Wood Family Papers and Medical Practice Records, 1803-1903
Processed by Pat L. Walter.
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections
Division
History and Special Collections Division
UCLA
12-077 Center for Health Sciences
Box 951798
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1798
Phone: 310/825-6940
Fax: 310/825-0465
Email: biomed-ref@library.ucla.edu
URL:
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/
©2007
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Wood Family Papers and Medical Practice Records,
Date (inclusive): 1803-1903
Collection number: 310
Creator:
Thomas Wood [the Elder] (1780-1826)
Thomas Wood [the Younger] (1801-1866)
Extent:
3 storage cartons
2 document boxes
(3.8 linear feet)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library History and Special Collections
Division
Los Angeles, California 90095-1490
Abstract: The Wood Family papers consist of office and some
household records of a multi-generational physicians' practice in Muncy
(Pennsborough), Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, from 1803 to approximately 1868,
with a few later items. In addition to 40 bound day books, which list patient
names, dates and short notations of treatment or medication, and ledgers, which
follow the payment history of each account, approximately 200 separate
manuscript sheets or scraps include invoices, promissory notes, receipts, legal
judgments, and a few letters. The collection also includes some printed
pamphlets and journals, a very few medical/surgical instruments, and three
photographs. The contents of these materials provide a small window on medical
treatments and therapeutics in one specific practice over 60-some years, plus a
rather good picture of the business lives and some insight into the personal
lives of these doctors.
Physical location: History and Special Collections Division,
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, University of California, Los
Angeles
Language of Material: Collection materials in English
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights in the physical objects belong to the UCLA Biomedical
Library. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and
their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission
to publish if the Biomedical Library does not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Wood family papers and medical practice records (Manuscript collection 310). Louise M. Darling Biomedical
Library History and Special Collections Division, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Acquisition Information
The Wood Family Papers were bought in October, 2005 by the History and
Special Collections Division, UCLA Biomedical Library, from Zephyr Used and Rare
Books, Vancouver, WA.
Biography
The Drs. Wood whose records comprise this collection descended from James
Wood "the Immigrant", who came from the British Isles to settle in
Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley ca. 1735, built a stone house on the Cumberland
Valley Pike which was still standing in 1948, and who died in 1750. One of his
grandsons:
Dr. THOMAS WOOD (1780-1826) Senior (the Elder), was the first of the Wood
doctors to practice in Muncy, PA. He was born in Thompsontown, PA, read medicine
with Dr. Ezra Doty of Juanita County, and arrived on horseback in 1803 in Muncy
where he was probably the first permanent resident physician. His practice
covered a large area, requiring arduous rounds on horseback for days at a time.
However he prospered quickly and invested in land; when the town incorporated in
1826 (first as Pennsborough, then as Muncy after a local Indian tribe), Thomas
Wood owned considerable real estate within its boundaries, plus a fertile farm
in the country nearby. In 1812 Dr. Wood decided to extend his apprenticeship
training in medicine and entered the University of Pennsylvania Medical College
for a full course of lectures; he received his diploma in 1813. He married Miss
Eliza Montgomery in 1820 at the age of 40, had one daughter who died as a
toddler, and died himself in 1826. As a young bachelor he had adopted and raised
his sister's orphaned children, Thomas and Rachel. The nephew Thomas also became
a physician, and to him the uncle turned over the medical practice in 1820.
DR. THOMAS WOOD (1801-1866) Junior (the Younger), trained with his uncle
before entering the University of Pennsylvania in medicine and graduating in
1820. The elder Dr. Wood had just married and moved to the nearby town of
Paradise in the next county; in 1819 he had entered into a partnership with his
nephew, and now in 1820 he turned the medical practice over to his nephew.
Thomas Jr. became a highly honored doctor and citizen during his 40-plus years
of service to the Muncy Valley. In 1823 he entered into a partnership with his
cousin Dr. George Wood, which was dissolved over a year later when George
decided to move west to Ohio; ca. 1827 Dr. James Rankin signed a partnership
agreement which lasted until 1842. Dr. Wood Jr. was one of two executors in his
uncle's estate, and also served as guardian or executor for several other
families in the community. He married three times and had a son, Hopewell
Hepburn Wood, by his second wife.
Dr. GEORGE WOOD, another nephew of Dr. Wood senior, also studied medicine
first with his uncle and then at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to
Muncy, set up a practice, and entered into partnership with his cousin Thomas
junior for a year or two. He married Miss Bigger of Muncy, built a house, but
fairly soon decided to move further west, to Ohio, where he settled permanently.
His stay in Muncy was not long enough to have him considered seriously among the
"Muncy Wood doctors".
Dr. GEORGE GLENN WOOD (1848-1917), the great-nephew of Thomas senior and a
cousin, once removed, of Thomas junior, graduated from Jefferson Medical
College, Philadelphia in 1872 and opened a practice in Muncy in 1873, just six
years after the death of his great-uncle. He was a member of the Lycoming County
Medical Society and organized the Muncy Valley Medical Association. During
1888-1892 he served as a member of the state legislature. As much as it was
possible in his time he specialized in Pediatrics, and wrote a small book, "The
Care of Infants", aimed at mothers. His son described him as a scholarly
physician with a reputation as a local historian and a prominent Democratic
leader. He was the last of the Muncy's "horse and buggy doctors", and also the
father of the next Muncy Dr. Wood.
Dr. THOMAS KENNETH WOOD (1877-1958), son of Dr. George Glenn Wood, began
practice in Muncy in 1903, the year he graduated from the Medico-Chirurgical
College of Philadelphia. He was a member and fellow of the American Medical
Association, a founder and president of the Muncy Valley Private Hospital which
was established in 1923, sparked the beginning of the Muncy Historical Society
and served as its first president and editor of its publication "Now and Then;
quarterly magazine of history and biography". He retired from practice in
1945.
Scope and Content
The scope of this collection is geographically narrow but extensive
chronologically: it provides the patient and financial records of two
generations of physicians practicing in and around Muncy, Lycoming County,
Pennsylvania from 1803 to 1866. Some additional materials stemming from two more
doctors from the same family, practicing in the same place, add depth and
interpretation. The first two doctors were both named Thomas Wood.
Contemporaries often distinguished them by Senior and Junior, or the Elder and
the Younger, but it is often hard to assign undated items in the papers to one
or the other.
The largest part of the collection consists of 39 Day Books and Ledgers
recording the business of the doctors' office. Day Books (and Blotters) include
day-by-day entries of patient's name, succinct description of treatment and
medicines, and cost of service. Ledgers are arranged by patient name, and detail
the financial status of each account; usually they also indicate treatment
given. In any of these books occasional comments, recipes for medicines, or
references to legal commitments or contracts are included. Many of the Day Books
and Ledgers were hard-bound volumes and survived in remarkably good condition;
some, however, were soft-covered, hand stitched, with extra pages added
afterwards, and are quite fragile.
Careful perusal of these volumes can turn up a variety of information. For
example: how many gunshot wounds, broken limbs, births, etc. were treated, how
often was venesection the treatment and for what complaints, what herbal and
inorganic medicines were favored; sho were the patients and, sometimes, what was
their status and business; how did the patients fare; almost 70 years of records
allow medical histories of individuals and families. The Ledgers add the
fascinating information of how, and how often, the doctors were paid; what goods
and services were taken in barter; how often was an account labeled
non-collectable.
The focus of the loose manuscript materials is almost entirely financial,
covering both the physicians' professional and personal lives. Bills, receipts
for moneys received and paid out, promissory notes, copies of legal judgments
for payment are written on variously-sized pieces of paper which had been
repeatedly folded into small packets. A large portion of this loose material
stemmed from the settlement of Thomas Sr.'s estate, where Thomas Jr. acted as
co-executor. Correspondence constitutes only a very small part of the loose
material.
Printed materials consist of 22 pamphlets, journal issues on medical,
religious, political and cultural topics. There is also one folder of
biographical materials about the Wood Family and Lycoming County. The objects
consist of a few medical/surgical instruments, a pair of spectacles, a "Doctor
Thomas Wood" nameplate, and three photographs.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Day Books, Ledgers, and Blotters, 1803-1869. 36 folders
- Series 2. Loose Manuscript Materials., 1803-1865. 31 folders
- Series 3. Printed Materials, 1849-1903. 6 folders
- Series 4. Objects, no dates. 2 folders and 8 objects
Related Material
The Wood Collection of Antique Surgical Instruments in held by the Muncy
Museum of Local History, Muncy, PA.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Muncie (Pa.)
Wood, Thomas (1780-1826)
Wood, Thomas (1801-1866)
Medicine - Pennsylvania -
history
Physicians - Pennsylvania -
Biography
Genres and Forms
Family papers
Series 1.
Day Books, Ledgers, and Blotters
1803-1869
Physical Description: 36 folders
Scope and Content Note
DAY BOOKS are arranged by date and include patient's name, short statement of
treatment or drugs provided, and sometimes cost of the service. LEDGER entries
are arranged under patient names, not in alphabetical order but with an
alphabetical index in front or back of each volume, and include the date of
service, sometimes indication of treatment, and financial transactions
concerning that patient. Volumes called BLOTTERS seem identical to Day books.
The volumes are arranged in rough chronology, often overlapping in dates. Any
loose pieces of paper found in the volumes are housed in the same folders as the
volumes in which they were found.
Arrangement
chronological
Box 1, Folder 1
Day book.
May 1803-Sep 1804
Physical Description: no cover, stitched pages, 7 x 13"
Box 1, Folder 2
Ledger.
1804-1805
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 12.5"
Note
additional scraps found between pages: include papers pertaining to a
patient being committed to the insane asylum
Box 1, Folder 3
Day book.
1806
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 14"
Box 1, Folder 4
Ledger C.
1806
Physical Description: bound, soft cover [frayed condition], 8 x 13"
Note
additional scrap found between pages
Box 1, Folder 5
Ledger.
1807-Nov 1809
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"
Box 1, Folder 6
Day book.
Apr 1810-Dec 1810
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"; extra stitched pages laid in
Box 1, Folder 7
Ledger.
Oct 1809-May 1812
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"
Box 1, Folder 8
Day book.
May 1811-May 1812
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"; additional loose pages stitched to other
pages
Note
additional scraps and one loose page found between pages
Box 1, Folder 9
Day book.
Jun 1812-Aug 1813
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"; additional loose pages stitched to other
pages
Note
alphabetical index of patients in back; additional scrap found between
pages: list of drugs and supplies [inventory or order?]
Box 1, Folder 10
Day book and ledger.
Mar 1813-Sep 1814, Mar 1813-Dec 1815
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"
Note
alphabetical index of patients in back
Box 1, Folder 11
Day book.
Mar 1814-Jan 1816
Physical Description: bound, soft cover, 8 x 13"; additional loose pages stitched to other
pages; fragile
Scope and Content Note
includes stitched-in small pages titled "Shop book 1814"
Box 1, Folder 12
Day book.
Jan 1816-May 1818
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 12"; extra stitched pages laid in
Box 5, Folder 1
Day book.
Jun 1819-Apr 1820
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 7 x 14"
Scope and Content Note
Partnership agreement on first page: "1819, June 15th, Pennsborough. Thomas
Wood Senior and Thomas Wood Junior Have this day Entered into Partnership to be
equal in the profits and expenses of the Practice of Physick, Surgery and
Midwifery (But in no other Respect). In witness of this above argument we
Hereunto Set our hands. Thomas Wood Sen, Thomas Wood Jun"
Note
also separate pages for 1819 found in other volumes
Box 1, Folder 13
"Receipts given Dr. Thos. Wood".
no date
Physical Description: unbound, folded and stitched pages, 6.5 x 8.5"
Note
Thomas Wood Junior's name appears in the contents, so it is assumed
that this booklet belonged to Thomas Wood Senior
Box 2, Folder 1
Ledger.
Feb 1819-Aug 1821
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 12"
Box 2, Folder 2
Day book.
May 1820-Sep 1820
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 12"; loose pages stitched in
Box 2, Folder 3
Day book.
Jul 1821-May 1822
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 7.75 x 12"; separate stitched pages of various
sizes
Note
plus separate pages: compounding recipes, partial [hymn?] lyric, Bible
verses [?], George Wood's signature
Box 2, Folder 4
Day book.
Jun 1822-Dec 1822
Physical Description: unbound pages, folded and stitched together, 2 bundles, 4 x 13.5" and
4 x 7.25"
Box 2, Folder 5
Day book.
Apr 1823-Dec 1823
Physical Description: unbound pages, folded and stitched together, mostly 4 x 12"
Scope and Content Note
five separate bundles and one loose page
Box 2, Folder 6
Day book.
Dec 1823-Mar 1825
Physical Description: unbound pages, some folded, stitched together, 4 x 12" and 8.5 x 13";
fragile
Scope and Content Note
two bundles of pages, the larger with a penciled G. W. Wood on the cover
page
Box 2, Folder 7
Ledger.
Apr 1823-May 1825
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 8 x 13"
Scope and Content Note
Dr. Thomas Wood Junior and Dr. George W. Wood shared the practice for part of
this period; the final pages of the ledger document the division of labor
between them and an account of moneys owed
Note
additional scraps found between pages
Box 2, Folder 8
Day book.
Jun 1823-Oct 1824
Physical Description: bound, soft cover, 8 x 12.5"
Box 2, Folder 9
Day book.
Sep 1824-Apr 1825
Physical Description: unbound pages, folded and stitched, 4 x 12"
Note
one loose page
Box 2, Folder 10
Ledger.
1825
Physical Description: unbound pages, folded and stitched, 4 x 12"
Box 2, Folder 11
Day book.
Dec 1826-Mar 1827
Physical Description: unbound pages, folded and stitched, 4 x 10"
Box 2, Folder 12
Blotters.
Mar 1827-Aug 1827, Aug 1827-Dec 1827
Physical Description: unbound pages, folded and stitched, 4 x 12.5", 4 x 13"
Scope and Content Note
two bundles of pages
Box 2, Folder 13
Ledger.
1827-1829
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 6 x 15.5"
Scope and Content Note
on p. 189: "March 24th, 1829. This day a settlement was made between the
partners and the notes on hand were equally divided for the first two years of
the Term (?) J. Rankin, Th. Wood"
Note
written in ink on front cover binding: Wood & Rankin; additional
scraps found between pages
Box 2, Folder 14
Ledger.
1828
Physical Description: bound, soft cover, 8.5 x 12.5"
Scope and Content Note
pages 104-114 document further settlement of accounts between Thomas Wood and
George Wood
Box 2, Folder 15
Ledger.
1834-1838
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 6 x 15.5"
Note
written in ink on front cover binding: "Partnership, 1835 to 10/38";
additional scraps found between pages
Box 2, Folder 16
Day book.
1839-1842
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 5.5 x 14.5"
Note
additional scraps found between pages
Box 2, Folder 17
"Accounts of Wood & Rankin under arrangement of May 5th 1838
until 8th day of March 1840."
1838-1842
Physical Description: unbound, folded pages, 7.75 x 12.5"
Scope and Content Note
ledger entries assigned to Wood or Rankin, until April 1, 1842
Box 3, Folder 1
Ledger.
Apr 1842-1846
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 7.75 x 12.5"
Scope and Content Note
some entries as late as 1853; pp 90-91, further accounting with Dr. Rankin;
pp 86-87, lengthy case description
Note
additional scraps found between pages
Box 3, Folder 2
Ledger.
1846-1857, some entries to 1866
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 6 x 15"
Scope and Content Note
note on flyleaf: "Wood & Rankin disolved partnership April 1, 1842"; p.
254: note about cash settlement with Rankin; pp. 190-191: "Table of charges
adopted by the undersigned members of the Lycoming County Med'l Society. E.D.
Ketloo, Th. Wood, Wm. Muper (?), John Tomlinson .... Jun (?) 17th, 1850."
Note
additional scraps found between pages
Box 5, Folder 2
Day book.
Jan 1855-Dec 1857
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 6.5 x 16"
Note
additional scraps found between pages
Box 5, Folder 3
Ledger.
Jan 1858-May 1862
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 6 x 15.5"; some loose pages
Scope and Content Note
first page has day book entries
Note
additional scraps found between pages
Box 5, Folder 4
Various accounts
1862-1869
Physical Description: bound, hard cover, 6 x 15.5"
Scope and Content Note
first 30 pages: medical accounts, various local taxes paid; next 100 pages:
farm accounts, personal expenses
Note
additional scraps found between pages, including a newspaper clipping
of a poem translated from French: "The death of President Lincoln", by Edouard
Grenier
Series 2.
Loose Manuscript Materials.
1803-1865
Physical Description: 31 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series contains mostly records of financial transactions pertaining to
the Wood multigenerational medical practice, plus some farm and household
records. The vast majority is written on scraps of paper which were folded into
small packets; a summary of the transaction and a follow-up are often noted on
the obverse of the paper, which sometimes clarifies the content. Because both
Drs. Thomas Wood used the same name it is often impossible to distinguish
between them; 1826, the year of Dr. Wood senior's death, seemed a sensible date
for a separation of subseries. Many of the papers deal with settlement of Dr.
Wood senior's estate; these constitute a separate series.
Arrangement
chronological
Subseries 1.
Early Financial Records
1803-1826
Physical Description: 10 folders
Arrangement
by topic
Box 3, Folder 3
Accounts payable.
1803-1825
Scope and Content Note
receipts for payments from Dr. Thomas Wood
Box 3, Folder 4
Accounts payable.
1811-1823
Scope and Content Note
requests for payment from, and promissory notes by, Dr. Thomas Wood
Box 3, Folder 5
Accounts payable.
1817-1825
Scope and Content Note
Bills for good, produce, and services provided to Dr. Thomas Wood
Box 3, Folder 6
Accounts receivable.
1803-1825
Scope and Content Note
Bills for services and receipts for payments.
Box 3, Folder 7
Accounts receivable.
1819-1825
Scope and Content Note
Promissory notes handed to a third party for collection
Box 3, Folder 8
Legal judgments for payment.
1818-1825
Scope and Content Note
actions brought by Dr. Thomas Wood
Box 3, Folder 9
Legal judgments for payment.
1817-1825
Scope and Content Note
actions brought against Dr. Thomas Wood; also actions between two other
parties
Box 3, Folder 10
Dissolution of partnership between Dr. Thomas Wood Jr. and Dr. George
Wood.
circa 1824-1828
Scope and Content Note
an agreement by Thomas Wood and George Wood, dated 1828, to submit their
unresolved differences to arbitration, and to abide by the arbitrator's
decision; the arbitrator's assignments of worth to each party; plus extensive
listing of all patients treated during the span of the partnership practice,
with fees charged in each case, and how these fees were divided between the
former partners
Box 3, Folder 11
Memorandum of money paid to the heirs of James Wood by Thomas
Wood.
1826
Scope and Content Note
a list of names with dates and payment amounts
Box 3, Folder 12
Miscellaneous papers.
mostly undated
Scope and Content Note
ground plan of city lots connected with settlement of Samuel Green estate,
1800; unidentifiable names index and ledger entries; fragments
Subseries 2.
Records of the settlement of Dr. Thomas Wood Senior's
estate
1826-1840
Physical Description: 6 folders
Arrangement
by topic
Box 3, Folder 13
Questions concerning Dr. Thomas Wood's will and estate.
circa 1826
Physical Description: manuscript sheets with holes, stains and bleeding ink obscuring some
of the contents
Scope and Content Note
1) statements concerning the existence of a will other than the one submitted
for probate; 2) letter from ? to Thomas Wood Jr. concerning the building of a
house for Thomas Wood Sr. by David Montgomery; 3) narrative by Thomas Wood Jr.
concerning events after his uncle's death; 4) other documents
Box 3, Folder 14
"Evidence of corruption in the administration of the affairs of the
estate of Dr. Wood."
no date
Scope and Content Note
several sheets stating points against the administrator, and a paragraph from
the opposing point of view
Box 3, Folder 15
Receipts for money paid by the estate administrators.
1827-1834
Note
Dr. Wood Jr. had folded many of these items into packets; his cover
slips are included with each group
Box 3, Folder 16
Bill and claims submitted to the estate administrators.
1817-1829
Box 3, Folder 17
Estate accounts brought before a justice of the peace for
settlement.
1826-1834
Box 3, Folder 18
Moneys received and due the estate.
1828-1840
Scope and Content Note
receipts for money received; promissory notes handed to a third party for
collection; notes labeled "not recoverable"
Subseries 3.
Later Financial Records
1826-1871
Physical Description: 9 folders
Arrangement
by topic
Box 3, Folder 19
Accounts payable.
1826-1867
Scope and Content Note
receipts, bills, promissory notes
Note
includes two printed promissory-note forms, one blank and one filled
out dated 1867, with revenue stamps
Box 3, Folder 20
Accounts payable.
1845-1846
Scope and Content Note
bills from Mrs. Hannah Riebsam [apparently the proprietor of a dry goods
store]
Box 3, Folder 21
Accounts receivable.
1826-1868
Scope and Content Note
receipts, promissory notes
Box 3, Folder 22
Accounts receivable.
1826-1832
Scope and Content Note
Promissory notes handed to a third party for collection
Box 3, Folder 23
Documents relating to the Thomas Wood-James Rankin
partnership.
1845
Box 3, Folder 24
Assorted financial documents.
1831-1856
Box 3, Folder 25
Documents regarding Thomas Wood Jr.'s guardianship of Catherine
Walton.
1835-1854
Box 3, Folder 26
Documents regarding Thomas Wood Jr.'s function as guardian or
executor of various estates.
1840-1861
Scope and Content Note
papers concern: A.D. Hepburn; George Stover; some others
Box 3, Folder 27
Records bearing Hopewell Wood's name.
1865-1871
Scope and Content Note
a list of some financial assets, 1865; receipts for tax payments; a notice
concerning the Dr. Thomas Wood Jr. estate
Subseries 4.
Miscellaneous Manuscript Materials.
1818-1865
Physical Description: 6 folders
Arrangement
by topic
Box 3, Folder 28
Assorted documents: medical.
1818-1865
Physical Description: three booklets, stitched, no cover; single sheets, some foxing and
tears
Scope and Content Note
1) lecture notes, Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1818/19; 2) notes on drugs and
medications; 3) "An essay on rheumatism submitted to the examination of the
Medical Board in the University of Pennsylvania, Feb. 12th, 1819"; 4) notes and
three letters; 5) draft of a speech to the Medical Society of the County of
Lycoming
Box 3, Folder 29
Assorted documents: political, religious, philosophical.
1841
Scope and Content Note
drafts of letters to the editors of the "Lycoming Gazette" and the "Muncy
Telegraph", rebutting published allegations; drafts for what may have been short
speeches, other letters for publication, or just musings
Box 3, Folder 30
Assorted documents: family.
1819-1854
Scope and Content Note
1) article of agreement between the two Drs. Thomas Wood concerning real
estate, 1825; 2) two family letters, 1843, 1854
Box 3, Folder 31
Assorted documents: general.
1828-1855
Scope and Content Note
includes: letter concerning lottery tickets; short report on church
subscription funds for 1849-1850; Dr. Thomas Wood's record of birth for Sarah
Isabel Neel, 1853; two names on a subscription list for a copy of "Uncle Sam's
Mess-room, or The Mechanic Sailor," by J. A. Hazen, 1853; a note which seems to
say: "Douglas vote 18 Nov (?) in the County of Lycoming as by official
return-137, Lincoln-3494, Bell-91"; and others
Box 3, Folder 32
Teachers of Lycoming County.
1856
Scope and Content Note
a sheet titled: "Address of Teachers of Lycoming Co." and two short letters
to Dr. Wood concerning a circular to be sent
Box 3, Folder 33
Various scraps of paper.
no date
Series 3.
Printed Materials
1849-1903
Physical Description: 6 folders
Arrangement
by topic
Box 3, Folder 34
Biographical materials.
1892-1969
Scope and Content Note
1) partial photocopy of "Muncy's four Dr. Woods, in service from 1803 to
1943," by T. Kenneth Wood, MD, in: "Now and Then; quarterly magazine of history
and biography", 1949; 2) chapters XVIII, XIX, XXVII, and XLIX [with marginal
annotations]: "The Medical Profession"; "Internal Improvements"; "Borough of
Muncy"; "Biographical Sketches"; from: "History of Lycoming County,
Pennsylvania," ed. by John F. Meginness, 1892; 3) chapter XVIII (as above)
downloaded from the "Lycoming County of Pennsylvania Genealogy Project"; 4)
issue no. 5, vol. 16, Oct. 1969 of "Now and Then", containing "Some Early
Medicine in Lycoming County", by Dr. J. Donald Wentzler, pp. 261-274
Box 4, Folder 1
Medical journal issues, medical lectures and reports.
1854-1883
Scope and Content Note
1) "The Herald of Health and Journal of Physical Culture", ed. by Russell T.
Trall, 1865; 2) "The Medical and Surgical Reporter", vol. 13, no. 23, Dec. 2,
1865, and vol. 14, no. 10, Mar. 10, 1866; 3) "University Journal of Medicine and
Surgery", Philadelphia, vol. 10, no. 7, Jan. 1, 1867; 4) "The Family Review:
devoted to legal, medical, educational and social affairs", Philadelphia, vol.
2, no. 3, Mar. 1883.
Medical phamphlets removed from the Thomas Wood Family Medical
Manuscript Archive.
Scope and Content Note
1) Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. "Annual report of the
Board of Directors", 1854. [George G. Wood was one of the consulting physicians
for the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb]. 2) "The Unity of
Medicine: an introductory lecture", by Alfred Stillé, Medical Department
of Pennsylvania College, 1856.
Note
These pamphlets have been separately cataloged and housed. Access via
the UCLA Library online catalog.
Box 4, Folder 2
Professional medical institutions and societies.
1849-1903
Scope and Content Note
1) membership card of the American Medical Association annual meeting,
Boston, May 1849, made out to "Thomas Wood, delegate from the State Medical
Society, Pennsylvania"; 2) resolutions of the Medical Society of the State of
Pennsylvania, 1852; 3) annual announcement of The Medical Department,
Pennsylvania College, Philadelphia, 1858-5; 4) invitation to the commencement
exercises of the class of 1903 of the Medico Chirurgical College, Philadelphia,
with a visiting card for T. Kenneth Wood inside; the envelope [with no sign of
having been mailed] is addressed to Mr. William J. Wood, Muncy, Penn.; 5) notice
of a summer course of lectures to be given at the Medical Department of the
Pennsylvania College
Box 4, Folder 3
Advertisement booklets and catalogs.
1860-1889
Scope and Content Note
1) "Catalogue of fluid and solid extracts in vacuo, also concentrations and
officinal pills, prepared by Henry Thayer and Co.", 1867; 2) "The Gettysburg
Katalysine water; reports of physicians and the people of its wonderful cures;
history of the spring, 1868; 3) "Wasting diseases, their causes, treatment, and
cure" [touting Scott & Bowne's emulsion of pure cod liver oil with
hypophosphites of lime and soda], 1879; 4) Sanford, Truslow & Co. heaters
and stoves, 1889; 5) Dr. Price's extract of vanilla
Note
the verso of the Dr. Price advertisement has a bill of sale for William
J. Wood, dated 1889
Box 4, Folder 4
Religious and cultural materials.
1824-1856
Scope and Content Note
1) "An address delivered at the opening of the tenth exhibition of the
American Academy of the Fine Arts", by Gulian C. Verplanck, 1824; 2) "An address
on the study of natural history" by John G. Morris, and "A poem on the
sovereignty of the mind" by John N. M'Jilton, 1841; 3) "Popular amusements: a
discourse delivered in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Winchester, VA", by Rev.
Charles Porterfield Krauth, 1851 (second edition); 4) "Subjection to law, the
constitution of man's nature: a discourse to the graduating class of
Pennsylvania College" by H. L. Baugher, 1852; 5) "The Sunday question. Sabbath
of the Jews. Sunday of Constantine", by William Logan Fisher and Edward M.
Davis, 1855; 6) "Religious liberty: an address to The Phrenakosmian Society of
Pennsylvania College", by J. S. Black, 1856
Box 4, Folder 5
Political materials.
1828-1849
Scope and Content Note
1) "Address to the people of Pennsylvania", 1828; 2) "To the people of
Pennsylvania. Read, pause, reflect, & vote!!", 1832; 3) "Message of the
President of the United States to Congress", 31st Congress, 1st session,
1849
Series 4.
Objects
no dates
Physical Description: 2 folders and 8 objects
Box 4, Folder 6
Portrait of Thomas Wood, Sr.
no date
Physical Description: 3.5 x 5" oval mounted in a 7.5 x 9" frame
Scope and Content Note
photographic copy of a stippled engraving, bust portrait, with Dr. Wood's
signature pasted on and the dates 1780-1826 in ink underneath; a short biography
written by George G. Wood, the doctor's grand-nephew, dated 1902, is affixed to
the frame backing
Box 4, Folder 7
Photographs of Dr. George Wood.
no date
Physical Description: 4 x 6.5" cabinet card photo, 4.75 x 3.5" photo
Scope and Content Note
bust portrait of Dr. George Wood, photographer R. Y. Nice, Williamsport, PA;
winter outdoor scene of house pasted to front of a note card, labeled "George
Wood, Washington St., Muncy"
Box 5, Folder 5
Dr. Thomas Wood Jr.'s office sign.
circa 1850
Physical Description: 14 x 5" metal sign, black background, gold letters
Scope and Content Note
the text: "DOCTOR Thomas Wood"
Note
the date is taken from a note taped to sign's back
Medical and surgical instruments and objects.
no date
Scope and Content Note
1) metal syringe with wood plunger, slightly curved spout, length: 11",
width: 1.5" [MUSEUM Item #154.001]. 2) metal instrument resembling spring-action
tongs, 0.6" heads each with one edge of small teeth which interlock with the
opposite, and with an 1.25" x 0.75" arrowhead lance facing inward; overall
length: 7.5" [MUSEUM item #154.002]. 3) metal forceps with one head a 1.25"-long
scoop, the other a ring fitting loosely around it; overall length: 5.75" [MUSEUM
item #154.003]. 4) white ceramic cup with handle and long spout, possibly a
feeding cup or douche cup; overall length: 7.25" [MUSEUM item #154.004]. 5)
medicine bottle marked "T. Kennith (sic) Wood, MD./ Muncy, PA.", with a cc.
scale on one edge and fluid-ounce scale on the other; 2" wide x 5" high
[#154.005]
Note
These objects are housed separately from the Wood documents, with the
UCLA Biomedical Library Museum Artifacts.
Spectacles.
no date
Scope and Content Note
Spectacles with wire frame, straight wire ear pieces; slightly magnifying
lenses, 1.5" x 1.12"; total width, 4"; cardboard case [MUSEUM item #154.006]
Note
This object is housed separately from the Wood documents, with the UCLA
Biomedical Library Museum Artifacts.