Wade and Ford, Civil War
Military Surgical Set c. 1861
Owned by Navy Steward,
Lewis Whiting
Diary page (1) |
Owned by Dr. Lewis Whiting
Medical training at
Bellevue Hospital, New York City Medical College, 1862
Medical training
New York College of
Physicians and Surgeons, 1862-63
For some unknown reason,
Whiting left Medical College and enlisted as a steward and not a
surgeon in the Federal Navy. Whiting served as
a Civil War hospital
surgeon's steward, not a surgeon on the U.S. 'Virginia' May 30,1863 until he was
honorably discharged July 23, 1864 His time aboard
the 'U. S. S. Virginia' is thoroughly documented in his diary (
sample on left).
Medical training New York
Homeopathic Medical College, 1865
Entered private practice in
Danvers, Mass., 1868
See the
full ten page diary from 1863-64,
obtained with his CDV photo and surgical set below.
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Dr. Lewis Whiting
practiced in Danvers, Massachusetts after the Civil War.
His
biography as published by Essex County Mass., 'The
Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society':
Dr. Lewis Whiting
was born in Hanover, Jan 24, 1832, the son of Oran and Mary
(Jones) Whiting. He graduated from the Abington Academy in
1849, Bridgewater Normal School in 1850, and Bellevue Hospital
Medical College in 1862, College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1864
( most likely1863 not 1864),
and the New York Homeopathic Medical College in 1865. He
served as a Surgeon's Steward in the United States Navy in the Civil
War, on the U.S.S. "Virginia". In 1868 he came to Danvers,
where he began the practice of medicine, and had the distinction of
being one of the first homeopathic physicians in the county.
On Oct. 10, 1868, he Married Miss Clara M. Smith of Somerville.
For a period of over twenty years, he enjoyed a large practice in
this town, from which he was obliged to retire in 1890 on account of
ill health. He spent much of the remainder of his life in the
south and passed away in Coant, Florida. He was a member of
the Massachusetts and Essex County Homeopathic Medical Societies and
the Hahnemanian Club of Boston.
The documents and
images obtained with this surgery set indicated Whiting was a surgeon's steward serving on
the 'Virginia' during the early days of the War during 1863 - 64.
It also documents where Whiting was on dates in the Naval history of the
'Virginia' before he left the Navy and entered New York Homeopathic
Medical College, in 1865 after the War where he apparently completed his
medical training in homeopathic medicine. See this article for
more on
Aleopathic vs Homeopathic physicians
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George Wade (George
Wade and William E Ford) 1857-60: 85 Fulton
Wade & Ford (George
Wade and William E Ford) 1860-66: 85 Fulton (Civil War)
William E Ford & Co.
(William E Ford and George Gilman)
1866-71: 85 Fulton
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The maker of this surgery set was Wade and Ford, New York City,
who were in business during all years of the Civil War and were known suppliers to the Union purveyors for
the various medical department contract orders:
Surgeon Whiting was in medical
training in New York City during the War and would have had access to Wade and Ford;s
office if he
wished to personally order the surgical set of his choice. He was
also in the area post-War where he could have purchased a set as military
surplus, but the lack of an engraved brass plate on the set top is the big
question...why was an obviously limited military constructed set not marked for
the service which owned it...the U. S. Navy? Of course we don't
know if the Navy actually had their sets marked as did the Army Hospital
Department. The question: did Whiting order the set that way or
did the Navy Department order them that way...with no brass plate? There
are not enough documented Navy sets available for viewing or research to know for sure
one way or the other about Federal Navy procured surgical sets, but we
know for certain that Wade and Ford as well as Tiemann supplied sets to
the Navy.
See another
set in this collection owned by Navy surgeon J. H. Culver, who was at Bellevue
Hospital at the same time as Whiting:
J. H.
Culver, Asst. Surg. U. S. Navy, 1862-1863. Both surgeon's
possessed Wade and Ford sets during the same time frame. Again,
suggesting a close association of Wade and Ford with the surgeons being
trained at Bellevue Hospital during the War years.
The working theory on this
set is that it would make sense a Navy set would contain both surgical
and dental instruments, especially since this collector has never seen a single Union military set with dental
instruments in any size set. (Note: French maker Charriere's sets
are seen with both surgical and dental instruments in their cases.)
We'll never know for sure, but the bottom line is this set was in the
hands of the Whiting family and it was sold at auction in 2008 by a
Boston auction house with
a photo and written provenance for Whiting. We know for sure Lewis
Whiting was at Bellevue Hospital before
serving in the Navy as a steward, and he most likely was influenced by a local instrument maker:
Wade and Ford in New York City. Wade and Ford obviously had connections with the
faculty at Bellevue via Steven Smith, M.D. and
Frank
Hamilton, M.D., both of whom were writing textbooks on surgery and
influencing selection and design of surgery sets by the military for
whom Wade and Ford produced surgical sets during the War years under
contract and military specifications.
Above is an entry in Hamilton's
book on Military Surgery showing he devised set specifications
for the U. S. Navy (Click to enlarge) Notice the information
immediately below the drawing of a surgery set. The set
shown in the drawing is most
likely from an earlier period drawing noting the brass banding style and keyed
lock, which would not be military issue.
Above is an entry from Dr. Steven Smith's book on
surgery noting Navy specs and Wood's layout of a surgery set by
Wade and Ford with a very similar amputation saw. (English
design)
See an
article on Steven
Smith, M.D. and his association with Wade and
Ford from drawings in his book on surgery.
See these articles for much more on:
The
Federal Navy Medical Department during the Civil War or on the
Confederate Navy Office of Medicine and Surgery.
See an original
signed letter by William Whelan, Secretary of the Navy, Bureau of
Medicine & Surgery
This
Wade & Ford surgical set has a maker label marked:
85 Fulton St., N.Y., which dates it solidly during the Civil War.
The instruments are in a military style case with bilateral sliding latches,
no key,
multiple brass screw
re-enforced lid, made of mahogany, and has all major pieces, which are
marked Wade & Ford/ N.Y.
The presence of the English style amputation saw with brass back, the
early style trephine crowns, and the design of the ferrules on the
knives leads me to believe this is an earlier (1861) rather than a later
set. I think the the Culver set, linked below, is the later (1863)
set because the ferrules on the knives are later, the engraved date, and
the set shows up in Smiths book. See: An 1863 Wade and Ford
Surgical Set owned by
Civil War Federal Naval
Officer J. H Culver, M. D.
As
mentioned before, it is of particular interest this set has both dental and the usual instruments expected in an
amputation set. Its small size indicates use was intended for
mobility and for treating limited medical issues as one would expect on
a ship, not those of a surgeon
in a hospital.
Mahogany case with military
configuration: sliding latches, (center), heavy use of brass screws,
(left) and "Lewis Whiting" scratched on the bottom of the case (right)
Military sliding latch (left), brass
screws (right) for heavy military use
Case open (left), partitions and saw removed
(center), all contents (right)
Wade and Ford's Civil War address
Amputation knives, tenaculeum, note the
ferrules joining the blade and handle
Wade and Ford bleeder (scarificator)
Thumb blade bleeder lancet, set of two,
marked with Evans/London maker (not uncommon)
Trepanning group
Lenticular/rasp, and Hey saw
Bone brush, trephines (early crown design)
Dental group
Left, one of two anterior extraction forceps
(one missing). Right , gum lancet or elevator
Left, root elevator. Right, molar key
for extractions with extra tips
English style capital amputation saw with
brass frame
Bone forceps
Tourniquet is unmarked, as usual for the
maker, early style plain one color strap, cast iron buckle (early style)
These are some type of
double ended threading needles or awls, with no eye.
One is marked "NEA & NCO", but they are heavy duty and not
typical. About 3 in. long. Triangular on one
end, round on the other.
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