Henry M. Lilly: attended college at
Beloit College, WI;
graduated
from the University of Michigan, Medical Department, 1858;
left the U.S. Army in1867 as Ass't Surgeon & Brevet Major U.S. Vols.
citizens who were commissioned by the President in the U. S. Volunteer
Service
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
OF HENRY M LILLY MD OF FOND DU LAC WIS By EL Gmffin MD
Dr Henry M Lilly was
horn January 4 1831 in Columbus Shenango County New York and died in Fond du
Lac Wisconsin November 28 1870 being at the time of his death one month less
than forty years of age. His father was a successful and highly respected
christian minister in western New York but in 1844 moved to this State of
Wisconsin and became a pioneer missionary worker in the central part of the
State. he entered upon a preparation for college He displayed at a very
early age a great deal of mental force which made a way lor itself in spite
of the narrow circumstances in which he received his early training. Under
the guidance of a father's tuition such was his self reliance and energy
that in the retirement and quiet of a poor missionary's home he fitted
himself to enter with credit the junior class in Beloit College in the
autumn of 1851 and graduated in 1856 with the honors of his class. He soon
afterwards entered upon the stndv of his chosen profession in Union
Theological Seminary 24 New York. At the close of his first year of study
in the seminary he discovered such marked tendency to pulmonary disease and
became so debilitated in general health that he reluctantly gave up his life
purpose and in obedience to medical advice chose the profession of medicine
as being likely to afford him more active and out door labor.
He read medicine in
the office of Dr Thomas Allen of Goreham Oneida county New York. He
attended lectures at Ann Arbor Michigan where he graduated in 1857 with the
second honor in his class having for his only competitor one who had
previously enjoyed greatly increased advantages for professional study.
In June 1857 he
moved to Fond du Lac. Wisconsin and entered upon the practice of his
profession. During the latter part of theCivil War he entered the service of
the Government as a contract surgeon and was assigned to duty in Hospital No
13 Nashville Tennessee at that time under the charge of Surgeon Robert R
Taylor. In this position his real merit his trustworthiness and his
untiring devotion to his duties soon attracted the attention of Surgeon
Taylor and he was soon made the executive officer of the hospital. Though
less posted in red tape than others he was soon found head and shoulders
above them in a knowledge of his profession. When not occupied with his
other duties he could very generally be found in the dead house where his
researches were as patient as they were thorough.
He remained in
Nashville about a year and then returned home but such was the estimate of
his character as a surgeon and a man that he was earnestly requested to
return and take charge of Crittenden Hospital in Louisville Kentucky which
proposition he accepted in the spring of 1865 It was while in this position
that his friends advised him to present himself before the Board of Medical
Examiners for United States Volunteers then in session in Cincinnati. To
this suggestion he hesitatingly assented. The examinations at that time
had become very thorough inasmuch as the corps was pretty full It was in
this trial that his previous labors in the library and dead house showed
their results for he was actually very near being rejected for standing too
perfect in his examination the board thinking he had by some under handed
means obtained the leading points arid questions. It need not be remarked
that the Doctor was hugely disgusted to have his honesty thus questioned
although it complimented his professional ability. At the close of the war
he was retained in the service of the Freed man's Bureau and assigned to
duty in the southwest with headquarters at Little Rock Arkansas. These years
of service were years of most intense labor and study. While he was
noticeably faithful to the duties of his position he was not unmindful of
the great opportunity for observation and study which was then open to him.
He studied the progress of disease modes of treatment simple and unique
cases of surgery with the zeal ot an enthusiast The scalpel and the
dissecting case were always in use. From these opportunities of study
improved to the extent of his physical ability he returned to his home and
resumed his practice growing in the confidence and favor of the people until
June 8 1870 when he was stricken down with pleuropneumonia from the sequelae
of which he died in the November.
Transactions of the State
Medical Society of Wisconsin for the ..., Volumes 3-8 Volumes 3-8 By State
Medical Society of Wisconsin
_____________________
From the Medical and
Surgical History of the Civil War
CASE 745.—Private
W. J. Holmes,
Co. G, 33d Mississippi,
aged 18 years, was wounded in the left leg, at the
engagement of Peachtree Creek,
near Atlanta, July 20, 1864,
and suffered amputation two days afterwards. About
four months after losing his limb he was taken
prisoner at Franklin, Tenn., whence he was conveyed
to Nashville and
sub-sequently to
Louisville.
Surgeon R. R. Taylor,
U. S. V., who contributed
two post-mortem specimens from the stump, reported
the result of the case as follows: "The patient was
admitted to
Crittenden
Hospital on
December 9th. He was
suffering from chronic diarrhœa, of which he died
December 23, 1864. His
left leg had been amputated by the circular method,
at the lower third, in consequence of gunshot
fracture of the lower portion of the tibia and
fibula. In October a portion of the fibula came
away, after which the stump healed rapidly. At the
time of his death the stump was entirely well. The
accompany-ing specimens are intended
simply to illustrate the changes in the cut ends of
the bones and nerves. The latter, consisting of the
extremities of the posterior and anterior tibial and
of the musculo-cutaneous nerves, are bulbous." The
nerve portions constitute specimen 4244 of the
Surgical Section of the
Museum. A representation of
the specimen of the bones of the stump (Spec.
4243, Surg. Sect., A. M. M.)
appears in the wood-cut (FIG.
293). In the history of the specimen on page 400 of
the Catalogue of The
SurgicalSection of the U. S. A. Medical Museum,
Washington, I860, it is remarked that "though the
stump is said to have been entirely healed, * * the
specimen shows the extremity and posterior surface
of the tibia necrosed." In a letter dated December
18, 1867,
Dr.
H. M. Lilly, late Acting
Assistant Surgeon, states that he prepared this
specimen, and adds: "I can corroborate
Surgeon R. R. Taylor's
statement that the stump was entirely healed. In
explanation of the necrosed appearance of the end
and posterior portion of the tibia, I offer the
following history of the preparation of the specimen
as possibly giving it the appear ance of necrosis.
Owing to the inconvenient arrangements of the
hospital (the hospital not being finished at that
date). I
macer-ated the specimen in a tin can
in my private room. Under such circumstances it was
of course desirable to destroy completely all
effluvium. To this end I supplied the water in the
can liberally with the solution of permanganate
salts furnished by the Medical Purveyor. May it not
be that the chemical action of these salts has
slightly damaged the specimen, giving it a partially necrosed appearance?"
_________________
Henry M. Lilly
Fond du Lac Wis.
June 3d 1869
Rev. A. L. Chapin
Dear Sir
In reply to a circular
sent to me sometime ago, I
beg leave to make the
following correction in your
list of soldiers
My military rank and
title when I left the U.S.
service in 1867 was that of
"Ass't Surgeon & Brevet
Major U.S. Vols." I see, in
the list, you have put me
down "Surgeon F.B." a title
which at first I could not
comprehend, but it finally
dawned upon my mind that "F.B."
stood for "Freedmen's
Bureau." I was detailed (as
were many other army
officers) for duty in that
Bureau during the latter
part of 1865, the whole of
1866 and a part of 1867, but
I did not thereby either
lose or change my position
and rank in the army.
you hold a note for
tuition against me. I left
college in debt and have
been so unfortunate never to
be free from debt since.
I wish you would figure
up the amount due (say to
the 14th of June)
and let me know. I will pay
what I can now even if it is
but little and will send you
a new note for the unpaid
balance, -- the old note to
be returned to me upon
reception of the new note
payable in one year and will
try hard to meet it.
Very Respectfully
your obedient
servant
Henry M. Lilly
