Redfield Benjamin West, M.D.

Dr. Redfield B. West, who died July 13, 1920, at his home on Fair Street, was born in Guilford, October 28, 1857, and was the son of the late Benjamin and Cornelia E. West. His ancestors on the maternal side were old residents of this town and can be traced as far back as his great-grandfather, Russell Frisbie, who was born near Branford, and married Eunice Redfield of Guilford. His mother was the daughter of George E. and Sarah Frisbie Bradley. Dr. West, after receiving his degree of doctor of medicine from the University of the City of New York, practiced medicine for several years at No. 7 Abingdon Square, New York City, and later at 222 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, Mass., and still later at 163 York Street, New Haven, Conn.

In order to be with his parents in their declining years, he removed to Guilford in 1892, opened his office in the house in which he was born and where he died, and soon succeeded in establishing a large and lucrative practice. Early in life he became intensely interested and very successful in chemical researches, and in 1899, and also 1900, was granted letters patent for improvements in photographic printing. In 1894 Dr. West was appointed by Governor Morris, State Chemist; reappointed by Governor Coffin in 1896; again by Governor Cooke in 1898, and by Governor Lounsbury in 1900. In 1897 he was appointed town health officer for Guilford, and also medical examiner in the same year, offices which he held for a period of years.

While residing in Boston he married Miss Edith Goudey of that city, daughter of Henry F. and Lois A. Goudey, who has proved a devoted wife and has tenderly cared for the doctor during the past years of ill health and suffering. A useful life is ended, another familiar face and form has passed from our midst; but Dr. West will live in the memory of those who knew him intimately as a gentleman in the sick room, never boastful, apparently devoid of egotism, kind and considerate; but never descending from a certain reserve of manner and dignity of speech and bearing.

Funeral services were conducted by St. Albans Lodge, No 38, on July 20, from his late residence on Fair Street. There were twenty-six Masons present. Rev. F. E. Snow officiated. The bearers were Harry Morse, William C. White, H. W. Leete, Clarence Loomis, J. H. Evans and Amos Swain of Clinton. Committal in Riverside cemetery.

[This obituary was furnished by Mrs. R. B. West, of Guilford, in compliance with the expressed desire of Dr. West, that his obituary be published in the Proceedings of the Connecticut State Medical Society. EDITOR.]

Frank Hamilton Whittemore, M.D.

GUSTAVUS ELIOT, M.D.

Dr. Frank Hamilton Whittemore was born in Plymouth, Connecticut, July 6, 1854. His family was descended from Thomas Whittemore, who came from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, and in 1640 was living in Charlestown, Mass.

His father, Dr. Franklin J. Whittemore, a former member of this Association, was born in Washington, Massachusetts, graduated from the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York, in 1851, and commenced practice in Terryville (Plymouth), Connecticut. He removed to New Haven in May, 1868, where for many years he enjoyed a large practice. In 1883 he transferred his residence to Clyde, Ohio, where he died in 1911. He married, in October, 1851, Fallah, daughter of Eli Terry, Jr., whose family was famous in connection with the invention and manufacture of clocks. She died in 1864, having borne four children, of whom the eldest was Frank Hamilton, our recently deceased fellow member.

He pursued preparatory studies at the Hopkins Grammar School, in New Haven, in those days at the height of its prosperity under the rectorship of the late Henry Norton Johnson, and then commenced the study of medicine in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, in the City of New York, where he graduated in 1874. This famous medical institution of the last century, which began its career in 1861, was widely proclaimed as a college in which especial emphasis was laid upon practical teaching in clinics. Its faculty included many of the well-known teachers of that generation, among whom were Fordyce Barker, the fashionable obstetrician, and author of "The Puerperal Diseases," William H. Van Buren, the genito-urinary surgeon, Austin Flint, Sr., the distinguished teacher of clinical medicine, and author of "The Practice of Medicine," and James R. Wood, the famous surgeon of Bellevue Hospital-to mention only a few of those who were most widely known. These men and their col

leagues greatly inspired the students, who came from all sections of the country, and a large proportion of the graduates of their classes in after years occupied positions of great usefulness and influence in the communities where they made their homes, and practiced their profession.

After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Whittemore served on the house staff of the Jersey City Charity Hospital, where Dr. T. R. Varick was doing work in traumatic surgery, which gave him a national reputation.

In 1876 Dr. Whittemore commenced practice in New Haven with his father. He was soon doing much surgical work, especially accidental and traumatic surgery, including the treatment of wounds, fractures and dislocations. For many years he did most of the surgery in New Haven, of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, and also of many of the factories. But his practice was not limited to surgery, and he did a large general medical practice, which was not limited to New Haven, but extended into neighboring towns. He also was frequently called in consultation in all parts of the state.

He conducted his practice in an exceptionally business-like way. He started on his rounds early in the morning, and worked continuously and systematically until all his patients had been seen. After finishing the work of the day, he retired early in order to secure the rest necessary to prepare him for the labor of the following day. He manifested rare devotion to his patients, responding promptly to their calls, and continuing his visits with the requisite regularity as long as it seemed to him to be necessary. He made his examinations carefully and with thoroughness, and arrived at definite conclusions based on the history as given by the patients, on the symptoms observed at the bedside, and on the physical signs elicited. Having determined the nature of the pathological condition present, his treatment was positive and direct, and afforded relief, if it were obtainable through the influence of remedial agents. His manner in the sick room inspired confidence and hope. He listened with seriousness to the complaints of his patients, and then encouraged them by his cheerful

ness. Few physicians in this vicinity have had a wider professional acquaintance, or have obtained the respect and affection of a wider circle of patients.

He was a constant reader of modern medical literature, and had an extensive library to which he made frequent additions of the newer works by the more distinguished writers. These with the current professional periodicals enabled him to keep fully informed of the progress of medical science, especially in its more practical aspects.

For many years he was one of the Consulting Staff of the New Haven Hospital.

He was a member of the New Haven (City) Medical Association, the New Haven County Medical Association, The Connecticut State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He was always prompt and liberal in aiding any progressive movement undertaken by these organizations.

He was a member of the Graduates Club, and of the New Haven Country Club where he frequently played golf. Many of his vacations were spent in travel in the western and southern sections of the United States and in Europe.

Dr. Whittemore was married October 19, 1876, to Amelia, daughter of Hon. Isaac T., and Martha A. (Ingersoll) Rogers, of Milford, Connecticut. She survives him, with a son, Dr. E. Reed Whittemore, a member of this Association, and three grandsons. Dr. Charles Whittemore Knapp, of Greenwich, Connecticut, is his nephew. His son and nephew are of the third generation of the Whittemore family to practice medicine in Connecticut, and to be members of the Connecticut State Medical Society.

For over four decades he was one of the most active practitioners in the city. During recent years he had experienced occasional warnings that he must avoid overwork, and he took somewhat protracted periods of rest. But for the last year, as he assured another physician a week before he died, he had never enjoyed better health, had never done a larger practice, and had never enjoyed his work more.

Early on a Monday morning he was seized with a severe pain