter Van Ness as a first judge of the county. He died in 1828. A son, William H. Wilson, now eighty-eight, years old, occupies the homestead. The latter engaged in the War of 1812 as hospital surgeon, and was appointed surgeon in the regular army before the close of the war, when but twenty-two years old."

1. Oct. 7th, 1797 Saddle River (NJ) Wilson Papers box 4:[item] 5
2. March 20th 1799 Saddle River, 6:35
3. Feb. 10th 1810 New York (City) 16:23
4. Apr. 16th, 1819 New York 24:37

Dr. John See, son of Peter See, is listed as #50 in Glenna See Hill's article on the Sees of Philipse Manor (NYG&B Record 1983), #56 in Mackenzie's See genealogy. He was married two months after writing the first letter, and his first child, John DeBaun See was born (Sept 20, 1799) several months after writing the second letter, in which he says "we are few in number as yet." Since the expected given name Peter is missing from his list of children, might this hint at an unrecorded older child who died young?

Probably the John See recorded as paid by Robert R. Livingston through his agent Dr. Wilson to tutor "Mr. Barnes daughters" in 1794-95 (Settlers & Residents: Clermont) was this John See working his way through medical training: the last of the letters mentions spending at least a few years at Clermont.

I take this opportunity to inform you that, agreeable to your opinion, ibid in yours of Sept. 5th last, I have (with the Certificate you gave me) been before one of the judges of the Court of common pleas in and for the County of Orreng, who without any further Witness, but a gentleman's knowing your hand writing gave me licence to practice phisick, which was granted and foiled [sic] the 5th day of Oct. last and being as I understood by the Clerk the second only in the County.

I took my lodgings in this vicinity on the 5th day of Aug. last which I believe will in the cource of a few years be an excellent stand for the business.

I must also inform you that whatever business I have yet had (which has been as much, and more than I could have expected) has been attended with the greatest success. I have had many Patients in the fever, but never one that has had two returns of it after my first visiting them which has induced people to come to me from 10 to 16 miles of [strange squiggle].

I must conclude with [con]fessing your Humb[le] [rip in paper] John See

I never recieved yours of Decm. 1st got bill 20 Feb. 99 which I recieved with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction to hear that you are all in good health, and most humbly confess my gratitude to you for the good advice you gave me. But to be short, I must as yet console myself with what little I have got for the present and trust in kind providence untill such times as I can get some more as money is extreamly scrase and hard to come at nowadays. We can do more business hear in one year than we can get pay for in two, and to urge people so soon would blast my character at once.

I expect to be up here if time and opportunity will permit by the middle of April some time with an uncle of mine who wants to purchase 30 or 40 Milks Cows for cash, and he wants to ascertain as near as may be the cash price of good cows

I have nothing particularly to write at present, but must [not] forget to inform you that we are all in good health at present thank God but are but few in number as yet.

I am with respect sn.[sincerely?] your most Obed. Humb. Serv.

John See

I take this opportunity to inform you that I enjoy very good health (with my Family) at present Thank God, and should be very happy to hear from you and all yours, and more so to see you.

I now live at 299 Greenwich Street a few doors from Wm Peter Livingstone, and am at present engaged in the practice of Phisic and in the drug line.

If I could be of any service to you, or to any of you[r] neighbors [odd squiggle], I should be happy to serve you with good articles and as low as they be bought in town.

I expect you will be somewhat inquisitive to hear about the increase of my family. We have 2 sons [John D. & Isaac] and 2 daughters [Eliza & Mahala; Clara, b. 1803, must have died young] all active and smart for their years. My 2 elders are boys the one 10 years and the other 8 both in latter School and both conster[?] and parse very well for their ages.

I have no more at present but my best wishes to you and your family.

John See

Letter #4
New York Apr. 16th 1819

D[ea]r Sir

I once more sit down to discharge a duty which I have had on my mind for a long time, and ought long since to have discharged but this acknowledgement is the only apology I have to offer for my neglect of duty. I must confess I feel many obligations to you, and gratitude to God that it has been my happy lot to have the privilege of going through my studies with you. I have since the time I left you had many opportunities of conversing and consulting with some of the most eminent Physicians of New York, as well as the advantages of a full course of lectures, on every branch of medicine; but yet I find nothing like coming to the point; for I often see these great Physical Professors go so far into swamps, jails and even into cabbage yards, to ascertain the causes of fevers, that it appears to me they altogether lose sight of curing their patent; for it really appears to me, that hundreds of patients lose their lives under the care of the most skilful Physicians (I.E. allowing theory to be skill) of many diseases quite easy to be cured. I have many times thought of an expression you once made to me in your office; although it made me shudder at that time, and even think that it was the height of presumption: but since that time however, it has had great weight on my mind. I.E. it is a shame for Doctors to let their patients die with a fever. I must whilst writing state to you that I had to form a system of practice for myself, according to what you once told me, and I have succeeded so well in it, that I have universally found where I could not cure my patients, I have never been able to succeed with the assistance of any other man; although I am willing to confess; that I have been much benefitted in point of theory, by the conversation as well as the lectures of our Professors. I have since I have since [sic] I have been in practice lost but one patient with the Dysentery, a young woman apparantly struck with death from the first, her pulse was never felt to beat from the time she took the complaint; she was attended by two Physicians in consultation with me; not one with Hooping Cough, not one with Cholera Morbus, although a more dangerous case never was witnessed by man than I once was called to attend; it was a man that had been under the care of two Physicians; from Saturday until Monday in the afternoon, when they could not attend again until the next day. I was called in, found his extremities a dead cold, his eyes sunk in their orbits, a cold clammy sweat on his whole body, his stomach appeared to be drawn up with cramp, his pulse not to be discerned at all, and every thing they had given him, ran from him like soap suds both ways; under all these alarming circumstances I prescribed for him, and providentially, the first table spoonful of a mixture I gave him, put an end to his puking and in a short time stopt the purging; it took me three days with all the restoratives I could give him to raise his pulse, so as to discern it, and six weeks [illegible word] he could go to work again. Measles, Quinsey[?], Malignant Sore Throat, Specie[?] Intermittent, Remittent, Typhus, Billious and Yellow Fevers, none, Cholera Infantum, not one in seven years, but one with Plurisy. You have undoubtedly had the history of the Yellow Fever, and in all probability judged from the mortality of it, that it is specifically different in its nature, causes, and treatment, from every other kind of fever. But Sir, I can declare to you from my own observation that I do not believe the Yellow Fever in its own nature ever to be contagious; neither do I believe that it ever of itself differs from the Intermittent Billious Fever we had so much of during the two first years I was in Clermont [southwestern Columbia County, NY]. I am fully persuaded in my own mind, were they all treated in the same way you treated your patients, not one out of an hundred would ever die with it. I was out of town part of the time the Yellow Fever was so prevalent here, so that my opportunities have been limited; but I have prescribed for several patients, and I universally found them to be completely intermittent, and with the same treatment generally treated the Intermittent, they never failed to recover in a few days, and some of them in fact even that were violently attacked, by simply cleansing the stomach and bowels, and a strong sweat[? looks like "swat"], and if this remedy was always resorted to I believe few if any would ever die with it. I must however relate to you the case of one woman I was called to, 3 days after she took the fever she was of a very billious habit, and being much fatigued, in a very warm day, was taken with a violent fever, headache, and backache, puking and purging both ensued; in this situation I found her much debilitated; my first prescription was El. Parag. et Spt. Nitr.D. in order to allay the irritation of her stomach, IP soon after Puk[?] Febr. to the last I added some anti[???] to cleanse her stomach and bowels, with these and plenty of diluting drinks, I succeeded so well that in 6 hours I brought on a complete intermission. The next morning however before anything could be done to check the progress of the fever, it returned again with more than common violence; I again succeeded in bringing on a complete intermission, but in a short time after a train of Symptoms succeeded, which denoted a considerable degree of putrefaction; her tongue and gums now became black as ink, much chapped, and her spittle mixt with blood. There being no time to lose, nor any thing to hope from the advice of another Physician, I now determined to try the virtues of the bark, some of which I had at hand of the best quality, to which I added a small quantity of Sar. Ntr. Pur. and made it into pills, of which I ordered her to take 6 every hours during the day, her stomach and bowels being well cleansed, and in perfect tone; she bore the bark well. I observed no return of fever through the day and such [was] the effect of the Bark that she had no notion of it; she continued the medicine for 2 days. By that time, the skin of her tongue and gums pealed off as though it had it had been pealed with a scalpell; which left her mouth in such a miserable condition that she refused to take any more medicine, notwithstanding which, she recovered so fast that she went to the country in a few days. The progress of this case fully convinced me that the Billious fever under particular circumstances, or for want of particular treatment will ultimately change to a putrid fever, and that constitutes what we call yellow fever; and may readily be produced in any country, or city, without any specific contagion or importation. The woman spoken of had a husband and six or seven children, lived in a cellar kitchen, crowded together in a small place, and none of the family, neighbors, or visitors ever took it from her. I likewise called in to see a patient of Doct. Birchs. about the seventh day of his confinement; he was a strong robust man, and laid in a very favorable situation; I found by inquiry that it was a regular intermittent and the seventh, the day that I saw him he was perfectly clear from fever. All he complained of was a heavy load on his stomach, nausia and some inclination to vomit, he eyes appeared to have a yellow tinge, the pupil and vision perfect. I was very particular in my inquiry respecting the medical treatment he had received, as well for my information, as satisfaction, he told me that at first, the Doct. gave him small doses of mercury which disordered his stomach to such a degree, that it was not possible for him to take any more of it, after he found the internal use of Mer. impracticable, he then rubbed his gums with it, which had the same effect for the moment the Doct began the application, the man began to strain to puke, so that that plan was abandoned. What his future treatment was, I never heard -- was fully satisfied however, that there never was a more favorable opportunity of curing a patient than that was at the seventh day. The man lingered along until the fifteenth day and died. Many other cases have I witnessed every one of them were regular intermittents, but generally occurred in very billious habits, but fearing I shall be too tedious, I defer any farther remarks. I have a large family, but very healthy thank God. I would be very happy to see you if ever you come in town, I hope you will be good enough to call and see me. So no more at present but my best wishes, and respect to you and all enquiring friends.

Doct. John See

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