Science & Medicine
Since many of the physicians sketches on this page, are graduates of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a short overview of the history of the University may be found on the 'School' page, click here.
Arnold, Abram B. (2-4-1820 to)
Dr. Arnold was born in Goessingen, Wurtemberg, Germany. He began school here and spent the first dozen years of his life until 1833 when his parents emigrated to the US, specifically Berks County, PA. They settled in Meiersburg, where his father, Isaac, went into the mercantile business. Even though aged, his father continued the business after the family move to Baltimore. He died in Baltimore 9n 1833 at the age of 80 and his wife and Abram’s mother, Hannah (Blumenthal-also from Goessingen) died at the age of 91.
Abram attended parochial schools and gymnasium in his native country, as well as the public schools in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Meiersburg College in 1842. He then began working under the supervision of his uncle Doctor Levis of London, PA. After a brief time he entered the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia where he studied for one year and from there went to Washington University. He graduated from Washington in 1848. He was appointed chair of material medica*. After a merger of this school with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Arnold occupied the chair and clinical professor on diseases of the nervous system. He then for almost 15 years chaired the department of medicine. He published for the use of Students a "Alanual of Nervous Diseases" also contributed a number of articles on medical subjects to medical journals. His paper on "Circumcision" is considered a valuable contribution. In 1892, he retired from active practice.
Doctor Arnold was married to Ellen Dennis. Doctor Arnold worshipped in Bolton Street Temple. He was a member of a number of the leading lodges. He was ex-president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Baltimore, and of a number of other organizations of the profession. Doctor Arnold was chairman of Section of General Practice at the Ninth International Medical Congress that met at Washington. Chess was always a diversion of Doctor Arnold, and he was president of the Baltimore Chess Club. As president of the Monumental Club he played against Paul Morphy, champion chess player on his visit to Baltimore. He lost but was not deterred. Steinmetz, a leading chess player of that time, was a personal friend of the Doctor's.
* Materia medica (English: medical material/substance) is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medicines). The term materia medica was used from the period of the Roman Empire until the 20th century, but has now been generally replaced in medical education contexts by the term pharmacology.
Becker, Herman (to 1-12-1937)-Medical Illustrator
Mr. Becker came to Baltimore in 1895 or 1896. He came to illustrate one of the major medical works of Dr. Howard A. Kelly and was requested to come by his friend and fellow art school classmate in Leipzig, Max Brödel (see profile). Afterwards he did much of this class of work for Dr. Thomas S. Cullen and other well-known surgeons. His illustrations appear in many medical textbooks.
Bloede, Victor Gustav (1849 to 1937) Chemist and Chemical Manufacturer
Victor Bloede was born in Dresden, Germany, the son of a physician. The family came to America and settled in Brooklyn, NY. Victor was interested in natural science and graduated from Cooper Institute in 1867, his class was the first to receive diplomas for the scientific course. He concentrated on chemistry and accepted a position with the chemical works in Brooklyn in 1868. He began to study the manufacture of chemicals and pharmaceutical preparations. He moved to Baltimore in 1877 and established himself as a chemist and manufacturer of chemical products. He made several advances in his field, including the advancement and development of dyeing of cotton fabrics. He was granted over fifteen patents between 1890 and 1895, one of the most important being for a process for dyeing in ‘sun-fast’ unfading shades. He was important to the city of Baltimore and the country as a whole.
He presented in 1908 the new building for the Hospital for the Consumptives of Maryland, a building that sat within twenty-three acres in Towson. He dedicated the building to his mother. It is the ‘Marie Bloede Memorial’ building.
He organized the First National Bank of Catonsville, where he served as vice-president for ten years and in 1908 was made president. He organized and financed the Patapsco Electric Company.
Bressler, Frank C. (9-1859 to 5-18-1935)
Mr. Bressler was born in New York, his father immigrating from Frankenthal in Bavaria prior to the Civil War. Graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1885 and taught at the Baltimore College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was professor of children’s diseases. Mr. Bressler spent some of his early youth in Frankenthal. He was also the chief surgeon of the Baltimore division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was also chief of the surgical staff at Sinai Hospital.
He was a large contributor to the Maryland School of Medicine. In fact a building that houses the research division is named the Bressler Building. This building houses several laboratories and the offices of the dean.
In 2008 supporters of the University School of Medicine and the Medical Alumni Association gathered for the first annual Frank C. Bressler Society Luncheon. Dr. Bressler left the school 1.2 million upon his death. This was a great gift during the great depression and allowed the school to move forward.
Dr. Bressler was also one of the organizers of the Wiessner Orphan Asylum in Highlandtown and served as president of that institution.
Dr. Bressler was married to Emma and in 1900 was living on Bank Street with his wife and daughter, Mary. In 1910 he and his family were living on South Broadway.
Brödel, Max (1870 to 1941)-Medical Illustrator
He was born in Germany, but eventually immigrated to the United States. Max Brödel, the father of Hopkins' medical art program and the father of modern medical illustration, was a mostly self-taught medical illustrator, who always aimed to draw a picture that would show more than any photograph could. This required an exquisite understanding of anatomy that could be gained only by dissection or watching surgery.
Brödel arrived in Baltimore at anatomist Franklin P. Mall's invitation in 1894, intending to stay a year at most. The years stretched on as Brödel drew on demand for gynecologist Howard Kelly and then for Harvey Cushing, Walter Dandy, William Halsted, Thomas Cullen, Mall, and anyone else on the Hospital staff who could manage to claim some of the artist's time. Brödel's determination to understand completely what he was drawing led to his becoming an investigator - and even devising some new surgical approaches. For instance, he recommended that surgeons start fishing for kidney stones from the avascular part of the kidney, in order to limit damage to the organ's filtering mechanisms, which are in the vascular areas. This insight, and a sturdy, triangular stitch still known as Brödel's suture, developed from the artist's in-depth study of a kidney in the autopsy room.
Art as applied to medicine, one of the most unlikely medical specialties, achieved its greatest national development at Johns Hopkins. Founded in 1911, the Hopkins Department of Art as Applied to Medicine is the oldest medical illustration program in the country.
Eventually, Brödel was offered a job at a large private American clinic and, in a panic not to lose him, Thomas Cullen tapped a Baltimore business friend, Henry Walters, founder of the Walters Art Gallery, asking him to cover the cost of establishing a Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at the medical school. In 1911, Brödel was named the department's first head and went on to train some of the world's leading medical illustrators. Brödel presided over the department until his retirement in 1940 at the age of 70. Max Brödel should be referred to as the man who put art into medicine.
Brack, Dr. Charles Emil (1865 to 4-4-1935)
Dr. Brack was one of the city's leading obstetricians. He was born in Baltimore and attended the Friends School and the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Brack's father was the late Emil Brack, a well-known pharmacist in Baltimore's "Old Town”, who for many years conducted his apothecary at the corner of Ensor and Forrest Streets.
In addition to his very wide practice as obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Brack found time to lecture and instruct in clinical obstetrics at the University of Maryland. He was also senior obstetrician at Mercy Hospital and a member of their board of governors. A great number of the city's obstetricians were trained by him.
Dr. Brack served as treasurer of both the Baltimore City Medical Society and the Chirurgical Faculty. He was also a member of the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons.
Budeker, William (9-21-1870 to 8-18-1952)
Dr.Wm.Budeker was born in Baltimore, the son of Chas. A. (1838-1921) and Anna Elizabeth (Schone) Budeker, natives of Germany, who came to the United States and settled in Baltimore about the close of the Civil War. Mr. Charles A. Budeker was for twenty five years a successful retailer. He received his education in the public schools and a business college. He attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine briefly and then the Baltimore Medical College. He graduated from the later in 1893. He was the assistant resident physician at Maryland General Hospital and practiced privately from his office, which was located at 914 W. Fayette Street. He was a member of the I. O. O. F. and a Mason. In 1880 he lived with his parents and sister, Mary at 199 Scott Street. The census has his name as Wilhelm at the time. According to the 1920 US Census, Dr. Budeker lived with his father at 1120 Fulton Avenue. He was single. Dr. Budeker died on August 18, 1952. He is buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.
Deetjen, Dr. Christian (8-29-1863 to 12-24-1940)
Dr. Deetjen was born in Buenos Aires, the son of Nikolas Deetjen of North German descent. His father was an exporter and had lived in Argentina for some time. His father mysteriously disappeared while on a vessel which he took to arrange business in Valparaiso. Christian’s mother moved the family to Rinteln on the Weser, where Christian grew up. He attended the Gymnasium to the age of twenty. In 1883 Christian left Rinteln to study medicine at Würzburg. He received his M.D. degree in 1889. He had devoted his attention to diseases of the nervous system. He spent some time in Thuringia as an assistant to a country physician. He obtained a position at Rienbek in the Sachsenwald. Deetjen emigrated to the U.S. in 1895, arriving in New York. He left New York to settle in Baltimore. His first office and residence was on Fayette Street near Paca and later, after marriage to Alma Schmidt, he moved his office and residence to Franklin near Charles. He later bought a house at 1702 Eutaw place where he resided and practiced. About the same time as his arrival in Baltimolre, Wilhelm Röntgen announced his discovery of Xrays. Röntgen had been Deetjen’s teacher at Würzburg. Deetjen decided to enter this new field. He made many experiments with X-rays and was soon called upon by many physicians to assist in diagnoses and to give treatments. The physicians in this field were unaware of the destructive effects that X-rays had upon their body and Deetjen, like others, began to see his digits burned and scarred, many having to be amputated. In 1930 his left forearm was amputated midway. He remained in constant pain.
One of his hobbies was making candles from beeswax at Christmas. This hobby led to a severe accident when a pot of melting wax upset and a sheet of flame severely burned his face, hand and arm.
He was a member of the Saturday Night Club, the Germania Club, the German Society of Maryland, and the Society for the History of Germans in Maryland. He is buried in Druid Ridge Cemetery.
Didusch, James (6-17-1890 to 1955)
James was the first son of Joseph Martin and Katherina Didusch. He was born in Baltimore. His father Joseph was a sculptor. Both parents were German immigrants. Joseph immigrated from Munich in the late 1800s. James is the brother of William Didusch (see below). Didusch was the first student of Max Brödel in the Department of Art As Applied to Medicine at Johns Hopkins University from 1911 to 1913. When the Carnegie Institute of Embryology was established at Johns Hopkins in 1913, Didusch was appointed as its illustrator. He was the main illustrator for the Carnegie Institute of Embryology (1913-1955) with many of his drawings and plates forming the main visual component of many Carnegie publications. He remained the Carnegie Illustrator until his death in 1955. He married Theresa. In 1930, they were living at 1001 E. Biddle Street in Baltimore. Together they had George, Anna and Joseph. Anna would become an accomplished artist and marry Baltimore artist, Hans Schuler. They would found their own art school, which still exists today. The Schuler School of Arts. See Schuler profile in the Arts section.
Didusch, William Peter (6-13-1895 to 8-1981)
Mr. Didusch was born in Baltimore. He was the son of Joseph Didusch, a sculptor who emigrated to the U.S. from Munich in the late 1800s. He was an early pupil of Max Brödel (see profile above), Director of the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In 1915, Brödel gave Didusch the opportunity to become staff artist for the newly created Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Institute. He decided to take the job on a trial basis and it turned out to be his lifelong career. In 1949, Dr. William Scott, Director of the Brady Institute, appointed Didusch an instructor in urology. In 1953 Didusch became the executive secretary of the AUA, a position which he served until 1968. At that time he proposed a creation of a urologic museum and he donated his work to the AUA for that purpose. He saw his creation come to fruition, when the museum opened on January 12, 1972. The William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History is located in Linthicum, MD. Their website is http://www.urologichistory.museum/
Dieke, Gerhard H. (1901 to 8-1965)
Professor Dieke was born in Rheda German. He attended the University of Leiden, Holland. He obtained a Ph.D. in physics at the University of California in 1926. He came to Johns Hopkins as an Associate Professor in 1930 after work at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Tokyo and the University of Groningen in Holland.
One of the world's foremost experts in spectroscopy, Gerhard H. Dieke was a professor of physics at Johns Hopkins for 35 years and chair of the department from 1950 until his death in 1965. He helped develop the spectroscopic techniques used in the chemical analysis of metals--a discovery that was credited with saving millions of man-hours during World War II by expediting the sorting of scrap metal--and his research on crystals led to the first lasers.
He was an authority on certain types of beetles and an amateur archaeologist who studied the Mayan ruins.
Elsasser, Walter Maurice (3-20-1904 to 10-4-1991)
Mr. Elsasser was born in Mannheim, Germany in 1904. He studied and earned his doctorate in physics at the University of Göttingen in the 20s where his theory was first proposed. He also studied at Heidelberg and Munich universities. He did postgraduate work in the Netherlands and Switzerland. He was also one of the first students to earn his degree in the new field of quantum mechanics. He was an American physicist considered the ‘father’ of the dynamo theory, which is an explanation of the Earth’s magnetism. He came to the United States in 1936.
In 1935, while working in Paris, Elsasser calculated the binding energies of protons and neutrons in heavy radioactive nuclei. Wigner, Jensen and Goeppert-Mayer received the Nobel in 1963 for work developing out of Elsasser's initial formulation. Elsasser therefore came quite close to a Nobel prize on two occasions, the first when his theory was presented to physicists in England by his Göttingen colleague, Max Born.
He was with the US Army Signal Corps. He was also interested in systems biology and wrote several articles on Theoretical Biology. His book, ‘Reflections on a Theory of Organisms’ was published posthumously in 1987. He also wrote an autobiography, Memoirs of a Physicist in the Atomic Age’, published in 1976.
He also taught at the California Institute of Technology, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Princeton, before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland and then Hopkins…moving to Baltimore in 1967.
Upon his death he was emeritus professor of earth and planetary sciences at Johns Hopkins University. He retired from Hopkins in 1985. He was a winner of the National Science Medal, presented to him by President Reagan in 1987. The Johns Hopkins University at Olin Hall has a Walter Elsasser Memorial in the library.
He died in 1991 in Baltimore of kidney failure.
Erich, Augustus F. (5-4-1837 to )
Dr. Augustus Erich was born in Eisleben, Prussia and obtained his education in his native town. He emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Baltimore in 1856. He entered the office of Professor J.C. Monkur of Washington University and graduated in the University of Maryland in 1861. He began the practice of medicine in the eastern section of the city. He was elected in 1873 professor of chemistry in the College of Physicians & Surgeons. He began a successful movement to pass legislation to end quackery and criminal abortion in Maryland. He was appointed by the Governor a member of the examining board created by said legislation. In 1866 he was elected one of the physicians of East Baltimore Special Dispensary in the specialty of gynecology. In 1872 he organized and was elected the first president of the Medical and Surgical Society of Baltimore. He was a member of the Baltimore Medical Association, the Baltimore Academy of Medicine, the Clinical Society and Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland and the Maryland Academy of Science. In 1874 he was named chair of diseases of women at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He made many contributions to medical literature, several pieces referring to surgical instruments invented by Dr. Erich.
Frank, Samuel Leon (10-17-1841 to 8-3-1906) Eyes & Ears
Dr. Samuel Leon Frank was born in Baltimore to Leon and Regine, natives of Bavaria, Germany. His father Leon came to the U.S. in 1837 and was himself a pioneer of the wholesale clothing trade in Baltimore City. Dr. Frank was educated in private schools and for two years a student in Dr. Dalrymple’s school on Mulberry Street. He received his medical education at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, graduating in 1862. He spent a year after graduation at the University of Würzburg with a special emphasis on diseases of the ear. He then spent time in Vienna, Austria and at the University of Prague studying obstetrics and gynecology.
He returned to Baltimore in 1864 and began his practice with a specialty in diseases of the ear. He was a very successful practitioner. When Baltimore developed a Special Dispensary, the department of diseases of the ear was filled by Dr. Frank. During the fall and winter of 1872-73, he attended eye and ear clinics and studied in several European cities under specialists in the field.
He returned to Baltimore in 1875 and resumed his practice dedicating his attention to diseases of the ear and eye. When the Baltimore Eye, Ear and Throat Charity Hospital was formed, he became oculist and aurist there. He retired in 1884.
In 1899, Dr. Frank became president of the South Baltimore Harbor and Improvement Company, the Curtis Bay Company of Anne Arundel County, the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay Light and Water Company and the Ringwood Gas, Coal and Iron Company of West Virginia.
Frick, Dr. Charles (8-8-1823 to 3-25-1860)
Charles Frick was born in Baltimore, son of attorney William Frick and Mary Sloan Frick. He studied at Baltimore College, and became a civil engineer, but in 1843 he began the study of medicine, and graduated at the University of Maryland in 1845. He taught for several years at the Baltimore Preparatory School of Medicine and then became professor in the Maryalnd College of Pharmacy in 1856..two years later he joined the faculty of Medicine at the University of Maryland. In 1849 to 1856 Dr. Frick was attending physician to the Maryland penitentiary. In 1855 to 1856 he took a conspicuous part in the Baltimore pathological society, and was selected to fill the chair of Medicine in the Maryland College of pharmacy, which he had helped organize. In 1858, after his return from an extended European tour, he accepted the professorship of Medicine and therapeutics in the University of Maryland, and at the same time took charge of the medical department of the Baltimore infirmary as visiting physician. He published " Renal Diseases" (1850), and contributed papers to the "Journal of Medical Science" and other scientific periodicals. He was a good investigator...a modern day 'House' and his chief interest was directed towards fevers, the blood and kidneys. The University had a Charles Frick Research Fund. I am uncertain if that still exists.
The Maryland Historical Society has a Frick Collection of photographs.
Friedenwald, Julius (12-20-1866 to )-Physician, author
Julius Friedenwald was born in Baltimore, grandson of Jonus, who had immigrated from Hessia to Baltimore in 1832, and received his preliminary education at City College and later studied at Johns Hopkins University where he received his B.A. in 1888. He studied at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and received his medical degree in 1890. He also studied in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and London, specializing in gastro-intestinal diseases. When he returned to Baltimore and set up practice he garnished a national reputation. He was a consulting physician at Mercy Hospital, the Church Home Hospital, St. Agnes’ Hospital, the Union Protestant Infirmary and the Women’s Hospital.
He and his two brothers, Harry and Edgar, were professors at the University of Maryland. Harry Friedenwald in the field of ophthalmology, Julius in gastro-enterology and Edgar in pediatrics.
Dr. Friedenwald was a member of the American Academy of Medicine, the American Medical Association and the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.
He also made valuable contributions through his writings, to his profession, writing several medical guides and texts.
Hadel, Albert Kimberly (7-4-1850 to 4-5-1905)
A.K. Hadel was the son of Dr. J.F. C Hadel (Hamburg, Germany-see below) and Amelia Summerfield Kimberly. He was born in Baltimore and graduated from Calvert Hall College and the University of Maryland. He was Secretary of the Society of the War of 1812 and served as the organizations Registrar and Historian. He was the historian for the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He also served as Secretary of Health in Baltimore in 1898. The 1900 census shows his birth as July 1855 and the family living at 1628 John Street. He married Florence (nee Hough 3-1858) in 1885. He was a physician who specialized in lung and throat diseases. He is buried in Green Mount Cemetery [Lot 79 area WW]. The family resided at 209 W. Madison Street in Baltimore. Some records show two children and some just William. If you have information regarding Charles please send it to us.
The information provided in this profile was provided by Constance Kimberly Backers, the 2nd Great Granddaughter of Dr. J.F.C. Handel and Robert Daly, first cousin, twice removed.
Hadel, John Frederick Charles (8-18-1820 to 10-14-1855)
Johann Friedrich Carl Hadel was born in Hamburg, Germany to Johann Frederich Carl Hadel and Magaretha Rebecca Seywert and immigrated to the United States in 1845. He married Amelia Summerfield Kimberly. From the HADEL Family Records he was a graduate of the University of Heidelberg with the highest degree in medicine, chemistry, dentistry and surgery. He was the Baltimore Health Commissioner in 1852. He was the health officer that declared the cause of death for Edgar Allen Poe. The Maryland Historical Magazine reported that he certified the cause of death as ‘congestion of the brain'. Dr. Hadel was in practice in Cumberland when he was violently murdered on October 14, 1855. The accused Frederick Müller, a German peddler and transient to the Cumberland area, was found guilty of Dr. Hadel’s death and also found guilty of the murder of one of Dr. Hadel’s students, Mr. Henry Graf. Müller was hung for his crimes on January 4, 1856. Dr. Hadel had two young sons at the time of his death, Charles Aldophus Hadel (1848-1880)and Albert Kimberly Hadel (1850-1905). He served as a Brigadier General. He is buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore [Lot 79 area WW].
The information provided in this profile was provided by Constance Kimberly Backers, the 2nd Great Granddaughter of Dr. J.F.C. Handel and Robert Daly, the Great Nephew of Johann Hadel..
Hammer, Milton Elmer (9-4-1866 to 2-24-1905)
Dr. Hammer was born in Baltimore, the son of Peter and Sarah (Shoemaker) Hammer, both natives of Maryland and both of German descent. Peter Hammer was engaged for many years in mercantile endeavors in Baltimore and for many years a master mechanic of the Northern Central Railway.
Dr. Hammer attended the public schools and Baltimore City College, then took a commercial course at Bryant & Stratton’s Mercantile College, where he graduated in 1883. From there he entered the medical department at the University of Maryland in 1886, where he graduated in 1888 and began his practice in Baltimore. His office was located at 1100 N. Calhoun Street and Light Street. He married Amelia Muller (1868-1950) on April 24, 1888. They together had two children, Sadie and Elmer. The family lived at 1100 N. Calhoun Street and were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The family is buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.
Heatwole, Timothy Oliver (2-18-1865 to )
The name anglicized from Hütwohol. The family originated in Steeg, near Bacharach on the Rhine. They came to the US in 1747 and settled in Pennsylvania. They later moved to Virginia. Timothy Oliver was born in 1865 in Dale Enterprise, Rockingham Co., Virginia to David Heatwole (1827-1911) and Catherine (Driver) (1828-1906). He received his degree of doctor of dental surgery from the University of Maryland in 1895 and received an MD from the same two years later. He began teaching at the school and was promoted to a full professor of Dental and Medical Therapeutics. He served from 1911 to 1924 as the Dean of the School of Dentistry.
Not only was he involved with the school, but also politics and served several terms in the House of Delegates and the Baltimore City Council. He served in the US Dental Corps in WWI.
He married to Annie B. (Blackwell) Lathan (widow F. Latham) on June 17, 1914 and in 1920 they lived at the Walbert Apartments on Charles Street. They were Presbyterian and members of Brown Memorial Church.
Hemmeter, Dr. John Conrad (4-25-1863 to 2-25-1931)
Dr. Hemmeter was born in Baltimore, the son of John (1830-1899) and M. Mathilde (1835-1903). His parents immigrated to the US in 1848. He graduated from the University of Maryland. He received his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1890. His early education was obtained in Weisbaden, Germany. He not only studied at the University of Maryland in 1884, but worked there as well as the Professor of Physiology in both the Medical and Dental facility in 1903. He lectured on clinical medicine and his medical writings and contributions centered on diseases of the stomach and intestines. He was possibly the first physician to use Roetgen rays for studying the size and location of the stomach. His last book, which was published in 1927 is a medical history, ‘Master Minds in Medicine’. He was published in German, English, French and American journals. His field of expertise being diseases of the stomach and intestines.
He also had a love for the arts. He was creative and a collector of fine arts. He loved music and composed scores for orchestra, voice and piano. His cantata 'Hygiea' was successfully produced by the Leipzig University Choir in 1923.
He served as president of the American Section of the International Association for the History of Medicine; and the American Therapeutic Society. The Hemmeter medical library was given to the University of Maryland by his widow, Helene (Hilgenberg 1870-1964) Hemmeter.
Dr. Hemmeter is buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.
Herman, Augustine (1621 to 9-1686)-Cartographer/Explorer
Augustine Herman was an explorer born in Prague Bohemia, now Czech Republic. He arrived in Maryland in 1643. He was a merchant, cartographer who lived in New Amsterdam[1] and in Cecil County, MD. He led the immigration movement into Maryland and could be called the 'Pastorius of Maryland'. He produced a very accurate map of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay regions of North America at the bequest of Lord Baltimore. The map was accepted and in return his compensation was a land grant. At that time, 1661, Augustine moved to Maryland. The land he was granted became Bohemia[2] Manor (named after his homeland). It included a good deal of the land east of the Elk River and north of the Bohemia River. He became a naturalized citizen of Maryland in 1666. After the map was completed additional land grants were bestowed upon him. They became know as ‘Little Bohemia’. He owned nearly 30,000 acres of land. He was a member of the governor’s council and a justice of Baltimore County. He was 65 when he died at Bohemia Manor and is buried there.
Hoffmeister, Edward (12-9-1870 to )
Dr. Hoffmeister was a native of Baltimore. He was born to John and Elizabeth (Volker), natives of Baltimore. Both of Dr. Hoffmeister’s grandparents were German, his paternal grandfather from Hesse Cassel and his maternal grandfather, Michael Volker, also a native of Germany. He attended public and Zion Parochial schools and graduated from City College. After City, he took a special course in chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University. He then began courses at the Maryland College of Pharmacy, graduating in 1892. Two years later he graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery receiving the degree of D.D.S. He was appointed assisted demonstrator and one year later demonstrator of chemistry, a position he held until his appointment in 1897 to the position of lecturer on material medica*. He received his A.B. in 1897.
He was a hard worker and because of his work ethic was very successful. He was a member of First English Lutheran Church and the Maryland State Dental Society. He married Katherine Spring (IL) in 1897. According to the 1920 Federal Census, Edward and Katherine had three children John, William and Elizabeth. The family was living on Parkwood Avenue.
** Materia medica (English: medical material/substance) is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medicines). The term materia medica was used from the period of the Roman Empire until the 20th century, but has now been generally replaced in medical education contexts by the term pharmacology.
Homer, Henry Louis (1-10-1875 to)
Henry was born in Baltimore (son of Charles Christopher Homer-See Business & Finance) and was educated at Loyola and the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and the Johns Hopkins University. In 1904, he received his Medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Kanner, Leo (6-13-1894 to 4-3-1981)
Dr. Kanner was an Austrian psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism. Kanner's work formed the foundation of child and adolescent psychiatry in the U.S. and worldwide.
Kanner was born in Klekotow (now Klekotiv), a small village north of Brody (Galicia) in Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine). He studied at the University of Berlin from 1913, his studies broken by service with the Austrian Army in World War I, finally receiving his M.D. in 1921. He emigrated to the United States in 1924 to take a position as an Assistant Physician at the State Hospital in Yankton County, South Dakota. In 1930 he was selected by Adolf Meyer and Edward Park to develop the first child psychiatry service in a pediatric hospital at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He became Associate Professor of Psychiatry in 1933.
In academical means, he was the first physician in the world to be identified as a child psychiatrist, founder of the first academical child psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins UniversityHospital and his first textbook, Child Psychiatry in 1935, was the first English language textbook to focus on the psychiatric problems of children. His seminal 1943 paper, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact", together with the work of Hans Asperger, forms the basis of the modern study of autism.
He became Director of Child Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1930. He retired in 1959 and was replaced as Chief of Child Psychiatry by Leon Eisenberg.
Leo Kanner was the Editor for Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, then called Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, from 1971 till 1974.
Kanner remained active until his death at the age of 86, two months short of his 87th birthday.
Source: Wikipedia
Kierle, Dr. Heinrich (6-1-1755 to 7-16-1827)
A tiny street in Southwest Baltimore holds the name of a man who came to American as an enemy.
Dr. Heinrich Keerl served as a medical officer during the Revolutionary War, in the best of King George’s hated Hessian brigades. This was until General Washington wiped out the brigade. The famous crossing of the Delaware too place on Christmas night 1776. The Hessians were enjoying a festive Christmas in their comfortable quarters at Trenton, sleeping comfortably knowing their enemies were freezing to death in their tattered tents. It was here they were taken by total surprise and in this short fight, 868 Hessians were taken prisoner, 78 wounded and 17 killed, including their commanding officer Colonel von Rall, who died in Keerl’s arms. Washington marched the Hessians through the streets of Philadelphia. The captured officers were brought to Baltimore and under the then rules of warfare, observed and paroled.
Keerl, born in Mainbernheim, Landkreis Kitzingen, Bavaria June 1, 1755, studied medicine in Göttingen, spent the next few years travelling within the United States. He returned to Baltimore in 1782. He set up shop as a physician and opened a drugstore on Baltimore Street, near Sharpe. He lived at 17 West German Street and was a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty.
He married Anna Maria Meyers. They had one son, Samuel, who founded the First Baltimore Hose Company, a forerunner of the Baltimore City Fire Department. He married for a second time and fathered four children, George, Joshua Amelia and John.
Dr. Keerl died on July 16, 1827. He is buried at Green Mount Cemetery.
He became a well respected citizen of Baltimore.
Lederer, John - German Physician & Explorer
Lederer was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1644, and studied medicine at the Hamburg Academic Gymnasium.
Lederer arrived in Virginia in 1668. Believing that the riches of California lay just beyond the mountains west of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley, colonial governor of Virginia, commissioned him to make three expeditions into the Appalachians between 1669 and 1670.
On March 9th, 1669, Lederer left Chickahominy, an Indian village near the headwaters of the York River, traveling northwest to Eminent Hill. He and the members of his party became the first Europeans to crest the Blue Ridge Mountains and the first to see the Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains beyond.
John Lederer settled in Maryland in 1671. In 1672 his observations were translated from Latin by Sir William Talbot, the governor of Maryland, and published, along with a map of his expeditions, as The Discoveries of John Lederer, In three several Marches from Virginia, To the West of Carolina, And other parts of the Continent: Begun in March 1669, and ended in September 1670.
Source: Drake, Richard B. (2001), A History of Appalachia, Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky
Listfeldt, Hans Gunther (11-23-1919 to 5-16-2003)
Mr. Listfeldt was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. He was the son of Martha Frieda Kläke Listfeldt. He worked as a medical school librarian.
His touching story is the story of love. While in school in Berlin, the teacher arranged for the class to exchange letters, have a penpal in the US. The teacher expected the project to lead to better English skills and a better understanding of American culture. Mr. Listfeldt’s penpal was Mary Stover (7-22-1922 to 3-13-2003), a student also, but three years younger. Mr. Listfeldt continued to write to Ms. Stover even after graduation, while he studied medicine in Berlin.
Mr. Listfeldt was drafted by the German Army and sent to the Eastern front. He continued to write, but since the drafted men were only allowed to write to family members, Mary became Aunt Mary.
Post war, Mr. Listfeldt returned to Berlin and was reunited with his mother. The state of Berlin was so bad that they moved to Schleswig-Holstein. Here he resumed writing to Mary Stover.
He left Germany and arrived in the U.S. in New York on Christmas Eve, 1948. Here he met Mary for the first time. She was waiting.
They moved to Baltimore, where he settled on St. Paul Street and took a job working in several hospitals. They married in 1949 and lived in Walbrook, until moving to Westminster in the 1970s.
Mr. Listfeldt enrolled during the early 1950s at Catholic University of America in Washington, where he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in library science.
He worked for many years as a medical librarian at the former University Hospital, now the University of Maryland Medical Center, until his 1980 retirement.
He enjoyed reading, listening to classical music and attending the opera. He never lost his love for his homeland. He was also an outdoorsman and built a cabin on South Mountain near Fairfield, Pa., where he and his wife enjoyed spending weekends and summers
He was presented the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Medal of Honor for his work for others, including driving the elderly to doctors and grocery stores, taking communion to shut-ins, etc.
He was buried from St. John’s Roman Catholic Church. Both he and Mary are buried at Saint Johns Cemetery in Westminster.
Losemann, Dr. Heinrich J. (-2007)
‘Heinz’ Losemann, former chief of anesthesiology. Dr. Losemann was born on the family farm near Munster, Germany. He received his degree from the University of Munster and his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg. He and his wife, Christel Chares of Arbutus moved to Maryland where he completed his medical studies at the old St. Joseph’s Hospital in Baltimore and later became the chief of anesthesiology at Bon Secours Hospital.
Mathieu, Dr. C. Ferdinand (10-25-1846 to 1-8-1890)
Dr. Ferdinand Mathieu was born in Solingen. He studied medicine in Bonn and Würzburg and emigrated in 1870 to the U.S. He began his practice in Baltimore, where in a short time, he was running a successful practice. He married and became ill in the spring of 1888. He never recovered. He is shown on the 1867-1868 Baltimore Directory at 137 S. Broadway in Baltimore City.
Mattfeldt, Charles L. (1-14-1867 to 1934)
A leading Baltimore physician, born in Baltimore to Charles W. and Anna (Wernex). He attended schools in Overlea and the Erlungen University in German. He graduated from teh University of Maryland in 1886. Aside from his active practice, he was a County Commissioner in 1907 and also the President of the Board of County Commissioners of Baltimore County. He was a member of the Baltimore County Medical Society, the Maryland Medical Society, Catonsville Country Club, B.P.O.E. and I.O.O.F. His residence and office were located at 908 Frederick Avenue in Catonsville. He is buried at Old Salem Cemetery in Catonsville.
Mayer, Alfred Marshall ( 11-13-1836 to 7-13-1897 )- Scientist
Charles F. Mayer, whose family immigrated to Baltimore from the city of Ulm , was a member of the German Society in the Mid and late 1800's. He was a prominient lawyer who had high hopes that his son, Alfred would follow in his footsteps. When Alfred declined, his father disowned him. Alfred wanted to be a physicist. He was educated in private schools and later the Catholic College of St. Mary’s. After two years of high school, he did not have funds to continue and at age 16, his formal education ended. He took a job as a machinist's helper, but his inventive nature kept him working on his private projects. In 1846 the Secretary of The Smithsonian Institution, a friend of his father visited the Mayer home and went to Alfred's room to see his latest invention. Impressed, he encouraged Alfred in his pursuits. He was nineteen when he published his first scientific paper. It was regarding a new carbonic acid apparatus and the paper appeared in the American Journal of Science (Vol 19, 1855). He would write many papers during his lifetime. He found a job at the University of Maryland and by 1856 was made an Assistant Professor of physics and chemistry. He told a fellow faculty member that the first college lecture he ever heard was the one he gave to his first class at the university. During his career he held professorships at Gettysburg College , Lehigh University and the Stevens Institute of Technology.
He left Maryland in 1863. He wrote three books, “The Earth a Great Magnet,“ “Sound,“ and “Light”. During the period 1871 and 1880, which appeared to be the most scientifically productive in his life, he made several discoveries in the area of acoustics. In 1872 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Science. His works were acclaimed in Europe and in America.
Meyer, Dr. Adolf (Swiss) (9-13-1866 to 3-17-1950)
Adolf Meyer, M.D., LL.D., was born in Niederwenigen, near Zurich, Switzerland – He was a Swiss psychiatrist who rose to prominence as the president of the American Psychiatric Association and was one of the most influential figures in psychiatry in the first half of the twentieth century. His focus on collecting detailed case histories on patients is the most prominent of his contributions; along with his insistence that patients could best be understood through consideration of their life situations.
Meyer received his M.D. from the University of Zürich after studying psychiatry with Auguste Forel and neuropathology with Constantin von Monakow, and subsequently began his professional career as a neuropathologist.
Unable to secure an appointment with the university, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1892, at first practicing neurology and teaching at the University of Chicago. From 1893 to 1895 he served as pathologist at the new mental hospital at Kankakee, Illinois, after which he worked at the state hospital at Worcester, Massachusetts, all the while publishing papers prolifically in neurology, neuropathology, and psychiatry. In 1902 he became director of the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospital system (shortly afterwards given its present name, The Psychiatric Institute), where in the next few years he shaped much of American psychiatry by emphasizing the importance of keeping detailed patient records and by introducing both Emil Kraepelin's classificatory system and Sigmund Freud's ideas. Meyer was Professor of Psychiatry first at Cornell University from 1904 to 1909 and from 1910 to 1941 at Johns Hopkins University, where he was also Director of the Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic from its inception in 1913. Henry Phipps Psychiatric Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which in 1912 made possible the first inpatient facility in the United States for the mentally ill, was constructed as part of an acute care hospital. While he served as the director of the psychiatric department at Johns Hopkins, the first academical child psychiatry department in the world was founded by Leo Kanner (see profile) in 1930 under Meyer's direction.
His principal contributions were through his ideas of psychobiology (or alternatively, ergasiology, a term he coined from the Greek words for working and doing), by which Meyer designated an approach to psychiatric patients that embraced researching and noting all biological, psychological, and social factors relevant to a case — thus his emphasis on collecting detailed case histories for patients, paying particular attention to the social and environmental background to a patient's upbringing. Meyer believed that mental illness results from personality dysfunction, rather than brain pathology. Adolph Meyer is also considered a significant early supporter of occupational therapy. He believed that that there was a critical link between an individual's activities and activity patterns and his or her physical and mental health. In his vision for the mental hygiene movement, he advocated for community-based services to help people develop skills to cope with the demands of everyday living.
It was Meyer who suggested the term 'mental hygiene' to Clifford Beers, after which Beers founded, with the support of Meyer and William James, the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene (1908) and the National Committee for Mental Hygiene (1909).
Dr. Meyer was married to Mary (Potter Brooks 1877-1967). They had no children. Dr. Meyer is buried at Druid Ridge Cemetery.
Meyer, Dr. Charles H.A. (10-25-1860 to 1-1-1939)
Dr. Meyer was born in Bremen October 25th, 1860, died in Baltimore January 1, 1939. His father was John D. Meyer, for many years council of the German Society of Maryland. Young Meyer came to Baltimore with his grandfather, Captain Carl Fechter, master of the sailing ship "Shakespeare" at the age of sixteen. As a boy he found employment with a druggist, studied pharmacy and for years conducted a drug store of his own at the northeast corner of Gay and Dallas Streets. During this time he studied medicine and took up the practice of a physician, which he successfully continued to his death. He loved animals and as a pigeon fancier he often was called upon to act as a judge at shows and exhibitions.
Miller, Dr. William Ernst (11-23-1869 to 11-23-1913)
Dr. Miller was born in Baltimore, the son of the George T. (1828-1888) and Wilhelmina Minna (Schroeder) Miller (1835-1909), natives of Germany, both emigrating in their early childhood, with their families to the U.S. George T. Miller carried on a mercantile business in Baltimore for many years until his death July 27, 1888. William Ernst Miller attended the public schools of Baltimore; graduated from Bryant and Stratton's Business College in 1884: afterwards studied medicine under Dr. William Rickert and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, in 1892. He did postgraduate work at Frederick-William University (now Humboldt), Berlin, and returned to Baltimore and began a general practice with office and residence at 2239 Pennsylvania avenue. Doctor Miller was a member of the Alumni Association of the College of Physicians and Surgeons ; examining physician for the Forresters of America, Court Stars and Stripes, No. 12, and Ladies' Circle, Pride of Stars and Stripes, No. 371. He was a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Dr. Miller died on November 23, 1913 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He is buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.
Miltenberger, George W. (3-17-1819 to 12-11-1905 )
George was born in Baltimore to General Anthony Miltenberger. Received his primary education from the Boisseau Academy (famous school in Baltimore during the time). One of the most widely known physicians of Maryland. Initially he was appointed demonstrator of Anatomy and became a lecturer on pathological anatomy. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 1840. He was thirty three years old when he accepted the 'chair' of Medicine and Therapeutics and in 1855 became Dean of the University. He later chaired obstetrics.
In 1874, during commencement exercises at Ford's Opera House, a group of graduates of the University of Maryland School of Medicine gathered to discuss the formation of an alumni association. Leading the effort was Dr. George W. Miltenberger. Highly regarded for his medical acumen, Miltenberger was elected to the faculty as demonstrator in anatomy upon his graduation. More importantly, Miltenberger had served as dean of the medical school from 1855-69, during which time he witnessed the devastating impact that state fiscal reductions made on academic programs. He advocated a free-standing alumni association, supported entirely by financial contributions from its membership and immune to the ebbs and flows of state funding and politics. Miltenberger accurately predicted that, given the chance, alumni would relish the opportunity to control their own destiny and thus better support an independent and autonomous organization. In 1875, the Medical Alumni Association was born, and formal meetings began with the election Dr. Miltenberger as president.
Upon retirement in 1890 or 1891 he was made Professor Emeritus and Honorary President of the Faculty. He was consulting physician to the Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Eye, Ear and Throat Charity Hospitals.
Also, found in 1860 Baltimore Directory as physician at 152 W. Lombard Street.
Ohle, Henry Charles (6-4-1860 to 10-27-1943)
Dr. Henry Charles Ohle was born at Catonsville, Baltimore County. He is a son of Heinrich and Paulina (Peters) Ohle, the former a native of Braunschweig, and the latter of Wurtemberg, Germany, both of whom came to the United States in childhood and were wedded in Baltimore. Dr. Henry C. Ohle received his initial training in the public schools of Baltimore County and through private tutors. In 1883 he began the study of medicine and was graduated from the School of Medicine of Maryland University in 1886. During the year following his graduation Doctor Ohle was assistant to the Demonstrator of Anatomy of the University, was from 1885 to 1891 clinical assistant to Baltimore Dispensary for Nervous Diseases of Children, and was, beginning in 1893 visiting physician to St. Agnes' Hospital. He was married March 20, 1889, to Mamie Cameron. Doctor and Mrs. Ohle had one child, Marie Cameron. The family lived on W. Fayette street and were members of the First English Lutheran Church. Dr. Ohle is buried at Loudon Park Cemetery.
Richter, Curt (2-20-1894 to 12-21-1988)
Curt P. Richter was born in Denver, Colorado to German immigrants Paul (5-1860) and Martha Richter (10-1865). He studied engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Dresden, Germany, from 1912 until 1915, and later attended Harvard University, where he received a B.S. in 1917. While at Harvard he became interested in behaviorism and came to Johns Hopkins in 1919 to study under John B. Watson. In 1921, Richter received a Ph.D. in psychology from the Johns Hopkins University and was appointed associate professor in psychobiology in the school of medicine. In 1922, he was named director of the psychobiology laboratory in the Johns Hopkins Hospital's Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic and in 1957 was promoted to professor of psychobiology. He remained at Hopkins for more than seven decades. Richter wrote more than 250 research papers spanning several areas of research, including studies on the sympathetic nerve system, ingestive behavior, the grasp reflex, and biological clocks in animals and humans. His best known work is the 1965 book Biological Clocks in Medicine and Psychiatry.
He married Phyllis Greenacre, also a physician. They lived at 1920 Park Avenue in Baltimore.
Death information from SSDI.
Reuling, George (11-11-1839 to 11-26-1915)
A distinguished ophthalmologist widely known in particular for his early eye surgeries, especially in the area of cataracts being the first American ophthalmologist to remove a cataractous lens within its capsule. Dr. Reuling was born in Darmstadt, Germany, Nov. 11, 1839. He studied medicine at the University of Giessen from 1860 till 1865, and, in 1865 and 1866, at Munich, Vienna, and Berlin. His degree was received at Giessen in May, 1866. From the day of his graduation until September of the same year he served as surgeon in the Prussian Army in the war against Austria. Late in 1866 he became assistant surgeon at the eye hospital, Wiesbaden. The following year he studied at Paris under de Wecker, Liebreich and Meyer.
In 1868 he moved to America, settling as ophthalmologist and otolaryngologist in Baltimore. Here he was soon very well known as an excellent eye surgeon. In 1869 he was appointed surgeon-in-charge of the Maryland Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was also at various times oculist and aurist to the Baltimore Home for the Aged and the German Hospital. From 1871-73 he was professor of eye and ear surgery in the Washington University, and in 1893 was appointed to the chair of ophthalmology' and otology in the Baltimore Medical College — a position which he held for many years. It is reported that he performed the first eye transplant and that he also invented a ‘microtome’. He was a member of numerous societies, both social and scientific, among them the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Heidelberg Ophthalmological Society, the American Laryngological, Otological and Rliinological Society. Dr. Reuling was very fond of art and music, and kept at his residence, 103 West Monument Street, a splendid collection of antique paintings. He was a member of the German Lutheran Church.
The Doctor married, September- 21, 1871. He was the father of two children, Robert Reuling, a well-known physician and Maria who married Richard Pleasants.
Reuling died at the Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore, November 26, 1915, from a complication of diseases. He had been sick for a long time, and his death was not unexpected.
Source: The American encyclopedia and dictionary of ophthalmology (Volume 15). (page 24 of 83); 1890 Baltimore Directory and 1900 Federal Census records.
Photo and letter courtesy of Timothy Harvey
Letter is from Baltimore Mayor, Thomas G. Hayes
Roehl, Charles F. (6-28-1852 to 6-18-1910)
Charles Roehle was born in Cassel, Germany and received his primary education in Germany. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1865 and settled in Baltimore. He began the study of pharmacy and graduated in 1870, opening a store at Chester Street near Canton Avenue, where he built a large and flourishing business. Charles and his wife had two sons, Clifton, born in 1877 and attended public schools in Baltimore until being admitted to St. John’s College in Annapolis. In 1893 he entered the Naval Academy, where he was the youngest member of his class and was so respected that his classmates knew he would graduate ahead of the class. However, in his last year and during a routine summer cruise, lasting four weeks, on the steamer Bancroft he contracted typhoid fever and was taken to the hospital in Philadelphia where he died on July 14, 1896. A memorial tablet graces the halls of St. John’s College, which he loved. His classmates (the class of 1897 of the Naval Academy) has honored him with a massive monument in Loudon Park Cemetery.
The emblem of the United States Navy caps the stone, which reads:
To the Memory of Naval Cadet Clifton C. Roehle, U. S. Navy
Born in Baltimore, September 3, 1877,
Died in Philadelphia,July 14, 1896, While attached to U. S. S. "Bancroft."
Erected by his classmates as a Token of Affection and Esteem.
That wasn’t the only grief that would befall the Roehles’. Carl, their younger son died at the age of 16 in 1910. He was a student at City College, the Maryland Institute and the Peabody Institute. He worked as the Secretary for the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter as well. He and his brother worked many hours for their church.
Mr. Roehles’ retired from his business due to health in 1887.
Ruhräh, Dr. John (9-26-1872 to 3-10-1935)-Pediatrics
Dr. Ruhräh was born in Ohio. His parents were Daniel Conrad and Marie Finckenauer Ruhräh. The name was presumed to have originated from the Ruhr regions. His father was a native of Bremen. Dr. Ruhräh had studied in Baltimore and practiced here for over forty years. His reputation was of international eminence in his specialty of pediatrics. He was a man of learning and culture, interested along many lines. At the time of his death he was a member of the Baltimore School Board. He was a past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Sadtler, Dr. Charles E. (10-2-1851 to )
Dr. Sadtler was born in Shippensburg, PA. His father, the Rev. P.B. Sadtler was born in Baltimore. Dr. Sadtler was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania. He was a student at the Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, but left after three years to complete his studies at the University of Maryland medical department, where he received his M.D. He did post-graduate work at Würzburg, Bavaria and Vienna, Austria. For twelve years (1875-1887), he was chief of the dispensary service in the medical department at the University of Maryland.
He was president of the Alumni Association of the Medical Department at the University of Maryland; vice president of the Society of the War of 1812 of the State of Maryland and a member of the Sons of the Revolution.
Steiner, Dr. Lewis H. (1837 to 2-18-1891)
The son of Christian and Rebecca (nee Weltzheimer), Dr. Steiner descended from the hardy Palatine Jacob Steiner, who settled in the valley of the Catoctin in the fourth decade of the 1700s, and proud of his German ancestry, Dr. Steiner was born in Frederick, which he once described as the ‘Switzerland of Maryland”. Dr. Steiner was one of the founders of the ‘German Society of Maryland’. He desired to inform those of the early German settlers in Frederick County and to tell of their influence upon the social, industrial and political development of Maryland. He was the great-grandson of a revolutionary officer..
He was educated in Frederick County and entered Marshall College in Mercersburg, PA., where he received the degree of A. B. at sixteen, and that of A. M. three years later when he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with the degree of M. D. At twenty-three he began the practice of medicine in his native city of Frederick. In 1852 he moved to Baltimore, and with Dr. J. W. Dunbar began an institution for medical instruction, and in the following year entered upon his successful career as lecturer and teacher. He was appointed to the chair of Chemistry and Natural History at Columbia College in Washington, and Prof, of Chemistry and Pharmacy in the National Medical College of the same city, in 1853; he was chosen lecturer on Chemistry and Physics at the college of St. James, Maryland in 1854; in 1855 he became lecturer on applied Chemistry at the Maryland Institute, and in 1856, Professor of Chemistry at the Maryland College of Pharmacy.
When only twenty four, he published "Physical Science" which was soon followed by other scientific works and a number of biographical and historical papers.
In 1861 at the outbreak of the civil war, Dr. Steiner returned to Frederick and espoused the cause of the Union, offering his services to the medical department at "Washington, which were accepted assigning him to the Army of the Potomac, where he soon rose to the position of a chief inspector of the then newly organized Sanitary Commission. His energy greatly aided in alleviating the suffering of the wounded in ambulance and hospital, and he was elected by the New York Commandery a companion of the military order of the loyal legion of the United States[4].
After Appomatox he returned to Frederick. Public education demanded his attention, and he labored incessantly for three years as a member and president of the Schoolboard of Frederick County. This position gave him some prominence and because of this, the voters sent him three times as their representative to the State Senate.
In 1876 he was elected Vice-President of the Public Health Association and in 1878 President of the American Academy of Medicine. He was made the Enoch Pratt free library’s first librarian and executive officer.
Vogeler, August (3-2-1819 to 6-12-1908)
Vogeler, Charles (5-13-1851 to 8-5-1882)
Mr. Vogeler arrived in Baltimore on July 28, 1840 on board the Clementine, which sailed from Bielefeldt to Baltimore. With him he brought the knowledge of the medicinal value of certain plants and pioneered the wholesale drug business in Baltimore. Besides the drug development themselves and the sales of two major drug products, St. Jacob’s Oil and Hamburg Breast, his and his son Charles’ firm was probably the earliest successful marketer.
The Vogeler’s company grew in leaps and bounds. For the period 1855-1870, it was located on Liberty Street and in 1880 moving to 164-166 West Lombard Street, but maintaining a second plant at 4-8 Liberty Street under the name of Vogeler, Son and Company. He also had Vogeler, Meyer and Company, importers and manufactures at 43 S. Sharp Street. Upon the death of his son, Charles his wife took over and the firm became known as the C.A. Vogeler Company, which actually became the successor of the August Vogeler Company located on Lombard Street.
A little bit about Charles. Charles died when only thirty one years old. He was married to Wilhelmina or ‘Minnie’ Winter (4-7-1858 to 4-4-1935). He was born on Sharp Street and his early education was provided by the Scheib School. During his early youth, he attended a school in Bremen. He returned to Baltimore at the age of 19. He was well educated and a good businessman. He was a member of Germania, the Maryland Jockey Club and the Order of the Oriole. He died of an illness and is buried at Green Mount Cemetery. His pallbearers were a ‘Who’s Who’ in the German community.
It was around this time that the firm, under the management of Christian DeVries, began extensive marketing and advertising of their two major products, St. Jacobs Oil and Hamburg Breast, both becoming famous here and abroad. It was the popularity of the products that allowed them to add a printing department. This popularity continued and in 1890 two firms were listed in the directory, Charles A. Vogeler Company (proprietary medicine) on Lombard Street and Vogeler, Son and Company (wholesale druggists) on Liberty Street. After the death of Charles, his wife Minnie married Christian DeVries.
By 1900 the Charles A. Vogeler Company added a printing establishment and Jerome Vogeler, son of August, opened a perfumery on Pratt Street.
The Charles A. Vogeler Company printed massive quantities of pamplets, magazines, flyers, etc. Their advertising department occupied the entire second floor.
The company established branches in all parts of the US and Canada and even had a presence in Mexico, South America, Austrailia, Cape Town Africa, and England. They also had trained salesman visit virtually every state and they advertised in newspapers throughout the country. The advertising for their two primary products were a boom and ran the gambit from simple ads listing the medicinal benefits to elaborate ‘voicing’ testimonials. They printed calendars with product names and wrote limericks that today are prized possessions of collectors. Some of their major advertising pushes were ‘Dr. August Koenigs Hamburger Familien Kalendar (printed in 1880) and Vennor’s Weather Almanac, which first appeared in 1883 and extolled St. Jacobs Oil on just about every page.
August was married to Caroline , who died in 1900. Together they had five children. The family lived on Linden Avenue. August Vogeler was a member of the German Society of Maryland, served as its manager in 1853, and was a major financial contributor. They were members of the Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church. He and his son Charles were both pioneers in both medicine and advertising, especially when advertising was done without television, radio, or social media.
Source: ‘A Baltimore Pioneer in Proprietary Medicine’, by Therese S. Westermeier. 1880 Census, 1900 Census, obituaries for August and Charles Vogeler.
Von Kuell, Joseph (8-19-1848 to )
Dr. Joseph Von Kuell was born in Vienna Austria. He was born into an old and distinguished family of that great city. Jacob Von Kuell, father of our Joseph, was a native of Vienna, Austria. For many years after reaching manhood, he served as Governor of an Austrian province. He received his education in Vienna and after his elementary education, he spent four years in the Military School. At the age of seventeen, he entered the Austrian Army and was promoted to first lieutenant. While in the military, he began his study of medicine at the medical college in Vienna. He graduated in 1877, but remained connected with the army for fifteen years. He took an active part in the Revolution and fought in 1869 in the battle of Cattaro, South Dalmation. Here he received twenty-two wounds and was confined to a hospital as a result of those wounds, for three years. He received three medals for his bravery. He also received a pension for his service in the army. The pension continued for five years after his arrival in the US. He first settled in New York, where he practiced for a short time and then moved to Baltimore. Here he accepted the position as a solicitor.
He was married Mary Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, also a native of Germany, on March 5, March 5, 1891. Ms. Kuell was born in Germany in 1870, and came to New York with her parents when she was fourteen.
Wiesenthal, Dr. Charles Frederick (1726 to 1789)
Dr. Wiesenthal’s father, Johann Mattheus Wiesenthal was a barber in the city of Pasewalk in Pomerania, Prussia. A new medical regulation passed in 1729 allowed him to be confirmed a surgeon, which was not an uncommon professional combination in the eighteenth century. Because of connections, his sons Johann Christoph and Karl Frederick (Charles) were allowed to attend the regimental school, which was on a considerably higher level than the ordinary schools of the time. Material is not available on Dr. Wiesenthal’s training. It appears that he moved to Strasburg in 1747 and practiced surgery there for a number of years. He became a citizen of Strasburg. It appears he arrived in Baltimore from Germany in 1755. He became naturalized in 1771. In 1777, he was appointed Surgeon General of Maryland troops (salary 35shillings per day). He with several other physicians formed a medical society (12-16-1788). He is known as the ‘Father of Medicine’ in Baltimore.
Information for Dr. Wiesenthal’s biography was obtained from the Society for the History of Germans in Maryland and it would seem that some of their information was obtained from one of the descendents of Charles Frederick Wiesenthal’s older brother of Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.
In Dieter Cuntz’s history book entitled ‘The Maryland Germans’, Wiesenthal was called ‘the first truly significant German in Baltimore’. He is memorialized on a stained glass window at Zion Church in the City of Baltimore. He appears on the middle lower panel of the window in the south wall of the narthex. Wiesenthal was elected as a permanent elder of Zion in 1769.
He founded the first medical school in Maryland (Fayette and Frederick Sts.) as a private undertaking that carried on the business of training physicians until the medical faculty of the University of Maryland was created in 1807. After his death in 1789, his son, Andrew Wiesenthal, continued to teach courses on Anatomy and Surgery until his death in 1798. He was a founder and the first President of the German Society of Maryland. He was the first president of the medical society organized as a result of the first convention called in Baltimore in 1788, to ‘plan for the regulation of medical practice’.
Source: Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland; History of The German Society of Maryland
Zeller, Dr. Henry (8-17-1810 to 7-22-1885)
Dr. Zeller is of German ancestry, his great-grandfather emigrated from Switzerland to the US. He settled in Washington County. Dr. Zeller’s grandfather, John served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War as a member of the Maryland Line. He was killed at the battle of the Cowpens. His children were Jacob, Martin, Otho and Mary. Dr. Zeller was the son of Otho. Otho was born in 1781. He was born on the family farm and kept the Red-Pump Tavern on the farm, which was named the same. It was a good business because before the day of the railway, it was a main stop between Philadelphia and the West. It was an inviting roadside inn. The property remained in the Zeller’s hands. Dr. Zeller’s mother was Barbara Spichler, also a native of Washington County. His father remarried after his mother’s death in 1817. Dr. Zeller’s father died in 1840.
Dr. Zeller was born in 1810 in Washington County. He attended school at Hagerstown Academy and studied medicine with Dr. Frederick Dorsey of Hagerstown. He graduated in 1837 at the Jefferson Medical School of Philadelphia. His first practice was in Williamsport where he resided and practiced his entire life. In 1839 he married Eleanor Anderson, daughter of James of Alexandria. She died one year after marriage leaving one child. In October 1844 he remarried Margaret Corcoran, a native of Delaware. She died in 1853. There were four children from that marriage, three daughters and one son. The son became a practicing attorney in Hagerstown. Dr. Zeller married a third time to Mary Lefevre of Washington County. There was one son by this marriage. Dr. Zeller was a true country doctor, working long hours for little pay. He did this for more than 50 years.
He is buried at River View Cemetery in Williamsport, Washington County.
Zassenhaus, Dr. Hiltgunt (7-10-1916 to 11-20-2004)
Born in Hamburg, Germany and a long-time resident of the Baltimore. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Hamburg in 1938 and thereafter worked in Hitler's justice department where she used her position to aid the victims of the Nazi regime.
After the war she studied medicine and earned her doctorate at the University of Copenhagen in 1952. The same year she came to Baltimore and interned and did her residency at City Hospital. Thereafter she began her private medical practice. She became world-famous because of her research and treatment of "blue babies".
Dr. Zassenhaus received honorary doctoral degrees from Western Maryland College, Goucher College, The College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Towson University and the University of Maryland.
Her award-winning book Walls, about her experiences in Germany, was translated into many languages and is still in print. It was named one of the top 25 books for young adults in 1974. Another of her books was made into a television documentary. She was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Price in 1974 and received high honors in Europe. William Donald Schafer presented her the Mayor's citation and Gov. Harry Hughes named her to the Maryland Hall of Fame.
[1] New Netherland, was the seventeenth-century colonial province on the East Coast of North America of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod.
[2] Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic and with its capital in Prague. In a broader meaning, it often refers to the entire Czech territory, including Moravia and Czech Silesia, especially in historical contexts, such as the Kingdom of Bohemia.
[3] A Microtome is a sectioning device that allows for the cutting of extremely thin slices of material, known as sections. Microtomes are an important device in microscopy preparation, allowing for the preparation of samples for observation under transmitted light or electron radiation. Microtomes use steel, glass, or diamond blades depending upon the specimen being sliced and the desired thickness of the sections being cut.
[4] The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, also known by its acronym MOLLUS or simply as the Loyal Legion, is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by officers of the army, navy, and marine corps of the United States who "had aided in maintaining the honor, integrity, and supremacy of the national movement." They stated as their purpose the cherishing the memories and associations of the war waged in defense of the unity and indivisibility of the Republic; the strengthening of the ties of fraternal fellowship and sympathy formed by companionship in arms; the relief of the widows and children of dead companions of the order; and the advancement of the general welfare of the soldiers and sailors of the United States. New International Encyclopedia The modern organization is generally composed of descendants of these officers (hereditary members), and non-officer descendants who share the ideals of the Order.