There were few doctors practicing in the early days of Cato's history. Doctors John Jakway and Eleazer Squyer were the earliest in this area north of the river.

Like other physicians of the day, the doctors made house calls traveling by horseback and carriage to the rustic homes of the ill. There they practiced their rudimentary skills often with the aid of family members. If the patient had an easily treated ailment, the doctor would diagnose the problem and treat the patient with further instructions to be carried out by the family.

When a patient required surgery it was done on the spot as the physician had no experienced help and the concept of sterility was not yet known. In these situations, the doctor may have spent the night at the patient's home leaving only when he was comfortable with the patient's progress.

If the physician was not able to diagnose an affliction, he might have employed trial and error as other physicians would not have been available to consult with.

Chlorophyll or ether would have been used to sedate the patient and in the absence of these, whiskey would have to suffice.

When epidemics like Typhoid Fever or Yellow Fever made an appearance, many people died before the doctor could reach them as the doctors were spread too thin to attend to all of the infirmed.

Imagine what it would have been like at the time if someone in your family needed a doctor. Another family member would mount their horse or walk on foot to the home of the doctor. Now imagine that the doctor was out attending to another sick patient. The best that could be done was to leave a note for the doctor and hope that he would respond in good time. As you can imagine, many people were forced to treat themselves.

Of course, the earliest settlers were well acquainted with self medication. Folk remedies were passed down to them from their ancestors or taught to them by the local Native Americans. Many of the old home remedies were plant based and were effective in treating mild to moderate conditions. If these were not effective, they could always resort to alcohol to at least partially numb the pain.

After 1824, when the town was comprised of the present day boundaries, there were more physicians but there were also more patients as the population had increased. By this time, Dr. Jacob Drew had moved here from Vermont and had settled near the creek now bearing his name. He was a well-respected doctor here for many years.

It was about this time that the Auburn Prison doctor began to use inmate cadavers for dissection in training medical students. This process did much to advance the knowledge of the students who were trained in Auburn and who later practiced in the outlying areas of the county.

In general, physicians of the day believed that many ailments could be traced to “bad blood” and, as a result, many patients were partially drained. This bloodletting practice was used on patients that were only slightly sick as well as on those that were already weakened. If bloodletting was not effective, purging and sweating were employed. As one can imagine, many a patient was lost in these treatments.

By the 1850s, after the County Medical Society had been well established and had expelled many practicing “quacks,” the opinion of the inhabitants toward doctors was one of distrust. This mistrust gave impetus to the recently emerging medical specialties of Allopaths and Homeopaths.

Allopathic doctors believed that remedies could be derived from plants that, when administered, created the opposite reaction to the symptoms exhibited in a patient. Allopathic doctors in the Cato area were doctors Elijah Baker, D.O. Blood and Eugene Foreman.

Homeopathic doctors subscribed to the opposing belief that plant remedies should be administered that would mimic the symptoms of the patient, therefore, if a patient had a fever, they gave them a decoction of Peruvian bark which would raise the patient's temperature and cause sweating. Homeopathic doctors in the Cato area were doctors Oscar Bartlett, Edgar Everts and Henry Mera.

So favorable was the public to the plant based therapy that doctors quickly began to produce their own patent medicines. These were very popular for a wide variety of afflictions and produced numerous spin-offs like that of the local medicinal peddler.

Like any successful venture, the development of patent medicine was capitalized upon by unscrupulous vendors that had wild product claims. These unproven remedies, many now using mercury and other dangerous chemicals, eventually led to regulation.

After the ebb and tide of these changes in medical practice, the movement back to the traditional doctor was well received. By this time, the local physicians had received advanced training from the many universities and began to specialize in surgery, optometry, dentistry, etc.

Doctors specializing in one area of practice had a more detailed knowledge of their field which was beneficial to both the patient and the reputation of the doctors in general.

Next time you are sitting in your doctor's office waiting to be seen, thank your lucky stars that your doctor will not be using any of the old methods to treat you.

Thank you to Bill Hecht for his huge contribution to the CIVIC Heritage Photo Day held last Saturday, Dec. 16. Bill is one of the most active people in the area of historical preservation and is highly esteemed by all. His selfless dedication in helping the various historical societies is, without question, some of the most important work that can be done.

Eva Taylor Sholes is the Town of Cato historian and can be reached at 834-6306