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
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Fax: 310/825-0465
Email: biomed-ref@library.ucla.edu
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©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

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 5336455 

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.