The earliest record of a physician in Ulster County dates back to 1664. The record shows a physician named Gysbert Van Imbroch in court against Gerret Fooken for wages due for “shaving and a doctor’s bill.” It was common in the 1600s for surgeons to also perform barber’s duties. This profession was called “Barber Surgeon” and was the early predecessor to modern doctors. From the early Barber Surgeons of Wiltwyck (what is now Kingston) to our amazing medical professionals today, the evolution of healthcare has been nothing short of astounding.
During the late 1700s, doctors and physicians are more prevalent and become an absolute necessity during the Revolutionary war. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Ulster County Medical Society began to take shape as more and more cities started to open medical schools. Before this time, if you wanted to be in the medical field, you simply went to an experienced doctor for an apprenticeship. You would pay a fee and for a set amount of years you would receive a room and board in exchange for learning the trade. Only the elite could afford to go to Europe to attend the first medical specific universities.
During the Civil War, scientific methods became more standardized. By this time, we start to see the beginnings of modern anesthesia including laughing gas, ether, chloroform, and others. By the end of the 19th century the medical profession made groundbreaking discoveries, the biggest being the better understanding of germ theory eventually leading to the now practical use of handwashing. We also saw the modern hospital system begin in Ulster County. In July 1893, Kingston Hospital (now HealthAlliance Hospital) opened. The hospital was so well renowned that patients traveled from surrounding Counties seeking care. It remained the only hospital in Ulster County until 1923 when Veteran’s Memorial Hospital opened in Ellenville (now Ellenville Regional Hospital).
The 20th century saw the first prominent female doctors in Ulster County. There was also a substantial rise in women in the nursing field and also a rise in local pharmacies. Of course, the medical profession deals not only in physical health, but mental health as well. Ulster County has provided mental health care since 1901 when the Sisters of St. Benedict opened the Our Lady of Victory Sanitarium before later relocating to Benedictine on Mary’s Avenue. By 1977, the hospital incorporated the Benedictine Health Foundation to raise funds in support of mental health services. In 2012, HealthAlliance announced the consolidation of services and Benedictine became part of the main hospital as well as becoming non-denominational.
This exhibit aims to highlight the evolution from Barber Surgeons to modern medicine through the records found in the Ulster County Clerk’s Office Archives. We’d like to express our most sincere thanks to ALL health professionals through this time of crisis. The physical and mental toll of your work is enormous and words cannot express how much we in Ulster County are, and always will be, in your debt.
Exhibit Sources:
¨ Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Records Collection
¨ A.T. Clearwater, ed., The History of Ulster County New York: Kingston, N.Y., W.J Van Deusen, 1907
¨ F. Doherty, “The Revolutionary War Fleet Prison at Esopus” Hudson River Valley Review Autumn 2011, 106
¨ Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, History of Ulster County New York et, al: Philadelphia, P.A., Everts & Peck, 1889
¨ Liu, Pauline. “Ellenville Regional Hospital Plans New $50M Facility.” Recordonline.com, Recordonline.com, 1 Nov. 2016, www.recordonline.com/news/20161031/ellenville-regional-hospital-plans-new-50m-facility.
¨ “Fleet Prison”, Olde Ulster Feburary 1906, 43.
¨ “Our History.” Benedictine Health Foundation, 30 May 2017, benedictinehealthfoundation.org/about-us/our-history/.
¨ Falvey, Kerry. “The Physician's Apprentice.” Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 15 Apr. 2010, medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/the-physicians-apprentice/.
¨ Postcard and Photograph Collection, Friends of Historic Kingston Archives, Kingston, N.Y.
¨ Contributors to Wikimedia. “Main Page of a Wikimedia Project (Common for Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Other Projects).” Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.
¨ Hudson River Valley Heritage. https://www.hrvh.org/.
1600's - Barber Surgeons
A Barber Surgeon is almost exactly what it sounds like. In the 1600s, Barber Surgeons tended to people’s beauty needs such as cutting hair and bathing, but they would also perform surgery, pull teeth, use leeches to draw out “bad blood” and other medical needs. In a time where there were no medical schools (that wouldn’t come until the late 18th-early 19th century), the Barber Surgeon was crucial to the overall well-being of people, regardless of the unorthodox and often unproven methods. The general Doctor’s fee in Wiltwyck in the 1660s was about 6 guilders/5 schepels of wheat/5 Beavers (1665-1666) so it’s possible there was no itemized pricing at this point. If you needed a haircut, a wound stitched, or had a toothache, you would visit one of the village’s Barber Surgeons.
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 1632, Rembrandt.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
A Barber-Surgeon Extracting Stones from a Woman's Head, 1787, Jacob Cats.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The Three Books of Medicinal Remarks: Described in Latin,1650, Nicolaes Tulp.
Source: Archive.org.
Barber Surgeon Tools of the Trade:
Wooden Combs, Barber's Bowl, A Tin Mustard Pot, Surgical Instrument Set with Case.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
1600's - Gysbert Van Imbroch
Gysbert Van Imbroch was the first Barber Surgeon in the history of Kingston (then Wiltwyck). He lived in New Amsterdam (Manhattan) before settling in Beaverwyck (Albany). He was an educated man, having one of the largest libraries in the New World in the 1650s. Sadly, Gysbert’s time in Wiltwyck was short and tragic. Within three years of his arrival, his wife Rachel and daughter Lysbet were kidnapped (1663), his wife died not long after giving birth to his son Gysbert Jr. (1664), and Gysbert himself passed away on August 29th, 1665. Thanks to the inventory taken shortly after his death, we can see what kind of materials he worked with and which books he collected.
The inventory was taken on September 1st, 1665 and shows the contents of a Barber Surgeon’s home. Among the items from the intake are shaving towels, razors, a tin mustard pot (mustard was also used for medicinal purposes at this time), and others. He also had many medical books including remarks by Nicholas Tulp, the surgeon who was painted by Rembrandt and signed the exam reports of some of the first Dutch settlers in Manhattan. The entire inventory is available for viewing at the Matthewis Persen House Museum and Cultural Heritage Center on the corner of John and Crown Streets in Kingston, or online at the Ulster County Clerk’s Archives website.
Dutch Chamber, Van Cortlandt House Museum, Bronx, NY.
© Sherrie Allan, Photographer.
Gysbert Van Imbroch’s Estate Inventory 1665 Dutch (left) and 1899 English Translations (right).
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
Van Imbroch’s Home
The Matthewis Persen House
c.1880 and 2019
Sources: Friends of Historic Kingston Photograph Collection and the Ulster County Clerk’s Office.
1700's - Dr. Luke Kierstead
During the Revolutionary War in Ulster County, there was a ship docked at the Rondout called the “Fleet Prison.” The ship first docked with eighty prisoners via Albany on July 10th, 1777 and prisoners were then sent to Hartford, Connecticut just a week before the Burning of Kingston on October 8th, 1777. Dr. Luke Kierstead was stationed as the primary physician on this vessel. Kierstead was asked to “visit the Fleet Prison and Kingston Jail at least twice a week, as well as whenever called on…”
The document to the right shows the Board of Trustees of Kingston paying Dr. Kierstead and his relative Dr. Nicholas Kierstead for attending to patients around 1780. After Kingston was burned by the British during the Revolutionary War, the town began its long and arduous climb back to prosperity. This difficult time was aided by the help of the medically-inclined Kierstead family, as is shown throughout the records of this era. The difficult climb eventually succeeded in returning Kingston to prosperity, with the town becoming an industrial powerhouse in the 1800s.
HMS Discovery “Prison Hulk” via Wikimedia Commons
Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, 1736-1783
Sources: Wikimedia Commons and the Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
Schoonmaker, M. (1888). History of Kingston, N.Y.: From Its Early Settlement to the Year 1820.
(1) Pages 522-523,
(2) Page 525,
(3) Page 446,
(4) 1820 Map of Kingston.
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archives Reference Library.
Revolutionary War Era Medical Reenactor Don Terpening at the Matthewis Persen House Museum
Professor Emeritus of Biology, Don Terpening visits the Matthewis Persen House Museum several times each season. He presents various medicines, implements, and techniques that were used by physicians during the Revolutionary War, as well as discussing the role that doctors played and their social standing during this period.
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Office.
1800's - Medical Practitioners
The early 19th century saw the beginnings of the institutionalization of the medical field in Ulster County. Across the country, more cities began to open medical schools operating specifically to train and teach aspiring medical professionals. The Ulster County Medical Society began to take shape around this time and licensed doctors began accepting patients.
The timeline and portraits below are from a book titled The Commemorative Biographical Record of Ulster County published in 1896. The book was compiled by J. H. Beers and Company after a decade of growing interest about prominent Ulster County residents and their ancestors. This timeline illustrates the exponential growth of licensed medical practitioners throughout the 1800s in Ulster County.
This era also saw the beginning of the hospital system in Ulster County with the opening of Kingston Hospital in 1893. Kingston Hospital (now HealthAlliance Hospital) remained the only hospital in Ulster County until 1923 when Veteran’s Memorial Hospital opened in Ellenville (now Ellenville Regional Hospital).
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of Ulster County, New York, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families. J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1896. Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection.
Timeline 1804-1861
Information listed for each medical professional includes their name, title, specialty (if known), town in which they practiced, the date range that they practiced in Ulster County, and whether they are related to another doctor on the timeline or had a significant impact on the local medical field.
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
Timeline 1862-1871
Information listed for each medical professional includes their name, title, specialty (if known), town in which they practiced, the date range that they practiced in Ulster County, and whether they are related to another doctor on the timeline or had a significant impact on the local medical field.
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
Timeline 1872-1885
Information listed for each medical professional includes their name, title, specialty (if known), town in which they practiced, the date range that they practiced in Ulster County, and whether they are related to another doctor on the timeline or had a significant impact on the local medical field.
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
Timeline 1886-1893
Information listed for each medical professional includes their name, title, specialty (if known), town in which they practiced, the date range that they practiced in Ulster County, and whether they are related to another doctor on the timeline or had a significant impact on the local medical field.
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
1800's - Ulster County Medical Society
Written in the 1860’s, this minute book of the Ulster County Medical Society is our main reference to 19th century medicine. Beautifully illustrated, the book has by-laws of the society and fees of particular services (for example, leeching or cupping was $1, equal to roughly $17 today.) The “Rate Bill” also shows the fees for house call travel expenses, amputations, tonsil removal, and others. The Ulster County Medical Society was made possible by a general act that was passed on April 4th, 1806 with the attendance of 13 physicians of the area. A medical society helps represent physicians in a more organized setting and sets guidelines for medical care that can be followed uniformly.
Minute Book of the Ulster County Medical Society, c. 1860
Cover and First Page
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
Minute Book of the Ulster County Medical Society, c. 1860
First Page of Bylaws and Rate Bill
Source: Ulster County Clerk's Archival Collection.
An Accident by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, 1879. (top)
The Agnew Clinic by Thomas Eakins, 1889. (bottom)
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
1900's - Hospitals
When Kingston Hospital opened in 1893 it was so well renowned that patients traveled from other counties to seek care. It remained the only hospital in the county until 1923 when Veteran’s Memorial Hospital opened in Ellenville (now Ellenville Regional Hospital). So celebrated was this hospital that President Lyndon Baines Johnson visited and dedicated it on August 19th of 1966 after the renaming of Veteran’s Memorial Hospital to Ellenville Community Hospital. The records below show the renaming of Veterans’ Memorial Hospital to Ellenville Community Hospital (top), and the incorporation for Kingston Hospital (bottom), the earliest medical institution incorporation in Ulster County history.
Incorporation Record for The City of Kingston Hospital, 1891
Source: Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection.
Certificate of Name Change of Veterans’ Memorial Hospital to Ellenville Community Hospital, Filed February 10, 1966
Source: Ulster County Clerk’s Office.
Postcard View of Ellenville Memorial Hospital formerly the Scoresby Residence, Ellenville Public Library & Museum Collection
Postcard Kingston N.Y. City Hospital and Nurses Home, 1894, Friends of Historic Kingston Collection
Postcard City of Kingston Hospital and Nurses’ Home, Kingston, N.Y., 1927,Friends of Historic Kingston Collection
Presidents of the Board of Managers, Ulster County Tuberculosis Hospital
Sources: Portraits, Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection. Postcard, Friends of Historic Kingston Collection. Directory, Google Books.
1900's - Medical Professionals
Of course, it’s not just physical health to be aware of, but mental health as well. Ulster County has provided mental health care since 1901 when the Sisters of St. Benedict opened the Our Lady of Victory Sanitarium before later relocating to Benedictine on Mary’s Avenue. By 1977, the hospital incorporated the Benedictine Health Foundation to raise funds in support of mental health services.
The 20th century also saw the first prominent female doctors in Ulster County. Alice Divine (1868-1950) was one of the first well known female doctors in Ulster County. She was issued her license in 1900 after studying at Cornell University and took up residence in Ellenville. She was also known for her work regarding the suffragette movement and the care of children. The 1900s also saw a substantial rise in women in the nursing field as well as a rise in local pharmacies.
Women Physicians
Dr. Alice Divine, Ellenville
Dr. Alice Divine was a prominent physician in Ulster County, having graduated from Cornell University in 1900 then practicing in Ellenville for 50 years. Dr. Divine was also an active member of the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, a member of the Ulster County Medical Association, a substantial landowner, and a member on the Board of Child Welfare.
Sources:
Clearwater, Alphonso Trumpbour. The History of Ulster County, New York. Kingston, NY: W.J. Van Deusen, 1909.
Affidavit, Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection and Image, Ellenville Public Library & Museum Collection.
Women Physicians
Dr. Clara Barrus, West Park
Clara Barrus was one of a small number of women who graduated from medical school in the late 19th century. After graduation in 1888 from Boston University, she practiced in New York at the Middletown State Hospital of Homeopathy and was also a Professor of Psychiatry at Women's College, New York City, before moving north to West Park.
Sources:
Barrus, Clara - Archives & Special Collections Library - Vassar College, specialcollections.vassar.edu/collections/manuscripts/findingaids/barrus_clara.html.
Affidavit, Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection and Image, Library of Congress.
Women Physicians
Dr. Mary Gage Day, Kingston
Mary Gage Day began the study of medicine at age 31 while living in Kansas, where she had moved with her husband. She then accepted a position as the resident physician at the Michigan State Public School for Homeless Children. Moving to Kingston in 1897, Day served as Secretary of Staff & attending gynecologist to Benedictine Sanitarium and Hospital; gynecologist at the Kingston City Hospital and Ulster County Tuberculosis Hospital; and chairman and instructor of Benedictine Training School for Nurses. She was also a lecturer at the New York State Department of Health.
Sources:
Leonard, John W. (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915 (Public domain ed.). American commonwealth Company. p. 235.
Affidavit, Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection and Image, Wikimedia Commons.
Nurses
Benedictine Nurses 1916
Source: Friends of Historic Kingston Photograph Collection.
Nurses
World War I Red Cross Nurses in Kingston, N. Y.
Source: Friends of Historic Kingston Photograph Collection.
Pharmacists
Franklin Pharmacy Incorporation Papers, Filed November 6, 1959
Source: Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection.
Pharmacists
Kingston Daily Freeman Advertisements
Source: Newspapers.com.
Mental Health Care at the Benedictine Sanitarium & Hospital
Postcard Benedictine Sanitarium, Kingston, N.Y., c.1906, Ulster County Clerk’s Archival Collection
Postcard Benedictine Hospital and Nurses’ Home, Kingston, N.Y., Hudson River Valley Institute Collection
Today - Appreciation
The Ulster County Clerk’s Office would like to thank our local medical professionals for their resilience and bravery during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Over the course of the pandemic, medical professionals of Ulster County and worldwide have proven that their dedication and commitment to the well-being of their community is of paramount importance. They have put their own lives at risk each day to save the lives of others. It is often difficult to recognize history being made in the moment, but we hope that this exhibit has not only shown how the medical field has progressed throughout the history of Ulster County, but also that it acts as a tribute to the truly historic and heroic efforts of our medical professionals.
Community Response
Ulster Performing Arts Center
Broadway, Kingston, April 2020
General Sharpe Memorial “Patriotism”
Old Dutch Church, Kingston, April 2020
Photo by Marcela Muleris
© 2024. THE ULSTER COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE.
